Wow, it's been a while

I've just not had too much to talk about until now and I've been sick, I started an Art class and well, life ran away with me! But I have new things to talk about! I just received the Series 4 DVDs on Tuesday and I've been watching them in and loving every minute of it.

In keeping with the Series 4 excitment, I'm going to be doing an episode wrap up for all of them! Probably starting on Sunday. Though I'm not going to do screencaps, but it should still be fun.

By now you've all heard that David Tennant will be leaving us as The Doctor. This news broke my heart, but he has a lot more to do in his career and I applaud him for leaving while he's still popular. Never know, we could maybe run into him again at some point! I'm seriously hoping they revisit the alternate universe that Rose and the Alt!Doctor are in. Just by accident!

Anyway time to get back to work, but I wanted to check in. I'm still alive :) Not that anyone is actually reading!

Doctor Who FanFic

This could be about FanFic in it's entirety as a genre. I don't get why people put so much time into these other than for fun. So many, I find, are poorly written but with good ideas. I don't really care much for fan fiction. I would rather just watch the story. There are very few cases in which I want to know what happens AFTER and the possibilities are endless. I guess maybe I wouldn't mind them so much if they were better written and not laden with gratuitous sex. Yes, I know not all fanfic has that in it, but the majority of it does and boy does the whole Doctor Who world get it's fair share! I almost like not knowing what happens after something.

I just seem to find so much Doctor Who Fanfic that is incredibly raunchy in subject matter. Plus the endless relationship crossings....it drives me bonkers. And this is with Buffy too. I guess it's cool that you have the right to tell any story that you want, but at least wait until the run of the show is over or write within the confines of what's been presented!

EDIT: Just FYI I don't mean to down anyone who writes FanFic. I just think I've seen it poorly done too much. I'm all for well written stuff :)

Earlier Who

I really need to start buying the DVDs of some of the older Who episodes. Until getting caught back up in watching Nine and Ten, I don't really remember some of the older episodes with a lot of clarity. It was a long time ago! But I was very happy to see that when I went to an FYE with my best friend on Wednesday, before his hockey class, there was a whole section of older Who dvds! Found an old one I had seen and was very excited! Funny, with a lot of the DVDs I see out right now, you don't see a whole lot of Tom Baker dvds. Mostly Peter Davison and Pertwee. I'm hoping that changes as it goes.

Needless to say, it's time to start buying up the dvds :)

A favorite scene from "The Shakespeare Code"

I happened to catch this on BBC America this weekend, and it's one of my favourite episodes. I'm a huge fan of Shakespeare in the first place, so of course I was going to dig this.

There's always been a LOT of speculation in academic circles about Shakespeare's sexuality. Many people are of the belief that he was VERY bisexual. And there's naught wrong with that, but it's just always funny to talk about it. Here's a YouTube link to the clip of the episode. It starts at about 4:15 and ends right around 4:30.

YouTube Warning. The Shakespeare Code - Clip 3

If you can't see it, I'll tell you the punchline here. So the Doctor, Martha Jones, and Shakespeare are at the Globe theatre and suddenly the Doctor realizes why the Globe has 14 sides. So they realize that they have to go talk to the Architect who is in Bedlam (old school mental institution..meaning unsanitary prision essentially). So anyway, they take off and Shakespeare is flirting hard with Martha and she confronts him about his wife in the country..and then the Doctor runs up and says:

"We can all have a good flirt later" - Doctor
"Is that a promise, Doctor?" - Shakespeare (with a very flirty look on his face)
"Ooooooh. 57 academics just punched the air!" - the Doctor

I seriously have to stop myself from falling over laughing. Doctor Who is FULL of great lines like that, but this one just always sticks with me. do yourself a favor, go watch that part! You'll laugh, I promise!

For now, it's back to the TARDIS, Allons-y!

Doctor Who News - Series 4 DVD Boxset Info

Just a bit of news about the Series 4 DVD Box set release.

It will be released in the US November 18, 2008.

Included in the DVD Box Set:

All 13 Episodes
2007 Christmas Special: Voyage of the Damned
14 Episodes of Doctor Who Confidential (Edited)
14 Commentaries
14 Audio Descriptions
David Tennant's Video Diaries
Kylie Minogue's Video Diary
Children in Need Special: Time Crash
Out-Takes & Deleted Scenes

I'm so glad to see that Time Crash made it on there. The whole Children In Need Specials are always so much fun. Especially Time Crash. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but it's great fun!

I'm very happy to see that they are keeping up with David Tennant's diaries. I have to admit that the Series 2 diaries were so much better. I think because they weren't so produced. I mean it was David with a camcorder sitting on a table, in his bathrobe, laying down in his bed. Just him and a camera. That was great. The ones in Series 3 were way more polished and lacked that personal touch, ya know? Besides, the fan girl in me screams that I just want to see him laying in his bed or in his dressing gown again! :)

Anyway, back to the TARDIS for now! Allons-y!

A Doctor Who Funny - YouTube warning

Catherine Tate as Lauren Cooper and David Tennant. Very funny!!

A Character Study - The Ninth Doctor

In the last post I talked about Christopher Eccleston playing the Doctor, now I want to dig into the Doctor as a character, which is entirely fascinating in its own right. On the surface, you can characterize this particular Doctor as arrogant, intelligent, witty, clever, funny, angry, vengeful, caring, a bit dopey and sad. Some of these traits are handed down from Doctor to Doctor; some of them change with the actual actor giving his spin on what he thinks the Doctor should be. And this is the one Doctor I think changed the most between his 9th and 10th regeneration. Granted, I really believe this had everything to do with Rose, but I'll get to her soon enough.

This particular Doctor, I think you saw his rage and vengeful side more than anything else. It was apparent just slightly in "The End of the World" when Rose tries to get him to talk about where he comes from. He's so heartbroken and angry over Gallifrey being destroyed and his people being destroyed by the Daleks, that he lashes out. Like anyone grieving would. And you can see the depth of his pain toward the end of that episode, when the Tree person, Jabe, tells him that she's sorry for his loss when she learns that he was a Time Lord. He had tears in his eyes and we all know that the Doctor rarely cries. He then realizes that he was unbelievably harsh on Rose and when he takes her back to her Earth, he explains his actions. So you get to see him open up a little bit, but it's obvious that he doesn't open up to many. He locks his fury away because I think he feels that everyone is safer that way, plus he never has to look vulnerable.

Then when he faces his first Dalek in this particular series in the episode aptly named "Dalek", first you see his fear and then you see the "Oncoming Storm" as he was known on the Dalek home world. I found it very interesting toward the middle of the episode after Rose touches the Dalek and it heals itself, that the Doctor goes off on a rather charged tirade saying it should kill itself. It simply said, "You would make a good Dalek." And I think what really hit home, is that the Doctor realized then, just a tiny bit, how alike they could be in their wrath. Yet it doesn't stop him in the end trying to kill the Dalek. When confronted at the end of the episode when Rose stands between herself and it, the Doctor has a breakdown of sorts after realizing that his anger, while justified, wasn't right. That if he killed the last of the Daleks, he would be no better than them. Just plain vengeful genocide. Even though he is full of fury, he is not without some mercy and desire to do some good in the world. There are times he'll give the enemy a choice before he just up and kills them. So at least it seems like he wants to change. Again, I attribute much of this to Rose. He needs his companions to bring out the best in him, so that he isn't just stone all the time.

The Doctor is probably one of the truest definitions of the "Tragic Hero" there ever was and in the end, for him, there will never be a truly "happy ending". Certainly not for this particular re-generation, but he does change knowing how much of a better person he was thanks to Rose. It really makes you feel bad that this person is just falling through space, alone for the most part. He'll never have the normal life, I think he truly wants. He'll always have to sacrifice what others can't bring themselves to sacrifice and always have to make the hard choices. How does that NOT turn you to complete stone and give you a God complex on top of it? We all know that the Doctor is arrogant, but not without cause. He's bloody brilliant and it's never really arrogant to the point of annoying, but usually in an odd playful way. I find that to be completely endearing.

To the end our tragic hero has his re-generation after Rose saves the entire universe and he saves her right back. So he loses, but gains so much in his personality and growth, but never truly getting what he truly wants or needs. Maybe he gets it in his form at the 10th Doctor, but that's another study for another article :) For now it's back to the TARDIS and onto another adventure! Allons-y!

The Ninth Doctor

I've been trying to decide where to start with my newest article. I would like to do some character introductions, but the range of characters to choose from...it's like a kid in a candy store not knowing where to start! I think I may start with the episodes and characters I know better than the others. I guess should start with the characters from the Ninth regeneration.

When I first started watching the newest series, I had only caught a few of the episodes with Christopher Eccleston. And on first look, I wasn't impressed. I think because he played it a bit too dopey. He reminded me so much of Stan Laurel (from Laurel and Hardy) when he'd smile. It was this great big ear to big ear smile (the size of the ears just made it even goofier) and he'd shrug his shoulders and just kind of mill about and it just made him seem almost dim. It hid his intelligence and know-it-all'ness completely. I'm quite sure it was on purpose. But even when he WOULD wax poetic on a subject and show his brains and even comment on his own intelligence, it was with this dorky sense of humour, not the arrogant kind. He was just laughable and in the end, entirely endearing. He did bring something completely new to the character. I think that's what I miss most about him as the Doctor.

I was a bit surprised to see him take on the role in the first place, and thus I wasn't surprised when he gave it up after one season. Even though everyone loved him, he didn't seem the sort of man who would want to be one character for a long period of time. If you look at his body of work, none of it is the same for too long. He's played all sorts of characters from bad to good and all that's in between. I couldn't help but notice he was in a few episodes of "Heroes" in 2007 when he was helping Peter Petrelli figure out his powers. Albeit a reluctant teacher, but still an important character. So it really appears that he doesn't like to be static at all. As for Doctor Who, it was a shock that he took the role at all because he wasn't a big fan of the series to begin with, unlike his successor David Tennant who is a HUGE fan of the series.

Chris is an interesting person when you look into some of his private life that he allows folks into. He's a marathon runner, can only drive an automatic car (See Top Gear episode) and spends a good bit of his time and money donating to charities like the Red Cross. Funny enough though, I wasn't at all surprised to find out that he was an atheist and I'm not exactly sure why but I just wasn't. And like many people, he's an avid Manchester United F.C. supporter. I think David Tennant is as well.

All in all, he really gave the Doctor a really fresh start to build on for the new series, and it's a shame he didn't stay longer, but I think that it's really quite cool that he is such an individual and guides his career the way he does. I think that's great to know exactly what you want to do and how you want to do it. Some people don't let go of things so easily because they are so safe and comfortable. So I really applaud those who step outside of the molds to re-invent themselves with each role.

Coming up next time, I think I'll talk a bit about older companions coming onto the scenes in the newest Doctor. I think it's really quite interesting that they brought back Sarah Jane Smith. For now it's back to the TARDIS! Have a great week!

Welcome!

Greetings!

I started this blog for a few really good reasons. At least to me anyway. The most important is my rekindled love for all things "Who". I grew up watching Tom Baker as my first Doctor. I've seen some of the older episodes, but those are the ones I remember most fondly. In the last year, I started catching newer episodes of the 10th regeneration on Sci-Fi and on BBC America. I could never find it on DVD and when I did, I balked at the price. Well one day, I had a lousy day, was off from work after a doctor's appointment and took myself shopping. Lo and behold, on a whim I went to Best Buy and they had Series 1-3. I looked at the price, and picked up the 2nd series. Went home, put it in the DVD player and 2 days later, I had made it through almost the whole Series and hadn't slept much! I had to go out to do something, and on my way home, I stopped by Best Buy again and picked up Series 3. I was that hooked already.

I've been watching it like crazy ever since. I had kind of kept up with Series 4 on Sci-Fi every Friday, but have missed a few, but refused to miss the finale which was this past Friday August 1, 2008. And just like at the end of Series 2, my heart broke again. I kept thinking to myself, there has to be another place besides the Doctor Who community on Livejournal that I participated in to talk about this. So I thought I'd make a place!

My plan is to talk about the series and the history of the series itself. To do stories on the actors themselves. Play a bit of the fangirl in me and talk about David Tennant. LOL, I'm going to marry him, he just doesn't know it yet :) Of course I'm kidding, he wouldn't look twice at me :) But it's fun to think about! And then do some analysis on the episodes themselves. At least from the Ninth Regeneration with Chris Eccleston and now the Tenth.

So settle in and enjoy the ride. I hope you come back and make this a place you visit regularly!

Thanks for sharing my fandom with me!