A Journal of Impossible Things

Who is this 11 year old Doctor? Oh he's the 11th Doctor?

2009-01-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

It was just announced that Matt Smith was the 11th Doctor when Doctor Who returns in 2010. Well, I guess the kid will be a year older by then.

Episodes 2 through 10

2008-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finally had the chance to catch up on this season of Doctor Who and I thought I would reflect on the episodes I have seen so far before I watch the last three episodes.

"The Fires of Pompeii"

The second episode I thought was very good, better than partners in crime. I liked seeing the Doctor interact with actual historical events (well sort of); from what I understand there is actually very little known about the real city of Pompeii, other than it was destroyed by a volcano, so there was room to take a lot of liberties in the story.

The story itself was good, I enjoyed the mystery and the revelation that many of Pompeii’s citizens were turning to stone before the volcano erupted. I also enjoyed the foreshadowing in the prophesies about the Doctor and Donna. “Doctor, she has returned” was obviously about Rose, and we will just have to see what the prophesy “There is something on your back” is referring to with Donna.

The rock monsters were great, not to mention all the sets, costumes and effects. I also enjoyed. The story’s conclusion also took an insightful turn as Donna was clearly needed to act as the Doctor’s conscience and keep him from giving into the calluses that often come with living through pain, despair and disappointment.

"The Fires of Pompeii" is a very solid episode and a good sign of things to come for the rest of season four.

"Planet of the Ood"

I was looking forward to seeing the Ood again after their appearance in season two, hoping we might learn more about them. In this regard the episode did not disappoint. There was something poetic about the revelation that instead of the translation sphere that we see the Ood with, the Ood instead naturally hold a "hind brain" that gives them individuality. Donna points out that it should be obvious that having to do this would make the Ood very peaceful.

Of course what it also did was make the Ood easy targets for big industry which once their “hind brains” were removed and replaced with the translation spheres, the Ood become subservient; the Doctor of course rebukes the CEO of Ood Operations for lobotomizing them. The Ood themselves execute their ultimate lesson for the CEO as they transform into an Ood. This was of course a bit of poetic justice, but it also flirted with being a bit cheesy.

"Planet of the Ood" was another good episode overall. I also don’t want to forget to mention the incredible alien landscapes in this episode; you really got a sense that they were visiting an alien world.

"The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky"

The first two-parter of the year bring back some classic villains that look like the Mr. Potato head army. As only a casual fan of the classic series I was not very familiar with the Sontarans, but like always, the story was written in a way that new fans could be introduced and still give the older fans a nod that references classic Who. Likewise, UNIT was also part of the story, a classic organization that I believe goes back to the 3rd Doctor during his exile on earth.

But for me and other new Who fans it was the return of Martha that we were excited about. Martha really grew on me last season and I was glad I did not have to wait very long for her return this season. Out of all the modern companions she has had the most growth as a character, at least the most in the shortest amount of time. I also appreciated the fact that the reunion with Martha did not involve her predictably having contention with Donna. This would have been way to obvious and it was better to have the Doctor being surprised right along with the audience.

As for the story itself, it was an OK enough story complete with lots of action and the redemption of boy genius villian Luke Rattigan giving his life to save the day in the end. It was also good that Martha’s return did not in anyway take away from Donna’s character to continue to develop. We get to see Donna’s mother and grandfather again and Martha warns Donna that as wonderful as the Doctor is when you get to close to the Doctor, like fire, you or the ones you love can get burned.

This was a decent two-parter, I was sad to see Martha wanting to part ways again, but I was glad that the Tardis seemed to have other plans and whisked her away for at least one more episode with the Doctor and Donna. I have always like it when the Doctor had two companions with him anyway; it just seems like there is better chemistry all the way around when this happens.

"The Doctor's Daughter"

For me, this episode was more fun anticipating after seeing the “next time” teaser than the episode actually was. I am not saying that it was terrible or anything, it was enjoyable, but I don’t think it lived up to its potential. Jenny, played by Peter Davison’s (real name Peter Moffett) daughter Georgia Moffett, did a great job. She was definitely played it in a way that I wanted to see more of her character; and as much as this is the case the obvious set up for a possible spin off series did not sit well with me.

I did think the character development was great between the Doctor and his “daughter” in the short amount of time they had. The idea that his genetic “offspring” was created as a war machine did make for some great tension. The development of course came as Jenny learned a different way of life counter to her “programming” and the Doctor learned to accept her and give her a chance.

The problem I had was the lack of commitment to Jenny’s death in the story, which was too contrived, and ended up not being a death at all. Despite the creative twist about the war only being a week long, the episode has too many obvious and conflicting agendas; Create a sad moment for the Doctor to remind us again how “alone he is” and keep the character alive for another appearance on the show or start a spin-off. In the end, I kind of felt like I was just being manipulated despite some great performances.

"The Unicorn and the Wasp"

I am not a big Agatha Christie fan, and so most of the inside jokes and nods given to her work went over my head. In the end it was a nice “who done it” episode, but the giant bee transformation was a bit corny.

"Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead"

This was the second two parter of series 4 and the best episodes of the year. The episodes written by Steven Moffat are always among my favorite and while not Moffat’s best work the episodes do not disappoint.

The mysterious River Song, who is revealed to be the Doctor’s future trusted companion, lets us know that there will finally be real life after Rose at some point. We learn that Doctor can have a close relationship with another companion, close enough to share his real name, and this person not be Rose- or to our knowledge have any romantic implications. Both Martha and Donna have lived in the shadow of Rose, and so a future for companions without that shadow is refreshing.

In the end you have to admit that the story is part rip off of the matrix, but you can easily forgive that because of how well the story was told. The “virtual life” ended up being the salvation for all those lost in the library, that were “saved” by the computer when the shadows of Vashta Nerada appeared so that the Doctor might retrieve them later. And of course the virtual world was used to save River Song in the end from complete death. And the virtual world allowed Catherine Tate to earn her acting merit mage as Donna Noble, as she gave a convincing performance as a “virtual” mother trying to reconcile what is real and what isn’t.

Again, I think these were the best episodes of season 4 and a hopeful sign as Steven Moffat is positioned to take the reigns as producer when Russell T. Davies steps down.

"Midnight"

I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. As the season approached the final three episodes I half expected this one to be “mailed in”. With some of my recent disappointments with RTD’s writing I found this to be one of his best stand alone stories. In addition to this, it was also one of the best acting performances by Tennant and the other characters I have seen.
The special effects department did spend some money on some beautiful alien landscapes, but in the end it wasn’t the special effects that made the performance so convincing. Essentially the whole story took place in one small room aboard a train, and all the drama came only from brilliant acting performances. It was nice to see the exploration of the human condition so wonderfully conveyed by the all actors involved.

Rest of Season 4 Trailer

2008-05-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yikes!! I am so behind on watching season 4 and it looks like it will just keep getting better. The last episode I watched was "Planet of the Ood", but I have not had time to watch an others or blog about about the little I have seen so far. If only I had a time machine where time was no object I might be able to keep up with the Doctor and still keep up with a busy life.

I don't have a time machine, but I know some of you more serious Doctor Who fans just might. And because of that I will have to ask you to step back in time to weeks past as I share my thoughts on episodes from earlier this season. I'll write more soon about these episodes as I gradually get a chance to watch them. In the meantime, this trailer for the second half of the season makes me even more excited about things to come.

Partners in Crime Review

2008-04-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

Well episode 1 of season 4 finally aired in the U.S. and I must say that I enjoyed watching our eccentric Doctor running around and tracking down clues with what suspiciously looked like a “flux capacitor” from Back to the Future; though the Doctor's device itself had nothing to do with time travel.
Anyway, I thought the episode was a great start, and much like the very first episode “Rose” of season 1 and the first episode of season 3 “Smith and Jones”, it focused a lot on introducing the Doctor’s new companion; even though we already know Dona Nobel from her Christmas special appearance. Perhaps, this was a way to re-introduce her as they tried hard to give her a slightly softer side this time; with what I think was only a mixed degree of success.

We of course got to see more of her family, her grandfather, a likeable stargazer we met before in "Voyage of the Damned", and more of her mother from “the Runaway Bride”, where we see Donna gets the vocal side of her personality. The scenes Donna had with her “gramps” seemed only good for telling us that Donna regretted letting her opportunity with the Doctor slip through her fingers. What we didn’t get though is what changed Donna’s mind about the Doctor and why she was no longer to some degree frightened of him or the thought of sharing his adventures. The only idea we get at all is that she somehow began to see the Doctor as a hero as the earth witnessed the intergalactic events that seemed to have come so close since she had last seen the Doctor.

I did very much enjoy the ongoing bit of the Doctor and Donna just missing one another. This theme extended also to other aspects of the show as well as Donna’s stargazer grandfather had his telescope facing the wrong way when an alien spacecraft passed behind him in the sky. It also was used at the end as we find out that Rose was just around the corner from the Doctor and the Tardis, just missing them. More on this in a moment.

I also thought the “conversation” between the Doctor and Donna through the windows, when the discovered one another was very witty and well performed. This is where Catherine Tate’s comedic skills really paid off. The “your not matting with me sunshine” line was also funny, but her over reaction to her misunderstanding of what the Doctor said was not quite as believable. I mean, I can see how someone could mishear the Doctor’s statement that he “wants a mate”, but something along the lines of “excuse me” or “did you just say…” makes more sense. I think most people would at least entertain the idea that hearing something as forward as they thought may have been do to hearing it wrong. Then again perhaps Donna is still a bit leery of “Alien boy”; yet she gave no other signs of it in this particular episode; in fact we are given the opposite impression.

As for the Doctor “wanting a mate”, we definitely get this message in the short scene where the Doctor finds himself talking to himself all alone in the Tardis. We are reminded that the RTD’s Doctor is “lonely” as the Face of Boe and Madame de Pompadour pointed out way back in seasons two. (Forget Rose Doctor, go get Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson played by Sophia Myles; now that would be a companion.) Anyway, the Doctor’s loneliness is clearly articulated in this episode, as well as his expressed desire for just a platonic relationship and companionship. We will just have to see what this means for the upcoming return of Rose and the romantic tension that existed between her and the Doctor.

Rose’s “return” as a deliberate foreshadowing of what will come by the end of the season was very appreciated; mostly because my wife doesn’t like spoilers and I was glad I did not have to work to keep the news of Rose’s return a secret anymore. Good thing my wife doesn’t visit this blog, I would have let the cat person right of the bag long ago. We don’t learn much except that Rose is still sad and perhaps still looking for the Doctor as she apparently found a way to move between worlds. Apparently, like Donna trying to find the Doctor by tracking down alien events, Rose was checking out this galactic encounter with the Adipose where we can assume she was hoping that where galactic trouble strikes the Doctor usually isn’t far away.

Ok, this was over all an enjoyable episode for one that was attempting to set the table for the season. By the way the “Bad wolf” type season arc reference may be “The bees are disappearing”; whatever that means. It seems like we have a lot of good stuff to look forward too.

Season Four is Here

2008-04-06T03:40:00.000-07:00

Season/Series four of Doctor Who began this weekend in the UK, but here in the US we will have to wait two more weeks till April 18th! Without giving too much away, I would love to hear about how well it was received in the UK.

Can Who Make Time for War?

2008-03-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

I doubt they will ever do it, but I would love to see one of the TV specials planned for after series 4 to be dedicated to telling us about the time war; at least as part of a flash back that would be related to a current storyline involving Tennant. It just would be great to see Paul McGann back as the Doctor, giving him a chance to be the older wiser version of his character that he only had one opportunity to play on television. And of course seeing the regeneration from 8 to 9 would be great too ending with a nice cameo of Eccleston to fill in all the gaps .

Here is one of the best fan made video's I have seen that at least can give us a pretty good taste of what that might be like.

Waiting for Who

2008-02-22T06:07:00.001-08:00

No I haven't fallen into the vortex of nothingness, I am just quietly waiting for the Doctor to return to television for season 4. All has been quiet and I am not aware of any new rumors of significance since the beans were spilled about the return of Rose. So without any real good rumors (unless I simply haven't heard them) what is a doctor Who fan to do during these quiet in between times?

I had thought I would pick up some of the Big Finish audio productions; I have not heard any of these and it might be fun to explore more of Paul McGann's incarnation of the Doctor in particular. I would be open to hear recommendations as to which productions may be the best or the best to begin with.

I am sure for old time Doctor Who fans this wait between seasons is nothing. The Doctor what off TV for almost 16 years with only one TV movie in the middle to break things up. So, I ask you experienced Doctor Who fans, what do we do in these in between times?

Series 4 Preview

2007-12-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

Voyage of the Darned

2007-12-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

Face it, despite the imagery of heaven and hell, gods, devils and messiahs, this years Christmas special lacked the real epic danger you feel with good story telling to warrant being compared to escaping damnation. No, the campy formulaic story was much more like a voyage of the darned. There is a great review of the Christmas special that I think captures what the episode was lacking at Behind the Sofa.

With that said, there were some good moments to the episode, but most of it was due to David Tennant’s solid performance as the Doctor that we have come to expect. This got me thinking, as someone who really wanted to see the Christmas episode and had to go out of my way to try and watch it in the US, I wonder how much this Christmas Special was just produced on automatic pilot? Knowing that after a few months without Doctor Who, as we anxiously await the next season/series, perhaps the Doctor Who production team believes that we are so starving for the Doctor that we will accept sub par stories during what would otherwise be down time.

I think RTD has done a good job over all and reviving the Doctor Who franchise, though I definitely don’t think that the 2007 Christmas special reflects the best of RTD’s vision for Doctor Who. I just think that it would be far too easy to lean on Tennant’s performance to try and pull off cardboard heroics of generic plots. You might be able to get away with this from time to time but it is not sustainable in the long run and not the same kind of story quality that drew us back to the Doctor a few years ago.

I can lived with a Voyage of the Darned on occasion, even just enjoy it as a cheesy popcorn adventure, but I do expect more from series four and hope that “specials” they will be producing in lieu of a hiatus from the show in 2009 will have a quality to them that will stand alone rather than just trying to tide us over to series five. I don’t think any of these specials (Christmas or otherwise) should just be stories that tied as over like a cheap appetizer- they should be made to stand alone as a quality feature that meets and maybe even occasionally exceeds what we have come to expect from the best of the TV series.

Doctor Who Comic Book Preview

2007-12-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

The Doctor is coming to the great form of story telling that is told through sequential art and words balloons in January; in other words comic books. Let’s hope for long a successful run of stories. You can check out a preview of the comic HERE.

I think the art looks good, but they do not seem to be able to consistently draw Tennant in a way that is always true to his actual likeness. Some of the frames they have him nailed and others he looks like a 13 year old. Maybe he is hard to draw. Anyway, I am looking forward to checking out the book in January.

Next Time: is to long off for U.S.

2007-12-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, all I want for Christmas is for someone in the UK to record Voyage of the Damned and send it to me in the U.S. in time for the New Year. I don’t even care about quality because I will buy it when it is available; but I just can’t wait till NEXT Christmas to see it when it finally airs in the United States.

WHO Knew? Doomsday wasn’t the end

2007-12-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

With the news of Rose’s return there has been a lot of talk about the Doomsday episode where Rose was (supposedly) lost in a parallel world and never able to be reunited with the Doctor. One of things I have heard often is that the Doomsday episode is somehow ruined and tarnished itself because Rose is coming back.
While I am skeptical of Rose’s return being a good idea, even though I love her character, I would have to disagree that her return would “ruin” the Doomsday episode itself. Yes, her return could ruin Rose’s chance to have the perfect departure from the show because I think the departure of Rose in Doomsday is going to be hard to top. But I don’t think that Doomsday itself looses any of its dramatic effect as a good story itself. Yes, some of the emotional sting is taken away if you’re watching it now and you know Rose will return, but of course if you know what will happed later on in a story or series it will ruin some of the emotional impact. Also the characters during the Doomsday episode don’t know that this isn’t the end and Tennant’s and Piper’s performances are very convincing.

Another complaint I am hearing is that somehow Rose’s return undermines the integrity of the Doomsday story because in that story we were told that it was “impossible” to travel back and forth from parallel worlds. What I find interesting is that in the Doomsday story the term “impossible” certainly had lots of qualifications. The Doctor told Mickey that traveling between parallel worlds used to “be easy” and you could “just drop in for a cup of tea whenever you wanted.” So, I don’t think Rose’s return jeopardizes the integrity of the Doomsday story because in that same story we are told that traveling between parallel worlds ranges from “impossible” to “easy” depending on other factors and circumstances. The other factor we are told is the existence of the Time Lords, so if they return in what I hope will be part of the over all story arc of season 4 then Rose’s return becomes easily accepted as having continuity with what we learned from Doomsday.

It was very clear to me even when I first saw Doomsday way back that the writers left themselves an out to escape the “impossibility” they created in the Doomsday storyline just in case they wanted to bring Rose back. My only hope is that the story they come up with for her return is as epic as her departure. I think having good stories are more important than just having Rose back, and regardless of what happens next (I am hoping for the best) Doomsday was a good story.

I love this youtube video set to Pink’s song Who Knew because it captures the storyline of season 2 extremely well including the emotional impact of Doomsday. My wife can’t watch it because it makes her too sad, but there is a line of hope in the song that get sprinkled in; “until we meet again”. I think that may be one of the reasons why so many of us loved the story line to begin with even though it was extremely sad, because even if we did not pick up on it or really think Rose would actually return the story always had seeds of hope.

Three’s a Crowd?

2007-11-30T04:19:00.000-08:00

With the return of Rose, certainly being the focus of the story line, the question becomes if there is enough room in the Tardis for all three companions of Rose, Martha, and Donna. OK, the Tardis is infinitely large on the inside, so clearly there is enough room in there; but is there enough room in the length of an episode (even a two-parter) to have all these characters play an important part?

Rose clearly has fans, and Martha has her fair share of fans as well. Donna’s character is not as well liked so far, but Catherine Tate who plays her is very well liked and we will get a better taste of what she is like as the Doctor’s companion after series 4 begins. Donna’s popularity as a companion could very well grow before Rose returns. But with all three characters on the show at the same time it is very likely that at least one of these character are not going to have enough to do.

The question is who will fade to the background during these episodes and what companion out of the three will ultimately outlast the others? If Billie Piper wants to stay on past this season it will likely be her, but if Rose does not remain as a main character at least for the three specials following series 4 will Martha’s or Donna’s characters continue to be expanded?

Or… Since Kylie Minogue is rumored to want to return to Doctor Who in the future too, maybe there would be room for FOUR women traveling with the Doctor. Speaking of Kylie the band Fast Ood Rockers has released a very “Doctorin’ the Tardis” like song called “Song 4 Kylie: ...I'm In Love (With A Girl In A Time Machine)”. You can listen to it by clicking the play button to the right!

Look WHO’s back!

2007-11-28T03:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s a good thing I said in my last post that I only “partly” hoped that the rumors about Rose’s return are not true, because BBC has just confirmed that Billie Piper will return as Rose Tyler in series four of Doctor Who. Like I said before, I really like Rose’s character, my only concern was that I felt that with the romantic affection Rose and the Doctor had for one another, especially so expressed, that there may not be anywhere for these characters to go.

It seems to me that there are only a few options. They could advance the relationship, but I have a hard time believing this would be the direction the show would go. They could end the relationship, or at least the romantic aspect of it. The problem with this is like many fans I actually liked the romantic and sexual tension between the characters, so it would be disappointing to see it end. And if it does end, what would be the point of bringing the character back? Another option is that it could end in tragedy, but I thought the last exit of Rose was tragic enough and at least had a silver and hopeful lining. I am not sure they could credibly repeat another exit of the character like that when Billie leaves the show again.

I suppose the only other option would be to have it so she could not travel with or see the Doctor all the time. I kind of have a sneaking suspicion that her return could be linked to the return of the Time Lords and Gallifrey. If you remember it was said that it was only when the rest of the Time Lords were around that traveling between parallel words was possible. So it seems reasonable that it may take the return of the Time Lords to bring Rose back from the parallel word she was stuck in. I also think that if Russell T Davies is considering wrapping up his tenure as producer of Doctor Who that he may also want to wrap up a story line that was clearly and uniquely his- the story of the “Last of the Time Lords.” So I can see Davies ending that story line and leaving the Doctor in a universe with other Time Lords again for the next producer to take on. Anyway, perhaps in a story line like this one Rose (who was becoming an equal and peer with the Doctor anyway) would be needed in some way to continue working with the Time Lords. Perhaps this might even put her somewhat at odd with the one she loves as the Doctor again becomes somewhat of a renegade among the Time Lords.

Ok, perhaps that is a crazy idea, but that is how I would handle it. But all we can do now is wait and see how the producers and writers handle Rose’s return and where it will go. As a fan I have to admit I am a bit leery of the idea of Rose’s return, but the production of the show since Doctor Who was returned to television has proven to be innovative and creative and makes use of a lot of extremely talented people. At this point I will just have to put my hope in their proven track record, and sit back and enjoy the ride. Welcome back Rose!

Doctor Who Season 5 Companions

2007-11-24T05:04:00.000-08:00

Ok this is more of my wish list for season 5 companions, it would be my wish list for season 4 but I know that season 4 is already in the works. The Doctor’s companions are a very important part of the story telling in Doctor Who, and this has never been more true since the re-launch when we met Rose. I like Rose, I miss her character, but now that she is gone I really don’t want her to come back; so I partly hope that the rumors about her return are not true. I just think with the romantic tensions between her and the Doctor, especially with them so expressed, that there really is no where for these characters to go. The only two options would be to advanced their relationship further or end it; and I don’t think I like either options.

Ultimately, the Doctor needs to have companions that best can help tell the kind of stories you want to tell. This is one reason why I am looking forward to the Donna Noble character returning because it is a move away from the on going story line for the companions where they are “in love” with the Doctor like Rose and Martha. Hopefully Donna will add a dimension we have not seen a lot of when relating to the Doctor and allow the show’s writers and producers to tell some stories that would not have worked as well with Martha or Rose. Though I suspect Martha will be a much different character when she returns mid 4th season so that should be interesting too.

With all that said, the characters I would really like to see traveling with the Doctor for a season or so are Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale from the episode “Blink”. I have heard a lot from fans about a desire to see Sally Sparrow again, the performance Carey Mulligan was extremely good in “Blink”. Face it, the Doctor only appeared in like 5 minutes of the episode so Mulligan’s performance had to carry the whole story line; and not only did she carry the episode but it is probably one of the best episodes since Doctor Who returned to television. But, I would also like to see Finlay Robertson return as her boyfriend Larry Nightingale. I thought his chemistry was good with Carey Mulligan and he is a male character, besides the Doctor, that I think fans could relate to.

I also like the idea of having two companions, I think it adds more opportunity to build character dynamics. This is one reason why I enjoyed Captain Jack in season 1 and 3; he provided another really likable character for the other two to play off of and this added a lot. In addition to this because Sparrow and Nightingale are a couple it would move the story lines away from the romantic tensions we have seen so far in the first three seasons between the Doctor and his companions. Again, I really liked the romantic tensions, but we have already seen these stories and the stories need to at least take a break from this idea or they will loose their effectiveness. This is not to say that Larry could not feel threatened by the Doctor as competition for his girlfriend, even if there was absolutely nothing going on between the Doctor and Sally. Or, you could even have Sally feeling slightly left out when Larry and the Doctor get all excited about tech geeks stuff. Perhaps the Doctor would partly try to live vicariously through the love and relationship of Sally and Larry after resigning himself the fact that he can not live that kind of life. I am sure there are all kinds of angles the writers could explore between the dynamics of these three characters.

Anyway, I would really love to see Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale travel with the Doctor for a time. They are established and proven characters that would give the Doctor something different to relate to since the re-launch of the show. I just don’t want to see the Doctor with another young female companion where there are romantic tensions; they have already told that story, and told it well. I really do think Sally and Larry are strong characters that would help keep moving the show in new directions. Doctor Who is too good of a show to start rehashing its newest innovations so soon; when it comes to the companions I want to see something we haven’t seen yet in the new Doctor Who and I think that Carey Mulligan and Finlay Robertson can give it to us.

Oh yea...one last thing... Don't Blink!

44th Anniversary of Doctor Who

2007-11-23T04:58:00.000-08:00

TimeWarden has reminded me that today is the 44^th anniversary of Doctor Who! Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television at 5:15 pm (GMT) on 23 November 1963, staring William Hartnell as the Doctor. And so began the adventures of our favorite hero traveling through time in a blue Police Box with his companions battling for good against such evil foes such as the Daleks and Cybermen!
Happy Birthday Doctor Who!

Time Crash

2007-11-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

five and dime regeneration

2007-11-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

According to BBC’s Doctor Who website, “David Tennant's Tenth Doctor is set to meet Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor in a special scene commissioned for BBC One's Children in Need. The scene, entitled Time Crash, was written by award winning Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat, and will transmit as part of the Children in Need fundraising evening on Friday 16 November 2007.”

Peter Davison said, "It is an honor for me to be able to make the connection between the Fifth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor, however… I can feel the hand of history on my shoulder.” Looking at the promo picture on the BBC website we are reminded that Davison has not played the Doctor since 1984. He is now 56 years old but when he took the role as the Doctor in 1981 he was the youngest actor to have ever played the part at 29.

I am glad they are doing this television short for the Children in Need charity. I think this is a great medium to have a short fun story about the fifth and tenth Doctor meeting rather than trying to do something like this in a regular episode.