13 cool things about "The Day of the Doctor" BBC

1. Tom Bloody Baker!
2. The final tableau of all 13 doctors.
3. Bromance banter from Matt Smith ("Chinny") and David Tennant ("Sandshoes").
4. The impreccable John Hurt ("Grandpa") as grumpy old man Doctor.
5. References to "dots" in the old Tardis.
6. Billie Piper as flirty but wise "bad wolf"/"the conscience".
7. Murray Gold's orchestral score.
8. CGI, big budget movie quality.
9. The Tardis suspended from the helicopter, landing in Trafalgar Square.
10. Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I.
11. The secret archive under The Tower, with a glimpse of a pair of ruby slippers.
12. Steven Moffat's mindblowing script.
13. Daleks!

Doctor Who - old and new, BT Tower/The Shard

Watching Matt Smith's Doctor Who ("The Bells of Saint John") last night featuring London's latest architectural marvel, The Shard, made me think back to William Hartnell's Doctor Who. Remember the mid 1960's episode featuring London's latest dramatic landmark, the Post Office Tower (BT Tower)?  I am sure Steven Moffat knew what he was doing. Nice touch.

70's TV Guilty Pleasures (10 of the best)

Not The Brady Bunch, thought it was naff. Liked the two sendup movies, though.
I did watch The Partridge Family (for Susan Dey). You must bear in mind I was between the ages of 14 and 23 in the seventies.  Here we go, in order of what I would most desperately like to see again ....

U.S. 70's shows

1. Columbo (Where do I start? I think the first few seasons are my favourite) "Er....just one more thing....." 
2. The Name of the Game (glossy Universal telemovies with rotating stars, I'm also a sucker for great opening titles/theme music)
3. Kolchak: The Night Stalker
4. Night Gallery patchy Universal horror anthology series with great guest stars and soon to be famous directors (Steven Spielberg)
5. Search (Probe was the pilot movie, loved the Dominic Frontiere theme music and the changing stars format)
6. Rich Man, Poor Man mini-series (polished Universal production)
7. Laugh In (1968-1973)
8. MacMillan and Wife (Universal again, John Schuck really annoyed me!)
9. Banacek (Cool Peppard rowing down the Charles River)
10. The Snoop Sisters (shortlived but not forgotten, those old birds were good)

British 70's shows

1. Family at War  must-see wartime melodrama
2. The Sandbaggers  I preferred this to Callan, but my wife will kill me for saying such sacrilege.
3. Bouquet of Barbed Wire  miniseries, pretty raunchy, if I remember.
4. Journey to the Unknown   another horror anthology series, creepy introductory whistling music. I know it finished in 1969 but I didn't see it until 1970, it's my blog, it wouldn't be the first time the truth has been 'bent' on the Internet.
5. Thriller (from the creator of The Avengers, Brian Clemens)
6. The Persuaders big budget Lew Grade series, Tony Curtis was great, so were the cars.
7. Doctor in the House (loved Professor Loftus)
8. Morecambe & Wise (Brit gold)
9. Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee episodes)
10. Doctor Who (Tom Baker episodes)