Mal Franks
@merseymal.com
Data Analyst since 2023. IT Supervisor/SysAdmin 1997-2023. Computer tinkerer/gamer since 1982. Console gamer since 1977. Tea drinker since 1974. He/him.
Loves telly, music, comics, movies, games and tea.
Loves telly, music, comics, movies, games and tea.
Pinned
Mal Franks
@merseymal.com
· Oct 17
That time when I caught the 3rd Doctor breaking and entering in my street.
Reposted by Mal Franks
Black Archive covers are all done by Cody Schell using icons created by @blairbidmead.bsky.social, which is why they are always awesome.
Excellent - because (a) AI covers are crap* and (b) visual artists deserve protection from lazy AI slop just as much as those who do the writing.
* Like both of these covers.
www.rnz.co.nz/life/books/t...
* Like both of these covers.
www.rnz.co.nz/life/books/t...
Top writers ruled out of NZ book awards due to AI covers
For the first time AI regulations have been applied to the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, including every detail from cover to cover.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 20, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Black Archive covers are all done by Cody Schell using icons created by @blairbidmead.bsky.social, which is why they are always awesome.
Reposted by Mal Franks
#ChinaCrisis' 2015 album 'Autumn in the Neighbourhood' is expanded on CD for a 10th anniversary reissue. Coloured vinyl also available. More > bit.ly/4pgZZGR
November 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM
#ChinaCrisis' 2015 album 'Autumn in the Neighbourhood' is expanded on CD for a 10th anniversary reissue. Coloured vinyl also available. More > bit.ly/4pgZZGR
Reposted by Mal Franks
VERY funny that Labour are being pointlessly cruel and haemorrhaging support from their base and yet none of what they're offering is ever going to be enough for the people whose approval they're seeking, WHO could have predicted it
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
VERY funny that Labour are being pointlessly cruel and haemorrhaging support from their base and yet none of what they're offering is ever going to be enough for the people whose approval they're seeking, WHO could have predicted it
Reposted by Mal Franks
Reposted by Mal Franks
Amazing first day sales for our UK tour in 2026! Thank you so much!
Tickets available via www.marillion.com/tour
Tickets available via www.marillion.com/tour
November 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Amazing first day sales for our UK tour in 2026! Thank you so much!
Tickets available via www.marillion.com/tour
Tickets available via www.marillion.com/tour
Reposted by Mal Franks
Reposted by Mal Franks
I'm watching the hell out of this, purely in response to that headline. If The Guardian hates it I'm there for it.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
A Man on the Inside season two review – Ted Danson’s despicably bland show is everything wrong with TV
Only our current tech hellscape could create a comedy so insidiously inoffensive. Prepare to be pummelled into submission as your time is siphoned off by OK entertainment
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I'm watching the hell out of this, purely in response to that headline. If The Guardian hates it I'm there for it.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Tickets bought for Marillion in Liverpool next year. Can't wait!
November 20, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Tickets bought for Marillion in Liverpool next year. Can't wait!
Reposted by Mal Franks
I’m reading the John Higgs Doctor Who book as I’m falling asleep and there seems to be a whole section about a nearly-produced Troughton sex farce on the lines of “The Worm that Turned”, and I can only assume:
November 20, 2025 at 5:21 AM
I’m reading the John Higgs Doctor Who book as I’m falling asleep and there seems to be a whole section about a nearly-produced Troughton sex farce on the lines of “The Worm that Turned”, and I can only assume:
Reposted by Mal Franks
Now I want to know if Christopher Reeve ever heard Superman by Black Lace.
Big news. David Duchovny has finally heard "Mulder and Scully" by Catatonia.
X-Files star David Duchovny finally hears Catatonia song Mulder and Scully
The actor admits he had never heard the song that celebrates his X-Files character - until now.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Now I want to know if Christopher Reeve ever heard Superman by Black Lace.
Reposted by Mal Franks
Guild Wars launched 20 years ago, starting a franchise that's helped shape the #MMORPG genre. On Dec 3, Guild Wars Reforged launches!
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
November 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Guild Wars launched 20 years ago, starting a franchise that's helped shape the #MMORPG genre. On Dec 3, Guild Wars Reforged launches!
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
Reposted by Mal Franks
This should be interesting. The original GW was a fun game, and it would be great to see what this update looks like. I'm looking forward to seeing The Searing again.
Guild Wars launched 20 years ago, starting a franchise that's helped shape the #MMORPG genre. On Dec 3, Guild Wars Reforged launches!
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
✅ Steam Deck verified 🎮 Controller support ✨ Visual updates and more!
🔗 www.guildwars2.com/news/announc...
#GuildWarsReforged #GuildWars20
November 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This should be interesting. The original GW was a fun game, and it would be great to see what this update looks like. I'm looking forward to seeing The Searing again.
Reposted by Mal Franks
There's a wonderful interview with #RoxyMusic legend #PhilManzanera, on SDE, about his production work on #SplitEnz's 1976 album 'Second Thoughts'. Eddie Rayner, the band's keyboardist, also answers some questions! Have a read > bit.ly/47NHRyL
November 18, 2025 at 5:09 PM
There's a wonderful interview with #RoxyMusic legend #PhilManzanera, on SDE, about his production work on #SplitEnz's 1976 album 'Second Thoughts'. Eddie Rayner, the band's keyboardist, also answers some questions! Have a read > bit.ly/47NHRyL
Reposted by Mal Franks
New to the Digital Foundry website: my feature-length, super-long text review of the Analogue 3D, the best all-in-one way to play N64 games on a modern TV. (Our video coverage will come later, but we do include 4K images to show the A3D difference in the meantime.) I went deep:
Review: Analogue 3D overclocks the N64 in stellar fashion
The most impressive Analogue "FPGA" console yet.
www.digitalfoundry.net
November 18, 2025 at 4:00 PM
New to the Digital Foundry website: my feature-length, super-long text review of the Analogue 3D, the best all-in-one way to play N64 games on a modern TV. (Our video coverage will come later, but we do include 4K images to show the A3D difference in the meantime.) I went deep:
Reposted by Mal Franks
Huge apologies, but sadly Garth/me is down with flu and won’t be able to make his/my two Cambridge shows tonight & tomorrow. Hugely sorry for the late notice but I was hoping we could somehow manage it still, but alas we’ve more or less collapsed. Both gigs will hopefully be rescheduled for January.
November 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Huge apologies, but sadly Garth/me is down with flu and won’t be able to make his/my two Cambridge shows tonight & tomorrow. Hugely sorry for the late notice but I was hoping we could somehow manage it still, but alas we’ve more or less collapsed. Both gigs will hopefully be rescheduled for January.
Reposted by Mal Franks
I thought this was going to turn into a story needing its own True Crime Netflix series, but no.
This is quite something.
metro.co.uk/2025/11/18/w...
This is quite something.
metro.co.uk/2025/11/18/w...
'We invited a homeless man for dinner - he stayed for 45 years'
The man was only meant to stay for a day.
metro.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I thought this was going to turn into a story needing its own True Crime Netflix series, but no.
This is quite something.
metro.co.uk/2025/11/18/w...
This is quite something.
metro.co.uk/2025/11/18/w...
Reposted by Mal Franks
I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.
November 18, 2025 at 3:23 AM
I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.
Reposted by Mal Franks
Nobody who should fuck off actually fucks off anymore. We're stuck with all these fucking people.
November 18, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Nobody who should fuck off actually fucks off anymore. We're stuck with all these fucking people.
Reposted by Mal Franks
In 2020 Keir Starmer and Alf Dubs urged the then Conservative Government to restore their commitment to family reunion for child refugees, saying there was a “moral argument” to protect desperately vulnerable young people.
Five years later Dubs condemns Starmer for doing the complete opposite
Five years later Dubs condemns Starmer for doing the complete opposite
November 18, 2025 at 10:49 AM
In 2020 Keir Starmer and Alf Dubs urged the then Conservative Government to restore their commitment to family reunion for child refugees, saying there was a “moral argument” to protect desperately vulnerable young people.
Five years later Dubs condemns Starmer for doing the complete opposite
Five years later Dubs condemns Starmer for doing the complete opposite
Reposted by Mal Franks
RELEASED TODAY thanks to Penguin Random House and DC Comics our ‘audio movie’ of the graphic novel KINGDOM COME by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. This production gave me the chance to return after three decades to both Metropolis *and* Gotham City. Here's what the author says about our new version: 1/14
November 18, 2025 at 11:07 AM
RELEASED TODAY thanks to Penguin Random House and DC Comics our ‘audio movie’ of the graphic novel KINGDOM COME by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. This production gave me the chance to return after three decades to both Metropolis *and* Gotham City. Here's what the author says about our new version: 1/14
Reposted by Mal Franks
My close, personal (online) friend @dirkmaggs.bsky.social has a new thing out today that is going to be of considerable interest to a lot of the people who follow me.
If you've never listened to one of Dirk's audio adaptations... prepare for some pure awesomeness.
If you've never listened to one of Dirk's audio adaptations... prepare for some pure awesomeness.
RELEASED TODAY thanks to Penguin Random House and DC Comics our ‘audio movie’ of the graphic novel KINGDOM COME by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. This production gave me the chance to return after three decades to both Metropolis *and* Gotham City. Here's what the author says about our new version: 1/14
November 18, 2025 at 12:13 PM
My close, personal (online) friend @dirkmaggs.bsky.social has a new thing out today that is going to be of considerable interest to a lot of the people who follow me.
If you've never listened to one of Dirk's audio adaptations... prepare for some pure awesomeness.
If you've never listened to one of Dirk's audio adaptations... prepare for some pure awesomeness.
Reposted by Mal Franks
"One of the most brilliant programmers around" - tributes pour in as Interplay co-founder Rebecca Heineman passes away www.eurogamer.net/one-of-the-m...
November 18, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"One of the most brilliant programmers around" - tributes pour in as Interplay co-founder Rebecca Heineman passes away www.eurogamer.net/one-of-the-m...
Reposted by Mal Franks
Woke up this morning to discover another good-un has shuffled off this mortal coil. An absolute legend in all respects. Very sad news.
Rebecca Heineman - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Woke up this morning to discover another good-un has shuffled off this mortal coil. An absolute legend in all respects. Very sad news.
