Past the deadline!

So, the dreaded four-oh has passed. I have to admit now that some of the targets on my list might have been a teeny bit ambitious. Had I all the resources of say, Victoria Beckham, I could indeed have spent the last six years travelling to the Galapagos, Antarctica, Borneo, Madagascar etc. Or if Sir David Attenborough had spotted my talents as a budding presenter perhaps from, I don’t know, my tweets about bats and puffins I’d have enjoyed travelling the world as a roving wildlife spotter. As it is, I’ve not made a bad stab of it and there’s nothing to say that some of these exciting goals can’t be rolled over to the next decade or so.

In the meantime, here are a couple I managed this year, which still count at a push:

4.       Buy a piano/keyboard üAchieved in my fortieth year, hurray!

Thanks to all the lovely family members who helped chip in to help me buy my lovely Yamaha keyboard. It’s got weighted keys and pedals and headphones so my neighbours don’t have to be subjected to my stumbling practice.

Considering I only really have two rooms in my tiny flat, I’m pretty pleased that I managed to squeeze my life-long dream of ‘a piano in a library’ into it. (Library, in this case, means ‘about six shelves’. But they are heavy laden. In fact, one collapsed the other day and had to be propped up by a hefty pile of Dickens. Anyway, I digress.)

One of the most exciting things was when the delivery guy buzzed to say ‘parcel for you’. I descended to find a box than was twice my weight and almost my height sitting on the pavement.

‘Urm, can you give me a hand with this to the third floor please?’

‘No can do. Sorry.’

I contemplated setting up the piano with a busking hat outside to make my fortune. In the end owe a huge debt of thanks to my friend for struggling with the hefty thing up to my top floor flat. It’s now been beautifully inserted between the cheese plant and the step-ladder displaying the drama section of my book collection (sorry, library), as if it were designed that way.

There’s nothing nicer than tinkling away a stressful day, massacring a few David Bowie songs or playing Debussy and Chopin in the way that they definitely wouldn’t have intended. Practice needed …

27.   Ski in at least 3 more countries/regions

I’d like to say a big thank you to Elsie for helping me to achieve the final in my third of three, very different, ski experiences. The weekend before my fortieth, we stayed over-night in a cosy lodge and stocked up on a big breakfast in preparation for a ski up and down a Munroe. We really were exceptionally fortunate with the weather. It was cold (of course) but with incredible blue skies and although a bit too windy at the top to want to linger over the ‘conquered it’ shot, definitely not so cold as to wonder whether your toes have actually fallen off.

My previous attempt at ski touring saw me crying all the way up and rolling all the way back down before kissing the ground Pope style in gratitude for my safe return. This time I was so excited by stomping along with the skis on my back, crossing a stream in proper Famous Five style and chatting to really interesting and inspiring people as I tromped my way up that I was barely aware of the miles sliding under my skies. Skiing uphill will always be weird, but I can definitely appreciate the joy of not having to fight the crowds on the piste. We even saw mountain hares.

A top end to my thirties.

The actual last day of my thirties was, as an aside, spent up to my eyeballs in snow thanks to the Beast from the East. At least I won’t forget it in a hurry.

7.       Get a rabbit

I inherited a cat. Does that count? 

The list hasn’t ended, just paused. For all the many, many people who have helped me get so far: thank you. I really couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to the next decade of fun!

Time to be a Time Lord

The continuing adventures of a woman trying to achieve forty things before she hits the grand old age of forty, although not necessarily in the right order...

Number 1: Appear in a Doctor Who story (achieved – sort of)

I’ll start this with a huge THANK YOU to the charity Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), my friend Rebecca and everyone at Capital Sci Fi Con for helping me tick off one of my biggest life goals.

It’s a long time since I started my forty things for forty list. Basic Maths will reveal how close the deadline is. There’s no way I’ll achieve it all in time, but it’s been fun trying. I’ve learned new skills, visited exciting places and enjoyed time with friends old and new.

Having been a Doctor Who fan since the age of 9, which is ... no way I’m telling you how many years ... the first and most important goal was always going to be: ‘appear in a Doctor Who story’.

It’s also one of the trickiest. You can’t phone up the BBC and say ‘hello I’d like a spot on one of your most popular franchises. Yes I’m a serious actor / writer type. No I’m not just a massive fan. Yes, I am currently wearing a long scarf. Wait! Don’t put down the phone ...’

Until Capital Sci Fi Con, the closest I came to achieving my goal was listening to Dr Who audio adventures. Several feature McGann’s Doctor and his companion Charley. An even closer match is the Tom Baker story featuring ‘Charlotte from the village’: like me she’s from a village in Devon and is a Bowie fan.

Close, but not actually me. As a last resort, I started writing my own Who novel.

Then came Capital Sci Fi Con. For anyone who hasn’t been, it’s an IMMENSE event, organised by fans, for fans, for the charity CHAS.

I arrived to a queue around the block. The last time I attended a conference I was 14 so it was ... a while ago. My friend and I were pretty much the only females there. What is lovely about Capital Sci Fi Con is that fans represented all ages, genders, backgrounds and abilities. There were families; couples; friends; hobby groups. It makes for a wonderful atmosphere. Welcoming, friendly and inclusive.

And the costumes! My word. So much effort, detail and love had gone into them.

In terms of the event itself, I could go on for pages about how well organised and fun it was. I can do more of that in my TFN column. For now the main goal: appearing in a Doctor Who story.

I took the opportunity to be photographed with as many monsters, actors and robots as possible in my ‘lash-up’ costume. (Classic Dr Who for me involves some sort of velvet / hat / boot combo.)

I got menaced, threatened at gun point, mock throttled, hugged and fought things off with a light sabre. I struck a Doctor pose inside the TARDIS doorway. The hilarious Terry Molloy (Davros) stuck my Davros figurine up his nose. He probably increased the value by £200.

The final shout out, though, goes to the wonderful Julian Glover. He’s been in Indiana Jones, Game of Thrones, James Bond, Blake’s 7 and pretty much anything you ever enjoyed watching.

For me, he will always be Skaroth (Count Scarlioni) in City of Death. Famous for its Paris location and witty dialogue, mainly courtesy of the wonderful Douglas Adams, City of Death is a classic ‘70s Who story about an alien stealing the Mona Lisa.

I approached Mr Glover a little nervously and explained what I’d like him to do.

There’s a favourite exchange in City of Death between the Count (spoiler- he’s an alien) and Countess Scarlioni:

“My Dear, he’s not as stupid as he seems.”

“My Dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems.”

It’s one of my favourite exchanges. I have to stop myself adapting it as a retort whenever people say they’re ‘not as stupid as they look’. You lose friends that way.

To cut a long story slightly more mid-length: Mr Glover agreed to be filmed delivering the lines with me. He did it beautifully and didn’t bat an eyelid.

To be fair, for an actor on the sci fi conference circuit, it’s probably not the weirdest thing he’s been asked to do.

Thanks to everyone at CHAS, Capital Sci Fi Con and especially the beautiful Julian Glover, for making my nine-year-old self’s dream come true.