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Showing posts with label Ninth Doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ninth Doctor. Show all posts

Saturday, 30 August 2014

S8E2: Into the Dalek



This episode was absolutely phenomenal. It has great writing and a fantastic plot.

I am writing under the assumption that you have seen the episode if you go past the page-break, which is only visible if you're on the home-page of the blog. Any other way, you must have clicked directly there, in which case, there is your error. I do not give a synopsis, I give a critical reaction.

Thursday, 14 November 2013

#SaveTheDay Countdown: The Ninth Doctor--Christopher Eccleston


As a countdown to the upcoming 50th Anniversary of Doctor
Who, TARDIStyle will be showcasing one Doctor a day.

Christopher Eccleston was born on 16 February 1964 in Langworthy, England. He is the youngest of three brothers, Alan and Keith. They are twins, eight years older than him. Eccleston became head boy at Joseph Eastham High School. 

At age 19, he was inspired to become and actor by television dramas such as Boys from the Blackstuff. He did a two-year Performance Foundation course at Salford Tech, and then trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was influenced by Ken Loach's Kes and Albert Finney in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Christopher quickly developed a love of preforming classics, such as Shakespeare, Checkhov, and Molière. He was 25 when he made his professional stage début in the Bristol Old Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He found himself underemployed as an actor, and found work in strange places (for an actor) at supermarkets, building sites, and as an artist's model. 

Christopher finally got the roles he was looking in for in 1991 as Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It. He became a regular staple of drama quickly. His film career was successful as well, cast in many action/adventure films like Gone in 60 Seconds, and 28 Days Later.

On 2 April 2004, the BBC announced that Eccleston had been cast as the Ninth Doctor. He was the first actor to play the role born after the series began. On 30 March 3005, stating that he was leaving the role because he did not want to become typecast afterwards. The statement was released without his concent. He later said that his decision was influenced by the "environment and culture" of the production had in the studio, but he was proud to have played the part.

Christopher is married and has one child, Albert, who was born in February 2012. He is an atheist. He ran marathons regularly until 2000 and is a fan of Manchester United. He is greatly involved in charity work. He is a Mencap charity ambassador and and supports the British Red Cross.

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Saturday, 9 November 2013

NEW PODCAST "The Long Game" S1E7



Brittany, Daniel, Ley, Mary, and Sam cover "The Long Game." We discuss Adam's function in the episode and try to give an answer to the Editor's question: "Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" 

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Sunday, 3 November 2013

PODCAST: Dalek and Important Update


Due to unforeseen constraints of our previous podcast hosting service, the TARDIStyle podcast has been moved. Please note that if you had subscribed via iTunes that that specific feed will no longer be updated. Instead, you can re-subscribe here.

With that said, I am proud to announce the episode that I think has been the best so far: Dalek! It is avalable here. Please note that plot through "The Name of the Doctor" is discussed in this podcast.


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Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Bad Wolf vs. the Impossible Girl


I've been getting an earful recently the arc this series and how it's meant there's no overarching story even though, y'know, there totally is, and it's the Doctor and the mystery of Clara.

And it keeps getting put up against Series 1 and "Bad Wolf" for some reason, even though that really wasn't much of a story arc. People happened to be using the words, it got pointed out to us in the penultimate episode, and then in the last episode we found out why and we pretended it made sense. Even when there were two-parters they really didn't elaborate or expand on the season plot.

And so it was with Series 2 and Series 3 and Series 4. "Torchwood Torchwood Torchwood OH HEY TORCHWOOD IS A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION." "Saxon Saxon Saxon OH HEY SAXON IS THE MASTER AND ALSO MP." "Planets bees planets bees planets bees OH HEY THE PLANETS WERE SWIPED BY DALEKS AND THE BEES WERE A BEACON." No substance. Just repetition followed by elaboration.

It's very much the same thing here. Each episode the Doctor will allude to Clara's impossibility, and the rest of the episode will be wholly unrelated to that. I mean, it's slightly better here, because there's emotional stakes--at least, there are in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" and "Nightmare in Silver", with the Doctor's secretive nature being brought to the forefront and Clara's mounting frustration with it, coupled with the Doctor's increasing fear that Clara is a deception of some sort.


I think the real problem here is that Moffat kind of raised our expectations with Series 5--which is probably the best continuous string of episodes any season of Who has ever managed. It, unlike other series of new Who, actually had progression in its arc. It wasn't just "crack crack crack OH HEY THE TARDIS BLEW UP AND TOOK REALITY WITH IT", we found out things in stages. It was gradually revealed to us that the cracks could alternatively serve as portals or memory saps, we found out midway through the series that the TARDIS had something to do with it all, and Rory's arrival and subsequent disappearance put things in flux and gave us serious, tangible emotional stakes.

Series 6 worked similarly, although it rushed things in places and cut a few corners. Rather than have important arc things happen in different one-offs, it made the conscious decision to put aside entire episodes for the arc.  It didn't quite work, but I admire the fact that they tried and the plot itself was actually pretty good. The action rise and fell and we found out things about River gradually rather than all at once in the finale.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Impossible Girl was compared favorably to Bad Wolf, but it's not, which is odd because they're neigh-identical in execution. This whole half-series has been a return to the Davies-era of arc plotting if I ever saw one.  Simply repeat the basic premise until the finale comes and the basic premise is explained in full.

So tell me, people--what's your beef? What makes Series 1 superior besides a mounting feeling of nostalgia (in which case, Season 9 clearly has the best story arc)? Answer in the comments section! I'm genuinely curious!

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Christopher Eccleston to Return for the 50th

Not.

I have a message for all of you who are whining, moaning, and honestly, and know that I really try to keep this blog clean so know the power of the word, bitching about Eccleston's decision to not return to the TARDIS this November:
Think of something you don't like to do. Now imagine that tens of  thousands of people have been complaining that you won't do it. Not to mention, you're famous and society watches your every move and is just waiting for a blunder to have a feeding frenzy over.

That's the kind of position that Eccleston is in right now.

Obviously, if you're passionate about his return to the show, you must like him as an actor. And I'm not saying that I don't think he did a fantastic (see what I did there?) job, because he did. Generally, we have something called respect for people we like. So have some for him! He was approached to play the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) but refused because of who he would be working with and because he isn't a fan of the show. We are lucky that we were at all graced with his time as The Last Timelord, that being considered.

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

"The Parting of the Ways"

Original Air Date: 18 June 2005

Jrak brew urp teh derlek!

"I wish I never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward" -Cpt. Jack Harkness

"If I'm very clever and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant, I might just save the world." -The Doctor

Then he goes and saves Rose. He saves his world.

This is Emergency Programme One. Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape. And that's okay. Hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home. And I bet you're fussing and moaning now. Typical. But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Programme One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do. Let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it. No one'll even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world'll move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all, one thing. Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.
-The Doctor

What is the bad wolf story? Is it just the thing from the three little pigs?

Bet cha wish ya had all-wheel drive now, Mickey.

Captain Jack's so cute when he's mortal.

Go, Mickey, save the world with a yellow truck...and break the TARDIS.

Congrats, Jack, you are now a fixed point in time and space! A temporal anomaly!

mah head!
mah Rose!
Kiss the girl.
and then...regenerate.
Oh, but first, abandon Jack.
Sing a song and the Daleks will go away? Yep, that's it.
BECOME DAVID TENNANT! Yes, get rid of that daft old face. And yes, you were fantastic. Now be David and make smiles come to my face. Yep, that's right: Barcelona.




"Bad Wolf"

Original Air Date: 11 June 2005

Have all of you seen the Weakest Link DW special? Its great!



I'd never British Weakest Link...and it was kind of really funny. 
Ever notice that the Doctor is the 9th person to get evicted?



"Boom Town"

I'm skipping Empty Child/Doctor Dances for now- I've already watched it a second time. Maybe I'll write about them when I watch it a third.

Original Air Date: 4 June 2005

I like how they casually blew up Downing Street...
Did you know/realize that the actress who is Margaret (Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen) plays the prostitute in "Casanova" with David Tennant?

"What are you captain of? The innuendo squad?"

It was a very icy patch!

The scene where the Slitheen shows mercy is so...cute. And the Raxacoricofallapatorians are kinda cute to begin with.
...and the bit with the teleport....

We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice. Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native.

Pan-dimensional surfboards! Yay!
"Don't worship me- I'd make a very bad god." -The Doctor
They mentioned pizza. Now I want pizza.

Ok, so the Doctor and Blon's little last meal, last wish, date thing, they're talking about icky death penalty processes and her only being a killer because that's what she was taught, and the other people in the restaurant are just, like, chill?

She's an egg!



"Father's Day"

Original Air Date: 14 May 2005

Rose's dad is a ginger!

Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive.
 -The Doctor

Oh crap, the TARDIS is just a box!


"The Long Game"

Original Air Date: 7 May 2005

The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, planet Earth at it's height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle. Come on, Adam. Open your mind. You're going to like this. Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners. The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. 
-The Doctor

Wait. Guys. Face of Boe is pregnant. What is this, whaaaa?

Is there a ground floor on Satellite 5? Or do they just start on first floor?

Ooh, the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe! It kind of looks like the Prisoner Zero thing.
It...exploded. Nasty.



"Dalek"

Original Air Date: 30 April 2005

It is about 10 minutes in that, if you listen close enough, you see how much self-loating the Doctor has for himself at this point.

DALEK: I am alone in the universe.
DOCTOR: Yep.
DALEK: So are you. We are the same.
DOCTOR: We're not the same! I'm not (pause) No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate.
The Dalek say that it and the Doctor are the same. At first, the Doctor denies it, then realizes that he can channel the hate of himself into the destruction of what he believes to be the last Dalek. He agrees that they are the same: they both deserve death because of what they have done.

Then, moments later Goddard and van Statten ask about the Last Great Time War and asks to clarify if the Doctor is the last of his kind. He said he survived, but not by choice. He says that he would have rather died than survived.

No! Rose don't touch it! Aww, Rose....

What are you gonna do? Sucker me to death? Yep. That's exactly it!

Ohh crap, it's a flyin' dalek.

Back to the Doctor's survivor's guilt we go.
DALEK: Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer.
DOCTOR: What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for.
DALEK: Then what should I do?
DOCTOR: All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself.
Suicide. That is his advice to the Dalek. That since it has destroyed so much, since everything it was and everything it stood for is gone, that because it is all gone, it should kill itself. The Doctor, though, has Rose. Rose and all of humanity is the one thing the Doctor has left at this point.

Don't you just love it when Daleks have existential crises?

I love the song they play at the end. I know it's somewhere on my DW Spotify playlist but I cant find it...

Doctor...what are you doing standing inside a box?






"World War Three"

Original Air Date 23 April 2005

Ever notice that the Slitheen have little tails?
Raxacoricofallapatorius! Yay!

The telephone is actually red! And there's skittles next to the phone.
ROSE: If we could just get out of here.
DOCTOR: There's a way out.
ROSE: What?
DOCTOR: There's always been a way out.
ROSE: Then why don't we use it?
DOCTOR: Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe.
JACKIE: Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare.
DOCTOR: That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies.
ROSE: Do it.
DOCTOR: You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?
ROSE: Yeah.
JACKIE: Please, Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid.
DOCTOR: Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.
ROSE: Then what're you waiting for?
DOCTOR: I could save the world but lose you.
HARRIET: Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine.
JACKIE: And who the hell are you?
HARRIET: Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it.

"Aliens of London"

Original Air Date: 16 April 2005 (Eight years ago today!) (Well, I finished the episode on the 17th...)

Dear Doctor, how do you mess us twelve hours for twelve months? And, why not take her back to when you actually meant?
You gotta love the kid who spraypaints "Bad Wolf" on the TARDIS
And would you look at that--UNIT's back, and Tosh (Torchwood) is the one who analysed the body found in the spaceship! (Hmm, and right after we had Eve Myles [Gwen on Torchwood] as Gwenyth? That, I'd say is one of the few coincidences in all of the Whoniverse)
HARRIET: Excuse me! Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North.
GANESH: I'm sorry, can it wait?
HARRIET: But I did have an appointment at 3:15.
GANESH: Yes, and a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. I think the schedule might have changed.
I just love Harriet Jones. She just might be one of the funniest DW characters. Even the Daleks knew who she was! But I'm sure she's having a great time with Downton Abbey (which I've started watching after I ran out of DW episodes, and I really like it). One say, I'll introduce myself, and they'll say "yes, I know who you are."

Awe, how cute, he gave her a key to the TARDIS! And then Mickey runs into a wall.

Why does the UNIT guy suddenly have a zipper when none of the others do?


*I appoligize for the original error in the title of the post

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

"The Unquiet Dead"

Original Air Date: 9 April 2005

Relatively far into the episode, we get a good amount of information the Last Great Time War.
GELTH: We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction. Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came. The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state.

I have to say, this is the episiode where I became a fan. The theatre group I was with for five years did a performance of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (referenced at the end of the episode), and as soon as that happened I was a bit like "yes they've got me!"
And, just before that, they quote my favorite play, "Hamlet," with "There are more things in heaven and Earth then dreamt of in your philosophy."




"The End of the World"

Original Air Date: 2 April 2005

First date with a girl? Of course! Bring her to the end of her world.
It makes a bit of sense. The Doctor is fresh off the Last Great Time War (we don't quite know it yet) and just watched Gallifrey burn (and we find out that at the end of the episode). Rose is running with the Doctor now, and he's an emotional mess, drowning in survivor's guilt and wants to make her be able to some how relate to not having a home planet any more. Its not quite the same as it being gone forever, because Rose will, of course, return to Earth. But I assume watching your planet, your home, you childhood, burn is watching your planet burn.

One of the guests is The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. They're not talking about those things on tumblr (ours is here). The original definition of "meme" is an idea that is passed from person to person through culture. Personally I think Clara is a living meme. I guess she gets Adherents. I know its them that let out those mechanical spider things, but who ever said Clara was good?

I give you air from my lungs!
STEWARD: And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen.
CASSANDRA: Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me. Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. (Its a 1950s jukebox) It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on! (A 45 of Tainted Love by Soft Cell.)
Then, there is the second time we see the Doctor's survivor's guilt, after Rose has realize how much of a complete stranger the Doctor is and really starts asking him where he's from: "This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me." He knows his past, and what he's done, that he let his planet burn exactly like the Earth is about to, and can't bear to think of it now, even though he is sort of making himself think of it given where he is and what is about to happen.



"Rose"

Original Air Date: 26 March 2005 (leaked on 5 March 2005)

Have I ever mentioned that I love the song that plays at the very beginning  It's called "Westminster Bridge" if anyone's interested.
Did you notice that one of the autons chasing Rose is a shirtless woman?
About sixteen minutes in, we get the first glimpse of how this Ninth Doctor is gonna be.
Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home.
And, as soon as that bit ends, we hear "The Doctor's Theme" for the first time. It is an almost entirely vocal piece, deigned to evoke feelings of sadness and being lost. And it does. Prior to hearing this, the Doctor has appeared as a happy man, and every time we hear the song and the note progression from it, we know that the Doctor is remembering his past, what he is running from, and how alone he is.
Just once, I'd like to see someone go in the TARDIS for the first time and just be like, "Oh, okay, bigger on the inside."
Why do the boyfriends of "Who" get turned in to plastic?
"Lots of planets have a North!"
I've always found this episode a bit rediculous. Perhaps its just the idea of the Nesetene Consciousness and the whole living plastic thing. I don't know.