So, haven’t been posting here a lot because that thing called life keeps getting in the way.  You remember life.  Look away from the screen.  There it is.  Now quick, hide back here with me again.

I’ve got several pieces started here that I need to finish, but some were begun last year and I’m just not quite getting time to work on them.  Or when I have time, I’m a bit too tired.  But anyway, I have been doing some writing here and there, and I thought I might link to that, and to one or two other bits and pieces I like.

Get Off My Lawn, you damned nuWho kids!

First up, I’ve been doing a fairly regular piece called Get Off My Lawn for the folks at the Police Box Paradox podcast.  The PBP crowd are nuWho fanzoids, and they adore the show.  I often disagree with the aspects of the show they like, but I adore their enthusiasm, and love their personalities.

I started writing Get Off My Lawn because they’re full of questions about the show, and know very little about the original series.  So after each episode of the podcast, I go through, compile a list of things that need addressing, and respond.  Often in a slightly grumpy manner.  I enjoy doing it.  It’s fun, and helps make me write.

I’m currently waiting on a couple of items, and then I’ll be sending them episodes of the original series to watch before the upcoming 50th Anniversary story.  Should be interesting to get their reactions to the original show.

Next up I did a piece for Dark Matter Fanzine on how Doctor Who is now Playing Safe.  It talks about how experimental the original show used to be, compared to how safe I feel it plays things now.

That’s it for stuff I’ve written for other folks, but I also thought I might tell you about a couple of other Doctor Who related things I’ve been enjoying as well.

The Angriest is doing a lot of good work talking about and reviewing a range of genre stuff. I’ve known Grant for years, he’s clever, insightful, knowledgeable, and funny.  He’s also counting down his Top 50 Favourite Doctor Who stories.  His thoughts on these stories are a very good read.

Philip Sandifer has a blog. He talks about various things there, including reviewing lots of Doctor Who stories.  The thought and research he puts into his writing shows, and while I don’t always agree with his thoughts (dude, Marco Polo is fabulous character piece that far outweighs its plot flaws!), I always understand and respect how he’s reached his conclusions.

While you can read all his Doctor Who reviews online, he’s also compiled them into the TARDIS Eruditorum books, so you can have them conveniently all in one place, with extra material!  I bought the ebook version of his Hartnell volume, as I await the revamped paperback version to come out.  Suspect I will end up buying ebook and physical copies of all of them, I enjoy them that much.

Going to finish off the way I started, mentioning podcasts.  The first is the Adventures in Time, Space, and Music podcast.  Dr. Phil has a brilliant knowledge and interest in the music of Doctor Who, both original and new series.  And his musical knowledge in general is deep enough that I only understand a fraction of what he talks about.  But he does his research, and I’ve learned a lot more about my favourite show thanks to his work, and gained a much deeper appreciation of the music – and aspect of the series I already loved.

The last is Splendid Chaps. I’ve known Ben McKenzie and John Richards for many years. Both are funny, insightful, and clever guys.  Hosting the show with Petra Elliott, the podcast is as much Tonight Show as anything, with guests and a musical act at the end.  It’s made in front a live audience and it’s very entertaining.  If you’re in Melbourne, you can get tickets to the shows, details of which are on the site.

They’re doing one show for each Doctor up until November, theoretically making 11 shows.  They’ve already done 8, and they’re only up to the Fifth Doctor.  I hope they keep the podcast going well past November, because it really is fabulously entertaining.

There are of course many other brilliant Doctor Who related podcasts out there, some by people I know, that I haven’t tried.  Sadly, I can’t keep up with the podcasts I listen to now, hence not checking them out myself.  But do want to mention that I’ve heard very good stuff about the Verity Podcast, so you may wish to give that one a look, too.  If I find myself better able to keep up, that’s next on my list to start working through.

Anyway, I hope you’ve found a few things of interest there.  For those of you starved for new words by me there’s a couple of bits and bobs, and beyond that, a bunch of really good material to get your teeth into.