HAPPY TEARS

I want to preface this review by stating something that I have said in a few online chats, that being that when reviewing Christmas episodes of Doctor Who Christmas Rules apply. Christmas Rules basically mean that you cannot apply regular episode rules, you need to REALLY suspend your disbelief and just go with it. There's no need to get on the writers for canon mistakes, or sappiness, or taking liberties with things, it's a bloody Christmas episode! And for all of you Moffatt haters out there, Mr Davies wasn't much better when it came to tear inducing Christmas episodes.

I mean not since “The Next Doctor” have a I been driven to tears before the end, or at least not at a point in the story where the full story had been told. Yes, I was a bawling fool at the end of “A Christmas Carol” and slightly before the end of “Voyage of the Damned” when Astrid made her sacrifice to take out Max Capricorn in his effort to destroy the Earth, so Davies got to me too.

It wasn't the appearance of what I thought to be Douglas Adams' Vogon Constructor Fleet at the beginning with their announcements to the people of 1937 Earth (not that any of them would have heard it and Arthur Dent hadn't been born yet anyway) just before The Doctor blew up their incredibly large spaceship and chased down a spacesuit in the vacuum of space (yes – Time Lords can survive short amounts of time in the vacuum of space as was shown in the Peter Davison era episode “Four to Dooms Day” where he wore nothing but a space helmet - but I am not going to get into how he survived entry into Earth's atmosphere wearing only that spacesuit – and backwards at that), I made it to the the moment when Cyril's Dad, flying his damaged Avro Lancaster heavy bomber back to England on December 20th 1940, knew he wouldn't make it, touching the photo of his soon to be widowed wife in the cockpit of the doomed plane that got me all teary eyed, and they story hadn't even properly begun.

OK, before I go and get the box of tissues again it's time to get on with this review . . .

WHAT I LIKED

This is the first episode of Dr Who since the end of Season 6 in October and it's Christmas! Welcome back!

Cyril, with his red hair and big glasses reminded me of a tiny Elton John.

The entire kids' bedroom – I want those drop down from the ceiling hammocks, as I am sure every kid in the UK does now. The Christmas tree was pretty cool too.

That the Christmas Gift/space/time rift led to Androzani major, last heard of in the 5^th Doctor's final episode, “The Caves of Androzani”, and I can only say that the harvesting crew seemed to be high on Spectrox, they were a (comedic) mess!

The shoutout to moms being the strongest force in the Universe! Of course they are! Where would we be without moms. We'd be Sontarans and Daleks and Cybermen, though The Doctor's daughter didn't have much of a mom and she turned out pretty hot, I mean she turned out pretty well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the estrogen in me speaking, live with it.

The guiding light home through the Time Vortex that brought Dad home for Christmas, as Mom promised, yeah – it was sappy and somewhat predictable, but, as I said, Christmas Rules apply. If that had happened in a regular episode I'd be a lot less charitable in my view of it.

Humany Wumany – a sort of reference to Timey Wimey – but it just showed that The Doctor, for as long as he's know humanity, still doesn't get them at times, in this case their shedding of tears of happiness. He understands sadness, he's obviously experienced centuries of that, but the shedding of tears at happy times makes no sense to him. He seemed to shed at least one just before closing the door to the Ponds' house.

FAVORITE QUOTES

“I got dressed in a hurry.”

“Suddenly the last 900 years of time travel seem a lot less secure.”

“Staircase . . . seems to have broken down. . . . we'll have to walk up.”

“Time is shifting across dimensional plains. What do they teach you in school these days?”

“This is a military engagement. There's no crying in military engagements.” (a bit of a paraphrase on that famous line in the movie “A League of Their Own” (also set during World War II) - “There's no crying in baseball!”

“I have mother issues, it's all in the file.”

“Crying when you're happy. . . . .That's so human.”

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

The whole “sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood” joke is VERY tired at this point. I almost wish the Tereliptils would show up and blast the thing out of existence again as they did in the Davison Era episode “The Visitation”.

Continuity Error - Madge tells the Androzanians that she's from England in 1941 - her husband was killed over the Chanel in 1940 - she told The Doctor that she hadn't told Lily and Cyril yet - the London Blitz ended in May of 1941 - so she could not have been at Uncle Digby's place at Christmas 1941.  Either that or she had pulled off a rather elaborate ruse on her kids and had them believing their father was still alive even though he'd been dead for over a year.  I think not!

WHAT I HATE – A Jayne Rant

Much like the birth of a child, it will probably not be for another 9 to 10 months, some time in October, before we see another episode. I get Mr Moffat's recent contention that Dr Who should be watched when it's dark outside. Daleks and Cybermen and whatever other monsters are out there are less scary when the sun's out and the kids are still out playing, but damnit, there are the Winter months that are just as dark and this Christmas episode could have been the launching pad for Season 7.1 with the Doctor's reuniting with Amy and Rory at the end of the episode. Season 7.2 could have started in October.

Steven Moffatt and company have already put out there that The Ponds, Amy and Rory, will be leaving the series. Why put that out there so far in advance of their actual leaving on the show? That's just wrong. Season 7.1 could have started in January, run for 7 weeks and ended with the leaving of Amy and Rory, preferably with Amy pregnant again with a normal baby that the Universe doesn't want to kidnap and the Doctor dropping in on Craig's son Alfie (the former Strormageddon) some 23 years down the road and taking him with him on adventures.

I get that you want to keep interest alive in the show, but if you're not going to come back until at least October at the earliest, why leak that out now? It seems kind of pointless. Season 7.2 could have started in October with the Doctor and Alfie hopping around the Universe and starting Season 8 with a visit to Poppa Craig at Christmas.

I know the BBC is trying to stretch things out until 2013, specifically November 23, 2013, the 50^th anniversary of the very first broadcast of Doctor Who, but they run the risk of losing their audience. There are a ton of other shows to get interested in to the detriment of Doctor Who, and I mean on both sides of the Atlantic and whatever other countries the program is shown in.

In closing, the BBC runs the risk of losing fans who have been there since the re-launch on 2005, who suffered through the 1996 movie (no reflection on Paul McGann - he deserved way better), who found this crazy British show on their local American Public Broadcasting Station and grew to love it. If they wait and hold off without giving the addicts their hit, they may reach the 23^rd November, 2013 (as you Brits write dates) with an all time low audience. Nuff said.

Rant Over!

Christmas Preview Review

Like many Whovians, I have been going through withdrawal since October and waiting for the annual Christmas special. On Thursday the BBC released the preview of this year's Christmas offering during the annual Children in Need fundraiser and, to be honest, it looks like “the . . . best . . . . .Christmas. . . . ever.”

What follows is based solely on what I saw in the preview, there are no spoilers here, unless you haven't seen the preview and I know you have. If you're reading this, you as much in withdrawal as I am.

It appears that this Christmas Special will be The Doctor's fourth broadcast story taking place during World WarII (the others being “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”, “Victory of the Daleks” and “Let's Kill Hitler”). There have been many ancillary written and audio stories having him popping in here and there during Mr. Churchill's time leading the British Empire, but we're just dealing with the broadcast stories here.

This is also the 11^th Doctor's second Christmas Special and the second of Mr Smith's tenure that takes its name from a famous piece of literature, though this year's plays with the title a by, paraphrasing the famous C S Lewis title swapping it out for “The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe”. My guess is that the Lion and The Witch are a bit miffed to have been left out.

Anyway, on to the preview review.

Once again, The Doctor is flying solo at Christmas, having left Amy and Rory at their new home. I wonder what the deal is with the Doctor Who crew and their not wanting a companion (or companions) to travel with the Doctor during the holidays. I mean we met the 10^th Doctor on Christmas Day and he hung out for dinner with Rose, her mum and Mickey, but since then, the Doctor does Christmas solo? Hmmmmm.

WHAT I LIKED

It appears that The Doctor is having some sort of a problem with the Tardis – based on all of the fire and general mayhem with his running and flames behind him – probably something he does that makes a mess of things that Idris will have to fix . . .. . . or has tied the Tardis to a certain point and time that is connected to a wormhole through which weird space marines and woody tree people come through.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

I didn't like that I am in withdrawal and have to wait for Christmas evening to see the latest of the Doctor's Christmas adventures. I do hope they learned their lesson after last year's “Christmas Carol” and they don't have The Doctor marrying “The Widow”. The whole marrying Marylin Monroe thing was silly, though the (implied and not seen) duet with Frank Sinatra was kind of cool.

It also looks like maybe they used the same house that they filmed “Night Terrors” in and those creepy dolls still scare me.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

I have to admit that so far, my favorite Christmas special was “The Next Doctor”, maybe because of it's “Oliver” like Victorian workhouse set, maybe because there was a hot air ballon Tardis, but mostly I think it was because of the story of Jackson Lake, the poor fellow whose wife was killed and child abducted by the Cybermen. His travels from being infostamped into thinking he was the last of the Time Lords to realizing he was a Mathematics teacher whose life had been destroyed by alien creature and then finally getting his son back just tore at me.

Let me know what your favorite Christmas special was.

Until some time during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day with my Christmas Review – this is Jayne signing off – except for seeing your faves for Christmas :)

Jayne

Happy Children in Need Weekend

This is a night that most, if not all, of the UK look forward to, the annual Children in Need fundraiser and one of the highlights, if not THE highlight of the night, is the appearance of The Doctor.  This year is no exception and The Doctor brought an early Christmas present with him, the preview of this year's Christmas episode.


Here's the whole segment from Children in Need - cheers!

Doctor Who - The Movie??????

Is The Doctor going Hollywood???

The word on the street, so to speak, fellow Whovians, is that within three years there will be a Doctor Who movie, the beginning of a movie franchise, with the BBC and a former Harry Potter director conspiring to do the unthinkable.  I guess this is a sign of the times, everyone trying to come up with the next Harry Potter or Star Wars.  Oh well - here's what The Daily Mail had to say:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2061496/Doctor-Who-movie-Harry-Potters-David-Yates-direct-Tardis-big-sceen.html

Dalek Scout saucer above New London?

Could they be returning once more?

Dr Who News - Volume 2

Marc Boxen's Doctor Who News Volume 2 is out with some great stories on the last of the Sarah Jane Adventures - the Doctor Who Experience in London - some behind the scenes video of Marc Gattis from this season's last episode - Matt Smith commenting on the upcoming Gunpowder Plot game and some information about the Christmas Special and Time Light Media.


If you'd like a bigger video version - you can find it on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9cERB-dLjA

Maelstrom Janus Reviews "Wedding of River Song"

 THE WEDDING OF RIVER SONG: A SECOND PERSPECTIVE

MAELSTROM JANUS

Always good to get a variety of opinions on Doctor Who, and with the finale being our last stop until Christmas, a second viewpoint on "The Wedding Of River Song" seemed a good idea.


Longtime Doctor Who fan and veteran Second Lifer Maelstrom Janus looks at The Wedding of River Song and casts his considered opinion.

***

I've learned not to expect too much from new Who - so I wasn't disappointed in The Wedding of River Song. What a mad jumble of ideas.

To be completely fair, despite the general overall mess I've come to expect from Steven Moffatt, there were some interesting, poignant and horrifying moments already pointed out by Jayne.

Farewell to the Brigadier - a nice little tribute to a much loved and fondly remembered character- which may have benefited from a Mawdryn Undead style series of flashbacks. Shame that the  Brigadier wasn't to return to the series and re-establish himself with today's audiences in the same way that Sarah Jane was. Amazingly his death was done without the usual flood of over sentimentality I've come to expect from 'New Who'. This is how sentiment needs to be tackled not with endless whinings and moanings and wringing of metaphorical hands, accompanied by overbearing Murray Gold passages....

The skulls attacking the disgruntled chess player - excellent !! It's what Doctor Who needs more of, a LOT more of - horror and threat. The only failing here was the absence of any explanation of what was animating those skulls - or for that matter what was keeping the bodyless blue stratford johns lookalike alive... Unfortunately Moffatt has never been very good at techno-babble, but at least it wasnt 'timey wimey bits' on this occasion ! The attack of the skulls was however, the best moment of the episode.

Impressive effects for this episode - well the pteranodon flying over the park were excellent, as were the bizarre Dali-esque images of cars drifting aloft over London supported by steampunk balloons and steam trains disappearing into pyramids....

...unfortunately all the tosh about the Doctor's non-death disrupting a 'still point' and setting off a parallel time stream was bunkum....I can see that anything AFTER the Doctor's 'non death' things might have become scrambled but how did things like the aforementioned pterosaurs get mixed in too? I can also see that some vast and powerful weapon like the Dalek's time destructor might be able to rip apart time...but couldn't see how an 'event' might do it. Moffatt might well have been advised to watch Day of the Daleks where a much more skilled writer, Louis Marks, sets up quite a credible time paradox leading to the Daleks second conquest of Earth....and the issue is resolved in a way that makes sense. Did the Silence (I still dont really get who or what they are) really want the Doctor dead or did they want him alive?

Silence is golden - or at least, sparkly

For the first time in the show's history I was no longer watching Doctor Who religiously because either certain episodes sounded awful or they had characters in them I didn't like. Because of this, perhaps I've missed the plot behind the Silence.. not seeing all the episodes didn't help put together this monstrous jigsaw of a story.

Unfortunately RTD set in motion this idea that a good snog can become the solution...with a kiss the Doctor can suck 'vortex energy' from his endangered companion... he can transfer DNA patterns to confuse the Judoon... and now he can even repair mutli-million years rifts in time with a quick smooch. Utter tosh. Which lovesick portion of the audience are they trying to appeal too? Certainly not this crusty lover of alien threat, technology and a bit of serious ingenuity from the Doctor which requires engagement of the grey cells rather than his kissing apparatus.

River Song sucking up the Vortex like Rose?

I still dont understand the need for the curious 'wedding' ceremony...Was it a gallifreyan wedding ? It was a glib and all too and overly romantic way of tying up loose ends - and I still don't think it was enough to warrant River Song wandering round calling him "my love"... Steve Moffatt should have been (along with RTD) supplying free sick bags with the Radio Times considering the ghastly surfeit of romance and sentiment they pumped into the series.

Of course some of us believe that at some point the Doctor had a wife - how else could he have become a grandfather ? So if you want to postulate this means the Doctor's wife died... ending the marriage or
the Timelords are polygamous and allow the taking of more than one partner... or the Doctor's kids were born out of wedlock and the Doctor was never married to the person he had his kids with... or the Doctor is now a bigamist....

Well thank goodness the Doctor isn't an Alpha Centurian, though, otherwise he could have gone down the aisle arm in arm in arm in arm in arm in arm in arm in arm in arm with his wifey..

And so the greatest question - Doctor Who ? An idea ripped from the seventh Doctor saga Silver Nemesis where the writer's original idea was the the Doctor is god....ah he's come a long way from being simple explorer and scientist and pariah from his own society. The odd thing is, is that if he's developed this reputation as the fearsome stuff of legends (curious that Moffatt's last pressing of the universal restart button didnt wipe that reputation out) it's based on stuff we haven't seen in either the tenure of RTD or Moffatt.... yes there was a Time War and, yes, apparently at some point the Doctor 'destroyed' both the Daleks and the Time Lords (although both races managed to pop up again more villainous than ever).

Aside from this the Doctor hasn't done much 'universe saving' and his adventures have always been  fairly 'small scale' escapades which didn't seem to require much imput from him to resolve and apparently if he's 'sinking back into the shadows' they wont be taking much resolving in the future. Moffatt has in effect elevated the Doctor to the heights of a god and then - almost apologetically - tried to drop him back into obscurity and restore his beginnings as a wanderer .... I wonder if Moffatt's also going to fit the TARDIS with randomiser mark 2 - based on a classic idea introduced in the past to return some of the series originally mystery and suprise and which lasted, what? Three stories ?

Personally I think its time for a return to some serious story telling spread over twenty five minute installments...Its all very well introducing an episodic fifty minute series on the premise that viewers nowadays dont have the attention span  - only to set up an extremely complex story arc which concludes several months after it's inception. Massive chunks remain unexplained in Moffatt's minestrone of ideas.

Basically some interesting spectacle hiding a story barely threaded together. A few nice moments but an overall feeling that a change of cast, crew and even the basic formatting of the show is overdue. More influenced by Americana such as the X-Files than Doctor Who itself.

I hope if Moffatt is planning to get back to Who basics he can prune some of the stuff we see far too much of - the sentiment, the romance, the lack of solid believable resolution and reintroduce a lot of that that we dont see enough of, the threat and mystery of the unknown, terrifying opponents who need to be fought and not molly coddled and sympathised with.....

I'd recommend Moffatt request a good helping of Doctor Who dvds from the classic era for christmas.....

***

And before we end, some words from Maelstrom's very close friend Cully Andel on her opinion of this episode!

I worked out how the Doctor got out of this a few weeks ago, and as usual it started off with its usual attempt to confuse the viewer. But as season finale's go, I at least understood what had happened at the end of it, so that in itself was a big improvement.

Unfortunately it lost ground with the things that didn't add up. Amy can't remember stuff so she remembers enough to draw pictures. What were those skulls? Why was the blue head in a box and how? and worst of all why exactly did the Dr have to get married??

I did like the tribute to the Brigadier and I think Rory is totally under used.

After last year's Christmas episode and this series ending I'm not holding my breath for the next episode.

You've heard from three Who fans on this blog regardling the finale - what's your opinion?

Dr Who News

New Londoner Marc Boxen brings you the latest Doctor Who news in the first of his periodic video reports.  His inaugural report covers news about the annual Christmas episode (along with some pictures from the set - Spoilers!), some information regarding the latest Doctor Who adventure game, "The Gunpowder Plot", a couple of missing scenes from Series 6, a snippet on the coming last episodes of "The Sarah Jane Adventures" and a preview of Marc's own Second Life Doctor Who Adventure called "A Knock at the Door".  Hit the link and check out Marc's report - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uafnl9wlI


Jayne

Seriously?????

The oldest question in the universe is “Doctor who?” ?!?!?!?!!?

While I get the joke and that “Doctor who?” is a question that has been uttered by characters uncountable all through the history of this show, that's really the oldest question in the universe? For my money, it's “Where the heck did we come from?” but in this universe pulled out of Amy's arse and as told by Mr Moffat, etal, the oldest question in the universe is “Doctor who?”.

I didn't see that coming.

My initial reaction to the episode was that I hated it and I really did hate the whole ending scenarios, but in retrospect, there are lots of things to like (in my opinion) about this episode.

On the bright side, my “Prediction Coming True” percentage is still right around 8.39% and here's why, this little excerpt from my review for the “Let's Kill Hitler”:

Prediction – that the Doctor will not be killed on Lake Silencio, it will either be a Ganger or The Tessalecta. 


WOOT! Finally got something right :)

And now on to this week's likes and dislikes.

WHAT I LOVED

The tribute to Nicholas Courtney and acknowledgement of the death of one of the icons of Doctor Who history, brought a tear to my eye (Born December 16, 1929 – Passed Away February 22, 2011). I was truly bummed out that The Brigadier never got to make an appearance in the last 6 seasons – even a cameo with The Doctor during the past 6 years would have been great. There were mentions of “The Brig's” whereabouts but alas, it was not to happen. Truly a shame.  Raise a brandy for both Mr Courtney and The Brigadier :)

The Brig's Last Appearance with Sarah Jane

The Brig's Last Appearance with The Doctor

WHAT I LIKED

This section this week will be told (mostly) in pictures.

Bodiless Maldovar in a Box!!!

Crazy Viking looking Intergalactic Chess Player!!!

Live Chess!!!!

Flesh eating skulls!!!!

An American TV host (that's “Presenter” to you British types), Meredith Viera, who spoke about the Holy Roman Emperor arriving back in town on his personal Mammoth (Hair Force 1?? - feel free to add rim shot for the horrifying joke that it was).

(I actually saw the segment she did on the American morning show “Today” where she was sent to cover a TV show that was broadcast, but not made, here in the US. Others were sent to cover other TV shows that I don't care about :-) She was evidently there while they were filming “Closing Time” as there were a lot of Cybermen around. She did go onto the Tardis console set and I could have killed her out of jealousy LOL)

That an historical figure (or any other) who had interacted with a previous incarnation of the current Doctor actually appears, in this case, Charles Dickens talking about this year's Christmas special featuring ghosts from the Past, Present and Future . . . . . . Hmmmm, wonder what he could be talking about . . . .

Longer haired Doctor after his time as “The Soothsayer” (puuuuurrrrrrr). I like Matt Smith with longer hair, what can I say??? I also like that, even though the make-up boffins at BBC Wales mad Matt up, the didn't try to hide the forehead scar he received after bumping his head during the time they were filming this season. The Doctor needs some scars and blemishes, if for no other reason than to make him a little less “god-like” and more like us.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

While I get that Amy hated Madam Kovarian for depriving her of River/Melody's childhood, I don't think it was necessary to make Amy into such a blood thirsty revenging bitch, she could have just left Kovarian there for the Silence to take care of – that was a bit of a heavy concept for a kids' show. I know they covered it later with Amy and River talking about how Amy didn't really kill her, but still.

Yet again, they messed with the Amy and Rory relationship. It's like leave Rory alone already, you've killed him, brought him back in puppetized plastic courtesy of the Nestene, made him a pony tailed doctor, made him a completely un-manned hanger on in the Tardis which forced him to come to the defense of a Ganger, granted a psychopathic one, made him carry all of Amy's bags at the department store (very chivalrous and gallant, but it felt more, like Amy demanded it of him as opposed to his doing it of his own accord). I like to have the door held open for me, but I don't demand it.  Give the nam back his manhood

That the story arc, begun with the first mention of The Silence (of The Silents?) is still carrying on into a 3^rd season. Enough already. I like grand and epic story telling as much as the next person (currently working my way through the “Game of Thrones” series - Tyrion is my fave character – if you know me that should not surprise you.) but this is silly. Bring it to a close already and start a new one.

WHAT I HATED

I know that there has been bitching about this season being uneven and, at times, downright horrible, but I have to admit that for the most part, I liked it. What I am hating on is the talk that Doctor Who will not be back until 2013. WTF is that all about???? More on that in my Season 6 recap :)

I just want to thank any of you who have actually taken the time to read what I have had to write about the show that we all love. It's fun for me to write and maybe, I hope, me babbling brought a smile to your face, if for no other reason that you thought I was nuts :)

Jayne

The Battle of Stormageddon

Sorry for the title, but there wasn't much else I could go with.  Maybe "The Case of the Silver Rat", but that seemed silly (like nothing else here has ever been silly).


“Closing Time” was a really nice change of pace episode that eased us back into the story that started back in “The Impossible Astronaut” and, arguably, back as far as “The 11^th Hour”. It was great to see James Corden back as Craig Owen. Moffat and Company have to find a way to work a Craig Owen episode in at least once a season, Matt Smith and Corden work way too well together for this to have been the last we see of Craig, Sophie and Alfie. Maybe The Doctor comes back after Alfie truly assumes his throne as Stormageddon when puberty kicks in and Craig and Sophie are at their wits end – just a thought.


Anyway . . . . . .

WHAT I LOVED

Stormageddon – Dark Lord of All!!!!  I just wanted to take him home :)

I OWN YOU!!!!!!!

WHAT I LIKED

What I liked about this episode is that the Cybermen really had very little to do with the story and this it was a story about the love between a father and his son.

That the Doctor was “here to help”, a sentiment that can be taken in so many ways.

POINTS OUT THE OBVIOUS

The following dialogue:

The Doctor: “Look at me Craig.”
Craig: “Why?

The Doctor: “Because I love you.”

Craig: “You love me?”

The Doctor: “Yes, Craig, it's you, it's always been you. Is that so surprising?”

Craig: “Doctor, are you going to kiss me?”

The Doctor: “Yes, Craig. Yes I am. Would you like that? Bit out of practice but I've had some wonderful feedback.”

Craig: “Doctor, I can't, I'm taken . . . . . (finally seeing they are no longer in the elevator) Oh My God!”

The Doctor: “Or we could just hold hands if that would make you feel more comfortable.”

WHAT'S A KISS BETWEEN PARTNERS, ER, COMPANIONS . . . . . 

I have no idea how they got through that scene – or just about any other that they did together. I know they are professional actors and all, but I know from personal experience that there are times when you just can't get through a scene.

That nice little scene with the Doctor watching Amy and Rory with the little girl who asked for the autograph, then his seeing she was “the face” of a perfume line, “for the girl who's tired of waiting”. Though I do have to wonder why a little girl would be in a department store wandering around with a notebook and pen. Waiting for The Royals to pop up??

RORY: "ANOTHER AUTOGRAPH????"  (SIGH)

The Cybermat – very cool! Gotta have one, though one that's a little less toothy.

WHO'S EATING WHO?  LOOKS LIKE BOTH CRAIG AND THE CYBERMAT ARE CONTEMPLATING LUNCH

The shushing the sales girl after the Doctor established that it worked on “life forms with under developed brains.” That was just not right – OK – yeah it was.

The way the story ended, bringing us back to the newly doctored River Song, still on her search for "the best man she's ever known" is set upon by that crazy eye patched Madame Kovarian . . . . . . .

THE BITCH IS BACK!

and is turned into  . . . . . 

THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

As scary as this sounds for the second episode in a row – there was nothing I didn't like. OK, OK, I thought it was a little cheesy that a baby crying brought down the Cybermen and made their heads explode, but maybe that was somewhat of a metaphor for what most parents think when they have reached their breaking point with their baby's crying, that their heads will explode. Alright, it was Craig's love for Alfie that set off the emotional feedback that blew up the the Cybermen, but that's just too sappy :-)

NEXT WEEK

I am both anxious and feeling dread when it comes to next week's season finale, excited to see where this is all actually going, but dreading the loss of the Doctor until Christmas (I hope) and the uncertainty about when the show will be back (blast you BBC!!! Just do a 7^th season and quit fooling around. I know this is more of an “End of Season Wrap-up” kind of subject and I am sure I'll cover it more when I do that in a couple of weeks.)

From what I have seen of the previews, I will be amazed to see what all they can cram into 50 minutes of TV. It would seem to me that with all that's going on, the episode would need to be at least another 20 or so minutes long, if not a full double episode. We'll see, I guess, It had just better be good, exciting and maybe a little tear jerking.

If anyone out there is in the mood for a little predicting, let's hear what you think will happen. I think that by the end we will see the last of Amy and Rory, it's time for the Doctor to leave them to live their own lives, I mean we see that Amy has her own perfume out there and it didn't look like she was any older while signing that autograph. After whatever happens next week, we will have seen the last of the Ponds, or Williams' or whatever they are calling themselves.

Jayne

Inspector Spacetime on the Job!

OK, I am not sure how many American fans of Doctor Who are also fans of the American show “Community” (Thursday nights/NBC) as I am, but in their 3^rd season opener they made a very silly reference to Doctor Who.

OPENING CREDITS

To set this scene up a bit, Abed, upset that his favorite show (which he appeared in), “Cougar Town” would not be back on the air until February, was bummed, until Britta found the British show that “Cougar Town” was based on, “Cougarton Abbey” because, as we know, all great American TV shows are based on British shows (OK – I was being sarcastic, we gave you Law and Order: UK and Geordie Shore – nuff said :-) ). Turns out, that because the Brits know how to end a show properly, after 6 episodes, Cougarton Abbey was done after the characters all poisoned themselves at the end of the 6^th episode, leaving Abed with nothing to fill the void.

THE TARDIS????

BLIMEY!  IT'S THE INSPECTOR AND HIS TRUSTY SIDEKICK - THE CONSTABLE

Along comes another British TV show, still on their air since 1962, “Inspector Spacetime”, about a detective who travels through time and space in a British phone booth, who, in the exciting episode portrayed here and while traveling with his companion, The Constable, are set upon by the “Blogons” who shoot lasers at them and yell “Eridicate! Eradicate!”

ERADICATE!!!

When I saw this, sitting on my couch, I almost pee'd myself, dropped my bottle of Guiness (I had one while waiting for my Chinese take-out to arrive), and “Squee'd” out loud, not exactly something I think you can actually do, but I did it, and definitely not something I want anyone to see.

Here's a link to Inspector Spacetime – it's soooooo not right :) Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqv0j8Nfr8

Jayne

My Middle Name is Bad Penny

WOW - this was quite an emotionally charged episode.

What is it with Toby Whithouse and anxiety issues? First, he gives us “Night Terrors” and then the six people drawn to the Dr Who equivalent of Stephen King's Overlook Hotel from “The Shining” where certain rooms hold the fears of drawn to it, or so we, and The Doctor think . . . . . at first, when in reality it plays with those peoples' faith, faith in their luck, faith in their father and their religion, faith in The Doctor.

WHAT I LOVED

The Tavonian – sorry, but he cracked me up, from the Tavonians being the most invaded race in the universe, this kicking in his, what I'll call, his “Surrender Reflex”, to their anthem “Glory to (insert name here), to his race planting trees so that the next invading race can invade in the shade. Too, too funny.

THIS GUY CRACKED ME UP

WHAT I LIKED

I liked that Rita questioned The Doctor's need to be “the saviour” the one who needed to save everyone. Her Muslim faith, though abandoned later in the face of the Minotaur, made her question his need to save everyone.

The Doctor eats an apple and plays with a Rubic's Cube – 2 things he has stated that he hated – hmmmmmmmm – semi-interesting in that he seems to have forgotten that he hates them.

I COULD HAVE SWORN HE DIDN'T LIKE APPLES

That Rory said he was not effected due to his lack of superstitions – an interesting statement about religion – which, in my opinion, is just that, a series of superstitions that have been laid on us after millennia of silliness over the fact that “something just had to create us”. Even The Doctor laughs off the idea of religion at one point.

The The Doctor opens door number 11 (what else??) and kind of laughs it off as he pretty much expected what lay behind it – based on the ringing of the Cloister Bell, I would assume that it could have been two things – his own death, or knowing The Doctor's “faith” it would be the death of Idris, whose loss would be something he could NOT live with.

I WONDER IF THIS NUMBER MEANS ANYTHING. . . . . .

This was evidently the episode that was referred to at the beginning of Season 6 as bringing back an old school Doctor Who enemy, although The Doctor referred to our dear Minotaur as a distant cousin of The Nimon, who were sent to various planets to become gods, feeding on emotions for their sustenance. See here for a link to the Wikipedia entry for “The Horns of Nimon” - a story from the Tom Baker era (try not to laugh at The Nimon) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horns_of_Nimon

That The Doctor had finally admitted why he wanted to take Amy with him, admitting to himself his vanity, admitting to himself that he had been seeing her as the eight year old Amelia Pond instead of the adult Amy Wiliams, admitting that he was not the be all and end all in her life, admitting his very deep fear of seeing her and Rory dead (for Rory it would be at least a few deaths down the line LOL).

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

The creature: "An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless shifting maze, for such a creature, death would be a gift."

It was referring to The Doctor and I fear, really fear, that the whole Lake Silencio scenario is The Doctor's way of making that actually happen, the he sets himself up so that he is actually killed with no chance of regeneration (after he could have done it 2 episodes ago - but I guess they were setting up the concept that a Time Lord could actually die without regeneration kicking in) so that he is no longer a threat to the Universe.

In closing, I know this is not the last that we will see of Amy and Rory, hence The Doctor's statement about being a Bad Penny. We all know he will be back in their lives, not sure how, but he will be back.

MARRIAGE CAN BE A SCARIER ADVENTURE (Trust me)

Just a little personal note in closing. I would like to thank Laredo Lowtide for 1) allowing me to write on the New London Blog and 2) his encouragement and thinking that what I write actually means something. Thanks:)

Jayne

PS (Don't read this part if you're totally spoiler free) - can't wait to see The Doctor drop in on Craig Owen once again, I have loved actor James Corden since I 1st came across him as one of the creators of and actors in "Gavin and Stacy". This episode should be full of laughs (I hope).