thisbluespirit: (s&s - ot3)
1. [community profile] unconventionalcourtship is back! Yes, you can sign up for the annual fest in which you choose a romance novel summary and then kill it with fanfic or art create something based, at least roughly, on it! It's fun, laid back, and comes with a free generator that never fails to make everything better for at least a short while. (Shipping not required! You can use the summary however you choose.)


2. [community profile] genprompt_bingo is open for a new round! I'm very fond of this one - it has great prompts and no restricting theme (the gen is solely about the prompts, not the fills, you can ship away as much as you like). Mind you, not that I've finished my last card yet, and I do think I was close to a bingo.


3. Nothing to do with writing, and less frivolous also, but another of my old telly faves Jennifer Wilson died yesterday.

Back when I first started venturing into the b&w and/or beige world of old Brit TV, I was chasing David Collings about the place, and acquired S1 of Special Branch (1969), because he was in it. Jennifer Wilson played a female Det. Sgt. in the b&w episodes and I loved her so much that eventually, I went off to watch The Brothers, which I have waffled about here more recently. I know nothing much else about her, really, but she just had a such a wonderfully warm and natural presence on the screen. (Mariocki, on tumblr, who told me, always calls her "lovely Jenny" when talking about her Brothers character (also Jennifer), and that's about right. She was 89 and had a good career and a good innings, but it's always sad when good people leave.

I made a thing, but I will do one with more roles in soon.
thisbluespirit: (james maxwell)
Earlier this year when I watched Manhunt and Doomwatch, I planned to do this sort of primer for both (and for all my old things!), because I like doing them, they hopefully explain the obscure things I'm on about & they may even be useful. And then I did Manhunt, but was slow to screencap Doomwatch and then decided there was no point in posting things like that. Which is just silly, and, in short, here is my best stab at a guide to Doomwatch and why you might even want to watch it, if you don't mind beige TV!

(The fandom_manifesto tag below will take you to the others of these I've done so far, although I see that Photobucket ate the pics from the Enemy at the Door one.)

Anyway, welcome to the future. It probably wants to kill you...

Doomwatch


Doomwatch was a BBC drama series that ran from 1970 to 1972, created and script-edited by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler (who invented Doctor Who's Cybermen) and produced by Terence Dudley.

It focused on the Ministry of Security's Department of Observation and Measurement of Scientific Work, nicknamed 'Doomwatch' (which is what the team also name their computer) as they investigated possible dangerous side-effects of new scientific discoveries from plastic-easting viruses to killer rats to the dangers of DDT and lead in petrol, often having an eerily prophetic tendency to predict the headlines and sparking more than one debate in parliament. According to the Cult of Doomwatch, when Channel 5 tried to revive the series with a modern version, they got some scientists to give them cutting-edge ideas for storylines... and found that all of them had been covered by the original.

Doomwatch was headed up by Nobel prize-winning mathematician and phyisicist, Dr Spencer Quist, backed by Dr John Ridge (a chemist who had worked for MI6), Colin Bradley (the down-to-earth, Northern (TM) computer specialist and general dogbody), young chemist Tobias (Toby) Wren and the secretary, Pat Hunnisett.

So, Our Heroes vs Whitehall and unethical scientists + real issues & science and environmental crusading + an occasional edge of horror = the cult phenomenon that was Doomwatch.

You've done the impossible; now don't try and do the intolerable )

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