What a week!

Well dear reader, where to begin, I’ve had a very eventual week mainly focused around Doctor Who, I must say (apologies once again for the delayed post).

As Monday was a back holiday I wasn’t in college (yay) so at the very last minute decided to dash down to London (yes, I know, I’m a twit). The Cartoon Museum is currently hosting a new exhibition of artwork used on the Target Book covers (Doctor Who novelizations of the stories). There must have been about 40 examples of the original artwork on show, which were incredible to see. Having seen the covers on the books for years it was great to see the originals about A3 size, as I was able to see to see all the fine details of each cover. I must have spent a good few hours studying each one. I particularly liked the style of Chris Achilleos as he uses a lot of bright bold colours and creates shadow using dots (stippling, I never thought A level art would come in handy). I believe that the exhibition has now been extended as it was only supposed to be there for a month or so (hence why I dashed down), but do go and see it if you get chance, as it was absolutely brilliant (not just from a Doctor Who point of view, but to see the different illustrative styles).

From there I wandered across to the West End, not to see a show (although I did try to), but to stage door (yes that’s still a verb) namely ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ to meet Pearl Mackie (the new companion, but I’m sure you know that dear reader). I got there at about 4.30 and waited around for a few hours, where I met Jackie, a fellow fan. We were chatting for most of the time, but there was no sign of Pearl. As it got to about 6.30 she emerged from the stage door on her way somewhere and kindly stopped to chat for both of us (we were just about to give up). Pearl was great; she’s got a lot of bubbly, excitable energy and happily stopped to chat. I think she’ll be wonderful as the new companion, as she’s got so much energy, which I’m sure will take the show in a new direction.

After the excitement of the Target Book exhibition and meeting Pearl Mackie, I must admit that Tuesday wasn’t quite as exciting. That evening Bryan (from Chapter and the bakery) and I went to see ‘Of Mice and Men’. Having studied it for GCSE I had never seen it on stage, so was interested to see how it would be done. Both Bryan and I thought it was fantastically acted, however the scene changes were a little slow and a few of the technical elements weren’t quite there. The design of the show was that the wings were clearly visible, which I’m not sure quite worked, however I was glad to have seen the show. It was delightful to spend the evening with Bryan again. He tells me that he’s planning to come and see ‘One Man Two Governors’ on the opening night, so I’ve got to get it right!

The excitement continued on Wednesday with more filming. I’d known in advance about that evening’s filming, so knew I’d see something going on. Filming didn’t start until 8.00pm, but I got there a little early and had quite a chat with the security guys who’d been there for a few days in readiness for the shoot, however they weren’t told that they’d been waiting there for two days, for only a few hours filming. Again I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say too much about what I saw. A few of the crew now seem to recognise me, as do the ‘kids’. Greg, Faddy and Sophie came over briefly, as did Patrick Ness and I finally managed to meet Katherine Kelly, so I’ve not met all the regulars (I think I may be the first one). Not only that, but at the end of the shoot Ed Bazalgette (the director) stopped for an autograph. As ever, it was fascinating to watch them film and I’m gradually working out what seems to be going on (spoilers).

Could my week get any better I hear you ask (pause to allow you to ask). Well yes it could, as on Friday (Thursday was rubbish) I went to a BAFTA Cymru preview screening of ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dreams’ adapted by (the great) Russell T Davies. It was absolutely incredible to see how he’d taken Shakespeare’s original work and updated it, as well as adding in elements from the Greek text that Shakespeare had used. That, alongside the beautiful costume and production design, the prosthetics and CGI made it a visual feast; I was blown away by it. There is so much going on throughout and it feels very different to other versions of the story, but remains recognisably the same (I’ve no clue how he managed that). Whilst an exact air date is yet to be confirmed I very much look forward to seeing it again. The screening was followed by a Q&A with David Kerr (director), Kate Kennedy (Helena), Nikki Wilson (producer) and the man himself Russell T Davies. One of the invited guests was Russell’s first drama teacher who he said the programme was dedicated to, as it was her version of the play that first inspired him to write; it was very touching to hear how the two spoke to each other. After that everyone mingled in the bar for a good hour or so and Adam (I’m not sure that I’ve mentioned him before, but he is the filming expert, he knows where they are all the time) and I met a few of those in the audience, who had also worked on Doctor Who, such as Murray Gold, Nikki Wilson and Helen Raynor, to mention just a few. Perhaps the most exciting person for me was Russell T(he) Davies, who is turns out knows Adam from all the filming he did, so we were able to have quite a chat. Having met Pearl on Monday I didn’t think my week could have got any better, but to finally meet Russell was fantastic!

After the week’s excitement you may assume that I had a quiet weekend dear reader, but no. On Saturday Adam and I went down to ‘Stars of Time’ in Western-Super-Mare. It was an interesting event in a helicopter museum. I met Clem So and Ian Furey-King, who both appeared in various Capaldi episodes, as well as chatting to a few of the other guests. Having done a very quick (and thankfully cheap) look round the merchandise we headed back to Cardiff to catch the tail-end of ‘A Day in the Life of Gareth David-Lloyd’. Unfortunately we missed the interview, but did manage to meet him and have a chat with him, mainly about ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ (look back at last month’s entries for that) which he seemed delighted to talk about (believe it or not, most people talked to him about Torchwood).

Finally Sunday was a little quieter, as I caught up on sleep. However, we (Sam, George and I) decided to invest in Monopoly (the fancy electronic version), which kept us busy for most of the day (let’s just say we applied real world ethics to the game). By 9.00pm we decided to go for a wander (it was lovely sunshine) and walked through Bute Park, but we went quite a way and ended up at Castle Coch, a good 6 miles in pretty much pitch black (quite why we did that I don’t know), but then of course we had to walk back (so a 12 mile walk) which ended up being longer than the game of monopoly that we were ‘having a break from’. As I’m sure you can imagine dear reader we were all knackered when we got back!

I doubt that next week will be so busy dear reader, but I hope there is something of interest to report, possibly a theatre trip, we shall see.