• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2549 gets posted)! • Prompt 2545 have been closed. • If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment. • To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information: Icon: Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim) Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
Title: Necessary Skill Fandom: Stargate SG-1 Author: badly_knitted Characters: Daniel Jackson, Jack O’Neill. Rating: PG Word Count: 457 Setting: Sometime during Children of the Gods. Summary: Jack decides Daniel needs something to occupy him instead of drinking coffee and prowling around the base. Written For: Challenge 483: Amnesty 80 at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 47: Teaching. Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate SG-1, or the characters. A/N: For PatriciaS.
Title: Out Of Time Author: badly_knitted Characters: Jack, John Ellis. Rating: PG Word Count: 521 Spoilers: Out of Time. Summary: Jack wishes he could have done more for John Ellis. Written For:sarajayechan’s prompt ‘any, any, and I would have stayed up with you all night if I'd known how to save a life’, at threesentenceficathon. Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters
She sat in the window of her room, legs tucked to her chest and hand dangling. Beyond, the sky was a cloudless blue, any mugginess lingering from the storms too thin to be felt, the air quickly returning to its usual stink of hot stones and sand. The gnats had all but disappeared with the rain, but a few still insisted on buzzing by her ear. She swatted at them in vain.
Sequel to The Perfect Assassin, and also acquired as part of the 2020 Hugo packet; I had forgotten reading the first book, but enjoyed this a lot all the same – woman assassin, in love with a healer, both get tangled up in magical skullduggery at the hands of the ruler, vividly realised trek across the desert (the whole thing is set in an Arabian style fantasy world), lots of exciting combat and magical action. These secondary worlds do not always grab me, but this one was fun. You can get The Impossible Contract here.
This was the sf book that had lingered longest unread on my shelves. Next up is The Revenant Express, by George Mann.
The best My favourite of these is Ian McDonald’s great Indian novel River of Gods, which in these days of AI seems more and more relevant. (Review; get it here.)
Honourable mention Antoine de Saint-Exupéry explores the challenges of flying in North Africa in Terre des Hommes, whose lyric description of the desert almost makes up for the colonialism. (Review; get it here.)
The one you haven’t heard of I’m fascinated by the nineteenth-century actor, writer and campaigner Fanny Kemble; Constance Wright’s book looks at her relationships with America, with her American husband; and with abolitionism. (Review; get it here.)
The one to avoid The Chosen Twelve is an awkward rehash of The Hunger Games. (Review; get it here)
I completely forgot to post this during the correct week, so I'm sharing it now; apologies!
Character/s: Professor Yana, Chantho Rating: G Summary: Was there anything she could have done? Notes: Playing fast and loose with episode lore, I suspect.
• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2548 gets posted)! • Prompt 2544 has been closed. • If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment. • To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information: Icon: Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim) Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
There’s always a twist at the end as Doctor Who earns its first ever Emmy nomination in 62 years
Over the decades, Doctor Who has won 128 awards, big or small, and had nominations for a further 250. But it’s never had a Primetime Emmy nomination before. America’s Television Academy announced the nominees for the 2025 Primetime Emmys, arguably the most prestigious television awards in the world, and, a little surprisingly, Doctor Who is on the list.
Doctor Who’s nomination is in the category of Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming. Specifically, last year’s dance number There’s Always a Twist at the End from The Devil’s Chord. Created by esteemed choreographer Jack Murphy, the routine featured a host of dancers in 1960s gear dancing in the halls of Abbey Road as music returned to the world. Remarkably, despite creating numerous epic dance sequences for Bridgerton, this is also the first year Murphy’s received a nomination.
The showstopping number came complete with indoor rain, umbrellas, and Strictly Come Dancing guest stars Shirley Ballas and Johannes Radebe. It’s undoubtedly the only nominee to have an encore live at the Royal Albert Hall, too.
Choreographer Jack Murphy on the set of The Devil’s Chord ,BBC Studios,James Pardon
Other nominees include Bridgerton, Severance, Étoile and Will Trent
However, Murphy’s greatest competition for the award may be himself. He also has a nomination for his work on Bridgerton this year. Other nominees include Marguerite Derricks for Prime Video’s Étoile, set in the star crossed worlds of the Metropolitan Ballet and Le Ballet National. Andrew Turteltaub has a nomination for twisted science fiction office drama Severance. The final nomination is for Danielle Sten and Lance Guillermo for police procedural Will Trent.
The ceremony takes place at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on the 14th of September, and TV stations around the world will broadcast it live. We’ll have to wait until then to see if Doctor Who will take home its first ever Emmy. Will the Bad Wolf team be bringing it all the way back to Wales? Chances seem good as, with all the revelations and surprises of Emmy night, it’s true: there is always a twist at the end.
Current The Iliad, by Homer, tr. Emily Wilson Spirits Abroad, by Zen Cho
Last books finished Little Wars and Floor Games, by H.G. Wells Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy: Volume I, ed Marie Hodgkinson Down, by Laurence Miles Around the World in 80 Games, by Marcus du Sautoy Tides of the Titans, by Thoraiya Dyer Spectral Scream, by Hannah Fergesen
Next books Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who, by by John Higgs Ventiforms, by Sean Monaghan The Master, by Louise Cooper
Title: The Last Waltz Fandom: BtVS Author: badly_knitted Characters: Buffy, Angel. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 458:Waltz at drabble_zone. Spoilers/Setting: The Prom. Summary: Buffy has no one to dance with at the Prom. Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters. A/N: Double drabble.
Title: Rained On Fandom: FAKE Author: badly_knitted Characters: Ryo, Dee. Rating: PG Setting: After the manga. Summary: The weather is terrible, but Dee and Ryo still have to do their job regardless. Written For: Weekend Challenge Prompt: Summertime, is the living truly easy?! at 1_million_words. Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh. A/N: Triple drabble.
Kristientje lives with her father and her cat. But her cat gets sick and dies (on page 4, so this is not a spoiler) and Kristientje retreats to her room. The magical Panther appears and starts to cheer her up with tales of Pantherland, where he claims to be the crown prince, and where everything is fun and perfect. Panther alienates Kristientje from her other toys and her father; Kristientje’s stuffed dog Bonzo disappears (we assume, eaten by Panther) and then gets reincarnated in dubious form, along with a bunch of disreputable visitors from Pantherland, including the appalling Mr. Trashcan. It’s quite a dark journey, told as ever in Evens’ super expressive watercolours. I wasn’t quite sure about the last book of his that I read, but this one is impressive stuff. You can get the Dutch original here and the English translation here.
This was my top unread non-English-language comic. Next on that pile is Histoire de Jérusalem, by Vincent Lemire and Christophe Gaultier.
Title: Certifiable Author: badly_knitted Characters: Ianto, Lisa. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 874: Mad at torchwood100. Spoilers: Fragments. Set pre-Cyberwoman. Summary: Ianto must surely be out of his mind. Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. A/N: Double drabble.
The best Art Spiegelman’s Maus is a classic invocation of the Holocaust with the humans involved portrayed as anthropomorphic animals. Of many memorable literary treatments of the genocide, this is one of the greatest. (Review; get it here.)
Honourable mentions Four heavyweight sff classics here, each of which is well worth revisiting – or trying for the first time if you haven’t. The Hallowed Hunt (review; get it here) and A Feast for Crows (review; get it here) are both worthy installments in well-known fantasy series. Dracula (review; get it here) and Never Let Me Go (review; get it here) are both stories of bodysnatching with perhaps more thematic similarities than you might have thought.
The one you haven’t heard of The one to avoid None of these is sufficiently good-yet-obscure or sufficiently awful to be worth drawing attention to.
Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are ready for another trip of a lifetime as talk to DWM about being back in the TARDIS
The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine celebrates the epic reunion of the Ninth Doctor and Rose in next month’s audio drama Snare. There’s a preview of the new adventure in Other Worlds. There’s also an interview with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper themselves, starring together for the first time in 20 years. You’ll find the latest from the world of Doctor Who, too. This includes the return of DWM’s iconic After Image feature as it starts its look back at the 2025 season. Plus there’s the Fact of Fiction of The Web Planet, Peter Purves, and more.
This issue of DWM goes behind the scenes of the new Ninth Doctor Adventures
Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper – the pair talk to DWM about reuniting for a brand-new series of audio adventures.
Other Worlds – the essential guide to new stories in Doctor Who’s expanded universe, including a chat with the team behind the new Ninth Doctor and Rose adventures!
Behind the scene of the making of Lucky Day COPYRIGHT:BBC Studios,CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/James Pardon
Coverage of the recent seasons continues with the return of After Image and more
Script to Screen – Find out all about how the Shreek from Lucky Day was conjured into reality!
Dan Liles – the artist shares some of the artwork he’s prepared for the Target Books range including original mock-ups and alternative designs
After Image – the first in a series looking back at the recent season. including reviews of the new Target adaptations
His Mad Pranks Part Three – the Fifteenth Doctor and Belinda’s adventures continue in the comic strip.
Competitions – Prizes to be won include the Limited Edition Steelbook of the 2025 season!
Tales of the TARDIS – a look behind the scenes of last year’s minisode introducing 1965’s The Time Meddler, including a chat with both Peter Purves and Maureen O’Brien
Gallifrey Guardian – all the latest news including a look at plans for San Diego Comic-Con 2025
Go back in time with coverage of classic serials and cast
The Fact of Fiction – Scrutinising the insect-world of Vortis in the concluding part of the feature on 1965’s The Web Planet
Peter Purves – Celebrating 60 years of Steven Taylor as the actor who brought him life looks back over his fascinating career and his time travelling with the First Doctor
Boom! – Piper Jones invites us to join her at the Ace Jacket book launch…
Back to 1992 – some of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s final TV roles…
The Randomiser – Gary Gillatt reviews chess as seen in Doctor Who with the help of expert Thalia Holmes
Reviews – featuring the latest audio and book releases
Doctor Who Magazine 619 Subscriber cover (c) Panini
Doctor Who Magazine 619
DWM Issue 619 is on sale Thursday the 17th of July from the online Panini store, and other retailers priced £7.99 (UK). Also available as a digital edition from Pocketmags for £6.99. You can also save with a subscription, as well as receiving exclusive, text-free covers.
• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2547 gets posted)! • Prompt 2543 have been closed. • If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment. • To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information: Icon: Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim) Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
Editor's Note: If your item was not linked, it's because the header lacked the information that we like to give our readers. Please at least give the title, rating, and pairing or characters, and please include the header in the storypost itself, not just in the linking post. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Title: Animal Fandom: FAKE Author:badly_knitted Characters: Dee, Ryo. Rating: PG-13 Setting: After the manga. Summary: Ryo and Dee have a difference of opinion. Written For: Challenge 483: Amnesty 80 at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 474: Animal. Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh. A/N: Double drabble.
Two Doctor Who companion outfits for your delectation and delight! Outfits selected by a mixture of ones I, personally, like; lists on the internet; and a certain random element.
Title: Tangled Author:badly_knitted Characters: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble. Rating: G Written For: Challenge 940:‘Struggle’ at dw100. Spoilers: Nada. Summary: Donna and the Doctor are a bit tied up. Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who, or the characters.
Title: Getting Even Author:badly_knitted Characters: Ianto, Owen. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 874: Mad at torchwood100. Spoilers: Nada. Summary: Ianto does enjoy making his teammates pay for their crimes. Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. A/N: Double drabble.
De slaapkamer stond vol met flesjes, schalen en kolfjes met planten-aftreksels, azijn, kamferolie en andere middeltjes om de pijn van de aan-staande moeder te verzachten. Hoewel de toortsen, die een parfum van hars verspreidden, de toch al pittige mei-temperaturen helemaal de hoogte in joegen, mocht volgens de traditie geen raam opengezet worden om frisse lucht toe te laten vooraleer de kersverse mama ter kerke was gegaan. De babyuitzet omvatte twee wiegen, eentje op houten wielen voor effectief gebruik en een andere, uiterst luxueus en verfijnd, om mee te pronken. De hertog wilde groots uitpakken met zijn eerstge-borene. Voedster Guyote, die het gewicht van haar kolossale borsten torste, at de klok rond, terwijl Margaretha van Vlaanderen zuchtend het ultieme moment afwachtte.
The bedroom was filled with bottles, scales and flasks containing infusions, vinegar, camphor oil and other potions to alleviate the pain of the mother-to-be. Torches had been lit to release a resin perfume, and although this considerably increased the already high May temperatures, custom prevented anyone from opening the windows to let in some fresh air before the new mother had been churched. The layette consisted of two cradles, one on wooden wheels for actual use and the other, extremely luxurious and refined, for showing off. The duke didn’t want to cut any corners with his firstborn. Wet nurse Guyote, who suffered under the burden of her colossal breasts, ate round the clock, while Margaret of Flanders sighed and waited for the ultimate moment.
This is a big huge book by a Flemish writer about the history of Burgundy in the time when it included the territory from Switzerland to Friesland and everywhere in between, most notably almost all of what is currently in Belgium. The downfall of Burgundy is treated in a couple of fiction books that I have read – Dorothy Dunnett has the Battle of Nancy in one of the later Niccolo books, and it’s a central parallel timeline theme of Mary Gentle’s Ash. But I confess I knew very little about it.
This first few chapters look at the emergence of Burgundy as an entity from the confusion of post-Roman Europe, but the meat of the book is an account of the century or so from 1369, when Philip the Bold married Margaret of Flanders and united the territories from Dijon to the North Sea, to the Battle of Nancy in 1477 in which Charles the Bold (Philip’s great-grandson) was killed and Burgundy’s pretensions came to an end. It’s full of incidental detail, the assassination of John the Fearless, Joan of Arc, the Feast of the Pheasant; Van Loo also takes us through the great art of the day and the politics behind it – the big names here are Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.
If the Burgundians had had better luck, the kingdom might have survived as a single territory to the present day. The presence of so many great cities in the territory meant that there was an early tradition of civic engagement and government. The variety of languages spoken meant that innovative policies about linguistic governance needed to be worked out sooner rather than later. Revolts tended to end with settlements involving greater rights for citizens rather than repression (though not always). The argument is made that some of the foundations of the modern state were laid in medieval Burgundy.
I must say that for me I found the overlapping sovereignties of the period rather reminiscent of today’s situation in Belgium. My home is less than 5km from the linguistic frontier, which was only drawn in 1962 and became a provincial boundary only in 1995 when Brabant was divided. But at the same time we are only 10km from Tourinnes-le-Grosse, which was an exclave of the Prince-bishopric of Liège within the Duchy of Flanders for many years. The attempt to govern Belgium as a unitary state from 1830 to 1962 was the real historical anomaly.
Even after Nancy, it wasn’t all over; Charles the Bold’s daughter Margaret was of age and ruled well for five years until her death after a hunting accident in 1482, aged 25. Perhaps that is the real turning point. (And perhaps it’s telling that historical narrative, including this one, tend to concentrate on the disaster of Nancy without reflecting that Margaret inherited most of her father’s territories intact and the disintegration happened after her death, not his.)
A recently arrived diplomat told me a couple of days ago that he had been recommended this book as a good entry into the history of this part of the world. I think my advice would be to wait until there is an English translation. It’s very good, but at 519 pages of detailed yet also idiomatic Dutch, it’s a tough slog for the non-native speaker. You can get it here.
I was sufficiently interested to get hold of the English translation when it came out, and to reread it for more nuggets. The Burgundians came very close to establishing an independent state as a buffer between France and Germany, and the map we have of Europe today is the result of dynastic accident and battlefield circumstance, with nothing inevitable about it. Van Loo is also very good on the extent to which the art of van Eyck and van der Weyden was exploited by the Burgundian rulers in the process of statecraft.
A point that I had missed was that the independence of the Burgundian and Netherlands courts from the jurisdiction of the Parlement de Paris became a key issue in the evolving constitutional settlement. Judicial competition is nothing new, of course, but I had not realised that it was an issue even in the High Middle Ages.
This was my top unread book acquired in 2021 and my top unread non-fiction book. Next on the first of those piles is A Tall Man in a Low Land, by Harry Pearson; next on the other would have been Ancient Paths, by Graham Robb, but it turned out to be rubbish so instead it’s The Bone Woman, by Clea Koff.
The best He’s an awful man, writing about another awful man, but I really enjoyed The Room Where It Happened, where John Bolton tells us about working with Donald Trump. (Review; get it here.)
Honorable mention The Successor is one of those intense Eastern European novels; even if you know nothing about Albania and its politics, you’ll find it creepy and lingering. (Review; get it here.)
The one you haven’t heard of Also in that part of the world but a century earlier, Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh MP set off on his yacht to tour the Ionian Islands in The Cruise of the R.Y.S. Eva; all the more interesting because he had no arms or legs. (Review; get it here.)
The one to avoid I’m sorry, folks, but most of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is self-indulgent rubbish. (Review; get it here.)
• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2546 gets posted)! • Prompt 2542 has been closed. • If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment. • To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information: Icon: Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim) Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
The Doctor and Alex are at odds in an Uncharted universe as the younger man attempts to prove himself
The Eighth Doctor’s Uncharted adventures continue as he and some select friends and frenemies fall headlong into an alternative universe. Placing Paul McGann’s Doctor for a sustained run of stories in a pocket universe where the rules of physics hit a little differently has been done before, of course. But Pursuit offers up four stories that while perhaps more safely traditional, are certainly more cohesive than the Divergent arc of yesteryear when both the universe and Big Finish’s monthly slate of Doctor Who was a fraction of its current size.
Anyone dipping into Uncharted 2: Pursuit after skipping Uncharted 1 will likely find the opening here wildly confusing. Admittedly, those who’ve heard the first set won’t be much better off. However, that seems to be largely the point. It mirror our heroes’ disorientation as they try to get to grips with a completely foreign universe.
All you really need to know is that Alex, an alternative timeline doppleganger of the Doctor’s dead great-grandson, has decided he can do better and stolen the TARDIS. Cass, who herself is ‘supposed’ to be dead if not for the ever shifting timelines of the Time War, is by his side on his escape. Though, for her, it’s as much about keeping the possibility of reconciliation open. Meanwhile, the Doctor is in hot pursuit, hence the title. For that purpose he’s commandeered the ramschackle ‘time raft’ of the morally very, very dark grey Hieronyma Friend.
Spoil of War focuses on the auction for an object of cosmic importance so vaguely defined it’s hard to worry too much about the outcome
In theory, this should all feel very lightweight, without much at stake. It’s not ‘our’ universe, after all, and the awareness that half the cast will likely reset back into non-existence sooner or later, is never far away. Even the otherwise neat idea of Friend being played by a different actor almost every episode risks making them seem inconsequential.
That’s certainly an issue with opening story Spoil of War. The episode dumps Alex and Cass right into the middle of negotiations for a potentially universe changing McGuffin. One of the key aspects of this Uncharted universe is that it’s one where the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey succeeded way back in 1978. They’ve now adopted the title of Time Lords, complete with elaborate ‘battle collars’ for themselves. But as the dinner party for the auction bidders turns hostile, it’s genuinely a little hard to care who winds up with the mysterious device. Spoil of War’s not helped by being by the Doctor and Alex being so fresh from last time’s falling out. It means that this episode spends an awful lot of time on moping, sulking, and moaning.
Some of the cast of See Saw. (l-r) See-Saw – Felicity Cant, Lizzie Hopley, Sonny McGann, Emma Campbell-Jones, Clive Hayward (c) Big Finish
The Tale of Alex performs some smart timey wimey moves, as the Doctor and Alex must choose between two equally awful timelines
The Tale of Alex succeeds much better, neatly inverting Doctor Who norms. The Doctor arrives on a planet only to find the people hate him as a notorious villain. Alex, meanwhile, is lauded as a much anticipated hero, destined to save the colony. The episode seizes the opportunity for the set’s unique conflict with an equally unique structure. The whole planet keeps shifting back and forth between two possible outcomes – one the result of the Doctor’s plan and the other what happens if Alex succeeds. Both time travellers are trying to save everyone, but both realities predict disasterous consequences. There’s one in which the population goes through a seemingly endless famine. Yet the alternative is one in which a plentiful food supply drives anyone who tastes it mad.
It provides, ironically, fertile ground to explore how alike the Doctor and Alex are. Unfortunately, that similarity includes some of the same critical character flaws. Meanwhile, their essential conflict, with each thinking they know best, or needing to prove they don’t need telling how to solve every problem, comes into focus to be a highlight of the set.
See-Saw and The First Forest feature more playing with time, with one’s scares balancing the other’s hopeful fairy tale
See-Saw continues the theme of time going wrong in excitingly new and awful ways. The Doctor and Friend finally catch up to Alex and Cass but are divided by Time itself. With hints of Stephen King’s The Langoliers, they find themselves in an eerily deserted London, as if caught in the gap between one moment and the next. What’s more, the two groups can’t perceive each other, but are subject to the effects of the others’ actions. Meanwhile, a mysterious voice in the darkness and fog calls out half finished nursery rhymes. But should the Doctor and Alex finish the pattern or ensure it never, ever is?
The result is a dark and unsettling story that plays up that essential horror movie terror of knowing your next move could be lethal, without remotely understanding the rules by which the game is being played.
The rules of the The First Forest are equally weird or wonderful. This time, though, they’re explained by a rather more pleasant figure in old hermit Abidus. It’s a wood straight from the creation myths of the Time Lord, somehow real in this Uncharted universe. The idea that simply walking its paths and trails will bring you forward or backwards in time is a lovely mix of science fiction and fairy tales, as is the idea of the Forest itself narrating everything that happens within its borders. The Sontaran Time Lords are back again, but feel more like a genuine threat this time. With the TARDIS out of commission, the scramble to get everyone working together to escape the Forest. The result is some proper tension, and some truly dastardly Sontarans at their vicious best. (Not counting the endearing, almost Strax like Sharron.)
Pursuit brings the Doctor and Alex’s conflict to a satisfying resolution that leaves the ‘old man’ and his young relative on a more equal footing
Inevitably, the Doctor and Alex finally have their long overdue heart to heart. It’s one of Pursuit’s greatest successes, too, bringing everything to the resolution that always seemed pretty inevitable, but without making the whole arc seem like it was a waste of time.
As has become pretty standard for these Eighth Doctor Time War sets, Pursuit ends with few definitive resolutions. Instead there’s yet another new mission to pursue, born from the frayed loose ends of the last. It adds to the sense of the Eighth Doctor at this point in his life simply struggling to keep one foot in front of the other, pushing always forwards. Capturing that slight edge of desperation is perhaps Uncharted’s greatest strength. This is a Doctor exhausted trying to keep all the plates spinning amid the hurricane that is the Time War,
The Doctor’s still determined to make sure he and his friends don’t go gently anywhere, even as he sees the good night drawing ever closer.
Doctor Who: Pursuit. Cover by Rafe Wallbank (c) Big Finish
Doctor Who: Uncharted – Pursuit
The Doctor and his great-grandson Alex have been driven apart. In an uncharted universe, the Time War is on a very different path. A new force rules Gallifrey and will stop at nothing to gain the military advantage.
As Alex and Cass career through the cosmos in a stolen TARDIS, the Doctor is in hot pursuit, with a duplicitous Friend by his side…
Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Pursuit is now available to purchase from just £24.99 (download to own) or £30.99 (download to own + collector’s edition 4-disc CD box set), exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be repressed.
The rich scent of hare and juniper stew drew my attention back to the meal itself, reminding me how hungry I was. It was still steaming and the copper jug that held it was almost scalding to touch. A heap of breaded asparagus fenced in lightly charred mushrooms. Half a loaf of crusty bread sat in a basket. I sniffed at a small jug to discover it was full of blood, presumably hare, to go with the stew. Usually, though, it was stirred in before serving rather than after.
An interesting parallel history – what if Victorians had discovered a gateway to a fairyland, and sent missionaries? First few chapters are an interesting setup, though it seems a bit narrow in scope – how come only English missionaries are interested in exploring? Loses points for consistently misquoting John 1:1.
But reading the whole book, it makes an awful lot more sense. This is a story about nineteenth century Britain attempting to colonise Arcadia (ie Fairyland) through the Church, and the identity of the colonisers and what is really going on in a culture which the Empire is trying to control; it’s also rooted in British faery lore, and nineteenth century classic fiction. The descriptions of people and places are very arresting, and the message subtle but clear. Recommended, and I regret not getting to it sooner. You can get Under the Pendulum Sun here.
Title: Lonely For You Fandom: BtVS Author:badly_knitted Characters: Willow, Xander, Oz. Rating: PG Spoilers: Lover’s Walk and the first half of season three. Summary: Willow had thought that pining over Xander was as painful as it got. She was wrong. Word Count: 538 Written For: scytale’s prompt ‘any, any, intense pining,’ at threesentenceficathon. Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
Title: Decorative Author: badly_knitted Characters: Owen, Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Gwen. Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 810 Spoilers: Nada. Summary: It’s difficult to retain any dignity when you work for Torchwood. Written For:The prompt ‘any, any, underwear/pajamas covered in little..?’, at threesentenceficathon. Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
The best As a parent of autistic children myself, I found George and Sam by Charlotte Moore very helpful reading. Her sons are much more able than my daughters, but there is a lot of common understanding. (Review of first edition; get the second edition here.)
Honorable mentions My favourite Hugo finalist of 2021 was N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became, where the boroughs of New York – and other urban places – become personified. (Review of 2021 Hugo finalists; get it here.) Legacy starts with one of the best sex scenes Lois McMaster Bujold has ever written, and gets even better from there. (Review; get it here.)
The one you haven’t heard of And I’m really sure you haven’t heard of it: I was given The Imprint of Place: Maine Printmaking 1800-2005 as a freebie from a conference that I spoke at in Maine in 2007, didn’t read it until 2012, but loved the art when I did read it. (Review; get it here)
The one to avoid I found Wilt in Nowhere abandoned in an airport lounge, and took it for my own library. I wish I’d left it there. (Review; get it here.)
• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2545 gets posted)! • Prompt 2541 have been closed. • If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment. • To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information: Icon: Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim) Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
Starfury Events bring the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz to a new three day Doctor Who convention
Starfury Events have announced a new Doctor Who convention for 2026. Flux will take place at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham for three days, from the 13th to 15th of March next year. What’s more the Starfury newsletter reveals the first two guests for the convention: Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill.
Whittaker and Gill, of course, starred in three seasons of Doctor Who together between 2018 and 2022 as the Thirteenth Doctor and her beloved companion Yaz. This year the pair returned to those roles for new Big Finish audio dramas, beginning with this month’s Vampire Weekend. Starfury are still to announce the rest of the guest list, but have promised it will include stars from both Doctor Who and Torchwood.
There will only be weekend tickets for Flux, with no daily entry. This may disappoint fans on a budget, but should lead to a more relaxed atmosphere where fans are under less pressure to squeeze everything they want to do into one day.
Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill (c) Oliver Bowring
More guests will be announced in the months to come
The event will begin on the Friday afternoon with the opening of Event Registration, and in the evening there will be an Opening Ceremony.
On Saturday and Sunday the day will begin with Photo Sessions in the morning. Following that are Guest Talks / Q&A Sessions beginning around lunchtime. In the afternoon there’s an Autograph Session and a party in the evening.
The Closing Ceremony will be on Sunday evening evening, prior to another party.
Standard tickets for Flux are £135, and includes entry to all the Q&As and opening and closing ceremonies, one free autograph from each ‘regular’ guest, and a souvenir booklet. Gold tickets are £280 and also include one free autograph from each ‘bonus’ guest. Gold ticket holders also fet priority seating at the Q&As, and entry into a Friday night meet and greet.
There will be professional photo opportunities but these are at an additional cost. Fans with both standard and gold tickets will also be able to purchase additional autographs from both regular and bonus guests.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear for the moment if Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill will be considered ‘regular’ or ‘bonus’ guests.
Trump’s mass deportation is backfiring Money quote: And all told, Trump’s second term has actually led to the most sympathy for migrants on record in the 21st century, per Gallup. Fully 79% of Americans now say immigration is a “good thing,” compared with 64% last year.
Title: To Save Earth Fandom: Stargate SG-1 Author: badly_knitted Characters: Jack O’Neill, SG-1. Rating: PG Spoilers/Setting: Within The Serpent’s Grasp Part 1. Summary: This is not where SG-1 expected to find themselves, but they still have a job to do. Written For: Challenge 471: Amnesty 78 at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 412: Bridge. Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate SG-1, or the characters. A/N: Triple drabble.
Title: Take Your Partners Fandom: FAKE Author: badly_knitted Characters: Ryo, Dee. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 458: Waltz at drabble_zone. Setting: After the manga. Summary: Dee and Ryo start ballroom dancing classes. Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh. A/N: Double drabble.
Title: Date Disaster Author: badly_knitted Characters: Ianto, Jack, Owen, Team. Rating: PG Written For: Challenge 873: Salvage at torchwood100. Spoilers: Nada. Summary: Jack and Ianto’s dates seldom go to plan. Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. A/N: Double drabble.
But we loved the Apple TV series which has been released over the last few weeks. Alexander Skarsgård is great as the Murderbot, and sparks very attractively with the hapless humans who it is guarding, led by Noma Dumezweni as Mensah; meanwhile the show-within-a-show of Sanctuary Moon, starring John Cho as Captain Hossein, is beautifully realilsed. A great run of ten episodes, and I may go back now and read the stories with more sympathetic eyes.
See here for methodology. Books are disqualified if less than 50% of them is set in Burkina Faso.
These numbers are crunched by hand, not by AI.
Title
Author
Goodreads raters
LibraryThing owners
American Spy
Lauren Wilkinson
30,165
907
The Water Princess
Susan Verde
3,269
1,113
Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman
Malidoma Patrice Somé
1,733
382
The Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara
Edith Blais
4409
48
Women’s Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle
Thomas Sankara
1,725
101
Ritual: Power, Healing and Community
Malidoma Patrice Somé
548
174
The Red Bicycle
Jude Isabella
429
165
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87
Thomas Sankara
498
131
This was surprisingly easy to compile. The figure of the short-lived 1980s president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, looms over the country’s cultural footprint; two of his political texts are on this list, and the protagonist of this week’s winning novel fictionally seduces him while colluding in his overthrow. We also have two children’s books, two anthropological studies, and a real life hostage drama.
I disqualified only three books this week. I don’t know why anyone tagged Flowers from the Storm, by Laura Kinsale, as being relevant to Burkina Faso; it seems to be set in England and Wales. (Possibly the person using the tag acquired or read their copy of the book while travelling there.) Two other books cover Burkina Faso along with other African countries: Empire of Cotton: A Global History, by Sven Beckert, and White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa, by Susan Williams.
Coming next: Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Malawi and Zambia.
The best Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is passionate, witty and essential, and I wish I had read it twenty-five years earlier. (Review; get it here)
Honorable mentions The Cider House Rules is a lot longer, but also very much worth reading for a humane take on abortion, and much else, in mid-twentieth-century rural Maine. (Review; get it here) The Complete Stories of Zora Neale Hurston includes many jewels by the great writer herself, and also a moving epilogue about finding her grave. (Review; get it here)
The one you haven’t heard of Arthur Vlaminck is plucked from his almost-completed PhD to become speech-writer for the French Foreign Minister. Grim and well-observed hilarity ensues in Weapons of Mass Diplomacy. (Review; get it here)
My favourite of my own reviews from this day
Reading “The Compleat Enchanter“, when I came to the fourth section, (set in Finland’s Kalevala) somehow I began to wonder: Can one write LiveJournal entries in iambic tetrameter? (Yes, I know that last word’s bogus and perhaps that gives the answer.)
The one to avoid Full Immersion, by Gemma Amor, attempts to turn intense personal psychiatric experience into a novel and doesn’t succeed. (Review; get it here.)
In which we make another time jump, the Foundation is now in its monarchical phase, while Empire seems to approach its version of the Third Century Crisis. Also: Demerzel is still my favourite.
Title:Claudia de lioncourt Creator:haflacky Prompt: colored art Fanwork Type: fanart Fandom: Interview with the Vampire (TV) Character: Claudia de Lioncourt Rating: G Warnings: none
Do you have a Doctor Who community or a journal that we are not currently linking to? Leave a note in the comments and we'll add you to the watchlist (doctor_watch).
Editor's note: Because of the high posting volume and the quantity of information linked in each newsletter, doctor_who_sonic will no longer link fanfiction that does not have a header. For an example of what a "good" fanfic header is, see the user info. Spoiler warnings are also greatly appreciated. Thank you!