I didn’t say much about Christmas. What can I say? Katherine Jenkins – beautiful. A talented singer and a feast for the eyes. Matt Smith – sublime as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Gambon – cumudgeonly and appropriately Scrooge like, an old man tortured by the mistakes of the past. As with previous Who, the Doctor’s efforts, for a time, seemed to make things worse rather than better – his interference serving to convolute and complicate the situation. However, in the end, the spirit of Christmas won through and the Time Lord managed to save the day. Rory and Amy – well, they didn’t figure at all. Excess to requirements, they spent their time imprisoned in a ‘sinking ship’, standing around wearing cast off costumes without a reasonable explanation why – except that they’d lost their luggage.

The peek at the future seemed promising, with an American adventure complete with Greys by the looks of things, some River excitement and more promising glimpses. I’m certain all Doctor Who fans will take a keen interest in the impact of the new format, with the season split in two.

So, with the new year ahead and the prospect of two semi-seasons of Who to come, I return to the old chestnut of wanting to play a little Doctor Who role-playing. For the first time, I might have the option of playing with a completely new group, as I’ve been contacted by someone seeking to set up a new gaming group in my area. On the other hand, I still haven’t got anything going at home. The combo of two groups should be a positive thing, giving me the opportunity to try out more than one game at a time; or, I could GM with one and play in the other. However, neither’s going anywhere just yet.

I’m haunted by the Ghost of Gaming Past and reminded that I once spent long summers doing nothing but role-playing, and many years engaged in endless evenings of play-by-mail refereeing. I have committed to endless gaming before – so, why the difficulty with getting anything going now.