A culturally eclectic weekend...

28 May 2016

We are off to Cardiff today.  The carefully planned idea is to see the RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is on a national tour working with various local amateur groups, there tonight, and to visit the Doctor Who Experience tomorrow. 

This seemed like a brilliant plan - until I discovered that the BBC version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Russell T Davies (and with consultancy on jokes from David Tennant) is being broadcast on Monday.

Oh well, I like visiting Cardiff anyway, and the long drive down the M4 is an excuse to listen to the Big Finish Tenth Doctor and Donna audios.

Update: it turned out that there was major congestion on the M4 so we turned off, and went to Bowood House to see the rhododendrons, which are looking a picture at this time of year.  (I don't suppose many Doctor Who blogs bring you information like this.) 

Doctor Who is getting a bit like Casualty,  Doctors,  Holby City  and The Bill - one of those ubiquitous series you can play actor bingo with whilst waiting for the play to start.  Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream was played by Ayesha Dharker (Solana Mercurio from Planet of the Ood). Sadly, Chu Omambala (Major Blake from The Christmas Invasion), who was due to play Oberon, was indisposed, so his part was played (very well) by his understudy. Other Doctor Who connections among the cast were Peter Hamilton Dyer (Embery from Remembrance of the Daleks) playing Egeus and Laura Harding, playing Hippolyta, who has been in several Big Finish audios.

Tomorrow: The Doctor Who Experience.