Reviving my forgotten Substack with Jon Pertwee having a gossip and moan to his fan club, as originally published in TV Years magazine. open.substack.com/pub/stuartma...

Mel’s artwork in this is so funny. Love all the extra hands and the weird eyes.

the booker prize judges make a lot of fuss about having to read 153 books. but assuming an average weight of 750g per book, that comes in at 115kg of literature - or just under the weight of a single adult male ostrich

“An emotional research team became tearful as they described how data shows the disease was slowed by 75% in patients.” What an absolutely incredible, joyous achievement for everyone involved. Hurrah for science and scientists! www.bbc.com/news/article...

The clue's in the title... (or is to long term DW fans anyway!) @bigfinish.bsky.social @0tralala.bsky.social @jameskettle.bsky.social scifibulletin.com/2025/09/23/b...

BRET VYON LIVES!? 😲 No one is more surprised than the Space Security Service. Click https://bgfn.sh/sss2news to read about the three new full-cast audio adventures spiralling your way in January 2026.

If you want a highly enjoyable 45 mins - and who wouldn’t want that? - you could do far worse than listen to this, which I thought a delight: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

PG Wodehouse on BBC Sounds - these Richard Briars/Michael Horden Jeeves and Wooster adaptations are absolutely delightful.

Today was the memorial for the late great Ray Brooks. There was a great turn out & it was lovely to share stories with his family & friends.

[Withnail, close to tears] “I have become vulnerable in the night-time economy”.

I’ve received at least three of the “private book club” reviewer scam email recently. Immediate weird vibes and very obviously AI generated, filled with emojis. An excellent write up!

I wrote about Margot Bennett for SF Caledonia. Better known as a crime writer, she wrote two SF novels: The Long Way Back (1954) and The Furious Masters (1968), both of which I discuss here. I also write about her service with the British Medical Unit in the Spanish Civil War. #ScottishSFF

If you fancy some urban exploration this Sunday, join my Polaroids of Croydon walk. Tickets still left for the afternoon... programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/12200

Another needlessly involved analysis of an old Target book. This time: Doctor Who and the Giant Robot (1975). With graphs, parliamentary Written Answers, and the Oedipus complex: 0tralala.blogspot.com/2025/09/doct...

The actions leading up to the campaign to restore access to the BBC Written Archives, from Ian Greaves for CST: cstonline.net/is-the-bbc-a...

A shoutout to anyone heading to the BFI Southbank for this Saturday's Doctor Who screening, the BFI Shop now carries all our titles. Check them out.

Sixty-two years ago this morning, the very first live-action shots for Doctor Who were filmed at Ealing Film Studios.

My mother once told me she was worried, my young children weren’t watching enough television. No such worries when she was raising me, obvs…📺 Check out ep 1 of @gkw.bsky.social & my new podcast @squarewindowpod.bsky.social wherever you listen, or via our website: squarewindow.co.uk/podcast/epis...

🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨 We’ve just seen this, by creator “Menapian” - a 4,998-piece set of the Great Exhibition (1851) Crystal Palace - complete with a bonus Megalosaurus and Ichthyosaur… beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

A very welcome repeat of this landmark 1992 series which also led to a BFI book of the same name. One of its researchers, Stephen Bourne, would be quick to point out it depended heavily on exploratory research of BBC files. You couldn't do that now.... www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

“HALLOA! Below there!" Join award winning writer @gralefrit.bsky.social and myself here at 10 tonight for a tweetalong of The Signalman, on BBC FOUR. All welcome to share thoughts, memories, insight or questions. Just use the hashtag #signalman

Folks! Folks! AMAZING NEWS! Thanks to some INCREDIBLY GENEROUS donations from fans and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, we are now just SIX HUNDRED POUNDS (alright, £663) short of securing the Galton and Simpson archive for the nation. yustart.hubbub.net/p/galtonands...

This is good news. The TV Times is now included in the British Newspaper Archive. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/tv-ti...

Long day writing up Terrance Dicks related paperwork, so the arrival of this made me think No! Who threw the Zygons’ trilanic activator into Nessie’s mouth, Nessie chewed it then returned safely to the capacious depths of Loch Ness. @paulcornell.bsky.social @rachaelsmith.bsky.social

Delighted to inform you that Alan Moore is on tonight's BBC Front Row, discussing The Great When, psycho-geography, comics, fascism and the trouble with superheroes... 715pm Radio 4 or link after.. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

2nd part of John J Johnstone’s alternate sexualities LGBTQ+ trail now online. Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Alexander the Great & Antinous & more #lgbtq #egypt #museum www.debbiechallis.com/post/beyond-...

My latest Substack takes a look at my favourite Doctor Who William Hartnell guest starring in 'Softly Softly' who makes a surprising confession. With thanks to Z Cars historian David Brunt. michaelseely.substack.com/p/guest-star...

A few thoughts on rereading - or having read to me - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: 0tralala.blogspot.com/2025/09/davi...

Thanks to all our members who came to our AGM today - it was great to see so many of you there! Read our round-up of all the news, including motions, elections + more: writersguild.org.uk/wggb-agm-cat...

We’re pleased to announce that Richard Marson’s long-awaited history of BBC Children’s TV will be published on November 17 in trade paperback and a collector’s hardback, limited to 300 copies. Order Box of Delights: The Story of BBC Children’s Television now from tenacrefilms.bigcartel.com

Hello, I have nice news. @gkw.bsky.social & I are combining our passion for old TV shows in a new podcast launching next wk. search for “Through The Square Window” now, wherever you get your podcasts. Short trailer available now. And follow @squarewindowpod.bsky.social to stay in touch.. 📺

Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction

When you’re researching in the British Library and you discover the copy of the 1853 novel you’ve called up is inscribed by the author…

First part of John J Johnstone’s Alternate Sexualities in Ancient Egypt LGBTQ+ trail: www.debbiechallis.com/post/beyond-...

“Going to the pictures is nothing to be ashamed of.” A first for me – I have presented a Radio 4 documentary on the pioneering curator and critic Iris Barry, founder of the world’s first film archive. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Well look what's out today! It's the paperback of the rather splendid "Autobiography of Mr Spock", as told by me, and published by @titanbooks.bsky.social! #StarTrek #StarTrekSNW #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekDis #Spock titanbooks.com/9648-the-aut...

Some thoughts on Who and Me, the memoir of Doctor Who producer Barry Letts: 0tralala.blogspot.com/2025/09/who-...

What a loss. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

I'm delighted to say that I have chosen and will be introducing three episodes of a forgotten 1970s TV masterpiece at this year's Hastings TV Festival at the Electric Palace cinema in the old town on Thursday 9th October, one in the morning and two in the evening. 1/4

Municipal guide cover of the day (possibly an all time great!): Croydon, 1971. Countdown typeface klaxon!

David Bowie’s secret final project discovered locked in his study

Another extended wanging-on about old Doctor Who books, this time Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons by Terrance Dicks, featuring flowing honey, chameleons and repair shops. 0tralala.blogspot.com/2025/09/doct...

A whacking great treatise on Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars by my late friend John J Johnston, courtesy of Dr Angela Stienne and Mummy Stories: www.mummystories.com/single-post/...

Busy morning constructing a Cleaner from Doctor Who and the Paradise Towers, care of @garethothevworp.bsky.social. Lady Vader likes the idea of a robot that could tidy her room, even if it eats people.

This old planet of ours can be quite something at times...

Wah! The final - so enjoyed doing these. Yet to listen so trying to guess if play it car home with family. Or am I talking ‘dirty’ again.

"You might suggest to your editor that he hold off our interview until he can run it as an obit. With a bit of luck, Ben, your word rate may have gone up by then." It hasn't. 😏 So I hope DWM won't mind me sharing my 2017 interview with Christopher H Bidmead – RIP. 🧵 ⬇️

Absolutely delighted that Dan Briggs, son of the BBC's first official historian Asa Briggs, has written to The Observer supporting the need for on-request vetting to re-instated at the BBC Written Archives Centre (p.29; not I think online). Letter's wording is in the .alt element. #waccampaign

Sorry to hear about Chris Bidmead. I went to his house once to interview him. Before we started, he insisted I try a coffee from each of his three machines and give my verdict. So I was all a jitter by the time we got on to tachyonics.