Taken from the Doctor Who specials boxset: a very sweet (and beautifully written) introduction by David Tennant. Should he choose to give up acting, I think he'd have quite a career as a writer...
( Beneath the cut as it's a large image )

While I didn't make the cut for a reprint in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror Of The Year, I did manage (again) to make the shortlist of 50 honourable mentions inside the book. This was posted a while ago, but I only stumbled on it tonight, finding it here. (You have to scroll down past the long list to get to the published shorlist.)
While it's great to mentioned alongside legends like Stephen King, Lawrence Block, Ramsey Campbell and our very own Mr Joel Lane, I can't figure out why the story Ellen Datlow picked is 101 Ways To Leave Paris, which is an out and out crime story. Ah well, it's pretty cool to be included anyway...

A review of the excellent, Paranormal Activity over at my blog, Tears All Over Town

I've just posted a review of Pixar's seriously amazing new movie, Up.
Head over to my blog now I've dusted off the cobwebs. There's also a review of our recent visit to London for the theatre production of Breakfast at Tiffany's...
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

A new post on some old movies over at my blogspot...
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

I have to say I wasn't expecting too much of the new remake of Patrick McGoohan's seminal TV show, The Prisoner, but this nine minute preview of AMC's mini-series, starring Jim Cavaziel as Six and Ian McKellen as One looks pretty damn good. It was released over at San Diego comic con this weekend.
While foregoing some of the classic (yet admittedly very 60's) imagery, it seems to have managed to hit all the necessary beats and plot points of the show and retained the look of Rover as well. Definitely retaining some (if not all) of the original McGoohan themes and madness. It's coming in November, and look's like it's going to be well worth a look. As to how they'll end it, I've no idea. The original is deeply strange, and although I loved it, I dount they can get away with such left field thinking in these unadventurous days...

It was Collectormania time down in Milton Keynes again this weekend, and me and Amanda took my folks and brother along again, as they enjoyed it last time. Although it has been moved from the MK shopping centre to the temporary (and very difficult to find) location of the MK Dons stadium, it doesn't seem to have hindered business. After braving the deluge of rain in the morning, it thankfully brightened up in the afternoon, and turned into a pretty good day.
The two guests we were after this time were Nathan Fillion and Phillip Glenister. Both were very friendly and we came away with a signed Serenity poster and a Life On Mars print to hang somewhere on my by now rather crowded walls. Leonard Nimoy was also there, but the queues were huge and his security seemingly on loan from the US president, so we didn't even catch a glimpse of the pointy-eared one.
We also caught up briefly with Ade, Rachael and Bri who'd also braved the elements. We popped over to the shopping centre in the afternoon to grab some lunch (and pick up some a couple of discounted Supernatural books from the Works - the official guide, one of the novels and the graphic novel, all for under a fiver) and were back for about five. Next stop: the London Comic and Movie Con to get another signature on the Serenity poster...
And some pics...

We had a splendid time at Wroxhall Abbey in Warwickshire on Sunday for the wedding of Mr Joesph Hegarty and Alison Baldock. The sun came out and stayed out, and we really had the most glorious setting for it. Wroxhall abbey is an incredible place - a beautiful building, church and some staggering pretty grounds that we took full advantage of. There was much drinking, eating and a little bit of dancing besides. Amanda, Ade and myself travelled up there for midday and met up with Big Al and his girlfriend Holly and a multitude of Joe and Alison's friends and family. It was great to see a good friend finally find 'the one' and look forward to a rosy future.
I took a few pictures, most of which are uploaded on my Flickr stream here
And some are ( beneath the cut )

Thirty years of mystery (sort of) revealed for me tonight at Tears All Over Town

A splendid day was had yesterday down in London as part of my birthday celebrations. Having found a carpark in Hillingdon station which is literally just as the M40 turns into the A40, it only took me just over an hour to get down there and cost a quid for the entire day. Another 50 minutes or so and we were in the centre and we took in a few shops around Covent Garden - the Tin Tin store (so very expensive), Forbidden Planet (filled to the gills with too much stuff), Fopp (where Amanda bought me The Day The Earth Stood Still as an easter present; the old 50's classic, not the Keanu one, god forbid), Orcs Nest (for the Arkham Horror game with birthday cash), VinMag (just because it's awesome and I always have to buy a print of some kind from there; this time a Carter The Great magician poster), and few more comic stores besides.
Then in the afternoon we headed over to Victoria to the Apollo theatre (which is an awesome bit of old time Art Deco inside and out) to see Wicked. Adapted from the novel by Gregory Maguire, it's a sort of parallel novel to the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witches of Oz, Elphaba (the future Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), turning the story effectively on its head when Elphaba is revealed as the 'good guy' as it were.
I haven't seen a huge amount of musicals (although after seeing Cabaret last year at the Rep, I felt I'd seen one of the best right there), but I enjoyed the soundtrack to Wicked a lot. The songs, while conveying a lot of the story, are excellent tunes in and of themself, so by the time we sat down to the show yesterday, it had the effect of going to a gig and hearing the 'greatest hits'. Needless to say, Amanda (being a life-long fan of this sort of thing) was so excited she was virtually hyper-ventilating!
It's also one of the most visually stunning shows I've ever seen. There's clearly a lot of money been spent on effects, costumes, sets and visual trickery; every scene is an absolute feast for the eyes. It's also just a great story. It barrels along at a furious pace, it's funny, witty, emotionally engaging and has some brilliant perfomances. Three hours of brilliance. It was an awesome birthday treat, really. And afterwards, while passing the stage door, we lingered awhile with the crowds (as we didn't have to rush home) and got our programmes signed by Kerry Ellis, the lead actress, who's played Elphaba for the last three years here and on Broadway. Another signed programme to be framed and placed somewhere on the increasingly full walls in my flat...
Aftrewards we did a little more shopping then caught the train back to Hillingdon for nine, and we were back home a little before eleven, deeply knackered and loaded down with bags. Excellent day.