[conspire] Who?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Paul Zander (paulz at ieee.org):

> Tardis has been spotted on the streets of Newport Wales.
> https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60203382 

Nice.  Deirdre and I stayed for a week in Cardiff, and I walked quite
far to visit places in the surrounding countryside, but never quite as
far as Newport, as that would be more like a drive up the M4, or a short
ferry trip up the mouth of the Severn.

Said TARDIS rebuild is just in time for one of the Chris Chibnall-era
concluding Doctor Who specials, "Legend of the Sea Devils", which
appeared early today but sadly is already getting un-admiring reviews.
And, reportedly, the problem is inept plotting _again again_, not the
acting:  Poor Jodie Whittaker has IMO been great, but quite poorly
served by the material.

One more 2022 Chibnall/Whittaker special to go, in Autumn some time,
and then they both bow out, handing over the writing to Russell T.
Davies, again, and to a new Doctor.  (Bonkers and inherently unreliable
rumours include Tennant returning.)  Chibnall is reported to be preparing
to throw Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, Tegan, Ace, a kitchen sink, and a
couple of running instances of Emacs at his still-unsolved scriptwriting
problem.)

I'll not remember Chibnall's contribution very fondly, but, just to
close on an 'up' note, here's a glorious moment from the preceding
Steven Moffatt era, in which Moffatt gave Eighth Doctor Paul McGann 
the chance to be excellent that his one earlier chance, the regrettable
Fox/BBC-produced 1996 American TV movie, didn't.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U3jrS-uhuo

(Spoiler ahead:  That picture of the now-late John Hurt as the "War
Doctor" was a blurred still lifted from BBC's 1979 "Crime and
Punishment", where Hurt played Raskolnikov, and the actor was in his
30s.)