Watching Doctor Who

And so it ends…

Elisa — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 05:53:03 +0000

I started this blog back in November of 2006, and in that time we have seen all sorts of things together. Torchwood came to America. Companions have come and gone. A new Doctor has been announced. The Sarah Jane Adventures have begun. The folks running the back end of the Whoniverse have handed over the baton to others. David Tennant has done a turn as Hamlet. Quite a bit can happen in nearly two and a half years.

Sadly, my time here has come to an end. I’m moving on to other projects, including that sleep thing I’ve heard so much about. (maybe)

Please come and join me over at Shadowproclamation.net, my other Doctor Who blog, complete with podcast. I’ll miss this blog and my faithful readers/commenters. Thank you for joining me for the adventure.

Yours in Who,
Elisa

Doctor Who, podcast

Favorite Series One Episode?

Elisa — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:17:47 +0000

Cast your mind back. Back to the beginning of the new series of Doctor Who. While we are waiting for the next special to air this weekend, I was thinking that it would be nice to go back to where we started. Ponder, if you will, series one. Which episode(s) do you prefer? Are you all about the Autons? Do you prefer Space Pigs? If you have a wee bit of trouble with this task, please consult the list below. Please remember rule one, however, and don’t wander off.

Run!
1. Rose
2. The End of the World
3. The Unquiet Dead
4. Aliens of London
5. World War Three
6. Dalek
7. The Long Game
8. Father’s Day
9. The Empty Child
10. The Doctor Dances
11. Boom Town
12. Bad Wolf
13. The Parting of the Ways

My favorite ninth doctor episode is Father’s Day. Maybe it’s the theme of willing sacrifice, or the sudden understanding of where Rose came from. You look at her father and you think, “Ah! I understand now. This is where Rose gets her wild intelligence and ability to adapt to The Doctor’s lifestyle.” Pete Tyler looks at Rose and knows who she is, completely ignoring the fact that her presence there is impossible. He even manages to save the day, The Doctor, and everyone else by understanding the whole unbelievable situation and seeing what he needs to do. This episode also contains one of my favorite images of the season. It’s later in the episode, The Doctor is gone, and Rose’s despairing profile is immobile to the left of the screen. She seems to be carved out of stone for a moment. It’s such an interesting image. Something that lingers in the mind. Whatever the reason, Father’s Day is my favorite episode.

So, what is your opinion?

Doctor Who, ninth doctor, Rose, The Doctor

A Quick Note

Elisa — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:40:46 +0000

Things have been a bit confused around here at 451 Press over the last month or so. I’m not too sure what the future may hold. I have no definite information one way or another, but just in case…

If this blog suddenly disappears, please come join me over at http://www.shadowproclamation.net. Our first Podcast is posted there now, but we’re still trying to get the subscription thing figured out with iTunes. There are a lot of fiddly bits I was not aware of involved in this podcasting thing! Quite the learning curve, you know? Let me reiterate that I have no plans to leave this blog behind, but if something should happen that is out of my control…you know where to find me.

Planet of the Dead trailer

Elisa — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:15:50 +0000

It’s finally coming. The next Doctor Who special episode, Planet of the Dead is headed for UK televisions on Easter. I’m not sure when it will finally make it over to the United States, though, as a quick glance over at the Sci Fi Channel’s website didn’t find a date listed for that episode to appear as yet. In any case, here is the trailer to whet your appetite for the special which is now only about a week and a half away. What do you think?

Planet of the Dead:

Personally, I think it looks a bit like I will be spending the episode behind the sofa. Do I want to know where the TARDIS ended up? And where exactly are they? (Apart from Dubai, that is.)

I can’t wait!

The April Fool’s Day Joke

Elisa — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:31:01 +0000

Before I get started, I must admit that I hate April Fool’s Day. If at all possible, I even take the day off of work and hide in my bedroom. Well, not actually in my bedroom, but you get the idea. Why? I’m not sure. I think there were too many stupid jokes I had to deal with as a child.

On the other hand, I love the obvious online April Fool’s jokes. Like the ones over at Google, you know? So, in that vein, here are a few headlines that I will shock the world by announcing here for the very first time. Are you sitting comfortably?

Then we’ll begin.

Have you heard that David Tennant is planning on staying on Doctor Who…as The Doctor’s assistant? Yes indeed. The Doctor will be his own companion at some point in Series five for a couple of episodes. This may cause a few problems, however, as The Doctor is not well known for getting along with himself, and may leave himself behind on some moon or other. Either that or they will swing by and pick up another incarnation so that they can rename themselves “Me, Myself, and I.”

Series five will bring yet another surprise when we finally see The Doctor’s bedroom, only to discover that the walls are still plastered with posters from old Gallifreyan rock bands. It turns out that he tends to wear the same clothing all the time, because he is too lazy to do the laundry!

The next series of The Sarah Jane Adventures will feature an episode that is a crossover with Torchwood! We will see Captain Jack flirting with Mr. Smith, an alien menace that seems to be a large singing banana, and we will hear Ianto say, “I’ll never be able to look at a Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich the same way again.”

And finally, I am going to be doing a Doctor Who podcast with The Vig over at Shadowproclamation.net. (actually…this part is true. So, keep your eyes peeled. It should be up in a couple of days.)

Happy April Fool’s…

David Tennant

Songs on Ten

Elisa — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:30:55 +0000

As promised, here is the next installment of the Whoniverse-based musical playlists. This list covers all of the Tenth Doctor episodes up through the end of series three (with huge thanks for the updaters of the Wikipedia article on the topic.) I didn’t manage to find a list of music for the most recent series. If any of you know where I might find that list (or ones for Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures) please let me know. I’d like to be a bit more complete about this if I can. Obviously, I wasn’t able to find every song on the list, and in some cases I had to use other versions of the songs. In any case, I hope that you enjoy the twenty-three songs that I did manage to compile. (I’ll try to make lists for each Doctor in the future.)

Littleradge Does Mr. Blue Sky

Elisa — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:53:08 +0000

One of the songs from yesterday’s Tenth Doctor playlist is Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra, otherwise known as ELO. Yes, this was played in the Doctor Who series two episode Love & Monsters. So, I figured what better way to follow that up with a fellow who looks like a young David Tennant (and is very tired of hearing about it…Sorry Liam) in a video where he listens to Mr. Blue Sky in a silly fashion on a train? Yep. He’s lip-syncing. I love the way he’s cut the video together.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Littleradge, he’s a University student in Edinburgh who loves making YouTube videos. So, that means that in addition to looking like David Tennant, he also sounds quite like him. Different region of Scotland, but Scotland nonetheless.

The Night Train (Littleradge and Mr. Blue Sky):

Tenth Doctor, Mr. Blue Sky, Electric Light Orchestra, Doctor Who, Love & Monsters, Littleradge

David and Davina do Mastermind

Elisa — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:59:55 +0000

On the 2009 Red Nose Day show for Comic Relief, David Tennant and Davina McCall competed in a special celebrity edition of Mastermind. Predictably, Davina “The announcer of Big Brother” McCall opted to answer questions for Big Brother 2000-2009 and David Tennant chose to answer questions about Doctor Who 1963-now. I won’t tell you who wins, but I will say that I was impressed my David’s knowledge of our show (well…except the one about the drink. I can’t believe he missed that one.) He really is “one of us.” Let me just add that I have no desire to ever appear on a game show like that. My brain would go completely blank. What about you lot?

Comic Relief | David Tennant and Davina McCall on Mastermind:

Red Nose Day, Comic Relief, David Tennant, Davina McCall, Doctor Who

Spoofing Who

Elisa — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:07:28 +0000

The first part of this video is a Doctor Who skit that was filmed for the show French and Saunders on 25 January 1987. It features George Layton as The Doctor, and French and Saunders as Silurian guards. It was never transmitted, according to the notes on the video, but it apparently appears as one of the extras packaged with The Curse of Fatal Death spoof written by none other than a certain Steven Moffat. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Now, if only we could get Dawn French or Jennifer Saunders to play a part on Doctor Who. I bet they’d love it. They’ve made several references to the show in stuff they’ve done over the years after all. Just one thing, though. Do those “pods” in this video look a bit phallic to anyone else? No? Oh. Just me then.

After the French and Saunders skit is a another Doctor Who spoof from Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. This skit was transmitted in 1987, and according to the notes on the video, Jim Broadbent plays The Doctor. If you include his turn as The Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death, he has played the part in at least two instances. Unfortunately for him, he seems to encounter rather unhelpful energy in both cases. Poor fellow. This spoof is also one of the extras packaged with The Curse of Fatal Death. I really need to get a copy of that DVD.

One French and Saunders Doctor Who Skit and One Victoria Wood Doctor Who skit:

Doctor Who, French and Saunders, Steven Moffat

A Basis for Comparison: Episodes

Elisa — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:19:21 +0000

As most of you know there have been ten different television-based incarnations of The Doctor (soon to be eleven). The original show ran from 1963-1989 (7 Doctors during that time), then there was an American-made film for television (loved the Doctor, thought that the film itself was not the best ever…), and then the new series that began in 2005. Now, I’m sure that you all know that the current series is designed rather like most American television shows, in that the episodes are about an hour in length (when you include advertisements). The Classic series wasn’t like that. One story could last up to twelve episodes (in the case of The Dalek Masterplan), with a cliff-hanger generally at the end of each one. Now, granted that the current series does include some two-parters, but it’s still not quite the same thing. So, I offer you a basis for comparison. (Yes, this would be another one of my lists. Oh, and for the record, I am not including multi-doctor episodes in the tally of any other than the reigning Doctor at the time.)

1. William Hartnell - 1963-1966
29 Stories/134 Episodes (25 minutes each)

2. Patrick Troughton - 1966-1969
21 Stories/119 Episodes (25 minutes each)

3. Jon Pertwee - 1970-1974
24 Stories/128 Episodes (now in color)

4. Tom Baker - 1974-1981
42 Stories/178 Episodes (if you include Shada)

5. Peter Davison - 1982-1984
20 Stories/69 Episodes

6. Colin Baker - 1984-1986
11 Stories/31 Episodes (45 minutes each after The Twin Dilemma, then back to 25 minutes each during Trial of a Time Lord)

7. Sylvester McCoy - 1987-1989 (and 1996 film)
12 Stories/42 Episodes (and the film)

8. Paul McGann - 1996 film
The American Film (and many audio adventures)

9. Christopher Eccleston - 2005
13 Episodes

10. David Tennant - 2006-2010?
39 Episodes, 4 Christmas Specials, 3 other specials…

11. Matt Smith - 2010-?

The Doctor, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Doctor Who