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And from the Independent, here is a reading comprehension test for all you high schoolers:

"Michael Palin is a kindly and intelligent soul, but one thing I doubt he would ever claim to be is a pillar of English literature. A few years ago, at the behest of a television company, he travelled from North Pole to South Pole, and produced a spin-off book, with pictures. I'm sure it was very entertaining; now, however, it is being asked to provide an introduction to English literature as a set book for thousands of GCSE students. I wonder whether a telly spin-off can really be expected to do that job."

Did you spot what the author is telling us about himself? That's right - he couldn't be arsed to actually crack the book he's talking about. Slacker.

On Paterson Joseph and Doctor Who

Many fans are very disappointed that Paterson Joseph was not cast as the new Doctor, and have gone as far as speculating that he was cast, then dumped in favour of someone younger, prettier, and paler.

However: as far as I've been able to find out, it was fandom which started the Paterson Joseph rumour in the first place. The British media then picked it up - along with other names fans had bandied about - and many fans took it as a done deal that Joseph would be the new Doctor.

As far as I've managed to find, Joseph was first mentioned in connection with the role on 13 October, in the rumour-and-gossip blog Lying in the Gutters, which categorised the story as "a little dodgy". In response to Lying in the Gutters' posting, Sci Fi Wire contacted Joseph, who told them: "The news on Who was news to me as of last Wednesday, when my agent said they'd had lots of journos asking if the rumors were true. That's all I know, and I'm very pleased to even be thought of in this way. It's a blast!" Similarly, Paterson's agent told Den of Geek this was the first they'd heard of it.

This was weeks before David Tennant announced his departure (29 October), and more than two months before one of Joseph's Survivors co-stars said he was in the running (20 November) - which means said co-star had two months to pick up the rumour from the media, and might not have had inside information at all.

Exec producer Piers Wenger told the Telegraph (5 January): "We saw a dozen or so people, some of them black. There was never any resistance to the idea of a black Doctor and it would have got us all sorts of headlines and brownie points, but we set out to cast the best actor for the role irrespective of ethnicity or age, and that was Matt."

(Addenda: Lying in the Gutters stated outright on 24 November that Joseph had been cast during the previous week. This could possibly have sparked the "he was hired then fired" rumour. Neil Gaiman's 22 December comment about the rumours is also worth a look.)

(Further addenda: Lying In The Gutters ate crow on 5 January. On 20 November Paterson Joseph told the BBC he couldn't comment. Russell Tovey's 31 October interview is also worth a look.)

(&#$&($(&$ Science Fiction

Polaris is how many light years away?! How did I miss that?! *drags all of chapter one across space to the far closer Beta Hydri*

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About 450 words today. As I have now rearranged the galaxy into a satisfactory pattern and have a reasonable idea of what happens in ch 2 on a scene-by-scene level (partly thanks to Jon's excellent suggestions) I hope to speed up a bit