Losing it[1]

Just caught up with some posts I’ve been meaning to get round to for a while. I’ll be doing some more reviews soon, or at least as soon as I’ve finished this book I want to tell you about[1]…

[1] The identity of the book is being kept secret to generate some spurious tension

I mentioned Sky Captain when I saw it in the cinema last year, so this is just a quick update on the DVD. There are some nice extras - the usual “behind the scenes” stuff (lots of shots of actors strolling around blue screen sets), some deleted scenes, and a moderately silly gag reel.

Perhaps the most interesting extra is the original six-minute short film that was created something like five years before the movie was released - it’s presented as the first chapter in a serial, very much in the Flash Gordon style. Most of it appears virtually unchanged in the final movie, but it’s an entertaining little piece.

It’s also interesting to learn how this developed from a very low budget project into a major production. And the movie’s a lot of fun, too. As I said last time I mentioned it.

For those who’ve been living under a rock for the last year or two, the new Doctor Who series will start soon[1]. But apparently some people just can’t wait[2] and someone has allegedly leaked an early cut of the first episode. Well, according to this BBC report, anyway.

Personally, I’d rather watch it on a proper TV screen than on a computer…

[1] On Saturday March 26 in the UK
[2] Really! And it’s only been about 16 years or so since the regular series finished[3]
[3] And only about nine years since the one-off Paul McGann version[4]
[4] Done as a co-production with an American company[5]
[5] It showed

This is a slightly[1] overdue review. While Want Two[2] was released only a week or so ago in the UK, I got this on import last year, as I couldn’t be bothered waiting for record companies to get their act together. The release here might have been deliberately timed to coincide with Rufus’s tour[3], but on the other hand it might be general weirdness.

This is Rufus’s fourth album, and it’s pretty much the usual kind of thing - lots of operatic touches coupled with distinctly unsuitable lyrics[5], and some damn catch tunes.

I’m particularly keen on The One You Love, which might even be out as a single[6]. If I had a clue about musical arrangements and the like, I would probably be able to describe this more coherently, but let’s just say it has an interesting rhythm and some lyrics that stick in the mind[7]

The mind has so many pictures
Why can’t I sleep with my eyes open
The mind has so many memories
Can you remember what it looks like when I cry

Another little gem is The Art Teacher, sung from the point of view of a woman looking back to when she was a schoolgirl who fell in love with her art teacher, and

All this having been said,
I married an executive company head
All this having been done, a Turner - I own one
Here I am in this uniformish pantsuit sort of thing
Thinking of the art teacher
I was just a girl then
And never have I loved since then
No never have I loved any other man

You can find some short sound samples on Rufus’s website if you’re interested. If you do fancy this CD, look for the limited edition with the extra DVD - it includes a full length concert as well as Rufus walking around San Francisco enjoying the scenery[8]

[1] Understatement
[2] The follow-up to 2003’s Want One
[3] I’ve got tickets!![4]
[4] Now all I’ve got to do is persuade someone to go with me…
[5] Plenty to offend the kind of people who get offended by this kind of thing
[6] Can’t quite see Rufus troubling the singles chart, but stranger things have happened.
[7] Well my mind, anyway
[8] So to speak

Now this makes a change. A Doctor Who DVD release of a story I’d never actually seen before. Or if I did, I was about five years old and it’s been deleted from long term storage[1]. Anyway, what we have here is a story from 1968 featuring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, Frazer Hines[2] as Jamie and Wendy Padbury as Zoe. All in glorious black and white[3], and (as usual with these DVD releases) remastered, digitally processed and generally magicked into a remarkably watchable piece. It would still be watchable if the quality was poor, but the restoration work does help…

This was something of an experiment for Doctor Who - unlike the usual pure sf or historical stories of the time, this was more of an exercise in fantasy. It obviously didn’t catch on, as subsequently the series stayed with sf.

Anyway, as the Tardis is threatened with being destroyed in a volcanic eruption, the Doctor activates an emergency device which removes it from normal space and time, and into a strange environment. Stranger than usual for Doctor Who, even. The Doctor and his companions find themselves in a world populated by characters from fiction, such as Gulliver, and some rather dangerous mythological creatures to make things more, err, interesting.

As one might expect, there is a controlling force at the centre of all this, and it has designs on the Doctor. Can the Doctor avoid being turned into a fictional character[4] and so falling under control of the master[5] of the world of fiction? Will he and his companions ever return to normal space and time? Well, of course they will. But there’s a lot of fun and games in the process.

This stands up quite well, despite the limitations imposed at the time - very basic effects, recording time so limited that fluffed lines occur a few times and the general low budget feel. I enjoyed it, and not just as a historical curiosity.

Along with the five episodes of the story, the BBC have included the usual generous selection of extras:

• The ever-popular production subtitles - lots of on-screen background information
• A rather good “making of” documentary with contributions from some of the cast and crew
• Frazer Hines talking about his role as Jamie
• And, err, a Basil Brush sketch from the 70s, included because it used one of the Yeti costumes used in another Patrick Troughton story. I remember watching Basil at the time. More nostalgia

All in all, another quality release from the BBC, who deserve a lot of credit for the Doctor Who DVDs.

And of course, the new Doctor Who series starts soon. I’m really looking forward to that!

[1] Funny, it’s usually my short term memory that’s bad
[2] Perhaps better-known these days for spending many years on Emmerdale Farm
[3] Doctor Who didn’t switch to colour until the beginning of the Jon Pertwee era
[4] Yes, yes, I know
[5] Not to be confused with The Master, of course

This morning’s weight was a wee bit down at 203.4 pounds (14 stone 7.4 pounds, 92.3kg). I’m taking a break from the full exercise routine tonight, but I did have a longer than usual walk to work this morning, as I had to take a detour to pickup a parcel[1], which led to a nice uphill walk into Gateshead (my usual route is pretty flat).

And I walked a bit quicker coming home, too.

[1] Star Trek: Voyager Series 6 DVD set