These are a few of ...

TV As a way of saying thanks but also drawing a dotted line under what's gone before, this week on my own blog I've been writing about my favourite Doctor, companion, monster and story. I tried not think about it too much beforehand -- rather like one of those talking heads series on tv which inevitably feature Paul Morley, I wanted it to be off the cuff, without too much thought involved. The results amazed me slightly considering I had all those years of continuity to work with.

Aptly, with what everyone else is writing about here lately I somehow decided that Paul McGann or more clearly the Eighth Doctor was the best. I think it's because I feel like he's been my Doctor. I actually became a fan just after the TV movie aired, so although I watched the series from the end of Tom right through to the stroll into the sunset at the end of 'Survival', it's only in the past few years I really paid attention. As a character, the work of multiple creators, he seemed to embody all the previous incarnations whilst also being a thoroughly modern timelord, taking on not just worldly but cosmic concerns.

Probably because I was already on the wavelength, the next day I chose Charley Pollard for best companion. It's a wilfully obscure choice to be sure, especially considering who else is available and that she's unknown outside the Big Finish audios, but I've just found her utterly delightful. Obviously helped by India Fisher's beguiling performance, and the writing, she was the first companion who put me in the position were I genuinely cared what happened to her and worried that she might not get out alive.

For best monster I ran back forty years and selected the Koquillion from the Billy Hartnell quickie, 'The Rescue'. I hope I'm not giving away too much for people who haven't seen it when I say it's because it's one of the few occasions when the production team used the limitations of the budget to their advantage. He looks like a man in a rubber monster costume, so why not make the actual character a man in a rubber monster costume? The one of the first times the series was not just post-modern but also scary in an adult way, especially when you think about what the human did, and what followed so he could cover up that failure.

My favourite story is set in Paris. I think you know the one I'm talking about. If any of the new series is as exciting and inventive as that we're in for a great time. Nineteen and a half hours to go everyone...