Philip Purser-Hallard
@purserhallard.com
I write stuff -- most recently Sherlock Holmes: The Monster of the Mere. Posting about writing, TV, SF, Doctor Who, politics, language, crosswords, things I like, things I'm interested in, things. He/him.
Pinned
Philip Purser-Hallard
@purserhallard.com
· Nov 14
Since new followers are arriving literally in their dozens, here's a quick rundown of my books and why, if you're interested in the stuff I post here, you might like to read them. Or vice versa.
Links are to my website, where there are links to buy from various sources.
Links are to my website, where there are links to buy from various sources.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Side note: a random priest was once like "You have friends who aren't Christians, what'd you say if they asked you "who is this Jesus guy?""
And I had to be like "dude, weird evangelism implications aside, nobody in twenty first century England has ever asked that question. What is wrong with you?"
And I had to be like "dude, weird evangelism implications aside, nobody in twenty first century England has ever asked that question. What is wrong with you?"
Here's my thing with evangelizing: do they think we don't know? That Christianity exists??? That we somehow missed it??????
September 16, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Side note: a random priest was once like "You have friends who aren't Christians, what'd you say if they asked you "who is this Jesus guy?""
And I had to be like "dude, weird evangelism implications aside, nobody in twenty first century England has ever asked that question. What is wrong with you?"
And I had to be like "dude, weird evangelism implications aside, nobody in twenty first century England has ever asked that question. What is wrong with you?"
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
"Your brains stop developing at age 25" was a press misrepresentation of a study. They wanted to see if brains continued to develop after adolescence, so the study was capped at age 25.
A later study with a wider subject pool showed that brains are ALWAYS developing our whole lives.
A later study with a wider subject pool showed that brains are ALWAYS developing our whole lives.
this is why it's my pet peeve fake science fact. It's absolute bs! nothing happens to brains at age 25, they do not "fully mature". you will notice that many societies have an age of majority or coming-of-age or whatever and none of them have ever chosen mid-20s.
Many people seem to be confused on this point.
The GOP is passing/intro'ing bills banning GAC up to & including the age of 25 on the theory that brains don't fully mature til then.
In public they call them bans on "minor" care.
It's a deliberate GOP strategy to make themselves seem less radical.
The GOP is passing/intro'ing bills banning GAC up to & including the age of 25 on the theory that brains don't fully mature til then.
In public they call them bans on "minor" care.
It's a deliberate GOP strategy to make themselves seem less radical.
September 16, 2026 at 10:18 AM
"Your brains stop developing at age 25" was a press misrepresentation of a study. They wanted to see if brains continued to develop after adolescence, so the study was capped at age 25.
A later study with a wider subject pool showed that brains are ALWAYS developing our whole lives.
A later study with a wider subject pool showed that brains are ALWAYS developing our whole lives.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Someone performed the music on that butt a while back. One person suggested the title "Eine Kleine Arschmusik"
youtu.be/OnrICy3Bc2U?...
youtu.be/OnrICy3Bc2U?...
Hieronymus Bosch Butt Music
YouTube video by Jim Spalink
youtu.be
September 15, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Someone performed the music on that butt a while back. One person suggested the title "Eine Kleine Arschmusik"
youtu.be/OnrICy3Bc2U?...
youtu.be/OnrICy3Bc2U?...
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
buttondown.com/cooray_smith...
I've had what might be a new, and possibly even significant, thought about Doctor Who's late 1980s cancellation. This is a free subscribers e-mail, and free to read on the site too, but if you agree, why not become a paid subscriber? Or indeed, even if you don't.
I've had what might be a new, and possibly even significant, thought about Doctor Who's late 1980s cancellation. This is a free subscribers e-mail, and free to read on the site too, but if you agree, why not become a paid subscriber? Or indeed, even if you don't.
September 16, 2026 at 6:10 AM
buttondown.com/cooray_smith...
I've had what might be a new, and possibly even significant, thought about Doctor Who's late 1980s cancellation. This is a free subscribers e-mail, and free to read on the site too, but if you agree, why not become a paid subscriber? Or indeed, even if you don't.
I've had what might be a new, and possibly even significant, thought about Doctor Who's late 1980s cancellation. This is a free subscribers e-mail, and free to read on the site too, but if you agree, why not become a paid subscriber? Or indeed, even if you don't.
I'd almost given up on Strange New Worlds when, after seven successive stupid gimmick episodes, it delivered a straight, though not exactly subtle, moral dilemma story that didn't make me want to wander off and do something else at any point.
September 15, 2026 at 10:24 PM
I'd almost given up on Strange New Worlds when, after seven successive stupid gimmick episodes, it delivered a straight, though not exactly subtle, moral dilemma story that didn't make me want to wander off and do something else at any point.
I reposted this, then wavered because it's not always true of fiction, poetry etc. (e.g. Joyce is not bad because he is difficult). But it is absolutely true of a non-fiction book that purports to inform its readers.
In my view, this is bad. Authors share a common budget with their readers. You either work to make your writing clear or you shift the burden onto the reader to work out what the hell you meant. I think most would agree that you do your reader a disservice by expecting them to do most of the work.
September 14, 2026 at 6:07 PM
I reposted this, then wavered because it's not always true of fiction, poetry etc. (e.g. Joyce is not bad because he is difficult). But it is absolutely true of a non-fiction book that purports to inform its readers.
I mean, the first part's obvious, isn't it?
TW: POTTY WORDS
‘Pee’ meaning “urinate" was originally just the letter P.
The P was short for ‘p*ss.’
Also, 'p*ss' originated in Latin, and is thought to be an onomatopoeia for the sound it makes.
‘Pee’ meaning “urinate" was originally just the letter P.
The P was short for ‘p*ss.’
Also, 'p*ss' originated in Latin, and is thought to be an onomatopoeia for the sound it makes.
September 14, 2026 at 3:08 PM
I mean, the first part's obvious, isn't it?
This is great. Because if there's one Doctor we haven't seen more than enough of already, it's... oh, hang on.
Doctor Who Magazine 634 will offer the first part of a brand-new comic strip featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose.
cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-...
cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-...
Doctor Who Magazine revisits the Tenth Doctor and Rose in a new comic
Doctor Who Magazine will offer the first part of a brand-new comic strip featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose.
cultbox.co.uk
September 14, 2026 at 1:54 PM
This is great. Because if there's one Doctor we haven't seen more than enough of already, it's... oh, hang on.
Hair Traffic Control.
💈 Today is the first reading of my Presentation Bill seeking mandatory registration for all hairdressers and barbershops in England.
The Bill has genuine cross-party support and was developed on the back of an excellent Parliamentary event, co-hosted by local barber Mike Taylor...
The Bill has genuine cross-party support and was developed on the back of an excellent Parliamentary event, co-hosted by local barber Mike Taylor...
September 14, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Hair Traffic Control.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Why is everything so extremely stupid?
January 15, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Why is everything so extremely stupid?
Blimey, the change in quality between Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars is enough to give you whiplash.
September 13, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Blimey, the change in quality between Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars is enough to give you whiplash.
Very much the Smurfette of dinosaurs.
I was wondering why the maiasaura in one of our dinosaur books has a feminine ending when all the other dinosaurs are masculine and it's literally because they found out the species took care of its young so I guess it must have been a woman??
![Discovered in 1978 during the dinosaur renaissance, the species description of Maiasaura first came in 1979 from paleontologists Jack Horner and Bob Makela following the discovery of a site located South of Choteau, Montana. They named the new genus and species Maiasaura peeblesorum, with the genus name Maiasaura, ("good mother lizard") referring to Makela and Horner's conclusion that this species took care of their offspring. Collected data at the site indicated that Maiasaura fed its young while they were in the nest, the first instance of parental and social behavior in dinosaurs.[3] This was in contradiction with the common idea of the 1970s that dinosaurs laid eggs and abandoned them immediately afterwards, providing no parental care.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nudf6rhrn6lsrkztelssytv2/bafkreiew7qiim6l37i5uvxf2cgsu75a3ekwlifdm2syhgh6pkteaw7b7qm)
September 13, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Very much the Smurfette of dinosaurs.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Red Lip Bat Fish
I swear they are real
I swear they are real
September 12, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Red Lip Bat Fish
I swear they are real
I swear they are real
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
I ran a marathon to raise money for MSF. Attacks on MSF and RNLI and Amnesty are what fascists literally do. They want to devalue all humane effort, all care for fellow man. These are dangerous, dangerous times.
A campaign for *MSF* to be banned as a terrorist group (on the paper thin basis of claims about 2 past employees) is the product of the UK Govt being willing to divorce any meaningful conception of societal threat from its use of proscription powers. Govt needs to wake up to the madness of this:
September 12, 2026 at 4:59 PM
I ran a marathon to raise money for MSF. Attacks on MSF and RNLI and Amnesty are what fascists literally do. They want to devalue all humane effort, all care for fellow man. These are dangerous, dangerous times.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Honestly, "big-name studios can't agree on the premise of the Muppet Show" sounds like the premise of the Muppet Show
September 12, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Honestly, "big-name studios can't agree on the premise of the Muppet Show" sounds like the premise of the Muppet Show
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Because I love this stuff: the original Coyote Vs Acme article from the New Yorker, upon which the excellent movie was based: archive.md/UTgus
September 12, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Because I love this stuff: the original Coyote Vs Acme article from the New Yorker, upon which the excellent movie was based: archive.md/UTgus
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
No one:
Absolutely no one:
Any male supporting character in a position of authority in a 60s Doctor Who story: Silence!
Absolutely no one:
Any male supporting character in a position of authority in a 60s Doctor Who story: Silence!
January 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
No one:
Absolutely no one:
Any male supporting character in a position of authority in a 60s Doctor Who story: Silence!
Absolutely no one:
Any male supporting character in a position of authority in a 60s Doctor Who story: Silence!
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with.
A cheery message from the new minister responsible for research funding for the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences (and the subjects that the majority of UK taught undergraduate and Masters students study).
Science and maths degrees offer most value to the nation, says minister
Chris McDonald told a room full of vice-chancellors that science, engineering and mathematics ‘offer the greatest personal, social and economic value’
www.thetimes.com
September 11, 2026 at 9:00 AM
It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with.
I don't think I've ever been happier on average than I was at university, but I was, in many ways, a dick. I'd just like to apologise to anyone who knew me then, and thank those who I'm still friends with for their forbearance and patience.
September 12, 2026 at 9:07 AM
I don't think I've ever been happier on average than I was at university, but I was, in many ways, a dick. I'd just like to apologise to anyone who knew me then, and thank those who I'm still friends with for their forbearance and patience.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
PAUL: What’s in the box?
REVEREND MOTHER: Pain.
[PAUL hesitantly puts his hand in the BOX, then FROWNS IN CONFUSION. He pulls out A BAGUETTE.]
REVEREND MOHER: Hōn hōn,
REVEREND MOTHER: Pain.
[PAUL hesitantly puts his hand in the BOX, then FROWNS IN CONFUSION. He pulls out A BAGUETTE.]
REVEREND MOHER: Hōn hōn,
September 11, 2026 at 7:34 PM
PAUL: What’s in the box?
REVEREND MOTHER: Pain.
[PAUL hesitantly puts his hand in the BOX, then FROWNS IN CONFUSION. He pulls out A BAGUETTE.]
REVEREND MOHER: Hōn hōn,
REVEREND MOTHER: Pain.
[PAUL hesitantly puts his hand in the BOX, then FROWNS IN CONFUSION. He pulls out A BAGUETTE.]
REVEREND MOHER: Hōn hōn,
Things I was frightened of as a child:
Bubonic plague
Tufty the Squirrel road safety films
A scene in an episode of Bod where the sea comes in and completely fills the screen
The independently ambulant trousers in the Doctor Seuss book What Was I Scared Of?
Moas
Bubonic plague
Tufty the Squirrel road safety films
A scene in an episode of Bod where the sea comes in and completely fills the screen
The independently ambulant trousers in the Doctor Seuss book What Was I Scared Of?
Moas
Things I was frightened of as a child:
The CYLINDER in War of the Worlds, and consequently the word "cylinder"
The Black Rabbit in Watership Down
Being asked to draw a squirrel at some point in the future
The picture of a lamprey in the Life on Earth book
Little holes (now known as trypophobia)
The CYLINDER in War of the Worlds, and consequently the word "cylinder"
The Black Rabbit in Watership Down
Being asked to draw a squirrel at some point in the future
The picture of a lamprey in the Life on Earth book
Little holes (now known as trypophobia)
Things I was frightened of as a child:
The cylinder opening sequence in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds
The Open University ident
The tone when the BBC went into shutdown after lunch
Heights
The cupboards on the landing at night after Earthshock was on.
Semolina by Dave Langford
The cylinder opening sequence in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds
The Open University ident
The tone when the BBC went into shutdown after lunch
Heights
The cupboards on the landing at night after Earthshock was on.
Semolina by Dave Langford
September 11, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Things I was frightened of as a child:
Bubonic plague
Tufty the Squirrel road safety films
A scene in an episode of Bod where the sea comes in and completely fills the screen
The independently ambulant trousers in the Doctor Seuss book What Was I Scared Of?
Moas
Bubonic plague
Tufty the Squirrel road safety films
A scene in an episode of Bod where the sea comes in and completely fills the screen
The independently ambulant trousers in the Doctor Seuss book What Was I Scared Of?
Moas
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Ironically, by making investors wary of AI claims, by diverting resources from superbrain research, and by turning off consumers to the point 'you're AI' is a playground insult, the current lot are making AI *less* likely, so will be first up against the wall when the Basilisk's in charge.
September 11, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Ironically, by making investors wary of AI claims, by diverting resources from superbrain research, and by turning off consumers to the point 'you're AI' is a playground insult, the current lot are making AI *less* likely, so will be first up against the wall when the Basilisk's in charge.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
RIP Gilly Brown: Ohica in The Brain of Morbius. Never had the pleasure but she sounds like she was a lot of fun.
September 11, 2026 at 3:59 PM
RIP Gilly Brown: Ohica in The Brain of Morbius. Never had the pleasure but she sounds like she was a lot of fun.
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Reposted by Philip Purser-Hallard
Sorry about that but we've kept the price as low as possible for years, and adding a couple of pound on to a book is only an extra pound a month, so I hope you'll keep supporting the range (though if you can't afford to, we obviously totally understand!)
Next up - Frontios and Tomb of the Cybermen!
Next up - Frontios and Tomb of the Cybermen!
September 11, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Sorry about that but we've kept the price as low as possible for years, and adding a couple of pound on to a book is only an extra pound a month, so I hope you'll keep supporting the range (though if you can't afford to, we obviously totally understand!)
Next up - Frontios and Tomb of the Cybermen!
Next up - Frontios and Tomb of the Cybermen!