which is more silly than viable.
"Clara asks to visit Planet UX-4732, and the Sonic Screwdriver detects unexpected particles. Clara and the Doctor learn more about humanity in a conflict with creatures of Time Lord legends. A nostalgic 90’s pop culture reference saves the day. Kim Wilde kisses Clara."
"This is just a bit of fun, we love the show really. Best viewed in November 1963."
I think that is not, in fact, indistinguishable from the current series.
Friday, 31 May 2013
Petri
Julius Richard Petri, born 161 years ago, bacteriologist and surgeon, celebrated with a Google Doodle. The Petri dish may not be the most exciting innovation, but it’s one of the most useful. And the Doctor occasionally shrinks down to bacteria size and goes on adventures through the human body...
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
The Eleven Susans
Infinite Claras and getting the TTC book got me thinking about what would happen if other notable Time Lords were as bad at controlling regeneration as the Doctor.
So, as the start of an occasional series, how about the Unearthly Child herself, Susan Foreman? What would she be like if she came in and out of the show, regenerating like her grandfather and reflecting his personality as she changes?
We know the First, of course.
The Second Susan could still be Carole Anne Ford, but changed in attitude, more like the Avengers-style version originally proposed before she was directed to be more of a normal teenager.
So, as the start of an occasional series, how about the Unearthly Child herself, Susan Foreman? What would she be like if she came in and out of the show, regenerating like her grandfather and reflecting his personality as she changes?
We know the First, of course.
The Second Susan could still be Carole Anne Ford, but changed in attitude, more like the Avengers-style version originally proposed before she was directed to be more of a normal teenager.
Monday, 27 May 2013
Can you hear the Whispermen?
Because there is a little more to know... A prologue introducing the prisoner, and showing some more of the power of Whispers.
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Thursday, 23 May 2013
D'you wanna come with me?
Who chooses to step into a TARDIS and leave their life behind, potentially forever? Would you?
A different idea for a companion’s motivation from RPGnetter Shay Guy - she decides to go with the Doctor because she’s afraid. In game terms, obviously the character wouldn’t have Brave and might have to buy off Unadventurous - possibly repeatedly. But it’s certainly a good rationale for a Screamer! on the team.
So what about your companion characters? Why are they running for their lives in far-flung times and places? Is it for the hell of it, is it to see wonders, is it because of the personality of the pilot - love, perhaps, or fear for their safety?
And what criteria does the pilot have for taking people on?
And what happens when everything changes...?
A different idea for a companion’s motivation from RPGnetter Shay Guy - she decides to go with the Doctor because she’s afraid. In game terms, obviously the character wouldn’t have Brave and might have to buy off Unadventurous - possibly repeatedly. But it’s certainly a good rationale for a Screamer! on the team.
So what about your companion characters? Why are they running for their lives in far-flung times and places? Is it for the hell of it, is it to see wonders, is it because of the personality of the pilot - love, perhaps, or fear for their safety?
And what criteria does the pilot have for taking people on?
And what happens when everything changes...?
Saturday, 18 May 2013
The Further Adventures Of...
Recurring characters (other than monsters) are more a feature of modern Doctor Who than any time since the UNIT exile era, so who might we see again? This year we have quite a few options.
Spoilers for the whole series so far, so y’know, tread with caution.
Spoilers for the whole series so far, so y’know, tread with caution.
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
The man who put the world in a box
... sounds like a high concept episode idea, but is the label given to Frank Hornby by the Guardian on the occasion of his 150th birthday, Google Doodled and all. (Favourite part of the illo is the inclusion of the classic set of figurines including the conductor, the well-dressed family and the poor guy who’s been running for the train for decades.)
As the creator of Meccano and Dinky as well, he had a hand in the development of plenty of classic special effects people (and probably a few special effects!) so how else might you mark the anniversary? A trip on the Great Northern Railway in 1920 perhaps, or a clash with the Celestial Toymaker, or a visit to a terraformed colony built by construction robots with a few overseers before the colonists arrive...
As the creator of Meccano and Dinky as well, he had a hand in the development of plenty of classic special effects people (and probably a few special effects!) so how else might you mark the anniversary? A trip on the Great Northern Railway in 1920 perhaps, or a clash with the Celestial Toymaker, or a visit to a terraformed colony built by construction robots with a few overseers before the colonists arrive...
Monday, 13 May 2013
Timeslip!
As you may have heard, some pre-ordered DVD sets of the current series have already been shipped.
Oops.
(No, not to me, I wait for the full series sets with all the extras. Dash it all.)
Oops.
(No, not to me, I wait for the full series sets with all the extras. Dash it all.)
Crisis Of Infinite Claras
We don’t yet know how many Doctors will really appear in the anniversary special. But we could see an unlimited number of Claras!
What if every Doctor had one?
Before the Clara we know, there was...
Clara 10, friend of Martha’s from Royal Hope who accompanied the Doctor to the 1920s...
Clara 9, Lancashire-born WREN in Blitz-Era London...
Clara 8, all-American heroine of the Eighth Doctor’s short-lived US TV series...
Clara 7, Perivale-based victim of the Seventh Doctor’s manipulations gone terribly wrong when he battled the Ice Warriors...
Clara 6, polytechnic Modern Studies student who faced Herne the Hunter...
Clara 5, one of the TARDIS gang who saw the origin of the Cybermen...
Clara 4, an attempt to bring in a “normal” companion after Romana and K-9 - lost during the shelving of Shada...
Clara 3, assistant to Professor Cornish of the British Rocket Group, happy to get stuck in against the Nemesis...
Clara 2, all of whose stories have been lost...
Clara 1, Susan’s only real friend at Coal Hill School, who helped defeat the Masters of Luxor...
(Yes, these are real stories that almost happened, although in Clara 9’s case it was an Eighth Doctor pilot plot hook, as not enough Ninth Doctor stories were lost...)
What if every Doctor had one?
Before the Clara we know, there was...
Clara 10, friend of Martha’s from Royal Hope who accompanied the Doctor to the 1920s...
Clara 9, Lancashire-born WREN in Blitz-Era London...
Clara 8, all-American heroine of the Eighth Doctor’s short-lived US TV series...
Clara 7, Perivale-based victim of the Seventh Doctor’s manipulations gone terribly wrong when he battled the Ice Warriors...
Clara 6, polytechnic Modern Studies student who faced Herne the Hunter...
Clara 5, one of the TARDIS gang who saw the origin of the Cybermen...
Clara 4, an attempt to bring in a “normal” companion after Romana and K-9 - lost during the shelving of Shada...
Clara 3, assistant to Professor Cornish of the British Rocket Group, happy to get stuck in against the Nemesis...
Clara 2, all of whose stories have been lost...
Clara 1, Susan’s only real friend at Coal Hill School, who helped defeat the Masters of Luxor...
(Yes, these are real stories that almost happened, although in Clara 9’s case it was an Eighth Doctor pilot plot hook, as not enough Ninth Doctor stories were lost...)
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Nightmare In Silver
Neil Gaiman’s episode, formerly The Last Cyberman, but it does indeed not really fit. But does the new title...?
After a while, you just stop asking... who are you?
He Said, She Said
An atmospheric little prologue to The Name Of The Doctor which reminds you of the questions you haven’t been asking...
An atmospheric little prologue to The Name Of The Doctor which reminds you of the questions you haven’t been asking...
Friday, 10 May 2013
The Music Round
This year’s “get kids involved in making Doctor Who” competition is create a soundtrack for a scene from The Snowmen and have it played at the Doctor Who Prom. Good luck, 11-16-year-olds talented in that way!
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Harvest Of Time
No-one told me there was a Third Doctor book by Alastair Reynolds coming out.
I hope he gives the Brigadier the best lines.
I hope he gives the Brigadier the best lines.
Saul Bass
Probably the most famous film credit sequence designer ever gets a beautiful anniversary Google Doodle.
I have no idea how to make him a guest... but it would be easy to borrow some ideas from the films he helped create. Maybe not Psycho...
But consider the innocent-on-the-run story of North By Northwest, complete with the inevitable landmark-based action sequence, or the globetrotting adventures of Around the World in 80 Days, or the moving of a classic story to a new setting seen in West Side Story.
And is the Doctor seeing Clara over and over a trap like Vertigo?
I have no idea how to make him a guest... but it would be easy to borrow some ideas from the films he helped create. Maybe not Psycho...
But consider the innocent-on-the-run story of North By Northwest, complete with the inevitable landmark-based action sequence, or the globetrotting adventures of Around the World in 80 Days, or the moving of a classic story to a new setting seen in West Side Story.
And is the Doctor seeing Clara over and over a trap like Vertigo?
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Strax - hilarious, adorable, also terrifying
As Noliar notes on RPGnet about The Crimson Horror:
Context is everything.
Strax is comic relief because he's not in charge and his suggestions get turned down. All that humorous ineptitude is at being a civilian. We saw a few seconds of him getting to do violence because that was all it took before his enemies were down or fleeing.
Imagine thousands of Straxes making no effort to accommodate less warlike species, the same inclination to use overwhelmingly lethal force and you are in their way. Not so funny.
Context is everything.
Strax is comic relief because he's not in charge and his suggestions get turned down. All that humorous ineptitude is at being a civilian. We saw a few seconds of him getting to do violence because that was all it took before his enemies were down or fleeing.
Imagine thousands of Straxes making no effort to accommodate less warlike species, the same inclination to use overwhelmingly lethal force and you are in their way. Not so funny.
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Today marks the 200th anniversary of Søren Kierkegaard’s birth - philosopher, theologian, existentialist (more one for The Watch House then, but never mind), ironist, Google Doodle and subject of a musical.
“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both.”
“Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer.”
In all, he seems the sort to greet the discovery of time travel and alien life with a shrug and an observation that it explains a few things, and move on to the next subject.
“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both.”
“Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer.”
In all, he seems the sort to greet the discovery of time travel and alien life with a shrug and an observation that it explains a few things, and move on to the next subject.
Coming soon to Vworp! Vworp! - adventures that never were
Discovered through this rather lovely illustration of the Third Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier investigating a not-quite-deactivated Cyberman.
Did the Third Doctor really never meet them? I wonder what else this issue has in store, but in the meantime, it would be easy (and fun) to imagine the story being illustrated.
A Cyber-incursion into the present, a Secret Invasion that threatens global stability as time-lost Cybermen seek to rebuild and conquer - starting a world war to crush humanity and bring them under their control! Can the Doctor, Jo, the Brigadier and the rest of the UNIT team prevent...
War Of The Cybermen?
And what role does the Master play in their schemes...?
The Brigadier: Sorry, old chap, but I took the gold in target shooting.
Cyberleader: Gold?
Sound FX: BANG!
Did the Third Doctor really never meet them? I wonder what else this issue has in store, but in the meantime, it would be easy (and fun) to imagine the story being illustrated.
A Cyber-incursion into the present, a Secret Invasion that threatens global stability as time-lost Cybermen seek to rebuild and conquer - starting a world war to crush humanity and bring them under their control! Can the Doctor, Jo, the Brigadier and the rest of the UNIT team prevent...
War Of The Cybermen?
And what role does the Master play in their schemes...?
The Brigadier: Sorry, old chap, but I took the gold in target shooting.
Cyberleader: Gold?
Sound FX: BANG!
Saturday, 4 May 2013
The Crimson Horror
“The episode itself is absolutely barking mad.”
Mark Gatiss, in the behind the scenes bit
Mark Gatiss, in the behind the scenes bit
The Naked Ice Warrior
... is to be made available as a toy for those who didn’t think they got a good enough look.
Hmm. Spindly.
Hmm. Spindly.
Friday, 3 May 2013
"This strange man in the leather jacket has control of this narrative..."
Via Morgue:
Philip Sandifer looks at the new series, starting with Rose, really thoroughly.
Even the ghosting voice of Graham Norton, which here in Scotland I never heard. (Nor when his Aardman animated self appeared under the rousing speech at the end of The Time Of Angels. I feel terribly left out but somehow I’ll manage.)
He talks about what the show is, or rather what different shows the show is, the segues from youth-friendly sitcom to horror to Doctor Who to soap to domestic sitcom to fandom response to Doctor Who again to -
“It’s done more varied stuff than anything else on television, and then it calmly, casually lets slip that it’s just getting started.”
And that is why we’re still here, eight years later than Rose and fifty years later than An Unearthly Child.
Philip Sandifer looks at the new series, starting with Rose, really thoroughly.
Even the ghosting voice of Graham Norton, which here in Scotland I never heard. (Nor when his Aardman animated self appeared under the rousing speech at the end of The Time Of Angels. I feel terribly left out but somehow I’ll manage.)
He talks about what the show is, or rather what different shows the show is, the segues from youth-friendly sitcom to horror to Doctor Who to soap to domestic sitcom to fandom response to Doctor Who again to -
“It’s done more varied stuff than anything else on television, and then it calmly, casually lets slip that it’s just getting started.”
And that is why we’re still here, eight years later than Rose and fifty years later than An Unearthly Child.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Give me death or liberty...
Steven Moffat explains how the Statue of Liberty as a Weeping Angel could work... kind of... in the new DWM.
I fear for anyone who tries to write Weeping Angels after him.
I fear for anyone who tries to write Weeping Angels after him.
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