Watching Doctor Who

The other day, someone told me about a video of a dancing TARDIS at Gallifrey One. (I’m sorry, I forget who sent me the link. Was it you, Gillian? Or perhaps The Vig?) Said TARDIS is dancing in front of the rather more stationary TARDIS that I spent the entire weekend trying to get a picture in front of, to no avail. It seems to have been booked solid with cosplayers. I must add here how nice it was to have people dressing up this year. Two years ago there were almost no cosplayers. Last year there were a few more with the notable addition of the Torchwood gals. This year? A freakin’ dancing TARDIS! For the record, I also saw a lady in a TARDIS dress. Another one in a slightly different TARDIS dress, and one person with a TARDIS tote bag. Quite the year for TARDISes, yeah?

A Dancing TARDIS:

Now, having seen the TARDIS dancing, you may be asking yourself, “was there some reason for the TARDIS costume, or was it merely a product of fun and whimsy?” Well, thanks to “aimeekitty” I can answer that question. The dancing TARDIS was at Gallifrey One to be in a skit, or rather, a Doctor Whosical. Keep your eyes open for Captain Jack dancing. He looks like he’s having a really good time.

Doctor Whosical:

Sigh. Here we see another reason that I need to stay at the hotel next year. I really want to see the Masquerade, among other things. Right, then. I’m off to ponder my costuming ideas for next year. Enjoy the videos.

Gallifrey One

Okay, this one is for The Vig. It’s a follow-up to my question about which companion costume you’d choose. This week I’m wondering: Which of the Doctor’s outfits would you like to wear? There are ten Doctors to choose from, and some of them even have a few different outfits to choose from. So, what will you choose? Are you a fan of the tenth Doctor’s blue suit? Do you have a secret yen for celery on your lapel? Perhaps you prefer a cloak and a frilly shirt. Let me know. To help you jog your memory of our Doctor’s stylish choices I am including links below. (No chance of wandering off this time, sorry. Just stick with our ten versions if you please.)

Doctor…who? (I get that a lot…)

• The First Doctor
• The Second Doctor
• The Third Doctor
• The Fourth Doctor
• The Fifth Doctor
• The Sixth Doctor
• The Seventh Doctor
• The Eighth Doctor
• The Ninth Doctor
• The Tenth Doctor

I actually have a thing for waistcoats, so is it any great surprise that I have chosen the eighth Doctor’s outfit? Actually, I think I’d look quite nice in it, and not merely because I’d have to get it custom made to fit me. (I’m five feet tall, for those of you who don’t know.) Mind you, I’d have to learn how to tie a cravat, but that would be a small price to pay.

So. Who’s outfit did you chose?

8th Dr. Image: BBC

This week I pose you a question of costuming. Yes, costuming. Imagine, if you will, that you could obtain the costume of any of the Classic companions. I know that this could be a variety of things, as the companions got to change their clothing often, but bear with me. If you could have the costume of any of the Classic Doctor Who companions, whose costume would you choose? Would you dress like Tegan, in her air stewardess outfit? Do you prefer Turlough’s schoolboy look? Or would you rather skip all of this and dress up as K-9? What do you think? As usual I have included a few names to jog your memory. Feel free to wander off in blatant disregard of rule one.

We are travelers in time…

• Leela (It’s the warrior woman look.)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Have Kilt, Will Travel.)
• Sarah Jane Smith (The journalist who can hold her own.)
• Ace (I dig the jacket. Is that a Blue Peter badge?)
• Susan Foreman (Typical alien teen?)
• Perpugilliam Brown (Shorts and a top, mostly.)
• Ian Chesterton (Science teacher chic.)
• Adric (Don’t forget the Badge for Mathematical excellence.)
• Romana I (Long flowing white dress…)
• Liz Shaw (The well-dressed scientist.)

Not only do I have the name of the companion that I’ve chosen, but I also bring you a picture of the outfit. I want Romana 2’s pink version of The Doctor’s costume. So, if anyone out there knows where I might find that pink coat, please let me know. This is one of those times that makes me really wish that I could sew. (I even took a class. Sigh.)

Well, that’s my choice. Who did you choose?

costuming, Doctor Who, Leela, Jamie McCrimmon, Sarah Jane Smith, Ace, Susan Foreman, Perpugilliam Brown, Ian Chesterton, Adric, Romana, Liz Shaw

I’ve been at a loss for a while as to what to properly call this weekly aggregation of News, Rumours, Upcoming Releases, and General Information that I offer you each week. Well, each week that there is enough Whoniverse-related stuff to report on. This week I’m calling it “Echoes from the Vortex,” because everything is an echo in the vortex if you think about it. Right then. Onto the fun stuff.

I’m starting out this week with a link to a knitting project. But first, a picture of the finished product:

Sorry. It’s the best picture of the knitting project that I could find.

Remember those Wrist Warmers that Rose was wearing on the beach at the end of Doomsday? (Yes, the ones pictured above.) Well, Christina Slattery has put together a pattern to help you make some of your own. I’m told that they are pretty easy, but you need to know how to read a pattern. Sadly, I’ve never really learned the knack. I’ve been making scarves for years and I’ve never really moved beyond that. Maybe my Mum could help me… Anyway, if you make some please let me know how it went.

As if John Barrowman wasn’t busy enough, he is set to be the host of a new primetime game show on BBC One called The Kids Are All Right. It pits adults against super smart kids to win prizes. Good luck there, adults. I’m thinking that you have your work cut out for you. The show will be filmed in Glasgow at the end of November. I hope that John has fun being back in the general vicinity of his home town. If you would like to read the Press Release, go here. Want to be on the show? Check out the instructions.

Don’t forget that Doctor Who, David Tennant, and Freema Agyeman are all up for awards in this year’s National TV Awards. The Winners will be announced on 31 October. Less than a week to go.

Pink News is reporting that Russell T. Davies is working on developing a show about gay 40-something men. Mr. Davies really likes to be busy, doesn’t he? The series is untitled at this time, and there is no word yet about what BBC channel it might appear on.

Don’t forget that this year’s Children in Need show will include a scene featuring both the Tenth Doctor and the Fifth Doctor. (It’s a 5 and Dime show?) I’m still doing a happy dance about this.

That’s it for this week. If you run across any breaking news, please let me know.

Christina Slattery, John Barrowman, The Kids Are All Right, Doctor Who, David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Russell T. Davies

I’m going to a Future of Libraries conference on Wednesday, so I was over on the Librarian in Black’s blog today. She will be one of the presenters, and I was curious to see if she had posted any further info. Imagine my delight when I noticed that she had posted a link to a pattern for a knitted Dalek. It would seem that she is a fan of Doctor Who. This is probably a good thing, as I fully plan on wearing my suit and my red converse trainers to the event. It’s in San Francisco, so I figure that I’ll be doing a bit of walking. (My sister has tried to talk me into wearing proper shoes, but it turns out that there are a few advantages to living far away from each other. tee hee.)

Anyway, this knitted Dalek got me to thinking about Doctor Who-related crafts. I own a copy of The Doctor Who Pattern Book which came out in 1984. It offers instructions for all kinds Doctor Who crafts, from Nyssa’s Jacket to basic instructions for several of the Doctors’ costumes. You don’t need a copy of the book to get crafty, though. There are all kinds of helpful sights on the web. My question for you this week is: Have you ever made any Doctor Who-related craft, or are you planning to? Have you made Gingerbread Daleks? How about a K-9 made out of clay, as my friend did in High School? Have you painted a picture of the TARDIS? Come on all you craft folks, tell us about your projects! Haven’t chose a project yet? Well, as per usual, I offer you a list of suggestions just to get the creative juices flowing.

Whovian craftiness:

• Knit a Dalek.
• Make your own working Dalek.
• Knit a 4th Doctor Scarf.
• Make your own TARDIS model.
• Make a TARDIS console.
• Bake a Dalek Cake.
• Make a little Romana out of felt.
• Build a TARDIS of your own.
• Make a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin.
• Knit a TARDIS.

Well, currently I’m almost done with an absurdly long pink scarf. I figure that it’s Romana-esque, even if her scarf was actually white. The rest of her outfit was pink, after all. The one that looked like The Doctor’s outfit, that is. My future crafty plan is to make a proper Doctor Who scarf. So far my problem has been getting a hold of the suggested yarn form the Doctor Who Scarf website. If I had more sewing skill, I’d make myself a Romana costume. I really want that pink coat.

That’s what I’m working on. What about you lot?

Image Source: Extermiknit

Librarian in Black, knitted Dalek, The Doctor Who Pattern Book, Gingerbread Daleks, K-9, Dalek, TARDIS, Dalek Pumpkin, Doctor Who Scarf, Romana

The other day, I found myself having a conversation about Rose Tyler’s Hair after I had the opportunity to show the first six 9th Doctor episodes to a friend. (She loved them, by the way.) Now, hair isn’t a normal topic of discussion for me. And the conversation wasn’t even with my friend.

Nope, this conversation was with my husband. Go figure.

Anyway, we discussed the fact that over her two series’ worth of episodes, Rose had quite a few different hairstyles. She’s had long hair. She’s had short hair. There have been plaits, pony-tails, and fabulous up-dos. So, as you might imagine, it was inevitable that she should have some hairstyle or other that just did not work out. My Husband maintains that his least favorite style appeared in Fear Her. He just didn’t like the “one-ponytail” look.

What do you think? For myself, the style doesn’t bug me. In motion, it was actually pretty cute. If the pony-tail had been more out of the side of her head, that would have been terribly 80s. But, as it is, not a problem.

My pick for Rose Tyler’s absolute worst hair (yes, even worse than the bed head from the waking up scenes in Rose) is the hair from the very end of Dalek. I mean, she was going along pretty well with the style throughout the running and stair-climbing and such. Then, at the end, there it is looking kinda…mashed. Re-watching the episode the other day I kept finding myself thinking, ‘Couldn’t she have taken a minute to fix that? Where’s her hair person?’

See what I mean? I rarely have the desire to actually fix someone else’s hair, but that image just sends me in search of my hairbrush.

I’m curious what you think. Is there another style that is your least favorite, or do you agree with one of us?

Image Sources: ninthdoctor.time-and-space.co.uk & time-and-space.co.uk

Rose Tyler, Rose, Dalek, Doctor Who, hair-styles

By now I’m sure that you are all aware of my obsession with…er, that is to say…*interest* in the Ninth Doctor’s Coat. Well, over the weekend a couple of interesting things came to light thanks to kind commenter JD. It seems that the reason that The Coat was removed from the Bonhams Auction was that is was not, in fact, The Doctor’s coat. If you take a look at it you will notice that the coat in question is *single-breasted* whereas The Doctor’s coat is *double-breasted*. So, I wonder who is missing a coat? And speaking of The Coat, and again thanks to JD, I offer you TheBadWolf.com, which offers the most authentic and well researched replica of said coat. For the record, The Original Coat is black, but it is so worn as to appear brown in certain lighting. TheBadWolf.com offers the coat in both brown and black to keep folks happy, though. It is available in different sizes, and they ask for extra measurements to get the fit just right. *thud* I’m five feet tall…I wonder if they could do one my size. (Maybe next year when I’ve managed to save up enough money. Or sooner if the exchange rate improves.) Thanks for all of the info, JD!

Ninth Doctor’s Coat, Bonhams Auction, The Doctor, TheBadWolf.com, Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston

Well, it seems that while I was at the Gallifrey One Convention, The Vig, a frequent commenter here, found a place that sells the 9th Doctor’s Coat! It comes in a variety of sizes, and a couple of colors. It seems that the coat was based on a German WW2 submariner’s jacket. Too bad I just spent all of my money at the Con. Now, if someone would just find Romana 2’s coat for me…

9th Doctor’s Coat

Attention all fans of the 9th Doctor’s Leather coat! If you happen to have £4,000 lying around, you can bid on it at the Bonhams “Angels Star Collection of Film & TV Costumes” auction. That’s not the only Doctor Who-related item available. They also have items (mostly costumes) from Doctors 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. (and Obi-Wan’s cloak…) The Auction will occur on Tuesday 6 March 2007 at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London. For more information check out the Bonhams Press Release. Explore the Auction Catalog, and then get your funds together. (Now, if only I had that kind of money just lying around…)

Doctor Who, Bonhams

Last evening I was working on a scarf (yes, I knit, a little) and I had the sudden mad urge to make the scarf incredibly long, even though it was pink. This, in turn, made me think of Tom Baker’s infamous scarf. (pictured here) How many people are mad enough to make one of their own? Well, quite a few as it turns out. I popped over to Ebay, and found six different “Doctor Who Scarves” for sale, for prices of up to $119.99. So, I did a bit more searching, and I found a website called The Doctor Who Scarf. This fabulous site has both pictures of The Scarf (okay, Scarves) and instructions on how to make your own. This is particularly helpful for folks who do not own a copy of The Doctor Who Pattern Book by Joy Gammon (the scarf pattern is on page 37). Now I want to attempt this feat (after the pink one, of course). It’ll take a while, but I’ll let you know if I ever finish it. How many of you folks own a “Doctor Who Scarf?” (Erik? You have one, right?) (Also, does anyone know where I can find Romana #2’s pink coat? I’m looking for that too.)

Edit: Here’s the direct link to the pattern for the first scarf.

Tom Baker, scarf, Doctor Who, The Doctor Who Pattern Book, Joy Gammon

There is a sixth Doctor costume for sale on Ebay currently. It features everything but the shoes, and the coat is signed by Colin Baker. There are some notes as to collar size, etc., but no actual “size” information for the costume. I should point out that the seller is looking for a starting bid of £500.00/US $978.20. Even if you aren’t interested in purchasing the outfit, go and take a look at it. It’s a very good likeness.

sixth Doctor costume, Ebay, Colin Baker

So, would you like to make your very own TARDIS t-shirt? The CBBC can help you out with that. They offer a section of their website which features the instructions on how to make your own t-shirt designs. Their featured template is a TARDIS, which you can print out. For some reason, the example TARDIS on the t-shirt is…pink. While this will make my friend Debbie happy, I’m sure that there must be blue fabric paint out there. With a bit of extra creativity, I’ll bet that you could even add racing stripes to your TARDIS if you wanted to. There is also a page about the history of t-shirts, should you be curious. I love t-shirts. Maybe I should get my act together and make one myself.

TARDIS, t-shirt, CBBC

Is Converse the favored shoe company of the Doctor Who universe? The tenth doctor spends all of his first season in a pair of what appear to be white (not “optical white,” mind you) Converse high tops. He seems to have a red pair in advance photos from next season. Gwen Cooper, from Torchwood, has at least a red and a green pair. I’m not sure if they are high tops or not. I’ll have to go back and re-watch the episodes. Has anyone else seen other characters from the Doctor Who universe in Converse? I realise that this is one of those thoughts that occur in the middle of the night, but I’m curious now. Anyone?

Converse, shoe, Doctor Who, Torchwood

Well, if you have £410 you can bid on them. The current bid is £400. Rose’s shirt from “New Earth” is also available in the ebay auction for the BBC Children in Need charity. A Sycorax helmet is among the other items available in this auction. Now, if only they would auction off the black leather jacket from the 9th doctor. I wouldn’t say no to an original sonic srewdriver prop. As long as we’re dreaming, why not a TARDIS? Apparently, there will be other props auctioned off at the big BBC Children in Need event. I hear that they are offering a couple of sets of ear pods…so you might make sure they are deactivated before you try them out. Read the article on the BBC Doctor Who site - here.

Rose’s shirt, BBC Children in Need