What Duran Duran Means to Me Over the Years...

                                                   
Re-invention and keeping it fresh and in tune with an ever-changing society and world that's what Duran Duran did over the centuries. This in response to longevity.  Looking back and re-listening to some amazing songs and tunes and lyrics. Still pondering the meaning of many songs and lyrics and alluding to what they could be about in my mind and my opinion.  Some of it funny, some silly, some poignant and reminiscing of the great decades from the '80's-'90's in particular.  How the talking point at college (not uni - proper FE college) with friends and obsessives.  No I won't go into the guy who fancied himself as a Simon LeBon lookalike, who became a friend, but yeah looking back he did.  Ssh I've said that so many times now everywhere that I've lost count!  The memories endure and being Princess Diana's fave band too!
                                                 
All that and a James Bond movie title song!  This band surely had A View To A Kill!

I felt Cinderella Ride was an homage, of sorts,  to the late princess Diana and again that'll probably be more my opinion.  It's a haunting fairytale bringing up visions of doing good and trying to bring out the best of humanity, whilst trying to escape more personal painful phantoms.

I love(d) Rio and everyone used to laugh at that when at college and I had to defend it and myself for being crazy wild [boys] over it! (Sorry it's punny!] What was wrong with it, catchy tune and lyrics penned especially by Simon in a bar on the back of  a napkin when watching the waitress! It's a great visual personification of what he saw and imagined! "...cherry ice cream smile..." who cannot get inspired by that!  Though some have said it refers actually to that waitress's movements, I'd always go for the choice of the river itself - again personified.  But could the river be a metaphor for the woman! My friends used to much prefer Hungry Like The Wolf, all good and fine in its own way but these days, wonder what the fuss and arguments were all about anyway! All were amazing sounds.

Obviously the most obvious one would be The Reflex and reading fans online with their ideas on the meaning of the words was strange to even surreal in some cases.  To me it was always about actions and reactions.  You know how for every action there is an equal opposite reaction.  But laughed so much over people saying it was about sexual urges!! Needless to say it was probably a 'get up and do' kinda song rather than sit there and be passive!  Though the band did admit the boozy moments didn't help in deciphering the meaning behind it.

                                                      
Hey Sunset Garage again more sublime lyrics and who'd have known the lines:
"with your big eye punk
fashion fingernails..." could have such a subconscious impact on my profile pic on Twitter.  Ha.  Seriously I should quote that on my nails pic portfolio!

Perhaps a funny one in my own mind would be The Chauffeur.  As I felt it was more about the car, rather the Spirit of Ecstasy statue/figurine on the iconic Rolls Royce car, especially with the lines: you know with added personification...
"The front of your dress, all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time
With your beating heart...
Sing blue silver..."

With the 'Spirits' arms behind her and her dress blowing backwards in the wind resembling wings!  And more so if you know the history behind the very first statue commissioned for the car, designed by the sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes and the model, Eleanor Valasco Thornton who posed for it!  All fascinating stuff.  Google it sometime!  I know the lyrics were a poem written by Simon in 1978, two years before he auditioned for the band, but I always imagined the inspiration behind it could be this.  Such a fanciful notion I know, but that's how their songs inspire and conjure the imagination.  Even if it is mostly always romantic notions I seem to conjure and think up!  Isn't that one particularly special part of music and how there's so much meaning behind songs, whereas on the other hand, some are simply there to be enjoyed without adding what we think they mean!  Works both ways and where would we be without such aspiring artists and songs.  A very Ordinary World that would be.

Then again Ordinary World - the song is so far removed from being ordinary!  Again it's about so much more than first meets the ears!  A homage of sorts to what was happening in the world at large once again!  Such connotations in songs can also lead to discussion over what people are not free to think, write or talk about!  Me getting too philosophical for some I guess.

Then there was New Moon On Monday - no not about werewolves (but ya never know!) This one to me seemed more politico in context.  A new changing world order with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Same with in some sense with Paper Gods from the iconic Paper Gods album.  It's so relevant to today's world and society, striving for materialism and getting 'cut' along the way with so many putdowns and rejections that we must endure!  That the world truly is a "basket case" right now.  Who'd have known it would have such a prophetic impact with such a socially serious vibe...

"Bow to the paper Gods in a world that is paper thin
The fools in town are ruling now
Bleeding from paper cuts, money for head shots
Fools leading (today)
Who needs it?"

Again if you really think about it there's an underlying political/socio message, even if unintentional.  Especially of how "the total human race became a basket case..."
Then again there are many who need it in order to make ends meet anyway they can.  Guess those that don't need it are those with power, wealth and fame!

The other song that has had a vast impact on me is/was Do You Believe In Shame?  I know it's about the loss of one of Simon's friends, but the words can apply to losing anyone under any circumstances and for me that was my late father.  So much meaning and emotion in so many of the lyrics:
"And it may seem selfish now but I'll hold on to
The memory until all this fear is washed away."
"Cos I believe that a little part of you inside of me will never die.."  Words that echo and resonate forever!

And that backdrop of the Twin Towers makes it even more poignant in my opinion!

Do I confess (okay I just did) when I was younger, very young I wrote some notes *true story) and threw them out of my bedroom window as in the video of this song and funny thing my window was at the front of the house thus more chance they'd be picked up, whether or not they were read or blown to oblivion somewhere...

Other songs were more in the vein of influences for the boys, like Skin Trade and Simon's first few lines of that song give me an Elvis vibe, Simon sounds like him so very much to me..
"Working on the weekend baby
She's working all through the night..."  Yeah my brain working overtime!  ha.

The David Bowie connection even before their tribute to him with singing Star Man, What Happens Tomorrow; You Kill Me With Silence has Bowie connotations specially the chorus, a little.  There are even some songs where Simon does sound like David Bowie, such as The Crystal Ship for starters, or Lady Xanax a little.  Starting to Remember. I don't think he really has to try to sing like him, or be made up to look like him cos he's such a marvel in his singing and masterful voice that he just manages it.  They were and are both iconic performers in their own right! No mimicking or copying necessary or required!
The other one is Somebody Else Not Me.  If we had proms when I was at school, this for sure would have been one song I'd have played back then, or even at school reunions, which we don't have here (thankfully, I might add!)
By the way I actually do like most of the songs on the Pop Trash album

So when asked to name 10 Duran songs off the top of my head, that was easy, could've named more
Rio
Come Undone
What Happens Tomorrow
Ordinary World
Sunset Garage 
The Seventh Stranger
What Are The Chances
All You Need Is Now
You Kill Me With Silence
Paper Gods

                                                
I do like my joke though about if Duran had a Neighbours tribute band based on the Aussie soap Neighbours, it'd be called Durian Durian!  Sure Karl (Alan Fletcher) would fruit that and his obsession with growing the durian fruit in the show last year!  At least some found that funny.

Loved they have a range of perfume out too, recently launched at Liberty of London, with such exotic names as Hungry Like the Wolf, Come Undone, Skin Divers and You Kill Me With Silence; all song titles of course and the tagline of "I smell like I sound."

Thus I thought (had been on a mind for a while) it would be cool if they came out with their own range of make-up products especially nail polish colours and particularly with the song lyrics in most songs, whether directly or indirectly referring or alluding to fashion, or maybe just maybe only in my mind! As long as there are various shades of purple in there I'm all in!!
Including:
Sunset Garage:  "...pink eyed punk fashion fingernails..."

All You Need Is Now: "...decline and fine
like a diamond in the mine..."
"bat your lashes let it shine..."

Only In Dreams: "she keeps a guard up while her nails are wet..."  [Also cool vampire song!]

Meet El Presidente has it in fashionable bucktfuls!!
"...but don't take
Off your high heel shoes...
Dress in flimsy clothing
Use your lipstick line
To cover fear and loathing
With a pink disguise..."

You Kill Me With Silence: "that's your style girl..."

Butterfly Girl: "set free your butterfly girl..."

Cinderella Ride: "the queen of helpless things..."

Paper Gods: "the next thing you must have, find peace with matching bag..."

The Chauffeur:"...blue silver..." {There's a nail varnish colour right there!}

Rio: "...cherry ice cream smile..."  And more...

#FlashbackFriday to #BeforeTheRain will always be an all time classic in the vein of The Windmills of Your Mind or Autumn Leaves with @SimonJCLeBON's haunting voice. So brilliant it could've been used as a theme for a movie! Still should be!

SO as the title states: what Duran Duran means to me over the years: constancy, a friend that's always around no matter what.  Yet aspiring anew, life altering and at the same time remaining the same.  Influential, artistic, innovative.  Thought provoking talking points.  Gracing magazine covers and interviews the world over.  Ever evolving to fit the moods of yesterday, today and the future too.  Sad lyrics, serious lyrics all reflecting an emotion, a memory.  Funny, poignant, silly.  But through it all these guys never changing in personality or character.  Fun loving, humourous. The same amazing guys as when they first started out, that's what I meant by being constant.  Each song, especially my faves, evokes a particular chapter in my life turning pages everyday to find something amiss or of a new found wonderment.  The "bleeding from paper cuts" is apparent in my life from way back in my early years and teens and even now: all in an awesome way!

No other band around in the history of music and nor will there be, at least for me!  Yeah definitely "bow to the Paper Gods..." with those lyrics down pat on paper who wouldn't bow to Duran Duran's majesty?!

PS: hey we need more meet 'n' greets for your London fans soon!

Paranormal Lockdown UK 1.9 "Kenton Theatre" Review

One of England's most haunted theatres, the Kenton Theatre at Henley-on-Thames which has been around for a long time which boasts the ghost of  Mary Blandy who poisoned her father with arsenic in 1751. However she maintained the mixture was a love potion sent to her by her married lover, Captain William Henry Cranstoun.  The play The Hanging Tree based one her life was performed here and after this, the cast have seen the ghost of Mary, described as a woman in grey.  There are also other paranormal hauntings associated with the theatre and just not limited exclusively to Mary.  Katrina was enthusiastic about investigating here as she was a Theatre Major in college and has investigated other theatres too.  Agree in that theatres do have a history of hauntings and especially by many of the actors who used to work at the theatre.  (Mary's ghost is also said to haunt Oxford Castle.)

Voices coming through of crying, "William" - could that have been Mary's lover William? And Nick also caught "Murderer".  They caught the voices saying "they did" when they ask if that was Mary they heard.  Nick saw a shadow figure but they couldn't capture anything on camera which was nothing new and a shame.  As well as Rob seeing something too near the balcony area but again it wasn't caught on camera.  Don't think Katrina got anything on the digital camera since she didn't just point and shoot when the shadow figure was spotted and I don't know if she actually took any stills when she wasn't being filmed on camera as they didn't mention this again.

There's an orb that flies into Nick from the right of the screen into his left side, could it have been Mary?  (See below.)

Nick slept on the stage as he was drawn to the energy there and got a cool EVP on the digital recorder he left on all night with "get up Nick." I thought it sounded a little more "get out" as in: the stage and theatre doesn't belong to him.  Will re-watch this again anyway as always.  Katrina slept on the balcony but didn't have anything happen except getting a cosy night's sleep (as always ha!)
Next night she slept in the orchestra pit where one of the theatre workers caught a ghostly face on his mobile which they said could have been Mary.  Didn't look very female to me.  Nick slept on the catwalk where he didn't get anything either but he did manage to fix his hair for a first this series, more so since he was rather tired.

Other voices that came through on the Geoport included: "she did" in response to whether they heard something or not.  As Nick climbed to the catwalk he heard the trap door closing behind him and a voice saying"close it."  As well as asking "who's she?" when he climbed up, probably in reference to Katrina.  Katrina commenting Nick couldn't do the 'mirror exercise' when she was getting him to try some acting techniques on the stage!  Well he's no actor, otherwise can you imagine all the more flak he'd get for what he does, like he needs anymore!

Using an alarm on the curtain they actually caught it moving and as I tweeted that it looked like something was walking past there which was what Elizabeth, the historian, also told them at the end when they showed her the evidence.  She also informed them of how people have said Mary shows herself by taking on the form of an orb and then manifests into a kind of blob (to use Katrina's word) but doesn't get to form a full figure.  This was endorsed by the 'blob' they caught on the camera as a black mass trying to manifest which I said looks like a woman's figure attempting to take shape and form.  My reference to see below from above pic, as the orb caught by Nick on stage.

As soon as it tries to manifest, it vanishes!  Cool watching it unfold on screen.
As well as "sick", "disease", need money" all coming through as well on the Geoport.  Mary came through a few times and the name "Sarah;" showing this wasn't always a place associated with Mary.  Elizabeth later telling them the place was also used to hand out social benefits to people including money.  Sure I heard other voices such as "upstairs" when asked who they were talking too and if it was Mary.

This ep reminded me a lot of the season 2 Ghosts of Shepherdstown season 2.4 episode I'm Your Greatest Fan where they managed to catch some great evidence there too.  See my review here.
https://mila255.blogspot.com/2017/08/ghosts-of-shepherdstown-24-im-youre.html

Since theatres also have a fascinating history of performances in general and also of hauntings associated with them.  Elizabeth spoke of how Mary was probably trying to tell her story but the people who saw her were too afraid to hear it.  Her cropping up at the theatre especially after the performance of the play about her, was perhaps a chance for her to be heard.  Interesting to hear of what other results Elizabeth comes up with in her research in the future.  The story of Mary is interesting and a must read for anyone interested in such history.  Especially as the men seem to get away with quite a lot and Mary being hanged for patricide.  Would she really have killed her father intentionally particularly since she didn't have that sort of a character from all accounts and was considered very intelligent and articulate.

Doctor Who 11.3 "Rosa Parks" Review

                                                 
An episode for those into their history and specifically US history, with Rosa Parks as a talking point to begin any conversation.  But to actually be there got them talking in this, especially Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) who experienced first hand the racism of the past.  No it didn't get better in the longrun, things improved but back to being worse currently in most countries, particularly the US.  With Ryan being told he can't stay in the diner and Yaz being called a Mexican, though things seemed to be a little different for Mexicans, at least back then, but not so for the blacks populace.  Yaz's reference to not being accepted even at work is believable and relevant today and particularly being a Muslim and being called the generic stereotypical label of 'terrorist'.  As well as being called "Paki" : a racist term also still prevalent today.

The Doctor (Jodi Whittaker) being impressed by being in 1955 Montgomery Alabama and meeting Rosa Parks (Vinette Robinson) where the TARDIS took them after their ninth attempt to get back to Sheffield or fourteenth as Graham (Bradley Walsh) said.  Detecting artron signals which isn't good, probably why the TARDIS bought them here.  With Krosco (Josh Bowman) sabotaging the bus sit-in and trying to alter history.  The Doctor detecting his suitcase in a warehouse and being masked.  Explaining also why he came across the TARDIS which is meant to be invisible to others.  They have to ensure that history goes ahead unaltered with the next day being the day of the sit-in and as they take in the bus ride to determine the route and her schedule.  Using the hotel room wall as a marker board which the Doctor says can be easily wiped off.  Graham referring to her as not being Banksy, and who know she could be him!  Ryan being confused about his history of who Rosa is and Graham saying his grandmother would be angry.

The Doctor encounters Krosco (a pun on a market warehouse store almost) who is a former prisoner of Storm Cage as she notices his tattoo on his wrist and he was released with a neuro restrictor being implanted so he can't get violent, though he does grab her neck and can't do much else.  As she makes his vortex manipulator disappear so he's stuck here and she's his only way out.  Of course he tries everything he can to ensure history is changed as he's a racist.  He gets the driver, James to alter his day so he doesn't drive the bus but Graham and Ryan fix that by turning up at his fishing hole and making sure he goes back to work telling him there's going to be trouble on his route.

Ryan gets to speak with Rosa, her husband, when he follows her home to keep an aye on her and getting to meet Dr Martin Luther King.  As the Doctor tears her coat so Rosa can fix it and be on time for hr bus in the evening.  Yaz tells Rosa she's in the police and she wants to be in a senior position.  However as they board the bus, they realize there won't be enough people to ensure Rosa's protest goes ahead as Ryan couldn't get enough people on board.  He did manage to zap Krosco away, way back in time with the Doctor's gadget when he obstructed the road with a car so the bus would be late.  The Doctor tells them they can't get off the bus as it's not full enough and they would be a part of history that didn't help her.  Rosa is finally arrested as she refuses to give up her seat.

The best ep so far allowing children a look at 'living' history unfolding before them and the hardships people faced back then as they were treated unfairly and unequally cos of their skin colour.  Was it ironic that Graham was the reason Rosa didn't give up her seat.  More ironic, not in a flippant way, but he was the one who got up from his seat thinking they'd helped her and could leave.  The Doctor telling him they have to be the ones "to not help her."

Other good bits: Graham calling himself Steve Jobs and telling the racist cop they were here to pitch a telephone with a camera, sending letter ability and the look on his face.  Like Brits are weirdos too!  Should've added yeah and we Brits (the majority) done with slavery centuries ago and don't suffer racists fools lightly! The Doctor showing them Rosa has an asteroid named after her and thus she also changed the universe too!  Cos that's what it's all about and let's no forget the Congressional Medal Rosa was awarded!  A slap in the face for you Number 45 and your racist egoism and that of your ilk!  Yes talkin' about you bigly!!

With lots of references for ardent Doctor Who fans, including Storm Cage where River Song was incarcerated during Doctor Eleven's (Matt Smith) time on the show.  Elvis was mentioned before when Rose and the Doctor wanted to go see him in concert and here the Doctor said she gave him a mobile phone, which he later used to convince Frank Sinatra to arrange a concert tour for the bus driver who was substituted for James on that morning.  In A Christmas Carol in 2010 the Doctor and Frank performed a duet, it was said.  The vortex manipulator was used by Jack Harkness and then by several other Doctor Who characters, including Martha, River, Clara, Missy and the Doctor too.  With Doctor Thirteenth's reference to it being "cheap and nasty time travel" also uttered by Doctor Eleven in The Big Bang.

The perception filter is what Krosco used on the suitcase with his equipment and which is also used on the TARDIS to make it invisible to others and has been used many times in other episodes including The Vampires of Venice. (Loved that ep.) The temporal displacement weapon is not really used much in the past but was one way the Weeping Angels sent people back in time. 

AGH spiders next week and in Sheffield too!! All in time for Hallowe'en!!

Paranormal Lockdown UK 1.8 The Mill Street Barracks" Review

The Mill Street Barracks were founded around 1871 at St Helen's, Merseyside and were used by troops during both World Wars, and during World War II the troops who were stationed here before being sent to the frontline.  There were reports of shadow figures and Jamie Williams told of a creepy entity in the basement.  Also a room leading onto secret tunnels and where he wouldn't enter.  Which gave Nick an uneasy feeling there.  As soon as Jamie showed them that room and refused to enter it, I thought portal.  They do appear to be located in such places where no one likes it and dark figures roam.  The basement was used as a morgue during the war housing DBs until they could be buried. 

Also Jack the caretaker there had a three legged dog named Bruce and there were reports of barking.  This was later heard twice on various recordings and also Nick felt he was following them around as a form of protection like a guard dog.  When Nick mentioned dog, the light panel of lasers went off as if Bruce heard and came forward.  Katrina commenting how it gets lonely on investigations and how Nick would love to have a dog as a companion and so wishes this invisible dog was his.  But it's cool to have a spirit dog though.

Paranormal investigator Danny Moss also spoke with the duo of how they heard about twenty voices one night and when they searched the building there was no one there. 

Using a recorder they asked questions; asking for Claire to come through, Claire was a nurse who looked after the children who stayed here and suffered from TB.  She was seen by people many times over.  When they played the recorder they said they heard "I'm Claire" coming through.  However I heard "Ken Williams" and not Claire.  Especially since Jamie said that was his father's name and he found out he was here and one of the reasons why he was so attracted to this place and stayed here.  It comes through as three syllables and not two as "I'm Claire" would've done.  Also my sis said the same thing.  So I was really sad and disappointed when at the end they told Jamie they didn't get anything coming through when that's not what I heard at all.  However on another level it may have been good for this to happen since as Nick said it could show he's in a better place and moved on.  Gonna try and upload a vid in the morning and update this so you can hear it and decide for yourself!  If it uploads, hopefully.

Night one was rough for Nick as he chose to sleep in the basement and he saw a shadow from the corner of his eye, not caught on camera again.  Sometimes it would be good if they could place two cameras facing both ways just so we could see something show up.  Katrina spent the second night in the bunk room as a female she thought this would change the level of activity there, either increasing it or dying down, since there weren't women in the bunk room.

Voices coming through on the audio speaker and spirit box device such as "downstairs," "up here" which kind of made them go upstairs and downstairs.  Also they heard some dragging sound when they were in the basement and upstairs in the Drill Room they saw a chair had been moved that they had placed in a circle of chairs.  That was cool as the static camera they set there actually caught it being moved.

Later Nick decided some exercise was called for to shake the cobwebs out and he did some running around and push-ups.  As this was a Drill and Training room, he hoped some soldiers would join him.  He hadn't done any exercise on camera since he and Katrina did the Paranormal workout and Nick calling it the "mating with the carpet" in season 1.4 RC Infirmary of Paranormal Lockdown.

They set up various experiments using laser grids, ordinary cameras to take stills, a toy dog with built-in Rempods as well as the Trifield meter to show any changes in the electromagnetic field.  Since the energy would be charged and come and go in various stages.  Also when they were filming in the basement and that creepy room they both saw an electric static charge go off and Rob was standing in front of it filming, with his back actually to it.  So he had to move outta there.  What was interesting was they actually caught "portal" on the audio speaker and as I said that's exactly what I thought was there.  Something especially where this dark entity could enter and leave. 

As Katrina said this place had a lot of activity both residual and intelligent from all eras coming through and they were excited to have been given the opportunity to investigate here and particularly to find out about Bruce and take away those memories.  As Jamie said if Bruce is no longer around, he knows where he's gone to!

Doctor Who 11.2 "The Ghost Monument" Review

                                                    
An ep a cross between Star Wars, Stargate and Death Race (don't ask me why I thought of that) finds the Doctor (Jodi Whittaker) and the others stranded in space and being rescued, or rather "scooped"  by two ships.  Heading towards a planet where the pilots are taking part in a race to claim the prized winnings and thinking that their passengers are "bonuses."  The Doctor helps Epzo (Sean Dooley) save his ship by jettisoning the back of the ship.  Adding, "I'm really good in a tight spot.  At least I have been historically, I’m sure I still am."  Then heading towards the planet and her new companions as well as Angstrom (Susan Lynch), the other pilot on a crash landing course  As they are relived to see each other, the Doctor tells them they're on another planet and passes sunglasses to Graham (Bradley Walsh) but can't recall if they belonged to Audrey Hepburn or Pythagoras, with Graham replying that Pythagoras wouldn't wear them.  They were more Audrey's style anyway.

The two pilots are the last two remaining contestants in the Last Rally of the Five Galaxies.  The other four thousand have all died and they have made it to claim the money.  As they find a tent and inside is a hologram of the man, Ilin (Art Malik) who is behind the race.  His rules.  The Doctor is more interested in the Ghost Monument as she is on the search for the elusive TARDIS.  He shows her the hologram and the TARDIS is the Ghost Monument, leading them to join forces with the two.  The only mode of transport being the boat which isn't running.  The trusty Sonic came in quite handy and she examines the water for flesh eating microbes, with Ryan (Toisin Cole) and Graham tasked with fixing the boat.  Ryan refusing to talk about his grandmother and calling Graham "grandad," Graham comments he likes to ask what Grace would say and replies she'd tell them this is amazing, they're on another planet.  Ryan's NVQ coming in handy as he finds there's a battery and Graham thinks it runs on solar power so perhaps the panels aren't aligned.

As they get underway Epzo shows off his cigar he'll light when he wins and finally falls asleep for the others to talk.  Angstrom telling them about her planet and how she misses her family, competing in the race to gather money for them.  Yaz (Mandip Gill) is surprised she left her family for so long when she only just saw hers last night.  Angstrom telling her not to take her family for granted.  Having been warned not to travel at night they arrive at the other ruins and the Doctor wonders why there's no life or any signs of it.  The two go off on their race and the others head off in search of the Monument, but she doesn't find anything.  Until Epzo activates a sensor and a shadow follows him.  Culminating in soldiers, which the Doctor says are armed robots, but why are they here?

Epzo shoots and activates them as they fire, causing the others to go through a tunnel and come across humans as targets.  Epzo is wounded and the Doctor sends him off for a nap.  As the Doctor finds a map of the tunnels and Ryan and Yaz find CCTV footage.  As Epzo sleeps, reams of cloth or paper come alive and smother his mouth.  As the others contemplate getting through the tunnels and travelling at night as a shortcut.  Epzo screams and Angstrom rips the material away from his mouth with her knife.  They mention the Stenza again and Angstrom opens up about the cleansing on her planet by them.  They run through the tunnels and come to a ladder, the only way out with the smell of acetylene outside.  Climbing the ladder to get out, Ryan hesitates and the Doctor asks him what he learned about acetylene.  Outside they are surrounded by the creatures and they try to tap into their fear.  Reaching out to the Doctor and reading her mind about the "Timeless Child."  Of being abandoned and left alone.  She wants to know what they know about that and to get out of her mind.  At the same time telling the others to dig.  As they lie down, she gets Graham to pick Epzo's pocket and steal his cigar which she lights up at the click of a finger, burning the creatures.

Reaching the finish line, the Doctor gets them to call it a tie and head into the tent together with the race  man finally agreeing to let them win after being threatened by Epzo with pursuit until he finds him.  They vanish, but the rest are left and she gives up hope of finding the TARDIS and getting them back home, when the whooshing of the TARDIS is heard.  Having changed in colour outside and the interior resembling a monument of ruins, almost.  Hence the title the Ghost Monument and she loves it.  Now being able to take the others back.  The TARDIS giving her a biscuit, a Custard Cream no less!

Character traits of the Doctor still coming through such as not liking or using guns, using brains over guns and remarking on her intelligence once again.  Ryan still demonstrating his dyspraxia and Grace is still remembered.  As there are throwaway lines relating to home and family, but nothing too emotional or long winded.  Showing also how Ryan's aim to use the robots own weapon against them backfires confirming what she said about guns.  Perhaps those peices of material were reminiscent of the mummy in the past with Peter Capaldi's Doctor Twelve, well almost.  Tim Shaw (T'Zim Sha) being mentioned again as foreshadowing since he will definitely be showing up again at some point.  The Doctor's new enemy perhaps.

The TARDIS appears on the Planet Desolation at every one thousand rotations and the Doctor thinks she can harness it.  How did she manage to get the sunglasses though if she didn't have anything with her last ep and has lost her key too.  The others being surprised at how the police box is bigger on the inside and the Doctor refers to it as dimensional engineering, Yaz replying you can't engineer dimensions.  Something they will have to get used to.

Paranormal Lockdown UK 1.7 "Margam Castle" Review

This sprawling castle located in Port Talbot, Wales, boasts a history of over 4,000 years occupation, was the brainchild of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbott in 1840.  Though it is named a castle it is more a Tudor style Gothic mansion, which borrowed from the lead and stone of the nearby Abbey roof, founded in 1147 becoming occupied by Cistercian monks.  Associated with a curse surrounding the land as the supplies were used from here.  Ancient tribes buried their dead here.  The curse was said to be a result of the abbey's parts being used and befell the family with the son, Theodore falling from his horse and dying.  daughter, Emily owned the house until her death and made it into the glamorous place that it was.  Upon her death it passed to her nephew and was sold in 1941.

Known hauntings include dark shadow figures on the grounds and inside the castle, shadow figures on the stairs and the upper bedrooms.  As well as a negative presence throughout.  This was documented by a Scottish soldier in World War II as allied troops were sequestered there and they all reported seeing a glowing orange light on two consecutive nights.  What was exciting was that after their stint of investigation at the abbey, ruins, Nick, Rob and Katrina all saw an orange glow in one of the windows upon their return, which was captured by Rob's camera.

Katrina said she could feel the dark energy within the castle but that the abbey had a different feeling to it.  It was spiritual, there was a presence but it wasn't dark as it was inside the castle.  When they were exploring the grounds outside, Nick joked how if he lived here he would run around naked.  The deer were naked and he didn't understand why humans have to wear clothes!  Yeah okay Nick we get the picture!! Ha.  Animals have their own skin but they have their fur too as part of their 'clothing'.

At the staircase they heard loud banging coming from upstairs and also footsteps in the upstairs bedroom, but nothing was captured on camera.  A face has also been reported by people overlooking the balcony by the stairs.  Nick felt uneasy going up the stairs as he felt he would fall.  In the master bedroom where Christopher used to sleep and was later used by Emily, Katrina swore she saw an old woman getting out of a chair by the window where Emily used to sit, but again nothing was caught on film.

In the side bedroom where the soldiers were billeted, Nick used the Geoport and "help us" came through on it.  Not sure what that was an allusion to, but over the past eps this season, it's a phrase that has occurred frequently during their investigations.  Footsteps were heard on the stairs and after asking questions, Katrina asked for a number and "811" came through.  Referring to the year most likely to be around 1200 and the monastic era.  There wasn't any indication of who they were communicating with.  Nick spent night one sleeping on the stairs, a little dangerous so if he rolled over a bit too much from the camera angle at least, it seemed as if he could've fallen down, or could have been pushed off the cot bed.  He heard some banging sounds like a door closing and that was all.  Katrina slept in the bedroom.

Nick woke again to the sound of banging and heck he even forget to fix his hair like he usually does!  Then again he hasn't done much of that this series!!  Makes a change or maybe it's a Brit thing!  Ha.  When outside, they had a voice coming through saying "monks here."  The activity was more prevalent inside the house than the grounds.  They set up an experiment where the light was seen using a black box, allowing them to see through spectrums of light not visible to the naked eye.  The stick camera and Katrina also used a thermal camera.  Nothing visibly was captured but Emily and Theodore came through on the Geoport.

On night three, they used a still camera set to take photos at five second intervals, facing the stairs, as well as lasers.  A 3D mapping camera was used so that any images would be projected on the wall if anything appeared, but noting did.  Seems the ghosts were scared to show themselves.  Nick asked if they could see him and a voice replied, "yes."  On the Geoport they heard "it's Emily."  Thus confirmation they were communicating with her, even if no one else.  Katrina said she heard something outside and left the room for the balcony, but nothing was captured.  Wonder if anything did come through on the 3D mapping or not.  Guess they would've showed it if it did, but leaving the equipment and going off wasn't that good an idea, especially as they all went, since the noise could have been a distraction. Also there was an orb that flies through the left side of the light on Rob's camera and comes out the other end.

Oh and the bat, mustn't forget the bat that flew into them and Nick said the place was full of giant bats!

With a few hours remaining they checked their audio and the stills from the camera to show James the historian.  Katrina was intrigued by the voices saying "not enough" and "can't get enough" and asked him about it.  He replied that during Emily's lifetime the estate was worth £16 million and that was in 1918, however it was sold for a meagre amount.  Nick found a shadow figure was captured on one of the still images as in the next shot it disappears and it clearly looked like a head and shoulders.  They thought this could've been an elemental as they shift into other shapes and creatures.

Actually when you look at it close up it does look creepy!

With so much history surrounding the castle, it was difficult to distinguish who or what they were dealing with and Katrina explained how history seems to be converging in the castle, as the land dates back 4,000 years, so there are so many spirits surrounding it.

Doctor Who 11.1 "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"

                                         
I was going to give this a go and I did (typing this in a Sheffield accent - or should that read Hoodezfield).  However feelings of deja vu overtook me in how we met Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) and even if he was my fave Doctor - all bias aside, this just didn't do anything for me.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that the Doctor's a woman but couldn't help thinking it's been done before.  He (et al) did plenty of running around in his intro ep, as did Doctor Ten (David Tennant) just to me they both brought something different to the character.  This just seemed a rehash, even down to getting a new Sonic, in this ep made by the Doctor herself and from Sheffield stainless steel cutlery!  It just had something missing.  (Won't be using that 13 number as it just haunts me anyway for reasons of bereavement).
Also there was Amy Pond dressed as a policewoman, a kissogram in her encounter with the Doctor and sorry the title wasn't very original either!

However her companions were different in some respects, although it was apparent Grace (Sharon D Clarke) wouldn't be around for long thus giving Graham (Bradley Walsh) a reason to become part of the "team."  He reminded me a little of Wilf (Bernard Cribbens) not believing in aliens and then coming across them for real and having to believe.  Perhaps even more so after losing his beloved Grace, married three years and it ends with the appearance of the Doctor!  Doesn't it always, always casualties of collateral damage who get in the way; but in all fairness do have the time of their (short-ish) lives.  The title also being an allusion to Grace in an homage, in my opinion at least.

Ryan (Tosin Cole) talks of his grandmother being a wonderful women on YouTube as we're taken back to how it all began with him trying to keep his bike straight and ride it as he has no sense of coordination.  Throwing it over the cliff in desperation, with Graham telling him he'll have to find it himself as they're late for their train.  As he finds it, he comes across what I referred to as a blue turnip!  Well it wasn't an onion.  Ryan calls for help, Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) (Yaz to her friends) a policewoman, cue Amy Pond as a kissogram, but Yaz is the real deal, wanting something more to do in her work than just sorting out two women arguing and vandalizing cars over parking.  My gripe: why is it always the name Yasmin and Khan, like there's a shortage of both Asian forenames and surnames!  Ryan tells her to touch it cos he didn't leave it there, being cold to the touch.  So later when 'Tim Shaw' says they're cold as ice why didn't her fingers get stuck to the turnip!

As Graham and Grace get cuddly on the train with Karl (Johnny Dixon) watching them, there's an intruder, a probe, with lightning streaks emanating from it.  Grace calls Ryan telling them where they're stuck and the phone cuts out, luckily he has a policeman in tow.  There's a thump and a woman falls into the train, the Doctor (Jody Whittaker).  All frazzled and hyped up, not quite rebooted yet and having a barely vague recollection of who she is.  Though the probe leaves, there's dialogue over what it was and how it's an alien.  She wonders if there have been any strange occurrences around and Graham being a bus driver, former, goes to ask his friends.  As the Doctor passes out and is left on the couch.  Grace examines her saying she's got two pulses, as energy leaves her body in
the form of her breath.

A man has stolen the turnip and taken it back to the garage as he claims it took his sister.  As the alien breaks out of the shell, he tells the man he won't see his sister again and takes care of him.  As well as another man on the street who throws his salad at him.  Inside the the garage, they find the man dead  and one of his teeth removed.  The Doctor manages to build a sonic out of Sheffield stainless steel as she doesn't have one, as fans went crazy over a woman being able to build things from scratch. This Sonic equipped with a tracking device able to find the location of the alien, as she thinks there are two making Earth their battleground, so what's new.  Graham's friend follows through on the quest of questions of unusual activity and they head to the building where she finds the rounded tentacle probe and knocks it out.  As Tim Shaw arrives, well it's a joke at her pronunciation of who it really is and he shows her his real face with teeth stuck to it.  Trophies he collects of his Vics.  She realizes he's on a hunt for humans and their targets have already been tracked and marked.  Which doesn't explain why they have DNA ticking bombs inside them.

She finds Karl is the next target who's been singled out from the train and head to his workplace.  A building site where he's inside a crane.  The Doctor decides to climb onto the other crane and then Karl can move over onto that one.  As  Tim Shaw climbs the ladder to the crane, she tells Yaz and Ryan to start the other crane.  Grace and Graham get electricity as she uses it.  Funnily enough Ryan managed to climb the ladder but couldn't ride a bike.  As the Doctor manages to trick Tim into returning home as she took his return device from his ship, Karl kicks him over the top.  The doctor telling him he didn't have any right to do that.  She also managed to neutralize the DNA bombs.  However Grace falls from the ladder and dies.

Leaving the Doctor without any proper clothes and a missing TARDIS to find.  She picks a suspenders outfit for herself, a little Mork I thought and they end up into space.  Obviously the title referring to Who but also the number of times she mentioned 'Who' and not knowing Who she is.  Not taking anything away from the character or the actress stepping into these shoes, not an easy thing to do, there were to many similarities to other Doctors as I've already said.  Even though she did try to maintain Doctor Twelve's (Peter Capaldi) persona and character for a bit, she was out of place in that and his clothes obviously.  And for the theme tune it sounded like metal rubbish bins being banged and clanged together, even if they weren't really!

As if that wasn't enough the BBC then teased the guest stars at the end, as if perhaps that may be an attempt to tempt people into watching the next ep and indeed the remainder of the series! Such as Phyllis Logan (Mrs Hughes from Downton Abbey) Chris Noth, suit 'n' all: either a Mr Big character or from Law and Order! - he was trending on Twitter! Also Mark Addy, Shane Zaza, Alan Cumming, Shobna Gulati, Siobhan Finneran, Josh Bowman (Revenge) to name a few.

I have to add that the Doctor being woman isn't a'new' concept since Joanna Lumley was also put forward for the role all the way back in 1986 by TV producer Sydney Newman but this was rejected.  Joanna played the Thirteenth Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death (1999).  Though other women were touted over the years for the ole, it didn't actually transpire until now. Other actresses at the time in 1986 included Frances de la Tour and Victoria Wood.