Doctor Who S10/ep1

S10/E1 "The Pilot" Much better than the trailers and leaks would have you believe. Bill has great potential, I'm already a fan of Nardle, and the Doctor has come into his own just as he heads for the exit door. Well done.

Who will be the 13th Doctor?

The rumor is Kris Marshall, of the series Death in Paradise, which I adore. I'd be cool with the choice.

My Blankie

After I picked up some Doctor Who fleece -- heavy on the 11th Doctor, but with some nods to the past -- Lisa was kind enough to make me a tie blanket.  Any imperfections are the result of my help. :)

 Watching the final episode of the 11th Doctor with LuLu

John Hurt

RIP actor John Hurt. The War Doctor's reign was short.

20 years ago today

Twenty years ago today we lost Jon Pertwee, the 3rd (and best) Doctor. #DrWho

Makin' Friends

Last night YaYa and I watched the episode of Doctor Who where Clara finally bit the dust. We had a great time. Alas, I then refused to watch Misery - it's a great film, but it . . . discomforts me - and twelve hours later she still isn't talking to me. Such is parenthood.

YaYa: This whole house is awful.

Me: Why?

YaYa: Because you're in it.

#FeelTheLove

The New Season of Doctor Who

I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself for not having one iota of excitement or anticipation for the new season of #DoctorWho. Another season of Clara, and attempting to decipher English through the accent of the Doctor? Another episode written by the hack who wrote "Kill the Moon", *the worst Who episode I've ever seen, classic and new*? No thanks. I'll watch, but I expect I'll be miserable. LOL

You're wearing your scratchy wool shirt without an undershirt again aren't you?

And I would never suggest that you not reduce my happy anticipation for the last season of DW that I'm likely to live to see. Far be it from me to engage in that sort of emotional ambush.

👹

- Fred 

Me: Take a lesson from Carter and man up, bucko! ;)

Ooh! My anticipation crushed and I'm compared to Jimmy Carter on the same day!

But I know you care, you butt-dialed me (yet) again yesterday.

Fred

Darn Right

At Mass this evening the Priest gave a homily centered around the life of Vincent Willem van Gogh. As the story progressed he went on about how "a doctor" helped van Gogh, about how "a doctor" saved his life in his hour of need, about how "a doctor" was there for him, etc. 

I elbowed YaYa and leaned over. "Not *a* doctor," I whispered, "THE Doctor"

Dr. Who Ornaments

These are three Doctor Who ornaments we gave YaYa  for Christmas.

Grumbling about Who

I'm not sure I'm fond of this season of #DoctorWho. I don't mind an older Doctor. Or a grumpy Doctor. Or a Doctor annoyed at humanity. Or a Scottish Doctor I strain to understand - but so far he's a little bit too much of "all of the above" for my liking. Plus, what's with all the black students in London? If you take the show at face value, England has a larger minority population than Watts, not to mention the fact that no one in Cardiff appears to be heterosexual.  WTH?

Doctor Who - in theaters!

I took YaYa to see the season premiere of Doctor Who at Marcus Theatres Southshore tonight. 30 years ago I could never have imagined having a kid that loved Doctor Who as much as I do (well, almost as much; like most new generation Whovians she lacks an appreciation of the classic era), Nor, watching it on PBS on a b&W TV in the kitchen, could I ever have pictured it on the big screen! 

 Kudos to Steven Moffat on another great script. It was Peter Capaldi's first appearance, and I think he makes a grand Doctor. As for the mysterious woman at the end, the one masterminding events of the Clara era, I'm thinking either Romani (if she's good) or the Rani (if she's evil).

I like 4- that's classic. Jeesh. MATT IS BETTER -YaYa

One of the many Who related slides that played in lieu of trailers before tonight's show.

On This Day

On this day 40 years ago, Whovians said farewell to the Third (aka The Best) Doctor and welcomed the Fourth, played by Tom Baker.

Exactly

Andipose

These adorable Adipose - a creature from Doctor Who - were crocheted for me out of the blue by a supervisor at work. Thanks Cathie!

The Day of the Doctor

small SPOILERS: It was my great honor to re-watch "The Day of the Doctor" today, this time with all four kids. Not only did they watch with rapt attention, they asked to watch a Doctor Who special afterwards, even when I gave them free reign of the remote. They also displayed copious amounts of Whovian knowledge - OJ spotted the re-numbering of the Doctors, and called out the apparent conflict with the canonical # of Time Lord regenerations; YaYa spotted the fourth Doctor and asked for a copy of his scarf, and Junie, God Bless her, asked: "How can it [the TARDIS] be biggah on the inside?" :)

Doctor Who - The 50th Anniversary

Following exactly one day after JFK’s assassination, another event that loomed large in my childhood took place: Doctor Who, a low budget children’s sci-fi show, premiered on the BBC.

As with Kennedy, I didn’t become aware of the phenomenon until the 1980’s. By that time, if I can get my own memories in sync with the chronology, they were already on the Fifth incarnation of the Doctor (Peter Davison) and it had become a worldwide cult favorite.

I don’t remember where I saw my first Who, or when, but I remember gobbling up the slim Target novelizations of each episode and imagining what the companions looked like, so it was at best a fleeting glimpse of the show itself.

Later, a PBS station here in Milwaukee began playing Doctor Who in chronological order every night at 10pm, one half hour episode at a time. I’d often pull up a chair in my Grandma’s kitchen and watch it with her – oh! The sacrifices she made for me! I enjoyed Hartnell, was not as in love with Troughton as most people seem to be, adored Pertwee (still my favorite Doctor) and was fond but not overjoyed with Tom Baker, etc.

Did I mention I fell immediately in love with Sarah Jane Smith, and still feel a pitter-patter at the mere mention of her name?

Around the time the PBS station caught up with the Davison era I stumbled upon a Madison affiliate that was broadcasting the very first episode of the 7^th Doctor! It was probably a year old by then, but no matter; to me I was blown away at the “awesome” special effects, which seemed sooooo much more advanced than the rubber suit monsters I’d been watching every night!

I joined a national Who fan club and subscribed to their newspaper, once writing in and objecting to their casting the BBC of the “enemy”, and getting a personal response in turn. I had a Doctor Who mug, and a Tardis key on my key ring. My Mom crocheted me a reasonable facsimile of Tom Baker’s scarf that I still use. For my 15^th birthday my Grandma bought me a retrospective of the show’s first quarter century. I frequented the Turning Page, a niche bookstore on the East Side that specialized in Who, and my Dad let me drive all the way there when he was teaching me to drive.

I LOVED that show.

And then it was cancelled, packed off forever into the land of reruns. Our PBS station refused to pay for the rights to the show and it was dropped from their schedule. The Turning Page closed. A Fox TV movie introduced us to the 8^th Doctor but did nothing to revive the series.

Life went on.

I was happy to hear the show was returning in 2005 but was no fan of the overwrought, cynical acting of Christopher Eccleston, and let’s not get into how awful John Barrowman is as an actor. I barely paid attention to the series.

And then came Tenant . . .

He brought the show back to life for me. The charm, the wit, the excitement and the humor, it was all there again, in spades. He never quite trumped Pertwee for me but man, it’s close.

(Mat Smith ain’t too bad either)

Now the show is more popular than ever, a true global phenomenon. I wish more people realized that the pre-revival Who was darn good stuff worth watching, but I’m not going to argue with success. Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the show, and what a milestone that is! 50 years is a heck of a stretch for a business, a marriage, or even a building to acknowledge; but a TV show???

Wow.

Congratulations to everyone connected with Doctor Who over the last fifty years. I tip my hat to all of you, and wish you fifty more to come!

This!

A Great Finale

I was skeptical they could pull it off after Dez all but torpedoed the show in the wake of Brooke's departure, BUT . . . . that was a genuinely touching and powerfully romantic end to the season. Lisa was in tears, I was all "awwww" lol. BEST BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE FINALE EVER!!!!

And - just for the record: people who claim to 'love' Doctor Who yet claim ignorance to anything pre-2005 are a dreadful waste of DNA.