I couldn't find a photo of Tom Baker...so here's a pic of his son

Yes….I know what you’re thinking….

“Didn’t he blog that he had forgiven Tennant for his sins in the light of the new boy looking totally awful?”

Well I did…but I hadn’t seen the latest “Special” when I wrote that.

Shown last Sunday,The Waters Of Mars (or The Impossible Planet,or 42,or any episode from the last few seasons,it doesn’t matter which one you choose because they all have the same plot) was co-written by Russell T. Davies…and you could tell–55 minutes of overacting/running around aimlessly/rubbish jokes/gurning and a quite interesting 5 minutes at the end.

But by then it’s too bloody late,Russell….and isn’t it about time you collected your P45?

And why didn’t she shoot Tennant in the back….that’s what I would have done…but enough of my fantasies…

And why,once again,were the monsters utterly rubbish?  Fecking embarrassing….though it was nice to see Trina from Eastenders alive and well…so to speak…

And why is The Master in the bloody Christmas episode…..and still played by John Simm?

And why is it going to be 2 bloody hours long?

And why is Tennant outstaying his welcome?

And why does he even exist?

What people don’t seem to understand is that I don’t hate David Tennant,the person….I am a lifelong Who fan,and speak from that perspective.Therefore,I refuse to sit idly by while MY programme is totally ruined.One of Tennant’s biggest faults is that he’s playing a part….the best Doctors played themselves-Hartnell,Pertwee,Tom Baker (Tom IS really like that).Doctor Who is not a role you should “act”…you either “are” The Doctor or you’re not. You have to BE The Doctor.

Tennant doesn’t even use his real accent-’nuff said.

Ah,I hear you scream,the show now has many more fans than it did in the old days…

I’ll admit it has more fans,yes….but not the right kind.

Quite frankly—–these “fans” don’t deserve to be “fans”.

YOU DON’T DESERVE DOCTOR WHO.

Where were you when it was axed?

Did you queue up at HMV at midnight to buy the video of the Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann as the totally excellent Eighth Doctor?

Did you queue for 3 hours to get Peter Davison’s autograph at Longleat in 1983 at the 20 years of Doctor Who Celebration (the Woodstock of Who)?

Do you have a complete collection of The New Adventures?

So you think you’re a Doctor Who fan because you’ve got a DVD boxset…..

Tell me then…who are Faction Paradox? What is Compassion? What’s the date of the Dalek Invasion of Earth? What’s the Zero Room? In which story is the sonic screwdriver introduced? What’s the Eye Of Harmony?

Have you heard of these companions—Bernice Summerfield,Anji Kapoor,Chris Cwej,Charlotte Pollard,Erimem,Fey Truscott-Sade?

Did you know that First Doctor companion,Dodo,leaves the TARDIS after contracting a sexually transmitted alien disease,or that one of the bodies that the Second Doctor is offered as his new incarnation at his trial is the face of the dictator in the parallel universe in the story Inferno? Or that in Alien Bodies,several races of aliens turn up at an auction to bid on the Doctor’s corpse?

Have you read these books-Transit,Love And War,Nightshade,The Infinity Doctors,Casualties Of War,Interference?

To paraphrase Michael Caine in Get Carter-

“You’re a Doctor Who fan,but you’re knowledge is in bad shape—for me,it’s a full-time job—now behave yourselves.”

I would like to write a Doctor Who episode. (a childhood dream,actually)

It will not be a “scary” story…because if people think that Blink is “scary” then they have no idea what true horror is,and my efforts will be wasted.

No,I shall not scare the little kids (the only ones,along with the true fans,who will still be watching now that the ladies’ favourite has left—just wait for the ratings drop).

Instead,I shall mess with their heads.

I’ll have the so-called “fans” doubting their very sanity…I’ll show them what Doctor Who means—I’ll shove it right down their bloody throats.

I know stuff about Doctor Who that would make your teeth curl,but because the show has been dumbed down and turned into Hollyoaks,the production team don’t want to take any risks,so we won’t get any truly original and creative stories ever again.

Expect more “surprise” appearances by Billie Piper and the Daleks and Russell’s Carnival of Crap Monsters.That’s why they keep bringing the Daleks and the Master and the Shit Cybermen back-because the new monsters are rubbish.

It’s all about the merchandise….all about the BBC making money.

Hmm….got a little ranty there.

I’ve decided I won’t be doing any more Tennant-bashing….I’ll just stick a pin in my Tenth Doctor action figure from time to time.

I shall leave you to your Xmas “special” with it’s half-formed ideas,lame running gags,overacting,gurning and a third-rate actor jumping around like a twat .

TTFN

P.S Bring on Matt Smith!!!

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"Should I gurn yet, Rusty?"

Anna was hard at writing work this weekend, so we managed only a good old shop. Left to my own devices, my weekend accomplishments, bar some reading and a catching up with the papers, can be boiled down to:

1) Supported Pete Riley on Saturday night. Pete has a very pleasant voice, some rather fine songs, and is to boot a thoroughly good egg. Enjoyed  playing and listening, so good times. You can listen to Pete yourself at his MySpace.

2) Watched the latest Doctor Who special, ‘The Waters of Mars’. Thoroughly marred by the usual sentimental over-selling of key plot points, this one was a bit of a mess. It started out promisingly, with the fate of Bowie Base One, the first human settlement on Mars, sealed before they had the first inkling that anything was wrong. Lindsey Duncan was good – and wasn’t it nice to see Shane from Neighbours get work again? But the whole thing quickly fell foul of the usual Whovian sins, wildly pulling the mood and the viewer hither and thither: the viewer is smacked around the head with how Special and Amazing the Doctor’s latest female assistant is; Murray Gold’s score swells beyond bursting point every time the slighest bit of emotion may (or may not) be being felt on screen; cloying, strung-out Moments Of Import are signposted with such heavy-handed insistence that the viewer is left without any agency at all.

Perhaps all this is a function of Who being (whisper it now) a kid’s show. (Though this comes dangerously close to what Helena Bonham Carter said in an interview this weekend about Enid Blyton’s fiction: ““When you write for very young children what they want is something familiar and safe and stereotyped.” And this seems to me to underestimate the audience.) Yet take the Doctor’s behaviour in the final 15 minutes of the episode: walking away from the doomed base, he suddenly realises that, as last of the Time Lords, he controls, rather than follows, the laws of time. Naturally, this instantaneously results in huge megalomania and a God complex. Even more naturally, this lasts all of a few minutes, at which point, again in receipt of a bargain bin epiphany, he is on his knees muttering about dying. Most melodramas would consider this too much.

This isn’t signposting or playing to the audience – it’s just lazy storytelling. Even Tennant, usually tolerably good at the manic mood swings, couldn’t properly paper over the cracks. One can only hope that Steven Moffat has some better ideas for Matt Smith.

The Doctor (David Tennant) in full geek chic mode

I don’t care what any of the fanboys on the forums say, Russell T Davies and David Tennant will be sorely missed from Doctor Who next year (much as I love Stephen Moffat and am keeping an open mind on Matt Smith). The Waters of Mars is (so far) the best episode of Doctor Who ever. I sat perched on the edge of the sofa for the whole hour and for once Christmas can’t come soon enough.

Having been thoroughly drenched on the jog back from school this morning, water is very much on my mind today – and so, MI directs you to two of the many ways you can help provide clean water to people without this most basic of needs.

You can combine your good intentions with your Christmas shopping and head to Oxfam Unwrapped to buy safe water for ten people - for just £9. Sometimes it’s hard to believe such a small sum of money can make such a big difference.

Or you can head to Water Aid and get involved by donating money or time, or perhaps including it on your wedding list (I bet like many people you already have a toaster, bath towels and cutlery…).

And you know that the lovely Mr Tennant would heartily approve of either of these big-hearted decisions. So before you go off to rewatch The Waters of Mars on iPlayer, take a minute to make a difference for someone who not only is unlikely to ever see this fabulous hour of television, but much more crucially, doesn’t have clean, safe drinking water to hand at this very moment.

Hello! It’s Sunday. And Sundays, well, Sundays are boring, right? Right.

Went and saw 2012 yesterday, as promised. It was, well… Hmm.

My first reaction to it: Ehhhh. Not horrible, but not great. It’s exactly what’s advertised on the tin, I’ll put it this way. You’ve got a lot of real actors doing some cartoon shit while the world goes to hell all around them. The cast, when you think about it, is actually quite impressive. Also, Woody Harrelson’s in the mix too.

My second reaction to it: Why the fuck didn’t this come out in the middle of the summer?

Third reaction: Comedy of the year, hands down.

Especially in a year when, if you think about it, the big comedy was… what? The Hangover? Right? Get serious. I never saw the movie, I won’t lie, but for a lot of reasons. Primarily, things like the trailer. Did you see it? It looks like it was made for retarded boys. But, you know what’s even worse than the trailer? Listening to people who actually liked the movie. They sound like retarded boys, don’t they? Anyway.

But I really feel like 2012 deserves a good proper Counterforce review. It really does. It’s really our kind of movie, and I mean that in the best and worst possible ways. I don’t know that I’m the man for that job. Benjamin Light, I’m looking at you. Are you the man for that job?

Anyway, I went and saw the film yesterday with Conrad Noir and walking out of the theater, still buzzing from all that ridiculousness, we saw this:

And we thought, “Dear God, who gave that man wings.” Much less Wings Of Desire and much more Red Bull: The Movie.

But then we got into a little conversation, talking about this and that and action heroes of the 80s, mostly cause we’ve been watching a lot of that horrendous/wonderful action movie fare from that decade, and we were talking about how action stars back then were so… foreign seeming. And maybe that contributed a lot to their allure. Maybe it also made some of the ridiculousness easier to stand, too?

For example there, Benjamin Light and were discussing a week or so ago what a remake of The Terminator would look like – since the franchise is up for sale, and should be sold to Joss Whedon, of course, cause why not? – And I brought up the question, “Does the killer robot from the future have to be Austrian?” Commander Light emphatically assured he that it indeed had to be. I’m taking his word for it.

Anyway, so Conrad and I, discussing action stars today, talking about guys like Dwayne Johnson, and how, in our minds, he’s not really latched on with America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the idea of a “non-conventional” action star quite a bit, i.e. a non white guy running around screaming at people, doing high kicks, and blowing copious amounts of shit up. So why hasn’t “The Rock” caught on with us? I posit two possibilities:

1. In a grab for “credibility” or attempting to “not being as big a joke as he is,” he ditched his silly little wrestling moniker, “The Rock,” and went with his real name: Dwayne Johnson. Except, we can’t root for a guy named Dwayne.

2. Not foreign enough? Perhaps? I suggest investigating this has merit. Especially since it seems American action-loving fans get a bigger hard on from a ponce like Jason Statham than Dwayne Johnson.

Then, walking out of the theater, Conrad and I were looking at the various posters on display, the coming soons and the current releases. Part of me still wants to see This Is It. I’m a Michael Jackson fan, I won’t hide it.  But I’m also a huge Richard Matheson fan, and while I have serious reservations about the movie, I also kind of want to see The Box.

But I don’t know that I trust Richard Kelly anymore. Donnie Darko was okay when it first came out, before you put it through any real tests of serious thought or logic and saw through it’s masturbatory philophosizing. It’s a glorified remake of Last Temptation Of Christ that doesn’t fully pan out. But Kelly also went on to make – speaking of Dwayne Johnson – the gloriously bad Southland Tales.

Look, I’m not going to talk about the Philip K. Dick pastiche that was Southland Tales here. I’m just… not. I’m not going to do it. All I’ll say is I went into that movie wanting to like it. And I sit here now feeling like I’m a veteran of that war. It’s like Richard Kelly is George W. Bush and I was some dumb kid who supported the Iraq war until I went into the fucker and got my bits and pieces all cut off. Now I’m shell shocked.

But, yeah, there’s The Box, directed by Richard Kelly, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, based on the Richard Matheson story, “Button, Button,” and was previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. We’ll see if I ever see it.

And again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Tomorrow’s the start of the “work week.” I’d love to Weeks In Review here at Counterforce, but lately it’s just me rambling and I’d feel bad directing the two and a half readers of this site back to more of me rambling. Poor fuckers. Oh yeah, the season finale of Mad Men was last Sunday. And we had a Friday the 13th happen this past week as well. There you go. Oh, and: Young women having sex with sea creatures. Now there you really go.

But again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see… Oh! Tonight was the airing of the latest Doctor Who special over in the UK, “The Waters Of Mars,” the start of the end of David Tennant’s run as #10. You can catch it online if you’re good, if you’re very good, and it’s dark. And a bit sad. And leaves you kind of sweaty and breathless too.

Also tonight is AMC’s remake of the classic 60s show, The Prisoner. I’d watch it, but I’m not sure I want to see my childhood get raped so thoroughly and with such production values. Ian McKellen is a good choice for just about anything, but Jim Caviezel? I think I hate you for that, AMC. Honestly, Jim Caviezel makes Keanu Reeves look like Marlon Brando to me.

Oh well, here we are. The weekend’s almost over. I went to the movies to watch the end of the world as we know it and…

You know, I sort of like having just the Doctor Who specials instead of a series just because the level of excitement and anticipation before each special, it’s like having Christmas early. Plus they seem to put so much more extra welly into each episode and this episode, The Waters of Mars, had lots of extra welly. Great premise, an event that the Doctor just can’t change, water zombies, a great scary script with lots of typical Russell T Davies bits (and that ending with the Captain), which I will so miss and top class acting from David Tennant, playing the Doctor going slightly mad (as would you wouldn’t you, eventually, the last of your species, that much power over life and death?). It’s all working out towards an explosive Christmas special (and is that Donna I saw in the trailer!) and I have a feeling that Davies and Moffat have been talking to each other, using these last few episodes to set up possibly a tantalizingly much darker Doctor, now that would be good.

Now don’t forget Dreamland starting 21st November on the red button and online.

David Tennant (The Doctor) and Lindsay Duncan (Adelaide) in Doctor Who: The Waters Of Mars. Photo copyright of the BBC

THE BBC today announced the imminent arrival of the final Doctor Who episodes starring David Tennant as the Doctor. Television’s longest running Science Fiction series, shot in HD, has just three episodes to go before a new Time Lord arrives onscreen in 2010.

The next special, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, airs on BBC America, Saturday, December 19th @ 9 p.m. EST/PST. It stars Tennant and British stage and screen actress Lindsay Duncan (Rome, Langford) as Adelaide, his cleverest and most strong-minded companion.

The Doctor and Adelaide are on the move! Photo copyright of the BBC

What is it that The Doctor and Adelaide are on the run from? Photo copyright of the BBC

Could it be this gruesome-looking chap? Photo copyright of the BBC

All will be revealed as the Doctor and his companion Adelaide face terror on the Red Planet in one of the show’s scariest adventures yet. Peter O’Brien (Casualty, Neighbors) guest-stars as Ed, Adelaide’s second-on-command on the base.

The Waters of Mars is written by Russell T. Davies (Torchwood, Queer as Folk) and Phil Ford and directed by Graeme Harper. The executive producers are Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner (Torchwood, Life on Mars).

Proceed with extreme caution! Photo copyright of the BBC

Adelaide and The Doctor see something strange in the shadows ahead of them. Photo copyright of the BBC

The angry Red Planet takes on a whole new meaning in The Waters of Mars. Photo copyright of the BBC

The remaining episodes starring David Tennant will air over the holiday season as a two-part special. Airdates will be released in early December. The actor shot a total of four specials before exiting the role – Planet of the Dead was the first to air last July on BBC America.

As noted above, all photos copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

I’m really annoyed now, and that’s annoying, because it’s taking away some of the enjoyment of Sarah Jane. I thought when I blogged about the new season of Sarah Jane last week that I had finally grasped the how and the when BBC was doing things. But, oh no. Still got it wrong, and were it not for iPlayer we would have missed half of it.

So, it’s two episodes a week, Thursday and Friday, is it? Well, that could have been made clearer. A lot clearer. A lot earlier.

Daughter and I like to watch every other time; i.e. saving each ‘half’ episode to watch them together. To do this it helps to know not to miss the Friday second half. Even a half witted witch can smell aliens when the second half appears to be about something totally different.

Tip to the BBC – now you can change your broadcasting pattern, to make us miss Sarah Jane in some other way.

I could do without the lengthy and rather OTT start to each episode, however. Dear Clyde is sweet, but he is no James Bond, and for people who watch every episode of Sarah Jane (however hard that is proving to be) it gets – well -repetitive in the extreme.

On the other hand, having both David Tennant and Nigel Havers at once is quite something. So I’m in a sufficiently good mood after Sarah Jane’s sad love affair to be slightly less annoyed. (Not forgiving anyone, though!) I was so hoping Nigel Havers would turn out to be good (=the opposite of evil), because I do quite like him. I was about to say despite him being blonde, but he looked pretty dark/grey this week. Was he a fake blonde, back when?

In a way it’s really annoying that even a witch not under the spell of David Tennant goes all gooey at the edges when the good Doctor shows up, and on the wrong show. Oh, well, I’m all for people appearing in related programmes. The more the merrier.

The Doctor and Adelaide

THE end of an era for Doctor Who approached on a screen in central London today.

“It’s been something that I’ll be forever proud of,” David Tennant told us afterwards.

“Filming the very, very final scenes was very sad.”

The Waters Of Mars is as dark and as thrilling an episode of Doctor Who as any I’ve ever seen.

It’s the second of four farewell specials starring David as the tenth Time Lord.

And it foreshadows his departure in a final two-part story to be screened at Christmas.

The hour-long episode, premiered at the press launch today, will be broadcast on BBC1 at 7pm on Sunday Nov 15.

There’s a full transcript below of this morning’s post-screening Q&A with David and outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.

But first a little background.

This remarkable film, written by Russell and Phil Ford, begins with the TARDIS landing on Mars on Nov 21 2059.

There the Doctor discovers Bowie Base One – the human race’s first off world colony, led by a mission commander called Adelaide (Lindsay Duncan).

The Doctor calls her “a woman with starlight in her soul”.

Some parts of The Waters Of Mars are seriously scary and will ensure children never shower again.

With one of the most intelligent and moving scripts in the long history of Doctor Who.

“I really should go,” insists the Doctor. Several times.

“What happens here must always happen,” explains the last of the Time Lords.

Before an ending which will disturb and disrupt what we all think of him.

It’s significant that this doom-laden story has the Doctor alone, without a companion, running from his own demise.

With the Ood appearing at the end to summon him.

BBC drama boss Ben Stephenson described it as “one of the most sophisticated pieces of writing I’ve seen in a long time”.

He’s also watched the final two episodes – The End Of Time.

“Stonking is probably the only word. They are full of the best twists and turns Doctor Who has ever done,” promised Ben.

“Some of the twists are really, really shocking. Some of them are hilarious. And a lot of them are incredibly moving.

“There really won’t be a dry eye in the house and your turkey will be quite wet by the end of it.”

We were also treated to short extracts from those last two films.

Featuring John Simm’s return as The Master, with what looked like blond hair.

Fans who want to read more, including why David has locked away his sonic screwdriver, should check out the transcript below.

As chance had it, I asked both the first and last questions at the post-screening press conference:

(Sat Oct 31 update – new pics added following the expiry of the BBC image embargo)

1. One of the darkest and scariest episodes that you’ve filmed?

David: “Probably, yeah, I think. It tells a different sort of story and it’s a long time into the episode before the Doctor takes control. I think that’s what’s unnerving about it. It’s not the standard kind of structure – we expect the Doctor to take control, we expect the Doctor to know how he’s going to do it and how he’s going to win through. And he sort of doesn’t. Even though he wins in the end, it’s a bittersweet victory and people die. And that’s part of the story we had to tell to go where we’re going.”

Russell: “It’s not so much scary as intense.”

2. Are you still getting ideas for Doctor Who and, if so, what are you doing with them?

Russell: “I don’t really, no. I knew I was finishing two years ago, so I stopped then, in a way. I think there’s a good Twitter Doctor Who story to be told, I’ve got to say…in 140 characters. No, to be honest – I’m old hat.”

3. Are you still aiming at children?

Russell: “Absolutely. Have you read a Harry Potter book?”

David: “Have you seen a Harry Potter film?”

Russell: “It’s his (Harry Potter’s) own mum and dad, let alone complete strangers on Mars. I think kids would laugh at your worries. What I love about that, it’s a complicated story. Frankly, it’s very intelligent. The Doctor’s moral choices there are caught up in a temporal conundrum – and six-year-olds could follow that. Absolutely easy…and I think that’s fantastic television for children. It’s the sort of challenge you should give them.”

The Doctor and Adelaide

4. Is this an indication of where things might be going in the future?

David: “Well, I think this gives you a bit of a hint, the fact that the Ood have come to summon the Doctor and the fact that the Doctor now knows incontrovertibly that he’s running from his own demise. At the very end he says, ‘No, I’m not going there, I’m going to rage against the dying of the light,’ which kind of beats at the final story, I suppose. All those chickens come home to roost.”

Russell: “At the end of the series with Catherine Tate, Davros told him he was responsible for many people’s deaths – and all these things are coming to an end. This shows why he travels with a human companion. That’s the point of this story – he would have had someone to talk to…and found a different way out of it. But because he’s alone, he’s lost in his own head and he goes too far. All these things are coming to an end. It’s time.”

5. Do you feel that you’ve wrapped it up satisfyingly for yourself?

David: “Yeah. It feels like we tell a big end of an era story and hand it on, which I think is important in this show, which has, let’s face it, been going a long time before we showed up and no doubt will carry on into the far distant future. So, yes, I think we tell a big old farewell story and then hand it over in rude health.”

Russell: “It’s nice knowing when you’re coming to an end so far in advance, you get a chance to do everything. It’s not like you’ve forgotten anything. We see the Ood summon the Doctor…for Children In Need in a few weeks’ time, you get the first scene of the Doctor arriving on the Planet of the Ood – Ood-Sphere, which was actually a hilarious scene. That scene is so funny. You shouldn’t think it’s going to be as dark and as doom-laden from now on.”

6. Did either of you take any souvenirs from the set?

David: “You’re not allowed. You really aren’t allowed. I think people think we just walk away with our pockets stuffed full of stuff. But, you know, the licence fee is very well protected and so it should be. I did get a little gift box at the end of stuff they didn’t need anymore.

“I do have my own sonic screwdriver and I put it in a secure location because I suddenly got worried my house would get burgled and I’d lose it. So I’ve locked it up somewhere.”

Russell: “No, I’ve got like an orb from the end of the world. I had to pay a thousand for it at a charity auction. I actually was very drunk and I thought I’d bought a weekend in Devon…then it turned out it was an orb.”

7. Photos have leaked out of the new Doctor Who series (starring Matt Smith) being filmed at the moment. Do either of you feel any regret?

David: “It’s weird, I remember before it was the case, thinking, ‘Oh that’ll probably happen, we’ll probably start seeing snaps of them on street corners and wearing anoraks and having cups of tea between takes.’ And I was nervous about how I’d feel about that. I’m thrilled that it’s carrying on and I know that everyone who’s there is a great choice. Of course, you feel a little bit proprietorial. But I’ve been very cheered by the fact that I haven’t, actually. I’ve just been really excited to see that it’s going on, teased by what I’m seeing, and I just can’t wait to see it. I suppose because I remember what it felt like, as well, to be where Matt is now. I just was really excited and I’m really excited to be seeing somebody else starting out on that journey, I guess.”

Russell: “It’s funny because when you’re inside the programme and you see those things, you think, ‘Oh it’s spoiled and it’s ruined and it’s dreadful.’ But when you’re outside, you think, ‘Ooh, that’s exciting.’”

8. Are you currently putting together, conceiving, writing an American version of Doctor Who to pitch to American networks?

Russell: “Absolutely not. No. As you know, I lie my way through these things, but no, absolutely not. I bet you a hundred quid that I’m not. I’m developing things – but new things. And I’m not going to tell you what they are because they’ll probably never exist. There’s a recession out there as well. We’ll see.”

David: “I can do the accent…that was a joke.”

9. Do you feel you’ve done everything you wanted to do with this series?

Russell: “I do feel that. When I started, I could never imagine you could go so far with it, like to do episodes with Peter Kay or to do monsters that are statues…or to bring Davros back…you never would have thought it would go that far. So I feel more than happy and vindicated, actually, that all these things worked.”

David: “I got to do so many more things than I ever imagined I would, just playing the part itself, let alone working with all the incredible actors who came through – all the things I got to do, hanging off things, being blown up and wearing make-up of myself as a nine-million-year-old-man. All these things that I would never have dreamed of. So, no, I didn’t have a checklist, thinking, ‘When am I going to get to ride on a unicycle, it’s just not fair.’ No, it was just an incredible, continually surprising trip. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Riding the robot - Gadget

Russell: “You got to ride on a robot with Lindsay Duncan. Hilarious. All those posh things she’s done. We brought her down to this.”

10. We know some of the companions are returning for your final episodes?

David: “Well you saw Catherine Tate as Donna. You saw Bernard Cribbins as Wilf. John Simm as the Master…not a companion but he’s part of the gang.”

Russell: “Jacqueline King. who plays Donna’s mum Sylvia and The Master’s wife – she’s back. And The Ood. And the new Ood.”

11. David, how did you feel giving up the role?

“Like I just said, it was an incredible experience. It was something that I fantasised about as a child, so it was an incredible, slightly surreal thing to finally be up there and be part of that. It’s been something that I will be forever proud of.”

12. Elisabeth Sladen said recently that she was worried about you David, as to how you’re going to cope not being the Doctor and she thought you might end up in rehab?

David: “It’s not looking that likely at the moment but who knows. Never say never.”

The Doctor and Sarah Jane

13. What was your last day like?

David: “Actually my last day was on The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is on this afternoon. The last line I say as the Doctor is half way through the episode tonight, which is, ‘You two, with me, spit spot.’ They were the last words I uttered in this suit (though not his last words as seen on screen). So I guess it was robbed of any epic quality. But that was probably best. It was very emotional saying cheerio. Filming the very, very final scenes was very sad. There’s lots of scenes in the final, final episode that are very sad and were very sad to play. And I think if one of them had co-incided with the actual final day, I’d have been in trouble. I was a bit in trouble as it was, but I was alright.”

14. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen your face on?

David: “Pants has got to be up there, certainly. Yoghurts for a while. Healthy yoghurts, obviously. I don’t know, it just keeps coming – bath bombs. I think pants are probably the oddest, just because they’re pants.”

David also said he had plastic Doctor Who figures, including one of himself. “It’s a very odd thing and I’m not sure if it is entirely healthy but it’s quite fun.”

15. The Waters Of Mars is dedicated to Barry Lettts, who died earlier this month.

Russell: “He was one of the finest producers of Doctor Who and many programmes, actually. He used to do the Sunday afternoon classic serials and he actually produced the Jon Pertwee years. And then he cast Tom Baker. He cast Lis Sladen as well. He was an extraordinary figure in Doctor Who history and in pop culture – and he passed away, sadly. So, of course, we wanted to have that tribute to him on screen.”

16. Does David see a future filled with Doctor Who conventions?

David: “Never say never. I don’t know. It would be fun to try. The three of us went to the San Diego Comic-Con, which wasn’t quite like a Doctor Who convention because it’s almost a media event really, as much as it’s a fan convention. Although it started as a fan convention and that’s still, at heart, what it is. I don’t know. I’ve got no immediate plans. But never say never.”

17. Which episodes or specials have you been most proud of?

David: “It’s hard to pick favourites because it feels unfair.”

Russell: “And also, there really are no episodes we don’t like. You feel if you did leave an episode out, you’re insulting all your friends and colleagues who worked on that episode.”

David: “And I haven’t seen the last two yet, so I can’t comment.”

Russell: “They will be up there…definitely.”

18. Can you ever wear a blue suit again?

David: “Do you know, the only thing…there is a certain brand of footwear…I used to wear quite a lot and I don’t any more because it feels a bit wrong. Maybe I’ll get over that.”

19. Are you able to share one of the more inspiring or moving things a child has said or written to you about Doctor Who?

Russell: “Drawings…we do get all sorts of lovely letters and things, from adults as well. Extraordinary letters, truly emotional letters about it sometimes. But kids’ drawings – we’ve filled that space in children’s imaginations and their joy when they’re writing…I’ve genuinely found that moving.”

David: “It’s funny. Quite often when I meet kids they don’t know what to say, they get a bit overwhelmed by it. I remember what it did to me, I suppose. I remember how enthused I got by this show, by the worlds that it took me to and how special it seemed. And when you feel like you’re creating a similar world for a child now and you can see it reflected back, because they don’t know how to express or how to say it to you, that’s very special.”

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Who Am I?

Sarah Jane has a new hairstyle. I’ll have to think about that, before deciding if it’s good news or not. Good news is that Sarah Jane is back. ‘How back’ is another question. We discovered it was on last week, but on closer inspection it seems to have been the third episode this week, so who knows?

Maybe he does. I have a vague idea that Doctor Who will pop up some time, and sooner rather than later will be fine.

I’d really like it if the BBC could make a little more noise when their children’s programmes are on. I’ve said this before, and I’ll probably say it again a few times. Unless people read the small print of afternoon television every day, we’ll just miss our programmes. After a look at the website, I think each episode is on about six times in a week, but it’s not totally clear, so I may be wrong. I’m old, so that’s quite likely.

Watching the first two episodes back-to-back yesterday, I decided that Sarah Jane has a lot in common with NCIS. Both are ignored by television reviewers most of the time, although maybe they don’t sneer quite so much at Sarah Jane. That will be because it’s our national treasure, Russell T Davies, who’s involved. And he, like Shane Brennan in California, knows how to write good scripts.

That’s why this adult must watch. I have given up on most other children’s programmes, mainly due to lack of time, but Sarah Jane is a must.

I suppose the hair was OK.

…well it was a very close-run thing, but just edging half a point ahead (and actually due to his specialist subject rather than his expert knowledge of the Large Hadron Particle Collider) is A Ben Baker Of Keighley – congratulations on becoming the Out On Blue Six Telly Addicts Champion Of Champions 2009. And here to present your prize is Annwan Glover, TV ”Slim Charles” (Wire):

‘Normal’ Out On Blue Six will resume shortly…

This year, so far,  we’ve had two of the promised four Doctor Who special episodes and while they’ve been sufficiently Who-ish; Planet of the Dead featured a BBC budget Lara Croft-esque character called Lady Christina and The Next Doctor with an anatomically ambivalent CyberKing, the knowledge that this is  the delicious David Tennant’s protracted swan-song has made it a miserable experience so far.

Oh yes, Mr Tennant I’d climb into your TARDIS any day of the week  but I’m not so sure about this new chap Matt Smith, there is something vaguely unnerving about an actor born in 1982-the Peter Davidson era- playing a 900 year old time-lord. There is also a new assistant in the pipeline and with almost unimaginable self-restraint the new ginger –haired, Scottish lassie has been named Amy rather than the infinitely more obvious Heather or Agnes, this may yet prove a mistake as no-one likes a stereotype better than your average telly viewer and Scottish stereotypes are just so much fun, usually corrupt coppers or whiney, malnourished druggie/ crims.

We won’t be able to enjoy the next series for some considerable time here in far-flung NZ so in the meantime the library has oodles of Dr Who DVDs, audio-books, novels and magazines featuring the Doctor in his many guises. Yes, the vintage TV series sets do wobble and every second story-line was filmed in a quarry in the Cotswolds but for sheer nostalgia and a chance to hide in terror behind the couch again, they are well worth another watch. And although I must confess to having become a little fatigued by story editor Russell T Davies’s plots, the latest Doctor Who series have lots of famous acting faces, racey plots and fantastic CGI.  The empty child and The doctor dances with Chrstopher Eccleston are two of my favourite episodes and won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic presentation.

Beeb drama at its very best!

…Or, rather, David Tennant.  But I will get to that in a moment.

Artwork by Neil Cameron

Plot devices and continuity.  Like most hit television shows, in any given genre, be it comedy or drama… from Grey’s Anatomy to Ugly Betty to Lost to Star Trek to Stargate to, yes, Doctor Who.  New writers must come in and draw a fine line where the old left off, and hopefully fill those new shoes properly.  If you were hired to write a hit TV show tomorrow and you were not a fan or somewhat of an expert or historian in that series, somewhat part of the progression of it, I would tell you to get the F out.  Good example, Desperate Housewives. I mean, come on, five years later? OK, prequels I can handle.  Pip and Jane Baker; you wrote about Colin Baker but you never ever bothered to watch the series and analyze your lead character’s progressions?

I have faith Stephen Moffat will make this new improved Doctor Who work to his advantage, and, most importantly, the audience’s advantage.  And don’t be surprised if Russell T. Davies “guest writes” a story every now and then.  Like most science fiction shows, the best writers and collaborators must look at the material of seasons past and see how they can improve on that, go one step further.  They must include an element within a series that will not only keep the viewer attached but something that approximates the previous seasons and the very heart of what the show represents, especially in terms of approach and sophistication.  Good example, historical stories.  Anything else nowadays is a waste of time and a quick cancellation. 

The Two New Stars of Series Five

But, once again, I have faith in the soon-arriving Fifth Series Doctor when it comes to his bow-tie donning persona, what I personally consider to be a 21^st century Peter Davison by way of Jon Pertwee and perhaps a bit of suave “academic emo”.  Then again, over the next three years—in which Matt Smith was contracted—I could end up wrong.  However, I love the new outfit.  And I fell in love with Matt Smith when I saw that new TARDIS, the tweed dandy, and the old crotchety boots and rags he was wearing.  Yes, sometimes fashion makes a bold statement.  The best part: it works for just about all age groups. 

When I was growing up, the late Tom Baker and Peter Davison years were my era.  My son loves Christopher Eccleston.  Who knows, maybe it’s the ears.  But he is young.  The way I grew up to Davison, is the way my boy will start off “fresh” with Matt Smith.  The Eleventh Doctor.  Below you will find set photographs littered across the web of Matt Smith in a rather torn-up outfit belonging to a dead David Tennant.  Yes, the Tenth Doctor’s garb.  Ice cream, anyone? And there’s a surprised Karen Gillan, in standard police uniform, by his side.  So one question now remains: what happened in the aftermath of whatever it is that killed Tennant’s character off?

Well, actually, two: How did David Tennant die?

REGEN-NEWS TIP: The Gallifreyan Embassy (Doctor Who Podshock): ttp://networkedblogs.com/p13718949

Official BBC Doctor Who Homepage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/ 

Doctor Who Series Five Monster Poll:

http://lawrencedagstine.com/2009/03/16/doctor-who-series-five-monsters/

 On-Location Film Shoots:

www.bigpicturesphoto.com

Surprise, surprise!

"Can I get you a Firerocket, Amy?"

The 2010 series assures us the return of Alex Kingston (Professor Riversong, who I suspect might be Amy Pond).  The new series assures us the return of the Daleks.  The 2010 series rumors that Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston will be back.  How the latter, I do not know.  Maybe Merlin, maybe CGI dragons.  There are rumors of The Sea Devils, Sherlock Holmes, The Yeti, The London Underground (remember The Web of Fear), and possibly Noel Clarke and John Barrowman, too.  But until 2010, that’s all they are: rumors.

Matt Smith

Nevertheless, I’d like to take this time to thank David Tennant, Russell T. Davies, and Julie Gardner for fulfilling a dream I had wished come true way back in the 90’s when I was scouring Forbidden Planet, Barnes & Nobles, and Borders for paperbacks like the “The New Adventures” and places like FYE and Sam Goody for VHS Tapes of past stories.

Goodbye David Tennant

Thank you David Tennant, for being a BRILLIANT Tenth Doctor.  This post is dedicated to you.

Yours Truly,

Lawrence R. Dagstine

Just Another SF Geek.

P.S.: How about that new DW Logo? What do you think?

P.S. 2: I’ll return with more Whovian news and thoughts in 2010.

I’m Brionny and I hate typing like this. CAPS IS WHERE IT’S AT GUISE. But so you don’t automatically assume I’m YELLING AT YOU, I’ll stick to typing in a “normal” fashion as much as I can…

Okay, so basically I like white wine, sleeping and staring at my laptop screen until 4am. What else do you need to know?

Musically Br& New have my srs love for all eternity. I believe in Jesus Lacey for sure. Andrew McMahon also has my undying love. And omg, I’m a huge fan of the fabulous glam that comes in the form of Queen, Bowie and the epic that is ‘Velvet Goldmine’. Say it with me, “WHO IS JACK FAIRY?” Top of my unofficial glam list is American Idol’s Adam Lambert. I am quite aware that he dominates much of my conversation but uh, deal please because that bench is fabulous. Can I get a FY!?

Um, if I had my way, I’d spend my days at the cinema. Would anybody like to buy me a house with a built-in cinema? Nope, didn’t think so… In that case, just hand me Brad and Leo and everything’s fine

Another slight obsession of mine is musicals. Srs mmm-ing at ’We Will Rock You’, ‘The Rocky Horror Show’, ‘Wicked’ and ‘Les Miz’. My granddad was a huge ‘Les Miz’ fan and he recorded the 10th anniversary concert off the telly for my mum. I remember watching it with mum one day and going “Wow! How are people even singing like that?” The passion from the actors and the way the music made me feel alive is something is something I’ve never forgotten.

Journalisticly, (aha, is that even a word?), I want to write about music or far-flung holiday destinations. And I’d like to be head of the BBC please. If only to revive my beloved ‘Torchwood’ and bring back everyone Russell T Davies killed off

HAVE I WAFFLED ENOUGH? I’m going with a firm “Yes.” Kthanxbai.