Shadow and Flame with Magik

Thanks to BBC for hosting the video!

As I’m sure most people know, Peter Capaldi is out as the 12th Doctor.  Replacing him, is Jodi Whittaker, an actress I’m not that familiar with.  Not like I’ve been that familiar with most of the Doctor actors prior to their casting.  Well, besides Christopher Eccleston and John Hurt.  Oh, and Paul McCann, but I knew him mostly from hassling Christopher O’Donnell in the always amazing to rewatch, The Three Musketeers.

I have no problem, at all, with a lady being the Doctor.  Wouldn’t it have been awesome though, if it was a complete surprise, come Christmas 2017.  I guess we have five months to forget the news, but we would be reminded of the casting choice again, before then.  Gosh, is Christmas just five months away?  Ooof!  Walker Dennis is a December baby, so December is pretty tight for us.  Lots of planning goes into making both his birthday and Christmas a thing to do.  Being in Montana, also means we have to really plan where to host a birthday party too.

I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who ever since I saw it on PBS with my parents, in the 80s.  Probably why my favorite Doctor will always be Peter Davison, the 5th Doctor.  Especially when people want to talk about Tom Baker, the fourth (and without doubt, the most famous version of the Doctor – prior to the relaunch) Doctor but I like Davison so much more.  It helps that he is the star of The Five Doctors, and I’m a sucker for any story that involves multiple-Doctors.

It wasn’t until a few years ago when I thought about my origins with the franchise when I doubted if I watched Doctor Who on PBS, in the way that I thought I did.  I recall watching it on PBS, with my parents.  But if you look at when Davison was the 5th Doctor, he’s tenure was 1982 through 1984.  Which I was born in 1982, so I must have watched reruns on PBS.  Most likely, I just saw my father’s tapes of the program.  My father was huge on recording everyone on VHS, back in the day.

I was a little late coming back with the 9th Doctor, as I couldn’t watch it anywhere.  I’m sure Hulu had it before Netflix did (now Amazon has it) and that’s when I caught up with the show.  I’ve really liked the new show.  With their production schedules, I saw the Season 8 finale, and the Christmas episode but did not come back for the 9th season.  Until this news broke, and then I relooked it up and Amazon has the series.  I saw the Magician’s Apprentice and I’m going to try to catch up with all of season nine, hopefully soon.  I was missing it already but learning that it isn’t just Capaldi’s final season but also Steven Moffat’s final season too.  Well, ten is their final season, and that just wrapped up.  I read the episode list for season ten and that final moment sounds so amazingly fun that I have to try to get caught up.  I’m sure it’ll cost me actual money to watch season ten, so I’ll just wait until it is free with Amazon Prime (if it isn’t already).

I’m going to really miss Jenna Louis Coleman as Clara, she’s up there with Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) as a great companion to the Doctor.

Here are two Wikipedia Pages that will cost you a full day of temptation to keep opening links.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctor_(Doctor_Who)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(Doctor_Who)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_(Doctor_Who)

For the companions of the original series, I’m a big fan of Jo Grant (Katy Manning), Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant) and of course, Sarah Jane Smith (the legend, Elisabeth Sladen).   I do like how how the companions make the Doctor transition work as smooth as it does.

My mother was always a fan of the 2nd Doctor’s companion, Jamie.  Kilt and all.

My parents were huge fans of the show and even my Aunt Denise (my mother’s twin sister) was a huge fan too.

There has been fun projects like the charity event, The Curse of the Fatal Death –

Thanks to Doctor Who for hosting their own video.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who:_The_Curse_of_Fatal_Death

Here is the page that explains how the zaniness that went into this!  Moffat was always a fan.  This takes place but does not take place, between Doctors 7 and 8, before the American attempt to relaunch the series.

It boosts a very impressive cast of actors portraying the Doctor –

Rowan Atkinson (Ninth Doctor)
Richard E. Grant (Tenth Doctor)
Jim Broadbent (Eleventh Doctor)
Hugh Grant (Twelfth Doctor)
Joanna Lumley (Thirteenth Doctor)

That’s right, Jodi Whittaker is really the second woman to portray the Doctor!   Hugh Grant probably could make a grand Doctor too, if he wanted to.

Apparently I should watch Broadchurch Season One as it has Whittaker as the mother of the missing boy and, of course, David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) in it.  My wife really liked the show.  I believe she watched the FOX version, that also stars Tennant, and saw the first episode of the BBC one and it was so similiar she didn’t need to watch a second episode.  I’ll go BBC, of course, so I can see Whittaker as an actress.  I’ve read that I should check out Venus, a movie she did back in the day.

Referring to charity specials, I’m sure this is the one that finally convinced me to watch the relaunch series.

Thanks to Hollie Bird for hosting this one, it was the best one I could find.  There used to be a legit version, like a year ago.

I’m sure people have written about this before, but I’ll write it here too, as I’m trying to make this my initial Doctor Who post that just covered all of my thoughts on the franchise (or most of them, at least).

But David Tennant is a smart man, so his favorite Doctor was also the 5th one.  Davison’ daughter, Georgia Moffett, starred in an episode titled “The Doctor’s Daughter” during Tennant’s tenure.  They met, fell in love, got married and now have three children together.  So that is super fun and makes me smile as the chances of all of that happening are insane!

Here is a video of all the Regenerations –

Thanks to Doctor Who again for hosting their own video.

So happy that we finally got to see McGann’s regeneration.  I still wish they had him be the Doctor during the Time War but if John Hurt agrees to do your show, you take that opportunity!

Reading more about the season 10 finale, so much fun that they got David Bradley to portray the First Doctor, like how he did for the incredible An Adventure in Space and Time.  Well, he portrayed William Hartnell, the actor who started this entire odyssey but its really one and the same.

Looking at the other videos that Doctor Who has up on YouTube, I wanted to point out, when I mention Joanna Lumley above, that they had already made The Master a woman, the very fun Michelle Gomez as Missy (short for Mistress, the female Master – so clever!).

I might have to say Tennant is my favorite of the modern Doctors, the more I think about how many awesome adventures he had.

That 50th Anniversary lead up and the episode itself, was pretty amazing and really was a present for the fans.

My sister-in-law and my wife tried to watch the show, I forget who finally convinced them to give it a shot.  I kept telling them, don’t give up on the show until the episode “Dalek” as that is really the first episode of the relaunch that dives into the mythos plus it reintroduces the Doctor’s greatest (and my favorite) villain, the Daleks.  I love those guys!  The Master is probably my second favorite, as I’m crazy for Evil Opposites.

Watch the below for some of the greatest trash talk as the Daleks belittle the Cybermen –

Thanks to minetruly for hosting the video.

-You are superior in only one respect
-What is that?
-You are better at dying.

So great!  I had the dumbest and widest smile when I heard that.

That’s from Doomsday, and Tennant had the best season finales.

Oh man, this show introduced me to John Barrowman, well me and the rest of the world.  Such an amazing actor!

I haven’t seen any episodes of Torchwood nor Sarah Jane Chronicles, but I really should.

K9, the Doctor’s robot dog companion, such a great addition to the show.

You really can tell any story that you want with Doctor Who – ultra serious, silly comedy, any time period, any planet – there are no rules.

Have I really written 1457 words regarding Doctor Who and not once mention the TARDIS!  Time and Relative Dimension in Space, so great!  My favorite way to travel through space and time.  That classic console room, with the spheres, such a great design.  Glad they were able to add those back in for the 50th Anniversary Special, even if it was just for a moment.  The Day of the Doctor, I really should use the proper title.

I recall Conan, back on his Late Late Show days of NBC, had a parade of characters and one of them was something along the lines of “your uncle who still is into Doctor Who” and that guy was dressed with the classic 4th Doctor, five yard long scarf.

I do like how all the Doctors have their own specific wardrobes and such.

For a franchise that is now 52 years old, they are still doing an outstanding job keeping it current and hip.

I am surprised they went with a woman Doctor before going with a different nationality male Doctor, good for them though, either way.

I still remember when the Doctor was supposed to turn into the Valeyard from the Trial of a Time Lord, the Sixth Doctor storyline.  That concept has stuck with me, over all of these years.  The Doctor’s evil personality that comes between his 12th and final, 13th incarnation.

But if you count the War Doctor, and we have to at this point, 12 is really 13 so he’s on super borrowed time.  Unless they just keep injecting him with additional life or some timey wimey nonsensical silliness.  They can really do anything they want, at this point.

Another reason to watch Broadchurch, is that creator, Chris Chibnall, is the new showrunner, so Jodi Whittaker should be in great hands.  Does she get a male companion?  All lady companions?  There are a slew of questions that need to be answered.  I’m sure her first season is going to run the gauntlet of all the classic villains, just to get their take on his new female body.  Which, I would really like most of them to just shrug it off.

Romana, a fellow time lord, and her second incarnation (Lalla Ward) married fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, for a few years.  There was an episode where she burnt through like six of her incarnations, and they were mostly all alien types.

I should mention the spin offs of Doctor Who, including the Big Finish Productions Audio Adventures.  I’ve never heard any of them, but they do have quite a few multi-Doctor adventures.  The only book I’ve read is The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks – also a mutli-Doctor adventure.  Which makes sense, it is essentially printing money.

Now that I know how to link to the templates, here is all of the Multi-Doctor stories –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Multi-Doctor_stories

Just like LOST, whenever I finish an episode of Doctor Who, I have to go to the Wikipedia page to see if I missed any of the continuity nods or allusions.  That’s how I’m wired.

Such a great show!