From DWM #441. I wanted to write something robust, not maudlin, despite the obvious shadow hanging over this final series of SJA – and that’s why I kept the Elisabeth Sladen stuff till the end. Particularly as I knew the previous issue was a special in tribute to her.
Re-reading the review now, though, that final line – which is an echo of the final onscreen caption – does still feel a bit too loaded. Continue reading
Another one from DWM #423, and my plan here was not to write anything too overwrought. As far as I can remember, the Richard Curtis quote came from a Q&A session I attended, following a preview screening of the episode at the BFI on the Southbank.
This was a tricky review to write. The incident I mention below, where Gary Gillatt counseled me on the perils of covering current day Doctor Who, is absolutely true. I used it here to hedge towards an awkward conclusion – that I didn’t really like this two-part story.
Worse still, I like its writer, Chris Chibnall, who declared himself a regular reader of my old website Off The Telly when I got chatting to him at a Torchwood press do (I’m not being grand, by the way – I mean, Ian Levine was there too). As a result, he’s one of the few DW writers I can actually say hello to. In fact, I asked him if he’d be willing to pen me a short foreword for the OTT book. He wrote back that he was up to his eyes in Camelot, and so politely declined, but wished me all the best – which was very decent of him, considering I was freeloading.
And then I wrote this (for DWM #423). Which made me feel a bit bad. If you happen to ever be looking in, I’m sorry, Chris. Although, why would you seek out a negative review of your own work? That would be insane.
