Sixty

From The North bloggerisationisms time is, once more, upon us dearest blog fiends. Keith Telly Topping welcomes you all to his humble Fortress of Solitude where you can, as usual, hear him whinge at length about his rotten bad back and admire all the scenery. Some things, it would seem, never change.

Exactly sixty years ago this very week, the greatest TV format in the history of the medium (bar none) began on the BBC to brighten up a drab, miserable rainy November Saturday evening in Britain (as the nation collectively mourned some bloke on The Grassy Knoll getting off a lucky shot). We all needed a bit of cheering up that evening and, by heavens, didn't we just get it, though? But, enough about The Chars starring Elsie and Doris Waters, much has already been said and written. There was also some old toot about a madman in a box which started that night, apparently. Wonder whatever happened to that nonsense.

Yes, dear blog reader, Keith Telly Toppping has told that exact joke before (exactly one year ago, to be precise). Just as he has also, previously, explained in great detail what went on with the other great love of his life that very afternoon in 1963 (a three-one win at home to Manchester City as it happens). Repetition is the highest form of comedy. Repetition is the highest form of comedy. Repetition ...

Meanwhile, across town at The City Hall ... A very severe spanking with a wet plimsole will be awarded to anyone suggesting they'd've only gone to see Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers and left during the interval before all the screaming started.

Did you know, dear blog readers ...

Mind you, this blogger still isn't sure about the casting for the rumoured reboot of Last Of The Summer Wine.

Next, this blogger wishes to point all dear blog readers in the direction of one of his favourite history vloggers, the delightful Jenny Draper and a fine exemplar proving that You Tube isn't just for videos of cat playing pianos, Americans reacting the 'weird British stuff', opinionated chaps telling you what's wrong with football these days and opiniated chaps telling you what's wrong with Doctor Who these days. Oh, dear me, no. It's also an excellent tool for Debunking Boomer Meme myths. Of which there are thousands. This, dear blog reader, is how you take down crass, unsubstantiated, historically-inaccurate claims that, to paraphrase the late Freddie Trueman, 'it weren't like that in t'maaaa day.' Millennial dear blog readers be advised; you must not become like us terrible old farts. Cash-in your intergenerational envy today and use the coupon code 'Health & Safety Gone Mad' for a free 'I'm Woke & Effing Proud Of It' t-shirt. Good on ya.

Them Be-Atles (a popular beat combo of the 1960s, you might've heard of them), on the back of suddenly being Toppermost of the Poppermost all over again have launched an 'official' Christmas jumper ahead of the festive season. Oh, Apple - you kill me. And this blogger means quite literally. Oi, put yer shoes on, Macca, it's snowing - you'll get chilblains.

So, dear blog reader, at 5:15pm on 23 November 1963, the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast on the BBC. You probably knew that. Exactly sixty years on, the show is celebrating its diamond anniversary with three new hour-long specials starting this very weekend. You might have also heard about those. For many fans, they will be particularly special because they feature the return of David Tennant, who left the series in 2010. His Doctor has, arguably, been the most popular with audiences since the show returned in 2005 (albeit, not with this blogger's fiend Jan who gurns at the very mention of his name. But, she likes Matt Smith so that's all right). 'To get to return to something that meant so much fifteen years ago and was such a huge part of my life, was something I never really imagined was likely,' said national heartthrob David. 'To be The Doctor again, what a treat!' He's joined once again on-screen by Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. Again, you've probably heard about that, too. Viewers familiar with her storyline will know that The Doctor wiped her memory, warning her family that if she ever remembered him, she would die. 'Being back on-set with Catherine of course, we had such a great time all those years ago,' Tennant added. 'A lot of the team were back together, it felt very, very familiar.' For many, Big Rusty coming back to oversee the show was an even bigger surprise than Tennant's return. Since leaving Doctor Who in 2010, he's written a variety of acclaimed dramas, most notably 2021's It's A Sin for Channel 4. His previous time on Doctor Who was so successful - does he feel some nervousness because of the weight of such audience expectation? 'I know what you mean,' Rusty replies. 'People said to me, can lightning strike twice? But actually, if you stand in the middle of a storm, and hold up a great big piece of metal, lightning does strike you twice. All this show needs is to be good, to be fun, to be well cast, to be exciting, to be brilliant. And that's really missing in the schedules, I think, at the moment. I dare not say I'm confident. But I'm proud of what we've done. And I hope it works.'

When it was first announced that David Tennant and Catherine Tate would be returning to Doctor Who for its sixtieth anniversary, fans' minds started racing - when were these new episodes going to be set? How did they fit into the already-established timeline? How could The Doctor and Donna be back together given the events of The End Of Time? Many of those questions were answered during Jodie Whittaker's final episode, The Power Of The Doctor, in which her Doctor regenerated (or, possibly, degenerated) into David Tennant, confirming that he would be playing the Fourteenth Doctor, rather than the Tenth (or, tenth-and-a-half counting the one currently living in an alternate universe with Rose Tyler). However, it seems this wasn't always going to be the case, as David revealed to Radio Times (which used to be run by adults) that Russell Davies originally planned for a flashback episode starring Tennant and Tate, set during series four. David explained: 'It would have been an unseen adventure from years before. Russell immediately had an idea for a story, which I'm not going to mention because I don't think it's yet seen the light of day. It certainly wouldn't have been part of an ongoing story. But I hope one day he does use it, because it sounded great.' Speaking with SFX recently, David also admitted that it would be 'disingenuous to imagine that I might never be asked [to play The Doctor] again, because history would indicate that it was always a possibility. I’m not going to say never, because I don't think anyone would believe me. That doesn't mean I know that I ever will. But I suppose until I can't run down a corridor, it's always a possibility. But I promise to have no plans.'

Viewers got their first sight of the second coming of national heartthrob David in a five minute sketch broadcast as part of the BBC's annual Children In Need telethon on Friday 17 November (which may, or may not, have been called Destination Skaro). The clip saw Tennant accidentally crashing his TARDIS at the genesis of the Daleks its very self (or, a genesis of the Daleks its very self, anyway) in something of a regenerative fog. Children In Need reportedly raised over thirty three million knicker for charrridee. This blogger thought the mini-episode was rather good fun although, apparently, some Doctor Who fans have got their knickers right in a twist over whether or not it contradicts elements of a story first broadcast forty eight years ago. Doctor Who fans 'getting their knickers right in a twist', dear blog reader? I know, right. What were the chances? As usual for some it was a straight toss-up between which do you find the most offensive; someone finding something that you don't, personally, offensive. Or, someone reacting to someone find something that you don't, personally, offensive and getting offended by that? There's the Twenty First Century for you in that one conundrum, dear blog reader. As this blogger wrote on Facebook: 'So, if I've understood this correctly (and please do let me know if I've got it wrong) "A man making a television show I like has done something that I don't like (for charrrridee). And so I intend to whinge, loudly, about it to anyone willing to listen. And, indeed, anyone that isn't." Wheel turns, civilisations rise ...'

This blogger would also like to congratulate one James Gregory from the BBC News website who felt it necessary to explain to BBC readers: 'Much like James Bond, the Doctor Who role is passed on from actor to actor, thus continuing the franchise. At the end of an actor's tenure as The Doctor, the character "regenerates" with somebody else then taking on the extra-terrestrial role.' Really? No shit? How have any of us managed to get through life this far without that knowledge?

Good old Mad-As-Toast Tom Baker has spoken about 'avoiding' other Doctor Who actors. Tom, of course, played the fourth Time Lord from 1974 to 1981 (you knew that, right?) and is considered 'by many' (according to the Independent, if not a source somewhat more reliable) 'to be one of the best incarnations of the Doctor.' Not considered to be the best, please note, but 'one of'. Given that there's only been fourteen of them to date (and, one of those was Colin Baker), there was also goingh to be a fair chance Mad Tom would be one of the most popular. Anyway, in a new interview with Radio Times (which used to be run by adults), Mad Tom said: 'I avoid them, you know. Not with any malice. A degree of contempt, perhaps but mildly, mildly contemptuous.' And, of course, many newspaper under the sun (although, interestingly enough, not the Sun itself) then had a clickbait headline which suggested 'war amongst The Doctors.' Take, for instance, the Evening Standard. And, the Torygraph. And, the Daily Mirra. And HuffPost UK. Mad Tom did take a moment out from bad-mouthing his successors (and, by implication, predecessors) to give his reaction to seeing a photo of Ncuti Gatwa for the this time: 'Oh! Is this the next Doctor Who? A handsome young man! Marvellous cheekbones. These things are important as you get near to death.' Asked whether he felt as though there was anything Ncuti should know going into the leading role, Mad Tom replied: 'Knowing anything is a bit dangerous when you play Doctor Who. It's better to know nothing. And to be good-natured. The trick is to respond generously to other actors, which halves your task because you don't have to be driving it all the time.'

There is a fascinating interview with Big Rusty in the latest The Big Issue discussing issues as diverse as queer representation and the demographics that the Doctor Who format attracts which you can read, here. There are also extensive pieces on various aspects of the return of the BBC's popular long-running family SF drama in (big intake of breath and in no particular order), the Independent, the Radio Times (which used to be run by adults), Entertainment Weekly and the Gruniad Morning Star. Another piece in the Independent (by one of their better TV reviewers, Michael Horan) lists the author's favourite sixty 'episodes' (by which he means serials) in the show's sixty year history. It's actually quite a decent list featuring (rightly) nothing from Colin Baker, more than you'd expect from Pat Troughton and, to this blogger's great surprise and delight, Keith Telly Topping's own favourite Doctor Who serial, The Aztecs. Jolly good work, Michael (you should've had Kinda on the list, though).

There have also been - one imagines, spoiler-free - reviews of the opening episode, The Star Beast in (another deep breath), Inverse ('absolutely ludicrous in the best possible way'), the Radio Times ('Saturday night magic is back'), Collider ('a delightful adventure'), the HeyUGuys website ('a hoot') and Games Radar ('an exciting start to the sixtieth anniversary'). Dear blog readers are warned that whilst these five reviews contain little in the way of actual, proper 'spoilers' they are all, nevertheless, discussing an episode that you haven't seen yet and so may reveal something you don't know and don't wish to know in advance. Therefore, if you check any of them out and end up finding out something before watching the episode that you'd have sooner not have known, don't blame anyone but yourself for being a nosy parker!

The Doctor Who production team have teased fans with first - albeit, very brief - look at footage of Ncuti Gatwa with new companion Millie Gibson in a new online video. Until now, viewers have only seen photos of the forthcoming duo. However, the BBC treated fans to a short clip of the two in an upcoming scene on anniversary day, Thursday on X. In the minute long assemblage (Sixty Years In Sixty Seconds) after speeding through the fourteen previous Doctor Who actors (including, beautifully, both Jo Martin and John Hurt), the last few seconds sees Ncuti and Millie in character. Thus, marking the next chapter of this - sixty years and counting - ongoing adventure.

Russell Davies has reveals when at least one of Doctor Who's fifteenth series episodes will be broadcast. 'If I sound a bit hyper, it's because I just this morning delivered a Doctor Who script that will be on-air in May 2025,' Davies said. 'And it's brand new. It does things we've never done before. The writing really pushed me. It's such a mad episode, I had to deliver it with a diagram explaining what's going on! I've never had to do that in my entire life before.' If this blogger had to bet on when the new series will begin, he'd put a couple of pence on it being either Saturday 30 March 2024 or the following Saturday, 6 April. But, he's been wrong before. Not infrequently, either.

'Russell T Davies is bringing the first-ever Doctor Who back from the dead in the upcoming series,' reported the Daily Mirra (somewhat tastelessly - and, as it turned out, completely inaccurately - but then, this is the Mirra we're talking about. They were a much more accurate newspaper when they hacked people's phones for stories). 'The showrunner has used technical wizardry worthy of a Time Lord to create scenes featuring William Hartnell, who died in 1975, alongside Ncuti Gatwa,' this piece of ... whatever the opposite of well-written journalism is alleged. 'As he was honoured by GQ magazine at the Men of the Year ceremony, Ncuti revealed: "It has been a crazy year. I shouldn't say this but I shot a scene, somehow, with the first-ever Doctor, William Hartnell. We end up in the same scene together at some point. To see that history - now a Black man as The Doctor! It was just very wild."'

As it turned out, the sequence that Ncuti was referring to was not part of the new series but was, in fact, an updating of An Adventure In Space & Time which received a very welcome repeat, broadcast on 23 November on BBC4 in which he replaced the brief appearance of Matt Smith in the original. So, technically speaking, it wasn't Willian Hartnell Ncuti was (sort-of) interacting with but, rather, David Bradley. But, hey, that's close enough! Of course its author, Mark Gatiss, said at the time of An Adventure In Space & Time's first showing, in 2013, that the sequence in question had been specifically designed so that future Doctors could be sampled into that scene with ease to keep the acclaimed docudrama on the creation of Doctor Who current. And, indeed, Ncuti fitted in perfectly and it was a genuinely touching moment. Tasty treads, too! So, there you go, dear blog readers, technically speaking our first glimpse of Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor in costume wasn't, actually, in Doctor Who itself. One of trivia buffs of the future!

An Adventure In Space & Time (Redux 2.0) was broadcast as part of a BBC Four Doctor Who-themed evening which also included the much-anticipated showing of The Daleks In Colour. Which got a properly glowing review from the Torygraph; in which, we will just have to try hard to forgive Tristram Fane Saunders for his use of the hateful 'w' word. The Daily Mirra - if not a source more reliable - has suggested this could be the first of a whole series of Doctor Who colourisations of 1960s material. It must be said, all cynicism aside dear blog reader, that The Daleks In Colour did look absolutely effing gorgeous.

Even if there was something of a pink overload in it. (Skaro has never struck this blogger as the sort of place to tolerate too much pink, Ms Wright!)

The final forty seconds of The Daleks In Colour, And then, the story continues ... for sixty years was so utterly, magnificently, marvellous brilliant that it gave this blogger The Horn. There's not a lot of TV which can manage that these days, dear blog reader. Truth be told, there's not a lot of anything that can manage that these days.

Hugh Bonneville and From The North favourite Karen Gillan are to star in a new ITVX comedy drama 'about cancel culture' written by The Lord Thy God Steven Moffat (OBE). To be broadcast next year, Douglas Is Cancelled will be The Moff's first television comedy in two decades. Filming begins shortly in London on the four-part series. It will be directed by The Inbetweeners' Ben Palmer and co-star Ben Miles, Nick Mohammed and Simon Russell Beale. Bonneville plays Douglas Bellowes, a respected newsreader and raconteur who loves the life he's created with his newspaper editor wife, Sheila (portrayed by Alex Kingston). Despite being an experienced broadcaster, greying, middle-aged Douglas surprisingly needs constant reassurance behind the scenes on Live At Six, from his sharper, younger, tech-savvy and social media-aware co-presenter Madeline (Gillan), who seems able to wrap him around her little finger. As, indeed, Kazza can do with most men. And many women, too. A national treasure who can seemingly do no wrong, Douglas enjoys his privileged status. Until, that is, he makes an ill-advised joke at his cousin's wedding, overheard by a fellow guest, who threatens to expose his comments on social media. Echoing the recent scandal surrounding Huw Edwards' suspension as the BBC's flagship news and events anchor this summer amidst accusations of misconduct, Douglas' alleged indiscretion is dissected, analysed and blown out of all proportion in the subsequent digital storm. 'Working again with a director like Ben, on Steven's acidly witty script, with an ensemble of this calibre, is as daunting as it is exciting' said Bonneville, who recently completed filming on The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin for Apple TV+, in which he plays the Thief Taker General Jonathan Wilde. 'To torment a man, let alone a man named Douglas, for four episodes - armed with the writing of Steven Moffat - is a great privilege that I'm going to enjoy every minute of' added Kazza. Adding to the sense of a reunion, Miles previously starred in Moffat's BBC ensemble sitcom Coupling, with Jack Davenport, Gina Bellman, Sarah Alexander, Richard Coyle and Kate Isitt. That ran from 2000 to 2004 and was Moffat's final television comedy before his high-profile stints writing-producing Doctor Who and Sherlock, in a career that includes creating the BBC comedy Joking Apart, starring Robert Bathurst as a tortured stand-up comic. Most recently, he wrote the dark comedy play The Unfriend, which became Mark Gatiss's directorial debut in 2022, originally with a cast of Reece Shearsmith, Amanda Abbington and Frances Barber. The latter returns alongside Alexander and Lee Mack for its revival at the Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End next month. Steven executive produces Douglas Is Cancelled with his wife, Sue Vertue, for Hartswood Films.

Dear blog readers who have been following the lengthy saga of The Stately Telly Topping Manor Plague House Bathroom Refit (here and here) will be delighted (if, perhaps, shocked and stunned) to know that this blogger managed to hang the damn shower curtain his very self (at the second attempt, admittedly - and with a bad back an'all) without any need of outside assistance.

On Friday of last week this blogger awoke at 6am after something approaching a half-way decent night's sleep (virtually unique these days). Maybe it was finally having the bathroom sorted what did it! He was up at 6.30 and had a blissfully long, hot shower (see, correlation may well be causation in this particular instance). Having applied much painkilling gel to his tortured back and down a couple of Ibuprofen®™ for good measure, he had a shave, turned on the PC and downloaded and listened to From The North's favourite podcast, Kermode & Mayo's Take (and Take 2). This blogger then had some cereal and a nice steaming hot cup of sweet Joe for breakfast whilst replying to a couple of e-mails. That took us up to 8.30am and then ... he prepared himself to spend the rest of the way waiting for the arrival of an incoming new Dormeo orthopaedic mattress ordered weeks earlier but which they had decided to deliver that particular day, plus a couple of other packages from different sources. Of course, when the mattress arrived it was simply dumped on the doorstep by the delivery driver who then, quite literally, ran back to his van as this blogger was getting himself downstairs to answer the knock. Thus, Keith Telly Topping was left with the job on somehow manoeuvering the damned thing up a step flight of stairs. Which he did. With difficulty.

And, finally the BBC reports that an athlete has been banned for twelve months for using car during a race. One does, rather, hope they try that at the Olympics. Watching the hundred metres with eight Toyota Corolla's lined-up at the start has so much potential.