Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East London (Lockdown the Sequel: Week Four).
Week 336 Saturday 21st until Friday 27thNovember 2020.
My favourite television programme Doctor Who turned 57-year-old earlier this week (23November). There are so many things that I have to thank this very British television drama for. One of the most important is learning to read, let me explain!
Reading was not something I was very good at when I was young, it didn’t come easily. This changed in 1977 (ish) when I discovered the Target range of Doctor Who novelisations (Some of this is covered in Blog week 272, as a tribute to the later great Terrance Dicks who wrote so many of these books). The books were captivating to a young fan, as they told the story of adventure seen on TV years before. The programme was shown weekly on a Saturday later afternoon/early evening (you decide, what to call that strange time of the day) each series (or season as we say these days) lasted around 6 months. But because repeats were rare, if an episode was missed then the chances of seeing it again extremely slim. All of this made these novels so important to an enthusiast. But to someone that found reading difficult these were books even more special, I found that I actually wanted to read. This resulted in many hours sitting on the floor of the nearest WH Smiths or the local library, captivated by every word about a time traveler and his (the Doctor was male in those days) companions.
It was not long until I started to buy and collected every book, eventually I had them all (there were a handful of stories, which were not published until recently. But that’s for another time). Sadly, many years later because I was travelling all the books were given to a fellow Who fan. Of course I always regretted this, so over the last 10 years I have been rebuying second hand copies at extortionate prices. One day I will have the complete collection, all the original books (again) and the few newly published adventures. When that time happens I will be seen sitting on the floor re-enjoying the written adventures of a time travelling Police Box.
At school I was not an achiever, they couldn’t be bothered with me. Of course, I have to hold my hand up and say I could/should have tried harder. Because the school didn’t want to help stimulate my imagination, they pretty much left me to rot with what were regarded the other stupid kids. These days I wonder what might have happened, would I have got more help and encouragement.
Doctor Who was the sparked of my interest in how the entertainment / creative world works. Over the years I have been lucky to dabble in Film, TV, Radio, Theatre and Magazines. But it has never been “what I do”. Recently I have wondered, what might have happened to me if my education experience had been a more positive. Being 52, I may only have 10 to 30 years left on this ball of rock we call home. Every year at this time, I say to myself that I need to pull my finger out (and as you have guessed, I never do). Sadly, I will probably now be a professional creative person, I will always have to rely on a “normal job” to make a living and pay the bills. Creativity will only ever be a hobby, however if it did result in a little pocket money or made one or two people happy, I believe that would help make the day job a little easier to cope with, helping me feel better about myself.
Once 2021 has commenced and New Year’s hangover has faded. I need to make a tough decision; do I continue this blog or stop to give other creative pursuits the time needed for their completion. From reading this ramble, you would never know that I spend many hours writing and re-writing this shiz. Believe me I do try to make this mess readable. The reason for this constant typing, tweaking and adjusting is simply because I didn’t do well at school, grammar and other important tools like that were just not taught. I have considered going back into education, what puts me off is the cost of.
Over the last couple of years, I have been lucky enough to have 8 articles published in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) Magazine “Celestial Toyroom” (hopefully they will accept a few more written pieces next year). Then there are ideas formulating in the back of my mind about article/features which will be submitted to the official BBC Doctor Who Magazine. At the present time I have a non “Who” article ready to be sent to a couple of movie magazines. The there are several drawings and paintings which need to be finished. As well as a few scripts which I have ideas for (the 6 to 8 short films scripts that I completed a few years ago are always ready to be read. It would be nice if one day someone would read them (or one) and say “let’s make this as a film”). Recently I have become more and more depressed with the way my life has panned out (I have no one else to blame, I realise). Maybe 2021 has to be the year that I make changes, creative changes.
For a long time, I was embarrassed about being an adult who loves Doctor Who. But I have so much to be grateful of my enthusiasm about a drama wrongly considered children’s one. The most important one, the Doctor taught me to read. When other book’s and comics couldn’t persuade me to take an interest in their contents. If I had not discovered the Target book, I really dread to think what would have happened to me.
There really is nothing more to say, other than Happy 57th Anniversary to a wonderfully wacky influential Television drama. It’s a programme that goes from strength to strength and has many more years of time travel to come.
My Mid Life Crisis Conts……
This week I have mainly been watching:
“Behind The Scenes In Space During The Historic NASA/Space X DM-2 Launch And Docking with ISS”, (YouTube)(TX: 10/07/20). “Ben Browder Interview 06/07/12 – Farscape, StarGate & Doctor Who”, (YouTube)(TX: 10/07/12). “Click”, (21/11/20). “Claudia Black In StarGate Blooper’s 2005 – 07”, (YouTube)(TX: 30/04/13). “Coffee And Quasers”, (YouTube)(TX: 20/11/20). “Daleks! (BBC Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious)”, (YouTube)(S1, ep 3, TX: 26/11/20). “Edge of Tomorrow: Live Die and Repeat”, (2014). “Entertainment Insider – How Bodysuits Are Designed To Look Realistic In Movies And Tv”, (YouTube)(TX: 05/10/20). “Entertainment Insider – What 15 Movies From 2019 Looked Behind The Scenes”, (FaceBook)(TX: 05/12/19). “Farscape”, (S2, ep 14). “Farscape: Moya And Pilot Presentation”, (YouTube)(TX: 20/06/11). “Farscape: Rygel (John Ecclestone) Interview”, (YouTube)(TX: 20/06/11). “Fringe”, (S1, ep 18 & ep 19). “His Dark Materials”, (S2, ep 3). “Inside The Russian Soyuz Spacecraft”, (NASA TV)(TX: 25/04/12). “Kenneth Williams: In His Own Words”, (TX: 22/11/20). “Lexx”, (S2, ep 4). “Return Of The Autons (Katy Manning And Stewart Bevan)”, (YouTube)(TX: 25/11/20). “Spitting Image (2020)”, (Britbox)(S1, ep 9, TX: 21/11/20). “Star Trek: Discovery”, (S3, ep 7). “Syfy 20th Anniversary Special 2012 – Farscape”, (YouTube)(TX: 18/03/13). “Taskmaster”, (S10 (S1 on C4), ep 7, TX: 26/11/20). “The Graham Norton Show”, (S28, ep 7, TX: 20/11/20). “The Great British Bake Off: The Final”, (S11 (S4 on C4), ep 10, TX: 24/11/20). “The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice: The Final”, (S7 (S4 on C4), ep 10 TX: 27/11/20). “The Last Leg”, (S20, ep 5, TX: 20/11/20). “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, (S1, ep 5 to ep 8)(S2, ep 1 to ep 4). “The Tomorrow People”, (S1: The Slaves Of Jedikiah, ep 1 to ep 5). “The Walking Dead: World Beyond”, (S1, ep 9). “What Happens During An ISS Re-Boost On 24/01/10”, (YouTube)(TX: 29/01/10). “Why Physics Suggest Other Dimensions Exist”, (BBC News Website)(TX: 24/11/20). “Z Nation”, (S2, ep 2 & ep 3).
Doctor Who Watched This Week:
“An Unearthly Child (Unaired Pilot)”, (Prod Code A)(Not shown on TV until 26/08/91).
“An Unearthly Child”, (Prod Code A)(ep 1, “ An Unearthly Child”, TX: 23/11/63)(ep 2, “The Cave Of Skulls”, TX: 30/11/63)(ep 3, “The Forest Of Fear”, TX: 07/12/63)(ep 4, “The Firemaker”, TX: 14/12/63).
The Daleks”, (Prod Code B)(ep 1, “The Dead Planet”, TX: 21/12/63)(ep 2, “The Survivors”, TX: 28/12/83)(ep 3, “The Escape”, TX: 04/01/64)(ep 4, “The Ambush”, TX:11/01/64)(ep 5, “The Expedition”, TX: 18/01/64).
Gerry Anderson Watched This Week:
“Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons”, (S1, ep 17, TX: 26/01/68)
“Space 1999”, (S1, ep 20, TX: 01/01/76).
“UFO”, (S1, ep 17, TX: 10/02/71).
This week I have mainly been listening to:
“Anti Social Show”, (ep 88, 10/11/20). “Betamax Video Club”, (ep 22 TX: 18/07/18) (ep 83, 26/11/20). “Coronavirus Global Daily Update”, (BBC World Service) (21/11/20) (22/11/20)(23/11/20) (24/11/20)(25/11/20) (26/11/20) (27/11/20). “CNN, Coronavirus: Fact Vs Fiction”, (ep 190, 23/11/20)(ep 191, 24/11/20). “Daddy Look At Me”, (S4, ep 3, 26/11/20). “Dear Joan And Jericha (Julia Davis And Vicki Pepperdine)”, (S3, ep 2, 24/11/20). “Doug And Elly Watch Telly”, (ep 4, 17/07/20) (ep 11, 23/09/20) (ep 12, 02/10/20) (ep 16, 24/11/20). “Griefcast”, (ep 122, 25/11/20). “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha”, (S1, ep 12, 25/11/20). “NASA: Curious Universe”, (23/11/20). “NASA: Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 173, 27/11/20). “Nick Abbot (Whole Show)”, (21/11/20)(22/11/20(27/11/20). “Poppy Hillstead Has Entered The Chat”, (S2, ep 4, 25/11/20). “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe’s Lockdown Parenting Hell”, (S1, ep 61, 24/11/20) (ep 62, 27/11/20). “Soundtracking With Edith Bowman”, (ep 220, 13/11/20)(ep 221, 20/11/20)(ep 222, 27/11/20). “Sue Perkins An Hour Or So With….”, (S3, ep 4, 26/11/20). “The Froth”, (S2, ep 6, 24/11/20). “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (18/11/19) (25/11/19) (23/11/20). “The Skewer”, (BBC Radio 4)(S2, ep 1 to ep 4). “Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels: Happy Times And Places”, (The Day Of The Daleks, ep 1.1 & 1.2, 22/11/20)(ep 1.3 & 1.4, 23/11/20)(The Sontaran Experiment, ep 2.1, 25/11/20)(ep 2.2, 27/11/20). “Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels: Indefinable Magic”, (ep 1.1, 23/11/20). “Toby Hadokes Time Travels: Too much Information”, (ep 1.0, 23/11/20). “Verbal Diorama”, (ep 1 16/02/19)(ep 9, 16/06/19)(ep 38, 09/04/20)(ep 70, 26/11/20). “We Will Get Past This”, (ep 42, 19/06/20)(ep 43, 20/06/20)(ep 44, 21/06/20)(ep 45, 22/06/20)(ep 46, 23/06/20)(ep 47, 24/06/20)(ep 48, 25/06/20). “What’s The Problem? With Nick Abbot And Carol McGiffen”, (S1, ep 44, 23/11/20). “Morrissey”, “Radiohead”, “Cornershop”, “Ash”, “Sigur Ros”, “Bjork”, “Weezer”, “Royal Blood”, “Green Day”, “St Etienne”, The Weekend”, “Tame Impala”, “Elbow”, “Terence Trent D’arby”, “Cat Stevens” .
Misfits Mid-Life Crisis........ 