Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks (preview, BFI)

 

Last night we were lucky enough to be at the BFI for a preview of Asylum of the Daleks, the first episode in the upcoming series of Doctor Who.

I don't want to give too much away, but I think there are a few points I can make:

Repost: Glorious 39 plus Q&A with Stephen Poliakoff

During last night's Olympic closing ceremony, BBC Two took a punt on showing Stephen Poliakoff's Glorious 39 (which is still available on iPlayer until 12:04am on Monday 20 Aug).

When the film came out we saw it at the BFI, followed by a Q&A with the writer/director, so I thought it might be worth reposting that:

(Originally posted November 2009)

This is a bit after the event, but the other week we saw Stephen Poliakoff’s Glorious 39 at the BFI, followed by a Q&A with the writer/director, as well as cast members Romola Garai and Bill Nighy.

Play Without Words (Sadler's Wells)

With visions of Mr Alternative Car Park in mind, we've traditionally steered clear of 'dance theatre' down the years. 

So however qualified I might be to comment on drama, I really lack the critical vocabulary to say much about dance.

However, I was so intrigued by Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words, currently enjoying a revival at Sadler's Wells, that I thought I'd make the effort.

The Doctor's Dilemma (National Theatre)

George Bernard Shaw's play is an interesting choice to put on at the moment, as the economics of healthcare are probably under closer scrutiny than they have been for nearly 70 years.

However, the NT – mercifully – isn't pressing as hard to make The Doctor's Dilemma as contemporary as its current production of Timon of Athens, even though it involves medics having to decide which lives are worth saving when demand for treatment outstrips resources.

The doctor in the title is Sir Colenso Ridgeon (Aden Gillett), whose cure for tuberculosis has propelled him to the top of his profession.

And his dilemma? With only one place remaining for his treatment, Sir Colenso must decide whether to give it to an ailing but brilliant young artist, Dubedat (Tom Burke), or a kind but poor fellow doctor, Blenkinsop (Derek Hutchison).

Timon of Athens (National Theatre)

In the programme notes for Nicholas Hytner's modern-dress production of Timon of Athens at the National Theatre, Shakespearean scholar Peter Holland reveals that the little-performed play only just escaped disappearing altogether.

Shoehorned into the First Folio (1623) at the last moment to plug a gap, the play was unfinished, probably never performed and believed to have been co-written with Thomas Middleton.

So if it only just made it onto the ark, is it worth a revival in 2012?

Gerry Anderson's walk for Alzheimer's

(If you want to avoid my self-indulgent flapdoodle, the important bit about sponsoring Gerry and his son Jamie is at the bottom.)

Without wanting to get all John-Boy Walton about it, one day from my childhood remains particularly vivid in my mind and still gives me a wave of pleasure whenever I think of it.

One summer day in 1976 or 1977 when I was 8 or 9, my dad, my brother and I took the short train ride from Chorley to Blackpool for a day out (my mum must have been working).

The destination itself was exciting enough: our seaside trips were usually at sedate Morecambe, where I'd be shoved behind the counter of my uncle's seafood stall while he and my dad stole off to the Palatine or the Queens Hotel for a few hours' froth-blowing.

But it wasn't just the glorious sunshine or the brilliant picnic my mum had packed for us that made the trip so memorable.

While strolling along the Golden Mile we stumbled across Gerry Anderson's Space City exhibition, somewhere underneath the Tower.

I can't even begin to describe how much I loved his series, and as I wandered through what seemed to be room after room filled with costumes, props and beautifulmodels, I was in absolute heaven.

Even now, 30-odd years later, the opening bars of a Barry Gray theme tune still get my heart beating a little faster.

Sadly, Gerry Anderson announced recently that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease 18 months ago.

However, together with his son Jamie, he's taking part in a Memory Walk in October to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society. (Jamie is also doing all three 'marathon' Memory Walks in September)

It's not often you get the opportunity to do something to repay one of your heroes even a little for the pleasure they've given you down the years.

If you've ever enjoyed one of Gerry Anderson's series, please go to Jamie's JustGiving page and make a donation.

The Newsroom (HBO, Sky Atlantic)

Now here's a thing for a supposedly avid TV watcher to admit: I've never seen an episode of The West Wing. Not even five minutes, in the background, while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.

But, of course, I'm fully aware of the status of Aaron Sorkin. I was even lucky enough to see him interviewed at the BFI alongside a screening of The Social Network, which was a bravura piece of screenwriting that deserved the Bafta and Oscar it won.

So, like a lot of people, I was looking forward to The Newsroom, his new series about the crisis facing US TV journalism in recent years. (The opener is set in 2010, as the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, er, came to the surface.)