Tag Archives: Doctor Who

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars (semi-review)

Posted on November 15, 2009 | 1 comment

I can’t really say much about the episode without giving too much away. So while I’ll try to be discreet, you might want to stop reading. If you’ve seen the preview, I’ll be giving away a little more than that and also my opinions on the episode…

One of the things I noticed in the previews was that Adelaide (the Mars commander) didn’t seem like much of a companion at all. But since I saw she was being referred to as a companion (here and there on the ‘net) I thought I might change my mind when I saw the episode, but that didn’t happen at all. I really felt like it was much more of a loaner episode for The Doctor. He works so much better with a sidekick companion, he doesn’t need to talk to himself as much…

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead BBC WarnerIn a few ways it was a very non-typical episode, but with only two more David Tennant episodes some changes were to be expected. At least I’m assuming the two part Christmas special includes David Tennant in both episodes; I’d like to point out I quite often see 2010 listed as the end of his tenure in the role, so it makes me wonder if he’s appearing in the first episode of 2010? or is part two of the Christmas episode, The End of Time, going to be on New Year’s Day? or is the 2010 date a mistake? *

Pretty creepy episode. I thought they were originally going to air it on/near Halloween, it would have worked!


Direct link to Doctor Who preview.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode, the first third was very typical and enjoyable. But by the second half I felt like I (and The Doctor) was just being pulled along through the episode, part of the whole “this is a point fixed in time” problem (assuming you’ve seen the preview) you kind of have to just wait it through. The end was the part I didn’t like, it felt rushed and incomplete. I think they were trying to do some character changes and it made him seem more like an ass mean than crazed. Maybe they’ll follow through in another month and make it more clear why, but…

* He is doing the voice of The Doctor in a Doctor Who cartoon series, Dreamland, maybe that’s running until 2010?

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Countdown – Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars

Posted on November 14, 2009 | 1 comment

The Doctor is on the BBC in just a few hours, I’d say it’s on today, but it’s still yesterday in Michigan, but it’s already tomorrow in the UK.

It’s one of the last few Russell T. Davies episodes and it’s written with/by Phil Ford who’s done a few (eight!) Sarah Jane Adventures, a Torchwood book (Skypoint) and “Something Borrowed” (the Torchwood wedding episode).

Viewers in the US will have to wait a bit longer (December 9th) until it’s on BBCamerica.

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In Perpetuity – A Face of Boe fan-fiction story

Posted on August 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

If you’re a Doctor Who or Torchwood fan I found a great piece of The Face of Boe fan-fiction. I’m normally not a fan, but this is so well done I wanted to share it.

From The Book of the Face of Boe:
Chapter 12, verse 19:

Doctor Who - 5The Suppliant came and knelt before Him. “Ancient One, what is the greatest sin in the Universe?”

The Face of Boe answered, “Stagnation. Embrace variety, for change is the fundamental virtue of existence.”

“But you have lived for hundreds of millions of years without altering in any aspect.” said The Suppliant. “How can you, out of all living beings, say such a thing?”

The Face of Boe smiled enigmatically. “Perspective.”

If you haven’t watched all the Doctor Who episodes, especially season 3 (with Martha), then you might not know who he really is. Don’t read the story or you’ll get spoilers.

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Manic Monday – Meme

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 1 comment

Here’s this week’s Manic Monday questions:

Both were really easy to answer, at least there were to me.

Would you rather go a week without bathing, but be able to change your clothes, or a week without a change of clothes, but be able to bathe?
Even though I like to take showers, I think I’d go with the clean clothes. There really is some magic in “the magical powers of a new shirt” (a reference from The West Wing), getting rid of the dirty sweaty shirt can make you feel much better about the day.

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
Doctor Who. Preferably the 2006 season. Traveling places and times (and saving people).
Torchwood would have been a good choice but they way they keep killing characters, I wouldn’t last a month.

From Manic Monday #178.

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Torchwood and Doctor Who Time Line – When to Watch What Episodes

Posted on July 4, 2009 | 32 comments

Doctor Who - The Complete Second Series Sci-Fi Channel, TheSo this isn’t a chronology timeline, but more of a viewing guide on when to watch the TV episodes as they tie together with Torchwood. This is the order I believed they originally aired the episodes and watching them in that order works well.

  • Doctor Who S1 Rose
  • Doctor Who Christmas Special 2005 Rose
  • Doctor Who S2 Rose
  • Doctor Who Christmas Special 2006 Donna
  • Torchwood S1
  • Doctor Who S3 Martha
  • “Time Crash” – a mini-episode (only a few minutes) from a children’s fund raiser (BBC’s Children In Need) starring David Tennant and Peter Davidson The Doctor
  • Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007 Astrid
  • Torchwood S2
  • Doctor Who S4 Donna
  • Doctor Who Christmas Special 2008 The Doctor
  • Doctor Who Easter Special 2009 Christina
  • Torchwood Radio Plays (July 2009)
  • Torchwood Season 3 (Children of Earth)
  • Doctor Who November Special 2009: Waters of Mars Adelaide
  • Doctor Who December 2-part Special 2009: The End of Time Wilf

If you read on, I’ll be giving you some spoilers, but I can’t really talk about continuity without talking about it. If you watch them in the above order you don’t need to read on.

I only mentioned the radio plays since they were just released and definitely take place after season two. I’ve listened to the first two and so far it doesn’t seem significant that they need to take place before they should be listened to before the Children of Earth mini-series (no plot ramifications, but they chronologically take place before the 3rd series).

The Sarah Jane Adventures can be watched any time but after her guest appearance in season 2 of Doctor Who would be best (especially if you don’t know who she is) and as long as you’ve started them before the before the end of season four of Doctor Who.

Torchwood - The Complete First Season BBC WarnerTorchwood Season 1 could be watched any time after the first Doctor Who Christmas episode (but before the end of Season 3 of DW). I don’t think the other Doctor Who specials (or 2009 DW specials) make any difference to watching Torchwood, at least they haven’t yet; but you do want to watch them in order just for continuity of Doctor Who. There are lots of Torchwood references in DW season 2 that might be better if you see them all before watching Torchwood, but I don’t think these tie directly to Torchwood Cardiff (many were just more hints to get you into the new series). Later on, other guest appearances make more sense if you catch them in order, but you’ll probably figure them out, Martha makes appearances on TW and Jack is on DW three different seasons (1, 3, 4) for multiple episodes all at the end of the season. I’m sure someone will disagree with me on some of the significance of some of the references, but I’ll defer back to the original broadcast order listed above.

Torchwood: Children of Earth BBC WarnerI think I originally watched parts of Doctor Who season two and caught up on DW season one and saw many episodes out of order and the different actors were distracting, but then I got it all when I finally caught the end of season one and the first Christmas special. This causes me to mix up Christopher Echelson and David Tennant when I think back about past episodes. Also, I think I was watching Torchwood before I watched most of season two of Doctor Who so some of the references came after the fact.

By the time I watched Torchwood, I knew it was the same actor for Jack, but didn’t remember they were using the same character for him. I didn’t even realize it was SciFi at first, the Torchwood pilot seemed more mystical (think of they way the glove worked) until they explained it. Then I realized it was the same guy.

Update: These aren’t all relevant for Torchwood, but it rounds out the David Tennant part of the series (although for that I should add the cartoons and Srah Jane’s Wedding).

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Torchwood is Coming…

Posted on July 1, 2009 | 1 comment

So I’ve mentioned Torchwood a few times in the past. But it’s the start of Torchwood month, so it’s time to talk about it some more.

For the next few days Wednesday-Friday they are doing audio plays on BBC radio 4, you can listen to these live at 2:15 London time or you can download the Torchwood Radio plays until July 2, 2009 for FREE (I assume you can pay for them afterwards). This is three (3) different episodes about 45 minutes each. You have to wait until they broadcast them for them to be on-line. (Note: at some point on Thursday the MP3 of the Wednesday episode, Asylum, became unavailable in the US, so don’t wait. I can still listen to the stream of Asylum in the US here.)

tw-asylum.png

Torchwood: Children of Earth BBC WarnerAfter this week season three starts, or as the brits say “series” three, on Monday July 6th in the UK on BBC One (and a few other places) and Monday July 20th in the US on BBC America (and other places). I might be mistaken but I think July 20 is the launch of BBC America in HD! Here’s the weird thing, it’s on for five nights in a row and then the season is over. It’s a mini-series called “Torchwood: Children of Earth”, supposed to be 75 minute cliff-hanger episodes every night. And then we wait a year for season four.

P.S. You can order Torchwood: Children of Earth now (available in HD too).

Watch the Torchwood HQ trailer here.

For those of you not in the know, Torchwood is sort of an offshoot of Doctor Who, a bit less of a family show tha DW, but it’s not really tied to Doctor Who. It’s got more kissing, violence, running and kissing that your average Sci-Fi TV show. The main character, Captain Jack Harkness was originally on Doctor Who (3 or 4 episodes of the 2005 season) before season one of Torchwood and still does a few guest appearances on DW, but the Doctor has yet to be on Torchwood. So while Jack appears on Dr. Who, The Doctor only gets the occasional reference on Torchwood, regardless of Gwen mentioning him below…

Watch the Creepy Torchwood HQ trailer here.

FYI, if you scramble the letters of Torchwood, you get Doctor Who. It was originally what they called Doctor Who when they were doing the new series in 2005, so no one would know what they were talking about. This was so no one would sneak onto sets, steal early footage or scripts, etc.

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Who is the new Doctor Who for 2010?

Posted on January 3, 2009 | 2 comments

So Matt Smith is the new Doctor Who but we won’t see him until 2010. At 26 he’s the youngest Doctor Who although I’m guessing he’ll be a year older in 2010, but he is a time-lord so you never know…

The funny thing is that The Doctor generally uses “John Smith” when he needs a “real” name for something in his travels so the matching name is fun (funny?).

Doctor Who Tardis USB 4 Port Powered Hub Station Character ToysI don’t really know who he is which means I’ll have no preconceptions about him. I’ve seen him with Billie Piper (Rose from Doctor Who) in a Secret Diary of a Call Girl episode but I don’t really remember him.

I originally read about it at Neil Gaiman’s blog and I completely agree with him in that he looks at home in front of the TARDIS and I’m sure he’ll look even more so as time goes one (especially since I’m sure they took many photos to get one that looked “right”).

This is the Daily Mail article with the Matt Smith photo in front of the Tardis. He’s an article from The Guardian and the BBC article with a short video with Matt Smith.

David Tennant’s last show is supposed to be in 2010 (after a weird four episode mini-season) so maybe they’ll make an interesting transition episode?

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My 2000th post!

Posted on January 3, 2009 | 1 comment

I can’t believe I’m still doing this with 2,000 posts all over the last 5 years! Never would have thought it grow on me so much!

I was trying to come up with something monumental to blog about for this post, but that didn’t happen so I’ll give you a quick update on some tech (the new blog site) and a few personal things:

  • I’m averaging more than a post a day, but sometimes I skip more than a few days, so I’m going to try and post more consistently (and more images with posts).
  • I’m really liking WordPress, I’ve completely migrated all my old posts (from MovableType) to WordPress 2.7 (at least I think I’ve got all 4,000-ish archive/category/single pages) and mostly updated the “about“-type pages. I’ve been playing around with WP for a year and this interface on 2.7 version beats the interface for the previous six months (it was actually better previous to six months ago, IMHO). I’ll be posting more about my WordPress transition over the next few weeks (I’ve been making notes).
  • Google has done an amazing job reindexing the updated site. It’s grabbed a good chunk of the pages and about 80% of the old pages have disappeared been replaced in the search engine. I’ll be posting more about this too.
  • And I just saw they picked the new Doctor Who, but I’ll make that my 2001st post :)
  • I’m still sick from when I mentioned it last week. The (medical) doctor thinks it’s some lower lung pneumonia on the right side so I’ve just been staying close to home and taking it easy (I’ll get x-ray results next week). Sleep has been the worse, I think maybe the drugs are keeping me up, or I’m just bored. Hopefully I won’t be posting more about this!
  • Even being sick, the holidays were nice and relaxing, exactly what I needed after the last year, I’d have liked some more snow consistently on the ground, just enough to cover the grass. I wasn’t sick sick until Christmas so I made it through everything.

That’s it for now, I gotta go read up more on the new Doctor Who…

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