Tag Archives: TARDIS

The Doctor 101 Part 6-Doctors 9, 10, 11, and 12

I meant to get this post written and published yesterday, in time for the premiere tonight of season 8, but due to an unforeseen trip to San Francisco, it didn’t happen, so I am here today to get it done.  This is the last piece outlining, however briefly, all the different incarnations of the Doctor.  All the Doctors listed today are post the relaunch of the series.  These are the Doctors I know the best, well most of them.  One of them I don’t really know at all, aside from him not liking the cold of his kidneys.  Starting tonight, that will be different.  Are we ready then?  Fantastic! Then Allons-y, and Geronimo!

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In 2005, The BBC decided it was time to bring back Doctor Who.  This was really a second attempt to bring the series back, the first was the 1996 TV movie.  Despite the number of years it had been since the Doctor was on TV, he had never really gone away.  There were novels, comics, and audio plays, all keeping the Doctor alive for the fans out there.  At this time, the BBC hired show runner Russell Davies to bring the character back.  Wisely, Davies decided that the reboot would be a continuation of the old series, but with a new incarnation of the Doctor.  The actor brought in to play our favorite Time Lord was Christopher Eccleston.  The look of this Doctor was modern and hip.  It was a simple black leather jacket, dark T and dark pants.  No bright colors of clown costumes, just a sleek, modern look.  In addition to the new look of the Doctor, the whole series got a new look.  Better special effects and little larger budget helped with that.  Plus, the Doctor’s companion, Rose, was one of the more iconic companions in the history of the series.  All of this combined for a success for the series, and it looked like the Doctor would be around for a while. Eccleston played the Doctor in a very confident manner, but he was friendly and kind to Rose and to others.  However, when it was necessary he could be very serious and dark.  He alluded to some bad things happening in the last time war, and that he was the last Time Lord out there, which was new for the series.  He also gave us the first catch phrase of the relaunch with “Fantastic.”  I guess phrase isn’t the right term, but is catch word a real term?  Eccleston had only planned to be in the series for one season, he stuck to that.  Despite the popularity of the series, Eccleston did not return for season 2.  Infact, he also refused to be part of the 50th with David Tenant and Matt Smith.  As an actor, he has said he accomplished what he wanted to with the character, and doesn’t want to go back to it.

Since I am more familiar with these Doctors, I want to list some episodes from each to help you get started.  For the 9th Doctor, these are my recommendations:

Rose:  This is his first story and kind of sets up the whole relaunch.  It is not the best story of the first season, but it is good to start here.  We meet the Doctor, get an explanation on a lot about the series, and meet Rose and Mickey for the first time.  We also get to see the Doctor be happy, confident Doctor and scary, vengeful Doctor.

Father’s Day:  This deals with the question we all ask at some point in life, I wonder what would have happened if… In other words, the great What If question, and sometimes, despite what we think at the time, the bad stuff that happens has to happen.  Plus we meet Rose’s father.

The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances: This was by far my favorite story during this season.  It is a little creepy, but has a great ending.  Plus we meet Captain Jack for the first time.

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With the show being a success and with Eccleston leaving after only one season, it was time to introduce a new Doctor.  Enter David Tennant, the 10th Doctor.  He is my favorite Doctor.  I enjoyed the passion this Doctor brought to the character.  Everything was always all out with him on screen.  I, personally liked him better post Rose.  I like Martha and Donna more than Rose, which I know would make a lot of people upset, but it’s how I feel.  The 10th was just so cool.  He was clever and fun and serious and tragic and triumphant all at once.  Plus he only wore “trainers” all the time.  When I lace up my own Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars to go to work, I always think to myself “These are world saving shoes.”  It makes me want to make a difference.  If Eccleston re-established the Doctor Who Series, Tennant made it here to stay.  He was received very well, and began to bring in a whole new generation of fans, and a whole new group of fans, the Fan Girl.  During his time, we met the Master again, lost Rose, met Sara Jane again, met the Stone Angels, and met River Song for the first time.  We also get our next catch word: Allons-y, and in Voyage of the Damned, the Doctor realizes a dream of his when he gets to say Allons-y, Alonzo.

Some must see episodes from Tennant’s time:

The Christmas Invasion: This is Tennant’s first episode as the Doctor, and right away we get to see the differences between his and Eccleston’s versions.  Plus, we are adjusting to the new character along with Rose, and probably feeling a lot of the same things.

Blink:  Chances are, if you have asked a Doctor Who fan which episodes you should watch, they always point you to this one.  This is one of the most beloved Doctor Who episodes since the series relaunched.  It doesn’t help you get to know the Doctor to well, since he’s barely in it, but it is a great episode and worth every minute of your time.

Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead-  This is a fun 2 part episode, and we get to meet River Song, who ends up not being critically important during the 10th Doctor’s time, but plays a huge role during the 11th’s.

Waters of Mars:  An incredible episode.  If you watch the whole season, do me a favor, when you get to this episode, skip Tenant’s last episode and go straight to Matt Smith’s first episode.  Pretend like The End of Time never happened.  You will be doing me and yourself a huge favor.

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David Tennant and Russell Davies left the Doctor Who show at the same time, so Matt Smith comes in not just as a new Doctor, but also with a new producer at the helm of the series.  Fortunately for us, that new producer is Steven Moffat, and this ushers in one of the best runs of the series to date.  There were some great story arcs in Smith’s time.  The Doctor and his companions, the Ponds, along with River Song were like one big happy, time traveling, Family.  It was hard to see any of these actors leave the show at any point.  Matt Smith brought a new quirkiness and energy to the role.  There were some dark stories, but through it all, the 11th Doctor was all smiles.  Except when he wasn’t, and then it was really sad.  Tennant really helped to affirm what Eccelston established, but Smith and Moffat brought Doctor Who to new heights internationally.  It is now a world-wide mega-hit. Smith is my wife’s favorite, I think mostly because she knows him the best.

Some episodes to check out:

All of them from Season 5 and 6: It is hard to pick just one because you might really miss out on some important piece of information, and the really good episodes are only really good because the rest of the episodes lead up to them.

The Name of the Doctor/The Day of the Doctor/The Time of the Doctor- I really enjoyed these last 3 episodes of Matt Smith’s time, and they all lead into what is happening today, this evening, hopefully after you read all of this, when season 8 premieres.

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That brings us to Peter Capaldi, who premieres tonight as the Doctor.  We know next to nothing about his Doctor, except he doesn’t like the color of his kidneys…

The Doctor 101 Part 5- Doctors 7, 8, and War

Ah, the War Doctor.  When writing a series like this, how does one approach the War Doctor?  He does not fit in with the traditional numbering of the Doctors, partially because he didn’t really exist, I think, until it was clear that Eccleston was not going to do the 50th.  It was all very neat and tidy, McGann was 8, Eccleston was 9, Tenant was 10, Smith was 11.  Easy, peasy.  Then along came Moffat, and messed the whole thing up.  He had to come up with something to take Eccleston’s place in the 50th, so enter the War Doctor.  I have elected to place him in the order where he has been placed in the story, instead of the order which he appeared in the series.  If I did that, he would be in the last post, after number 11.  But he doesn’t regenerate into Capaldi’s Doctor, so I placed him here, where I guess he belongs. If all of this is very confusing, well, blame Moffat.  I will try to explain more when we get to his entry here, but first we have 2 other, fantastic Doctors to discuss.

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Due to the lack of popularity for Doctor number 6, and in an attempt to bring the ratings for the series back up, the producer decided in the Fall of 1987 that it was time for a new Doctor.  Colin Baker’s Doctor was anything but likable, and very dark.  They went in a different direction with number 7 and brought in the likable, warm, funny Sylvester McCoy.  Of the classic Doctors, McCoy may be my favorite.  He was witty, charming, calm, funny, and clever, all at the same time.  He was not easily ruffled, performing superbly under pressure.  Again, they gave the Doctor a signature look, but they decided to ditch the clown costume worn by 6, and went instead with a question mark sweater that would make Bill Cosby proud, a sport jacket, a signature hat and his question mark handled umbrella.

As number 7 appeared, at first he seemed to not be very bright or strategic.  Often times it seems like he had no idea what was going on or what kind of danger he was in.  However, as his time went on, he became very cunning and strategic, almost dark, but never losing his charming air.  Despite the change in character, this Doctors time was cut short after just a few seasons, due to cancellation.  He would appear again in 1996 in the TV movie.  Number of episodes wise, he was an averaged tenured Doctor.  Number of years, he had a longer tenure than most, lasting from 1987 to 1996.

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In 1996, The BBC tried to reboot the Doctor Who series with a made for television movie and a brand new Doctor.  The 8th Doctor was played in one movie and one mini episode by Paul McGann.  The movie was strange, to say the least and introduced at least one very odd piece of “maybe it’s canon and maybe it’s not” information when it hints that maybe the Doctor’s father was human.  This has been completely ignored as the series was successfully launched.  McGann has ended up being one of the more popular despite only being on-screen in the movie.  His popularity grew through audio stories in the absence of TV episodes.  Many fans wondered what it would have been like if McGann’s series had gotten off the ground and they had gotten to see more of him than just the movie.  They got a little satisfaction last year when he appeared in a mine episode on YouTube just before the 50th anniversary special.  His regeneration was the only one we never saw on film, but in the mini episode we did get to finally see it.  As a side note here, the Salt Lake Comic Con is quickly approaching, and rumors are flying that there will be some Doctors here as guests, and just announced this morning, Paul McGann will be there.  Any Doctor is huge, but McGann seems big because he doesn’t seem to do a lot of the conventions.

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For years, since the series relaunched, it was assumed that McGann regenerated into Eccleston, the 8th Doctor became the 9th Doctor.  Last year, we learned that wasn’t the case.  There was a Doctor in between, it was one the Doctors after tried to forget, because of what he did, or at least supposedly did.  Since the relaunch, the Doctor has been carrying around this huge amount of guilt.  Why?  Because he was responsible for completely destroying two whole species, one of them was his own.  He was the last of the Time Lords because he killed all the others in the last great Time War.  I suppose, if I had destroyed my whole world and everyone in it, I would feel guilty too.  It was always assumed that either number 8 had pulled that trigger, or number 9.  Then we found out it was neither.  There was this guy, who wouldn’t even call himself the Doctor.  He was regenerated for one purpose, to bring an end to the Time War, and he was willing to do it at any cost.  He was first introduced in the episode “The Name of the Doctor” and appeared as one of three Doctors in the 50th anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor.”  He was played masterfully by John Hurt, and he has become a Doctor that I would like to find out more about.  By the end of “The Day of the Doctor,” he finds a way to redeem himself, and takes his place among the other versions of the Doctor.  At the very end, to remove all doubt, we see him regenerate into what is obviously number 9.

That wraps up this part.  I will be back on Friday with part 6, which will cover 9, 10, and 11, just in time to settle in on Saturday and begin getting to know number 12.

11th Doctor Coin Purse

Hello everybody.  We are excited to present our second Geek-Craft project tonight.  The Ninja Turtle Pencil Bag was a huge hit on the blog.  Hopefully everyone will like this project just as much.  Just like last time, it is brought to you by my lovely bride, Erica Dietz.  As always, you can check out all of her projects at the 5 Little Monsters blog.  She has links there to follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Ravelry, or Instagram, so feel free to check out her other crafts on the site.  Tonight’s project is a coin purse inspired by Erica’s favorite Doctor, Number 11, portrayed by Matt Smith.  Enjoy!

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This Geek-Craft is a little bit different from last time because it is not completely my own pattern, it is how I used someone else’s tutorial and turned it into something geeky.

One day I was looking at crafty tutorials online and I came across a tutorial for a Big Bow Zipper Wallet by Michael Ann Made. I guess the geek in me came out a little because the first thing I thought when I saw the picture of a wallet with a bow on it was “that looks kind of like a bow tie and bow ties are cool, I could totally use that to make a Dr. Who wallet”.

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In order to make your own 11th Doctor Coin Purse you will need to get the pattern for the wallet here. I did everything the same as the pattern except that I added the suspenders. For the suspenders I cut strips of fabric an inch wide. I pressed the raw edges in to the middle, 1/4 inch on each side, so that the finished strip was about 1/2 inch. Pin them onto the front piece about 1 1/4 inches from each side. Topstitch as close as possible along each edge. Finish the wallet following the pattern.

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Here is the finished product next to the TARDIS.

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Bow ties are, and always will be cool.  Thanks for sharing Erica.  Another great craft and another great tutorial on how to make it at home.  We would love to see your finished products as well.  Feel free to share your completed 11th Doctor Coin purse in the comments so everyone can see.  Thanks for reading, and geeky crafting!