Dalek Scout saucer above New London?

Could they be returning once more?

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?

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).

Rory's Choice

Put the kettle on my lovelies for by the time it boils for your cuppa, you should have this review read.

My initial reaction to this episode was one of disbelief. I mean I know that almost every series on television needs “filler” episodes, but this episode had so much filler that dentists' offices could use it for their cavity prone patients and chefs could use it for their Christmas turkeys.

I also get that the producers blew a lot of cash on the 1^st half of the season and the 2^nd half opener, but sheesh, 2 on the cheap episodes in a row??? The rest of this season has better look amazing.

So far we have had Amy referred to as “The Girl Who Waited”, we've had Rory referred to as “The Boy Who Waited” now we finally get an episode named “The Girl Who Waited” and it has nothing to do with what I was expecting.

I was expecting an episode that covered the years of Amy's therapy sessions, her years of thinking Rory was gay, her hanging out with Mels, her years of basically torturing Rory and making him her “sort of” boyfriend, instead we get her dropped off on a dying, plague infested planet that the Doctor, who never checks history books because that's not the way he travels, and chased by demented germophobic robots determined to offer her a kindness by killing her.

Kindness???? I think not!!!!

WHAT I LIKED

Arthur Darvill – I'm not sure if he bribed Steven Moffat at the beginning of this season or what, but he has had some of the most amazing scenes this season, some of the best comedic lines. His scene at the Tardis door with Amy on the other side had me sniffling and looking for the tissues and saying it was just my allergies acting up to my watching buddies.

Where are my tissues?!?!?

Old Amy's make-up was pretty cool.

That's it – the Doctor lied yet again, though I actually do like that long overcoat her has been wearing lately – he again saved Amy, blah blah blah.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

I'll refer you to my opening for most of this section.

OK – Amy's early 20's, in real life, Karen Gillan is 23, add 36 years to that and she's 59, just 6 short years of being one of the UK's millions of pensioners and not one gray hair, not a one. 36 years of avoiding and beating upon the Kindness Patrol and not one gray hair? Did her Rory robot go out for hair coloring??? Granted he had no hands, but hey, in this era of Doctor Who, not having hands might not matter. I hope my hair retains its color when I have hit 40 let alone 59.

36 years have passed but what did she eat??? Granted, she spent a week and never felt hungry, but 36 years?

Through The Past Darkly???

A PREDICTION

I am going to finish up this week with a prediction. None of my predictions have come true so far but I feel strong about this one.

I am not basing this on any spoilers. Aside from episode previews I am spoiler free. This is just based on a feeling that I have gotten based on certain key things this season.

Here goes – at the very end of episode 13 the Doctor, who will survive, will leave Amy, Rory and baby Melody off at their home where we saw them way back in episode 1 of this season, where they will raise Melody as Amy wanted to. I know that this messes around with all kinda of paradoxes and other timey-wimey silliness, but I think that's how it ends and that is the last we see of Amy and Rory. The Doctor heads off to his Christmas adventure and comes back to find another companion, maybe someone he finds at Christmas, no matter, Amy's and Rory's story ends there.

That's it for this week – take the kettle off, it's boiling over now. See you next week.

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/

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

Jayne Gudkov Review: Series 6 Overview!

Wow, where to begin? Do I go on about how the whole “Doctor inserting himself in history to get our attention” thing made no sense? Why is a couple of relatively newlyweds catching up on history anyway as opposed to what newlyweds usually do, silently cursing each other's relatives for the goofy and somewhat useless wedding presents they were given and, of course, making babies. Was there no pub darts championship on the telly to keep them occupied?

Doctor inserting himself in history. He wishes.

Do I ask when the Doctor dropped Rory and Amy off after their wedding night on the Tardis and how they got on to their honeymoon on the Spaceliner – and what was up with the costumes?? (a little “Good Cop/Bad Centurion” anyone? Sounds like fun. “Where were you on the Ides of March big boy, while Caesar was being made a pin cushion of? Tell me before I . . . . . ”) We'll leave that scene for your imagination.

The real question here is when did Madam Kovarian lose that eye? Kidding, the real question is when did Madam K swap Amy out for her 'ganger? Hopefully the second half of this season will answer that.

All of that covers the time before we even get into the events of this season. And here we get into why I am really wondering about why I am still watching this show (an earth shattering thought since I have seen every episode available out there.

It seems as if Mr Moffat, etal, have been infected with what I call the “Lost Virus”. The “Lost Virus” being a malady where writers of TV series have to have a season long “mystery” or story arc that just has to be part of the production. While I applaud Mr Moffat, and Mr Davies before him, for lifting Doctor Who above the muck and mire of regular TV offerings, I think that Moffat has gone a little too far. Doctor Who under Steven Moffat has become a show that requires too much thought about the overall mysteries. I like a show that you can chat about what happened and I wish there was a little more of that at New London, but Doctor Who is not a show that should require a great deal of thought.

It's become that.

Under Mr Davies tutelage we haven't really had, outside of the Bad Wolf references of the 1st season and the references to the thing on Donna's back in Season 4, season long arcs where we had to keep track of everything that was going on. From the second that Prisoner 0 carried on about “The Silence will fall” we were all looking for clues, and then nothing happened. OK right at the end of “Vampires of Venice” everything went quiet, but it had nothing, as far as we know, to do with Prisoner 0. That all came to fruition in this season and I'm not all that sure that The Silents have fallen totally.

River? Water of a Doc's back.

River did a number on them when they rescued Amy, but did they really “fall”? Something tells me they will be back despite their death sentence at the hands of the Doctor. Yeah the Silents fell on the floor after she shot them, but the way it was said it made it sound more like an empire or a civilization would fall.

My point in all of this is that Doctor Who is supposed to be simple and escapist, there was almost no mythology involved in the show as there is with a lot of today's shows. You could plop down, watch an episode and be entertained without needing to know why the Master has drums going on in his head or that Time Lords could turn themselves into humans, or that there were cracks in the Space/Time Continuum following the Doctor around.

OK, there were the Time Lords and The Master and the whole Dalek and Cyberman histories, but other than those, pretty much every “Dr Who” story could stand on its own (OK except the “Key to Time” series and maybe the whole “Trial of a Time Lord” silliness with the Valeyard turning out to be a future evil incarnation of the Doctor).

Even at the beginning of 9's series, there were hints of the Time War with the Daleks and what he had had to do to save the Universe from both the Daleks and his own people, where I took it to mean that he was a much darker and more introspective and brooding time traveller (even his wardrobe seemed to reflect that), but there wasn't supposed to be anything to actually think about. It was just background information that, to be honest, made the character of The Doctor more appealing.

Don't get me wrong, I have been looking for a replacement for “Lost” and there is part of me that likes the “mythology” that has been built up since Mr Moffat has taken over, but when it comes to “Doctor Who” this really is not Saturday night television, not any more.

Score one to me Smithy boy.

Saturday night television, if you're even home watching it, is meant to be light and something you just enjoy, not something you have to watch every frame of to see who might have actually stolen Amy's baby or where she was swapped for her 'Ganger.

Mr Moffat has come out to say that kids watch every frame and get it. I seriously doubt that. Maybe we are looking too deeply into it, maybe this is a game between us, the viewers and Mr Moffat to see who lasts the longest. I hope not because I love this show and I would hate to see it become a “Lost” where it ended lamely after such a great beginning, middle and almost the end.

That's my commentary on the 1st half of Season 6 other than to say that I, like most, am not happy with the games that the BBC is playing with splitting the season (another game “Lost” played), or do I like the rumored extension of Season 7 into 2013 so they can celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the show.

I get the celebration and it should be celebrated, but there is a more “organic” way that it can be done without stretching Season 7 over 2 years, like having a Season 8 (in 2012) and a season 9 in 2013 that ends on November 23rd (A Saturday Night – Woo Hoo)

OK – no more rantings, next week we get into the real muck and mire of Season 6.

Jayne :)

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon Review!

The Jayne Gudkov Review – The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon

The Doctor and crew come to the United States once again, but this time they are actually running through the Utah Desert as opposed to reanimating a Dalek in a museum beneath Salt Lake City... jumping out of a building in Manhattan instead of fighting off Daleks in the sewers beneath the island. Our heroes are visiting Cape Kennedy, the former (and present) Cape Canaveral - renamed in honor of the American President who had the vision that America could put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's.

In fact, the Doctor had visited America on a few other occasions throughout the show's history. The first Doctor visited Tombstone in the Arizona Territory just in time to witness the famous Gunfight it the OK Corral, as well as the Seventh Doctor landing in San Francisco on the eve of the new Millennia only to be shot in another gunfight and regenerate into the Eighth Doctor in San Francisco.

I have to say that I was proud that the BBC, in conjunction with BBC America, came here to the US to film this story. To the best of my knowledge (and that of Wikipedia), this is only the third time that the show has been filmed outside of the UK, the first being the Fifth Doctor story “Arc of Infinity” filmed in Amsterdam and the second being the 10th Doctor story “The Fires of Pompeii”, filmed in Rome [Tom Baker's "City of Death" is another, Planet of the Death another again - congratulations Wikipedia - Ed].

OK, enough of that and on to the story.

What I loved (other than the story being filmed in the US):

- An enemy that is forgotten as soon as they are out of sight

- Canton Everett Delaware III (the home of the American Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio, the State of Delaware, no sure about what the “Everett” means) - the character played in 2011 by William Morgan Sheppard, father of Mark Sheppard, who played him in 1969 – very cool

- Stetsons – always cool – even when being shot off of your head.

- A 9 year old girl regenerating in the streets of New York in January, 1970, thus setting up the BIG MYSTERY for this season as in “Who is this little girl”?

- That the cell they were building for the Doctor in Area 51 was made of Dwarf Star Alloy, something not heard of since the 4th Doctor's travels in E-space

- River's line about being quite the screamer – VERY saucy

- The Doctor telling Richard Nixon that he needed to tape everything that went on in his office, which he did, as history tells us

- Slipping in the subliminal message in the static burst in Neil Armstrong's historic “That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind” quote. It does explain why there was static break in the middle of his famous quote

- That they used actual American TV footage from the broadcasts of the moon landing featuring iconic American news anchorman Walter Chronkite


What I hated:

- After all the build-up last season with the “Silence will Fall” silliness with Prisoner 0 and Rosanna Calvierri spouting about it in a threatening way, it ended up being a prediction that the Doctor would defeat The Silents, at least that's how I take it now, in hindsight

- Yet another appearance by the Tardis-like console room first seen in “The Lodger”. I don't think The Silents in 1969 had any more to do with it than whoever dropped it on top of Craig Owens' flat in 2011, both alien forces trying to use it for their own means.

- That the Doctor tells everyone that The Silents need a spacesuit and that the only place to get it is in Florida in 1969 – what do they need it for and why only then? And what did they use it for? Spacesuits built like that are still being used by American astronauts to this day and the whole thing with trapping the little girl in there, what's that all about?

Here's what I think:

- There has been much speculation out there in Internet Land that The Rani, last seen during the Seventh Doctor days, is set to make a comeback, much the same way The Master did during the Tenth Doctor's time. What with the Universe basically being re-created last season, I guess it's possible for The Rani to be re-created, or some other Master-like female enemy to come on the scene.

- At first I thought that maybe Amy was River's mother. That would have been cool in a kind of timey-wimey, yet symmetrical way. Things seemed to be heading that way, for me at least, until the girl goes on regenerating (6 months later and in an alley in New York City, some 930 miles away) something she evidently has some sort of knowledge of since she says, “I'm dying, I have to fix that, it's easy really. See?” To me that tells me she has some previous knowledge of regeneration, not something that we have ever heard River talk about in relation to herself.

- I think there was a huge clue about the nature of the little girl when Amy was babbling about being afraid of the effects the Tardis could have on the embryo, something about having a “time head”. I think that the Doctor's scan of Amy lends credence to this one theory of mine, that her unborn child is time traveling as a result of its exposure to the Tardis. Remember that the Tardis is a living being and might be reaching out to this new life in some way we don't know yet and it would explain why she has a knowledge of regeneration

- Whoever this child is (the lady with the eye patch????), it will not become evident until the very end of this season, some time in the Fall

Two last points to make you all nuts, if you are into trying to figure out the bigger mysteries of the season. In a “Confidential”-like special shown after the second episode called “Dr Who in America” there were two statements made regarding the upcoming season:

1) that the crew who came over here were given a scene to shoot that made no sense, but they were told it would make sense later...

and

2) there was something that happened in “The 11th Hour” that would be explained in either the 11th or 12th episode this season.

That's one serious story arc!

New London in Second Life's Destination Guide!

New London is proud to be included in the Second Life's Destination guide under science fiction. Seen a lot of new faces because of this! Thanks to all who drop by! Hope you enjoy!

http://secondlife.com/destinations/roleplay/scifi

Review: A Christmas Carol by Jayne Gudkov

“A Christmas Carol” - the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special – a review

By Jayne Gudkov

A poor family who “just wanted one day” to enjoy Christmas with an ailing relative and who enjoyed Christmas even though they were poor – check.

A curmudgeonly old rich guy who had no time for Christmas and those who celebrated it – check.

Victorian outfits – check.

Delving into the curmudgeon's past to see why he was the crabby bastard that he was – check.

At it's root, it's a love story – CHECK!

All those plot points of the classic Dickens story, “A Christmas Carol”, were there and then some, in this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, which shared its name with Mr. Dickens' classic.

Some things that I am sure that Dickens never thought of were a planet with a foggy/crystalline atmosphere where fish and sharks swam and got down to Christmas tunes, even with his having met the Doctor in a previous incarnation.

I laughed, I cried, I thought that it was cool that we over here in America actually got to see the Christmas special actually on Christmas, like our fellow British fans.

After a long day of traveling to see a friend in the hospital and back again (with a stop for some Chinese food thrown in) this very Christmas Day, I sat down to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special and, I have to say that “A Christmas Carol” might just be Stephen Moffat's best story since “Blink”.

All in all it was, in some ways, a typical Doctor Who Christmas special. The story started with a crisis and ended with snow, but this was different. I didn't cry when Astrid gave her life to save the few left alive on the Titanic, I didn't cry when Torchwood blew up the Sycorax at the end of “The Christmas Invasion”. I came close to bawling in “The Next Doctor” when the Doctor recreated what had happened to Jackson Lake at the hands of the Cybermen and I remained totally dry eyed during “The Runaway Bride” (which I think may have been the weakest of the 5 Christmas specials story wise – effects wise it was great – with the TARDIS chase scene) but I did cry twice during “A Christmas Carol” and if you didn't you're either a guy or just not human.

I am not going to go into a total recap of the episode – you've seen it and you can recap it for your own self.

To see the look of amazement on Abigail's face as she stood in the TARDIS doorway and seeing her standing at the end of the story singing into the broken half of the Sonic screwdriver while looking lovingly into the eyes of the older Kazran, knowing that it was her last day of life. Katherine Jenkins, in her television acting debut, was incredible. While I am sure she has wowed audiences with her amazing voice in an opera setting, pulling it off in a TV show is totally different. And pulling in Michael Gambon in, as far as I know, in his first post “Harry Potter” role, total genius, he was amazing as both the older Kazaran and Kazaran's bitch slappin' father, not to mention the young man who played the youngest Kazaran.

The cynical side of me looks at the guest stars in these specials and think that the BBC, as well as Moffat (and Russell T Davies before him), pander to their American audience a bit too much... and I am American!

While we had no clue who Catherine Tate or David Morrisey was, we knew Michael Gambon and Kylie Minogue and their little stop in California for the Doctor's duet with “Frank” and his heading off to Vegas with “Marilyn” for a quickie wedding was, if I am being honest, a bit much. I get it, but I like Doctor Who for it's British-ness, if you will. That and it kind of didn't make sense – do Time Lords not know how to kiss????? (“How do you breathe?” - come on!!!!)

I took a bit of a poll at The Traveller's Rest in New London and the general consensus from the people there was that the episode deserved an 8 out of 10.

I know that a lot of the fans out there have had a hard time in this, the 5th season (series), since the return of the Doctor - what with the change in show runners, a change from an amazingly popular Doctor (Tennant) and the previous year's run being not quite a real season due to Tennant's commitments to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

On top of that, Amy has taken quite a beating from fans as well. While I don't find her as annoying my British counterparts, I think both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill did nicely in their limited appearances in this episode.

Just a bit of trivia as I close, in the preview for Season 6 – which starts its adventures right here in the good old USA - we learn that Stetsons are "cool"... and they are. I own one in real life, a genuine, blue fitted in Texas, Stetson, but the original Stetson factory, where they made more classic fedoras as well as cowboy hats, was right here in Philadelphia, where I am writing this review. So yeah Stetsons are cool, that's right mo fo – Stetsons are cool!!!!

Jayne OUT!!!!!!!

Saturday night is party night!

Best in blue is tonights theme - So a Smurf has to be in with a shout right?
Always take a banana to a party. Banana's are good!

High Appreciation for End of Time and Too Much Tennant?

Too Much Tennant?
Source: Kasterborus.com

Excerpt from Kasterborus.com:
"The BBC has come under attack from The Mail this week under accusations of populism as the public service broadcaster utilized the services of several actors in more than one show, including Doctor Who star David Tennant.
In the article entitled “How Doctor Who (with a little help from Hamlet) took over the BBC” (which interestingly took 3 people to write) the fascist rag noted that Tennant will have made 75 appearances on TV and radio by the end of the Christmas period December 14th to January 3rd, 2010. Interestingly many of these appearances are repeats, rather than Doctor Who promo work." Read more...


End of Time All Time High?
Source: The Doctor Who News Page:

"The End of Time Part One received an AI figure of 87. The Appreciation Index, or AI, figure is a measure of how much the audience liked a programme. A score over 85 is considered excellent. Doctor Who had the highest score of the day on BBC One or BBC Two. The only programme to score higher on the main five channels was the film Gladiator on ITV1, which scored 89 with a much lower audience."

While it seems fan reaction was a little mixed, for those the show was made for, RTD's epic first part finale was a GREAT success!

Will the real new TARDIS console room please stand up?

With Smith meant to bursting onto the scene at the end of the New Years day episode, it seems a good idea to turn eyes to the TARDIS. Thanks to Sinji for the link. These were posted up in October according to the source, but I imagine there are many (including myself) who haven't seen these - and even more who'd like to debate or take a closer look!





Plus some more creatures and shots of the TARDIS - not looking very bright blue/white windos there!


All very exciting!

Source: Scootyboy

RTD's top ten moments of the New Series!

RTD speaks to The Times as to his favourite Doctor Who moments of his tenure. I've included a couple of excerpts below. Read the article for the whole deal!

7 “Don’t blink — don’t even blink.” Blink (2007)

Right! We should stick with the Moffat theme, and at the same time, it’s about time we nominated a monster, so The Weeping Angels. Gott in Himmel. Monsters who can’t move; aliens who move when you’re not looking; statues that are alive. That’s actually three good ideas jammed into one. Steven always said, that idea’s so good you could make a whole movie out of it. It could’ve been a massive international franchise all on its own — but he gave it to Doctor Who. The fool.

3 “I think you need a Doctor”, The Parting of the Waves (2005)

Rose has accidentally got the entire power of the Tardis stuck in her head, is losing her mind, and can be saved only by a diagnosis (“You need a doctor”) and treatment (their first kiss) from Chris Eccleston. This is the perversity of DoctorWho — you can clash styles like a hooligan. This show ram- raids genres. Because that’s a great big chunk of An Officer and a Gentleman- style dialogue rammed into the middle of an enormous Dalek invasion of Earth! Not a natural mix, but exciting! Oh I love Doctor Who, I LOVE IT.

Source: The Times Online

David Tennant speaks to the BBC!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8418086.stm

A tip from the SL fandonm: David Tennant talks about his last episode once more! If you're hungry for more Tennant charm, click the link!

Source:
BBC

Claire Bloom and her mysterious role in End of Time!

Claire Bloom talks about her role in Doctor Who in an exclusive interview with The Times. Sounds VERY interesting? A relation to the Doctor?!


Except:
Now, at 78, she has been regenerated as a mysterious character in the two-part Christmas Doctor Who, which will mark the end of David Tennant’s stint as the Time Lord. The level of secrecy surrounding the programmes is such that when I arrive at Bloom’s neat terraced house in West London at the same time as the programme’s PR, I have to make myself scarce upstairs for a few minutes so that the PR can brief Bloom on what she can and cannot reveal about her role.

Full article

Source: The Times

Plus - another slight revision to the recent trailer (thanks to Dexter Ellison)

Moffat on the Radio and the return of an old foe! (SPOILERS)

Steven Moffat, the heir to Doctor Who's productionship, has conducted an interview with Doctor Who writer/fan/presenter, Matthew Sweet. The interview is for Radio 3 and is available for the next week on Iplayer for UK listeners.

One little tit-bit he offers is the return of the Weeping Angels from Blink for series five. Excited? You should be!

New spoiler clip from End of Time!

From STV television 'programme', The Hour. Quite spoilery - so watch with your eyes half open - or even better, behind the sofa.



Source: Blogtor Who

Colin Baker speaks and the Top Most Wanted returns?

Colin Baker speaks to Digital Spy about his time on Doctor Who and his current work on Big Finish. A gentle candid article. Worth reading.

Here's an excerpt:

Have you noticed that there’s been a critical reappraisal towards your portrayal of The Doctor in recent times?

"I’m perfectly proud of the work I did, looking back at it. I know I’ve had a bit of a revision since my Big Finish stories came out. The most vociferous fans have decided perhaps I’m not a c**p actor and happened to be playing the part at a time when the programme was under attack. I’m sad because I’d have loved to have done it more, but I am doing it more now! I would happily go on doing these forever, as long as I sound the same, which at the moment I do. Maybe 20 years from now when I’m a doddery old fart I won’t. Way back when I started doing the part, I stated 'my ambition is to do it longer than Tom Baker', which of course was rather rudely truncated. But in terms of stories done, if you include Big Finish - and I do because they're Doctor Who stories - I've done more stories than Tom! It's even been suggested that I might be The Doctor who has done the most stories. I think I've edged Peter [Davison] and Sylv [Sylvester McCoy] on Big Finish stories."

PLUS - a run down on the top characters they should bring back!

Here's an excerpt:

The Meddling Monk
Rumours have surfaced that this playful character, originally portrayed by Carry On legend Peter Butterworth, is slated for a return in the near future. We hope so - his antics alongside the First Doctor were a treat to watch, as he tinkered with history for his own amusement and not any grand pretensions of world domination. It's a habit that the time-travelling monk found impossible to kick.

Teaser clips from the Doctor Who Never Mind The Buzzcocks!

Never Mind the Buzzcocks has a Christmas Doctor Who special coming up with David Tennant hosting alongside Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate as guests. We have some clips from the upcoming show! Take a gander!







PLUS - Cribbins in The Independent! - 'I was in the Tardis before David was born'