Got back from the Doctor Who Expo in Cardiff late last night - I have to say, those guys really know how to put on a fantastic show. Slick is a good work to describe it but then I wouldn't expect anything less. There were a few surprises and some extremely solid seminar type things, notably the "how to dress up a monster" sessions that ran all day and Doctor Who Uncut. You'll no doubt find spoillery type things littering the web already from that, so I won't dive in here and add to it. It's probably enough to know that the next season simply looks wonderful. Anything else from the psycho-bloggers is nothing more than posturing for the masses. Anyway - had the good fortune to bump into Mark Sheppard along the way. We only had time to chew the fat briefly before a queue of amazing length descended upon him at the open autograph sessions. A great guy, I wish we could have chatted some more, but regardless of that, he'll always be Crowley to me and not an FBI agent but it was good to see I wasn't the only one who thought that. Must also say a word of thanks to Gary Russell who could be bothered to spend some time with me and dispel/enforce some myths I had going around in my head about writing for TV. Your input is much appreciated. Possibly more than you'll ever know.
It was a long day, but that didn't stop us going out in Cardiff for a meal. Man, that place is insane. There seemed to be about a dozen hen parties all going on at the same time and every restaurant we went to was jammed solid. Recession? What recession would that be? However much they've spent on the place since I was last there about 25 years ago has been totally worth it that's for sure.
...and now, having taken a proper weekend off, I now find an unhealthy amount of proper work stacked up behind the door with every little thing vying for my attention, but the stack wasn't quite big enough to stop me from checking out The River. If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, think LOST with the lessons of LOST learned and applied.
And what better way to end the post than by directing you to my review of the new Shinedown album, Amaryllis at The Void. You'll be hard pushed to find much else better than this for a very, very long time.
That's it. I'm out of here for today...