May 2024 Favourites

A collage of 4 images, showing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak standing in the rain outside 10 Downing Street, the title character and three children dancing in the Mrs Doubtfire musical, the white dome of the O2 Arena viewed from across the River Thames, and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor with Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday posing in front of the round Tardis console in Doctor Who.

Hello again, hope you’re all doing well. For me this month has certainly thrown up its share of surprises, and not just the exciting ones in Doctor Who. At home we had to call in the professionals to get rid of a few mice who quietly snuck in, and now in the UK we’re suddenly in the run-up to a snap general election. So there seems to be a running theme about banishing evil beasts who care little for human welfare and will continue to cause substantial damage if they’re not stopped.

But there are other things to mention as well. It’s been a relatively quiet month, but I’ve attended another fun musical, taken part in another audio description workshop, had some nice walks in the sunshine, and watched a few things on TV and DVD. So, with the usual disclaimer that nothing is sponsored to appear here and all opinions are my own, let’s crack on with my latest post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

Contents

General Election

I know, it’s a boring topic and hardly a ‘favourite’, and I generally avoid getting into politics on here. But it’s going to be such an important and dominant subject over the next month that it would be wrong not to acknowledge it. And it will be one of the favourite moments of the year for me if the Conservatives lose. It seems pretty certain that they will, but let’s not jinx it!

I just can’t get behind a party that has made such a mess of the country and shown such contempt for the public over the past 14 years, including Partygate and all the public health failures during the Covid pandemic, the utter disdain they continue to show for disabled people including the worrying PIP reforms they’re proposing and other attacks on our rights that the UN have severely criticised them for, the economic devastation caused by Liz Truss and others, the millions of people who are reliant on food banks and are struggling to pay their energy bills, the huge NHS waiting lists, the waste of millions of pounds on the Rwanda scheme, the waste that’s flowing in our rivers, their constant fearmongering and divisive language, and their many other scandals, lies and failures.

And it’s hard to trust a Prime Minister who insists he’s good at planning, when he didn’t tell his own party in advance that he was calling an election, announced it in the rain without an umbrella (while being drowned out by Things Can Only Get Better in a genius move by protestor Steve Bray), got a couple of Tory councillors to pose as biscuit factory workers to ask him questions, asked Welsh people if they were looking forward to Euro 2024 when the country hadn’t qualified, opened himself up to an obvious sinking ship question by visiting the Titanic quarter, allowed himself to be photographed by an Exit sign, rushed out an idea for compulsory National Service without thinking it through properly and which had been dismissed as unworkable by a defence minister just days earlier, and spoke to a group of people where one of his team tried to block an eye-rolling woman which only drew attention to her more – and that’s all in the space of a week! Scores of Tory MPs have also chosen to jump ship by announcing they won’t be standing for re-election, leaving the party scrambling to find around 200 candidates in a very short time, which doesn’t say much for their confidence and cohesion, but then they’ve had internal divisions for a while.

None of the other parties are perfect either, sure, and there’s no guarantee that any of them would be better or would carry out everything in their manifestos. Whoever gets in will also have a very tough time rebuilding things given the mess they’ll be inheriting, which may well take more than one term in office. But it’s abundantly clear that we do need a change.

So as things stand, I’m happy to give Labour a chance to see what they can deliver, based on what I’ve heard so far about their plan (which Rishi keeps trying to claim they don’t have), and what I’ve seen of Keir Starmer (there’s a nice thread on X about a barrister with ME/CFS who met him). Mind you, I would like to hear a lot more about what they (and all the other parties) would do for disabled people, as what little I’ve come across has been very vague so far. And Labour haven’t had an entirely faultless campaign either, particularly with all the speculation surrounding Diane Abbott, so they need to be careful, but they’re still doing a lot better than the Tories.

The Liberal Democrats are tempting in some ways as well, to give them credit, and leader Ed Davey has clearly been enjoying himself. But realistically they’re not going to get in, and it does feel like Labour are the best option. And as a London resident, I’m hoping our Labour mayor Sadiq Khan will find it much easier to work for the city if he has a Labour government backing him, because the Tories did all they could to make it difficult over his past two terms yet still lost to him in the Mayoral election earlier this year.

You may of course disagree with me, and that’s fine. I’m not telling you who to vote for, I’m just sharing what I’m personally thinking as the election campaign gets underway. And with a month still to go, I’m potentially open to persuasion.

But whatever your thoughts and political leanings may be, if you live in the UK it’s simply imperative that you do vote in this election, even if (and indeed especially if) you feel disheartened about it or don’t trust any of them. Even spoiling your ballot paper or leaving it blank is better than not voting at all, because at least your dissatisfaction will be counted within the publicised figures then, and you won’t be dismissed as being lazy or unwilling to vote by those in power.

So whichever way you vote, this is our big chance to send a powerful message to those in charge about how we’re feeling, as it might be 5 long years before we can do it again. We have to make this count. So please make sure you’re ready to vote and that you’re aware of the deadlines if necessary:

If you’re disabled, the Electoral Commission has guidance for returning officers on accessible voting, the RNIB has information for people with sight loss, and there are campaigns being run by Scope and Sense urging the government to listen to us, support us and give us an equal future.

Mrs Doubtfire Musical

The one theatre show I saw this month was the musical adaptation of Mrs Doubtfire at the Shaftesbury Theatre, based on the classic 90s comedy film starring Robin Williams. There was an audio described performance taking place on a weeknight, but my friend Claire and I couldn’t make that particular date as it’s difficult to get to shows after work, so we went to a matinee showing at a weekend instead. And it worked out fine, because it’s easy to follow and we didn’t miss anything major.

The exterior of the Shaftesbury Theatre, showing Mrs Doubtfire The Musical. A large poster on the side of the building shows the title character with her back to us, wearing a blue cardigan and a plaid skirt while holding a broom. She's looking up at large wording in front of her, against a light blue background, that says Hellooo London, the first word in yellow and the second in white. To the right, on the curved front corner of the building over the entrance, Mrs Doubtfire is dangling as she holds on with one hand to the middle S of the word Shaftesbury on an upper floor. She's secured in place by large thick letters spelling out her name across the corner of the building.

For those who don’t know, the plot is about a guy called Daniel who adores his children and will do anything to make them happy, but he loses custody of them and is forced to move out when his wife reaches the end of her tether with his joking around and lack of employment. He then discovers that she’s looking to employ a nanny to care for the children when she’s out at work, so with the transformational help of his brother and a friend he invents a Scottish alter-ego called Mrs Doubtfire, and manages to get the job. However, while the new arrival is popular with the family, the lie becomes increasingly difficult for Daniel to maintain, and he somehow has to find a way out of it. He does learn some valuable lessons about being a good father along the way though.

The stage curtain for Mrs Doubtfire the musical, showing the title Mrs Doubtfire in large white 3D lettering against a blue background.

So it’s clearly quite a silly story, hence this is a comedy show, but that’s why it’s good entertainment. Lead actor Gabriel Vick is very funny as well as being a really good impressionist, and the quick changes in and out of his Doubtfire costume and persona are very well choreographed. He certainly has a lot to pull off in this show, in terms of clothing as well as his performance, but makes it look effortless. The rest of the cast are great too, and Gabriel made a special announcement at the end of the show to celebrate its first anniversary in the West End, as well as bidding an emotional farewell to some of the supporting stars who were moving on to other things.

The music really brings the show to life as well, with catchy and amusing numbers like Make Me A Woman, Easy Peasy & I’m Rockin’ Now alongside heartfelt songs like I Want To Be There, The Mess I’ve Made & Just Pretend, and the joyful finale As Long As There Is Love. And they’re all nicely visualised in terms of the dancing and the lighting.

It’s not as complex or elaborate as huge productions like Moulin Rouge or Les Miserables of course, but then it doesn’t need to be, and it’s not trying to do anything highbrow or convey any kind of deep message either. It’s simply entertaining and heartwarming family fun for a couple of hours, so I enjoyed it.

And incidentally, talking of theatre, I will quickly add that I got to team up with audio describer Roz Chalmers again this month, following on from the workshop we did in April. So I spoke about my experiences of audio described theatre for an hour, answering lots of well-considered questions about why it’s important, what works well and the things that can go wrong. I’m not going to say who it was for, suffice to say they were important people in the realm of London theatre who have a keen interest in accessibility and were absolutely lovely to engage with. So many thanks to them for their time, and I hope all my input was useful!

River Thames Walks

I like to go for walks fairly regularly, to get some fresh air and exercise and clear my head after working all week, but I don’t often mention them as there isn’t much to say or photos to share. It’s just nice to explore different parts of London as I continue to fill in the walking map I started in lockdown 4 years ago, which is generated by compiling all of my Strava data into a single map on the CityStrides website. It’s very rewarding to see how much I’ve done since then, and it makes it easy to keep track of which sections I haven’t done yet. I’ll never complete the entire city, obviously, but I’ll never be short of choice of where to go either.

A map of London filled with blue lines for all the routes I've walked over the past 4 years. Central London from Kensington across to the City of London is entirely filled in, with some progress made in nearby areas. A huge block in East London is also complete, from Stratford across to Barking. Northern parts of London are less well travelled, though Regent's Park and some streets to the west of it are filled in, and there are lines tracing up to Walthamstow then back down to Stratford. In South London, parts of Battersea in the west and Greenwich in the east have been completed.

Anyway, now that the weather’s getting nicer on the whole with summer approaching, I have taken advantage of a few gorgeously sunny days to enjoy more scenic strolls. And in particular, I had a couple of walks by the River Thames this month, which I always love doing, so I thought I’d share some photos from those.

First of all I walked along the north bank, completing a section I’ve not actually done before. I started by heading east from Canary Wharf with its impressive skyscrapers, and enjoying views of Greenwich on the other side, including the Cutty Sark and Old Royal Naval College.

Two tower blocks in Canary Wharf. On the left, the Newfoundland building has a white lattice pattern all the way down the building. On the right, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a darker glass front, and the building curves inwards in the centre.
View across the Thames to the Cutty Sark clipper ship with its 3 tall masts, which tower over the round domed building that serves as the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.
The buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, with two domed towers in the central section, viewed from the other side of the Thames.
Close-up of the central section of the Old Royal Naval College. Between the two domed towers is a hill in Greenwich Park, on top of which is the Royal Observatory.

An interesting sight I passed along the way was a memorial commemorating the victims of the Dudgeon’s wharf disaster on 17 July 1969, when an oil tanker exploded, killing five firefighters and a construction worker. It was sad but interesting to read about it after I got home, as I’d never heard of it before.

The Dudgeon’s Wharf Firefighters Memorial. 6 steps, gradually decreasing in width, lead to a paved balcony with a curved railing overlooking the Thames. On the left and right of this balcony are two tall white columns, one with a square metal plaque, the other with a round red plaque.
Round red plaque on the Dudgeon’s Wharf Firefighters Memorial. Silver flame motifs run up the left and right side, while in the centre the text says Honouring the bravery and sacrifice of John Appleby, Terence Breen, Trevor Carvosso, Michael Gamble and Alfred Smee of the London Fire Brigade, who gave their lives in the line of duty at Dudgeon's Wharf, London, 17th July 1969.
A square metal plaque with rounded corners on the Dudgeon’s Wharf Firefighters Memorial, with black text that reads In memory of those who lost their lives on 17 July 1969 following an explosion on this site, previously known as Dudgeons Wharf. Michael Gamble, John Appleby, Terence Breen, Trevor Carvosso and Alfred Smee of the London Fire Brigade, and Richard Adams from A & R Metal Company. The London Fire Brigade Logo, with the 3 initials in white letters in red boxes, is in the bottom right corner.

There are also nice views of the O2 Arena, formerly the Millennium Dome, from various angles as you follow the bend of the river around it, crossing the Prime Meridian line along the way.

The O2 Arena, a white-coloured dome that's shallower than the skyscrapers nearby, but makes up for it in its huge circumference. Huge girders tower up out of the structure, which are higher than the nearest skyscrapers, with lots of cables coming off them from all angles, connected to the building to hold it up. There is a large oval-shaped hole built into the side of the building from this angle, although it's not clear why.
The Prime Meridian Line passing through a large round compass painted on the paving, next to some railings overlooking the Thames. The huge white dome that is the O2 Arena is to the left on the other side of the river.
The O2 Arena, a white-coloured dome that's shallower than the skyscrapers nearby, but makes up for it in its huge circumference. Huge girders tower up out of the structure, which are higher than the nearest skyscrapers, with lots of cables coming off them from all angles, connected to the building to hold it up. In the centre of the dome, a pathway leads from the bottom right up to the central part of the roof, which visitors can arrange to climb up to see the views.

Occasionally the view is interrupted when you have to step away from the river, as happens now and again when you’re following the Thames Path. But even inland there are still little things to see, including a Fuller’s pub called The Gun, which must have some great views over the river if you drink in there, and the entrance lock for the Blackwall Basin, which contains a lot of green algae.

A pub on a street corner called The Gun, with black doors and contrasting black edging around its white walls.
The Blackwall Basin Entrance Lock, a long and wide inlet of water with pavements and buildings on each side, and with part of the O2 Arena just visible in the distance behind some skyscrapers. The long basin is filled with water, but more than half of it is bright green because of the algae it contains.

I then finished my walk in Lee Valley Park, finding one of the 1,400 beacons that were lit across the UK to mark the turn of the millennium.

One of the Millennium Beacons that had been lit to mark the year 2000. The scorched round basket, with a British Gas logo still visible if viewed closely, is attached to a thick tripod-shaped wooden stand.
White sign with black text attached to the wooden column of the Millennium Beacon. Below the Lee Valley Park logo, it says This Giant beacon was one of a chain of 1400 beacons which were lit across the country beginning in the Scottish Isles and moving down the country to Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London, commemorating the New Millennium 2000.
Close up of the round basket at the top of the Millennium Beacon, showing a scorched round plaque on the side, with the British Gas logo cut into it so that the sky is visible through the letters and the flame motif.

Then the following week I walked along the south bank, this time starting at Greenwich and again heading east. This section I have done before, but not for some time, and it is lovely. It meant I had much closer views of the Cutty Sark and Old Royal Naval College, as well as a pub called the Trafalgar Tavern with lots of colourful flags hanging up outside, and another pub called The Cutty Sark.

Front view of the Cutty Sark clipper ship with its 3 tall masts, as people walk by in the sunshine.
Side view of the Cutty Sark clipper ship with its 3 tall masts, as people walk by in the sunshine.
The Cutty Sark Pub. The name is written in big white letters on a black background, between windows that bulge out from the upper two floors in the centre of the building.
Close-up of the central section of the Old Royal Naval College, looking between the two domed towers to the hill in Greenwich Park in the distance, on top of which is the Royal Observatory.
A large stone building, including pillars on the outer walls and a balcony on the roof, part of the Old Royal Naval College.
The central section of the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, looking towards the two domed towers. In the distance is a hill in Greenwich Park, on top of which is the Royal Observatory.
The Trafalgar Tavern, attached to which are strings of colourful flags that stretch across the street in front of it. Union jack umbrellas provided shaded areas on the ground.
A narrow street alongside the Trafalgar Tavern, with hundreds of small Union Jack flags hanging from lengths of string going across overhead.

I then enjoyed great views of Canary Wharf as I followed the bend of the river, which also took me right by the O2 Arena of course. The better views of the O2 are from the other side of the river really, or from up in the cable car, as it often gets obscured by railings, construction work, buildings and other things when walking next to it on the south bank. But there are still some nice close-up views here and there.

Close-up of some of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf on the opposite side of the River Thames, including the tower with the pyramid shaped roof known as One Canada Square, alongside the tall office blocks for HSBC and Barclays banks.
The many tall skyscrapers of Canary Wharf on the other side of the River Thames
The many tall skyscrapers of Canary Wharf on the other side of the River Thames, including the famous tower with the pyramid shaped roof known as One Canada Square.
The O2 Arena, with the sun reflecting off its large white dome structure that has tall girder-like structures sticking up high from its roof, that have many cables coming off them attached to the roof. To the right of the arena is the iFly building for indoor skydiving.
A narrow dark blue pathway with railings that goes up to the roof of the O2 Arena. A group of visitors can be seen at the very top in the distance, having climbed the path to admire the views.

There are some unusual works of art along this section of the river too, as part of a large public art trail in East London called The Line, which I’d never heard of before. I might explore it a bit more fully at some point. Below you can see A Slice Of Reality by Richard Wilson (not the actor, obviously), Tribe And Tribulation by Serge Attukwei Clottey (which also emits some quiet sounds through the speakers), and Liberty Grip by Gary Hume.

Public artwork called A Slice Of Reality by Richard Wilson that shows a life-size one-eighth slice of a sand dredger in the River Thames.
Public artwork called A Slice Of Reality by Richard Wilson that shows a life-size one-eighth slice of a sand dredger in the River Thames.
Public artwork called Tribe And Tribulation by Serge Attukwei Clottey. It is a totem-like structure made out of old wooden boxes and crates. There are round speakers on a box in the middle and the one at the top.
Public artwork called Tribe And Tribulation by Serge Attukwei Clottey. It is a totem-like structure made out of old wooden boxes and crates. There are round speakers on a box in the middle and the one at the top.
Public artwork called Liberty Grip by Gary Hume. It's made of 3 large black structures that are a bit like the arms of mannequins. One of these stands straight up in the air, while the other 2 are bent at the elbows and are arranged to form an approximate square shape around the central structure.
Public artwork called Liberty Grip by Gary Hume. It's made of 3 large black structures that are a bit like the arms of mannequins. One of these stands straight up in the air, while the other 2 are bent at the elbows and are arranged to form an approximate square shape around the central structure.

I then passed under the IFS Cloud Cable Car, which I’ve travelled on before and should do again really, it does have beautiful views.

The IFS Cloud Cable Car, stretching across the River Thames, the cables passing across three tall white towers along the way.
A very tall, white, spiralling tower for the IFS Cloud Cable Car, with 3 cables passing across the top of it, with the small carriages of the cable car approaching on different cables from each side.

Finally I concluded my walk at the Thames Barrier, which is a very impressive and important structure as we all know.

The Thames barrier viewed from the west side, consisting of 9 piers with gaps between them for boats to pass through. Each pier has a domed metallic structure, with a white panel facing outwards that has a round porthole-like window on it. Each pier has the number 1 to 9 on its lower wall, with 9 nearest to us on the south bank.
Close-up view of the west side of the Thames Barrier from the south bank of the river, showing the metallic domed structures of each of the 9 piers stretching into the distance. Pier number 9 is the one nearest to us on the south bank.
The Thames barrier viewed from the east side, consisting of 9 piers with gaps between them for boats to pass through. Each pier has a domed metallic structure, most of which a white panel facing outwards that has a round porthole-like window on it, although a couple of piers have machinery visible on them as well. Each pier has the number 1 to 9 on its lower wall, with 9 nearest to us on the south bank.

TV & DVD

Apart from some of the election coverage, there are two main things I’ve been watching this month, both of which I’m writing extensive review posts about anyway, so I’m not going to say too much here. But in summary, they are:

  • Doctor Who: Season 1 – The Doctor is back, following last year’s 60th anniversary specials and the Christmas episode. And I’ve been increasingly enjoying the new series as it’s gone on. The first episode, Space Babies, was quite a daft story, and there was a lot of exposition about the Doctor crammed in early on for new viewers, so it was alright but it was a relatively weak opener. The Devil’s Chord was still crazy but in a better way, with a fabulous performance by Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro, and a catchy musical number at the end. Writer Steven Moffat then made a triumphant return with Boom, which was a compellingly tense story that really showed off Ncuti Gatwa’s acting range as the Doctor (and he’s been incredible all series, I love his style and energy). And then Millie Gibson got to shine superbly as companion Ruby Sunday when she was left on her own in 73 Yards, a brilliant Doctor-lite episode that really messes with your head. Ruby’s got an intriguing story arc as well regarding her parentage, and there are other little mysteries bubbling away, including the appearances of actress Susan Twist in various roles. So we’re only halfway through, but the finale’s clearly going to be very interesting, and showrunner Russell T Davies has promised it’ll be epic. I’ll post a full review of the series after it’s finished, and will update it with a look at the Blu-ray steelbook after that comes out later in the year.
  • Ross Noble – Since I attended a live show by Ross back in March, I’ve been working my way through his brilliant stand-up comedy DVDs, each of which has several hours of material to dig through, because every show is totally improvised and he adds some fun extras as well. No other comedian has produced DVDs as comprehensive as him, so it’s a shame he only releases stuff online these days. But it’s been great to revisit them yet again, and recently I published Part 1 of my in-depth review if you want to check them out. I’ve nearly finished going through the rest, so I hope to publish Part 2 during June, then after that I’ll review some of his online stuff as well.

Apart from those two things, I’ve continued enjoying Taskmaster of course, which I mentioned in last month’s post. It’s just finished its current run, but we’re about to get a bonus highlights series called Taskmasterclass, where Greg and Alex look back at past challenges and talk to former contestants, plus Alex Horne is about to host Have I Got News For You for the first time.

There’s also been other good news on the TV comedy front with the announcements that Outnumbered will be back for a Christmas special later this year followed by a new series of Not Going Out and a new 3-part special of Red Dwarf next year. So I’m looking forward to all of those.

Conclusion

And that’s it. I’m sorry that it’s a relatively short update this time, but I hope you found it interesting as always.

I do have a couple of theatre shows and other things coming up in June though, so there will be more to talk about next time. And as I said earlier, please make sure you’re ready to vote in the election if you’re in the UK like me. It’ll be nice when all this is over in early July.

But until then, take care, and I hope you have fun whatever you get up to over the next month!

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.

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