It is a well-known thing amongst those who know all about well-known things, that national heartthrob David Tennant's life has intersected with Doctor Who in many, many, many ways. Not only has he starred in the lead role - as, by the end of this year, three separate versions of The Doctor - he is also known to have been a fan of the BBC;s popular, long-running family SF drama from childhood and is, of course, the son-in-law of Peter Davison. However, it turns out that things go even further than that, as David has revealed that his first TV memory is in fact, no surprise here, a particularly special Doctor Who moment. Speaking with the Radio Times (which used to be run by adults), Tennant was asked for his earliest TV memory, to which he replied: 'Doctor Who - watching Jon Pertwee turn into Tom Baker. It's weirdly specific, especially considering things that have happened in my life since. I remember thinking, "That man just turned into another man. That's wild." It's so utterly unpredictable the way things worked out, it's so fantastically unlikely. The odds are so ludicrously small that if I think about it too much, it makes me feel vertiginous.'
David, who is returning to the role of The Doctor later this year for the show's sixtieth anniversary specials (you knew that, right?) recently spoke about his initial reaction to the fame he had thrust, harshly, upon him when he was cast in the role back in 2005. He said: 'To be at the centre of the show is wonderful and humbling, but also a bit overwhelming and terrifying. It doesn't come without some difficulties, such as the immediate loss of anonymity. It takes a bit of getting used to, if that's not been your life up to that point. I was very lucky that, when I joined, Billie Piper was still there. She'd lived in a glare of publicity since she was fourteen, so she was a great guide for how to live life under that kind of scrutiny. I owe a degree of sanity to Billie.'
The BBC has, this week, released a new image from the forthcoming Doctor Who sixtieth anniversary episodes featuring - a very startled-looking - national heartthrob David Tennant.
Doctor Who has confirmed four new cast members for this year's upcoming Christmas special and next year's series, which will feature the newest incarnation of The Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed the casting of Gemma Arrowsmith, Billy Brayshaw, Mary Malone and Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy. The Sun, of course, were far more interested in the latter, formerly of Hollyoaks, than the other three put together.
The Lord Thy God Steven Moffat (OBE) may have departed from Doctor Who in 2017, but that has not stopped devoted fans from trying to manifest his return to the show and, according to a new 'update', they may have succeeded. Though, that said, this is according to a - rather speculative - piece on the CRB.com website. Which seems at first glance to be a case of someone - initially at the Radio Times (which used to be run by adults) - putting two and two together and getting nineteen. But, time will tell, dear blog reader, it usually does. And, if Steven is coming back to write an episode or two for his older mate Big Rusty on the show he graced as showrunner for seven years no one would be more delighted than this blogger. Over to you, Steven.
In celebration of 9 August being International Cat Day and all that ... Comments concerning the lack of Jodie Whittaker's pussy will be frowned upon. Bigly.
Which brings us to Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF-musical-comedy Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Twenty Five: Help! Allan Mitchell: 'Boys, are you buzzing?' John Lennon: 'No thanks, I've got the car!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Twenty Six: The Collector. Samantha Eggar: 'I wouldn't be a good prisoner if I didn't try to escape.' Terence Stamp: 'Don't worry, I'll respect your every privacy!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Twenty Seven: Paranoiac. Sheila Burrell: 'Where have you been?' Oliver Reed: 'I've been drinking ... Now I need to drink some more!'
'And he wasn't even following the script, just talking about his [own] life,' noted this blogger's Facebook fiend, Dave. That's entertainment, dear blog reader.
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Twenty Eight: Fahrenheit 451. Oskar Werner: 'It's a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That's our official motto!'
Which, apart from being a memorable daft line in a, genuinely, great film, also includes some very silly hats on display.
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Twenty Nine: The Gorgon. Patrick Troughton: 'Doctor, you'll perform an autopsy?' Peter Cushing: 'On a body that's turned to stone? That might be a little ... difficult!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty: The Abominable Snowman. Peter Cushing: 'This is complete madness, Friend and you know it.' Forrest Tucker: 'Relax, will you. He knows how to hold his fire!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty One: Matthew Hopkins - Witchfinder General. Vincent Price: 'They swim! The mark of Satan is upon them. They must hang!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty Two: Blood Of The Vampire. Donald Wolfit: 'Since you're so interested in my work, there's no reason why you should not assist me. My experiments so far have been confined to male blood groups. I think it's time to extend my activity.'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty Three: The Innocents. Martin Stephens: 'Now it's your turn to hide!' Pamela Franklin: 'Hurry! Run!' Deborah Kerr: 'Alright, where should I hide?' Martin Stephens: 'Wherever you like, we'll find you!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty Four: The Shadow Of The Cat. Alan Wheatley: 'Do you mean to say the cat pushed Miss Clara down the stairs?' Barbara Shelley: 'Yes. No. Oh, I don't know!'
Memorably Daft Lines From British Horror & SF Movies Of The 1950s and 1960s. Number Thirty Five: The Deadly Bees. Suzanna Leigh: 'Why should Hargrove or whoever it was want to destroy your bees?' Frank Finlay: 'He didn't want to destroy my bees. He wanted to destroy me!'
This blogger was delighted to discover that two of the original cast are to appear in the remake of Doctor Terror's House of Horrors.
Et maintenant, 'Le singe est dans l'Auto-bus. Et condui l'autobus. Et, Sandra Bullock est dans l'Autobus! Il ya une bomb dans l'auto-bus!'
'That was the film Speed in French. Which, in France was actually called La Vitesse. Or, at least, it should have been. In fact, it was called Speed!'
Since the vast majority of this blogger's many Facebook fiends, this blogger took himself over to BairRBIE.me with a selfie and created his own Ken. Not only doesn't it look anything like this blogger, it doesn't look anything like Ken, either. Though, to be fair, it's probably about high time that we had an angry, 'are you lookin' at me, pal?' Ken From Accounts doll. 'It's giving "David Cameron working at a budget airline" vibes' noted this blogger's fiend Graham. Which, actually, yes this blogger can see. During his A Flock Of Seagulls phase, post-Eton, perhaps.
Meanwhile, it would appear that the phenomena of Barbieheimer has even reached the realm of The Endless. Which is nice.
Thought for the day: If only it hadn't been for that terrible bizarre gardening accident The New Originals could've been bigger than Herman's Hermits, dear blog reader.
In the period since this blogger last had cause to update From The North with a new bloggerisationism a series of From The North favourites have, sadly, left us. Robbie Robertson, Billy Friedkin, Jamie Reid, Anita Carey and, most recently, Michael Parkinson. Each one, a cherished part of this blogger's - and, he suspects, many dear blog readers' - past.
This blogger has, quite lidderally, seen everything now, dear blog reader. Sky Sports News' coverage of the Harry Kane transfer last Friday included them having logged into "track your airline dot com" (or similar) and featured regular on-screen graphics of the plane's progress from Stanstead to München International. Jeez, lads, this blogger knows that it's jolly difficult to fill a twenty four hour rolling sports news service at the best of times without repetition, hesitation or deviation. But that's a dictionary definition of 'desperate'!
That weekend also saw, of course, the opening of the 2023-24 Premier League socherball season. And, it being a game of two halves, Brian, at the end of ninety minutes (or, in many cases, about one hundred and five minutes thanks to time being added on for everything) the following highly unlikely event occurred. And lo, dear blog reader, it was truly glorious in this blogger's sight and geet cush into the bargain. Even the Gruniad Morning Star couldn't find anything to whinge about.
Now, we all know that karma is a right bitch which enjoys pissing on any example of crowing -= especially where football is concerned. But, dear blog readers, please just give this blogger this one small day of abject joy at being able to sing 'we are top of the league/said we are top of the league' about his beloved (and now, thankfully, sold) Magpies. It'll probably be the only time all season he'll be in a position to do so (especially, as we've got last season's champions Sheikh Yer Man City away next!)
This blogger's fine Facebook fiend Barnaby - a lifelong Brighton & Hove Albinos fan - was quick to point out who was in second to Th' Toon in the Premier League table after The Seagull's four-one thrashing of newly promoted Luton Town. To which this blogger could merely quote the wise words of Wisdom of From The North favourite Buzz Aldrin.
