Not counting the TARDIS and his intellect, there are three things that the Doctor just couldn't get by without. And I'm gonna be mean and hide the not-so-obvious one behind the pagebreak. It does contain spoilers.
Sonic Screwdriver
The Doctor with the Sonic Screwdriver in Doomsday
Fun fact: scientists have invented a device that can move objects with sound. First and most important is the sonic screwdriver. Although it doesn't work on wood and can be disabled by some hairdryers, it's been invaluable since it became more prominent in the revival series. It is "harmless... doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim." It's simply successful at what the Doctor tries to be: something that helps and never hurts. But the Doctor does hurt and that is part of his most valuable tool.
Psychic Paper
The Doctor uses the Psychic Paper on Shakespeare
Making its twenty-sixth screen appearance in The Power of Three., psychic paper has been indispensable for the last three doctors, though far less reliable than ol' sonic. In Army of Ghosts, we see the psychic paper fail for the first time when Rose uses it on Rajesh, a Torchwood employee, who then tells us that he, like all members of Torchwood, has a basic level of psychic training. Very soon again we also see the paper fail when the Doctor uses it with William Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code because Shakespeare is too intelligent for it to have worked. But it plays on the mind, which leads me to the Doctor's most valuable tool.
I may be in the US, but I watched the premier with the UK.
And I have to say, I thought it would be a lot better.
The episode gets 2 1/2 stars.
That is not to say that it was bad and you are all not in for a treat, but for a premier episode, it was very lacking. Spoilers below.
In America? Don't get BBC America? Something else? Well, tardisblue.net will be streaming The Bells of Saint John LIVE at 6:15GMT, which is 2:15ET (where I am)
Here is the link: http://tardisblue.net/index.php?page=stream
I will be there in the chat room as TARDIStyle :)
ALLONS-Y
"David Tennant and Billie Piper to return for blockbuster celebrations with John Hurt also confirmed.
"The BBC has today revealed some of the all-star cast that will mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. David Tennant and Billie Piper will join current Doctor and companion, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, while John Hurt (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alien, Harry Potter) will also co-star.
"Last seen as the Doctor on January 1st 2010, this will be the first time Tennant has reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor. During his reign as the Time Lord, Tennant appeared in three series as well as several specials. He was first revealed as the Doctor in the 2005 series finale, ‘The Parting of the Ways’.
"Meanwhile Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for two series following the reboot in 2005, will appear in the show for the first time since featuring in Tennant’s last episode, ‘The End of Time’ in 2010.
"Also confirmed to join the cast is John Hurt who will also co-star in the 3D anniversary special that will form part of blockbuster celebrations, set to take over the BBC. Produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC One, the 50th anniversary will be written by Steven Moffat and Directed by Nick Hurran.
"Filming for the 50th anniversary starts this week. Meanwhile a brand new series starts on BBC ONE today (30 March) at 6:15pm for a run of eight epic episodes, which officially introduces the Doctor’s newest companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman."
Today is shaping up to be just like Christmas--well, without the alien invasion.
Not only will we get the premeir of Doctor Who in a few short hours, but we have also been told some fantastic news about the 50th anniversary special, which begins filming on Monday: David Tennant and Billie Piper will be returning!
"David Tennant and Billie Piper will appear in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, the BBC has confirmed. "Tennant was the 10th Doctor and Piper played his on-screen companion Rose Tyler in the BBC One show. "Filming on the show, which will also star John Hurt, will start next week. "Tennant's successor, Matt Smith - also in the special with his new assistant played by Jenna-Louise Coleman - says fans 'will not be disappointed' by the 3D show, due to air on 23 November. "Tennant and Piper have long been rumoured to be making a return for the special, which is being written by the show's executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat. "In January, Piper, appearing on the Graham Norton show, denied she would be appearing. 'I wasn't asked, no,' she said. "'I think Matt Smith may have said, in passing or in jest, it would be nice.' Smith has said the show 'manages to pay homage to everything - and look forward'. "'I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it's hilarious, it's epic and it's vast,' he said. "Moffat, meanwhile, has said he took special care to protect the secrets of the story. "'One length I've gone to which is a really good security measure - I make sure I don't get a script, because I will lose it,' he said. "'I forbid people to hand me one. It's on my computer under lock and key.' "The first story of Doctor Who's 2013 run, The Bells of Saint John - described by Moffat as a 'proper London thriller' - will be screened later. "Viewers will see the Doctor and new companion, Clara, played by Coleman, battling an evil entity in the world's wi-fi networks. "Future episodes of the show, which is filmed in Cardiff, see the return of the Cybermen and old enemy the Ice Warriors, who last appeared during the Jon Pertwee era in 1974. "Tennant starred in Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010 while Piper first appeared in 2005 opposite Christopher Eccleston, who played the ninth Doctor. "She left the show in 2006 but returned for a number of episodes in 2008 as well as for Tennant's final episode, broadcast on 1 January 2010. "The first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, starring William Hartnell as the Timelord, was broadcast on 23 November 1963. "As part of the anniversary events, the BBC will also broadcast An Adventure in Space and Time - a one-off drama looking at how the sci-fi show came to be made."
In a post from 26 March 13, SciFiBulletin reports that Matt Smith will stay as the Doctor in to the 2014 season, according to an interview in the upcoming edition (30 March-5 April) of "Radio Times."
"Doctor Who star Matt Smith has confirmed categorically that he is committed to Doctor Who for the next year – taking him through the recording of series eight – and that he is taking the show on a year by year basis.
"There have been rumours that the 50th anniversary special would conclude with the Doctor regenerating, but this would seem to put a stop to those.
"The Radio Times includes a wraparound cover featuring the various monsters to be featured in the eight episodes about to be aired, and confirms the titles of all bar the finale: The Bells of Saint John; The Rings of Akhaten; Cold War; Hide; Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS; The Crimson Horror; and Nightmare in Silver. Moffat’s finale, featuring the return of River Song, will be revealed later, with the head writer explaining, 'You’re about to learn something about the Doctor that you never knew before. And I think you’re in for a shock…'”
There's some heavy foreshadowing in The End of Time. Some of it seems like a coincidence, but never ignore a coincidence. Unless you're busy.
The Silence
It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams...Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot, because they must. They forgot their nightmares of fire and war and insanity. They forgot.
-Narrator (Rassilon), The End of Time, Part I
The Dream Lord
The Dream Lord is the dark side of the Doctor, and we've seen a lot of that lately, climaxing in The Waters of Mars when he manipulates someone into suicide. He makes his first corporeal appearance in the revival series in Amy's Choice. Since the Doctor has the power to give people "dreams" we must assume that the other Time Lords, specifically the Master, also have that capability.
Something Evil in the WiFi
"She got Mister Smith to put out this story saying that WiFi went mad all across the world, giving everyone hallucinations. I mean, how else do you explain it? Everyone with a different face." -Luke Smith, The End of Time, Part II
Its been revealed that this weekend's premier episode, The Bells of Saint John, will be about something evil in the WiFi that is trying to control humans.
While we all wait, and wait, and wait for that clock on the left to hit zero, those of us with many Facebook fan pages (ours is here!) in our News Feed are wondering if all their friends have stopped posting, but then realise that the Doctor Who fan pages are just posting...a lot.
And who can blame them? I know I long for some new info on Clara to make a new post out of! But since I haven't got that, I'll post about something else.
Call me what you will, but I don't think bowties are cool. Frankly, I think that the Doctor should really try a cravat again. But his bowties are certainly something that make this Doctor...unique.
All the Doctors have had elements of their dress that aren't quite normal to us.
The First Doctor
William Hartnell as the
First Doctor get a 4/10
It's not in the picture here, but the first thing I want to cover is that hat of his. Really, what is is? It looks like a small trash bag. If anyone knows what the deal is with that, please let me know in the comments section.
And under that hat is something else...strange. His hair. I'm not saying I don't like it, I'm just saying that it is odd. Like an Ood.
Then, there is his tie. I really don't know the proper word for it. This is do like.
Next, the coat. It seems that most of the Doctors have a coat that is strange but loveable.
And I just noticed this--the ring he's wearing. Let me say that I'm not a fan of rings, and this one isn't and different.
In total, it seems that the First Doctor's outfit, not including the bottoms, is a throwback to the late 1800s or the early 1900s. I'm the kind of person who really likes the dress of that period.
This incarnation of the Doctor was strict and grandfatherly. He communicated those traits with his old-style choice of dress that's a bit shocking at first look, but might grow on you as you watch him slowly become a bit more relaxed.
The Second Doctor
Patrick Throughton as
the Second Doctor gets a 4.5/10
It is here we see bowties appear, but at this point in real-world time, bowties aren't as much of a faux-pas as they are today. Aside from his hats, we don't really see too much eccentricity in the dress. But that is not to say, and I do not mean that the character is not eccentric. Because he is. Very, very eccentric. He's got catchphrases like "Oh my giddy aunt" and introduces us to the endless running with "when I say run, run," a phrase that also graced the lips of the Ninth Doctor. And I won't fail to mention his recorder. See? I just did. It's also worth the note that this Doctor is the one who adopts his over-arching pacifism after the series was criticized for being too violent.
The Third Doctor
Jon Pertwee as the Third
Doctor gets a 6.75/10
Now here's where we get cookin' with the strange. The Third Doctor steers us back to the Victorian Era (in the Bessie, of course) with his red coat and the ruffles on his shirt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he also have a cape at some point? And that hair. Ooh, that hair. Its the first coiffure that's full of Time Lord secrets. What Three doesn't have in the oddness factor, he makes up for with his clothes. And, with Jo Grant, he starts to have companions that can hold their own in tough situations. And Sarah Jane Smith starts her time with the Doctor here, too. The Third Doctor makes great contributions to the character traits of the Doctor that don't fade with regeneration. The gentelmanly dapper dress of this incarnation is like the bright colours on poisonous frogs: it says "don't mess!", but reassures you that if you don't get on his bad side he won't woop your butt with his martial art skills.
The Fourth Doctor
Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor gets a 9/10
The Fourth Doctor brings us the most eccentricity in dress and very possibly character. He's the first doctor to wear question marks, although they feature much more prominently with the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors.
The wide brim of this fedora is brilliant, simply marvellous. It sits upon oodles of curly hair, rivalled only by his previous regeneration.
One does not simply watch Doctor Who and not develop a love for long scarves. The Doctor says that it was knitted by Madame Nostradamus and deems it irreplaceable when it gets hit by a laser in The Arc in Space. Baker says that the original scarf was made by Begonia Pope who was given the yarn but unsure of how long to make it, so she used all of it. There was a much shorter "stunt scarf", and the total length of it varied, the maximum being 24' which is about four times the height of the Fourth Doctor.
This Doctor is one that acts the strangest, and until the introduction of the other Baker, dresses the strangest. It's the scarf that assures you that he's crazy if his demeanour didn't already convince you of that.
The hat, hair, and scarf are the most prominent of this Doctor's off-kilter dress. As Baker played the doctor for the longest amount of time of all the Doctors (1974-81), his costume was in constant flux. Read more about it here.
The Fifth Doctor
Peter Davison as the Fifth
Doctor gets a 3/10
Not many man can pull off decorative vegetables, but if any one can, it's the Fifth Doctor. This Doctor's clothing is basically just cricket whites, plus the jacket and hat. This Doctor's clothes influenced some of the Tenth Doctor's dressing habits as well.
Oh, and the trainers. And... [putting his glasses on] snap! 'Cos you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor
-The Tenth Doctor to the Fifth Doctor, Time Crash
This Doctor, aside from the question marks on his collar and the celery, is one of the more "normal" regenerations of the Doctor, at least dress wise.
This Doctor was challenged at first by the Whovians because of his age, being by far the youngest to get cast in the role at the time. His calm outfit helped reassure viewers that he was the respectable Doctor we know and love and not young whipper-snapper, while keeping some of the oddity from his previous regenerations with the celery, the purpose of which is artfully unexplained until his last episode.
The Sixth Doctor
Colin Baker as the Sixth
Doctor gets 2/10
Woah, there. This Doctor needs to calm down a bit. He looks like a unicorn drunk on rainbows threw up on him. Again, we see wild curly hair and question marks on his collar. The coat is a Do-It-Yourself nightmare which I don't even what to address but will. (The things I do for my readers...) Colin Baker's Doctor is brash and puts a foul taste reminiscent of ear wax in many mouths, as does that coat. That coat. That coat. It must have been that coat that made the Doctor swear them off in his next incarnatuon
The Seventh Doctor
Sylvester McCoy as the
Seventh Doctor gets 3.5/10
The Seventh Doctor looks a lot (in terms of clothing) like the Fifth, minus the decorative vegetable, and add more delightfully tacky question marks. Sweater vests, in my book, are even lamer than bow ties. And I feel just plain bad for the person who had to knit that. Their sight can't possibly be what it once was. All the question marks must have been what threw Ace when thinking of his name. But really, you'd think after a while she'd get that it's the Doctor and not the Professor.
The Eighth Doctor
Paul McGann as the Eighth
Doctor gets a 7.75/10
Believe it or not, a really do like this Doctor's look. His forehead and chin/jawline is what really make it work. I think the dress of the Victorian Era is charming in general. It seems (ha, "seems" and we're talking about costumes which have seams...) that the Doctor fancies clothes from that era, as the First and Third Doctors' outfits also have late-1800s overtones. McGann, who wore a wig as the Doctor, suggested (like Colin Baker) that the character have the short hair and leather jacket combo that was adopted for the next Doctor, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, who had been asked to play the Eighth Doctor. With this Doctor's amnesia playing a significant role in his only on-screen appearance, I'm surprised we don't seem more question marks on him.
The Ninth Doctor
Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor gets 6.5/10
The first episode of Doctor Who that I watched was Rose, which is the first episode with Christopher Eccleston, and I'm gonna be honest: That first time the Doctor appeared on screen, I was a bit perplexed. I went in to it knowing that David Tennant was one of the Doctors, but didn't know about Eccleston. My confusion was due to the fact that the Ninth Doctor's garb isn't strange or anything. In fact, if the v-neck was just a normal tee, he dresses like my dad (one of them pulls it off way better than the other, and I just realized that if you add a moustache to Eccleston, the result would look like my dad). Since Eccleston was only the Doctor for 13 or so episodes, he doesn't have as much of a developed character as most of the other Doctors. He looks like any other denizen (a synonym of which is tenant) of London, but couldn't be farther from the truth. Here is when we really start to see the Doctor as a god trying to be human.
The Tenth Doctor
David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor gets 10/10
Ten is my favourite, no question. The slim-and-a-little-bit-foxy David Tennnat is a 10 to start with, and the geek-chique helps the cause. From the head down:
He may not be ginger, but his hair rocks. It's full of Time Lord secrets on its worst days. His left eyebrow is eloquent and prolific in emotion. Plus, you can't really look at them without seeing his chocolatey eyes. Then, we have his sideburns. I love them, but they do get mixed reviews. I think the people who don't like them haven't seen him without them. Next, we have the coat. Personally, I really love the coat. The prop replica is hanging in my closet right now. I don't know why or how the coat is as fabulous as it is. Time Lord secrets, again. The main element of the outfit is the Junior-Lawer esque suit and loose tie, which highlights how incredibly thin Tennant is--"you hug him and you get a papercut!" The final thing is the converse. They rock my socks, and apparently his too, as when he takes them off in Smith and Jones he's not wearing any. The BBC gives a guide to dressing like Ten. We also see the most developed character from him, which just goes to show how much of an amazing actor he is. If you haven't seen him in Cassanova and Hamlet, I strongly suggest you do.
The Eleventh Doctor
Matt Smith as the Eleventh
Doctor gets an 8/10
All of us who like the Tenth Doctor are a bit spoiled by his performance. I know I don't like him as much as far as his ability to show emotion as an actor, but do realize that it may be a character choice. It's fun to see him in the whimsical ensemble elements, like the tweed jacket, high-hemmed pants, and the suspenders, and certainly the fez and the Stetson are a laugh. Bow ties aren't cool, but he does pull them off. It's not as eccentric as some of the outfits we've seen the Doctor in (coughsixcough), but you definitely would do a bit of a double take if you saw a man this young dressed like your grandfather and looking this incredible on the street. And if you do see a rather young man dressed this old on the street, go to him and ask if he's the Doctor, because you might just be on to something.
In Conclusion....
Like any of us, our style is indicative of who we are. My dress patterns are erratic, and so am I (you have no idea). Every time he regenerates, he's a new man, and we can only expect to see it on the outside, too. If the clothes make the man, then most of us think that DT is the best-dressed, too.
He's the cutest thing (next to an Adipose), but there's only one thing: he's not a Whovian!
In the world of middle school (and, *tear* high school...they grow up so fast [we have a five and a half year diffrence]), at least in the greater New York City area, being a Whovian is far from "cool"--and I'll admit that that is a big reason that I waited until college to get into it, and in my brother's quest to be the cooliest (I think its a alpha-maledominance thing), he avoids it, and even gets on me about liking it. Well, last Wednesday (20/3/13), I convinced him to watch an episode with me. I chose Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead, because that's the one that scares me the most (#VashtaNerada). And a miracle happened. Yes, a miracle as defined by the Doctor himself (Miracle: Very rare impossible things that just happen in this big, vast, complicated, ridiculous universe. See: The Pandorica Opens). He *liked* it. Now, like any thirteen-year old who's not fond of school, he tends to put things off to the last minute. He had to write a sci-fi story for his English class. He's not as verbal as I am (only .3% of the population are) and was a bit stuck. That is, until I came and gave him a bit of...inspiration. He already had commited to writing something about nuceulear ratiation after a third world war, and Silence in the Library was still fresh in his mind. Here is his Vashta Nerada-inspired story:
Well aren't we a bunch of lucky ducks!
Today, the BBC released The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel on their YouTube.
The Doctor takes a break from saving worlds to swing on a swing and has one of the most endearing moments I've seen Eleven have. Even while overwhelmingly simple at first glance, the minisode only increases the mysetery of Clara.
And here's what we can expect to see in the full episode:
As you may have seen yesterday, there are regeneration rumours surrpunding the 2013 Christmas special. The rumour is that Matt wants to leave the TARDIS in exchange for a career in Hollywood.
This is the only article I found that makes an attempt at debunking it:
"The last time showrunner Steven Moffat was asked how long incumbent Doctor Matt Smith would remain in the role, he snapped back with a cheerily brisk 'Forever. For the rest of time'. There's the slightest chance you know, that he wasn't telling the truth...
"Of course he wasn't. If there's one thing more certain than death, taxes, and repetition of the phrase "Doctor Who?" in the new episodes, it's that Matt Smith won't be the Doctor forever. The Sun, amongst others, is keen for us to think that his departure will come sooner rather than later, namely, after the 2013 Christmas special. The newspaper ran a story suggesting that 'Insiders say the festive special will be Matt's last outing as The Doctor', citing Smith's ambition to break into Hollywood as his reason for bowing out after a four year stint.
"The BBC was quick to respond to the story, and had this to say:
"'Sorry folks but even we don’t know what’s going to happen at Christmas. It’s not been written yet! But Matt loves the show and is to start filming the unmissable 50th anniversary, and the new series starting on Easter Saturday.'
"It's not exactly a denial, and neither was Smith's answer to the question posed by Jonathan Ross last week, 'I am very happy doing it. I do the anniversary special, then the Christmas special. At the moment it’s 2013 and we will see what 2014 holds.'”
-Den of Geek, "Doctor Who: BBC Responds to Matt Smith Quitting Rumours"
So there it is. Any allegations about Matt Smith regenerating for the Christmas special are not fact...yet.
While I was searching for that, I did come upon some very interesting "contreversy" over regeneration.
Some are saying that the Doctor's lack of gingerness is condoning anti-gingerism.The Telegraph
When Eleven does regenerate to twelve, will it be a woman? For my own aspirations of playing the Doctor, I hope so...The Huffington Post
Helen Mirren has her eyes on the role. The Huffington Post.
And for all you worrying that he's run out of regenerations, here's reassurance for you, too. It's even a "fact"now.
What do I think of all of this?
The Impending Regeneration
Good. I'm really not a fan of the Matt Smith interpretation. He's...well, I'm going to be critical here, but before you say I don't know what I'm talking about, I do: I'm an actor, so I know that he can do better.
I do have to hand it to him that David Tennant's performance is a tough act to follow. Tennant, in general, is a phenominal actor. I first saw him in the televised version of RSC's "Hamlet" and loved it. That's a big reason of why I started watching Doctor Who. When you've seen an actor before, there's always a risk of it being that character playing the character. I didn't see Hamlet playing the Doctor. (I watched Casanova, which was done before Tennant started as the Doctor after I watched all of the Tenth Doctor, so I can't say that I saw Casanova playing either.) Of course, David has his trademarks that almost all his characters use--ie, "Welllll....," "Oh yes!," his eyebrows, but all those characters use those attributes differently.
In doing the Doctor so well, David also made it a really easy role to take over. We see so much emotion in Tennat's Doctor, and that lets us in to his personality. What we see him go through are emotions we all go through, but never talk about. I think that that's one of the best things about the Tenth Doctor. It may be that yes, I do have high expectations from any actor playing the role, and it is true that every Doctor is different from the last, but they still have traits from their previous regenerations:
"You know, I loved being you. Back when I first started, at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important—like you do, when you're young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing, I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers. And... [putting his glasses on] snap! 'Cos you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."
-The Tenth Doctor to the Fifth Doctor, Time Crash
Anti-Gingerism
When the doctor eats beans and pears. It's quite simple: Amy is ginger and if the show had an anti-ginger agenda, then they wouldn't make someone as pivitoal as the Fantastic Amy Pond ginger.
Regenerating as a Female
and Helen Mirren as the Doctor
Also good. As I mentioned, I really want to play the role. There were some pretty solid hints that Twelve will be female. In The Eleventh Hour, one of the first post-regeneration new-body panics in that he's now a woman. Then, in The Doctor's Wife, he mentions the Time Lord Corsair and his regenerations. He says: "He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooo, she was a bad girl."
There are a couple of things that could prevent it, not "scientiffically," just from a buisness end. Since David played the role, we have the expectation for the Doctor to be a super-sexy man. While I do know females who are super-sexy men, Helen Mirren is not one of them--in fact, she is, sorry Helen, a bit on the older side, currently at age 67, and is a July baby so sould by 68 by the time she'd get the role. At 1200, the doctor is older than ever, but Helen would be the oldest actor at the start of her portrayl of the lonely god by thirteen years (William Hartnell, the First Doctor was 55 when he took on the role in 1963), which would be somewhat ironic as Matt Smith, who started as the Doctor at age 27, is the youngest actor to be the doctor by two years (Peter Davison was 29, and the third youngest was Tennant at 34). Then there is the fact that the Doctor being female would complicate the River Song-Doctor thing. I've got nothing against homosexuality--I'm a big suppourter of the LGBT movement--but I just don't see River as being a lesbian. Of course, the Doctor has now known River for three hundred years of his life, and we might just see River meet the Doctor for the first time before the eleven-twelve regeneration.
All and all, I've no problem with the Doctor being female, I just don't know how good it would be for the longterm continuing of the show...
Running Out of Regenerations
Again, we must remember that Doctor Who is a television show (yes, I know there are novels and comics and all sorts of other media of it, but mainly, it is a show) and show buisness is just that: buisness. Like the Doctor becoming female, it all depends on if the show is turning a profit or not. As long as it is, they'll throw continuity out the TARIS doors and into an event horison and/or find a reason why the Doctor earned extra regenerations.
In Conclusion...
There's a reason you're reading this blog: you like (or at leart are remotely interested) in Doctor Who. It's the longest running televison show on the planet, and thats because its fantastic. And I think it's gonna keep being fantastic for a long, long time.
I live in the US, in just a half hour (in good traffic) from Manhattan, so you must forgive me for being somewhat delayed at the latest episodes. Of course, living near New York is a huge problem: the Doctor can't take the TARDIS back there because the timelines are too scrambled! It's a timey-wimey bi lizard with major temporal distortions. I can't be living here if it means I have no chances of being whisked away by a man in a blue box.
Enough of the digression. I just watched the Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan,and The Snowmen and its prequels, and just in time for this Sunday's online release of The Bells of Saint John, too.
Spoilers--click "read more" to see the rest. Seriously. If you haven't seen Asylum of the Daleks yet, don't read it!
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually — from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint — it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff."
Of course, sometimes they aren't. The Timey Wimey Ball is the result of a series or movie where the writers are a wee bit confused or forgetful about exactly which kind of time travel can happen, sometimes within the span of one episode! One day You Can't Fight Fate (or at least not without the Butterfly of Doom coming along), but the next you can Screw Destiny and Set Right What Once Went Wrong by killing Hitler and changing the past for the better. Especially headachy because there's no Temporal Paradox, or if it's totally arbitrary.
The standard Hand Wave (if one is given) is that time is very complicated and the particulars of the situation affect how the rules apply in ways that a layperson wouldn't understand. Which is one of the many reasons why some people absolutely frickin' HATE time travel...
Despite the similar images the name might conjure, this is unrelated to Swirly Energy Thingy (although a Swirly Energy Thingy might very well have Timey Wimey effects). Likewise, a Continuity Snarl is not necessarily related, though the presence of Time Travel induced retcons can certainly make a character's past seemlike a tangled up ball of yarn.
The Doctor has three great enemies the Daleks, of course, the Cybermen, and the one people leave out, himself. He is his own worst enemy.
Both the Daleks and the Cybermen have been enginered to be emotionless. The Doctor has his emotions-900 years of emotions. Those traits are at the core of their greatest weakness.
A Dalek
The Daleks are a race bent on exterminating all things not Dalek. They’re little ugly one-eyed octopus looking things inside a robotic casing made of Dalekanium They are not impossible to escape—its just extremely very not likely. The creator of the Daleks took out their emotions to make them better fighters.
A Cyberman
The Cybermen, on the other hand are not alien. Sure, they were created in an alternate universe and fell through the Cardiff rift, but they are native, so to speak, to Earth. They are humans who have been “upgraded” by having their brains put into a metal suit and having emotions neutralized, because the man who created them found emotions to be too painful.
David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor
The Doctor’s most dangerous enemy is what attracts us to the show. Not only are we watching a man fight threats beyond our imaginations, we are watching a man fight himself. The Doctor is the last of his species. Although he is an alien, he is exquisitely human. He looks like a human (or, as he puts it, humans look like Time Lords as Time Lords came first) Being a Time Lord is “a sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering” (The Doctor’s Daughter). Being a Time Lord was having a connection with your people that all humans long for. (People=members of the same species, relatively generic, human=Homo sapien) The Doctor had all of that, and he blames himself for its destruction in The Time War. He had it all, and now he has nothing at all. He grasps out for a companion all the time, knowing that they can stay with him forever, but he cannot stay with them forever: at the start of the most recent revival (2005), the Doctor is already 900 years old. That is where The Curse of the Time Lords comes in--"[they] don't age. [They] regenerate. But humans decay. [Humans] wither and [humans] die. Imagine watching that happen to someone you... [Humans] can spend the rest of [their] life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on, alone." He is truly and utterly alone in the world.
I am Ley. I am a human. I am from the planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. I am 18 years old. I'm the Whovian who blogs about Doctor Who now because blogging about Doctor Who is cool. You got a problem with that?
I am waiting for a mad man with a blue box. If you are a mad man with a blue box, please let me know so we can run together.
Well, there ya go. That's that.
To introduce myself further, I'll give you my answers to the Doctor Who Thirty-Day Challenge and some explinations.
Favourite Doctor: Ten--I feel we learn the most about who the Doctor really is as a man. Tennant's portrayl of his emotions blew me away. I myself am an actor and I really hand it to him that he did a magnificent job on the part, and I want to have him make a special appearance.
Favourite Companion: Leela--She carries that dagger around with her.
Least Favourite Companion: Rose--She needs to stop complaining.
Favourite Villian: The Doctor is his own worst enimy--More on that here.
Favourite Alien: Rutan--It just looks so silly in it's natural form. I find them humorous.
Favourite Special Episode: The Runaway Bride--"What"""Who are you?" "But" "Where am I?" "What?" "What the hell is this place?" "What? You can't do that. I wasn't. We're in flight. That is, that is physically impossible! How did" "Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now: where am I?" "Inside the TARDIS" "The what?" "The TARIDS." "The what?" "The TARIDS!" "The what?" "It's called the TARDIS." "That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things."
Favourite Season: The Current One--It's the one where we don't know how it will end.
Least Favourite Season: Everything before Five.--"You know, I loved being you. Back when I first started, at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important—like you do, when you're young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing, I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers. And... [putting his glasses on] snap! 'Cos you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor" (Time Crash).
Favourite Master: We're suppoused to like him?
Saddest Episode: The End of Time--I'm a fan of Ten
Funniest Episode: The Eleventh Hour--Another awkward dinner with the mother-in-law.
Episode that Scared me the Most: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead--I use "vashta nerada" instead of cursing.
Favourite Theme Song: Ten's Last Season
Character I Like that Everyone Else Hates: Which characters does everyone hate?
Most Annoying Character: Dalek...or Rose--Daleks are like sparkles and herpies. Just when you think they're gone.... And Rose just doesn't realize when she has it good. And the thing that happens at the end of "Journey's End."
Favourite Male Actor: David Tennant--"Slim and a little bit foxy." And a great over-all actor. I mean, have you seen him in "Hamlet" and "Cassanova"?
Least Favourite Male Actor: Matt Smith--I can't even he needs use of his eyebrows. And he isn't David Tennant. Sorry, but Ten is a tough act to follow.
Favourite Female Actor: Karen Gillan or Catherine Tate--They bring so much spunk!
Least Favourite Female Actor: Billie Piper--Her face always looks the same.
Favourite Writer: Russel T. Davies--The continuity things that man comes up with...so clever!
Favourite Couple: Amy and Rory
Favourite Friendship: Ten and Donna--They're just so funny.
Favourite Spin-Off: Torchwood--Honestly, I haven't watched the others.
Favourite Quote: "All that pain, and misery, and lonliness and it just made it kind" (The Beast Below.) It pretty much sums me up.
Favourite Doctor Catchphrase: ALLONS-Y--Because reasons and I speak French.
Favorite Doctor Gadget: The TARDIS's Translator. It makes everything so much easier!
Favourite Interview: Can I Ruffle Your Hair? or this one, which contains a spoiler.--The first one is something I really want to do, and the second one is just lolsome.
Favorite gif: --Because he's naked.
When Did I Become a Fan: The Year? 2013 The Moment: The Unquiet Dead-my theatre group did a production of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" back in 2009 and the story holds a special place in my heart.
