Diary of a Who Addict - Farewell, 2012

So here we are, barely an hour away from the end of 2012. Despite being the year where the apocalypse was meant to happen but of course failed and even worse, we got a total of 6 eps of Doctor Who, it’s not been a bad year, in fact for me personally, it’s been a great one. I’ve been getting more and more involved in the financial side of work, I’ve gone back to college and somehow passed my first exam of the college year, and even better, for a brief time, I knew what it was to be truly in love, not loving someone at a distance as I’ve done too often in the past. Even the fact that I lost that love isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly due to how well it ended, for now I have a better idea of what love is, and what I really want in life. (I.e I’ve got no fucking clue at all, which really oddly is a strangely comforting idea - to know that you know fuck all is the first step towards enlightenment, or some shit like that.) Also, the new Judge Dredd film was even better than I had dared hope, so that was a nice little bonus.

So that was 2012. What of 2013? What can I expect? If I put in some effort at college, hopefully become a qualified AAT Technician, enjoy plenty of Who, old and new, but beyond that? Again: no fucking idea. I don’t have the slightest clue what to expect, really. All I can do is plan and hope for the best.

What am I planning, or rather aiming for? What are my resolutions for the year? Well:

1. Lose some weight, for starters. Been getting a little bit heavy recently, (more than a little bit, actually,) so starting tomorrow I’m aiming to start losing some of the chubbiness and cut down on my snacking.
2. Study, and study hard. Like I said, I hope to be a fully qualified AAT Technician by the end of the year, but hoping won’t be enough. I’ve been studying, but it certainly can’t hurt to put in just a little extra effort into making that hope a reality.
3. Grow up. I don’t think this will be the year that I move out, but I do need to start properly planning for it, at least. It’s not just at home that I need to be more mature about: I had my first serious relationship this year, and as great as that was, I’ve learned one thing: I’m awesome not exactly the most sensible in such an area, especially when it comes to knowing when to open my mouth and when to keep it shut. So really, I think that’s something I need to think very carefully about and work on. As for flat-hunting or relationships, well, who knows, if a good opportunity comes along, I might just take it.

But never mind all this serious stuff: it wouldn’t be a blog from me without some detailed discussion on my favourite show now, would it? The latest Christmas special, The Snowmen, broadcast last week, and my God, was it brilliant! I'm still ashamed that I've only watched it once so far, although I definitely intend to rewatch it tomorrow, if I can. It just had so much of what I enjoy about Doctor Who: a great, creepy story that could turn the everyday into something terrifying, great wit, great science fiction and very clever ideas, while at the same time not being too afraid to poke fun at itself, some nice little nods to the classic series that don't alienate the newer audience and, best of all, some really great drama. Matt Smith playing a more darker, more withdrawn Doctor was amazing to watch, as was Coleman's performance as new companion (or is she?) Clara: witty, clever, with more than a little cheekiness and gorgeous to look at, she definitely has the potential to be a truly great companion. Although I do wonder: with characters like Clara, Amy, River and even Madame du Pompadour, I do wonder sometimes if Moffat has a fixation on strong but rather cheeky women (to say the very least). I'm not complaining too much, considering how I've liked all those characters, but there are times when I can't help but worry about how Moffat sees women. But as for the Snowmen, I just loved everything about it, including the new TARDIS interior and especially the brand new title sequence. It feels like not only the best ep we've had in ages, but the real start to the brand new series. The first 5 eps felt more like an epilogue to series 6, but the Snowmen? That's kicking off series 7 properly and in style!

Also, for something a little more old-school, I recently finished off the final seasons of Jon Pertwee’s run as the Doctor. Season 10 was a nice anniversary season – featuring a return of the first two Doctors, which was very pleasing to see, especially Troughton’s return; a team-up between the Master and the Daleks, mixed in with some great sci-fi politics; a rather average Dalek story (in every way possible), and a pretty average finale with one hell of a tearjearking ending, as the Doctor (and I) said goodbye to Jo Grant. That final scene in particular really made me wonder just how much the Doctor really cared about Jo, and in what way. Like a daughter? A sister? Something else…? It’s always the more complicated Doctor/companion relationships that are the more interesting ones.

And with Pertwee’s final season, the case is very similar. Overall I found his final season to be his weakest – as wonderful as it was to finally meet Sarah Jane Smith and as wonderfully enjoyable the Time Warrior was, with a fairly decent return to Peladon to boot, the stories overall I found very lacking: Invasion of the Dinosaurs had a pretty decent story but suffered terribly from rather weak special effects, Death to the Daleks was possibly the weakest Dalek story I’ve watched, and a finale that, although it had some interesting themes, was dragged out and boring as hell. But that final scene was brilliant. The regeneration effect sucks, in fact there’s no “effect” at all, just a simple fade from Pertwee to Baker, but the actual final scene is great, particularly the Third Doctor’s last words: “A tear…Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry…While there’s life, there’s…” What makes it work is that it feels like a death scene, not just of the Third Doctor, but of the Doctor altogether. There’s a brief but terrible moment when you’re made to believe the Doctor is gone for good…and then the hope – and the regeneration – comes, and it’s a wonderful moment. Even better in retrospect, considering that in those final seconds, we get our first glimpse of Tom Baker’s Doctor, whose early seasons have provided me with so many of my favourite stories. The next season, I’ve held off until 2013 – now less than an hour away here in the UK – to kick off the anniversary year with the best.

So how does everyone feel about the upcoming year? Excited? Apprehensive? Anyone got any plans or resolutions? Whatever happens, I wish everyone to have a very happy new year!

Diary of a Who Addict #5

18/11/12

I haven’t been keeping up with this blog much. This is partially for two reasons: one, I’ve been sick all week, and I haven’t been in the mood for much writing as a result. Two, with the pause in the actual watch, there hasn’t been as much for me to talk about. Of course, that’s just the tv stuff – there’s plenty of other stuff I can discuss.

Like, for example, comics. Read two collections this week: The Crimson Hand and The Child of Time, featuring the 10^th and 11^th Doctors respectively. Both volumes proved to be really great, epic stuff. It’s stuff like that that reminds me that I seriously need to read the Doctor Who Magazine on a regular basis, as it’s amazing how much those guys really plan ahead with their comics stuff, and how they can tie up story threads that have been running for nearly two years, in some cases. Now got all the 8^th Doctor volumes to make my way through, and boy, am I looking forward to that.

But the piece of Who expanded universe I have to give the rave review to this week is without question the Eighth Doctor epic Dark Eyes. I listened to this story the moment it was available for download last week, and now I’ve just finished listening to this wonderful story a 2nd time, to process it a little better. This was a story that I’ve been looking forward to all year, even more so than anything in the tv series this year, if I’m honest.

This is due to two reasons: first, the Eight Doctor is my favourite Doctor, particularly his audio stuff, as Paul McGann really does throw himself into the role and always gives a wonderful performance, sometimes portraying the mad eccentric alien, sometimes the ancient traveller, sometimes the dark, weary soul that he’s become – all shades of the Doctor are always performed wonderfully by McGann.

Which leads me to my second point: To The Death. This was a story that marked an end not just to the previous season, but to an entire 4 year storyline that had covered the ongoing relationship between the Doctor and his companion Lucie Miller. That was a series that had begun light-hearted enough, aiming to be a cross between the era of the classic series with the style of the new series, with shorter, faster paced stories and season long arcs mixed in with the Doctor rebelling against his own people the Time Lords (something the new series can’t really do ever since getting rid of them) and the occasional appearance of a classic series monster. But then the fourth season came along, and things began to get noticeably darker and slightly more complex, in a season which carefully looked at who the Doctor had become, how much he valued life and how heroic he really was, before bringing that all down in the series finale To The Death. To those who haven’t listened to it, I won’t spoil it, but I will say this: it more than lived up to its title, so much so that by the end, the Doctor had become a changed man, a much darker figure, and it was unknown just what he’ll do next.

I must admit, the way To The Death ended, I thought, "If Big Finish decide to do no more Eighth Doctor Adventures, at least none set after this one, I'd be happy with that". This is purely because I thought TTD was, in some ways, a really good way to end things with McGann's Doctor. Since Big Finish doesn’t have a license for anything to do with the new series, including covering anything relating to the Time War (in which both the Daleks and the Time Lords were (almost) entirely wiped out) and the regeneration from Eight to Nine, there’s only so much of the Eighth Doctor’s story they could reasonably tell. Leaving him a considerably darker figure and more hateful of the Daleks than ever isn’t that much of a bad way to end things – certainly, it acts as a better bridge to the start of the new series with the battle-scarred lone survivor Ninth Doctor than the ending of the tv movie with the Eighth Doctor having only just been “born”, happy as ever and heading off to see the universe with brand new eyes. So when I heard that his story would continue, I was both incredibly excited and very apprehensive. Yes, as ever, I’m always excited to hear more of McGann’s Doctor – especially considering how his performance in TTD was one of his greatest ever – but how would this new story deal with the aftermath of such major events?

As it turned out, amazingly well. Ok, so this story doesn’t have the Doctor out on a mission to wipe out every Dalek in existence or appeal to the Time Lords to start a war. It’s actually a lot more subtle – and a lot better – than that. Because the Eighth Doctor clearly isn’t the man that he once was. There are moments where he tries to be by making a joke or trying to find just a small moment of fun, but overall, his Doctor is a lot more tired and a lot wearier of life than the man who woke up in San Francisco and found joy in a pair of shoes. He’s a man who begins the story without hope. Dark Eyes is the story of how he recovers some of that back. Not all of it, which is what I was partly afraid of, but a little, anyway. This story of a Doctor without hope works incredibly well for two reasons. Firstly, the continuing excellent performance of McGann as the Doctor. Like To The Death, Dark Eyes really allows him to explore the darker aspects of his Doctor without over-doing it. It’s amazing performances like this that continue to show just why he’s my favourite Doctor, and probably one of the best actors to have ever taken the role.

Secondly, Nicholas Brigg’s writing. He really seems to have found a nice balance between pushing the Doctor into darker emotional territory and adding in a few touches of light along the way. But it’s not just the Doctor he’s written well. The new companion, Molly, (as brilliantly played by Ruth Bradley,) a WWI VAT nursing assistant, not only acts as a way of introducing new listeners to the Eighth Doctor, but feels a fully fleshed out character in her own right. She’s someone who has, understandably, been through a lot already in her young life, but also tries hard not to let any of it get her down. Stubborn with a no-nonsense attitude, she’s exactly who the Doctor needs at one of the lowest points of his life.

Another excellent point regarding the script is the story. Taking full advantage of the unlimited budget of audio, this is a story that is both epic and, due to a surprisingly great deal of the story being effectively carried by McGann and Bradley as Molly, personal, this is a fast paced story that satisfies on so many levels. Whether you’ve followed all the Eighth Doctor’s adventures so far (like myself), or whether you’re looking for an ideal jumping on point, Dark Eyes is well worth listening to, and a brilliant start to a new era in the Eighth Doctor’s life. 10/10

Diary of a Who Addict #4

7/11/12

So, first day of no Who, and even though I’m back to currently watching the amazing show Breaking Bad and the fact that I’ve watched 26 episodes of Who in 4 days this week, not to mention 75 eps in the past 3 weeks alone, I’ve gotta say, I’m still really itching to crack on with another episode. And that’s something that I’m actually surprised about – 75 eps in 3 weeks, maybe even 100 in a month, and that’s not even including the audio stuff I’ve listened to, even I thought I’d be Who’d out. After all, with the first 6 seasons, I’d take gaps where it’d be months before I watched the next ep. Of course, one thing to consider in that case, there’d be a ton of eps missing, with only the soundtracks surviving, which made it a little difficult to get into without that vital visual element. This stood out especially in Troughton’s first two seasons, where the number of surviving eps are sadly very few.

His final season though was mostly watchable, which I started watching last month. Actually watching what was going on rather than listening and trying to guess was a lot more fun, particularly seeing the physicality of Troughton’s performance and his wonderful variety of expressions. There were one or two stories that weren’t quite up to scratch (Dominators, I’m looking at you!), but overall, it wasn’t a bad final season, especially with such classics like The Mind Robber, the Invasion, and the epic War Games, which ended things so brilliantly, and made it clear that whatever happened in the next season, it was going to be a lot different to what we had seen over the past six seasons, with a new Doctor, no time/space travel, and, most important of all: colour!

Then not even a week later I find myself on season 7, and the more I watch of Pertwee’s kick-ass dandy of a Doctor, his reluctant relationship with the Brigadier and UNIT, and his sheer desperation to escape, the more I found myself compelled to watch more and more eps.

I think my increasing addiction to the classic stuff definitely has to do with watching it in order, not random serials of random Doctors as I used to. Because, while a lot of serials are almost completely stand-alone in story at this point, there is something to be said to watching the whole grand story slowly be told, of watching characters slowly develop and relationships grow. The more I watch the series in order, the easier I find myself getting attached to companions and Doctors. For example, before, I liked Jo Grant, but I couldn’t say that she was one of my favourite companions. She did seem to be more than a bit of a ditz at times. However, the more I saw of her, the more I saw her learning, of forming a bond with the Doctor, until it’s now reached a point where the Third Doctor/Jo Grant relationship has become one of my favourites of the series so far. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than watching snapshots of the Doctor’s life at certain points, and better still, I’m getting to watch some of my favourite stories in a whole new light.

So, now that I’m taking a break from the series for a couple of weeks, will I have nothing to post on this blog? Fat chance! While I’ll be taking a break from the series itself, it won’t stop me from checking out the comics or audios, or better still, the spinoffs! The current series I’m listening to at the moment is Dalek Empire, a series I will go into more detail later on. Watch this space!

(By the way, just worked it out: started watching season 6 on the 7^th last month, and the grand total of eps I watched since then? 120. 120 eps in exactly 1 month. Boo ya!)

8/11/12

Current topic at the top of my mind right now (or should that be front of the mind? Do minds have sides?): magazines. Two actually, both to do with the Eighth (and greatest) Doctor.

First one to mention is the most current: the cover for the next issue of Doctor Who Magazine has been unveiled, and it looks terrific! Amazingly, it has nothing to do with the tv series, but in fact promotes the wonderful work of audio company Big Finish by showing the Eighth Doctor in his new bad-ass gear, with the following tagline: “PAUL MCGANN IS THE DARK DOCTOR”. Two things leap out about this: first, it’s amazing how, after more than 16 years since his one-off tv appearance in the 1996 movie, McGann still looks pretty darn great enough to be given an awesome up-to-date photoshoot. In fact, I’m more than pretty sure that his work on Dark Eyes has been the first official photoshoot he’s done as the Doctor since the film – all the covers featuring his Doctor have usually been a stock photo from promotional material for the film. Considering there’s been more than 60 cd releases so far and McGann only ever had the one story on tv, it’s amazing they were able to keep those photos as varied as they did, really.

Secondly, and far more importantly, it’s quite possibly the first time that anything to do with Big Finish has been given the front cover treatment, certainly the first time in years, at the very least. This is no minor achievement. The magazine isn’t just a popular Who magazine – it’s one of the biggest scifi magazines in Britain. Then again, considering Who is easily the biggest scifi show in Britain, that’s no real surprise. What’s more than likely helped is of course the biggest selling point being anything to do with the latest or upcoming series, with covers from the last few years usually showing an important actor/actress from the show or an image from a recent or upcoming episode. Hell, only a couple of issues ago, there were multiple covers used for the same issue, each based on a different ep from the current series. To give the front cover to something that will be listened to by thousands at most instead of watched by millions is a bit of a risk of DWM’s part, but a more than welcome one for both Big Finish and Big Finish fans. If this draws in more listeners to the range, or even better, get people who were fans of the tv series but who had no idea of the audio stuff interested, especially with such a striking cover, then it'd be absolutely marvellous. Big Finish have made some of the best Doctor Who in any format ever, and McGann is an absolutely amazing Doctor, getting a chance to shine in audio format that he sadly never got to on tv, and both fully deserve as much recognition as possible.

There’s also another magazine I’d like to discuss, one that deals with the 8^th Doctor even more directly. No, more than that: it’s to do with my very fandom. It’s a magazine from 1996: The Doctor Who Movie Special. I spotted it on ebay, and I just had to get it for nostalgia’s sake, more than anything. There’s nothing really special about it. It’s got a summary of the plot of the tv movie, mixed in with a couple of interviews from the cast of the film and a brief history on the previous Doctors. Really, it’s just another purely promotional mag you’d expect to find with a number of new films, really. But I think this made at least as much of an impression on me and turned me into the fan I am today at least as much as the 1996 movie itself.

Now, before 1996, it wasn’t like I was unaware of Doctor Who. Hell, back in the really early 90s, when there were still repeats being shown of classic Doctor Jon Pertwee, I used to enjoy watching it. Never had a clue what was going on, of course – I couldn’t have been any older than five, really – but I loved the theme tune. A truly unearthly, synthetic sound with a hell of a hook, it’d pretty much be the biggest reason for me to watch the show. I’d always join in with the main tune especially – “oooh-weee-oooooooooooh!” And the Daleks, of course. Even then, I think I was a fan of the Daleks, even if I wasn’t yet a “fan” of Who itself. Close, but not quite. Anyway, eventually, the repeats stopped, and I forgot all about it.

A few years later (practically a lifetime, or so it seemed to me back then), I started to notice a number of trailers on the telly, most of which had the tagline, “He’s back…and it’s about time!” One thing especially leapt out – it didn’t have the same unearthly quality to it, as it was played by a traditional orchestra, but I still heard it – the “boom-bam-booooooom!” sounding strangely like the beautiful “oooh-weee-oooooooooooh!” of my distant memories. And, to my pleasant surprise, I heard it: Doctor Who was back. “Great!”, I thought. “The show with the greatest theme tune ever is back! Can’t wait!”

Now, I honestly can’t remember what happened first: me watching the tv movie or the magazine special I picked up. I remember how amazed and fascinated I was by certain parts of the film – a ship that was bigger on the inside than outside and looked like an ordinary phone box, a completely bonkers alien that looked human, a man who can die and come back to life, but in a different body (that one blew my mind especially – I honestly had no idea that the man in the new movie was the exact same white-haired old geezer I had seen from before. I must admit, that was the key idea more than anything that made me want to find out more about the show). The tv movie wasn’t exactly popular with the fans at the time, but one thing’s for sure: it certainly got me interested to find out more.

Which leads me to the magazine. Now, the tv movie had my interest, but the magazine helped to cement that as something more than a mild curiosity for an 8 year old boy. It was a rather brief guide to the history of the show. Very brief, not covering much at all on the previous Doctors, but it was enough. It showed me that this was a show that had changed over many years; that it had built up a large history for itself; that it could take such bonkers ideas and somehow make them…magical. For the first time in my life, due to both the movie and a random magazine, I actually had a good idea of what Doctor Who was about. And the moment I did, I wanted to know more. Not just know – enjoy more, too. I wanted to start watching as many episodes as possible, and with a proper new series not looking like it was turning up any time soon (oh, my 8 year old self had no idea), I convinced my mum to get me a video. It starred the Doctor I could remember bits of as a kid: Jon Pertwee, the very Doctor I’m up to in my current watch. It was a long one, too: at 6 episodes it was more than two whole hours! Amazingly great value for money!

Soon as I got home, I put the tape in and watched as stars stretched past me before turning into some kind of strange tunnel of many colours, then the Doctor’s face appearing out of it, all to that wonderful, wonderful music. The title appeared in a diamond shaped logo – DOCTOR WHO – before the story title showed in big white letters: “THE MONSTER OF PELADON…BY BRIAN HAYLES…PART ONE…”

And that, dear reader, is how my lifelong journey/obsession truly began…

Diary of a Who Addict #3

4/11/12

Current Doctor Who story of the day is the Curse of Peladon. Again, another story I’ve watched before, but again, another story that I not only love but enjoy considerably more in context. On its own, it’s absolutely full of layers. One is its mix of science fiction and fantasy, which works amazingly well. The culture of Peladon is one of the most detailed and in-depth I’ve seen on the show so far – a planet caught between tradition and progress, as the planet enters a conference to see if it is ready to join the Galactic Federation.

Which leads me to another point about why I love this story – allegory. Within the conference are a number of wildly different and mostly convincing alien races, each with their own different cultures – including, to the Doctor’s surprise, the Ice Warriors. It’s a really nice glimpse at how difficult it can be to have people of such wildly different backgrounds get along peacefully and without prejudice, especially when one such group doesn’t have the most trustworthy of backgrounds.

It’s a wonderful aspect to this story that the Doctor has to deal with such prejudice coming from himself, as he rather naturally remains suspicious of the Ice Warriors throughout the story. It’s a wonderful twist that, unlike in previous stories where the Doctor has been suspicious of an enemy behaving nicely, the Doctor is actually wrong for once. For the first time in the show’s history, a monster race from a previous story have turned nice. The Ice Warriors have moved on, and as such gain a lot more depth.

Something else this serial truly succeeds at is production, and this is where watching it in context helps me to truly appreciate it. Over the previous 3 years, all the stories set on an alien world have featured plenty of exterior shots filmed in a quarry. The Dominators, the Krotons, Colony in Space – every fucking one in a fucking quarry. Not all the time, there was plenty of interior scenes, but none of the sets looked half as convincing of showing a truly alien world as in this story. The exterior shots show a castle built into a mountain, and the interior sets truly help to sell that, with a mixture of dark, gloomy tunnels and pseudo-medieval architecture – altogether, it looks absolutely glorious. On its own, it’s great, but in context, the words “wonderfully refreshing” are a massive understatement.

There’s also some really good acting on display. Regulars Pertwee and Manning are wonderful to watch as the Doctor and Jo, with the two’s relationship having grown into a very close, almost paternal one. David Troughton (son of Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor) appears here as the young King Peladon, a man who wants to advance the civilization he rules over while still feeling bound by tradition. The rather brief relationship he has with Jo is also nicely handled.

After spending two seasons on Earth and a rather average story unconvincingly set on an alien planet, The Curse of Peladon is a truly welcome story. Multi-layered in both story and characters with some excellent production to boot, this is a perfect example of just how good and completely convincing a story set on another world can be at its very best. I hope I see more such stories along the way. 10/10

***

Second story of the day is the Sea Devils. A sequel to season’s 7 Doctor Who and the Silurians (yes, that’s the actual story title), this one shares a very similar core idea: namely, that the attacking ‘alien invaders’ actually aren’t aliens, but the people who ruled the planet before man did. That was a truly fascinating idea that was fully explored in the earlier story that was at times very dark, very gritty, with no black-and-white answers. A truly wonderful and brilliant story, overall. So, the big question is: can a sequel work?

Well, what we get here is less of a sequel and instead a rather different take on the idea. This time, the Doctor has to deal with the aquatic cousins of the creatures in the original story, only this time, the Doctor has the Master to deal with as well. It’s like having a nice little balance between the grittiness of the stories in Pertwee’s first season and the purely fun stories of his second.

First things first: I love the look of the so called “sea devils” in this story. A little bit rubbery, perhaps, but overall looking very aquatic. It’s especially effective when it leads to one of the most memorable moments of the classic series: the image of the sea devils coming out of the sea, it’s very effective.

The story also provides some pretty cool moments, including sword fights, hovercraft chases, and of course, the Master being completely enthralled by children’s tv show the Clangers. (That moment in particular is a joy to watch.) As for the overall story, while it lacks the ambiguity and intensity of the original story, this is a pretty fun watch. 8/10

5/11/12

Well, it’s Guy Fawkes Night, which means lots of fireworks and lots of noise. I’d like to say I’ve got plenty of exciting stuff planned, but none of that’s really happening until Saturday, when tribute band Too Rex (you can probably guess what they’re a tribute to if you’re a fan of 70s glam rock bands) are playing at the local awesome venue. Very excited about that! Hoping they are good. Love my funky 70s rock, and unlike the time I saw tribute band Nervana a couple of weeks ago, I should hopefully know most of the songs! Brilliant!

In other non-Who news, the book that I’m currently trying to focus on is T2: Infiltrator, which will hopefully wash away any bad memories of Terminator 3. That’s right: the T2 trilogy is, naturally, an alternative sequel to the awesome Terminator 2. So far, it seems to be more of a spiritual sequel than T3, capturing a lot more of the darkness and believeable characters that I loved the first two films for. I’ll let you know what I think of it as I go on.

Now, moving back to the whole point of this blog, the Doctor Who story I’ve been watching today is The Mutants. Now, I read a comment earlier today about the new series stories lacking depth due to being too short, which, considering half the stories these days are 2 parters, I did find to be a bit of an over-generalization. I must admit however that some single ep stories of the new series could benefit from it, to give a story more depth. On the other hand, there are some stories from the classic that could benefit from being considerably shortened. 6 part story The Mutants is one such story. There's moments of great depth, but mostly it's just padding. Overall, it’s a pretty bland and forgettable tale. One thing that makes it boring to watch is how generic the overall production looks, with pretty standard “futuristic” sets and an even blander alien environment, with just a mixture of a misty quarry and loads of caves. Maybe it’s because the Curse of Peladon, only two stories before, was so successful in how it portrayed another world, from the history to its politics to its very design, and so I ended up caring a lot about Peladon, both the world and the King, among other characters. With the Mutants, I really don’t get any sense of rich history that I got in Peladon. I know it’s the decline of Earth’s Empire and that the planet in the story, Solos, is declaring independence, but other than that, I didn’t get any sense of depth. That extends to the characters: the Marshall is a villain because he’s mad, freedom fighter Kylo is pissed off at how the Overlords (human beings, that is) have treated his people (I get this sense from him because he does nothing but complain about it the whole story), and…a whole host of characters that I simply can’t remember, they're that dull.

I’m gonna stop going about this story, really. I don’t hate it as such, it’s just so incredibly dull. Definitely the weakest in the season so far, and indeed the whole Pertwee era up to this point. 2/10

6/11/12

Ok, only a few days after I started season 9, and I’m already on the final story: The Time Monster. Unlike all the others this season, this is actually the first one I’ve never watched before. The reputation of this story is that it isn’t exactly a popular one, but I must admit, while it’s hardly a favourite of mine, I really have enjoyed this a fair bit, especially after something as dreary as the Mutants. Now, I don’t think it’s as strong as season 8’s finale the Daemons, but it is full of really nice ideas, including gods of time, Atlantis, gadgets made out of tea cups and wine corks, people rapidly turning into old men/young babies, knights on horses appearing out of nowhere, and both the Doctor and the Master generally being awesome. It seems to be a story of two halves, which certainly helps the 6 part structure a lot more than the padded out Mutants, and indeed many other 6 parters, which I’m generally not a fan of, as the story isn’t usually worth it. In this case though, the story’s nicely divided between the 20th century Earth, essentially telling a classic UNIT story, and ancient Atlantis, telling a pseudo-historical/mythical story, and while the latter half doesn’t look completely convincing at times, overall it’s not bad.

Speaking of what’s not convincing, the Time Monster himself, Chronos, who, rather than a god or even a giant bird like creature, is a man in a very dodgy costume and some dodgy sound effects to go with it. It’s also not exactly the most compelling plot, but it is rather entertaining, I must admit.

One thing that helps is the high amount of humour and witty dialogue, ranging from the Doctor and the Master talking about Jo’s coccyx, the Doctor’s car Bessie’s rather amusing adjustments to her speed capabilities and the Doctor trying to warn the Brigadier of a sighting he’d had of the Master…in a dream. This isn’t a script that takes itself too seriously, and overall, it certainly helps.

One other thing I’ve gotta say about the story: it also has one of the most fascinating moments I’ve seen in the show so far – the Doctor talking about a special memory from his childhood, telling everything and nothing, as the Doctor talks about the blackest day of his life without saying why it was the “blackest day” of course, just how a hermit made him look at life differently through a single daisy. It’s a truly beautiful moment to watch, with Pertwee being absolutely brilliant as we really get a sense of wonder and mystery from his Doctor telling such a simple story. A wonderful, wonderful moment really.

Overall, while I’d hardly consider it a classic, it’s a rather fun bit of fluff that tries to be just a little bit epic. It doesn’t quite succeed, but it’s an enjoyable romp, nonetheless. 7/10

I actually read a sequel to this, The Quantum Archangel, which I really enjoyed. Like this story, a fun little romp, but without budget limitations, a more successful one as it dealt with multiple dimensions and even more gods on a far grander scale. Neither story is perhaps what Doctor Who should be all the time, but both were fun, and fun is something I always like to have in a good Doctor Who story, when possible.

By the way, before I finish for the night, here’s some last thoughts on season nine. Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty successful season. Yes, I complained about story the Mutants being far too dull and at least 5 episodes too many, but all other stories I have had enormous fun watching. And that’s essentially what this season has been about overall: fun. It doesn’t aim for the gritty realism of season 7, or an invasion almost every week with 8. Instead, it aimed for having a rather nice variety of stories: an epic alternative future with Daleks for an opener, a monster mash on another world, an alien invasion, only this time from the sea, an adventure in the future with mutants, and then finally an epic chase across time for a finale. All said, it’s gotta be admired for the sheer boldness of it all, really, and while one rather long story didn’t work, the rest of it most certainly did.

There’s also something else I’ve noticed over this season: the relationship between the Doctor and his companion Jo. This pair has really grown on me, and despite the fact that Jo can be a bit of a ditz at times, it hasn’t stopped her from becoming tremendously likeable, and is probably one of my favourite companions so far. The Doctor has also clearly grown considerably fond of her, as Jo has of the Doctor, and in fact is even learning from him. The chemistry between Pertwee and Katy Manning truly is fantastic to watch, really.

So, having finally finished season 9, and indeed my 3^rd season in as many weeks, I think it’s time for me to take a short break. Not from Who entirely – I’ll still be posting plenty of thoughts in the meantime, including stuff on comics and spin-off series Dalek Empire – but, with the 49^th anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks, then seems the perfect time to watch the show’s 10^th season, which kicks off with the Three Doctors. Now that is a season I’m looking forward to watching.

Until the next post, laters!

Diary of a Who Addict #2

3/11/12

Well, as you can see, it's happened again. What I had planned to be only a few paragraphs long to sum up today grew to be, well, a little longer than that. As such, I thought it best to post just the whole of today's entry anyway.

So, I bought a storage unit for my cds today. It’s another step towards making my room – which more than likely, I’ll be living in for a couple more years yet – a more organized, less chaotic area, something which a reasonably sane adult could live in. I’ve got a lot more planned for it over the next year – a better bed, clear some stuff, be less of a klepto and all that. None of the Doctor Who stuff, of course, but a few impulse buys that have remained over the years that I’ll need to clear out. Try and grow up a little bit, even if I am a 24 year old who still lives with his parents. 

Does that last point bother me? Sometimes, I must admit. Not because of mum and dad, they’re two of the best people I know, but more because of me. I see a lot of people I know from high school moving on with their lives – getting married, having kids, all “grown up” stuff. And while I’m not exactly wanting to rush into any of that, I’m not keen on being an overgrown kid who lives in his parent’s attic (not exactly a basement, I know, but still) all his life.

On the other hand, it’s not like I haven’t discussed this with them, or that my situation is unique, or that it’s even a serious worry. I’ve worked out the costs of moving out, and at the end of the day, paying rent and expenses for my own flat in an economy that’s pretty much fucked at the moment, and may be fucked for quite a while, while paying for college every month isn’t exactly an ideal situation for me to walk into. Perhaps I’m making excuses, but for the moment, if my parents are happy to have me around, and as long as I continue to pay them back and don’t leech off them while working in a decent job like I've been doing, then I should aim to be happy for the moment, too. As long as I don’t turn into a c**t – and I trust that my friends will tell me if I do – then I’ll try not to worry. Well, not about my living situation, at least.

Anyway, moving on from that glimpse into how paranoid and insecure my mind can be on occasion, back to what my life is really all about – Doctor Who! As noted in my previous entry, I finished season 8 on Thursday. I think I’ll plan to start season 9 tonight. Day of the Daleks... ah, now there’s a story from my childhood. One of the earliest stories I bought on video. Watched that quite a few times, too. A really decent story, although problems in production let it down – specifically, the fact that only 3 Dalek props were used and how obvious that was,  most notably during an “invasion” scene towards the end, and even the Dalek’s voices, which just didn’t sound…Dalek-y enough.

Bear in mind that I am a huge Dalek fan, although unlike Who, this was something I only fully realized within the last couple of years or so. It’s funny, really, to think of them as separate, considering that the Daleks not only started in Who, but have been so closely connected to it that, in Britain, at least, it’s hard for the average person to separate the two. Indeed, comedienne and actress Catherine Tate (who played companion Donna Noble in the new series) actually said that before she did Doctor Who, she didn’t know there were other monsters in the show, she just thought that the Doctor fought the Daleks every episode. To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what a lot of Brits who didn’t watch the show think. It says a lot about how much an image or idea has on a culture when most people will have a basic idea of what something is without having watched a single minute or read a single page of the original source. As far as Britain is concerned, Doctor Who and the Daleks are as iconic as Sherlock Holmes and his deerstalker hat.

But when it comes to a Doctor Who fan, there’s no guarantee that that person will be a fan of the Daleks as well. Some may think that they’re over used; that they’re not much of a convincing enemy; that in many cases they’re pretty straight-forward and one-dimensional. These traits are especially clear in rather weak stories like Victory of the Daleks or the Chase, two of my least favourite Dalek stories in the entire series (although the latter is still well worth watching for the wonderful final episode, and a rather emotional goodbye).

So why do I love them, and when did I work out how much of a fan I am of them? It was about last year, maybe even a matter of months ago, when I worked my way through the black and white episodes. As I watched and listened to their stories in order, I realised something: practically all my favourite stories were also Dalek stories. I also realised why – when the Daleks are written well, when they’re given good stories to be in, then it’s clear exactly why they work so well as villains: they are pure evil. There’s no reasonable side to them, no real motive other than the one established in the first episode – they hate any and all beings that are not Dalek, and therefore, deserve to die, according to their point of view. Nothing else is given, there’s nothing more superficial given to them, like a love of money or a need for vengeance or anything like that. They’re just creatures of hate, and in one way, it’s “stupid and ridiculous” to quote companion Ian Chesterton, but in another way, it’s absolutely terrifying because it’s also completely and utterly believable. You only need to look at some of the history of the human race to see just how believable it really is.

But it’s not just the Daleks themselves. It’s the human beings as well. The ones who run, the ones who stand and fight, the ones willing to do anything to survive, to help others to survive, even the ones who help the Daleks for their own ends – so many truly fascinating characters and stories were written with the Daleks in the 60s, and so many I loved because of just how strong those characters and stories were. It was enough to inspire me to finally get the first season of audio spin-off Dalek Empire, the story of a Dalek invasion where, as can be expected most of the time in the Doctor Who universe, the Doctor isn’t there to save the day – instead, it’s the story of how a bunch of humans, on their own, fight back. And my word, did that first season live up to its promise! It was exactly as brilliant a series as such a simple concept was expected to be. I bought the remaining 3 seasons last week, hoping to start season 2 later tonight.

So, as you can see, I really do love the Daleks. And I like to see their awesome pepperpot evilness fully justified when possible. So while the weak voices given to them in this story isn’t enough to ruin it for me – like I said, it’s a very good story – it does lessen the experience a little.

When the story was released on DVD last year, it came with a rather wonderful bonus – a “special edition” version of the story, one that overall aims to improve a few problems the original version had, like adding in a couple of extra Daleks during the invasion at the end, or adding in a couple of laser effects to make it more exciting. Mostly, bar one or two shots, it’s not too drastic, it’s just showing how it might’ve looked at the time had it had a bit more budget thrown at it and maybe if the director and technical effects people had shown more imagination. However, I’m not one to be entirely swayed by that sort of thing, and I was originally planning to watch the original version in the Who watch…then I remembered that the Dalek voices in this story had been replaced by, well, actual Dalek voices. Believe it or not, that was enough to persuade me to just bend the rules of the Watch a little bit and watch the special edition over the original.

So, I’m off to sort my room out and tidy it up a bit before watching some more classic Who. Will write more afterwards to give some thoughts.

***

Ok, finished tidying up and had some dinner (lasagne, lovely!), now watching Day of the Daleks. Two things that the ongoing watch has given me that watching this serial out of order, as I used to do, couldn’t give. One: an appreciation of seeing UNIT as a proper military organisation. Over the past couple of seasons, I’ve seen the soldiers fighting more than a few alien invasions, but sometimes, there’s something more domestic but vitally important going on in the background. In this episode, important delegations are going ahead to prevent a third world war, in the Mind of Evil, UNIT were initially busy running security on a peace conference, finding no time to help the Doctor out with his usual alien problems (until they find out that it’s a danger to the peace conference, of course) – it all really reinforces the idea that this is a military organisation that has other problems to deal with on Earth, not just the ones involving the Doctor and aliens that we see.

Two: a nice sense of continuity. There was a nice little conversation near the start between the Doctor and Jo while he’s fixing his TARDIS over events from last season, involving the TARDIS briefly working and visiting another planet, but only because the Time Lords allowed it to do so for a limited period. I always love seeing the Doctor’s constant rebellious side: it’s not enough that he got to leave Earth for a brief period of time – it’s escaping the controlling reach of the Time Lords he’s concerned with. “I don’t want it to work for them. I want it to work for me.” The Doctor’s relationship with his own people is something I’ve always liked about the original series.

However, there’s another side I like to the Doctor, and it’s specific to the Third incarnation: his love of good food and fine wine. One of the most hysterical Third Doctor moment’s I’ve seen yet occured in this story when, while occupying a politician’s house, he helps himself, with a big smile on his face, to a bottle of wine and some cheese. His gentleman dandy behaviour is doubly brilliant when combined with his extraordinarily high level of kick-arseness, a prime example being his greeting to a huge thuggish monster – “How do you do?” – before bitch-slapping that geezer’s arse with not just martial arts, but Venusian martial arts!

As for the story itself – considering it’s the first story in five years to feature the Daleks, it’s certainly not a bad one. It’s great to get a glimpse of what happens when the human race gets enslaved by creatures as evil as the Daleks – some are so desperate they are willing to kill anyone and anything to stop them, some only get by by selling out their own race, but most are forced to work to the point of exhaustion, if they’re lucky.

Another point I liked is the reason the Daleks took over in the first place – it’s because of the human race fucking up more than anything. Overall, like many Dalek stories, it’s the strength of the human characters that make it work. The Controller, (as rather wonderfully played by Aubrey Woods,) either the man with the most power or the man more enslaved than anyone, depending on your point of view, is a particularly fascinating character. Essentially a puppet leader put in charge by the Daleks, he sees himself as someone who is doing good by negotiating with the Daleks and trying to make things easier as much as possible for the human race. Or he tries to, at least, and yet clearly, deep down, he’s aware of just how much he lies to himself.

One final thing I’ll say about the story and appreciating it in context: UNIT versus the Daleks. The first time I watched it, it was only the 2nd Third Doctor serial that I had bought on video, so with characters like Mike Yates, Benton and of course the Brigadier, it was my first time meeting these characters. So the Dalek attack and UNIT fighting back was cool, but not nearly as cool as it is after I’ve gotten to know these wonderful characters and how awesome UNIT is as a whole after more than two seasons already. It may have been more than a little helped by the fact that the battle I watched actually looked rather impressive and a lot closer to looking like, well, a battle on the special edition than it did in the original version, but still, seeing UNIT fight off the Daleks was, for this fanboy at least, a delight to see.

So overall, what did I think of it? I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t rate it quite as highly as my favourite Dalek stories, but it was still a very strong story, with some nice use of time travel, questions over what’s set in stone and what can be changed (and this was over a decade before the Terminator did it), with a pretty decent pace and some kickarse action, too. In short, a strong start to season 9 and a more than welcome return of the Daleks. 8/10

So now that that story's finished, what now? I'm already tempted to watch the next story, particularly as it's the first Peladon story, the reason for which I'm eager to re-watch I'll explain in my next post. But for now, I think I'll rest my eyes a bit and listen to more Dalek Empire. And sorry, dear reader, if I've rambled on. I hope you've got some enjoyment out of reading today's post. Who knows, maybe tomorrow, the entry for the day will only be one page long. Maybe even a couple of paragraphs, as I had originally envisioned. In the light of my impressive record so far though, I will make no rash commitments.

Diary of a Who Addict #1

1/11/12

This is the result of another random thought I had today. It’s the start of November, the anniversary month of my favourite show, and my aim to watch every episode of Who that still exists has been steadily speeding up, especially over the past couple of months. (I started season 1 back in November 2010, during what was at first meant to be the usual re-watch of just the first episode on the actual anniversary date, but, due to having recently received a bunch of soundtracks of missing episodes and realising I had most of the dvds of the rest of the stories of the first couple of years, eventually it became an aim to watch every ep, in order, and best experience the show the way it was meant to be watched. Anyway, long story short, over nearly two years, I watched the first 4 seasons. The past 2 months, I’ve watched the next 4 after that.)

Because of this, and my awareness that I am quite possibly the biggest Doctor Who fan I know of (personally, anyway – practically half the writers of new Who at least aimed to get into that job because they were such huge fans of the whole show in the first place), I’ve decided to start writing a daily diary to put any and all Who related opinions and thoughts on a daily basis. I’ve decided to do this because, I’ve gotta admit, I do enjoy writing, but sometimes, it’s hard to focus on one project or idea for an extended length of time. However, writing a couple of paragraphs about Doctor Who on a daily basis and then posting a week’s worth of those thoughts should be a piece of piss, hopefully. Who knows, maybe over time, I’ll include more than Who, including thoughts on other tv shows, films, hell, maybe even real life, like how it interferes with my all important Who watching, or how I need to plan about what conventions I’d need to go to and what Doctor I should dress up as for such occasions.

So, first day – earlier, I finished watching season 8 of the original series and Pertwee’s second year in the role of the third Doctor. Now this had been a pretty fun season, as it not only introduced arch-nemesis the Master (yep, that’s right – it took 8 years for one of the biggest villains of the show to be created), but it had a neat little arc of the Doctor and his friends at UNIT spending the whole season trying to stop his numerous deadly schemes. Ok, so there’s more than a little clichéd element to such an idea, but it has to be said, it mostly works because of just how damn awesome Roger Delgado is as the Master. Charming, sophisticated, and deliciously evil, he makes insanity and psychoticness look so damn cool! It gets even better when he and Pertwee talk face to face – they get into it so easily, you can tell they must’ve really enjoyed working together. Back in the early 70s, when the writers could only set their stories on Earth, due to the Doctor being stranded there by his own race the Time Lords (and budget costs), it makes even more sense that they’d try to make each season as interesting as possible by using every possible idea to liven things up.

So, the last story I watched: The Daemons. Thoughts? It’s a brilliant example of what, in my opinion, Doctor Who does best: take a classic horror movie idea, make it just a little more family friendly, add a dash of scifi into it, but most important of all, make a rollicking good story out of it. Beginning quietly enough with a very atmospheric first ep, including a mysterious tomb that must never be opened (spoiler: it is), and Roger Delgado looking more awesome both as a vicar and as the leader of a satanic cult, leading to one of my favourite scenes of his where there’s no real dialogue as such, just the Earth shaking and the Master just laughing at it all, looking completely and epically insane, the story then becomes a lot bigger (quite literally, when the Daemon finally appears), involving magic vs science, a village cut off and being controlled by evil, and of course, explosions, fights, and awesome dialogue. It also provides a satisfying resolution to the whole Doctor v Master arc that the season gave us – after much fighting and chasing, the Master is finally captured by UNIT and sent to prison. So all’s well that ends well, right?

(Spoiler: he gets away next season and continues to be an evil bastard throughout the rest of the series.)

Well, after all that, I think it might be time that I actually did a bit of studying. Oh, one more thing: new Eighth Doctor story Dark Eyes is released next month. Considering it continues off the story that has Paul McGann giving one of his greatest performances ever (and I’ve seen Withnail & I, countless times, I might add) and left the Eighth Doctor a hollow shell of what he once was, this release is, by far, the most anticipated release of the year for me. I honestly can’t wait.

And what do you know? First day, and it’s already a little longer than a couple of paragraphs. Hmm, why don’t we post this anyway, shall we?

Doctor or Doctors?

My latest random philosophical discussion on the greatest tv show ever is, like the last one, a simple question: is the Doctor one man with many faces, or is he merely different men with the same memories? Put simply, how much does he change with each regeneration: merely on the outside, or does his very soul change, too?

Initially, it’s easy to believe it’s the case of the latter. After all, let’s think of just how distinct and different each incarnation of the Doctor is. The grumpy old man of Hartnell, the cosmic hobo of Troughton, the arse-kicking dandy of Pertwee, the bohemian wanderer of Baker and so on, each one seeming completely different to the one before. Take any old story from each of them and compare, and it’s clear as day: the Doctor directly changes in every possible way as a direct result of regeneration, not just in body, but also in mind and soul, right?

Well, actually, possibly not.

Let’s take a closer examination at each incarnation’s life. Compare their first and last stories. Some incarnations have changed a little over time. Most, however, seem to change greatly.

For a prime example, look at one of the most legendary incarnations of them all, Tom Baker. Compare two truly classic stories, Genesis of the Daleks and City of Death. One from his first season, the other from his sixth. Never mind the content of the stories themselves, but look at how his Doctor is in each of them. In the former, he’s a very dark, serious alien, a man on a mission, sometimes having a glimpse of humour or wit, but overall, a man that knows the seriousness of the situation and treats it as such.

Now, let’s skip ahead five years later to City of Death, where the Doctor seems to treat everything as a joke, playing the fool and acting like an idiot even when a gun’s pointed at him, revealing only how truly wise and intelligent he is when things are at their most desperate towards the end. In other words, the exact opposite of the man we saw in Genesis of the Daleks, despite being the exact same incarnation. Now true, this is partially down to the very tone of the stories, and indeed of the seasons in general, that have an effect on how the Doctor may react to the situation. But it can’t be denied that as the fourth incarnation’s era goes on, he gradually becomes less and less outwardly serious along the way. Not a criticism, I think both interpretations are fantastic, but it completely destroys the idea of each incarnation being quite so distinctive from each other as people believe.

This can in fact be said for practically all the Doctor’s incarnations – the first Doctor starts out as a mysterious, almost antagonistic man, reluctant to help anyone in need, who by the end plays an active role in saving the Earth in his final story; the seventh Doctor started out as a very silly man who grew more secretive towards his companions and more dangerous to his enemies, almost as if he was playing a very dangerous game of chess on a universal scale; the tenth Doctor who starts out as a happy-go-lucky figure who by the end is a man wrecked with guilt and pain.

Ah, the Tenth Doctor. Now, here comes an important point. In my opinion, this is really where a lot of belief that the Doctor is really just different men with the same memories comes from. Specifically, it’s to do with The End of Time, for which spoilers are to follow.

Now, I’ve got a confession to make – I hate the End of Time. Not so much for the story itself – it’s complete nonsense, but I’ve gotta admit, the majority of the story is fairly entertaining, both for John Simm being batshit crazy on a worldwide scale and for Timothy Dalton being fucking awesome, and it has to be said, Tennant's performance is absolutely amazing for what he's given. So why do I hate it? Because of a few key scenes of how the Doctor feels about his next regeneration, which he describes to his close friend Wilf.

“It feels like death…everything I am dies. Some new man goes walking away…and I’m dead.”

Words cannot begin to describe how much I loathe this description, as it seems to piss all over the very idea of what regeneration is about in the first place: a very clever way to continue the story of the Doctor. Maybe he changes somewhat to a degree on the outside – perhaps due to having the brain cells more than a little shaken up, or for other, deeper reasons, which I’ll get to later – but clearly the same man. This quote from Tennant’s Doctor actually pretty much ignores the key central idea of what makes the concept of regeneration so great in the first place, which in my opinion, is just bad writing. Yes, we do get attached to particular incarnations, either due to the performance or the style, and it’s more than likely that the Doctor himself gets attached to each and every one of his different bodies at the time, since regeneration is pure change in a very huge sense, and it’s natural to fear it. After getting used to seeing through a particular pair of eyes, speak with a particular voice, even identifying what sort of clothes work best with his particular body best (or so he thinks), all vital parts of his identity, gone in an instant. When that happens, he knows he’d have to start from scratch all over again, learn to get used to seeing through a new pair of eyes, speak with a new voice, essentially find out who he has to be. It’s perfectly natural to be afraid of something as scary as that. And I think that that fear is potentially a great thing to explore.

But the use of the D word was, in my opinion, the worst way to do it.

And it only got worse, with one scene having the Doctor rage at his situation and how he could do “so much more”, with his final words being the worst: “I don’t want to go.” The whole implication being that, whoever the next incarnation is, he will, in no way shape or form, have anything left of Ten within him. That the “soul” of the Doctor’s tenth incarnation would be replaced with another. This pure selfishness written into the character really made me hate the Doctor at this point in his life. I’d like to believe that it was intentional, that it was a clear sign that the Doctor had become too attached this particular body, as it was the only thing left that reminded him of all his particular incarnation’s companions, and that change by this point was completely necessary for the Doctor to move on so we actually wanted him to finally change. I’d love to believe that. But again, there’s nothing really in the story that even hints of it like that, and in the end, it just comes across as bad writing.

I criticise this because, to me, this is the only time I can think of where the idea of regeneration makes a man completely different to how he once was. OK, so like I said, the Doctor’s differences when awakening in a brand new body are especially noticeable, and there might be considered a huge change in personality…but is it a direct effect of regeneration alone, or is it more natural than that?

Let’s think of what actually happens in regeneration: the Doctor is mortally wounded, so to survive, his body changes every single cell. Sometimes, he dies first for a moment, then slowly the process starts, sometimes it happens in the same instant in the same instant as dying. In either case, can you imagine how pretty fucking traumatic that would be? Put simply, the guy dies and is born again, and unsurprisingly, the process of having every single cell change in his body and bringing him back from the dead is a rather painful one. Can you imagine the level of trauma that could bring to a man? No wonder almost every single incarnation begins as either completely nuts or deeply psychologically scarred.

Again, let’s look at it from another angle: the reasons he died in the first place. However it happens, it will more than likely affect how he looks at life in some fundamental way in his next incarnation. It might inspire him to seize life (such as the fourth wanting to leave Earth straight away after spending so much time on it in his third incarnation), or learn to be more cautious (such as the fifth gaining a new fear of heights after his previous incarnation died from such a fall). Look at how each incarnation is different to the last one, and suddenly it all makes sense: it’s not a result of regeneration that causes him to be so different, it’s the result of dying and coming back from that that causes him to push himself forward. Not in the way Ten’s Doctor described death, not as something permanent, but, ironically, in a way that’s a life-changing experience for the Doctor.

In short, I absolutely believe that the Doctor, no matter what body he’s in, is simply The Doctor. He changes, but, in the non-physical sense, only as much as we do – from time, from experience, from life itself. Regeneration doesn’t make a new man altogether, it just arguably forces the same man underneath to get used to a different body. Of course, this is purely my opinion – I’m sure someone out there can give a few reasons on why he’s really many different men. My problems with the End of Time made it clear that, I regret to say, this blog entry is far from unbiased. But it’s a view I’ve held for a long time, and it’s only recently dawned on me why that is: if I didn't believe that all the incarnations were the same man underneath, I wouldn't be nearly as interested in this epic fairy tale as I am. I hope I've provided some interesting reading for the average Who fan, at least, and I hope it provides food for thought on this much loved show for ya.

Life on Mars Analysis: Series 1, Episode 5

So more than a little overdue, here is my analysis for the fifth ep, which focuses on football. Now I don’t really give much of a shit about football, to be honest, but as far as storytelling goes, like many other subjects that bore me, a number of layers can be given. One is the obvious, the focus of the crime: hooliganism. However, as Sam points out, hooliganism shouldn’t be the only thing to focus on. Another thing is how people can bond over a simple pleasure in life just as much as they can ruin the enjoyment of it by taking things too far – in this case, watching a simple game. Once again, we’re given another contradiction of life: something that can make people happy can also make men fight and hate each other.

Among all of this, we also learn more about Sam. Naturally continuing a theme from the last episode, we specifically find out more about his early life with his parents: in the previous episode, it was his mum, in this, it’s his dad, despite the fact that we never see him in this ep. We just learn a lot about him, including that he wasn’t around much, which meant that the time they did spend together was really important to Sam, and that Sam doesn’t know where he is. I can’t tell you how much I love that that’s exactly the way Sam phrases it – no dodging the issue, no getting angsty about it when he’s asked, it’s just something he’s just had to live with for nearly his whole life. That lets us know a lot more about Sam in just one line that a lot of tv shows take an entire episode to flesh out. It gives us reason to wonder why he became a cop, and I mean really became a cop instead of letting a childhood dream die, that he might just have had a deeply personal reason to do it. Not that its stated in the episode, it’s really just a theory, but it’s one I genuinely believe the writers have given us, purely because, unlike so many other series I’ve watched where similar revelations are given but in a much more “dramatic” way, one that tries so hard to exploit so much drama out of it that it all eventually becomes sickening, in this series the writers assume we’re not idiots and just let us form our own theories based on one line. 

Have I mentioned how much I bloody love this show yet?

Another aspect I love is how football is used. As I've said before, I’m not the biggest fan of football, but football hooliganism is a great subject to tackle when done right, and…well, no surprises that the writers handled it completely right here. Because we see clearly that there’s nothing wrong with the game itself, in fact it’s something great that can bring people together. But like many great things, all it takes is a few stupid people to ruin it for everyone else. We see how this affects Sam more than anyone, as he knows what’s coming, and how much worse it’s going to get. It’s bad now, with a boy’s father ending up dead, but it’s gonna get so much worse, and a lot more innocent people are gonna end up dead by the hands of not gangs, but police, because of what's happening now. It’s interesting that there’s nothing directly personal to Sam in this story, like Sam stumbling across the body of a father of someone he knew as a kid or some bullshit like that, and yet it still affects him on multiple levels – as a policeman, as a fan of football, as someone who lost a father at far too young an age. Wonderfully complex and emotional writing of the character that avoids being exploitive. 

But it’s not all serious drama - it is Life on Mars, after all. One thing I have to mention is the excellent comedy writing given to us this ep by Sam and Gene working undercover in a pub, where Sam expects to easily talk to the customers but of course, even with his love of football, finds it difficult to blend in, while Hunt unsurprisingly blends in perfectly. Actually, thinking about it, there’s really nothing different about that: Sam has been, and will continue to be, the outsider in this world. The one who finds it difficult to talk to people, to blend in. Even (or should that be “especially”?) as the professional, undercover work in this world isn’t exactly his specialty. 

So, at the end of the day, we’re given an ep that uses football as a perfect way to explore how something that brings people together for the best reasons can also turn people against each other for the most stupid of reasons, both on society as a whole and, just as importantly, on our main character Sam. It’s a testament to Life on Mars really that it’s not one of my personal favourites and yet it’s still something I can find huge enjoyment in both watching and exploring its multiple layers.

The "Doctor" or the "Who"?

One of the many wonderful things about fandom is how varied it can be, about how different people can have vastly different but equally emphatic views about the same story, whether it would be a book, a film or tv series. In Doctor Who’s case, it’ll be very difficult to find a wider range of fandom. So many debates over so many little things: which is better, classic series or new? Russell T Davies or Steven Moffat? Colour or black and white? All these tiny things us fans debate endlessly over, (so many in fact that Doctor Who Magazine has now made a regular feature out of it,) but none as popular as, of course, the really obvious: who’s the greatest Doctor?

However, having seen quite a few lists of how people rank their favourite Doctors, while many are varied, it’s interesting to note how similar a few of them are, for example the same group of 3 or 4 Doctors holding the higher ranks for one group of people, an altogether different set for another. And it got me thinking: how do we even define who our favourite Doctors are in the first place? Oh yes, there’s the first one, there’s your Doctor, but even then, he might not have been the first one you watched. The first Doctor I watched was Pertwee, and yet it was McGann a few years later who ultimately became my Doctor. That only explains how we ranks our number 1 – what about the rest? How do we decide which incarnations of our favourite Time Lord rank higher than others?

Well, what it really comes down to is what we want from our main character in the first place. And this lead me to think that maybe, just maybe, fandom can, rather broadly, be broken down into two groups, and it really depends on what part of the title they like more: the “Doctor” or the “Who”?

Let’s have examine both.

The “Doctor”
To this group of fans, he’s the title character, therefore he’s centre stage. He should always be the heroic figure, fighting against evil and saving the world. Oh, his companions can have their own stories and save the Doctor himself when things go wrong (as they often do), but ultimately, he’s the main character, no one else. As a result, he should be a fully rounded, three dimensional character. He should have quirks, vulnerabilities, emotions, an easy character for the audience to relate to on some level.

David’s Doctor was kind of the embodiment of this. He played the hero who clearly had relationships that mattered to him, a past that haunted him, a man who tried to act happy go lucky but was clearly living with a great deal of grief and turmoil underneath. It’s not really surprising that David’s Doctor was so popular: not only was he arguably one of the best actors that the series ever had, but his Doctor was one that was given extraordinary emotional range, something that he always excelled at. At his best, his Doctor was the alien hero that you could not only believe in but relate to. Even better: there were times when you’d take one look at his face and know exactly what he was thinking.

The Doctor, ever the hero and always ultimately centre stage. Which is, to one group of fans, how it should be. I mean, there’s a reason he’s the title character, right?
Well, if the show was called “The Doctor”, that’d be a fairly accurate summary of what the programme could be. But it’s not. It’s called “Doctor Who”. Which leads me to the other viewpoint.

The “Who”
The second word in the title, and just as important as the first in establishing an idea in some fans of whom the title character should ultimately be. This is the belief that the character doesn’t necessarily need to be someone you should ultimately be able to relate to, but rather he should be a mystery to the audience, an enigma that should always keep us guessing. To this side of the fanbase, he should be viewed as alien in every single way, a man who’s not only clearly not human, but has beliefs and morals that are ultimately different to ours, whose thoughts we cannot begin to ultimately guess at.

In this group of fandom’s extreme view, he shouldn’t even be thought of as a clear-cut hero: he should be someone who would not only make decisions we wouldn’t agree with, but leave us wondering why he’d make them in the first place. There are two excellent examples of this: the first is William Hartnell’s Doctor in the very beginning of the series, where arguably, he wasn’t the main character: it was the two schoolteachers he had kidnapped, Ian and Barbara. To both them and the audience, he wasn’t a man to be trusted, a man who would, as noted, kidnap two innocent people just to protect his granddaughter in his own twisted way. He wasn't the main character, but he was the main focus of attention for us, as we're ultimately left to guess and wonder who this ancient man really is.

The other example, of course, is the 7th Doctor. At first, he started out as something of a bumbling clown, but as time went on, he started becoming something of a manipulator, a man willing to play the grandest games of chess with the deadliest and greatest evil the universe had to offer, with even his companions being used as pawns. We got hints of this darker, more mysterious character in the final 2 years of the classic series, and it’s been greatly explored in the expanded universe, such as the novels and audios. From a personal point of view, this is one of my favourite incarnations of the Doctor, particularly in television and audio. Sylvester McCoy might not be the greatest actor to have played the role, but he always knew how to play the dark, mysterious role just right.

What makes the “mystery” element of the Doctor so radically different to the “hero” element is the simple fact that he doesn’t need to be the main character, or at least the main point of view, to be a key presence in the show. Look at Blink: he’s hardly in it, and yet fans love it, partly because of the weeping angels, but just as likely is that he’s more of a background presence, a mysterious man talking out of a tv set, and talking directly to you. In this case, he becomes less of a character and more of an idea, and it works equally well.

If we think about this conflict – about how radically different the hero and the mystery aspects of the central character are – then this can explain why there are such huge divides in fandom over many things, not just over who’s the best Doctor, but even down to the RTD/Moffat debate, as both can be taken as extreme examples of one aspect of the character versus the other. This can explain why some hate the RTD era for making the Doctor too human, while others hate the Moffat era for making the companions the main focus at times, particularly in series 6.

So which viewpoint does fandom ultimately seem to prefer? Well, when it comes right down to it, ideally a mixture of both. Most of us love watching a classic heroic figure who knows what right and wrong is, never gives up and fights for his friends. There’s so many dark antiheroes out there in fiction that we need a character like that. Yet equally, we enjoy a bit of mystery too, something to leave us wondering how much we know about this man and how he would see the universe. Even Tennant had his grand moments of mystery, with the greatest example of course being Family of Blood – when we see the Doctor returned to his old self after being human for so long, we’re once again reminded of just how inhuman this man really is. Yes, ultimately, each of us has a preference for one over the other – personally, as objective as I’ve tried to make this analysis, I think it’s obvious I have a preference for the "mysterious" Doctor – but ultimately, I think it works best as a mixture, one that can give us so many wonderful stories from a truly versatile series.

It is called “Doctor Who”, after all.

Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode Four

We begin the episode with a dream sequence. Fittingly, little more is surreal to the show than usual: Sam’s walking through 1973, down his old street, hearing his mum call out to him, with the world around him in slow motion. Considering one of the underlying themes of the series is exploring what we think of as ‘real’ and what’s not, having a dream that is, on the surface, close to Sam’s current ‘reality’ is a wonderful way to begin the ep, especially when Sam wakes up,  1973 is clearly more real than the dream. It’s only in the details, with people in the street and time running normally, but it works.

One thing I love about this episode is how much it tells us of Sam’s family life without resorting to flashbacks, still sticking to Sam’s perspective in a linear way. We’re given a perfect picture of what Sam’s life is like through conversations with his mother and through Sam’s reactions. We learn that when he was 4 years old his dad wasn’t around much, that money was tight with his family, and even as a kid he dreamed of being a copper.

Which fits in perfectly with Sam finding out that his department is bent. Now, what I love – and I mean, absolutely fucking love – is how we find it out. We don’t see the coppers as suddenly revealed to be evil bastards, willing to get away with anything if they can for their own benefit. We instead see them believe that it’s not only a natural part of their lives, it’s a necessity. Gene justifying that Warren may be bent, but he at least makes sure that no sex crimes happen and always lets the police know when new criminals are in town almost sounds perfectly reasonable.

Not to Sam, though – his idea of the perfect, incorruptible copper hasn’t changed since he was 4 years old, a fact that’s clear when he wants to prove to his mum that he isn’t a bent copper. How Sam’s personal life connects with his professional life (not to mention his psychological one, too) in this episode is handled really beautifully, as he tries to prove to himself that he’s not a dirty copper, making it very clear to everyone, including Gene and Warren, that he won’t let them make him 1 per cent corrupt, if he can help it.

Of course, Sam being Sam, all he really does is practically paint himself as a massive target to Warren. I think many of us could see where it was heading when Warren’s girl Joni asks Sam for help, but again, this is something that reflects Sam’s mentality – when he was 4, he wanted to be a decent and honest cop, and that’s exactly what he became. Sometimes, we have to wonder just how grown up Sam really is. So I think only Sam was really surprised when (after a rather nightmarish and surreal sequence that’s less of a sex scene and more a rape,) he wakes ups the next morning handcuffed to the bed and looking like a prat in front of Hunt (and unfortunately, Annie). It doesn’t get any easier at the station, with not only everyone making jokes at Sam’s expense, but Sam suffering another moment of trippy insanity when he hears Ray and Chris speaking with doctor’s voices, not only providing a ‘real world’ explanation for how the LSD got into Sam’s system, but also making you wonder how much damage doctors can do to your mind when they’re trying to ‘help’.

However, Sam still has to make himself look more like a complete prat, so of course when he defends his decision of taking Joni home because Warren was going to rape her and Sam was the only person she trusted, Gene not only boldly defends both his station and his officers, but also makes it clear to Sam (in every politically incorrect term there is in the UK) that Joni’s boss is in fact homosexual. Once Sam finally learns this, he finally starts to learn how much of an idiot he’s made himself look. To matters worse, his relationship with Annie stops at being “just friends”, which considering how obvious these two were practically made for each other, really comes at a bit of blow.

But Sam continues to fight against the inevitable, first by gaining a small victory to himself by telling his mother that he’s not a bent cop, (even if she doesn’t really understand why,) and by telling Joni that he doesn’t live in fear like she does – he’s alive. He may or may not be in a coma, but he’s not afraid of what Gene’s world or what his condition will throw at him.

And it seems that Sam’s luck is finally changing, when his words reach Joni and she burns the negatives of the rather compromising photos between her and Sam. But it comes at a price, and that price is her life, something Ray makes all too clear to Sam. And, whether Sam did the right thing or not, Ray is right: if Sam hadn’t fought back, Joni wouldn’t have been killed. It leads to first to a moment of sheer power, as the tensions between Sam and Ray that have been slowly building since the day Sam arrived in 1973 explode into a fight, and then to a much quieter, but much more important moment: Gene telling Sam a bit, just a little bit, of his past. Of how even he used to have dreams of becoming an honest cop, of how he got his senior officer arrested (something that Sam hasn’t tried to do with Gene, oddly enough), and how he took his first backhander and felt like shit for it. It’s a nice moment between the two that shows a little bit more to Hunt than we had seen previously without making him look like a right nancy.

And so, Sam finally goes for one last shot of glory, only this time, he does it with Gene. Not only that, but he uses one of Gene’s methods to do it: lock the henchman in a giant fridge! The scene of Sam and Gene talking while the crook is banging on the door behind them is sheer comic gold. And, after so  much bad luck, humiliation and tragedy thrown at him, Sam finally arrests Warren and is greeted with applause from everyone. In just one hour, Sam goes from a downward spiral, just because of sticking to his morals, to coming back fighting as a hero, and man, does it feel good.

This is another of my many favourite eps, truly exploring how we view what right and wrong really are, as well as the price a man can pay for being “right”. It also explores how a man can be a true hero if he continually has every chance to do the “wrong thing” for the right reasons and turn it down, no matter what cost to his life or his dignity, and sometimes, just sometimes, it may just pay off. The final shot, of Sam sleeping peacefully while his mum tells him she’ll always be there for him, is a wonderful way to end such a great episode.