Wednesday 2 November 2011

A little Halloween treat for you....

I couldn't find Julian the USB stick today, so I had to use my old one, Stinson, and on it I found this picture, coincidently quite close to Halloween!

Hope you enjoy!





If you would like your own medieval torture photo, visit Warwick Castle!

Thursday 6 October 2011

Goodbye BBC Birmingham Post Productions :'(

So this is goodbye to post-production at BBC Birmingham for;
The Sky At Night
Countryfile
Coast
Doctors
Country Tracks
and more...

End of an era.

I feel so incredibly sad for my friends and for this city. It's a harsh and insulting blow to the people who first put professional snooker on the telly and developed Top Gear!

I love Birmingham and I loved our BBC; before, during and after my time there.

I don't want to abandon the BBC, but they make it hard to like them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-15200463

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Indy Mogul quotes Doothcrow!!

...This may have been unintentional... but then you never know!

I always look up to Indy Mogul, as they do exactly what we do! ...Only better and more their work is more original.

Anyway!

Indy Mogul...

For those who haven't heard of these epically awesome short filming making Californian gurus, Wiki summarises:

'Indy Mogul is an Internet-based video webcast geared towards amateur film-makers and film enthusiasts, and consists of a number of weekly shows that air both on the Indy Mogul website and YouTube'

For me personally, the most impressive work they do is with their Back Yard Effects series, where they 'Building Hollywood's special effects on a budget' and I've learnt so much from them. More so than I've got around to putting into practise. Anyway, they always put their own builds into practise through their test films; short films that look totally wicked!!

This month is War Month, which I am totally loving, as they teach us how to blog things up (or look like we're blowing things up) and build guns (fake ones that is)!

But they took some time out of their War Month to make this special Awesome Trailer, promoting the up coming 6th series of Doctor Who.



To hear them quote Doothcrow, our Torchwood parody series, (intentional or not) skip to 2:44, but this one really is worth watching start to finish, as is anything made by Indy Mogul.

For the original line, check out this vid at 5:16 (and I'm so, so sorry for the sync xx We're hoping to re-master and fix this, along with the colour for Blu Ray)



And don't forget to watch the new series of DOCTOR WHO, starting this Saturday at 6.00pm, BBC1

There will also be a special tribute to Elisabeth Sladen straight after The Impossible Astronaut on Saturday, at 6.45pm, on CBBC.

Source: Doctor Who TV http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/my-sarah-jane-tribute-on-saturday-18483.htm#ixzz1K6k8ZIMl





RIP Elisabeth Sladen. After entertaining so many young Doctor Who fans so many years ago, and those same children as adults now, as well as a new generation of Who fans, I thought you would always be here. We'll never forget you xxx

Monday 18 April 2011

FAQs and a question for you.

Hiya guys!!

Today, I have something to ask you guys but first: A few FAQ's I'd like to clear up.

FAQ

Will there be a second series of Doothcrow?

Unfortunately, there are no plans for any further Doothcrow, but you can always watch the frist series again! :) Knock yourselves out, and thank you for your interest. It's just not plausable at this time.

On the other hand, I have been secrectly scripting the Movie, which we have no plans to put into production, but maybe some day it will exist as a graphic novel? You may have already heard about our plans to release a special edition magazine, which will include an adapted 'missing episode', based on a script that was dropped from the first series, so there is still more to come... Just not a second series.

You might also remember the time when we released the first half of the series on DVD!


At the time we had every intention of releasing a second DVD with the final 2 episodes, another Dootchrow Unwrapped episode and an outtakes real. Unfortunately (as some fo you may know) my hard disk drive (called Porter) died and so we lost both episodes and all footage.

Luckily, they had already been released on YouTube and we filmed on tape!! So the footage does still exist, in some form (thank god for tape!) and so we're hoping to remaster the footage and release the entire series on Blu Ray!! This might become a combined release with the inclusion of the magazine.


Will there be another Bow Tie Hard this year?

Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for getting Bow Tie Hard up to 2,000 views!! Overall, videos on the Doothcrow YouTube had now been viewed over 51,000 times!! It's been amazing and we'd like to thank you for your interest and enthusiasm for the project.

Unfortunately, we have only ever had intentions to make the one as it was made on a volunteer porject towards a large event for Children In Need. Unfortunately this year the producers of Bow Tie Hard will not be participating in the event due to other commitments and projects.

However, we would love to and nothing is impossible but there are no such plans at this time.


What's this new secret project?

Unfortunately, as the question would sugest, the project is secret and I am unable to divulge any details at this time.

However, because I'm very naughty, I have released an image of a prop that will be in the film. I'm not saying it's 'plot integral' or anything, but some of you might be able to decipher some meaning.



Auditions

All questions regarding the first and second stages or auditioning for the Secret Project should be outlined in our previous blog 'Casting Call'.

Any further questions can be asked there or directed to doothcrow@gmail.com

Now then...

My question for you: Can you recommend any HD cameras with manually adjustable focus and white balance?

Please comment below or email us as doothcrow@gmail.com

Friday 15 April 2011

IT & Communications or lack there of

So yesterday, as some of you may have seen on twitter, my computer died :(

This means we most likely won't be able to finish our Doctor Who spoof special in time for Easter next week, but maybe there's something you can do to help?

The PC seemed to be running fine last night, for about 15 minutes, before it totally shut down. Then the fans were spinning and it seemed to be booting itself back up, when I received this message:


So I pressed the restart button, figuring it had got itself confused.

Then I got this message.


The fact that this error message recognised both hard disk drives gives me hope that Lily and Parker are ok (Yes, I name my hard drives).

So, I assumed, as you would think something must have happened to cause the crash, that it's probably the fact I tried to install another 2Gbs of RAM last week. So at this point I checked my connections and removed the 2 1Gb sticks of RAM, leaving me with 2 1Gbs of RAM still in place and have been since it was built by a 17 year old 3 years ago and was running fine for all that time! Yes Duncan, you're amazing. Funny thing is, the only other update I've ever done was installing a 3rd Hard drisk drive, Porter, who died last year. That's when we lost Doothcrow episodes 4 & 5 and all unfilmed or unfinished scripts.

Anyway, I restarted it, down to 2Gbs of RAM and got this message:


And that's it. That's now all I get.

Help me!!!

Thursday 14 April 2011

Deviant Art

Some of you may already be aware that Doothcrow is on Deviant Art, but we've recently joined a Group! And now our 'art' has been featured! So make sure you check it out :)

The group is called doctor-who-cosplay and Doothcrow and Bow Tie Hard posters have been featured, as well as cosplay photos from our recent trip to The Experience. And one of Ed too (BTH's Van Gogh, featured here as the Doctor)

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Casting Call

From the makers of Doothcrow.


From the Producers of Bow Tie Hard, comes a new project!!



With some old faces returning and new aditions to the Osian Productions family, this new project with be like nothing like you've ever seen in the history of Doothcrow!

Stay tuned to find out more and keep reading to find out how to get involved!!

The project is still in early pre-production stages. i.e. We're currently scripting it, but we're starting the first stage of auditions NOW!

Unfortunately, unlike our previous auditions for Doothcrow roles, which included characters inserted via green screen, we are unable to offer this on this project. You will need to be able to travel for filming purposes. If you live far away and want to be involved, do let us know and we'll let you know if this changes or if there's anything available with future projects.


Here's the info you need:

1) Auditions have to be e-mailed to either doothcrow@gmail.com or linked via direct message on the Doothcrow YouTube. Some of us at Doothcrow may have already seen your work, but others won't have! So please submit through this process rather than text through, facebook or comment any members of the team.

2) You can do anything for your first audition (within reason), or if you already have videos on youtube, you can also just submit those as a first audition. We just want to know who's interested in the first instance and see what we have to work with. If any of the team have previously seen your work, it doesn't mean we all have, so again, please submit using the methods stated only. This will help us keep track of those interested.

3) Include the following information: Current projections for future availability (as far and as accurate as possible) and how far you're willing to travel.


The second round of auditions will include a passage or section of dialogue from the film for the character we feel you fit, or if we feel you have potential for numerous roles, you might receive numerous pieces to choose from.

As we're currently still scripting, you have time! No need to rush these in as we haven't posted a deadline yet.

If you get in early enough however, and we like you, but you don't fit with the drafted characters we have so far, you might be in luck! Because the script isn't finished yet! So we could try add you in!! There are a number of parts up for grabs.

Sunday 27 March 2011

Doothcrow On Heat

Here's a little treat for all our fans & readers, made by my best friend Beth, all the way back in 2009!!

You can also 'like' Beth on Facebook right now! She's a musician, and a very good one :)


Here you go; for anyone who's seen Doothcrow, we bring you 'Doothcrow On Heat'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kecz7RL8OuI

Monday 7 March 2011

Thanks YouTubers!

I want to thank the followng YouTubers!!

EmmaWithACherryOnTop, GloriaQuery, newzikiwi, Badknightmare, damproductions, MultiTJStudios, tayfan2, Mongadillo, ARiggedOven, rickadams, pfft94, Complex35, WolfFX13, llouw1, primevalrocx, TusVampzBorikuas, Therockinblaster, welshgirl2011, KristinDotCom, marinerhawkfan, TomHasHisCamera, Skulgrlfvr, TomHasHisCamera, NuttersIncorporated, mdwtv,


FiveWhoFans, KoolGuy532, thechosennerf, thedictator100b, rockassassin64, Werewolven, brucethedalek, Myriagonvaltorix, scifichicx, dwffdb, lushwitch, beltingtokra, TorchwoodFanFive, Evilaunt, kamikazezealot, prismking, WhoStew, SophieTheVegetarian, OverActorsAnonymous xanos1999, hollygurka, TouchMyKunai23, Ant1Finn, kiriko1130, TardisTraveller16, GiannineRose, chelb0522, TardisReviews, mocktheschool, RYANHENNESSY91, AmyDavina, Lansdownefilms, theorytsr, beatleswhovian, wickedoll, minefewer, sparx91, CHERUBAgentDonal, PertweeFan, m5lton6, Horrorscope666glf, drwhotvwam, TheTimeLordAnthony, emmzlovesthedoctor, maltanetworkresource, fandomoverload, glorifyme, carroll13, djpop909, jaffagirl2005,


JedrenBlack, byte19, DramaFreak77, StopFramEmotion, DementedProductions, Slazerbeam, Carrotman121, poketardis, Tinktheactress, jsmith6266, JackHarkness, iwantyoufortea, ThetaSigma94, doctordavis10, arcatix, birdnoh, enterprise1476, timelord50, nickyd33, jonathanemile, ERUS112, thesubwavenetwork, MissChiaMarie, LUFCRACE, stateofemergency2006, FortiterEtRecte, tommymorris07, TheTimeLordMaster, dalekjames, CryssieM, timelord1997, dalekcaan4, theatreangelina, SparkleXmotion, GiacsGirl, Velocibudgie, cool4jack, liberatedlife, DarrenEtherington, Insomniacanbefun, benrm3273, TheHutchhickersGuide, fraggleroxruleskay, comedychris07, ISNirgal, rockskylie, straker2, WellBilltProductions, faithfulviewer2008, allengjoe,


richardleshone, sleepingvenus, gwenroseblossom, DarkThunderStudios, dogtorwho, schott319, furchterregendX, theotherjohn, RichieVirgilyaoi4eva, 200cake, HQDakota, drunkpunkkid, punchrocker202, HannahxxBananah, TeamTARDISTwoFilms, thetardis63, jaestaar, Paddy702, RadioactivePasta, PhoebeHalliwell1991, DanaReboe, THE2LOONYS, FriendsTilTheEnd11, Rellergert, BigBlueBoxProduction, RipsterZero, YUGIOHSLIFER, megagirlmargmuse, Superdalekdoctor, missmirk, wemadeyoulook, doctordavros1, Arieoformation, lamarnza, Beanoz4, RedMatterCreations, ln3000, kenyapurrz4me, spankmykitty4me, IndieKid90, ADiversion92, rainysaturdayfilms, Gallifrey89, DoctorWhoIsCool2010, mattsuniverse, revspikejonez, electrowhore, MacGyverMagic, GirlZProduction, GaeVTNH,





cybermansec, DanielCairns, dalekidea, TheCompanion001, www501stlegioncouk, DestructionTheMovie, hiddenwithinthunder, TheEliteSoldier1, corvid2, galoud14, vincentkosmos, kingdomyugi, Trakenite2, SuperJokertv, thefilmingmania2, zootbepraised, Schutzstaffelhimmler, auroralunascopes, RogueFalconFilms, chyna8998, hollytyler1989, docandk9, rchan0, ShanaraShannon, JohnBarrowmanXX, DavidGarlandJones, GoldenBalls1234, MusicalStar2008, 1davros3, DevilishCaz, AlexLetLoose, kennysntv, ILoveALotOfThingies, pertypooo, emharkness, maximoon100, SophAndFjord, ARIAxSKYEx, vincent314ljm, Evilisme300, 1plus10equals11, DWGigoogledpie, TooDee23, catvampcraze, OnurbSarie, Ajay2k6, DoctorWhovian1993, DewdGetaLife, xxXCoJackXxx, baconguy23,


checkm8productions, redranger241, tubedavemc, TARDISGirl78, Luvzi12, astrasnail, iornturtel, ConfusingClutz, aiden749, the5torchwoods, angiesgal, TwineLightMedia, Howtchdoor409, Paddle16, dukesofrandom, crdbrdconstructor, kristyr, wmartin94, gottalovepixar, Hikairi001, MODSandROCKERS, tardisscanner, david0sammy0nagel, CMDRKillsalot, nivag2k1, annikaxDTx, monikalel42, SaveThePlanetBeVegan, filmer2, TheDoctorMcGuinness1, farshnuke, fundns, MontyPythonFan, robertpina99, LastTimeLord02, timelordgeek16, tideoftime, brittanyleeann04, Amzzz101, ligerworks, SyedaA7, ToRcHwOoDno1Fan, KtheWise, me4AJnD, francesco212, davidtennantfan08, Ianua70, timelordess1, QueenNyx, IHeartJohnBarrowman,


SpikesVampireGirl, SoldYourPunk, jleigh329, VampirePrincessFaye, renebeca, TheeDoctorWho, fanfilmsUK, THEpowerOFme, TimelordVictorous, ArriveAlivePro, vulcan558, alger1972, ancientcovenants, twilightarchangel, GHFsheepdogs, TheUnknown2007, TheMarkYoungster, torchwoodslittlehelp, Federmaedchen81, tardis11mv, sillyweefilms, bawitaba2002, schmeva, ItsDan91, Bigkidzcool, CaptainJackH92, KateAndromeda, thregar, braice43, LuckyCrazyDux, HanableSpriter, icafreak, emfada, SleepingOnMars, catseyemovies, vkmarriott, elysiumstarz, missteninchx, PMQ1978, BlueTriangleInc, JoeJoetheOreo, shimmergirl1800, DoctorMichael10, uleac, MirrorImageFilms, GrandSlamStudios, lamnaa, pilosop0tacio, hamster3093 and firestar244 for subscribing!!

Sunday 6 March 2011

We hit 50,000!

I think this calls for celebrations!!

Over the next few weeks the Doothcrow team are going to be rather swamped with a particular project I can't even tell you about!! But don't worry, you'll love it, should all go to plan! There are a lot of difficult contributing factors with this particular project. We're taking a lot of risks and we'll see if they pay off, and you know where to tune in to be the first to hear about it!

Anyway, this means celebrating will unfortunately not be our top priority for the next month, but we are so pleased and wish to thank all of you! To everyone we've met along the way, for everyone who's stuck it out with us, for everyone who's watched a single one of our Torchwood or Doctor Who spoofs!

Today I would like to share a different video with you guys.

Here's an original comedy from the team, back from when we were still fresh faced students and I think one of our best pieces and certainly over looked (sorry, but compared to the other views counts...)



And no, I wasn't in charge of the upload. Sorry about the clock! lol



So we'll be celebrating next month and I'll be sure to take photos for you all! :) Maybe you can get me a congratulatory drink at London Film & Comic Con? lol

8th - 10th July, Earls Court

http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

Friday 4 March 2011

Aside from your plant of the dead inspired spoof. Is there anything else you're working on

After all the hard work the team put in last year and everything that happened, I made it a concious and public decision to take a break, which is why you've not seen much from us lately. However, I was recently offered the opportunity to work on something totally amazing, a childhood dream, but I'm not allowed to tell you anything about it lol

Ask me anything

Thursday 3 March 2011

Doothcrow's companions

Since releasing our first episode on January 4, 2008, Doothcrow has made some great friends who have helped us along the way and have projects of their own I'd like to highlight today.

Marc Warner

Marc made us the website http://doothcrowonline.tk and http://bowtiehard.tk! As well as cast me in his Star Wars animations as Princess Leigh :s

He;s is now working on his own series, a Doctor Who animation series at http://www.youtube.com/mdwtv!

Matthew Chambers

Matt was cast as 2 roles in our Doctor Who spoof Bow Tie Hard but unfortunately one had to be cut due to the films time constraints, so make sure you stay tuned here and on YouTube so as not to miss the Director's Cut!!




Matt also provided the opening titles graphics and a few Doothcrow posters! You can check out his work at http://www.youtube.com/walsallmatt

Edward Miller

Ed featured along side our Doctor and Amy in Bow Tie Hard as the loveable Van Gogh in one of our most memorable scenes.

You can follow Ed and his cosplay adventures at http://www.youtube.com/Gallifrey89

Jamie Jones

Jamie made a couple of posters for Doothcrow, which I absolutely love!


I just wanted to give him a shout out. I don't know what he's up to know.

David Nagel

David wrote a fabulous review of Doothcrow for the Torchwood fanzine 'The Hub's first issue!

David also runs the Doctor Who Fan Film Database, so get yourselves over there!

Matt Powell

Matt is producing the Torchwood fanzine The Hub! He's be running a Doothcrow feature in his first issue which will include a new poster, never released!!

You can check out Matt's Doctor Who magazine Reverse the Polarity now!

Gary Barwell

Gary's a fabulous artist who is hoping to do the art work for the Doothcrow magazine!! He's fantastic!

He's also in a band! Hope we get to make them a music video one day. So go check them out :p
(I like to check out Gary a lot :p)

Steven Clare

Steven's a great friend of mine. We met on a photoshoot for someone's degree work. Their project was about fan behaviour and the out come was quite funny. That was a good day out.


Steven and I recently made a video together that you'll hopefully be able to see soon so watch out for that! For now, you can check out Steven on his youtube

page!



Mark Smith

Mark is amazing! He's a Power Ranger! He also provided us with graphics for the Bow Tie Hard trailers and makes films himself.

You can check his films out on YouTube. My personal favourite is Sneaking Dave!

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Musings of a Doothcrow (Quote of the day)

Some of you may have noticed, especially if you follow me on twitter or have known me in real life for more than 5 minutes, that I'm a huge X Files fan.

A lesser known fact about me is that Forest Gump is one of my favourite films, so today I found it very amusing when Cancer Man uttered the quote "Life is like a box of chocolates" in episode 4x07 'Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man'.

I then laughed quite a bit when he proceeded to express his take on this simile.

"A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you're stuck with this undefinable whipped-mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there' nothing left to eat."

"‎Sure, once in a while there's a peanut-butter cup or an English toffee, but they're gone too fast and the taste is fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. If you're desperate enough to eat those, all you've got left is an empty box filled with empty brown paper wrappers."


Personally, I think this explanation holds more weight than "You never know what you're going to get", given that most boxes come with a pamphlet with full ingredients, unless you have a box of "whipped-mint crap", in which case it still normally explains on the box that you will get the same chocolate through out the box.

I also share the cigarette smoking son of a bitches fondness of English toffees, but not the peanut-butter cups. Generally, I'm a huge fan of chocolate and so if that likeness were to correspond with this CSM's life-comparison, that makes me a pretty big fan of life! Go me :) I do however avoid the nuts, but sometimes life just throws them at you and you can only try your best not to choke on them.

Another great quote from this episode was the on-screen notation from Henry IV, Pt. 1, Act 5, Sc. 1;

"For nothing can seem foul to those that win."

Pertaining to those who trample on everyone around them, perhaps without even seeing or looking at the aftermath of their behaviours, I think at some point everyone's probably been witness to actions by someone this quote can be applied to. As much as I'd like to be the winner, I always hope there's a better way to achieve it than Cancer Man did. He might have been the most powerful and dangerous man on earth, but his name won't be printed in any journals. Working in the shadows, destroying those who dare attempt to touch the power he's spent a life time building and conserving.

Don't think I have cause to worry though. "Stupid is as stupid does" as they say and I'd rather be down here than the one spreading foulness upon others for the win.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Bow Tie Hard - The Trailers

Last year the makers of Doothcrow made a Doctor Who spoof based around Matt Smith's series. The film 'Bow Tie Hard' helped raise over £5,000 for Children In Need, premièring in front of 1,200 people on November 5th, 2010 and received over 1,000 views in its first month on YouTube, so I suppose many of may have seen it!

If you haven't, here you go! http://youtu.be/NeDh1NShWSM

Those who have seen it may have noticed some differences from the series of trailers leading to its release and the final film.

Trailer number 1: Romance Trailer


This wasn't so much a case of mis-leading the audience, very much...

Trailer number 2: Horror Trailer


In fact, *most* of the footage from these trailers were actually in the films first cut! Unfortunately due to time constraints, both at the event on YouTube at the time, the 17 minute comedy became a 10 minute sequence of swift episode spoofs.

Trailer number 3: Action Trailer


We couldn't just let all that footage go to waste. Some of my favourite scenes were cut! And so much effort went in to the missing scenes, so we hope you enjoy these trailers as much as the final piece and stay with us to see the final Directors Cut coming soon!!

Bow Tie Hard: The Movie, brought to you by Osian Productions, directed by Harry O'Brien.

You don't want to miss it!

Monday 28 February 2011

The Experience? Dam straight!

For the last few years you've all put up with my Torchwood spoofs and more recently, my Doctor Who spoofs, but I've not really experienced the fan circuit in person yet. I've attended a couple of Memorabilia's and one unofficial Doctor Who event I never felt was appropriate to blog about lol Anyway, when I was invited to the Doctor Who Experience, I jumped at the chance. I hadn't heard much about it and purposely avoided any spoilers. In all honesty I'm so glad I did. It would not have been the same if I had known what was coming. This blog will in all likely hood be shorter than yesterdays as I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone else. We also filmed a spoof for you to all look forward to! Don't want to spoil that either.

So last Wednesday we snapped up the 3 remaining tickets for the Doctor Who Experience for that week. We had originally planned to go the Saturday, but it had sold out! This worked out better for me as I had another birthday party to attend the Saturday night in Birmingham. Did I mention this was all for Steven's birthday? Anyway, our third ticket didn't yet have a home, but on the Friday Steven managed to talk his friend James into coming along, who's birthday was also this weekend! I had never met James, but as it turned out, we work in the same field, only he'd a lot clever than myself and his work sounds rather amazing. He works with the restoration team for Doctor Who! Amazing! He's even in the DVD extras :)

On Friday morning I was so excited and so under prepared I didn't even eat until I was on that coach while texting all my mates about how excited I was! Until I fell asleep on the coach. It was totally necessary as I hadn't slept much that night due to over excitement. I'd never been to anything like this and I knew I had the best tour guide ever to fill my day with Doctor Whoiness all through the day until the Experience at 3pm.

At about 11 I arrived at Victoria Station, leather boots on, black jacket, t-shirt, jumper, trousers, sun glasses. Can anyone guess who I was yet? I still had my back pack on with sleeping bag and the lot, but managed to run to my Doctor and it fitted quite well with the costume.

So there we were; the Doctor and Lady Christina De Souza reunited.

OK, so I'm not much of a cosplayer, but it was his birthday. And for not-much-of-a-cosplayer, the next thing I did would fit that category quite well. We were in Tie Rack and they had the exact tie from Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal! No joke. THE tie!! It's a really particular tie; white, straight at the bottom, made of some other material, and this was the one. I phones my friend Julia straight away who told me I had to buy it. Best £12.99 I will ever spend on a tie!



Our first port of call on our Doctor Who jam-packed day was the Powell Estate! This was amazing. Ok, so much of the floor had been dug up, but we did a quite bit of filming for our spoof and I got to re-envision the TARDIS crash landing and David Tennant's final scene. It was pretty cool. I've never been to a recognisable filming location of something I love before. Then it was back to the station, just in the nick of time to meet up with James. I changed my shoes for the run back to the tube. Boots are a pain! Literally!

We also attempted to spray paint my hair black at the Powell Estate as we hadn't had time to do it before. This was funny. We also tested hair spray in Steven's hair after Ed, another DT cosplayer, had said to me it was the absolute best method of capturing the DT look. Steven's hair already had gel in it and I came to conclude his hair is entirely un-manageable. Sorry Steven!

Now on to meet James. It was now almost half 2 and we were rushing to get to the Experience on time, but Steven had chosen to meet James somewhere very specific and I'm so glad he did!

I can't remember the name of the station we were at but there was a TARDIS parked outside!! (Just found it on Google. It was Earl's Court Tube Station). We managed to film just one shot to go in our video before we had to run for our train. I'm sure James was probably very confused at this point. Although, knowing Steven, James has probably seen it all before. He was a very good camera man so I don't think it was his first time :)

He was such a cool guy. Steven, possibly a little lost once we started talking about colour recovery methods. Decoding chroma signals isn't usual banter I suppose, but I was quite fascinated by what James had achieved with restoring Doctor Who and when we arrived back at Steven's that night we immediately put on the Planet Of The Daleks DVD. If you've not seen it, buy it.

Anyway, arriving at Olypia pretty much dead on 3 it was great watching 'The Doctor' run off into the wind, coat sweeping behind him as he ran ahead for the tickets. James and I were quite enjoying our chat and were surrounded by other people on their way to the Experience, so we took our leisurely time.

I found it odd we were the only ones in costume. Is this odd? I thought that was usual form. I did see one very cute little 3 foot tall David Tennant, and I was recognised as Lady De Souza! I didn't expect that. I only really did it for the video, and for Steven. It was his birthday!

It was a staff member that recognised the costume. All the staff were really nice, which was great, as if I had been them, a customer like me would have very much got on my nerves!! Once we were in, we stayed 3 hours! Eventually we were asked to leave as there was a private party that night. It wasn't like we didn't exhaust every exhibit by this point! We were in no way rushed.

For anyone who's been to the Doctor Who Exhibitions, it probably starts very much the same, only it had all the new stuff from the new series. As far as I'm aware, this is the first tour of these particular exhibits. And so, typically, our first photo was taken with my favourite Dalek of the new series! No, not the big fat power ranger ones. The Ironside!


This section of the Exhibition was short and sweet, as it was more of a decorated waiting room as we waited for the actual Experience. There was a count down and our Doctor had everyone counting down to the main event!

The Experience began with a run down or reminder of Doctor Who series 5 and then we joined the adventure! Past that, I don't want to spoilt it for you. We couldn't take cameras into the Experience and quite right too. I'm glad I didn't speak to anyone who had been before hand (although I did attempt to construct some sort of boob-cam using a flip video camera, but they failed. I would have felt too guilty to release them had I succeeded). I was in total awe from the second we walked in. It was freaky, scary, exciting, interactive and whole load of other adjectives!!

I can't even tell you the best bit in case it spoils it for you!! But the effects and audio where great. There was one bit I'm sure you won't mind me telling you, when we were walking down a corridor between one section of the story and another, done out like a space ship interior, with Matt Smith's voice still guiding us, I went to put my hand out to touch the wall when Matt yelled "Don't touch the walls! Please, please hurry. The future of the Universe relies on you!" I jump out my own skin! It was funny though. Then I think the other people experiencing The Experience found me very amusing as I jumped at every twist and turn, and was in awe at some of those sets. Can't tell you what they were though! Although I don't think they'll mind me saying their 3D effects were the best I've ever seen!

The Experience itself lasted just under an hour, but the event wasn't over yet as we still had a full exhibition on the other side! I've not been to any others, but I'm not sure this one could have been topped! As soon as you get through the doors, the Pandorica is in front of you. We filmed a quick clip and took a couple of photos. I thought this was cool. Then there were all the costumes and Steven got to sit in the Pandorica chair! Apparently this is the same one from the series.


I thought that was it; a Pandorica and some costumes, with 2 cyber men around a corner, appearing to block the exit. I was scared to leave and watched them for a long time as other passed, just to see if they'd jump. The Cyber Men have always scared me. I think it's because the concept of them seems to be getting so much closer to a reality each day, and it's the same method Doctor Robotnik uses to take over Mobius in the Sonic The Hedgehog Adventures. This idea of robots taking over us or us becoming them is a freaky thing.

Anyway, eventually, after much mickey taking by James and Steven and being dared to touch them, which I didn't, I eventually walked past, and what I found... I think was my ultimate experience as a Doctor Who and David Tennant fan. His TARDIS. The TARDIS interior of the Eccelston/Tennant era was right in front of me, to see, touch and walk on. Well, you can't touch the centre console, but we as good as did. I touched the floor he walked on! lol


Then there were more costumes, this time of the companions. Then another TARDIS!! This one was the one spanning Peter Davison to Colin Baker... I think... It was white. That was cool too! :)


There were loads more exhibitions of the bad guys including Davros, Daleks in many incarnations, including the special weapons Dalek! (Much cooler than Storm, sorry guys! lol) Oods, Scare crows, etc. Oddly, seeing Doctor Constantine and the child from The Doctor Dances together reminded me of the Doctor and Jack. Their costumes are very similar.

Then there was more interactive stuff including a video of a dalek ship battle sequence we had to add sound effects to and a sort of dance room where a video of loop of Doctor Who's choreographer teaches you how to walk like a Scare Crow and a Cyber Man. James managed to catch a lot of footage or Steven and I making total fools of ourselves, but I don't have it here with me to release. Sorry guys!

Once we reached the final exist, which lead to the shop with a little spiny door thing to stop you re-entering the exhibition, we rushed back to DT's TARDIS for some more photos, more nosing around, and so that Steven could re-enact David Tennant's final scene and Matt Smith's introduction, in sync to the video playing in the back ground. All the while some staff gathered to watch. Others avoided us as they tried to set up for the private party on its way in. As they set up the table with refreshments, of the alcoholic variety, I was tempted to stay, but eventually, after enjoying a cup of tea in the adjoining cafe, we were asked to leave. They were very polite and patient and we were certainly the last to leave. I also treated myself to a TARDIS mug! I was really splashing out. I hardly own any merchandise because I'm too tight.

The journey back to Steven's was an adventure in itself given how packed it was, but we couldn't wait until the next one. We had another birthday to attend! Straight in the house, I tended to my blisters and then it was straight to the pub! Costumes and everything! Luckily you'd never known mine was supposed to be anything other than someone very boring. We enjoyed some atrociously embarrassing pool games and a well deserved pint before the others carried on to clubbing, but Steven and I were dead on our feet and returned back to his to finish the day with the X Files! Perhaps this wasn't Steven's ideal end to a Doctor Who packed day, but I was up to the series 3 finale and just couldn't wait any longer! He'd also never seen it. A crime. I put that right. Pizza, cakes and 3 episodes later, it was about 3am and we pretty much collapsed.

***

Saturday!

Predictably got up late, but we'd earned our sleep! This did however cut in to our filming time and we had a spoof to finish!! I was determined not to let the previous days filming go to waste so the costumes were back on! We were incredibly strapped for time now, especially given that I'd forgotten my tickets home so my dad was giving them to someone at New Street station to pass to me on the other side. A risky strategy, but it worked! And Paul was lovely. I had to run to meet him, still in my costume but I suppose that made it easier for this wonderful stranger to spot me at Euston. We then went for a pint, in a pub full of Brummies! They were all preparing for the Birmingham - Arsenal Carling Cup Final on the Sunday. If I hadn't have got my tickets, my back up plan would have been to beg a coach driver at Wembley to get me home the next day. I also enjoyed the company of a lovely young man who helped me navigate London's underground system and a man told me how pretty I was as I left the pub lol I also saw a guy who looked just like Elliott from E.T.! Which was odd, as I'd only been watching the trailer for E.T. 2 a few days earlier, courtesy of Russell's facebook posting.

Filming... I don't know how well it went as I had no time to watch the footage back or to move it on to Harrison, my hard drive, so sorry I've got nothing to show you there. I enjoyed the script we wrote on the way to the bus though! Yes, it was filmed on a bus! No, not a flying bus. Couldn't get one on short notice. Sorry.

Filming wrapped, Experience experienced, tickets in hand, it was time to head home for another birthday party!! Yep, that's right, a forth birthday to celebrate! If Lauren reads this, least she's know I really genuinely did not get chance to attend hers too, which I'm gutted about, but had an awesome weekend none the less. Still need to celebrate Kailash's birthday actually! But anyway, back to Saturday night!

Still in costume as I hadn't had time to change, I did a Super Man change routine in the train toilets before I arrived at the pub where my mum and her friends looked like they were having a great time. Tired and having just received a text informing me Peter Davison had been at the party at the Experience after us! I was so glad to get that first pint, already waiting on the table. And suddenly, as if the band knew I was there, they played Billie Jean!! The band were amazing too, and all so hot! Honestly, this was a hot, talented band.

***

Waking up Sunday morning I was so happy not to have a hang over, but unfortunately couldn't walk flat on my feet yet after wearing those boots so long. Still, we had a great day ahead of us. This was the day the weekend either became the greatest ever or the ultimate anit-climax!

Birmingham were in the Carling cup final!

I'm sure you all know the end of this story and it was...

THE


BEST


WEEKEND


EVER!!!


Thanks Steven, James, my dad for getting me my tickets, the stranger who gave me my tickets, to the staff at the Experience and all the odd wonderful people I met on the way! And the band! And Julia for talking me into buying that tie!

Everyone is amazing :)

Sunday 27 February 2011

Karma

I know, I know, you all want to hear about my amazing Doctor Who Experience and the Doctor Who Exhibition, read about how I almost met Peter Davison, visiting the Powell Estate, filming a new spoof, with myself playing a new character and with the facebook-popular Steven Clare as the 10th Doctor, and everything else that made this weekend so amazing.

I went through so much crap for it!!

The karma experienced this weekend was unreal and if I were you, I would keep out of ear shot until the storm has past. I'll try keep this short, as we're about to delve in abis that is my bad luck, brought on by the shambles that is Britain's privatised rail systems and my own stupidity.

The reason I'm splitting today's and tomorrows blogs into the good and the bad is so that tomorrow's blog can be totally awesome!! ...And because I haven't taken the pictures of the camera yet and you know you want pictures!!

So the plan was the go to London on Saturday, the 26th of February, go to the Doctor Who Experience, hang out at Steven's, do a bit of filming, return home on the Sunday. Then we found out my mums birthday celebrations were on the Saturday. But that was fine. I decided to go down on the Friday, hang out, film, go to the Experience on the Saturday and be back in Birmingham in time for the party.

This sounded like a better plan as I wouldn't have the stress of travelling on the Saturday and getting to the experience on time. So, we booked it all in advance. The coach down and a 1st class train back, so I could really chill out on the Saturday in the 1st class lounge, have a couple of drinks, chill out before the party.

As it turned out, the Saturday was sold out for the Experience! Luckily we'd phones and checked a few days before, and luckily I'll already booked tickets to go down on the Friday, so we bought the last remaining 3 tickets for Friday afternoon. What luck! Unfortunately everyone we had invited on the Saturday could not make the Friday. That was a little disappointing and we were left with a ticket spare and £20 down. Luckily, Steven asked his friend James who was totally awesome and we had plenty to talk about.

Now we were set for what was shaping up to be the best weekend ever, and it actually was!! But I'll save the good stuff for tomorrow. They'll be the parts I'll remember for years to come. What I'm about to type should only stay with me until my complaint is made with London Midlands rail services.

Over excited and under-prepared, I only went shopping to complete my costume on the Thursday, but luckily found what I needed and barely slept the Thursday night. Then, predictably, I over slept that morning. Jumping out of bed like lightening, it was a rush to the coach (especially with Birmingham's bus services suffering severely with the cuts, despite rising prises) but I made it! With enough time to go to Tescos and buy wrap and drink. I was too tight to stretch to chocolate, which was stupid and I later regretted. I just like my money were it is.

Oddly and unrelated a friend of mine was also going to London this weekend by coach, I found out Thursday afternoon. I got all excited that we might be on the same coach, but his left an hour earlier. No way I was getting up that early!

Finally arriving at Victoria, before the Doctor, I found the most amazing thing in Tie Rack! I'll shoe you the photos tomorrow! So it was looking like a good day. Steven looked great and we did some running, just to show off his coat. We visited the Powell Estate and another tube stop that has it's own police telephone box, which was so cool. Unfortunately the Powell Estate had huge holes in the ground all over the place and huge fences blocking you from falling in. I hadn't managed to find any hair dye before coming down, but I had picked up a spray on black dye just as Boots was closing the day before. The spray is only supposed to last one night so I waited until the actual day to use it, in case it rubbed off, so we used it at the Powell Estate before filming. Unfortunately it was way too windy and most of it just blew away. That was a waste of time. By this point, quite early in the day, but having already experience more than I usually do in a day, my feet hurt like hell! In my lack of preparation, I hadn't packed plasters, knowing I was going to be wearing these stupid black boots and my feet were covered in blisters. We hadn't even got to the actual event!

At the TARDIS we met up with Steven's friend James, who works in a similar field to me so we had plenty to talk about while Steven ran ahead (very quickly looking very super hero-ish as his coat blew in the wind) to get the tickets. We were now running late for the Experience, or at least cutting it very very close. We had stopped to do some filming with the TARDIS, but we didn't know we were going to have to wait half an hour for the next train to the Olympia.

Arriving at the Olypia, it all looks a bit formal and not particularly inviting. Not dissimilar to Birmingham's NEC really. I'm guessing it's usually used for more business-y purposes. Then once we received out £20 tickets, we had to pay £1 pure item in the cloak room. This was disappointing given I had my sleeping bag, over night stuff and didn't want to wear my coat inside. In our haste and with everything moving so fast, I hadn't even managed to get money out. The cash point at the Tesco's that morning had been typically out of order. I still owe James the money and feel quite guilty about it as I'd only known him a half hour at this point.

The following three hours were absolutely amazing!! It was well worth every penny and aptly named 'The Experience', because I can't even see the point in attending another event. It can now be out done.

We were there long enough that we were asked to leave. They were in no way rude or rushed up, but just explained to us they had a private party in that night, which we had sort of realised once they started setting up the wine and beers within the exhibition itself. As we were leaving I actually pushed the boat out to treat myself to a Doctor Who mug to remember the experience by. Of course I left this at Steven's house the following day so that was a waste of time.

The train to Steven's was painful in the boots and Harrison, my hard drive, had now caused an irritated bruise on my back from where it was placed in my ruck sack. I hadn't packed well. I was so unprepared. The train back was awful, with us having to sit on the floor for lack of seats and we kept having to get up to let people go past. I was expressing to Steven how much I was looking forward to my first class train experience the following day when it suddenly hit me; I'd left my tickets at home.

I never forget my tickets because I always collect at the station, but a couple of weeks earlier I'd had my card blocked and haven't bothered to sort it yet, so having paid on a different card, I had the tickets posted out. I was absolutely gutted and it really put a downer on the end of our amazing day, but the day wasn't over yet.

I probably should have mentioned at the start of this blog that this was all for Steven's birthday!! It was also coincidently James' birthday, and I was returning home on the Saturday for my mums birthday, and all this meant I hadn't got to go to Lauren's party, also celebrating her birthday. Well, on the Friday night, we went to the pub to celebrate the birthday of one of Steven's friends. Me and Steven shared two shamefully embarrassing games of pool, of which we won one each, but it was so good to finally get a drink and chill out. The bouncers were as crap as usual, proving it's not just Birmingham who has to put up with them. One had a go at me for trying to walk up a flight of stairs with glass on it. Why didn't he just clean it up or put a sign up? I didn't know. I was concentrating on the drinks I was carrying. I didn't put up an argument as there's just no point with bouncers. They'll immediately assume you're too pissed, whether you've just walked in or not. I was literally holding my first pint of the night. So I walked round and used the other stairs, in full view of him having a go and starting on two other guys, who were just trying to use the stairs. The bouncer was clearly looking for a fight.

We didn't manage to get there until almost 10 and still hadn't eaten since the Tescos wrap on the coach. I really should have bought those chocolates to eat during the day. James had very kindly bought me a cup of tea after the Experience. I really owe him one. Anyway, 2 drinks later we were heading back to Steven's as the others carried on to the clubs.

Luckily we'd managed to stop at boots and buy plasters, which were applied the second we walked through the door while Steven put the pizza's in. I was still stressing over how I was going to get home, trying to get in touch with friends in London to see if I could get a lift back and googling train and coach fares. Steven very kindly indulged me by sitting through 3 episodes of the X Files to calm me down. He really made the whole day amazing and tomorrow's blog will reflect that far more than today's wining! Steven had never seen the X-Files, which is a crime in itself and had to be put right! By 3am it was time to sleep.

***

It was 10 o'clock before Steven woke me as his alarm hadn't worked and you will have never seen me move so fast, straight on the phone to the rail services to see if they could re-print my tickets. They couldn't. I asked if my mum could provide them at New Street station, but I had to have them on the train with me. They were entirely un-helpful and didn't care. I would have to pay the full £55 ticket prise for a standard seat if I wanted to travel that day. I tried to get in touch with Kailash but he was getting a coach on the Monday, so I'd miss my mums birthday and the Birmingham Carling Cup Final if I waited until then. Steven's not really in to Football and he already had birthday plans for the rest of the weekend, so in all likeliness I would have missed it. I tried to phone Matt, who was in town for Lauren's birthday in the hope that he was getting a lift back to Birmingham. He wasn't answering. I knew he was with Hannah, but her phone was off, so I facebooked Lauren, but predictably she wasn't online as it was her birthday party. It was looking more and more likely I would have to pay up for new tickets.

Then my dad hitched a genius plan.

He was out shopping when I called, so I had some toast, continued to do the call round to see who else was travelling, until he called back. I even called Matt's mum, hoping he could bring the tickets down for me on the way to the party, but his mum informed me he'd left on the Friday and was travelling by train. So I waited for the call.

The plan was to give the tickets to someone at New Street, travelling down to London, and I'd meet them at Euston. So we had a plan to get me my tickets and although still worried it might not work, my back up plans were to beg a coach driver at the Carling Cup Final at Wembley the next day, or book the £9 Monday train we'd found online. So, waiting for the second call, when my Dad would tell me who had my tickets and when they would arrive at Euston, Steven and I completed out video plans for the day. That was an adventure in itself.

The shoot included filming on a bus, but we had each spent all our money in the pub, so we set out to find a cash machine. We found 2 that both charged more than if we used out last pennies for a single bus fair to town, to use a free cash machine and then buy a day pass, which I thought was ridiculous and refused to pay, but we needed the money. A very helpful lady who heard me moaning said Iceland do cash back. So I bought some lucozade and chocolate. They didn't have any normal sized bottles of coke. I'm not a big fan of lucazade, but I had to buy something and figured it would probably do me some good.

Eventually we started filming and finished in the nick of time for my dads phone call. It would have taken over two hours to move the footage on to Harrison, so the footage is all currently with Steven, so the bruise in my back was for nothing, and the blisters on my feet were still growing as I was still in costume by this point.

Turns out the trains from Birmingham to London on take 1 hour and a half, and I had a train to wait for, 40 minutes on that train, then had to figure out the tubes to get there. The station at Steven's had a ticket machine, out of order, and a ticket desk with no staff. It was a total joke. So I sat on the train, panicking over my lack of a ticket, worrying about my other tickets, checking the time every 30 seconds and my phone battery was dying after my over use of it. That didn't matter though. I could charge it in the 1st class lounge, if I got my tickets.

Arriving at Victoria station, I ran to the barriers but of course couldn't pass and they pointed me in the direction of a pay station. £18 later, I had 13 minutes to get to Euston from Victoria. I asked one member of staff how to get there and he totally blanked me. I asked another and he totally blanked me. I tried to check a map but couldn't find either Victoria or Euston on it. Asked a third member of staff and finally got an answer. Platform 3. I ran to the tube and jumped on in the nick of time. Whether it was the right one, I hadn't had time to check. I asked a stranger, but he was Russian and didn't understand. I asked someone else but they were French and didn't understand. I asked someone else who was African and luckily he worked for the tubes and was really lovely, and I was on the right one.

I arrived with 3 minutes to go and ran, still in costume, to the platform and met the wonderful stranger with my tickets. I was quite out of breath by this point, but managed to pull myself together, feeling so much relief as the tickets were placed into my hand. I said thank you, shook his hand and gave him the tube pass I'd just had to purchase, so we went for a drink together. It was great. We sat in a pub full of other Brummies, all preparing for the game the next day. Unfortunately the pub didn't have food on due to lack of staff.

So, feeling much calmer, feeling very silly for causing so much stress for Steven, my parents, and this poor stranger carrying the tickets. Now I could relax in the first class lounge as I was 2 hours early for my train and look forward to my 1st class meal. But no, the lounge closes at 5 on weekends!! And I had sat in the pub until 5!! A nice man outside the pub randomly told me how pretty I was though and then decided to share his life story as I made my way to the closed lounge. I was gutted. Least I had my meal to look forward to, as I was now starving. But I checked with a member of staff. Turns out they don't do that on weekends either! It was biscuits and crisps. So frustrated and hungry, I gave in and went for a shitty Burger King. They chips really are foul, but I was so hungry.

Then Hannah finally called back. It didn't matter much now as I had my tickets, but I could see how Lauren's party was going. Turns out it was a pocket dial. And another one. And another one. I was sat in Burger King yelling "Hannah" down the phone to try get her attention. I tried to call Matt to tell her but his phone was still off, so I ended up calling her boyfriend, who was elsewhere, but might have had more numbers for people at the party. Luckily he did and the calls stopped.

2 hours later, and very annoyed and bored, I finally got on the train, 10 minutes early.

10 minutes early, 1st class ticket and I still only just managed to nap the last seat. People piled in to the 1st class seating area as the other areas filled up. The train was so packed people were asked to get off and use an alternate route. I couldn't do that as I had a connection to catch. This was odd in itself as I've never known there to be a change between London and Birmingham. I also thought I'd booked a Virgin train, which this was not. The internet had also said the change was at Coventry. It was not. After bragging about the 1st class experience to Steven, I know felt very stupid, and also like we were all being punished for booking cheap advance tickets. They say nothing good comes for free. It doesn't come if you pay for it either.

At this point I very much regretted being too tight to pay the 30p to pee at the station. I didn't see why I should have to pay for the toilets when I should be chilling out in a lounge, with toilets, and free coke and biscuits. Now I was having to struggle against angry commuters, a bike, suitcases, a cat, screaming toddlers, just to get to the toilets that were out of order!!!

Once the train set off, people travelling to Birmingham were asked to move to the rear of the train, which included my coach, which meant more people. They were really ramming us in, with people now sat on peoples laps and still filling the isles. We never saw a single member of staff and I didn't get my tea and biscuits. I was now quite please we'd gone for the cash-back option so I had chocolate and lucozade with me, and so pleased I'd had that burger king. Just a shame it had been burger king.

Even when we all switched at Northampton, with the huge stampede of struggling and frustrated customers, we never saw a single member of staff and were not helped to find the connecting train leaving in 5 minutes. This train was only 4 coaches long, so again, seating was an issue. Luckily 1st class was left slightly more alone, but still no drinks or biscuits. And I was still in costume! The plan had been to change on the train as I was going straight to my mums birthday bash but there was no way I was risking finding another London Midlands train after the state of the previous one, so I decided to wait until my final connecting train at New Street.

The train then proceeded to stop at every single stop between Northampton and Birmingham New Street. The same screaming toddler was now kicking and punching the floor of the 1st class and suddenly our couch wasn't moving at all. Having stopped at Berkswell, there was an announcement made to apologise for the delay. Apparently this was 'due to a fatality earlier in the day'.

From Euston to New Street, it took 2 and a half hours. I had actually left Steven's at 3 o'clock and still had one more train to go!!

Pegging it for my final train, I made it, and got changed just as fast. Having now covered over 150 miles of the country, I still hadn't seen a single member of staff. This was unfortunate given I may as well not have bothered with tickets and there were two men arguing on the train. One man wanted the other man to call him a taxi. The man with the phone gave the angry man his mobile, but the angry man couldn't find any buttons on it so couldn't dial for a taxi. The more wound up he got, the more he yelled, but the man who owned the phone wouldn't call him a taxi. I don't know whether they were together, but the angry man was rather threatening. I just wanted my pint at this point, a lot.

I was almost home now and had one final stretch of walking to do, uphill, ruck sack on, when I got a text from Steven that didn't help my mood! But amusing none the less. He'd found out who was at the private party at the Doctor Who Experience; Peter Davison!! If I'd known that I would have flashed them my BBC badge and blagged we were with them!

Finally at the party, it was great. Amazing. The band were fantastic. But something tells me they won't be coming back as there were two fights that broke out. We've never seen trouble in that pub before! It just wasn't my day.

But the lager was great and already on the table for me. Awesome.

Today, I'm very much in pain when walking from the blisters but the bruises are subsiding and the black hair paint came out fine.

Then the Blues won the Carling Cup!! Amazing!! Woo! We broke out the champagne :)

And I think that's all my moaning done. I shall now reiterate this to the train people.

1st class really isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Friday 25 February 2011

Proud.

I'm currently sat on a coach, struggling to even find an internet connection so I'm going to keep this brief.



So, I'm on my way to London! For the Doctor Who Experience Exhibition! I was so excited I was up all night, thinking I'll sleep on the way there, but now I'm too excited and am rather regretting that decision! I'm also out of food.



Anyway, so I'm sat here, nothing to do, dressed as Lady Christina De Souza on my way to meet the Doctor at the Powell Estse and I thought back to my previous events. A couple of memories stand out, like meeting John Barrowman and Kai Owen, but one in particular made me smile enough I had to share it with you. We've been thinking about making a video this wekend, and although we have no solid plans or scripts, we'll see what we can adlib. That, and my previous blog post about fan mail, got me thinking about our films are received by people and no memory had made me more proud or inspired me to continue than when a child came running up to me, gave me a hug, and quoted my own film back to me. That was totally awesome.



For that, I'd like to thank my cast and crew for making Bow Tie Hard everything that it is.



Although I'm still officially on hiatus, I hope me & my teams can continue to entertain you guys in the future!

Thursday 24 February 2011

Fan Mail

On Doothcrow we LOVE fan mail!

If we looked at the statistics, Osian Productions is probably more accustomed with hate mail, but it's all in good spirits I'm sure and it's always just as amusing.

Anyway, today's blog is about the good mail! (Might do another blog about the funny hate mail)

Mostly I want to share with you some of the extraordinary talent a couple of people have shared with us and give them huge thanks for sharing some love :)

Firstly, to Jamie Jones, who's genius works of art can be found on Doothcrow's facebook and deviant art.



And secondly to Matt Chambers (who you may know as the YouTube vlogger Walsall Matt) for his amazing art works, also found on facebook.

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Doothcrow: The Official Magazine

Currently the magazine is just a concept, with growing ideas of what it could possibly be, and for me personally I would want it to signify everything that we've achieved and so would hopefully be deserving of a physical glossy print.

If the magazine were going to exist it would be cool if it reflected its inspirations, such as the Torchwood and Doctor Who magazines (although with a sense of self) and with this in mind, it would include advertisements from those who want to take advantage of the space. There would be about 7 A4 sized spaces available, so if anyones interested, please e-mail your adverts to doothcrow@gmail.com

So, yesterday I mocked up this cover...

Remember, this is just a MOCK design! And this magazine does not yet exist and is all just theory and dreams right now, unless the idea is popular. I guess we'll see.

See what your friends think too and let us know here, on facebook, on twitter or e-mail us at doothcrow@gmail.com and don't forget to watch the series to know what it's all about!

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Daily posts....

...by which I mean when I'm not away. Daily posts, when I'm not away.

Sound like a deal?

I'm away this weekend, but I think you'll enjoy the outcome, once I've got together enough money for new memory and a couple more hard drives so I have space to edit & Back up.

As I found out last year when I lost Porter (yes, I name my hard drives) back-up is very, very important.

Once Lily and Parker are backed up, externally, and buy some new interior space, I'll be flying! Just wait to see what we produce then!

If you have name suggestions for the new interior and exterior drives, just comment below.

In the mean time, you can watch all our previous videos at http://www.youtube.com/doothcrow

Monday 21 February 2011

Ramair

Doothcrow stars the charismatic, handsome hero Captain Jack Harkness, played by the unforgettable Daniel Johnstone (be a fan at www.facebook.com/fanofdan) who lent us his unforgivable American accent and dancing skills solely for our enjoyment.

And he's now a DJ!

Daniel Johnstone. DJ.

Make sure you tune in to his show, every Monday at 17:00 at www.ramair.co.uk where you can also watch him on webcam! How scary's that? And trust me, his taste in music is far better than mine!

To quote Ramair.co.uk; You can contact the studio directly with your comments, requests or shout-outs by emailing studio@ramair.co.uk, phoning 01274 233 269 (or 3269 from any campus phone for free) or by texting the word ramair (followed by your message) to 60300.


Listen Live!

Hey, poster boy!

We have new posters! Yay!

Once I learn how to use blogspot, hopefully I can add a gallery of sorts.

For those who wish to see all our posters now, check us our at facebook.com/doothcrow and on deviant art!

And here's one I made earlier.

Friday 18 February 2011

First post...

Hi guys!!

Thanks for joining us :)

This blogspot is still under construction currently but you can watch our Torchwood and Doctor Who spoofs NOW!! Just visit us at http://www.youtube.com/doothcrow

You can also find us at
http://www.twitter.com/doothcrow
http://www.facebook.com/doothcrow
http://doothcrowonline.tk
...and almost anything else you can add Doothcrow on.