Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 5-6-2017

I’m … very unsurprised, this morning.

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has officially condemned various shades of tech company.

Along with others in her government, she’s criticised both social media, and companies that use end to end encryption, for allowing radicals a ‘safe space,’ in which to plan.

OK, I can appreciate that … 

But Ian Duncan Smith made — completely unintentionally — a minor point: in an Andrew Marr show interview, yesterday.

He said words to the effect of “Parents don’t know what their children are doing, online.”

Now, yes: tech companies could be doing more.

But what are we as parents doing to keep our children away from radicalisation?

You?

Me?

The family next door?

If the answer’s “I don’t know what they’re up to,” or “I don’t know how to use a computer”?

We’re just as bad as the tech giants.

~≈ß≈~

There’s something else that’s unsurprisingly surprising.

In a nice way.

I managed to catch this week’s episode of Dr Who, last night: The Lie of the Land.

And couldn’t help but notice the 1984 references.

After all, the monks base is a giant pyramid with ‘Truth’ written all over it, whose controllers are keeping the boiler-suited population oppressed by re-writing history: complete with ‘Memory’ police enforcing it.

So I asked him about it, via Twitter.

Turns out he is.

I’m happy!

~≈ß≈~

Dr Who Series Seven: A Town Called Mercy

Blimey … 

That seemed to go down rather well … !

Or, at least, I enjoyed meself: whether anyone ELSE did, I don’t know.

Unless they choose to leave me a comment, of course.

You know, I’m being terribly remiss, aren’t I: happily burbling on, whilst my readers sit there, on the other side of the screen, and wonder what the HELL I’m banging on about.

Like the pictures aren’t a clue … 

Just in case you’ve not been following me for a while, I’m talking about tonight’s episode of Dr Who.

~~~~~

Written by Being Human head honcho, Toby Whithouse, tonight’s episode, A Town Called Mercy sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory arriving at the small US town of Mercy, some five years after the end of the Civil War.

The town has a problem: there’s something nasty coming for the town’s doctor.

Who’s not what you’d expect: the town’s Doctor has saved Mercy from Cholera … and also an alien war-criminal, who’s being hunted after building some seriously psychotic cyborgs.

That’s not the problem … 

The problem is the gunslinger who’s coming AFTER him … !

~~~~~

Now … 

Thus far, last week’s episode — Dinosaur’s On A Spaceship — is still the episode that’s pushing my boat out.

Bu A Town Called Mercy, with its Steampunk Western sensibility, certainly tickled my fancy: as did the one or two scenes that told me Matt Smith’s handling of his character’s angry moments is improving.

I’m ALSO thinking that the Moffat led production team seem to not be threading this season through with a story-arc.

Something of a mixed blessing, I think: Russell T Davies era of the show did it well, I thought, with each of his seasons having some form of theme to the season.

On the other hand … ?

On the other, the Moffat era Dr Who does seem to do individual stories on a par with any I’ve seen, including both RTD’s … *

And some of Robert Holmes’.

I’ll leave you you to chew that over, shall I … ?

See you in the morning … !

*        there was one other minor thing: I know the BBC’s tweaked the opening credits to make them a touch darker: but I’m thinking, here, that they’ve made them too dark.