Who I mean what else was I going to be writing about? I found out in the best way possible - seeing a Dalek drift by on the bottom of the front page of The Daily Telegraph on a morning paper review on tv, then on BBCi on Freeview at half past midnight just before I began taping Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. And it's going to be on Saturday nights at 6:30. For now everything seems right. Russell T. Davies is a renowned fan (read this piece from The Guardian about the DVD release of Queer as Folk and see how it's mentioned either directly or other) who has written a novel and short stories. Just like the old days it?s being personally supervised by the head of drama (Mal Young) and it's a full commission, not some maybe. I should at this point trot out my usual hopes and fears - that it's a continuation rather than a remake, that forty odd years of continuity isn't dumped, so much as not referred to. That it's a family show without being stupid, witty without slapstick. That the old monsters are only brought back for a valid reason and that they aren't changed for the sake of it. He should also take advantage of the range of writing talent on offer right now. Paul Cornell, Lance Parkin and Mark Gatiss are all respected tv writers (and actor in the latter case) and having their names attached also would make this seem even more real. I certainly don't think Davies should write it all.

Quick word on casting. Although I love the hotly tipped Alan Davies and he's been great in Jonathan Creek etc, just to cast him because he looks like a young Tom Baker isn?t the way to go. The Doctor needs to have a strong presence and I just don't see him facing down a Dalek. Of course I'd love Paul McGann to instantly get the role, but failing that can I suggest Peter Davison? He's a bit older now and has proved to have developed into a very good actor in recent ITV dramas. He's also been excellent in the Big Finish audios and I think he always secretly regretted leaving the series at the time when he did. You'd have some of the continuity with the past and also the older Doctor, Davies seems to be interested in. I think he's talking about a kind of Pertwee / Jo Grant dynamic which is just fine.

Life So we’ve moved. And after a few days during which various workmen traipsed through to fix little things like the hole in my wall and the fact my window wouldn’t open things are beginning to look very good indeed. Loving my wooden floor, although in a retrograde step I might have to get a rug to for just on the edge of my new bed (oh yes I’ve bought a new bed – all metal frame and high headboard) because it feels very odd when by bare feet hit the bare floor. It’s very odd to be sitting in a flat which is the same as the one we left a year ago but in places so different with its fitted kitchen, conservatory style back balcony, shower/bathroom and living room windows which take up a whole wall.

The actual move was smoother than last time. Last time it took thirteen hours to shift everything. This time we were in and out in six hours (I was able to go into town in the afternoon for some essentials). But there is still much to do. The life laundry continues. I hadn’t quite realized how many tapes I had with certain television series on, but it doesn’t feel so bad watch the black bags mount up with them in. Equally it hasn’t been so hard losing the books although it has meant my bookshelf is looking a bit weird, if only because it seems so brief; losing all the screenplays just feels wrong, but if I’ve got the films on DVD and their literally just transcripts, what’s the point?

Reconnecting online was it’s own mini-nightmare. I eventually found the box with all the cables and whatnot in yesterday, hooked everything up and nothing … my modem was dialing up OK, connecting then … nothing. Checked everything. Tried again. Still nothing. Called BT’s tech support who called back this morning and we tried increasing the ‘gain’, this didn’t help. So I called the 50p a minute line who advised that on Wednesday BT Retail had told BT Openworld to cancel my Surftime package. Many phone calls late all I could work out was that BT Retail were saying they hadn’t and BT Openworld said they had. Unfortunately I couldn’t put the receivers next to each other and let them have the argument, but thankfully it does mean I’m back online with relatively more ease than during the last move.

One week to go of my holiday and I’m making a promise to myself to at least try to enjoy it. I think there may be a cinema trip to Manchester sometime in my future …

Life So I'm going to be offline for a few days while I move flats. Last time, my modem died (I think it took a bash somewhere along the line) and I was offline all summer. This is an internal model so I'm hoping history won't be repeating. The weblog archives for that time mainly consist of 'Still not working ...' 'Still not online...' Anyway, see you on the other side...

TV RI:SE is terminal. Final show to go out 19 December, four months before the contract was up. And no, it hasn't improved no matter what this article says ...

That Day I missed this. Does that mean I have to walk the plank?

TV This'll help you understand what some Guardian writers are talking about. Everything you'd need to know about American Television (almost), including why certain episodes in a season suddenly feature A REALLY EXCITING PLOTINE, a crossover with another show or a movie star and why that period is called sweeps. Comforting to know that it isn't just in the UK that no one is watching TV on a Saturday night. [via tvtattle]

Thought When I was at school the only club or society I threw any kind enthusiasm into was the Debating Society. Now I find that it's been merged with the Philosophy Society, although reading the article it doesn't look like anything's changed. This is just the sort of subject I'd end up cracking up over. The best debater I ever saw there was the almost famous Mitch Benn who I've mentioned before. Really strong improvisational skills.

Which I lacked. No really. In the first debate I attended which was about Nuclear Disarmament when it was opened to the floor I decided the best idea was for scientists to build giant forcefields to go over the continents. When I finally became a speaker I stood at the front and chattered my way through an explanation as to why Britain was becoming another American state and later why Satellite TV was a very bad thing indeed. How times change.

Actually I tell a lie. There were other clubs. I attended the Astronomical Society all the time, where episodes of The Sky At Night would be shown. Sometimes my mate Chris would come along and the attendance would double. I once gave a talk called 'Strange Universe' which I cribbed from pages of a Star Wars comic. Everyone in my class turned up to have a laugh at me nerve my way through that one.

Education I'm quite impressed by my old school's new website. Last time I looked it seemed to have been designed by the pupils themselves in class. Now it's feel is much more professional, what with a semi-weblog on the front page and very fast menu bar system.

The content also includes material from the Squirrel yearbook which was published annually in which the pupils would write pieces about what was happening in the school -- on a model which I realise now was very similar to the American model, the only difference being we didn't get out picture printed. I'm intrigued by the how the Alumni section will develop. They aren't too discreet about saying that it'll riff off Friends Reunited either.

Life For some reason today one of my shoes decided to become a sound effect from The Archers of a farmer walking across a field. As the rain poured down, although my left foot was tapping across the brickwork which passes for pavements in Liverpool City Centre, all I could get out my right foot was ‘squelch!’ ‘squelch!’ ‘squelch!’ ‘squelch!’ I stopped to look at the sole and it seemed perfectly normal. I tried dragging it around a bit on the carpet in WH Smith (not too idiotically) and I must have dried it off a bit because then it became ‘squealch!’ ‘squealch!’ ‘squealch!’ So if there are any agents out there, it’s available for voice work and as a new presenter on RI:SE.

Journalism Amusing almost page-by-page review of the London newspaper, The Evening Standard:

"Page 36: 'Little Miss Beckwith'

Verdict: 16-year-old daughter of it-girl tells all in 'her first ever interview'. a fucking wind-up.

Of course I am, it will be said, sounding bitter. Which is mostly because I am. None of the above has any f**king relevance to anything that happens in London besides a few riding stables."

Which is a similar argument to the one I made recently about the Manchester-centric local news. At one point it got so bad that via the magic of satellite TV we began watching the BBC London News instead and it felt more relevant. Odd.

Flash Mobs are supposed to be largely secretive. Not according to these people. It hasn't occured to them that if they actually heavily publicise a mob, heavily armed security guards might also be in attendance.

Food Rough Guide to Fast Food in Los Angeles in case you're in the area. Warning because the picture of a burger on the page will make you insanely hungry.

Weblogs Weblog Ethics is an excerpt from Rebecca's book which offers a good roadmap to writing a weblog with a concience. [via Rebecca's Pocket]

Radio Heat Magazine to launch radio station. Sounds rubbish.

People This from the 'Edwina Currie / John Major wierd romance department'. Jerry 'I was in Sliders' O'Connell and Geri 'I was Ginger once' Halliwell seen on a date. Jerry and Geri. Something similar about those names.

Life I visited my old-new-old flat the other night. My room now resembles one of the little rooms that sometimes holds installations at The Tate. It has a mock-wooden floor and white wall and white blinds. Because the floor is actually a sort of covered laminate it's quite springy and warm, like the sprung floor in use during the Netball at the Commonwealth Games. It's nice to have a room which actually has good memories at the core.

TV Although this has whiff of an item which used to appear on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio One in the eighties (and isn't that an obscure reference) most of the writing in Lost Remote's Things Viewers Never, Ever Say rings utterly true:

"I'm glad they referred to him as 'the Pontiff' on the second reference and 'John Paul the Second' on the third reference. I would have been bored if they just said 'The Pope.'"

"I'm glad they clarified that it was "ACTOR" Arnold Schwarzenegger. I had no idea who they were talking about."

"It really helped my understanding of that story that they asked a couple of random idiots on the street what THEY thought of it."

Can I add ... "I'm really glad that the local North West news broadcast from Manchester always highlights stories about Manchester -- I mean who wants to hear about anywhere else?"

TV Channel 4 launching a new channel for the over 30s, called More4. Personally I would have liked something akin to the channel in the late eighties early nineties when film four was at it's peak and it still produced serious drama and documentaries. Anyone remember Cutting Edge?

Politics Again in the Big Country an example of micro-politics. A recent referendum at Brock University is brought into question. Were students misled in last year's bus pas referendum? Although the subject is utterly irrelevant to anyone who isn't a student of that university, this is a very passionate argument, and you can see the stirings of a strong politician. Good luck with the presidency Laura Fekete.

Currency It appears that food portions aren't the only things which are bigger in the United States. The Memory Hole baits forgers and publishes scans of a $10,000 bill and other large denominations. In the UK, things are a bit smaller.