blog Stephen Conroy was the Communications Minister who, after being more of a sports buff, truly went native. The Victorian Senator was the Communications Minister who trawled Whirlpool late at night for interesting posts. He was the Communications Minister who kept a Dalek as a pet in his office. And now we know, courtesy of ABC managing director Mark Scott, just how big of a geek Conroy is. TV Tonight quotes Scott (we recommend you click here for the full article):
“And the only calls that I ever calls I ever got from [Conroy] were always around Doctor Who. It would be on the availability of Doctor Who merchandising in his local ABC Shop, it would be whether in fact we were fast-tracking the new series when it arrives, or to tell me that he was one of those people who would get up at 4 in the morning to watch it when it arrives.”
Stephen Conroy, we salute you. You were the first Communications Minister to truly show your geekdom to the world and now we know how much of a colossal nerd you truly are (just like most of the readers of Delimiter). Let’s hope that whoever succeeds you in the post long-term — be it Anthony Albanese or Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull — is able to do the same. Vale, Stephen Conroy. You used your post to try and keep Dr Who on the air on the ABC at all times. Very nice.
Image credit: Office of Stephen Conroy
He probably still is a massive Doctor Who fan!
Yeah he probably enjoyed relating to the Daleks in Dr Who. EXTERMINATE THE DISSENT!
IMO as a “Nerd” his stubborn pursuit of his goals such as the above & his “spams & scams through the portal” was a large factor in producing our present minority government thus the many compromises & difficulties in implementing their stated policies which has left them on the nose with much of the population.
Had he been prepared to abandon his vote losing secret filter prior to the last election I feel Labor & our FTTH may have been on far less shaky ground this time around.
I hope this means the fast tracking we were getting doesn’t stop
I don’t get the Dr Who thing. I mean, I loved Dr Who when I was 8 – I used to get the books 10 at a time from the local library, make paper daleks and K9 and everything. But it’s a kids show. It doesn’t even have great production values. The story lines are predictable and repetitive and the acting is laughable. The reason Tom Baker was such a great Dr is because it was all tongue in cheek – Tom Baker couldn’t be a serious Dr, because as a person he’s a bit of a crazy lunatic, and that worked for what is essentially a silly bit of fun for 10yos. But adults watching Dr Who in all seriousness? As adult entertainment? I love Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom because it is sweet and clever and well written and nonviolent, but if I wasn’t watching it with my kids I wouldn’t miss it for a second.
But then, that misogynistic soft-porn gore fest called Game of Thrones continues to break records, so who am I to criticise the adolescent tastes of a large proportion of adult men in Western society?
My 4yr old has just found Ben and Holly, it is actually one of the most well written kids shows I’ve seen in a while.
@TrevorX
The same could be said of Start Trek TNG. But I don’t think you’d like the response you’d get if you called THAT a kids show…. ;)
I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who. It’s certainly not aimed only at kids. If you watch the new series particularly, it’s full of deep, genuinely challenging and emotional situations that all good Sci-Fi has.
Doctor Who IS Sci-Fi. Many people don’t get Sci-Fi and its’ fans. That’s ok. But it’s far from childish to have that sort of imagination and fantasy.
*in Homer Simpson voice*
NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDSSS!!!
It had to be done =P
That being said.. the only thing that really annoys me these days is the new split season format BBC has swapped to with the recent Dr Who eps… where you get one half of a season mid through the year. Going on hiatus for 3-4 months and then having the 2nd half of the season after Xmas… I want my *whole* season now damnit! Not all of us have a Tardis to skip a few months into the future!
We can thank the US for that one. Bloody mid-season breaks is all the rage in the US.
End the first half of the season on a massive cliffhanger, wait 6 months (show other crap in the meantime) then, bring it back on and end the cliffhanger.
Honestly wish BBC would go back to the old format, but alas, hell will freeze over before that happens :(
Oh, the response would be predictable and I wouldn’t mind it in the slightest ;-)
I do get Sci Fi – my tastes have just evolved so I expect it to be well research, based on fact and actual science, well written with excellent dialogue and compelling story lines, with effects that are at least not jarringly unbelievable if not seamlessly realistic, and of course talented and credible acting.
You know what, though? My bar is not your bar. Just because I don’t enjoy something doesn’t mean you can’t – it is probably my failing and loss that I don’t derive the same enjoyment from various forms of entertainment that most people do. But I can’t help wondering why it is that people can put aside rationality and critical thinking to the point where they can find such shows (that appear to lack facets I would consider necessary to engage an adult intellect) enjoyable.
@TrevorX
3 words: Suspension of Disbelief :D
It’s not perfect. Far from it. But it doesn’t matter when Wibbley Wobbly Timey Wimey stuff happens :P
You sound like my Year 10 science teacher from the late 90’s. She refused to watch Jurassic Park because it wasn’t based on fact, etc…
It might just be me, but I find the comms minister having any direct say in what’s broadcast on the taxpayer funded, independent to government, television network to be an abuse of their power.
Haha, well, I guess that depends on whether he exercised that power or not. It doesn’t seem clear that he did. He sounds more like a pushy fan, albeit with a great big title to his name.
Someone just get Stephen a proper, full-size Red Dalek already.
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