If my last,
so very long ago post focused more on what we sometimes laughingly call “real
life” then this one, will hopefully light a fire under my ass and get me
writing more about my other focus on this blog, Doctor Who. There has been a
lot of Who stuff going on, so I’m just going to review, pontificate and
generally rattle on in roughly chronological order. So, if you’re not here for
nerdy stuff, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry…
Series
Ten
I didn’t review each episode as I did
with Series Nine, but I couldn’t go without some comments on Peter Capaldi’s
last season (barring the Xmas episode). This was EASILY my favorite Capaldi
season in terms of strongly consistent stories, characters and performances. Pearl
Mackie, oh my goodness. I adored her as Bill and am now kicking myself for not
taking the chance to go to Philly Comic-Con where she was guesting. Such a
great companion arc for her, and a tremendous foil for the 12th
Doctor this season. Speaking of, Capaldi has never been better. I liked the
prickly Doctor he started as, and as he mellowed the role became more and more
his. He may have become less tetchy but still never warm and snuggly. I’ve
never really ranked my favorite Doctors, my general response is that my
favorite is whomever I’m watching at the time. But I’m leaning towards changing
that response. I’m not blindly in love with every story of his, but let me just
say that when he fires on all cylinders in a story that plays to his strengths,
no one has been better.
“World Enough and Time” is far and
away my favorite episode this season. I’ve always come down firmly on the
Cybermen side of the Daleks/Cybermen debate, and this is the best Cybermen
story in simply ages. The Mondasian Cybermen are so low tech as to almost be laughable,
if they weren’t so flat out frightening. I hadn’t been properly creeped out by
a story in ages, and this one just ticked all the boxes for me. As for THAT
character reveal… yep, should have seen it coming a mile away. But I didn’t and
that was a refreshing change of pace. As for the OTHER reveal one episode later
at the end of “The Doctor Falls” – well, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to kinda
getting a little choked up. I may be WAY behind on my Time Stream entries, but
my recent rewatch of Hartnell just reinforced how much I love that era of the
program. Which, prompts me to jump *slightly* ahead to…
The 2017
Christmas Special (“Twice Upon a Time”)
If you haven’t seen it, watch the
trailer here.
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve watched this thing already, and I
love it to bits. David Bradley! Double the TARDISes! And yes, Mark Gatiss! (I’ve
been a fan of his since his New Adventure “Nightshade” and dammit he just
always seems to have fun when he shows up in Who). Christmas can’t come soon
enough, and that’s not a sentiment I normally express. Speaking of Christmas,
there was one other recent bit of Doctor Who news that may have gotten your
attention. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…
Jodie
Whittaker as the 13th Doctor
Um, wow. Just, wow. Again, if you didn’t
see the official BBC video announcement (and in god’s name why on earth are you
bothering with my blog if you HAVEN’T) take a look-see right here:
They
actually did it. They cast a woman as the Doctor. I’m beyond thrilled for this,
really. There’s never been a legitimate reason why the Doctor couldn’t have
been a woman before now, and I think it’s the perfect time. I feel like this
deserves a longer essay than I’m affording it here, but damn this thrills me.
