Coming out from behind the sofa...

 "Have you ever wondered what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension...?"

 

I'm still reflecting happily on the one-day Doctor Who symposium, Visions from Behind the Sofa, that we hosted at the University of Hertfordshire this week. M'colleague Howard Berry worked wonders to secure a great panel of guests -

Dr Kim Akass (Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at University of Hertfordshire, co-Series Editor of the Reading Contemporary Television series (I.B. Tauris))
Kevin Davies (documentary maker, producer of fan film Shakedown)
Cameron K McEwan (Blogtor Who, Twitter: @BlogtorWho)
Toby Hadoke (comedian, author of Moths Ate My Dr Who Scarf)
Mat Irvine (BBC visual effects artist, stalwart of Who, Blake's 7, and more)
Dr Lorna Jowett (Senior Lecturer at the University of Northampton, author of Sex and the Slayer)
Dr Patrick Stokes (Marie Curie Fellow in Philosophy, contributor to Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside than the Outside)

- not to mention a Dalek and K9, and the pleasingly mixed audience was glorious in both its enthusiasm and staying power.

My thoughts are now drifting towards the notion of a full 2 day academic conference on the subject... But it's OK, I'll slap myself in the face in a minute and get back to marking!

"It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for..."

Intertextual Droid...

An interesting point was made during the lecture this afternoon, one which seems to illustrate the richness and potential of this 'ere 'intertextual' idea. I was talking through my Jacob Epstein. H.R. Giger example, and it was suggested that the 'Rock Drill' sculpture also had some resemblance to the droid figures in the later Star Wars films (the rubbish ones).

What this demonstrates quite clearly, I think, is the way in which everyone has their own intertextual 'web' that is constantly sparking off connections and ideas.