Not The Next Doctor

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor – What are you smiling about?

Normally I watch Doctor Who episodes at least twice. The first time is upon original transmission and I sit with wide-eyed pleasure and soak up every drop of new Whoishness that is played out before me. Despite the fact that I know that I will soon be watching it again with an aim of dissecting it, quoting it, arguing about it, analysing it and generally being far too critical, that first viewing is almost always the best before these corrupting influences of fandom begin to taint and smear the experience.

 

Talkin 'bout Regeneration

[Even though it's a couple of days late, here's my Doctor Who review for Journey's End.  I'll add the pictures to the review later on (which won't matter for those RSS readers among you) but which brightens up my blog no end.  Please feel free to add your comments and thoughts?]

Hello dear reader(s). Well, how was it for you?  9.4 million people tuned in to Saturday night’s Doctor Who finale to be treated to sixty-five minutes of wonderful, sci-fi nonsense.  The abundance of newspaper articles across the whole gamut of broadsheets as well as the more typical tabloid fodder, plus guest appearances on TV shows and even features on the Six O’Clock news itself led to a kind of Who-Shot-JR

 

Childish Things

4×12: “The Stolen Earth”

“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up” – C.S. Lewis

There are moments in adulthood when you yearn for the thrill of youth. Usually, it’s at times when your body doesn’t quite behave in the way it should and always has done before, when they stop making birthday cards with your age on them (ever seen a “Happy 37th” card?), when you hear yourself for the first time starting a

 

Show Stopper

Well, no-one was expecting THAT.  All talk in advance had been of the return of Davros and the new Dalek empire but RTD and David Tennant may have just proved that the ability to manipulate Who fans and the general viewing public with smoke and mirrors is alive and well in the corridors of power at BBC Wales.  As long as the climactic scene of The Stolen Earth is a genuine one that will not be reset in next week’s conclusion, then that may well have been one of the greatest plot twists in Doctor Who, if not television, history.  We’ve even seen photo’s of David Tennant apparently filming the forthcoming Christmas special for crying out loud.  Despite that, I am currently begining to believe that we have seen David Tennant’s final bow as the Doctor already. The Doctor Who Forum appears to have gone into meltdown as my meagre browser can no longer access it, so I have no idea what the concensus amongst the fans might be.

I just needed to get this comment “out there”…. Full review, of course, to follow….

 

Every Which Way

4×11: “Turn Left”

In much the same way that Martha Jones’ arrival in Torchwood for three episodes heralded the begining of a trilogy of stories based on Owen Harper, we have now seen the hotly anticipated return of Rose in a story focussing heavily on the new companion, Donna.  Many will argue that this is all just and proper given the tour de force that Catherine Tate delivered in this, the 11th episode of Series Four. The same people will be

 

Where You Gonna Hide at Midnight

4×10: “Midnight”

Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, that was a bit good wasn’t it?  Just at the time when the soon to be gone Russell T Davies gets an OBE for his efforts and the vocal minority are bemoaning the fact that their anti-hero is penning all four of the remaining episodes in Series 4, the great man serves up a real treat with Midnight, a claustrophobic slice of hardcore sci-fi that, even the folk who love him didn’t think

 

Take Me To The River

4×08 and 4×09 “Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead”

If Doctor Who fans went to sports stadia to watch their favourite show, the following chant would have been heard for miles around on the previous two Saturday nights… “There’s only one Steven Moffat, There’s only one Stephen Moffett, One Steven Moffet, there’s only one Stephen Moffat”. Regardless of how you like to spell his name, and I am sure this very blog is guilty of inventing numerous versions, there’s no denying the impact