Abigail Brady

I made my London DJ debut at the Monarch in Camden tonight, at Time-Space Quizualiser event. I think there was some kind of quiz going on in between my sets but I wasn't really paying attention. Here's the setlist (I think it might even be mostly in the right order.) Ten points to the first person who can spot the theme.

Ron Grainer - Doctor Who theme
Orbital - Who?

break for quiz

The Timelords - Doctorin' the TARDIS

break for quiz

John Barrowman, David Tennant and Catherine Tate - The Ballad of Russell and Julie
Jon Pertwee - Who Is The Doctor
Who Cares? - Doctor in Distress
Ian Levine - K-9 and Company theme
The Go-Go's - I'm Going to Spend My Christmas With A Dalek
Roberta Tovey - Who's Who
Delia Derbyshire - Doctor Who theme (1963)
Murray Gold - I Am The Doctor (2010)
Art Brut - I Am The Psychic (fragment) ¹
Murray Gold - The Majestic Tale (2012)
John Debney - Doctor Who theme (1996)
EightBitBaconStrips - Doctor Who theme
Tim Minchin - Doctor Who theme
Delia Derbyshire/Peter Howell/Dominic Glynn/Keff McCulloch/John Debney/Murray Gold - Doctor Who theme (1963-2010)

Unfortunately I was unable to find the wrongest cover of any Doctor Who music: I am the Kefftor, a cover of "I Am the Doctor" in the style of Keff McCulloch. Listen to it, but prepare your ears first.

1. I'd searched my phone for "I Am" and that came on next. Oops.

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Me and my new housemate have been watching Doctor Who from The Start, from 1963. Got up to "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", watching episodes and recons (full recons, apart from "Marco Polo", which we watched the condensed DVD version of).

It is amazing how much more watchable the era is when in order, compared to my previous attempts. It's fascinating to see it using all sorts of storytelling techniques that would be abandoned by the 1970s and 1980s (Dalek Invasion cross-cuts between two exposition scenes where characters are being told more or less the same thing, to liven it up! It won't start doing this type of thing again until the Cartmel era.) The move to colour seems to have really harmed the ability to light things moodily.

Rather wickedly, I showed episode 1 of Dalek Invasion to housemate without revealing the name on the box. (Clearly it was structured so that the Daleks are the episode 1 cliffhanger reveal, but this secret was blown in pre-publicity.) She spent the entire episode figuring it must be the one where the Cybermen are introduced (because of the Robomen) and is now possibly unique in being surprised by the shot of the Dalek coming out of the water.

The ending is abrupt. We're not the first to notice that, of course, but Susan never even got to say goodbye to Ian and Barbara.

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I have got to 1989's first story, Battlefield. It is an absolute delight. Smartly-written, full of one-liners, and fairly well shot. It gives us a bit more development of the companion, Ace - we knew she blew up the art room at school - we now get to find out how - and a character for her to form a bond with. It also features the last appearance of the Brigadier in Doctor Who, who is given a fitting send-off, I think. I defended his involvement in Mawdryn Undead, but this is better for him as a character. And the ideas, which weren't too mysterious and unexplained, but also wasn't spoonfed... The monster is slightly bad but isn't outright terrible (I think it could work in another context, but it isn't quite right given the staging of the rest of it).

Did I mention I like this story? I think this (at least the special edition of it) is one that I could show to non-fans who like good television and not be at all ashamed of. Something I could not say very often so far about 1980s Doctor Who.

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My very slow Doctor Who marathon continues with Silver Nemesis, from season 25.

( in which I am fairly scathing and spoilery )

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Thus far all of my recent 1980s Doctor Who watching has been solo. This has changed, as I am now joined by ruthi, doseybat and pplfichi.

( thoughts )
So: very mildly encouraging. Not amateurish like the worst of s22 and s23, just poor.

( planet of fire )
I'm going to watch the 4-episode version, with commentary to
see how it compares.

( spoilers: the whispering forest and the king's demons and the five doctors )

I've ordered Warriors of the Deep. I think this is where my
memories kick in, in that I certainly remember the old Silurians when I was little (4 1/2 I must have been). The other very strong memory I have is of carrot juice, so I must have been watching up to the end of s23 (when i was 7). I have no specific recollection of any stuff after that, except
for DiT of course...

A curious one is I remember very dimly K-9 and corridors. I don't even know if I'll know it when I see it. Must have been a repeat...