The End of the Beginning (The Main Range)

Audio  The final end ... of the monthly range.  When these began in 1999, they were Big Finish, some of the original actors in new audio stories released on a monthly basis.  It's where I became a Doctor Who stan and a McGann fan in particular but by 2021 they were beginning to look like an odd one out in a release schedule which elsewhere had largely shifted over to boxed sets, with Fifth, Sixth and Seventh rather stuck taking turns here, still trying to find ways of telling stories within the few gaps left by their television eras.

Bringing the range full circle, The End of the Beginning follows the structure of the first release, with the Eighth Doctor rather than Seventh in the third part of the anthology.  But whereas The Sirens of Time was about trying to be as authentic to the television counterparts as possible, this is about commemorating and enunciating how far the range had developed in the intervening decades, of having taken the licence and created a legacy of stories of a quality which far exceeds their visual precursors.

The Fifth Doctor and Turlough were the stars of Big Finish's second release Phantasmagoria so its fitting that they should return together here after creating their own mini season of about four or five stories across the years.  The Sixth Doctor story highlights how that incarnation has been reimagined in the audios with bold new eras and a range of companions who simply wouldn't have existed on television, Constance and Flip in this case (although Lisa "Flip" Greenwood is absent for health reasons).

The Eighth Doctor's era couldn't be represented by anyone other than Charley, his main range companion and where it all began (on audio).  Presumably recorded around the time of Charlotte Pollard: The Further Adventuress (yes, yes, I'll get to it), I'm in awe at how Paul McGann keeps track of the different tones he and the creators have brought to this same incarnation between the early releases through to the Time War.

We're in Vampire Science territory as the eighth Doctor's stopped off to check in with an undead frenemy from an unseen adventure, a vampire taking the slow way through London who the Time Lord presumably stopped from killing back in the day.  There's another vampire on the loose and together they head off into the metropolis in a bid to stop the fledgling from killing and eating or turning half the population of the city.

Its at the end of all this we discover how this Doctor's story is connected to the others and how he'll meet his other selves in preparations to uncover the final mystery, with a clever reversal, a homage to The Day of the Doctor (surely?) and an explanation as to why the Seventh Doctor's largely been absent (is the cover art supposed to imply that we're finally discovering what one of the visual elements of his title sequence actually is?).

The four Doctors and companions apparently recorded their sections separately, not that you'd know it with a hilarious moment (intentional?  unintentional?) where Charley and Constance are introduced and don't seem to have anything to say to each other, and the Sixth Doctor knows who the former is but can't work out why (which means we're post their travels together).  Does this mean she already recognises him at the start of The Condemned?  That would explain how she's not completely banjaxed by him.

It's all very well written by Robert Valentine, a relative newcomer to Big Finish (the TARDIS Datacore has him listed as being active since 2020) he nevertheless captures the Eighth and Charley's voices perfectly (as he does everyone across the episodes) and although the final solution at the resolution is pretty basic multi-Doctor fare, there are some neat reversals in the run up which take advantage of audio and how one of the audience's senses is of no help whatsoever.

Placement: This feels like late era 8+C, entirely comfortable in each other's presence, the Doctor happy to let Charley wander off into late 90s London on her own, safe in the knowledge that she won't get herself into trouble (even though she undoubtedly will).  It's probably set some time between Embrace the Darkness and The Time of the Daleks; you can imagine this being the next adventure after Living Legend or Solitaire.

Cass.

Hello again, Cass.  The original four Time War boxes ended on something of a cliffhanger with the return of a version of Alex so there had be a lot more incidents between that and the cracked Doctor who Benny and River meet during Lies in Ruins (from The Legacy of Time).  Since it is a Time War, and history is in flux and with Rakhee Thakrar not returning as Bliss because her career's entering the next stage, why not a pre-meeting with the Eighth Doctor's final almost companion with the added mystery of how they can meet here and again in his future.  It's a variation on the theme of Charley Pollard, although without the companion knowing that the Time Lord will become such a big part of her future and trying to figure out her own solution.

Despite a couple of references in the dialogue we don't really receive an answer and its clear by the end that there are more stories to tell, probably with Cass 2, 3 & 4 in the production pipeline (which is why Big Finish have gone with a new title rather than simple called it The Time War Volume 5) (apart from when they do in the credits at the end of each episode) (I'll update the title of this post if necessary).  Will it be as simple as retconning The Time of the Doctor, so that he knows full well who Emma Campbell-Jones's Cass is even if she doesn't recognise him and he's pretending (which puts a new spin one her rejecting him outright).  Rule One: The Doctor Lies.  When he has to.

Meanwhile, Elsewhere

With very little to work from other than Time of the Doctor and the novelisation of Day of the Doctor (with which this is broadly consistent) Cass is the type of female friend the Eighth Doctor tends to swan through the universe with; independent, capable and well prepared to call him out when he's clearly bullshitting.  But it doesn't feel perfunctory when she's invited onto the TARDIS at the end - she fits right into the time paradox shenanigans.  The theme of the boxset seems to be stories which have resolved themselves before they've begun and I'll admit this took me two listens to really follow what happens and how.  The loquacious Hieronyma Friend feels like she was originally written to be River Song.  Perhaps Alex (Kingston not Campbell) was unavailable.

Vespertine

A never meet your heroes tale with a twist.  Once again, this took me a couple of goes to completely follow the action either because my inevitable cellular decay means I'm slower on the uptake than I used to be or jointless time is difficult to convey on audio where its difficult to have diagrams (or both).  It was a pleasure to go round again though.  The three leads have an easy chemistry especially Emma, and Sonny McGann who in the ten years since his last appearance has become a fine actor and the writers of these stories have really leaned into the enthusiasm for adventure this version of the Doctor's great-grandson has, every now and then even sounding like the younger version of his father who debut in these audios twenty years ago ("TARDIS manual, TARDIS manual ...").

Previously, Next Time

The inevitable Dalek story, although they're used in a much subtler way than in the previous Time War stories and although their plan has the ring of one of those earlier jargon soups, this looks at the effects of the scheme on a more human level, the Doctor faced with an impossible choice morally but not logically, of whether to wipe out an entire civilisation, no doubt foreshadowing the adventures of his successor.  I am slightly confused as to whether the effects of this retcon bomb's are only felt on this planet, the whole Whoniverse (explaining the incongruities in the Doctor's memory in the previous stories) or if there's some larger mystery which is yet to be explored.

The Palin Diaries: Pole To Pole

Travel   Pole To Pole was the 1992 follow up documentary to Around The World in 80 Days.  Having successfully circumnavigated the globe, in this journey Michael Palin would travel from the North Pole to the South Pole along the line of longitude at thirty degrees, chosen because its the point which has the most land and perhaps because it a large variety of different countries and cultures to visit unlike other choices like the Americas and what is to our perspective the Far East.  The series lasts eight episodes and resulted in a follow up book containing a diary of the trip.

The other day perusing the Roy Castle charity shop on Smithdown Road, I spotted a copy of the third in the series of Michael Palin's diaries, Travelling To Work, covering the period 1988-98.  Having managed to ignore the first two, or at least not got around to them amid not reading books in general, what intrigued me was how this set of diaries would fit around otherwise published travel books based on his various television series.  Could there be days when there'd be two entries, the public facing on the job version and then the record of how he was really feeling that day.

Turns out that's entirely possible with Around The World in Eighty Days because in that book he includes the dates for when his exploits occurred, probably due to the nature of the endeavour and the need for transparency.  But as I discovered on ordering a boxed set of the first five books in paperback (having completely forgotten the Palin's Travels website exists), Pole to Pole, Full Circle, Sahara and Himalaya do not, presumably because they weren't necessarily filmed all in one go or even in the order in which they're portrayed on screen or in print.  

Rather than letting process get in the way of artifice, Palin chose to write them as one single narrative, to the give the impression of them being a single journey.  As he says of Sahara:

"Sahara was filmed between February 2001 and February 2002. For various reasons, it was impossible to shoot it as one continuous journey. Summer heat and all-year-round bureaucracy forced a number of breaks upon us. The diary days in the text represent days at work, give or take the very rare day off, and not time spent travelling out to the desert."

That's especially acute in Pole to Pole were as we'll see, the beginning of the journey was filmed months after the end in two separate recording blocks.  

But, I wondered, how easy would it be to work out which calendar days each of the entries occurred and if it would be possible to read the travel diaries in production rather than narrative order and in conjunction with the personal diaries, navigating around the days and entries not included because he omits rest days.

"Not every day is described.  Rest days when nothing happened except laundry have been omitted out of consideration for the reader."

Unlike some of the later series, Pole to Pole offers a particular challenge because Michael's personal diary was lost by Zambian Airways which leaves a half year gap in Travelling To Work where the only record of his life is the travel diaries.  He says the notebook covered the period 20th July to 5th November and that he didn't keep a personal diary again until 11th December.  So what were the filming dates for Pole to Pole?

Palin himself will surely know this and it's only of the very mildest of interest in general, but wanting a challenge, I decided to read my way through the book looking for indications of events outside the journey which might suggest when various "days" happened.  Thirty years on and with access to the web, it's possible to chase down even the most obscure data and in the event I was able to triangulate a couple of dozen dates which you'll find below along with my workings out.

All quotations are from the book unless otherwise stated.

Day 15: Tromso ~ 21st July 1991

In Tromso during Episode One, Michael meets a group of football supporters lubricating themselves in preparation for a match between "Trondheim" and "Tromso".  The scarf which one of the supporters is carrying has the word Rosenborg printed across it which is the main football team in Trondheim.  They played Tromso on the 21st July 1991.  He mentions it’s a Sunday.  

The material with the supporters is included on Day 14 in the book so if I had to hazard a guess, the material between Day 14 and 15 has been reorganised to create a more seamless narrative between the two production periods.  Nevertheless we can say with some certainty that no matter what Michael says on screen, production on Pole to Pole began 21st July 1991.

It's strange that the book and programme don't match.  In Travelling to Work, he says he finished writing the book on the morning of the 17th April, just over a fortnight before the start of the second recording block and doesn't record the voiceover for (the presumably edited) first episode until 2nd July.  The next time the book is mentioned is when it goes to the printers the following August.  Some extra writing and manuscript editing will have been done in the meantime which might be when the discrepancy occurred.

Day 17: Hammerfest to Karasjok ~ 23rd July 1991

From Day 45:   "In one of the fields a group of white-veiled women are tossing turnips, or possibly watermelons, into a tall trailer. Behind them rises the first substantial patch of high ground since we left Hammerfest twenty-eight days ago." 

Counting back 28 days brings us here.  Which makes sense.  Day 15 spent in Tromso.  Tromso to Hammerfest on Day 16,  leaves Hammerfest on Day 17.

Day 25: Tallinn to Leningrad ~ 2nd August 1991

"The newspapers are full of the news that in Moscow yesterday President Bush demanded a measure of independence for the Baltic states as the price of 'most favoured nation' trading status for the USSR."  

This speech by Bush Snr happened on 1st August 1991.  You can watch it here.  I'm assuming a rest day in Karasjok or Helsinki.

Day 43: Istanbul ~ 17th August 1991

"Back in England, it's the first day of the football season and in my hotel the new BBC World Service Television is showing Episode five of Around the World in 80 Days." 

The first day of the football season in 1991 was 17th of August.

Day 44: Istanbul ~ 19th August 1991

"It is at breakfast at the Pera Palas Hotel that I hear the first news of modern history in the making. Those with short-wave radios have heard word from the Soviet Union that Gorbachev has been overthrown in a right-wing coup."  

The coup began on the 19th.  Let's assume the 18th was a rest day which doesn't have a diary entry.

Day 45: Istanbul to Selcuk ~ 20th August 1991

"Up at 6 a.m. to get down to Sirkeci station to buy a rail ticket for Izmir. Fraser is becoming more Cassandra-like each day. This morning he's heard news that a British businessman has been killed in Istanbul and British travellers are advised to be on their guard. Unfortunately no one's told us what to be on our guard against."

Andrew Blake, 33, deputy director of the British Commercial Union Insurance Co. was killed on 19th which an AP story says was a Monday so all of this tracks.  Day 43 was Saturday.  Rest day Sunday.  19th was a Monday.  Michael finds out about it Tuesday morning.

Day 46: Selcuk to Ephesus and Marmaris ~ 21st August 1991

"A Turkish voice chunters on from its radio. Sevim stops suddenly and listens, with a frown of concentration which gradually relaxes into a look of disbelief. She talks to us as she listens:  'The news from Moscow is that the coup is over . . . some generals are dead . . . ' She listens again. 'Gorbachev is coming back to Moscow.'  On this languid, lazy afternoon in southern Turkey, it seems unbelievable. History shouldn't happen as fast as this."

The coup ended on the 21st August.

Day 50: Limassol and Akrotiri ~ 25th August 1991 (?)

"There is a copy of the Sunday Times in the hotel - the first up-to-date English newspaper I've seen for two months. Gorbachev is to disband the Communist Party. The Ukraine and Estonia have declared independence."  

This is also seven days since last Sunday so assuming that it was possible to get the Sunday Times in Akrotiri on the day of publication than this seems about right.   The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted on 24 August 1991 which would be reported on in the paper the next day.  Restoration of the Republic of Estonia, was proclaimed on 20 August 1991 but Michael's probably putting them together to emphasise the point about Europe changing.   Except according to sources who went abroad back then, newspapers were frequently a day or so out and there's the potential for a rest day in Rhodes, so this attribution is pretty shaky, hence the question mark.

Day 57: Luxor ~ 4th September 1991

"You don't know how Sheffield Wednesday went on last night?"  

They lost 2-1 to Notts County.  With a couple of rest days (mentioned in the text already) and Michael's mention of it being September at the opening of the day's entry, it's pretty safe to say that Day 57 was on the 4th September.

Day 66: Atbara to Khartoum ~ 21st September 1991

"It is Mohammed's birthday and there will be festivities tonight."

Mawlid (Birth) of the Prophet was celebrated on the 21 September in 1991.

Day 102: Dodoma to Kigoma ~ 21st September 1991

"Craig and Nigel have ears pressed to a radio at the window, trying, in the midst of this line-side cacophony, to pick up the sound from Edinburgh where England are playing Scotland in the Rugby Union World Cup semi-final. [...]  Nigel suddenly turns from the radio with a look of total disbelief. 'They've gone to the news! . . . They've gone to the news with two minutes left!'"  

Happened on this date.  England beat Scotland 9-6.

Day 103: Dodoma to Kigoma ~ 27th September 1991

"As if to further mock my dreams of solitariness and isolation, all I can hear as I unpack is a radio crackling out the last seconds of commentary from the Rugby Union World Cup followed by a roar from the darkness outside as Australia defeats New Zealand."

Happened on this date.

Day 107: Kigoma to Mpulungu ~ 30th September 1991 (?)

"Aboard the Liemba, Lake Tanganyika. The last day of October, 1991."  

Is it?  Later in the entry Michael reports:  "As we progress south, some Zambians come aboard. Tomorrow they are voting for a new government, and I am quite shocked to hear that Kenneth Kaunda is so unpopular that he may well be unseated after twenty-eight years in power. "

But the Zambian General Election happened on the 31st October so you'd think that Michael was wrong about it being the last day of October.  But if you count onward from Day 103, this would be Day 107 but I'm assuming a rest day in Kigoma.  Maybe.  It gets messier ...

Day 108: Kigoma to Mpulungu ~ 31st September 1991 (?)

"'It's the first day of spring,' I hear someone say as we crowd at the deck rail.  'Don't be stupid,' another retorts, 'It's November. Spring starts in September.'  Of course, they're Australians. Or New Zealanders. Looking around at them I do not see the faces of explorers but of pale, tired children."  

Which suggests that we're in November now at least.  But later in the same entry, Michael says "As waves of rain lash through the trees I talk to Paul about the problems of the country, it being election day in Zambia" and later mentions "plenty of evidence of the euphoria following Chiluba's victory over Kaunda, which appears to have been a landslide".   Given that these entries are based on notes and tape recordings, it's just possible that the timings of everything have become corrupted.  Who knows.

Day 109: Shiwa to Kasanka ~ 1st November 1991 (?)

"I can't help noticing that the lavatory on which I spend most of the night is called the Victory. A night of victory for myself and Mr Frederick Chiluba, the new President of Zambia. I only hope he feels better than I do."

If we're keeping to the "real world" timetable this would have happened on All Saint's Day morning.  But we're very much in give or take a day territory here.  The only other thing I can think of is Michael's keeping to British time and there's a time zone mismatch?

Day 112: Mpulungu to Shiwa ~ 2nd November 1991 (?)

"Nigel manages to pick up commentary of the England-Australia Rugby World Cup Final"

Honestly at this point anything is possible and no, there wasn't a replay.  The Rugby World Cup Final was on the 2/11/1991 but he mentions this in the entry for Day 112.    Was this a repeat of the commentary?  Did his notes get messed up?  Do his 2s look like 5s?  Was he writing this bit completely from memory?  I have checked the BBC Genome and the only radio mention is the domestic Radio 5 coverage and there doesn't seem to be a slot on BBC World Service for a simulcast.  There are too many variables here, question marks all round.

Day 114: Lusaka to Livingstone ~ 7th November 1991

"And the Times of Zambia carries barely believable evidence of the pace of the Soviet Union's Great Leap Backwards. The story, filed from St Petersburg (which was Leningrad to us, three months ago) reports that the Grand Duke Vladimir Romanov, heir to the throne of Russia, has arrived in the Soviet Union for the first time."

This happened on the 5/11/1991 but with time differences and deadlines, I'm willing to bet Michael read this on the 7th.

Day 116: Livingstone ~ 9th November 1991

"The morning paper reports that President Chiluba has lifted Zambia's twenty-seven-year State of Emergency. The police have been ordered to remove all road-blocks (still common in countries like Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya) and various powers of search and detention have been curtailed."

This happened on 8/11/1991 so that fits - he probably had a rest day in Livingstone on the 7th or 8th.  

"For myself and the crew another day of new experiences. If it's Saturday it must be white-water rafting, and we assemble by the swimming-pool to sign in, absolve the company taking us of any culpability and generally try to look cheerful."

The 9/11/1991 was indeed a Saturday.  This date's also confirmed in Travelling to Work when he mentions the cracked rib incident as happening on 9th November during the trip up the Zambesi River.

Side note:  "At the hotel another bruise to add to the two already growing - one of my missing bags has arrived, the other has been lost by Zambian Airways and no one seems to hold out any hope of finding it."  As he mentions in the Day 117 entry and in Travelling to Work,  this is the moment he discovers his personal diary is lost.  I can't imagine how painful that must have been.

Day 125: Johannesburg ~ 18th November 1991

"A November Monday morning in Johannesburg."

"The last thing I hear from High Veld Stereo, '94.95 Eff-Em', is that Terry Waite has been released."

The 18/11/1991 was the next Monday of the month with enough days in between and it was also the date Terry Waite was released.

Day 133: Santiago, Chile ~ 26th November 1991

"A well-drilled changing of the guard takes place and then, with much preparation and flourish, the sixty-piece military band breaks into the unmistakable tones of 'Happy Birthday to You'. Not just one chorus, but a long symphonic variation which keeps a small crowd mystified for some five minutes. It's presumed that this is for the President, but no one seems at all sure."

The then President of Chile, Patricio Aylwin, was born on the 26 November 1918.

Day 134: Santiago, Chile ~ 27th November 1991

"I take a last look at the destination board. It's 27 November."

Holy shit.

Day 141: Santiago, Chile ~ 8th December 1991

Caption from photograph in Travelling To Work.  This would have been last the day of the first recording block.

Day 1: The North Pole ~ 9th May 1992

"It'a 3.45 on a Saturday afternoon and I'm seventeen miles away from the North Pole."

According to Travelling to Work, he's still in London on the Saturday 2nd so this has to be the 9th.  In the narration for Episode One, Michael says "Even if everything works we have almost half a year's travelling ahead of us."  No you don't.

Day 14: The Barents Sea to Tromso ~ 22nd May 1992

In Travelling to Work, Michael says that Pole to Pole filming extended to the 23rd May which should be Day 15.  But as we discussed in the 21st July 1991 entry (above), a lot of evidence points to Day 14 being the last day.  On screen we don't see him disembark at Tromso.  There's a cut to an establishing shot and a caption for "Day Fifteen" and an implication of it being the next day.  But as I said earlier, the book's more ambiguous.  I'm working on the assumption that everything before the lacunae on page 37 is from this later production period.  So let's say filming ended on Pole to Pole 22nd May 1992.

Soup Safari #82: Mushroom and Green Lentil at the Old School House.

Lunch.  £5.10.  40 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU.  Tel: 0151 727 2341.  Website.

Soup Safari #81: Tomato and Lentil at La Parrilla Mexican Bar & Grill

Lunch. £5.50. La Parrilla Mexican Bar & Grill, 56-58 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU. Tel: 0151 306 8158.

The Coffee Collection: Crosby Coffee, Lark Lane, Liverpool.

Soup Safari #60: Tomato and Basil at Pippin's Corner.

Lunch.  £4.95.  Pippin's Corner.  64 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU.  Tel:  0151 222 5370.   Twitter.

The Coffee Collection: Press Bros. Coffee, Lark Lane, Liverpool.

 

Soup Safari #79: Spicy Cauliflour and Coconut at Press Bros. Coffee.

Lunch. £7.50. Press Bros, 82 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17.

Soup Safari #78: Spicy Three Bean at Minna.

Lunch. £5.50. Minna, 94 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU. Website.

Predictions 2022.

That Day We reach the time when I assess how well I predicted the ups and downs of the year and look forward to the next. Here we go again:

The Sugababes release an album of new material.

Well, fucking hell, they did.  If otherwise mostly unheard material recorded about ten years ago counts.  Which it obviously does.  One mark.

More Doctor Who episodes found.

Hell no.  No points.

General election called, Tories lose power.

Ha Ha Ha Ha.  No marks.

Spider-Man film starring Andrew Garfield announced.

It's Sony, what was I expecting?  Zero.

COVID miraculously disappears, everything returns to normal.

Walking around, taking the bus, using public transport, you would think this was the case.  But according to the England dashboard, nearly 37,000 people tested positive in the past week,  just over 508 died and 7000 odd were admitted to hospital.  Which are nowhere near pandemic peak, but still an indication of a lot of misery happening due to the virus.  No points at all.

1/5 which is back to the usual average.

Because I'm in a lazy mood, let's just repeat most of the predictions again.

The Sugababes release an album of new material.

More Doctor Who episodes found.

General election called, Tories lose power.

Spider-Man film starring Andrew Garfield announced.

New old Shakespeare play canonised.

The first four still feel plausible.  

Having caught up on old material the Sugababes could release new material this year.  

It's the 60th anniversary which seems the perfect moment to reveal new finds.  

The Tories have to go this year, surely?  

Sony will probably need an anchor for their version of the Spiderverse and who better and the ever popular Andrew Garfield.  

The other is just a hardy perennial which again feels plausible.  I guess this will be measured if a previously anonymous play is published with Shakespeare's name on the front or performed in one of the great theatres of the world.

Happy New Year!

This Blog in 2022.

About  Inspired by John at Dirty Feed, here's a look back at some of my favourite posts of the year on this blog.

Annotations:
An Editor's Burial: Journals and Journalism from The New Yorker and Other Magazines.
In which I made turned an anthology into a link list to save you from having to buy it.  I've had mixed emotions about The New Yorker since reading this book after the treatment of Evin Overbey and thinking about how some of the biographical essays and the behaviour of past editors could be viewed through a different lens.

Cataloguing BBC Radio 4's In Our Time using Dewey Decimal Classification.

The big kahuna, the one post which went massively viral this year thanks to being tweeted and retweeted by In Our Time's own Twitter feed and some of its contributors.  It was a beast to prepare but absolutely worthwhile given how useful its been to people.  Someone I know even has it bookmarked on their phone so they can use it when they're walking about and looking for something in their field to listen to.  Which reminds me that I need to do an update soon.

Annotations: Radio Control.

The title of the blog became even more ironic than ever this year as most of the bigger posts were lists.  This was a way of accessing a number of BBC programmes about Doctor Who as listed in the parish circular that month by Eddie Robson.

Star Trek's pre-history. A watch list.

Speaking of lists, here's one which didn't really work.  Putting all of the Trek stories set before Discovery into chronological order seemed like a nice idea in theory, before you realise that so many of them are set in alternate realities, dream sequences or are subsequently wiped out after the timeline's been fixed.  Which is why I haven't included the second season of Picard.  That one is *complicated*.

A viewing order for all of Star Wars.

By far the most popular post on the blog is the Doctor Who viewing order, bringing in a couple of hundred googlers per day when the series is on television.  So I thought I'd play to the gallery and do the same for Star Wars.  No one noticed.

The Shakespeare First Folios.

I'll be returning to this in the new year once I've caught up on the BBC 100 posts.  Getting to touch the pages just as they'd emerged from Jaggard's print shop was one of the most spectacular moments of my young life.

Alistair Cooke's Letter From America: A Chronology.

After the success of the In Our Time post, I wanted to do something with one of the BBC's other large archives and settled on Cooke's life's work.  Again, no one noticed.

The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics at the Walker Art Gallery.

JMW Turner and Lamina Fifana: Dark Waters at Tate Liverpool.

Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder at the World Museum.

These were arguably three of the main exhibitions to visit Liverpool this year (I'm yet to see the fourth, The Turner Prize at Tate) and I went to town on all of them although it's pretty obvious which I was most comfortable writing about.  The opening line of the Doctor Who review has just made me guffaw.  Speaking of which ...

The Power of the Doctor.

Having long abandoned even attempting to review the Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who after finding myself repeatedly noting the same, some would say choices, others would say faults, I knew there'd still need to be words written about Jodie's swansong and right up until transmission, I had no clue what the angle would be.  Then, fortunately, Paul McGann made a cameo.

The Queen is dead. Long live the King.

One of the few posts reacting to current affairs.  In the month's since I've become less and less interested in the current crop of working royalty, especially after the Harry & Meghan Netflix series and the King's first Christmas address in which he congratulated poor people for helping out other poor people while he's decreed that his coronation should be a full budget affair with every pomp and lashings of circumstance.

Across The Omniverse Revisited.

Twice this year I wrote similar posts (!) trying to explain how I perceive fictional multiverses are nestled together and this was the second, slightly more coherent attempt in the wake of Doctor Strange 2.  We'll see what happens after the next Spiderverse films are released.

Christmas Links #24

 

Links  Here we are then, the end of Christmas Links for this year and the surprising reveal of exactly what I was doing with the accompanying videos featuring people walking about random places across the globe at Christmastime.  It wasn't random.  We were following the itinerary of Phileas Fogg and Michael Palin, but around the world in twenty-four posts.  The destinations listed on this page just happened to match the number of days in advent.

I had hoped to post the video of Michael returning to London at the end of the trip, where he's cross with a newspaper vender and isn't allowed back into the Reform Club, but it's not on YouTube and neither is a video of the Reform Club at Christmas.  So instead find above the opening of the journey as he explains the effort he's about to undertake which only makes me want to rewatch the thing all the more.  Happy Christmas!

 

Sugababes are releasing their new album of ‘lost’ music (today) and fans are elated: ‘Pop justice!’:
"After years in the pop wilderness, the original Sugababes trio is about to drop new album The Lost Tapes – a collection of songs that were leaked as demos in 2013."

[Editor's note:  Holy Fuck!]

BigFinishmas is back for 2022!

"The 12 Days of Big Finishmas Christmas sale is here! Check this page for updates on the downloads on offer!"

Antarctic post office: A home for Christmas among the penguins:

"A group of four British women recently arrived on a remote Antarctic island to look after its population of passing tourists and penguins. As they prepare for Christmas at the bottom of the world, they tell BBC News how they're settling into their new home."

Pictures show busy Liverpool city centre ahead of Christmas:

"Arriva North West warned customers services in and out of the city centre "may be extremely congested""

The Legend Of Run-DMC’s Immortal “Christmas In Hollis,” As Remembered By The People Who Made It:

"‘Twas the festive season of 2015, and my 5-year-old daughter Molly was trying to explain to me the holiday ditty all the kindergarteners were going to sing in unison at the annual concert."

Grandmother charges her family £180 for their Christmas dinner:

"Some think I’m a bit of a Scrooge, says teaching assistant who can afford to give everyone turkey and all the trimmings."

How to cook your entire Christmas dinner in an air fryer:

"It can save you time as well as money on your energy bills but can it cook a whole roast dinner? We find out."

Christmas wonder returns to Woodlands with European-style wooden house, reindeer:

"Carpenter Tan Koon Tat has been beset by rain and the rising cost of materials, but is still determined to bring some festive cheer to the neighbourhood in Marsiling."

The lesser known Christmas gem full of stars filmed in Kent:

"If you’re stuck for things to watch this festive season, this just might be what you’re after."

Five endangered Iberian lynx set free to populate new territory in Spain:

"Five Iberian lynx were released into the wild this week in southern Spain as part of an expanding breeding programme aimed at conserving one the most endangered feline species."

Christmas Links #23

 

A Pasadena Cat Café Will Celebrate a Feline-Themed ‘Festivus':

"Tail Town Cats will spotlight six adorable adoptable cats as they climb the Festivus pole; viewers at home can watch live."

A parent’s guide to setting up a new games console at Christmas:

"If your children have a new Xbox, Playstation or Nintendo Switch waiting under the tree, here is what you need to know about subscriptions, parental controls … and getting the most fun out of it for all the family."

Visitors 'saddened' by shopping centre's 'depressing' Christmas lights:

"Birkenhead used to have fab Christmas lights and a Christmas light switch on."

Cirencester couple creates Christmas model village:
"A couple have created a model village and decorated their house for Christmas to raise money for charity."

Advent Calendar Death Match:  Crystals, The Office and Skin:

"A limited edition three-way death match featuring Shoppe Geō, Funko, and Comfort Zone."

Will it be a white Christmas?

"The question everyone wants answered at this time of year is whether or not it snow at Christmas. Helen Willetts has the answer."

All I want for Christmas is… what I am owed:

"For many in construction, Christmas is not the season of goodwill. Sadly Ebenezer Scrooge has always had his hands on construction’s cash as we head into Christmas.  The old excuse was that the office was shutting and no one was around to process the payments. With online flexible banking this rings a bit hollow, yet we still see companies hoarding cash at the year end."

Which aspects of Christmas are the most important to Britons?

"Six in ten Britons who celebrate Christmas don’t consider celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ an important part of the festive celebrations."

Bank of England Museum: Cartoons, from caricatures to Christmas:

"Read about some of the cartoons we hold in our collection, including artwork for Christmas cards."

This Terrifying Spinning Holographic Christmas Tree Could Leave You Ho-Ho-Horribly Maimed:

"On the plus side, you never have to remember to water this tree."

Christmas Links #22

 
Prawn Cocktail back on the Christmas menu, while Yorkshire Puddings remain the nation’s festive fave:
"Christmas is coming, and budding festive chefs can find inspiration in BBC Food’s most popular Christmas recipes of 2021."

The Estonian Island Where Christmas Trees Become Soda:

"On Saaremaa, a local distillery turns town-square trees into festive mixers."

Why This Week’s ‘New York Times’ Crossword Is Causing Controversy:

"Usually the only controversy over a crossword is the answer, but on the eve of the first day of Hanukkah, some New York Times readers found something a lot more upsetting."

Queen Elizabeth II’s most famous Christmas Broadcasts:

"For seventy years, Queen Elizabeth II was a staple of Christmas Day, appearing on television, radio and on the internet throughout her reign to deliver her annual Christmas Message."

Facial recognition bars lawyer from Girl Scout trip to Rockettes Christmas show:

"Kelly Conlon was blocked because her New York firm is involved in a personal injury claim against operator of Radio City Music Hall."

Why do Christmas lights always get tangled?

"It's "knot" your fault that Christmas lights always get twisted."

Kitten rescued from Rochdale bin a Christmas miracle, RSPCA says:

"A kitten which went "from being left in a bin to being loved by so many people" is proof that Christmas wishes "really can come true", a charity has said."

Every Christmas, my family would get gifts from an anonymous sender. Something felt off:

"As I got older, I learned who the sender was and was brought into a secret world of his delusions."

South Liverpool café praised for 'beautiful gesture' as it continues Christmas tradition:

"The café is doing its bit to help others this Christmas."

How a 1987 Christmas album changed the way the holiday sounds:

"In a period of personal grief, producer Jimmy Iovine enlisted a range of pop stars for a good cause. And unto us “A Very Special Christmas” was born."

Christmas Links #21

Links   Finally to Review 2022, which is still developing with many more posts to go.  As you can see from the title, the idea was to only include material from non-BBC sources, but who better to tell its own story than the BBC itself?  After an intensive month of working through as many public digital archives and sources as I could, sorting the items into years in one big blog post (which is what this was going to be originally), I'm now in the process of augmenting that with some Google searches and a hunt through the BBC's own website for documentaries about significant moments in its history.  I'm also adding new links to older posts if something amazing crops up.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022 shortlist revealed:

"The six sport stars will compete for the public vote on the night of the live show on Wednesday 21 December."

Imagine thinking you could keep a determined cat off a Christmas tree:

"We can all see it coming – but it/s still worth waiting for."

Ncuti Gatwa’s vintage Doctor Who look honours show’s 60-year history:

"New Time Lord pairs brown chequered suit with a bright orange jumper and tan brogues."

How an American magazine helped launch one of Britain’s favorite Christmas carols:

"In 1906, a new carol appeared in “The English Hymnal,” an influential collection of British church music."

London Heritage Quarter:

"Now that Midtown is no more, it'd be hilarious if there were another Business Improvement District with an equally overblown name."

Yorkshire Water warning over Christmas dinner fatbergs:

"Families have been urged not to put fat from Christmas dinners down the sink to avoid fatbergs forming in sewers."

Mozilla, Google and Apple are building a new browser benchmark:

"Mozilla, Google and Apple have announced that they are working together to build a new browser benchmark. The service will be called Speedometer 3."

Research shows Lidl and Shelter Christmas ads didn’t resonate with Black community:

"Sainsbury’s, the National Lottery and Tesco also flagged for tokenism, negative stereotyping and inauthentic representation."

Slouching Towards Christmas In This Year Of Covid:

"With the year drawing to a close and Christmas almost upon us the sounds that seem to sum up the season are less jingling bells and carols, more the cough of Covid and an enormous, exhausted sigh of relief." [New Zealand] 

Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever!

"Look back at every Christmas chart-topper of the last 70 years."

Christmas Links #20

 
Links  Which brings us to Review 2021, the one with all the sandwiches and the best way to celebrate that, as you might have seen yesterday, was to eat another one.  The project was mostly out of necessity.  I needed something to keep myself occupied during the first Christmas since Mum died and this meant that I had to go out and make special trips to places in order to purchase the sandwiches and then do a bit of research for each of the posts.  

The farthest I travelled was the other side of Ormskirk to Booths and the closest was the local Spar shop (and I was disappointed to find that this year they're not using back bacon but followed the crowd into streaky bacon territory).  Anyway it mostly did the job.  I wept a bit on Christmas morning, but the rest of the day mostly went without a meltdown.  Thanks sandwiches.

Doctor Who: The War Doctor

BBC Radio 4xtra are broadcasting the Big Finish War Doctor audios at the weekend through January.  Here's a link to the first episode.

I unwrapped Dad’s terrible gift and went off like a catherine wheel – the Christmas present I’ll never forget:

"He’d brought a Sainsbury’s carrier bag full of gifts. I can’t stress how unusual this was – ‘out of character’ doesn’t begin to cover it."

In pictures: Dorset Christmas puddings chased by Santas:

"Runners dressed as Santa chased people in Christmas pudding costumes to raise money for charity."

Arriva bus timetable changes for Christmas and New Year 2022:

"Arriva has now released when its buses will be running over Christmas and New Year."

Merseyrail make major change to Christmas service amid train strikes - including Boxing Day cancellations:

"Merseyrail had planned to run a 30-minute service on December 26."

Jan. 6 Committee: [redacted] Should Be Charged With Four Crimes, Including Insurrection:

"The panel investigating the Capitol attack voted Monday to ask the Justice Department to hold the former president accountable for his scheme to subvert democracy."

A Brief History of Christmas Markets:

"Now a global phenomenon, the holiday tradition traces its roots to medieval Europe."

The best places to go at Christmas 2022:

"From romantic getaway ideas to family-friendly trips and solo excursions."

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) [Full Broadcast w/Ads]:

"The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies."

'A Muppet Family Christmas' Is the Best Holiday Special and a Celebration of All Things Jim Henson:

"This 1987 special isn't just one of the best things The Muppets ever did, it should be a modern holiday classic."

Review 2021: The Christmas Sandwich Reviews: Co-op Turkey Feast.

Food  Did I imply that Review 2021 was over and that I wouldn't be writing about any more pre-packed Christmas sandwiches?  Yes I did.  Did I think it was over?  Well, yes.  But then having written about all of the annual reviews from across the decades at the top of all the Christmas Links and realising that it might need some kind of big finale (without getting too carried away), I decided to go after the big white whale once more, the supermarket sandwich which eluded me last year, to finally try the Co-op Turkey Feast (with smoked bacon, pork, sage & onion stuffing (which is pork AND sage & onion stuffing, not pork as a separate entity on the sandwich no matter how its implied on the box), cranberry chutney & fried onion mayo on malted bread).  Apologies for the quality of the photograph but I was in my break at work and every second counts.

Much like the rest of the supermarkets which featured last year, the Co-op (pronounced coop) has just sort of been there.  Dad was telling me earlier about how membership had been passed down hereditarily through my Mum's family and that he could even remember the number she used to give when visiting one of the local shops and how she received a dividend at the end of the year.  But it's only quite recently that it's really become part of my life, through the shops opening on Myrtle and Hardman run-on streets in Liverpool and on Lark Lane, not the Doctor Who one which is mainly residential, the real one with all the restaurants and retail.  When it opened, it was during the period with the verbose branding with "the Co-Operative" written on everything which made it feel very metropolitan somehow.  They're since returned to the more familiar homespun low-caps logo.

If you don't mind, I'll refer you to the Wikipedia page for an explanation of how the gestalt structure of the Co-op chain works and how it might go some way to explaining why there are two near identical supermarkets at the top and bottom of the same road, and why some shops feel more corporate than others and instead move on to the sandwich.  After about a year of not eating turkey, bacon, stuffing and cranberry sauce on malted bread, my taste buds have lost any baseline expertise that it they might have acquired last December.  But this seems like a pretty generic example.  Despite being out of the fridge for two hours after I bought it, the bread and filling were still cold which give everything a slightly stodgy texture.  The cranberry sauce is pretty overwhelming so the flavour of the onion mayonnaise is al most non-existent.  The bacon is thin streaky kind which otherwise finds itself wrapped around small sausages.  It's fine.

Christmas Links #19

 

Links  Review 2020 didn't really happen for understandable reasons, consisting of a single post listing the films I gave five stars to on Letterboxd.  So instead, let's talk about this weekend's release of photos and a video revealing the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby's costumes.  The video is on YouTube Shorts here and they're absolutely funny/adorable in a similar was to Jodie and Mandip so lets hope unlike them, that chemistry will be taking full advantage of on screen.

His costume is supremely tasteful, both contemporary and yet somehow redolent of the past.  It'll be interesting to see if there's any mix and matching as the series progresses.  Few people seem to have remarked on the fact he seems to be keeping the 'tache which is another first for a Doctor.  The last time the Doctor wore one of those on TV he was masquerading as a milkman.  Hers has the off the peg feel of most of the more recent companions and presumably she won't be wearing that all the time.  

"'We Don't Flush The Toilet Every Time. We Use Candles To Light The Room':

These are the sacrifices parents are making to try to pay for Christmas."

Ukrainians install Christmas 'tree of invincibility':

"Volunteers in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv have made a Christmas tree out of camouflage nets."

In the holy land, a Christmas spirit is reborn:

"In a small distillery just outside Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a clear liquid drips out of a copper pot still into a stainless steel barrel, ringing like church bells."

‘A huge worry’: Christmas beetle decline spurs calls for citizen sightings:

"Researchers urge members of the public to look out for the beloved insect that was once a mainstay of Australia’s summer."

Huge queues and 'horrendous' traffic as Christmas shoppers descend on Liverpool:

"Police have been called in to try and get the traffic flowing."

A Very Film Quiz Friday Christmas – 30 festive movie quiz questions:

"Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without our seasonal film quiz, which includes festive faves and merry movie title mashups…"

The mystery of Melbourne’s missing Christmas Gingerbread Village:

"A stalwart of Melbourne’s Christmas celebrations, the Epicure Gingerbread Village, will not be a feature of festivities for the first time in 11 years."

Olympia History: A Baby Boomer’s Christmas:

"any popular images and traditions of Christmas come from the Baby Boom years. With the dark days of World War II behind them, many Olympia families wanted to celebrate the holiday in style. Here’s a look back into Olympia history at a Baby Boomer’s Christmas."

Show The World Your Artwork:

"Tate Kids Gallery."

How a Great Audiobook Narrator Finds Her Voice:

"Robin Miles was looking for stage and screen roles when she began reading books for the blind. She’s become one of the country’s most celebrated narrators."

Christmas Links #18

Links  There wasn't a Review 2019, at least nothing taggable.  There were the usual predictions (about which I couldn't be more wrong for either year) and a Review 2010s in which I list my favourite books, films and television of that decade largely one per year.  There's nothing much here I disagree with three years later (god, is it only three years since 2019?).  

I still think more people should see the film Advantageous which is still on Netflix.  Written and directed by Jennifer Phang, it should have been a spring board into a long cinema career but she's nevertheless instead found a niche on TV directing episodes of things like The Expanse, Cloak & Dagger, The Boys, Foundation, The Flight Attendant and Stargirl.

Tom Kerridge's Pigs In Blankets With Maple Glaze:

"Easy peasy pigs in blankets with a gorgeous maple syrup glaze. A Christmas favourite, these are supersized and guaranteed to go down a treat."

We tried Heron's amazing £3.75 Christmas dinner - and there's really no need to spend more:

"The East Yorkshire-based frozen food giant is much cheaper than Asda and Tesco's offers."

How scientists spend Christmas in Antarctica:

"Skeleton crews on Antarctic research bases - known as 'winterovers' - wait until June for the festivities to begin."

The US town that celebrates Christmas 365 days a year, with trees, decorations, and a 22ft statue of Santa:

"In this Midwestern town, it’s Santa season 365 days a year, with decorations and carols."

The GCHQ Christmas Challenge 2022:

"The Challenge returns for a second year with a series of fiendish brainteasers and a final twist!"

We have finally found the land of Punt, where pharaohs got their gifts:

"The land of Punt, a mysterious place where ancient Egyptians bought gold, incense and other luxury items, has been located using DNA from mummified baboons."

Frankincense: I uncovered the story behind the traditional Christmas scent on a trip to Oman:

"Mention frankincense, and it’s hard not to instantaneously think of Christmas."

Christmas shoppers urged to support independents:

"Frome has a flourishing independent retail scene, with dozens of locally owned shops and cafes, but even here, campaigners are warning local stores are at risk."

‘We’re introducing viewers to the man behind the lack of sweat’: making Prince Andrew – The Musical:

"As part of its ‘Truth or Dare’ season, Channel 4 is setting the life of Prince Andrew to a series of song and dance numbers. But is this musical take on the disgraced royal too much, too soon?"

Christmas in Norway:

"Christmas celebration in Norway is a true feast of lights, full of events, preparations, and traditions that last a whole season. White snow and decorations add to the magic."