23 April 2016
It is St George's Day, and the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death (or at least the 400th anniversary is being celebrated today.)
To honour the occasion, the BBC have decided to announce the new Doctor Who companion at half time of a football match. Do Doctor Who fans watch football? The new companion turns out not to be David Tennant as Doctor 10.2 (my ideal choice), or Frank Skinner (my second choice, after his performance in Mummy on the Orient Express), but then Peter Capaldi is on record as saying that he didn't want a male companion, in case he got to do all the action stuff. It is actually a girl named Bill, played by Pearl Mackie.
This will naturally led itself to some great puns and headlines in Doctor Who Magazine. How long before they run with 'Kill Bill!'
Meanwhile in Stratford-upon-Avon, the DoctorDonna (i.e. David Tennant and Catherine Tate) are hosting the Shakespeare Live! gala at the RSC. The start was a bit shaky, and there was rather too much music and not enough Shakespeare but it cheered up no end after the Nine Hamlets sketch with David Tennant, Tim Minchin, Paapa Essiedu, Harriet Walter, Ian McKellen, Rory Kinnear, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench and, er... Prince Charles.
I was left a little disappointed though that it didn't start with Dean Lennox Kelly coming on and saying 'Shut your mouths'
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Saturday, 30 January 2016
A girl can dream...
30 January 2016
So Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who. He must really need a holiday by now. Interestingly, when I just went to google this story, Google suggested 'Steven Moffat has ruined Doctor Who' as a search term. Everyone's a critic!
Seriously, I cannot agree with that sentiment, though I do think that Moffat produced better Doctor Who episodes as a writer than as a showrunner. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink are among my all-time favourites. I'm less keen on the convoluted story arcs that take a couple of years to pay off ('silence will fall') or personal relationships that 'need a flowchart', as I think they tend to alienate the casual viewer. I had the same problem with The X-Files.
It will be interesting to see the direction that Chris Chibnall will go in when he finally takes over. Until then, I'm secretly hoping for a 'Tenth Doctor wakes up in the shower/TARDIS and it was all a dream' plot. After all, Chibnall is working with David Tennant on Broadchurch and there does seem to be a tendency for producers to work with the same people over and again.
A girl can dream, can't she?
So Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who. He must really need a holiday by now. Interestingly, when I just went to google this story, Google suggested 'Steven Moffat has ruined Doctor Who' as a search term. Everyone's a critic!
Seriously, I cannot agree with that sentiment, though I do think that Moffat produced better Doctor Who episodes as a writer than as a showrunner. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink are among my all-time favourites. I'm less keen on the convoluted story arcs that take a couple of years to pay off ('silence will fall') or personal relationships that 'need a flowchart', as I think they tend to alienate the casual viewer. I had the same problem with The X-Files.
It will be interesting to see the direction that Chris Chibnall will go in when he finally takes over. Until then, I'm secretly hoping for a 'Tenth Doctor wakes up in the shower/TARDIS and it was all a dream' plot. After all, Chibnall is working with David Tennant on Broadchurch and there does seem to be a tendency for producers to work with the same people over and again.
A girl can dream, can't she?
Saturday, 9 January 2016
It's totally sonic
Saturday 9 January 2016
Last night we watched a repeat of City of Death on the Horror Channel. It's an episode that still stands up well as one of the all time greats, in my opinion.
But observing the sonic knife in the rehearsal of the Mona Lisa heist got me thinking about all the different sonic devices that have appeared in the series:
Last night we watched a repeat of City of Death on the Horror Channel. It's an episode that still stands up well as one of the all time greats, in my opinion.
But observing the sonic knife in the rehearsal of the Mona Lisa heist got me thinking about all the different sonic devices that have appeared in the series:
- Sonic screwdriver
- Sonic shades
- Sonic cane
- Sonic lipstick (in the Sarah Jane Adventures)
- Sonic pen (Miss Foster in Partners in Crime)
- Sonic trowel (River, in The Husbands of River Song)
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
It was a funny old Christmas...
Wednesday 6 January 2016
Owing to a lack of forethought on my part, we spent Christmas abroad in a place with no Doctor Who, but fortunately no internet access either, so at least we avoided spoilers.
As a result, we didn't see The Husbands of River Song until a couple of days ago. I need to watch it again, but on first viewing, it seemed rather a strange choice for an episode that is likely to be watched by a family audience including people who are not regular viewers. There were a lot of continuity references, some of which go back to River's first appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead back in 2008*.
And there were some bits that were rather revolting for a post-Christmas lunch viewing.
Still, I might pinch the idea of a 'Carol Singers will be Criticised' notice.
*Update: I have just read the review in the excellent Doctor Who Magazine. If their reviewer missed the significant of the visit to the Singing Towers, what hope is there for the casual viewer?
Owing to a lack of forethought on my part, we spent Christmas abroad in a place with no Doctor Who, but fortunately no internet access either, so at least we avoided spoilers.
As a result, we didn't see The Husbands of River Song until a couple of days ago. I need to watch it again, but on first viewing, it seemed rather a strange choice for an episode that is likely to be watched by a family audience including people who are not regular viewers. There were a lot of continuity references, some of which go back to River's first appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead back in 2008*.
And there were some bits that were rather revolting for a post-Christmas lunch viewing.
Still, I might pinch the idea of a 'Carol Singers will be Criticised' notice.
*Update: I have just read the review in the excellent Doctor Who Magazine. If their reviewer missed the significant of the visit to the Singing Towers, what hope is there for the casual viewer?
Saturday, 5 December 2015
Hell Bent...
Saturday 5 December
It is definitely one of those days.
Last night the husband took delivery of a Fourth Doctor coat, which he thinks is fine to wear in public.
I disagree, but I have to keep on his good side as I need his help with removing a massive old sofa from my Mum's house.
***
Later: the sofa won't go out in one piece. It looks as if it is possible to take it apart, but the screws are a different kind, and Mum's screwdrivers won't work. I take a photo of one and call round to my local hardware shop. (The one whose staff were bemused by my request for TARDIS screws.) Fortunately, this time they understood what I was looking for and sold me a gadget. Armed with this, I am able to remove about half the screws holding the three parts of the sofa together, but the rest won't budge. The end section is only held in place by one screw, so we try brute force to pull it apart, but with only partial success. -
Eventually, I go home, fetch a hacksaw, and manage to get the thing into manageable chunks for disposal. (Some use of a hammer and jumping up and down on the bits was involved, but we did it).
All I have to do now is arrange for someone to remove the carcass, shortlist candidates for a management job (no time to do this while in the office), watch our village Christmas lights switch-on and cook dinner.
Only then will I be ready for Hell Bent. I'm a bit worried about it, to be honest. I can't think of a story set on Gallifrey that I have actually liked, much.
It is definitely one of those days.
Last night the husband took delivery of a Fourth Doctor coat, which he thinks is fine to wear in public.
I disagree, but I have to keep on his good side as I need his help with removing a massive old sofa from my Mum's house.
***
Later: the sofa won't go out in one piece. It looks as if it is possible to take it apart, but the screws are a different kind, and Mum's screwdrivers won't work. I take a photo of one and call round to my local hardware shop. (The one whose staff were bemused by my request for TARDIS screws.) Fortunately, this time they understood what I was looking for and sold me a gadget. Armed with this, I am able to remove about half the screws holding the three parts of the sofa together, but the rest won't budge. The end section is only held in place by one screw, so we try brute force to pull it apart, but with only partial success. -Eventually, I go home, fetch a hacksaw, and manage to get the thing into manageable chunks for disposal. (Some use of a hammer and jumping up and down on the bits was involved, but we did it).
All I have to do now is arrange for someone to remove the carcass, shortlist candidates for a management job (no time to do this while in the office), watch our village Christmas lights switch-on and cook dinner.
Only then will I be ready for Hell Bent. I'm a bit worried about it, to be honest. I can't think of a story set on Gallifrey that I have actually liked, much.
Saturday, 28 November 2015
The end is approaching...
Saturday 28 November 2015
Only two more episodes, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, left to go this season, and we are actually at home for both of them. [Unlike the Christmas Special - anyone know if and when Doctor Who is broadcast in Beijing?]
From what I have gleaned about tonight's episode, it is going to be an odd one. The Matrix scenes from The Deadly Assassin spring to mind, but I don't suppose it is really going to be anything like that at all. Only a couple more hours to wait and all will be revealed...
Later...
I'll need to watch that again to make sense of it, but it looks like I was closer than I thought with The Deadly Assassin. In the meantime, and more importantly, since when are companions, even deceased ones, allowed to tell the Doctor to get off his arse?'
Only two more episodes, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, left to go this season, and we are actually at home for both of them. [Unlike the Christmas Special - anyone know if and when Doctor Who is broadcast in Beijing?]
From what I have gleaned about tonight's episode, it is going to be an odd one. The Matrix scenes from The Deadly Assassin spring to mind, but I don't suppose it is really going to be anything like that at all. Only a couple more hours to wait and all will be revealed...
Later...
I'll need to watch that again to make sense of it, but it looks like I was closer than I thought with The Deadly Assassin. In the meantime, and more importantly, since when are companions, even deceased ones, allowed to tell the Doctor to get off his arse?'
Sunday, 22 November 2015
Quoth the Raven...
22 November 2015
"Nevermore!"
Anyone vaguely familiar with Poe's poem The Raven (1845) might have guessed that this would be Clara's final episode, though knowing how Doctor Who works, it remains to be seen whether this is the last we see of Jenna Coleman. I suspect not - isn't Clara still splintered in the Doctor's timeline, 'saving the Doctor?'
I found this episode far more watchable than Sleep No More. I suspect though that over time and repeated watching the latter episode may become regarded as a classic, whereas Face the Raven may not have longevity.
I liked the fact that this was a smaller, ostensibly low stakes episode, where the threat at least appears to be only to a single person, rather than the whole fabric of space and time. Though the true explanation of what is going on will only be revealed in the season finale.
I'm not sure I understood how the shade/raven thing worked, and how and why Ashildr acquired control of it. Or why the 'refugees' needed to disguise themselves as human in a street that was hidden anyway (other than costume budget reasons).
No doubt all will be revealed (probably in about two years' time).
"Nevermore!"
Anyone vaguely familiar with Poe's poem The Raven (1845) might have guessed that this would be Clara's final episode, though knowing how Doctor Who works, it remains to be seen whether this is the last we see of Jenna Coleman. I suspect not - isn't Clara still splintered in the Doctor's timeline, 'saving the Doctor?'
I found this episode far more watchable than Sleep No More. I suspect though that over time and repeated watching the latter episode may become regarded as a classic, whereas Face the Raven may not have longevity.
I liked the fact that this was a smaller, ostensibly low stakes episode, where the threat at least appears to be only to a single person, rather than the whole fabric of space and time. Though the true explanation of what is going on will only be revealed in the season finale.
I'm not sure I understood how the shade/raven thing worked, and how and why Ashildr acquired control of it. Or why the 'refugees' needed to disguise themselves as human in a street that was hidden anyway (other than costume budget reasons).
No doubt all will be revealed (probably in about two years' time).
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