DWM 493 Girl, Resurrected

It’s 9.20am on Sunday 18 October 2015 and my husband is laughing at me. I wouldn’t say being laughed at by my husband is an entirely new experience, but it’s not what you want on a Sunday morning. The thing is, I’ve spent a large portion of the last 12 hours 10 minutes (or at least the bits I was awake for) railing against an aspect ... More

DWM 492 Who’s Magic?

Back in 2011, we were introduced to a new mystery. What, we wondered, was ‘the first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight’? Some erroneously jumped to the conclusion that it was ‘Doctor who?’. It was, however, quite clear that the question – hidden in plain sight since 1964 – was ‘who exactly was ... More

DWM 491 Doc Holiday!

Homework. I’ve never been a fan of it. I pretty much always did it, being something of a goody-goody, but after a day at school I’m in favour of fun stuff (or, indeed, sleep) rather than more work. (This preference for clearly defined working hours is obviously why I opted for the predictable, 9-5 career of a freelance writer.) My sons ... More

DWM 490 Trails & Tribulations

Husband is watching Wimbledon. I, having zero interest in tennis, am paying little attention to the television. "Wish we were watching Doctor Who instead," I think to myself. Husband wanders off to make a cup of tea. I hear a familiar voice. It sounds like… Peter Capaldi! I look up. Doctor Who is on the telly! But how…? A simple ... More

DWM 489 Seasons in the Sun

Last week, my children’s homework was to come up with words and phrases associated with autumn. It’s June. That seemed thoroughly bizarre, although not quite as strange as the local ice-cream van regularly coming down our road playing ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. ‘Children! Let us tempt you to our frozen treats by reminding you ... More

DWM 488 Thanks 40 Memories

Last night Fan Twin came in and said he wanted to talk to me about how Adrian died. I was puzzled until he carried on to talk about Cybermen and freighters crashing into Earth and killing dinosaurs and I realised he meant Adric. Slip of the memory. Although, for amusement’s sake, we are now forever after going to refer to Adric as Adrian ... More

DWM 487 The New Recruits

Husband and I have reached The Curse of Fenric in our watchthrough. This story is especially dear to husband’s heart as a lot of it was filmed in Lulworth Cove, only a few minutes’ walk from his childhood home in Lulworth. In fact, as his dad was vicar of Lulworth, we have worked out that if his family hadn’t moved away to Bournemouth ... More

DWM 486 A Distressing Question

You know those optical illusions, the ones where you stare very hard at a while vase until it turns into two black faces, and then you can’t imagine how you could have seen it as anything different? It can work like that with songs too. I’m not talking about Mondegreens – the often hilarious misunderstanding of lyrics (yes, for many ... More

DWM 485 What if You Turn Right?

Yesterday I learned how to meditate. We did at one point have to go ‘OMMMM’. I would wager that a good ninety per cent of you are now imagining you’re speeding down to darkest Mummerset (not a real place) with Mike Yates and Sarah Jane Smith, and any second now you’re going to feel the eight spindly legs of a giant spider appearing on ... More

DWM 484 Learning to Let Go

You might possibly recall that Fan Twin and Non-Fan Twin started cubs recently. This is the thing about twins, they reach every milestone at the same time. No going through something once but knowing it’ll be easier next time – just a double dose of everything. Tomorrow they’re off to cub camp for the very first time – which will also ... More