We arrived at Adelaide High School for 3PM, only to be told by a member (even before I'd gotten out of the car) "I've seen up to episode eight!".
We set up, greet the new faces, and watch a bunch of clips. One is of a rare Bullwinkle puppet introduction to The Bullwinkle Show, this had me scurrying to check mu World Encyclopedia of Cartoons! Another was some linking material from The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, which elicited sympathetic responses to their new appearance.
After some back and forth technical business (and some nice teachers stopping by to show their support--anyone else had these sort of "Hope it goes well" endorsements?) we began the day's viewing.
We start in the screening room with Doctor Who: A New Beginning, meanwhile those who stay in the laboratory enjoy the Dreams of Empire documentary. The New Beginning Documentary is good fun with the montage of other shows/events and music from the era being a highlight, and we're all stoked to follow this with episode two of the series, The End of the World. And to all those who complain about the new series looking too polished, avert your eyes now! You could see very penny of its substantial budget on screen.
After a break, we return for Doctor Who Confidential: Back from the Future, which along with A New Beginning brackets the first episode nicely. Of particular interest was seeing how they strike the Tardis prop into individual pieces for transportation to London (for its close up, Mr. DeMille).
Break for dinner. Greet new faces. And chat--we don't just watch stuff (the balance tends to the social at meetings). As the time ticks down to 19:30, we have a split in the ranks (which could be painful if unattended to!). Some want to have their viewing experience authentically free-to-air, logo and all. And some want to have their Doctor Who all pre-downloaded and full of ones and zeros!
We ford this rift by having two groups! One watches it FTA in the Lab, the other all digital in the screening room. But we all enjoy it!
After the show, the bulk of people end up chatting for about three hours then some die hards go across the road to the service station to continue past midnight!
Because we're stoked! |