The Boatman

“Home Assistant is not included” Probably the very best year of the classic series.

So 2019 brings us not one but two underwhelming conclusions to epic series that are ultimately about whether an attractive young woman gets to sit on a big spiky throne

01 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen 02 - Tindersticks - No Treasure But Hope 03 - Chromatics - Closer To Grey 04 - The Divine Comedy - Office Politics 05 - Ulrich Schnauss - Now Is A Timeless Present: A Retrospective 06 - Leonard Cohen - Thanks For The Dance 07 - Jens Lekman and Annika Norlin - Correspondence 08 - Fennesz - Agora 09 - The National - I Am Easy To Find 10 - Beirut - Gallipoli

Watched the finale tonight. I loved the series, justifies the Apple TV+ subscription on its own for me. Although I quite liked See as well.

Nabil Shaban was there and gave him a copy, apparently. “Under a Labour government, unofficial Doctor Who spin-offs will receive the funding they deserve!”

Jon Pertwee appears in a 1981 Zanussi corporate video (for Zanussi reps): Keep watching until the end.

Guardian review: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/04/nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds-ghosteen-review-the-most-beautiful-songs-he-has-ever-recorded It’s a lovely record.

Live Youtube premiere stream starting soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwlU_wsT20Q&feature=youtu.be

New DOUBLE album ‘Ghosteen’ announced for... next week! https://www.theredhandfiles.com/when-can-we-expect-a-new-album/ https://www.theredhandfiles.com/when-can-we-expect-a-new-album-2/

The new book is top secret but apparently takes place 15 years after the first one, and doesn’t tie in to the TV series.

Terrance Dicks has died at the age of 84. He was the script editor for the Jon Pertwee era and novelised very many of the stories for the Target book range. He arguably did more work on shaping the character of the Doctor than anyone other than the actors playing the role themselves. I was lucky enough to meet him on three separate occasions and each time he was a thoroughly nice and lovely chap. Rest in peace, Uncle Terrance.

A Polish photographer visits Chernobyl today: https://www.podniesinski.pl/portal/sarcophagus-and-other-most-radioactive-places-in-chernobyl/

Sorry Colin.

Amazingly, as staggeringly awful as this was, it wasn’t actually the worst ‘conflicted spaceship crew with a holographic AI go on a mission to confront an enigmatic alien entity’ series Netflix have produced this year - Nightflyers still holds that crown.

There’s a new film out about the England team under Strauss called ‘The Edge’: Mark Kermode quite liked it!