One day I’ll do something musical with a ZX Spectrum

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Currently I don’t even have a ZX Spectrum, but I did, a long while ago, and one day I’ll have one again. When I do I’ll be running this among a number of music programs that I used to use a long time ago. That’ll be fun.

Doctor Who, Shadow of the Past

Shadow of the Past
Shadow of the Past

This was a recommendation from the Big Finish site and I thought I’d really l really wanted to hear it because it was read by Caroline Johns herself and I thought her Liz Shaw was a great companion.

This story was excellent. A bit more cerebral a story and I was glad for it. I have to say that I really enjoyed it and so much so that I think I’ll probably try a few more Liz Shaw stories.

And then I got this (Timex 1000)

Timex 1000
Timex 1000

The Timex 1000 is the US equivalent to the ZX81. I was given it when in Canada last week and it looks like it’s in pretty good shape actually. I’m going to be very careful about firing it up though as I don’t want to get the power supply wrong in any way. When it’s all up and running I’ll post some stuff about what I’m doing with it.

I’m not sure I can believe that Spectrum Next is a thing

It’ll be interesting to see what sort of pricing comes up for Spectrum Next when it arrives on whatever crowdfunding site they choose. I like the look of it, but what I’d really like is the same thing for a ZX81. I doubt very much that anyone is going to do that though.

Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

That’s what happens when you find a vintage computer

My name in lights
My name in lights

This is what used to happen when you found a computer anywhere. Of course sometimes the actual words were less appropriate, if you know what you mean.

What you do when you see a vintage computer running basic
What you do when you see a vintage computer running basic

Simple but effective …

A bit of vintage computing
A bit of vintage computing

A nice collection. I wouldn’t mind that lot myself!

Peladon Tales

Peladon Tales
Peladon Tales

In my ongoing plan to slowly acquire all of the 3rd Doctor DVDs, these are the two I bought next. Anyone who knows the third doctor will realise that I’m not doing this in any kind of order at all. At least, not so far. It has been a bit random, but I’ll probably start collecting in order quite soon.

However, these two stories came as a boxed set, so there was little choice in that.

The Curse of Peladon
The Curse of Peladon

The Curse of Peladon is the earlier story, and the first time that the 3rd Doctor visits Peladon. It’s a good story by any standards. Of course the production values are early 70s TV and that probably doesn’t stand the test of time. However, I really enjoyed it, especially because one of the main characters is played by the son of the second Doctor.

The Monster of Peladon
The Monster of Peladon

The second story was right at the end of Mr Pertwee’s time as the Doctor. It is another good one, in my view, and again, I enjoyed it a lot.

At some point I’m going to go through all of the 3rd Doctor stories in order, when I’ve got them of course, and that will be truly epic.

Making my way through the third Doctor, Colony in Space

Doctor Who, Colony in Space
Doctor Who, Colony in Space

So I’m slowly collecting the Third Doctor, and, currently, not in any kind of chronological order, as I’m sure you can tell. However, I will be remedying that soon enough. For now I’ve been watching the Colony in Space, which, certainly by today’s standards is a very violent story. It was the 70’s of course and different standards applied, we shouldn’t forget that. Even so, I think that the body count was probably high for its time.

All things being equal I thought it was a good story. Of its time of course, and quite different in every way to the Doctor Who of today (that’s a good thing of course). The Master is possibly one of the most changed elements from later Doctor Who. Roger Delgado’s Master is very different even from the later Master of Logopolis (a personal fav of mine).

It’s certainly interesting to watch, and completely enjoyable to see Mr Pertwee. He was an excellent Doctor.

Doctor Who, The Time Warrior, Sarah-Jane Smith’s first adventure

Doctor Who, the Time Warrior
Doctor Who, the Time Warrior

This is a great story. Sarah-Jane’s first outing with the Doctor, and a great one to start off with too. Sontarans are always good fun right!

I hadn’t seen this in ages, but it really has stood the test of time, and, as ever, Pertwee is brilliant.

Finished watching Planet of the Apes, the TV series

Planet of the Apes TV series
Planet of the Apes TV series

I’ve said it before, I’m a big fan of Planet of the Apes, in all its iterations. Of course, my favourites are the original films from 1968 to 1973. Above is the TV series which came out in 1974 and ran for only 14 episodes.

Having watched it again in 2016 I realise that it was very much like a lot of other TV series in the 70’s. Built to run as long as possible, with a handful (in this case 2 humans and an ape) of good guys going from place to place and doing good, righting wrongs etc. There are plenty of examples of this kind of TV show from the period.

The sad thing is that the TV version of Planet of the Apes wasn’t about the story at all. It started off being about the story and then devolved into a weekly story about going from village to village. When it ran out of episodes the series didn’t even end. There was no closure at all. It was a shame really.

So now I’ve only got one more DVD to watch. The animated series, which is apparently not bad. We’ll see, and I’ll let you know what I think.