Blood of the Daleks

Yesterday I was listening to the first part of a two part Doctor Who radio play called "Blood of the Daleks". The story starred Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor who arrives on a human settlement called Red Rocket Rising on a remote planet which has been devestated by an asteroid. The survivors however are expecting to be rescued by the Daleks, who are posing as benevolent, however the real reason they are there is to track down a human scientist who has been experimenting with turning humans into Daleks. The radio play is actually very good. In fact, due to them not having to rely on visuals and television special effects, they are able to conjure up much more spectacular images and darker themes than they would be able to do on the small screen.

I also listened to the first episode of a five part adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel, A Caribbean Mystery, in which elderly amateur detective Ms Marple (June Whitfield) finds her relaxing holiday in the Caribbean interrupted by a murder. It was pretty good.

Later on I finished reading the novel Clockers by Richard Price. Set in the fictional North Jersey town of Dempsey just outside of New York City, Rocco Klein is a tired and jaded homicide detective who just wants finished with his job. When a man is shot dead in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant, it is seen as another drug related murder. However a couple of days later a young man named Victor confesses to the murder. A little investigation reveals that he is a family man, who works two jobs, is well-liked and has never been in trouble, however his brother Strike is the leader of a group of "clockers" (neighbourhood drug dealers). Rocco becomes conviced that Victor's confession is a lie and becomes determined to find the truth. The book is very well-written, powerful and suspenseful. It was turned into a film in 1995, directed by Spike Lee.

Today was a very quiet day at work. It was really busy but the systems were extremely slow again, so it was all clogging up by the end of the day. I have booked a New Patient check-up appointment at the doctors for half past two on Friday.