1984:

TV
Warriors of the Deep
The Awakening
Frontios
Resurrection of the Daleks
Planet of Fire
The Caves of Androzani
The Twin Dilemma

Books
Doctor Who – Mawdryn Undead (5)
Doctor Who – Kinda (5)
Doctor Who – Snakedance (5)
Doctor Who – Enlightenment (5)
Doctor Who – The Dominators (2)
Doctor Who – Warriors of the Deep (5)
Doctor Who – The Aztecs (1)
Doctor Who – Inferno (3)
Doctor Who – The Highlanders (2)
Doctor Who – Frontios (5)
1985 Doctor Who Annual (6)

The first Who from 1984 that I encountered: Again, I had a clash with music lessons, but caught some of Warriors of the Deep in January. I was 16.

My favourite Who from 1984: It took me a while to come round to it, but definitely Caves of Androzani.

Moving swiftly on from: The Twin Dilemma. Deservedly last in most polls of all Who stories. (Though we are fortunate to have been spared The Prison in Space and Mission to Magnus.)

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

• Charlotte Church’s BBC Lecture On Sexism In The Music Industry
  
  Great stuff.
  (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality )
• EU aid to Morocco not conditional on human rights
  
  Former EU ambassador to Morocco: “Yes, it is an authoritarian state.” (in French)
  (tags: eu westernsahara )
• ‘The Short Fiction of Flann O’Brien’
  
  According to @JulianGough, includes several sf stories.
  (tags: sf )
• Peter Robinson to Unionists: “Drop siege mentality!”
  
  Credit where it’s due!
  (tags: northernireland )
• Gerald Ford on a trampoline
  
  Just because.
  (tags: gerald ford )

On an idle whim I typed his name into LinkedIn:

• Azerbaijan’s ‘AppGate’
  
  Good for Al-Jazeera running this story.
  (tags: azerbaijan )
• Azerbaijan Attacking the Messengers
  
  @Giorgi_Gogia reports from the ground.
  (tags: azerbaijan )
• Human Rights Watch Daily Brief: MEPs accused of Azerbaijan election tourism
  
  Great @EuropeanVoiceEV article liberated from firewall by @hrw.
  (tags: azerbaijan )
• Solar Interference: the cause of dropped calls?
  
  Sunstorms and cellphones.
  (tags: astronomy )
• Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere Banned Due to Racy Jumper Fumblings
  
  Protecting the littl’ uns. Or not.
  (tags: sf )
• WISH, by Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada, Artist in Residence, Belfast International Festival
  
  Land art portrait; lovely.
  (tags: northernireland art )

1983:

TV
Arc of Infinity
Snakedance
Mawdryn Undead
Terminus
Enlightenment
The King’s Demons
The Five Doctors

Books
Doctor Who – Time-Flight (5)
Doctor Who – Meglos (4)
Doctor Who – Castrovalva (5)
Doctor Who – Four to Doomsday (5)
Doctor Who – Earthshock (5)
Doctor Who – Terminus (5)
Doctor Who – Arc of Infinity (5)
Doctor Who – The Five Doctors (1,2,3,5)
1984 Doctor Who Annual (5)

The first Who from 1983 that I encountered: I caught only about half the episodes this year due to a clash with music lessons, but did get the first episode of Arc of Infinity in January. I was 15.

My favourite Who from 1983: For us old school fans, the reunion of Pertwee and Troughton is a true joy, with Davison and Hurndall (and the various companions) doing their bit too. Also, as a Clare graduate now, I still love the punting scene from Shada (yes, I know I’ve said it before).

Moving swiftly on from:The Doctor Who – Time-Flight noveliasation, which is even worse than the original TV story broadcast the previous year.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

• Climate change is here and now
  
  USA Today, that well known leftist rag, chimes in.
  (tags: climatechange )
• The Shutdown Is No Longer Only a Domestic Issue
  
  “the U.S. can try to be a global leader…or it can get caught up in ideological fights… It cannot do both.”
  (tags: uspolitics )

1982:

TV
Castrovalva
Four to Doomsday
Kinda
The Visitation
Black Orchid
Earthshock
Time-Flight

Books
Doctor Who and the State of Decay (4)
Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate (4)
Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken (4)
Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive (4)
Doctor Who and the Visitation (5)
Doctor Who – Full Circle (4)
Doctor Who – Logopolis (4)
Doctor Who and the Sunmakers (4)
1983 Doctor Who Annual (5)

The first Who from 1982 that I encountered: We tuned in for Peter Davison’s debut, you betcha! I was 14.

My favourite Who from 1982: I don’t like much of the rest of the story, but Adric’s death is a moment of great drama.

Moving swiftly on from: Time Flight. What were they thinking?

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

Current
The Flood, by Ian Rankin
The Last Mughal, by William Dalrymple
[Doctor Who] Slow Empire, by Dave Stone
About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who, 2005-2006; Series 1 & 2, by Tat Wood

Last books finished
Mortal Clay, Stone Heart and Other Stories in Shades of Black and White, by Eugie Foster
De Sigaren van de Farao [Cigars of the Pharaoh], by Hergé
[Doctor Who] Warchild, by Andrew Cartmel
Returning My Sister's Face, And Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice, by Eugie Foster
The Far Side Of The World, by Patrick O'Brian
The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Next books
The History of the Hobbit vol 2: Return to Bag-End, by John Rateliff
The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I, by Stephen Alford
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

Books acquired in last week
Local Hero, by David Benedictus (from the screenplay by Bill Forsyth)
Assassin's Quest, by Robin Hobb

• Why I Will Never, Ever, Go Back to the United States
  
  Guilty of having visited Malaysia.
  (tags: uspolitics )
• Belfast: Two cities, or two perspectives?
  
  Naomi Long’s take.
  (tags: northernireland )

1981:

TV
Warriors’ Gate
The Keeper of Traken
Logopolis
K9 and Company: A Girl’s Best Friend

Books
Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (4)
Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World (2)
Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child (1)
1982 Doctor Who Annual (4/5)

The first Who from 1981 that I encountered: By this stage I was watching religiously, and made sure to catch Warrior’s gate on first broadcast. I was 13.

My favourite Who from 1981: This is a good year, actually. The TV stories are all weird and different, but I’m actually going to single out two of the books, Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit and Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World, both of which are improvements on the original story.

Moving swiftly on from: K9 and Company.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

This is a picture of the Harvard Computer Room in 1890. Can you see the computers?

There are eight of them in the picture. Seven of the computers are seated and the eighth, Williamina Fleming, is standing. She was the first woman to be given a formal appointment at Harvard. There were also computers at Greenwich and in Australia, and basically at any serious observatory. The Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York, had more computers than anywhere else.

As we all know, “computer” means a woman who worked in a nineteenth-century observatory, doing cutting-edge scientific work for little pay. I suppose that the word may have picked up other meanings since, partly thanks to Ada Lovelace, who we celebrate today.

• Doctor Who: Fifty Stories For Fifty Years: 2007
  
  Andrew Hickey on “Blink”, Steven Moffat, and time travel.
  (tags: doctorwho )

1980:

TV
The Horns of Nimon
(Shada)
The Leisure Hive
Meglos
Full Circle
State of Decay

Books
Doctor Who and the Underworld (4)
Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time (4)
Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood (4)
Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara (4)
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll (4)
Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor (4)
Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus (1)
Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden (4)
Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon (4)
Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon (3)
K9 and the Time Trap
K9 and the Beasts of Vega
K9 and the Zeta Rescue
K9 and the Missing Planet
1981 Doctor Who Annual (4)

The first Who from 1980 that I encountered: As in 1974 we were out of the UK for much of the year, but back in time to catch the first episode of The Leisure Hive on 30 August. I was 13.

My favourite Who from 1980: It barely counts, but the punting scene from Shada.

Moving swiftly on from: Adric’s attempt to be a vampire convert. (And, “Lord Niiiimoooon!”)

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

• Shakespeare’s fingerprints found on three Elizabethan plays
  
  A few steps forward.
  (tags: shakespeare )
• The Death of the Urdu Script
  
  From nastaliq to naskh.
  (tags: alphabets )
• Doctor Who: Fifty Stories For Fifty Years: 2007
  
  Andrew Hickey on “Blink”, Steven Moffat, and time travel.
  (tags: doctorwho )
• Time-Lapse | Earth
  
  The view from the International Space Station
  (tags: space )

1979:

TV
The Power of Kroll   (last 2 episodes)
The Armageddon Factor
Destiny of the Daleks
City of Death
The Creature from the Pit
Nightmare of Eden
The Horns of Nimon (first 2 episodes)

Books
Doctor Who and the Hand of Fear (4)
Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy (4)
Doctor Who and the Robots of Death (4)
Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl (4)
Doctor Who and the War Games (2)
Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (4)
Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation (4)
1980 Doctor Who Annual (4)

The first Who from 1979 that I encountered:  I was glued to The Power of Kroll, despite its flaws, and the Armageddon Factor likewise. I was 10. But we were out of the country for the second half of the year so missed Season 17 entirely.

My favourite Who from 1979: There really is no contest, si there? I am not among the sizeable camp that sees City of Death as the best Doctor Who story ever, but I’ll happily agree that it stands head and shoulders over anything else produced that year.

Moving swiftly on from: The rest of Season 17, especially the Mandrells. (And, “Lord Niiiimooon!!!”)

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

Roz stared out and saw it on the door step.
The white dog.

I see that I gave very high praise to the previous Cartmel novel in the New Adventures series. I was not as convinced by this one; I kept feeling that I had forgotten important bits of continuity, and the plot seemed to be trying to merge high-school supernatural, spy stories and possessed-animal-horror without the same success that Buffy had; while from the Whovian end, the Doctor and companions didn’t really have all that much to do with events. I did develop an interest in the emotional journeys of the main guest character and his son, but was generally a little disappointed.

When I was a little girl, I thought my mother’s name was Yuki, which means snow. That was part of her name, but I didn’t learn the rest of it until the night my father died.

I’ve known Eugie Foster online for maybe ten years now, but shamefully haven’t read much of her actual work, apart from her Nebula-winning story “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast”. Eugie has had some bad news recently, and so I have done as she suggested and got the ebooks of her two collections, Returning My Sister’s Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice and Mortal Clay, Stone Heart and Other Stories in Shades of Black and White. Judging by the first of these, I warmly recommend that you do the same.

Returning My Sister’s Face is a collection retelling various Chinese, Japanese and Korean folk stories – legends, ghost stories, what you will – in contemporary idiom and often with a slightly different take, at least according to the (very helpful) afterwords for each story. This isn’t a part of the world whose cultures I know much about, but there is a certain universality of narratives of love, family, betrayal and the blurred boundary between human, animal and spirit. I was particularly struck by her two different takes on the Yuki-onna legend, bringing some agency to this enigmatic figure. In one or two cases I did feel a chime of familiarity – “The Raven’s Brocade” (from the Japanese original about a crane) is not far from European animal wives, though with some unfamiliar twists. But mostly these were insights into a new legendarium for me, lucidly and passionately told.

‘These youngsters think too much of their ease,’ said Jack. ‘They are nothing but a parcel of helots.’
‘Pray have helots a particular nautical signification, like dogs, mice, fishes and so on?’ asked Stephen.
‘Oh no, just the ordinary sense of idle young devils, you know – limbs of Satan. I must stir them up, and make their lives a misery.’

This is more like it. I was vaguely under the impression that this came next in the series after Desolation Island

But as for the old structure of our story, its white-oak frame, and its boards, shingles, and crumbling plaster, and even the huge, clustered chimney in the midst, seemed to constitute only the least and meanest part of its reality. So much of mankind’s varied experience had passed there,—so much had been suffered, and something, too, enjoyed,—that the very timbers were oozy, as with the moisture of a heart. It was itself like a great human heart, with a life of its own, and full of rich and sombre reminiscences.

When I was about six, I remember a family trip to Salem, MA, where apart from the various witchy stuff we were encouraged to look at the House of Seven Gables. I’m not a huge architecture fan now, and I definitely wasn’t then, and I was left a bit confused as to what a gable actually was, and very confused as to why it should matter. Forty years later, I am now tolerably certain of what a gable is, but just as unsure as to why the House of Seven Gables matters. I thoroughly bounced off The Scarlet Letter a few years back, and I did not find The House of Seven Gables any better. To be honest it lost me in the second chapter, where the author attempts to engage our sympathy for poor Hepzibah, whose unearned income has dwindled to the extent that she must, horror of horrors, face the awful humiliation of opening a shop. Apparently H.P. Lovecraft was inspired by Hawthorne’s luridly over-written style, and the hints of supernatural operation across the generations that form background colour to the story; if so, I think Lovecraft did it better, and certainly more subtly (not an adverb often used of Lovecraft). But the characters are dull and stereotypical, the narrative both meandering and predictable, and the whole thing just not worth reading.

Miserable weather outside, yet I find it strangely comforting to be indoors listening to the rain rattling against the windows. The fact is that Belfast, where I grew up, is pretty wet. Comparing its average weather with that of my wife’s home city, I see that Belfast comes out as wetter for every month but April and May, where they are the same. Belfast is particularly wet in October, so I guess rain at this time of year is especially nostalgic for me.

People complain about the rain in Belgium too; Brussels is indeed wetter than Belfast in April, May and June, but otherwise Belfast wins – and even in April, May and June, Belfast has more rainy days; more ongoing drizzle and damp than short sharp showers.

I am a bit sceptical about the numbers given for average sunshine hours per day in each month, especially for December. I can just about believe that Brussels gets 5. It seems a bit harsh to say that Belfast gets none. And it is physically impossible that Birmingham should get 11!

Norman Saylor was not the sort of man to go prying into his wife’s dressing room. That was partly the reason why he did it.

Oh dear.

Oh dear.

There are things that Conjure Wife does tolerably well. Set in a New England college in the 1930s, it can be seen as in some ways a taproot text for future campus horror stories; the climax where Saylor attempts to rescue his wife’s soul is well-paced and gripping; there are some very effective descriptive passages. But these cannot excuse the fact of the central premise of the book: all women are, in fact, clandestine witches, and keeping it secret from us men (and from each other to an extent). The mind boggles; I guess the kindest thing to say is that the genre has come some way since 1943.

• *contains offensive language
  
  The US Antarctic Program is shutting down for the year.
  (tags: uspolitics )
• Shakespeare’s fingerprints found on three Elizabethan plays
  
  A few steps forward.
  (tags: shakespeare )

Little U is getting bigger, and will turn 11 in a couple of months. As I lifted her up yesterday afternoon while turning around, I twisted my lower back muscles and have been in serious discomfort ever since. Looks like a day in bed with a hot water bottle for me.

1978:

TV
Underworld
The Invasion of Time
The Ribos Operation
The Pirate Planet
The Stones of Blood
The Androids of Tara
The Power of Kroll (first 2 episodes)

Books
Doctor Who and the Face of Evil (4)
Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock (4)
Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen (2)
Doctor Who and the Time Warrior (3)
Doctor Who – Death to the Daleks (3)
Doctor Who and the Android Invasion (4)
Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment (4)
1979 Doctor Who Annual (4)
Terry Nation’s Dalek Annual 1979

The first Who from 1978 that I encountered: I definitely watched Underworld on first broadcast, starting 7 January. At least after that the only way was up…

My favourite Who from 1978: It’s a very difficult choice between the end of episode 4 of The Invasion of Time, one of the best twists in the history of the show, and the opening scenes of The Ribos Operation, with the fantastic banter between Tom Baker and Mary Tamm. The latter is of course the better story by far.

Moving swiftly on from: Underworld, especially the appalling CGI.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

• GOP Death Watch: The Final Days of the Republican Party | New Republic
  
  Best analysis I’ve seen of the money factor.
  (tags: uspolitics )
• Nate Silver on the U.S. government shutdown
  
  Nate Silver breaks his silence: GOP may not be doomed.
  (tags: uspolitics )
• Azerbaijan releases election results… before the polls even open
  
  Oops.
  (tags: azerbaijan )
• Azerbaijan govt newspaper illustrates election story with pic of man casting multiple ballots.
  
  Oops.
  (tags: azerbaijan )
• Why Microsoft Word must Die
  
  @cstross tells us what he really thinks.
  (tags: computers )

1977:

TV
The Face of Evil
The Robots of Death
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Horror of Fang Rock
The Invisible Enemy
Image of the Fendahl
The Sun Makers

Books
Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters (3)
Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom (4)
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth (1)
Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos (3)
Doctor Who and the Ark in Space (4)
Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (4)
Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil (4)
Doctor Who and the Mutants (3)
Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin (4)
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang (4)
Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora (4)
1978 Doctor Who Annual (4)
Terry Nation’s Dalek Annual 1978

The first Who from 1977 that I encountered: By this stage I was really hooked and avidly watched Leela’s debut in the first episode of The Face of Evil on 1 January, and I think caught every other episode this year as it was first broadcast. I was 9.

My favourite Who from 1977: Those first four Leela stories are a really impressive arc. The Talons of Weng Chiang loses points for racism, but it and The Robots of Death are both fantastic. I’ll also shout for Ian Marter’s novelisation of The Ark in Space (and most of the other books evoke fond memories).

Moving swiftly on from: The giant prawn. And the cigarette factory.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

Could someone with a subscription send me a copy of this article?

To nicholas.whyte@gmail.com

Much obliged!

1976:

Another great year!

TV
The Brain of Morbius
The Seeds of Doom
The Masque of Mandragora
The Hand of Fear
The Deadly Assassin

Books
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster (4)
Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion (3)
Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (1)
Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors (2)
Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen (4)
Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks (4)
Doctor Who and the Web of Fear (2)
Doctor Who and the Space War (3)
Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks (3)
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars (4)
1977 Doctor Who Annual (4)
Terry Nation’s Dalek Annual 1977

Audio
Doctor Who and the Pescatons
Exploration Earth

The first Who from 1976 that I encountered: I definitely remember watching some if not all of The Brain of Morbius, broadcast in January. I was 8.

My favourite Who from 1976: This is a great period of the show. My favourite TV story in all of Old Who is The Deadly Assassin.

Moving swiftly on from: Doctor Who and the Pescatons.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

1975:

TV
Robot (last 3 episodes)
The Ark in Space
The Sontaran Experiment
Genesis of the Daleks
Revenge of the Cybermen
Terror of the Zygons
Planet of Evil
Pyramids of Mars
The Android Invasion

Books
Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon (3)
Doctor Who and the Cybermen (2)
Doctor Who and the Giant Robot (4)
Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons (3)
Doctor Who and the Green Death (3)
Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders (3)
Doctor Who – The Three Doctors (1,2,3)
1976 Doctor Who Annual (4)
Terry Nation’s Dalek Annual 1976

The first Who from 1975 that I encountered: The first bit of Season 12 I remember catching was Episode 4 of Robot (I was 7, and puzzled why Jon Pertwee was no longer the Doctor), but after that we caught most of the stories as they were broadcast. The second episode of Revenge of the Cybermen was on my 8th birthday.

My favourite Who from 1975: Several total classics here. I think The Ark in Space is the best single story, but Genesis of the Daleks has so many excellent moments, of which my favourite is the scene where the Doctor forces Davros to cancel Dalek production, and is then nobbled by Nyder.

Moving swiftly on from: I can’t warm to The Sontaran Experiment. The violence is gratuitous and the resolution too pat.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

Current
The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Far Side Of The World, by Patrick O'Brian
[Doctor Who] Warchild, by Andrew Cartmel
About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who, 2005-2006; Series 1 & 2, by Tat Wood

Last books finished (2 weeks)
Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber
[Doctor Who] Catastrophea, by Terrance Dicks
The Subtle Knife, by Philip Pullman
The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski, by Samantha Geimer
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
A Book of Silence, by Sarah Maitland
[Doctor Who] Shroud of Sorrow, by Tommy Donbavand
Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath
[Doctor Who] The Beast of Babylon, by Charlie Higson

Next books
Returning My Sister's Face: And Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice, by Eugie Foster
Mortal Clay, Stone Heart and Other Stories in Shades of Black and White, by Eugie Foster
The Flood, by Ian Rankin
The Last Mughal, by William Dalrymple
[Doctor Who] Slow Empire, by Dave Stone

Books acquired in last 2 weeks
Returning My Sister's Face: And Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice, by Eugie Foster
Mortal Clay, Stone Heart and Other Stories in Shades of Black and White, by Eugie Foster
The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski, by Samantha Geimer
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath