Prompted by a a comment made elsewhere, it occurs to me to do a quick update to my BFA Doctor Who reccs list.

Rather than editing that post - and because I'm in a bit of a tizzy, today - I'm just going to mention the stories released over the past year that I think are worth listening to:

( Cut for politeness' sake - minor spoilers )

...with the rest of the world and watching Voyage of the Damned. As I'm only 45 seconds in at this point, all I can say is: Stop messing with my theme tune, dammit!

*ahem*

Sorry. I don't cope well with changes to That Show.

Edit: Um, what's with all the fat jokes?

Oh! It's just The Poseidon Adventure, redux. I see. But with killer robots. RTD does love using 'em, doesn't he?

Right then, just some quick thoughts on the latest BFA DW story, Bride of Peladon by Barnaby Edwards (Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem)

( Spoilers, ahoy! )

I've been falling down on the fannish front, lately. I ascribe this to several factors, not the least of which being:

- Still recovering from the massive fannish overdose that is Gallifrey One. It's my favorite convention of the year but, oh boy, does it take a while to dig out from under all the audios and books and toys one brings home. (Just completed the pile o'Prisoner reading. Am moving on to Sapphire & Steel, now)

- Was temporarily waylaid by Life on Mars. I haven't quite finished watching the second season yet, but it's inevitable that I'll do so by the end of the week. As usual, I'm sadly late coming to this fandom, but that's okay by me.

- Bad outbreak of Real-Life-itis at Casa Cthulhu. Those of you on my regular journal know most of the details.

So, in lieu of anything interesting to say, I'm going to comment on the massive DW S4 spoiler that we all know about: ( But in case you don't, here's a cut tag )

Re: the new Doctor Who comic from IDW, which the husband just brought home after his weekly trip to the comic book store.

Like the writing. Hate the art. Like, really, really hate it. It's too trendy and a bit too cartoony. Yes, really.

Cartoon-y I can accept, indeed, I expected it, but something in the overall style is summoning up everything I dislike about Peter Cheung, and that's not good. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Peter Cheung fan, but I also acknowledge that some aspects of his stylel also drive me bonkers. And ridiculously trendy lines on the clothing. Yes, yes, yes, I know that's going to happen in any comic book - one need only cast one's eyes over the husband's Justice League Europe collection for confirmation of that - but a certain amount of (for want of a better word) moderation would be appreciated.

Or maybe I'm just another fuddy-duddy complaining about how comics have gone to hell since Transmetropolitan and Preacher came to an end...

I will, however, repeat myself in that the writing (Gary Russel, at the mo') is spot-on. The story was a bit simple but as it's a first-issue kickoff sort of thing, I didn't expect anything more than that.

I suppose it would help if I knew the target demographic for the title. In all likelihood, I'm ten years and two tax brackets away from it...

Whilst cleaning up the computer room, I stumbled across a couple of BFAs that, for some damfool reason, I'd not ripped to iTunes: I.D./Frantic Calls, Frozen Time and Renaissance of the Daleks. 'tis like a belated Xmas present!

And I received The Girl Who Never Was and the two subscriber-bonus BFAs - Return to the Web Planet and Return of the Daleks - in the mail, yesterday.

That's a lot of listening material. I'll see y'all in a few days.

PS. Of course, I'll be listening to The Girl Who Never Was, first. ;)

I just started listening to the Excelis series (Excelis Dawns by Paul Magrs) and, oh dear, it's hilarious.

I say oh dear because I wasn't quite expecting comedy, you see, and, at first, I thought "Oh god, am I not listening to this properly?" but, nope, I don't think it's me.

(I just hope it's all intentional, y'know? Nothing more crushing than discovering you've inadvertantly written a comedy, I'm guessing)

I have since realized, upon closer reading of the back cover, that it couldn't be a serious tale, not with Iris Wildthyme in it, but I wasn't quite prepared for the sheer manic giggling it provoked whilst I rode the train the other day. It's practically a panto - and I'm only about 15 minutes into the thing.

Right then, now that my thresholds recalibrated. I'm sure I'll enjoy the rest.

The story has a bonus in that it's letting me give Iris another chance. Leavened with the presence of other strong characters, I think I might find her a bit more palatable than I have previously. I love her to bits in the EDAs, mind you, so I'm generally inclined to enjoy the character. But Iris At Large was a bit...much.

I'm off to the big bad city and will be listening to the rest of the audio on the way. ;)

*AHEM*

So, what's this about the News of the World saying that John Simm's been tapped as the eleventh Doctor, then?

Not that I don't think he'd be ohmigodfabulous and all - because he would - but I must admit that I have to take all DW gossip received at 2:20AM local time (yes, I'm up far too late) with a grain of salt. (and maddesperatefangirlyhope)

*whistles artlessly*

Meanwhile... Happy birthday, subtly_modded! May your natal anniversary be full of whatever debaucheries you desire!

Right then. I've listened to the third story in the new B7 audios - Liberator and the latest Doctor Who offering from BFA, 100

( Liberator - some spoilers )

***

( 100 - again, spoilers )

Alright, so I just finished War of the Daleks, the EDA which, if I recall correctly, made the entire Internet¹ melt down.

( Cut for spoilery - just in case )

¹ - or at least the DW Usenet newsgroup, a not-insignificant part of the 'net, at the time