What clicks when I click together Lego

In deference/reference to Haruki Murakami

(This title and subtitle reference this - What I Talk about When I Talk About Running)

1. I spent quite a lot of money on this child’s toy.

2. Wow, that’s a lot of pieces. And a huge book of instructions. This is an ADULT’S toy.

3. Oh, that’s clever. I don’t think I could design something that clever.

4. I should be writing. I have competition deadlines looming.

5. Those competitions are going to be won by someone the judges already know, and anything I write now will be rushed.

6. Keep the tray flat or you’ll spend 40 minutes with your arm down the side of the sofa feeling for ridged plastic.

7. The same writing competitions will still be here next year. Maybe I’ll take the slow road and get them to a much better place without rushing.

8. Will I have time to write next year? Will I be here next year?

9. Life is short and everything is transient, so why am I spending time clicking plastic together?

10. Life is short and everything is transient, so take joy wherever you can. I’m building a giant pirate who will make me smile every time I see him.

And here is the output of two evening sessions, and the bags numbered 1 and 2. Look at the angles on the side of the body, built up and engineered inside. And the relief on his neckerchief/shirt. I’m in awe of the creativity involved, and delighted to share in that by making what they’ve designed.

This Week’s Notebook

I’m really struggling to get back into a flow of writing. My two week trip to Denmark was a perfect way to mark my 40th birthday and all that entails, but it’s broken my rhythm of writing and I’m finding it hard to get the drive back. I’m very pleased with the little concept for this weekly post, but long form writing is beyond me just now as I adjust back to the routines of life and learn to ignore the minor annoyances that are less easy to deal with.

It’s probably just post-holiday blues, isn’t it?

It’s also more than that, I’m worn down by a few rejections from previous submissions and the intense ambition I had a few weeks ago to get things made has dissipated in the light of just having two weeks of fun.

For the sake of accountability, here’s what I could choose to work on next.

1. Living Space - A sci-fi sitcom about Kate, an utterly average woman abducted from Earth and soon to become stuck with a crew of mismatched and utterly average aliens on a ship exploring the universe. It is a revisiting of an idea and script written in 2019 with six more years of thoughts, and a little more experience. It was intended for Sitcom Mission, whose deadline is the end of the month. I have a clear structure and plot for episode 1 ready to go, but not the oomph to get the characters talking.

2. The Secret - A sitcom about a frustrated ghost desperate to know who they were but trying to keep the world of ghosts a secret, with the help of a fussy scientist, an upstart vicar and a reluctant medium. This is my latest attempt to fit my fascination with ghosts into a classical sitcom mould. I’ve written posts here, two short stories and plotted out episode 1. I intended to submit to the Oxford/42 New Writing Prize, but that deadline is scarily similar to Sitcom Mission.

3. Fancy Falls Podcast - If you read this Substack, I hope you know what Fancy Falls is…

   But my latest plan is to produce a monthly sketch podcast set in that world, using the backlog of sketches I’ve shared to get it all going. I’m desperate to get back to performing, and this is the easiest and most sustainable route to that.

So eventually, I’ll get to work on these. The competitions might not be the right fit, but these projects will become scripts for other competitions. Or for contacting production companies and agents to show off my writing skills. Or for me to produce over a number of years, recording every part myself with cardboard props and hand-painted scenery. They shall all live, in the fullness of time.

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Televigion Update

Watching

• Doctor Who Season 2¹, Episode 1: The Robot Revolution (iPlayer) - Doctor Who is a major part of my Televigion life, and I’m delighted it is back. I’m strongly attempting to ignore the rumours of no renewal by Disney, a hiatus, a pause or any other sad thing, because it serves no purpose. Live in the moment. Enjoy what we have now. And we have eight (I think, I’m going as spoiler free as I can for future episodes) Saturday evenings of distant planets, teased mysteries and lofty ambition tempered by budget, time and pressure to be a hit. The Fifteenth Doctor is a whirlwind of energy and tears, and I occasionally still feel like Ncuti Gatwa is trying ever-so-slightly too hard. Varada Sethu as new companion Belinda Chandra is a perfect fit immediately. Funny, expressive and strong, I am not surprised they asked her back after her strong performance in Boom last season. As for this season opener, I liked the 50s sci-fi style, the cat-dispatching and the x-ray blanket, but was a little disappointed in the overt statement of “this week’s topic” (coercive control) and the OTT performance of the “AI Generator”. The Doctor-companion dynamic does feels fresh, calling him out on the danger involved. Oh, and RTD dropped a hint for an unexpected sequel in this season during Doctor Who Unleashed²…

• Black Mirror Season 7 (Netflix) - You all know Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s anthology show extrapolating his fears of technology to their logical and horrific extremes, shot through with plenty of cynical humour to make it hit you harder. These days it is for a global audience on Netflix, and has a few modes of operation I can pinpoint that most episodes fit into. Lean and nasty, funny until they’re not, and a bit ponderous and predictable³. My favourites are the surprising ones, with a harder edge or more comedy⁴. My least favourites are the ones where I can map out rest of the plot points when the theme is mentioned. Episode 1 “Common People” is in the latter camp. It’s not fair to expect a show to surprise you every time, and some will love what this episode is doing, but it wasn’t what I needed from Black Mirror right now. There being a USS Callister sequel later in the run has definitely piqued more interest!

• SNL Season 50 Episode 18: Jon Hamm - I was excited for Jon Hamm’s return to hosting SNL (after 15 years as you’ll hear in his monologue), but once again just a little disappointed in the sketches. Nothing very unexpected, though all certainly serviceable, and the final sketch of the night Icebreaker, was nicely constructed and played⁵. Relatedly, I’m happy to commit to my current favourite performers in the cast; Sarah Sherman, Jane Wickline and Ashley Padilla, the last specifically for her role in Icebreaker. I’m realising more and more how boringly comfortable the team are during Weekend Update, and I hope there’s a change of Update team on the horizon, just to liven it up.

Intending to Consume

• SNL UK! (Sky, 2026) - As you will likely have read everywhere that has an interest in TV, Sky is developing a UK version of SNL, to be broadcast in 2026. My hope is that it is a training ground for new writers and performers, my belief is that it will feature known talent to ensure it gets some audience and remain a closed door. But if they really are going for it, I’ll give it time to become something more useful to the UK comedy industry⁶.

• Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai - So it turns out there is a Gremlins animated series that is getting positive notices. The two Gremlins films are exactly in my taste zone, hilarious and self-aware 80s action comedy horror. The animated show is on childrens TV, but I’m hoping it finds some of the madcap fun and mean streak of the original. The second half of S2 is out now in the US on Max, and the first season is now available in the UK Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Series 1: 1. Never Get Them Wet: via @bbciplayer (iPlayer)

Questions/Prompts

Any and all thoughts on Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution?

Footnotes

1. The 2025 one, not the 1964 one, or the 2006 one. I could say it’s a bit timey-wimey, but actually it’s just lack of clarity.

2. I am so glad they’ve invested in updating “Doctor Who Confidential” for the Disney+/RTD2 era, with a genuine interest in showing young people some ways in to the TV industry.

3. That breakdown makes it sound like I’m not a fan, but I truly am, and I absolutely up my expectations when I fall in love with a show.

4. The ones I’d pick out for my tastes, and in chronological order, are Nosedive, USS Callister, Bandersnatch, Striking Vipers, Joan is Awful and Demon 79.

5. The five-to-one slot is usually going to be my favourite anyway, as it’s where the weirdest sketches end up in the running order.

6. Further reading here and almost everywhere else that talks about comedy or TV.