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[newmoonstar]

I think I'm going to have to have a mid-winter houseclean, because I need a more organized workspace for sewing. I've already got most of my cosplays planned out for next year's Doctor Who convention, and I'd like to get them done early so that I don't end up finishing last minute sewing in my hotel room all night during the con again

Comments

[lost_spook]

It's rather amusing to pick out actors who have been in other Doctor Who stories and play the 'where do I know them from?' game.

If you watch almost any British TV and get into this, it becomes a neverending source of amusement. All the typecasting (oh, look, David Collings breaking down again; Peter Jeffrey is always evil, why are you trusting him?), random coincidences (I've seen two actors play three different variations on being related by marriage in different ways within the space of about 4 years in real time) and the directors who really love that actor. Sometimes the TV is entertaining, too, of course. And I do hope you'll be inspired to more dw_allsorts fanworks, for purely selfish reasons, because the world can always use more good Ian & Barbara.

[newmoonstar]

I'm a massive British TV nerd, and playing the 'where do I know them from?' game is one of the best parts! Golden Age whodunnits are especially good for that, since they have huge casts and everyone seems to have been in one at some point. And generally I find British TV is less about type-casting than American TV actually, which I like. There was a really fun mystery series with Diana Rigg as a 1920s detective and my mum and I were totally shocked that Peter Davison turned out to be the killer in one of them. You'd never suspect Peter Davison would be cast as a baddie! It's nice when they do that because then you haven't figured it out just based on casting alone, which would defeat the point of watching a mystery

[lost_spook]

Ha, Peter had a whole run of being cast as baddies - he did this brief turn in a drama as a headteacher who lost it and all the casting directors seemed to sudddenly draw in breath and go, ooh, look, Peter Davison does evil - and so he did quite a bit for a while. And, yes, they do like having the unlikely person as the baddie, too, though. (He was the murderer in a 1980s Agatha Christie, too

[newmoonstar]

Well, during my childhood I'd seen Peter Davison as Albert Campion and the Doctor, so he was pretty firmly established in good guy roles in my mind. Back in the day the only British TV we could get here in the US was what aired on PBS, so there wasn't the variety to choose from that we have now, now that so many things are available on DVD. As soon as I got my first DVD player the first thing I did was raid the public library for every British period drama I could find, and I've never really stopped! I don't really watch much current TV, so I'm usually alone geeking out over whatever old show I'm binge watching. Watching Classic Who has been really amazing because it's the first old British show I've watched where there's a huge fandom and other people to talk to about it! I've kind of neglected other shows because there's just SO MUCH of Classic Who to get through, but there's still a few titles on my list that I haven't crossed off just yet

[lost_spook]

Watching Classic Who has been really amazing because it's the first old British show I've watched where there's a huge fandom and other people to talk to about it! I've kind of neglected other shows because there's just SO MUCH of Classic Who to get through, but there's still a few titles on my list that I haven't crossed off just yet.

Well, that's understandable - Classic Who is a giant among TV shows! One of the annoying things about being ill was that I just couldn't watch it (I'm not exactly sure why but it tired me as much as a lot of modern TV did), hence my sudden diving into far more obscure things. :-)

I actually couldn't get interested in The Hour for some reason, despite it's incredibly good cast, but Anna Chancellor is absolutely fabulous, and needs to be in more things I wasn't so keen on the first episode, but I felt it improved after that, but I know other people who really didn't go for it, too. Anna Chancellor is definitely awesome, though. I was really pleased to see she got a supporting actress BAFTA for that

[newmoonstar]

And yes, it probably IS much better to post a Christmas fic in January than July, but I'm not quite satisfied with it, and there's one bit about how much something would have cost in 1962 that I really have no idea how to research, which is also bothering me. I suppose no one reading it would even care or notice, but I'm a bit obsessive over tiny details, and any excuse to procrastinate... But yes, I should just get over it and post the darn thing before next year! I want to actually complete my table before then!

[lost_spook]

Well, July would be perfect for folks in Australia; you probably needn't worry too much either way. ;-) And, yes, there's a line between getting it right and then the sort of procrastinating perfectionism that gets in the way of things actually being finished, and it's not always easy to see which one it is.

What is the thing you're looking to cost? I might even be able to help a bit, depending - I've watched so much 1960s and 70s stuff lately & I do know some cost of living sites, because I'm also interested in social & family history when I'm not being fannish. There are also comms like little_details, britpickery and dw_britglish if you get stuck on small details.

[newmoonstar]

Ooh, I forgot about little_details, I think I'll have to try there.

I wouldn't usually worry about it if it truly was a little detail, but the trouble is that it isn't a common item, and it's actually *not* a little detail, since the whole fic is about the Christmas gifts they give to each other, and I have no clue if the thing I choose is actually something that both a) existed at some point, and b) would be affordable (but still expensive) to your average science teacher in 1962. I've googled every relevant search I could think of, but even modern prices for this thing are hard to find. I think it would be easier to just write something new than to worry about this one, quite honestly!