This week, I 'ave been mostly watching...

Primeval, the second series of which ended on Saturday. I was a bit disappointed with the resolution of last season's cliffhanger, but it did introduce the idea that someone able to travel through time can make small changes to the here and now. The full implications of that weren't revealed until this season's finale, so obviously next year I'll just skip to the end.

Actually, to be fair it had improved over the first series. Her out of S-Club managed to keep her clothes on most of the time (although for some reason she sold her Mini. Or maybe it was a parallel universe her, without any taste.) and there was even a story arc, which added a bit of depth to the running around after CGI, which got a bit tiresome last year.

So, it's no Doctor Who, but if the pace picks up season three might be worth watching.

Ashes to Ashes, the Life on Mars spin-off set in the early 80s. Now I liked Gene Hunt, and I liked the 80s, so I had high hopes for this. It has had it's moments - like Zippy and George from out of Rainbow making a cameo appearance - but there's something missing. Apart from there being a bird on the team in place of Sam Tyler, that is. And I don't know whether Gene's gone a bit soft, but he hasn't made me laugh as much as he did in LoM. But mainly, knowing what happened to Sam, the mystery has left the show, and for me that's spoilt it somewhat. The writers have dealt with that issue quite nicely though, so it's still good telly, if no Life on Mars.

Love the Quattro though!

Torchwood. The Doctor Who spin-off set in Cardiff. And may I say, good call to go back on the original plan not to do any cross-overs. The arrival of Martha Jones has mixed things up nicely, and the episodes she has been in have been about the best so far (although, I suspect they could overdo the story arc if it drags on too long).

It's no Doctor Who, but it is (dare I say it?) the Torchwood we were all hoping for. More please!

It's a Vulcan, Jim, but not as we know it...

Every so often you see something that makes you think 'I must go and write a Cold War alternate history, just so I can put one of these in it...'

I'm a big fan of the iconic delta wing of the actual Vulcan bomber, but the initial concept is so weirdly futuristic - and faintly reminiscent of the B-2 stealth bomber - that it deserves to see some action. Who knows, with the many false starts and constantly fluctuating back story of Project Seven, maybe that will have an early 80s Jericho twist to it before it's finished...

Tuesday Tunes: Pimp My Chips

We interrupt this weeks blog tour for something completely different...

I guess this may have a slightly limited appeal among my usual readership (and those innocent passers-by on the blog tour), but I recently stumbled across what can only be described as, um, 11 pop songs performed on the sound chip from a ZX Spectrum. Obviously I have no excuse for mentioning it here other than that as a Spec-chum of yore I think it's brilliant. Check out Pimp My Chips here.

Sci-Fi Song of the Week

Among the songs covered on Pimp My Chips is a little tune by Radiohead going by the name of Paranoid Android. And it turns out the coder (Matt Westcott) has made the Spectrum version available as a downloadable mp3. Yay him!

CSFF Blog Tour: Nemesis

Lawks, have I really not posted anything since the last blog tour?

Well, that's ok, because the subject of the current tour, Chris Walley, is 'away in the Midlands at the moment and somewhat technologically isolated'. Well now I live in the Midlands and must therefore be permanently technologically isolated, so you should consider yourselves lucky that anything ever gets posted here.

Anyway, this tour thing. It's all about The Shadow and Night, a repackaging of the first two volumes in the Lamb Among the Stars series, which has been around on these shores since 2002. Finally, the tour recognises British talent...

I reviewed the first (half) volume way back in September '06. So rather than repeat myself, here's the link, and that's me done for the tour. I'll see you next month!

Until then, entertain yourelves by visiting Chris Walley's website, his blog, and then buying the book.

Then visit these bloggers who have probably already done those things:

Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Jackie Castle Carol Bruce Collett Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Janey DeMeo Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Rebecca Grabill Jill Hart Katie Hart Michael Heald Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Heather R. Hunt Jason Joyner Kait Carol Keen Mike Lynch Margaret Rachel Marks Shannon McNear Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here Pamela Morrisson Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Deena Peterson Rachelle Steve Rice Ashley Rutherford Chawna Schroeder James Somers Rachelle Sperling Donna Swanson Speculative Faith Robert Treskillard Jason Waguespac Laura Williams Timothy Wise