iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Nearing the end of my Hitchcock marathon - here is my top twenty!

Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My honest reaction to this is that it's a great and original idea. We know that war gaming happens (or really should happen) as a legitimate way of preparing for real world crises. It should make for a fascinating series. Having ex-MPs, regardless of their party, makes it even better. Bring it on.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The main question is not whether Farage has a 'grip' on the scandals - it's whether he's complicit in them. And everything he's done and said in the past suggests that he's up to his nicotine-stained eyebrows in corruption. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

bbc.co.uk

Chris Mason: 'Not what Nigel Farage wanted today to look like'

Chris Mason speaks from the Reform UK conference as two of its senior officials step down following a Channel 4 investigation.

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Rich Neville @richneville.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Rod Liddle was very much like Marmite, in that you wouldn’t want him on your television screen, radio, or newspaper.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

As referenced in my book on The Daemons which I don't like to talk about. obversebooks.co.uk/product/26-d...

obversebooks.co.uk

26. The Daemons – Obverse Books

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Latest movie pitch: an adaptation of Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop in the style of Jacques Rivette. So a playful, semi-improvised psychogeographic drift through the streets of Oxford using Crispin's plot-beats as a framework for a mysterious and occult fantasy.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

RIP Carlo Ginzburg. The Cheese and the Worms was a revelation and changed the way my brain understand the study of History.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Polanski's habit of complaining about aggressive interviewers uncomfortably parallel Trump's. I'm MUCH more aligned with the Greens than MAGA - but grumbling rather than focusing on turning the difficult questions into positive answers is a bad look. uk.yahoo.com/news/trump-e...

uk.yahoo.com

Trump Erupts in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview: ‘I’m Not a Pedophile’

President Donald Trump exploded at a reporter for quoting from the manifesto of the suspected gunman who opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday. In an intervie...

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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Garden of Earthly Delights (detail), by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480-1505, 📸 by @alexbrandon

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Daleks' Master Plan is back! (Well, 5/12s of it now at least.) But is it any good, how delighted were we to hear the news, and what are the chances of more episodes in the future? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/the-daleks...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

In which we watch the Myth Makers interview with Ian Levine, so you don't have to jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/ian-levine...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The results of our poll to determine the best first Doctor stories will be out on our audio feed in a week or so - but if you can't wait that long you can watch them now on YouTube youtu.be/UjucntvZSNQ

youtu.be

Strangers in Space: The First Doctor Poll Results

YouTube video by JR Southall

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Another niche post - but I’m pretty sure the Chorus in the 2017 RSC Henry V is cosplaying John Barton.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

RIP Frederick Wiseman. Titicut Follies and High School were groundbreaking documentaries - but for my money, Ex Libris and National Gallery are his masterpieces. Two epic films that dissect, with surgical precision, the value of public funded art and knowledge.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Niche post - but I’ve just realised that PD James’s The Black Tower is a pastiche of Trollope. It’s The Warden with murders.

Front cover of PD James’s The Black Tower

Front cover of Anthony Trollope’s The Warden

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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I love that Prince Andrew had a codename email address to avoid suspicion and all the emails are like 'Had to spend the weekend at Balmoral, Mother wants me to look after the corgis, my brother's here too - not Edward, but Charles, you know the heir apparent.'

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

This - but also Lab should look to the Libs in Canada as a template for tackling the right AND boosting popularity. The more Trump tries to blackmail us, the more Reform and the Tories will come across as Quisling appeasers who, if given power, will simply cave to all of Trump's desires.

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

What better way for the randomiser to inaugurate Blakes 7 into the Who Review Extra canon than by choosing the story where Paul Darrow meets the Doctor? Our thoughts on City at the Edge of the World: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blakes-7-c...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

It's going to be another busy week on the Strangers feed this week as we make our way through the back end of the seasonal break - but here's a taster of what's coming up in January and beyond...

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Marc Morris @marcmorris.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

We couldn't let Christmas pass without checking in on the latest Knives Out Mystery from Rian Johnson, Wake Up Dead Man: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-...

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Traditional nativity scene with extra Bok this year…

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Next week on Strangers in Space... It's Week 2 of The War Between the Land and the Sea, there's a new Knives Out Mystery to talk about, there will be two volumes of Hammer retrospective and we'll be choosing our first Blakes 7 review Find all our links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Did week one of the latest Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, run aground, take flight, or sink without trace? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/who-review...

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Barry Lyndon turns fifty this week. We thought we'd mark the occasion by taking another look. jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-... Download here: mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xnwqx... Find the rest of our back catalogue via the links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Strangers in Space @strangerscast.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Did the first RTD era ever go too far and forget it was family entertainment? Join JR, @jonarnold.bsky.social, @mattbarberuk.bsky.social and @stephenhatcher.bsky.social to find out... jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blue-box-1... Find our episodes in these places: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

“Is there anyone in Rome who has not emailed Jeffrey Epstein!?”

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The CineHistorians Podcast @cinehistorians.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

#CineHistorians host @ckjsweeney.bsky.social on the similarities between Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) #filmsky

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

If ever there's a time to acknowledge a doctorate, it's in a news article about a posthumous doctorate being awarded. This from BBC News:

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Good article - as an aside: does anyone know where the Fluck and Law style puppets come from? Were they actually made for Spitting Image or were they an independent fan thing?

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

A rare beast - a novel length ghost story that works. Consistently frightening - packed with propulsive set pieces - 'time travels' to the textures and culture of the 1970s as well as Stephen King 'time travels' to the 1950s.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Watching Passport to Pimlico - a WWII bomb site in London conceals buried treasure that reveals the locals aren’t British after all and ultimately creates chaos in the neighbourhood. I can imagine Kneale watching it and thinking - this, but horror and Andre Morell instead of Margaret Rutherford.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Key words. I don't want to hear anyone's 'humble opinions' when it comes to medicine. I want to hear 'informed diagnoses'.

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Majestic @majestic.com · 30/08/2025

Julia-Carolin Zeng explains that Google's updates prioritize helpful content to combat AI-generated repetition, so human writers should focus on quality and relevance rather than speed or volume. maj.to/4hJe78g

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

This is true - but with the added note that generally, most fascist iconography is a simulacra of authoritarianism - a superficial attempt to appeal to an emotional need for order and magnify the fear of disorder.

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Roy Gill @roygill.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

If you've got iPlayer, Shooting the Past looks like it's a new HD transfer. Big upgrade over the old DVD release for this lyrical, thoughtful drama www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... (Excellent score too!)

bbc.co.uk

Shooting the Past

A fight to save millions of memories. A picture library is threatened with closure – but the staff won't give up. Stephen Poliakoff drama starring Timothy Spall and Lindsay Duncan.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Generally, only two groups of people divide DW up into good and bad stories: fans and television executives. Most of the viewers either think it’s consistently fun and watchable or consistently rubbish and watchable. There’s a very short step to get from Michael Grade to Ian Levine.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

There’s an irony in demonstrating the flaws of AI - notorious for being energy guzzling - by getting it to create pointless climate change infographics.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Legal protection against AI scraping is good (if it works) but also suggests a whole new profession: people recruited to produce creative work with the intention of feeding AI - so primarily for an AI audience. Maybe even a government sponsored AI-feeding industry made up of creatives.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Bemused and lightly disturbed by @richardosman1.bsky.social’s refusal to accept there could be more than 6000 movies worth watching from a 120 year old, global catalogue - but it all became clear with his citing of The Edge as a mysteriously obscure ‘old’ film. 😩

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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 28/05/2025

Ok, here goes: a bit tangential to James' point, but most actual normal humans don't have the easy facility with writing that this tiny group of Extremely Online people has, and so AI is both useful and impressive for many. It helps write emails, wedding speeches etc; it puts writing tools in the ..

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

It’s a bit mercenary- but now would be a great time for the UK government to fling open the doors and lift all the caps for international students. UK unis are on their knees - and the international fee income would be life saving.

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Matt Barber @mattbarberuk.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Reminds me of the medieval Biblical misquote of ‘halo of light’ that resulted in Moses having horns in iconography for years.

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