The New Who

Watching the live BBC broadcast that will reveal the new Doctor . . . butterflies in my stomach!

So Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor, and I'm a bit surprised. Not at his age - I'm glad the show is FINALLY portraying the Doctor as a man old enough not to be carded for cigarettes - but I thought they'd go with a complete unknown, as I like to see the show *make* a career. (BTW, is this the first Doctor to have guest starred on the show previously?) I'm also oddly annoyed at his weight. What's with the continuing trend towards stick figures? At this rate, Doctor #13 will be Kate Moss.

A TV kinda day

After a rough Wed, Thurs was pretty good. I spent the morning running errands, then watched "Sale of the Century", "Press Your Luck and "Psych" with Lisa, slept a bit, then walked home from school with Junie (the 3rd walk this week). I watched the newest Dr. Who, then cleaned out a corner of the basement that had taken in water during last weeks flooding here in Milwaukee. Then dinner, an hour nap, and off to work.

50 Years

The 2nd Hunger Games movie will be released on the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination (and both are Friday's). I find that disturbing. In happier news, the following day will mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!

'Tis True

Here's a quote, completely unrelated to the show, that addresses the only flaw in the marvelous Dr. Who episode "Vincent and The Doctor": 

"Vincent Van Gogh (pronounced Van-GOCK by the Dutch, and sundry pretentious . . . twits)   - Victor Lavalle.

Doctor Who Quotes

Amy Pond: You do have a plan, don't you? 

The Doctor: No, I have a thing. It's like a plan, but with more greatness.

Greatest Doctor Who quote Ever, although I admit it loses a bit of pizazz in print: 

 Amy: So you were right. . . We didn't make a difference at all.

The Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant - and we definitely added to his pile of good things.

Yes! Ben Bowder, aka John Crichton from Farscape, will appear in A Town Called Mercy, the 3rd episode of the this season of Doctor Who!

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

Just finished watching the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special " The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe". Delightful, touching, funny and packed with memorable lines, this one is grand. Kudos again to head writer Steven Moffatt and lead Matt Smith who continues to inch his way up the list of all-time great Doctor's. The last scene, where the Doctor sheds a tear of joy? I was misting up myself. Grade: A++

Doctor Who Season Six

 I stayed up waaaay too late last night to finish watching season six of Doctor Who. 1st half of Volume 2: "Let's Kill Hitler" was a hoot, "Night Terrors" was ho-hum, been there/done that, and "The Girl Who Waited" was pretty ho-hum itself until the last third, when it really gave your heart a wallop. I literally cursed at the Doctor when he closed the door on 'Old' Amy, the heartless bugger.

2nd half, volume 2 of series six: "The God Complex" was smart and creepy and continues an important theme of Moffat's tenure; dumping the demi-god status granted the Doctor by Rusell Davies. "Closing Time" was grand, a LOL romp marred only by the presence of the Cyberman. It was far too bit of a part for them, and should have been pawned off on another species. Finally, the "Wedding of River Song". CLASSIC Who, just perfect. There's not a wasted line of dialogue in this show; everything comes back to haunt you at some point. Grade: Grade? It's the greatest sci-fi show EVER. There isn't a grade high enough to rank it.

An Election by John Scalzi

long day. Settling in to watch season 6/vol 2 of Doctor Who 

Meanwhile, I finished reading John Scalzi's "An Election", a 46 page story about a human running for a vacant City Council seat in a ward that is alien-majority. Quick, funny, and simply told. Go ahead and read it. I think it's only a buck or two on the Nook.

Doctor Who Series 6

OK, I just finished the first disc of Series 6/Pt 1 of Doctor Who. I thought "The Curse of the Black Spot" was lame, lame, lame, and in retrospect I shoulda/coulda/woulda fast forwarded the whole dang thing. OTOH, "The Doctor's Wife", the episode written (mostly) by Neil Gaiman, rocked. I love the notion of the TARDIS interacting with the Doctor, and I'm pleased to see a bit of the mythology expanded upon - a pretty neat trick for a show in it's 48th year.

Ok, it's official. Amy Pond is the Doctor's yummiest companion ever.

Doctor Who: Visitation - The Three Doctors - The Unquiet Dead

Doctor Who: Visitation. I don't much like Davidson's imperial Doctor, and I'm loathe to trust a Time Lord who allows his sonic screwdriver to be destroyed. I do like Teagan's constant distrust/annoyance w/ the Doc. Plus the sight of Nyssa in her velvet pants almost takes away the pain of that stupid celery boutonniere Davidson wears.

I also watched Eccleston's "The Unquiet Dead", which I thought was pretty well done (although the Doctor seemed rather naïve). I could tell it wasn't the rare non- Davies episode, as it didn't feature a single homosexual atheist character. 

I also recently saw "The Three Doctors" . Well done, but the Brit pronunciation of 'omega' as "oh meh gah' got on my nerves ;) I

The City of Death

Last night I watched the Doctor Who ep "The City of Death" w/ Tom Baker. Excellent script by Douglas Adams (credited to a pseudonym), full of humor and wit, and a grand villian played by the marvelous Julian Glover. It was a hoot.

RIP Elisabeth Sladen 1 February 1948 – 19 April 2011

My heart dropped yesterday when I learned of the passing of actress Elisabeth Sladen, aka "Sarah Jane Smith" of Doctor Who fame. She was 63.

Sarah Jane was an extraordinarily popular character in the Doctor Who universe, and yes, of course, she is my favorite of the Doctor's many companions. To the preteen boy who had such a serious crush on her, she was much more too.

I found her beautiful and sexy, intelligent and adventurous. Perhaps more importantly - for the first time in my life I appreciated an intelligent woman determined to forge her own place in the world. Compare Sarah Jane to the shallow, deferential characters who, university degrees or military rank be damned, would melt into a sniveling mess of Victorian womanhood at the first sight of trouble. She would have none of that, and that wee bit of '70's feminism that snuck into her characterization did me a world of good.

And in those childhood daydreams of a life spent traveling the globe, getting in bar fights in Singapore and stopping the Russians from invading the West, I must admit it didn't hurt to imagine a woman like Sarah Jane at my side . . .







When she rejoined the cast of Doctor Who in mid '00's I was overjoyed - and found her no less attractive as she approached sixty.




RIP Elisabeth. You will be missed.

 I was not overly impressed by Britney's GMA performance. Oh, she's still List of Five, and I enjoy her music, but she was 'off'. Her dancing was less than superb, and she seemed out of it. Her psych meds perhaps? Also, finished watching Doctor Who's "The Curse of Fang Rock" late last night. Loved it.

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol

Last night I finally saw "Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol". Wonderful! It was a entertaining and well written twist on the Dicken's classic, and if I do say so the 'ghost of Christmas future' scene was clever and emotional. Steven Moffatt and Matt Smith are doing great things with this show.

Lauren Cooper and Doctor Who clash in class - Classic Comic Relief

LOVE it! I forgot just how much I miss David Tennant until I saw him walk on screen.




To my (happy) surprise, my oldest girls not only asked to watch the vid clips I posted of Catherine Tate's show, but declared themselves big fans of 'Lauren Cooper' and her tagline "Am I bovvered?". As late as a few minutes ago LuLu recited the line, which inspired my own Ginger to walk up to me and say "You not bovvered Daddy, you not bovvered"

Some TV

Wed evening we watched the premiere of "The Whole Truth". We were not impressed, finding it nothing more than a cookie cutter courtroom drama. C. OTOH, Hell's Kitchen was great fun, in large part because of the fine cast of piss poor, ghetto-riffic cooks they've cobbled together this season. B+

Also - I've finally finished watching the last of this season's Dr Who. Just this morning I voiced skepticism over the season's overall story arc (the 'cracks in time') but I'm happy to say Moffatt pulled it all together quite nicely. So, for the yr: a great new Dr, quite possibly the hottest companion ever (Amy), the first married couple/companions in the show's run, and a 1st rate writing team - I'm psyched for Season 6!

Please

One was funny, 7 or 8 not so much. Stop the "This is Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you!" updates. This is your final warning - one more and I unleash a torrent of Dr. Who posts. It'll be a Dork Cage Match for the ages- and the Doctor will kick some Jedi a**. 😉

Victory of the Daleks

Just finished watching "Victory of the Daleks", ep. 3 of this season of Dr. Who. It features Winston Churchill, a devilish Dalek plan, and Spitfires (!) in a dogfight around the moon LOL. Grand. Good to see the new team jettison Davie's obsession w/ stamping out the Dalek race; this ep. made it clear the Daleks are back & here to stay.