A new companion! Clara Oswald finally joins the Doctor after being teased at in Asylum of the Daleks at the start of Series 7. We start with the Doctor living a life of solitude after losing Amy and Rory in The Angels Take Manhattan. After recieving an initially chilly reception (pun fully intended), Clara manages to pull the Doctor out of his doldrums and into a battle to save humanity from The Great Intelligence, which is using evil snowmen to invade the earth.
Clara is a dream of a companion, cute, smart and very, very flirty! She brings out something in the Doctor we haven't seen in a while ... his softer, romantic(ish) side. The new TARDIS console room is awesome!
It looks like Strax and Madame Vastra and Jenny will be recurring characters this half of the season ... but what about River Song? And how would River deal with the cheeky, flirty Clara Oswin Oswald?
All this and more tells me that this spring's half of series 7 will be one not to miss!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Lost in the Vortex
So my life had been a little crazy for a while, almost an entire year as a matter of fact. I ended up watching most of the episodes off my DVR instead of live during the first half of series 7, and I still have not watched the Christmas episode, The Snowmen. Plus it looks like if I don't watch it tonight or tomorrow night, it will be next week before I get to it.So, that being said, I am looking to add some new contributors to the site. Katrina is busy with her new site geekorama.net (make sure you give her a click), so she may or may not be able to post here. I have invited one of my students who is a fan, and I will invite a few other people as well. I you are a reader and you are interested in helping us to keep this site current, drop me a comment and I will get in touch with you.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Autons and blondes! Going back in time ...
So I am faced with the prospect of no Doctor Who for quite some time. Sadness. So tonight, I am hopping into the time stream and watching the first episode featuring Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. Watching it again, I am amazed at how Russell T. Davies managed to bring back the show for those familiar with it before and introduced it to a whole new generation at the same time.
For the first time, Doctor Who is presented as happening within the lives of those in the episode. The Doctor has been noticed though out history ... this is one of the great ideas introduced in this episode, that there are people who have heard of the Doctor and they are seeking him out, almost like a mini cult of people obsessed with this enigmatic figure. That is probably my favorite scene in the episode. Rose is in the shed talking to Clive, and Mickey the idiot gets eaten by a trash can. And then of course, the scene with Mickey 2.0 in the restaurant kind of reminds me of Terminator 2 and the T-1000.
The updated Nestene Consciousness was awesome. I love the part where it growls out "TIME LORD!" That was something I had managed to miss the first umpteen times around that I watched it. It was an awesome episode and a worthy way to kick-start a new generation of the most famous show in all of time and space.
Well, after a nice little Doctor Who fix, I am ready to get some sleep. See you all in the vortex!
For the first time, Doctor Who is presented as happening within the lives of those in the episode. The Doctor has been noticed though out history ... this is one of the great ideas introduced in this episode, that there are people who have heard of the Doctor and they are seeking him out, almost like a mini cult of people obsessed with this enigmatic figure. That is probably my favorite scene in the episode. Rose is in the shed talking to Clive, and Mickey the idiot gets eaten by a trash can. And then of course, the scene with Mickey 2.0 in the restaurant kind of reminds me of Terminator 2 and the T-1000.
The updated Nestene Consciousness was awesome. I love the part where it growls out "TIME LORD!" That was something I had managed to miss the first umpteen times around that I watched it. It was an awesome episode and a worthy way to kick-start a new generation of the most famous show in all of time and space.
Well, after a nice little Doctor Who fix, I am ready to get some sleep. See you all in the vortex!
Monday, January 16, 2012
2011 Christmas Special: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe
OK, off to Narnia my friends as our intrepid Time Lord takes on CS Lewis' classic tale of might and magic. What gave me pause was the fact that the show was listed in the program guide as being two hours and twenty minutes long. A little excessive if you ask me, but then reports were that the episode was only 60 minutes in length and the rest I would assume is commercials. I didn't watch it on Christmas day, so now, with remote in hand, I embark on this tale of Christmas courtesy of the Doctor.
He starts out falling from an exploding space ship, struggling to pit on a space suit as he hurtles towards the earth. Post-theme, he crashes to earth with the suit on and the helmet on backwards. He is assisted by Madge Arwell to find the TARDIS. Flash forward to Madge's husband dying in the War, and Madge and the children planning for their annual trip to a country manor owned by Uncle Digby. The Doctor is in the house posing as the caretaker, having made lots of zany modifications to the house. Madge then informs the Doctor that she is withholding the information about their father from the children until after the holidays.
The children discover a lavishly decorated tree with a large blue box (TARDIS blue no less) underneath which Cyril sees glowing when nobody else is looking. Lily visits the Doctor in his room and as they are talking, Cyril opens the blue box, revealing it to be a time portal and he steps through, shortly followed by the Doctor and Lily. The Doctor becomes concerned that something is wrong and they go looking for Cyril. All of them are soon followed by Madge as Cyril finds a lighthouse.
All of them are in the forest, Cyril enters the lighthouse and discovers a giant wooden statue of a king on a throne which turns out to not be a state at all and Madge is confronted by a group of soldiers. The scenes keep jumping from character to character which is typical of Steven Moffat's storytelling style. The soldiers are from Androzani Major (a nod to the classic series) and they are planning to burn the forest with acid rain and melt it down for battery fluid.. At the top of the lighthouse, another wooden creature puts a golden circlet on Cyril's head, and Madge pulls a gun on the soldiers and tries to use their platform to find her children. The circlet is a device to allow Cyril to hear the trees and hold their life force. Madge pilots the Androzani platform to the lighthouse.
Madge puts on the circlet, and the forest enters her, and the top of the lighthouse is a pod and launches into the time vortex. Madge pilots the pod through the vortex with her thoughts of her late husband, and they see her husband's plane going down. The pod lands back on earth, and the children confront their mother about their father dying. The Doctor excuses himself and discovers him waiting outside for them, having followed the light of the pod home. The Arwell family spends Christmas together and Madge encourages the Doctor to not spend Christmas alone. He departs and goes to spend Christmas with Amy and Rory.
He starts out falling from an exploding space ship, struggling to pit on a space suit as he hurtles towards the earth. Post-theme, he crashes to earth with the suit on and the helmet on backwards. He is assisted by Madge Arwell to find the TARDIS. Flash forward to Madge's husband dying in the War, and Madge and the children planning for their annual trip to a country manor owned by Uncle Digby. The Doctor is in the house posing as the caretaker, having made lots of zany modifications to the house. Madge then informs the Doctor that she is withholding the information about their father from the children until after the holidays.
The children discover a lavishly decorated tree with a large blue box (TARDIS blue no less) underneath which Cyril sees glowing when nobody else is looking. Lily visits the Doctor in his room and as they are talking, Cyril opens the blue box, revealing it to be a time portal and he steps through, shortly followed by the Doctor and Lily. The Doctor becomes concerned that something is wrong and they go looking for Cyril. All of them are soon followed by Madge as Cyril finds a lighthouse.
All of them are in the forest, Cyril enters the lighthouse and discovers a giant wooden statue of a king on a throne which turns out to not be a state at all and Madge is confronted by a group of soldiers. The scenes keep jumping from character to character which is typical of Steven Moffat's storytelling style. The soldiers are from Androzani Major (a nod to the classic series) and they are planning to burn the forest with acid rain and melt it down for battery fluid.. At the top of the lighthouse, another wooden creature puts a golden circlet on Cyril's head, and Madge pulls a gun on the soldiers and tries to use their platform to find her children. The circlet is a device to allow Cyril to hear the trees and hold their life force. Madge pilots the Androzani platform to the lighthouse.
Madge puts on the circlet, and the forest enters her, and the top of the lighthouse is a pod and launches into the time vortex. Madge pilots the pod through the vortex with her thoughts of her late husband, and they see her husband's plane going down. The pod lands back on earth, and the children confront their mother about their father dying. The Doctor excuses himself and discovers him waiting outside for them, having followed the light of the pod home. The Arwell family spends Christmas together and Madge encourages the Doctor to not spend Christmas alone. He departs and goes to spend Christmas with Amy and Rory.
Friday, December 2, 2011
"The Space Museum", Part 4
As the episode opens, we find that Ian has fund the Doctor in the midst of being processed into a display. He is told that the Doctor is "as good as dead". Then we find Vicki aiding the rebels in starting their revolution. She returns to the Museum accompanied by one of the rebels, and Barbara comes to in the midst of the gas. The Doctor comes to after the processing was reversed, and he claims he understands what is going on, and he and Ian are recaptured. Barbara leaves the museum and is captured, but quickly rescued by Vicki, only for the two of them to be recaptured. The companions discussed whether or not their actions have been enough to change the future and the Zeron rebellion manages to free them, and the Doctor remarks that the future doesn't look too bad at all. The Doctor took a souvenir of the museum ... a time and space visualizer and Vicki departs reluctantly. The episode ends with a Dalek reporting the movements of the TARDIS ....
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Space Museum, Part 3
The episode picks up where we left off, with the Doctor being taken to the preparation room and the museum staff gathering around the TARDIS. Ian and Barbara discuss the relative merits of making changes to the future. They listen at the door as the soldiers discuss their capture outside and they are found by a soldier who approaches them from behind. Ian confronts the soldier and attacks him and Barbara and Vicki run. Ian overcomes the soldier and another soldier who tried to help capture him as Barbara and Vicki get separated while running from their pursuers. Vicki is grabbed by the rebels as Barbara is inadvertently locked in a storage room. One of the rebels finds Barbara and the two of them encounter a gas released into the building to flush them out. Vicki goes to the armory with the rebels and tries to help them overcome the electronic lock. Barbara and her companion are overcome by the gas. Ian captures the governor and forces them to take him to the Doctor. The episode end with us seeing Ian's reaction when he sees the Doctor, but we don't see the Doctor ... yet.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Space Museum, Part 2
It has been a while since I watched part 1 of this story, and sitting down to part 2 was a welcome diversion from my hectic days.
The second episode starts with two staff persons discussing their jobs, when they are told of the arrival of the TARDIS. A group of rebels discusses the arrival of the TARDIS travelers. The Travelers discuss their course of action, and they start trying to find their way out of the museum. The Doctor is grabbed by the rebels and taken away from the others. Barbara, Vicki and Ian argue what to do in the Doctor's absence, and the Doctor escapes from the rebels by hiding inside a Dalek display, but is captured by the museum staff. He is questioned by the governor who uses thought projection device to read the Doctor's mind. The Doctor resists the questioning and the governor decides that he would be more useful as an exhibit. As the episode ends, the guards arrive to take the Doctor to the preparation room ...
I will continue watching and blogging on this episode in the not too far future.
The second episode starts with two staff persons discussing their jobs, when they are told of the arrival of the TARDIS. A group of rebels discusses the arrival of the TARDIS travelers. The Travelers discuss their course of action, and they start trying to find their way out of the museum. The Doctor is grabbed by the rebels and taken away from the others. Barbara, Vicki and Ian argue what to do in the Doctor's absence, and the Doctor escapes from the rebels by hiding inside a Dalek display, but is captured by the museum staff. He is questioned by the governor who uses thought projection device to read the Doctor's mind. The Doctor resists the questioning and the governor decides that he would be more useful as an exhibit. As the episode ends, the guards arrive to take the Doctor to the preparation room ...
I will continue watching and blogging on this episode in the not too far future.
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