Mine was the same as Mog's, but without the presentation. I had to submit introductory chapter with methods, methodology, etc. and a further chapter of the actual research, plus timetable for completion.
Usual time frame is: 9 months for full time (to allow a further 3 months for adjustments before the year deadline) and 18 months for part time (to allow a further 3 months for adjustments before the 2 year deadline). I had a minor alteration of focus - a narrowing, but that was all. I found it a positive process; helped me a lot with focus, which I wasn't aware I needed, but did.

I am more than willing to travel at any time and find it of great psychological benefit to go to my own institution; living in the depths of the country, it's often hard to feel oneself an academic. I would be willing to try one Skype a term, if bb connection allows, if she will agree to one face to face per term; I find these very helpful and motivating - I would like 2, but would never get them.When I do get to see her, she's an excellent supervisor and I don't want to cause trouble by insisting on what the regs specify. This would also damage the relationship. But she simply will not commit to any date ahead, just says it's not possible, so I'm always anxious about it and never know where I am. I'll just get an announcement that she can meet me a couple of days ahead, too late to get cheap train tickets of course. I suppose I either put up, or shut up; she's certainly v forceful, so there's no question of my insisting; it's not an equal power balance.

My supervisor (phobic about commitment to dates, due to overcrowded schedule) is trying to get me to agree to supervisions by Skype or telephone
, which I am not happy about. I am a distance student, but am more than happy to travel to my institution for real supervisions, which are infinitely better, even without my lousy broadband connection and I have been doing this up till now, or meeting her half way. My question is: are supervisions by Skype considered adequate by universities in general? I can see that, if the student is abroad, they are essential, but I am not. I am very uncertain how to tackle this problem. (I am half way through a P/T PhD.)

In my experience, this is fairly normal. I had to e-mail endlessly before I got a (positive) response and I was going down to the time-wire too. Point out the time deadline, tho they should know this!

Would anyone who has already gone through this process be prepared to tell me about their experience? Anything would be welcome: what sort of questions asked, what was expected of student, how long it lasted, positives (if any!) and negatives of the experience. I know institutional practice will vary, but any form of pre-knowledge would help, perhaps, reduce my fear levels.

Yes. She shld not even think for a second of going there .................... She shld ignore all this stuff and focus on her work; anything else is only going to bring trouble. Sounds like a classic case of inappropriate expressions on the part of the supervisor and self-distraction on the part of the supervisee. Hard, I know, if you feel like this, but it spells danger in enormous red letters to someone of advanced years like me.