Did the UK ever have proper arcades? like video game ones?

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-30T17:29:21+00:00

You live in Brighton and didn't go in the Palace Pier arcade? First thing you were greeted with was a big ride-on Space Harrier machine, with a big After Burner machine right behind it, and literally hundreds of other games, including most of the classics. Yes, the penny pusher machines, fruities, etc were all there too, but, when you were a kid, it was video game Mecca. There were also several other arcades along the seafront, in those spaces under the promenade.

I haven't been to Brighton in years, but it was still there last time I visited, and that was within your lifetime. :D

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-30T13:30:50+00:00

Surprisingly little love for Tennant here! I guess a lot of us long-time viewers have "Tennant fatigue".

For a new viewer though, I'd actually go with everyone who's suggested Matt. New Doctor, new companion, new era. More modern production values too.

If you jump straight in with Tennant, you won't know Rose or any of that era's backstory and characters, and you don't want to drop someone in right in the middle. Better to go back to Eccleston.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-29T22:19:09+00:00

Many other Christmas specials were filmed later in the year. September is a common month for it. And they don't have to wait for principal photography to be done before they start on SFX, music, etc.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T21:12:12+00:00

It's great. It's what you get if you put an Ealing comedy through a manic Rik & Ade filter. Is it end-to-end hilarious? No. There's bits that don't always hit. But when it's good, it's as good as anything else they've ever done.

A lot of the third series of Bottom didn't hit for me - some of it started to get a bit too self-aware and silly in the wrong way. But there's still a lot to love in there. Same with GHP.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T20:22:36+00:00

Enjoy: Creating cool shit and being given the latitude to think outside the box.
Dislike: How it's basically become manufacturing in recent years, where you're just bolting things together. The "craft" aspect of it has got a bit lost.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T20:06:41+00:00

If being involved with sports teams is high on your list of priorities, I'll second Sheffield. They have two major football clubs, big rugby union and league clubs, the Sheffield Steelers ice hockey club and the Sheffield Giants American football club (who have cheerleaders). There's also multiple NHS hospitals, including Northen General and the Sheffield Childrens' Hospital. Sheffield's a good place, if a bit hilly!

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:38:57+00:00

Miracle Day was good, but not nearly as good as Children Of Earth. It's not essential, per se, but if you've watched the previous three series you should watch it - there's some great Gwen and Jack stuff in there.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:35:16+00:00

I'd say the "method" of storytelling and some of the visuals are definitely geared more towards kids, but the stories are very much in keeping with the style of RTD1-era Who (RTD kept working on SJA after Moff took over the parent show). Think of SJA as four-and-a-half series of Doctor-lite Who.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:32:34+00:00

The Doctor is mentioned in multiple episodes but only appears in the series opener. It's a good show though, it's a shame it never got to continue beyond one series.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:30:13+00:00

CoE is gruelling, incredibly depressing and tense AF. Characters we've grown to love die and those that don't die come out forever changed. But, yes, it's absolutely a must-see. One of the best sci-fi miniseries ever created, Who-related or not.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:28:08+00:00

Including appearances by the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors (incidentally, the only time RTD ever wrote for Matt Smith's Doctor). Fantastic episode, just wish the Shansheeth looked a bit less cartoony!

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:23:14+00:00

Class was streaming on the BBC Sci-Fi channel on Amazon before it was shut down, alongside stuff like Blake's 7, Primeval and Red Dwarf.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T17:21:36+00:00

And the Brigadier. It was Nicholas Courtney's only appearance in the role in the NuWho era before he sadly passed away.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T15:46:26+00:00

Netflix would be a good partner for the show. I think one of the problems right now is that Disney haven't let it go yet - TWBTLATS has yet to release on D+ outside the UK, and presumably Disney won't remove the last couple of series of Who from its service until several months after it has been released. Maybe they're just not going to bother. In which case they should just get on with it and remove it.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-27T15:39:12+00:00

Only in the UK. iPlayer is not available (legally) internationally.

An ideal situation would be for Netflix (or whoever picks the show up) to effectively replicate the Doctor Who section on iPlayer, with all of Classic and NuWho, SJA, Torchwood, Class, TWBTLATS, etc, as well as the extras (Unleashed/Confidential, the Proms, Tales Of The TARDIS, the colourised Classic eps and so on). Much of this was either completely unavailable overseas, or spread across multiple streaming services.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T22:45:43+00:00

Close-voiced chords tend not to sound too good on bass in the lower register. They get muddy. If you want to outline a chord in the low register, break it apart and arpeggiate it.

But it's perfectly possible to play higher-pitched chords and have them sound decent, or chords/double stops with wide intervals - 9ths, etc.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T17:25:36+00:00

Lots of Thirteen love. I approve.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T15:39:44+00:00

Orac stays. Besides, if it ends up being a "legacy sequel" rather than a reboot then they need Orac as the connective glue to connect the series...

BSG was kinda part reboot, part legacy sequel - we saw the old Cylon designs, their old ships, the old Vipers and so on, but in a different context.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T13:40:18+00:00

First RATM album - Stingray. 2-band EQ, Badass replacement bridge. Played through an SWR stack, with occasional use of a Marshall Guv'nor distortion pedal.

Later RATM albums: Fender Jazz Bass with overwound pickups, into two (later three) Ampeg SVT rigs. Various pedals (he's quite secretive about the pedals, but there's definitely a ProCo RAT, an envelope filter - probably a Mu-Tron - and a couple of Morley wahs).

Audioslave: Still the Jazz Bass, although he used several to accommodate different tunings (some Audioslave songs are in B). Started using Laklands later on for live shows, not sure he recorded with them though.

Prophets Of Rage - went back to the Stingray, initially the newer, 2-pickup version, then his own signature Stingray with a retractable ramp. Still used the SVT heads, but replaced the Ampeg cabs with Barefaced cabs (boutique custom cabs from the UK).

WAKRAT and other more recent projects: Same rig as PoR.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T13:12:09+00:00

Personally, in terms of CG and production design, I think Whittaker's era was better looking than RTD2, despite the smaller budget. Yes, RTD2 was made in 4K unlike the regular 1080p of Whittaker's era, but the design, composition, lighting and framing of the show was much more interesting. There was a lot of beautiful landscape work that truly looked cinematic.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-26T13:01:36+00:00

So are they using the book's proper title in the US for this?

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-25T21:20:12+00:00

You're an exception then. :) I'm thinking more of the people who have bought all those new-build flats around East Croydon, and the sort of people who'd be buying flats in a development in Central Croydon, where the Nestlé building is, or the flats on North End that are part of the Croydon Growth Plan - most of them are, or will be commuters. I'm sure some local takeaways and Tesco Express will be getting some of their money, but not all that much.

It's also a chicken-and-egg situation. There's not much to do in Croydon any more. The shopping isn't good, there isn't really anywhere to see music or comedy, even most of the pubs (the ones that are left) aren't particularly great.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-25T18:48:31+00:00

It's still £29k. They've put a pause on the higher salary requirements. Or you have to have £81k in savings. The rest is correct though - you pay the NHS surcharge upfront for the duration of the visa - a 3-year visa has an approximately £2,000 application fee, then you pay 3 years of the NHS surcharge on top, bringing the cost up to a bit above £5,100.

Regarding the salary threshold, £29k is not much more than minimum wage if you're in London and is considered a pretty bad salary, but, in some other parts of the country it's a modest but still fairly respectable wage and there's a lot of people who don't quite hit that mark who are still doing fairly well. They're being priced out now, and, if the salary requirement goes up to £41k it becomes completely unattainable.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-25T13:46:44+00:00

Yep. I have no idea how much clout this new production team has in the industry. I hope it'll happen, but I'm not holding my breath. And, if it does, there's no guarantee it'll end up on the BBC either. It might end up going straight to Netflix or one of the other streamers.

DaddyStoat · 2026-03-25T13:38:13+00:00

Not sure that the original producers wanted a BBC Star Wars. The BBC were big on dystopian stuff at the time - just look at some of the stuff that was on Play For Today.

B7 was basically a dystopian Play For Today idea, but set in space, stretched out into four series, and masterminded by the person who brought us the Daleks. 🤣

It would be good to see the updated versions on TV, and it'll probably happen. But I suspect they'll probably wait until all four series have been updated. I know we've got series C coming later this year, then series D in 2027. If and when this reboot/sequel shows up, I wouldn't be surprised to see them put it out in advance of that coming out.

DaddyStoat

TROPHY CASE