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[Doctor Who is to England]

Having revently binged on such series, I can honestly say these speculations are...mostly true. But like any pile of sand, there's often little shell's imbeded in it. Watch Big O and read Mobile Suit Gundam: Origin to see what I mean by that. Very well made and original piece's of science fiction, pioneers even. Gundam is to japan what Star Trek is to Yank Town and Doctor Who is to England.

That'll be the all-English Doctor Who that was created by a Canadian, brought back by a Welshman and is made in Wales by BBC Wales with currently a Scots show runner?

Off the top of my head, I can think of only two creators who mounted legal challenges to the 2000AD's work-for-hire use of their creations. These were Mark Millar and Hilary Robinson, and both instances happened in when the title was under the ownership of Egmont Fleetway. One of them was successful, one of them was not.

Neither of them have worked for the title since, but I don't think that's anything to do with a blacklisting policy. Mark's enormously successful elsewhere, and doesn't need to, and Hilary Robinson's work was - frankly - just awful.

I think you can safely forget any old nonsense about the Valeyard and 12 regenerations limit. They'd be mental to take as major scripture plot points from stories 20-30 years ago that 95% of their audience have no knowledge of, and - quite rightly - couldn't care less about.

And that line in the Sarah Jane Adventures - comedy throwaway as it was - pretty much dismisses the arbitrary 12 regenerations thing.

[(who must have come to some kind of deal)]

Curious to see it's a limited edition, but that presumably—or at least possibly/potentially—gives Morrison/Rebellion (who must have come to some kind of deal) wiggle room in 2014 or later to issue individual phases.

http://comicsbeat.com/zenith-lives/

The important bit:

'We have informed Grant of our intention to republish, but we maintain that we own the rights to reprinting the series.'

Nah, seems like wild speculation to me.

Doubt this situation will ever get resolved.

Uh-huh. What's that you were saying?

Journey to the Centre of the Tardis writer Stephen Thompson seems to be inexplicably favoured by Moffat - he's the only person other than Moffat and Gattis to so far have written a Sherlock episode. When I was at the UK Writers Guild Awards last year, it was Thompson who presented Moffat with his Lifetime award, so I'm guessing they're pretty chummy.

And, yes, Curse of the Black Spot is easily the worst Matt Smith story, although there's still a few Tennant era stinkers (Fear Her, for example, and anything by Chris Chibnall) that beat it hands down.

It's in the walls.

Do submarines have gaps in walls?
I spent a month on HMS Nottingham and that was cramped. Sub's are far less roomy.

Submarines have double hulls, don't they? The thinner outer hull, and the inner pressurised hull. With...y'know...gaps between them.

(goes away, checks)

Yes, they do.

What Flint said. Standard industry practice is one (properly formatted) page of script = roughly one minute of screentime. (Although it's different for TV and animation writing.)

If you've got a script together, you really should know roughly how long your film's going to be. If you're still not sure, then do a read-through; get some people together and get them to read aloud all the parts in the script, including the action text. Time it, add in estimations of how long any dialogue-free scenes or longer shots are going to run, and you'll have an idea of how long your film's going to run.

The sale of council houses - and my parents used the opportunity to buy the one I grew up in - happened on Michael Heseltine's watch, when he was Environment Secretary. Here's what ol' Tarzan had to say about the matter just last week in an interview in that bastion of leftie agitation, the Daily Telegraph:

The unintended consequence of this policy, though, has been a shortfall of social housing stock. It is very much a live issue, with the Coalition struggling to make amends by, in effect, taxing council tenants on empty bedrooms.

Lord Heseltine has his defence ready: "I did argue at the time that we needed to invest the proceeds from the sales into building new social housing, but after I left, the department failed to follow through with the investment."

Full interview here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9975599/Michael-Heseltine-at-80-on-Boris-Ukip-and-why-he-wont-visit-Lady-Thatcher.html

So are we all clear now that the failure to reinvest in public housing was the fault of central government, and not of local councils, Labour or otherwise, who didn't see back the money made from the sale policy?

Doom Patrol, 1989. Grant's character Crazy Jane was the victim of childhood sexual abuse.

It's difficult to see how he could come out with that no rape in my work line with a straight face.

The CCA (or Third Eye Centre, as old farts like me would still insist on calling it) is a much better venue, and in a location that doesn't involve a 15-minute walk to find a pub where you won't get stabbed.

I may well be enjoying a wee dram in Droothy Neebors (round the corner from Summerhall) at some point this evening.

Incidentally (as the pub name implies) that part of Edinburgh is full of Burns connections - the house where he and Walter Scott famously met is just off Causewayside.

That's just round the corner from me.

And, since it's Burns Night today - Robert Burns: Witch Hunter, out later this year from me, Emma Beeby and Tiernen Trevallion.

I thought I knew it and that it meant a group of three people, normally in some sort of position of power.

That would be a triumvirate; like Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and the other one.

A Roman bore writes:

There were two triumvirates. The first one with Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus and Pompey Magnus. It ended with Crassus's death on his ill-advised invasion of the Parthian empire. The second one, post Caesar's assassination, was Mark Anthony, Octavian and Lepidus. Since Octavian went on to become Augustus, supreme ruler and first of the Roman emperors, you can guess how that power-sharing deal worked out for the triumvirate's other two members.

Those Writer Guild guidelines bear little resemblance to reality, mind... (He says, as he gets ready to go to tonight's Writers Guild awards.)