Meeting Russell T Davies (warning: contains deeply unflattering photograph)

That went by a lot more quickly than I expected - I needn't have bothered turning up half an hour early, I could have popped along at 1pm and been in and out in half an hour. (I suspect that the requirement to buy the £25 book put a lot of people off - lucky I got it as a birthday present last week!) Still I met a nice young lady in the queue, we chatted about RTD's various works, the book, and her favourite show Torchwood (?!) before she had to dash back to HBOS of all places - to be honest I'd expected to be waiting a lot longer, I was quite underwhelmed with the brevity of the hour-and-a-half wait!

Russell T Davies was bubbly and charming - he looks about fifteen years younger in real life! The camera really does pile on the years. I blurted out (lacking the time to say the million profound things I'd learned from or wondered about his many works) that I loved his cartoons in the book, and that he could have had the career as a comic book artist he'd wanted in his teenage years. I think he was pleased with that(!) Benjamin Cook was also very nice, I told him how much I'd been enjoying the book (so much that I missed Sarah Jane the other day!), he says they might be doing another one(!), and he almost stole my camera!

Doctor Octopus had a little accident in his soup bowl

The Writer's Tale

I meant to do other stuff today but spent all the daylight hours devouring this gorgeous book. And then holding myself back because I don't want to run out of fresh stuff to read in it. It's simply magnificent, far from the fluffy vanity project you might expect for this kind of thing, it's a proper 500-page tome that gives you a genuine insight into the writing process (a little pet hobby of mine), the day-to-day trevails of running a show like DOCTOR WHO, and the life and (incredibly filthy) mind of its writer Russell T. Davies. The presentation is perfect; it's just a raw series of e-mails between Davies and the book's editor, interspersed with script extracts (usually as part of the e-mails) from virtually every stage of the writing process (including deleted scenes such as the origin of Davros!), production notes, screen captures, on-set pictures (all on glossy paper), and - best of all - lots and LOTS of Davies' own cartoons, all of which are BRILLIANT! He mentions at one point (I can't remember where, I've flicked up and down this book so many times that I've no idea where anything is in it) that he was dead set on a career as a cartoonist for Marvel or DC when he was a teenager, but was turned off the idea when his careers advisor told him he had no chance because he was colour blind (?!?) - a grave error judging by his work in this book, which is largely of a professional standard; he clearly has a great mind for visual cues. In fact I'd love to see what he'd do with a full-fledged comic book product (either writing or drawing it!).

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. RRP £30, but Amazon offers it for about fifteen quid (at time of writing, anyway). Don't wait for the paperback, it needs that hard cover. The two authors are signing across the country next week. I've barely even read very much of it but I already know it's a wonderful product, well worth having.

UPDATE: you can read a fifty (!!!) page extract HERE.

Giant-Sized Band Thing

Featuring Liam Sharp, Phil Winslade, Charlie Adlard and Paul H Birch.

Lord Baron Mandelson

Has the world gone mad? Brown hates that guy. In fact, everybody does. Still he was, we are told, instrumental in Labour's 1997 victory. Doesn't this just smack of desperation?

And who's going to replace him as EU Commissioner? Gordon surely doesn't want to risk a by-election given his state in the polls? But who else is there he could appoint? Blair is surely out of the question. I hear Tamsin Dunwoody is out of a job. Baroness Ashton's got it. That was a close one. ;)

Broadcast reaction

I've got to say the BBC's local regional TV news coverage (Midlands Today) has been absolutely glowing for the Tory conference, they are absolutely bursting with pride (rightly) that it's being held in Birmingham (just up the canal from their studio), it contrasts well with their national news coverage - what a pity Midlands Today is not broadcast nationwide!

ITV's Central News was similarly thrilled about the £20m just one week of conference has thrust into the Brum economy - what a pity half their staff are being axed thanks to the government's moves against regional broadcasting...

Instant speech reaction

A perfectly tailored, wide-ranging speech in a perfectly chosen venue. Hit all the right notes. Serious and straightforward without being dull. The funny lines were few and far between but were genuinely humorous and perfectly timed. It contrasted well with the vacuous diatribes given by party leaders last week and the week before. It was clear that everyone in that enormous hall was impressed.