Category Archives: The Doctor 101- Doctor Who

A collection of posts about Doctor Who for newcomers to the show

A Day Late Review of “Kill the Moon”-Doctor Who Series 8

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We are moving pretty quickly now through series 8.  It feels like it was just yesterday that the series premiered, but here we are on the 7th episode of the series.  How do we feel about this new Doctor thus far?  Do we like him?  Do we not like him?  For me it is kind of hard.  I feel like I am on the fence.  I don’t know whether I like him or not.  Part of me thinks that my issues have to do with him simply being different than the last Doctor.  I felt the same way when Matt Smith took over for David Tennant, but eventually he grew on me and I liked him.  Part of me thinks this is different.  I am beginning to wonder if we are not supposed to like him.  I am beginning to think that Clara certainly does not like him much. Or, maybe, as Danny has implied, she is just over the whole Doctor thing.  In any case, here is the good, the bad, and the final verdict for “Kill the Moon.”

The Good

It’s in space.  I feel like a lot of this season so far has been on Earth, and I like the adventures in space part, not just the time part.  This was a big positive. In the Space adventures, I feel like we can come across some very new and different monsters, which is exciting, and we almost get there with the giant spider creatures in this episode.  For me, the being in space part was just about the only real good in this episode.  As I watched, I thought I enjoyed it, but thinking about it and pondering on it, I don’t think I did.  The only other good thing was the Doctor addressed his new regeneration cycle, and it sounds like it is not limited to just 13 this time around.  He may just regenerate forever.

The Bad

Where to start?  The spider monsters ended up being nothing more than giant bacteria.  The moon ended up being a giant egg for some giant space monster that is the only one of its kind (which begs the question, which came first, the giant space creature or the giant space egg?).  It just seemed a little silly.  I get that a lot of this show can seem pretty silly, but it usually doesn’t when it is played out.  This episode just felt silly, similar to the “Robot of Sherwood” episode, which is the only episode I have not reviewed from this series.  The biggest baddy of this episode was not the giant spider bacteria or the giant space monster that hatches from the moon.  No, the biggest baddy was the drama.  The drama between the Doctor and Clara, and something tells me that it is only going to get worse between now and the Christmas special.  These two obviously don’t like each other, and the rift between them and the continuing issues has made them both into quite unlikeable characters.  Part of me does not like the Doctor for how he treats Clara, and part of me can’t stand Clara for how much she disdains the Doctor.  It is a vicious cycle, and I think the best Christmas present I will get this year is Clara’s departure from the show.  Hopefully, a new companion will work make this Doctor more likable.  It’s called chemistry, and these two don’t have it.

The Final Verdict

This was a rough one.  If you can find a way to skip, I would. I don’t think there was any major plot line that will come back later in the series, except that the Doctor and Clara can’t stand each other, which will resurface again and again until one of them leaves.  I used to really like Clara, and I think I could like this Doctor, but watching this episode helped me realize the problem is not either one individually, but the two of them together.  Make it stop!  I will continue to watch the series, but I am looking forward to the end of the year and something new and different.

A Day Late Review of “The Caretaker”

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Another week and another story from this series of Doctor Who is in the books.  The first thing I want to say about this episode is that I loved the title.  It was nice little nod and wink to Tom Baker’s role as the Caretaker in “Day of the Doctor.”  The second thing is that I was really looking forward to this episode.  Some of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who have the Doctor going deep undercover, so I was excited.  Did it live up to my excitement?  Let’s find out.

I have been wondering about the format of my day late reviews.  I don’t think I am going to continue to give a synopsis of the episode.  I am going to assume you either A. Watched it, or B. are going to watch it, so no synopsis.  I am going to give you the good of the episode, the bad, and the final verdict.  All of this, of course, is NOT spoiler free, so be warned. I hope you enjoy the new format.  If not let me know, and maybe we will tweak it again.

The Good

Lots of awkward Doctor/human interactions.  I love the episodes where regular humans interact wight the Doctor and have to try to figure out why he is so strange.  There was plenty of that in this episode, from his interactions with the other teachers, his interrupting Clara’s class to correct her, and finally his interactions with the students.  It was fun.  Capaldi pulls this off as the Doctor.  He is not goofy weird, like Matt Smith, or as smooth as a human like David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston.  His weird is a darker, more disturbing kind of weird.  My favorite example of this is the sign he puts on the caretaker’s door.  It doesn’t say “Keep Out,” it says “Keep Away Humans,’ which is just a really odd thing.

Danny also finally gets more involved in the story.  They have been flirting with this for a while on the show, and it finally happened.  Danny and Clara, on the other hand, have just been flirting.  Danny is smart, brave, good-hearted, and a great compliment to the uncaring Doctor.  IT was exciting to see him get involved.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be long-lived.  I think he will leave the show at the same time Clara does, at least, that is how the story is feeling right now.  Clara is having to choose between Danny and the Doctor more and more each week, and with her dropping the “L” word this week, it looks like she will be picking Danny permanently, and he doesn’t seem too interested in flying off with the Doctor by himself.

I also wonder if we have met the future companion of the Doctor, one of the girls at the school where Danny and Clara teach.  She might make for an interesting companion.  She is a teenage girl, so the romance thing would absolutely not be happening, which is a plus.

One last good bit, we get the first mention of River in this episode, and the way he mentions her, made me wonder if she might be reappearing in future episodes.  Fingers crossed!

The Bad

The bad guy is the bad in this one.  The robot seemed really cool, and dangerous, but ended up not being either of those things.  Really, the episode was about the Doctor meeting Danny and Clara being put squarely in the middle of the two gents, and the robot was just a way to make it happen.  Too bad, lots of potential, hardly any of it realized.

Of course, since we had a robot, and a random death, we see Missy again, and get a hint at who or what she is.  Apparently, at least in some form, she is a deity, and the place where she is looks to be heaven.  It has been hinted at subtly throughout the series, but this time, the dead police officer says “My God…” at one point in the “Promised Land,” and the guy there just responds by letting him know that she is really busy today.  Interesting to see how this all turns out.  She has also referred to the Doctor as her boyfriend, so has the Doctor been seeing God?  Just a little weird for my taste.  We’ll see where it goes.

The Final Verdict

Overall, a pretty watchable episode.  It was funny and entertaining.  IT only hinted at some real action, but did not really deliver, and I could have done without the relationship talk from Danny and Clara.  That being said, any story that has the Doctor pretending to be a regular Joe, I am on board, and would recommend.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.  Worth seeing.

A Day Late Review of “Time Heist”

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When I saw the preview for “Time Heist,” I was pretty sure I was going to hate it.  It just seemed to be par for the course so far with this series of Doctor Who.  The good episodes seem to be alternating with just plain silly episodes.  I enjoyed last week’s quite  bit, so I figured this one would be up there with “The Robot of Sherwood.” Or down there, depending on how you want to look at it. Plus, the whole idea seemed absurd.  I could not wrap my head around the idea that somehow the Doctor and Clara were going to become common bank robbers.  Then I watched this episode, and had to throw all of my initial thoughts out the window.  It was pretty solid.

The basic story is that Clara and the Doctor answer a mysterious phone call to the TARDIS.  The next thing we know, the two of them are sitting in some room holding two memory erasing worms.  They are not alone.  They are with two other people.  Each has had their memories wiped.  Next, the quartet receive a message from a mysterious figure who calls himself “The Architect.” He tells them that they must break into the Bank of Karabraxos, which has never been broken into, and is supposedly impenetrable.  They discover that each of them has special skills to help them with this task and they go through a bunch of obstacles to get to the vault.  One of the toughest obstacles is a creature they call “The Teller,” who is a telepath that can sense guilt.  Once he latches on to people’s minds, he can turn them into soup.  And, we learn, once he has latched on, there is no escaping him.  As they go through each challenge, they find that the Architect has left them some cases with helpful tools or information, like some devices they assume are atomic shredders that will painlessly kill you, as an escape route if necessary.   As they go through the obstacles, they lose the other two members of their group who use the exit strategy instead of allowing the Teller to turn their minds to mush.

In the end, the Doctor and Clara make it into the vault, and find the items on their list.  The last item they need is in the Private Vault.  On their way, they discover that the other two travelers are not dead, but had just been teleported. In the Private Vault they meet Karabraxos herself and convince her to leave the planet before a solar storm destroys everything.  A this point, the whole thing comes together, and the Doctor pieces together what was really going on, with the help of the Teller.  They discover that the Teller is not the last of his species, as they had been led to believe, but there is a female Teller locked up in the private vault.  The Doctor and his crew rescue both Tellers and take them to safety.  The Doctor, with the help of the Teller has remembered that this was the reason they broke into the vault and the bank.  He was the Architect and had planned the whole thing to save these creatures, at the request of Karabraxos from the future.

The story could have been silly, with the whole bank robber angle and monsters and whatever, but it all seemed to work.  It wasn’t silly, it was just plain fun.  There is a little bit of intrigue as you wonder who the Architect is and why he selected these four to rob this impenetrable bank, and when you find out the truth, you feel vindicated because you realize that the Doctor would never really rob a bank.  Plus, the longer this season goes and the more we get to know this new Doctor, the more I like him.  He is odd in his own way, but he is dark and serious too.  I would ever describe him as goofy, but he wouldn’t really fit in around here either.

Overall, it was a fun episode.  I would recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.

A Day Late Review of “Listen”

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Well, here we are, the 4th episode of this new Doctor Who series.  Admittedly, this review is actually 2 days late instead of just “a” day late, but that’s kind of the running title for the spot, so I am sticking with it.

I don’t know about most of you, but I have really had some mixed feelings about this series so far.  I didn’t particularly enjoy “Deep Breath,” I loved “Into the Dalek,” and I thought “The Robot of Sherwood” was just beyond silly. Because of this experience so far, I have decided to go into each week with zero expectations, that way I am not disappointed.  I will say, despite my mixed reviews on each episode, I am enjoying the development of Capaldi’s Doctor.  Each week reveals more about this latest regeneration.

I tried to have no expectations for this episode, until I saw this:

Written by Steven Moffat

That always grabs my attention, and heightens my expectations.  Plus, it was an ominous one word title, not unlike “Blink,” which I still consider to be one of the best TV episodes ever written.  I was on board at that point, which was good, because the whole meditating on top of the TARDIS thing was just a little weird, but that is becoming the norm for this Doctor.

The episode begins by posing the question: What if we are never alone, what if evolution had produced a creature that was the perfect hider, and it is always there, just listening?  In those moments when we are talking to ourselves, what if we’re not?  The whole opening as he is going through and creating this theory was very interesting, and led to a very interesting premise for the episode, that unfortunately, ended up being rather disappointing.  Granted, it would have been strange to have yet another creature created by Moffat that had something to do with turning your back.  First it was the Angels, if you turn your back or blink, you’re toast (BTW, Colin Baker has a great way to beat the angels he shared at Salt Lake Comic Con: Wink.  Just alternate eyes as you are staring at them). Then it was the Silence, a species we totally forget when we turn our backs on them and can’t see them.  Now there would be the Hiders?  You can’t look at them or see them, but they are always there.  This kind of creature seems to be Moffat’s thing.  Except, the plot twist here was that he didn’t deliver.

Sure, Clara and the Doctor do go back in time and visit their new friend Rupert Pink (I don’t want to spoil his relationship to Danny, if you haven’t seen the episode yet), on the night that he has had a nightmare.  Not just a nightmare, but THE Nightmare, that apparently everyone has had about stepping out of bed, and someone grabbing your ankle from underneath the bed.  Yes, they go back and visit Rupert, and he is scared because he has heard some noises and believes there is something under his bed.  Clara climbs under his bed and he joins her, and they see there is nothing there. And then the bed creaks and there is this on the bed:

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We don’t get to see who or what is under the bedspread.  The creature stays under the bedspread the whole time.  Here the Doctor gives a great speech about fear being a super power.  It really was good, and should be shared with anybody who is afraid.  He then has the three of them turn their backs on the creature, who eventually just leaves.  We never get to see the creature in the episode and no explanation is given.

The Doctor and Clara then go back to the scene of Clara’s dreadful date from earlier, and she tries to patch things up with Danny, but it does not work out, as the Doctor sends in some space man to get Clara back to the TARDIS.  The space man is from 100 years in the future and is actually a time traveller who ended up at the end of time, when nothing is left.  The Doctor believes here he will find the “ghosts” he has been looking for.  He ends up opening the door to the ship they are on, and almost gets sucked out of it.  The space man saves him, but he has been knocked unconscious.  Clara tries to interface telepathically with the TARDIS (something she had done earlier), and they end up some place new.  A farm.  She observes a little boy who is very scared sleeping out in the barn, well not sleeping, but crying mostly.  Two adults come out and they talk about why the boy is out there.  Clara is hiding under the bed.  As the two adults are talking the discuss how he will never make it to the academy to become a Time Lord, and we realize this little boy is the Doctor.

He begins to get out of bed, and Clara, for no apparent reason, reaches out and grabs his ankle, and then tells him it is all a dream, and he just needs to go back to bed.  He does, and then she whispers in his ear about how it is ok to be afraid and that fear is a super power and a constant companion, and that fear can make one kind and gentle, not mean and uncaring.  She even mentions that he will come back to this farm someday when he is very afraid, and we see the War Doctor coming to the farm with the moment, and we learn that the farm has some connection to the Doctor’s childhood.

This episode left us with some interesting questions.  We thought that Clara’s role as the one who keeps saving the Doctor was finished since “The Name of the Doctor,” yet here she is again, meddling in his past.  Will she continue to do this until the end of her run at Christmas?  We also learn that the Doctor is afraid of the dark, which my 7-year-old thought was pretty cool, since he is also afraid of the dark.  The last question we are left with is: What was that thing on the bed?

Overall, this was a watchable episode.  I would say it is  Moffat, but not Empty Child?Doctor Dances or Blink Moffat.  It had quite a few holes, and you’re left wondering why it jumped as much as it did.  It was almost like two episodes that they squeezed into one. Despite that, it was enjoyable.  I f I gave rankings, it would be a 3 out of 5.  Good enough to watch, but not a classic.

A Day Late Review of “Into the Dalek”

So, here we are, episode 2 of series 8.  Episode 2 of Peter Capaldi’s run as the Doctor.  I was very excited for “Deep Breath” because it meant that new episodes of Doctor Who were starting up again.  It was also what I was expecting as far as the Doctor adjusting to his new regeneration and being all weird.  The first episode of a new Doctor always seems to be like that.  You don’t really get a feel for who he is as a man in the first episode.  At best, you might get a glimpse of it toward the very end.  This was a big reason why I was maybe a little more excited for this episode.  This is where we begin to see who this new Doctor really is.  Not to mention this episode had the word Dalek in it.  Let me just say, before I go any further here, this episode did not disappoint.  Let me also just say that there may be spoilers ahead, so be warned.

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“Into the Dalek” opens in the middle of some battle in space.  Two people, a man and a woman are flying in some small fighter ship and are under heavy fire.  During the fight, the man is killed and it looks like the whole ship is going to be lost with the woman in it.  And then she opens her eyes to find she is in the control room of the TARDIS, and there is the Doctor holding two teas in to-go cups.  They exchange a few words, and here we get to see a little bit about the Doctor’s character.  He is really no-nonsense.  She is upset because the man, apparently her brother, is dead.  The Doctor simply points out that she is not, and she hasn’t thanked him for it.  Just very straight forward.  I kind of liked it.  No apology for not saving her brother, just a statement of the fact that he did save her.  We find out here that her name is Journey Blue, and she demands to be brought to her command ship.  The Doctor obliges.

On the ship, soldiers and the commanding officer are there to meet the TARDIS shortly after it materializes in the ship.  They thank the Doctor for saving Journey’s life, but let him know that due to security protocol, they are still going to have to kill him.  Here Journey points out that he is a “doctor”, and they agree to let him see their patient.  He follows them to a holding area, where he comes face to face with a Dalek.  His first reaction is the same we have seen from all the Doctors, from Eccleston to today.  He wants the Dalek destroyed immediately, and absolutely will not help it.  He is unbending on this, until the Dalek pleads for help and says it must destroy all the Daleks.

The next scene is Clara, returning to school.  Here she meets the new math teacher, Danny Pink, a former soldier himself.  She is immediately taken with him, and why not?  He is a handsome enough young fellow, who also happens not to be the Doctor. (Yay for love stories not involving the companion and the Doctor!)  In addition to learning that Danny was a soldier, we also find out that he has some secrets in his soldiering past, some that he is not very proud of.  He is also absolute rubbish when it comes to talking to women, as Clara is basically begging him to go to a party with her, and he refuses, brushing her off because he says he has some reading to do.  Of course, he returns to his classroom, and recites to the empty desks what he should have said, and of course, Clara is there at the doorway to hear the whole thing.  Good new for Danny in the end, because she still agrees to go and get a drink with him.

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Right after this conversation, Clara goes into her classroom to find the TARDIS there.  Apparently, the Doctor has finally returned with the teas he went to get, leaving her 3 weeks prior in Glasgow.  Typical Doctor.  He drags her along on this adventure and promises to bring her right back before anyone knows she is gone.  They arrive on the ship and wisps her off to see the Dalek.  At this point, the soldiers are asking who she is and we get a definition of what Clara is to this Doctor.  She is his “carer.”  She cares so he doesn’t have to.

To save the Dalek’s life, they are shrunk down and deposited into the Dalek itself.  The rest of the adventure happens inside the Dalek for the Doctor, Clara and a small band of soldiers sent in to make sure the Doctor doesn’t end up being a spy for the Daleks.  While inside, they battle some Dalek antibodies, to little success, and again we see that life may not be as precious to this Doctor as it has been for others.  They ultimately discover what is causing the Dalek to be sick.  His power source is leaking radiation, so the organic part is being poisoned to death by the radiation.  The Doctor seals up the leak.  This fixes the sick part, but it also fixes the malfunction that has made the Dalek “good.”  The Dalek then breaks free for the equipment the humans have attached to it, and then goes to  computer and alerts its ship as to where the humans are.  The invasion force is now on its way to take over the ship and free the captive Dalek.  The Doctor feels vindicated, because he suspected all along that the Dalek was not really good, and he feels like that is exactly whet they have learned here.  Clara points out and helps him realize that what they have really learned is that you can have a good Dalek.

A new plan is set into motion at this point.  The Doctor is going to go off and have a conversation with Rusty, the Dalek.  Clara is going up to the memory vault to find a way to unsupress the memories the Dalek has suppressed.  They are successful.  Clara finds all the suppressed memories and unleashes them on Rusty, who begins to understand that no matter what the Daleks do, life will always prevail.  Also, during this process, the Doctor lets Rusty into his soul.  There Rusty finds life and beauty, but also hatred.  Hatred for all the Daleks.  Rusty latches on to this and decides he must still destroy all the Daleks because he now hates them.  The Doctor is disturbed by the fact that Rusty latches on to that one fact about him.

This was a great episode.  If I had a ranking scale, I would rank this episode toward the top of that scale.  But I don’t, so I won’t.  I will see that I would recommend watching this episode.  If you have already seen it, go back and watch it again.

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A couple of things to mention.  This episode finds the Doctor and Clara having a conversation about whether he is a good man.  It puts the audience in an interesting position because you begin to wonder if he really is a good man.  We take everything he does at face value, but he has seen some dark things in his past.  Can he really be a good man after all of that?  Clara is unsure as well, but finally, at the end of the episode declares that he tries to be a good man, and in some way that is all that really counts.  The other thing to mention is that we see Missy again, and “Heaven” when one of the soldiers dies.  I am interested to find out what ll of this is about, but knowing Moffat, when he finally does reveal who she is and what this place is, it will only raise more questions.

That’s all for now.  Again, I enjoyed this episode.  I think it is a strong episode overall, and would definitely recommend watching it.

A Day Late Review of “Deep Breath”

Well it finally happened.  Something Doctor Who fans have been anticipating for what seemed like forever. Series 8 finally premiered.  We finally got to meet the 12th Doctor and spend more than just a couple of minutes with him and get to know him a little bit.  The question now that it’s all over is, do we want to get to know this Doctor better?

The first thing I noticed while watching this episode is that the opening credits have been upgraded.  I know they change with each Doctor and sometimes during a Doctor’s run, but this time it seemed like they put a little more budget behind the credits.  They were crisper and cleaner, and just a little more “made for HD.”  Overall, visually, I liked them.  The song for the opening credits was updated as well, and this didn’t score well for me.  It was still the same song, essentially, but they tried to vary it enough that it almost didn’t sound the same.  Like having a best friend in grade school, moving away and not seeing them for 20 years.  When you see them again, they look familiar, you can tell it’s them, but they are also very different.  Overall, the changes to the song were not needed and I wasn’t a fan.  Maybe it will grow on me.

I was looking forward to the episode.  Like many fans, i had speculated about what this new Doctor was going to be like, and I couldn’t wait to see it.  I was hoping this episode would begin to answer some questions about the Doctor’s new self.  I forgot that it was being done by Steven Moffat.  He likes asking questions way more than he likes answering them.  Just when you think you might actually get to the bottom of something, you realize it’s all just a tease and there is a lot more to go before getting to the bottom.

Before you go any further, I must warn you there will be spoilers ahead.  This is not a review that comes out just in time for the episode to premier for the public, or just after the episode has aired.  It is a “Day Late” review, so i assume most people who are interested have seen “Deep Breath” by now, but if you haven’t, maybe you have it recorded, or it’s in your download queue, or whatever, then be warned, there will be spoilers ahead.

The episode begins in almost silly fashion.  A dinosaur mysteriously appears in Victorian London.  Nobody knows how it got there.  Enter Moffat’s favorite Doctor Who characters ever, Vastra, Jenny, and Strax.  It seems like these are the only supporting characters Moffat knows how to write, because they keep popping up.  All the time.  Seriously, am I the only one who is beginning to get sick of them?  Maybe I am, and that’s why they keep them around.  In any case, Vastra brilliantly deduces that the dinosaur must have time traveled.  Then Jenny notices it has something in its…excuse me, Vastra does point out, her throat.  She coughs (the dinosaur) and out comes the TARDIS.  The Doctor comes stumbling out followed by Clara and we get the classic modern regeneration episode, where the Doctor has no idea who he is or what’s going on.  He apparently also has a thing for big, sexy dinosaurs.  It’s a good thing they have arrived in Victorian London and that Vastra and Jenny and Strax are there to help Clara through this rough regeneration time.

This whole sequence began to get absurd and strange for me.  I had heard all about how this Doctor was going to be all serious and dark compared to number 11, and this was serious or dark, it was silly and strange.  He kept flirting with this dinosaur and his lack of Doctor like skill was just obnoxious.  The good news is that the episode did get better from here.

Well, not all of it was better.  Clara has seen all the Doctors, 1-11, and even the War Doctor.  This whole idea of regeneration should not be strange to her.  She, out of all the companions ever, should get it.  She has spent time with each of the Doctors, yet she cannot accept that this man is the Doctor.  She saw him regenerate, and she can’t accept it.  The whole episode is her wondering if he is really the Doctor and moping because she just doesn’t know if she knows who the Doctor is anymore.  I just couldn’t buy it.  It takes a call from 11 on her mobile at the end to convince her, and she still hesitated.  It was just confusing to me.

In any case, the dinosaur gets murdered as the Doctor is trying to figure out a way to send her home, while win his night-shirt.  The murder puts him on the case and he begins to investigate, and we begin to see that his Doctor means business.  As he is beginning to investigate, I really started to appreciate this more serious Doctor.  And, we see a moment where he blurs the lines between right and wrong, as he steals a coat from a tramp, using the line “No point in us both being cold.”  He and Clara both reply to an ad to meet for lunch in a specific restaurant.  An add they both believe the other placed in the paper, but neither one did. And as they are both discussing Clara’s egomania, they realize that none of the other diners happen to be people.  They are all robots, and  this restaurant is a front for cyborgs harvesting human parts to power their ships. (Yes, these are the same robots we see in the “Girl in the Fireplace”, and you will get frustrated as the Doctor cannot remember where he has seen it before) Clara and the Doctor get brought into the basement and meet the lead cyborg and discover what is happening.  They head for the door, and the Doctor seemingly leaves Clara behind, to face the cyborgs alone.  She tries to hide among them and escape by not breathing, but eventually gives in and is discovered.  She has a great face off with the lead cyborg and the Doctor ends up being there to save her, hiding as one of the cyborgs.  As the army of robotic men and women descend on the pair, Clara says the magic word, and Vastra, Jenny, and Starx come down from the rafters to save them.  The Doctor and the lead Cyborg break off from the group and have a great back and forth argument.  The Doctor is pleading for the cyborg to end it by jumping from his escape pod, and threatening that he might end it for the machine.  They go back and forth, and it all ends when the lead cyborg ends up dead, having either jumped or been pushed out of the escape pod and landing on a spire that does him through.  We don’t know, and it is left ambiguous, if the Doctor pushed him, adding to the intrigue of this new Doctor.

The cyborg ends up in some paradise, we don’t know what it is with a girl named Missy, who claims to be the Doctors girlfriend.  I didn’t recognize her, so I don’t know who she is, but she seems to know a lot about the Doctor and what he will and won’t do.

By and large, this episode does why it is supposed to.  It introduces the Doctor to the audience as well as his companion and cast of recurring characters.  It also introduces some of the story for this upcoming series.  It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.  We definitely saw that the Doctor has a darker side now, more serious.  We also get confirmation that there will be no flirting with Clara and this new Doctor, which is a plus for me.  Overall, I liked the new Doctor so far.  He isn’t my favorite, but to be fair, he has only been in one episode, so I need to give him some time.  I think this series will be going in a different direction.  A lot of people were saying that this new Doctor would be somewhat similar to Tom Baker, and I can see that a little bit.  Maybe a little like Colin Baker, a little darker, minus the clown suit.  I am interested to see where it goes, and personally can’t wait to watch next week.

What were your thoughts?  Love it? Hate it? Wait and see?  Share them with us in the comments, we would love to hear from you.

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!

The Doctor 101 Part 4-The Doctors 4,5,6

Today we are continuing our series about Doctor Who.  Our last entry in the series was a while ago and covered the first 3 Doctors.  You can view that entry by clicking here.  My goal was to get through all the Doctors before August 23, when the new season premieres and we get our first real look at number 12, played by Peter Capaldi. Now, the numbers are going to get a little weird here soon, but don’t worry, we’ll make it through it together.  It won’t be until the next post anyway.  So, let’s begin with Doctors 4, 5, and 6.

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The year was 1974 and the third Doctor’s time was coming to an end.  It was time for someone new to come in and take up the Doctor’s mantle, and that someone was Tom Baker.  Baker brought something special to the Doctor.  He is probably one of the most iconic regenerations out there.  Each Doctor had his signature look and style, but Baker’s was iconic.  The hat, the long coat and even longer, multi-colored scarf.  If you are not super familiar with the show, maybe you’ve just heard of it before, chances are this is the image of the Doctor that you know.  Of course, it wasn’t just the clothes.  Tom Baker brought a new presence to the Doctor that has endeared him with the fans for decades since.  The curls and the big, toothy grin.  There was a lot to love about this new Doctor.  He wasn’t all lovable all the time, either.  Often times he was very stern and somewhat condescending to his young companions and the alien monsters he encountered.  He was the Doctor, and he knew that was something special.  A big reason he is beloved by fans of the classic series id that he was also the longest tenured Doctor, portraying our favorite Time Lord from 1974 to 1981.  Many fans practically grew up with this Doctor over the 7 years that Baker was on the show.  Some of the most memorable things about Doctor Who come from this run, including the scarf, K-9 (the robot dog) and Sarah Jane, a fan favorite companion.  Granted, she started with the 3rd Doctor, but her most memorable time was with Baker.  Baker has continued to play the Doctor in numerous Big Finish  audio stories about the 4th Doctor.  He has also appeared as the Doctor in the Simpsons, and most recently, he made an appearance at the end of “The Day of the Doctor,” playing “the Curator” who seemed to know an awful lot about the Doctor and Gallifrey.  This of course led to all sorts of theories about who the Curator really is.  A future regeneration, visiting some old familiar, favorite faces? Who knows? (touches finger to nose)

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1981, and Tom Baker’s time as the Doctor is drawing to a close.  How do you fill such enormous shoes?  Tom Baker was the Doctor at the peak of Doctor Who’s popularity.  How can anyone come in and fill those shoes?  Peter Davison was going to try.  He shows up as the 5th Doctor, and we get something brand new.  All the Doctors up to this point had been older.  For their young companions they had been like father or grandfather figures.  Sometimes stern, sometimes lovable, but always older.  Until Davison.  He appeared considerably younger than the other Doctors, and somehow more relatable to young people.  The producers again tried to go with  a signature look, this time a cricket sweater, long tan jacket, hat and a piece of celery on the lapel.  The thing that stood out, though, was his youthful face and longish blond hair.  It was a move to draw in more young people, a whole new generation of Doctor Who fans.  It worked for one young lad, who remembered Davison’s Doctor as his inspiration for playing Doctor Who and fantasizing about someday being one of his companions.  That boy grew up to be actor David Tenant, who was cast as the 10th Doctor.  He didn’t just get to go on adventures with the Doctor, he got to go as the Doctor. In another strange coincidence, he ended up with Davison’s daughter.  She also appeared on the show during his run as the Doctor’s daughter.

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In March, 1984, Peter Davison’s time as the Doctor was cut short, and it came to an end.  Enter, now, the 6th Doctor, played by Colin Baker.  Where Davison’s Doctor had been youthful and fun, Baker’s was youthful and full of himself.  He did not get along with his first companion and his whole tenure was full of darker, more violent story lines.  Knowing that his Doctor would have a darker personality, Baker had wanted him to be in all black.  Instead the producers decided on the colorful ensemble you see above.  His costume was iconic, for completely different reasons than Tom Baker’s.  It was iconic for being so bad and ugly.  Baker’s time as the Doctor on the television screen was short-lived.  He really only made it through 2 seasons, the second of which was shortened.  He was not overly popular with the fans at the time, so it was time to go in a different direction. That being said, he has stayed close to the Doctor Who franchise and makes appearances at fan events in England regularly.  He also lends his voice often to the Big Finish sound recordings and also made an appearance in a behind the scenes look at the Doctor Who 50th special.

So there you have Doctors 4-6.  I will not be waiting so long this time to publish my entry on Doctors 7 and 8 and a surprise Doctor.  That post should come out on Friday evening.  Please let me know if there is anything that should have been mentioned about these Doctors.  Thank you for reading.