What ho, me old boilers?
I hope this finds you all well. Well, I hope it finds you more well than I am. I am currently suffering with a touch of man-flu which has put a slight damper on what has been an otherwise excellent Christmas. It was lovely to be home with my folks and of course I got spoiled rotten with a load of lovely gifts. I had a Doctor Who Christmas, which is especially welcome. I received the Complete Fourth Series on DVD (with the Davros cover), a TARDIS tie, a Dalek tie, Cybermen cufflinks, a set of Dalek action figures, a Duck-tor Who (a rubber duck with a long scarf painted on it), the 2009 Calendar, a set of audio adventures and a radio-controlled Dalek. I had a murder mystery dinner party set (which I will be doing with the writers' group), some lovely clothes, new shoes, some books and two bottles of wine.
Managed to get a spot of Christmas viewing done, although not a whole lot. The Next Doctor was pretty good but I don't know if I was expecting something more: Dervla Kirwan was excellent as Miss Hartigan and some of the writing really sparkled (I liked the graveyard scene). Plus I like the title for the Easter Special, written by Gareth Roberts and Russell T. Davies: Planet Of The Dead. Can't wait! I loved Wallace And Gromit and thought it was excellent: I'm not surprised it got the highest number of viewers on Christmas Day itself. The Strictly Come Dancing special was good and I was glad that Jill and Darren won.
In Memoriam Harold Pinter 1930-2008
I was very saddened by the death of Harold Pinter, which was announced on Christmas Day. Pinter was a playwright, a poet, an actor and director, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a staunchly anti-war commentator and campaigner and the recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature. His plays are full of commonplace situations that soon turn sinister and he was a master linguist. He had written a number of plays, the most well-known of which were The Homecoming, The Caretaker, A Night Out, The Room, A Slight Ache, The Dumb Waiter and The Birthday Party (a play that I know very well, having performed in excerpts from it on three separate occasions). He was a strong force in British theatre throughout the second half of the twentieth century and we shall not see his like again.
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Musical Interlude: In tribute of the late great Eartha Kitt (who also sadly passed away this week), here's some of her best and most brilliant songs. Click here to hear Eartha's amazing rendition of 'I Want An Old Fashioned Millionaire' and 'Santa Baby' (one of my favourite Christmas songs). Click here to hear the wonderful 'I Want To Be Evil' and here for the camptastic 80s hit 'Cha Cha Heels'. She's a true talent and will be sadly missed.
Eartha Kitt 1927-2008
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A big happy belated birthday to JD (aka SleepTight) whose birthday was Boxing Day and a big happy birthday to Matt whose birthday falls in the next few days! Happy birthday, boys. Hope you have/had a brilliant day! 
Just to round things off, here are my five favourite songs of 2008 and five favourite movies.
Five Favourite Songs Of 2008 (Click for video!)
Shut Up And Let Me Go (The Ting Tings)
Five Favourite Films Of 2008
1. The Dark Knight
2. Mamma Mia!
3. Wall-E
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
5. Lars And The Real Girl
Have a good week!
QB
Comments
David Morrissey's big-hearted Doctor grew on me as the episode progressed. But my sister just laughed at the cyberking, which was prabably the right reaction. And it started a heated debate as to whether coal gas was lighter than air...
I am jealous of your pressies. I got a few things, but my bf will be giving me a proper christmas when he can afford it he says. Hopefully some Who is in that? muahaha...
the cool cancer voice thing...during production of a series. Granted Emperor's series sucks, but Avatar rocked... damn.
zeofan1