I am not a Robin Hood fan, and I like tennis.  But I'm appalled by the BBC's treatment of Robin Hood last night. The movement of all sports coverage to Sky can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

I just looked to see if there were any Merlin communities here on LJ. The answer is 'yes' and everyone posting to them has a Jack/Ianto icon. LOL. The Merlin/Arthur was pretty blatant, wasn't it?

I've had over an hour to collect my thoughts on Stolen Earth and I'm still getting nothing but incoherent flibble. I must say I loved the Dalek operators in Confidential - "The mutant doesn't like it if you sit on him".

I have come so far in avoiding spoilers for DW this year. I must not crack now.

And yes, I've seen both trailers for Stolen Earth and I've seen the cast list.

When I took it on, home wireless network administration was not included in the job description.  AAAARGGHHH.

Last night I watched the Eurovision Song Contest for the 1st time in years. I sat there with a bottle of wine and my knitting and and enjoyed the cultural experience. Terry Wogan kept complaining that the voting was 'political'. But it wasn't, some of the countires voting so enthusiatically for each other were at war with each other quite recently and still have big political issues between them. I found it quite cheering that they find common ground when it comes to a public telephone vote for a song. Let's face it, Ireland & the UK always vote for each other, although the Irish didn't make the final this year. 

School Holidays AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

I feel better now.

( Dr Who has returned )

Oh dear!

Tosh! You are so sweet. And your story was far from over. :(

Owen! Are you really permanently dead now, or is your disembodied spirit floating around Cardiff?

Gwen does not have the charisma that the show's makers would like us to think she has. But she tries, bless her.

Ianto is cute when he's angry.

The plot was utter nonsense. I could nitpick for hours (but I won't).

The BBC has put a picture of 3 grim reapers, complete with scythes, on its front page. The caption reads 'Torchwood Series Finale tonight'. :((

Better late than never. 2 episodes in 3 days followed by a long holiday weekend leave me struggling to catch up.

Adrift
A Gwen episode and I liked it. Gwen has made a lot of mistakes over the last 2 seasons of TW but somehow it never mattered and everything turned out OK. This time it didin't which actually helped me feel more positive about Gwen.

Fragments
Ianto has only been at TW3 for about 4 months longer than Gwen. Yet he seemed less of a newbie the first day we met him, than Gwen does now. I always thought Jack & Ianto had a sexual relationship going before 1.01. (I saw something th other day where the writer was insisting that as long as the boys hadn't had penetrative intercouse then then they wern't having sex. Didn't Bill Clinton try that argument?). Any way Jack. Ianto & Tosh's backstories were all great. Owen's was well done but I miss Wanker!Owen, I really do. He was my 2nd favourite character in season 1. Emo!Tragic!Owen doesn't interest me nearly as much.

Finale spoilers
I haven't looked. (Go me!) but I have caught the backwash and there doesn't seem to be anything good in there. If only there was one tiny little thing that had me looking forward to it, but i'm left feeling that Torchwood will be basically over after next Friday. Maybe I should read them. Can they possibly be as bad as the fans are making out?

Looking forward to Adrift tonight. And not just for one thing which will probably last less than 10 seconds. TW has done its dud episode for this series, so this will be good. It's by Chris Chibnall too and I've always enjoyed his episodes. He certainly tends to develop the Jack/Ianto more than most of the other writers.

I've decided to save my sanity by pretending to myself that TW is ending after this series. Then I can be pleasantly surprised if we get anything at all next year. But please  not

Given the current fashion for retro drama a version set in the 1950s might be fun. Of course, Ianto's identical grandfather would have to be in it.

From Out of the Rain wasn't as bad as Random Shoes. But it didn't seem to have a plot or any character development. The cast just stood around explaining what was going on. And why was Ianto so upset? There didn't seem to be any particular reason. for it. And it wasn't scary. Ianto was pretty though.

And speaking of Ianto, the BBC Torchwood website has one picture of Ianto. There are 3 of Tosh, 4 of Owen, 9 of Gwen and 14 of Jack. There are even 3 of Rhys (with Gwen). I know Ianto's had a lot more screentime in series 2 but he hasn't had his own episode (ep 10 certainly wasn't it) and seems to have been set up as Jack's Squeeze and nothing else. He's also barely been seen in the Declassifieds. I suppose I can console myself with his starring role in the website game.

My car has gone to have its dent knocked out. So I'm stuck here unless I want to go out for a walk in the rain (which I don't).

The dent is actually 2 dents. A couple of years ago I hit a pillar & dented the rear door. I got a quote for the repair and sat on it for a while. Then about 6 months later I made the dent bigger on the same pillar. Obviously putting off the repair of the 1st dent was a wise financial decision, not just my usual procrastination. Now my husband has finally got fed up with being seen in my dented car and organised it for me. The only thing that worries me is that damned pillar. It's still there waiting to leap out at me when I least expect it.

My 12 year old daughter has just informed me that she and her friends are going to write a novel together. The subject


They think they are being so original!

On a first watch I wasn't to sure about this, but 2nd time through I decided I loved it. At least we didn't get any faux anguish about 'saving the baybeee'. They all just wanted to get rid of it.

Jack's feelings about Ianto are puzzling me now. Ianto seems quite dependent on Jack, but Jack spends his emotional energies on Gwen, Owen & unknown people who are long dead. In several episodes this year Jack has ended the episode all alone and brooding in the Hub. I suppose it's possible that he doesn't want to burden Ianto but I would like a bit more.

In amongst the nods to 'immaculate conception' and giving birth in a stable Gwen and Rhys had a civil ceremony. ("I call upon these persons here present to witness...."). Not a preacher in sight.

My, my there are a lot of silly rumours about today. But tonight is Torchwood night and Nerys Hughes is going to be in it. I wavered in my spoiler avoiding this week, but somehow still don't know what's going to happen in this episode. I am perfecting the art of clicking on a link and then not absorbing the information it presents me with. Or maybe premature senility is setting in.

I'm also waiting to see when Dr Who returns. I predict 29th March. The thread on the doctorwhoforum about this is hilarious. Some people really do have far too much time on their hands.

I am a little concerned that Torchwood is in danger of disappearing up its own backside. Owen's undeadness is permanent which displeases me as it indicates endless Owen angst and that is something I can only take in small doses. Having said that, Burn Gorman is fantastic, I must try and find the time to watch Bleak House. Ianto looked fabulous. Has GDL been working out?

From next week's trailer ( Read more... )

I watched about 2/3 of Worlds of Fantasy last night and found it excellent. (sadly I failed to notice that all the repeats were in the small hours of Thursday morning so I have already missed the chance to record it. IPlayer here I come). I'm glad I'm not the only person who a) never liked Peter Pan and b) had the Narnia books ruined by the realisation that it was supposed to be a Christian allegory. I was always on Susan's side.

The trouble with half-term is that I can't get near the computer. And now that coursework is kicking in I can't even turf them off because I want to play. M is saving for his own laptop and I'm beginning to think I should offer a contribution.

I finished watching City of Vice. It improved as it went on and I found myself hoping for a second series. I don't think the ratings were very good though, so I'm not holding my breath.

Ashes to Ashes is also improving. I knew it would, I just had to grit my teeth through the second episode. Alex's behaviour has to be judged with the caveat that she genuinely believes she is hallucinating. So I am now accounting for this when she is ludicrously self indulgent & rude. Gene is too subdued though and I'm still over analysing the soundtrack.

Torchwood: Dead Man Walking was weird and I haven't had a chance to re-watch yet. I'm reserving judgement on Zombie!Owen. I can't imagine how they are going to write themselves out of this gracefully.

The Last Enemy: I have got the 1st ep from iplayer and recorded the 2nd (I was indulging myself watching Lewis at 9pm on Sunday - it's like a familiar comfort blanket.) The Last Enemy is struggling for ratings, especially against Lewis which got 8 million, which shows just how well Torchwood is doing.

BBC4 have a documentary series on 'fantastic literature' starting tomorrow. At 9pm which leaves me with some complicated planning of recordings to organise. I want to get TW without the pink logo, TW declassified, new TW, Dexter (heard good things about & want to try) & the kids want Reaper.

Some more tatting. This pattern turns up in lots of pattern books. This is my second attempt, on the first go I pulled the chains far too tight.






This one was meant to be an edging but, once again my tension is too tight and it turned into a circle.

It's not fair. I had one measly glass of red wine last night and now I have a hangover. It was expensive stuff as well. My OH bought it as a treat. I used to be able to drink anything except cider and not have to worry about the after effects.