One of life's pilgrims

...have a Doctor Who (specifically The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)/Nirvana crossover:



:-)

I've just been taking stock of my extensive VHS collection, and digitising a bit of it for back-up to DVD-R, and have discovered a bit of an anomaly which I wonder if some kind soul out there might be able to help me with.

Back in "the day" ("the day," in this case, being May - June 1997) I recorded the Cosgrove Hall animation of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I've now got it out of the box in the attic it was stored in, only to discover that three episodes (numbers 2, 3 & 4) are missing (what can I say, it was a busy, hectic time of my life; I obviously forgot to set the timer, or something). I'd like to try to get hold of those three missing episodes.

Now, technically, I already have them, as Sarah has the whole series on DVD. Trouble is, the DVD is one of those things that fell out of favour in Doctor Who fandom back in the early '90s - a compilation of all six episodes strung together as one movie. Me no likey. (Yes, I know I shouldn't be so darned pedantic/borderline OCD, but there y'go. I'd like it in its original format, not some compilation thingy.) And sadly, my, erm, usual sources for such things are letting me down - they all present it as either a one-part movie or as two episodes. (Indeed, the only source that acknowledges it was ever broadcast as six episodes is the ever-useful BFI Film & TV Database).

So I was just wondering, seeing as I have a fair few geeky friends who are likely to have recorded it and not missed those crucial episodes - can anyone help me fill in the blanks? If you've got them on a VHS that I can borrow, awesome. If you've already backed them up to some form of digital format, even awesomer.

Hopeful thanks in advance,

David.

Your main fandom of the year?
Doctor Who, as always.

Your favourite film you watched this year?
To give it its UK title, Avengers Assemble. With The Hobbit running it a close second but missing out because it wasn't quite 100% perfect and also I've only seen it twice so far.

Your favourite book read this year?
With the usual caveat (i.e., I've not read many books this year...bad me), I think I'd go for Kate Griffin's The Neon Court.

Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
Tough call. Very hard to make. Well, album's well nigh impossible - I listen to so many, particularly as I've been doing the "replacing worn out audio tapes with dirt cheap CDs" thing, and normally listening to the CDs as soon as they arrive. Song's easier - I always default to Pet Shop Boys' Always on my mind.

Your favourite tv show of the year?
Doctor Who, obviously. Misfits and the revived Red Dwarf were both enjoyable too. And Sherlock, although that was so long ago it hardly seems believable that it was this year.

Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Haven't really made one. I mean, Elementary has its moments, but that aside... Mind you, it's not actually a fandom per se, but one particular aspect of a fandom that I adore is being able to buy downloads of Big Finish's audio plays. I doubt I'll be making a habit of it, but it's nice to know that the option is there if one of their plays sounds particularly appealing.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Well, there's the whole Elementary not being as good as Sherlock thing. ^_^ Also, fandom itself has had its moments of "you make me despair" - death threats against Steven Moffat, fake twitter accounts, etc... Mind you, the bits of fandom I connect with tend to be sane. For, obviously, given values of "sane".

Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Oh, the Doctor.

Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
I think I have a major crush on Clara. And she hasn't even been in an episode that's screened yet. (Mind you, that Oswin was a bit of a dish.)

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Meeting Kate Griffin (admittedly for the second time). Seeing Avengers Assemble for the first time, not knowing what to expect, and finding it was fantastic. Seeing The Hobbit (part I) and finding it was wonderfully epic.

The most missed of your old fandoms?
This year, Chuck. Although I also miss Quantum Leap on regular occasions and think a full series rewatch is called for.

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I have Stargate SG-1 and Farscape on my Amazon wishlist. More realistically, Warehouse 13 (someone has at least bought me series 1).

Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
Gotta be the Doctor Who 50th anniversary, with everything that will bring. Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit part II will also be exciting. Pet Shop Boys gig to look forward to in June (I think, or July), although why they decided to return to the O2 is a source of mystery and frustration (its sheer size renders it one of the least intimate venues to go to, and I've still no idea where the stage door is...). Oh, and the second round of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy live kicks off in September and, if the first round was anything to go by, should be splendid. Also, at some point, I'd like to settle down with the TV and a free weekend or two and finish off Merlin, Fringe, and Leverage.

Hmm. I was just importing a TV programme into the computer (I wasn't even properly watching it, as it's done with the sound down), and it suddenly hit me - I think I'll always love Charlotte Coleman, and I miss her desperately, and I regret that I never really had a chance to to tell her what she meant to me.

I don't think I've ever really acknowledged that before. I mean, I miss her, obviously, and I've sometimes felt that her death, happening when it did, almost certainly exacerbated the depression that had hit in when Jane left me, but I'm not sure I've ever really come out and said that I loved her, and still do in a way. And somehow being able to just actually say that seems to be...helpful.

...to everyone who posted, both on LJ and on Facebook, to wish me a happy birthday (which, yes, despite the userpic, was yesterday. But you can't beat a pic from Press Gang)! It helped to actually make it feel like a birthday (which in most other respects it didn't, to be honest...). You're all wonderful friends. :-)

So, yesterday Sarah and I went into London to see The Hobbit in the company of multiclassgeek and zoeiona. That's not actually the point of this post, but ( brief reviewlet ). Afterwards we had a meal at a nearby Nando's (gosh, quelle surprise!), and the geeky conversation turned to the question of whether, at some point, Jackson'll recut the Lord of the Rings film to replace the scene of Ian Holm as Bilbo finding the ring (can't remember which one it's in, possibly Fellowship) with Martin Freeman as Bilbo finding the ring. I'm torn between, "it'd be cool," and, "there's no way I'd fork out for another copy of the movie just for one scene's difference." Also, that's very much a George Lucas thing rather than a Peter Jackson thing, as far as I can tell (although I'm guessing there'll be an extended DVD out next December...)

Anyway, the Hobbit wasn't the actual point of this post. The point was this:

There are adverts for the Fifty Shades of Grey books saying, "give her what she wants this Christmas." I'm going to leave aside, for the time being, that it seems to be phrased to suggest a wee bit of sexual innuendo, and the fact that it's a bit sexist to presume that only women will be interested in the books, shall instead say that quite frankly if anyone I know, man or woman, wants those books for Christmas, I think I'd disown them...you want badly written fanfic porn, there are several LJ comms that collect the stuff, never mind the ones where it gets posted in the belief that it's actually good... ^_^