1989, 25 years on: Hungary

A Hungarian flag with the communist coat of arms cut out - while they were actually removed after the 1956 Uprising, it remains a potent symbol of the events of 1989 (Guilherme Paula on Wikipedia)

Hungary, the second of the communist dominoes to fall, has definitely got one of the more interesting histories of any country in Europe. This landlocked former part of the Austrian Empire, its native population originated from the Urals and resulted in Hungarian being one of the three national languages in Europe in the Uralic family... so it doesn't sound like much else on the continent.

Of course, there is another reason of interest... because Hungary had already gotten rid of the communists before - for a short while.

The takeover

Hungary had been a member of the Axis powers during the war, participating in the war against the USSR and assisting in the Holocaust in a pretty large way. When the war started going badly, they began secret negotiations with the West, that eventually led to a German occupation... but eventually that was pushed aside by the Red Army.

The Soviets treated the Hungarians harshly - 600,000 were deported to the USSR and of those, two hundred thousand died in captivity. Just one of many crimes that the Soviet Union carried out over the years and one that should probably get more prominence.

1956

The death of Stalin in 1953 and the later 'Secret Speech' of 1956 saw reform elements gaining influence in the governments of the soon to be created Warsaw Pact, including Hungary's prime minister, Imre Nagy, although he was removed from office in 1955. 
  
On 23 October, a large student demonstration that had started peacefully turned violent with the ÁVH (secret police) opening fire on the crowds... who then started to arm themselves. Hungarian soldiers sent to relieve them instead joined the crowd and the following morning the Soviet forces in Hungary, at the request of Working People's Party Secretary Ernő Gerő, began to intervene in the situation. An armed uprising, with all the associated things that involves (lynchings, citizens arming themselves etc.), was in full effect. By 28 October, the government had collapsed and Nagy became Prime Minister again.

Nagy announced constitutional changes and later that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw Pact, to become neutral. The USSR decided against intervention on the 30th, but for various reasons that differ between sources, changed their mind the following day.

In November, a massive Soviet intervention in Hungary saw the new government removed from power pretty swiftly. Despite some strong public condemnation, the West could do little; there was a risk of things escalating into a global war and events in Suez had damaged the reputation of the NATO powers (if they could intervene in Egypt, why couldn't the Soviets intervene in Hungary?). About 50 million dollars (in today's money) was raised to support the refugees via appeals, including on US television.

Western European communist parties splintered badly over this; between those who supported the invasion and those who opposed it; much of their former power had gone not to return.

Nagy fled to the Yugoslav embassy (Yugoslavia having broken from the Soviet bloc), but despite a written assurance of safe passage from the new leadership, he was arrested on leaving, tried in secret and hanged. His trial and sentence weren't announced until they were done and he was buried in an unmarked grave... his hands and feet tied with barbed wire (he was dead! What did they think he was going to do?).  

Immediately after, the Hungarian water polo team played the Soviet one in a semi-final match at the Melbourne Olympics. An angry Hungary team won the contest 4-0 in what was dubbed the "Blood in the Water" match, with violent conduct from the outset and the tie being ended with a minute left to play after a crowd invasion that resulted from one of the Hungarians getting an eye gash after being punched. Hungary beat Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final and half their Olympic delegation defected to the West afterwards.

The intervening years 

After the initial violent retribution, János Kádár (a leader in the uprising who had switched sides when told that the old leadership would otherwise be restored, although it could be argued that he should have said no anyway) lifted many of the restrictions and while still authoritarian compared with the West, it was less so than the other COMECON countries.


There were some economic reforms and the country got relatively high living standards (for COMECON), but Hungary ended up with many of the same problems of its neighbours; high foreign debt, low-quality domestic goods and housing shortages, despite the widespread construction of Panelház, tower blocks of the sort that were widespread during this time on both sides of the Iron Curtain and are still numerous today; 17.5% of the population of Hungary lived in one in 2011. International tourism played a big role in Hungary's economy, both from the West and also from other Eastern bloc nations - in 1978, the US returned the Holy Crown of Hungary's former kings to the country, it having been held in Fort Knox since being recovered from the Nazis by US troops in Austria in 1945.

Kádár himself lived a modest lifestyle; unlike other Communist leaders.

1989

Kádár retired in 1988; the economy was failing - and so was his health. He would die on 6 July 1989. Károly Grósz succeeded him as General Secretary and Prime Minister at his recommendation, but it became that his 'moderate' reforms were not widely supported even within his own party; he was replaced as PM in November by Miklós Németh, who in December made his views clear that moving to a market economy was the only way to avoid social catastrophe. Wages were falling in real terms and foreign debt was becoming a big issue.

(It is important to remember when dealing with the former Soviet bloc that the real power holder was the First or General Secretary; the President and/or Prime Minister was frequently, but by no means always a different person and had little real power)

In March, the Central Committee admitted to itself that they were going to have to go multi-party and after big demonstrations on 15 March (the day Hungary marks the 1848 Revolution, a failed attempt at independence from Austria), began meeting with a 'Round Table' of opposition groups. These largely behind the scenes negotiations would carry on for much of the year.

As well as the new PM, another leader was working behind the scenes to bring down communism - Imre Pozsgay, who worked his way up to the Central Committee. He managed to persuade (or he so he claims) the leadership not to launch a coup in April.

On 2 May 1989, Imre Pozsgay got the Hungarian Army to begin to remove the border fence with Austria; this was the first chink in the Iron Curtain. Moscow did nothing about it (and nor would they), even when the Hungarians actively encouraged holidaying East Germans to cross into Austria and thus to West Germany; including via a Peace Picnic in August where several hundred crossed over with no attempt by the army to stop them. The Austria-Hungary border was a much simpler affair to dismantle than the one between the two Germanies, which was among other things heavily mined.

In June, the Politburo admitted Nagy had been executed illegally after a show trial. He and two other victims were dug up and reburied in the same plot, but this time it was a proper grave with a memorial.

A deal was reached on the Round Table Talks in September; the opposition split over the issue of the presidency, with the moderates implicitly accepting Pozsgay as president and the radicals being against.

16-20 October saw an epic and historic session of parliament; as the Hungarian legislature voted after the agreement to completely change the system; ensuring direct presidential elections, multi-party parliamentary ones, guarantees of rights and a separation of powers. On the 23rd, the Presidential Council dissolved itself. That same month, the Communist Party became the Hungarian Socialist Party... but a majority of its MPs didn't join and Imre Pozsgay didn't become president. The Communists were pretty much done.

Free elections followed in May 1990 - the centre right Hungarian Democratic Forum won, with the former communists ending up fourth. The former ended up as leaders of a centre-right coalition.

The same year, Hungary withdrew from participation in Warsaw Pact exercise and Soviet forces left in 1991, the same year the Pact ceased to exist.

Hungary today

The Socialist Party, now very different from its predecessors, would return to power from 2002-2010 as leader of a coalition and later a minority government; it would do badly in the 2014 European Elections (only getting 10% of the vote), with the result being the resignation of its entire presidium.

Hungary joined the EU in 2004; it is also part of the Schengen Agreement, so where before there was an electric fence with Austria, there are now not even regular border checks - Hungary also has this situation with Slovakia and Slovenia, but not yet with Croatia, Romania and of course Ukraine.

However, there have been problems in recent years. The country suffered heavily in the 2008 crash; there was a lot of borrowing that left it vulnerable. It eventually needed IMF and European Central Bank bailouts to avoid a collapse.

Then in 2010, Viktor Orban, Prime Minister from 1998-2002 (and also involved in the Round Table talks), returned to power, with his coalition Fidesz gaining a two-thirds majority; enough to impose a new constitution on Hungary. The nationalist conservative government (who were David Cameron's only allies in opposing Jean-Claude Juncker getting the EU Commission job) put in a new Fundamental Law that has been heavily criticised for reducing checks and balances, trying to impose a Christian ideology on a country not hugely religious and limiting the freedom of the press. 

Orban is one of Europe's more dangerous leaders; there is also a strong far-right party in the country that doesn't like Roma or Jews very much.

Hungary, the second of the countries to escape communism, could end up going to fascism again if it is not careful.

 

A Pacer, but not a Sprinter (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.9, "Flatline")

Clara, with some assistance from the Doctor who is trapped in the TARDIS, has to stop some two-dimensional aliens.

• Clara was doing the Doctor-y stuff this week and doing very well at it; you could do an entire series (or novel) with just her.
  
• There were some great scenes with Capaldi in the TARDIS and we've now firmly established "pudding brain" as a catchphrases. Many a laugh, that's for sure.
  
• The creatures were scary, if a bit two-dimensional (ba boom tish).
• Does Doctor Who not have the kudos to actually use a DMU type that hasn't been retired from the main network for over a decade? I'd love to see a Pacer get destroyed.
• Definitely not doing the 'everyone lives' trick these days, that's for sure.
  
• Bristol? Not a choice I'd make, but nothing wrong with it.
  
• Stan was a real nasty piece of work; wasn't the actor in Auf Wiedersehen Pet?
• That banishment speech? So done before. It was supposed to feel epic, but it was just derivative.
  
• The plot thickens with Missy...
  

Conclusion

Certainly one that engaged the attention with a good deal of humour, although I have to admit the train bit annoyed me.

7/10

Not Quite First Class, but heading there (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.8, "Mummy on the Orient Express")

The Doctor and Clara (surprisingly) board a hyperspace version of the Orient Express, where an invisible mummy is picking people off.

• Capaldi was again great in this episode; I doubt the Doctor is heartless deliberately, but he certainly comes across that way.
  
• I'm sure that Clara's flapper outfit will get some positive comments among the fans; she's definitely been given a Fan Service Pack this season.
  
• I'm glad that they chucked in the line about it being slightly bigger than the 'real' one; you know what the fans can be like.
• Frank Skinner was rather good in this; I've not seen him in much as a serious actor and hopefully he'll do some more.
• This wasn't the best paced story in the world; the resolution was a little sudden.
  
• Some great lines in this; I particularly liked what seemed to be a Tom Baker impression by Capaldi, but Coleman got some good ones too.
  
• Gus... total psycho; reminds me of GlaDOS from Portal.
  
• Jelly babies in a cigarette case? Classic.
• Still would like Danny Pink to actually leave Earth.
  

Conclusion

An enjoyable episode, but by no means a classic.

7/10

Clacton and Heywood

UKIP has gained its first elected MP; the party switcher Douglas Carswell getting elected by a five-figure majority for the Eurosceptic party.

In addition, Labour got its majority in Heywood and Middleton slashed to 617, but did manage to retain the seat.

One is always in danger of drawing too much from a by-election, especially in a place like Clacton; very white, in coastal Essex; a high-profile by-election of an ex-Tory defector. A big blow to the Conservatives sure, but how big was Carswell's personal vote?

Heywood is of a bit more concern to Labour... but the close result's impact is diminished by the fact that only 36% of the electorate turned out - it was 57% at the 2010 general election. The casual Labour supporters assumed it was safe and didn't turn up.

Not a reason to panic, but we do need to focus on GOTV efforts next year; UKIP are the beneficiaries of apathy.

That's going to give some people arachnophobia (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.7, "Kill the Moon")

• A superb performance from Capaldi here, with lots of humour and also lots of 'menace'. I'm reminded of "The Waters of Mars" (which also featured the Doctor acting like that)
• Jenna Coleman - excellent. Spending most of the episode in a spacesuit allowed us to focus on her acting skills rather than her outift.
• Courtney Woods turns up again... and she's not annoying at all. I've changed my mind about kids in the TARDIS; she'd be welcome back.
• Great stuff from Hermione Norris. Bumping off her two colleagues allowed for focus on an excellent actor, but does she ever do anything apart from cynical.
• Nice to see some Mexicans in space... unfortunately they ended up dead. We didn't even get any of their names... not even a haunting photo.
• Spider effects were great... and Capaldi is of course not the first Doctor to be face-hugged in something.
• Lunar surface frankly needed some micro-craters. It's getting hit by stuff all the time.
• I'm sure there's some conservation of matter/energy errors here.
• Lots of nice little references here... including to Blinovitch!
• Next week looks like a Clara-lite episode; that will be interesting.

Conclusion

An excellent, highly thought-provoking episode, with possibly big ramifications for the show.

9/10

Cool enough for school (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.6, "The Caretaker")

Gareth Roberts has written two previous stories where the Doctor has gone undercover as a human. Teaming up with Steven Moffat, he's done a third and it's better than the last time.

• Peter Capaldi is demonstrating a considerable talent for comedy that I hitherto didn't realise... but then again, I didn't watch The Thick of It.
• Jenna Coleman is continuing to excel here; loads of great lines and I see Gallifrey Base has a thread on her skirt.
• I hope that Danny Pink gets to travel on the TARDIS at some point; he'd be good once the Doctor learned to fully accept him.
• The whole gag with the teacher in a bow tie... excellent. I can see why the Doctor thought that (then again he does have an inflated opinion of himself)
• Will we see the invisibility watch again? Possibly, possibly not.
• There wasn't a huge amount of plot in this, more comedy with a plot tacked on.
• I like the bit in the parents' evening about the "disruptive influence".
• Courtney reminded me of that kid from "Nightmare in Silver" last year.
• Nice little homage toThe Bill with the PCSO there.
• Next week looks very interesting indeed.

Conclusion

Enjoyable, but by no means a great... I did start clock watching.

7/10

50 years and counting (History of 'Doctor Who')

The face of the future

When Orla Brady was offered a guest role in "The Time of the Doctor" as a space priestess, she accepted it without even reading the script. Peter Capaldi almost did the same when he guest starred in "The Fires of Pompeii", but was convinced otherwise.

That's a sign of the prestige of Doctor Who. A show where you can escape from the repetitive cop drama or kitchen sink roles and travel into space; something that doesn't just apply for the actors - even the title sequence is enjoyable, which is something I can say about few shows today[1].

It's one reason why the show is now in its 34th season, with 812 full length episodes to its name as of November 2014. Another is the fact that it is not bound to one particular actor or one particular producer; the show has turned them over at a rate greater than pretty much any other show that I can think of... with the possible exception of Saturday Night Live[2].

There are other reasons though:

• The general quality of the leads: It's true to say that there has never been a bad Doctor. Even Colin Baker, whose Big Finish works are very good and very popular. The companions may be hit-and-miss, but when they hit, they hit. It's a pity few of them have gone on to really big things.
  
• The plots: not just bad aliens come to take over Earth and are killed by good humans, this show brought us 'aliens' who were here before humans.
  
• Some of the concepts: other shows may have their cool spaceships like the Enterprise and Serenity (ironically, considered junk in its verse), but a telephone box bigger on the inside that can travel anywhere in space-time?
• Also, a character who when faced with death can change his appearance, allowing for a total of 13 actors (in the main show) to have taken the leading role... as well as for each to put their own perspective on it.
• The sonic screwdriver. I'd want one.
  
• The lack of reliance on special effects: Let's face it, much, correction most, of the special effects from 1963-1989 don't stand up to modern scrutiny; but they've never been the be-all-and-end-all of the show. Indeed some of the best effects have been the simpler ones; the Dalek extermination, the TARDIS materialisation... and the original title sequence.
• The fans: Without the devotion and continued work of the show's many fans, it would not have come back... and many people wouldn't be working on the show today had they not been fans.

All in all, Doctor Who has survived because it's not just a good show... it's a brilliant show.

****

When doing such a long work as a history of a 50-year-old sci-fi programme, one has to use a variety of sources. This list won't be comprehensive, so I apologise to anyone I've missed out, but the following have proven invaluable.

 

Books

• The Television Companion (First edition 1996, revised edition 2003 – I own the 1996 edition) by David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker – a standard tome for the book that covers each story with transmission dates, trivia and excerpts from contemporary, as well as more modern reviews. A must-have -  it's proven very useful for my reviews of incomplete stories.
• The Discontinuity Guide (First edition 1995, second edition 2003 – I own the first) by Paul Cornell, Keith Topping and Martin Day – another of the standard reference books for the show, I picked this up in a charity shop and it was a positive bargain. It covers all the classic era stories (plus "Shada" and "Dimensions in Time"), with quotes, goofs and a brief analysis for each story.
• Whology – Doctor Who: The Offical Miscellany (2013) by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright – an official compilation of facts, statistics of varying randomness and lists for the 50^th anniversary; including the Doctor's family tree! This goes up to "The Snowmen" and excludes "Shada" from various calculations.
• Doctor Who: The Vault (2013) by Marcus Hearn - another official anniversary book, covering the history of the show with many previously unpublished pictures, especially of merchandise.
  

 

Magazines/Fanzines

• Doctor Who Magazine – running since 1979, mostly monthly but originally weekly under title of Doctor Who Weekly, the official (but editorially independent) mag published by Panini, who took over the British arm of Marvel Comics in 1985, has a regular comic strip, features galore and many an exclusive. It also holds the world record for longest-running magazine based on a TV show.
• Diary of the Doctor Who Role-Playing Games – Issue #18 contains a comprehensive list of every DW video game yet released.
• Radio Times - running since 1923, this high-quality British TV listings magazine is always good for some interesting facts.
  

Podcasts

•  DWO Whocast – Dave Keep has some particularly good insights on the classic run, although he no longer hosts the show.
  
• Radio Free Skaro
• Splendid Chaps – a series of live shows from Australia for the anniversary year.

 

Websites and blogs

•  The BBC's official website for the show – A little hard to navigate around at times, but nonetheless a mine of information – including most of the text of The Television Companion and The Discontinuity Guide.
• Gallifrey Base (registration required to view) – the premier Doctor Who forum, official successor to the now-closed and not archived Outpost Gallifrey, set up in 2009. Full of very nice people, some of whom have worked on the show and has provided valuable insights for this.
•  The TARDIS Data Core – Wikia's massive wiki dedicated to the show; it's pretty much comprehensive. My ratings figures are mostly from here.
•  Leave the Girl, it's the Man I Want: The Evolving Guide to Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Moments in Doctor Who – Not my personal choice for a URL, but this is a reasonably comprehensive listing (up to 2009) of the moments in Doctor Who that are a bit LGBQT. The show has a big following in that community and has had for many years.
  
• Various newspaper websites, including the Telegraph's obituary of Mary Whitehouse, as well as that from The Guardian.
•  A Brief History of Time Travel – website dedicated to the show's history, most notably the production side of things.
• Wikipedia – of course, with the usual caveats
  
• Life, the Doctor and Combom – for the Mighty 200 results.
• IMDB.com - of course
  
• The DiscContinuity Guide – The Discontinuity Guide, but for the audios. Regularly updated, although not up-to-date in terms of audio releases.
• Whoniverse.net's Discontinuity – the same, but covering the new TV series and the original novels. Not currently updated.
• Digital Spy

****

While this has been a real labour, it's also been a labour of love. I've been a fan of the show for over half my life and I estimate the amount of money I've spent on this show as at least a thousand pounds, including a train trip to Cardiff to do a walking tour[2]. I have to say that the research I've done has been at times illuminating for me; I've definitely learnt a lot from this.

I've certainly made some inaccurate statements (I seem to have gotten the wrong end of the stick over Holmes writing while script editing - it appears to be a union thing) and I'd like to apologise for those.

Thank you very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.

[1]Current exceptions to this: Person of Interest, Game of Thrones and er that's about it.

[2]While my experience with SNL is distinctly limited (it doesn't air in the UK and I don't do torrenting), I have experienced a number of its alumni in other shows, such as Amy Poehler in Parks & Recreation, Julia-Louis Dreyfus in Veep or before he appeared on SNL, Kenan Johnson in Kenan & Kel. Also, one of my favourite films is The Blues Brothers, who of course started on the show!

[3]Lessons learnt from this: The Class 43 HST feels faster than the Class 395 Javelin despite being 15 mph slower, Cardiff is a very nice place and I should go First Class more often.

Back to Iraq

Tonight, British MPs voted overwhelmingly to support RAF participation in air strikes against IS/ISIS/ISIL (whatever you want to call them) in Iraq.

While I wish we were not launching attacks in the country for the fourth time in my lifetime, we cannot allow this terrorist group to continue to run its barbaric state and expand further. They do not just want Iraq or Syria... and even if they did, we cannot let them have it.

I hope this campaign will be short, I fear it will be long, but it needs to be done.

Not exactly Triple-A rated (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.5, "Time Heist")

(Apologies for accidentally posting this too early)

The Doctor and Clara find themselves robbing the most secure bank in the universe.

• Capaldi was good in this episode; good but not brilliant; even the best have an off day.
• Clara's outfit (which Jenna Coleman wears in the Doctor Who extra interview clips) reminded me a lot of Sarah Jane Smith.
• The other two 'robbers', OK, but not great.
• Keeley Hawes did her one or two note role very well; all she really needed to be was slimy banker.
• Is it me or did the Teller look like something I've seen somewhere else?
• Awful lot of corridors in this one.
• I've seen this movie... the black man dies first!
• I saw one of the big twists coming a mile off.
• Another 'Moffat Loop', really? Yes, it is possible for him to write stories without them.
• No great revelations, no Missy... this was very much a filler episode.

Conclusion

Reasonable, but not exactly the most engaging thing in the world. Next week looks better.

6/10

Jailhouse Trock (Review: 'Doctor Who: The Blood Cell', 2014, by James Goss)

Of course my "Eleven Faces of Who" ended up dragging on for so long that it is now "Thirteen Faces of Who"; this will be my sole Twelfth Doctor entry and I have one more Tenth Doctor novel to read to so I can finally conclude this series of reviews.

The BBC, unsurprisingly, has released three tie-in novels featuring Twelve and Clara to tie in with Season 34... and this one is distinctly unusual in its style.

Where we're at

This is set in the 'early' part of this Doctor's life; Danny Pink is mentioned but not present.

The plot

The Governor of an asteroid prison receives a highly dangerous criminal called The Doctor... who warns him than unless he listens to him, a lot of people are going to die.

What works

• The novel is written entirely in the first person, the journal of the unnamed prison Governor; it's always interesting to see someone do something different.
• The background of HomeWorld is well worth a re-visit.
• There are some wonderful jokes about the novels of Jeffrey Archer (who of course did time for perverting the course of justice), TripAdvisor and unlocking achievements.
• The Twelfth Doctor is wonderfully grumpy and alien, yet caring as well.

What doesn't

• The Doctor is not seen wearing his regular costume here; one wonders just how much Goss had to work on before doing this - always an issue with first novel batches.
• The resolution to the main threat seems a bit simple... also I'm not sure that level of horror needed to be 'seen'.

Conclusion

An excellent novel with a lot of humour, but the climax leaves a bit to be desired.

9/10

Scotland Votes NO

So, there you have it; by a bigger margin than expected, Scotland has rejected becoming an independent state and Alex Salmond is resigning.

At the end of the day, Salmond failed to make a convincing case for independence. When your statements about currency and the EU are directly contradicted by key people on the other side... many people aren't going to vote for you.

This said 1.6 million did and they're still going to be in Scotland; their views need to be respected and included in discussions on the future structure of the still United Kingdom.

Scottish Independence Referendum

Tomorrow Scotland goes to the polls to vote on whether to become an independent country. I'm English, but I hope they'll stay in the Union and I think they will - the United Kingdom has done so many great things for the world and I don't want to buy a new atlas.

Right on target (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.3, "Robot of Sherwood")

Mark Gatiss wrote two stories for the second half of Season 33, "Cold War" and "The Crimson Horror"; with this story, he's definitely going to be asked back.

• The new title sequence is definitely growing on me.
  
• This is the first non-Moff Capaldi episode and it's always a risk with the first season of a Doctor when others write for him. In this case Gatiss did a great job, with a very funny episode (with a lot of jokes both subtle and less so)(, although there perhaps could have been a bit more steel and alien-ness.
  
• Clara was really good in this episode; as I've mentioned previously, she's improved a lot this year. Her scene in the castle
  
• Ben Miller was a great Sheriff with some lovely lines; his ability to play snarky has been showcased in many things I've watched and he was allowed to do it without going to Keith Allen levels of ham.
• We had a great Robin Hood here, while a bit deliberately one-note and Errol Flynn-esque, that served for some great 'bantering' with the Doctor.
• The scene with the archery was great and ended just when it should.
  
• The robots were good, but any weapon that takes that long to charge up isn't a great one.
  
• I like the extra features that have been added to the console room; it really fills it out.
  
• Nice Troughton cameo!
• I see we've got our arc words going now.
  

Conclusion

That was really enjoyable, although I admit it's a bit lightweight. But nothing wrong with lightweight.

9/10

Well it had to happen eventually {Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.4, "Listen")

Steven Moffat has written a clunker; well at least it took him nine years to actually do so. This episode dragged its way through 45 minutes and I was literally waiting for the thing to end.

• Ah, the problems of dating a time traveller; I bet that the dress went down well with the male fans though. I also couldn't help wondering if I'd walked past the restaurant on the walking tour I did.
  
• Capaldi did the best he could, but the material really wasn't there this week.
• Again, high praise for Jenna Coleman; she's churning out some great performances.
• Those TARDIS telepathic circuits would have been really useful in some past stories!
• Lovely to see the psychic paper again.
  
• I guess they were trying to save money on this one; there was next to no CGI.
  
• Why would Colonel Pink have a Sanctuary Base Six space suit? The only logical explanation would be that the Doctor leant it to him.
  
• One positive part of this is the set; we got to see it in all its glory, with characters going up and down several levels.
• The twist as to the whole tale at the end was well done and I believe that [spoiler] would be the youngest ever [spoiler]
  
• Some nice callbacks here at times.
  

Conclusion

The ending was nice and touching... it's a deep shame that the rest of the episode was rubbish.

3/10

The Longest Season ('Doctor Who' Season 33, 2011-13)

After over two years, a huge amount of research and a considerable amount of stat entry, the end is in sight. This post and a final conclusion post will conclude the longest series I have ever run on this blog... I'm not planning to do anything this big for a long time. I won't be posting anything in this on the Capaldi series as I'm posting plenty on that already.

****

The biggest impact of the budget cuts was possibly the fact the next season of the show would not start properly until September 2012; at least that's what Private Eye thought. Certainly there was a desire to move the show to the autumn, where shorter days and poorer weather would boost viewing figures; the split Season 33 would cover five episodes in the autumn and eight in the spring of 2013. Combined with no less than three Christmas specials and an anniversary special, there's a lot to cover here.

2012 also saw a huge scandal rock the BBC and British television in general. On 3 October, ITV's aired Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, alleging the late DJ and BBC presenter had been engaged in paedophilia with several children. The subsequent investigations determined Savile (who had as mentioned arranged a mini episode of Doctor Who as one wish on his show Jim'll Fix It) had as many as 589 possible victims. The subsequent police investigation, Operation Yewtree, resulted in 11 arrests and has recently obtained its first convictions, of publicist Max Clifford, who was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault, some of which would constitute rape under today's laws and then of Rolf Harris. The whole scandal briefly touched Doctor Who, with allegations that former producer John-Nathan Turner propositioned the then 17 year old author of a book about him and that JNT's partner Gary Downie actually sexually assaulted him; with both men dead and the former's actions only illegal due to the then unequal age of consent between heterosexual and homosexual couples, the story did not stay in the headlines for long.

****

With the 50th anniversary looming strongly in everyone's vision, many fans would take the opportunity to revisit the show's long history... including yours truly. The BBC and various other channels would show documentaries looking back at the first 50 years, with the former also commissioning (as I predicted in the very first article in this series) a drama about the show's creation, An Adventure in Space and Time, which was really rather good and featured a surprise cameo. A large official anniversary convention would also be held at the ExCeL Centre in London's Docklands, which I attended and mostly enjoyed.

There would be production changes in the top; both Beth Willis and Piers Wenger left the show, the former not having any participation in Season 33 and the latter only doing the 2011 Christmas special. Caroline Skinner would be exec producer number two for the rest of this run, but she departed after "The Name of the Doctor". Moffat. who wrote eight episodes of this run, remains the showrunner.

Indeed, the name of the Doctor was something that would loom very large in the anniversary year. Please note that this is a somewhat more spoilery article than the previous ones.

(Mini episodes will not be included here unless they are of real note)

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (60 minute Christmas special)

In 1941, a widow takes her two children to a country house with a very unusual caretaker...

Inspired by CS Lewis' Narnia series (although with less religion)[1], this special contains a few sprouts, but the rest of the meal is very good; Moffat's wit sparkles and Matt Smith is truly superb. Claire Skinner, known at this time for her role in Outnumbered, is also great.

Good as Gold (3 minute mini-episode aired on Blue Peter)

The Doctor and Amy land in London as the Olympics open.

This scene, which was another school script competition winner, takes place entirely in the TARDIS. Ironically enough, the fourth-wall-breaking competition announcement video asked for entries not to be set at London 2012 as the Doctor had already been there.

*****

The move to an autumn airing meant that the first episode proper of Season 33 did not air until 1 September 2012; at the end of the summer holidays; indeed, the next season didn't air until 23 August 2014. When it arrived, there would be a huge surprise for audiences, who knew that there would be a new companion, knew who was playing her... but wasn't expecting for her to appear quite so soon.

The title sequence would be modified for this first half slightly; different font, slightly out of focus and some colour adjustments. The official website also debuted 'movie-style' posters for each episode, something that will hopefully continue into the future as some of them were really rather good.

Pond Life (Five online mini episodes)

A 'prequel' to the first story, this sees the Doctor popping in on Amy and Rory as the latter two's marriage begins to break down. Some enjoyable moments and a great unusual moment involving an Ood.

Can be found here.

Asylum of the Daleks (50 minutes)

The Doctor, Rory and Amy are kidnapped by the Daleks, who force them to breach the Dalek Asylum, where they send the insane Daleks. The Doctor has to save the day and his companions' marriage; in the process he will have this first encounter with a very important woman.

A highly enjoyable opener with a lot of memorable scenes; this story is however far more notable for the surprise appearance of Jenna Coleman, something kept secret by the media press of three different countries who had seen the preview screenings.

The Impossible Girl - Clara Oswald

A 21st century woman... or a future soufflé chef... or a governess in Victorian England moonlighting as a barmaid? Just whom, apparently a sassy confident woman is Clara Oswald?[2]

Jenna Coleman (1986-present), credited until "The Name of the Doctor" as Jenna-Louise Coleman, started her acting career at school in a theatre company called In Yer Space. While auditioning for drama schools, she was cast in the ITV rural soap opera Emmerdale as Jasmine Thomas in 2005 and spent four years in the show. While there, she was nominated for a number of awards, including at the 2009 British Soap Awards getting nods for Best Actress, Best Dramatic Performance and... er.... Sexiest Female.

After this she joined BBC school drama Waterloo Road; she appeared in nine episodes of the show's fifth season as pupil Lindsay James[3]. She had a small role in the first Captain America movie in 2011 and filmed an adaptation of John Braine's novel Room at the Top that wasn't aired until September 2012 due to a rights dispute.

Since becoming Clara, she also appeared in a three part adaptation of PD James' sequel to Pride and Prejudice, Death Comes to Pemberley.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

In 2357, the Doctor is asked by the Indian Space Agency to investigate an unidentified spaceship heading for Earth. He assembles a motley team, including Queen Nefertiti, the Ponds... and Rory's dad, Brian.

While the title is certainly interesting and the episode starts off with great promise, I was rather bored by the end... this narrowly avoids being a clunker. Arthur Williams is one of the better parts of this episode.

A Town Called Mercy

Team TARDIS arrive in Mercy, Nevada in 1870, where the town is under siege from a mysterious alien gunslinger...

When filming a spaghetti western, there is only one place to go... Spain[4]. This is a good and thought-provoking episode, featuring Ben Browder (Stargate SG-1) in a role where he chooses not to ham it up, but this isn't a classic, featuring a cop-out ending.

The Power of Three
A huge number of small black cubes suddenly appear all over Earth. Why are they here? The Doctor and UNIT try to find out.

While it's good to see UNIT back in the show (especially Jemma Redgrave as the Brig's daughter), this Chibnall episode is distinctly average.

The Angels Take Manhattan

A simple trip to New York goes horribly wrong when Team TARDIS meet the Weeping Angels.

A sad, but emotionally complete departure episode for Rory and Amy; this contains many a great moment and location filming in New York City.

This was followed by the webcast P.S, a storyboard animation of a dropped scene where Rory's father reads a letter from him.

****

At this point, the show moved production from Upper Boat to Roath Lock, where it shares the studios with Casualty and Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm ("People of the Valley"), among others. Unable to take the TARDIS set with them as it was too integrated into the studio, a new interior was created at the latter.

There was also a new title sequence, bringing back the Doctor's face, accompanied by yet another Murray Gold arrangement of the theme.

The Snowmen (Christmas special)

Mourning the departure of Amy and Rory, the Doctor retires to Victorian England. However, the Paternoster Gang and a young barmaid bring him into a fight against an old foe that uses killer snowmen...

A highly enjoyable festive episode that acts as a sequel-prequel to two Troughton stories and has great turns from Richard E Grant, along with Ian McKellen in the voice department.

One Born Every Minute (Comic Relief skit)

Far more a spoof of the Channel 4 documentary series about people giving birth with characters from Call The Midwife and the Doctor turning up near the end

Didn't actually see this at the time (I didn't bother with that year's telethon at all) and the YouTube version is incomplete; you'll have to go to iTunes.

The Bells of Saint John

When nanny Clara Oswald has internet problems, she's given a phone number... and the Doctor answers, pulling her into an adventure featuring some very dodgy wifi.

After a slow start, this becomes a highly enjoyable episode, with a number of great lines and some actual location filming in London, as opposed to Cardiff playing London.

The Rings of Akhaten

Clara leaves Earth with the Doctor and goes to a festival on an alien world, where an old god is waking up…

A lot of money is thrown at the many aliens in this... but not at the script. It's a snooze-fest of an episode. Clara is great, but some of Matt Smith's Time Lord grandstanding fails to fully convince.

Cold War

The Doctor and Clara arrive on a sunken Soviet nuclear missile submarine... and there's also an Ice Warrior on board.

One of my personal faves from this run - it helps that I'm a Cold War 'enthusiast' (nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there... I was born just at the end and don't remember it) and this ep also contains two actors who have been in Game of Thrones, most notably Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, one of my personal favourite characters - as well as a stuntman and of course a writer. This shoot saw the cast spend most of their time dripping wet.

Hide

Arriving at a haunted house in 1974, the Doctor and Clara team up with two ghost hunters to find the "Witch in the Well", who has appeared across human history.

While there were a lot of enjoyable moments and some great guest actors (including one from Call the Midwife), this kind of loses something towards the end. The writer, Neil Cross, has explicitly said that BBC ghost dramas of the 1970s such as The Stone Tape were big influences in this tale.

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

The Doctor and Clara encounter a group of salvage merchants who want the TARDIS... and it could lead to the ship's destruction.

Notable for having one of the smallest casts in the show's history (and all three of the guests from an ethnic minority to boot), this is an enjoyable tale, but lags and has a frankly cop-out ending.

The Crimson Horror
The Doctor, Clara and some of their pals try to stop an insane factory owner in 1893 Yorkshire.

Another very good Mark Gattiss-penned adventure, this episode guest-stars Dame Diana Rigg (and her real-life daughter), features another welcome appearance from the Paternoster Gang - including a great Sat-Nav joke and also allows Matt Smith to rock a bowler derby in a deliberate homage to Steed from The Avengers.

Nightmare in Silver

The Doctor, Clara and two children she is looking after travel to the biggest theme park in the universe... only to discover that is not only closed, but filled with Cybermen.

Enjoyable (especially where Matt Smith plays against himself), but not exactly great; a good amount of the fandom didn't like this one.

The Name of the Doctor

Trenzalore, the site of the Doctor's final battle... and where his greatest secret will be revealed.

The opening, featuring Clara inserted into some old footage is great, the final scene spectacular... and the rest frankly drags a little.  The cast isn't big, the money is clearly going on the effects and we finally get an explanation for Clara's presence. As mentioned, it's the ending that's the best bit... I knew Hurt would be in the anniversary special, but I didn't know who he was playing...

John Hurt - The War Doctor

The incarnation of the Doctor between Eight and Nine; the one who thought the Time War and who disowned the name "Doctor". His three successive incarnations hated him for the actions they believed he had committed at the end of the Time War i.e. destroy Gallifrey. When we actually meet him fully, he's definitely stern and determined, but there is a clear warmth and humour in him.

It was never likely that Christopher Eccleston would agree to return for the anniversary; he was politely asked and politely declined. Thus Steven Moffat chose to make a major alteration to the character and as a result, John Hurt would become the oldest ever actor to play the Doctor.

John Hurt (1940-) has had a very long and distinguished career; his passion for acting began while at school. After going to RADA in 1960, his first film was two years later and reached prominence in 1966 after his role in A Man for All Seasons. Five years later, his portrayal of Timothy Evans[5] (opposite the late Richard Attenborough) in 10 Rillington Place got him a BAFTA nomination and in 1975, his role in The Naked Civil Servant (an adaptation of the biography of gay icon Quentin Crisp) got him the first of his four gongs from the British Academy.

The notable roles continued to come in; he got Oscar-nominated for Midnight Express and in 1980, he got another nomination (as well as his third BAFTA) for his role as "John" Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man, a loose and at times inaccurate adaptation of the real life story of Joseph Merrick[6]. The film got eight Academy Award nominations, but won no statues; the controversy over a lack of a special award for the make-up led to the following year getting a new category for it.

The year before that, however, was his most iconic science fiction role; Kane in Alien, him of the infamous "chest burster" scene[7]... which he would later parody in Spaceballs.

I think, that you've now very much gotten the point - Hurt's been consistently high-profile for almost 50 years; he's never reached the heights of the A-list, but in a way, that might be a good thing.

****

In the gap between "Name" and "Day", Matt Smith announced that he would leave the role after the 2013 Christmas special; cue major speculation as to who would take on the role. In the end, the clear and obvious favourite (so clear that bookies started paying out), Peter Capaldi, got the role - he was the only person even considered. After an audition at Steven Moffat's house, he learned he got the role while in Prague filming The Musketeers. A live reveal show on BBC1 got six million viewers... and I got the TV Tropes article up pretty shortly afterwards.

The Night of the Doctor (7 minute red button minisode, also in YouTube and iPlayer)

On board a crashing spaceship, a woman calls for a doctor... but she doesn't get the one she's expecting. When she does, it marks the end of both of their lives and a huge change for the Doctor.

Dropped onto the Internet earlier than planned because of an imminent leak - it appeared on 14 November, the birthday of its star, this episode sees the surprise return of the Eighth Doctor (McGann had earlier denied his involvement in the anniversary!)... and his regeneration into the War Doctor. It was a huge and very welcome surprise; the web went crazy over it. Watch it here.

The Day of the Doctor (75 minute 50th anniversary special)

Three Doctors get involved in what will become the biggest and most important day of all the Time Lord's lives.

Shot in 3D for a special cinema broadcast that went out with a global simulcast (although New Zealand would get it ten minutes later; this appears to be due to not being allowed to broadcast a PGR program before 9am), this anniversary special takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it's a great celebration. The ending revises the entire lore without changing anything in the previous seasons and works very well; a suitably triumphant note.

The Time of the Doctor (60 minute Christmas special)

Thousands of alien ships are drawn to a small planet, where a message is being broadcast that will have huge implications for the Doctor.

The shortest regeneration story to date not counting "The Night of the Doctor", this one is also a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the regeneration scene is very good, but much of the story is simply waiting for that moment (the five-minute breakdown of the episode ratings showed a spike near the end). That said, Handles was lovely.

****

"The Day of the Doctor" got 12.8 million viewers just in the UK; the highest rated show of the week, the highest rated drama anything in Britain of 2013 and the third highest rated programme of the year - the highest by a technicality (BARB's days end at 2am) were the 2014 New Year's fireworks). The global simulcast was record breaking, although totting up overall viewers for that is difficult and the cinema airings made over ten million US dollars. When Doctor Who Magazine held its poll on the first fifty years of the show's history in 2014, it went straight in at Number 1. Counting the 2011 and 2012 Christmas Specials, but not the ones after "Name", this run averaged 7.8m viewers.

The Hugo Awards saw the show gain four of the six[8] nominations for Dramatic Presentation Short Form, with "Name and "Day" getting nods, as well as BBC2's creation drama An Adventure in Time and Space and on-line comedy The Five(Ish) Doctors Rebooted (where Davison, Colin Baker and McCoy try to get in on the action to hilarious effect)... however, the award went to the Game of Thrones episode "The Rains of Castermere", not a huge surprise considering the impact of that episode.

What was undeniiable is that this Time Lord, now with a new set of regenerations, was still going strong.

****

[1]Lewis died on 22 November 1963, a day before the TV show started... and the same day as the Kennedy assassination. His death was only initially reported in the Oxford Mail (a local daily running since 1928) and was of course completely overshadowed by events in Dallas.

[2]This has been revealed, but we are now getting pretty spoilery for stuff broadcast just over a year ago now.

[3]This was after I had stopped watching the show, so I didn't see her in that.

[4]Many of the best known western films were done there, such as Sergio Leone's ones - the set is instantly recognisable. Doctor Who was also able to do some snow filming while there for part of "Asylum of the Daleks".

[5]A man falsely convicted and hanged in 1950 for the murder of his daughter actually committed by John Christie, his serial killer landlord, who killed at least eight women. Christie was caught in 1953 and was too sent the gallows, but only for the murder of his wife - the doubts raised about Evans' conviction later led to Evans getting a posthumous royal pardon. In 2003, the Court of Appeal refused to overturn his conviction, but did state they did not think he was responsible. 10 Rillington Place, where he committed his crimes, no longer exists. The street was renamed after Christie's conviction and later entirely demolished.

[6]Joseph Merrick (1862-1890) was a man with severe bodily deformities (that got progressively bigger) that to this day defy full medical classification. Unable to get regular work, he signed up to exhibit himself as a freak, almost making enough money to retire when he was robbed by his manager in Belgium of his life savings. Fortunately, he'd come to to the attention of renowned surgeon Frederick Treves (later Sir Frederick) - when Merrick was found at Liverpool Street station with his card on him, he was taken to the London Hospital. Treves eventually got the board to allow him to live there permanently; Merrick would later be visited by Princess Alexandra of Wales. He died in 1890 of asphyxia, believed to be as a result of the weight of his head when trying to sleep like 'normal' people instead of sitting up. The now Royal London has his skeleton in their private museum and a replica of it in their public one.

[7]The cast knew it would be bursting out of the fake chest, but not fake blood was going to go all over the place, including right in the face of Veronica Cartwright. She passed out, Yaphet Kotto went to his room and refused to talk to anyone, while an artist on seeing the dailies was so shocked he tried to go home in someone else's car. Seeing that the crew were wearing raincoats, perhaps they should have been more suspicious.

[8]It's usually five, but a tie in the nomination ballots between "The Name of the Doctor" and Orphan Black's "Variations Under Domestication" meant that both went through to the final ballot.

Small is not always beautiful (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.2, "Into the Dalek)

It's generally a case of when, rather than if, the Daleks will encounter a new Doctor. Troughton would get his in his first story... and Capaldi ties with Hartnell in regards of getting his debut with him in his second (Smith's was his third and Tom Baker his fourth).

So without further ado:

• Capaldi hasn't failed to turn in a good performance in his two episodes and is clearly demonstrating his brusqueness here. I liked his reaction to someone pointing a gun at him at the beginning... and some of his remarks (the top layer one for example) clearly showcase an alien persona.
• He's definitely a rude guy, that's for sure.
  
• Clara did a great job as the Doctor's 'carer'; providing a moral conscience that he so badly needs; persuading him not to give up.
  
• So, Danny Pink? A potentially interesting character; a charmer but with a traumatic past, especially if his reaction to a comment about killing a non-soldier means anything.
• They are really throwing in some dark stuff here under the guise of semi-comedic scenes. I'm surprised that Clara retained her lunch.
  
• These rebels really need better guns, that's for sure; they only managed to destroy one Dalek!
• The new Dalek Paradigm has been shoved into the 'memory hole'; I doubt they'll ever be seen again on this show.
  
• I've never actually seem Fantastic Voyage, so I can't really comment on that.
• I must admit that the whole talking to the Dalek scene at the end frankly got a bit boring.
  
• The Doctor's rejection of soldiers as companions... a new thing for this incarnation? He's generally not liked the military bar a few exceptions (the Brig), but still... definitely a bit I don't necessary like about his character.
  

Conclusion

A good, thought-provoking episode, but I was finding it rather draggy by the end.

7/10

The same yet very different (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.1, "Deep Breath")

So after eight months, the 'Twelfth Doctor', as played by Peter Capaldi, finally makes his debut on our screens... and it was definitely worth the wait. The 80 minutes flew by and I highly enjoyed the episode.

Ten points from this:

• Bit disappointed with the new title sequence; possibly it's the theme arrangement.
• The Twelfth Doctor is excellent; even in his post-regeneration confusion. He's very alien in a much different way to his predecessor; while the jokes are still there, he's a much colder and more withdrawn character, looking pretty scary at times.
• Clara seems to have been considerably better written here than at previous time; she sold the whole difficulty with accepting the Doctor's regeneration very well indeed.
• The dinosaur was great to see (and I liked the joke about the neck), but it was obvious why it couldn't have stayed too long.
  
• There was also some lovely Scottish jokes; remember both Moffat and Capaldi are from Scotland. The independent eyebrows joke in particular.
• Indeed Moffat's script contained a number of superb bits of humour;
  
• Great CGI all round; even with the budgetary issues the show is always facing, I never spotted anything ropey.
  
• I liked the call back to a previous Moffat episode.
  
• It was nice to see the Paternoster gang back again, but I wasn't too impressed with Strax, who lacked the number of funny lines that he got last time.
  
• That was a lovely surprise appearance at the climax; I didn't know that was coming and I'm glad it wasn't leaked.
  

Conclusion

A superb start for a great new Doctor.

9/10

From Five Beaches to Paris: Operation Overlord, 70 years on

Paris, 26 August 1944. Is it just me or were signs at these sort of things better painted back then?

In this post, to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris, I will take a brief-ish look at some of the key events that happened after D-Day; the two and a half months of what at times was a pretty hard slog against determined, battle-hardened German forces.

****

For all the triumph of D-Day, it failed to meet its planned objectives. The allies wanted four of the five beaches linked, to be 10 to 16 kilometres in land and to have three towns - Saint-Lô, Caen, and Bayeux - in their possession at the end of D-Day; they achieved none of these. It would take until 12 June for the beachheads to be linked up.

Caen

Caen was a key target for the Allies - it straddled two major canals, was a road hub and the open environs of the city meant that would be useful for building airstrips.

The Germans knew this too and decided to put most of their reserve forces, a total of 15 divisions (including seven of their ten Panzer divisions), into holding the city.

It would take nearly a month to actually take the city. One notable mishap saw an element of the 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) basically take part in a modern version of the Charge of the Light Brigade when intercepted communications and failure to hear a recall order meant that 51 of the 53 Sherman tanks were knocked out by heavy German anti-tank fire.

In the end, the British basically got their way into the north of Caen via heavy bombing raids against the defenders on 9 July, a move that worked at the cost of mostly destroying the medieval city, including its Cathedral and University. It has been rebuilt since and now hosts an excellent museum/memorial to the war.

Mulberry harvest

The Allies knew that they could not rely on any of the local ports for the huge logistic needs of the invasion and operations afterwards; they wouldn't take Cherbourg for three weeks and when they had, the Germans had already wrecked the port in a hugely thorough job that got the Rear Admiral the Knight's Cross (a day after he'd surrendered) and took months to fully clear up. While they captured the smaller ports intact, these would not be enough.


Therefore, they developed two artificial ports; these were floated across the channel and assembled in place, one at Omaha Beach, run by the Americans and a British one at Gold Beach off the town of Arromanches. These were codenamed Mulberry. In addition, the 'Ghost Army' (an American deception unit) created a fake one with lights at Brest and made the Germans think there were more attackers surrounding them than in reality. These were deployed on D+3 and would be the arrival point for two and a half million men, half a million vehicles and four million tons of supplies.


On 19 June, a major storm hit the Channel, putting the Omaha Mulberry permanently out of action (it wasn't properly secured to the sea bed) and British one, now dubbed 'Port Winston' damaged but still serviceable.

Port Winston was soon put back into service and would spend a total of eight months operating after further caissons were installed to protect it - it was only meant to last three! The remains of the port can still be very easily seen at Arromanches, which has a museum dedicated to it.

In addition, the Allies also towed (or had sail across) a load of old ships to outside the beaches, where they were deliberately sunk to create blockships that sheltered the beaches.

Breakout and bocage

It's worth noting that the troops in Normandy were of relatively poor quality - many young Germans had already been lost on the Eastern front and large quantities of the experienced forces were tied up there as well. A number of battalions were Ostlegionen - "Eastern legions", conscripts and volunteers from the occupied territories of Eastern Europe. While the volunteers may well have wanted to be there, I doubt the conscripts were. However, they would be fighting on a battlefield that favoured them.

The countryside of Normandy (at least on the Allied right i.e. to the west) was largely 'bocage'; large open fields bordered by hedges and sunken lanes. The advantages for the defenders were obvious and the Allies would have a lot of problems, especially as German tanks were generally better armoured and gunned than their opponents.

[The most effective tank the Germans possessed was the Tiger, but when reading combat reports, be aware of the tendency by Allied soldiers to report a Panzer as a Tiger; in the heat of the battle, you don't have time to read your tank recognition guide. There weren't that many of them in Normandy]

A major advantage of the Allies of course in dealing with these problems was their huge air superiority; not only did they have on the whole better aircraft, the Germans were increasingly building air defence fighters to deal with Allied bombing raids instead of ground-attack or bomber aircraft.

However, on call air support was limited and heavily in demand, so the Allies would face a hard and high casualty slog through the bocage. Blowing up the hedges merely let the Germans know where the Americans were.

Breakout and the Falaise Pocket

Commanded by the renowned (and humane - his Afrika Korps were never accused of war crimes) Erwin Rommel, the Germans put up a strong fight, but even they couldn't stop the Allied advance; by mid-July their resistance was beginning to crumble. Soon Rommel would be eliminated from the equation.

On 17 July, a Canadian Spitfire strafed his car as he was travelling; the driver crashed after being hit in his left arm and the Field Marshal was thrown from the car receiving major head injuries. By the time he recovered, his role in the Valkyrie plot had become clear to Hitler - who offered him a choice between suicide and a public trial with repercussions of the fatal kind for his staff and family. The 'Desert Fox' chose cyanide - it was announced at the time he had died from injuries sustained in the attack.

The battle over Caen was drawing the best of the German forces to that sector and with them being tied down fighting the British and Canadian forces, a plan was drawn up for a breakout in the west by the Americans. Secretly fitting armoured 'tusks' to most of their tanks (an idea attributed to a sergeant called Curtis D. Cullin, who in fact gave credit to a Tennessee hillbilly named Roberts) to allow them to punch through the hedges, the US could get through them much easily, an offensive called Operation Cobra was planned.

The attack was delayed by a few days due to bad weather and then had to be scrubbed again after the initial aircraft launches on 24 July, but not before 25 Americans were killed by friendly fire in poor visibility. The following day, the attack went down properly, with a 5.5km x 2 km area Saint-Lô–Periers road carpet-bombed by bombers... which also managed to kill 111 Americans and wound 490. The first day's progress was disappointing; artillery fire was heavier than expected and the Germans put up a fierce fight... but it was clear their positions could be easily bypassed or outflanked.

Over the next couple of days, the local German resistance crumbled under the weight of attack, the Panzer Lehr Division was destroyed. By the end of the month, the Americans were clear of the bocage.

The following day, George S. Patton (who had been kept in the UK for slapping a soldier with 'shell-shock' and also to 'head' the fake forces created to make the Germans think the real target of the invasion was Pas-de-Calais)  now had his Third Army activated and got into Brittany by 4 August.

With the Germans now unable to avoid defeat as Army Group Centre was now under attack on the Eastern front by the Red Army, Marshal Günther von Kluge was still ordered to launch a counter-attack by a man who had never commanded an army... but probably had two testicles. He agreed as well... over the objections of his lower level commanders

The plan was to have eight of the nine Panzer divisions in Normandy launch an attack between Mortain and Avranches; only four could be made ready in time... and the offensive got launched anyway on 7 August.

The attack was meant to be a surprise (there was no preparatory artillery bombardment), but ULTRA decrypts meant that the Allies knew it was coming. The attack rapidly stalled and the offensive was over in a week (it was over as a threat to the campaign in 24 hours), with 150 of the 300 tanks committed lost.

The Allies now saw an opportunity to trap and destroy Army Group B. Montgomery's UK and Canadian forces would pivot from Falaise to the Seine, while the Americans would swing around to the south and then block the escape route between that river and the Loire.

Commencing on the 12th, progress was slower than expected and many of the Germans began to escape to the east through the gap. On the 19th, Polish forces reached Mont Ormel ridge or Hill 262 (as it was 262m high) which gave them a commanding view over the escape route. Their 1,500 infantry and 80 tanks soon became trapped on the hill by a determined German counter-attack; the Germans knew they needed this place in their hands to escaped. Over the next three days, they managed to repel, at heavy cost (over 300 killed) several German attacks and had to watch as a number of German units managed to escape. Eventually they were relieved by Canadian forces and the pocket was deemed closed on the 21st. The Canadians placed a sign on the summit saying simply 'A Polish Battle' and the site now has a memorial to one of many great Polish actions during the war.

The following day, every German still in the pocket was dead or a POW; the c.10,000 of the former presented a considerable local health hazard as their bodies rotted in the hot weather.

With most of the German forces west of the Seine now eliminated (one estimate is 450,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured during the campaign), the way was open for the Allies to advance all the way to the German border. However, the escape of between 25,000 to 45,000 Germans out of the pocket before its closure (it has been argued that it could have been closed sooner) would cause problems later on; while they had left their heavy equipment behind, they would be rearmed and ready to delay the Allies when they reached the Netherlands and Germany.

As for von Kluge, he had been involved in a small way in the Valkyrie plot and when recalled to Berlin on 17 August, he took cyanide as he feared Hitler would punish him.

Paris 

Eisenhower didn't consider Paris a priority in his operations; he was aware of Hitler's plans to destroy the city to prevent it falling into enemy hands and wanted to avoid a costly battle of attrition followed by the need to supply the local population. There was a big enough of a refugee problems as was and it would become even bigger.


The Free French on the other hand, especially de Gaulle (in a power struggle), wanted to take the city as a priority - it was a key transportation hub after all.

Jews were still being arrested in Paris until 11 August and the last lot of political prisoners headed for Buchenwald on the 15th. That day, what would become a general strike started in Paris, with a full-scale uprising starting on the 18th, instigated by the Free French, with "all men from 18 to 50 able to carry a weapon" called to eject the invaders. 800 to a thousand resistance fighters died in the skirmishes (the German losses were estimated at 3,200 killed and 12,800 POW) and on 22 August, Hitler ordered the destruction of the city...

But Paris would survive pretty much intact. Local military governor von Choltitz instead ignored the order (although he was still killing French people up to the 23rd). The French 2nd Armoured Division disobeyed orders and swept through the west of the city, with the 4th US Infantry Division handling the east. German resistance collapsed and on 25 August, the city surrendered. That same day all four Allied armies (1st Canadian, 1st US, 3rd US and 2nd British) were on the river Seine.

There were victory parades, a large amount of partying and thanks to a group of brave (not to mention enterprising) French film-makers who had been filming since the 19th, the locals could even see a documentary, La Libération de Paris, in cinemas from the first day of the following month.

The aftermath

The French provisional government, headed by Charles de Gaulle, moved to Paris after the liberation and started in the process of setting up a new constitution, repealing Vichy laws and so on.

Having been occupied for just over four years, the locals were not exactly happy with those who had collaborated with the Germans. The first wave of going after these people was pretty unofficial; with summary executions and head shaving of women (or worse) who slept with Germans... or were thought to have done so, regardless of whether they had. The new authorities managed to restore order and then followed the legal trials, with 120,000 people sentenced by them. 6,763 death sentences (over half in abstentia) were issued, but only 791 people were executed - Philippe Pétain, who had headed Vichy France, got his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment in view of his age and contributions in the First World War; he died in 1951 on an offshore island. It was more common to lose your political and legal rights.

This lasted for a few years at any rate; the French then collectively developed a sort of amnesia on just how much of this stuff went on - only recently has it been acknowledged in more depth and next year, a whole batch of files on collaborators will be released by the government after the 75-year secrecy limit expires. That will be interesting.

A full throttle adventure (Review: 'Doctor Who: Engines of War', 2014)

I believe that Steven Moffat now ties the record for most incarnations of the Doctor created under his tenure as showrunner; at three[1]. Eleven, Twelve (who seems to be getting excellent reviews from the "Deep Breath" previews) and the War Doctor, as played by John Hurt.

For those of you who haven't seen "The Day of the Doctor" yet (and why haven't you), the "War Doctor" is the incarnation of the Doctor between McGann and Eccleston; the one who fought the Time War and who as a result is the Doctor's biggest secret. A grouchy and stern old man who renounced the name 'Doctor', he is also a deeply compassionate individual who wants to end the war... although he is horrified at what he might have to do to end it.

After his three appearances in the TV show, the War Doctor is now making his first appearance in Doctor Who's vast expanded universe in an original novel by George Mann, who has previously written an Eleventh Doctor novel. From this, it's clear that he's more than just a one-trick pony.

Where we're at

Set towards the end of the War Doctor's long life (he ages a great deal between "Night of the Doctor " and "Day"), he doesn't have a regular companion and nor does he want to take the risk of acquiring one.

The plot

Arriving on the war-ravaged human planet of Moldox, the Doctor teams up with a local woman to stop a Dalek plot to win the Time War and gain control of all history.

What works

• Cinder. The "guest companion" in this one is a Dalek hunter only known as 'Cinder', who lost her family in the Dalek invasion of her homeworld. She proves an able and fierce ally of the Doctor, who is willing to let her carry a weapon with her (provided she doesn't actually use it). Well written and very interesting.
• The War Doctor. An excellently portrayed character both on screen and in print, this Doctor combines a strong heroic streak with the irreverent attitude demonstrated through all his incarnations... and maintains his standards through all the horror.
  
• The Time Lords - we get the return of Rassilon as portrayed by Timothy Dalton and some extensive sequences on the Doctor's home planet, including one place I didn't expect. The rottenness in the state of Gallifrey is visibly dripping in these scenes and some very dodgy stuff is done.
  
• The Daleks. Well developed, not prone to being defeated in stupid ways and their relationship with a certain Time Lord is well explained.

What doesn't

• We get one recurring character too many coming back.
  

Conclusion

A superb novel featuring a Doctor who will hopefully become a more regular feature in the literature - he's fully earned his place here.

9/10

[1]John-Nathan Turner was in charge for the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors.

Robin Williams 1951-2014

I've seen a number of films featuring Robin Williams, most recently Night at the Museum 2 where he played Teddy Roosevelt. In everything I saw him in, he never was anything but highly entertaining.

His death, which appears to be suicide at present, is therefore a deep loss for not only his friends and family, but everyone on this planet; one of the finest comics of the last century has gone.

Rest in Peace.

100 Years On

Today marks a century since the British entry in the First World War; fighting was of course ongoing at this point in a number of areas - France and Germany were already at war.

It's pretty much impossible to forget the World Wars in the UK; visual reminders in the form of war memorials exist in every community in this country - we lost over a million of our people in the first conflict. The legacy of the events of June-August 1914 and the four horrific years of bloodshed after resonate to this very day.

There are many lessons to be drawn from this conflict and many reflections to be drawn from it. One useful thing to do is think about what might have happened to you if you'd been around at that point.

I suspect I'd have ended up in the trenches myself... and considering I don't like mud, it would have been horrible to put it mildly.

Wars of these sort affect everyone... and this is one reason why they mustn't happen again.

'Fringe' 1.5: "Power Hungry"

Nobody expects the Olivia Inquisition!

Yes, it's been over a year since I last watched an episode of Fringe and with the Star Wars gig, Abrams' star has risen considerably (no pun intended).

So, back to one of the weirdest shows I've ever seen; this one involves a delivery guy with an enhanced electromagnetic field that means he unintentionally overloads electronics when stressed. This episode starts with him causing an elevator to crash killing eight people (he survives)... much like The Blacklist, this show loves a good horrible death to begin with.

So, Dunham and the Bishops (that's a good name for a rock band) are on the case, in an episode that has some good moments - especially for the delivery guy. You feel for him, although the plot has been used before (indeed in the early chapters of the first Harry Potter novel). However, a cliched villain (he's British) lets this one down a lot.

There's a bit involving pigeons that's just hilarious... John Bishop is a wonderful 'mad scientist'. Liv gets some visions of her dead (or at I think he's dead) former boyfriend that involve her snogging him. Watch out, you'll be engaging in nocturnal pottery before you know it.

7/10

Bears do other things in the woods (Review: 'Doctor Who: The Scarlet Empress', 1998)

Yes, I admit that I've been picking these novels for a certain interest factor... and this one was chosen for it being the first appearance of a Time Lady called Iris Wildthyme. In fact it's the second, but never mind that.

****

I picked this BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures story up second hand on Amazon; I would like to thank the previous owner for adding some annotations to the pages that were actually helpful in explaining some jokes that I would have otherwise missed.

The 15th novel in the 73-book series, The Scarlet Empress was the second published DW work by prolific writer Paul Magrs (after a short story, also featuring Wildthyme, in the first Short Trips anthology[1]) who would later write the strange Mad Dogs and Englishmen. This is just as strange.

Where we're at
This is the early part of the Eighth Doctor's history; here he's travelling with the book-only companion Samantha 'Sam' Jones, a blonde, spiky woman from modern Earth... he likes those a lot, doesn't here.

The plot
The Doctor and Sam arrive on the planet Hyspero, a world of wonder, magic and the dangerous ruler called the Scarlet Empress. Teaming with Iris Wildthyme and a group of strange aliens, they engage in a epic journey across the planet.

What works

• Iris Wildthyme a gin-soaked old lady who travels through the vortex in a double-decker bus that is smaller on the inside than out and is even dodgier than the TARDIS, is an enjoyable character with a lot going for her. She's also clearly a huge fibber, claiming adventures that we know the Doctor had. She also has a key weakness that is important to the plot.
  
• It's worth pointing out that this is not the Katy Manning incarnation of the character; it's an earlier version, which I only found out about from TARDIS Data Core; this is the 'Beryl Reid' version, which works just as well.
• Eight is well written and gets some good moments throughout the story.
• There are some good meta-fictional discussions here, which the last owner happily pointed out.
• There is definitely some strange and at times disturbing imagery; a trance with the seven previous Doctors' heads on spikes for example... as well as some bears who shave themselves and the heavily tattooed Scarlet Guards... who can meet a horrible fate.
  

What doesn't

• Sam isn't a hugely impressive character; she has her moments, but there are far better out there.
• The book itself is a bit hard to follow and the plot isn't always entirely clear.
• The large number of past references can be a bit excessive... and suddenly going into first person mode for characters is a bit jarring.

Conclusion

An enjoyable tale with some very unusual imagery... but not one I'd read again in a hurry.

7/10
[1]A different version of Wildthyme appears in some non-Who novels by Magr.

MH17

The crash of Malaysian Airline flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine is a deep and shocking tragedy... but I don't believe it was an act of terrorism.

From the evidence that the Ukrainians have released; it seems to have been a case of gross incompetence by the separatists and those training them. Misidentification of an airliner as a military cargo jet is easy when you don't know how to use your equipment properly... and when you're not given clear orders about engaging hostile aircraft.

There needs to be an impartial investigation, those responsible need to be dragged through the courts on manslaughter charges, there needs to be a long-term peace in Ukraine... and the ICAO needs to re-evaluate how it handles civilian flights over warzones. I myself flew over Iraq in 2009 on my way to Dubai; the insurgents there didn't have any high altitude capable SAMs... but people clearly thought that this wasn't the case in Ukraine.

For 296 people, that view was fatally incorrect. May they rest in peace.

Gaza

Another year, another batch of unpleasantness in the Middle East. This whole conflict is what happens when stupidity meets stupidity.

Firstly, the Israelis; their continued building on Palestinian lands, contrary to international law, is only serving to isolate the moderate forces. Their large scale use of air strikes is killing a lot of civilians (although any estimate given by Gazan health officials must be treated with a degree of caution) and combined with what looks like collective punishment is causing the embitterance of another generation. The Israeli PM may claim he wants peace, but he doesn't seem to be acting like it.

Yet, the Palestinians aren't blameless either. Hamas' rocket attacks are not only ineffective, they're counter-productive; Israel can carry on with its actions because it's got hundreds of reasons to do. The Palestinian Authority is ineffective; if they'd done a better job, Hamas might not have the power they have.

It's going to need better leadership on both sides to bring this thing to an end... because neither side can win it.

Doing things with Deltics that you're not meant to do with Deltics... (Train Simulator 2014)

Like bombing them down High Speed 1 at 110mph, with a Mk1 (correction: Mk2) coach rake not even rated for that speed.

I got this game yesterday from Steam after watching one of Qwerty Afro's videos (it was on sale) and also got the £3.49 DLC for the late 1970s Newcastle to York route. I got the original Train Simulator way back when and it's a lot of fun for a railway enthusiast like myself. It will help as I wait for further additions to Arena Commander.

Lots of DLCs, but best to get them when there's a sale on as they're a bit steep.

100 Years since Franz Ferdinand

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo, the event that ultimately led to the First World War.

The BBC are doing a 'live' reconstruction of events and it's well worth looking at.

World Cup 2014: Just not good enough

I never expected England to win the World Cup; we struggled in our group and in the friendlies beforehand. I was concerned about us getting out the group; it was a tough one.

However, our performance in our three matches in Brazil was disappointing even for a seasoned pessimist on the England watching front. Time and again we failed to finish the job in our chances, our defending was dodgy and our players lacking.

We can't excuse the heat - our Italy defeat was in conditions more akin to the Premier League and we can't say we had a bad draw, because so did Costa Rica.

Roy Hodgson should do the decent thing and offer his resignation to the FA.

D-Day Plus 25,567

The long sobs of autumn's violins;
wound my heart with a monotonous languor.

Chanson d'automne (Autumn song), by Paul Verlaine. Broadcast by the BBC, these two lines were respectively the “get ready” and “go” codes to Resistance membeers in France to launch massive sabotage operations in preparation for Operation Overlord in June 1944

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings, a pivotal moment in the history of the Second World War and of the whole world. Had they not succeeded, Europe would be a very different place... while Hitler was heading for defeat, we could have had Stalin's forces controlling France and possibly nuclear use in Europe.

I've been to Normandy on a number of occasions and the cemeteries, fortifications etc. certainly have an impact on you. From all that I've read and seen, the sheer courage and ingenuity are pretty amazing.

Ingenuity... managing the logistics for an operation this big was a huge feat in itself. Then there were all the various innovative vehicles and the skills needed to operate them, especially in the glider operations. In addition, the deception operations were masterpieces of subterfuge.

Courage: these were people like me, men in their 20s and sometimes their teens most of them, who rode boats into the teeth of German machine gun fire and scaled cliffs. The Resistance fighters who risked their lives and often lost them to help the invasion. We should also not forget the civilians who suffered.


Of course D-Day was not the end of the story. I'm planning a large post on the campaign post D-Day with the aim to go out on 25 August, the anniversary of the liberation of Paris.

This will be the last big commemoration - the Normandy Veterans Association will disband this year as most of their members are just too old now. The veterans may pass on, but the story of Operation Overlord will never be forgotten.

As they say in France, merci.