Israeli troops invade Gaza, Hamas is full of bloodthirsty rhetoric, the Middle East is in ferment and the top BBC story is announcing the eleventh and new Doctor Who. I had, before the story broke, thought they might have chosen a black actor but it was not to be. A pity in a way. Maybe a black actor will be number twelve. This one, number eleven, is the youngest time lord of them all so another youngster finds his whole life about to change. I see also that Mister Davis has been awarded an OBE. I wonder whatever happened to the treatment I submitted for the last series and about which I never heard a word. Ended up in the trash can no doubt, most probably not even read, like the script that came back from Ealing Studios so pristine it obviously hadn’t even been opened. I know nothing about the tenth Doctor Who as we have never watched that last series so have no idea how much it has changed since my own effort fifty years ago when the series was in its very beginning. Watching it on tape today one realises just how primitive television was back then and how modern computer programmes have changed the face of entertainment.
I read also that Daniel Radcliffe and Equus have not been the big hoped for success on Broadway which is a shame although I can see why. Having directed the play once and played in it once as Dysart the psychiatrist I came to the conclusion it is not as good a play as at first it seems. A teeny weensy itsy bit of a con really when you come to analyse it. Still, it seemed to do well in London and audiences aren’t really in the position of being able to say, “Hold on there, is that a big hole I see? Can we just go back and take another look?” but simply suspend disbelieve and go with the flow. Maybe the New Yorkers have moved on a pace theatrically speaking.
Evidently NY is now plastered with posters of Daniel naked from the waist up. Hopefully that will bring in his fans. I’d love to know what he does with himself in the big apple when not actually in the theatre. Being so famous, so well known, so instantly recognisable, does he have a permanent bodyguard to ward off over eager fans? I wonder. The new Doctor Who will soon find himself in the same position.