Day 900 - The Time Of The Doctor

"And now it's time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now. The clock is striking twelves's.."

I've really struggled with this blog entry, hence the delay in it being published. How can I sum up 900 days in one final entry?

I had arranged a small party for the final episode where some friends could join me in watching the final episode. I was really pleased that people turned up to do this with me. I know that sounds lame but I imagine watching an episode of Doctor Who isn't everyone's idea of a good time. Although there was food and an awesome cake so hopefully that helped. More on this later. I need to try to discuss the day in some kind of order.

Unfortunately the one friend who would have loved to have watched the final episode with me (Matt) couldn't actually make it as it was his Dad's birthday so he had to be elsewhere. I enjoy winding him up about such things as it's a running joke that nearly everytime I plan something (mainly for my birthday) he is busy elsewhere with either a holiday or a wedding (and I think one time it was a holiday AND a wedding!). Anyway it wasn't all bad as Matt joined me on Day 899 for the 50th anniversary special and also joined me during the day on Day 900 to finish off watching The Savages. Now there were many stories I thought about revisiting on the final day but The Savages was not one of them! Still, it was fun to watch a story from the very early days of the show that I could now hardly remember.

As well as joining me during the day, Matt was also kind enough to bring me round a bottle of champagne (or it may have been sparkling wine, I don't really know the difference) to be opened as the final credits rolled on the final episode. I thought that was an awesome idea and I was very grateful to him.

Around 6 o'clock I went to pick up my friend Molly who needed assistance getting to the house due to the ginormous chocolate cake she had made for the occasion! My eyes were particulary drawn to the chocolate fingers around the edge as I wondered how many I could peel off without anyone noticing. Due to the sheer height of the cake it was necessary to slice it as thin as possible as even then it proved nearly impossible to consume a full slice. Except for Andy who managed it no problem. I was quite impressed with his cake eating ability I must admit. I've never been able to eat to much sweet stuff. Give me a bowl of crisps and I can eat the lot!

The cake was awesome and the fingers around the edge helped for two reasons, 1) as a way of measuring the size of the slice you were cutting and 2) as a source of hilarity when I got to ask everyone how many fingers they could fit inside them. I should really grow up one day!

Sally and Andy also brought round a giant bag of sweets which I'm still munching through a week later so thanks very much to them! I haven't had flying saucers for ages so I was excited to see some of them buried in there! Thinking about it now I really should have offered them round during the party..oops! Sorry about that! I feel a bit guilty about that but it's not going to stop me eating them!

As if all that wasn't enough, Leanne brought me a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo of Gallifrey University. Very cool indeed, and it even fits me which is a miracle in itself! My Keele University hoodie has long faded into obscurity so this will take its place nicely!

The table was set with the cake and various snacks etc. There was of course jelly babies! You can't have a Doctor Who party without jelly babies! I said to Matt earlier in the day that I just hoped that I didn't think of something at the last minute and be upset with myself for not thinking of it sooner, and unfortunately one of those moments did occur. Leanne mentioned that she was surprised I hadn't prepared fish fingers and custard! God damn it! That would have been a brilliant idea! This was Matt Smith's final episode and he eats them in both this episode and in his first one so it would have been the perfect food item for the table. I tried to comfort myself with the fact that few people would have actually eaten them. 

So with everyone arrived we settled down to watch An Unearthly Child, the very first episode of Doctor Who, to revisit Day 1 of the mad challenge. As I placed the DVD into the player I couldn't help but smile that I had a room full of people watching this with me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm aware that that statement makes me sound like a right sad case which is not correct at all. Well maybe a little. Obviously I have friends, and go out to meet them etc and do a lot of normal things. That being said, it's obvious by now that Doctor Who does (especially for these last 900 days) play a big part in my life and for most of the last two and a half years that has been somewhat of a solitary affair. So to suddenly have a group of friends around, who were willing to watch this old black and white episode from 1963, I found quite touching.

The first episode is one I have seen many times and I think it still stands up well as a great piece of television. It's amazing to see just how many things introduced in that first episode are things which are still integral to the show today. 

Of course each time an episode is watched then some of the magic is unfortunately lost. You can never recreate that moment of seeing it for the first time again. However watching the first episode again with friends, who I believe I'm right in saying had never seen it before, then it at least gave me back some of that thrill of experiencing the story for the first time. It makes me think of a Matt Smith episode of the show where the Doctor is explaining one of the reasons why he needs a companion. Having been travelling for so long he has become too accustomed to the wonders of the universe and can now only experience that thrill by seeing it through the eyes of his companion. "When you see it then I see it". For the most part I think my friends enjoyed the episode, or if they didn't, then they at least kept a polite silence over the limitations of 60s television.

With the first episode watched and a mountain of cake eaten, it was time for the episode I had been both looking forward to and dreading. The Time Of The Doctor had arrived.

First of all I have to mention the awesome coincidence that has allowed me to end this quest on such a story. This is the final adventure for the eleventh Doctor and so, even though the series will go on, this really felt like a definitive end for my challenge.

The only drawback to this episode is that it does require some knowledge of the episodes leading up to it to fully understand it. Now I expected to feel a little anxious during the evening as to whether everyone was enjoying themselves or just indulging me and my mad ways but it's a testimont to my friends that I didn't feel anxious at all as they were all awesome and I loved every minute of sharing this last episode with them. It's true though that I had to bite my tongue so that I didn't get annoying by pointing out all the little nods to the past that appear in the episode. A glove puppet of a Monoid! Brilliant! The seal of Rassilon stolen from the Master in the Death zone (the Doctor is referencing the events of The Five Doctors!). Things like that make my heart sing!

So to pick up on a few highlights of the episode:

Well first of all I was thrilled but a little surprised that the Doctor's twelve regeneration limit was included as a key plot point. This was something that was first brought up in the fourth Doctor story, The Deadly Assassin, and I imagine at the time they never really expected to get up to thirteen Doctors so it wasn't really worth worrying about. With the inclusion of John Hurt as the actual ninth Doctor then this made Matt Smith the twelfth. Steven Moffat then pulls a genius stroke by including the tenth Doctor's regeneration back into himself in Journey's End as an official regeneration. I've always hated the way the cliffhanger cheated us in that story so to now know that the Doctor is officially using up a regeneration there then it actually helps to improve the drama of that pretty lack lustre episode.

So Matt Smith is the final incarnation of the Doctor. And he is trapped on Trenzalore in a stalemate. He can speak his name through the crack in the skin of the universe and release the Time Lords back into our universe but in so doing he will trigger the time war all over again. And if he leaves, then the planet will be destroyed.

 

He tricks Clara into returning to the TARDIS which attempts to take her home, and the Doctor remains behind on Trenzalore for hundreds of years as he guards it from the invaders who want to destroy it.

 

Clara briefly returns to Trenzalore but is once again tricked into leaving and by the time she gets back the Doctor is now a very old man and is at the end of his life. The Daleks have finally broken through the barriers to the planet and they are damanding to see him die. The scenes of him at the top of a bell tower whilst the Daleks berate him about being on his final incarnation are fantastic and for me it was actually pretty emotional thinking back to how I had seen him through all of his regenerations. It really felt like the end. There was a moment slightly before this, when Clara walks in to find the Doctor is now a very old man, that I actually thought I might cry. Ridiculous! 

Of course it's not the end as the Time Lords grant him a complete new regeneration cycle after an emotional plea from Clara. This was something that was speculated may happen as it is already written into the rules of the show that this could happen after a line in The Five Doctors where the president of Gallifrey tries to get the Master to help them by promising him a brand new regeneration cycle. Just pointing that out for anyone who thinks it's some kind of cop out! It's not! It's awesome!

The final words of any Doctor are important. Just as important as their first words. This is the moment where they can sum up their time and bid their last farewell. David Tennant's departure had really felt like a death. The Doctor himself claimed that he would die and the next person would not be him but a completely new Doctor, and indeed Tennant's Doctor died whilst begging for more life which was fairly traumatic to watch! Matt Smith's regeneration is far more optimistic. In his final speech he goes on to explain how change is just a part of life and when you think about it we all change through our lives and can be considered to be different people at different times. What really gets the tears going is when he slowly removes his bow tie and lets it drop to the floor. The bow tie had been just as important aspect to the eleventh Doctor as the ridiculously long scarf was to the fourth.

And with that I'm suddenly faced with a brand new Doctor, who has some very scary eyes and only speaks a few lines of dialogue before the episode ends. Of course, this scene will be watched over and over again in attempt to gain any kind of insight into what Capaldi's Doctor will be like. The wait till Autumn is going to be a long one.

And then it was over. Champagne was drunk and then it was time for a couple of drinks in the pub.

If you are wondering why there is a spoon in the bottle, I was told it would stop it going flat. It didn't.

Overall I could not have asked for a better final day. I was so pleased to share this final episode with my closest mates. As the Doctor himself says :

"if it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me."

The quest was over.

But the story goes on...as the clock strikes twelve.

 

 

 

Day 899 - The Day Of The Doctor

Well this was a rather busy day. 

In anticipation of the final day, and knowing that the episode to watch on this day was the awesome 50th anniversary episode, Matt joined me for the day.

We started off playing some board games (yes I'm afraid my geekiness is not solely confined to the world of Doctor Who) before planning what we were going to watch that night.

Matt has seen many of the old episodes of Doctor Who. We used to live together so he couldn't really avoid them! Knowing that my challenge was nearing its end, and needing something else to obsess over, we decided to sit down and make the definitive list of all the episodes he has yet to see. I love making lists and luckily it seemed Matt was just as excited about making one too. You know when you say something out load and it feels more embarrassing then when you say it in your head? I think I've just had one of those moments.

So with the list made we thought it would be a good idea to watch some classic Doctor Who, and get a little drunk (obviously) before the main celebration of the 50th anniversary episode kicked off later that night. Adding more spice to this we decided to leave which story we watched completely up to chance by selecting it completely at random, and the result couldn't have been any more random, The Savages. A first Doctor story where none of the episodes even exist any more. We were going to go from watch a blurry black and white reconstruction of a 1960s Doctor Who to the full cinema released extravaganza of the 50th anniversary episode. Never let it be said that Doctor Who doesn't have a long and varied history!

It was actually quite fun "watching" The Savages as it's a story I had only seen the once and I couldn't really remember anything about it so it was like watching it for the first time again. We only got through the first couple of episodes before my panic about getting the actual designated episode for this day in before midnight started to take hold so we had to switch over to the 50th anniversary.

But not so fast! Before The Day Of The Doctor, we of course had to watch The Night Of The Doctor and what a surprise gift this was to fans on the 50th year of the show. Paul McGann was back!! 

Poor Paul McGann was only ever given the one television appearance back in the 1996 TV Movie and his Doctor was then never seen again. When the series returned in 2005, a new Doctor came with it in the form of Christopher Eccleston and so the fate of the eighth Doctor was always a mystery. 

McGann is an excellent Doctor and whilst he may have only been a "one night stand" he has gone on to star in many Doctor Who audio adventures which have helped to further flesh out his era of the show. These audio adventures are produced by a company called Big Finish and are not strictly part of the continuity of the actual show itself. Steven Moffat, being a fan of the Big Finish productions, obviously decided to change all that when he not only brought the eighth Doctor back to the TV series but also had him name check many of his companions from the Big Finish audios! Whilst I thought this was a fantastic move I must admit it did make my heart stop for a second as I considered the further ramifications of this one line of dialogue..Are all the audio plays now canon? Do I need to included all of them in my challenge now??? That would probably add another two years on to it!

Steven Moffat also has this excellent technique that he has used several times where a character will say something which makes perfect sense within the story but also is a clever nod to the audience watching. One of the very best examples occurs at the beginning of this mini episode when we see McGann for the first time and he utters the line "I'm a doctor, but probably not the one you were expecting" To bloody right!! This episode also confirms where John Hurt's doctor falls into the time line of all the other doctors as it is revealed that he was the one who fought in the Time War after McGann's doctor gives in against his resistance to fight. 

All of this and I haven't even got round to talking about the actual 50th anniversary episode yet! Where do I begin?

First of all I have to acknowledge the fact that this episode was simultaneously broadcast across the world to over 90 different countries on 23rd November 2013, also being shown at the same time in cinemas around the planet. That is mind blowing! The show had certainly come along away since the days of Ingrid Pitt karate kicking a pantomime horse.

The use of the original opening graphics from 1963 is a beautiful touch, and the first scene is back in Coal Hill School, where a certain "I Chesterton" is chairman of the governors. This is just one of many examples of nods to the past which are made throughout the episode. That's one of the great things, that these nods are put in without being integral to the plot. The episode works on different levels for the both the casual viewer and the hardcore fan.

Seeing David Tennant back as the Doctor is of course a treat even for the casual viewer. His Doctor continues to rate as one of the most popular and knowing that he is massive fan of the show it seemed a bit of a no brainier that he would be back for the 50th anniversary. As much as I loved seeing him back I must admit to feeling a bit annoyed at all the fan girls who gasped with delight when he appeared on the screen. But then who am I to judge? I let out a fair few gasps at various moments as I'm sure I will touch on soon. There was also a fair amount of consternation by fans that no older Doctors had been cast in the 50th. Again this will be touched on later.

There is essentially two plot threads going on throughout the episode. One involves the Zygons who have found themselves in Elizabethan England and are now putting themselves into a kind of suspended animation by placing themselves into paintings, to then emerge in the modern day world. Whilst it's exciting to see the Zygons back in Doctor Who (one of the more popular monsters from the past despite only ever appearing in one story!) I think they get a little overshadowed by three of the Doctors coming together and the second plot revolving around the final day of the Time War when the Doctor was forced to take the dreadful decision of killing his entire race in order to also defeat the Daleks and end the war that was threatening the entire universe.

With multi Doctor stories, the one issue that tends to be a problem is just how on earth do you think of a way to get all these Doctors together, and how can you get that to make sense within the confines of the episode. The way it's done here is nothing short of genius. The War Doctor has stolen the "moment", a weapon of mass destruction in order to end the war. As he is contemplating using it, the interface manifests itself into the forms of Rose Tyler and begins to discuss the ramifications of the Doctor's actions. In order to show him exactly what using the weapon will turn him into, she opens time windows on to his future which he travels through in and thereby meets his future selves.

Despite the fact that Doctors from the classic era are not exactly included in the episode, I love how John Hurt's Doctor is there to represent them. This is done through various comments made by him. He seems shocked by how young his future selves appear and also their constant use of the sonic screwdriver. "Why are you waving them around like that? They're scientific instruments! Not water pistols!" Also as we finally witness the wedding between the tenth Doctor and Queen Elizabeth the first (something that was briefly hinted at in The End Of Time) the War Doctor looks on in astonishment at the tenth Doctor snogging his new bride. The eleventh Doctor warns him that this stuff does tend to happen to him more often now. The thought of a classic era Doctor acting in such a way is beyond belief. Although I do think the War Doctor has a nerve to be so judgmental about kissing when it was his direct predecessor (the Eighth Doctor) who was the first to kiss his companion, way back in the TV Movie. But then again he also claimed to be half human so maybe his brain was still a bit frazzled from the regeneration!

 

There is also a fantastic scene where the three Doctor's are "locked up" in a cell in the Tower Of London. This gives them the opportunity to speak to each other probably for the first time as the War Doctor gently enquires as to how his actions in the Time War will have further impact on his future selves. It's also a moment of sheer genius where they realise that the sonic screwdriver would be able to destroy the door but would require centuries to work out the required calculation, the War Doctor scans the door with his screwdriver so that the eleventh Doctor's screwdriver will come up with the answer as 400 years have passed between them. Just as they do this, Clara comes stumbling into the room as the door was never locked in the first place. This is hilarious but it's also an important scene where the Doctor's can speak from their hearts and also sets up a very important idea for later on in the story.

 

As mentioned before, the Zygons do get a little overshadowed in the episode by everything else which is going on around them but I like how the Doctors eventually "defeat them". Using the memory erasure device implanted implanted in the room where the Zygons (who have taken human form) and the humans are arguing over a bomb that is about to detonate, they erase the memories of those in the room so they no longer know which side they are on because none of them know if they are a Zygon or a human. Apparently this is an actual philosophical theory, that to have the perfect debate, then the best way is to not be sure which side you are on. This makes perfect sense when you think about it because you would automatically want to find the best compromise for both races as you are not sure to which race you belong!

 

The real joy of this episode for me is the scenes set during the final day of the Time War. We had seen the briefest glimpse of this in The End Of Time but now we see the battle in full force, with Dalek ships surrounding the planet and a massive war going on on the surface below. Watching this in the cinema did not seem out of place at all as it was just like watching an epic movie.

 

By the conclusion of the episode, we have the three Doctor's come together to push the final big red button to end the war but at a most terrible cost. A scene earlier on had gone into detail about hoe each Doctor had coped with the genocide that he had caused, with the tenth Doctor living a state of constant guilt and regret and the eleventh Doctor trying to bury it at the back of his mind and forget about it entirely. Now they are together and ready to accept what they need to do. These scenes give me shivers, they are so intense!

 

As Clara speaks to the her Doctor, she asks him what is promise is. The name "Doctor" is his promise and its to be "never cruel or cowardly".."never give up, never give in". I may be wrong but I believe these are lines often written by Terrance Dicks in the novelisations of the classic era of the show. Dicks was a writer and script editor for the show back in the era of the third Doctor and he went on to write the majority of the novelisations. To hear his words spoken by the tenth Doctor and the War Doctor feel pretty special.

 

Figuring out a way that they could possibly save Gallifrey instead of destroying it the Doctor's come up with their craziest plan ever and this is where things go beyond exciting and become something else entirely. Having a plan, but knowing it would take centuries to work out the calculations, all the Doctors come together from the very first Doctor, William Hartnell. This is where the scene with the sonic screwdriver mentioned earlier comes into play as the same idea is being used again, with the first Doctor working on the problem, then the second and so on down the line. As the Doctor says he "has been working on the problem for a very long time!" Not only do we see all 12 Doctor's we also get the briefest glimpse of Capaldi! The cinema practically erupted at this moment.

With the battle over, and feeling almost as exhausted as if I'd been there by myself, it was time to relax a little as the three Doctors bid goodbye to each other to travel back to their separate time streams. This could have been the end of the episode but Steven Moffat has one last glorious treat in store for us. As the eleventh Doctor sits and looks at the painting of the last day of the Time War, he hears the curator's voice...a very familiar voice. It's only Tom Baker!!!!!!!

As the earliest of the Doctors who are still with us, to have him appear in the episode is just the greatest thing that could have happened. Also given his reluctance to ever return to the show, the most famous case being his refusal to appear in The Five Doctors, it just makes it all the more amazing he is here. As soon as you hear that distinctive voice, not dulled by the passing of the decades, you can't help but start to feel emotional.  

His true identity is left as somewhat of a mystery. He calls himself the curator but when the Doctor tells him that he never forgets a face, the curator says "you may find yourself revisiting a few one day, but just the old favourites" implying that this is a future version of the Doctor who has changed back into one of his most preferred appearances the same way we may slip into our favourite suit. Whether he is a future Doctor, or an aged version of the fourth Doctor doesn't matter either way, it's Tom Baker back in Doctor Who and that is bloody awesome!

This is probably the longest blog entry so far and yet I'm sure I'll still think of some amazing moments that I have missed out. I love this episode! Part of me was a little upset that this wasn't the last episode of the quest as I would have loved to have shown it to my friends at the party I plan to have for the final day. But that privilege has to be left for The Time Of The Doctor as these 900 days of madness finally come to an end.

If you've stuck with this blog entry then well done to you! 

 

 

Day 898 - The Name Of The Doctor

And so the final trilogy of episodes begins. 

When this episode as first broadcast it would surprise me if several fans spontaneously combusted with excitement at the first minute of it. After 50 years we finally see the moment when the first Doctor and his granddaughter, Susan, steal the TARDIS and run away. As if that wasn't exciting enough, somehow Clara is there too. And we see she has been in the Doctor life throughout time as various clips of previous Doctor's are used with Clara added into the scenes. And yet the Seventh Doctor's actions in Dragonfire still make no sense!

After the warning given by Dorium at the end of the last season, the Doctor finds himself going to Trenzalore, the planet where is grave is located. He is forced to go there by the Great Intelligence who has kidnapped Vastra, Jenny and Strax. 

I'm never really sure where this story falls in the timeline of the Great Intelligence. We see the birth of the Intelligence in The Snowmen and it seems to be that this if the final story for it. So after the events if the Snowmen, the Intelligence must travel to Tibet where it tries to take over the world with Yeti, then travel to the London Underground in 1967 and try to invade again before eventually kidnapping the Doctor's friends and leading him to Trenzalore...and turning back into Richard E Grant for some reason. The Intelligence effectively kills itself in this story by throwing itself into the Doctor's time stream in order to rewrite his entrie history to "deliver pain to your every breath!" Wow, that's some serious revenge going on there.  

Now I must admit first of all that I was fairly drunk when I watched this episode. Don't judge me, I'm on holiday and there was drink in the house. As this challenge comes to an end I am finding more and more moments that get me a little emotional (again there was the drink). As the Doctor enters his tomb we see a column of swirling and dancing strands if white light. As the Doctor explains, he has travelled so much through time that this is effectively his scar tissue left in the universe from his travels.."my path through time and space, from Gallifrey to Trenzalore." This really resonated with me as this is also the journey I have gone on. The final episode which I will be watching on Saturday is also set on Trenzalore so my journey has also gone from Gallifrey to Trenzalore. Started to get choked up at this moment.

Then as if that wasn't bad enough, the Doctor points his screwdriver at the light and we hear ghostly echoes of his previous adventures, from the first Doctor asking "have you ever wondered what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension?" to the third Doctor commenting that "it was the daisiest daisy I ever saw." Again this just made me think about all the stories that had come before this one and how it will all soon be over.

The mystery of Clara is solved as she also throws herself into the Doctor's time steam in order to save him and put right all the things that the Great Intelligence has meddled with. The Doctor reaches in to save her and we are given one last treat as we see various Doctor's running past her in the misty landscape. Then something massive happens! Something which blew the mind of everybody watching this episode. One more figure appeared with his back to us. Clara does not recognise him and the Doctor tells her that the figure is in fact him but not the Doctor. He goes on to explain that the name "Doctor" is a promise that he keeps and this man is the one who broke the promise. Clara faints and then we hear the figure speak.

"What I did, I did without choice, in the name of peace and sanity"

To which the Doctor replies "but not in the name of the Doctor". Then the figure turns around to reveal John Hurt (who at this point we already knew was cast in the 50th anniversary special) and a caption introduces him as the Doctor. Oh....my....God!

As exciting as this is, won't somebody please think of the numbering system!! At this point we didn't know where Hurt's doctor fitted into the timeline of the previous Doctors but given what he said about trying to preserve peace and sanity it seemed fairly obvious to me that he was the Doctor who fought in the Time War, which would make him the ninth Doctor and Eccleston the tenth and so on. Dear me! What a mess this has got us into. A brilliant mess nevertheless!

Day 897 - Nightmare In Silver

Neil Gaimon makes his return to writing for Doctor Who after his very popular episode, The Doctor's Wife. This time he is writing for the Cybermen which he says is a monster that always terrified him as a child. I'd have to agree with him. I think the Cybermen are so much more scary than the Daleks as they have that thing about them where they sort of look human but not quite and it's that unnaturalness about them that makes them creepy.

As is tradition for the series, the Cybermen have gone through another redesign!  I suppose that for a race that is continually trying to better itself than it's not beyond the realms of reason to suppose that they can look different each time we see them. Now they look more sleek and are far more agile, they can bend down and even run! There is no more of that slow march towards you that you could easily outrun! Also I'd say that in the region of the face they resemble more the Patrick Troughton era Cybermen which I thoroughly approve of.

Warwick Davis stars in this episode (also in Harry Potter so chalk another one up for me there for those of you playing along at home. In fact I think he has played a couple of characters in Harry Potter so I could get triple points for that. And he was in Star Wars... I wonder if anyone else has been in both Doctor Who and Star Wars?...hmmm.....yes! The original Boba Fett was in The Space Museum and The Time Warrior! God! I'm good!)

So yes I was taking about Warwick Davis, he plays a character called Porrage (don't think the name ever really gets explained) who SPOILER ALERT turns out to be the Emporer of ...I'm not sure.. But he's an Emporer anyway. 

This episode is set several thousand years into the future and the Cybermen have seriously improved since they were destroyed by "love" at the end of Closing Time. In this episode it is revealed that the Emporer allowed the destruction of an entire galaxy in order to wipe out the Cyber threat! Yep, they really have made some serious improvements over the millennium then.

Matt Smith gives a great performance as the Doctor is slowly taken over by the Cyber Controller. There are many scenes of him arguing with himself effectively as he and the Cyber Controller who is in charge of half of the Doctor's brain do battle with each other over a game of chess. I always think that must be really tough for an actor, to keep switching between two characters like that. The Doctor does get a slight respite from the Cyber Controller when he slaps a gold ticket to the implants on his face. For the first time in the new series we see that the Cybermen still have a problem with gold. You can tell Neil Gaimon is a proper fan the way he slips in these references to the past.

Overall I really like the new Cybermen who have some cool tricks up their sleeves too such as allowing their hands to detach to sneak up on people etc. Whilst I enjoyed the episode I do not think it compares very well to Gaimons previous episode, The Doctor's Wife, but then that was just so making that maybe it's unfair to compare the two.

Day 896 - The Crimson Horror

One thing that struck me when I was watching this episode is, where are Jago and Litefoot when all of this is going on?

Jago and Litefoot were two very popular characters from a fourth Doctor story, The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. This story was set in 1890s London and so would have been around the same time that this story was also set. The characters proved so popular that, even though they only appeared in the show once, the actors are still reprising their roles in a series of audio adventures which I've just started listening to. 

The reason I mention all this is that this episode fees so much like an episode of Jago and Litefoot and I love it. The Doctor's new team during this time period, is Vastra, Jenny and Strax (a Silurian, a human and a Sontaran) but there must be some fan fiction somewhere that brings this group together with Jago and Litefoot.

Anyway I guess I should talk about the episode itself without geeking out so much about what might have happened. I was pretty tired when I watched this one as is just returned from a day out at Alton Towers. For this final week of my quest I have booked the week as a holiday, mainly because the holidays needed using, but I thought it was a good opportunity to make sure the blog was up to date.

Diana Rigg stars as Mrs Gillyflower, a woman obsessed with creating a perfect society. With her partner, the mysterious Mr Sweet, she is recruiting the best of the best, then dipping them in some kind of red goo to preserve them and housing them inside glass jars inside "Sweetville". Then she intends to release a poison on the rest of humanity allowing her chosen few to step forward into a world of perfection. Basically she's right loony tune. As the Doctor himself says "I'm the Doctor, you're nuts, and I'm going to stop you!"

One of the more disturbing aspects of the episode comes from the story of Mrs Gillyflower's daughter, Ada, who was apparently blinded by an abusive father. She cares for the Doctor as he becomes one of the many rejects from the preservation process. Gillyflower's ruthlessness and desire for the perfect world even goes right down to the way she treats her daughter. Ada is blind and therefore there is no place for her in the new society. It's really horrible. It's made even worse when we discover that her blindness was actually caused by her mother experimenting in her!

Strax the Sontaran is a brilliant as ever. He even gets a glorious moment to fight of some of Gillyflower's henchman with his laser gun before being admonished by Vastra. He skulks away mumbling that he is going to play with his grenades. Brilliant! I also love his reaction to the fact that they are travelling up to Yorkshire. He feels they need to be even more wary than normal as they are going to "the north".

There is a bloody awful gag about sat navs though which is unforgivable. Asking for direction, Strax finds a useful young lad who speaks in the exact way that modern sat navs do, and then introduces himself as Thomas Thomas. Oh good grief that's awful.

I forgot to mention in my last blog entry about the links to older doctors. From The Rings Of Akhaten onwards we have had a reference to each Doctor. So technically the last episode wa the turn of the fourth Doctor. I couldn't really pick up on one except to say that the exploration of the TARDIS was something that was done also in The Invasion Of Time which was a fourth Doctor story and was also the story where we saw the TARDIS's swimming pool.

In this episode there is more recognisable reference to the fifth Doctor era when the Doctor tells Clara that he once spent months trying to get a gobby Australian back to Heathrow airport, clearly meaning Tegan. This is further elaborated on when the Doctor says "Brave heart Clara" which was his well known phrase that he would use with Tegan...except he obviously said Tegan instead of Clara for those people who want to be pedantic!

Day 895 - Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS

When the TARDIS is captured by a ship scouring the galaxy for junk, Clara is lost within it's many corridors and it's up to the Doctor and the Baalen brothers to find and rescue from the strange zombie like creatures roaming the ship.

First of all I have to point out the obvious. That title is so bloody exciting! Since the series was revived, fans have longed to see more of the TARDIS than the console room that we see nearly every week. For a ship which is sometimes considered to be infinite in size then there are so many possibilities for exciting discoveries within it's many rooms.

There are many moments to please long time fans, with sighting of the famous swimming pool (although it now looks a lot more elaborate since Leela took a dip in it) to echoes of previous companions and Doctors heard throughout the episode. One such moment occurs when one of the Baalen brothers decides to dismantle the central control unit and we hear echoes going right back to the very first episode of Susan describing how the TARDIS got its name. This is quite touching for me as I approach the final day of this challenge, to hear all these memories played back to me of previous adventures.

The Doctor also has a chance to confront Clara as to her indentity. As he screams at her that he thinks she is either a trick or a trap, her terror is clear to see and the Doctor realises that she actually has no idea what he is talking about. She is just a normal woman so how can he keep meeting her throughout time and space. 

The zombie creatures are also a cool idea. Having their features completely burnt away makes it a mystery as to who or what they are. The Doctor seems to know but does not want to let on. When I first saw this episode I began to wonder if they were some kind of hideous creation left over from his previous regenerations. So every time he regenerates, his previous form is somehow mutated into one of these horrible creatures and left to roam the corridors in torment. Whilst this would have been a neat idea (if I say so myself) it would be pretty depressing to think that this is the eventual fate for all of the Doctors. Anyway this isn't what they turn out to be anyway so it's all fine.

Whilst I don't rate this episode very highly, it's still a fairly enjoyable watch. I think for a casual viewer it may seem a little boring as most of the fun comes from noticing these nods to the past. We even get to see the eye of harmony again! Awesome! Plus it further validates the TV movie idea that the eye is now a feature of every TARDIS as well as being the source of all power on Gallifrey. Wow! I've just heard myself saying that in my head and realised how incredibly nerdy I am. Oh well, after 895 days I guess it's too late to change back now!

Day 894 - Hide

The scene shown in the picture above legitimately terrified me. 

Professor Palmer and his psychic friend, Emma are exploring a supposed haunted house that the professor has just bought. It's not long before the Doctor and Clara turn up to join in the investigations. The Doctor claims to be be an inspector from the ministry which kind of made me chuckle as I remembered all the problems the third Doctor used to have with these pompous officials so it's a little weird to see the Doctor impersonating one.

Playing Emma is Jessica Raine who is most well known for her part in Call The Midwife but who, for me, is mostly associated with playing Verity Lambert, one of the original creators of Doctor Who in the Doctor Who biopic which was broadcast last year for the 50th anniversary of the show. Thinking about it, David Bradley is also in this series of Doctor Who and he played William Hartnell in the biopic so there is a lot of crossover. And Brian Cox played Sydney Newman and played the voice of an Ood in Doctor Who in 2009! Things like this excite me. Anyway, moving on...

This episode is proper creepy. The picture shown above is from a scene where the Professor and Emma are looking out of the window, there is a sudden flash of lightning illuminating the figure stood behind them, reaching out towards them!

As well as this ghost like figure we also have the monstrous Crooked Man, he looks and moves about in a really freaky way! I found out afterwards that it's actually a bloke in a costume and not a cgi creature as I imagined! The creature is so deformed I just assumed that there couldn't be a real person on there. Also I think they did the weird movements by having him act them backward and then reverse the tape which gives this really unnatural feel to it. It's fucking horrible basically!

So what else can I say. It's sort of a haunted house type story really with some alternate realities and time travel thrown in for good measure. I like the growing relationship between the professor and Emma during the story. It's obvious they both like each other but not of them can be the first to admit it. I also liked the idea behind the reasons for the professors obsession with ghosts. During the war he was forced to kill or in someway be responsible for the loss of men's lives. As such he needs to know what happens after we die.

Also, rather unusually it is revealed at the end of the story that the Doctor had some motivation to take them to this house as he needs Emma's opinion as to who or what Clara is. He is told she is noting more than a normal girl which only heightens the mystery as to how he can keep meeting different version of her throughout time and space.

Something else which is odd is that there seems to be a growing theme that the TARDIS does not like Clara (locking her out etc) and I'm not sure why that is. Knowing what is to come I can't really think of a specific reason behind it, unless this is something which has still to be explained.

And I can't believe I nearly forgot this! In further links to previous Doctors we see the return of the Metabelius crystal from The Green Death and Planet Of The Spiders from the third Doctors's era. The fact that Matt Smith completely mispronounces Metabelius is something that still upsets fans but I away just put it down to the fact that his Doctor just pronounces things differently. I mean lets get some perspective! Tom Baker always used to pronounce Gallifrey weirdly!