A few of the same places, from a totally different perspective.
This visit we managed to make it into the London Eye, which is the huge Ferris Wheel that gives you a birds eye view of the city, and it is amazing. It makes a nice contrast with the view you get from the ship that cruises along the Thames, and both of those viewpoints are completely different from the way everything looks from the streets. I was somewhat surprised to learn that the famous London Clock Tower is actually called Elizabeth Tower, after the Queen; Big Ben is the name of the bell in that tower, not the tower itself. The foundry that made Big Ben, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, also made the Liberty Bell that called the Continental Congress into session in Philadelphia.
Tomorrow the BBC will be airing its annual Children In Need charity drive, and as part of the presentation they will Preview the Doctor Who Christmas Special. The exclusive clip will see the 12th Doctor and Nardole team up with an investigative reporter (think Lois Lane) and a Masked Vigilante to protect New York from an Alien Invasion. Because, you know, there is always an Alien Invasion of the Earth on Christmas Day, it’s in the rules! This clip forms part of the BBC’s Children in Need’s Appeal Show on Friday November 18th. The charity special starts at 7pm on BBC One, with no guesses what time the clip will air, while the actual Christmas Special (entitled The Return of Doctor Mysterio) airs on December 25th.
This weekend we finally get to hit the theater for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the next generation story of the Harry Potter series, and yes, that does mean its by J. K. Rowling. If you need more information than that, you are obviously just visiting this planet, and didn’t do your research before you arrived. We also get Officer Downe this weekend based on the graphic novel of the same name, unless the production company comes to its senses and opts for a different release date.
Streaming online Sci-fi, a bunch of it free, is what Watch Sci-Fi Dot Com is all about. They are the folks who put together the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival each year, and the collection of amazing short films produced specifically for that event makes up a portion of the free-to-watch content. I certainly don’t mind paying them for the few non-free presentations I watch, since most of the ones I select can not be viewed from North America any other way. Check them out, and let me know what you think.
The MCM London Comic Con is taking place this weekend, and just like the US variations there are a ton of trailers and announcements expected, and they have already started. This one is for the streaming sci-fi police procedural Wireless, staring Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval, Alice, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man) and Lucy Brown (Primeval, The Village). There are 9 episodes posted on the web site, feel free to binge your way through them!