There are times when it’s very hard to write about Doctor Who.
Especially this season, one of the best in YEARS. A season when most episodes have been so good that it’s a real challenge to come up with a review that doesn’t consist almost entirely of “HOLY CRAP” and “OMG” and “SQUEEEEEEE!”
But episodes like “The Girl Who Died” make that a great problem to have.
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…
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.
Lee Hurtado, Writer 