"...wearing a bit thin..."

There was a time, back in the day, when I was fascinated by the rumours surrounding missing Doctor Who episodes. Heck, over a decade ago I wrote a splurging mess of an article about the topic. I'd always meant to update it, but other things got in the way, and eventually it fizzled out.

But I still kept  up with all the rumours...

Then, something changed, and I can pinpoint the exact moment it did so. 

It was the explosion of the so called "omnirumour". A big collation of a number of seemingly disparate rumours drawn together to form one mutant gestalt whole. A collation of rumours that made it impossible to get at the truth. to be fair, it did kind of creep up on me as I'd had my eye off the ball for a while. Other things getting in the way, see... 

And if it had just been the rumour, that would have been one thing, but the sheer amount of bile that's been spewed on internet forums has been overwhelming, and I've largely stopped looking at missing episode threads. I do occasionally dip a toe in the GallifreyBase thread, and then take the toe out again; and that's one of the saner places out there . The only place I look at regularly is the FaceBook group. But, I have dipped my toes in a couple of other places, and would have felt less unclean had I dipped said toe in to untreated sewage. 

The thing is, there was some truth to the omnirumour; nine episodes of Doctor Who were returned in 2013. The biggest recovery ever, as I recall. But hey, this isn't enough; the omnirumour says there's 90ish episodes recovered still to be announced. Never mind being grateful that these nine episodes are back, people are getting agitated that there was no announcement concerning the whole of this alleged haul.

Which, of course, presumes the whole of the omnirumour is true.

And there's the key thing... are there further elements of this that are true? Frankly, we just don't know. This rumour includes not only further recoveries by Mr Morris, the chap who found the nine episodes last year, but also from several private collectors who seen to have decided en masse to send in their episodes... What's true, what isn't? Who can tell.

The thing I'm sure you're all wondering is what I think; I just don't know. I hope there's more, but I'm certainly not going to get all stressed worrying about whether there are further episodes, or whether posts on the internet can be parsed to read in a different way to what they appear on face value. If there are people feeding deliberate misinformation in order to protect confidentialities, or because of contractual obligations, or non-disclosure agreements, or a pact with the Devil himself, then so be it. I just don't care. I genuinely wouldn't give two hoots if someone were to lie to my face. Right now, at this time, I just don't need to know; chances are all of you reading this also don't need to know. At least, not until the BBC decides that the time is right...

If there are any more, that is. 

It is worth remembering that when the nine episodes were announced, it was a matter of moments before we could download them from iTunes. If there are more episodes can you just imagine the excitement of the BBC announcing that The Underwater Menace is now complete, and if you head over to iTunes that you can buy it, now. That would be so exciting. I'd buy it in a shot.

Mind you, this alleged haul of missing TV supposedly contains something like 6,000 cans. Or is it 8,000? Or 64,000? Gah! I expect by the time I next summon up the strength to dip a toe in it'll be half a million cans... and it'll probably all be duplicate copies of The Space Pirates episode 2...

"...you stop looking into mirrors..."

So, in a amongst all the other things I've been watching lately, I've also been rewatching Babylon 5. I'm up to the end of the first season, and there was something in the last episode that did somewhat hit me. It was something Londo said; 

"There comes a time when you look into the mirror and realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking into mirrors."

You see, it made me think. Is what I am now all I will ever be? Is this as good as it's ever going to get? It ties in with what I've been thinking lately, that over the last year I've largely been treading water and not really progressing with my life. Honestly, if I look at where I am now compared with where I was this time last year I really cannot see any appreciable difference. 

I think I've been coasting, just waiting to see what happens, and really reacting to things as they do happen. That doesn't make me happy, as I need to get off my arse and do things to change and improve. But it's scary. I know nothing ever lasts forever, and any changes that do come need to come from me, and not from others doing things to me. 

And then other quotes come to mind, those old quotes I may have mentioned once or twice before;

"Habit and fear of change are the worst reasons for ever doing ANYTHING."

And; 

"The first act of revolution is destruction 
and the first thing to destroy is THE PAST.
scary
like falling in love
it reminds us we're alive."

And, if I'm going to go on with this quoting thing, one from the great man himself;

"Life depends on change. And renewal."

The question is, though, what is the correct change? And what happens if all goes wrong? Ah... to just go "BANG!" (that's another quote!)... if only I could.  But a change has to come, and it has to come from me. If it doesn't, then it's yet another change imposed upon me by external factors. And I've had enough of those. 

So. I have to change...

Well, either that or stop looking in to mirrors. 

"...life depends on change, and renewal..."

As we head towards Doctor Who's 50th birthday on November 23rd, the storm clouds are gathering. There was all sorts of talk about how Dr Who would take over television, and how the programme was going to be entering its longest sustained period of production since it came back... but as things stand, the omens are not good. 

As things stand at the moment, there is very little confirmed for the anniversary year in respect of the main event itself, the show;

* - there's the second half of Season 7 of nu-Who, which really should have been on last year (don't forget in 2012, we had just six new Dr Who episodes), so that's 8 episodes.
* - there's a 60 minute anniversary episode. 

And that's all that's been confirmed thus far; albeit that this confirmation has been from promotional material seen at a toy fair, rather than as a result of a direct press release or promotion to the public at large.

The speculation that we'd get a special a month from June seems to have been, sadly, unfounded, as were such specials happening you'd expect mention of it at the toy fair. Also, that the show is on a production break at the moment, with filming due to resume in April would give insufficient time for this to happen anyway. And then there's the news that come May, Matt Smith is off to the US to film a movie...

Whilst it's true that there's no mention of a Christmas special yet, that doesn't mean there's not going to be one. It's been a lynchpin of the Christmas Day schedules since 1985, and I can't see that changing. 

Yes, there's all sorts of spin off stuff, re-issued books, the series of short stories, the Big Finish stuff, but really that's all small potatoes, and a sidebar to what should be the main event; the TV show.

The most substantial of the spin off material, and by far the most interesting is the behind the scenes drama, penned by Mark Gatiss, about the origins of the show, how it came to be, the casting of the leads, and (apparently) going all the way up to the departure of William Hartnell. I am very much looking forward to this... 

...but it does set me thinking... if you've got a cast of actors playing the parts of Hartnell et al, wouldn't it be just perfect to use these actors as the guest cast in an actual Dr Who story playing the roles of the 1st Doc, Susan, Barbara & Ian... wouldn't you just love to see 1st and 11th meet...?

...and if they're going up to the point where Hartnell leaves, does that mean the drama will cast an actor to play his replacement? Will there be a 2nd Doc, Polly and Ben in the drama? And if so, shouldn't they be in the main show as well...? 

It all starts to get intriguing. 

And, returning to the main show, if there is just this one anniversary episode to come, wouldn't that be the perfect time to have a surprise regeneration? If there's nothing else in the can come November (although indeed there might be; no-one knows filming schedules beyond April.) wouldn't the fall of the 11th, ending with a regeneration in to a new Doctor be just the cherry on top of the cake? 

Especially if that actor happens to be Adrian Lester, who would be just perfect as the 12th Doctor.

After all, we should always trust the Moff. He'll get it all right. 

Am I worrying about nothing with my ramblings above? I do hope so...

"...you are a pirate..."

I've been thinking about this the last couple of days since the closure of Megaupload, and the Wikipedia (et al) blackout protesting at the forthcoming Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Now, it's clearly obvious that those who create a work of art (of any type) should have the protection of that work to ensure that they receive the remuneration they deserve for it, and to ensure it is not used for purposes they deem inappropriate.

However, there are flaws at the heart of the any estimate of revenue lost to piracy. The figures quoted always seem to be based on the premise that every download of a copyrighted piece of work constitutes a lost sale. This is, of course, rubbish. To state that every person who downloads something without paying for it would have bought that work has they not downloaded it is clearly a massive overstatement. I do not deny that there will be lost sales there, but actually gauging the percentage of these downloads that would probably have cost a sale is quite probably impossible.

Anyhow. I'm starting to digress here from the main point I was really going to be making with this blog post, and that's to do with the question of the ethics of downloading from non-legitimate corners of the internet; when is it okay to do so, and when is it not okay to do so?

Now, I know there will certainly be some reading this who will say it's never ethically okay to download something from a non-legitimate site, and I respect that opinion. It is not an opinion I agree with, and here are some examples as to why not;

You will never be able to convince me that a person should not download a copy of an off-air recording of a TV show. If there's a TV show someone wants to see, and it's available as an off-air recording, then they're downloading it. This is no different to borrowing a VHS or DVDR recording from a friend. If it's the latest episodes of a US TV show not yet aired... well, again it's no different to a friend over there taping it and mailing it. It's all the same thing, just via a quicker, more efficient, method. In no way can the copyright holders be said to be losing out here. If something's broadcast on the television, it's going to be recorded, kept, and copied. It's inevitable.

You will note in the above I specifically refer to "off-air"; this is to differentiate between this and a copy of a commercially released DVD. The downloading of a commercially released DVD can never be justified; if you can't find an off-air of a show, and only a dodgy DVD copy you should go out and buy the DVD... No question. Ditto any material exclusive to the DVD release; you should buy the thing.

Mind you, sometimes the off-air version of a show is superior to the version released on DVD; music substitutions sometimes blight a release with inappropriate music used in place of the originally aired songs. (In extreme cases, it can lead to whole scenes - sometimes important ones - being excised from the DVD.) The wrong music may seem a minor, trivial, issue; but it can have a massive impact on the scene. A notable example being the replacement of the song Georgia On My Mind with some generic plinky-plonking in the episode of Quantum Leap called MIA on the US DVD release; it completely ruined the impact of the scene, which is one of the most tender, sad, moments in the show. Fortunately, the UK version had the correct song intact.

And music... Music is a veritable minefield, but there are certainly examples that can be cited. Most notable is when you're a dedicated fan of a particular band. You'll want everything they release, and you'll buy it all. But there will come a time when there will be things unreleased. Those obscure radio sessions. Bootlegs of gigs. Interviews. Live TV performances. Now, being the dedicated fan that you are, if such goodies were released you'd buy them in a shot. But they're not... so, really... realistically if you find a website with those rare, unreleased, not repeated for 20-odd years, Peel Sessions (for example) are you really going to say "ooh, no; mustn't download these, must respect copyright..." Nah... of course not. You'll be downloading them in a shot. As a dedicated fan you just must have copies.

I would also say it's possible to mount a defence for downloading an album to see if you like it. The outcome here is obvious; if you decide you like the album, you buy a copy. If you don't like it, you delete it. I would suggest this is defensible purely on the basis that this is not really any different from borrowing a copy from a friend. Of course, if you decide you like it and don't buy a proper copy, keeping the dodgy one, you're clearly in the wrong. Obviously, opinions will vary here...

The trouble is, copyright is so often seen as a black and white issue, with no shades of grey in the middle. This is unfortunate, as it's clearly not an issue that can be polarised like this. Yes, there will be those people who never pay for any of the media they consume, and this is clearly wrong. But I do put it to you that there are examples - some of which are outlined above - where although copyright is breached there is no financial loss to the copyright holder, and these should not be bracketed with those breaches of copyright where the intent is to deprive the copyright owner of the remuneration they are due.

One final thought; there are currently 106 episodes of Dr Who missing from the archive. There are vast numbers of episodes of other TV shows missing, too. Loads of early Peel Session. Virtually everything the Beatles ever did for Top of the Pops.... I could go on... Just think... if the means and methods we have today for "breaching copyright" were available back then, the gaps in these archives would have been so much smaller...

"...another year over..."

I've kind of been a little lazy on the ol' blog this year, as the number of posts contained here attest, as well as the large gaps between posts. Must try to improve this in the new year. Anyhow... 2011... what did you bring us...?

Well, politically speaking there was the realisation that Cameron and Osborne managed to succeed where Blair and Brown failed. That is, they appear to have achieved an end to boom and bust. The nation rejoiced, until they realised that meant we were stuck with bust...

Actually, much about the government continued to depress and annoy. The announcement, the day before the public sector strike on November 30th, that after a two year pay freeze for public sector workers (2011, 2012) that the next two years' pay increases would be capped at 1% (2013, 2014) was rather less a case of bad timing, and more a case of perfectly calculated timing by Osborne. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Prime Minster's questions continues to be a fascinating insight in to the machinations of government, and really makes you wonder how they ever get anything done. However, the reaction to Cameron's "Calm down, dear"comment was somewhat overblown, and totally out of perspective. I'm no great fan of his, but if you're going to berate him at least do it for something worthwhile, not because he quoted a Michael Winner TV ad.

The braying that goes on in the chambers when PMQ is on does Parliament no favours. The number of times the Speaker, John Bercow, has to upbraid unruly MPs for their behaviour is astonishing. These are meant to be the people governing our country; yet they act worse than a pack of unruly school children. And this applies to members on both sides of the house. When a member stands up to ask a question, I want to hear that question. And when the Prime Minister answers, I want to hear the answer. That's the point of it.

I can't help but wish more of the Houses of Parliament was available in an easily downloadable format. Only PMQs really is via a Guardian podcast, and that's not always entirely reliable. Other debates can be watched on parliament.gov (I think that's the right site), but you can't download the audio to listen to on your iPod on the way to work. There's been a few debates this year I wouldn't have minded listening to in full. Notably, the phone hacking one.

The phone hacking hoo-ha can't really have been any great surprise; back in the day when you could listen in to any old mobile phone conversation (with the old analogue mobile networks), the papers were at it al the time. There were whole conversations of Princess Di's printed, for example. So, if there were a way to listen in to voicemails, then it's not a stretch of the imagination to think that the press would do so... and, indeed there had been all sorts of mentions of it in years past. Piers Morgan even mentioned the trick in one of his books (though it should of course be noted that at no point in his books does he state that he ever hacked, or sanctioned the hacking, of a phone). But, a surprise it was to many, and in the end caused the closure of an entire newspaper. An action which many thought an over-reaction. It's not like they were the only paper to use the tactic.

The best single of the year arrived suddenly, at least to me, in the last fortnight of the year. On the way home one day very close to Christmas, Tarrant (standing in for Wrighty) played a song that entranced me. It was playing just as I was parking, and unusually I stayed sat in the car listening to the whole song to its end, even after the point Tarrant started yakking over the end. This song was Dance by The Brilliant Things, and as the band's name would suggest, it is quite, quite, brilliant.

Of the films I saw this year (and I am well aware there were some glaring omissions that I never got around to seeing; TTSS, and ROTPOTA, to name but two) my favourite came as quite a surprise to me. Not only was it a documentary, but also it was about a sport that I'm not overly enamoured with. This movie was Senna, which told the story of Ayton Senna's career in F1 racing; it was absolutely wonderful. All the footage was contemporaneous, and totally eschewed the "talking head" approach to documentary making that seems to be all pervading. All interviews were from the time, with none looking back from a 2011 perspective. This was quite a refreshing approach as it allowed the story to unravel as it happened, with everything seen as it was with no modern spin put on things.

Really, I would urge everyone reading this to watch Senna; even if you have no great interest in the sport.

The saddest thing on telly this year was the last ever episode of Spooks. It should have been expected that there would be no happy ending... but when it arrived it was devastating. The final shot of Harry, back at work, answering the phone... knowing how it could have played out, what the happy ending might have been. It just gave you a big lump in your throat. And you just knew that Harry would remain with 5 for the rest of his days.

The third generation of Skins arrived, and were probably the least impressive lot yet. The main trouble for me was that I really didn't think they gelled as a group anything like as well as the first two generations. It's not like I expect them all to be bestest of buddies or anything (that would make for terrible drama), but I just didn't think the group worked. There were individual episodes that were really great, but on the whole the weakest season yet. It'll be interesting to see where they go with Season 6, which must surely be on telly very soon in the new year.

There was good news at the annual Missing Believed Wiped event at the BFI in December with the return of two previously missing Dr Who episodes; Galaxy 4, episode 3, and The Underwater Menace episode 2. The latter was probably the most new episode of Dr Who I'd seen all year, and only went to reinforce how sad it is that the majority of Patrick Troughton's episodes of Dr Who remain missing, believed wiped...

A sad thing Dr Who related was that the new animated version of the never completed Season 17 story, Shada, was turned down for a DVD release. This version had been privately commissioned by Ian Levine, using as many surviving cast members as possible (the only notable omission being Tom Baker; whose lines were performed by Paul Jones, who does a decent impression of the great man). This version uses all the existing filmed footage, and animates the rest. It's a great shame that as things stand it's not going to get a much wider audience, as it's without any doubt the best version of Shada yet made (the other three being the 80s version with on screen text describing the action, the 90s version with Tom narrating the gaps, and the 00s version with Big Finish remaking the entire thing replacing Tom with Paul McGann). With luck, the position on this will eventually change and it will get the release it so very much deserves.

Of course, the other two sad events in the Dr Who world were the deaths of Nicholas Courtney, and Elisabeth Sladen. I made the mistake of reading Doctor Who Magazine's tribute issue to Courtney on the train to work; by the time I'd got to Tom Baker's tribute there were tears in my eyes. I made sure I read the Sladen issue safely ensconced at home.

So, farewell then, 2011... and hello 2012. What will you bring? Certainly not the end of the world due to "Mayan prophecies" or any of that load of old Tottenham... : )

"...every silver lining has a cloud..."

After the good news about the two missing episodes of Dr Who turning up, there's been a bit of less good news, in a "so close, but so far" style. Over at the missing episodes forum someone asked;

Was reading through the comments of the Guardian article on the recent find and came across a poster who posted:
"An ex-brother-in-law of mine from Sierra Leone claimed in the early 1990s that he had seen a stack of tape reels of Dr. Who shows archived in a Freetown broadcasting studio. Some of the more intrepid Whoies may want to follow up on this as I've since lost contact with the man.
http://www.slbc.sl/ "

Not sure if Sierra Leone has been searched or not (I'm new, still reading through the thread!), just thought I'd bring it to someones attention

Paul Vanezis responded to this;

Well it's a good spot, although a few people have already emailed me with the info. I can now confirm that there is no material in Sierra Leone, but I can also say that we think the report is correct, that there were Dr. Who and other films in Sierra Leone in the early 1990's. In fact, we think we know which ones.

I'm afraid that between 1991 and 2002 the civil war prevented any meaningful exploration of their archives and we very recently discovered that the TV station, including their entire archive, was destroyed during the civil war, we think in 1999.

The list of material lost is far too distressing to print here.

A look at the episodes they got over there, and a bit of reading between the lines, makes for depressing reading...

"...he's as mad as a hatter..."

So. Today was Missing Believed Wiped at the BFI. Only the second time I've been. The lure of a previously missing Dennis Potter play, and the... speculation... as to what the sci fi treat was tempted me down again. And, boy was I glad.

The event kicked off with a screening of the aforementioned Potter play, from the Thirty Minute Theatre strand, called Emergency Ward 9. Present at the screening was Kenith Trodd, who worked with Potter on so many productions (including this one), who spoke briefly about the play. It was every bit as good as I had expected it to be, and was well performed by the cast (I have a memory it was done live, but would have to check to be sure). The racism of one of the characters, Flanders played by Terence De Marney, was quite shocking, really, and there were many nervous laughs throughout the audience. The thing was, though, that you never got the impression he was being malicious, rather he was a very misguided character; so much so, that when there was a sudden act of violence towards him, you couldn't help but feel sad for him. I very much hope it gets a DVD release at some point in the future.

Next up was the Mumford Puppets, and this really was my least favourite part of the event. I'm not a fan of puppet stuff at all; I don't even care for Gerry Anderson's stuff. I can't help but wish that this section had been canned, and the time given over to showing one of the other shows in full, rather than an extract...

An episode of Overseas Press Club called The Man Who Changed Faces followed. This was... interesting. It was one of those shows that initially started off bad, and got worse, and then sunk to such depths that it became so bad it was good... a resistance fighter has plastic surgery to resemble a high ranking Nazi soldier, who then passed on information back to the resistance... The quality of the acting was such that the wooden chairs had more charisma. The script, for what it was worth (about 7p) was full of lines that made everyone chuckle. Yet, somehow, it worked. And made me want to see more...

Next was a clip of Pete 'n' Dud from a show called Showtime; it was just brilliant. But then any Pete 'n' Dud clips usually are brilliant; the way the par sparked off each other... wonderful.

Then came the sci fi treat... and what a treat. 35 minutes of previously missing Dr Who...

We started with about 10 minutes of Airlock, the third episode of the Hartnell story Galaxy Four. We got to see a Rill on screen for the first time in many years indeed, which for most of us would be the first time we've seen them. Poor ol' Billy had a bit of a fluff with one of the props in the Rill ship as a piece clearly fell off the controls as Vicki got trapped. There was, also, a great scene with Maaga berating her clones. The performance was great, a real sense of exasperation as she complains about how crap they are. But, just as it was getting started, really, the screen cut to black...

...and we got a complete episode, The Underwater Menace 2, which is now the earliest surviving Patrick Troughton episode, and boy it's a good one. Now, I love The Underwater Menace; I think its previously sole surviving episode, #3, is probably the single episode of Who I've watched more than any other. #2 is just as good. A good chunk of the first half of the episode consists of Troughton and Josef Furst's wonderful Professor Zaroff sparking off each other in the Prof's laboratory. And it works really well. The expressions on Troughton's face as Zaroff does the usual bad guy thing of explaining his plan are just brilliant, and make you so glad the episode was found. We don't get to see Zaroff's pet octopus, though...

Later, when the Doctor is trying to convince Thous that Zaroff is mad (as a hatter, in fact...!) we also get some great expressions from Troughton. In fact, the more Troughton you see, the more you wish that we could get lots more of his stuff back. Let's not forget, shall we, that this episode is the first Troughton to be recovered in the twenty (yes *twenty*) years since The Tomb of the Cybermen was found.

The episode is physically not in too great shape, but this was an unrestored copy, so I'm sure that by the time the restoration team get working their magic on it, it will look brilliant. It was also very interesting that the copy of the print was one that must have been down under in Australia at some point, as it was missing the censor clips recovered from there a few years back; these will be reinstated when restored.

I was just so blissfully happy watching the episode. I really never thought I'd get to see any more of the Underwater Menace, and had pretty much started to get to the thinking that there were no more to find. But, from out of nowhere these two episodes came. And, like The Lion and Day of Armegeddon, they were in the collection of a person who had no idea they had the only copies of these episodes.

Makes you wonder if there are any more out there...

"...wow..."

It is a very rare occasion when an article in The News of the Screws makes me gleefully happy (mainly 'cos I never buy the rag), but my attention was drawn to this article:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/xs/208641/DR-Who-Celeb-XS.html

which does inded make me gleefully happy.

If it proves to be true, I shall indeed probably explode with excitement. The prospect that The Moff might give Hannah Murray the companion role in Dr Who is just too exciting to contemplate. I would go so far as to say that in terms of excitement, and Dr Who, only the return of Dr Who in 2005 would have been more exciting.

I just hope it turns out to be true...!

"...wow..."

At the end of yesterday's blog entry I added, almost as an afterthought, that the person Steven Moffatt should cast as the companion alongside Matt Smith's Doctor Who should be Hannah Murray. So, here's a bit more about it...

Hannah Murray came to fame as one of the stars of E4's Skins, playing the anorexic character Cassie. Her performance there was quite superb, and a good showcase of this is in the second episode of the first season, which centred around her character. It is a testament to her acting skills that you are drawn in to the story, and her struggle with anorexia. That last shot of the episode of her about to take a bite out of some food just brings a tear of hope to your eyes. She did, to my mind, give the best performance in the show.

Last summer she appeared in the Polly Stenham play, That Face, at the Duke of York's Theatre, alongside a certain Matt Smith. She is soon to be seen in one of the new Marples, entitled "Why didn't they ask Evans?"

There is a Facebook group set up to, somehow, try to get word to Steven Moffatt to plant her name in his mind so that when casting for the companion starts the first name that springs to mind is Hannah Murray. If you're on Facebook take a look, join, and tell all your friends. Especially if one of your friends is Steven Moffatt...! 

Here are some pictures:

And links:

Wikipedia

IMDB

"...doesn't your balloon ever land...?"

It's been a rather hectic week and a half for Doctor Who fans, with two rather important things. First up was the fourth, now annual, Christmas special. Entitled The Next Doctor, the plot teased us to think that the Doctor had met a future incarnation of himself in the shape of David Morrissey. Initial speculation centred on how the episode was absolutely certain to be an adaptation in some form of the Big Finish audio CD, in which the Doctor bumps in to a person claiming to be a future incarnation of himself in the shape of, erm, Christopher Biggins. In this story, called The One Doctor, the other Doctor is revealed to be a con man called Banto Zane (Panto Dame, anyone...?). However, it was soon obvious that the only similarity the stories shared was that each had an alternative Doctor.

Prior to its broadcast, there was also much speculation (once the "One Doctor" theory had been explcitly denied by Russell T Davies) that Morrissey's Doctor was truly a future Doctor and was in fact, literally, going to be the next Doctor, the one to take over from David Tennant. Again, this was not to be the case.

Anyhow... enough of the speculatory talk.

What we ended up with was, to my mind, the best of the four Christmas specials thus far. It's apparent early on that Morrissey is not a real Doctor; the only question is that if he's not the Doctor, who is he? Like all good mysteries, the clues are seeded throughout and in hindsight, once you know the answer, it's rather obvious. Blatant even. But that first time you see it, when Tennant says "I think I've worked it out...", and it's only halfway through the episode (I was convinced Russell would keep us waiting until the end...), it's such a wonderful moment. As Tennant explains everything to Morrissey, you can see the latter is really struggling to come to terms with what he's being told; the sheer strength of the performances of both Doctors is what really elevates this episode up. I really wanted Morrissey to be a real Doctor, to be the next Doctor, but it was not to be. His performance is one of the very best guest appearances throughout RTD Who. 

The episode is not without its faults, however; the most notable and glaring one is the Morrissey plays no part in the climactic scenes with the Cyber-KIng. Yes, he's there on the ground; but frankly he should have been up there in the Ballon with Tennant. Given that he had previously stated that he'd never been up in the balloon - his Tardis (Tethered Arial Release Developed In Style!!!) - and that was one of his ambitions, you really would have thought that Russell could have come up with a conclusion that put him there, in the thick of the action once again showing how it was his own courage that made him do the brave things he did, rather than just from the memories he had gleaned from the info-stamp about the Doctor. Really, the more scenes with DT and DM together, the better I say.

Anyhow, despite this minor qualm, it made for a great episode, and as I said earlier, the best of the Christmas Specials to date.

But... if David Morrissey was not to take over from David Tennant... then who? We did not have to wait for long.

The sudden announcement that the Eleventh Doctor would be announced during an edition of Doctor Who Confidential sent Dr Who forums in to meltdown. The OG forums spent the best part of a couple of days going in to, and out of, and back in to "patron only" lock down mode. Speculation became rife again as to who it would be with most commentators seeming to think it was a two horse race between Paterson Joseph and Chiwitel Ejiofor. Either of which who would have been great.

Meanwhile, over at the betting exchange website, Betfair, out of nowhere a new favourite emerged. Someone whose odds, at the time betting on the site closed at about half four on Saturday, were down to 1-10 (that is; bet a quid, and your winnings would be 10p...). Could this have been because people "in the know" as to the new Doctor's identity were out to make a few quid by putting money on to, what was to them, a dead certainty?

This person's name was Matt Smith, and sure enough shortly before 6pm on Saturday January 4th, he was announced as the eleventh Doctor.

Dr Who forums, once again, went in to meltdown. The reaction to his casting was somewhat mixed, most notably relating to his looks. Many people were whinging because "I can't believe they cast such a pretty-boy as the Doctor" and equally as many were whinging because "I can't believe they cast such an ugmo as the Doctor". Some of the vitriol and hate that spewed out was, to my mind, somewhat sickening, and went far beyond jovial mickey taking and in to the realms of out and out abuse. 

What abuse there was that wasn't centred on his looks was instead heaped on his age. So, he's 26. Get a grip. This is the actor that has been chosen for the part by Steven Moffatt, and frankly I trust his opinion a lot more than any of the nay-sayers who seem to think his young age and his pretty/ugly looks automatically mean he's unsuitable to play the Doctor. There have been several people claiming they will never watch the show again calling the casting things like "absolute bullshit" and "the worst decision ever" and various other things like that. 

I mean, give the chap a chance. At least wait until you've seen at least his regeneration scene, or even better, his first episode, before saying such things. But, I guess this is Doctor Who fandom we're talking about here where given all the spiel about how this is a show that can go anywhere and do anything, how the Doctor is always fighting for the underdog and for giving people a chance, that so many people who purport to be fans have such closed minds. It's sad really. You can see why Russell referred to some sections of fandom as "mosquitoes"...

I'm optimistic about how he'll turn out. I trust Steven Moffatt to get it right, and for him to place the future of the show on the shoulders of Matt Smith, then I have no doubt he knows exactly what he's doing. If I was casting, I can't say I'd have picked Smith - I'd have gone for either Adrian Lester or Stefan Dennis - but that's part of the fun of the announcement of each new Doctor, the surprise, and wondering how he'll turn out. Smith was certainly a surprise - well, until the Betfair betting patterns made him a dead cert - and it's surprise like these that make being a Doctor Who fan so exciting. It's hard to imagine how Smith will approach the role at this stage, but it's going to be fun finding out. 

Spring 2010 is going to be a great time for telly as not only is that when this new era of Doctor Who will start, but also when Lost ends... 

Epilogue:

• I have now passed a milestone in that for the first time in my life the incumbent Doctor is younger than I am. Makes me feel so old...!
• And how long will it be before we find out who Smith's companion will be... I reckon it should be Hannah Murray. She would be great! 

"...and a happy new year; let's hope it's a good one..."

I guess it's a tradition, or an old charter, or something that everyone doing a blog should do a post reviewing the previous year. So this be mine.

The year started with the US writers' strike in full flow. This had a massive impact on pretty much every TV show, and meant truncated seasons, postponed episodes, and even in some cases shows being axed. My initial assessment that Heroes would be the show that suffered least proved somewhat wrong. The theory went that as Volume 2 was going to be the first 11 episodes of Season 2, and these 11 episodes were completed that this would merely mean Volume 3 was delayed. However, when they made V2 Ep11, they completely reshot the ending, ensuring the Volume 3 we had was completely different from that which was initally intended. Then, when Volume 3 did arrive, as good as it was there were some rather strong feelings of deja-vu with many re-treads of previously well worn ground. On top of that, there was some really quite bad continuity flubs (most notably the Sylar & Elle flashback). 

Lost probably suffered least in that its fourth season was truncated by just 2 episodes, from 16 to 14, and these removed episodes will be added to Seasons 5 & 6. It also happened that Season 4 of Lost was the best telly all year. This season managed to answer questions, and heap on more layers of mystery, and managed to do both seamlessly and without appearing forced. The new characters - the freighter folk - slotted in really well, and now it's as if they've been there all along. Michael Emerson deserves special mention for his performance as Ben. He's really been through the wringer this season, and he always makes for compelling watching. The scene where Keamy is holding Alex, Ben's adoptive daughter, hostage with a gun to her head is on the face of it a typical "Ben in a problem" scene. You know he'll find a way out of the predicament, save Alex and whup Keamy's arse... It's what he does. As he later says to Locke; "Don't you ever learn, John, I always have a plan." But then it all goes wrong, and Keamy shoots her, at point blank range, in the head... We then cut to a shot of Ben, shocked, stunned, thinking. The expression on his face... oh, it says more than any line of dialogue ever could. 

BSG had only ten episodes of its final, fourth, season shown, and really it wasn't that great for the most part. Early episodes trundled on by, and frankly had I been watching Season 1 of a show, rather than its last, I would have stopped watching. This is the main trouble with BSG; it's a show of extremes. Episodes like 33, and the New Caprica episodes, and Pegasus are wonderful slices of telly. But there are also depths like most of Season 4 thus far. It just seemed to meander along, and it wasn't until the last three episodes where it finally kicked in to gear... leading to one of the biggest surprises, the arrival on Earth. Now, everyone thought that would be in the very last episode. But, no, ten more to go. Question is, will these last ten be a high or a low...? And who is the twelfth Cylon? It's either someone dead, or someone on that Cylon ship right near the end of the last run...

Doctor Who had another great run of episodes. The new Davros was performed really well (although he does make my three year old daughter fall to the floor in spasms of laughter every time she sees him), and the big finale this year was essentially a celebration of Russell T Davies' Greatest Hits. But the best episode this year was Midnight, which was more or less a ghost story set in a single room. It was spooky, atmospheric, and kept you guessing until the very end. And even then it didn't really explain what the monster was... just wonderful. 

Other random TV bits:

• Diana should clearly have won the X-Factor. Cloth eared buffoons.
• Knight Rider came back, and it was as cheesy as ever.
• John Sergeant shouldn't have quit Strictly Come Dancing, and Rachel should have won.
• Stefan Dennis remains the best thing in Neighbours. 

Possibly the most surprising thing to happen this year was Guns 'n' Roses releasing their much awaited album, Chinese Democracy. The only other thing that was possibly so surprising was that it turned out to be a damn good album. It had been something like 14-15 years in the making so should have been a complete mess, but in the end it turned out really well, and is probably the second best of the four proper GNR albums. It started with a siren, a warning almost; and the first time we hear Axl's voice he is literally screaming. It's great. It's a damn fine collection of songs, with a couple more potential singles on there. It's really much better than anyone could have hoped for. If rumours are true there is a chance of a GNR tour next year... but with most of the original line up together again. Including Slash. But I'll believe it when I see them walk out on stage.

Another band returning after a long absence was Even As We Speak who performed a one-off gig earlier in the year. To see them was a truly great sight to behold. They even had Shelley/Orlando's Tim Chipping filling in for absent members. One of the very best performances I have ever seen was at the start of the gig when Mary did a few songs on her own, accompanied only by her guitar. The performance she did of Bizarre Love Triangle was so perfectly judged, with an eerie haunting voice... just bliss, sheer bliss. 

More tomorrow...