Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of

Tom has an offer from his first choice of university - Sheffield - to read Philosophy (AAB). That is achievable if he works hard and he's delighted and very motivated. It's almost a shock, because he's quite a late developer, to see him actively preparing himself to leave home in ten months' time. We went down to Essex, his second choice, on Wednesday to have a look around. The course is very good but it's a long haul - we were up at five to get the train and weren't back until after ten in the evening. But they've given him two B's and I think he'd be fine if he ended up there - he can imagine himself there quite easily.

It's been a really demanding week. Becky's been on a killer GCSE Mocks schedule and suffering from a heavy cold - late nights and two or three exams a day. She needs excellent grades if she's going to move on to Withington Girls' School, which is very academic, and that's what she wants to do. I'd love to see her reach that goal, because they rejected her application five years ago and all her friends went there - however, the Sixth Form at the school where she goes now is also excellent, and she has a firm offer from them.

Meanwhile I'm struggling with Shakespeare and Women. I've found this unit really hard work, unlike the previous two. It's very performance based and I've had to learn a whole new vocabulary, since I'm used to engaging with texts critically. Suddenly it's all Laban and Stanislavski, with huge amounts of reading to do. I haven't quite gelled with the course convener either - she's lovely as a person but her background is entirely dramaturgy, so much so that I think she finds it almost impossible to imagine what it's like to lack that professional vocabulary. She keeps telling us what she wants but it's a dialogue of the deaf. I wish I had David Tennant on call to ask for a few tips, but that would be distracting...

Next term I'll be doing Legacy, which is looking at the way people have adapted Shakespeare texts, right through to things like Forbidden Planet and Kiss Me Kate. That's far more my kind of thing. But first I have another essay hanging over me, and I got poor marks for my last so the pressure's really on.

I go back and forth a lot over all the DW stuff. For the first time I'm feeling that the hype's been overdone here in the UK. Recent clips from EoT suggest that there'll be at least some fun in it, but then you could have said that about Army of Ghosts and then look at Doomsday...I'm out of sympathy with RTD's vision for the show and I can feel myself holding back from emotional investment, because I'll get hurt again. I also feel that too much doom is not appropriate for an Xmas special of a family show - I'm not thinking Disney but I would like a fundamental optimism ot be present, rather than just more opportunities for Tennant to emote. Anyway, we'll see.

I spent most of today on the Great Cook-Off of Rassilon. We're having open house tomorrow and I devoted myself to preparing the buffet. Mostly Delia Smith. This afternoon I made Four Cheese Terraine, Gravadlax and sourcream croustades, Sage and Onion bread, Walnut and Raisin Bread, a huge quantity of veggie "sausage rolls" and an enormous chestnut-puree stuffed Buche de Noel.

I'm not normally anything like that efficient. I might even enjoy tomorrow now. Just three salads to go. And then on Sunday, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud for eight. John is doing Xmas lunch. I'll have had enough by then, and he actually wants to.

And then I read C23 of "Dishevelled". Now I'm almost incapable of coherent thought. Somehow Rae has the power to turn all the chaos we see on TV into a coherent narrative. A rare gift. If it hurt her half as much to write that chapter as it hurt me to read it, we're all in her debt.

I went ahead and posted up to the end of my latest Gallifrey story. It hasn't had many comments but those it has had have been really faithful, even returning after I deserted it for another ten-part fic. There'll be a sequel. I just like playing there. Sometimes it's a nice contrast to all the angst and speculation to write Ten and Rose as a married couple, an established fact.

Feeling kind of "meh" about VOTD. It's been overhyped to be honest. I'll probably adore it once I watch but right now the bit I'm really looking forward to is the trailer at the end for S4.

I still think Tennant's going to quit by 2010. The BBC didn't have to make so much of that comment.....or is any publicity better than nothing? Surely they didn't need any more right now?

One thing I rather liked about this years' press on the Xmas Special is it's been more in-depth. Despite the fairly cynical high-profile casting of Kylie M, there have been a couple of really insightful pieces on the background to the show. Is it because there's a sense of things drawing to a conclusion, and a little perspective seems in order?

Oh, and my book club have probably done something illegal, by sending out the three latest DW novels weeks before their publication date. Here's my thoughts on the two I've read so far, under the cut: