mostly david ephgrave

It's with no small fanfare - or at least with a faint anal parp - that the first episode of 'The McCartney McAlphabet' is out. I'm proud of it and am looking forward to doing more. The second episode's already in the can (not that there is a can) and needs editing, but it's good to at least have the show up and running instead of just a load of social media accounts with no product to push. And aside from a few syncing problems I had when I putting our conversation together, making it was an easy process. Recording our chat was fun and comes over well; as I've mentioned, the topic's not something I have to stretch to discuss and the whole thing's a labour of love. All that's left now is the hope people enjoy it. It's surprising how positive the online Beatles community have been. We've only had encouraging comments on the concept so far and I hope the content will live up to this. As with Doctor Who, I know that Beatles fans can be exact...

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Peter Capaldi in last Monday’s Doctor Who. I have a soft spot for him anyway (which is probably a strange thing to say about an actor with a resting face of pure fury) and thought his casting was inspired, but despite this, it wasn’t until the most recent series that I felt everything fell into place; this was nothing to do with Capaldi’s performance, but more due to the fact that when he joined the show, the programme maybe needed a second reboot. It probably didn’t help that I watched this week’s special in a post-Christmas-induced emotional state, so couldn’t deal with the inevitable tugged heartstrings of a departing Doctor; that said, I found Capaldi’s last few episodes hard to watch too, so the time of year’s no excuse: I’m just a vulnerable audience member. The reason I didn’t want him to go yet is simple: it may be childish to have bought into what’s essentially a kids’ sci-fi series so completely, b...

Last night’s Doctor Who series finale was pretty damn heartbreaking. I’m sad to see Peter Capaldi go, particularly when things really came together with his Doctor in this last series for me. He’s a fantastic actor - and the Machiavellian Malcolm Tucker was a barnstorming performance - and is the perfect casting for the Doctor, but the combination of him, Matt Lucas and new companion Pearl Mackie has lifted things to a level to rival some of the key David Tennant and Matt Smith episodes (I hate what I’ve become). That said, it’s always better to leave on a high note than when things begin to falter; not to suggest this was likely to happen, though everything has a shelf life. It’s hard to hit a consistently high standard, which is probably why the original Who ended when it did. At the very least, last night’s episode was an example of great television, the kind of which the BBC always does the best; what with Doctor Who and Sherlock (and The Thick of It, come to mention i...

I’m really enjoying the current series of Doctor Who. I'm a big fan of Peter Capaldi - primarily for his performance as the wonderful, yet terrifying Malcolm Tucker - but aside from the odd episode here and there, it wasn’t until this series that his Doctor found its stride for me. When I heard of his casting in the role, I was delighted (he was an inspired choice), yet I can’t help but feel he was unfortunate in taking on the part when he did. Every idea has its natural life and eventually, these things can run out of steam, which generally how I felt about the last few series. It was just a case of poor timing that Capaldi should come in at the point he did when the revamped Who seemed to have used up most of its tricks; there are only so many rejigged battles against Daleks and Cybermen before things started to feel a little samey. Yet it’s with the current series that things have really kicked into gear, which is a shame as it’s se...

Listening to conversations on the bus this morning made me think of the Beach Boys song 'I Just Wasn't Made for These Times'.  You could argue that it's my fault for eavesdropping. These interactions were none of my business. To be honest, I can't help myself. I always do it; something I've covered here before. It's often a good source for material.  It was the unnecessary aggression that got me. One couple were swearing at each other under their breath while discussing vegetable oil. The man had bought the wrong brand and the woman was furious. The hissing curses batted back and forth suggested it wasn't about the oil at all, but something much more deep-seated. He’d probably also bought the wrong butter.  A couple of seventeen-year-old schoolgirls chatted animatedly about how the majority of their friends either had children or were pregnant. This didn't shock me. If anything, I was more concerned about...

Today, I became what I most despise: a name-dropper .   I promise it wasn’t intentional. It was also justified within the context of my conversation. This doesn't matter; I still did it.   I was discussing my least favourite episode of Doctor Who (the one that features Peter Kay) when I mentioned, without irony, that Noddy Holder told me he was lovely. The reverberation as his name hit the ground would have stretched as far as Guernsey. It probably had more impact than when Noddy shouts, “It’s Christmas”. It’s worth clarifying that I’ve only met him once; it’s not as if we have each other on speed-dial. Paul McCartney has also called me “man” on two separate occasions, but that’s another story. Thankfully, I have enough self-awareness that this won’t become a habit. If I ever do it again, you can slap me in the face. (Though Dave Hill might step in to break things up.)  

Tonight was definitely a night for watching television. This evening saw the broadcast of the much-hyped fiftieth anniversary special of Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor – and I, like many others across the country, stayed in so I could watch it. I’ve become something of a fan of the series over the past few years. I saw it occasionally as a child, during the Sylvester McCoy days, but didn’t really get into it until its ‘regeneration’ in 2005 (see what I did there). Even then, I was a bit of a late-starter; I only really started watching properly after I bought a couple of box-sets for my girlfriend for Christmas. It’s probably not that surprising that I would like it. I was always a bit of a sci-fi fan as a kid (I used to watch Star Trek almost religiously; braving the cold to sit in my mum and dad’s conservatory each week, as the original series was repeated on BBC2). What I particularly like about the revamped Doctor Who is that...