Earth Day

It’s Earth Day. Do something!

Google Vs. Nessie

I don’t believe the current Google Doodle takes the famous Loch Ness Monster photo entirely seriously. I’m sure the Zygons will have something to say about this.

India as a setting

After posting about Dr Ambedkar, I thought a bit further about the Indian independence movement as a setting for an adventure, and further about India as a setting at various points in its history.

The end of the colonial era and the independence movement is the part of Indian history you’re most likely to see in British media. Consider colonial nostalgia in modern Britain, for example. Britain’s relationship with India remains complicated, more than most former colonies. With a large Indian descendant population in the UK, the connections are still strong.

We should also think about how the Doctor and companions’ “Britishness” might lead people to make assumptions about which side they’re on if they visit during the colonial era.

Going further back, the religions most popular in India could be a source of characters, but give careful thought to how how they are portrayed. (For example, 18 Days from Graphic India, Grant Morrison and Mukesh Singh, is a superheroic SF retelling of the Mahabharata, intended to entertain an English-speaking audience while respecting the source.)

Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar

A Google Doodle today for the 124th anniversary of the birth of BR Ambedkar, one of the leaders of the independence movement in India, who was in charge of the drafting of the constitution of the Indian republic and who fought for the rights of people on the outside of the caste system. As the Guardian article linked to notes, “He worked with Mahatma Gandhi to ensure all people were treated as equal parts of the electorate and was asked to be the first law minister in the newly independent country.”

Poyekhali!

(“Let’s go!”)

Happy Yuri’s Night!

Do I have the right?

In amongst all the “ten years since the show came back” reminiscences - this week, the Slitheen! Well, they were good in that Sarah Jane Adventures two-parter...

Today is the fortieth anniversary of the final episode of Genesis Of The Daleks. We met Davros, saw that the Daleks could be different, and the Doctor was struck by guilt over whether he could wipe out a species that will, through its reckless hate, bring so many others together...

The Return Of The Dream Lord... and Fenric... and...

10 Doctor Who Villains That Really Deserve To Make A Comeback according to io9. Of course, the Rani, Wirrn and Krillitane have popped back up in Big Finishes and books and the like, but yes, more Fenric!

They look familiar...

Always a delight to find an unexpected new Crooked Dice miniatures set. Like the Scientific Advisors.

(Now, if only the official toys would ever make them.)

Five more years

Steven Moffat on the foreseeable future of Doctor Who at the Radio Times site.

“Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same. Actually, internationally, bigger. No show does that! You’re meant to go down! Doctor Who just stays. It’s extraordinary!”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Weeping Angel nightlights.

Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington, English debutante turned Parisian surrealist turned Second World War escapee turned Mexican political activist turned co-founder of the Women’s Liberation Movement, has what would be her 98th birthday marked by a Google Doodle.

Her life is appropriately storied for the Doctor to look in on her, even if crocodiles punting isn’t an issue.

I’m pretty sure he’s met these guys as well.

The above are an example of using art as inspiration. Surreal figurative art makes a particularly smooth transition to the screen - I’d make the above pair an alien ambassador and her translator, for example.