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Happy New Year! As January 1st is liturgically the Feast of the Circumcision, it was the day that the clerics of Notre Dame de Paris celebrated the Feast of Fools in the 13th Century. Fool equals idiot, possibly in a box. Release your inner Fool!

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@TheDoctorWhoForum

As the New Year makes its way across the Atlantic and gradually creeps toward us here on the other Pacific coast, I wish you all the very very best for 2015. I joined this forum just over a year ago and could never have guessed how much amusement and enlightenment I would find here. Thanks to everyone for all thoughts shared, the deep and the quirky; thanks for the wonderful music; thanks for the cross-cultural pollination from all points of the globe.

I am off to the botanical garden to look at Christmas lights, then return home to spend the evening according to Arbutus family tradition, with about five hours of stretched out eating and drinking, music, and general goofing off until midnight arrives, when we can drink our toasts and fall into bed. (Arbutus Jr. will probably remain awake for some time afterward, skyping or some such thing.) One of my toasts will be to all my Who-ite friends in places far and wide. For all of you who have shared your successes on the forum this year, I wish you many more of them! For those of you who have struggled this year, I wish you better weather in the days ahead.

I raise a glass of bubbly to you all!

With love, Arbutus   OOO

 

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@lisa   Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind” was required reading in my son’s Grade 8 Social Studies class. (It was a class that came straight to mind when I saw Clara’s “gifted and talented” class in the fall!) The book discusses at length the kind of skills that will lead to success in the “new economy” and advocates for the teaching of creative thinking in school. So, kind of a teacher, in a way!

@craig    Thanks for taking the time to deal with our annoying visitor. I received a PM as well but simply ignored it as I do all that kind of thing. I’m glad you had a positive time with your brother; it can hard sometimes when words have been spoken to find your way back. A nice way to wrap up the old year!

And speaking of that, I guess @purofilion, @janetteb, and all the Australian forum members will soon be ringing in 2015. (26 hours still to go here!) So Happy New Year to you, everyone on the other side of the Pacific. Balloons, noisemakers, and fizzy wine toasts to all (I knew I would find some useful stuff down this sofa!).  🙂

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I saw this today, absolutely brilliant!

https://twitter.com/wigmore_hall/status/550095482157285379/photo/1

And by the way, @whisht, absolutely love Mama Cass.  🙂

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I’m on board for whatever viewing is going on! Not especially a fan of Torchwood, but I will do whatever homework is assigned to me. A big yes vote to any BG Who, regardless of completeness. I don’t mind reconstructions, as I listen to audios anyway and have a vivid imagination!  🙂

As for new year wishes, I agree with the strong vote for William Russell. I fully expect that we will see the Paternoster Gang again and look forward to it. Hopefully we will see Missy back as well, although I’d prefer her not as a central arc threat this time. @janetteb, I’d adore an Eighth Doctor special but don’t suppose we will get one.

Seriously, my main wish is just for more of the same! Irascible, child-like, inquisitive, single-minded Twelve! I think I would also like an arc that focused less on Clara’s issues, and allowed her simply to be… the Doctor’s friend and fellow explorer, quirky problem-solver. I would love the somewhat irritable tone of their relationship to remain, it is lovely to watch.

@scaryb   The return of Orson Pink (if only to see the G board go into meltdown)   Hee hee!

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Oh, @purofilion, I also meant to say that we have always had tangerines (mandarins, we call them) in the stockings, but it was a new tradition for Mr. Arbutus when we were first married. Like the Doctor, he doesn’t care for them, so this year, he received a red Anjou pear in his stocking instead. (I wasn’t sure why it took Santa so many years to figure that one out, but now of course, I understand that he is pretty attached to the tangerine tradition!)

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@nerys    I completely agree about Midnight. It was probably my favourite episode of what was definitely my favourite AG series (until Series 8, which may be sitting on top of the pile now!). And as you say, the caring about these fictional characters is what makes the show resonate for us, and makes the messages matter.

@purofilion   Having a lovely Christmas, thanks! Not had time to properly rewatch the special, but Mr. Arbutus and I have been “vacationing” in local coffee houses on a daily basis, and now the sun has come out! Many cookies and tarts have been consumed, post-supper whisky and port, and a ridiculous amount of chocolate. Arbutus Jr. received a wok for Christmas, so the Arbutus men cooked mee goreng last night while I sat in a comfy chair and read Alexander McCall Smith. It doesn’t get better than this.

@rob   “MoiMoi.”   🙂   🙂    🙂

@mudlark   Our cat does the same thing, but as my husband is quite tall, it is his shoulder that provides the extension to the back of the sofa.

@bluesqueakpip     Lovely description of the Doctor’s “space dad” relationship with Clara!

@juniperfish @jimbomcmaster    I haven’t watched since Boxing Day, but I seem to believe that, although dismissive at first of the remaining danger, he did perform a fairly urgent about-face when he realized the immediacy of that danger? (I also loved the “deleted” line!)

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@nine9 @janetteb @nerys

In my view, the tangerine on the window was meant to allow the audience (and most importantly, the children in the audience) to believe if they choose to that Santa was real. There was no way that Moffat was ever going to write a Christmas episode, knowing that many families watch with small children, and have it shown that Santa is not real. Whether or not people of all ages or cultures “believe” in Santa isn’t the point. I don’t think it’s the job of Moffat or the BBC to tailor their show to accommodate people in other parts of the world. If they choose to embrace the show, great, but it is a British show first and foremost. I say this as a non-Brit who doesn’t mind absorbing a little unfamiliar British culture now and then– “Merry Christmas Everybody” gets entirely no airplay here as far as I am aware. I have learned, however, that it is a big Christmas deal in the motherland.  🙂

We have discussed at length on this forum the issue of DW as science fiction, and I think most of us would agree that there is a strong element of fantasy running throughout the show and has been for a long time. In any case, in a Christmas special, the rules are often different. When I watch the film “Miracle on 34th Street”, in which Edmund Gwenn is strongly implied to actually be the real Santa, I accept that as part of the reality of the film. It is not meant to be a realistic film. (*Whispers, so as not to upset the fandom* Neither is Doctor Who.)   😉

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Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a happy time yesterday. Just got the Christmas special watched and read all your brilliant comments. I really enjoyed this and can’t wait for a chance to watch it again. It left me feeling altogether happy.

I loved what @bluesqueakpip, @miapatrick, and @pedant had to say about how the Doctor sees people. When he said, “You… the sexy one,” I was cheering. I love this Doctor! Particularly liking the idea that the Doctor just sees Clara, because to me this reinforces the idea of the “parental” relationship. No matter how much our kids grow and change, we see them from the inside.

@juniperfish    And did we really need it spelled out for us in words that the dream crabs were face-hugger tributes?  True, but we did then get the Doctor’s great line about “that’s really offensive”.

I agree with @spider that the old Clara ending felt very believable to me. I liked the notion that, although she never found another Danny, she lived a full and marvelous life. On the other hand, it would have limited her return in future anniversary specials had they left us with that ending!

@cathannabel (and others) on “it was all a dream”: The difference here of course is that the “it was all a dream” was set up for us as a key plot point before the halfway mark, not tagged on at the end as a way to allow really bad things to just go away. As for tears, I cried during Clara’s farewell to Danny, and again during the whole scene with old Clara; I’m not sure that any other Christmas special has elicited so much from me. (Not counting last year’s special as that was also a Doctor’s swansong, so not a fair comparison in my view!)

@jimthefish    While this story definitely wrapped up some things for Clara and continued her story with the Doctor, for me it still contained an element of “time out it’s Christmas”. Maybe it was just as @cathannabel said, that the rules are a bit relaxed for Christmas. I haven’t read comments elsewhere yet, but I’m betting that people who were very unhappy with Robin Hood had no problem with Santa!

Agree with @purofilion about Clara, she has been wonderful since the 50th (I hope Christmas was kind to you, Puro?) and I am quite happy that she is staying on. Not sure I would have said that immediately following Series 7. I was particularly pleased that the fact that they were dreaming throughout explained the moment from the trailer that never felt right to me, when Clara obediently walked into the TARDIS on Doctor’s orders when they had just been reunited on the roof.

Enjoyed, enjoyed, enjoyed! Off to find some more Christmas junk to eat.   🙂

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With the world turning as it does, it is properly timey-wimey on this forum: the eve of Christmas Eve here on the Pacific coast, the morning of Christmas Eve in the UK, and properly Christmas Eve down under! So just wanting to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas as it rolls over your part of the world. Thanks to all for the past year of laughter, wisdom, and general good times. Hope you all get your Christmas wishes, whatever they are!

Affectionately, Arbutus     OOO

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@miapatrick    A battery controlled butter dish?!? What is that? Do I need one? It sounds like something I need.

Sympathies on the unfixedness of your abode. That’s frustrating at any time, Christmas most of all.

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Yay, I got 4! Off I shall go on my time-and-space adventures, exchanging quips and fearing nothing.   🙂

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Nice lot of Christmas and alt-Christmas tunes; thanks, everyone!

I hope I didn’t post this last Christmas. But this brings a smile to my face every time I hear it… and since the Michael Bublé Christmas album is a favourite of Arbutus Jr’s, I hear it a lot!

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@blenkinsopthebrave    Yes! Good call, so much fun.

@purofilion    The Arbutus household tends to default to the usual suspects at Christmas time. We have a big collection of dvd’s that we dip into every year. One that we never leave out is The Bishop’s Wife, which also has Monty Woolley, along with Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young. Even Arbutus Jr. can quote from that one!

For more contemporary laughs, we love A Christmas Story, the nostalgic tale of the trials and tribulations of the BB-gun-yearning Ralphie. As for Christmas Carol versions, Alistair Sim is our default Scrooge, but there is also a version from the eighties with George C. Scott, that we enjoy for a slightly more faithful-to-the-book version.

Last day of school for Arbutus Jr. today, and he and Mr. Arbutus are both on holiday now for two weeks, so Christmas can start: no more sports, poetry analysis, French projects, chemistry experiments, etc. (You can tell how much of my own life I get to live, these days!)

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I have just laughed my way through all your gift giving and getting stories! Special mention must go to @phaseshift’s denture tablet story and @purofilion’s underwear.  🙂

@janetteb   I wouldn’t think port would be strong enough, you might have to ply the SO with whisky. But will your shower be bigger on the inside now? I wish I could make that work here, as Mr. Arbutus is a “big and tall” sized guy, and our tub/shower definitely isn’t!

Re the “fixed grin of appreciation”: My father has spent much time in France and therefore fancies himself something of a wine expert. But he has never really taken in the fact that the cheap wine you can get in France is nothing like its North American counterpart. He lives south of the border and can get wine much cheaper than we can in BC (see @blenkinsopthebrave’s comments about the cost of wine in the government monopolies), but that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily any good. So he frequently presents us with something for Christmas that he bought at Trader Joe’s or wherever, and we put on appreciative smiles and thank him profusely for thinking of us. Said wine is then consumed on a night that we need alcohol for its own sake, rather than out of the desire to enjoy an excellent bottle.

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Week of madness almost behind me! I got through it swimming on the memory of our annual carol sing last weekend, when our little band of medievalists gets together to sing all our favourite carols, famous and obscure. I tried to find a good version of one of our very favourites, Bach’s In dulci jubilo, but couldn’t find any nice version in German. But we also enjoy some wonkier stuff, such as this one.

Disclaimer: We don’t sound like this! We fumble our way through the solo verses as none of us really knows Spanish, and usually collapse under the weight of too many syllables and too much wine. A good time is had by all.

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@purofilion    Oh my goodness. Three hours sounds dire! I remember Arbutus Jr.’s Grade 7 grad (a couple of years ago now) and it was really quite charming. There were a few earnest valedictory speeches, a couple of students performed songs, and the teacher went through the list of grads and said something funny about each one. There was a video. The whole thing took about an hour, but it was a small school.

Afterward, they kicked all the parents out so the kids could have their “grad dance”. They voted for it; Arbutus Jr. was somewhat choked that they hadn’t voted for the amusement park as the previous year’s grads had done, and terrified that he was going to be made to dance! But when I came in part way through to deliver some more beverages (the drinks always run out at parties, don’t they?), the girls in their dresses and heels, and the boys in their ties, were all running around the gym playing with the balloons.  🙂

I’ve been driving all over the place today, which makes me cranky even without the extra Christmas traffic. At one point, I hit five red lights in five blocks! Even for this city, that’s bad. So here’s what made me happy (along with a pot of tea and a bunch of holly and pine branches) after I got home.

 

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I hope everyone is managing to find their happy place amidst all the festive insanity. I spent yesterday evening at two different Christmas performances. The first one, at the music school where I volunteer, featured tiny cellists and violinists and pianists, ,  boys in ties or tee shirts, and girls dressed up like little members of the Ballets Russes. And a lovely choir which made me cry. The second one, at the music school where Arbutus Jr. sings, featured slightly older kids, mostly teenagers, playing electric guitars and percussion instruments, and singing songs they’d composed themselves. @lisa, there was one young woman with an acoustic guitar and very long hair, singing in an earnest soprano, who I am sure owns every Joni Mitchell recording ever! And the choir, singing Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and a very soulful “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”. Really a delight.

So, because it represents all things Christmas and kid, because it’s happy, and because it’s cool:

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Bad Arbutus! I have failed to keep up with things in this lovely little music lounge. I brought a glass in from the pub and spent some time this afternoon enjoying the offerings.

@thekrynoidman    I don’t know that I have ever posted “Waterloo Sunset”, but it is one of my favourites. Thanks! I never actually saw Phantom of the Paradise, but I agree about Paul Williams, a fabulous and underrated songwriter. Back in my wannabe songwriter days, his songs were always on my “go-to” list. And goodness, “Windmills of your Mind.” That takes me back! There were a lot of versions of that floating about; I used to play it on the piano. Lovely chord progressions. 🙂

@whisht     Love Taj Mahal and fully agree that there can never be too much tuba (although Mr. Arbutus, a bass trombone player, used to sing the memorable song from Music Man as “76 trombones is way too many” with a great deal of glee!).
Also Whisht and @lisa, another thing you can’t have too much of is Tom Waits!

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@pedant      Well, you’re right, of course. I’d forgotten about the reconstructions.   😳  And on another watch, the movement in the colour episodes is more apparent than in the black and white ones due to the colour contrasts. But even with that in mind, there was still a marked difference in tempo between the Hartnell episodes and some of the later ones. Even some of the Third and Fourth Doctor windows seemed to have a lot of “talking head” scenes.

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avpr212     I confess I actually find articles like this one fairly irritating. The problem here is that one person’s missed opportunity is another person’s lucky break. Although the points themselves are not all without merit, the writer is essentially complaining because Moffat didn’t do the series he would have done. He clearly isn’t a fan of Moffat and the article really should have been called “Ten Reasons Why I Think Moffat Should Go”.

Two points in particular stood out for me. Firstly, although Seb was great, I can’t agree with the assumption that every great guest spot is wasted if it isn’t turned into a recurring role. We don’t know if Addison had any interest in doing more than he did, in any case. Secondly, the complaint about a lack new writers was an odd one. I don’t think that it makes sense to bring in new writers for every episode and ignore long-time contributors for an entire series.

@pedant    That video was fascinating. It showed very clearly the different pace in different eras: some screens felt almost like stills, while others were a blur of motion. The sound was very eery!

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@phaseshift     I watched it on Monday but haven’t had time to make a post until today. A nice finale to a great story, and I didn’t actually find it overly complicated (unless you count my inability to keep straight which stalwart military character is which!).

Ace’s horror and panic when she is about to be shot feels very believable, as does her sweet moment with Sorin. In general, Ace is presented as someone who can think for herself. It had been awhile since we’d had a companion who could really do that effectively. When she accused the Doctor of keeping secrets (the Doctor lies?), you could almost imagine the Doctor thinking that his last few companions weren’t bright enough for it to have made a difference.   🙂

Your comments about the story arc of McCoy’s last season remind me of my reaction to Silver Nemesis the first time I saw it. At the end of the story, I was vaguely irritated that there were things that weren’t explained. How times have changed. We’d be pretty cranky now if we were left with nothing to speculate about after an episode!

I agree with your thoughts on McCoy’s legacy. I think it’s unfortunate that a lot of fandom has tarred him based on his first, rather poorly written, series (even the first story alone, which was probably the weakest). So many people had given up by the time of Ace’s arrival that his more complex, interesting Doctor got lost in the shuffle.

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@purofilion   @barbaralefty     We are big drink sniffers in our house, too! I will drink a bit of single malt to keep Mr. Arbutus company, but he appreciates it more than I do. (Bourbon is the official alcoholic beverage of our medieval music ensemble, due to the influence of a member with family ties to the American south.)

@blenkinsopthebrave    In British Columbia we are frequently envious of the greater choice available in Ontario. I have read that, in dollars, the LCBO is the biggest single purchaser of liquor in the world. That being said, we have a fair amount of Australian wine in the government stores here. I’ve seen Margaret River but never tried any; I shall have to do so now!

Puro, I’m interested that you are a “car girl”. The automotive gene skipped me, but my parents belong to a fifties car club and are very keen, and my brother-in-law sells and modifies exotics. He and my sister do a fair bit of touring in their fancy Italian cars, and he is a minor celebrity in the local car community for having what they claim is the fastest Ferrari in the world. My son has the car bug as well, and desires to own a Lotus one day… I drive a Toyota and have no higher aspiration.   🙂

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I just saw this tweet and thought that there were those here who might find it instructive. Cheers!  🙂

https://twitter.com/SaintRPh/status/540866276709527552/photo/1

 

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@purofilion

Oh, Puro. I’m so sorry. How unpleasant on top of everything else! Enjoy that drink, and whatever you do, don’t say “What else could possibly go wrong?”

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This should have been in the pub– it’s quiz night! Apparently I’m at home with @craig and the Great Intelligence. Going to grab another drink now.  🙂

@fatmaninabox    Never admit anything!

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@pedant  @purofilion     Good grief. What sort of establishment is this? I stopped in for a craft brew and because there appeared to be a big screen TV. Imagine my surprise.

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Lots of great stuff here. McCoy, as is his wont, goes slightly over the top during his speech about evil from the dawn of time; but by and large, he is great in this. As others have said, his interactions with Ace clearly exhibit great affection and familiarity.

The vampire girls are still poorly done, but I don’t think it matters at this point as they are not really human anymore anyway. I don’t think they are helped by their makeup, which just makes them look goth as opposed to frightening. Otherwise, the characters are well played. The actor playing Judson gives him more personality than is written into the script, and the stalwart Russian is stock but enjoyable. I love his calm reply to the Doctor’s question about doubts: “If we meet again, you will have your answer.” The Reverend takes the same attitude, but it serves him less well– his fall is surprisingly shocking as it looks at first as if his faith will win the day. But the monsters are able to find his weak spot after all.

Finally, a cliffhanger featuring one of my favourite Doctor Who memes: that moment when the evil alien speaks to the Doctor, addressing him with ominous familiarity as “Timelord.”

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@danmartinuk     Thanks for the link. There was a bit less vitriol than has become usual (at least, at my time of reading!). There were some interesting comments, including this one by @bluesqueakpip. I hope you don’t mind my quoting you here, because it was beautifully stated and I don’t know that all our posters here will find it!

It was all about Clara because the Doctor didn’t have a clue who he was any more. He’d got lost behind the role he’d been playing for so long; no longer had any sense of who the original man had been. So many faces; was there anything left of that little boy, crying because his schoolwork was too hard for him and he’d never be a Time Lord?

I don’t think anyone but Peter Capaldi could have played a Doctor so lost that he quite deliberately dumps his companion with a major decision on Earth’s future, leaving her to sort it out by herself.

And yet still keep the audience with him, while he struggles to the realisation that ‘The Doctor’ is the story, the hero of a thousand stories, the legend. It’s the role he plays. The real man behind that story is an idiot with a magic box and a screwdriver, a man who just tries to help out.

But it’s the story that’ll help people fly.

 

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@phaseshift    Happy birthday! (Raises mug of tea because it’s only 9am here and I just don’t have your stamina!)

I couldn’t agree more on the subject of Black Friday. We’ve just been starting to see it happen in Canada, but in Vancouver at least, it doesn’t seem to have been a particularly big deal. Possibly because it’s not actually a day off work here, as it is for so many in the US. We have traditionally had the Boxing Day sales, and they were crazy, but you never seemed to hear about the horrible behaviour that has become commonplace in recent times.

@pedant    Nice post on the cricket tragedy. And seconding others regarding the technical term for climate change deniers!  🙂

 

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Well. I thought I’d had a hectic week due to the insanity of pre-season high school basketball. But goodness, @purofilion, what a shocking time you’ve had. I’m glad you and your family are all okay. It’s absolutely astonishing and very fortunate that no one died, but such a mess (literally and figuratively) for so many. Happy birthday to Boy Ilion, I imagine it’s one he won’t forget! (48 hours, BTW, good grief.)

@scaryb   Climate change definitely affects different areas in different ways. In Vancouver, we get longer, dryer, hotter summers than we used to get, whereas Alberta has done the opposite, and now gets wetter summers than historically. (Note that when I say “hotter”, I mean relative to our usual temperate stats; our hottest summer days would probably seem pleasantly moderate to Puro!)

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Well, despite the flaws here and there in the execution, I still think this is a properly creepy story. The scene in which the vampires accost the reverend, who is vulnerable because he has lost his faith, always resonated with me. Because how easy it is to suffer moments of weakness! The Seventh Doctor was always a bit of a chameleon, but like @purofilion, I enjoyed him when he was understated, as he is for much of this. And I loved Ace’s quiet pleasure in having solved the puzzle for Judson, then turned on its head when she realizes that the Doctor didn’t want the puzzle solved!

Regarding relativism, it doesn’t feel to me that the story as a whole is taking a relativist stance, but only presenting an example of a view that does have a history. Both my own great grandfather and my husband’s grandfather were ministers and served as chaplains during WWI; both later rejected their faith due to their wartime experiences and took up other careers. Reverend Wainwright’s point of view would have been a familiar one to them, at least. In a sense, the notion that war is a breeding ground for ugliness and human weakness means that such a setting would be a likely place for vampires to hunt!

@badwulf     I agree that the “blinkered scientist” line is potentially problematic. I have to assume that the Doctor doesn’t mean this to refer to all scientists, because of course, at many other times during the course of his adventures, he seems to have great respect and liking for scientists. I actually enjoyed the characterization of Judson in this; he was a bit of a stereotype, but a little more layered than we often get, with some interesting twists.

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Here I am at last, finally having had a chance to watch this. I have a great fondness for McCoy’s episodes with Ace. I always liked her as a companion, and she was very AG-style in some ways. And she was fun to watch, where I frequently found Mel and Peri irritating. (Six certainly had his problems, and he wasn’t well blessed with companions, in my view!) McCoy was at his best when paired with her, as it allowed him to be fatherly and wise as well as quirky. I always felt that he lacked a Doctorly authority with Mel!

This is a great episode, lots of creepy atmosphere and some intriguing characters. I like Judson and his delight when the Doctor walks in and understands his work, and his amazement that a teenager girl would comprehend advanced science. @badwulf, I think Judson shows all the enthusiasm for AI technology that we would expect from a scientist, especially of that time. Looking forward to a bright future made better by the inventions of man. An entire postwar economy was built on that philosophy!

I like the reverend and the way he is presented. It would have been terribly difficult in that time and place to preach what today we would consider a fairly standard Christian ethos, to a congregation that included an older generation, “soldiers of the Lord” types.

@whisht   I seem to remember that the overbearing incidental music was typical of this period of Who. It does make one wonder what people are complaining about regarding the AG soundtracks, doesn’t it?

@purofilion  @mudlark  Yes, Ace’s bag of tricks, she always had that. I was always amazed she never dislocated a shoulder heaving it around, but you know, teenagers. Like the Doctor’s pockets, it always seemed to have what was wanted. As for the girls, I would imagine that they were women meant to be playing teenagers, like Ace herself. I agree that either the writing or acting of those characters was a little off.

@mudlark    Back when I was an undergrad, I was actually a returning student, about eight years old than my classmates. I have never forgotten a 20th century music lecture on a modern Canadian opera about Louis Riel (a figure from Canadian history). The lecturer asked the class why they thought this opera might have been commissioned in 1967. No one seemed to have any idea that that was the year of the Canadian centennial– none of them had been alive at the time! That was the first time I can remember feeling old.

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@thekrynoidman   I was doing a lot of driving today and had the Kinks on in my car. I thought of you! And since I don’t think I’ve ever posted this, and since late autumn is in full swing here now, here is Autumn Almanac.

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You are all terribly nice!    🙂    I actually find it quite fascinating that the continuity works so well, given two showrunners with very different styles, and four actors, each bringing his own unique take to the character. Serendipity, or a deeper truth?

@lisa    I’m sure that the army must come with some Time Lord Tech for storage purposes?

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For the bereaved among us, here is the four-part Ave Regina Caelorum, written late in life by the 15th century composer Guillaume Dufay. He requested in his will that it be performed at his funeral.

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@apopheniac    Well, it started somehow with this series and has been rather fun. But normally, people just come on and share. I have been introduced to some entirely fabulous music on this thread.  Like your excellent contribution, great track!

@thekrynoidman    I can’t claim a lot of love for The Phantom Menace, although I didn’t think it was irredeemable. However, it does stand on record as the only film I have ever watched in a theatre at 7am, as the tech company where my husband was working was given bulk seats to a first day showing (the showtimes had started at midnight!). I was barely awake when we got there, and the sight of people lining up at the popcorn counter almost drove me right out into the street again!  🙂

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@pedant    Seconded. We can’t have too much writing out there supporting the value of scientific research in clear and irrefutable statements! There are a truly frightening number of viewpoints that are illogical and indeed, completely boneheaded. Well done.

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@purofilion wrote:   Our new Dr isn’t that interested in acceptance -but that’s surface only, I believe
@stormintheheartofthesun wrote: 12 also changed the parameters of his relationship with Clara.

I think that what changed him was the events of Day of the Doctor. I think that he very much wants to be accepted by Clara, and is less concerned about anyone else’s acceptance. He has been evolving, I believe, throughout the AG series. My “theory of evolution” for the Doctor’s recent incarnations goes thus:

Nine, the post Time War Doctor, is last of his people, alone in the universe, very arrogant. He feels superior to humans and asks nothing of them except to be left alone (although this starts to soften almost immediately when he invites Rose into the TARDIS). Ten has learned some humility and has begun to feel lonely. He wants to be a real boy: he falls in love, embraces earth culture. But, of course, he can’t really love a human as they would want to be loved, forever, because it can never be forever for him. He can’t become human, he can only be what he is. So Eleven stops trying blend in or “pass”. Instead, he builds himself a family… Amy, Rory, River, then Vastra, Strax, and Jenny. And Clara. And then he learns that he isn’t really alone in the multiverse, and his people give him a new regeneration cycle.

Twelve doesn’t need humans anymore. He has his sense of superiority back. But he looks back over his experiences in and since the Time War, and wonders what kind of a man he has become. Perhaps he is thinking about the Time Lords and all that he once disliked about them, because there is still the issue of whether it is safe to let them return. He needs Clara as an anchor, because he needs someone who believes in him as he finds his way. He tells her that he’s not a hero, but he does keep trying to act like one! Little “Doctor” moments burst out of him in several of the episodes. It takes Missy to finally show him that he is who he has always been, the Doctor, who travels the universe to learn, to experience, to help where he can: not a hero, not a Time Lord bystander, but an idiot with a box.

So in a sense, he really isn’t the Doctor that Clara first met. Because she met the one that was still trying to replace his lost people, who was trying to be a hero to make up for the destruction of Gallifrey. No wonder she has felt so confused for so long. We assume that because as Eleven’s companion, she met a couple of previous incarnations (I don’t count her Claricle experiences because it’s made clear that she doesn’t really remember them), that she really understands in her heart that Twelve is the same man as Eleven. But I don’t think that is so easy to grasp. The War Doctor and Ten must have felt like different men to her; they do to me! The current Doctor still depends on her, but in an unarticulated way that must not always be clear to her.

Apologies for the long ramble. I love this stuff! And my thesis statement: I believe that the Doctor will be less dependent on his next companion. Perhaps more of a teacher instead?

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@pedant    Well, yes. I have a couple of people in my life whom I would sometimes like to shake. Of course, what I really do is give advice when they ask it and support at other times. Who knows how helpful that really is, but mostly people can only help themselves in the end. I’m guessing from his actions that this would have been Danny’s view as well.

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@purofilion    To your very eloquent defense of Clara, I would add that she also admitted that she found the notion of boring Danny who was totally focused on getting the kids to safety extremely attractive! So she was doing that fairly natural thing of finding a nurturing, responsible man attractive. Good for her.  🙂

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@purofilion     I think part of the problem lies with the fact that these people really don’t understand how they come across to us. I had an exchange of views awhile back with someone who appeared very briefly on this site, where I told them that it wasn’t as much their opinion as their tone that people were objecting to. They were quite annoyed with me because they honestly didn’t believe that the written word carried a tone. I realized at that moment that this would never be resolved with this person, because they honestly didn’t understand exactly how they were giving offense.

@apopheniac     You win this week’s Arbutus Award for random use of Princess Bride quotations! Congratulations and enjoy, your shipment of ROUS’s should be arriving shortly.   🙂

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@bfinch    I should add, I’m not approving of what she did. I think her desperation comes from her own sense of guilt. I didn’t care for her treatment of Danny throughout the series, or her lies to both him and the Doctor. I enjoy Clara as a character because she is interesting and real, and her motivations can be understood if not approved. If I knew her in real life, I would probably be frequently frustrated and want to give her a good shake sometimes!

But I don’t think that any of her words and actions come from disloyalty to the Doctor. I do think that she is pretty complicated!

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@bfinch     Your paraphrase is slight, but it makes all the difference to how I would read the Doctor’s words. He said: “Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?” He says, in essence, “Do you really not know how much I care? I care so much that I can understand and forgive.” His statement isn’t about what she feels for him, as your paraphrase suggests. She knows, she has seen, since his regeneration, that he is prepared to let things take their course when he deems it necessary. She has every reason to believe that he will refuse to try and change history to save Danny, and is desperate enough to try and force him to do it. And in fact, he offers something completely different. He agrees to try and find him, where he is now, after death, instead.

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@phaseshift     Sorry to hear you’ve had a stressful time; I’m glad your brother is getting better. I hope it’s all behind him and you now!

@purofilion   I have recently discovered that Rachel Tallalay teaches in the theatre program at the University of British Columbia, here in Vancouver. There was a story about her in the local media just before the finale ran. She talked about using DW episodes as study materials for her directing classes.  🙂

@fatmaninabox    Are internet trolls included in the “pests and diseases” section of your textbook?

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@scaryb   I thought for a moment you had responded to my other post before you had read it, time travelling again perhaps! Yes, I love June Tabor, she has a lovely low, rich voice, and is so expressive without over singing or over emoting. A beautiful song should sell itself, shouldn’t it?

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@scaryb    I’d say that Missy definitely wants to be the Doctor’s friend again, and be understood by him as she understands herself. And we saw her try to convince the Doctor that he is just like her, so that this could happen. But that doesn’t mean that she has reformed in any way that we would recognize!

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Hi, @ozitenor! Welcome. I love that you watch both old and new DW with your son. My son (15) has never been interested in the show, despite (or perhaps because of) a massive interest in physics and technology. He has always been pretty literal-minded. But I have always watched old films with him as well as new, and it’s great when kids can grow up understanding that there’s more to good storytelling than modern production values. You made a nice tie in on the Death in Heaven conversation between Danny’s tears and the Cybermen’s tear-shaped eyes. Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts about this and other episodes.

@xad4    That is a fun bit of trivia. Gracepoint was actually filmed very near here, in Victoria, BC, and a good friend who is a camera operator worked on the series. He said David Tennant is as nice as could be, and very funny!

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@fonsini     Sorry? The Doctor “is not supposed to”? Says who? I’m not aware that anyone writes the rules for the Doctor other than those who are actually writing the show. And as others have stated, and has been discussed frequently here throughout this run, the Doctor’s anti military viewpoint is not only not new, it has been a specific theme of Series 8. Sorry if you don’t agree with it, but as been made abundantly clear recently, we are not the ones telling the story.

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@drben      Your last paragraph makes an excellent point! Cyber-Brig really helps make that crystal clear, I think.

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