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[newmoonstar]

I think I'm going to have to have a mid-winter houseclean, because I need a more organized workspace for sewing. I've already got most of my cosplays planned out for next year's Doctor Who convention, and I'd like to get them done early so that I don't end up finishing last minute sewing in my hotel room all night during the con again!

Also I'm going to Costume Con next year, so that means all the historical dresses I ever wanted to make will have an indoor event to be showcased at, and thus, I need to get started on that too! I've been hoarding silks for Victorian bustle dresses for too long, they shall get done this year at last!

I should also get back into my Classic Who watching, since I still have 5 prompts to fill at dw_allsorts and I would ideally like to finish them before I start the second draft of my play, and I need something to inspire me. But now that Downton Abbey is back, and I'm in the midst of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, my TV viewing attention has been a little diverted. I'm listening to some of the missing Hartnell eps though, just watched the recon of 'Galaxy 4' which was a little slow, but still worthwhile.

Been trying to watch Pertwee's era in order too, and am currently in the middle of 'Colony in Space'. It's rather amusing to pick out actors who have been in other Doctor Who stories and play the 'where do I know them from?' game. Correctly picked out John Ringham and Bernard Kay this time! Third Who story for both of them, and now I think I'm getting to be one of those fans who knows every actor in every episode. Eek!

And I think I'm getting into Steampunk. There's a convention not too far out of town in March, and I started planning a dress for it the other day. I've already got all the Victorian stuff, so why not? We'll see what happens!

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

It's rather amusing to pick out actors who have been in other Doctor Who stories and play the 'where do I know them from?' game.

If you watch almost any British TV and get into this, it becomes a neverending source of amusement. All the typecasting (oh, look, David Collings breaking down again; Peter Jeffrey is always evil, why are you trusting him?), random coincidences (I've seen two actors play three different variations on being related by marriage in different ways within the space of about 4 years in real time) and the directors who really love that actor. Sometimes the TV is entertaining, too, of course. And I do hope you'll be inspired to more dw_allsorts fanworks, for purely selfish reasons, because the world can always use more good Ian & Barbara.

[newmoonstar]

I'm a massive British TV nerd, and playing the 'where do I know them from?' game is one of the best parts! Golden Age whodunnits are especially good for that, since they have huge casts and everyone seems to have been in one at some point. And generally I find British TV is less about type-casting than American TV actually, which I like. There was a really fun mystery series with Diana Rigg as a 1920s detective and my mum and I were totally shocked that Peter Davison turned out to be the killer in one of them. You'd never suspect Peter Davison would be cast as a baddie! It's nice when they do that because then you haven't figured it out just based on casting alone, which would defeat the point of watching a mystery.

But there are definitely certain actors who turn up in the same role over and over again. Poor Anna Chancellor has played the bitchy romantic rival to the nice heroine in just about everything ever made! But maybe she likes that kind of role? I hope! Christina Cole seems to have taken her mantle in that position these days, which I think is especially hilarious since they actually played a mother-daughter duo of that kind of character in a cheesy Amanda Bynes movie once! LOL

(Oh dear, don't get me started on British actors, I'll never stop!)

I have actually been writing some stuff for my prompts, but I'm not sure if I like it yet. I actually finished a little Christmas themed fic that I wasn't happy with, and I've gone back and re-worked it and I like it better now, but I'm not sure if it's too cutesy, and now it's January anyway, so who wants to read shippy Christmas fluff in January, y'know? *sigh*

[thisbluespirit]

Ha, Peter had a whole run of being cast as baddies - he did this brief turn in a drama as a headteacher who lost it and all the casting directors seemed to sudddenly draw in breath and go, ooh, look, Peter Davison does evil - and so he did quite a bit for a while. And, yes, they do like having the unlikely person as the baddie, too, though. (He was the murderer in a 1980s Agatha Christie, too.)

Anna Chancellor is always wonderful - did you see her in The Hour? She was not at all a bitchy romantic rival in that, although she could have been in it more, as she was absolutely the best thing about it until Peter Capaldi turned up (and they had a history together, so they just combined the awesome). Not that everyone else was rubbish, because definitely not; it's just Anna Chancellor as an early female journalist called Lix Storm is easily more awesome than anything.

:lol: I have got through my current illness by (not really intentionally at the start) just following various actors' CVs through the 60s & 70s as far as I can. It's been great. And sometimes awful. And frequently hysterical. I do picspams. Don't be afraid to get started about British actors.

now it's January anyway, so who wants to read shippy Christmas fluff in January, y'know? *sigh*

It SNOWED here this morning; it's still totally fine for shippy Christmas fluff!! And you either post now or wait a year till it's cold enough again, and who wants to have to wait a year? ;-)

[newmoonstar]

Well, during my childhood I'd seen Peter Davison as Albert Campion and the Doctor, so he was pretty firmly established in good guy roles in my mind. Back in the day the only British TV we could get here in the US was what aired on PBS, so there wasn't the variety to choose from that we have now, now that so many things are available on DVD. As soon as I got my first DVD player the first thing I did was raid the public library for every British period drama I could find, and I've never really stopped! I don't really watch much current TV, so I'm usually alone geeking out over whatever old show I'm binge watching. Watching Classic Who has been really amazing because it's the first old British show I've watched where there's a huge fandom and other people to talk to about it! I've kind of neglected other shows because there's just SO MUCH of Classic Who to get through, but there's still a few titles on my list that I haven't crossed off just yet.

And yes, seeing actors that you know as older, dignified types in their younger days is always... interesting, to put it mildly! I recently watched a TV production of Romeo and Juliet from the 70s and was quite surprised to find that the rather attractive young Tybalt is now Doctor Clarkson on Downton Abbey!

I actually couldn't get interested in The Hour for some reason, despite it's incredibly good cast, but Anna Chancellor is absolutely fabulous, and needs to be in more things where she's not the bitchy romantic rival. (One of my favorite roles of hers will always be in a Poirot episode called 'The Chocolate Box'. She played a nice character who had a rather touching connection to Poirot's past, and I'm a terribly huge fan of the Poirot TV series, so I always think of her in that, even though Caroline Bingley is probably Anna's most iconic role.)

[thisbluespirit]

Watching Classic Who has been really amazing because it's the first old British show I've watched where there's a huge fandom and other people to talk to about it! I've kind of neglected other shows because there's just SO MUCH of Classic Who to get through, but there's still a few titles on my list that I haven't crossed off just yet.

Well, that's understandable - Classic Who is a giant among TV shows! One of the annoying things about being ill was that I just couldn't watch it (I'm not exactly sure why but it tired me as much as a lot of modern TV did), hence my sudden diving into far more obscure things. :-)

I actually couldn't get interested in The Hour for some reason, despite it's incredibly good cast, but Anna Chancellor is absolutely fabulous, and needs to be in more things

I wasn't so keen on the first episode, but I felt it improved after that, but I know other people who really didn't go for it, too. Anna Chancellor is definitely awesome, though. I was really pleased to see she got a supporting actress BAFTA for that one - about time!! She does make a great Caroline Bingley, though, doesn't she? I think for me she'll always be Juliet Shaw from Spooks, because that was when I noticed her as in the actor and not just various characters around and about. The Poirot ep sounds nice. I've not always been so keen on Poirot (though David is utterly perfect in the role!), but I'll have to watch that one sometime - my Dad's got most of the series on DVD, so that one should be in there somewhere. :-)

[newmoonstar]

And yes, it probably IS much better to post a Christmas fic in January than July, but I'm not quite satisfied with it, and there's one bit about how much something would have cost in 1962 that I really have no idea how to research, which is also bothering me. I suppose no one reading it would even care or notice, but I'm a bit obsessive over tiny details, and any excuse to procrastinate... But yes, I should just get over it and post the darn thing before next year! I want to actually complete my table before then!

[thisbluespirit]

Well, July would be perfect for folks in Australia; you probably needn't worry too much either way. ;-) And, yes, there's a line between getting it right and then the sort of procrastinating perfectionism that gets in the way of things actually being finished, and it's not always easy to see which one it is.

What is the thing you're looking to cost? I might even be able to help a bit, depending - I've watched so much 1960s and 70s stuff lately & I do know some cost of living sites, because I'm also interested in social & family history when I'm not being fannish. There are also comms like little_details, britpickery and dw_britglish if you get stuck on small details.

[newmoonstar]

Ooh, I forgot about little_details, I think I'll have to try there.

I wouldn't usually worry about it if it truly was a little detail, but the trouble is that it isn't a common item, and it's actually *not* a little detail, since the whole fic is about the Christmas gifts they give to each other, and I have no clue if the thing I choose is actually something that both a) existed at some point, and b) would be affordable (but still expensive) to your average science teacher in 1962. I've googled every relevant search I could think of, but even modern prices for this thing are hard to find. I think it would be easier to just write something new than to worry about this one, quite honestly!