I have realised that I left the last entry on something of a cliffhanger. Just what was happening with my ticket sales?
As cliffhangers go, it’s not up there with Who Shot Mr Burns?, the best series of Dexter, or even that episode of Neighbours with the massive fire at the coffee shop that was so spectacular that it made me miss a lecture when I was a student as it required a second viewing.
Even so, I don’t think I can put up with much more of this suspense. This suspense that I am creating here.
Right here.
This suspense.
Look, it’s my website and I will do what I want here. Although going by the frequency of new entries, this admittedly isn’t very much.
I can confirm that tickets have been continuing to sell for my Edinburgh show. Nearly a third of tickets have been shifted with almost two and a half weeks to go, which puts me in a decent position. Although the first weekend of the Fringe is currently looking a little quieter than I expected. I am also pleased to report that I have covered the show running costs of the venue already, so I no longer have to worry about losing the nice people at The Stand any money.
I’ve written quite a bit of new stuff for the show this year and was considering replacing a scene from a film I’ve not actually written, with a scene from a Doctor Who episode I’ve not actually written. However, what was intended to give me an opportunity to use it as an audition to be the new Doctor was thrown off slightly by yesterday’s news. And it wouldn’t be the internet if I didn’t comment on the casting of the new Doctor.
In case this is the only website you visit, I can tell you that the new Doctor is indeed a woman in the form of Jodie Whittaker. I can’t claim to be overly familiar with her work, but she was very good in Attack the Block.
My biggest concern was that the rumours were true and Kris Marshall had been cast, which would have been one of the blandest and most uninspiring castings of all time. And for a moment, in that introductory video of a hooded figure talking through some woods and there was that the low-angle shot from behind, I started to fear the worst.
I was pleasantly surprised when the hood came down and her identity was revealed. I am fine with the Doctor being a woman, as that immediately excludes Kris Marshall, who I will always associate with those stupid BT adverts that ran for decades.
Inevitably, there has been a backlash from the internet against this casting because of the gender. However, the essence of Doctor Who has always been about seeing things you haven’t seen before, or seeing familiar things in a different light. So having the first female Doctor epitomises this, and I am genuinely intrigued to watch the new series.
But before that, Edinburgh Fringe is looming.