Peri's fine

Thanks to a short for a DVD release, Peri is fine. Which is nice.

Nine plots from David Bowie's Earthling

David Bowie’s 1997 album Earthling has one of his most science fictional titles.

After album titles, ★, The Next Day, Reality, Heathen and Hours, adventures based on the album’s song titles...

Little Wonder

First contact with an alien race is treated with... passing interest. The humanoid castaway becomes a minor celebrity, someone to get selfies with as he wanders the city examining the art with bemusement. Of course someone’s going to come looking...

Looking For Satellites

1957, and Sputnik makes worldwide news. An attempt to launch a rival satellite ends in a crash landing in the Home Counties... and something hitched a ride.

Battle For Britain (The Letter)

1997, and Britannia momentarily seems Cool. To the extent that we have alien art dealers coming to try to seize the whole island.

Seven Years In Tibet

“Why do you want to climb that mountain?”

“Because there’s a vital part of a crashed TARDIS on... I mean, because it’s there.”

Dead Man Walking

The travellers meet people who saw them go to certain death saving the world a week ago.

Telling Lies

Due to a TARDIS translation glitch, everybody loses the ability to lie.

The Last Thing You Should Do

The Stranger receives a letter from her last incarnation, warning her of how they died and that she’s about to follow suit.

I’m Afraid Of Americans

The Stranger discovers that one of the books about her is about to be filmed. Rather badly.

Law (Earthlings On Fire)

The Megaera declare that a group of human explorers has trespassed. They must be executed, and their planet of origin destroyed...

What brings you here?

Five reasons for aliens to visit Earth with science fiction examples at Tor. The Doctor comes to get milk and likes to keep up on telly so 2 and 3, and has to stop 1, 4 and 5 fairly regularly.

And five reasons not to, none of them as amusing.

EVE Online x Doctor Who

Daleks and time travellers in EVE Online x Doctor Who, a crossover happening in the online game. Given that EVE is about cutthroat space fighting and grasping capitalism, this seems like an odd fit.

Eve Of The Daleks

I just about enjoyed Eve Of The Daleks but BLOODY HELL you do not share a confidence like that.

Plus points: Aisling Bea as Sarah being bolshy and funny and Doctor-y, Adjani Salmon as Nick being sympathetic in his oddness and crush on Sarah, the contained nature of the plot, the actual tie-ins to New Year, the mostly not underselling of the Daleks, Dan saying Groundhog Day and his pep talk to Yaz.

Next up, historical pirate queen and Sea Devils. One of those solid historical and monster crossovers.

Happy New Year!

Where applicable.

A happy Christmas to all of you at home!

This year has seen a new edition of the RPG, the return of The Davies due in a couple of years, a miniseries, Big Finish secure...

Paul Cornell's 12 Blogs Of Christmas

Paul Cornell presents his 12 Blogs of Christmas, this year looking at formative fannish things starting with Geoff Love and his orchestra with, among other things, a startlingly funky Doctor Who theme.

Flux: The Vanquishers

December 5th also has a special episode. Good for it!

Doctor Who can be a very oddly paced show at times. Flux is certainly an example.

And yes, a bunch of doors in time. Okay.

A festive adventure hook

Doing Christmas related plot hooks through December on the main blog, and included a Doctor Who hook.

Flux: Survivors Of The Flux

Flux: Survivors Of The Flux: Survivors Of The Flux: Survivors-

Oh, that cliffhanger had a ledge under it. Okay then.

And yes we have another separated companions and extra companion story.

Does Yaz just like that puffy sleeve jacket and culottes look? Not saying that’s a bad thing.

I assume Peggy is is boarding school?

(I like the archaeology progress talk.)

Love the huge tree TARDIS control centre.

And love the plot rather less.

November 23rd

58 years ago tonight...

Flux: Village Of The Angels

November 21st has a stronger date-specific episode than Halloween.

(Not quite hitting the anniversary on the 23rd, so not set around 1963.)

Not as standalone as the Sontaran one.

And the third episode in a row where the party gets split across time, though at least this time Yaz and Dan are together.

Flux: Once, Upon Time

And Flux episode 3 was the ongoing plot, with a chunk of the old Timeless Child bit, mixed with a nice adventure idea about time travellers being stuck in their own distorted memories. That bit is a great basis for an episode.

Also the second episode in a row to start with the travellers together and then being pulled apart into different times.

(And a character we never met before got the gratuitous Dalek and Cybermen cameos.)

Flux: War Of The Sontarans

The Halloween Apocalypse felt less like the first episode of a six-parter and more like sex pre-credit sequences, and the one with Sontarans was the start of this.

Sontarans in the Crimea! And in the present too.

Sontarans still mostly funny, so having them massacre people feels a bit jarring.

“Also, I wanted to ride a horse.” I was expecting the Doctor to just agree there.

The Doctor being angry about a human attack on a retreating enemy, but in this case letting it go.

The floating crooked house looks more Halloweeny than anything last week.

Vinder and the engineer arriving along with Yaz, and poor old lantern guy.

A planet called Time where all time runs through the Mouri and hang on is this Logopolis?

And okay, turning people to dust, but also snapping fingers threateningly? Although Passenger looks like Darkseid, the model for Thanos...