Doctor Who : Closing Time

And so, after the intensity of pretty much the rest of this semi-season so far, we needed a calmer episode.
This was an hilarious change in pace.
Just like last year, I warmed to James Corden's character, despite the fact that I don't seem to enjoy his performances in anything else I've seen him in bar The History Boys.
It makes delicious sense that the 11th Doctor would, in this time of crisis, call in on his only other new friend this regeneration.  (Yeah, the inner geek would think he would probably really try to see if Susan, his granddaughter, was really alive but also this Doctor is trying to avoid the guilt, which would preclude visiting pretty much any of his travelling companions. And he's never shown any indication of trying to track down his cloned daughter Jenny from the 10th Doctor's era - curiously wiki suggests that Steven Moffatt requested that Jenny survive her episode so maybe she may reappear yet.)

Matt Smith does odd so very well. And Corden plays a wonderful straight man (in every sense as it turns out).
Yes, the story's not the most substantial.
However we see the Doctor grieving for himself and preparing to meet his death, which prepares us nicely for the finale.
And also I think this is easily the best use of the Cybermen since the revival.

So, erm, next week.
How unearth can the Doctor's death arc get resolved satisfactorially after all this build-up?
I'll be somewhat disappointed if they get out of it using a Ganger.
I wonder if maybe just maybe we see the Tardis sacrifice herself to revive him. We've seen the Doctor leave Colchester in a Tardis but I don't think we see that Doctor's Tardis in The Impossible Astronaut. So back in April, did we see the Tardis be killed instead?
And we could then have a year sans Tardis until the 50th anniversary in 2013 when he recovers/regrows the old girl.
It's a theory anyway....

Doctor Who : The Book of Shadows

As mentioned in my review, The Girl Who Waited reminded me of Jim Mortimore's The Book Of Shadows, a 1st Doctor short story published in Decalog, Virgin's inaugural Dr Who short story collection.
And whilst pottering about today, I stumbled across my copy. (Somewhat depressingly, it is now of driving age).
So I dove in.
And The Book Of Shadows still is a brilliant time-travel story about a couple divided by fate.
In those days, the Doctor travelled with Susan, his granddaughter (how true that is depends upon your views), and two of her teachers, Ian and Barbara. The latter over time become a couple (though this is more clearly stated in the spin-off books than the show ever did).
The story starts with Ian the wrong side of a cave-in in ancient Egypt.
And two Barbaras, one eight years further back in the past.
This isn't so much an exploration of Ian and Barbara's relationship as The Girl Who Waited (but there is a bit of that and exclusively from Barbara's point of view).
Instead it looks at the rules of interference in time, as well as showing the havoc and horror that the Doctor can unwittingly cause.
Seeing Barbara become married to Ptolemy and become queen and a mother is a shock.
We know that it'll be undone by timey-wimey but, as well as the strength of writing, it's the richness of the historical backdrop that lifts this, certainly in comparison to The Girl Who Waited IMHO.

Doctor Who : The Girl Who Waited

A real mixed bag this one.
That first ten minutes is, well, dull is one word for it.
It reminded me of Terminus, Nyssa's exit story in which she finds herself in a space leper colony and that experience was as painful for the audience as it was for her.

Whilst the ending of this one is powerful, it reminds me too much of other things without especially entertaining. Jim Mortimore's The Book Of Shadows did a fairly similar story (first Doctor companions Ian and Barbara are separated in ancient Efypt and Ian finds her ten years older). Though that had the benefit of an interesting setting, which this didn't.
Thank goodness, Karen Gillan can act as she really sells Amy's fate.
But yeah, not the strongest episode for me.

Doctor Who : Night Terrors

The late Jon Pertwee once said that there's nothing more scary than coming home and finding a yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec.
Which, whilst quite the mental image, is true and so therefore it's a bit of a shame that televised Doctor Who has only in this millenium got round to spending serious energy in showing the fantastical in recogonisable real-life settings. (Yeah, I know 7th Doctor companion Ace was grittier but in a middle-class-writer's view of grittiness)
And Night Terrors is a very solid example of how effective the show can be when things are pared down and it's just the Tardis crew in our world.


Yeah, you can predict the twists. A fellow Caravanner worked out where Rory and Amy were pretty quickly.
But it was the humour (Rory wondering if he was dead again) and the strength of the acting that really made this.
It reminded me an AWFUL lot of RTD's Dr Who novel Damaged Goods, set on a Thatcherian council estate beset with drug-dealers. Which is a compliment.

There was much brow-beating about things being hidden in plain sight. And before we get too excited about that as any kind of clue to this year's story-arc, we need to remember that this was originally going to be shown in the first half of the season when Amy was a Ganger.

All told, rather good, which is what we've come to expect from writer Mark Gatiss.

Doctor Who - Let's Kill Hitler

Upon rewatch, this stands up so much better than I had imagined.
You see, with any program, big event episodes tend to crumble a bit once you know what's coming.
Take 5th Doctor story Earthshock. When that was first broadcast, apparently there was no advance publicity that there were Cybermen involved and certainly no hint that companion Adric was about to snuff it. With that knowledge it is a lot of grim action in search of a plot. (though it can still shock as I found out when a casual fan I know watching on UKGold decades afterward berated me for not warning him that Adric dies)
So, yeah, Let's Kill Hitler is none of that.
While it does resolve the River mystery once and for all, there is much joy to be had, especially in the flashbacks to Amy, Rory and Mels.
The plot itself is a tad slight though it allows Alex Kingston to have a whale of a time. And Matt Smith to produce one of his most stunning performances as a dying Doctor.
But yeah, River. I do kind of think we need to rest this one a bit however we know from the midseason trailer that she will pop up again soon, this time with eyepatch.

Some folks don't care for the overly cryptic arc-plotting of the 11th Doctor's tenure but I do kind of enjoy the mysteries (even if they're not subtly presented at all).
Mewonders if the question that when asked dooms everything has nothing to do with the Doctor's name or lineage. And possibly everything to do with what exactly Rory is.

Time will tell. It usually does....

Doctor Who - Lets Kill Hitler prelude

Usually the preludes give an indication of the plot but this, well this doesn't tell us much about what is likely to happen in the mid-season opener.
Though the mood....

It's almost like the search for Melody's taken a tragic turn.
Or Amy's dead / made a desperate but bad decision.

Which brings me onto my suspicions that, comics style, we're going to have a major shock to the status quo which will be restored just in time for 2013 and the big 5-0 anniversary.
Or a war with the Timelords (who might well be Madame Kovarian's backers - certainly it's got to be someone worth all this build-up).

Bring on the second half of the season....

Revamp : Doctor Who

Ninth Doctor 

Eighth Doctor and Grace in
a cathedral-esque Tardis

I do love Doctor Who.
From reading this blog, you may have noticed this.
So with all the revamping elsewhere, I thought I would cast my mind back to the two relaunches of the show.
As much as I adore all the mythology, continuity and campness, I kind of knew they would have to strip back. You don't want to swamp the audience.
This is what the 1996 Paul McGann TV movie ends up doing but in the wrong moments. Leaving aside the inherent risk of Fox deciding on commissioning a series based purely on ratings for a pilot (and therefore relying on the strength of marketing rather than audience reaction once they had seen the actual product), the show needed to hook in anyone who had channel surfed. So starting it by focussing on the outgoing middle aged Doctor in the Tardis - not a great choice. The interior looks lavish but we need to explore the Doctor from a newcomer's perspective. It would make more sense to introduce your actual lead actor. Which is one of the smart moves of the 2005 relaunch, featuring a Doctor who has just regenerated off screen.
Another oddity of Who 96 is how it shows (in shadow) the Master being executed for his crimes by the Daleks. We don't know what the crimes are or, crucially, how come the Daleks seem to have evolved legal structures of any sort. This not only disorientates fans, it'll throw casual viewers as well especially as the tinpots and their genocidal rampages are part of popular culture in their own right.
Compare to the 2005 episode Dalek in which we see just the one Dalek. We feel, wonderfully, pity for it as it is tied up in an underground base, the last of its kind. And we also feel fear as we see it take on Henry van Statten's private army, especially the scene in which it electrocutes a squad using sprinklers.
This wonderfully sells the menace of Daleks to the new audience. And we learn more about the Time War and why this Doctor seems so grim in comparison to most other regenerations.
The show needed to have a slight departure from the upper-middle class eccentricity associated with the Doctor. What made sense in the 60s and 70s would have seemed very out of place in 05, especially coming out of Eccleston's mouth. The ninth also looks hard and street-wise with his close cropped hair and leather jacket. It doesn't take too long to get used to, mostly because it suits the character.
McGann's Doctor though is a Greatest Hits, but with a tendency towards Tom Baker, jelly babies, big hair and all. He's charming but not distinctive. Maybe that would have come in time.
However, one crucial mis-step of Who 96 isn't the Doctor kissing or single-serving companion Grace swearing but the revelation that his mother is human. Me, I don't have a HUGE problem with it but I just feel that we don't need it to relate to the character. Nor does it help the greater mythology any. (I adored all the Gallifreyan-ness of the novels, especially the time-looms from which Time Lords were grown. I didn't expect it to be referenced on-air but some wiggle room would have been nice.) Tony Lee, in his Doctor Who : The Forgotten story for IDW, rather wonderfully has the tenth Doctor pass all this off as a practical joke his eighth incarnation played on the Master.
Which is something that actually the TV Movie gets to work. I loved Eric Roberts's portrayal. Very High Gallifrey and very evil. Desperate to survive. Though it's a shame that the story descends to having two aliens wrestling with each other.
For all the talk of the Doctor's half-human side, this isn't a very human production. You don't get much of a flavour of Grace or of the threat.
Whereas Rose's focus is, well, it's there in the title. We meet her loved ones, explore her world first. It's this that the original show needed at times not car chases through the streets of San Francisco.
It also helps that Rose (pays homage to /rips-off ) the Auton invasion of Ealing Broadway, one of the more iconic moments of early 70s Who. It tells the older/more knowledgeable members of the audience that the production crew know the show's history, how it works and that there'll be more of this. (It's also good that the program doesn't continue re-telling classic stories though bar those that originally appeared in audio/novel form).
Crucially that first season is written by fans, who gave their a-game. Who knew that if this failed, the show would be dead forever.
So slowly introduce us to your lead. And re-think. Give an edge by all means (the loss of Gallifrey and the Time War was a shock but explains the dourness - and most rumoured revivals had involved Gallifrey's destruction so it was nothing that new to fans and, besides, the novels had alreaady done it).
Though make sure you're adding, not subtracting from the franchise's appeal (hello 80s Biggles time-travel movie). Yes, you need to pick up new fans but don't assume that you'll forever have the good will of the old ones.

Doctor Who and another split season

Another week, another press release from the Dr Who office.
This time, as reported by the Guardian, the show next year will start in the autumn.
I kinda predicted this. There's a school of thought that the programme works best in the long winter nights. (My personal feeling is that the weather outside's completely irrelevant - I fell love with the show whilst having a break from playing about in 36 degree heat).
However what the BBC seems to be wanting to do is not air all of next season's episodes in 2012. And instead stagger it around Christmas.
Some folks think this helps make the books balance a little easier (the show ain't cheap after all). The BBC denies this and instead cite narrative reasons.
But whatever the cause, I wonder if this action'll hurt sales abroad. Won't it be more helpful for schedulers to have whole seasons rather than piecemeal ones? (Hence why most UK broadcasters, Sky excepted, wait for an American import to complete its season rather than showing it close to transmission in case they have to have breaks for Labor Day, Christmas etc.)
I guess we'll see what the UK ratings are like this autumn.....

Doctor Who : A Good Man Goes To War

This is an exceptional season finale.
Last year's didn't stick the landing but, yeah, this delivers.
And going from some friends, it can be enjoyed without having seen much of this season.

And now we delve into

spoilers

Looking back it was obvious that River would be Rory and Amy's daughter.
I had kinda suspected for a while.
But the reveal was still enjoyable. (Sure, some people twigged as soon as we learnt the baby was called Melody. But I was too caught up to notice.)

Yeah, there wasn't much to the villains as yet. Evil Christian fanatics in the future has been done before (even in Doctor Who - Mark Gatiss's St. Anthony's Fire ).
And there wasn't anything distinguishing about this mob.
However the temporary supporting cast more than made up for it. I loved the idea of the Doctor calling in his debts. And the Silurian adventuress and her housekeeper girlfriend were wonderful. Even if they don't reappear on the show, they'll be in the spin-off books and audios. A lot.
Also this was the best use of the Sontarans since that mid 90s Doctor Who Magazine story Pureblood (it had an ideologically flamed war between cloned Sontarans and pure ones - very awesome).

And "Let's kill Hitler" is the best episode title ever. I assume it'll be about time loops rather than actual Nazis but, hey, that title had me in hysterics.

Yes, some of the red herrings regarding Melody's parentage and River's origins didn't make an awful lot of sense.
But this episode had to put a cap on this half of the season, answer mysteries and whet the appetite for the autumn, as well as entertain.
And it did all of that.

Misc. including a mildly spoilery Doctor Who remark and the Radio 4 pips

Two things slightly odd crossed my radar today.
Firstly was the revelation that Radio 4 generates its pips live. You may wonder what I'm warbling about.
They announce the hour and that the news is coming. (You also hear it on, amongst others radios 1 and 2 but 4 does it without any sort of musical bed.) Here they are in all their glory.
And tonight their pip machine wasn't working. So Eddie Mair, the wonderfully quirky evening broadcaster, did an impromptu piece and yes, these things are generated live.
I'd assumed that nowadays it was a sample played at a precise time. Instead it seems that there's a pip generator and a back-up pip generator that both weren't working.
You would have thought it would be pre-recorded samples triggered at precise times but apparently not.

Next up is Doctor Who.
Mr. Moffat's been talking to the press again and what he's had to say is interesting. It's spoilery in that it rules something out so, well you've been warned,

spoilery talk here

The Daleks aren't coming back in the near future.
Which isn't a bad thing. Whilst I seem to be in the minority in enjoying last year's Victory of the Daleks, I did kind of feel that their stock was cheapened somewhat in Tennant's time by appearing every season.
Yes, the media seems to think that whenever someone leaves the show, they get exterminated by the Daleks. And it's true that the show wouldn't have lasted most likely, had it not been for Terry Nation's genius creations.
But they're best used in small measures. It builds up the threat level.
And it gives the writing staff time to think of fresh takes.
It's been done before. In 1967 the Daleks were written off supposedly for ever in The Evil of The Daleks. They wouldn't reappear until 1972's time-slip classic Day of The Daleks.
Yeah, I'm with Steven Moffat on this one. (And, yes, I don't think this is misdirection before a shock reappearance by them in Saturday's mid-season closer. They wouldn't be so crass.)

Doctor Who - The Almost People (spoilers)

Well, that was a lot stronger than the first episode.

It went darker places.
Solid acting all-round help finally bring this to life, a minor miracle given how unimpressed I was by the first part.
And also, in retrospect, last week's offering had a lot of water-treading to do to conclude with that cliffhanger.
So, free of that burden, this installment explored the dilemmas of having clones wandering about and the inherent questions of identity and what it means to be human.

Mucho spoilers

And this whole storyline was clearly foreshadowing for THAT cliffhanger.
Amy, trapped in a booth, about to give birth whilst watched over by the eyepatch-sporting woman.
Easily the best cliffhanger of the Matt Smith era.
And I love how it calls back to all the deaths of Rory we've seen. He's kept on dying but coming back alongside (for this season at least) a fake Amy Pond. And the Tardis was right. The only water in the forest is a River.

I still think we'll have a Ganger get-out for the dead Doctor mystery.
But now the Doctor knows he's going to die so maybe he'll be able to cook up a better plan than that.
The twist as to which Doctor was real was unexpected. To be honest, that question hadn't crossed my mind. And it was such a wonderful and in character way for Amy to spill the beans to the Doctor.

On the whole Ganger question, yes, it slightly devolved into a monster-of-the-week but at least we saw that one Ganger lived and we saw that Gangers weren't as monstrous as the humans. It would have been more fun (and messier) if both an original and their Ganger survived. (Didn't think that would be my sole criticism before I started watching this part)
And, so after all we weren't seeing the beginning of the Autons or the Sontarans or even a breakdown in Amy and Rory's marriage. But I somewhat suspect we're leading up to the Ponds' exits.

God knows what's going to happen next week. I hope we'll get a final answer as to whether River is Amy or Amy's daughter or none of the above.

Doctor Who - Rebel Flesh (spoilers)

Two part stories can be a risk.
If the first episode's weak, then you're probably not looking forward to the next installment.
This is particularly true when this story is going to be the penultimate taste of new TV Dr Who until the autumn.

As with The Curse Of The Black Spot, the supporting cast are unlikeable.
Yes, there's a knotty moral dilemma that it looks like the show will deal with head-on. In that way it reminds me very much of Malcolm Hulke's Silurian stories from Pertwee's era.
Unfortunately the plot hasn't caught alight and instead feels like an ethical debate over 90 minutes.

So, yeah, I'm hoping that next week's will be somewhat better.

Spoilery thoughts and speculation follow this photo of Rory and Amy

I genuinely can't see how we can get another episode out of this.
So is something going to come in from left-field?
Like the eye-patch lady making more than a fleeting appearance...

I also hope that the Ganger Doctor won't end up being the one we see get killed in The Impossible Astronaut. This must be a red herring, surely?
Discounting Tennant's hand-Doctor, it's been a very long time since we've had a character resemble the Doctor. (Which seemed to happen with such frequency in the 60s and 70s that the companions must have established safety words)

Also, is this the start of the Nestene Consciousness or at least their Auton-ising process?
Might we get final resolution as to whether Rory is still an Auton?
And is his friendship with Jennifer going to cause a rift between him and Amy? Methinks yes, even if it's just temporary.

Whatever happens next week, it needs to be more interesting than the first part and also not resolve the dead Doctor story-thread (because if it does, that will be the biggest disappointment in the show since the revelation of what Bad Wolf was all about)

Doctor Who : The Doctor's Wife

After last week's undercooked Pirates of the Caribbean riff, this was an absolute treat.
A Neil Gaiman-penned script was always going to be highly anticipated.
Fortunately this delivered in spades. The Moffat era has become increasingly like a fairy tale, especially when you think of the original aliens we've encountered.
This episode was like something from the darker reaches of the Brothers Grimm, equal measures terrifying and hilarious. The cast is top notch, especially Suranne Jones.
And crucially the plot just couldn't have happened in any other series, unlike last year's megastar-written episode from Richard Curtis.
It is dripping in the show's mythology but has a strong story to tell in it's own right. The show is at its best when it is a feast for the imagination and, yup, this episode is up there.
It's clearly an act of love by Gaiman and it is probably Matt Smith's best episode to date.

In praise of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy

Mccoy's second season of Doctor Who was when things started to slot into place. With ratings still poor, it was a real backs-against-the-wall job and so the show would be brave. As well as nostalgic excursions (it was the 25th season, after all), there was The Happiness Patrol with its barely veiled attack on Thatcherism and, to close the season, The Greatest Show In the Galaxy.
Yeah, not the scariest title but the story itself was a kaleidoscope of fear and wonder.
A travelling circus has set up shop on the desert planet Segonax and said circus is the self-titled "The Greatest Show In The Galaxy"

The clowns are wonderfully creepy. We're treated to some back-story that Ace had a childhood fear of the circus but that's needed. These are proper sinister.
Especially a pre-Corrie Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown. The fear comes from their movements as much as the make-up.
Also there's the audience. The Family sit there for every performance. Their coldness is wonderfully theatrical.Watching. Judging. And sentencing to death acts that bore them.
Yes, to adult eyes, strewn throughout there's meta-commentary on the future of Doctor Who. It's future was uncertain due to low ratings. And a fanboy arrives who is still tragically devoted to the show despite being aware that its best days were behind it.

That is smuggled in amongst a dazzling display of images. Buses in a desert (years before Tennant) policed by a murderous bus conductor. The Gods of Ragnarok. Werewolves. And an utterly desperate gang of characters who can turn at any time on anyone. That last point really struck my nine year-old self. It's not remotely cosy.
Yes, there's pacing problems from time to time.
But it's a real high point of late 80s Who and could have served as a fitting but bittersweet last story (that honour, for almost seven years, fell instead to Survival and its puss-in-boots-i-ness.

Doctor Who - The Curse of The Black Spot (mild spoilers)

When I was a kid, I wrote a Lego Pirate-inspired Doctor Who story in which Ace and the seventh Doctor found themselves on a 17th century Caribbean island attacked by pirates and, erm, robots.
So, I had some preconceptions going into tonight's offering.

Also it's brave steering the TARDIS into Pirates of The Caribbean territory and, well, this episode's not the weakest but certainly not the strongest.
Lily Cole is remarkably creepy as a siren preying on the ship's crew. Then again she's a model so looking menacing and ethereal isn't too huge a leap for her.
But the main issue is the characterisation, particularly of the pirates. It's just flat. There's an attempt to add human interest to Hugh Bonneville's captain but it's just too contrived.

<< Seriously.... >>

how dense is the captain not to have noticed his kid having stowed away for what appears to have been quite some time

This episode just feels like a first draft and the plot holes are gaping, particularly in the reveal.
A supernatural pirate piece will risk comparisons with PoTC and, yeah, there's no contest.

Next week is the Neil Gaiman episode so hopefully the show will return to awesomeness.

<< And here's some arc points >>

OK. We knew it wouldn't be arc-heavy as there was no "Previously", which also made me switch off a bit.
But who is it that keeps on intruding on Amy's dreams? And the pregnancy question is being rammed home again.
Is it not just Amy's baby phasing in and out but her as well? Yeah, it's a stretch.
Hopefully next week's instalment will start to answer some of the arc questions.

Doctor Who - Day of the Moon

That was phenomenally good.
Which is all I can say without

<< spoilers.... >>

Where to begin?
I'm really pleased that there's lots of questions remaining. Hopefully it won't make this season impenetrable but instead will make it water-cooler TV and give it the desired ratings boost.

So we still don't know who it is in the astronaut suit. Methinks it's the little girl.
As for her, that regeneration was such a wonderful surprise. We're being led to assume she's Amy's daughter. That may be the case though I can't help but wonder if it's actually a very young Amy - we have been told several times last season that she's special. (I doubt it's River as there was no hint of a regeneration when she died.) Also, let's not forget the Doctor has a cloned daughter.

I was half-expecting Rory to leave tonight. That relationship's on, ahem, shaky grounds.

The actual episode itself was solid enough. There's wonderful imagery. Sure, the tally marks don't make an awful amount of sense. Though it's all very taut and The Silence are incredibly sinister aliens (I trust they'll return). Actually watching the show tonight is a bit like watching Italian Saturday night TV - it's great fun but you don't have much of a clue what's happening.
A year down the line, this episode (this season even) will depend on whether the final answers are strong enough to support all of this.
But I'll say this for the new season : it's ballsy and brave - which is always a good thing.

Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut

As season-openers go, this was rather good.
Witty and exciting with more than a touch of menace (and The Silence are wonderful nightmare fuel)
Yes, thus far, it seems to be a collection of set pieces rather than a plot.
Maybe it'll all become clear with the second part.
Moffat is implying that not everything will be concluded by episode's end. So maybe this season's one big arc - it's certainly a possibility.

In a remarkable turnabout, River feels less tired. She's far flirtier than I recall her being last season. Moffat's made her fun again.

The beginning is excellent - from a fun precredits to a stunning attention-grabbing moment. If you haven't seen the episode yet, you need to watch it from the very beginning.

And there's much to discuss so here be

<< Spoilers sweetie >>

Minor things first. I actually enjoyed the fact that Rory and Amy are settled and living together away from the Tardis. Yes it might stretch credibility a bit too much if this becomes the status quo, with them every now and again meeting up with the Doctor, but it's a nice touch.
I'm not sure where we're going with the pregnancy storyline. Are we setting things up for a tragedy? If so, it'll be very dark even for this era of the show.

Given the rumoured death in the Tardis family, I'm a bit disappointed if this is it.
As it's clearly a cop-out. Methinks as I speculated a while back that we'll be led to think this was it before someone else gets killed off in the next 5 episodes.
I wonder if the future Doctor will still be dead and instead we'll see the next few episodes with the sword of Damocles hanging over the Doctor.
My only concern is that we don't have a convoluted get-out.
River and Amy have made it clear that they can't save the Doctor as that'll create a paradox. Us readers of the 90s novels may wonder if we're seeing the introduction of the Faction Paradox into the TV series. (Certainly there's echoes of the cliffhanger to book one of Interference)

Also, who is in the astronaut suit at the start? River perhaps? We know she is supposed to kill the Doctor at some point.

All told, it's a solid start but there's a lot of balls being juggled.....

Easter-y musings on the new Doctor Who season

Dear Easter bunny,

I am not sure how much I will be able to post over the next week.

So, just in case, please make sure that Doctor Who this year is solid.
There seems to have been concern that ratings last year were down.
Whisper to the BBC that this often happens in the aftermath of a regeneration, especially when an uber popular Doctor leaves like David Tennant. But Matt Smith will find an audience given time.

In previous eras, we have had random meet-ups with previous Doctors in an apparent attempt to drive ratings (hello The Two Doctors).
Or ferocious pandering to fans with impenetrable continuity-heavy glop.
We seem to know from that press conference that Mr Moffat has summat up his sleeve.
Please let it feel organic and not be an event for the sake of it.

If we have to have a Dalek story, make it an experimental one. Last year showed that treating them with humour pays dividends. And how about some Zygons if there is to be a classic monster. (We will try to forget the Silurians if you do)

And don't be afraid to be mature. Or angry. Yes it might scare off the ickles but it will open new doors.


I know it's all made now ( or at least the spring episodes are) but go do some bunny magic.

RIP : Elisabeth Sladen

Today the BBC reported the death of Elisabeth Sladen, best known for playing Sarah-Jane Smith in Doctor Who and The Sarah-Jane Smith Adventures.

She was for many fans, me included, the benchmark companion.
Her portrayal was witty, charming and, for me, the first successful departure from the screaming dolly-bird school of companions.
There's a reason why she would be asked back repeatedly over the years, in both TV and radio incarnations of the program.
Her chemistry with The Doctor, regardless of the actor, was something special.

It was already proving to be a sad year for classic Doctor Who fans with the death of Nicholas Courtney, best-known as recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
To lose both in two months is so sad.
And at 63 she was still so young.

Elisabeth Sladen played the companion in the first Doctor Who story I saw and so will always have a special place in my heart.
My thoughts are with her friends and family.

In defence of Paradise Towers

It is safe to say that Sylvester McCoy's first season of Doctor Who wasn't the strongest.
The show had been forced into a change of actor from on high whilst still trying to find it's way since the 1985 hiatus imposed because apparently the powers that be thought Colin Baker's first season was too violent.

New script editor Andrew Cartmel would hit his stride in the next two seasons but this first year was a bit of a hodgepodge.

Some folk loathe Paradise Towers but I have always secretly enjoyed it.
For the uninitiated, the Tardis lands in a tower block on an alien world, populated entirely by humanoids and robots. The humans are nearly all retirees or girl gang members, the intervening generations having gone to fight in a war. In the first few minutes, you see a promotion video showing what the place used to be like before it fell to seed.
It is a very J.G. Ballard-ian premise, which I think may have caused expectations to ramp up a lot in 1987.
It is also endearingly camp.

The Kangs, the girl gangs, are split into coloured factions. The story opens with the murder of the last yellow Kang,
Gang members greet each other with half-remembered slogans and doggrel like "Build high for happiness". But, like most teenage culture shown in the McCoy era, it is a very middle class vision. Kind of like later companion Ace in that respect.I find it amusing but can see how it would annoy some.

I was nine when I first saw this and the thing that compelled me was how the Doctor and Mel were going to fix this world in four episodes.
There were lots of great ideas. Fascist caretaker staff (led by Richard Briers of all people). Cannabilistic senior citizens. And Pex. I adored Pex. He was a self-proclaimed war hero and "trained fighting machine", openly mocked by the Kangs and rightly so as he clearly was all talk.
I did kind of hope that he would join the Tardis crew but alas no.

Not the scariest monster ever seen in Doctor Who

A cleaner robot, again not amazingly scary

It's not without its faults. The cleaner robots are Dalek-lite and the pool monster looks rather sweet. And the acting's bizarre at times.
But it's the ideas that transfixed me.