John Drake

This is the only guide you need on how to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

Forgot to mention above, I also like that the Doctor changes outfits for different episodes now. It makes sense when you have a leading man as stylish as Ncuti Gatwa, and a budget that can cover an expanded wardrobe, and avoids the situation Colin Baker found himself in where he was saddled with a garish outfit that he didn't like and was stuck with it permanently. The toy manufacturers will be pleased too. They'll make a fortune from all the extra replica figures of Ncuti they can sell!

I've commented on that in a different thread to avoid dragging this one off topic.

I enjoyed the first two episodes of the new series. I watched them on iPlayer on Saturday afternoon before they were broadcast on BBC One in the evening, which felt strange but will probably be the new normal from now on. I love Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson as the Doctor and Ruby. They have such good chemistry and radiate a sense of joy and wonder, everything that Doctor Who should be about in my view. They have great comic timing and can do the serious bits as well. There was a fair bit of exposition for the benefit of new viewers, but it didn't distract from the fun of what was an incredibly daft but entertaining first episode. The Space Babies were adorable. I'd assumed the trailer clip of Ruby turning into a butterfly would have been a whole episode, but instead it was just done as an opportunity to show off the bigger budget special effects, with the prehistoric vista of Earth with realistic moving dinosaurs a long way from the cereal packet Brontosaurus on a stick Jon Pertwee had to put up with back in the 1970s. The episode had several nods to the original reboot in 2005, including the Doctor tuning up Ruby's phone so she could call her mum back home through time and space, and the numerous references to the babies' bodily functions reminiscent of the burping Auton bin and farting Slitheens from the Christopher Eccleston era. If you didn't like those, you won't like this. The second episode benefitted greatly from its scene-eating villain, Maestro. It's a shame the casting department who aced that one couldn't have found more convincing lookalikes to play The Beatles, or at least John and Paul who got a few lines each, while George and Ringo barely got a look in. The plot, that Maestro had stolen music from the world, was a clever way to get around not being able to use actual Beatles songs in the show, and I liked the resolution that the world was saved on this occasion by Lennon and McCartney, not the Doctor! The Doctor meeting Cilla Black also made me chuckle. Another interesting nod to the past was the Doctor taking Ruby into the future mid-story, to see how things would turn out if they didn't defeat the baddie, after Ruby claimed the world couldn't end in 1963 as she was born in 2004. Similar to a scene in the Tom Baker story Pyramids of Mars where the Doctor takes Sarah to a desolated future she thought couldn't happen, and a great way to remind viewers why they can't just get back in the TARDIS and run away from whatever danger they've stumbled into. Much as I love Doctor Who, the show that can do anything it wants, I'm not mad keen on seeing another song and dance bit so soon after the last one in the Christmas special. However, it cannot be denied that the much lengthier one at the end of The Devil's Chord was executed in spectacular fashion and further demonstrated the versatility of its two lead characters. Next week, an episode written by Steve Moffat, so it will be interesting to see how that one differs from the two openers penned by Russell T Davies.

Eurovision just hasn't been much fun this year, so I've not felt like commenting on it since the first semi final. I've enjoyed listening to the songs and watching the performances, which is what it should all be about. The rest has left me absolutely cold.

Thread Drift Klaxon! Various posts deleted. This thread is about Rugby League in London, not the NRL. Please stay on topic. Thanks.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum.

Please stick to discussing the match in question and do not accuse match officials of being biased or corrupt or you run the risk of being immediately banned from the forum. SUNDAY 12th MAY Midlands Hurricanes v Cornwall KO 14:00

Very enjoyable first semi-final last night, I thought. I don't actively dislike any of the songs, but the ones that stood out for me... Ireland: Blimey! The song is very shouty and disjointed, but the performance was everything. Like a musical nightmare. Disturbing, but brilliant. Fair play to them doing something different. It's in another universe to Johnny Logan or Jedward. I'm glad it qualified. I wouldn't choose to listen to this kind of music, but I want to see this again. Croatia: I loved this one. Easy to see why it is one of the big favourites to win. Lively, colourful performance and a chant-along chorus that gets the audience involved. Cha Cha Cha, er, sorry, I mean Rim Tim Tagi Dim! Finland: If the UK had done something like this at Eurovision, I'm sure I would have hated it, but this was pure fun. The Austin Powers style camerawork was genius. The chap doing the bulk of the singing while Windows95Man prats about in the background has a decent voice too. Lithuania and Ukraine were the other stand-outs for me. Nice to see the 'big five' and the host country getting to perform during the semi-finals, even though they don't have to qualify. The United Kingdom performance by Olly Alexander won't be everyone's cup of tea, but after years (and years, geddit?) of moaning that we don't send established stars or make much of an effort with staging, both those criticisms can be binned off this year. I don't think it can win, there are better songs in the contest and the performance will no doubt alienate as many as it enthuses, but if this doesn't do better than James 'Double-0' Newman or Jemini on Saturday, there ain't no justice.