Monthly Archives: January 2011

Non-fiction: 5 The Hiſtory of That moſt Eminent Stateſman, Sir John Perrott Sisters of Sinai, by Janet Soskice For Noble Purposes, by Richard Porter Tyrone’s Rebellion, by Hiram Morgan The Secret Life of Trees, by Colin Tudge Non-genre fiction: 1 … Continue reading →

i) broadcast anniversaries 31 January 1970: broadcast of first episode of Doctor Who and the Silurians

With due respect to the anonymous commenter on the previous review in this series, I think that it is clearly Mary Tamm depicted in the 1980 Annual, and it’s a definite improvement from the previous few years. One feels somehow … Continue reading →

Despite its flaws, which I discuss in the full post, this chapter is basically a really good introduction to the reign and times of Justinian.In 61 pages, it covers i) the Empress Theodora, ii) the factions at the Circus, iii) … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 30 January 1966: birth of Daphne Ashbrook, who played Grace Holloway in the TV Movie (1996). 30 January 1997: death of Nicholas Mallet, who directed The Mysterious Planet (1986), Paradise Towers 1987) and The Curse of … Continue reading →

APOD: 2011 January 29 – Opportunity at Santa Maria Crater Wow. (tags: astronomy space) Samuel F B Morse has a posse – The Wilkinsons and 'Christian' opposition to anti-discrimination laws "How have the Wilkinsons achieved virtual martyrdom status in UK … Continue reading →

This is one of the best plays Big Finish have ever done. I had reasonably high hopes after reading the very connubial mutual interview between author Nev Fountain and star Nicola Bryant in the last Doctor Who Magazine, and even … Continue reading →

Several people had been recommending this to me. I laughed and laughed. Only a shame it was Mobistar rather than Belgacom.

i) births and deaths 29 January 1930: birth of William Emms, author of TV story Galaxy 4 (1965) and the widely forgotten Sixth Doctor book, Mission to Venus (1986). 29 January 1976: birth of Mark Clapham, author and co-author of … Continue reading →

A hint from and some more googling found me the bande dessinée I was trying to identify: it is Autonomes, the first of a trilogy called Chroniques de fin de siècle, by Jan Bucquoy (better known as a film director, … Continue reading →

Browsing in a Paris bookshop, in about 1983, I remember looking through a bande dessinée set in a post-breakup Belgium, Flander under authoritarian rule and Wallonia kind of free and easy. Does that ring any bells for anyone? If you … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 28 January 1938: birth of Christopher Coll, who played Phipps in The Seeds of Death (1969) and Stubbs in The Mutants (1972). 28 January 1976: death of James Mellor, who played Sean Flannigan in The Wheel … Continue reading →

Let His People Go: Sudan’s Lesson for Secession « EJIL: Talk! My old friend Tim Waters: "the real danger to peace is not peoples’ desire to form new states. It is the willingness of the present powers in this world … Continue reading →

More Paul Magrs: I managed to listen to the second and third parts of his latest series of audios staring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor before setting off for Moldova last weekend and forgetting my MP3 player, and now … Continue reading →

This is the first of Magrs’ Doctor Who novels, and also the first to feature the peculiar Iris Wildthyme, who claims to be a the Doctor’s girlfriend from the old days in Gallifrey, driving around in a Tardis in the … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 27 January 1984: death of Douglas Camfield, who directed the third episode of Planet of Giants (1964), also The Crusade (1965), The Time Meddler (1965), The Daleks’ Master Plan (1965-66), The Web of Fear (1968), The … Continue reading →

broadcast anniversaries 26 January 1973: broadcast of third episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor is playing with his Tyrannosaurus; Sarah is captured by Charles grover and wakes up on a space ship three months out of Earth. 26 … Continue reading →

Commission and Parliament hit by telephone outage | European Voice Belgacom strikes again! (tags: eu phone)

i) births and deaths 25 January 1950: birth of Christopher Ryan, who played Lord Kiv in Mindwarp (1986), General Staal in The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky (2007) and Commander Stark in The Pandorica Opens (2010). Also played Mike … Continue reading →

Did Prince William's Balding Hasten His Engagement? Don't bother reading this one. Really, don't. (tags: royals) The downward spiral of ownership and value Tim Spalding sounds the alarm about the effect of ebooks on publishing. (tags: copyright)

broadcast anniversaries 24 January 1970: broadcast of fourth episode of Spearhead from Space. The Doctor and Liz defeat and expel the Nestene Consciousness, and the Doctor accepts the Brigadier’s proposal that he become UNIT’s Scientific Adviser. 24 January 1976: broadcast … Continue reading →

I’ve been aware of Colin Tudge as a science writer and commentator on BBC Radio Four for decades, but this was the first time I’d read one of his books. I was frankly disappointed. The biggest section of the book, … Continue reading →

A decent enough Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny story, with human colonists wandering into an existing struggle between two alien entities. I didn’t think Bulis quite got Benny in this one but he has an excellent Ace and good Doctor. … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 23 January 1921: as noted yesterday, birth of Kevin Stoney, who played Mavic Chen in The Daleks’ Master Plan (1965-66), Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion (1968), and Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975). ii) broadcast … Continue reading →

Tuesday 21 January 1667/68 (Pepys' Diary) A sad story with a mildly uplifting ending: Pepys' cousin is dying by his own hand, and his estate would therefore be forfeit to the Crown; Pepys personally appeals to the King, who assures … Continue reading →

We had a jolly good time this afternoon in the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve. This is despite the fact that Louvain-la-Neuve is a true hell-hole of Sixties architecture, a place that only exists because of the Belgian language conflict and … Continue reading →

The Nine Years’ War lasted from 1594 to 1603; its consequences were catastrophic for Ireland, in that the old Gaelic order was weakened to the point that its leaders chose exile in Europe rather than continue life in their devastated … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 22 January 1950: birth of Pamela Salem, who played Toos in The Robots of Death (1977) and Rachel Jensen in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). 22 January 1993: birth of Tommy Knight who plays Sarah Jane … Continue reading →

Chisinau to host Conference on security and mobility in Europe – Moldova Azi I'm chairing a couple of sessions at this. (tags: moldova) Continuity Errors by Steven Moffat Moffat's first ever Who story; readers will recognise some similarities with the … Continue reading →

i) births and deaths 21 January 1978: death of Geoffrey Orme, who wrote The Underwater Menace. 21 January 1993: death of David Blake Kelly, who played the captain of the Mary Celeste in The Chase (1965) and Jacob Kewper in … Continue reading →