Library Tapes Hi folks, I'm rescuing my analogue filmography from 300 VHS tapes. Expect Doctor Who fan films and cable TV curiosities. Here at 26 there are references to a number of my shows, which'll be increasingly online. For those, stay tuned!...
Mars bar-off What's in a name? A fair bit of variety, when it comes to Mars bars. A family of different confections bear the name, or are related to it. It's no coincidence that the slogan "a Mars bar a day...
Dapol Model Railway A treat for anyone with an eye for detail. A good deal of Dapol's production facility was taken up with this exhibition. There could never have been enough time for me to feast my eyes on everything they laid out...
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth Being episodic got it made but at last this feature film can be enjoyed as such. *Red Dwarf: Back to Earth* wasn’t a huge success with me when first broadcast but the main problem back then was it being chopped up.
Marilyn Monroe Marilynfinity Early nineties Photoshop play with a Richard Avedon composite of Marilyn Monroe. Marilynfinity...
Silent Morbius Initial North American broadcasts of 'Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius, Part One' had no incidental music or sound effects, apart from opening and closing theme music. Who knows why. Perhaps the tape was intended for a non-English-speaking country...
Spoilers As premieres near, advance media prompts debate about what things constitute spoilers. Consider instead what avoiding spoilers really means.
People Creative Cohorts From Australia, across the USA and up and down the UK, here's a quick list of fellow fan filmmakers and podcast pals. Some I've contributed work to, some I've been shoulder to shoulder with and with some I've just exchanged tapes and tips.
Avengers The Avengers at Perfect Pitch From series 4 of The Avengers, when Diana Rigg joined the cast as Mrs Emma Peel, the programme had ceased to be television in the classic Doctor Who style. "These were movies, made on 35mm film with the best...
Teletext Future "Getting the software available to all has democratised the platform." – Carl Attrill, Facebook, 18 April 2017 Teletext is back and it's here to stay. In some countries it never went away. Broadcast engineers and a community of enthusiasts...
Teletext Design What can you do with a screenful of teletext? Some answers are found in this look at design examples past and present. The deceptively simple teletext canvas accommodates an almost endless variety of art. The graphics pixels in teletext are...
Allen Halden Allen appears as Sarah Jane Smith in 'The Tardis Adventure' and has performed other fan film characters. Tabletop wargamer, participant in period Medieval revels, all round good guy.
Sherlock The BBC One series Sherlock reworks the original tales of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, respectively. This overview of the programme is chiefly an aid to memory; it has...
Doctor Who Steven Moffat in The Writers Room Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and his script editor Nick Lambon gave a talk as part of the BBC's Writers Room project.
Teletext Lives When Ceefax ended in 2012, the world lost its flagship teletext service. By that point however, the new information landscape was already teeming with a community of experts and enthusiasts who have taken up the teletext torch. Teefax Having worked...
TV Centre hasn't closed BBC Television Centre hasn't closed – it's being opened up. The majority of the site was temporarily shut in 2013 – marked by a televised evening of nostalgic tribute and complaints about the loss of what we had. Both have been echoed...
Comedy Sir Laurence Greetings Playing the good Doctor in Doctor Who, 'Sir Laurence' Klein plays close to centre, which is to say he's a nice guy with amazing skills. Here's a bit of holiday cheer he made for my family that's totally worth sharing...
Sci-Fi WhoGasm '84 The end of an advance screening of Colin Baker's debut as the sixth Doctor Who. Raleigh, North Carolina, November 1984. 'Doctor Who' excerpt © BBC. Background: the Doctor Who episode excerpted in this video was first broadcast in Britain earlier in...
Anime Voltron and I The Voltron Force When TV distribution syndicates upgraded from film to videotape, the colours and sound of anime made a big splash and Voltron led the way. Following the Japananese sentai (battle team) tradition, the Voltron Force wear multi-coloured uniforms...
Doctor Who Doctor Who: Dark Alliance On a distant planet, a secret war council gathers at the castle of Princess Felina. The Doctor arrives in search of a cure for Sarah Jane Smith, who's been transformed by his timeship, TARDIS. Fan film.
Doctor Who Doctor Who: Dark Alliance, Part 2 Conclusion. On a distant planet, a secret war council has gathered at the castle of Princess Felina. They have captured two intruders: The Doctor and a very different-looking Sarah Jane Smith. Fan film. Return to Part 1 Doctor Who Sir...
Documentary Doctor Who Surprise! This fan film / documentary was made at a small Doctor Who-themed event on the North Carolina State University campus. The cast were strangers to each other, united by a video camera into The Beeblebrox Company (bbc). Doctor Who Sir Laurence...
Locations Guide You're late arriving on set, but not to worry – these Google maps take you there and then some, with text and photo pop-ups on each pin. It was super nostalgic for me to visit the old haunts; let it be...
Doctor Who Doctor Who: The Bells of St John Attempted damsel dazzling with a 'snog box' The baddies are drawing people’s very essences into their computer systems via the world’s wi-fi and it looks like The Doctor may yet again have to attend the death of Clara,...
