Overheard on a train in London on Friday.

Londoner: They don’t have litter bins at stations any more because of the bombs.
American: Really?
Londoner: Yes, they were worried about bombs at stations so took the bins away.
American: To stop them rooting through the rubbish?

I am used to seeing young women on hen nights (them, not me) tottering down the pavement with pink bunny ears on (them, not me). It’s the done thing, these days, apparently. You weren’t anyone in 2006 if you didn’t totter down pavements with bunny ears on and then dance round your handbag in a nightclub.

I was slightly surprised, though, to see, having changed from the Victoria to the Northern Line, two young Essex girls on my tube train sporting huge rabbit ears – at midday. Isn’t that starting a bit early?

Then I realised it made perfect sense. I was at Warren Street.

Back in the day, long before he was reviving Doctor Who or writing Queer as Folk, Russell “The” Davies wrote a couple of BBC children’s drama series, 1991’s Dark Season and 1993’s Century Falls. Both were excellent pieces of kids’ TV.

Dark Season, which featured a young Kate Winslet among the cast, was, in many ways, Doctor Who in disguise. It featured an eccentric lead character with a couple of sidekicks investigating mysterious goings-on in suburban England. There are two distinict plots: the first involves computers being used to take over schoolchildren’s minds (c.f. new Who episode School Reunion); the latter features a troop of Aryan archaeologists led by Servalan off of Blake’s 7 attempting to obtain a powerful machine buried in the school grounds. These six episodes were, at the time, some of the best CBBC had to offer. It’s a little dated now – some of the clothes are shockingly eighties despite this being the nineties – but still good value. Oh, and it features Brigit Forsyth from Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Doctor Who legend Cyril Shaps.

Century Falls was made two years later by largely the same production team. I only saw it on first broadcast so my memory of it is 13 years old, but it was notably darker than its predecessor, using the fantasy medium to deal with issues such as teenage pregnancy. The cast includes Who alumni Eileen Way and Bernard Kay, plus Mary Wimbush from K-9 and Company and The Archers.

I’m looking forward to seeing both series again, because – and this is the reason for this post – they’re coming out on DVD next month, having never been released on VHS. Both Dark Season and Century Falls are released on Monday 17th July and I heartily recommend them.

I have no interest in fashion, as anyone who’s seen me would be able to testify. But nestled away in theguardian‘s G2 supplement each Monday is “Ask Hadley”, which I read every week. She will ease your fashion pain, apparently, but I read it ‘cos it’s funny. Not highbrow humour, but suitably silly and, despite my having no concept of taupe or chiffon, I’m entertained by it. Plus, it’s opposite Doonesbury and the Kakuro so it takes no effort to find it each week. Here’s yesterday’s column.