tinhuvielartanis: (Basil Fawlty)
[personal profile] tinhuvielartanis
So here I am watching the new Doctor Who and it's teleporting me back to the early 80s when I was still convinced that I'd grow up to be a journalist and novelist in London. My favourite shows were viewed through a veil of television snow on Asheville's PBS station ('cos the local PBS had no British shows in the 80s). Saturdays were dedicated to Doctor Who (Tom Baker's and Peter Davison's mostly, but there were some Jon Pertwee's thrown in there for good measure) from 12 PM 'til 4 then, at 8 PM, came All Creatures Great and Small. During the week there was Fawlty Towers either at 9 PM or 11 PM. In 1983, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy edged in on a little of the good Doctor's time, being featured from 3 'til 4 each week until the series ran out.

Those were some of my happier and more hopeful days. I was still a dreamer then, and I still had faith in myself and my fellow humans. There seemed to be an innocence I associate with those shows and that era in my life, a freshness that can never be recaptured.

But it can almost be.

When I heard that theme song, that glorious theme song for Doctor Who, all modernised and enriched with orchestrations, my heart fluttered and I was 15 years old again. I'm hoping to at least visit London soon and I've written a book, albeit one that still needs a godawful amount of work. Truth be told, I'm probably more like Basil Fawlty now than the Doctor, Zaphod or Trillian, or James the veterinarian, but that's okay. I am who I am. And it makes me smile that I can still feel that thrill of newness and the well-known unknown.

Now I need to go find pictures of Anthony Andrews from the Sebastian Flyte years.

Date: 2006-03-25 02:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ginamariewade.livejournal.com
Oh, yeah. I watched Dr. Who, Hitchhiker's Guide, Fawlty Towers, and Monty Python every Saturday night on the PBS station that could be picked up in Macon.

Last year we briefly got digital cable because I wanted BBC-America, because I was just SURE that it would be 24 hours a day of Britcoms. In the last few years, I've fallen in love with Coupling and THe Vicar of Dibley.
Imagine my disappointment that BBC America is just news and home remodeling shows. >:P

Date: 2006-03-25 06:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
I'm still hoping they'll start showing reruns of 'Rising Damp.'

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing 'Keeping Up Appearances,' check it out on BBC America. I think it comes on around 3:30 or 4 every afternoon (or it used to).

Farty towels...flowery twats...

Date: 2006-03-25 03:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] durgablue.livejournal.com
Truth be told, I'm probably more like Basil Fawlty now than the Doctor, Zaphod or Trillian, or James the veterinarian, but that's okay

I dunno, maybe you're a bit more like
Leela

hee heee!

And you must go to London, and take lots of pictures! I do miss it. (Make sure you take one of those Jack the Ripper walking tours, just so I can live vicariously through you.)

Say listen, did you ever catch those Brit shows, Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin, or Butterflies?

Re: Farty towels...flowery twats...

Date: 2006-03-25 06:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
Leela, good ole Leela! She was my first Doctor companion.

Nope, haven't seen those. Have you seen 'Rising Damp'?

Date: 2006-03-25 05:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] debrafortune.livejournal.com
I caught the Sci-fi pilot and subsequent episode and was sucked right in. The new Doctor is great. My PBS (Phoenix at the time) dropped the series right when Baker changed into Davidson... It was the "doctor hour" with Doctor Who? and Is there a doctor in the house?", a med-student comedy, (think Scrubs)... I don't remember when I started seeing Fawlty Towers, after '85 I think. I remember Monty Python from the 70s.

The updated theme is by Orbital if you want to try to limewire it.

Date: 2006-03-25 06:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
I remember 'Is there a Doctor in the House?'! I loved that show, but couldn't remember the name of it.

Thanks for the Orbital info. I'll be hunting it down forthwith.

Date: 2006-03-25 07:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] debrafortune.livejournal.com
It's been updated again since Orbital

This new one is by Ron Grainer and Murray Gold.

Date: 2006-03-25 07:00 pm (UTC)

Date: 2006-03-26 01:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zaecus.livejournal.com
I am so glad that they're still using the surly camel sound for the tardis

Date: 2006-03-26 01:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
Oh yeah! I was thinking about that just last night, how the TARDIS sounded exactly the same and that was somehow very comforting.

Date: 2006-03-26 12:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] purple-leatherc.livejournal.com
Now I need to go find pictures of Anthony Andrews from the Sebastian Flyte years.

I wonder if he's aged as well as Jeremy Irons has?

On another note, in a sf short story I wrote a few years ago, a male character had a teddy bear named Aloysius.

Date: 2006-03-26 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
He hasn't aged well at all. It's really quite terrifying what time can do to some people.

I'd love to read that story if you have it handy. And I have a cat named Aloysius. ;)

Date: 2006-03-27 07:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tinhuviel.livejournal.com
Um...have you ever considered working on getting published?

This is great!

Date: 2006-04-01 02:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] polypolyglot.livejournal.com
Sorry. Hadn't logged in yet when I replied before...

Anyway, thanks for the compliment. While the story has its flaws, there are elements that are good because they ring true. A very early draft of it was written while my relationship with [livejournal.com profile] lizliz was going straight to hell and I didn't have the balls to break it off because I thought it could be worked out.

Now that my worklife is a bit more stable, I can put more energy into being published. It's something that was secondary to getting myself to a place where I didn't want to kill my boss.

Date: 2006-03-27 12:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] falkenna.livejournal.com
yes, it was mainly late 70s for me -- Python, Dr Who, Hitchhiker's Guide, Masterpiece Theatre. But Reggie Perrin and Butterflies are the two comedy classics as far as I'm concerned -- none of the newer stuff is even close. (I can't bear Keeping Up Appearances, I just want to shoot her and be done with it.)

Profile

tinhuvielartanis: (Default)
The Cliffs of Insanity

October 2016

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9 101112131415
16 171819202122
23242526272829
3031     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 13th, 2025 01:48 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios