David Tennant Week: Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

Hello all and welcome to Day 5 of David Tennant Week. Well we have seen plenty of examples of Tennant's range as an actor giving well rounded performances on drama, family films and even playing a loony. And I wouldn't be a fan if I didn't at least throw in one Doctor Who episode. So sue me, I really enjoyed it. This time around you will see a nice throwback to the classic series as we have not one, not two but three doctors tackling both the Daleks and the shape-shifting aliens the Zygons. This is Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor.

Brainy specs in stereo.

In celebration of the series meeting the 50^th anniversary since it was aired in 1963, Steven Moffat (who did not sit on a toffet) gathered his fellow writer minions to create a conclusion to several of the story arcs left open by the regeneration of the series when then Doctor (Christopher Eccelson) described in tears the Great Time War. The final conflict between the Daleks of Skaro and the Timelords of Gallifrey. However... due to other film obligations, Eccelson could not reapprise his former timelord role.

Bummer says the Whovians but we move on as we explore this particular story is in fact centered around the 11^th Doctor (Matt Smith of Party Animals, The Street, Moses Jones, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Lost River) and current companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman of Emmerdale, Waterloo Raod, Captain America: The First Avenger, Titanic and Room at the Top) as they are off to more adventures when suddenly, a plot device airlifts the TARDIS to London National Gallery courtesy of the newly reformed UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce, formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) chief scientist Kat Stewart, daughter of the late Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Apologies all around but a mystery has occurred that only the Doctor can handle.

Why couldn't one of the boys carry this satchel?

Finding a piece of art made of a temporal bubble preserving Arcadia the Gallifreyan city during the Time War bringing the haunting memories of being a different Doctor then and ending his own people and the Daleks. It would appear that it isn't the only unusual period piece as there are several painting in the gallery missing their characters and as well as a portrait in 16^th century with Queen Elizabeth and her consort (David Tennant), a chap with fabulous hair and normally donning a smart suit and tie.

Time fissures open in several points in the Doctor's lives as 10 encounters 11. Baffled about them interfering with each others lives, a third man (John Hurt of The Elephant Man, Alien, King Lear, Watership Down, Hellboy and V for Vendetta) sporting a Steampunk look and sonic screwdriver also appears. What cosmic MacGuffin occurred to bring these three radically different yet the same men together? What is the monster lurking in the shadows that must be stopped??? Will the Doctors banter with each other carrying on that tradition?

Just a handful of facts on this film/TV episode.

This 75 minute episode was shot in both HD and stereoscopic 3D and sent to a plethora of theaters around the planet. Shown on the telly on November 23rd and 24^th, this episode was viewed by no less than 94 countries and over 1500 theatres worldwide. Having attended a fully packed movie theatre in true 10th brown suit and tie it was 3D and full of many jokes, heartache and guest appearances.   An additional 12.8 million viewers in Britain alone and another 3.2 million viewer requests for iPlayers. This was the second appearance of the aliens known as Zygons which had not been seen by TV viewers since 1975.  

Do you want to "handle" my screwdriver?

Favourite Fours: City of Death

Felicitations Whovians and welcome to Day 4 of Favourite Fours. Journeying further ahead we meet up with The Doctor and second regeneration of Time Lady Romanadvoratreludar or Romana for short... which she dislikes. On a whim, Romana has regenerated into the likeness of Princess Astra of Atrios from the serial Destiny of the Daleks and they are well on their way back to Earth to experience a holiday in Paris. This is City of Death.

Mossman: The Last Starfighter.

400 million years B.C. A pilot Scaroth attempts to break orbit from the prehistoric planet Earth but fails thus killing everyone on board. 1979 A.D. The Doctor and Romana (Lalla Ward of Vampire Circus, The Upper Crusts, Matushka, The Duchess of Duke Street, Doctor Who and Riviera) are enjoying the sites of Paris and decide for a fine dining where the Doctor claims this bistro does a wonderful bouillabaisse. At the restaurant, the Doctor and Romana experience a time loop while a local artist captures Romana in a sketch. As they look over the sketch they see a clock face in the place of Romana's with a crack in it, as if it were a crack in time. Not assuming the lad had a bit of artistic license, the Doctor is worried about time folding in on itself.

Off to investigate but a slight detour is called for as the Doctor takes Romana to the Louvre in order to appreciate the Mona Lisa, a painting in the Doctor's opinion as unique in the universe. Romana does not seem impressed overall but another temporal hiccup occurs and 20 or so seconds repeats itself when the Doctor bumps into a lady, acquires her bracelet, then heads out.

Timelord and lady about Paris.

The Doctor and Romana are followed by a man in a trenchcoat with a gat in the hand. After a few more encounters with this idiot with a gun, Duggan (Tom Chadbon of Tess, Dance with a Stranger, Shooting Fish and Casino Royale) the three of them are whisked away to find why they are so interested in Countess Scarlioni's bracelet as it is an "antique" that happens to be not of this Earth. The Countess (Catherine Schell of Moon Zero Two, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Space: 1999 and The Return of the Pink Panther) is dissatisfied with the Doctor's answers but the lot of them are locked in the cellar for presumably further questioning. With the aid of the sonic screwdriver, the three proceed to further the investigation around the chateau discovering a scientist, Dr. Kerensky (David Graham of Supercar, Fireball XL5, Doctor Who, Stingray and Thunderbirds Are Go!) who is conducting temporal experiments for greater food production in order to end famine. When it is discovered all he is creating is a different space-time continuum he does not know what to make of his failure.

Temporal anamolies, gunsels adhering to a Count and Countess orders and a missing scientist in league. What can the Doctor do to correct these temporal hiccups? How is Count Scarlioni involved?

Some bits of trivia about this serial now. Oh you knew that was on its way.

Accomplished sci-fi/comedy novelist Douglas Adams penned this serial to pay the bills while working The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This serial was watched by no less than 12.5 million for its original release. K9 was unable to operate due to difficulties and had to be completely absent this serial while filming in Paris. This is the first Doctor Who shot outside the UK throughout various spots of Paris. There was supposed to be a pull back shot of the Doctor and Romana on the Eiffel Tower alone when the special fish eye lens they rented from a Spanish firm would not and could not be made to fit the BBC camera.   

Really sir, why do you choose to be without a comforting beard?

Favourite Fours Week: The Horror of Fang Rock

Salutations good readers of this blog. Welcome to Day 3 of Favourite Fours. We stem away from Harry and Sarah as we move to the Doctor befriending a savage hunter, name of Leela (Louise Jameson of The Game, Tenko, Rides, The Upper Hand and EastEnders) to broaden her horizons and perhaps her educational standings. Making their way to Brighton, the TARDIS lands on the island of Fang Rock because the TARDIS detected a plot device. This is Horror of Fang Rock.

Your sexual magnetism melted it, Leela.

The Doctor insistent on investigating the lighthouse nearby as well as ask for directions as it would appear the TARDIS got lost in the fog. Leela is still untrusting of the craft's capabilities as this is a common trait for companions but she trusts the Doctor's judgement. No sooner have they have made their arrival that they discover a dead body of one of the lighthouse keepers. The other two keepers, Reuben (Colin Douglas of A Man from the Sun, The Crawling Eye, A Family at War, Doctor Who and The Pickwick Papers) and Vince (John Abbott of Doctor Who, Lady Jane, Treasure Island, Agatha Christie: Poirot, Revenge of Billy the Kid, Kappatoo and Four Weddings and a Funeral) are leery about their whole assignment as their paranoia falls immediately on the Doctor and Leela when the Doctor does his level best to defuse the situation at hand.

The Everlasting Gobstopper is stalking us!!!

With the lighthouse on the fritz the Doctor springs into action to best repair it when he observes that the generators seem to be drained of all energy. Remembering that Vince spoke of a light in the sky landing nearby the coincidences seem the most likely offenders. A luxury yacht comes crashing to shore. Its survivors four make their way to the lighthouse for shelter from the fog and rain. Concerned for these humans' survival, the Doctor concludes to keep the harmful alien life-form that may have killed the keeper away from everyone and fortify the lighthouse. One of the survivors a Lord Palmerdale insists they must commandeer a vessel to reach the stock exchange so he may make a killing. This of course was the reason their late ship was travelling at the speeds that it did.

Will the creature make short work of the humans? Can the Doctor prevent an impeding invasion? Will the fact the creature has been acknowledged as an alien decrease their chances of survival?

How about some fun facts on our serial now? Well tough, you are getting them anyway.

This was the only Doctor Who serial made at BBC Pebble Mill (the complex that housed, Pebble Mill at One, The Archers, Top Gear, Doctors and Gardeners' World). 6.8 million viewers gathered for its original transmission. Though it is not abundantly clear, this episode takes place in Victorian times 1900s. The use of language and costumes should have tipped their hats well enough but you know how thick some of us carbon based life-forms can be.

Director Paddy Russel did not care for Tom Baker's attitude during the production of the story. He apparently didn't like the script and tossed his out a window. With the tension between Baker and Jameson working together, Russel decreed she would never work on Doctor Who again after this. 

Yes, next time I swear I will ask for directions first.

  

Favourite Fours: Terror of the Zygons

Howdy Whovians and other such readers and welcome to Day 2 of Favourite Fours. This episode is the first of Season 13. In fact it is the first of the serials outright. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah have all returned from escaping the cold calculating claws of the Cybermen as they are summoned by U.N.I.T. Via Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to deal with shenanigans in Scotland. Are these done because of specters or aliens? This is Terror of the Zygons.

So Ms. Cleo, that is 4.99 for the first five minutes.

Narrowly evading the clutches of the Cybermen the Doctor, Sarah and Harry have been summoned to Earth via the Space-Time telegraph, a device that can communicate with the Doctor throughout time and space but it must be used only in the direst of emergencies. The Brigadier explains to the Doctor that several oil rigs have been destroyed by a force or forces unknown and unseen. Structurally sound rigs have been demolished from something with more strength and force that a category 4 hurricane and aside from the mist rising up there have been no weather anomalies.

Sarah speaks with the landlord Angus in the village's inn, the temporary U.N.I.T. HQ and she learns of a folk legend of the land around Tulloch Moor, where a great many people have up and disappeared down through the centuries never to be seen nor heard from again. Given the sonar is not reporting of any creatures, ships or foreign powers operating in this area, the Doctor proceeds to construct a device to detect for signal jamming in the local area. Harry goes for a walk along the moor, when clearly An American Werewolf in London warns us of moors is ignored why he spots a fellow from the last oil rig Munro. Before Munro can tell Harry what happened to the rig he is shot in the back by person's unknown and Harry is shot as well.

Ahh!! the wanton destruction of scale models!!!

A phone call to HQ lets the Doctor know that Harry was found on the moor shot and is being treated for his injuries. He and Sarah try to find out what was the cause and realize he is too weak to speak. The Doctor leaves and with his impressive peepers to some wreckage with substantial holes in it, almost as it were caused by fangs. Will the Doctor solve this crisis? Is Sarah and Harry in danger? What of the secret of the Yeti? Does the Doctor know the Muffin Man?

A few bits of interest on our serial now. Over 8.5 million viewers enjoyed this serial on its original transmission. This is the first appearance of the Zygons and aside from Big Finish Audio, several novels and radio dramas, the shape-shifters are not seen for 38 years in Doctor Who's show until the 50^th Anniversary Special, The Day of the Doctor. Working titles for this particular serial were: The Secret of the Loch, The Secret of Loch Ness, The Loch Ness and the Zygons and Loch Ness.

At least you are not wearing a dickie bow or sand shoes.

Favourite Fours: Genesis of the Daleks

Good day to you one and all and welcome to Day 1 of Favourite Fours. This time around the Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah Jane Smith and chief medical officer for U.N.I.T. Harry Sullivan are just leaving Nerva space station when their transmat beam is interrupted by the Timelords (the Doctor's species) and sent back in time with a time ring to Skaros, a war torn planet that is on the verge of creating the most genocidal creatures in existence. This is Genesis of the Daleks.

So a rock quarry is not an ideal picnic spot.  My apologies.

Finding the surface of the planet almost completely laid to wast between biological, chemical and even nuclear warfare, the lands seem desolate when a poison gas attack hits the Doctor and companions. The Doctor and Harry (Ian Marter of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Doctor Who, North & South, Crown Court, Fell Tiger and The Return of Sherlock Holmes) are dragged in to the dome inhabited by the technologically superior Kelads while Sarah is befriended by the Mutos, a species of mutants descended from previous chemical weapons during the early years of the war. No sooner does Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen of Gulliver in Lilliput, Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time, Peak Practice and The Sarah Jane Adventures) feel safe, she and the Mutos are captured to be slave labor for the Thals (other warring nation on Skaro).

The Doctor and Harry have to empty their pockets for a security check losing the Doctor's sonic screwdriver as well as the time ring, the only device to bring them back to the TARDIS. The Doctor attempts to explain they are aliens and not spies when they are brought before the Kelads greatest scientific mind Davros.

Fine, yes I dressed quickly in the dark... Are you happy now?

For even the most causal observer, it is blatantly obvious that Davros is both brilliant and completely crackers as he unveils his Mark III travel machine that looks identically to a Dalek. With a finite amount of scientists in the dome, they no longer trust Davros, given his monstrous creations having no conscience or mercy at all deciding to revolt against him.

The Doctor attempts to reason with Davros, maybe show him the error to his genocidal ways but it seems to no avail. The Doctor must stop this nightmarish war, find Sarah and recover the time ring to get back to the TARDIS.

A few points of interest on the episodes now. The basis of the fascist regime of the Nazi party is the building block for the Kelads as the Daleks would be the ultimate ubermench... on little wheels.... defenseless to stairs.

This six part weekly show had been viewed by 8 to 10 million viewers. This is also the first appearance of Davros and certainly not the last. The working title for this serial was Daleks- Genesis of Terror. For you fans of all that is Who, this would be the first domino to create the Last Great Time War. In a 2006 interview, Tom Baker named Genesis of the Daleks as one of his favorite Doctor Who serials.

Exsanguinate!!! Crap... LINE!!!

Favourite Fours

Back again oh readers of this drek. Well you were warned many times over. This week I thought we would touch base with a certain time and space traveler and no this is not a transparent attempt to get more readers by enlisting Whovians around the globe. That in mind, I wish to share some of my favorite episodes involving Tom Baker (4^th Doctor for those that... I guess avoid all forms of media archiving) and his pantheon of companions.

NONE SHALL PASS!!!

Ranging from adventures with journalist Sarah Jane Smith to packing the TARDIS jam full of two extra-terrestrials and an Australian air hostess, Baker is one of the most beloved by children and adults alike. With Big Finish audio dramas under his belt, it is almost as his voice has not aged with him at all. Just hearing him narrate his first Doctor Who episode Robot filled me with am overwhelming sense of joy.

We shall see if your favorite fourth Doctor episodes and mine match up with this week with Favourite Fours!

Personally I liked this look.

5 of 10th Tales: The Doctor's Daughter

Greetings followers of the TARDIS. Welcome to Day 5 of 5 of the 10^th Tales. I know that you were all concerned I was not going to finish this but I got caught up in finishing two chapters in my upcoming hard boiled detective novel and was a wee bit knackered from that. So what is more fun than having a companion, seeing new worlds, writing wrongs and facing danger? How about two companions delving into that madness with our Doctor in question? We find the Doctor, Martha Jones and Donna Noble bouncing around in the TARDIS onto a mission of mercy with a distress beacon but our valiant team may find more than they bargained for. This is The Doctor's Daughter.

So dish. You snog him yet or what.

After defeating the underhanded preemptive strike on Earth by the Sontarans, the Doctor and Donna are ready to get under way. Newly added UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) Martha Jones ends up going on what she claims is her last trip in the TARDIS as she has a life on Earth, a career in UNIT and a fella. OooOoOoO. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate of Barking, Harry Hill, Attention Scum, Wild West, The Catherine Tate Show and The Office) having previous adventures with the Doctor is his current companion and is a bit taken back how Martha (Freema Agyeman of The Bill, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Little Dorrit, Law & Order: UK and The Carrie Diaries) seems a trifle jaded but still feels the exploration bug. Personally, I think she is still irked that the Doctor didn't take her up on any of her advances to him. 900 years of age doesn't always help acknowledge a pretty girl hitting on you.

The TARDIS lands on the planet Messaline where no sooner they start poking about they come across some human soldiers demanding they come with them... at gunpoint. Yes, a familiar trend with the Doctor but for the sake of non-violence they comply. The soldiers that don't look old enough to shave or buy cigarettes cram the Doctor's hand in a machine that is called a progenator using the Doctor's DNA as a template to physically generate a female soldier.

G.I. Jane comes with all accessories show here. Vehicles sold separately.

After which a collection of aliens known as the Hath attack killing one of the soldiers and abducts Martha as a hostage. The young girl sets off an explosion that seals the corridor trapping Martha with the Hath but keeping the rest of the party from harm. At gunpoint (AGAIN) the soldiers take the Doctor and Donna to their superior officer for debrief (and pantsing) and the Doctor explains how the girl is a generated anomaly (a reproduced being through his DNA and a machine's coding) and Donna names the girl Jenny (Georgia Moffett of Bonkers, Fear, Stress and Anger, The Bill, Doctor Who: Dreamland, White Van Man and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot).

Trapped on the other side of the corridor, Martha treats an injured Hath and gains their trust as she is whisked away to the Hath's encampment. General Cobb (Nigel Terry of The Lion in Winter, Excalibur, Feardotcom and Troy) explains to the Doctor and Donna at one point the Hath and the Humans were meant to live together but for some reason that fell apart over a dispute about something referred as " The Source" Dear God let it not be associated with Highlander 5. Oh yes, that is a real thing. Google it.

Using his macguffin... I mean sonic screwdriver, the Doctor reveals the path to the Source and Cobb rabble rouses his people into a forced march to wipe out the Hath and claim the Source for them. The Doctor and Donna try to get Cobb to see sense and he has them and Jenny locked up so they cannot interfere. Jenny and the Doctor attempt to see each others' point of view and actually bond.

Will the Doctor, Donna and Jenny be able to save Martha? Can they overt the impeding blood bath? What is the Source and what is its purpose?

A few interesting tidbits on the episode. Contrary to fanboy rumors Summer Glau was never considered for the role of Jenny. Sorry fanboys.   Georgia Moffet is the daughter of Peter Davison (the fifth Doctor) who plays the Doctor's Daughter. A year after filming with David Tennant, the two dated and had a daughter Olive in 2010, they were married a year later. Of course the wibbly wobbly timey wimey of it all that the Doctor's Daughter is the Doctor's daughter, who had the Doctor's daughter in return had the Doctor's granddaughter.   

I think we hit a pothole.

5 of the 10th Tales: The Next Doctor

Greetings fans of the Doctor and welcome back for Day 4 of 5 of the 10^th Tales. We will be skipping ahead to what is affectionately referred as the first of the 4 part finales with Tennant stepping down as the Doctor. This of course caused many emotions to flare. Loss, betrayal and sadness ranking as the highest of the lot. It is 1851, Victorian Era as The Doctor on his own lands his blue box in the heart of London on Christmas Eve. No sooner than a bit of looky loo he hears screams for help and springs into action. A young woman calling for the Doctor, Rosita (Velile Tshabalala of Streets, The Crouches, Kerching!, Euphoria and Silent Witness) as he arrives, another well-heeled gentleman also makes his way on the scene calling himself the Doctor. This is The Next Doctor.

Expelliarmus!!

Rosita and "the Doctor" (David Morrissey of Out of Control, State of Play, The Deal, Blackpool, Is Anybody There?, Line of Sight and The Walking Dead) have been following an investigation on the disappearance of people all around London attempt to capture a Cybershade (A Cyberman created servant usually made from a cat or dog) in order to have more information of the Cybermen's plans for this time line and how they will directly alter human history. The Doctor going by the old alias "John Smith" travels with this future incarnation who seems to be suffering from amnesia.

The two Doctors poke about the house of the late Reverend Fairchild, who is believed to be tied in to the disappearances when the two discover Cybermen infostamps (a data storage device) when the new Doctor recalls holding one the night he lost his memories. The two are immediately attack by Cybermen while the Doctor fends them off with a cutlass and rather deftly screaming to them that they have forgotten their own old enemy announcing who he is. The Next Doctor fries both of the Cybermen with an overloaded infostamp discharge. Handy trinket that.

Bloody snow freezing up the materialization circuits!!

One of the first of the missing men, a Jackson Lake seems to have vanished without a trace as the Doctor hypothesizes how the Cybermen could have ended up in this time, the answer being stolen tech from the Daleks during the Doomsday episode being a Dimension Vault. Rosita and the Doctor discover a vast underground complex using children yanked from workhouses as labor for this operation. The Cybermen's human ally, Miss Mercy Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan of School for Seduction, Casanova, 55 Degrees North, True Dare Kiss, Material Girl, The Silence, Injustice and Blackout) a scullery maid with a lust for power and respect gives the Cybermen slave labor to rebuild and power their downed spacecraft, a Dreadnought class cruiser.

Can the Doctors stop the Cybermen in time? Will they be able to rescue the children? Why can't the Next Doctor remember who he is?

David Morrissey was only cast 5 days before filming. No pressure there. Images of all the previous ten incarnations of the Doctor are shot on-screen leading up to David Tennant.

This was the first episdoe to be broadcast after David Tennant's announcement that he would step down from the role of the Doctor in 2010. I loved the working title of this episode as it was Court of the Cyberking. This was a pairing of both Tennant and Morrissey as they previously worked together on Blackpool.

Off for a stroll... Don't mind me!

5 of the 10th Tales: Gridlock

'Allo Whovians and welcome back to Day 3 of 5 of the 10^th Tales. I apologize for yesterday as I had a bit of a day of chores. As it is I thought we would move right into Season 3 as the Doctor has said good bye to Rose and makes his way out and about with his new friend, budding doctor Martha Jones. This is Gridlock.

Um... we're out of gas.

Given a trip into the past, The Doctor and Martha (Freema Agyeman of The Bill, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Law & Order: UK, Old Jack's Boat and The Carrie Diaries) now head into the far future back to New Earth in the year five billion and fifty three back in the city of New New York. Perusing about, the duo notices they are in a alleyway with a mild downpour when vendors are selling some form of patches to alter your moods (Better hope it is out of Beta test). Trying to find out what is going on, the Doctor talks to the vendors and Martha is abducted at gun point by a couple, Milo (Doctors, North & South, Footballers Wive$: Overtime, Vampire Killers, Don't Call Back and Cardinal Burns) and his wife Cheen (Lenora Crichlow of Sugar Rush, Kiss of Death, The Things I Haven't Told You, Collision, Material Girl, Being Human and Back in the Game). The couple explain that they need to reach their designation which is ten miles away with estimates at about six years journey.

That cat litter smell was appalling!

The Doctor panic stricken heads to the Motorway, an enclosed highway with hover vehicles had almost overcame the Doctor with carbon monoxide poisoning. Taking refuge in the van of Thomas Kincade Brannigan (Ardal O' Hanlon of Father Tedm Hooves of Fire, My Hero and Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe) a cat humanoid and his human wife Valerie (Jennifer Hennessy of The Cup, Coronation Street, Marchlands, Doctors, Wizards vs. Aliens and The Passing Bells) going nowhere it would seem. Former Sister of Plentitude Novice Hame (Anna Hope of Crime and Punishment, Doctor Who, Love Me Still, Waking the Dead and Coronation Street) assists the Face of Boe, a being of ancient line who needs to reveal a great secret to a being like himself, a nomad without a home, a lonely God.

The Doctor notices little things. Lack of government, police and rescue department as all these people seem to just move on and hopefully reach the city soon. Many have been on the Motorway for years and no end in sight, when the Doctor ponders is there actually an exit at all?

Now the Doctor has to figure out how to help these people, find Martha and deduce what happened to the city.

Writer/producer Russell T. Davies insisted this would be the last episode in the year 5 billion. The working title for the episode was Chasing Fumes. As the Doctor and Martha leave the TARDIS on New Earth, The Doctor yanks an arrow out of the TARDIS door one of Queen Elizabeth's men fired at them during the end of The Shakespeare Code.

The carpool bandits!!!

5 of the 10th Tales: School Reunion

Welcome back readers to Day 2 of 5 of the 10^th Tales. In case you have stumbled upon this write-up I will recap and state that this week pertains to episodes of the 10^th Doctor. That proper skinny fellow in the sharp suits that most of your friends will not stop doing impressions of or pining for.

This time around we head to the 3 episode of the second season of unusual happenings at an English junior high school (forgive me those across the pond, I do not recall that if it is secondary school or not) as there have been UFO sightings and people disappearing. New companions Rose and Mickey may encounter some older friends of the Doctor. This is School Reunion.

It plays DVDs, 8-Tracks and makes Cheese Toasties!

Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke of Auf Wiedereshen, Pet, Jane Hall, Doghouse, Doctor Who, Fast Girls, Storage 24 and Star Trek Into Darkness) contacts the Doctor and Rose about the efficiency of this school and the students' performances. The change of lunch menu and its special chips is one of the changes. The Doctor goes undercover as a science teacher under the guise of "John Smith" doing his own inquiries notices the uncommon intelligence of one of the physics students. Rose acts as one of the kitchen staff and notices the careful need to handle the oils for via the rest of the kitchen staff.

The headmaster of the school, Mr. Finch (Anthony Stewart Head of VR.5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Manchild, Monarch of the Glen, Little Britain, Free Agents and Merlin) has had enough success that he is being interviewed by journalist Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen of Coronation Street, Take My Wife..., Gulliver in Lilliput, Doctor Who, Peak Practice and The Sarah Jane Adventures) and she proceeds to interview a few teachers including "John Smith" who feigns ignorance of the success all the while trying to contain his excitement reuniting with Sarah Jane. With the school day over, Team Timelord head into the school to investigate as Sarah does the same running into the TARDIS as the Doctor reveals himself to Sarah. Hooking up with the rest of the team the ladies seem to almost be rivals to the Doctor. Heading to Sarah's car is a battered almost dead K-9 the Mark 3 version and the Doctor preps to repair him, getting him up and running.

Now Buffy, you must understand I am evil these days.

The next day the Doctor confronts Mr. Finch who establishes he and his compatriots are Krillitanes, a species that can absorb abilities of race they have conquered. Finch attempts to detour the Doctor and finding that impossible. The chemicals in the chips are stimulating the kids' minds running in slaved computers all working computations in effort to solve the Skasis Paradigm or the Universal Formula of everything. Whoever holds this formula would have the power of a god and could shape time, space and matter into whatever they desire. Finch amazed how quickly the Doctor deduced what they were doing and offered to join forces to bring about the timelords and right all the wrongs that a cruel universe inflicted on him. Tempted, the Doctor was taken back until Sarah became the voice of reason to alter his mind. Can the Doctor and team be able to thwart the Krillitanes? Can the children be saved?

A few points of interest on the episode. Elisabeth Sladen warned the crew on the difficulties of the K-9 prop would be as it had a reputation for breaking down. In spite of 30 years of new tech, Sladen's warning will proved to be correct. Anthony Head had screen tested for the Doctor in the 1996 TV movie. 8.3 million viewers watched this episode when first transmitted. The K-9 prop at the end of the episode was one of the original props from the 1970s. The working title of the episode was Old Friends and while it works to some degree it does not encompass the whole show.

Fan girls commence your professor fantasy drooling...

The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week: Frontiers of Space

Welcome one and all to Day 5 of The Doctor's Greatest Adventures and I thought we would slip back in time and space to visit Jon Pertwee (third incarnation of the Doctor) and his companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning of Mr Tumbleweed, Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!, Doctor Who, Eskimo Nell, The Quest and The Sarah Jane Adventures) as they are smack bam in the middle of an intergalactic conflict that could lead to total war.  Will the Doctor be able to right this wrong?  This is Frontier in Space.

I pressed three buttons in the last 4 light-years and that was just to start the coffee pot.

The Master: In spoiling mood, are you Doctor? Poor Miss Grant, you have my deepest sympathy.





As the Earth cargo ship designated C982 is moving through the hyperspace junction, it barely evades the TARDIS as the Doctor re-materializes in the ship's hold rather than all over their windscreen.  Getting out of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Jo Grant get out to explore and apologize to the pilots when the pilots armed see these two as Draconians and escort them to the bridge at gunpoint.   On Earth, the Galactic Federation President and the Draconian ambassador (also son to the Emperor) shout on back and forth claiming each other are attacking shipping lanes and outposts which were established by the treaty of the two empires.   The ambassador feels war is exactly what the humans want and sends communications to his father as such.

Yes, I believe it is fiberglass and not the typical cardboard.

Meanwhile in the hold the Doctor has come to the conclusion of this annoying sound is actually a hypersonic frequency that plays on the subconscious fears of each people when the C982 is boarded by Orgons who stun the pilots and the Doctor, bound Jo in ropes, loot the ship's cargo including the TARDIS and leave.  The reinforcements finally arrive and the pilots accuse the Doctor and Jo as collaborators with the Draconians and are brought back to Earth for interrogation.

Are these two empires on the brink of war?  Who stands to gain from this potential massacre?  Will the Doctor and Jo be able to avoid the death penalty?   Well go watch it already and stop looking at what is written in front of you!

Just a brief amount of fun facts for you now.
This is the last appearance of Roger Delgado as the Master due to his car accident in Turkey that took his life three months after this episode.   Earth is viewed yet again in the far off time of 2540 in spite of several of the early 70's haircuts, mustaches and polyesters.

Jon Pertwee said that he felt the Draconians were his favorite monsters in all of Doctor Who. This episode was watched by a little over 9 million viewers in 1973.

So I don't look goofy in this high collar?  Thank God.

The Doctor's Greatest Adventures : Earthshock

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to Day 4 of The Doctor's Greatest Adventures and this particular 4 part episode had more than a few fans in tears, baffled and startled across the pond.  Join with the Doctor (fifth incarnation), Tegan, Nyssa and Adric for the year 2526 as paleontologists and a geologist have gone missing after discovering a fossil in a fairly recent cave.  Will the Doctor and companions be able to keep their wits about them?  This is Earthshock.

Who's a grumpy boy genius then, eh?

The Doctor: You do not have the monitor skill Adric! And even if you did, I am not taking you back into E-space!
Adric: Then I'll find someone who will spoil me!
The Doctor: E-space is another universe!  There isn't a taxi service that goes back and forth!

The Doctor (Peter Davison of Doctor Who, A Very Peculiar Practice, Mystery!: Campion, All Creatures Great and Small, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries and Law & Order: UK) attempts to explain to homesick Adric (Matthew Waterhouse of To Serve Them All My Days, Doctor Who and The Killing Edge)  that he cannot risk flying back through E-Space (a smaller universe co-existing alongside the prime universe, N-Space) so he can deposit him back on his home planet of Terradon without proper coordinates.  Adric is annoyed at this information and proceeds to sulk about it while doing the calculations to head home.

Rocking that Reynolds stache well, sir!

Meanwhile on Earth, in the year 2526, a crack squad led by Lieutenant Scott (James Warwick of The Nightmare Man, The Bell, Doctor Who, Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime, Iron Man animated series and Babylon 5) escorting the lead scientific advisor Professor Kyle (Claire Clifford of Angels, Doctor Who, Emmerdale, Wish Your Were Here, Aliens in the Family, This Life and Miss Potter) to find the rest of the exploration team when they come across the Doctor and his companions and naturally our brilliant military mind comes the rather rash conclusion that the TARDIS team are responsible for the deaths of the explorers.  

Through the diplomacy the fifth Doctor is known for, he convinces Scott that they can help and points them to a large debris of rock where the prone bodies lay alongside a large metal hatch.  Out of nowhere a substantial force of androids get the drop on Scott's forces and are slain by them.  The Doctor manages to stop the androids with his trusty sonic screwdriver but not before the androids beam images  of the lot of them to their controllers, the Cybermen.   Yes, them again!  

Opening the hatch, the Doctor and Adric discover a bomb of awesome might and he orders Nyssa (Sarah Sutton of Late Call, Westway, The Moon Stallion, The Crucible and Unnatural Pursuits), Tegan (Janet Fielding of Hammer House of Horror, Shelly, Minder, Doctor Who and Parnell & the Englishwoman) and the rest of Scott's team back to the TARDIS for safety's sake.      
Can the Doctor and Adric stop the bomb in time?  What of the Cybermen and their plans?  Will Tegan make another series of ear bleeding whines and shrills?

Just a small gathering of interesting tidbits about this four parter.
The episodes voted by member of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society as the best Story of Season 19 in their Season Poll as well as winner of the Doctor Who magazine for Best Story.
This episode was watched by 9.1 million viewers in 1982.  The working title of this story was Sentinel.   This was the first Cyberman story since Revenge of the Cybermen in 1975.  The producer John Nathan-Turner wanted to bring an old enemy back but did not want to resort to using the Daleks.

You're such a wanker, Adric.

The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week: Attack of the Cybermen

Welcome one and all back to Day 3 of The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week and we really haven't focused on Colin Baker (Sixth Doctor) aside from his regeneration cycle and there are more than a few fun adventures but a bit of the dark follows him as well.  Travelling with him is his companion the ample and ever perky Peri, a girl that manages to keep the Doctor in his place and not let him snark at the entire universe.  This is Attack of the Cybermen.

Colin in the sky... with diamonds??

Russell: Who are you?
The Doctor: I've already told you. I am known as the Doctor. I'm also a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous.
Russell: You're spoiled.
The Doctor: That's debatable.


 Deep underground the streets of London, two workers go about their jobs only to be attacked by some unknown force.  The Doctor (Colin Baker of Swallows and Amazons Forever!: Coot Club, Swallows and Amazons Forever!: The Big Six, Doctor Who, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Airzone Solution and Breach of the Peace) is tearing through the TARDIS's systems in order to repair it, including the chameleon circuit which alters the ship's appearance to blend in to its surroundings and it might be a damn sight better than appearing as a 1960's public police box when the ship behaves rather erratically in-flight.  Wrestling the controls the Doctor manages to pilot the TARDIS once more heading to the year 1985 to show Peri (Nicola Bryant of Doctor Who, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, The Stranger: In Memory Alone, The Biz, Parting Shots and Doctors) Haley's Comet at a close enough proximity that Peri is terrified of them crashing into it.

Peri, what are these round things anyway?

Meanwhile on Earth former mercenary Lytton (Maurice Colbourne of The Duelists, Gangsters, The Littlest Horse Thieves and Howards' Way)  is now a top level gangster plotting a 10 million pound heist by taking the sewers directly under the Bank of London while the Doctor lands the TARDIS in 76 Totter's Lane which is now for some reason a wood stove, following a transmission.  Lytton holds a transmitter that seems to have an effect on the human brain as he steers two coppers under his thumb.  The plan goes askew when entering the heist is a Cyberman,  One of Lytton's cronies takes a pot shot at the Cyberman when they are completely surrounded by at least 5 Cybermen.

The Doctor and Peri encounter one of Lytton's men who turns out to be undercover getting the goods on a bank heist when the Cybermen came into play.  Naturally curious to what the Cybermen would be doing here and let alone in this timeline the Doctor immediately strolls out into danger and dives into the legwork at hand.

Will the Doctor be able to stop the Cybermen before it is too late?  Will Peri let out a blood curdling scream that will cause your brain to ooze out of the side of your ear?  Will Russell demand a reassignment if he lives??

Now a few fun facts about this 2 part story.  This is the first time Doctor Who episodes were 45 minutes long versus the 22 minute  4 to 6 parters.  7.2 million folks saw this particular episode in 1985.  Actress/model/photographer Koo Stark was cast as Varne but she apparently did not care for the costume she had to wear and decided a pass.  76 Totter's Lane is the same junkyard William Hartnell had parked his TARDIS in An Unearthly Child in 1963 so it was nice to have a little hat tip to.

Cybermen's vacation in Atlantic City go awry.