Yep, those that know me well enough will know I’ve been banging on about getting an iPhone for a couple of years now.

At first I couldn’t afford it – the contracts or the phone – but now I can, and to be honest, it’s also now more of a need than a want.

Conveniently then, Apple recently launched the iPhone 4 – a completely new generation of their innovative mobile communications device – as well as opening up the market.

But here’s the dilemma: Since there really isn’t much in the way of competition between them, who do I go with? And what plan?

I’ve tried to be pragmatic with this, but it’s been difficult, so here goes…

Essentially then, first there’s the ‘providers’ or ‘operators’, which initially appears to be six: O2, Orange, Vodaphone, T-Mobile, Three, and Tesco.

As of 31st July they now all stock the iPhone4 for anybody to buy. (02 were just offering the phone for existing customers, and T-Mobile along with Three have literally just got there hands on some.)

So six operators means six networks then?

Er, nope. Actually, there’s really only three of them.

First, of course, was Vodaphone, though I’m led to believe from a number of diverse sources that they still have the worst coverage.

Then there’s 02; better, supposedly – oh and note here please that Tesco use the 02 network under licence.

And finally, there’s Orange who’ve recently merged with T-Mobile, and inceidently have had a long standing relationship with Three, in that they all share each others networks to each gain a far better coverage across the country.

So, for coverage, I’d go with the Orange/T-Mobile/Three network. Wouldn’t you?

Okay, so now let’s look at the plans.

Tesco, at first glance, look great. Simple; just three plans. Small, Regular and Large.

Oh and wow, a now hitherto unheard of 12 month contract for the first two plans (£20 and £35) and hey, only £19 for the phone on the £45 plan (24 mths).

Looks good?

Actually in comparison, apart from the contract lengths, the plans are pretty much the same as the others. Having said that, 750 mins for the £35 tariff is the best minutes on offer.

Sadly though, it’s the cost of the phone that’s the downer – £229, when similar plans incur ‘only’ a £119 up front cost. (16MB)

“What? – No BOGOF on iPhones?”

O2 of course had the monopoly on iPhones until a few months ago, but the other providers now in the market have decided to cash in rather than offer us customers some real competition; their plans have all pretty much matched 02.

The 18 month £40 contracts on both 02 and Vodaphone are identical, save the data allowance. And, though it is claimed by 02 (though don’t quote me) that 97% of their iPhone customers have never exceeded 500MB of data usage per month, Vodaphone are offering a full 1GB.

Unlimited data went out the window – though Orange were a little sneaky capping their so called ‘unlimited’ data allowance at 750MB in the small print.

My budget is £35 per month, and though I really don’t want to be tied in for a wapping 24 month contract (and we all thought 12 months was excessive!) I guess, I’ll just have to curtail to demands.

Minutes? Well I’ve survived very happily with, in my terms, a perfectlly adequate 350 per month for the last couple of years.

Until, last month that is.

A few days ago, I had a voice interrupt my phone call telling me I had one minute remaining, and I’m still waiting for my next monthly allowance.

Basically, £30 pcm will only get me 300 mins on most of the iPhone contracts, and a pathetic 150 mins on Orange!

So at a typical 600 mins for £35 it looks like I’ll have to go to the top of my budget just to get at least the minutes I’m likely to need.

Texts are fine. I have unlimited texts currently and committing to a planned £35 contract means I’ll get this with my iPhone too.

And data allowance? Well assuming I’m in the 95% bracket, 500MB should be enough, which is fine since most of the £35 contracts exceed it anyway.

So, summing up then, I can choose from three providers with a 24 month £35 contract including 600 mins, unlimited texts, and an average of 750MB of data, all for £119 up front.

And, going with the supposedly best coverage, I’m left with a choice of T-Mobile or Orange.

Orange are offering 750MB of data, which I probably won’t need, and since I’m already with T-Mobile (having switched from my 10 years with Orange a couple of years ago) I’d might as well stay with them and not have the, supposed, hassle of transferring my number.

So there, I guess, we have it:

An upfront payment to T-Mobile of £119 for my 16GB iPhone4, and then a direct debit of £35; giving me 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data each and every month for two years.

Sorted!

Glad I’ve done this logically; writing it all out in this post.

Oh.

Hang on…

What’s this?

£30 a month for two years? Wow! That’s a saving of £120!

500 minutes? Great! I don’t need 600!

And 5000 texts? Well that’s as good as unlimited for me.

1GB of data? So I won’t have to worry about data allowances then?

Oh, £189 though. £70 more up front – Hey, but I’m saving £60 in the first year anyway, and then another £60 in year two; so that’s not an issue, is it?

Hang on! £189 is for the 32GB model! Bonus! – And only £99 for the 16GB too!

So who’s this with?

Three, that’s who, and there’s 5000 three-to-three minutes thrown in too – not that I know anyone on Three, lol.

They’re not so upfront about the data allowance though. No mention of 3G or WiFi anywhere on the site – is that the catch?

Oh and this ‘offer’ expired three hours ago now

Ermmmmmm, what to do?

Guess I’ll have to wait for a few days and see what happens to all the tariffs. It seems 31st of July was some sort of changing point.

Searching for the best deal on an iPhone4?
There’s an app for that.

I wish…

Tweet

I know, I know, I promised some blog posts soon.

To be honest I’ve seen rather too much of the M25 this month, including crawling round it today drinking very warm water!

I will have ‘worked’ in my capacity of a catering hospitality manager for 15 days out of the 31 in July, and that’s following the 10 I did in June.

I do this to pay bills, and really only need to do 3 or 4 days a month!

Oh well, it’s okay. I am being requested by the sites I work at, and really enjoy what I do. Summer is always busy, so I’d might as well make money while the sun shines.

Now at a least I can afford my iPhone and it’s two year contract, though I’ve decided not to buy one until I have finished the new play – very nearly there!

I also have my eye on a pair of in ear headphones (earphones?) having rekindled my Love affair with B&O earlier today in Loughton. I think the guy said they were £115. Nice though.

Oh and then there’s the new car. Not sure what it will be, but our beloved purple Micra which we’ve had for ten years now, and everyone takes the piss out of, though it’s done 105K, has never been serviced, has never given any problems or broken down (apart from not starting at home a couple of times), has only ever had a new battery, a couple of wiper-blades and a couple of light bulbs, and only failed it’s MOT last year cause the sills needed a little welding, will be replaced around October/November time.

I’d love to get an MX5, but Rich won’t be able to pick up stuff from Wickes, nor will we be able to go to the tip, or take his Mum and Dad out for the day, so I guess it’ll be something a little more practical, like a 5 door hatch back! – Oh and apparently, an MX5 is a hairdressers car, or so I’m been led to believe!

Wow, a 350+ blog post!

Sorry, got to go. Looks like I’m off to see ToyStory 3 with my brother and family.

Still promise to update soon. Loads of drafts!

Adios!

Tweet

I really need to have a blog day!

There are quite a few posts that are at various stages of being published on a variety of topics – just not sure when I can sort them all out, lol!

Guess I need to find a free day in my diary…

*Checks iCal and gasps*

Okay, so that’s looking like mid-August then!

aaaarrrggghhh!!!

Tweet

Okay, so my blog has been a little neglected of late.

Don’t panic, all good this end. Loads to write, just not had the time.

Will hopefully catch up in next few days, if I can, as I have a number of drafts in the queue and plenty more to write about too.

Stomach’s rumbling. Must be time for lunch!

Tweet

Right.

Here I am feeling as if I’m at the helm of the Enterprise, or the Millenneum Falcon, or the TARDIS, or any other sci-fi spaceship of which I can draw an extremely loose comparison to Paul’s base of operations.

So I guess this post seals my dedication to communicating PAFoster’s projects to the public, a little like a blood oath but without the risk of hepatitis.

As already mentioned, I, Peter Williams, have taken on the role of Publicity Officer for PAFoster – Playwright.

This will include blogging on here, updating Twitter – trying painstakingly to fit something into 140 characters, which will make me wonder why I’m not just blogging on here; I’ll get used to it, I’ve still got my Twitter training wheels on – and of course managing the PAFoster – Playwright YouTube Channel.

So be sure to check them all out, though the latter is only in its prime, being created yesterday an’ all.

I will, however, be uploading all kinds of content over the summer including interviews with Paul about being a Playwright – I’ll be sure to get some hints and tips out of him for any budding writers out there – insights into Paul’s next play, other projects in the pipeline, and many other things that will build up somewhat of a documentary, all making me feel like Michael Moore but without the professionalism, and the interviews with Marilyn Manson.

I jest. Marilyn Manson may be involved at some point.

I’ll also be posting a review of Paul’s most recently produced play Spaceboy here on the blog in the next couple of days.

So that was a summary of what you can expect from me as PAFoster’s Publicity Officer. I’m very glad to be a part of Paul’s ’2010 Summer Internship Programme’, and you’ll be hearing from me again very soon.

Damn. I’m sure I had Marilyn’s number here somewhere.

Tweet

Well, I think I’d best start by saying Hi! I’m PAFidler, or as most people would know me, Tom.

It’s amazing how a couple of days can change things.

One day I’m sat there having a laugh and a joke with Paul about being his PA for the evening’s performance of Spaceboy – which for the record I thought was absolutely incredible – and within a couple days I’d taken on the role as part of Paul’s ‘Summer Internships’ programme!

I guess I’d better tell you a bit about who I am for those of you who don’t already know.

My name is Tom Fidler, I go to Riverside Youth Theatre and am a keen actor – though doesn’t necessarily mean I’m any good – and met Paul there nearly three years ago.

We’ve been good friends since.

It was really the idea of getting into play-writing that allowed me to help to help Paul in the position I am now, and I will, in the future, write some plays with added expertise from some playwright called PAFoster…

But that’s for another time, this is Paul’s blog and so from now on I’ll keep it about him and my role as his PA for the summer.

When my exams are finished I will have all the the time in the world and hopefully the added assistance of a Macbook Pro to help me along with assisting Paul and keeping you up-to-date with any progress either on new or existing projects.

With my (and Pete’s) internships underway, there will be some changes to the way things are done, so to keep up-to-date on projects and any important information on the play front then I recommend you become a fan of the facebook page PAFoster – Playwright and also follow @PAFoster on Twitter.

My friend Pete (*PW) and I (*TF) will be tweeting as well as Paul on all things PAFoster-Playwright related.

Paul’s personal twitter is now @FuckingMangoes which incidentally is the name of the latest play Pete and I will get a sneak preview of on 26th June, and not some sort of sexual fruit fetish, lol.

Oh, and you can of course follow me on twitter too if you like: @TomFidler

Anyway, be sure to look out for my posts and tweets in the future, but until then, this is it for my first blog post at PAFoster.com.

I have to say if you’ve read this far, you’ve done well (and so have I, lol) as in all honesty blog posts aren’t my speciality considering I’ve only ever posted two before.

Until next time, sayonara!

Tweet

More news now…

In accordance with my beliefs in supporting and indeed encouraging the creativity and development of young people, I’d like to introduce you to Peter Williams and Tom Fidler.

Peter will be spending time during the summer assisting me and helping to build my playwright profile online in an effort to give PAFoster-Playwright a wider following and Tom will be helping me to organise things whilst out and about.

Peter is a member of the Riverside Youth Theatre and has always enjoyed writing and film-making and now maintains a weekly vlog too. He asked me a month or two back if he could shadow me and help out a couple of times during the summer to which I readily agreed.

Tom too is a keen actor at Riverside and a developing playwright in his own right who has always been keen to learn what he can from me. He has often joked about being my PA when I get to be a ‘celebrity’ and we are always making in-jokes about this. (The name PAFidler being one of them!) Recently though, he has become quite serious about it and has asked to help out too.

Spaceboy was a huge success and I am pleased that both of them saw the production and were equally as amazed with it as I was.

I think they were so totally bowled over by their experience that they have both been very keen to do more for me and help out wherever they can in an effort to learn more about the life of a playwright.

And as this fits in with my policy of helping young people to achieve all they can in this world, I’ve decided to take them both on as ‘Summer Interns’ and given them each important responsibilities, an real things to do in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

So I am pleased to tell you that Pete will now be my Publicity Officer (PO) and Tom will be my Personal Assistant (PA).

There is going to be a lot happening this summer, including a rehearsed reading of my new play, and I am going to need all the help I can get!

Pete will be responsible for upping my profile on the web. I am pleased to say he has already created a ‘PAFoster-Playwright’ YouTube account and will be uploading various short films he’ll be making about what is happening in the world of PAFoster- Playwright, including interviews, rehearsal footage, performance footage etc. Pete will be writing too; reviews, blog posts, and anything else that may come to mind.

Tom will be responsible for getting me organised when I’m directing/rehearsing or having a play reading or whilst working any other projects, of which there will be quite a few over the summer.

Both Pete and Tom will have access to my blog, (where their names will show as the author of any post they write and publish) access to my facebook fan page, where they be able to update the status and post things there too like photos or videos, and also access to the @PAFoster twitter account where both will be able to tweet on my behalf too.

If Tom tweets it will have *TF at he end of the tweet and if Pete tweets it will have *PW so you will know who’s tweeting based on their initials. I’ll tweet with *PAF so you know it’s me.

So, over to you Pete and Tom! And welcome to the world of PAFoster the Playwright.

Tweet

Well, the weekend is over, and Spaceboy has had it’s very first production. And I’m pleased to say that the World Premiere of Spaceboy at The Black Box Theatre, Woking was nearly full on the Friday, and SOLD OUT on the Saturday!

The production was truly excellent and very highly praised by the audiences in after show discussions. I’m a very pleased playwright!

I am so grateful to Nell King (Director and Anna), Nathan Trapnell (Director and Nathan) and Alex Paterson (Hayden) for all their hard work.

Thank you too, to Scott Freeman (Sound), Jason Orbaum (Lighting) and to Nina Lemon (Artistic Co-Director for Peer Productions and The Black Box Theatre) for recommending it be produced.

And a huge thank you to both audiences who took the risk on coming to see a new play by a new playwright and in a new theatre too. I am so pleased you were just as amazed and praiseworthy about the production as I was.

I couldn’t fault the sound, light, staging, acting or direction. The whole production was an excellent interpretation of my script, and to be very honest, I really could not have done it better myself.

Spaceboy is my baby. I conceived, developed and gave birth to Nathan Greene, Anna Walker and Hayden, and indeed the Spaceboy himself, David Walker. I nurtured them, gave them a helping hand and unleashed them into the world. And I’m so pleased they have all been warmly welcomed.

They now all have lives of there own. I was even asked by audience members during the post show discussions what happens to them after the point at which the play ends.

To which I answered: “I’m sorry, I’m just the writer, I haven’t a clue. I stopped writing about their story then.”

It was almost as if these characters are real people, and I’ve just told the story about what happened during two weeks of their lives.

Obviously, as the writer, I included some ‘character history’, but I have no idea what happens in their lives after the traumatic events during that fortnight.

Should I? I really don’t know. How could I?

I must admit, I had unreasonably high expectations for this World Premiere Production, not to mention grave concerns that it might not be any good, especially as (unlike other works of mine) I was to have nothing to do with the production.

I was being paid a royalty for licensing of my script, so whatever they did with it, was entirely up to them. I had no control. (Yes it was a little difficult to let go, not unlike letting your child go to school for the first day.)

And yet Peer Productions at The Black Box Theatre certainly met, if not exceed those expectations, and I had no reason for any concern at all. They just made my writing sound and look even better!

The play has been to various people in various formats, crying out to be noticed. There’s been some nibbles; long-listed in a writing competition and even considered by Radio 4 – the first part, ‘If I Fall’ – but now I’m so pleased to say that it has been produced, and what a brilliant production it was as too.

For those who missed it, you certainly did miss something! And I’m not saying that because I wrote it! I’d say the exact same words if I’d seen that production and it had been written by somebody else.

In fact, I was so mesmerised by the show, especially when my character of Hayden (Alex Paterson) came alive in the second part – Moondust Will Cover Me – there were many, many times I actually forgot that I did write it!

At one point when Hayden had his back to me because he was sat in a certain part of the audience – the show was staged in traverse with staging at each end too – I glanced at the faces of the front row of the audience facing him. Each were transfixed. They had exactly the same frozen expression of intense involvement in Hayden’s story. It was amazing. And those exact same frozen expressions were held for minutes, not seconds. I was completely freaked out!

In fact I was so blown away by this 17 year old’s entire performance, I gave Hayden Alex’s surname in recognition of Alex’s outstanding acting and highly realistic characterisation of my tragically love-troubled teenager. (I must also point out that this is a true testimony to the highly skilled directors, Nathan and Nell.)

Whilst the other Spaceboy characters had surnames, Hayden never got one. But he has now, I have corrected the character list in the script to include his full name, Hayden Paterson, in Alex’s honour.

I now have very fond memories of Spaceboy. I’ve made some truly great friends and even have a framed poster in my office as well.

But it’s time to move on. Time to get something else finished on its its way into production. I’ve been given a whole new boost to my confidence and am busy finishing my Nuffield Theatre Writers Group Full Length Graduation piece; more on that later!

The World Premiere of PAFoster’s Spaceboy has been such a fantastic experience for me; the best of experiences for any playwright, I’m sure. There really is nothing like the immense feeling you get from watching a superb production and performance of a play you have written.

Thank you all so much!

Tweet

• not tweeting atm, but still reading #
• been in garden writing all day, no web so just caught up with twitter. @alexgdowding @TomFidler @LewisFlude @TalkinTrash – lmao guys cheers! #
• will be joining the cast of 'Spaceboy' for a post show discussion about the play on both Friday 4th and Saturday… http://bit.ly/cj5amr #
• loving all the #spaceboy stuff on facebook – come see it!!!!! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122899094394999 #
• mornin all, i'm back. @alexgdowding makes a change, lol – @TalkinTrash hope you're feeling better – @LewisFlude enjoy! #
• Off to the interwebless garden to do some more writing – Spaceboy blog post, copyright stuff for @TalkinTrash, and more work on new play. #
• OMG, what, no formspring from @TomFidler? Gone silent. Did he overload the server???????????????? #
• back on the interwebs, and due for a meeting about BA cabin crew and their annual charity panto. #
• Can you hear me, Major Tom? #
• "This year's series of Last Summer of Wine will be the long-running BBC One show's final outing." The Stage – What? It's still running? ???? #
• #Spaceboy – Fucking Amazing! You HAVE to see it. I am a very proud Playwight. They did a truely excellent job. Come tomorrow!!!! #
• World Premiere of 'Spaceboy' was last night. Production, direction, acting all brilliant. Paul is a very proud… http://bit.ly/axK5Q6 #
• Spaceboy Gets Its First Production http://bit.ly/clLDfv #
• Having a Full House on the World Premiere of your play with everyone telling you in post show Q&A how amazed they were is overwhelming. #fb #
• So pleased @PeterFWilliams has joined the TwitterSphere. Expect some great insights into this world! Great to see you Pete, welcome aboard! #
• There's a canouist staring at me!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWbaMtgbXNQ THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING. Subscribe now!!!!! #

Tweet

Well, I’m back, for the time being at least anyway!

So here’s the news I’ve been wanting to blog about for ages.

Spaceboy is getting its first production this weekend! (4th/5th June) I am so pleased.

Yes, that’s tonight, I know, but depression isn’t concerned about time, so I guess I’m lucky I came back from the blackness yesterday. I have know about this production for well over a month now, but this is the first time I have been able to write about it! I was getting concerned that I wasn’t going to fully engage in the amazement of it all.

It was nearly a year ago now that the play was a given a professional ‘rehearsed reading’ by Actors and Writers London, and now finally makes its way on to the stage for the public to see.

Spaceboy is being produced because John Burgess, my mentor from the Nuffield Theatre Writers Group, put another writer, Nina Lemon, in contact with me. Nina has just started in the current Nuffields group; my group having completed the programme at the end of December.

Nina runs a theatre company called Peer Productions, based at the Woking Youth Arts Centre, a five minute walk from my house, and she asked to read some of my work.

Needless to say she loved Spaceboy and I was pleasantly surprised back in April when she asked if they could produce it.

I’ve now met both Nell King and Nathan Trapnell who will produce and direct the play as well as take the roles of Anna and Nathan. They have also cast Alex Paterson in the role of Hayden.

Alex is a member of the Peer Productions Youth Theatre, and is also at Woking College with my friends Mark Forest and Adam Amin from the Riverside Youth Theatre – Small world.

I recently saw Adam and Alex perform in ‘The Interview’ for part of their AS Drama exam at the college and having directed Adam before at RYT, knew he would be good. I was also entralled with Alex’s performance and am very pleased that he’s been cast as Hayden in Spaceboy.

For those of you who know the play and it’s origins, you’ll know that Hayden‘s part, played excellently by Tom Addy in the London rehearsed reading, is a very demanding series of monologues performed one after the other and lasting about twenty five minutes.

Hayden is my favourite of all the characters I’ve created thus far, and I’m pleased to say that Alex, having thoroughly researched his part, has just as much enthusiasm and understanding of Hayden and his issues as I do, which is fantastic and very gratifying for me as the playwright.

My play will be performed as the second in a double bill with the short piece The End Where I Begin, written and directed by Kirsten Hill.

The venue is The Black Box Theatre, a small studio style theatre in Knaphill near Woking where Peer Productions is based.

The 50 seat studio theatre is cosy and very intimate, which to be honest, as those that saw the London reading will know, suits Spaceboy very well indeed

The booking details for the show are all here and again, appologies for the lateness in blogging about this; as I say, depressive episodes are a law unto themselves.

Spaceboy
by
PAFoster

Part One – ‘If I Fall’

Single, self-employed Nathan falls for his next-door neighbour, thirty something Anna Walker.

But Anna has a painful past and a troubled teenage son; and when a local lad goes missing, Nathan’s new relationship is tested to the brink.

Part Two – ‘Moondust Will Cover Me’

Fifteen year old Hayden is a little confused and thinks he’s in love; and that would be fine, if his new found friend wasn’t hearing voices.

I am so pleased that a lot of friends are coming to support me and the cast by seeing this production.

I have also developed new friendships because of because of it, including Tony Chessman, an aspiring writer too, and Lewis Flude who was stood next to a Pet Shop Boys fan in a record store talking about the PSB references in my play! Weird or what? But that’s another story!

Lewis and I have both been following each other on Twitter for ages, but never realised we both knew a lot of the same people from different social groups – Spaceboy has revealed those connections.

Oh, and I nearly forgot!

I am honoured to have been invited to take part in an after show Q&A style discussion with the directors/cast, where we’ll be taking about the play and the writing of it. So get your questions ready, and surprise me!

Hope you can come; it’ll be good, very good. Come and see why, say Hi!

Best wishes!
A very (at last) happy Paul.

PS: Better introduce Tom (the ultimate) Fidler, a great friend and keen to learn writer from Riverside Youth Theatre, who has, since I’m now being referred to as a “minor celebrity”, lol, dutifully elected himself as my PA – After dinner speaking engagements, book store openings, breakfast show interviews, and indeed any other public appearance or product endorsement requests should be directed to Tom, lol. I’m far too busy writing!

Public thanks again to my close friend Tom Addy, without who’s care and support, Spaceboy would never have seen the light of day.

Thank you Major Tom xx

Tweet