A sequel to Ro-Busters, The A.B.C. Warriors (later simply ABC Warriors) sees a group of robots immune to the effects of Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical weapons fighting a war for their Human masters.
Find out more starting here.
Saturday, 31 March 2018
Spread The Word
I've added another strip to Dredd Alert.
A sequel to Ro-Busters, The A.B.C. Warriors (later simply ABC Warriors) sees a group of robots immune to the effects of Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical weapons fighting a war for their Human masters.
Find out more starting here.
A sequel to Ro-Busters, The A.B.C. Warriors (later simply ABC Warriors) sees a group of robots immune to the effects of Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical weapons fighting a war for their Human masters.
Find out more starting here.
Monday, 12 March 2018
Twitter Twatter #55
February 2018
A rising tide gathers no moss.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 2, 2018
How different things might have been... pic.twitter.com/kNCTIAa6NH
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 2, 2018
Jacob Rees-Mogg is not a good man. pic.twitter.com/36LckQOZ08
— heartbeeps (@hrtbps) February 4, 2018
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 6, 2018
Theresa May wants to make it illegal to attack politicians on social media
— Scott Nelson (@SocialistVoice) February 6, 2018
I will just leave this here pic.twitter.com/aCnkeKexun
Watch The National Anthem as soon as humanly possible.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 8, 2018
Some people don’t believe the NHS is being privatised at all.
— NHS Million (@NHSMillion) February 9, 2018
Others don’t think it matters if private companies run NHS services.
We were sent a message earlier that highlights what is really going on.
Please RT if you think everyone should be aware. pic.twitter.com/71vnAeFog0
There is an opportunity here for the taking. Someone in Washington DC needs to organise a parade of homeless veterans, families of suicide victims and veterans with autobiographical placards along Trump's proposed route. No pomp, no circumstance, just the very visual truth...
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 10, 2018
As the broadcast of #StarTrekDiscovery's first season draws to a close. It's time to ask, which #StarTrek series had the best first season?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 12, 2018
1/2
As the broadcast of #StarTrekDiscovery's first season draws to a close. It's time to ask, which #StarTrek series had the best first season?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 12, 2018
2/2
That Meryl...
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 13, 2018
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes moved on after Heston, took the emphasis off the human characters and began the shift in the tone of the series.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 13, 2018
A Very Happy Thirtieth Birthday to Red Dwarf. Funnier than ever given credit for, better science fiction than its big budget rivals and maybe the most important thing I saw growing up, literally shaped my outlook on life itself @RedDwarfHQ #RedDwarf30 @DougRDNaylor @RealRobGrant pic.twitter.com/frr7JAPQZY
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 15, 2018
#BlackPanther might be the best movie I’ve seen all year but this is second best. pic.twitter.com/QIWZlxvgkS
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) February 16, 2018
As a result of this, he went on to insist on being in the middle at The Three Doctors photoshoot. pic.twitter.com/ZKsAq4wxgV
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) February 19, 2018
Yep.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
Actually, I'm glad the design has taken the opportunity to incorporate some important story elements. The snow that looks like hundreds and thousands, the snow forcefield protecting our heroes and the Doctor that took the trouble to turn up in costume and no one noticed.
You know what, lads, I think even I could manage this one. pic.twitter.com/XKweqlqQJu
— Adam Macqueen (@adam_macqueen) 18 February 2018
Just heard Daily Mail readers are threatening to boycott Center Parcs because they've pulled their ads after the Littlejohn/Tom Daley article, instantly making Centre Parcs the most attractive holiday 'dickhead free' destination of the year.#centreparcs#DailyMail
— Pearly (@londonlass666) 17 February 2018
Happy #PresidentsDay2018 (and 2100) from @2000AD pic.twitter.com/dS73jtwxic
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
Which Doctor first carried a bag of jelly babies and in which story?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
Correct, so far.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
What are the first and last episodes of Doctor Who, alphabetically?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
Close, but not Two...
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
We have a winner!
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
He has a bag of sweets in Dominators, but I don't think it's clear what's in it.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
I'm not willing to check this late, but I'll get onto it tomorrow.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
No.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
Nah.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
I like your thinking.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 19 February 2018
I can confirm that Troughton keeps the paper bag resolutely in front of his pie hole and thus keeps the mystery alive.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 20 February 2018
The Three Doctors remains the first confirmed jelly baby consumption.
A Bargin Of Necessity is the earliest episode alphabetically unless you count Abandoned Planet, The. World War Three or Zygon Inversion, The is the last.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 20 February 2018
The earliest overall story name would be Abominable Snowmen, The or A Fix With Sontarans.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 20 February 2018
The last is Warriors Of The Deep or Wheel In Space, The.
Alongside an itemised list of all those times Tom Baker said he had a jelly baby when it was clearly a liquorice allsort.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 20 February 2018
God, I love the McCoy logo
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 20 February 2018
Which one?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 22 February 2018
Don't believe the reviews, @mute is a fantastic visual treat with a narrative that takes surprising turns and it arguably out Blade Runners Blade Runner.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 23 February 2018
Anyone remember that time #DoctorWho unexpectedly turned up in Only Fools And Horses? pic.twitter.com/RLvK3CZ8xJ
— Pip (@pipmadeley) 23 February 2018
What the actual fuck is going on?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 25 February 2018
He lied.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 25 February 2018
He was caught out.
He remains the Vice Chairman of the #Conservative Party for Youth.#NeverTrustATory https://t.co/dqCe9WMD3u
Just discovered that @JeremyCorbyn has requested that @bbradleymp's defamation donation is to be split between a #homeless charity and a #foodbank in Bradley’s own constituency of Mansfield.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 25 February 2018
Pretty classy.
Because there can be no finer endorsement of a party’s policies than literally having to pay people to defend them... https://t.co/2XgA4zlBMl
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) 25 February 2018
#DoctorWho's new logo... pic.twitter.com/sC5jqFNVo5
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 25 February 2018
As always, #ShootingStars got there first https://t.co/pxV2kaqwoD #BeastFromTheEast
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 27 February 2018
Infinity was a very different show
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 27 February 2018
Infinity was a very different show
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) 27 February 2018
A young JFK had his life saved by a coconut after he was stranded on the Solomon Islands during WWII. He carved a rescue message onto the shell which was then taken to a naval base by two locals. Later, as president, he turned it into a paperweight for the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/y11gC7ij5G
— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) 28 February 2018
WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE, I LOVE YOU - Someone Put a Statue of Jason Voorhees in a Minnesota Lake For Divers to Stumble Across https://t.co/yMYfaEq15C
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) 28 February 2018
Friday, 9 March 2018
Time Shadows Anniversary Edition Interview
Time Shadows Anniversary Edition Interview
One of the 'bonus features' of the Time Shadows Anniversary Edition was a series of interviews by Jolyon Tuck.
Here they are with my answers...
Jolyon Tuck: It wasn’t until I got to the end of your story that I realised I have next to no experience of zombies in fiction – what films or books would you recommend to a newcomer to the world of the undead?
David Black: Well, I'm no expert either but Shaun Of The Dead is a great gateway drug. Night Of The Living Dead is always worth a watch, 28 Days Later is better than its reputation and The Walking Dead comics are superb. The zombies in my story, however, are not the shambling corpses of Romero films, but rather a mindless mass robbed of their individualism. More like Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers or The Faculty.
There was a Doctor Who Role-Playing Game called Time Lord and the example scenario in it called The Templar Throne. When a character sat on the throne they lost their mind, and what's more terrifying, they could never get it back. Until fairly recently I had forgotten where that came from but that concept really stayed with me. It always frustrated me that in these sorts of narratives, everyone is always so sure that with the removal of the malign influence everyone will return to normal, and they are usually correct. I decided instead that it would be the malign influence itself that sustained these people and the only way to end their misery was to end them too.
Jolyon Tuck: It’s always nice to see a base under siege – and you give the Doctor less than an hour to solve the zombie apocalypse – why do you think we love this kind of storytelling?
David Black: It's true, isn't it? A base under siege is a wonderful thing. There's something very evocative about these structures we build to protect ourselves having the opposite effect. We want to keep danger outside, we fail and trap ourselves inside with it. It's a phrase synonymous with Doctor Who to the point that no one ever uses it to describe any other fiction, but it would be a perfectly good description of the Alien films and definitely The Thing too. You can see the appeal for the budgetary concerns of episodic television, limiting the number of sets required to make the programme. For the viewer, or the reader, it provides a sense of claustrophobia that really helps the storytelling.
Jolyon Tuck: For those of us who have been Big Finish fans for years, there’s nothing unusual in a fifth Doctor and Nyssa story, to the point that it’s easy to forget that it didn’t really happen on television. What made you opt for this pairing and why do you think they work so beautifully together?
David Black: Famously Peter Davison saved Nyssa because he felt her character worked best with his. Often the relationship between Doctor and companion is one akin to teacher and pupil. You can see it with the Fourth Doctor and Leela or the Seventh Doctor and Ace, but it's present in many more. The Doctor shows his companions the universe, but with Nyssa it never seems to be about broadening her horizons by exposing her to the extraordinary. Instead their relationship, particularly in the hands of Big Finish, seems to be about revealing the universe to her one emotion at a time. In recent years, Nyssa has gained the depth that it could be argued that she lacked on television. She witnessed Event One and essentially took it completely in her stride, but she has been drawn into a more emotive show than it ever was between 1981 and 1983. It's often pointed out that the companion is the representative of the audience in Doctor Who, but Nyssa almost never fulfils that role. The Fifth Doctor has become our eyes and ears far more than other Doctors ever do, while she is more aloof and awkward than the average companion. Nyssa and the Doctor have arguably swapped those roles altogether.
Time Shadows Anniversary Edition raised money for a good cause and I would be grateful if you would consider making a donation to Limbforge, a charity that provide 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for those who need them.
One of the 'bonus features' of the Time Shadows Anniversary Edition was a series of interviews by Jolyon Tuck.
Here they are with my answers...
Jolyon Tuck: It wasn’t until I got to the end of your story that I realised I have next to no experience of zombies in fiction – what films or books would you recommend to a newcomer to the world of the undead?
David Black: Well, I'm no expert either but Shaun Of The Dead is a great gateway drug. Night Of The Living Dead is always worth a watch, 28 Days Later is better than its reputation and The Walking Dead comics are superb. The zombies in my story, however, are not the shambling corpses of Romero films, but rather a mindless mass robbed of their individualism. More like Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers or The Faculty.
There was a Doctor Who Role-Playing Game called Time Lord and the example scenario in it called The Templar Throne. When a character sat on the throne they lost their mind, and what's more terrifying, they could never get it back. Until fairly recently I had forgotten where that came from but that concept really stayed with me. It always frustrated me that in these sorts of narratives, everyone is always so sure that with the removal of the malign influence everyone will return to normal, and they are usually correct. I decided instead that it would be the malign influence itself that sustained these people and the only way to end their misery was to end them too.
Jolyon Tuck: It’s always nice to see a base under siege – and you give the Doctor less than an hour to solve the zombie apocalypse – why do you think we love this kind of storytelling?
David Black: It's true, isn't it? A base under siege is a wonderful thing. There's something very evocative about these structures we build to protect ourselves having the opposite effect. We want to keep danger outside, we fail and trap ourselves inside with it. It's a phrase synonymous with Doctor Who to the point that no one ever uses it to describe any other fiction, but it would be a perfectly good description of the Alien films and definitely The Thing too. You can see the appeal for the budgetary concerns of episodic television, limiting the number of sets required to make the programme. For the viewer, or the reader, it provides a sense of claustrophobia that really helps the storytelling.
Jolyon Tuck: For those of us who have been Big Finish fans for years, there’s nothing unusual in a fifth Doctor and Nyssa story, to the point that it’s easy to forget that it didn’t really happen on television. What made you opt for this pairing and why do you think they work so beautifully together?
David Black: Famously Peter Davison saved Nyssa because he felt her character worked best with his. Often the relationship between Doctor and companion is one akin to teacher and pupil. You can see it with the Fourth Doctor and Leela or the Seventh Doctor and Ace, but it's present in many more. The Doctor shows his companions the universe, but with Nyssa it never seems to be about broadening her horizons by exposing her to the extraordinary. Instead their relationship, particularly in the hands of Big Finish, seems to be about revealing the universe to her one emotion at a time. In recent years, Nyssa has gained the depth that it could be argued that she lacked on television. She witnessed Event One and essentially took it completely in her stride, but she has been drawn into a more emotive show than it ever was between 1981 and 1983. It's often pointed out that the companion is the representative of the audience in Doctor Who, but Nyssa almost never fulfils that role. The Fifth Doctor has become our eyes and ears far more than other Doctors ever do, while she is more aloof and awkward than the average companion. Nyssa and the Doctor have arguably swapped those roles altogether.
Time Shadows Anniversary Edition raised money for a good cause and I would be grateful if you would consider making a donation to Limbforge, a charity that provide 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for those who need them.
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
Twitter Twatter #54
January 2018
Less than a year left now for Astrid Ferrier to get her helicopter license renewed. pic.twitter.com/En9i6wLgb1
— Clayton Hickman (@claytonhickman) January 1, 2018
CEO of Waterstones calls for business rates to be replaced by VAT.
— Heather Self (@hselftax) January 2, 2018
Fails to mention that books are zero-rated for VAT. (h/t @JolyonMaugham )https://t.co/qCIaqQZN9g
Fucking dropped him... pic.twitter.com/D86S8duqMk
— Give Me Internet (@GiveMeInternet) January 1, 2018
Toby Young deleted 50000 tweets leaving just shy of 8500 at time of writing. People fixate on number, but the percentage is more revealing. He felt the need to delete 85% of opinions he was once comfortable sharing to demonstrate suitability for a job he's clearly unsuitable for. pic.twitter.com/HW9lkMOUGY
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 4, 2018
For #DoctorWho friends, via former boom op Peter Neill:
— Toby Hadoke (@TobyHadoke) January 4, 2018
“”Peter Fletcher was a boom operator on An Unearthly Child and worked on many Whos over the years, both in TV studios and on Outside Broadcasts.
On Christmas Day he watched Twice Upon a Time, closed his eyes and died.””
RIP
I want to prove something to someone.
— The Denchen (@DenchenThe) January 4, 2018
Please RT if you are happy with a female Doctor. @WhovianLeap pic.twitter.com/swUNSVk3Bw
We need to talk about the Government's new education watchdog... pic.twitter.com/EzBDDONvJY
— Momentum (@PeoplesMomentum) January 4, 2018
A former Chief Investigator has made a blistering attack on @theresa_may pic.twitter.com/7uxztK561x
— Momentum (@PeoplesMomentum) January 4, 2018
Happy Birthclay to Redbubble's first millionaire @claytonhickman pic.twitter.com/F7KOcshP99
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 5, 2018
Today's mood. pic.twitter.com/g0IZ8rCPQB
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 5, 2018
Client: I want you to develop this application
— Frédéric Bouchery (@FredBouchery) January 4, 2018
Dev: Give me 2 weeks
Client: No, I want this for tomorrow.
Dev: Okay, you decide... about the result. pic.twitter.com/kacPerpWcq
I imagine, in the event of nuclear war or an asteroid collision, this will flash up on all screens. pic.twitter.com/Y2Gm41fYEi
— Simon Blackwell (@simonblackwell) January 7, 2018
Torchwoo to return!
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 10, 2018
---Spoiler Alert!---
Something has happened 'recently'.
---Spoiler Alert ends--- https://t.co/rsHoyQ0FGw
Teacher removed from public education meeting in handcuffs after asking why superintendents get raises but teachers don'thttps://t.co/a3Oko1c8p0 pic.twitter.com/d1CLmGAR8E
— Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) January 9, 2018
@uppityfabulous https://t.co/rtyHGm36Tg
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 12, 2018
Stay tuned.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 12, 2018
Coincidentally, David Cameron, who sold off the NHS blood plasma supplies, ended up doing an after-dinner speech for Bain Capital just last year. They're all in it together. #ToriesOut pic.twitter.com/Nq5RsIxaRV
— Rachael (@Rachael_Swindon) January 12, 2018
Please support a group of our students raising money for Evelynn, the daughter of one of our alumni - an inspirational young lady living with spina bifida. Please support these caring young people! https://t.co/cb1Jy40nJK
— Sarah Williams (@uppityfabulous) January 14, 2018
"If you could keep that exactly that distance away and have it here, the large one would fit inside the small one."
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 18, 2018
How many times is Liam Neeson going to make this film?
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 21, 2018
With hindsight, it's a shame that Lt. Tyler wasn't outed by Lorca's Tribble, actually. #StarTrekDiscovery pic.twitter.com/qUYNB98oHY
— Kippy Woo (@TygerWhoCame2T) January 21, 2018
"...and here's the weather" pic.twitter.com/g3ZoEfmCmk
— Andy (@alreadytaken74) January 21, 2018
Tory @bbradleymp has recorded a video pleading for forgiveness for the things he said when he was 22.
— Rachael (@Rachael_Swindon) January 23, 2018
Suspended Jared O’Mara was even younger, but Ben mocked him. I can’t see any forgiveness, Ben.
Theresa May is too feeble to suspend you. #copout #weak pic.twitter.com/NhiEb1mXf7
Genuinely very surprised to discover that #DavidTennant is six and a half metres tall. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/D5UE5CWJLr
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 23, 2018
No, the facts are written as plain as day across the Doctors groins. David Tennant is 21 feet tall, while Matt Smith's height is 19 feet and Capaldi is a comparatively short 14 and a half feet.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 23, 2018
‘We don't have censorship,’ says Russian culture minister, explaining why ‘The Death of Stalin’ has been pulled from cinema distribution https://t.co/iG855Pwrsq lähteestä @meduzaproject
— Pekka Kymäläinen (@PekkaKy) January 23, 2018
How bad must @davidwalliams have been? https://t.co/gAdSpd2ri5
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 23, 2018
For a government that seems to love the simplification of a referendum and supporting it's result as "the voice of the people", let's have one here;
— Now then chill out (@nowthenchillout) January 22, 2018
Do you want to see @Jeremy_Hunt debate @RalfLittle, with fact checkers and doctors present, on TV?
J. Kirk? That sounds familar...
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 25, 2018
Blub#ChangeALetterRuinABand pic.twitter.com/Odwr7JWjzH
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 25, 2018
Really hoping A) that #StarTrekDiscovery comes out on DVD and B) has big plastic shelf dominating sci-fi cases that are not quite like props from the show.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 28, 2018
It's something of a tradition... @startrekcbs @StarTrekVHS pic.twitter.com/zP2Hfksvun
Bulky, yet satisfying... pic.twitter.com/mgC6pE1Eju
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 28, 2018
Yeah, been there, done that.... pic.twitter.com/HNXOoHfizJ
— Dawn French (@Dawn_French) January 29, 2018
Wes Craven's Newsround was a very different show.
— David Black (@Davetweetedthis) January 30, 2018
Saturday, 3 March 2018
Time Shadows Interview
In order to promote Time Shadows, the editor, Matt Grady asked each of the writers a trio of questions.
Here they are with my answers...
Matt Grady: What was the inspiration for your story?
David Black: Bizarrely, The Faculty. I was in the Regent Cinema in Wantage in Oxfordshire. Don’t go looking for it, it’s not there anymore (the cinema, not the whole town). It was way back in the last century and a group of friends and I were watching The Faculty. It was one of those stubborn ideas that kept resurfacing. It’s certainly the only reason I remember The Faculty. I don’t want to say any more or I risk giving too much away.
Matt Grady: How did you settle on a choice of Doctor and/or companion for the protagonist?
David Black: I went for the Fifth Doctor, because I wanted the story to fit in with some of the bleaker elements of Seasons Nineteen to Twenty-One. I wanted an alien companion which meant Nyssa or Turlough, and the idea of a story that put Nyssa centre stage without mentioning her father really appealed to me.
Matt Grady: Between the outline and first draft, did you add or remove any plot threads, characters, etc.? Any interesting reason why?
David Black: No, it was mostly about clarifying things that weren’t as clear as they could be.
Time Shadows raised money for a good cause and I would be grateful if you would consider making a donation to Limbforge, a charity that provide 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for those who need them.
Here they are with my answers...
Matt Grady: What was the inspiration for your story?
David Black: Bizarrely, The Faculty. I was in the Regent Cinema in Wantage in Oxfordshire. Don’t go looking for it, it’s not there anymore (the cinema, not the whole town). It was way back in the last century and a group of friends and I were watching The Faculty. It was one of those stubborn ideas that kept resurfacing. It’s certainly the only reason I remember The Faculty. I don’t want to say any more or I risk giving too much away.
Matt Grady: How did you settle on a choice of Doctor and/or companion for the protagonist?
David Black: I went for the Fifth Doctor, because I wanted the story to fit in with some of the bleaker elements of Seasons Nineteen to Twenty-One. I wanted an alien companion which meant Nyssa or Turlough, and the idea of a story that put Nyssa centre stage without mentioning her father really appealed to me.
Matt Grady: Between the outline and first draft, did you add or remove any plot threads, characters, etc.? Any interesting reason why?
David Black: No, it was mostly about clarifying things that weren’t as clear as they could be.
Time Shadows raised money for a good cause and I would be grateful if you would consider making a donation to Limbforge, a charity that provide 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for those who need them.
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