Sunday 19 October 2014

May 2006: the Doctor impinges on my working life


3 May 2006

Am moving to new office at the entrance to our building.  Head of Department is concerned that I may get constant interruptions.  I suggest putting sign saying “Hazard: Radioactivity” on the door.  He counters by suggesting sign saying “Beware of the Doctor Who fan”.

Wonder whether mentioning Doctor Who under other interests in my profile in professional journal (‘Who does [redacted for professional reasons] think she is?”) was a good career move.

6 May 2006

Did I say I was overcome last week?  That was nothing to this week.  Steven Moffat strikes again.  Who else could have the Doctor jumping on horseback through a mirror to save the woman he loves?  And he even stole RTD’s ending from Casanova (well, almost).  My only quibble would be that the final shot which shows the name of the spaceship and the explanation of it all is easily missed by a casual viewer.  I had to explain it to our Academic Registrar afterwards.

8 May 2006

An inflatable Dalek, labelled ‘Departmental Administrators, for the use of’ arrived mysteriously outside the Head of Department’s office whilst we were having our weekly management meeting. He attended the remainder of the meeting as an observer.

 13 May 2006

And so from the sublime to the ridiculous. After the wonderful bittersweet ending of last week’s episode, we have some appalling ham acting from Roger Lloyd Pack. I love the idea of the zeppelins though – I wonder if RTD is a fan of Jasper Fforde? And full marks for playing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Am getting some interesting reactions to Derek the Dalek. My German colleagues have no idea what a Dalek is as they don’t have televisions.  The American ones are bemused, and the English ones amused. The Head of Department keeps patting him on the dome. (Don’t try this at home with a real Dalek).

Derek the Dalek
 

20 May 2006

Went to local library for talk by Gareth Roberts, who was promoting I am a Dalek.  There was us, assorted kids with parents (including a large proportion of girls) and a rather confused little boy in a spiderman outfit. There was a book-signing afterwards, and husband had brought along his copy of The English Way of Death.   Mr Roberts was a bit surprised at this blast from his past but signed it cheerfully enough. Husband then tactfully commented on the similarities with the work of E F Benson. Oh God!

Better this week than last. I was never really that keen on Cybermen to be honest, but I like the new design. It was quite a shock to see that Jackie (albeit an alternative Jackie) had been ‘upgraded’.

27 May 2006

Slightly disappointed with this week’s episode.  It was good, certainly better than the Cybermen episodes, but I have very high expectations of anything by Mark Gatiss. Maureen Lipman was perfectly cast as the Wire, though.
 
The trailer for next week looks awful. 

 

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