BBC Tour at MediaCityUK

well it is Sataday and something we have always wanted to do the good lady and i is tour BBC I always wanted to do BBC TVC but alas it's gone and this is part of the corporations new big plan to spread and diversify themselves and this  is there  £900 million relocation to Salford (still going to tell me its cheaper than updating the old TVC ?)  ,i did do many moons ago the Granada studious tour and that was excellent 
so we arrive , and theres a sports thing going on so lots of lycra clad people packed out and 5 or 6 normaly dressed elderly folk milling around main door 

I enquired at the Peel holdings desk ,and found out some interesting info 
,the whole site land building the lot are owned by them, BBC and others just "rent" the use of ,so may say BBC on the building  it is in name only
A  bit of kidology going on there and the young folk doing tour confirmed this and the mills that used to be there,there was no mills it was warehouses as it was a dockland for unloading ships,anyhow moving on 

 It would seem from opening intro that the studios (no mention of how many) are in use by channel four and ITV (who's site is yet to be built and finished) and apparently the Blue Peter people said No so anyhow blah happy to take pics not of equipment or corridors Blah 
all led by none BBC staffers just what i guess to be students earning bit of cash at weekend with a BBC t shirt on 

and onto our first stop 

Don't worry i haven't heard of radio 6 either , and young red head lad spent 20 minutes explained what each screen is what each web cam is what each microphone does its a hydraulic desk the window so you can see your radio presenters and on and on and on and on for 25 min, now i was concerned a hour tour half of it in here something isnt right

The next stop the empty room used for radio Dramas like Archers or whatever it was 
now it was ,i admit freely ,full our tour of about 20 people around  the age of 60 +  ,fare enough ,but really 20 minutes of how Fred died in Archers and this is how it was done, and this is cassette tape and this simulates grass and ooo tap and this used to simulate water and this is a dead room used for outsides
 and this is how this works (free demo from lady also doing tour with us) and this is foam (as modelled so nicely by my good lady) and we get details of how it is worked out in weight size and shape and then formula for placement on the wall..................................ever watch open university at 1 am ON BBC 2 ?. this is live version
Another use for foam damn comfy to lie up against and get a power nap

 off outside through to a glass door and told how its "the stage door" and five minute talk on how the great and good have come through and had a cig outside and tour guide telling us of who they saw, then wear in a big corridor in front double studio door keren millagen on plasma screen oh were going to be shown where audience is and etc i thought ,nope, it is pointed out and down there see them doors?,thats a question of sport,see the doors down far end thats blue peter , and on we go 

I am at this point awaiting to be shown studios prop stores ,makeup,costume,scenery docks etc

Ladies and Gentlemen here i have for you the piesta de la resistance
a corner of a room about 16 feet in length and 14 wide this corner is a small red couch for mock up of BBC breakfast and a small 3 seat row mock up for question of sport 

 a grey screen and ten minutes on how this works a cheesy intercession with a pre recorded section of BBC breakfast ,and told the real studio is two floors up i raised my hand ,can i see it ? ,no,
im now using my phone to check facebook.

back outside look in that window look people at desks ,that's BBC news that is ,regional and sport's only news is in Broadcasting house London  i corrected
then onto tram stop where i came in and Blue Peter Garden well the pond this is it the one and only taken brick by brick from London each brick marked exactly,how come a third of the size i ask ,space availability i am told oh blue peter badges and ten minute talk on new presenters 
scratching my head thinking surely a hours gone but when is the tour starting ?

thats it now collect bags balh blah
so i piped up errrrrrr that it?, when are we seeing something you do not normally see you know TV factory making stuff ?

AHA see that building three big studios? that is for things like well not needing a studio like inside a house etc 
its called the pie factory,i know it was a pie factory ,it was Hollands and things like dramas and comedy's are made in there Royal family being one ,can we go ?, oooo nothing to do with us its independent studios 


Now i have done my homework BBC Birmingham just got some Dr Who monster heads it and London have props ,and for me what is important a shop,you know one off stuff, oppertunity to see get ,do ,take part, is this not what this is supposed to be ?

 this all seems last second rushed not owned nor anything to do with BBC just there making cash from the fact there making some stuff here ,then so is everyone one else from independent companies to all other major TV stations its a massive let down i was furious and red mist descended 
I was back in reception and gave a earful to other lady in there amid the cahos trying to book people in few hundred lycra people and there families ,she with the whole i just work here attitude and no phone or radio but will contact boss when phone found boss not there incompetent BBC should i be surprised ? not really after speaking to a good friend about the company for years i should of known better save your money walk around and be nosey for free !
e mail sent comment feedback left all over where i could

Ill end by saying Doctor Who moving here rumours,no bloody chance,where do you make them  ? there is no facilities for them any where, 3 major actual proper studios always in use by well every company owning a camera , bity pop style audience shows fine, major Drama a struggle at best ,a long running high demand drama such as who ,no bloody way  

UP SIDE
so day was not a waste Lowery is there Mall arndale and the war museum and not impressive at the moment gallery not much going on but war museum was fun and had a nice shop and FREE

Sten gun as Used a lot on film eg Dr Who UNIT gun Storm Troopers Star Wars

A jorney into Sci Fi

More of a ooh prop set type guy i shall actually do a brief summation of the "Journey into the TARDIS" 
Not something i usually do but shall 

The story docent hold up so ill skip over that and concentrate on what was seen (IF those future Clara mutants x4 where her how is that possible as only well one of her  ?, How did Dr end up out she in bowls of TARDIS?, the deus ex machina push the button time ending ,Grandfather paradox if they kill her/the other guys they wont exist etc etc etc ) .Really with the title alone this is a feast for the eyes a buffet of delights for us fans new old and sci fi interested and casual viewers

Except it wasn't ,i felt  cheated ,i could, and did come up with several dozen free ways to improve the story
Biggest crime lack of set dressing and props,no excuse the exhibition is next door borrow some bits ,with the CGI available a pool and library isn't enough,a massive Q gardens,A  hospital complex it could of been so much more,and as for the sets if you turned TV on at that point you would not know anyone was in the TARDIS ,roundels missing,doors shaped like Dalek ones very star trek red alert bar of lights along the walls it was a  let down ,and i don't just mean the wooden guest actors (I use the term loosely)

The library was nice the passing of the pool great, i wish other rooms could of been added tho and the old room she entered shades of the mcgann TARDIS should could of been dressed better
Scene in two console rooms ,why not use two rooms what a nod to the history how cool for young kids to see more of the console room one they don't know

How i would of done it is ,camera is creature POV, Clara far side the five Dr's console roundel wall behind acting her heart out then Dr pulls her into new console room ,
 brilliant,alas it was confusing and ultimately a let down , perhaps there’s a good reason why we haven’t before seen much of the interior: that the TARDIS is so vast that any design would be a disappointment. Perhaps it is, after all, better left to our imaginations.

Like the poster sugested a Escher whimsical Harry Potter mental stair case would of been fun to add

The Invasion of Time is often slighted for bland use of a Hospital and pool complex repeatedly the small grey sections of the 80's were never long or showing,
,the Doctor revealed his darker side i do like Matt's Dr , In the meantime Clara’s discovery of a manuscript entitled The History of the Time War in which she reads the Doctor’s name either is laying down a marker for the forthcoming fiftieth anniversary special or will turn out to be nothing
Either way wanted more but was not to be

Bin Project update

Ok so in my moments of spare time i have been sanding down and prepping a old cyber helmet

It was indeed from the bin for a reason the damage while getting rid of air holes is far far worse than i first thought and has brought the project to a stop for a while 
Reason,i haven't a clue what to do ,the damage of filling holes of various sizes not a problem re sculpt with the filler the detail fine ,rebuilding huge parts not what i bargained on and this is my first fiberglass project 

so see here the pic of (as you look at the face) left ear muff
there is a lot missing and i guess im getting creative thinking cap on 
so yeah some millyput sculpting to come i think and a shed load of filler 

the left earmuff has a square you can see it in this pic around that is a raised section now missing and half of the base for the ear pipe also missing as well as a few ridges surrounding just not there all thin resin no fiberglass 

This is right muff to compare ,should show you the details that's missing and just how much to be done 
this has to be hardest bit i think 

what it should look like

well this is a learning project 

So to recap sanded air bubbles popped chunks broken off bare fibres showing dust everywhere and flying chunks of GRP (Luckily wearing my glasses) check and check oh and smells bad to 
so ok sanded sort of on to buying lot of filler i think and do some thinking 
as i cut back away and don't own a back i kind of hope i didnt cut access of to much and that im not needing to make up for when i get a back plate 
then again this might be a spray paint tester well that's how its looking but so far spend equals zero so it is all good  

so next stage is this, layering on filla with a shovel like in this pic someone else has done
and sand to death to make the correct shapes and lines etc