27.03.23 Longing for Longleat
Longing for Longleat is the next free digital publication created by John Collier and myself, this time looking at the 1983 Celebration event and exploring the classic Longleat exhibition. As with our previous books, it really is the amazing fan photos and vivid recollections that bring the book to life. Longing for Longleat will be available as a free PDF download on 1st April 2023 from blackpoolremembered7485.wordpress.com
10.01.23 Doctor On Display – WINNER!
I’m absolutely thrilled to see the Llangollen edition of Doctor On Display making its way around the sci-fi film festival circuit on the other side of the globe. Furthermore, it recently WON best documentary at the LA Sci-Fi & Horror Festival and the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival (even though there’s no blood or horror in it (well, the karaoke scene is debatable…). It’s an honour to be a tiny part of this exciting series, and a great start to 2023!
19.12.22 Doctor On Display in LA!
I’m delighted to see that the Llangollen edition of Reeltime Pictures’ Doctor On Display series has received its first official selection at the 2022 L.A. Sci-Fi & Horror Festival. Reeltime have been working on this series for a long time, and it is an honour to be a tiny part of it, and to see it all coming to fruition!
24.10.22 The Power of the Doctor
Well, that was an emotional and epic finalé! As much as I haven’t cared for (or bothered to watch much of) the Jodi Whittaker era, you couldn’t ask for a better send off. The storyline was completely OTT and bonkers… kid’s playground sort of stuff (I didn’t expect anything less), but kudos to the Beeb for not allowing any of those amazing surprises to leak.
Many fans speculated we could see a regeneration back into David Tennant, but that concept just seemed too good to be true. I always loved the idea of the Doctor reverting back into a former incarnation (probably stemming from my childhood playing with Dapol figures where my only option was for the Fourth Doctor to regenerate into the Seventh!). While I enjoyed the Tennant era, I hadn’t realised how much I missed his Doctor until recent years, and his return, albeit temporarily, couldn’t be better timed.
But what many of us were the most thrilled about – initially – was the much-celebrated return of Ace and Tegan to our screens (how were they even in touch with each other in those intervening decades?!). Janet and Sophie stepped back into their roles as if no time had passed at all; they were an absolute joy to watch.
Of course, the big one – at least for me – was the unexpected cameos of Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. We’d always wondered how you could give these Doctors suitable contemporary appearances, with each actor being much older, though once in costume, McCoy and Davison both looked the part as ever, and it was their scenes with their respective companions which brought a lump to the throat, also offering a sense of closure. All three were ‘my’ Doctors, but I think it was most moving to see Colin again, even briefly – all reaffirmed by seeing their names once again in the closing titles. And Paul McGann’s Doctor still deserves his own series. Every second he’s ever been on our screens, he’s been brilliant.
Much of what we saw in yesterday’s romp felt like a bit of a reset; the first signs the show is at long last back on course, in time for its sixtieth anniversary. So here’s to a new era of Doctor Who!
17.10.22 Up Close – updated
My recent digital publication, Up Close has now been expanded to include an additional section of the current “Worlds of Wonder” exhibition when it was in residence in Liverpool.
Doctor On Display
Over the past year, I have been working with Reeltime Pictures on their new series of documentaries, Doctor On Display. Each film looks in-depth at a different classic Doctor Who exhibition. As well as being an interviewee in some of the films, I also have the pleasure of creating the DVD cover design for each title.
The first two titles, The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi in Allendale and Longleat are now available via the Time Travel TV online store. Forthcoming titles will focus on the exhibitions in Llangollen and Blackpool. Having been heavily involved in two books on the Blackpool exhibitions, Blackpool Remembered and Blackpool Revisited, it is an absolute joy to see this series of documentaries come into being!
Sevenzero.net 