Sunday, June 03, 2007

Save me from degrees of paranoia: a question of Who and where...

It's becoming an oft-used phrase on this blog, but here's the thing.

Even before it came up as being the basis for NewWho episodes, I had a good awareness of Paul Cornell's book "Human Nature", even if I hadn't actually read it in book form. [I'll write separately about the bloody fantasticness of this two parter].

It probably won't shock anyone that in watching Human Nature/The Family of Blood, it was hard for me to resist a big fat grin at John Smith's back story of coming from Nottingham (especially with such encyclopaedic knowledge of the back streets of the city).

But here's the thing:

I've been covering my back with my two witchiest friends, Lisette and Chrissie, that this birth location of Nottingham for John Smith pre-dates New Who because hey, that's what I thought I knew and dammit I'm not gonna open myself to paranoia and torment by letting them think for even a moment it's anything else.

So can some kind soul of supreme Who knowledge confirm I'm right to 'know' that Smith used Nottingham as his 'birthplace' pre-this script.

Pretty please?

'Cos the alternative is gonna be hellish to defend, even if Cornell's most recent pre-Who gig was on the recent Robin Hood series. I'm not helped either by the fact that one of Cornell's upcoming jobs is to work on the second series of Primeval.

Those sniggers? I can hear you already.

5 comments:

Anna Lowman (annawaits) said...

Man, how did I miss that he's got a blog?! Thanks for that! He'll be great for Primeval - a fantastic writer is precisely what the show needed.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to disappoint you, but I've just downloaded the book from the BBC site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/ if you're interested) and in that he's a Dr John Smith of Aberdeen...

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Disappoint is the wrong word entirely...

"Smith is
from Nottingham rather than Aberdeen because David
wanted to keep an English accent."

Thanks for that Mr Tennant.

Bollux.

That cackling at the back girls? I definitely CAN hear you.

Anonymous said...

But on thr plus side you've got a copy of the book...
[/relentless optimism]

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Yep, and for that Tom I'm very glad the BBC put it back up again.