You'll Have To Pry My Blu-Rays From My Cold, Dead Hand

My new Frieren blu-rays along with the Frieren Funko Pop! Paul got me for Christmas

One of the few things I picked up for myself in the Boxing Day/New Year sales this year was the blu-ray box set of the first part of the first season of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

But, you say, that's available "for free" on both Netflix and Crunchyroll, so why buy it?

To which I retort that not only does 'solid media' rule, but that just because the show is currently on those two streamers that doesn't guarantee it will always be.

Netflix, for instance, is always churning through its contents and removing great swathes of material to make way for new stuff. 

But, owning a show or movie on solid media (Blu-ray, DVD, even VHS) means it's always yours for as long as you have the means to play it (and you treat the media with enough respect to prolong its life).

Even if you purchase something digitally, you're essentially just renting it.

The Case of The Missing Music

Several years ago I purchased - via iTunes - the album Stand By For Action! The Music Of Barry Gray, which was essentially all the beautifully bombastic and inspirational themes and tunes from the Gerry Anderson shows I grew up with.

A magical collection of music that could very quickly carry me off to my happy place, thanks to some of the greatest theme tunes ever composed: UFO, I'm looking at you in particular.

Only, when Rachel and I went for a car journey the other week and I fired up my "driving playlist" (a mix of tracks from throughout the ages and across multiple genres) I realised that the opening track - Stand By For Action - wasn't there.

When I later checked the listing for my Barry Gray album on my iPhone, I saw more than half of the tracks were "faded out" (see picture at top of this article), and when I tried to click on them a message would pop up saying these tracks weren't available in my country!!!

WTF? I bought and paid for this music years ago.

This being Apple there's no customer service, no recourse for the angry customer to get an explanation.

Then late last year the tracks magically reappeared in my library, without a word or an apology. So now I can start blasting them out again.

But how long before they disappear again? Or tracks from other artists? God, what if all my Atarashii Gakko! music vanished over night? I don't even want to contemplate such an apocalyptic scenario.

But this isn't really a dig at Apple per se, as I love my iPhone (thank you, Rachel!), it's more about the fact that when you're talking about digital media... it doesn't really exist, it never feels truly your own, and it is vulnerable to the whims of the digital realm. 

Combine this with the numerous hic-cups I've had buying movies from Sky Cinema (I've given up pre-ordering movies this way and have reverted to Blu-rays), it's no wonder I'm sticking to physical media.

I know they take up room (not as much as a VHS cassette, of course), but they look cool and have all those spiffy extras that someday I'll get round to watching.

When you have a solid disc - or book, or whatever - in your hand, it's yours until you give it up. No megacorporation can arbitrarily decide - without explanation - that that object is no longer yours and remove it from your possession like a thief in the night.

Admittedly, on the music front I still actually err towards digital these days, but most of the time now I simply stream tracks via Rachel's Spotify account anyway.

PS. I know this is slightly hypocritical as I am a massive proponent of audiobooks, particularly the material produced by Big Finish, which I primarily purchase as digital downloads and play through their own app. 

My theory here is that these will exist at least for as long as Big Finish does... and I couldn't imagine living in a world without Big Finish!

Join Sophie Aldred On An Ace Odyssey Through The Whoniverse

This week saw the launch of Sophie Aldred's new Doctor Who-adjacent podcast, Ace Odyssey.

Sophie, of course, played The Seventh Doctor's companion, Dorothy 'Ace' McShane from 1987, has appeared in countless Big Finish audios, and returned to the TV show in 2022 for The 13th Doctor's send-off, The Power of The Doctor.

Depending on the format of other podcasts you listen to, Ace Odyssey might come across initially as a bit unusual, with the host's chatty companions - such as Hobbes, her robotic butler, and Mrs C, the Cockney goldfish - taking a moment to get used to.

However, what shouldn't come as surprise is that Sophie's first interview subject is The Seventh Doctor himself, the marvellous Sylvester McCoy, chatting about his early life and his first exposure to the business known as show. It's a wild and fascinating conversation!

Next up for an interview is Big Finish writer Ali Winter, talking about her own fandom and how she found her way to working on Doctor Who for Big Finish.

For Appleheads, the podcast can be found here on iTunes, otherwise search your podcatcher of choice for Sophie Aldred's Ace Odyssey.

The full show description is shown below:

Strap in, adjust your gravity boots, and mind the Patmats! You’ve arrived on the Nosferatu 2.5, the intergalactic pop-culture research vessel captained by Sophie Aldred herself. Your journey through time, space, memory, and fandom begins here.

At Sophie’s side is her unwavering (if occasionally exasperated) companion Hobbes: a clockwork butler with the heart of a neutron star, a head full of circuits, and more opinions than his maker strictly intended. Between them, they navigate cosmic curiosities, improbable technology, mysterious doors, and the occasional rogue goldfish.

For our maiden voyage, the ship’s unpredictable Time Scoop whirrs to life—summoning none other than Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor himself. Once the temporal dust settles, Sophie and Sylv settle into the Sofa of Infinite Understanding for a conversation spanning career, chaos, and the curious corners of the Whoniverse.

But the adventure doesn’t end there! Every episode journeys into the Ffantaface—the sprawling, shimmering reservoir of collective fan knowledge. Guarding the gateway is Mrs C, Sophie’s Cockney goldfish, who swims in telepathic water from the moon of Helixotrix Minor and ensures no-one approaches the interface uninvited (or unscolded).

Together, Sophie and Mrs C dive deep into fandom’s memories, mysteries, and marvels and encounter Big Finish writer extraordinaire Ali Winter.

Meanwhile, other questions linger aboard the ship, not least the unnerving presence of The Door We Can’t Open! What lies behind it?

Some secrets may have to wait until the Time Scoop is feeling cooperative…

NEWS OF ELEVEN: Revisiting Classic New Who

Iconic TARDIS travellers Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill (aka Amy Pond and Rory Williams) are reuniting for a new podcast, looking back at their adventures with The Eleventh Doctor (as played by Matt Smith).

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has already been revealed as a guest on the upcoming Pondcast, although all other details - including the launch date - remain a closely-guarded secret.

For a teensy-wheeny bit more information pop over to the Radio Times website here.

Meanwhile, Big Finish - masterful purveyors of official Doctor Who audio adventures - has announced a new range of full-cast audio Eleventh Doctor plays, beginning March next year, with Miles Taylor supplying The Doctor's vocals.

He will be joined by a new companion, Eleanor Fong, played by Jasmine Bayes (who appeared on the TV show as UNIT's Corporal Alice Sullivan in The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death).

To learn more about the first box set of The Eleventh Doctor Adventures, and pre-order them, click here to be transported to the Big Finish website.

Reading Goals 2025

I'm reading Westerns again... for the first time in decades

For the last 18 months or so I'd hoped that I could convince myself to do do more 'constructive' things with my free time. 

Ultimately, though, I found myself spending a lot of time watching television. And I mean a LOT.

I've always enjoyed TV and movies at home, but really this got out of hand. 

I certainly wasn't helped by the constantly expanding library of channels available to us, through Sky and various streaming platforms.

So, it wasn't as though I was consuming mental garbage, but still the number of shows I became addicted to ended up eating into my time more than I could really justify.

I also watched a lot of movies (although possibly not as many as usual... for reasons), and was particularly impressed by the second part of the epic Dune adaptation.

This convinced to take another crack (my third or fourth?) at trying to read the book. So I acquired the gorgeous new edition from Gollancz, then got Dune Messiah from Rachel as a Christmas present (see below).

The third of the original trilogy, by Frank Herbert, comes out later this year, so I have set myself the possibly overambitious goal (given how slow I actually read these days) of reading the three books in 2025.

My new editions of the first two Dune novels

However, in recent months I've also discovered a pair of "booktubers" who have inspired me to focus more on reading, beyond my usual "I have to read stuff that informs whatever gaming project I'm thinking about at the time".

Both McNulty's Book Corral and and Michael K Vaughan (who is not the same person as comic book writer Brian K Vaughan, despite what my addled brain kept trying to tell me) love pulp books, horror, old sci-fi, westerns, and vintage comics, which corresponds to my own preferences.

The Book Corral even piqued my interest in reading Westerns again (something I haven't done seriously for decades).

So, following the show's recommendation, I picked up Peter Brandvold's Nordic & Finn, the first book in a new series, as it tells the tale of a rugged mountain man who adopts a stray dog, and the scrapes they get into.

Rather chaotically, as is my wont when I'm suddenly "inspired" in this manner, I've also started listening to an audiobook of another of Brandvold's books, Bloody Joe.

I know it's kind of 'cheating' but I still consume a majority of books via the audio format, which allows me to "hear" a story in the bath or last thing at night, before I grab a few hours of sleep.

This also allows me to revel in the many, many Doctor Who (and Whoniverse-adjacent) audio dramas being produced by Big Finish. Currently this is the best source for new Who material, the present run of televised episodes being very underwhelming.

Comics-wise, my pull-list continues to get whittled down, but, unexpectedly, DC is making a strong comeback these days, which - along with indies such as Mad Cave's excellent Flash Gordon range - are now dominating Marvel.