Doctor Who

With Apologies To Everyone Who Has Ever Written For Doctor Who

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(This post was inspired by the above meme. If anyone knows the original artist, please let me know so I can properly credit them.)

(Twelve sits at a sewing machine. Needless to say, he’s a little cross.)

TWELVE: CLARA!

(Enter Clara.)

CLARA: What now??

TWELVE (waving at the machine): It’s the thing. I can’t do the thing. I need you to do the thing.

(Clara gives him That Look.)

CLARA: It’s a sewing machine.

TWELVE: I KNOW it’s a sewing machine. But I can’t make sense of the damn thing. The last time I tried I ended up with that hideous coat… oh, the colors…

CLARA: Doctor, you have a box that’s bigger on the inside and travels through all of time and space. You have a screwdriver – a SONIC screwdriver, I might add – that does everything but wood and turkey. And you’re having trouble with a sewing machine?

TWELVE: It… doesn’t like me.

CLARA: Well, *there’s* a shock…

(To be honest, I really haven’t thought out the story beyond this piece of it. But I can confirm that Clara does not do the thing.)

So, Ten Years Ago Today, This Happened…

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…and we’ve been running ever since.

After too long away, Doctor Who returned, with a new generation of actors, directors, and writers to bring sci-fi’s most unique hero-of-sorts on his way. And generations new and old were swept up in the terror and wonder of all of time and space, all over again.

Today, the adventure shows no end in sight. And I’d like to think we’re all a little better for it – at least I believe I am.

(h/t to that FX genius “John Smith,” whoever he may be…)

Thank you for coming back, Doctor. Here’s to many more ahead…

Three Days in a Pocket Universe

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That looks innocuous enough, doesn’t it? Just a confirmation that I’d registered to attend Gallifrey One (one of the most famous Doctor Who conventions) in 2015.

I was excited, of course. A chance to spend three days in Los Angeles, surrounded by creators and stars and fans of my favorite show? How could I not be excited?

I really had no idea…

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On My Way To All Of Time And Space

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A postcard from GallifreySo I’m packed. I have my boarding pass for the flight. I’m as close to prepared as I can be.

Tomorrow is Los Angeles. Tomorrow is my first Doctor Who convention. Tomorrow is Gallifrey One.

So much to do. So many people to meet. So much to discover. And I’m excited. I haven’t been on a vacation like this in too long a while. I don’t quite know what I’m getting into. But it’s going to be a lot of fun.

I’ll try to post updates here when I can, but I’ll probably go to Twitter and Instagram first, so if you don’t already follow me there, that’s where you can best find me.

Take care, everyone. I’ll see you when I get back.

Until then…

Yes, Clara, There Is A Doctor

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We don’t believe in Santa Claus because he’s real. He’s real because we believe in him.

There’s that kind of power in our fantasies, our fairy tales, our heroes. They don’t have to exist in our world. And it might be far better that they don’t. Reality can be a mess sometimes, maybe most times. And it’s a comfort to know that there’s something outside of it. Something better. Something impossible and incredible and great.

And so we create these heroes and vest our faith in them. Like Santa Claus.

Like the Doctor.

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Old Friends Die Hard

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“Clara, be my pal. Tell me… am I a good man?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Neither do I.”

– from “Into the Dalek,” by Phil Ford and Steven Moffat

They were the central questions of Series 8 of Doctor Who. What kind of man is this new Doctor? Is he a hero? Does he still care? Is he even capable of caring anymore?

It’s to the show’s credit that it dared to ask those questions, to explore the darker sides of life with, and as, the last Time Lord. Asking those questions gave us stories like “Listen” and “Flatline.”

And it’s to the show’s credit that in the end, it found a way to answer them.

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If This Is Paradise, I Wish I Had A Sonic Lawnmower

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Since I’ve committed to life as a Doctor Who blogger, I’ve often surprised myself with the connections I’ve made. Not so much within the show itself – it’s easy to find traces of a past story or a past Doctor in the current series. It’s Doctor Who – there’s always going to be at least a piece of its past in its present.

No, the surprise comes from the connections I find outside of the series, the things an episode reminds me of as I’m watching it. Last week’s episode is a perfect example. I didn’t go into “Flatline” looking for a Bourne Identity parallel, but once I found it, it just made perfect sense to explore that.

With all that in mind, you really have to wonder about the kind of mind that goes from Doctor Who to Talking Heads…
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Look At What They Make You Give

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One of the many assets of Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity (spoilers ahead) is Clive Owen’s character, called the Professor. Like Jason Bourne, the Professor’s one of the Treadstone program’s assassins, a laconic piece of work who says nary a syllable until he finally catches up with his quarry. And once Bourne has gunned him down, he uses his dying words to reflect on the terrible bond they share:

Look at us. Look at what they make you give.

Bourne himself will repeat those words in The Bourne Ultimatum. It’s a commentary on the way Treadstone has leached the good from them both, in the name of a supposed higher purpose.

And after seeing the latest Doctor Who, the road from the Professor to the Doctor might not be as far as you’d think. Or hope.

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It’s Complicated, But Does It Really Have To Be THAT Complicated?

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One of the many things that’s made Series 8 of Doctor Who so different from past seasons is the nature of the arc that informs the stories. In past years (especially since Steven Moffat became showrunner), those arcs were plot-driven, grounded in twists and turns and reveals of mixed justification and mixed success.

But this season, the arc is almost entirely character-driven. It’s about relationships. It’s about Clara’s relationship with the Doctor. In a way I’m not sure the show has really attempted before, Doctor Who is exploring what it means to travel with the Doctor. And it’s exploring that relationship from both sides.

And so, it’s not altogether surprising that the last two episodes have effectively changed the status to “It’s Complicated.”

But it’s still great viewing.

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Growing Up With A Space Dad

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We’re halfway through Series 8 of Doctor Who, and I’m beginning to think that this season is as much about Steven Moffat learning from his mistakes as it is about the Doctor learning from his.

This last week’s episode is a perfect case in point. “The Caretaker” explores a theme Moffat covered just last season in “The Power of Three”: what it’s like to try to live an ordinary life when the Doctor’s in it. But that episode never quite succeeded, while this one succeeds quite well.

The difference?

Consequences.

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