The BBC are just reporting the sound stage used for Casino Royale has been completely destroyed in a fire. But is this the work of SMERSH or SPECTRE?
A replica of Venice before the fire, according to the BBC report the set was being dismantled. Fire crews were called at 11.38 this morning, and at least 8 engines attended.
TweetThe BBC have announced they are going to realease a CD of Murray Gold’s music for Doctor Who. I shall be putting this on my Christmas list; although I’ve criticised the music this season for being too intrusive the actual score has always been impressive; I loved his Bad Wolf theme, his Song for Ten in the Christmas Invasion, and most especially the new Doctor Who Theme.
Yes, I really like it. A friend grudgingly admitted it was okay, but said he wished they’d used the theme from the original series. Well, which one?
The original version of the original theme is probably not the one most people remember. It is the “classic” version of the theme, but later embelishments are missing: click on the link below to see the original title sequence on the BBC website and see what I mean.
It was painstakingly recorded by Delia Derbyshire from a composition by Ron Grainer. The theme was gradually embelished… But it wasn’t until the Pertwee era that the classic “scream” as added on to the beginning of the closing titles (the link in green below only gives you the Pertwee opening sequence).
After 17 years theme was completely redone by Peter Howell for Peter Davison and the 1980s.
There was again a completely new theme for Colin Baker’s last season
Doctor Who themes are like buses. You wait 17 years for a new one and then three come along at once. This was for Sylvester McCoy:
A new version was again orchestrated for the TV Movie (it almost wasn’t going to be used at all, and though it’s not a great version, it’s still Doctor Who). However, I can’t give you a link: it’s not on the BBC website. And the logo for the film, incidentally, to save me reproducing it, was the same as the Pertwee logo (above). So, with the Murray Gold theme, that brings us up to date.
So there was no one version of the theme from the original series, with the first version having been abandoned in the 1980s, and the rate of new versions an exponential function of time. For me, the version is the Howell version with the “neow” at the start, for, although it’s all a bit Star Wars, it was my version from when I watched it aged 7. And it’s not just me, the DVDs all use the Peter Howell version as their version.
In conclusion, I think it’s a jolly good thing that the theme, just like the show, can keep being reinvented (in fact, you can have a go yourself!). Not all the versions are equally good, but I’m pleased there are several I like and Murray Gold has done a cracking job mixing original samples with a full orchestral version. So sit back, turn up the volume, and hear the National Orchestra of Wales play a TV Theme that is still very recognisable as having been composed 43 years ago.
TweetSo, Bartlet’s term ended last night on More4 and a new candidate was sworn in as the show bowed out.
The West Wing did something unusual in its second term: it got good again. Not good as in as good as the original series, but it improved – season 7 was far better than the poor showing that was season 5. It did it by becoming a different show.
When it started out, and when it was at its best, The West Wing (written, almost entirely, by Aaron Sorkin) was an office drama that just happened to be set in the White House. It wasn’t about campaigns or politics, it was about the people. The fact that it appeared on our screens so well formed is unlikely to be a coincidence. It wasn’t just an office drama, it was a particular office drama: Sports Night. As evidence, I offer:
Strong Principled Authoritarian Isaac Jaffe/President Bartlet
Confident Competent People Manager Dana Whitaker/Leo McGarry
Young (Excitable) Talents Casey McCall & Dan Rydell/Sam Seaborne & Josh Lyman
Nerd Played by Joshua Malina Jeremy Goodwin/Will Bailey
And I’m sure there are others…
The West Wing changed the setting, and tweaked to format (running as a drama at double the length) but it really has the same feel to it. However, Sports Night finished when it was fresh. By its fourth season, Sorkin’s The West Wing was beginning to show the cracks.
The trajectory of a show’s success is well documented. Most shows start out with promise, take a little time to bed in and get better and better until they jump the shark – you can often clearly see when it happens. It’s a success and everyone involved has a stake in keeping it going, and in fairness it may still be better than most else that’s on (The West Wing‘s season 5 is a case in point) so it limps on for a season or too until the audience or the advertising revenue declines to the point where the network decides to cut its losses.
The West Wing became a different show. For one season, the characters seemed like puppets, with someone pulling their strings, as the new show, steered by ER’s John Wells, emerged. Now concerned with story developments and political drama, the focus shifted away from an ensemble piece, successfully introducing a range of new characters and instead of including a storyline for each regular lead focused on particular stories and just the characters involved. Although I still don’t think it was as good as it used to be, if the show had new title I’d think it a great new series. In fact, it was basically a West Wing spinoff, with some of the same characters but a host of new ones in a show with a different production team.
Other shows have tried this – The X-Files springs to mind, with its attempt to shift the emphasis onto Doggett and Reyes after Mulder left. They’d have done better if they’d knocked the old series on the head and made it a spinoff; every episode you were reminded how superior the old show was, and how it had jumped the shark.
Having said that, last night’s episodes neatly linked back to the old show, with dozens of old regulars and guest stars popping up in a beautifully written conclusion (Sorkin was offered the chance to write the show; he declined and it’s understandable why – it wasn’t his show anymore – but he does make a cameo appearance). The only strange thing was the flash-forward from the start of the season was never referred to, never wrapped up. Given how lucky they were not to get burned on that by the death of a leading actor there was no reason…
Meanwhile, for those of us who rewatching old Sports Night and Sorkin era West Wing DVDs, More4 will be showing Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the same show again, this time set behind the scenes of a TV show, and once again featuring many Sports Night and West Wing regulars. Let’s hope C4 treat it better than they treated The West Wing and show it sooner rather than later.
Update: I just watched The West Wing – The Stackhouse Filibuster which uses the letter writing device of Sports Night – Dear Louise. A number of other overlaps are listed at The Unofficial West Wing Continuity Guide.
TweetWoah, these are fun!
Looking for the hack to get a login box on the sidebar, I’ve come across WordPress Widgets, old news and well known, but no one told me! If you’ve viewed Little Storping in the past hour, you’ll have seen the sidebar jumping all over the place.
After I downloaded the login widget plugin I became discouraged. It didn’t work. This is where reading the instructions help: you need the widgets plugin. And a compatible theme (included, but I didn’t twig that). Anyway, finally I got it working. Most people will read the readme and be up and running in minutes.
After all that, at first I was dubious. Great concept: drag and drop widgets onto the sidebar for your links, pages, categories etc. But it wasn’t how I wanted it: the login box looked wrong, the categories didn’t indent. Then I realised there were all these options, with explanations if you hover over… So ironically although at first I thought it would be easier just to go straight in and hack the php, with just a little bit of learning, I’ve now got a framework for doing whatever I want with my sidebar. And I’ve got a great login widget.
Right I’m off to find some more cool widgets. Please ignore the sidebar if it dances around for a bit. And let me have any requests… Google search box? Display RSS feeds, recent comments etc?
TweetThe 7th and final series of The West Wing draws to a close tonight, preceded by The Ultimate West Wing Challenge on More4: “Hosted by Rory Bremner, the show unearths a hotbed of closet West Wingers in the form of the current Doctor Who David Tennant; Mark Oaten MP; columnist and comedian Arabella Weir; and UK editor of Newsweek Stryker McGuire. Alongside handling a CJ-style press conference and dicing with death on the speediest ‘walk and talk’ scene ever, the contestants trade their West Wing knowledge to discover the greatest all-round follower of Bartlet.” It’s also, apparently, set in “The Oval Office”.
Update (00:28): It was cheap, cheap, cheap, but well worth watching just to hear David Tennant say “W.G. Snuffy Walden”.
TweetThat’s abroad in the sense of “out and about” not in another country.
Although come to think of it, it was another country.
And it’s not a frog, it’s a toad.
This portrait of a fine looking toad I took when I was in Wales last week. He’s pretty hunky, no?
TweetIt’s hot here.
It’s been hot for a while, in fact. Last week I was in Wales, and it was even hot there.
In Cardiff, they’re filming The Runaway Bride
In 30C temperatures, Catherine Tate is running down the street in a bridal gown, and David Tennant is all wrapped up in his suit and coat. It makes me feel a bit better as I sweat away at work.
(Incidentally, the show calls for an ATM to pour out currency, and to avoid expense and imprisonment, the Doctor Who production team created their own “Christmas Special” currency: “No second chances, that’s the kind of man I am.” Apparently onlookers have been gathering them up – I bet one of those is worth more than 10 satsumas!)
Meanwhile, if you’re worried your Mac’s overheating and you want to check your heatsinks are doing what they should, try Temperature Monitor for, er, monitoring the temperature.
TweetAfter rumours that Goldfrapp and Tina Turner were to record the title song for Casino Royale it has finally been confirmed that the song will be written (with David Arnold) and performed by Chris Cornell, and entitled “You Know My Name”. It is unusual for the song to have a different title to the film, although whether the film’s title will feature in the song at all (as in The Spy Who Loved Me‘s Nobody Does It Better) or not (as in Octopussy‘s All Time High) is not yet clear.
I’m not sure who Chris Cornell is, so at the moment I’m a bit disappointed not to be getting a Goldfrapp Bond theme.
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It’s time for the previously mentioned salad now the tomatoes are ripening.
The salad is entirely grown in my garden. As well as the tomatoes, there’s the basil (now outdoors), exceptionally spicey rocket (very nice!) and the leaves and flowers of my nasturtiums.
These are not “girly” flowers (you know who you are and I know you’re reading this). Eat one of these and then say they’re “girly” flowers, if you’re not too chicken.
I’ve been waiting for this: Mighty Mouse with no tail.
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