O2 – please give the doctor his tardis back

Summer is definitely here. I know because ‘the madness’ has already arrived. I knew it this morning when the coffee machine decided to splutter and kerplop out its probably very last coffee, it kind of shook, shimmied, made a noise that may make sense to some aliens, and then spat out a kind of lukewarm brown blobby thing. With a start like that, it can only get better… and it did!….

First meeting of the day was with & at The O2 – alright! Who says the hotels industry is boring! The kid in me is always impressed at the big ol’ tent that is The O2, I love it, just as the kid in me is overwhelmed at the success and phenomenal comeback of the good doctor – Doctoorrrrr Who, i mean. The fact that a mere 5 years ago myself and fellow ‘Who-ers’ were ridiculed and sneered at (especially when we bought our Dr Who merchandise from the children’s book section – hahha – who’s laughing now?!), and now – ahhhh how we revel in the great success of our favourite time lord back in the haven of our (two) hearts.

So so so so (I am going somewhere with this honest), it was a double whammy that our meeting was held in the O2 lounge, literally, a double for the interior of Dr Who’s tardis, look at it, standing chatting at one of the illuminous consoles I could only imagine that once the meeting had finished, we’d step outside and we’d be back in the ’60s fighting off the fiendishly art-deco daleks.

Alas, that didn’t happen – but equally as exciting – when our Sales Director for UK Lifestyle at lastminute.com; Mark Bower (the stranglee in the pic) walked into the lounge, on his i-phone it appointed him as the ‘Mayor of the O2′ in relation to both his frequent patronage of the O2 and of course his prestigious and illustrious persona.

So quite a meeting really, at the O2, in the tardis, with noblemen appointed by an app, it was (or should that be ‘it will be?’) the future baby. Fabulous.

On the way back to the office, en-route in Westminster station, the new Mayor of the o2 showed us a great shortcut when changing from the Juuub (that’s the Jubilee line to you humans) to the District/Circle… the lift! Technically, it is quicker to do the lift than it is to enter the myriad of escalators – it was a first for me anyway. Wow all this and it’s not even lunch yet… wait – it’s lunch.

ps – o2 guys, the doctor said just leave the keys under the mat

When is London not London?

Well, when it is Cardiff of course! Watching Doctor Who and Ashes to ashes over the weekend I was reminded that they’re both produced in sunny Cardiff town. Having lived in London all my life, I am always the boring pernickety tv-potato to yell out at the box ‘that’s not london’. For London they grab a Victorian looking street, stick a couple of red buses and post boxes in, and cor blimey guv’nor, you’ve got yourself some old smoke streets for your plates mate. You can of course go on the official Doctor Who filming location tour in Cardiff, and, one hotel – the Park Plaza Cardiff has even become the official place to stay for this tour, those gargantuan galactic geniuses!

It’s particularly apparent with Ashes to Ashes as all the street shots are literally tunnels & non-descript streets, very docklandsy-type ground. The London Docklands area used to be the perfect shooting location for many a 70’s cop show, the Professionals, and of course the Sweeney, the miles of wasteland and run-down warehouses were clearly a haven for some cracking fights and car-chases. Those wastelands now are a bevy of delights, the docklands hotels, the o2, Excel, Canary Wharf, I think probably its days of car chases and punch ups long gone!!

 And finally! When is a London hotel not a London hotel! …. when it’s a film set. With Hotel Babylon people were always asking me which hotel they used for filming, well, ahem, that’s easy, it isn’t!! I think the exterior was a building of sorts in Chancery Lane, but again, the show is filmed not in London but in Manchester.

So! Next time you see London on tv – have a think is it really London? Or can you see a welsh street sign… (or maybe a guy chomping on a barm cake ).