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18 November 2013 at 15:23 #20899
Working from home for a bit of this week, so I’m indulging in listening to the audio stuff I managed to record. I’m keeping the audio reading of Doctor Who and the Daleks as a “book at bedtime” option for the future, but I’m listening to Protect and Survive.
First couple of episodes were Doctor lite (it’s McCoy!) but actually a bit haunting, with some good use of extracts from those “in case of nuclear attack” public information films. God – memories of those always send a shiver down the spine. What a mad period.
Episode 3, and McCoys back in the game. If anyone wants to listen, it’s available on i-player:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007jxx3/Doctor_Who_Protect_and_Survive_Episode_1/
18 November 2013 at 15:08 #20898Many thanks for the recipe, I hope you all have a splendid time at the Asylum. 😀 I apologise again for non-attendance.
I’m hoping to provide a tasting guide for the recommended cocktails over the 24 hours before the anniversary begins, in a freestyle Jilly Goolden/Oz Clarke stylee on the 50th blog.
You know – “I’m getting leaves, I’m getting the scent of overripe squirrel urine, I’m getting right on your tits, aren’t I”.
I’ll start about 7:50pm on Friday with the “Old Fashioned” for Doctor one.
18 November 2013 at 14:53 #20897To conclude our Doctors in a reasonably priced car segment, and to answer the burning question “Just who can throw a reasonably priced car around a race track the fastest”, here is the Matt Smith interview and lap.
16 November 2013 at 23:53 #20823I think River was supposed to be their way of ensuring the silence that must fall at Trenzilore by killing him before he went there. As it turned out she ensured the Silence by saying his name in a way that nobody else could hear. Funny how these prophesies turn out, isn’t it?
16 November 2013 at 23:33 #20820Just to let everyone know, I’ve asked @wolfweed and @bluesqueakpip to continue being our point people on any further promotional clips and potential prequels. They’ve kindly agreed to add any additiona to their existing blogs so conversations can be kept in a limited number of places.
Cheers All.
16 November 2013 at 15:41 #20804I can’t remember if this was a “thing” on this blog, but I can remember criticism on the G episode review that the Blue Crystal shouldn’t exist because “it” was lost at the end of Planet of the Spiders. With the endorsement of the Big Finish Doctor Eight stuff, he picked it up in this two part story. I didn’t even bother to mention it before, because of the fairly inevitable “but that not canon”. So – anyone puzzled has an answer.
Part one – The Eight Truths (Link to BF)
Part two – Worldwide Web (Link to BF)
12 November 2013 at 23:08 #20619Hi @scaryb
I don’t know when you’ll need the images for, but I could get you a higher res one at the weekend. If not a low res will represent me well. I look blurry in real life too. Many thanks for doing that.
10 November 2013 at 17:18 #20495Many thanks for the recipe! Champagne eh? A high maintenance fish. If you could confirm your favoured proportions, I shall add it to the list. Just Eleven now, which I’m working on. Hic.
10 November 2013 at 17:13 #20494Yes – I agree, probably for the best. The usual “weekend warriors” have been looking a little, well… tired recently don’t you think? Nice of you, like last time, to leave the option of contacting you directly in place.
Just think, after the 50th, it will be a mere hop, skip and jump until we’re worrying about spoilers for the Christmas special!
10 November 2013 at 17:01 #20491I’ve had a lovely rewatch of this. Feels even more “right” at the time of year. I won’t repeat @bluesqueakpip s excellent summation, but just a few thoughts.
As an episode I love it. You could accuse it of being massive fan-service, but in the 50th year, I think you’d have to be a massive grump to use the accusation against it. Matt Smith really is on top form here. As we’ve just seen the trailer, it’s hard to believe he has 2 episodes left in the role. I’m actually glad it’s so sudden though. That valedictory tour of “specials” for Tennant tried my patience to a certain extent. I think Smith will leave me wanting more, which is preferable.
We started out in the SM retrospective looking at Moffatisms, and repeating ideas and structures, but as time has gone on, those have really stopped. I actually think, while there are certain themes he repeats with reason, the way he tackles them have been really adaptive and probably work because he rarely repeats a trick or falls into a season structure that repeats. You never really quite know where his mind is going and so it makes the speculation all the more intriguing. In a period that is to a certain extent celebrating the legend of the Doctor over 50 years, I think his fairytale approach since becoming lead writer has paid dividends, with its themes of myths, legends, stories and prophesies really engaging with the notion of time in a way the show has never really ventured into.
I said on the Faces strand that this period has been my favourite of Who history. As @bluesqueakpip said, Matt Smith is a good strong unpredictable lead, and I think SM has shown himself to be just as unpredictable in storytelling. I think he really has moved the show to the next level after the work done by Russell, opening up the possibilities for the future.
9 November 2013 at 00:32 #20320Many thanks to @Shazzbot for moving the posts in the end. The Day is long, and my PC needs a reboot.
As your posts seemed more about companions than the 50th, this is probably the best thread.
8 November 2013 at 22:28 #20300We seemed to have started the weekend again with a poster with some…. provocative thoughts on a couple of thorny issues. If only I had a song to reference.
Ah … Dame Shirley, warble that choon just one more time, please:
8 November 2013 at 22:22 #20299I’ll just add my congratulations @miapatrick. Hope you’ve had a couple in celebration!
8 November 2013 at 15:30 #20262Ah – Day of the Doctor will be shown at 19:50 on the 23rd on TV. I think I have most of the scheduling information, and will update the blog with these and others requests (and finally get a look at the cocktail suggestions as well).
7 November 2013 at 23:25 #20206Evening all,
I remember the prologue clip for Name of the Doctor really well. I put it in the news thread at your (and others) request because I didn’t consider it a spoiler, but asked discussion of it to be there. As it was just a week before transmission I don’t think it impacted at the time. You later confessed to giving in and watching it, as I remember. 😀
@craig @all
If we want the trailer discussion to be in one place, we could use one of the blogs to post it. Enough of us (including @wolfweed, who is usually hot of the starting block) have the capacity to set up a dedicated blog to it. It has the benefit that only a few lines of text are visible in the activity stream as well.
As for closing the site to new members, why not play that one by ear? I’m sure if something breaks for this one it is more likely than not going to be the press itself given the profile and buzz surrounding it.
7 November 2013 at 13:45 #20147OK, time for me to spin the roulette wheel of plot points! Fundamentally I think this will be as stand-alone as possible while carrying on certain underlying themes about the mythology of the Doctor. I think the ramifications of this and the earlier series will play into the Christmas special though.
1. Personally, I still think that Doctor Hurt is a missing link between 8 & 9. The Time Lord usually referred to as the Doctor who didn’t deserve the name as he broke the promise during the Time War. The reason I like this is that it serves two purposes:
- It lets you consider what the promise is, and I will therefore return to my musings on the Hippocratic oath, to keep them from harm and injustice. The Doctor took the name to reflect that sentiment, not realising that it was his actions that would inspire the “Name of The Doctor” in the first place. Very circuitous. It’s also a nice idea to hang on why the TARDIS also looks like a Police Box. You’d always hope that the occupant of one of those would keep you from harm and injustice. The Doctor renews his vow.
- It brings you closer to the notional regeneration limit, and enables stories/future stories about that. I originally started by thinking Capaldi will be the “last” regeneration, but I can’t help thinking if he wanted it, SM could make Matt the last by introducing DoctorHurt and counting the metacrisis Doctor at the end of Series 4. If you wanted to do a story of overcoming the thirteen lives rule, and avoid the Doctor seeking immortality (which only bad and mad people do) why not thrust it upon him unexpectedly? “Eleven” thinks it’s the end – surprisingly regenerates and the next Doctor has an arc of discovery about why that happened? This would also neatly get us past the entire Valeyard thing – it may have been potential once but, you know, it never happened. I will pop a cork from the champagne bottle.
2. The Trenzalore end point will be definitely be re-written.
3. In this examination of the Doctors life and end-points, the BG Doctors will appear in voice only. This will be a meta-textual joke that the old incarnations are still with us where available, and continue adventures in the audio format.
4. Clara will recognise Rose as the woman who gave her the Doctors number in the shop. Rose will not recognise her, but after swapping some stories, Clara will ask her to go back in time and give her the number. Like Rose with Bad Wolf, she creates herself.
5. I will be wrong again. In the roulette wheel of plot points, the house (SM) always wins.
5 November 2013 at 23:37 #20085It’s a great idea, I shall post tomorrow when I havea bit more time and am a bit more awake! I just need to work out if I’m going bonkers, or if I’m applying the blue boringers again.
5 November 2013 at 16:36 #20080As I’ve been checking into the BBC Media centre, they’ve uploaded the short description of the Day of the Doctor which will get used in preview magazines and the rest. It’s official, it’s out there as other sites are listing it, so I may as well give a link to it to those who want to read it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/48/doctor-who-50.html
5 November 2013 at 16:35 #20079That is very funny regarding the press release. Looking at the time of your comment, I have a suspicion that you may be one of the first people on the internet to mention it!
The Guardian has a deal to feature extracts of the books, and has heavily featured them on its books site, and has only recently uploaded its extract.
I’ve been waiting for printed versions of the stories released this year, and I may as highlight that cthe ompilation featuring all of the short stories is released on 21st November. First listing I’ve seen is Amazon, at £7.19 (other retailers are available, etc.)
The 50th Anniversary Anthology features the stories (in order by Doctor):
Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Segdwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman, Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy and Neil Gaiman.
3 November 2013 at 17:26 #19994@shazzbot (@Craig) @all
While it may make an interesting blog, I had more of an interest in potentially opening it up a bit with an eye to the future. I’m sure we’ll be busy towards the end of November, and upto Christmas. After that we’ll probably have a loooooonggg wait.
I’ve enjoyed both the SM and BG retrospectives, but I’m keenly aware they’ve had limited participation. We finished Tomb yesterday, and shortly we’ve got a BBC showing of Unearthly Child, and I’m wondering if we should just call that our Hartnell review? I think one thread covering all the episodes, as we’ve done with Web of Fear and Enemy of the World. So my question was more to gauge the interest of further retrospectives in the future, maybe featuring stories we haven’t covered with a loose theme like “Religion” or “Time” (I think @bluesqueakpip was also interested in Day of the Daleks, and that may be worth revisiting in a Time retrospective).
I’m sure people will say “Ah…we’ll consider that later”, but I think it’s worth asking the question “are more retrospectives are a good idea for the future, or shall we look for another avenues to entertain ourselves?”
3 November 2013 at 15:22 #19988On the whole, I’d say the anniversary year has been seized on by many, ahem, well timed (or opportunistic) viewpoints by various interested “stakeholders”. One thinks of the Doctor Who and Race book earlier this year.
I think I can agree you could use it as a start-off for discussion, as I suppose you could use many things, but I have to agree with @jimthefish you’d probably conclude that, on the whole, it’s a negative view. I wouldn’t think this is particularly troublesome for anyone. Religion is often presented as a conservative force for the status quo which rejects progress, while Science has often been portrayed as practiced by a stream of madmen with no thought of consequence or morality. That’s drama.
I’ve read stuff in the past that has tried to misrepresent Curse of Fenric as suggesting that strong belief is inherently a good thing (it rejects vampires!) and that the loss of faith by the Priest (who can’t reject vampires) is an endorsement of religion. I’ve never seen a problem with presenting faith as a force, someone’s faith and beliefs can shape history and events after all, but the Doctors faith is in his companions and the Soviet Commanders is with the Communist revolution, so probably not that much an endorsement of religion.
Terry Pratchett was quite shocked when his Small Gods was very well received.
Heh. I can remember hearing that, of the mail he received, those who mentioned religion in any context were split 50:50 between believers and non-believers. All of whom thanked him for supporting their opinion. Truly, Terry heard “the sound of many voices”.
3 November 2013 at 12:06 #19979@shazzbot
Religion on a Sunday?!? Can’t we keep it special? 😉
No – I am actually interested in what he intends to focus on in the book he’s written (although not that interested that I’d shell out £15 for it), and how he builds the argument. I thought this discussion by Splendid Chaps that was recorded earlier this year was interesting. It featured Reverend Doctor Avril Hannah-Jones who did the Church of the later day Geek stuff in Australia, using Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy and Doctor Who as religious texts. She actually had her eyes opened a bit by some of the choices that were made, and ended up with a pretty negative view of how religion had been portrayed.
I was quite surprised by this in the article:
while Gridlock, an episode show later that year, was viewed by others as a Christian allegory, and nominated for an Evangelical award in the US.
OK – it’s been a while since I watched Gridlock but doesn’t that episode involve the people with a shared belief and singing “Abide with me” basically stuck in a rut, going round in circles and lacking the motivation to question and do anything about their situation? That require a couple of outsiders and a self-sacrifice to sort them out? I’m amazed that’s the kind of Allegory any Christian would want to celebrate!
I’m so interested in this, I actually think it could form the basis of a retrospective in itself, because some of the episodes I’d highlight cover the history of the show, and include some that have also been mentioned in passing (I think it was @bluesqueakpip who asked for Curse of Peladon for Three, Kinda has been mentioned a lot for Five, And Curse of Fenric for Seven). It might make for an interesting diversion at some point in the future.
2 November 2013 at 22:46 #19964I was originally resistant to the idea of it being Rose as the woman in the shop, but given her presence in the 50th, I do like the idea that maybe it is, and she is prompted by a future version of Clara herself to initiate their meeting. I think it may have been the companions thread where we talked about certain similarities with the shape of Clara’s storyline with Rose, and maybe that was the point?
After singing the praises of Matt Smith on the Faces strand, I’ll just divert to talk about guest stars. It’s fantastic the calibre of people Who is attracting, but do you sometimes find yourself watching one and thinking “Gah – not much returning potential in that one. Bugger!” Celie Imrie here, and I felt the same way about Jason Watkins in the Nightmare in Silver episode. Great to see them, but it would have been marvellous to see them again. Still this is Who, and anything is possible. Jason could be the first Ginger Doctor!
2 November 2013 at 22:36 #19962Awww, Bless!
2 November 2013 at 22:06 #19959Thanks for that, because I’ve been meaning to UPGRADE to the Revisitations sets at some point. I have all the stories, although 3 Doctors is still a VHS, and my Robots of Death DVD has developed a fault. At the current price, it’s a bargain. I can’t say I’ve listened to any of his commentaries, but I’ve just checked my own copy of Once Upon a Time… and will give it a go. Love the story about his latin motto.
2 November 2013 at 21:41 #19955@craig – It’s a shame the Time Lord moniker for mods can’t be individual. I’d happily take up @scaryb‘s suggestion of “Special Weapons”. 😀
@wolfweed – No point in giving it a second thought, as they’re probably selecting the next moniker to sign in as. I always enjoy the “faux offence” ones, as they storm away like a petulant teenager. They complete my day and send to sleep with a smile on my face.
And it was great to indulge in the “shape shiting” stuff – I almost went for a Tur(d)ner Prize gag.
2 November 2013 at 21:33 #19952Despite is pissing it down tonight, it doesn’t appear to have dampened the desire of people in the area to recreate the soundscape of the Battle of the Somme. So have an appropriate choon, and dig those eighties styles.
2 November 2013 at 17:12 #19923Note to Cybercontroller – when devising your cunning plan, if you can’t put a switch on the inside to let you get out, at least put the machinery that you are completely reliant on the same side of the door as you. Sorry – went a bit Guardian there.
It’s still a good ending I think, nicely paced. Toberman swinging the Cybercontroller above his head can revitalise memories of Johnny Weissmuller wrestling patently fake crocodiles, but that just adds to its period charm. Lovely performance from Troughton as he tantalises Klieg with visions of his greatness, only to dash them all with “So you are mad! Just wanted to check”.
The theme of the Doctor appealing to the underlying humanity of the converted controlled really starts here, with Toberman willing to sacrifice his life by closing the doors. The sentiment has been echoed a few times since with Next Doctor and Closing Time being prime examples.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching it again.
I’m guessing from the production stamp of 2011 thats one of the additional features for the remastered edition in the Regenerations box set? Very good, with some nice parallels drawn. It hadn’t occurred to me that the Scarab may have been the inspiration for the Cybermat, but I like the idea.
Nice to see Kit Pedler get a mention as well. I read a collection of essays he published when I was a teenager which were interesting reading.
2 November 2013 at 16:40 #19912& the fact that ‘Shapeshiters’ was not a word (until now)
Shapeshiter (n) – A practitioner of the art of the anus, with the ability to excrete faeces into amusing and/or dynamic shapes.
Example – “Those balloon animals look horrid. Why are they all brown?” “They aren’t balloons. All the work of our resident shapeshiter.”
2 November 2013 at 13:30 #19876@shazzbot @steve-thorp
Honestly, I looked at that Winder article and just did a mental shrug. So pseuds corner it defies belief. I couldn’t even summon up the energy to take the piss.
The Pratchett article is interesting, and because the article doesn’t really explain its source, I will. When this site first launched in January I highlighted a book I’d got for Christmas, Behind the Sofa – Celebrity memories of Doctor Who. It was sourced by crowdfunding and I thought was rather special. It indirectly led to @jimthefish suggesting our own Doctor Who Memories thread.
A new and expanded version of the book has been released for the 50th by Gollancz, with this piece by Terry Pratchett one of the additions. As with the first release, all the royalties go to Alzheimer’s research. A great stocking filler for the Who nerd of your dreams.
http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=97805751294501 November 2013 at 23:08 #19855@scaryb (and other Orphan Black watchers)
So, what did you think of the last episode? I only just noticed it was shown tonight, as this link went up on the Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/nov/01/orphan-black-season-one-finale-recap-bbc-threeI thought it was great, with a lot of potential for the next series. Thankfully, I think it sounds like we may get a concurrent deal between the US and UK for the next series of shows after this trial series.
1 November 2013 at 22:27 #19852I agree with every word. I could have waxed lyrical about Matt Smith for hours, but I had to concede I’d already done that on the episode blogs! 😀 I thought I’d just dwell on how this run has made me feel, and it’s been fantastic.
The subtlety of the performance is astonishing, and as you say has grown over the three years. What really impresses me is the substantial work he did in that first series. It’s quite remarkable when I’ve revisited episodes like Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, etc (I concentrated my personal review on eps that our retrospective didn’t touch on). It really is that feeling of unpredictability about what he will do that really maintains interest.
I never thought someone so young could portray that old spirit so well. The scene at the end of The Big Bang, or the many episodes he has suddenly switched emotional gear in episode (as with Madge in tDtWatW) really do linger in the memory.
1 November 2013 at 22:21 #19851I agree with you on Eleventh Hour. I think I said on the blog for that episode that I really hope Moffat can pull a double and write two great intros, with a good strong start for Peter Capaldi.
1 November 2013 at 12:46 #19796Peter Davison is confirmed for the Excel convention, and a 2D screening of the anniversary special is also to occur on the Saturday (for a limited number though).
In addition to the Doctors, the other guests confirmed are:
Friday, November, 22:
Waris Hussein, Anneke Wills, Kate O’Mara, Richard Franklin, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Terry Molloy, Gabriel Woolf, Barry Newbery, Michael Ferguson, Fiona Walker, Fiona Cumming and Ian Fraser.
Saturday, November 23:
Janet Fielding, Louise Jameson, Yee Jee Tso, Katy Manning, Carole Ann Ford, Geoffrey Beevers, Frazer Hines, William Russell, Nicola Bryant, Deborah Watling, Sophie Aldred, Daphne Ashbrook, David Collings, Terrance Dicks, and June Hudson.
Sunday, November 24:
Peter Purves, Mark Strickson, Bonnie Langford, John Leeson, Lalla Ward, Wendy Padbury, Maureen O’Brien, Michael Kilgarriff, Julian Glover, Stephen Thorne, David Graham, Donald Tosh, Anthony Read, Andrew Morgan and Andrew Cartmel.
News on Digital Spy:
1 November 2013 at 09:48 #19780So – what were you doing on Saturday 3rd January 2009 at tea-time? I can remember well, because I was watching a specially arranged version of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC One, and this had just happened:
I stared at the screen with bemusement. What the hell had just happened? I’m told most of the country immediately asked “who the !@*K is Matt Smith?”, but I’d seen him with Billie Piper in the Philip Pullman “Sally Lockhart ” adaptations. A bit of a jack-the-lad. I’d seen him in Party Animals. Such was the atmosphere that radiated from me, MrsPhaseshift had to go upstairs to give me some alone time in a darkened room.
Genuinely, I was confused, and feared for the sanity of Steven Moffat on that day.
“So… all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will – where do you want to start?” – The Doctor
It took Matt Smith about 10 minutes of The Eleventh Hour to convince me I was very wrong indeed. Moffat was completely sane, but his vision for the Doctor wasn’t. By the end of that episode I was grinning like a lunatic and punched the air with excitement at the line:
“Amy Pond, there’s something you better understand about me ’cause it’s important and one day your life may depend on it…I am definitely a mad man with a box” – The Doctor
I AM a child of the Tom Baker years. I know an insane Doctor when I see one. I met Tom as a child and had the opportunity to study him up close. He was bonkers, frankly. When I’ve looked back over these eleven months, although I can appreciate each Doctor (bar one) and their performance, it’s always the ones that have those qualities accentuated I’m drawn to. It is always going to be Troughton, Baker (T), and McCoy. It’s not necessarily what they say, it’s how they say it, through mannerisms, body language and sometimes inappropriate actions which appears contrary to what they are saying. They are a bit bewildering. Hence, I think, my very high opinion of Matt Smith, who has taken the idea of the mad Doctor and turned it, in true Spinal Tap style, to 11.
“I grew up” – Amy Pond
“Don’t worry, I’ll soon fix that” – The DoctorSo for the last four years, Doctor Who has cured me of being an adult. While I’ve always been a fan, and wouldn’t miss one for the world, the current show has hotwired me into the imagination and joy of my early years, and that is a very special thing. Watching Smith’s performance both exhausts me and makes me feel young.
It also helps that the stories have been stronger (particularly the arcs) and more consistently appealing to me. There are relatively few that I would categorise as duds in his era. The puzzles, and non-linear storytelling are a breath of fresh air, and they have pushed this madman to the limit. It’s no secret that many of the surviving Doctors have a touch of envy the range of the scenes given to the successors, and who can blame them?
So for me it’s simple – the way it’s played, the range, the ability to highlight both negative and positive quirks of the Doctor in sharp relief, and those big sprawling storylines with their mysteries to unravel have made this my favourite period of Who history.
I will be sad to see Smith go later this year. It’s been fantastic to have a madman back in the Box. I’m sure we won’t see another one for quite some time, because Smith has been so good at it. Capaldi will take it in a new direction, and he’ll be brilliant. Probably not that mad though.
1 November 2013 at 09:43 #19778Gosh, is it November already? Any thoughts on this chap, Matt Smith, or indeed any Doctors are very welcome.
We started this journey in January with a plan for a Doctor a month for eleven months, not realising at the time that the end of the 12th month would see a new Doctor. While it seems strange to be talking about eleven when he’s still in the role, I guess that was always the plan.
31 October 2013 at 20:17 #19753Ooh Halloween. Surely:
Only pop music can save us now!
30 October 2013 at 19:03 #19596Thanks, @scaryb, but the Radio 4 extra news gets better. That one is complete on the Saturday, and there is a new adventure each night that week with some full cast Big Finish stuff as well. The schedule is:
Sat 16th Nov: AudioGo “Doctor Who and the Daleks”
Sun 17th Nov: Protect and Survive. The Seventh Doctor with old companion Ace and audio companion Hex travel to the eighties. Full cast.
Mon 18th Nov: Fanfare for the Common Men. The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa venture to the sixties in a tale of thwarted history. Also features long time fan Mitch Benn. Full Cast.
Tues 19th Nov: Thousand Tiny Wings More Sylvester McCoy as he confronts and avian group intelligence. Full Cast.
Wed 20th Nov: Farewell Great Macedon. William Russel and Carol Ann Ford in a lost tale as the original TARDIS crew meet Alexander the Great.
Thur 21st Nov: Human Resources. Another chance to hear this well regarded tale featuring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith. Full Cast.
Fri 22nd Nov: AudioGo “Dalek Invasion of Earth”, read again by William Russel.30 October 2013 at 17:38 #19592I’ll add this to the blog at the weekend, but something a bit different.
Saturday 16th November at 6pm, and then subsequent nights, will see Radio 4 Extra broadcasting “Doctor Who and the Daleks”. AudioGos reading of the first Doctor Who book written by David Whittaker. It features his reinterpretation of the meeting of Ian, Barbera and the Doctor, and is read by the original Ian, William Russel. Great timing that, as we did a blog recently on the Target novels.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/47/doctor-who-and-the-daleks.html30 October 2013 at 14:33 #19585Many thanks for those words @danmartinuk. You know your always welcome, whenever you have a moment.
@shazzbot
It makes sense to move the posts to the blog if it’s possible. I know we used to struggle with that in the past.
29 October 2013 at 14:52 #19527Very saddened by the news regarding @htpbdet.
For anyone reading who doesn’t know, the site was born directly from the desire of a number of enthusiastic posters on @danmartinuk ’s excellent Guardian blogs, which started in 2010 with Matt Smiths inaugural series. It’s a bizarre thing, and may be the first time a community has ever developed from something as normally adversarial as a newspaper television comments section.
It seems like a long time ago, but I still remember the first comments he posted, starting around the blog for Amy’s Choice. He didn’t appear to be having a great time with it, but his passion for the show, and willingness to explain his dislike with some incisive wit and invective made him an interesting and unusual contributor to say the least. He rapidly became what became known as an “after-hours” poster. After the children had expressed their glee or thrown a tantrum in one line, a bunch of posters would hang around swapping theories, spots and, increasingly, stories about their love for the show and others, often still posting the day the next episode was to be broadcast. I was happy when we finally hit upon something we agreed wholeheartedly on – a deep and abiding love for Emma Peel from the Avengers. 🙂
In short, along with posters like @juniperfish, @htpbdet became a mainstay for the core of this nascent community in the very early days. Without that, I don’t think we’d be here today. It was great to see that community grow, even if a few disappeared along the way, lost to the time winds. We rarely seemed to agree, but I don’t think that ever stopped us having a joke or being interested in what other people had to say.
I think that’s a rare thing to happen, and I’m glad it did. Glad he found a home for his thoughts here, and so glad that when the moment came, it was at least prepared for, and he got to see the celebration he’d been looking forward to. His words here, and on those blogs in the Guardian will live on.
I’ll certainly raise a toast in his direction. All the best to his family for the future.
28 October 2013 at 23:23 #19496Thanks for that @craig – that actually seemed really brief in comparison with others, and I was surprised the timings were the same! I’d forgotten the cliffhanger for Stolen Earth had made it onto the news (must have been the start of silly season that one).
I think the revisited for Doctor 11 premieres in the UK first this month on Watch. I therefore demand some US viewers come in to complain about this injustice at once, for International balance. 😉
28 October 2013 at 21:11 #19492Final thing from me for Tennant.
I’m sure after seeing Ecclestone being interviewed, and almost killing himself in a reasonably priced car, you’ve been waiting for this. Watch, in awe, that easy charm in action on the Top Gear sofa. But can he drive a reasonably priced car?
28 October 2013 at 21:07 #19491Ah – the BFI have added a snippet of the Tennant retrospective to their You Tube account featuring Catherine Tate talking about her confusion (to much hilarity) about the Sontarans.
It also features David Tennant in his much celbrated “greaser” look. Good job Doctor 11 isn’t around after all the grief he gave Rory in “Amy’s Choice”.
The full 30 minute conversation is only available on the BFI web-site, and is available at this link.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/video/video-stolen-earth-journeys-end-qa27 October 2013 at 16:52 #19417That’s ironic, about the sleeping. When I first read your comment I semi convinced myself that I must have blacked out and missed it. I ended up putting the DVD back on and watching it again. 🙂
Thanks for the link to the blog about Nostalgia and Comics. It looks so clean! It was geek heaven in the late seventies and early eighties. For me, part museum and art gallery (all the original artwork from comics they had dotted about for sale), library, and drop in lounge for some really disturbing looking (but immensely friendly and knowledgeable) people. Nowhere else on the planet could an eleven year old boy get to have an argument about which run of the X-Men was best with a really big biker in his forties, and hope to live. Marvellous place.
I was in there a few years ago, and it seemed to have become more of a toy shop, so it’s nice to see they are putting a bit more prominence on the books and comics again. I shall make a beeline next time I’m in the area.
27 October 2013 at 15:03 #19413Oh – I’m glad you raised Clive. In a affront to topic sensitive people everywhere, I shall continue take your lead.
Shame, as you say, he’s been pigeon holed a bit in recent times. Does anyone remember his turn as unhinged newsreader Damian Appleby opposite Denis “Wedge Antilles” Lawson in “The Kit Curran Radio Show”? He was awesome.
27 October 2013 at 13:54 #19410How well timed. Read the exchange here and take @bluesqueakpip s advice.
27 October 2013 at 12:32 #19407@wolfweed – you can’t help feeling that @craig must sometimes resort to peels of maniacal laughter, shouting “It’s ALLLLLIVVVE! I’ve created a MONSTER”.
I know I would.
Great posts from @bluesqueakpip and you. The significance of the Punch and Judy show had passed me by as well, and it’s brilliant.
I think the scene where Clara starts to cry is really well done, if you watch this after Name. The act of giving her the key seems to set her off, and that’s something that the original Clara doesn’t get, in fact it’s pointed out more than once she’s shut out of the TARDIS.
I think our original speculation about whether Clara is empathic and/or slightly telepathic was on the money (especially when viewed in conjunction with Rings and Hide, which we won’t be covering in the retrospective), even if it hasn’t been spelled out yet. I can’t help feeling that’s a storyline that may be germinating for Clara for beyond Day of the Doctor.
I still find this episode a beautifully put together thing. Hats (battered big tall ones) off to everyone involved. The Paternoster Gang just work for me. I still think the “One Word” scene is a thing of beauty, the comedy well pitched and the end well done. I think there was a lot of criticism back in the day that, because this was part of an “arc” it was difficult to understand, but I can’t see that. You start of with the Doctor miserable (and every Christmas special with ten post Christmas Invasion had that – his theme could have been Mud’s “Lonely this Christmas”), you get the random meeting and encounter, and adventure as the Doctor pulls himself together, and then you are told that the Doctor may have encountered the mystery girl in the past. I think it’s pretty self contained.
Jenna is smashing in this. I thought she made an immediate impact in Asylum, but the interaction with Matt is delightful. Less caustic and more trusting that Oswin, but Oswin had undergone conversion and therefore may have lost some “love” however she resisted.
I was delighted to hear @wolfweed say the guy who has storyboarded the next Christmas Special is rating it so highly. I think each of these Christmas Specials have been real showcases for Matt. I know some are hoping for a surprise regeneration in the Day of the Doctor, and an early appearance by Peter Capaldi. As I’ve enjoyed Smith so much in the role, I wouldn’t want his end to the overshadowed by the events of the anniversary special, and I think a good hour in his company before he signs off would be most welcome.
27 October 2013 at 11:30 #19403Gosh – Just read that first page and weep, as we merrily sign in to set sail on the good ship thedoctorwhoforum.
It was cunning planning unleashing the site on New Years Eve. When we celebrate the sites first Birthday we already have a fantastic excuse to be well oiled. 😀
27 October 2013 at 11:23 #19402Taking your question at face value, while you may get something out of the special, I can’t help thinking you’re going to be a bit bemused without any working knowledge of 11, and certainly the storyline involving Clara that led to Name of the Doctor, which on the face of it, seems pretty critical to the Day of the Doctor.
Watching 7 may answer some questions, but pose others. A fairly critical character in Name isn’t even introduced until the back end of 4. I can give you a name, but you may consider that SPOILERS, sweetie.
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