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[throughtimeywimey]

Death in Heaven

If you want time to fly, start a new season of Doctor Who. After what seems to have been no time at all, here we are at the finale of series 8! And what a finale it was. Watching Death in Heaven, the second installment of an epic two-parter, left me feeling like I had just run a marathon.

First of all there were the Cybermen, which I have considered to be the most terrifying of the Doctor’s adversaries since Rise of the Cybermen in series 2. What is more horrifying than making a fleet of newly converted Cybermen explode simply by making them realize what they have become? Yes, the fact that they are basically unbeatable giant robots is scary enough, but their real terror is psychological, and there was no shortage of that in Death in Heaven. Watching Clara make the decision to inhibit Cyberman Danny’s emotions just so he could stop feeling his pain was gut-wrenching. Of course it also posed an ethical dilemma for the Doctor, the result of which surprised me. I couldn’t see the tenth or eleventh Doctor allowing this to happen, but he did. I understand choosing the need of the many over the need of the few, but it still surprised me considering that he did just the opposite of this in Kill the Moon.

There is also the implication of every single person that has ever died becoming a Cyberman. Every single loved one that anyone has ever put to rest was converted, and then blown up. This is horrible enough without me pointing out that somewhere in New York, Cyber Amy and Cyber Rory blew up as well. I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

Of course the main attraction was not the Cybermen, but Missy, the Master regenerated into female form (as a side note, I’ve been saying this for weeks). And oh my stars, monuments should be erected in honor of Michelle Gomez’s flawless performance. I’ll be honest, I regard a female Master as a litmus test for one day having a female Doctor, and if Missy is any indication of how that would go, I say bring it on. I had absolutely no problem accepting that the Master was female, and except for a few excellent comedic moments (how about those intimacy settings…), her gender really didn’t change much. She was a woman, and she was totally terrifying and effective as the Mistress. It really seems a shame to see Michelle Gomez leave so soon.

When the Master was first introduced in Jon Pertwee’s era, he was more of an anti-villain. He was the Doctor’s school rival, and a renegade Time Lord not unlike the Doctor himself. Not being purely evil or purely good is what makes heroes and villains work, and for a moment there I thought that Missy was a bit too insane for depth. By the end of the episode, however, I was very happily proven wrong. Missy needs the Doctor to see that he is not so unlike her, and he might not be, except for one key difference that the third Doctor pointed out to the Master long ago: “You'll never understand. I want to see the universe, not to rule it.” In a series full of moral ambiguity over whether or not the Doctor is a good man, it seems that we have finally come to the consensus that he is an idiot with a box and a screwdriver, doing what he can to help, and making friends as he goes. In series that has lately been filled with enough twists, turns and reveals to make anyone’s head hurt, this is a refreshing reminder.

Speaking of twists and turns, we got a surprise appearance of the Brig! Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, come back from the dead as a Cyberman, killed the Master. Just read that sentence again. Once more. Yeah, that actually happened. He also saved Kate, which was an intense relief for me. After Osgood’s abrupt death, I was going to write a strongly worded letter to the BBC is Kate really did die.

Of course not everybody lives every day. Danny, who has been one of my favorite parts of this series, opted not to come back in one of the most intensely emotional goodbye’s since Bad Wolf Bay. Danny’s sacrifice for the boy that he killed has earned a place in my top ten NuWho moments. This is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Finding redemption, and doing the right thing even when it hurts. And oh my goodness, did that last scene between Clara and the Doctor hurt.

A hug is just a way to hide your face, as Clara and the Doctor know all too well. Missy lied, and the Doctor cannot find Gallifrey. Danny did not come back. And yet Clara and the Doctor both lied to allow the other one to move on. Luckily, Santa is here to call them out. That’s another sentence that I think you should read again. Yes, Santa apparently has arrived on the TARDIS for the Christmas special, and I for one could not be more excited. Last Christmas we watched Matt Smith regenerate, which was amazing and everything, but I am a firm believer in a light hearted, uplifting Christmas special. Who knows what’s in store, but Santa showing up seems like a pretty good start to me.

And now, the waiting game.

[throughtimeywimey]

The Day of the Doctor

After so much anticipation, it is hard to believe that the 50th anniversary has come and gone, but it has done just that, leaving stunned Whovians in its wake. This particular Whovian, dear (imaginary) readers, is not only stunned, but elated. I could not have asked for anything more from this episode.

Right off the bat, the episode made no secret that it was a celebration of the 50th anniversary. Using the original opening, followed by the junkyard sign and Coal Hill School was a stroke of brilliance. There were lots of little vestiges from the past, which I thoroughly enjoyed, such as the references to The Three Doctors (“Three of them? I didn’t know when I was well off.”), two Doctors trying to reverse the polarity at once (though not of the neutron flow), Zygons (somewhat useless, but great comedic effect), and the return of the round things (I don’t know what they are either).

I have to say that my excitement over the throwbacks was shortly followed by the fairly major disappointment of Billie Piper not actually playing Rose Tyler. I thought this was a bit unfair to do to fans who have been waiting months for the return of Rose, and another reunion with the Doctor. I do have to admit though, that we did already get two perfect endings for Rose, and for her to return yet again may have been excessive, and probably would not have made canonical sense. 

I also cannot complain about the lack of Rose Tyler, when the Moment was undoubtedly one of the cooler parts of the episode. True, technology so powerful that it becomes sentient is a bit of a tired trope at this point, but the Moment breathed new life into it. This was not a super computer set on taking over the world, or a hi-tech city turning against its makers. It was a weapon that not only developed consciousness, but a conscience. It knew what it was capable of doing, and opted to make people better instead. It was basically what the Doctor would be like if he were an all knowing machine. It doesn’t get much cooler and heartwarming than that.

If I had any lingering negative feelings towards the episode after the reveal of Billie Piper’s identity, it was properly squelched by the chemistry between the three Doctors. I initially thought that John Hurt would be the Darker of the three, until it was revealed that he had not yet made the choice to destroy Gallifrey. It was refreshing to see a Doctor without that burden in the context of NuWho. It also gave Matt Smith and David Tennant a chance to do what their Doctors do best: Switch from an excited twelve year old to an ancient genocidal war hero in the blink of an eye. From screwdriver envy, to brainy specs, to regretting and forgetting, every moment between these three actors was like watching magic happen.

And of course, the three Doctors together were able to make the choice that the Doctor alone could never make: Changing the fate of Gallifrey. This was an enormous game changer, without actually changing anything. The Doctor cannot remember that he did not destroy Gallifrey, and so past continuity remains intact. I was relieved by this, because for a moment I thought Moffat’s ego was going to get the better of him. To change the Doctor’s entire past since the end of the Time War would not have been extremely respectful to past writers, or to the audience who knows the continuity so well. This ending was a perfect balance between the mind blowing factor that the 50th anniversary needed, and respect for the show as it is. I have made it no secret that I think Moffat sometimes crosses this line (sending Clara all the way back to the Doctor’s first adventure, for example).

Which brings us, of course, to my absolute favorite part of the whole affair: The surprise guest appearance. I didn’t dare to hope, but when I heard that voice, I knew it had to be him… Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Baker has entered the building, for a brief but magical moment. Although I was campaigning for an eleven Doctor episode (we sort of got thirteen while they were freezing Gallifrey—great forehead work, Capaldi), if it had to be one classic Doctor only, it is right that it was Tom Baker. I admit that I am not old enough to be properly nostalgic about his appearance, but I do know that he was the longest running Doctor, and many people’s favorite Doctor to this day. I can only imagine what it must have been like for older fans to see their Doctor return.

At the suggestion of his previous (or perhaps future?) face, It seems that the eleventh Doctor, and soon to be the twelfth Doctor, is going to go searching for his lost home. It feels like we are on the eve of a very different Doctor, and a very different show. The Doctor is finally free of his guilt over the fate of Gallifrey, and has a brand new mission. I am extremely excited to see where this goes, and curious about the potential introduction of the Doctor’s fellow Time Lords. He never got on particularly well with them in the classics, but absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.

And that, my imaginary friends, is that! We have about a month until the Christmas special, which the word on the street tells me will include the highly anticipated regeneration of Matt Smith into Peter Capaldi. I do hope that they manage to fit some Christmas cheer amidst all the excitement. For now, I leave you with these parting words:

Never be cruel or cowardly. Never give up. Never give in. Always be the Doctor.

[throughtimeywimey]

Lost Episodes FOUND!

This just in: Nine missing Doctor Who episodes previously believed to be lost forever have been found!

The Enemy of the World (with double the Patrick Troughton action) is now a complete serial! The Web of Fear (Featuring the dashing Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart) is now only missing episode three! 

This is indeed a glorious day in the fandom.

Alright. Back on my hiatus.

[throughtimeywimey]

To My Followers, With Love

Ok. I feel that I owe you all an explanation. And by “you all” I mean whoever actually ever took the time to read this blog. So, like, at least maybe a few people?

I know I’ve been on hiatus on and off since basically the creation of this blog, but this last hiatus is the worst yet, and I’m not sure when I’ll come out of it. Unfortunately, I have entered graduate school, and Doctor Who has fallen to the wayside.

I don’t want it to be this way. If I had my druthers, I would watch and blog all day every day. Unfortunately in this little thing called life, we cannot always get what we want. For example, I wanted to watch all the classics by the 50th anniversary so that I could understand every reference, and everything that has led to this. Now it has become apparent that I cannot do this and blog at the same time. Blogging is time consuming. To be honest, I’m so far behind that I probably couldn’t do it even if I didn’t blog.

I don’t want to disappear in silence, so here is a quick post to let the few who might wonder know what’s been going on.

Will I blog again? I hope so. I want to.

Will I watch Classic Doctor Who and not blog about it? I’m not sure. Something tells me that if I do watch it and I don’t blog about it, I will never go back and revisit it to finish this blog. So this is a decision that I still have to make.

Either way, thank you to those who followed, and thank you to those who may have actually read.

 “I don’t want to go.”

[throughtimeywimey]

Peter Capaldi

I have been walking around all day saying “Peter Capaldi” at random intervals. When asked why by confused onlookers, I say “I have to see how it rolls off the tongue. I have a feeling I’ll be saying it a lot.”

I admit that I have actually never heard of Peter Capaldi, though of course I saw him in The Fires of Pompeii (whoever cast that episode, by the way, should be given a raise, as this was also Karen Gillan’s Doctor Who premier).  I do gather, however, that he is known for playing a character that curses a lot, which has spawned many the comical video in the past twenty-four hours. I’m really up in the air about whether or not I want to look at any of his previous work. I want to go in without any preconceived notions, but gosh is it tempting to watch everything he’s ever been in since the dawn of time.

Though I have just admitted I know nothing about our newest addition to the Doctor Who family, I am unashamedly optimistic that I will love him. As I may or may not have stated in my previous blog post (who has time to go back and check these things?) I have yet to dislike a Doctor, and I don’t know why I would start now. He’s older, which I totally predicted he would be (go back and check, I’m not lying), and reminds me of a Jon Pertwee era Doctor. And in the immortal words of my brother (who uttered them yesterday), “He seems like he really gets it.” And I quite agree. As a lifelong Doctor Who fan (how great was that letter?), I’m sure he will do us all proud.

Above anything, I am really, genuinely happy for him. Seeing him come out to reveal himself to a room full of Whovians (a dangerous move, to be sure) was like watching an adventure begin. I hope he knows that millions of fans probably went to sleep last night thinking Peter Capaldi… and wondering what’s in store. And lots of younger fans who may not even know that there is a new Doctor will get to watch him from behind their sofas, and make memories of their Doctor Who experience, and of their favorite aliens who gave them nightmares. And he may become their Doctor, and maybe one of these kids will grow up to be a future Doctor. And maybe fifty years from now, they’ll have another special to announce the next Doctor, and when celebrity guests are asked who their favorite is, they’ll say “Oh I loved Peter Capaldi. He was my Doctor.” And I hope he knows what he is getting into, and what this role will come to mean for millions of fans.

Congratulations, Peter Capaldi, and may the Whovians welcome you with opened arms.

[throughtimeywimey]

Doctor Who?

We interrupt our highly irregularly scheduled programming for tonight’s big announcement: The identity of the twelfth Doctor will be revealed this Sunday!

I spent most of today pondering what the expected big announcement could be, and while I think announcing a further announcement is sort of cheating, I am still plenty excited by this revelation. Excited enough, in fact, to come out of hiding and share my thoughts.

As I never addressed the recent news that Matt Smith is leaving, I’ll start there. I love Matt Smith. I have loved him from the beginning, and I will surely love him until the end. Before the second half of series seven aired, I was banking on Matt staying for series eight before departing. Now that this most recent series is behind us, however, I do believe it is time. The eleventh Doctor shtick has gotten a little too shticky for my taste, and at times (dare I say it…) a bit boring. I think this is the result of both Matt and the writers reaching a point where they realize the magic is winding down. Although both parties are unquestionably talented, when it is time, it is time. I do, however, have full confidence that the 50th and the Christmas special will exceed all my wildest expectations, and that the eleventh Doctor’s regeneration scene will make me as thoroughly sad as “I don’t want to go.” Surely it can’t make me any sadder. That seems almost dangerous.

Speaking of the regeneration, is Steven Moffat really going to ignore that Time Lords can only regenerate twelve times? Assuming that John Hurt is the Doctor that fought the Time War, the eleventh should be the last Doctor. It isn’t like I ever thought that he would stick to this limit, but I don’t believe he should blatantly disregard this rule either.  It could be taken care of relatively simply. For example, they could offhandedly state that Time Lords limited the number of regenerations, and now that they are gone, the Doctor can regenerate as many times as he wants. Alternatively, they could say that the Doctor received all of River’s remaining regenerations when she saved his life in Let’s Kill Hitler. I don’t much care how they circumvent this bit of continuity, but I do think it would be rude to classic fans to not mention it at all.

And now for the fun part: Predictions! I actually don’t have any, so maybe this won’t be so fun… As my brother hilariously put it earlier this evening, “I bet it’ll be a white male.” Obviously, I don’t care if he’s white, black, or green, as long as he’s the best man for the job. As for the possibility of the Doctor not being a man at all… I think that casting a woman would upset a lot of people, although the more I think about it, the more I wonder why it would be such a big deal. The Doctor completely changes his appearance and personality every few seasons. He is literally a different person. Would it really be so crazy if he were suddenly a woman? Is sex so important that, although Whovians have accepted eleven different men playing the Doctor, we couldn’t accept a woman? Anyway, I think it has great comedic potential.

In all seriousness, my only real prediction is that this next Doctor will be older. I doubt the trend of younger and younger Doctor’s will be continued, as Matt is already the youngest in history.  

Although I’m talking about this impending regeneration as if I’m some kind of authority on the matter, I have to ashamedly remind you, dear readers, that I’ve never actually been around for a regeneration before. That is, I’ve never seen one as it aired. The first episode I ever saw was the first part of The End of Time, and it took another year before I started watching the show in earnest. I finished series one through five just as series six aired, which was when I started watching episodes in real time, and not on Netflix, one after another. This means that a new Doctor’s identity has never been a surprise before, so I’m not sure how I’ll feel on Sunday. I am confident, however, that I will love whoever was chosen. I love every Doctor I’ve seen thus far, and I can’t imagine this will change. I’m sure that I’ll need time to adjust, but I know that I will come to accept him (her, it?) as the Doctor without question. The only thing that I know for sure about what I want in a new Doctor is for him to not be someone extremely famous. I want to meet this Doctor without associations or preconceived notions.

In the end, what I think we all want from the next Doctor was already summed up beautifully by Neil Gaiman:

“I want to see The Doctor. I want to be taken by surprise. I want to squint at a photo of the person online and go ‘but how can that be The Doctor?’ Then I want to be amazingly, delightedly, completely proven wrong, and, six episodes in, I want to wonder how I could have been so blind. Because this is the Doctor. Of course it is.”

The real question is… Will he be ginger?

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 11, The Time Warrior: Episodes 356 - 359

The Time Warrior is a four episode story written by Robert Holmes, and contains an exciting number of Doctor Who firsts.

The Doctor visits a high security scientific conference to investigate the disappearance of scientists and equipment. There, he meets a young journalist, Sarah Jane Smith, posing as a renowned scientist to get a good story. When the Doctor picks up a trace of time travel at the conference, he follows it in the TARDIS, unknowingly taking the curious Sarah along with him.

He and Sarah land in medieval England, where a Sontaran, Linx, has crash landed. They discover that Linx has been transporting the missing scientists and equipment to this time in order repair his ship. He has taken refuge in a castle, home of the ruffian Irongron and his men. In exchange for his stay, Linx is providing Irongron with weapons far ahead of their time, which the Doctor fears will alter the progression of history.

The Doctor offers to help Linx with his repairs in exchange for the safe return of the scientists, but he refuses. Taking matter into their own hands, Sarah sneaks into the kitchens and drugs the castle’s food with a sleeping concoction, giving the Doctor time to send the scientists home. The Doctor then frantically evacuates the castle’s occupants before Linx takes off in his newly repaired ship, which destroys the castle.

As I said, this was a serial of firsts. There is new opening sequence accompanied by a new diamond shaped logo, designed once again by Bernard Lodge. Although the logo is a tad dated, I love it. It is a product of its time, as are the stories, costumes, and effects. This puts into perspective all the changes over fifty years, most of which must have been good for the show to still be running. It also puts me in the character of the episodes, and I can almost feel like I was alive in the 70s, witnessing history. As for the new opening, it’s looking more and more like a time vortex, so no complaints there.

There is also a spiffy new alien menace, the Sontarans! As you can see up above, they are considerably more grotesque than the modern version, and not as outrightly comical. Even so, Linx did come out with some gems that would do Strax proud, such as his opinion of females: “You have a primary and secondary reproductive cycle. It is an inefficient system. You should change it.”

Even more exciting than the introduction of a potato with legs is the first use of the name Gallifrey in reference to the Doctor’s home planet. This might sound a little nerdy (I’m writing a Doctor Who blog, what do you expect?), but I always get warm fuzzies when the Doctor says Gallifrey. I think this is because the first time I heard the name was in the series three episode, Gridlock, when the tenth Doctor describes his home to Martha (A description which matches Susan’s in the season one episode, The Sensorites). He regards his home planet with such reverence that I felt like I was hearing about a sacred, magical place. It was sad at the time knowing that the Doctor destroyed this planet, and it’s positively heartbreaking now that I know the Doctor basically hated Gallifrey in his younger days, yet remembers it so lovingly after it’s gone.

Of course the most exciting first of the story is the introduction of the new companion, Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen! We will get into her legacy at a later date (As if you don’t know it), but I will say that she is known to many as the definitive companion. I am trying to go into the Sarah Jane episodes without preconceived notions, which is nearly impossible as I have already seen her in action alongside David Tennant in series two. Preconceived notions aside, I knew I would love her at first glance, and it seems that I’m not alone. In the special edition of Doctor Who magazine that was released following Sladen’s death, Jon Pertwee is quoted from a 1986 DWM issue, about meeting her for the first time:

“I remember Barry saying to me, ‘Come along and meet Lis,’ and as they were casting for Katy’s replacement, I instinctively knew that this was the girl Barry had in mind. Anyway, he led me into his office and introduced us. We all stayed for coffee and some general conversation, and little did Lis know that every time her back was turned, I was making thumb-up signs to Barry, who, when given the opportunity, was frantically returning them to me!”

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 10, The Green Death: Episodes 350 - 355

   The Green Death is a six episode story, written by Robert Sloman, along with producer Barry Letts. Letts was inspired when he read an article stating that the world would end unless major environmental changes took place, and used this episode to spread the message.

The Doctor and Jo visit Global Chemicals oil refinery in Llanfairfach, to investigate a fatal illness which leaves its victims green and glowing. While there, Jo becomes friendly with Nobel Prize winning environmentalist, Cliff Jones, who is convinced these deaths are linked to GC. The Doctor and Jo later discover giant maggots, the cause of the green death, living within the company’s mines.

The Doctor infiltrates GC, and discovers that Stevens, the head of the company, is being controlled by a sentient computer called Biomorphic Organizational Systems Supervisor, or BOSS, who is behind the oil refining methods which creates the maggots. Jo meanwhile, is working with Cliff to find a cure for the green death, when she spills a vial of fungus onto Cliff’s work, serendipitously discovering the cure, and the maggot’s weakness.

Upon Jo’s discovery, the Doctor and Sergeant Benton drive through maggot infested fields, throwing the fungus to the maggots in order to kill them. After this succeeds, the Doctor manages to break through BOSS’ hold on Stevens. Once free of his mind control, Stevens tampers with the computer to cause an explosion, and destroys himself, BOSS, and the GC headquarters.

After a celebratory dinner hosted by Cliff and those in his environmentalist retreat, Jo reveals to the Doctor that she will not be returning to UNIT. She explains that Cliff is going to the Amazon in search of a fungus high in protein to use as a meat substitute, and she would like to go with him. Cliff then asks Jo to marry him, and she excitedly accepts his offer. The Doctor gives her a crystal from Metebelis III as a wedding gift, and returns to UNIT alone.

This is one of my favorite companion departures thus far, my other favorites being Susan’s, Ian and Barbara’s, and Steven’s. All these companions left the Doctor on good terms, changed for the better, and ready to start their own adventures.  Susan stayed behind to rebuild Earth after a Dalek invasion, Steven stayed to lead a planet after a revolution, and now Jo is also working for a cause that she believes in. I don’t mean to give myself away as too much of a vegan tree hugger, but Jo leaving the Doctor to join a hippie commune in search of a mushroom is something I can really get behind.

I also appreciate how this departure was built up. Jo has been the Doctor’s companion for three seasons, and it would not have felt right for her to leave as suddenly as Liz Shaw before her. It is obvious she is leaving from the beginning of the episode, when she refuses to accompany the Doctor to Metebelis III (a running gag , as Metebelis III never goes quite as the Doctor plans), opting instead to go meet Professor Jones. She explains to the Doctor that the professor works for everything the Doctor believes in, and he reminds her of a younger version of the Doctor. In this way, Cliff is the perfect match for Jo. She left to continue doing what she was doing with the Doctor, and not simply to get married. She did, after all, turn down two previous proposals in favor of travelling with the Doctor.

Katy Manning stated that she left Doctor Who to prove to herself that she could act in other things, although she enjoyed the role until the end. She speaks fondly of her years on the show, and of those that sh worked with.  Over the years, she has shared numerous behind the scene stories from her time on the show, the most hilarious of which involve her famously poor eyesight, and her resulting injuries. After leaving, Manning went on to have a busy career in television, theatre, film, and voiceover work. She reprised the role of Jo thirty-seven years later, in The Sarah Jane Adventures. She has also recorded several Big Finish Production audio adventures, including The Companion Chronicles, and as the Time Lord Iris Wildthyme. She is currently living in England.

I conclude this post, with a DWFF: Stewart Baven, who played Cliff Jones, was really dating Katy Manning at the time this was filmed.

[throughtimeywimey]

The Name of the Doctor

To the one and a half people that follow this blog, no, I did not die. I simply took a hiatus that got a little out of hand. Real life reared its ugly head, and demanded my attention. Graduate school planning, new car buying, etc., are not nearly as interesting as Doctor Who, but are necessary evils of adult life. I urge those of you who have not yet reached this point to avoid it as long as possible.

The other reason for my hiatus is that I was beginning to feel that blogging was more of a chore than a recreational activity, and in the interest of not burning out, I gave myself some time to miss it. I return to you now with this overly long entry (with several more on the way), and beg your forgiveness.  Here are my severely late in coming thoughts on The Name of the Doctor.

What with all the hype preceding the finale, I was really starting to believe it could never live up to our expectations. Having now seen it, I can happily say that I was wrong. Not only did I absolutely love it, but I have tons to think about over the break until the 50th anniversary special. Although the series’ big mystery was solved, we now have an even bigger one to take its place.

First of all, although it would have been impossible to guess all the specifics of Clara’s identity, I think most of us were on the right track. My favorite theory was that she was a creation of the great intelligence, sent to interact with the Doctor over the course of his life to get close to him. The reality is similar, but much cooler. In perhaps one of the ballsiest moves of WHO history, Moffat altered the cannon all the way back to the Doctor’s very first adventure.

Given the nature of Clara’s revelation, this could arguably make her one of the most important companions of all time, and while I do like her a fair amount, I don’t think her character is really impressive enough to live up to this legacy. I loved her in The Asylum of the Daleks, but since then she has fallen a little flat for me. She has had some good lines, but I’ve found her character to be generally dull, and overshadowed by the mystery of her identity. The Impossible Girl is not nearly as interesting to me as, for example, The Girl Who Waited. I’m hoping that, now that the mystery is behind us, Clara can start to be an interesting character in her own right.

Of course, as I stated earlier, Steven Moffat is constantly concluding one story, and immediately presenting us with one even more maddening. I am referring, of course, to the appearance of John Hurt. I always marvel at what can be jammed into the last minutes of a Doctor Who episode, and this takes the cake. The way I see it, there are two possibilities…

My initial thought was that John Hurt is the final Doctor, who died in the battle that Simeon referred to as, “A minor skirmish by the Doctor’s blood soaked standards. Not exactly the time war, but enough to finish him.” This is in keeping with the Valeyard of classic WHO, a future, evil regeneration. It was then pointed out to me that the eleventh Doctor seems to know who this man is already, and exactly what he has done, implying that this is a past, rather than future regeneration.

This leads me to my second, and at the moment my preferred theory, which is that this is the Doctor that fought the Time War. This is not by any means a new theory. I saw people speculating about reordering the Doctors months ago when it was first discovered that John Hurt was going to be in this finale. At the time, I dismissed this idea, because I thought it was too anti-cannon, and too well established that Matt Smith is playing the eleventh Doctor. Now that I’ve seen Hurt in action, however, I think I’m on board. It would not technically be reordering the Doctor’s, because the Hurt Doctor disregarded his name when he committed his heinous crime, possibly the genocide that ended the Time War. This is also why Clara, who has seen all the Doctors, does not know him. He is the same man, but he is not the Doctor, meaning that Matt Smith would still be the eleventh.

Having said that this is the theory I currently prescribe to, I must say that I do not think that Steven Moffat is trying to write out the eight Doctor, or discredit the ninth, as some fear. I think it is entirely possible that the eighth Doctor regenerated into this new Doctor during the war, did what he had to do, and then regenerated into the ninth Doctor.

Although there are an almost innumerable amount of things for me to be excited about in this episode, the return of River Song came out on top. I am unashamedly obsessed with this character, and mildly obsessed with the beautiful Alex Kingston who plays her. When I heard that we were going to see a post library River, I didn’t really know what to think, or where the Doctor was in her time line. Based on this latest appearance, it looks like she has been dead for some time, meaning that he has been having his nightly adventures with her, and has long since taken her to the singing towers. I’m a little peeved that we did not get to see more of River’s time with the Doctor, but it is sort of appropriate for their relationship. When the Doctor first met River, he was told, not shown, that she was someone important to him, just like we as viewers are largely told and not shown. For those of you who really don’t buy this and want more closure, however, there were five minisodes released on the series six box set that you can find online, collectively titled Night and the Doctor.

The Doctor and River’s goodbye has the honor of being the only Doctor Who scene to actually bring me to tears. Imagine having said a premature goodbye to someone you love, only to be haunted by an echo of that person, knowing that you’ll eventually have to say goodbye again. Really, Moffat, have some mercy on my heart. I’ve wondered for a long time how River’s story will end, and I thought that when the end came, I wouldn’t be ready. Right now though, assuming that this scene is River’s conclusion, I’m pretty at peace with it. It is a heartbreaking but amazing scene, and I think bringing River back after this goodbye would be superfluous, although I’ll miss her terribly.

Of course I am not without my complaints. Some things still do not quite add up. I like the twist that Trenzalore ended up being the Doctor’s grave, but this episode did not seem to have anything to do with Dorium’s description of it as a place where no one can bear false witness or refuse to answer. Sometimes I feel that Steven Moffat writes stories without a real idea as to where they are going, and so certain details don’t quite fit. I also find that I am bending over backwards to try to make them fit, and to pay attention to every last detail, just in case it sheds some light on the multitude of mysteries. I enjoy Moffat’s penchant for mind blowing antics, but sometimes I get so caught up in trying to make sense of things, that it detracts from my enjoyment of the show.

I also have to say that I expected a more satisfying revelation that River knows the Doctor’s name. We know that he didn’t tell her this at their wedding like he pretended to, but we’ve known from River’s introduction that she learns it eventually. The only explanation we get, however, is River saying that she made him tell her, which doesn’t quite do justice to the buildup.

There are also a number of plot holes hanging around, like the TARDIS exploding (No, I will not stop mentioning this), which I refuse to believe is an abandoned plot line. There is still the 50th to come, and so I am trying not to lose hope that all my questions will one day be answered.

In the end, I really am extremely happy with this finale. I’m also starting to accept that there will not be an eleven doctor 50th anniversary, but we did get an eleven Doctor series finale after a fashion. True, footage from classic episodes, and brief glimpses of each Doctor isn’t quite as cool as bringing all the living Doctor actors back, but hey, maybe that was a pipe dream. If this is as close to an eleven Doctor episode as we’ll get, I’ll happily take it.

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 10, Planet of the Daleks: Episodes 344 – 349

Now is the time, my fellow Whovians. The Name of the Doctor is going to air tonight. I hope you are all suitably excited, spoiler free, and maybe equipped with a box of tissues. I myself will not be watching this episode tonight, as my lovely sister has decided that she must graduate college, tonight of all nights, which means travelling to areas with no television or Wi-Fi. I will return as soon as possible with my thoughts on what I am sure with be one hell of a series finale. Happy watching.

  Planet of the Daleks is a six episode serial, and is the first to be written by Nation since The Dalek’s Master Plan, in 1965. Episode three exists only in black and white. I am pleased to report that, as of this serial, I am halfway done with the classics!

Gravely injured after his last adventure, the Doctor sends a telepathic message to the Time Lords, asking them to guide his TARDIS to follow the Daleks. The TARDIS lands on Spiridon, a strange planet with invisible natives, and pools of molten ice.

The Doctor and Jo meet a group of Thals on a mission to defeat the Daleks, who have gained the power of invisibility by studying the Spiridons. The Doctor discovers that the Daleks are planning a massive attack, and have ten thousand Daleks in suspended animation, waiting to be awoken.

The group devises a plan to detonate a bomb at a strategic point near the army of sleeping Daleks, in order to unleash a wave of molten ice. This plan succeeds, and although it does not destroy the Daleks, it prolongs their frozen slumber, and halts their attack.

It was a nice treat to see the Thals again, who have been absent since the second serials, The Daleks, which will always be one of my favorites. These Thals were born generations after the events in this earlier story, and now remember the Doctor as a legendary figure, who helped them in their greatest time of need. They have remained a peaceful race since then, and the Doctor urges them to remain this way, and not to glorify their defeat of the Daleks, but rather to tell tales of those who will not be returning home.

I found this kind of ironic, considering this is the exact opposite of what happened the last time the Doctor visited the Thals on Skaro. The Thals were a warrior race long ago, who warred with the peaceful Dals. After the war, the Dals mutated into Daleks, and the Thals embraced peace… until Ian and the gang convinces them to take up arms againsts the Daleks, infiltrate their city, and acquire mercury to repair the TARDIS. I guess the moral here is know when to fight, and when to back down.

The Daleks have gotten a little more difficult to defeat since their debut, but they are still comically easy to confuse. The Doctor and Thals reuse the old tried and true ‘throw something over the eyestalk and spin them around’ trick. One of these days a Dalek will discover that this does not in fact disable their extermination ray.

This episode ended in a yet another declaration of love for Jo, this time by a strapping young Thal named Latep. He asks the Doctor if he would object to her returning to Skaro with him, but Jo refuses, saying that she has her own life to return to. Thank goodness, because if she accepted some random Thal’s proposal and not the hunky King Peladon’s, I would have taken serious issue. While Jo tells the Doctor that she doesn’t regret her choice, she does ask him to return her to Earth. She is clearly getting homesick, and while I don’t know the exact episode that she leaves the show, I know that her days are numbered. I’m going to miss her quite a lot, but this is softened by my excitement over the upcoming companion… Stick around to find out more!

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 10, Frontier in Space: Episodes 338 – 343

Frontier in Space is a six episode story, written by Malcolm Hulke.

The Doctor and Jo land in the 26th century, where Ogrons are being used to pit Earth and Draconia, former allies, against each other to start a war. The Ogrons attack ships from each side, and use a hypnosound to convince humans that Draconia is attacking them, and vice versa. The Doctor and Jo attempt to convey this to the Earth President, but she does not believe them, and throws them in jail as Draconian spies.

The Master, disguised as an Earth police official, negotiates the release of Jo and the Doctor into his care, and reveals to them that he is behind this political sabotage. While on his prison ship, they luckily enter Draconian territory, and the Doctor tells the Draconians of the Master’s plan. Thanks to his connections to a former Draconian emperor, he gains their trust, and they believe his story.

With the help of the Draconian Prince, they convince the Earth President of the truth, and travel to the planet of the Ogrons to stop them. Once there, however, they discover that the Master is working for the Daleks, who hope to take over Earth and Draconia after their war. When the Daleks leave the planet to continue their plan, the Doctor follows them on the TARDIS.

I’m pretty please with myself right now. When I first started watching the classics, I assumed that I would remember very little about each serial, and that all the alien races would blur into one nondescript classic monster. I’m happy to report that I was wrong. I recognized the Ogrons as soon as I saw them, and immediately thought that there was no way they were behind the sabotage, because they usually act as mindless mercenaries for a greater power. When the Doctor echoed my thoughts moments later, I felt as cool as Rose Tyler opening a Torchwood in Pete’s world. It’s pretty gratifying to feel like I’m retaining some information, considering all the hours I put into this silly endeavor.

I always enjoy hearing what the Whoniverse has in store for Earth’s future, and this story delivers. A newscaster reveals that the arctic regions of Earth have been reclaimed, and the Bureau of Population Control is allowing two children per couple as incentive to move there. One day, there will be a Doctor Who episode where Earth’s future is bright and peaceful, but that is not this day.

Jo continues to add to her arsenal of useful companions skills. She is the first person to be able to defy the Master’s hypnosis by repeating nonsense nursery rhymes, and is able to see through the effects of the hypnosound. She also assists the Doctor in a hilarious escape from the Master’s prison. While the Doctor cuts through bars and steals a spacesuit, Jo improvises constant chatter to act as if nothing I going wrong, while the Master unsuspectingly reads War of the Worlds.  It is the cutest escape attempt of all time.

The Master shows up in almost every single episode, so one would think that, by now, I would come to expect it, but somehow I’m always on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out who the evil mastermind is. And I’m not even disappointed when it is inevitably the Master. I actually get excited every time he shows up. This is a credit to Roger Delgado’s performance, which I’m sure I have raved about before. Unfortunately, Delgado’s time was cut short, and this was his last appearance on Doctor Who. Three months after this serial aired, Delgado was in Turkey for a film, when a chauffeur driven car ran off the road, and into a ravine. He was killed, along with two members of the crew. Delgado’s death saw the absence of the Master as a recurring villain for quite some time, and was one of the reasons for Jon Pertwee’s departure.  

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 10, Carnival of Monsters: Episodes 334 – 337

Carnival of Monsters is a four episode story, written by Robert Holmes.

Finally free from his exile, the Doctor and Jo go adventuring in the TARDIS, and find themselves on the SS Bernice, sailing the Indian Ocean in 1926. They soon realize all is not as it seems, when they notice the crew is stuck in a loop, repeating the same actions again and again.

When The Doctors and Jo see a gigantic hand enter the ship and remove the TARDIS, the Doctor realizes they are in a miniscope, a machine which miniaturizes creatures and puts them on display for entertainment. Among these are Drashigs, massive serpentine monsters, which hunt the Doctor and Jo as they try to find a way out.

The Doctor eventually manages to escape the miniscope, and meets the traveling carnies who own it, Vorg and Shirna. They explain that the Drashigs have damaged the inner workings, and those within it cannot be released. The Doctor powers the miniscope with the TARDIS, and reenters to find Jo. Just as Vorg is supposed to release them, however, a Drashig escapes. Vorg manages to destroy it, and releases those within the miniscope just before it overheats.

Episode two of this serial features the unfortunate Delaware theme, created on a synthesizer by Brian Hodgson and Paddy Kingsland. This new arrangement was an effort to modernize the theme, and was not received well by the BBC. If you listen to it, you will understand why. The theme was not included on any broadcast in the UK, but was accidentally left on episode two for the Australian Broadcast. Hodgson may be forgiven for his terrible misstep, as he is also responsible for the sound of the TARDIS, as well as the voice of the Daleks. Kingsland went on to compose incidental music for the show, thereby repenting for his sins.

I speculated in the last post the Doctor may finally have control of his TARDIS, now that the Tome Lords have given him a new dematerialization circuit. Well… Not quite. In this story, he was trying to get to Metebelis III, but lands on Inter Minor instead. Considering that he previously had zero control over where he was going, this is a big improvement, and on par with the current Doctor’s navigational capabilities (I dressed for Rio, goddamnit).

As one might imagine, the miniscope did not go over so well with the Doctor. In a cool bit of background story, the Doctor tells Jo that he successfully appealed to the Time Lords to have these machines banned, as they imprison creatures, including intelligent life, for the entertainment of others. He wonders, therefore, how this miniscope could have escaped the ban. My first thought was that the ban had not occurred yet during this time period, but the Doctor never considers this.

This brings up an interesting point about time travel, and dramatic effect. The Doctor can theoretically go before or after any event that he chooses. This means, for example, that the ninth, tenth, or eleventh Doctor could travel before the Time War occurred, and see his fellow Time Lords again. While this is well and good within the laws of time travel, it is not well and good within the law of dramatic effect, and what makes good television. Were the Doctor to act on this, it would take consequence away from all actions, which would definitely decrease the viewer’s stakes in what happens. I have personally justified this by thinking that the Doctor would be too guilty to see the Time Lords, knowing what will become of them. However one chooses to look at it, it’s worth thinking about. Be careful, though. It’s a slippery, plot-holey slope.

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 10, The Three Doctors: Episodes 330 – 333

The Three Doctors is a four episode story, written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, and kicks off season 10. While it aired about ten months before the official tenth anniversary of the show, it is sometimes referred to as the tenth anniversary special.

When UNIT headquarters is attacked by anti-matter monsters, the Time Lord Council sends the Doctor’s past selves to help him defeat this menace. The Doctor is joined by his second incarnation, and is given guidance by his first incarnation, who cannot make the full trip, as the Time Lords have limited cosmic energy.

The Doctors, alongside Jo, the Brigadier, and Sergeant Benton, are transported into an anti-matter world, presided over by the legendary Time Lord, Omega, who made time travel possible by harnessing the power of a supernova. Omega was then consumed by its power, and trapped in a world of anti-matter within a black hole. He wishes to return to his home planet to seek revenge on the Time Lords for abandoning him, but cannot do this unless the Doctor takes his place.

The Doctors later discover that Omega’s body has degenerated into nothingness, and he cannot exist outside of his world. Devastated, Omega vows to trap the Doctors with him forever. The second Doctor then sees that his recorder fell into the TARDIS force field generator, and was never converted to antimatter. They offer this to Omega, claiming it will free him. When Omega throws it to the ground, and the recorder touches the antimatter, the world is destroyed, and everyone is sent back where they belong.

This serial made me realize just how much I have missed Patrick Troughton. His ridiculous one liner’s really made this serial for me, as did the third Doctor’s frustration with the second Doctor’s antics. Of course seeing William Hartnell return was amazing, as was his opinion of his next two incarnations (“A dandy and a clown”), though also a little heartbreaking. At the time this was filmed, his health and memory were failing, and so his role was cut down, and pre-filmed. This was his last role before his death in 1975.

It is no secret that I am desperate for an eleven Doctor 50th anniversary special, but some have tried to crush my spirit by pointing out that it would be hard to explain why the Doctor would not remember having this adventure in past incarnations. As much as it pains me to admit it, this is not a bad point, and so I was curious to see how this is addressed in The Three Doctors. The answer: It isn’t. It is simply not mentioned, nor is it mentioned where the first and second Doctors are in their time line during this adventure. Today, no doubt, some explanation would have to be offered.

I’m really glad that I finally reached the introduction of Omega, as I can hardly read a fan theory without it involving him in some way or another. To be the source of so much speculation, I’m sure he must return, though I have no idea how or when this will happen, which is very exciting. I also know that after The Rings of Akhaten, many people speculated that that the Doctor’s reference to a universe where the laws of physics were devised by a madman, was about Omega’s world. At the time, I took this to be a reference to The Celestial Toymaker, but having seen these episodes, I’m inclined to go with the former theory.

As of this story, the Doctor is officially out of exile! As a reward for his victory, the Time Lords restore his memory, and send him a new dematerialization circuit. I’m pretty sure this means that he’ll finally be able to control the TARDIS destination (more or less) for the first time in Doctor Who history, rather than travelling aimlessly from one place to the next.

There are so many fantastic lines in this story, that I feel obligated to leave you with a few of my favorites:

The second Doctor upon seeing the new TARDIS: “I can see you’ve been doing the TARDIS up a bit. I don’t like it.”

The second Doctor, once again: “Keep it confused, feed it useless information. I wonder if I have a television set handy.”

The second Doctor, unknowingly hinting at things to come: “Care for a Jelly Baby?”

Omega, to the third Doctor, about the second Doctor: “Are you sure that you and he are of the same intelligence?”

The Brig: “Three of them? I didn’t know when I was well off.”

And the final line, delivered by Arthur Ollis, a civilian who is accidentally sent to Omega’s world. When his wife asks him where he has been, he simply says: “You’d never believe me. Supper ready?”

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 9, The Time Monster: Episodes 324 – 329

The Time Monster is a six part story, written by Robert Sloman, which ends season 9. We’re about to be in the double digits, baby!

The Master builds a machine called Transmission of Matter Through Interstitial Time, TOMTIT, which can transfer objects and people through time. Key to this machine’s functioning is an ancient Atlantian crystal, which he uses to summon forth the god Kronos in order to gain power over all time. 

The Master travels to Atlantis, where he manipulates his way to the throne by charming Queen Galleia, and imprisoning King Dalios. The Doctor follows the Master in his TARDIS, and foils his plan by revealing that the King has died in his cell. In a rage, the Queen casts the master out of Atlantis. The Master then unleashes Kronos to destroy the city, and takes off in his TARDIS, pursued by the Doctor.

The Doctor then threatens to land his TARDIS inside the Master’s, destroying them both, unless he spares Atlantis. The Master calls his bluff, but Jo initiates the time ram. The impact releases Kronos, revealed to be a goddess, and she returns the Doctor and Jo safely home. She offers to eternally punish the Master for his crimes, but the Doctor takes pity, and asks for his freedom. She grants this, and the Master manages to escape yet again.

This story does a number on Atlantian continuity. As you may recall, the second Doctor visited Atlantis in 1970 in The Underwater Menace. He prevented the evil Professor Zaroff from destroying the world, at the expense of what remained of the sunken city. The Survivors vowed to rebuild their society, which should mean that the world knows about Atlantis by the events in The Time Monster, but no one does. My guess is that at the time The Underwater Menace was aired, the writers probably didn’t think the show would last until 1970, and didn’t worry about this continuity error.

There is also some confusion about how Atlantis is destroyed. In this episode, we see the Master force Kronos to destroy it, but a few serials ago in The Daemons, the Daemon Azal states that he destroyed it. To be fair, this could just be a different point in Atlantian history, and it must be hard to maintain continuity 329 episodes into a show.

Jo initiating the time ram has to be one of the coolest moves of any companion thus far. Despite all the times the Doctor offers to throw away his life for the greater good, he really wasn’t going to do it this time, probably to save Jo. She takes matters into her own hands, and totally saves the day.

Speaking of the time ram, this is the first time it is established that a TARDIS cannot occupy the same space as another TARDIS. It is also touched upon in a fantastic short called Time Crash, a Children in Need special, staring Peter Davison and David Tennant. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating if you haven’t seen it.

I had a lot of favorite moments in this serial, but one stands out above the others. At one point, the Master casts the Doctor into the time vortex, where he will float aimlessly for all eternity. The Doctor manages to transmit his thoughts into the TARDIS, and instructs Jo on how to save. While he does this, Jo hears a myriad of whispered voices, which the Doctor explains are his unconscious thoughts. He tells her not to listen too closely, as he is not all that proud of them. I tired really hard to make sense of them, but couldn’t hear what the voices were saying. I also tried to find a fan made transcript of what the voices might be saying, but no luck there either. The best I could find was that one of the voices seems to be humming. My curiosity is killing me, so if anyone has any insight on this, drop a note.

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 9, The Mutants: Episodes 318 – 323

The Mutants is a six episode story, written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin. I absolutely loved this episode, in part because it took place in space, and I am getting as ready to leave Earth as the Doctor is.

The Doctor and Jo receive a strange box, sent by the Time Lords, which will only open when given to the correct person. The Time Lords use the TARDIS to transfer the Doctor and Jo to the 30th century Earth Empire to deliver this message.

The Doctor and Jo arrive at a Sky Base, where the Marshal is overseeing the colonization of planet Solos. He has ordered his scientist to alter the atmosphere of this planet in order to make it livable for humans. His experimentation has gone horribly wrong, however, and is causing the Solonians to mutate into insect-like creatures.

The Doctor finds a Solonian man named Ky, for whom the box was intended. Within this box, Ky discovers hieroglyphic slabs, which reveal that the Solonians are meant to mutate, but the atmospheric changes are stunting the metamorphosis. Ky is eventually able to complete this change with the help of a hidden crystal that the Doctor discovers. Using his new and powerful form, he kills the Marshal, and vows to use the crystal to help all Solonians complete their change.

I absolutely adore the Solonians. They are the ultimate adaptable creatures, as their change occurs every 500 years when the season on Solos changes. At first I thought that they were supposed to change into insects, which seemed like rotten luck, even if it was a natural process. Their actual form, however, is full of rainbows and teleporting and power. In the end, not such a bad deal.

Yet another serial that tells of a bleak future for Earth. The 30th century Earth Empire no longer lives on this Earth, as it had become a grey planet, full of slag and pollution. Goodness, Doctor Who, have some faith in us. We aren’t quite there yet. This story does bring about a good point, though. It’s not as if we can just pick another planet to live on after this one is destroyed. Even if we had that technology, like they do in this story, there would be atmospheric differences and scary natives to think of. Treat the Earth well, my friends, it’s the only planet we’ve got (This PSA has been brought to you by ThroughTimeyWimey.Tumblr.Com).

And the Lame Pun Award goes to… the Doctor! At the end of the adventure, the Doctor and Jo return to the TARDIS, which had landed in a storage space. Jo says, “Oh well, back to the broom cupboard,” and the Doctor replies, “Yes, well, at least we’ve made a clean sweep of this place… No?” Keep trying, Doctor.

I’m starting to really miss the Brigadier, who has been absent for the past three serials. My heart, she weeps. Hopefully he will be returning to us shortly, although if a lack of the Brigadier is the price to pay for episodes in space, I might be alright.

[throughtimeywimey]

Nightmare in Silver

I admit that I had to watch this episode twice before I could give it the attention that it deserved. The first reason is that I suffered from acute episode-before-the-finale-itis. The second is that my excitement about another Neil Gaiman episode actually backfired, and produced diminishing returns. Once I managed to calm down, I came to the conclusion that Nightmare in Silver is probably amazing. 

I enjoyed the inclusion of Angie and Artie, because it brought me back to the simpler days of Russell T. Davies, when the Doctor brought people aboard the TARDIS just for fun. My only complaint is that they did fall a little too neatly into the stereotypes of nerdy brother and brooding sister, and patronizing children in that way is one of my television pet peeves.  I think RTD did the good clean fun thing a little better than Moffat does.

The Doctor/Cyber-Planner initially threw me for a loop, because I couldn’t quite figure out why everyone else became robot-like when upgraded, but the Doctor just became sassy. Even if it doesn’t make much sense, I do admit that it was dramatically effective. It is always fun to see the Doctor behave in ways he normally doesn’t, like Patrick Troughton playing Ramon Salamander, or David Tennant playing John Smith. It also produced some of the funniest moments, like the fake love confession.

I am a sucker for snapshots of previous Doctor’s, and this most recent one is no exception. I’m clinging strong to my belief that we will see a multi-Doctor anniversary special, so in my optimistic mind, this served as a preview of things to come.

I would really like to think that the tomb the fleet of Cybermen awoke from is the same one featured in the season five episode, The Tomb of the Cybermen. They do look pretty similar. If you are unfamiliar with the classic episode I am referencing, you can either Google it, or you could be much cooler, and click here: http://throughtimeywimey.tumblr.com/post/43622396168/season-5-the-tomb-of-the-cybermen-episodes-170-173

Speaking of the classics, this episode ends with a proposal, in a very classic move. Had this been a classic episode, I would have been genuinely afraid that Clara would accept, and exit the show. However, like Jo Grant did to King Peladon (Scroll down a couple of posts), Clara rejected the offer.

Porridge’s efforts to run away from his name and his responsibilities is a timely parallel to the Doctor, considering that next Saturday is the day that we have all been waiting for, the day that the Doctor can hide no longer, the day that he travels where no creature can speak falsely or fail to answer…

Let’s take a moment to talk about The Name of the Doctor. Apparently, there are those who have already seen it, maybe through pre-ordering the series 7 DVD, satanic rituals, or time travel. Whatever the case may be, I know one thing for certain: Nowhere is safe. If anyone really has seen the finale, please don’t spoil the fun for the rest of us. I will be limiting my internet activity for the next week, in the hopes that I will make it to Saturday spoiler free Good luck to you all.

Spoiler free doesn’t mean that we can’t speculate, of course. How about that preview? We can expect the Great Intelligence, Trenzalore, Clara revelations, River My-Future-Wife Song, and much, much more. I am torn between the most intense feeling of excitement, and crushing sadness at the thought of waiting six months for the next new episode. I’ll be watching the classic in the interim, with the goal of finishing by November 23rd.

I’m just going to say this right now as insurance, on the off chance that it ends up being true: Clara is River. I don’t really believe this, nor do I think it would be right to use the same reveal two series’ in a row. But I’m saying it here for all to see, just in case.

[throughtimeywimey]

Season 9, The Sea Devils: Episodes 312 – 317

The Sea Devils is a six part story, written by Malcolm Hulke.

The Doctor and Jo go to an Island prison, where the Master is being kept. Although he seems repentant for his crimes, the Doctor soon discovers he is in cahoots with the prison warden, and is launching another evil plan.

The Master has discovered a hibernating underwater reptilian species called Sea Devils, related to Silurians. He has promised that he will awaken their race and help them take the Earth back from the Humans. The Doctor tries to negotiate a peace agreement between the two species, but a hasty attack by the nearby naval base halts these negotiations.

With all hope of peace shattered, the Master forces the Doctor to help him build a machine that will wake up thousands of Sea Devils. The Doctor does so, but, seeing that the Sea Devils will not back down, he tampers with the machine, causing it to overload, destroying the Sea Devils.

This story was very similar to season seven’s Doctor Who and the Silurians. The Sea Devils are of the same species, have the same back story, and the same peace negotiations are attempted. The major difference is that last time it was the Brigadier that set of a bomb to destroy the Silurians, and this time it is the Doctor. Although the Doctor was furious at the Brigadier for this, there was a slight difference in the circumstances. The Silurians had gone back into hibernation, where the Doctor wanted to keep them until negotiations were ready to commence. The Sea Devils were waking up, and the Doctor knew thousands would die in the resulting war if he didn’t act. It was the lesser of two evils, though not one of the Doctor’s finer moments.

I really love Jo lately. Her relationship with the Doctor continues to increase in adorableness, while still being a partnership more than anything. She has really taken off in the last few stories, and has started to actively help the Doctor in her own way. She always demands to be in the thick of the action, and is very good at talking her way out of situations. She also has useful knowledge of escapology. She’ll likely be one of my favorite companions by and by.

After a brief stint in captivity, the Master has escaped yet again. He seems to be unstoppable, what with his powerful hypnosis skills, his many disguises (Plastics factory worker, Swiss scientist, an adjudicator, and vicar, to name a few), and a creepy rubber mask of his face, which he uses in this story to convince the Doctor that he is captured, while actually making a getaway.

The latest version of the sonic screwdriver finally made an appearance! I am absolutely ordering one for myself as soon as I can spare some cash. Can you believe I don’t get paid for this? Yes? Oh. Never mind.

In another iconic WHO moment, the Doctor finally uttered the line that he is best known for: “I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow.” Although he doesn’t say this full line all that often, he does reverse the polarity of pretty much anything he gets his hands on. The line apparently does not really mean anything, and is just made-up technobabble. Of course, it was referenced in the series six episode The Almost People, a nice treat for classic Whovians.