olivia_sutton | Entries tagged with doctor who

First, apologies, apologies - looks like I haven't been on this site for over a year. When LJs shut down I hurriedly imported my blog over to DreamWidth, checked that everything was there, and promptly forgot about this blog. So, again, my apologies for being inactive.

The reason I'm writing today is about the new Doctor Who, and specifically the new female actor, yes, female actor, who is now playing the Doctor - Jodie Whittaker. I have now watched her entire season and I love her. Jodie brings an enthusiasm, excitement, and sheer joy to the role. She loves travelling and having new experiences out there in the Big Wide Universe - and she enjoys showing her "fam" the universe. It's noteworthy too that Graham, Ryan, and Yaz aren't her "companions" or "assistants" but her family. This isn't a war-torn angsty Doctor who needs someone to "stop" them - but someone who has found a new love of life.

But every so often on Twitter, usually in response to an official Tweet from the BBC, or one of the actors, or anything rather official, the haters come out. These fanboys hate Jodie because she's a woman - and they are pretty loud in saying so, that is, until you challenge them, and suddenly, it's "I don't like the writing". "I don't like the companions", etc., all these excuses that they use to justify their so-called opinion, when they originally started with the "but only a man can play the Doctor" argument. Most didn't watch Jodie's episodes, or at least the entire season.

The most disturbing thing is the complete unwillingness to accept any evidence to the contrary. For example, this time around I had two men claiming that the show's ratings tanked when Jodie became the Doctor. That is a lie. There is no other way to put it. It is an untruth. I posted two, out of the dozen or more articles I found with a simple Google search, that discussed the show's high ratings, ratings that were higher than the previous three seasons, and I was told I was wrong. Now these are well-documented sources, that I provided links to - and I was told I was wrong.

And then the multiple messages (8-10 or more at a time) turned in to a personal attack. And of course, the two guys acted like I was the one at fault. That I was the one who couldn't handle a discussion without trying to make some kind of "liberal agenda" point. And worse - in terms of name calling, attacks, bringing up completely off topic "arguments" about why the two guys were right and I (a mere woman) was wrong.

I finally blocked the guys who were attacking me.

But here's the thing. This is why women get upset. Especially on-line. First, if a man had said, "sorry you're wrong, Jodie Whittaker got fine ratings as the Doctor, and here's five articles to prove it", it would have been accepted. Maybe said guys would have continued to argue about the character, producer or writers, and maybe not - but they would have accepted the fact about ratings and moved on. Because I was a woman, and I defended my knowledge with facts - I was told I was wrong. Apparently, I was wrong because women can't ever be right. That's what gets to me. And if I provide even more bona fides, such as my long history in, well, in this case, Doctor Who fandom, not only is that ignored but I was actually told that I was insulting New Who fans. Um, I'm telling you I've watched Doctor Who since 1977, I've seen all thirteen (fourteen including the War Doctor, and the non-canonical Peter Cushing films, and animated "films") and I have the entire series on DVD as a fact. As information that I know what I'm talking about. But, noooo - that means I'm "insulting" New Who fans and "disrespecting" them (the very words this guy used on Twitter). Yet if I was male he'd have no doubt been impressed by my background and knowledge. So it's frustrating.

To be fair, I've met some great people on Twitter. Of both genders. Celebrities and common-folk. People just discovering Doctor Who and people who have been there since the beginning. I've defended Twitter's easy block and reporting features. But at the same time, I'm frustrated when anyone decides they can't accept facts (or practical experience) because of the gender of the person who presents the information.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: Home Office
Current Music: Wonder Woman Soundtrack

Review originally posted on GoodReads on 12/17/2014

A Device of Death is a volume in Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures series of Doctor Who original novels. This story features the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, Sarah Jane Smith, and medical doctor and naval officer, Dr. Harry Sullivan. The novel opens with the Time Lords in an emergency monitoring station, monitoring a Time Quake as a result of the aired story, Genesis of the Daleks. They attempt to rescue the Doctor and his companions from the quake, but it doesn't quite go perfectly and Harry, the Doctor, and Sarah end-up in three different locations in a solar system at war. So, right from the beginning our characters are split up. This means the novel moves very fast as the reader wants to know what's happening to all three characters. The conflict also can only be resolved with information from all three locations. And in grand Doctor Who fashion both the Doctor and his companions get involved in local affairs, and become instrumental in figuring things out - especially, once they are re-united and can compare notes. The resulting secret they discover/figure out I found to be slightly predictable, and thus a tad disappointing. However, I still found A Device of Death to be quite the fun romp (despite the grim circumstances of the secondary/original characters) and the book was an enjoyable and quick read.

Review Originally posted to GoodReads on 1/17/2013

Big Finish does an excellent job with their audio plays. Make no mistake... they are NOT audio-books, with a well-known actor READING the material - the Big Finish audio plays are full-fledged plays complete with music, sound effects, and honest-to-goodness acting. The quality of the individual stories varies, but it's usually in the three to five out of five range.

The Church and the Crown was a surprise -- because I loved it! I got it as part of my subscription package (back when I could afford a monthly subscription package) but when I listened I was floored. Big Finish have created a farce, a complete farce, and I mean that in the best possible way. This story was laugh out loud funny. Peri, it seems, is a dead ringer for Queen Anne of 17th Century France. So, yes, the story involves all the escapades of a French farce -- doubles, secret identities, horse-drawn carriage chases (which work surprisingly well in the audio format). Nicola Bryant and Peter Davison are brilliantly deft at the comedy, and it makes you wonder what might have been if Peter had done one more season of Doctor Who at the BBC. This audio also features Caroline Morris as (ancient) Egyptian Princess, Erimem. A companion created specifically for the audios, I always quite liked Erimem.

I highly, highly recommend this audio. If you haven't listened to any of the Big Finish Audios, and you like Doctor Who it's an excellent place to start. If you're a fan of audio books and plays and you haven't tried the Big Finish lines (they have several) I highly recommend their work.

Current Mood: Happy
Current Location: My Home Office
Current Music: Hawaii Five O

This review originally appeared on my GoodReads Page, and was posted on October 4, 2012.

This is a tie-in to the wonderful British Science Fiction television show Doctor Who. It is not a novelization of an episode but rather an original story, that borrows the characters of the Sixth Doctor (played by Colin Baker) and Melanie Bush (played by Bonnie Langford) under license from the BBC. Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction program, having run continuously from 1963 to 1989, picked up for a TV movie in 1996, and then returned to the screens in 2005 and still running strong. The program will celebrate it's 50th Anniversary next year (2013). The BBC Past Doctor Adventures (sometimes referred to as PDAs) were published by BBC Books and are one of five series of original tie-in novels. There was also a series of novelizations published by Target Books (the paperback arm of UK publisher WH Allen). Of all the various Doctor Whonovels I've read I find the PDAs and EDAs (Eighth Doctor Adventures, published at the same time) to be the best.

This was one of the best Doctor Who BBC Books Past Doctor Adventures I've read. The story felt like a good Doctor Who story, something that could have been done on the series - if they'd had the budget. It's actually a complex tale. The Doctor and Mel head to Carsus, the universe's ultimate library to meet an old friend of the Doctor's, a retired Time Lord named Rummas. It's not quite a vacation, but not quite a mission to save the universe - yet. However, while traveling to Carsus, various other versions of the Doctor and sometimes Mel appear in the TARDIS. When they arrive at the library, first the Doctor find Rummas dead, then he's alive. Mel sees other versions of his helpers at the library. And before long she and the Doctor have to save the universe.

However, it isn't just the universe at stake -- it's the multiverse. Spiral Scratch deals with multi-universe theory in a highly interesting way without being too bogged down in long explanations. Before long, The Doctor and Mel are trying to save Helen, but as things get more complex, and they continuously fail and return to the Library, it becomes apparent that something bigger is going on.

What that is... is Monica, a Lamprey, a creature that lives in the Vortex itself and devoures Chronon (Time) Energy. However, Rummas has become trapped - because Monica lives outside of time, and Rummas lives life in a normal line and cannot change his own past -- every time Rummas tries to stop Monica, she can simply slip back and stop him. Rummas, unaware of this, continues to call the Doctor to him, bringing in more and more versions of the Doctor from different alternate universes.

Our version of the Doctor, and Mel, are unaware of this - as is the reader at first, as they try to rescue various time-sensitives, from various planets, in various different universes of the multi-verse. And each time the Doctor fails - he or Mel sees ghost images of other versions of himself in the TARDIS control room.

The fun of this novel starts with the various different universes such as an Imperial Earth where Rome never fell. The novel also includes chapters without the Doctor or Mel as Monica goes about her business of wrecking havoc - which the reader can slowly put together like clues in a great mystery novel. I also liked the other versions of the Doctor -- one dressed in mourning black, with a scar on his face, missing an eye. He's kinder and gentler than "our Doctor" but also blames himself for Peri's death (in the universe where Rome never fell - she was from the Americas and a native princess named Brown Perpugilliam). Another Doctor travels with a human/Silurian hybrid named Melanie Baal. These "other" Doctors and Mels are fascinating.

The conclusion of the story is fantastic, and I loved it. I'm not going to spoil it here, but trust me... if you're a long-time Who fan, familiar with various versions of the show and official tie-ins to it, you will enjoy Spiral Scratch. Also, this novel fills in a continuity gap from the original series that most fans will recognize. I also loved, loved, loved that. And I will say, though normally I don't really like the companion Mel, I found that this book made me much more sympathetic to her, which is an accomplishment. I highly, highly, highly recommend this novel to fans of the TV Series Doctor Who. I also think that if you like a good tie-in novel with a strong SF plot, you'll enjoy this... though if you don't know Doctor Who you'll probably miss some subtleties of the plot.

This review originally appeared on my GoodReads page on 8/28/2012. It is a review of Palace of the Red Sun, an original Doctor Who novel in the Past Doctor Adventures published by BBC Books. Palace of the Red Sun was written by Christopher Bulis.

This book started very s...l...o...w...l...y. The Doctor (the 6th Doctor, played on the series by Colin Baker) and Peri land on a planet that seems to be an idyllic garden with a red sun. However, there are no people around. And for at least fifty pages... nothing happens, because there are no people around.

Eventually the Doctor and Peri get separated and the TARDIS disappears from where the Doctor left it. Again, very typical and not that interesting.

So I put this book down for a LONG time... like months. I just picked it up again and finished reading it in a couple of days. Overall, despite the slow start it was an OK read. Bulis really needs to improve his delivery style.

Anyway, when I picked up the book, the Doctor meets Green-8, a sentient gardening robot. Unlike most of the "thinking robots or Cyborgs" in Doctor Who such as Daleks and Cybermen or indeed most thinking robots in science fiction in general (such as the Terminator movies) Green-8 is benevolent, curious, and even somewhat obsessed with philosophical questions such as "Who am I?" and "How did I come to be?" or even "Who made me?" and "Do I have to follow the Lord's orders?" The Doctor convinces Green-8 to help him find his missing companion Peri.

Peri, meanwhile, has been taken hostage by the Red gardening robots and is being used as slave gardening labor alongside a group of other captured people called scavengers. Peri befriends a young scavenger boy named Kel.

Suddenly a large fireball appears in the sky, a huge wind and sand storm hits the land and considerable damage is done to the gardens. Peri uses this as the perfect opportunity to escape with Kel.

Meanwhile, the Doctor has just convinced Green-8 to help him find Peri, when the same fireball, storm, and shockwave hit his section of the planetoid. Green-8 reports the damage to the Lords in the Palace and orders his fellow Green Robots to clean-up and take care of the damage. This delays the Doctor and Green-8 from going anywhere. The Doctor also recognizes the firestorm as bombardment from space... and realizes he must warn the lords in the palace, even if it delays his search for Peri.

Meanwhile, a princess named Oralissa is beginning to have doubts -- questioning things no one else around her questions, such as the mechanical servants that take care of the palace and grounds. She's also less than happy to be forced into a marriage to one of two unsuitable suitors.

Peri and Kel encounter a "ghost girl nanny" then return to Kel's home in the woods. Once there they soon run into a tabloid space reporter who's covering the attack of a megalomanic dictator named Glavis Judd. Peri, Kel, Kel's want-to-be bride, and another scavenger all head to the palace, accompanied by the reporter's automatic camera drones.

Arriving at the palace, they meet the Doctor and the mystery begins to unravel... which I'm not going to spoil here. I will say that I had at least part of the mystery figured out before Bulis got around to explaining it. I also didn't appreciate Bulis' pushing the ideals of anarchy and anti-authority and anti-law and order every chance he got; especially given the epilogue is the exact opposite of his preaching.

Not the best Doctor Who book I've read in the BBC Books Past Doctor series, and overwhelmingly slow at times, but over all -- not the worst book in the series either. The mystery elements were fairly well handled.

This review was originally posted to GoodReads on 23 Feb 2013. It is a review of one of the BBC Books original Past Doctor Adventures (or PDA) novels.

This novel is very, well, novel. As the photo-cover and title suggest, it really is a cross-over with all the Gerry Anderson stuff. Mostly it crosses Doctor Who (Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe) with Captain Scarlet -- the indestrcutible man of the title, and with UFO, thus Zoe's purple wig. But other Anderson shows make an appearance, including, Thunderbirds.

I was expecting, therefore, for this novel to be very funny, and it wasn't, from what I remember it was actually kinda'; depressing. However, I did read it awhile ago, and it's one of the Past Doctor Adventures, I'd definitely read again.

Overall, definitely a book to read and add to your Doctor Who collection. It's something to also recommend to the Gerry Anderson fan you know.

From Tumblr - I just loved this short story!

My Thoughts, My Life (How The Caretaker Episode Should Have Ended)

Title: Instruments of Darkness
Author: Gary Russell
Series: BBC Books - Past Doctor Adventures (Doctor Who)
Cast: 6th Doctor, Melanie Bush, Dr. Evelyn Smythe

Doctor Who Instruments of Darkness is one of the BBC Books Past Doctor Adventures which feature Doctors 1-7; and were published just after the 1996 TV movie (starring Paul McGann) and coherently with the Eighth Doctor Adventures starring McGann's Doctor (and with new Companions).

This particular story was only so-so. I liked seeing Evelyn in a novel (she's a companion from the Big Finish audio plays) and her interaction with Mel was great. But, on the other hand, unlike Spiral Scratch which had me liking Mel, even though I have never liked Mel as a Doctor Who companion, Instruments of Darkness she's back to her old, boring, annoying self.

I must admit, I put this book down halfway through - and though I did pick it up again and finish it, the story really didn't stick with me. I think part of the problem is that it spends much too much time with characters other than the Doctor and his companions, especially at the beginning of the story. I'm willing to put up with that for a chapter or two (it almost seems to be part of the outline for this series of books) but not the majority of the first half. And it doesn't make me more sympathetic to the characters - because they all get killed anyway (or most of them do). And in this novel in particular, most of the characters specific to the novel are bad guys. Even the teens and young people with ESP powers, at the end, prove to be just as dangerous as the various forces that were holding them hostage.

Overall, I have to give this a three out of five rating. It's OK, and not extremely bad like some of the PDA Doctor Who adventures, but it's not extremely good either.

Current Music: Doctor Who Series 4

Please also see the previous three posts. And, finally, the BBC Books 8th Doctor Series. These books are best read in sequence. I also enjoyed these books!

	BBC Books 8th Doctor series
Bk #	Title	Authors	Main Cast
1	The Eight Doctors	Terrance Dicks	8th Doctor, Sam
2	Vampire Science	Kate Orman & Jonathan Blum	8th Doctor, Sam
3	The Bodysnatchers	Mark Morris	8th Doctor, Sam
4	Genocide	Paul Leonard	8th Doctor, Sam
5	War of the Daleks	John Peel	8th Doctor, Sam
6	Alien Bodies	Lawrence Miles	8th Doctor, Sam
7	Kursaal	Peter Anghelides	8th Doctor, Sam
8	Option Lock	Justin Richards	8th Doctor, Sam
9	Longest Day	Mike Collier	8th Doctor, Sam
10	Legacy of the Daleks	John Peel	8th Doctor
11	Dreamstone Moon	Paul Leonard	8th Doctor, Sam
12	Seeing I	Kate Orman & Jonathan Blum	8th Doctor, Sam
13	Placebo Effect	Gary Russell	8th Doctor, Sam
14	Vanderdeken's Children	Christopher Bulis	8th Doctor, Sam
15	The Scarlet Empress	Paul Magrs	8th Doctor, Sam
16	The Janus Conjunction	Trevor Baxendale	8th Doctor, Sam
17	Beltempest	Jim Mortimore	8th Doctor, Sam
18	The Face-Eater	Simon Messingham	8th Doctor, Sam
19	DW and the Taint	Michael Collier	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
20	Demontage	Justin Richards	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
21	Revolution Man	Paul Leonard	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
22	Dominion	Nick Walters	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
23	Unnatural History	Kate Orman & Jonathan Blum	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
24	Autumn Mist	David McIntee	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz
25	Interterference: Book One	Lawrence Miles	8th Doctor
26	Interterference: Book Two	Lawrence Miles	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz, Compassion
27	The Blue Angel	Paul Magrs & Jeremy Hoad	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
28	The Taking of Planet 5	Simon Butcher-Jones & Mark Chapman	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
29	Frontier Worlds	Peter Anghelides	8th Doctor, Sam, Fitz, Compassion
30	Parallel 59	Stephen Cole & Natalie Dallaire	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
31	The Shadows of Avalon	Paul Cornell	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion, Brigadier
32	The Fall of Yquatine	Nick Walters	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
33	Coldheart	Trevor Baxendale	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
34	The Space Age	Steve Lyons	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
35	The Banquo Legacy	Andy Lane & Justin Richards	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
36	The Ancestor Cell	Stephen Cole & Peter Anghelides	8th Doctor, Fitz, Compassion
37	The Burning	Justin Richards	8th Doctor
38	Casualties of War	Steve Emmerson	8th Doctor
39	The Turing Test	Paul Leonard	8th Doctor
40	Endgame	Terrance Dicks	8th Doctor
41	Father Time	Lance Parkin	8th Doctor
42	Escape Velocity	Colin Brake	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
43	EarthWorld	Jacqueline Rayner	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
44	Vanishing Point	Stephen Cole	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
45	Eater of Wasps	Trevor Baxendale	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
46	The Year of Intelligent Tigers	Kate Orman	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
47	The Slow Empire	Dave Stone	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
48	Dark Progeny	Steve Emmerson	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
49	The City of the Dead	Lloyd Rose	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
50	Grimm Reality	Simon Butcher-Jones & Mark Chapman	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
51	The Adventuress of Henrietta St.	Lawrence Miles	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
52	Mad Dogs & Englishmen	Paul Magrs	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
53	Hope	Mark Clapham	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
54	Anachrophobia	Jonathon Morris	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
55	Trading Futures	Lance Parkin	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
56	The Book of the Still	Paul Ebbs	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
57	The Crooked World	Steve Lyons	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji
58	History 101	Mags L. Holliday	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, w/ Sabbath
59	Camera Obscura	Lloyd Rose	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, w/ Sabbath
60	Time Zero	Justin Richards	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
61	The Infinity Race	Simon Messingham	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
62	The Domino Effect	David Bishop	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
63	Reckless Engineering	Nick Walters	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
64	The Last Resort	Paul Leonard	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
65	Timeless	Stephen Cole	8th Doctor, Fitz, Anji, Sabbath, Beatrix
66	Emotional Chemistry	Simon A. Forward	8th Doctor, Fitz, Sabbath, Beatrix
67	Sometimes Never	Justin Richards	8th Doctor, Fitz, Sabbath, Beatrix
68	Half-Life	Mark Michalowski	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix
69	The Tomorrow Windows	Jonathon Morris	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix
70	The Sleep of Reason	Martin Day	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix
71	The Deadstone Memorial	Trevor Baxendale	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix
72	To The Slaughter	Stephen Cole	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix
73	The Gallifrey Chronicles	Lance Parkin	8th Doctor, Fitz, Beatrix

Current Location: My home office
Current Music: Maire Brennan

Please see previous two posts for more info. Below is a list of the BBC Past Doctor Adventures starring Doctors 1-7. In general, these could be read in any order. The stories were also, generally, of very high quality and I liked them alot.

	BBC Books Past Doctor Adventures
Bk #	Title	Authors	Main Cast
1	The Devil Goblins From Neptune	Martin Day & Keith Topping	3rd Doctor, Liz, UNIT
2	The Murder Game	Steve Lyons	2nd Doctor, Ben, Polly
3	The Ultimate Treasure	Christopher Bulis	5th Doctor, Peri
4	Business Unusual	Gary Russell	6th Doctor, Mel
5	Illegal Alien	Mike Tucker & Robert Perry	7th Doctor, Ace
6	The Roundheads	Mark Gatiss	2nd Doctor, Ben, Polly, Jamie
7	The Face of the Enemy	David McIntee	The Brigadier, the Master, Ian, Barbara, UNIT
8	Eye of Heaven	Jim Mortimore	4th Doctor, Leela
9	The Witch Hunters	Steve Lyons	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Susan
10	The Hollow Men	Martin Day & Keith Topping	7th Doctor, Ace
11	Catastrophea	Terrance Dicks	3rd Doctor, Jo
12	Mission: Impractical	David McIntee	6th Doctor, Frobisher
13	Zeta Major	Simon Messingham	5th Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa
14	Dreams of Empire	Justin Richards	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria
15	Last Man Running	Chris Boucher	4th Doctor, Leela
16	Matrix	Mike Tucker & Robert Perry	7th Doctor, Ace
17	The Infinity Doctors	Lance Parkin	The Doctor
18	Salvation	Steve Lyons	1st Doctor, Steven, Dodo
19	The Wages of Sin	David McIntee	3rd Doctor, Jo, Liz
20	Deep Blue	Mark Morris	5th Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, UNIT
21	Players	Terrance Dicks	6th Doctor, Peri
22	Millennium Shock	Justin Richards	4th Doctor, Harry
23	Storm Harvest	Mike Tucker & Robert Perry	7th Doctor, Ace
24	The Final Sanction	Steve Lyons	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Zoë
25	City at World's End	Christopher Bulis	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Susan
26	Divided Loyalties	Gary Russell	5th Doctor, Tegan, Adric, Nyssa
27	Corpse Marker	Chris Boucher	4th Doctor, Leela
28	Last of the Gaderene	Mark Gatiss	3rd Doctor, Jo, UNIT
29	Tomb of Valdemar	Simon Messingham	4th Doctor, Romana I
30	Verdigris	Paul Magrs	3rd Doctor, Jo
31	Grave Matter	Justin Richards	6th Doctor, Peri
32	Heart of TARDIS	Dave Stone	2nd & 4th Doctors, Romana II, Jamie & Victoria
33	Prime Time	Mike Tucker	7th Doctor, Ace
34	Imperial Moon	Christopher Bulis	5th Doctor, Turlough
35	Festival of Death	Jonathan Morris	4th Doctor, Romana II, K-9
36	Independence Day	Peter Darvill-Evans	7th Doctor, Ace
37	The King of Terror	Keith Topping	5th Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, UNIT
38	The Quantum Archangel	Craig Hinton	6th Doctor, Mel
39	Bunker Soldiers	Martin Day	1st Doctor, Steven, Dodo
40	Rags	Mick Lewis	3rd Doctor, Jo, UNIT
41	The Shadow in the Glass	Justin Richards & Stephen Cole	6th Doctor, Brigadier
42	Asylum	Peter Darvill-Evans	4th Doctor, Nyssa
43	Superior Beings	Nick Walters	5th Doctor, Peri
44	Byzantium!	Keith Topping	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki
45	Bullet Time	David A. McIntee	7th Doctor, Sarah Jane
46	Psience Fiction	Chris Boucher	4th Doctor, Leela
47	Dying in the Sun	Jon De Burgh Miller	2nd Doctor, Ben, Polly
48	Instruments of Darkness	Gary Russell	6th Doctor, Mel, Evelyn Smythe
49	Relative Dementias	Mark Michalowski	7th Doctor, Ace
50	Drift	Simon Forward	4th Doctor
51	Palace of the Red Sun	Christopher Bulis	6th Doctor, Peri
52	Amorality Tale	David Bishop	3rd Doctor, Sarah Jane
53	Warmonger	Terrance Dicks	5th Doctor, Peri, w/ Morbuis
54	Ten Little Aliens	Stephen Cole	1st Doctor, Ben, Polly
55	Combat Rock	Mick Lewis	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria
56	The Suns of Caresh	Paul Saint	3rd Doctor, Jo
57	Heritage	Dale Smith	7th Doctor, Ace
58	Fear of the Dark	Trevor Baxendale	5th Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa
59	Blue Box	Kate Orman	6th Doctor, Peri
60	Loving the Alien	Mike Tucker & Robert Perry	7th Doctor, Ace
61	The Colony of Lies	Colin Brake	2nd Dr, Jamie, Zoë, 7th Dr, Ace
62	Wolfsbane	Jacqueline Rayner	4th Doctor, Sarah, Harry, UNIT
63	Deadly Reunion	Terrance Dicks & Barry Letts	3rd Doctor, Jo, UNIT
64	Scream of the Shalka	Paul Cornell	9th Doctor; BBCi
65	Empire of Death	David Bishop	5th Doctor, Nyssa
66	The Eleventh Tiger	David A. McIntee	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki
67	Synthespians ™	Craig Hinton	6th Doctor, Peri
68	The Algebra of Ice	Lloyd Rose	7th Doctor, Ace
69	The Indestructible Man	Simon Messingham	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Zoë
70	Match of the Day	Chris Boucher	4th Doctor, Leela
71	Island of Death	Betty Letts	3rd Dr, Sarah Jane Smith
72	Spiral Scratch	Gary Russell	6th Dr., Mel
73	Fear Itself	Nick Wallace	8th Dr., Fitz, Anji
74	World Game	Terrance Dicks	2nd Dr. (Season 6b novel)
75	The Time Travellers	Simon Guerrier	1st Dr.
76	Atom Bomb Blues	Andrew Cartmel	7th Dr., Ace
	Other BBC Books
	Short Trips	(short stories)
	More Short Trips	(short stories)
	Short Trips & Side Steps	(short stories)

Current Location: My Home Office
Current Music: Clannad

Please set previous post for more information. This post lists the New Adventures starring the Seventh Doctor and Ace (and later Bernice Summerfield and other companions) published by Virgin Publishing under license from the BBC. These books are best read in sequence.

	Virgin Publishing DW Books, New Advs featuring the 7th Dr.
Book #	Title	Author(s)	Main Cast
1	Timewyrm: Genesys	John Peel	7th Doctor, Ace
2	Timewyrm: Exodus	Terrance Dicks	7th Doctor, Ace
3	Timewyrm: Apocalypse	Nigel Robinson	7th Doctor, Ace
4	Timewyrm: Revelation	Paul Cornell	7th Doctor, Ace
5	Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible	Marc Platt	7th Doctor, Ace
6	Cat's Cradle: Warhead	Andrew Cartmel	7th Doctor, Ace
7	Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark	Andrew Hunt	7th Doctor, Ace
8	Nightshade	Mark Gatiss	7th Doctor, Ace
9	Love And War	Paul Cornell	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
10	Transit	Ben Aaronovitch	7th Doctor, Bernice
11	The Highest Science	Gareth Roberts	7th Doctor, Bernice
12	The Pit	Neil Penswick	7th Doctor, Bernice
13	Deceit	Peter Darvill-Evans	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
14	Lucifer Rising	Jim Mortimore & Andy Lane	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
15	White Darkness	David A McIntee	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
16	Shadowmind	Christopher Bulis	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
17	Birthright	Nigel Robinson	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
18	Iceberg	David Banks	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
19	Blood Heat	Jim Mortimore	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
20	The Dimension Riders	Daniel Blythe	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
21	The Left-Handed Hummingbird	Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
22	Conundrum	Steve Lyons	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
23	No Future	Paul Cornell	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
24	Tragedy Day	Gareth Roberts	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
25	Legacy	Gary Russell	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
26	Theatre of War	Justin Richards	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
27	All-Consuming Fire	Andy Lane	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
28	Blood Harvest	Terrance Dicks	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
29	Strange England	Simon Messingham	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
30	First Frontier	David A McIntee	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
31	St Anthony's Fire	Mark Gatiss	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
32	Falls the Shadow	Daniel O'Mahony	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
33	Parasite	Jim Mortimore	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
34	Warlock	Andrew Cartmel	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
35	Set Piece	Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Ace, Bernice
36	Infinite Requiem	Daniel Blythe	7th Doctor, Bernice
37	Sanctuary	David A McIntee	7th Doctor, Bernice
38	Human Nature	Paul Cornell	7th Doctor, Bernice
39	Original Sin	Andy Lane	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
40	Sky Pirates!	Dave Stone	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
41	Zamper	Gareth Roberts	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
42	Toy Soldiers	Paul Leonard	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
43	Head Games	Steve Lyons	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
44	The Also People	Ben Aaronovitch	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
45	Shakedown	Terrance Dicks	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
46	Just War	Lance Parkin	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
47	Warchild	Andrew Cartmel	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
48	Sleepy	Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
49	Death and Diplomacy	Dave Stone	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
50	Happy Endings	Paul Cornell	7th Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz
51	GodEngine	Craig Hinton	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
52	Christmas on a Rational Planet	Lawrence Miles	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
53	Return of the Living Dad	Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
54	The Death of Art	Simon Bucher-Jones	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
55	Damaged Goods	Russell T Davies	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
56	So Vile a Sin	Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Chris, Roz
57	Bad Therapy	Matthew Jones	7th Doctor, Chris
58	Eternity Weeps	Jim Mortimore	7th Doctor, Chris
59	The Room With No Doors	Kate Orman	7th Doctor, Chris
60	Lungbarrow	Marc Platt	7th Doctor, Chris
61	The Dying Days	Lance Parkin	8th Doctor

Current Location: My home office
Current Music: Great Big Sea

Hi all,

Like Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and many other series past and present, Doctor Who has produced a lot of original tie-in novels. In fact, there are been six series of Doctor Who novels, so this "post" will probably be a series of posts. The first series of Doctor Who books were published by Target (the paperback division of the UK publishing house WH Allen). These were NOT original stories but novelisations of the episodes/stories themselves. Most of the novelisations read like children's books - but if you didn't have access to the show (for example, it didn't air in your area) or for episodes that are now lost, the Target books were useful. Because listing these would simply be listing the episodes, I'm not going to re-produce that list, but the Target Novelisations are books that Who fans should be aware of. (Yes, these were licensed by the BBC).

The second set of books to be released were the New Adventures and the Missing Adventures, both published by Virgin Publishing, under license from the BBC. The New Adventures were a continuing series of books starring the Seventh Doctor. The Missing Adventures starred Doctors 1-6. These books came out immediately after the show was placed on hiatus following the story, "Survival", in 1989. A number of writers for the new (2005-) series have written for this series of books.

The third set of books were actually published by BBC Books. These were my personal favorites! These books are: The BBC Past Doctor Adventures (Doctors 1-7) and the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures. These books were published after the 1996 Eighth Doctor TV Movie starring Paul McGann. The 8th Doctor Books were a continuing series and had to be read in order, though there were specific arcs within the overall continuing series. The Past Doctor Adventures could, generally, be read in any order. However, there was a mini-series of Seventh Doctor and Ace books that make a lot more sense if read in publication order (trust me on this - I think the first one I read was the third one, I had to go back and re-read them in sequence). Like the New Adventures and Missing Adventures, many of the writers of the BBC Books went on to write for the new series (2005-).

The BBC is currently publishing a series of books based on the new (2005-) series of Doctor Who. I only have the first six, and with the collapse of Outpost Gallifrey, I have no idea where to download a list of the entire series so far. If anyone out there knows, a link would be appreciated. Without further ado, here we go!

	Virgin Books, Missing Doctors Series
Bk #	Title	Author(s)	Main Cast
1	Goth Opera	Paul Cornell	5th Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa
2	Evolution	John Peel	4th Doctor, Sarah
3	Venusian Lullaby	Paul Leonard	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara
4	The Crystal Bucephalus	Craig Hinton	5th Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion
5	State of Change	Christopher Bulis	6th Doctor, Peri
6	The Romance of Crime	Gareth Roberts	4th Doctor, Romana II, K-9
7	The Ghosts of N-Space	Barry Letts	3rd Doctor, Sarah, Brigadier
8	Time of Your Life	Steve Lyons	6th Doctor
9	Dancing the Code	Paul Leonard	3rd Doctor, Jo, UNIT
10	The Menagerie	Martin Day	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Zoë
11	System Shock	Justin Richards	4th Doctor, Sarah, Harry
12	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Christopher Bulis	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Susan
13	Invasion of the Cat-People	Gary Russell	2nd Doctor, Ben, Polly
14	Managra	Stephen Marley	4th Doctor, Sarah
15	Millennial Rites	Craig Hinton	6th Doctor, Melanie
16	The Empire of Glass	Andy Lane	1st Doctor, Steven, Vicki
17	Lords of the Storm	David A McIntee	5th Doctor, Turlough
18	Downtime	Marc Platt	Brigadier, Sarah, Victoria
19	The Man in the Velvet Mask	Daniel O'Mahony	1st Doctor, Dodo
20	The English Way of Death	Gareth Roberts	4th Doctor, Romana II, K-9
21	The Eye of the Giant	Christopher Bulis	3rd Doctor, Liz, UNIT
22	The Sands of Time	Justin Richards	5th Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa
23	Killing Ground	Steve Lyons	6th Doctor, Grant
24	The Scales of Injustice	Gary Russell	3rd Doctor, Liz, UNIT
25	The Shadow of Weng Chiang	David A. McIntee	4th Doctor, Romana I, K-9
26	Twilight of the Gods	Christopher Bulis	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria
27	Speed of Flight	Paul Leonard	3rd Doctor, Jo, Mike Yates
28	The Plotters	Gareth Roberts	1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki
29	Cold Fusion	Lance Parkin	5th Dr, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, 7th Dr & Roz, Chris, Bernice
30	Burning Heart	Dave Stone	6th Doctor, Peri
31	A Device of Death	Christopher Bulis	4th Doctor, Harry, Sarah
32	The Dark Path	David A. McIntee	2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria
33	The Well-Mannered War	Gareth Roberts	4th Doctor, Romana II, K-9
	Other Docter Who Fiction
	Decalog	short stories	(Virgin Publishing)
	Decalog 2: Lost Properties	short stories	(Virgin Publishing)
	Decalog 3: Consequences	short stories	(Virgin Publishing)
	Decalog 4: Re-Generations	short stories	(Virgin Publishing)
	Decalog 5: Wonders	short stories	(Virgin Publishing)
	DW: Who Killed Kennedy	James Stevens & David Bishop	(Virgin Publishing)

Current Location: My Home Office
Current Music: Misc Traditional Irish

Hi all,

I have been a fan of Doctor Who practically my entire life. I first saw the show when I was six or seven (I remember being scared by the hand moving by itself towards Sarah Jane in "The Hand of Fear"). I started watching the show regularly during Tom Baker's last season, but only in the summer. My parents have a cottage in Michigan's Upper Penisula and as a child I spent my summers there, which meant I could watch Channel 6 from Alpena, Michigan. However, during the school year my local PBS station did not run Doctor Who, so I read everything I could get my hands on, including the Target novelisations of the episodes. But I also read a lot about the show, such as the Peter Haining coffee table books (with their beautiful full-page color photos). Eventually when I was in high school, Channel 35 in Grand Rapids picked up Doctor Who and ran all of it (they started with Tom Baker, which they ran twice, but eventually ran all seven Doctors). They did run Who in movie format, which spoiled the fun of cliff-hangers (it did make it more convenient for taping on VHS videotape though). Channel 35 also ran a number of different British television series, which I watched. I'm still a fan of British TV today. The re-launch of Doctor Who in 2005 has sparked a flurry of new books about the series. I have many of them. For all you new Who fans out there, check these out. The list below is of my personal collection of Non-fiction Doctor Who Books.

Airey, Jean and Laurie Haldeman (1986). Doctor Who Travel Without the TARDIS A Doctor Who Fan's Guide to England, Scotland, and Wales. London: Target Books (Division of W.H. Allen & Co. PLC).

Burdge, Anthony, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen (Editors). (2010) The Mythological Dimensions of Doctor Who. Crawfordville, FL: Kitsune Books.

Cartmel, Andrew (2005). Through Time An Unauthorised and Unofficial History of Doctor Who. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.

Clapham, Mark, Eddie Robson and Jim Smith (2005). Who's Next An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who. London: Virgin Books Ltd.

Cornell, Paul (Editor) (1997). License Denied: Rumblings from the Doctor Who Underground. London: Virgin Publishing Ltd.

Cornell, Paul, Martin Day, and Keith Topping (1995). Doctor Who The Discontinuity Guide. London: Doctor Who Books (Imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd).

Haining, Peter (1983). Doctor Who A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space. London: WH Allen & Co. PLC.

Haining, Peter (1986). Doctor Who The Doctor Who File. London: W.H. Allen & Co. PLC.

Haining, Peter (1987). Doctor Who The Time-Travellers' Guide. London: W.H. Allen & Co. PLC.

Haining, Peter (1988). Doctor Who Twenty-Five Glorious Years. London: W.H. Allen & Co. PLC.

Lewis, Courtland and Paula Smithka (Editors) (2011) Doctor Who and Philosophy Bigger on the Inside. Chicago: Open Court (Division of Carus Publishing Company).

Lofficier, Jean-Marc (1989). Doctor Who The Programme Guide. London: Target Books (Division of WH Allen & Co. PLC).

Lofficier, Jean-Marc (1991). Doctor Who The Terrestrial Index. London: Doctor Who Books (Imprint of Virgin Publishing Inc.).

Lofficier, Jean-Marc (1992). Doctor Who The Universal Databank. London: Doctor Who Books (Imprint of Virgin Publishing Inc.).

Lyon, J. Shaun (2005). Back to the Vortex The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who 2005. Tolsworth, Surrey, UK: Telos Publishing Ltd.

Nathan-Turner, John (1985). Doctor Who The TARDIS Inside Out. London: Piccadilly Press Ltd.

Nathan-Turner, John (1986). Doctor Who The Companions. London: Piccadilly Press Ltd.

Newman, Kim (2005). Doctor Who A Critical Reading of the Series. London: British Film Institute.

Parkin, Lance (2006). AHistory: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe. Des Moines, IA: Mad Norwegian Press.

Parsons, Paul (2010). The Science of Doctor Who. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

Richards, Justin (2003, 2005). Doctor Who The Legend Continues Five Decades of Time Travel (Revised Edition). London: BBC Books.

Segal, Philip with Gary Russell (2000). Doctor Who Regeneration. London: Harper Collins Entertainment (Division of HarperCollins Publishers). (Focuses on the TV Movie starring Paul McGann).

Thomas, Lynne M. and Tara O'Shea (2010). Chicks Dig Time Lords A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It. No City Listed, Illinois: Mad Norwegian Press.

Tribe, Steve (2010). Doctor Who The TARDIS Handbook The Official Guide to the Best Ship in the Universe. No City Listed, UK: BBC Books (Imprint of Ebury Publishing, Division of Random House Group Company).

Tulloch, John and Manuel Alvardo (1983). Doctor Who The Unfolding Text. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Tulloch, John and Henry Jenkins (1995). Science Fiction Audiences Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek. London: Routledge.

Current Location: My Home office
Current Music: nada

Hi all,

I'm actually making progress on my seaQuest DSV / Doctor Who (2005) crossover. I've written the intro with Bridger getting his assignment from Noyce (though I do need to re-watch some early first season episodes to check Noyce's rank -- it changes several times in the series, but I think I can use "admiral"). Yesterday, I finally wrote the end -- which I had struggled with. I didn't know how I was going to have the Doctor... well, wait to read it. Now all I have to do is write the middle, which will be the actual Sea Devil attacks. And spell check/edit the whole thing of course. Not to mention checking for the spelling of names, etc. But the story seems to be coming along just fine.

Briefly what I'm doing is writing a crossover between SeaQuest DSV and Doctor Who. It's early first season for seaQuest (I have yet to decide exactly where -- after the episode with the Great Library of Alexandra because that's mentioned, but way before "Higher Power"), and with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, set immediately after "Father's Day". That it takes place right after "Father's Day" was something I planned from the very beginning, for plot purposes. Having Sea Devils appear was something I also had planned right at the beginning for plot purposes.

This meant that I needed to re-watch "The Silurians", "The Sea Devils", and "Warriors of the Deep" -- but like twist my arm, make me watch Doctor Who! I'm also currently re-watching Series 1 of New Who (with Eccleston and Rose) so I can get the voice right for the Doctor. I'm currently up to "Dalek", and hope to get in at least two episodes today, even though we're having house guests over for a birthday party in a couple of hours.

But man -- It felt good to actually get some writing done yesterday!

--Olivia

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: My home office
Current Music: nada

The DVD is a filmed version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet, starring David Tennant as Hamlet, and Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius -- and it's brilliant! Instead of merely filming the production straight-on, this is an actual film - shot on location at an old abandoned seminary (according to the behind-the-scenes feature). A few scenes do look like an older college building, rather than a castle - but for the most part the location really works.

The main location in the film, the court at Elsinore, has a jet black shiny floor that would make an Art Deco set designer from RKO Pictures proud. Seriously, I thought this was a set when I watched the film, though a brilliantly designed one, for a play about deception and secrets. That the basic space really existed is amazing!

Anyway, David Tennant is so brilliant in this -- and I thought he was brill in Doctor Who. He has a wonderful manic energy -- but, because this is film, and shot as film - not a mere theatre archive piece, he also has the ability to go very quiet and intense (such as in the famous "To Be or Not To Be" speech). Tennant also brings to Prince Hamlet the impression that he's really quite clever and crafty - he's faking being insane while trying to decide what to do with the information provided by his Dad's ghost. OK, so maybe not totally sane -- but Hamlet doesn't come off at the whiny wimp he sometimes can.

Sir Patrick Stewart, meanwhile, is also brilliant as Claudius. You can see how he manipulates everyone around him - Gertrude, and Laertes, especially. But even courtiers like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern jump to do Claudius' will, immediately.

Both Gertrude and Ophelia were brilliantly played. Gertrude is especially good in the "closet" (or bedroom) scene with Hamlet. And Tennant is scary good in that - especially when he breaks the mirror!!! The actress playing Ophelia does a great job with her mad scene, though it's a thankless role.

The only one I didn't like in the play was Polonius - whom I found annoying. Now maybe he's supposed to be annoying, but his quoting of quaint proverbs sounds actually cliched, and he underplays giving the lines too! (Eg bits like giving his son the advice "neither a borrower or a lender be" when sending his son off to college or wherever Laertes is going at the start of the play).

I loved the use of highly polished surfaces throughout the play, such as the floor in the court, and also the mirrors. The cracked mirror in Gertrude's room seems to symbolise Hamlet's cracking soul. Brilliantly realised that!

The use of cctv footage (breaking to a view thru' a camera) I found less successful - it was distracting, and I even wondered if there was a fault in my DVD at first (like it was going to an alt-angle view or something for no reason). According to the "Behind the Scenes" documentary on the DVD - this is meant to suggest the lack of privacy and the "all-knowing, all-watching" state that prevails at Elsinore. It didn't quite work for me.

But I do highly recommend this - Tennant is brilliant, Stewart is brilliant, the rest of the cast is fantastic, the film is quite, quite good.

Running time was at least three and a half hours, though. I watched it last night, and man - it did feel a bit long. But still well worth it. There are two special features and a commentary. There's a nice behind-the-scenes feature, which runs a bit over half-an-hour, and there's a quick advert for careers in the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company), that's actually pretty cool. Haven't listened to the commentary yet.

Recommendation: See it!
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: My home office
Current Music: Doctor Who soundtrack

Hi all,

I re-watched "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" again last night (Finally watching my Christmas present of the DVDs last night. The Doctor's "death" still makes me want to cry, and the Silence still makes me scream. I mean - EVERY time they suddenly appear - I scream. I think that mean's those are good episodes, right? I also love Canton, and having "met" Mark Sheppard at Chicago TARDIS (Ok, he was on the stage, and I was in the audience -- but he was the best speaker there!), I really, really want to see him on Who again. The actor is a very nice guy, he really is -- and I love the character of Canton.

Also, River's reaction after the Doctor kisses her -- just kills me every time. Also -- this is where she explains, she and the Doctor are travelling in opposite directions. And she even says, "The day is coming when he won't have the slightest idea who I am -- and I think that will kill me." (or words to that affect - I didn't write down the quote).

But I'm still a bit lost about the season as a whole. It's like - "Hey, Moffatt, a bit of exposition really won't come amiss you know!"

But I love these two episodes - both are really good, and it's amazing that not only do I still jump after seeing them three times, but I actually scream.

--Olivia

Current Mood: bitchy
Current Location: My home office
Current Music: DW soundtrack 4.5

Hi all,

New Who starts tomorrow, and there are some theories I've had since watching the first half of the current season (New Series 6), that I want to post now before the new season starts to run. So in no particular order.

1. The Impossible Astronaut who kills The Doctor -- I think it's River Song. When we first meet River in "Silence in the Library" she remarks on how young the Doctor is. I've always thought this didn't refer to physical appearance but to the age of his soul. It seems that with all their meeting out of order -- River has seen the Doctor's death (which she did in "The Impossible Astronaut" and he's seen her's in "Forest of the Dead"). Also, fairly soon into re-meeting River, we find she's in prison for killing a man (I think this is in the 5th season Weeping Angels story, but it may have been mentioned in "Silence/Library".) Asked if she killed "A good man", River replies, yes, she killed a good man. And the last episode before the break was called, "A Good Man Goes to War", the Good Man being the Doctor. I don't think that's a co-incidence. And the way River tears into the Doctor in that episode makes me think -- yeah, she could be the Astronaut.

There's also a few notable continuity issues with River that I don't think are glitches but delibrate clues. When Rory, in Roman dress, takes River out of prison to bring her to Demon's Run -- she says something like "You're Rory?" with a tone of awe in her voice. It's also a tone of not recognizing him. Yet at that point, we've since Rory and River in episodes together more than once -- so that River is an earlier River than the one we've seen previous in the series who knows Rory. (Whew -- time travel, it's hell on the verb tenses!)

Also with River's continuity, when the Doctor kisses her and remarks "It's the first time," -- River nearly collapses, and the look on her face is pure grief. I think it's because she knows, that the last time he will kiss her, since the two are meeting out of order. And for River, that knowledge is devestating.

2. Did/Does River kill the Doctor on her own, because he's gone beyond the pale? Or, Does the Doctor ask her to? Personally, and this is a dark thought, but I think he asks her to. I think the Doctor explained to her she had to kill him during his Regeneration and prevent his 12th Regeneration from occuring. A sort of Time Lord suicide, if you will. There's a few reasons for this. First, the 12th Regeneration of a Time Lord is almost always unstable, and they almost always go bad. We have seen the Doctor confront Time Lords at the end of their lives who were completely bonkers over and over again (Borusa, The Master, Rassilon, Omega, The Valeyard, Rassilon again). The Doctor, especially with River's warning in "A Good Man Goes to War", might have enough introspection to try and avoid becoming something he despises, someone evil. Or he may give River instruction such as, "If I ever get really out of hand and you can't head me off, this is what you do." It just seems like only a Time Lord would know the one way to truly kill a Time Lord is to do so while they are regenerating.

And the Doctor who dies at the beginning of "The Impossible Astronaut" is truly, truly ancient. They did, with make-up, manage to make him look much older (without doing really bad flour-in-the-hair makeup), and when he's comparing diaries with River, it's like he's checking things off a list to make sure he has absolutely done everything he's supposed to. The Doctor at that point is probably 2000-3000 years old. RTD gave Eccleston's Doctor the age of 900 but I thought that was too young, considering that the 7th Doctor once makes the remark it's easy to rewire alien machinery "when you have 900 years experience". They've tried to keep with an clear continuity for the Doctor's age since "Rose", but I still think he's older than he's saying. (Also based on various quotes about the Doctor's age in the classic series).

3. Names -- In "Silence in the Library", River gets the Doctor to trust her by whispering his name to her. The Doctor says "I don't tell anyone my name. There's only one time I ever could". I think most fans have assumed the "one time" is his marriage to River. But what if the "one time" is his asking her to kill him, his explaining why she must, his explaining when she must, and his explaining how to do it? Scary, isn't it? (I thought of that when watching, "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon"), and it's one reason I found those two episodes so frightening.

4. The Bow Ties -- I don't think it's an accident or quirk that Matt Smith has two. In practically the first interview I saw with him talking about being the New Doctor, and his costume -- he mentions the Bow Tie, that Bow Ties are cool, and "I have a Blue one as well". I think the Red Tie and Blue Tie will eventually show we have two Doctors running around, and two time lines -- and this will be explained by the end of the current season. We've already seen the Doctor cross his own timeline once in "Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone".

There's also a precedent for ties indicating time zones for the Doctor in Doctor Who. In "Trial of a Time Lord", there are four stories -- each to come from different eras in the 6th Doctor's life: past, present, and future (and the conclusion). The four different sub-stories are in part differentiated by Colin Baker wearing different color floppy bow ties for the stories that take places in the different Eras

Also, RTD, said when the Series 1 first aired, about the title sequence that the two colors, Red and Blue, were meant to suggest the TARDIS moving in different directions -- to the future or the past. (No, I don't remember which color stood for what.) I almost feel like re-watching the series and noting what tie the Doctor (Matt Smith) is wearing and when. Plus, in "A Good Man Goes to War", I felt like I was really watching a slightly different Doctor. Same with his ruthless treatment of The Silence. (Normally, The Doctor, at least gives a warning before decimating a species.)

Finally, Did you notice that the ship in "The Lodger" is exactly like The Silence's ship in "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon"? But did you also notice that it looks an awful lot like the TARDIS? Look at the central council! And the Silence's description of themselves -- guiding man since the dawn of time, actually sounds a lot like the Doctor. Which makes me wonder if they are like some sort of weird, parellel-mirror universe evil version of Time Lords, or what? Lots to think about, and I can't WAIT for the rest of the new season!

--Olivia

Current Mood: content
Current Location: My home office
Current Music: Batman The Dark Knight Soundtrack

I did receive my May Classic DW releases this past Saturday. And I managed to watch them over the weekend. Two Jon Pertwee episodes (finally! I don't know what took the Restoration Team so long to get to Pertwee), both favorites. "Terror of the Autons", the second Auton story, and the better of the two as it also introduces Jo and the Master, played by Roger Delgado. The other was Pertwee's last story, "Planet of the Spiders", which actually is much better than any summary would suggest.
Also watched the new series episode, "The Doctor's Wife", which was brilliant. I'm very much beginning to like Matt Smith's second series.
--Olivia

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Location: Work
Current Music: nada

YouTube - Doctor Who: 47 Years in 6 Minutes

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: My home office
Current Music: nada

The rest of this entry will be under a cut -- very spoilery. If you haven't seen "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" (episodes 1 and 2 of series 6 of Doctor Who) proceed at your own risk. Thank you.

( SPOILERS DW S6 Eps 1 and 2 )

I cannot wait to see the rest of the season.

--Olivia

Current Location: my home office
Current Music: DW soundtrack

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Disturbing Activity on Twitter - a Rant
Doctor Who A Device of Death Review
Big Finish: Doctor Who - The Church and the Crown Review
Review - Doctor Who Spiral Scratch
Review - Doctor Who Palace of the Red Sun
Review: Doctor Who - The Indestructible Man
How The Caretaker Episode Should Have Ended
Book Reviews - Doctor Who Instruments of Darkness (BBC PDA)
Doctor Who Fiction Books (Post 4 of 4 - BBC 8th Doctor)
Doctor Who Books Fiction (Post 3 of 4 - BBC Past Doctor Adventures)
Doctor Who Fiction Tie-In Books (Post 2 of 4 New Adventures - 7th Doctor)
Doctor Who - Fiction Tie-In Books (post 1 of 4 - Missing Drs)
Doctor Who Books
Making progress on seaQuest/Doctor Who fanfic
Hamlet DVD Review
Doctor Who Series 6
New Who -- Tomorrow
Doctor Who
YouTube - Doctor Who: 47 Years in 6 Minutes
New Who S6 E2 (Spoilers) - Day of the Moon

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Olivia Sutton's Fanfic Journal

Entries tagged with doctor who

Disturbing Activity on Twitter - a Rant

Doctor Who A Device of Death Review

Big Finish: Doctor Who - The Church and the Crown Review

Review - Doctor Who Spiral Scratch

Review - Doctor Who Palace of the Red Sun

Review: Doctor Who - The Indestructible Man

How The Caretaker Episode Should Have Ended

Book Reviews - Doctor Who Instruments of Darkness (BBC PDA)

Doctor Who Fiction Books (Post 4 of 4 - BBC 8th Doctor)

Doctor Who Books Fiction (Post 3 of 4 - BBC Past Doctor Adventures)

Doctor Who Fiction Tie-In Books (Post 2 of 4 New Adventures - 7th Doctor)

Doctor Who - Fiction Tie-In Books (post 1 of 4 - Missing Drs)

Doctor Who Books

Making progress on seaQuest/Doctor Who fanfic

Hamlet DVD Review

Doctor Who Series 6

New Who -- Tomorrow

Doctor Who