Let's Kill . . . . Moffat??????

And . . . . . . we're back.

Back from the much maligned Summer long break from Season 6 (or Season 33 for you old school Whovians out there). Did we really need to take this break so that Mr Moffat could have Amy complaining that the Doctor had been away all summer without having found her daughter?

There were bits to like and much to not like in this episode. Evidently Mr Moffat has adopted the LOST-ian style of non-linear story telling for this season. It starts with the “Impossible Astronaut” killing the Doctor in Utah and we get to see all the steps he, along with Amy, Rory and River, not to mention Madame Vastra (because I am sure she will pop up sooner or later), take to get there. I don't mind non-linear story telling – in fact I like the puzzle solving and theory developing aspect of it, but I'm not sure it's the best way to write for this series.

OK – on with the likes and dislikes. . . . .

WHAT I LOVED

The Doctor and crew are back!! Nuff said there.

That Rory, in my opinion, had some of the best lines of the episode, more on that later.

The Tessalector – Justice Department Vehicle 6018 - very cool – especially loved the face change effects where you could catch a glimpse of what lay behind the surface.

Now back to the actual story :)

WHAT I LIKED

Mr Moffat harkened back to the original series with a reference to the state of “Temporal Grace” that existed in the Tardis conso

le room which did not allow for the discharge of weapons there. Over the years it has actually worked , though both the Cybermen and Daleks have fired weapons there. At one point it was a Temporal Grace circuit that had gone wonky, much like the Chameleon circuit, that allowed for weapons discharge, Mr Moffat has now made it one of a long list of the Doctor's lies.

"Rule Number One, The Doctor Lies."

I'm not exactly sure who, in Leadworth, had a genuine red 1974 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, complete with American made tires to steal, but it looked cool sitting there in the crop circle next to the Tardis. An American icon of a bygone time sitting next to the coolest time machine on the planet – what more do you need?

Rory's disbelief that he had just shoved Hitler into a cupboard – too funny. That's on top of him actually punching Hitler in the jaw.

“OK, I'm trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I'm really trying not to see this as a metaphor.” Best Rory line of the episode, I totally cracked up.

Alex Kingston's performance. OK, I have loved pretty much all of her performances in Dr Who, but this time she seemed to adopt Matt Smith's “just got for it” attitude. Not sure how to explain it to anyone who has not acted (yeah, it was community theater, but there are times when you just let it go and have fun with the character you're playing). I know Ms. Kingston is the consummate actress, but she just looked like she was having way too much fun with her post-regeneration self, and that was a good thing. I would love to spend days just playing wither her hair (OK – that's for another time).

I have seen elsewhere that the change in Mels/River seemed to happen way too quickly, her going from brain washed murderer to the River we all know and love, but on re-watching that part of the episode a few times I get it. River is a “Child of the Tardis”. Yes, she was brain washed but she was also conceived aboard the Tardis and we know that effected her genetics. I also think it effected her personality and when she finally connected with Idris, who taught her how to fly the Tardis, she truly became the River Song we first met in that library so long ago.

That The Doctor, rather unsurprisingly actually, gave River her diary, but it was a nice touch.

Antibodies!!!! They were pretty cool and I can see the action figures now. . . . Brothers all over the UK will be chasing their sisters around the house with stuffed Antibodies blathering about how they will feel a slight stinging sensation . . . . . I can see it now :)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows that crop circles happen in corn fields, not wheat fields. Get it right Moffat! (being sarcastic here )

One thing that went through my mind in the second half of the episode was “What is Moffat's deal with killing The Doctor?” So far this season we have seen him killed twice. I mean is he setting us up for the 50^th anniversary season where the finally do kill off the Doctor, played in his 11^th regeneration by an American??? Kidding about the American, not kidding about wondering about what Moffat (and the BBC) are up to

That the “The Silence” is a religious order bent on answering the “ultimate question” that seems to be unknown, at least in the data banks of the Justice Department's Vehicle 6018, as opposed to a bunch of loonies running around the universe looking like they took their form from Edvard Munch's “The Scream” and a blurry version of “Men In Black”.

What I Hated

“Hello Benjamin.” Who the heck is Benjamin???? Did Hitler name his revolver (which looked like an American Smith & Wesson 6 shooter) “Benjamin”? If anyone has some insight on this I would truly appreciate it. I looked all over Google and could not find one gun maker named Benjamin and failed, so if any of you out there can explain who Benjamin is, go for it.

That there are only 5 episodes left before yet another break until, I hope, Christmas.

Conclusions, Questions and Predictions

Prediction – we will find out what the “Ultimate Question” is and nothing will actually happen.

Prediction – the “Ultimate Question” will have something to do with Amy, since this is the Universe she created, even though the writers and Mr Moffat would have us forget that.

Prediction – that the Doctor will not be killed on Lake Silencio, it will either be a Ganger or The Tessalector. The “Sorry” as he was regenerating was from either the Ganger or the ship for not being able to trick the “Astronaut” or Madam Vastra, one or the other.

Question - Seriously??? The Silence is a religious order? And why are they after the Doctor? What's the deal there?? They existed before the amazing Universe re-creation by Amy (Prisoner 0 blathered on about them), did Amy's subconscious create them in their present form?

Conclusion - 1^st impression I didn't like the episode, though I liked the performances by all of the actors, it took a few viewings to see where it was headed. I am looking forward to seeing what Moffat and Company try to pull off before we conclude this 6^th season on October 1^st.

As always, let me know what you think :)

Jayne

Derelict Destroyed!

Another campaign waged out above New London resulting in the destruction of the Derelict at the hands of the brand new Dalek Saucer, designed by Simon Osei. Time Lords were called to defend against an onslaught of defense positions, Daleks and core reactor breaches. Guided by the Master (who promptly fled when the going was rather not going good) the Time Lords escaped in a Dalek Time Ship after taking the saucer. More on the saucer to come!

Prediction Time!!!!!!!

OK – the long awaited (curse you BBC – fist shake – fist shake) second half to season is upon us and I think we need a contest – specifically a prediction contest. Just what do you think will happen in the upcoming 6 episodes that close out season 6.

These predictions have to play out over the next 6 episodes and can be serious (River will wear a blue dress to her wedding to someone other than the Doctor) or silly (River swears to only ever wear blue after she and Idris go shopping at the Maldovarium Mega Mall). Saying something along the lines of “The Doctor won't die.” without explaining why he won't die is not acceptable. You have to say why he won't die (and saying that it's because Matt Smith has a 5 year contract doesn't count LOL)

The point is to have fun and maybe we can get a prize or two from the NLS crew – custom plaid Storm Dalek anyone??? OK – maybe not – but you get the idea. So get out those crysrtal balls and post your predictions right here in the comments section and let's see what comes true. Get them into the comments by 10:00am Second Life Time (6:00pm England Time) or they will not count.

Jayne

Kasterborous on Kasterborous!

Kasterborous.com have featured the Kasterborous Exhibition in New London's North quarter. The exhibition has a mix of information about the series, some digitally realised props, a lounge, freebie area and reviews/comments from people in Second Life and Kasterborous.com. Read more at their website by clicking the link!

http://www.kasterborous.com/2011/08/kasterborous-com-second-life-exhibition/

Alright, Let's Kill Hitler - Musings on the Upcoming Beginning of Season 6.2

Time travel stories have been around for centuries, mostly those in our past looking into the future and speculating on what the world would be at a certain point in time way in the future. H. G. Wells' “The Time Machine” would be the most popular example of this. The “Time Traveller” went over 800,000 years into the future to meet the Eloi and the Morlocks (also see the Colin Baker story “Timelash” where they meet a “Herbert” who turns out to be the aforementioned Mr. Wells).

At some point rules came to play in time travel stories, time travel stories where the protagonists went into the past. Rules about messing around with historical happenings. In Ray Bradbury's “A Sound of Thunder” he takes on the “Butterfly Effect” literally when a group of well heeled hunters travel back in time to hunt dinosaurs while staying on a prepared trail and one of the hunters loses it and leaves the trail killing a butterfly. The hunters return to the Present to find a very different world.

Probably beginning in the 1950's when pulp Sci-fi was huge people started playing with the idea of traveling back in time and righting past wrongs, and the biggest wrong at that time was the Third Reich and Adolph Hitler's rampage through Europe beginning in 1939.

The question always seemed to be out there, “Hey, what if we went back and killed Hitler? The world would have to be a better place, right?”

The problem here is simple. There's no way to tell. OK – you go back and shoot Hitler while he's recruiting in the beer halls of Austria, killing him and you come back to the present day find that you now live in the United States of Canada and Mexico has become an Aztec stronghold, the native Mexicans having finally beaten their Spanish overlords.

Or. . . you kill Hitler and you come back to the present to find that absolutely nothing changed. 6 million Jews still died, not to mention all of the Gypsies, Homosexuals, Allied and Axis soldiers and the civilians on both sides, but this time it was carried out by a little known architect named Albert Spear.

The point in the second situation is that in 1939 there was going to be a war, if for no other reason than Germany was royally screwed by the Allied Powers after World War I. Germany had no other choice but to fight to restore themselves and their ethnic self esteem. The killing of the Jews, or any other group, was totally unnecessary. The Allies wised up, to a certain extent, with the Marshall plan, which rebuilt Germany after the war, thus giving them no excuse to start another war. And I know, all you historians out there, that this is a VERY simplistic look at what happened back then, so back off :).

It only took Doctor Who 48 years to hit on the “What if we went back and killed Hitler?” question and, to be honest, I am not surprised that it was under Mr Moffat's reign. He definitely seems like the type to do this story. He is, in my book, a knucklehead, but a knucklehead in a good way in that he's not afraid to take us on a 2 season trek to finally see what he was up to in “The 11^th Hour”.

I know that is extremely frustrating to those who are used to a story being all wrapped up after 42 minutes, and I admit that I have been frustrated myself at times, but I an still hanging in and I hope you all will too. If Moffatt truly disappoints by the time we reach episode 13, I will be the first to get my pitchfork out, along with my torch, to storm Castle Moffat and demand an answer as to why I spent so much time watching this.

In response to my last post . . . .

In my last posting I put the idea out there that The Doctor was looking very sad because he had killed Melody as a way to save his own self and I was taken to task over that concept and rightfully so. There is no way that The Doctor would kill Melody, thus killing River and his future wife. He would not kill her because he is not a killer, though he has been responsible for millions (billions, trillions??) of deaths.

I think what I was really getting at was that The Doctor had done something to save his arse that would not allow Amy to raise Melody as she wished to. Maybe he was responsible for sending her to that alley in New York where she began to regenerate, thus putting her someplace that kept him safe but kept Melody from Amy.

Rest assured dear readers (all 2 of you?) The Doctor is going nowhere and the funeral we witnessed so long ago on a lake in Utah was for naught. This 11^th Doctor is going nowhere, at least not this season. Not sure what the future holds for Amy, Rory and River, but The Doctor in this particular regeneration will be around for a while. This is all just a gut feeling, of course.

I hope that you, like I am, are waiting for August 27^th with anxious anticipation :)

Jayne

Jayne's Thing: "Let's Kill Hitler" - Preview Review!

So  . . . . what has The Doctor so sad as he listens to Amy on the Tardis phone's answering machine?

If you've seen the prequel to the Episode 8 restart of the 6th season entitled “Let's Kill Hitler”, you hear Amy entreating The Doctor to tell her what's going on with his search for Melody, the even though she knows that her daughter becomes the vaunted Dr River Song known far and wide as an intergalactic archeologist and Stormcage resident, incarcerated for killing “the greatest man she ever knew”.

Amy wants to actually be a mother and raise her daughter, which is actually very normal sentiment, a sentiment shared by the majority of woman who give birth to a child.  Evidently Amy has not made the connection that the child in the space suit, the Impossible Astronaut, is her daughter, as we all assume.  It could all change given Mr Moffat's penchant for messing with us.  For all we know, the young lady in the spacesuit, who we saw start to regenerate in a New York back alley is The Master's grand daughter.

Something tells me, and this is not a spoiler, simply speculation on my part, that the title of the next episode, “Let's Kill Hitler” has something to do with The Doctor's attempt to take Amy's and Rory's minds off of trying to actually find Melody, as in a scenario like this:

Amy: “So where's Melody?”

The Doctor: “I haven't been able to find her, no matter where I search she's nowhere to be found.  Maybe if, like when we lose something we just forget about it and the solution will come to us.”

Amy: “Doctor, this is my daughter we're talking about. . .  .”

The Doctor: “I know, it was just an idea, I am at my whits end here, I have looked everywhere, looked   for almost 200 years . .”

Amy: “But you've been gone a month.”

The Doctor: “Um . . . . . time machine, remember?

Amy: “OK so how do you suggest we take out minds off of finding my daughter?”

Rory enters from the Tardis wardrobe wearing an old RAF uniform.  Any see this and hatches an idea.

Amy: “Hey, let's go kill Hitler, that should take our minds off the search.”

The Doctor: “You know we can't do that.  You know, paradoxes and timey, wimey stuff.”

Amy: “Wait a minute, buster, didn't the entire universe come back into existence out of my mind?

The Doctor: “Um . . .  well.”

Amy and Rory: “Let's go kill Hitler.  It'll be a lark.”

OK OK – I am sure that will NOT happen.  But the big question out there is what has the Doctor so sad as he listens to Amy's message.  Here's what I think.

Amy is dead, or the Doctor thinks she's dead and is listening to the answering machine recording just to hear her voice again.  This is some thing that's very common with those who are survived by people who die suddenly.

Based on the low lighting in the console room and the Doctor's look, to me it appears that both he and Idris are in mourning and he is conflicted.

The Doctor, despite his many protestations to the contrary, has manipulated time and he is now in a quandry, does he purposely manipulate time to bring her and Rory back?

To throw this idea 180 degrees away from what I just said, it is possible that the Doctor, knowing that Melody is responsible for his death in 2010, has killed her and there is no way that he can tell Amy that.

The Prequel to Episode 8 is, I think, more a prequel to the season and not just to the upcoming “Let's Kill Hitler” in that we will eventually make our way to that scene as the 2nd half of the season progresses.  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it – what do you think?

I'd love to hear from you.

Jayne Gudkov

Fighting on the Derelict!

 Teleport in..

 Derelict is quiet..

 Daleks get pissy so quickly

 derelict deals with pissy daleks even quicker..

Can you find the find the free gestures?

You can now locate the Derelict on the New London teleport systems as well as Badwolf/NLS rezzers!

Enter the Derelict!

A special treat for New London System/Bad Wolf owners.. an SOS from your console warns you of a lost ship in the vortex. Perhaps investigate with a few hints as to what's coming to New London!

This location is found on the NLS/BW database on "all" or "RPG" as "Derelict". Some freebies to be found, and some danger to encounter!

This exclusive location will hopefully open out to other rezzers in the near future. Quite honestly, there was only room for one in this build (its very tight and claustrophobic), and being an owner of NLS, it made sense that space was awarded to NLS/BW!

Dalek Saucer under attack and destroyed.. Twice!

 

The Dalek Saucer was added to the Doctor Who Zone in 2010. This was to be its last year. Twice. One attack on the saucer yesterday destroyed it, leaving its remains to fall down onto New London Village below.

Call it a time slip, call it a Second Life rollback, but the saucer returned - though in worse for wear shape, the dalek scout saucer that always hung so diligently above it had collided with its hanger bay.

And so a second attack began!