In the market for the TARDIS as a second home?

Better get our your big boy checkbook….

According to the self-proclaimed crazy novelty bloggers over at Movoto where the lighter side of real estate rears its head every once in awhile, it’s going to cost you anywhere from just a little over $50K to just over $2.5 billion for the likes of the TARDIS as a potential second home. On the upside, depending on how you look at it, you might be able to ‘steal’ the TARDIS for a mere $50,000, but, that’s just for the outside. To get the inside, you’re going to have to shell out a little over $2.58 billion more. Let’s take a look from a real estate perspective….

Location, Location, Location

When you look at it from a pure real estate perspective, the Time and Relative Dimension In Space or TARDIS, is both a time machine and a spacecraft, all-in-one. To begin with, the Movoto folks abide by the real estate golden rule that location is one of the most important aspects of determining price. Given the fact that the TARDIS is a spaceship where location and view are pretty much destined to be perfect at any time, this gives the property a leg up on any other property available as the view, according to the listing, never has to be a brick wall.

Size does matter in real estate

While it’s virtually impossible to determine just how big the TARDIS is (on the inside, of course). Fortunately, in the episode, “The Invasion of Time”, the TARDIS was described as being the size of the Empire State Building, or 2,248,355 square feet. As you can see from the infographic below, at an average London per sq foot price of $1,147.65, the inside and of the TARDIS would cost $2.580,324,616.75. That, coupled with the cost of the outside, which would be $50,497, makes the TARDIS a very affordable $2,580,375,113. Any takers?

Check back tomorrow for another, possibly more attractive, real estate listing that I think you just might be interested in. It’s certainly more affordable. How about putting in an offer on Fawlty Towers?

Planning a Doctor Who 50th soiree? How you can look and sound like a Dalek!

With the 50th anniversary of everyone’s favorite Time Lord looming on the horizon, how can you not be already thinking of how to plan that ultimate watching party come November 2013.

As I’m sure you are fully aware, the Daleks are those cranky cyborgs that seem fixated on the concept of universal domination. Created by Terry Nation, they first appeared on Doctor Who back in 1963 and were quickly established as one of the Doctor’s deadliest enemies, if not THE deadliest, as supported by numerous surveys over the years. For almost 50 years, viewers have watched Time Lord after Time Lord battle these evil beings whose singular goal is to “Exterminate! Exterminate!”
 

While nobody should want to see the world through a Dalek’s point of view…on the outside chance you do, the Doctor Who: Eyestalk app, which is available through the App Store, is a pretty simple but intriguing photo-filter app. Essentially, you take a photo or video and then run it through one of seven filters that correspond to different Daleks that have appeared on the show. The app is pretty easy to use, and your Dalek-eye photos and videos are easy to share on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.
 

Should you tire of the Doctor Who: Eyestalk app, you may want to check out the iAmaDalek app from the BBC. This lets you actually sound like a Dalek. You record a message, and the app plays it back with your voice all harsh and mechanical-sounding.

So, amaze your friends, be the first on your block to see through the eyes of a Dalek AND, sound like one during your ultimate, don’t want to miss, Doctor Who 50th anniversary watching party.

A bit of Scott & Bailey brilliance on both sides of the pond in April!

A bit of a two part post today, both having to do with a brilliant series from ITV1, Scott & Bailey.

Starting west of the Atlantic, Scott & Bailey has begun or is getting ready to premiere on a number of public television stations in the States this April (Heads up, North Texas. KERA Channel 13 premieres the series this coming Saturday, April 6 at 9:00pm). This is brilliant telly. This is neither Luther nor Cagney & Lacey. This is authentic, pure and simple. It’s dark, gritty and humorous, at times, but overall, it’s real.

Written and co-created by Sally Wainwright, who also wrote BBC’s Last Tango in Halifax, Scott & Bailey stars Suranne Jones (A Touch of Cloth) and Lesley Sharp (Starlings, Afterlife) and follows two female detectives who are part of the Major Incident Team (i.e. murder investigation, etc.) in Manchester.

Scott and Bailey series 1 trailer
 

 
*****MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS BELOW IF YOU ARE ANYWHERE BUT THE UK*****

East of the Atlantic and beginning tonight (3 April) on ITV1, series 3 of Scott & Bailey returns on ITV1 with both Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp reprising their roles as the crime-fighting duo, DC Rachel Bailey and DC Janet Scott. They are joined by Tracie Bennett (Coronation Street), Nicola Walker (Spooks), Danny Miller (Emmerdale) and George Costigan (Homefront). The new series also sees the return of Amelia Bullmore (Ashes to Ashes) as Detective Chief Inspector Gill Murray. Interestingly, Bullmore has also written episodes 6 and 7 of the new series. Tonights episode, which will air at 9pm on ITV1, begins when a worried neighbor knocks on Janet’s (Lesley Sharp) door concerned about a smell coming from a ‘creepy’ house down the street, she can only guess at the horrors to come. Meanwhile, newly wed Rachel (Suranne Jones) longs to be single while Janet realizes her own marriage to Ade is over.

Scott and Bailey series 3 trailer – premieres 3 April on ITV
 

 
Everytime a series like this comes along the temptation is to cry marketing and promotion wolf one more time and say “…if you watch one new series this year, make it Scott & Bailey“. This time, I mean it.

BBC, former Python Terry Jones, discover flying penguins

BBC presenter, Terry Jones, discovers a colony of penguins which are unlike any other penguins in the world.

Back in 2008, the BBC announced that camera crews filming near the Antarctic for its natural history Miracles of Evolution series had captured footage of Adélie penguins taking to the air. Film maker, writer, former Python turned BBC presenter, Terry Jones, explained that, instead of huddling together to endure the Antarctic winter, these penguins actually take to the air and fly thousands of miles to the rainforests of South America where they “…spend the winter basking in the tropical sun“. Following Jones’ report, stick around for a very informative behind-the-scenes video which explains the dangers that Terry Jones encountered during his discovery!
 

 
To actually see how the BBC is able to make the impossible seem possible and see the great lengths that BBC producers have to go through on a daily basis to bring you the kind of stories that you will see no where else with footage unmatched anywhere on the telly today is truly brilliant.

Even though they have now vacated Television Centre, the Beeb never ceases to amaze….

BBC’s Panorama reports on bumper Spaghetti Harvest in Switzerland!

Sadly, before you read on, know that there’s not a happy end to this story as the annual Swiss spaghetti harvest has never seen the likes of what it was as reported on by the BBC’s Panorama series back in 1957.

It was April 1, 1957 when the British television program, Panorama, broadcast a relatively simple three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the shows highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, “…for those who love this dish, there’s nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.”

The line-up for that days show included a long segment about Archbishop Makarios, leader of the Greek Cypriots, and a clip of the Duke of Edinburgh attending the premiere of the war film The Yangtse Incident. The second-to-last segment was about a wine-tasting contest, and then it came time for the spaghetti harvest.

Dimbleby, sitting on the set of Panorama, looked into the camera and without a trace of a smile said: “And now from wine to food. We end Panorama tonight with a special report from the Swiss Alps.” The screen then cut away to the prepared footage. When it was all over, Dimbleby reappeared and said, “Now we say goodnight, on this first day of April.”
 

 
Despite Dimbleby’s exaggerated emphasis on that final phrase, the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest story generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, “…place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.

Since 1955, Panorama had been anchored by Richard Dimbleby, whose authoritative, commanding presence had made him one of the most revered public figures in Britain. If Dimbleby said it, people trusted that it was true. Which is one of the reasons why the spaghetti harvest hoax fooled so many viewers. His participation lent the implausible story an air of unimpeachable authority.

To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fools Day stories of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fools Day hoax. Panorama never attempted another April Fools Day spoof, despite numerous calls for a sequel.

The above film footage is from the Archive Collection held and administered by the Alexandra Palace Television Society.

A tearful goodbye to BBC Television Centre…

As of today, the infamous BBC Television Centre is no more. It has ceased to be. It has gone on to meet its maker. Bereft of life, the Centre rests in peace! It is…an ex-Television Centre. On Monday, 18 March, a host of BBC stars bid farewell to the famous Wood Lane building for a program, Goodbye Television Centre which aired last week on BBC Four. Numerous individuals who started their careers within the walls of Television Centre were on hand to pay tribute such as John Cleese, David Jason, Penelope Keith, Ronnie Corbett, Miranda Hart, David Attenborough, Michael Parkinson and Terry Wogan.

Miranda Hart spoke of how she cried with happiness in the loos on her first visit to TVC, and that she would often look down from the gallery to the now-defunct Studio 8 (where her comedy series Miranda was filmed) for writing inspiration.
 

In 2010, upon hearing that we were going to be taping in TC8, the same studio where they taped the likes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Are You Being Served, Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By to name a few, we started to inquire about the general history of Television Centre. Now that the day has come that the historic studios of Television Centre are no more, I’m really glad I started asking a lot of questions.
 

Every so often, you run across a site on ‘the internets’ that you just have to share. This particular site came to our attention when we were taping the host segments at TC8 in BBC Television Centre with Moira Brooker (Judy, As Time Goes By) and Philip Bretherton (Alistair, As Time Goes By) for our Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen special that aired in March 2011 on PBS.

Martin Kempton, a former BBC staffer and current freelance lighting director who is working or has worked in virtually all London television studios, has put together an unbelievable archive site that covers the history of not only BBC Television Centre, but the old BBC studios, ITV studios and the numerous independent studios around the UK such as Shepperton, Molinare and Pinewood, to name just a few.

Billed as An Incomplete History of London’s Television Studios, this site just might be one of the main reasons that gives validation to the Internets. It includes not only text history, but schematics of most of the buildings including the infamous ‘question mark’ Television Centre building, just enough technical explanations to make you dangerous and a host of links to other television history sites on the internet.

A quick glimpse of what’s in store if you go to the site is the story of how BBC Television Centre got its shape. “As the story goes, architect Graham Dawbarn came up with the design. Given a fifty-page brief he retreated to a pub for inspiration and with a plan of the oddly-shaped site in his head he pondered on the problem. How to fit eight to ten studios in this area – giving easy access to scenery and separately to artists, crew and audiences. Gazing at it for a few seconds he doodled a question mark on an envelope and the penny dropped. The shape was perfect.”

If you are at all interested British television production or just an overall comprehensive television history of this sort, bookmark it and visit everyone once in awhile. The hundreds of pages are totally overwhelming for one sitting so just use as a resource every so often if you have a question or for the next time you need some witty banter cocktail party trivia.

David Tennant and Billie Piper to return for Doctor Who 50th!

In the true definition of “This just in, it was announced earlier today just hours before tonight’s return of Doctor Who on BBC America, that both David Tennant and Billie Piper (the Doctor’s companion, Rose Tyler) will join current Doctor and companion, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, in the 50th anniversary special, which begins filming this week in the UK. In addition to Tennant and Piper, John Hurt of the Harry Potter series will also co-star.
 

The 50th anniversary special will mark the first time Tennant has appeared as the Tenth Doctor since Jan. 1, 2010, and also the first time Piper has appeared in the series since Tennant’s final episode, “The End of Time”. Tennant was brilliant as the Doctor for three series while Piper was the Doctor’s companion for two series.

Personally, taking nothing away from Matt Smith who portrays the current Doctor and the good early returns on Jenna-Louise Coleman as the Eleventh Doctor’s mysterious companion, Clara Oswin, this does have my Doctor Who pants dancing in the aisle. I can’t think of a better Doctor/companion duo than David Tennant and Billie Piper.

Since it was David Tennant, himself, who announced not to long ago that he would not be returning for the 50th, it’s time to turn our attention to John Barrowman, who also ‘officially’ announced he would not be returning as Captain Jack Harkness. Could it be that we will now hear of his return for the 50th? One can only hold out hope.

Anyone else you’d like to see return for the 50th? How many days until Nov 2013?

Sunday’s a great night for drama on PBS as Call the Midwife and Mr. Selfridge set to premiere!

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With Downton Abbey, Upstairs Downstairs, Sherlock, Inspector Lewis, Call the Midwife, Endeavour, Great Expectations, Birdsong and Wallander, PBS is, without question, your home for the best drama on television. This coming Sunday night is certainly no exception. Having had the benefit of seeing both series in their entirety already, you do not want to miss either of them.

Call the Midwife returns for season 2

Written by Heidi Thomas and based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife returns as Nonnatus House opens its doors for more births, babies and bicycling beginning Sunday at 7:00pCT/8:00pm ET on PBS.
 

Mr. Selfridge starring Jeremy Piven on PBS’ Masterpiece

Following Call the Midwife on Sunday night at 8:00pCT/9:00pET is Mr. Selfridge, part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. Jeremy Piven stars as Harry Gordon Selfridge, the man who set out to make ‘shopping as good as sex’ when he opened Selfridge’s in 1909. Retail had never seen the likes of a man like Selfridge. He wanted the merchandise out on the counter for shoppers to browse even if they didn’t buy. Most stores at the time were reminiscent of Grace Brothers Department Store who employed a floorwalker whose main purpose was to eject members of the public who were perceived to be browsing rather than buying. Selfridges even had a restaurant, for heaven’s sake!
 

 
For those keeping score at home, series 2 of Mr. Selfridge begins filming in April of this year with a third series in the pipeline. The monumental audience success of Call the Midwife has the BBC commissioning both a Christmas special and eight new episodes for series 3 set to air in 2014. At this point, all that is known about for series 3 is that it’s 1959 and the eve of the swinging Sixties. The winds of change are sweeping through the country and the residents of Nonnatus House face some momentous changes of their own. Definitely should be one to clear some space on the DVR for….

Alan Partridge is…Alpha Papa!

It’s been far too long since the end of Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters on North Norfolk Digital radio. Some of you might remember Alan’s brilliant stint as a disc jockey on North Norfolk Digital, following the failure of his television career which, many think, peaked in the 90′s with his chat show, Knowing Me Knowing You.

Now comes Alan Partridge’s long awaited big-screen adventure, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, a Die Hard-like hostage thriller that sees North Norfolk Digital’s finest facing off against a fellow DJ gone postal….could it be Side-kick Simon?
 

“We’re putting him into a situation,” says Steve Coogan, who created the Alan Partridge persona along with The Thick of It and Veep creator, Armando Iannucci. “We had to make it filmic without throwing away the DNA that makes him Alan-like. So we kicked around a lot of ideas and ended up with something that’s a bit Dog Day Afternoon and a bit Network. There is a threat level.”

“The notion of Alan being caught up in a hostage situation is outlandish, but how it happens is perfectly believable,” says director Declan Lowney, veteran of Father Ted. “Steve strives for stuff to be real, even with all the gags. That said, there’s quite a bit of action. We’ve got violence, guns and heavy kissing.”

Look for Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa at a big screen near you later this summer beginning 7 August. After all the supposed summer movie ‘blockbuster’s’ come and go, what better way to close out the summer than with true big screen brilliance. Can’t wait to see how Partridge defends Norfolk’s Nakatomi Plaza.

Until then, enjoy a bit of Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters…
 

Jonathan Creek solved mystery of Sherlock’s fall from St Barts rooftop back in 1998

Since early 2012, the world (minus Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, of course) has been left wondering just how Sherlock Holmes survived the rooftop fall from St Barts Hospital at the end of series 2 of Sherlock. Not to worry, according to Alan Davies, who stars as the part-time magicians creative consultant, part-time sleuth, Jonathan Creek. Seems as though a similar stunt, although not exactly the same, was part of a 1998 Jonathan Creek episode, ‘The Problem at Gallows Gate’. In the episode, a young man leaps from a second-floor balcony in front of stunned guests at a house party in the country. He’s pronounced dead at the scene and his body is taken away in an ambulance, but he’s later seen strangling a woman to death. So, clearly, his own death was faked.

Fast forward 14 years to the rooftop of St Barts Hospital as Sherlock Holmes leaps from the building with Dr. John Watson waiting below across the street. More genius from the brilliant minds over at the Radio Times as they put together what seems to be a plausible explanation comparing the 1998 Creek episode with the present-day Sherlock series 2 ender. Any thoughts?
 

For your own comparison purposes, here’s a fan recap of the final scenes from Sherlock “The Reichenbach Fall”. Faking a bit of pavement might be a bit more difficult than a patch of grass. And, it was a rooftop and not a second floor balcony. Still, eerily cool, isn’t it?