Matt Barber
@mattbarberuk.bsky.social
When I'm not tweeting about films, history, witchcraft, politics, and Doctor Who or appearing on the @strangerscast.bsky.social podcast, I’m co-director of http://tocodigital.co.uk.
Pinned
Matt Barber
@mattbarberuk.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Anyone in the intersection of the Doctor Who/Occult/Witchcraft Venn diagram: my book on The Dæmons is available from Obverse Books.
Wicca, Aleister Crowley, the Faust myth, John Wyndham, Dennis Wheatley, Nigel Kneale. They're all in there.
Sales pitch over.
obversebooks.co.uk/product/26-d...
Wicca, Aleister Crowley, the Faust myth, John Wyndham, Dennis Wheatley, Nigel Kneale. They're all in there.
Sales pitch over.
obversebooks.co.uk/product/26-d...
“Is there anyone in Rome who has not emailed Jeffrey Epstein!?”
November 12, 2025 at 11:15 PM
“Is there anyone in Rome who has not emailed Jeffrey Epstein!?”
Reposted by Matt Barber
#CineHistorians host @ckjsweeney.bsky.social on the similarities between Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) #filmsky
October 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM
#CineHistorians host @ckjsweeney.bsky.social on the similarities between Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) #filmsky
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:
October 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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:
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?
I am contributing to Doctor Wno cancellation discourse, whether you like it or not. buttondown.com/cooray_smith...
1990
“It’s all just a little bit of history repeatin’.” “1990 was the brainchild of Wilfred Greatorex, and conceived as literally ‘1984 plus six’; a series that...
buttondown.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
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?
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.
As we're WELL into spooky season now, might I take this chance to once again recommend my 1970s-set ghost story The Apparition Phase, which first came out in 2020. As I always say, if you like ghosts, chances are you'll like this. Whoooo! etc.
www.waterstones.com/book/the-app...
www.waterstones.com/book/the-app...
The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean | Waterstones
Buy The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:14 PM
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.
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.
September 15, 2025 at 4:57 PM
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.
Key words. I don't want to hear anyone's 'humble opinions' when it comes to medicine. I want to hear 'informed diagnoses'.
Sen. Roger Marshall: "Look, President Trump picked Robert F Kennedy Jr to be a disrupter to the CDC, and that's exactly what he's doing ... in my humble opinion not every person needs every vaccine"
September 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Key words. I don't want to hear anyone's 'humble opinions' when it comes to medicine. I want to hear 'informed diagnoses'.
Reposted by Matt Barber
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
maj.to/4hJe78g
August 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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
maj.to/4hJe78g
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.
i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.
This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
August 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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.
We all know it would be…
August 23, 2025 at 8:48 AM
We all know it would be…
Reposted by Matt Barber
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!)
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.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 14, 2025 at 10:19 AM
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!)
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.
August 9, 2025 at 7:49 AM
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.
There’s an irony in demonstrating the flaws of AI - notorious for being energy guzzling - by getting it to create pointless climate change infographics.
I could totally envision a lazy student turning this in and thinking it was a correct diagram of Earth’s energy budget.
August 8, 2025 at 7:27 PM
There’s an irony in demonstrating the flaws of AI - notorious for being energy guzzling - by getting it to create pointless climate change infographics.
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.
July 30, 2025 at 11:24 AM
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.
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. 😩
June 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
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. 😩
Reposted by Matt Barber
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 ..
I wrote this about AI. We hear a lot about the importance of the "human touch" in the age of of machine intelligence. But the depressing truth is a lot of people just love AI slop.
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Let’s be real, some people prefer the artificial
Biggest shock about AI is not the dire poetry it produces, but that many favour it precisely for the ways it isn’t human
www.thetimes.com
May 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM
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 ..
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.
May 22, 2025 at 8:34 PM
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.
Reminds me of the medieval Biblical misquote of ‘halo of light’ that resulted in Moses having horns in iconography for years.
Has anyone considered that devil horns are not actually made of horn, but are instead the vestigial remains of a broken halo?
May 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reminds me of the medieval Biblical misquote of ‘halo of light’ that resulted in Moses having horns in iconography for years.
Digested this for a while - for me it falls into the positive use of AI - the course is compiled and scripted by good academics and authorised by the estate, the AI used to give it a consistent, unified 'front' that makes it more accessible.
BBC harnesses AI to create writing classes given by Agatha Christie
BBC harnesses AI to create writing classes given by Agatha Christie
Videos will share author’s tips on everything from story structure and plot twists to the art of suspense
Aspiring crime writers now have the chance to be taught by “Agatha Christie”, thanks to a course of online video lessons by BBC Maestro.
The videos “starring” the author, who died in 1976, have been made using AI-enhanced technology, licensed images and carefully restored audio recordings. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Digested this for a while - for me it falls into the positive use of AI - the course is compiled and scripted by good academics and authorised by the estate, the AI used to give it a consistent, unified 'front' that makes it more accessible.
This - but then buy four 1960s Marconi cameras, a decent set designer, hire a group of professional actors and world class digital face replacement team.
Build an exact copy of BBC Television Centre as my billionaire mansion.
If you were a Bezos or Musk level of rich what frivolous thing would you do?
I don’t want all the goody cure world hunger/cure cancer stuff.
I want to hear the proper mad shit.
I don’t want all the goody cure world hunger/cure cancer stuff.
I want to hear the proper mad shit.
April 23, 2025 at 2:31 PM
This - but then buy four 1960s Marconi cameras, a decent set designer, hire a group of professional actors and world class digital face replacement team.
Reposted by Matt Barber
Many people are saying: where is the Conclave larp? Think of the pageantry, the intrigue, the clothes, the vape pens!
Good news: there are already multiple Papal conclave larps, including @adapalmer.bsky.social's epic annual event at the University of Chicago, and Willow Parecek's 2018 game!
Good news: there are already multiple Papal conclave larps, including @adapalmer.bsky.social's epic annual event at the University of Chicago, and Willow Parecek's 2018 game!
We’re All Going to the Conclave Larp
A brief history of Papal conclave larps, and how historians are using larps for education and research
mssv.net
April 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Many people are saying: where is the Conclave larp? Think of the pageantry, the intrigue, the clothes, the vape pens!
Good news: there are already multiple Papal conclave larps, including @adapalmer.bsky.social's epic annual event at the University of Chicago, and Willow Parecek's 2018 game!
Good news: there are already multiple Papal conclave larps, including @adapalmer.bsky.social's epic annual event at the University of Chicago, and Willow Parecek's 2018 game!
Reposted by Matt Barber
It's the audio edition of our Lux review, and anything I could possibly add by way of teasing the conversation could only be considered spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched it yet
strangersinspace.libsyn.com/who-review-3...
strangersinspace.libsyn.com/who-review-3...
April 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
It's the audio edition of our Lux review, and anything I could possibly add by way of teasing the conversation could only be considered spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched it yet
strangersinspace.libsyn.com/who-review-3...
strangersinspace.libsyn.com/who-review-3...
Reposted by Matt Barber
On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked,
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
April 15, 2025 at 8:21 AM
On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked,
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...