State of the Blog: cosmetic changes, guest-reviews and competitions

There have been some cosmetic changes to the blog of late; the moving of the writer/director/cast info to the top of reviews from the bottom, the limiting of guest cast info (which was becoming a real pain to compile, to little point), in-text photos now have borders, and I'm starting to include more footnotes to compile my "stray thoughts" and addendums. I've also added a photo grid of "quick links" to TV reviews that are currently "active" on the blog, which will increase/decrease as shows come and go. Anyway, I hope the changes have made DMD nicer to view and easier to navigate, but I also find it's just fun to change things from time to time. It prevent things getting stale.

A quick mention about my guest-reviews. Well, only Dan Lester has been in touch about covering Skins' fourth series, which he'll hopefully continue with every Friday. I'm a little disappointed there wasn't much comment to "reward" his debut effort last week, but thanks to those few who did bother. My poll to see which shows people would like to see guest-reviewed was a three-way tie between Skins, Desperate Housewives and Supernatural -- so, where are those voters when it comes to comments? You got your wish, so why not let Other Dan know his effort is appreciated?

Also, are there any takers to cover Desperate Housewives or Supernatural? Or another show? There are some US shows that have just started that it might be fun to see guest-reviewed (if only as a one-off), such as adult animation Archer or swords n' sandals series Spartacus: Blood And Sand. My guest-reviewing trial will end sooner than expected if there's no response, so it's over to you. Get in touch.

Finally, my competitions were well-received last year, so we've already had two more in January (District 9, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs), so thanks to those who took the time to enter. But there's still a curious lack of entrants, considering the odds of you winning are very good. Is that because people don't want the prizes? Are there too many international readers who aren't eligible to enter? Are my competitions questions/tasks too difficult or time-consuming for people? Let me know if there's a problem.

Er, as a final thing -- writer Kay Reindl (Millennium, Haunted) replied to one of my comments about Russell T. Davies' era of Doctor Who over at her Seriocity blog, if you want to read her response below "Dan sez".