New Who Clues (pt 11)

Well, not really, as almost all of the ongoing mysteries have been revealed. There's still some goings-on concerning the "something" on Donna's back, but more on that below.

So the Doctor is regenerating! Well, no, because Tennant's in the Christmas episode with the Black Cybermen and David Morrissey, so what is going on? Clues...

There was a very conspicuous close up on that severed hand early on in the episode, and one that served no purpose. Yet.

And when the Doctor was shot, the "extermination" visual effect only covered a quarter of his body, not the whole thing as it does with others. That quarter just happened to include the arm that matches up to that severed hand.

So I reckon that only some of the Doctor's body (including only one of his two hearts) was damaged by the Dalek, that his regeneration won't take, and that he'll be caught in some kind of mid-regeneration, Ten-and-a-Half, state. The process will be happily reversed by the end of the episode by somehow using that severed hand to replace the dying bit of the Doctor.

How the lingering plot threads regarding Donna will turn out, I have no idea, but I do wonder if she'll have anything to do with fixing the regeneration. There's also a suggestion that she still has one of those time-bugs on her back, so perhaps she's going to change history again; if they use that to turn back time once more and undo everything, that'll be annoying.

Is the Joke on You?

There's a pleasant newly-pedestrianised bit in Brighton, just by all the theatres and the Pavilion gardens. You'll often see performers down there doing bits and pieces, as it's a perfect spot for that kind of stuff. Today, there was a bloke dressed in scruffy clothes and make up, like Heath Ledger's vaguely trampish Joker from the upcoming Batman sequel, standing on a bench proselytising about false gods and chaos.

Given that there's been lots of "viral" marketing for the film, things like why so serious?, I did wonder if this was just some random street performer (quite likely down here), or if the film people are paying actors to go out and act like the Joker. I don't think it was related to this, as it was more of a performance than a photo op, and besides, no one was taking pictures.

Has anyone else seen a Joker recently?

Planet of the Apes

The Spanish government awards human rights to apes, while the US Supreme Court makes a ruling that suggests that they deserve said rights more than we do.

Meanwhile in Brighton, Starbucks defend the illegal opening of a coffee shop by claiming that it is not a coffee shop at all.

New Who Clues (pt 10)

Cracking episode (although it did borrow quite liberally from Donnie Darko, which isn't a bad thing), and lots of ongoing threads got referenced. It seems clear that the disappearing planets have something to do with "the Darkness" (the Daleks), and Rose has come back to help defeat said Darkness. The disappearing bees got a mention again, but I can't begin to imagine how that has anything to do with a Dalek invasion, so I wonder if the writers are planning ahead, and the bees will come into play in Series Five? I'm also quite intrigued by the "What are you? What will you become?" the fortune teller (a welcome reappearance from last series' Chantho) spat at Donna; I wonder where they're going with that? There were rumours knocking around earlier in the year that Donna might be a regenerated Romana, but that seems a bit cheap...

Gordon Brown Knows the Score?

A while ago, a petition was circulated, asking for Alan Moore's work to be recognised. Now, the petition seems to have been answered.

Thank you for taking the trouble to sign this e-petition.

The Prime Minister recognises the achievements of Alan Moore and the widespread regard in which he is held.

This is highlighted by the hundreds of people who have signed the e-petition on the No 10 website calling for him to be honoured.

I'll believe it when I see it.

New Who Clues (pt 8 & 9)

No clues last week, although the Confidential had incoming showrunner Steven Moffatt talking about other stories in which the Doctor meets people he hasn't met yet, in particular the Elizabeth I moment from "The Shakespeare Code", which suggests that we might be seeing that implied story at sometime. Still, the library two-parter was a great bit of storytelling, and the series is in safe hands with Moffatt.

A surprisingly good story this week too. Very tense, with some interesting things to say about humanity and the Doctor's faith in the race, quite spooky in parts, and a nice contrast with what looks like some epic storytelling coming up. We also got another cameo by Rose, another mention of a lost planetoid, and another mention of the mysterious "Medusa Cascade".

The upcoming story, probably another multi-part finale, looks to be quite epic, and I hope Russell T Davies is up to the challenge. I'm still not looking forward to bloody Davros though.

500: I Wish I Could Quit You, Ray Mears

It's been a slow and lazy day here at chez Brainsplurge, so we've been watching a fair bit of telly.

I introduced Meg to The Fall Guy on Five US today. It was a bog standard bit of 80's adventure television (and why don't they make adventure shows any more?), but for some reason, it was signed. Now, I'm completely in favour of signed television, but I did wonder how many deaf people are going to be watching The Fall Guy repeats on an obscure channel on Sunday afternoon?

Meg then went to the pub, and missed Ray Mears meeting the Bush Tucker Man. Ray and BTM are off camping in the wilderness, eating roots, berries, river mussels and the like, as you'd expect. What you might not expect is what happens at about 2:30 here:



Two blokes. Camping. Wilderness. That music. The BTM had even been talking about how his friends thought he was "fishing" when he was out learning his bushcraft. Was it an accident, or is there someone mischievous in the music department at BBC Bristol?

500th post, and it's about telly. Sorry.