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?