Count Down to New Season of Doctor Who

A week from tomorrow the sixth season of the New Who premieres in the UK and the US. Yes it is possible. With previous programming delays, one would think that film reels were being brought over in row boats. I digress.
Word is that during the opening two-parter set in America, one of the main cast is going to die. It better not be Rory. The novelty of killing him is wearing off. River Song will be back and in the mid-season finale (as they are splitting it in half after the seventh episode this season) her identity is said to be revealed.
Here is the BBC America Extended Trailer
Here is Doctor Who Insider Part 1 and Part 3 (nothing new in Part 2)
I'm so excited. It looks like all those little strings left dangling from last season (the thing in the corner of your eye, cracks, "Silence is falling") will all be brought to a climax this season. It also looks incredibly scary. There's also an episode called "The Doctor's Wife" by Neil Gaiman which should prove to be interesting.

In other Who-news, if you haven't heard, David Tennant is a dad. Georgia Moffet had their baby in March. Still trying to spread the term "Whocest" with little result.

Doctor Who Sherlock Crossover

Steve Moffat said this won't happen outside the realm of fanfic, but I say it already has. Clearly the Doctor infiltrated the unaired pilot of Sherlock.Little montage of Anderson's beard from the pilot from Andersonsbeard on Tumblr.

It's the same beard. Picture is from the new series six trailer. Coincidence? Yeah. Probably.

Sorry, my mind couldn't rest until I had done a comparison post. When I saw the new Doctor Who trailer all I could think was "With that beard Matt Smith looks like Anderson in the unaired pilot of Sherlock." The lanky hair helps too I believe. I really should be doing something more productive with my winter break- though I have been writing quite a bit and working on material for the spring Forensic Speech tournaments.

Doctor Who Special and Series 6 Trailer

The Doctor Who Special that aired on Christmas Day. It was loosely based on Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol with the Doctor trying to rehabilitate a Scrooge character named Kazran during the "Crystal Feast"- that planet's version of the Christmas holiday. Overall, it wasn't bad. There were excellent performances by Michael Gambon and singer Katherine Jenkins. It starts with Amy and Rory on their honeymoon... dressed as a kiss-o-gram and a roman soldier... ahem.

For once the Doctor wasn't trying to vanquish some monster force, he was trying to prevent a man from becoming a monster. Interesting.

Some very humorous timey-wimey things occur. The Doctor might have married Marilyn Monroe, he and a young Kazran also get to wear some fezzes and some rainbow striped scarves. Though all this was amusing, they did play a little fast and loose with the established rules of time travel, such as crossing personal time lines.

Moffat also gave the Doctor a total Sherlock Holmes deduction moment- he notices a painting of Kazran's father and deduces the state of their relationship by its placement in the room in relation to the furniture, etc. For a moment I thought he must have accidentally forgotten he was writing Who and started working on the next season of Sherlock.

Still, overall it was enjoyable and a bit sad.

The series 6 trailer has me so excited! It seems to be very America centric (which as they have been filming in the US makes sense) with some great Western landscapes and a new hat for the Doctor, this time a Stetson- though River doesn't seem to like it much. She seems like she'll be heavily involved in next season... and possibly naked. Yeah. Anyway, some key quotations from the trailer seem to be the Doctor saying "Amy Pond, my life in your hands," and "...monsters are real." Some creepy doll creatures are on the menu (as if dolls aren't creepy enough).

There appears to be: 17th century characters, Nazis, the TARDIS from "The Lodger," the Doctor chained up and bearded, Utah, the Ood, mysterious markings on Amy and River. Neil Gaiman is said to have written an episode this season, so that should be interesting.

Day 1- NaNoWriMo

It's been going well, it will be Day 2 shortly so I thought I would write an encouraging post while things are still looking up. Today I wrote 3521 words, exceeding the 1667 word per day goal. I know there are going to be a few days this month where writing will be impossible due to mass amounts of school work, so on days I can write I'd like to exceed the word count goal as much as possible.
In my preparations for writing about murder, mayhem and an annoyingly intelligent detective, I was reading a good deal of Arthur Conan Doyle over the weekend- and of course as you look down and see my review, I ended my weekend watching the second episode of Sherlock.
I read "The Final Problem" and I can see why audiences were in a bit of an uproar, Doyle did not give a very satisfying conclusion to Holmes' story. It was ambiguous and somewhat anti-climactic. Moriarty was such a great creation as well (look at all the Sherlockian media he's inspired), kind of wasted on one brief story- though apparently in a post "The Empty House" story he is expanded on a bit.
However, his appearance does lead to this fabulous exchange in "The Final Problem":

"All that I have to say has already crossed your mind," said he [Moriarty].
"Then possibly my answer has already crossed yours," I [Holmes] replied.

This passage may be part of the wild speculation surrounding the third episode of Sherlock airing in the US next week on PBS. It certainly supports some theories, but could also be a ~red herring~ to throw our opinions in another direction, but I wouldn't be surprised if this passage is cited as evidence for certain theories regarding what's coming next season.
According to Moffat the key words for Sherlock season two are Adler, Hound and Reichenbach.

Weekend Viewing Guide

On Saturday night the first episode of Doctor Who premiered in the US. Many fans breathed a sigh of relief- though still warming up, both Matt Smith and Steve Moffat presented an excellent first effort. The show had energy, Amy and the Doctor had great chemistry and a story arch for the whole season has already been hinted at. Prisoner Zero tells him "the silence is coming," that someone is leaving cracks in time. I've already seen the second and third episodes that have aired in the UK and can say without giving away much, that cracks appear in those episodes as well. Amy's memory also proves to have inexplicable gaps that the Doctor doesn't understand in the third episode. On the Doctor's radar in the end of the first episode something that looked like one of the cracks blipped across the screen, but I could be wrong. It was late when I was watching. When watching Who attention to detail is extremely important, but some people get carried away. I don't want to be one of those people, but it's easy to make wild speculations in a show like this.
The trailer for the fourth episode shows the return of River Song and the Weeping Angels, both pet creations of Moffat from his episodes "Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead" and "Blink." Rehearsals have been running late for me on Saturday nights, so the DVR and I are becoming best friends.
This Sunday was the first part of Small Island on Masterpiece Classic. I've never read the book, but find the story very interesting and would like to read it now. Masterpiece has been struggling to re-define itself and bring in a younger audience, they seem to be hitting their stride with this season's stories taking place in the early part of the 20th century around the World Wars. I eagerly anticipate what their next season will bring.

The End of Time Part 1

Last night the US saw this exciting special only one day after the UK got the chance, proving that it does not take a whole year for the reels to be paddled across the Atlantic in a rowboat as it seemed with previous imports... I digress. The first part of David Tennant's swansong as the Doctor held some fantastic moments and big surprises. Although some of the special effects were a little over done (is the Master going to join the X-Men?) and moments of music were a bit intrusive it is still fairly gripping. I wish it was going to play out in three parts however, then they wouldn't have to rush so much plot along, that is my only other negative- it felt a little crowded.
Bernard Cribbins returns as Donna's grandfather Wilf, funny, sympathetic and brave, helping fill the Doctor's empty companion slot in this episode. The highlight of the night was their scene in a small cafe where the Doctor sees Donna again through the window and confides to Wilf that he has done terrible things on his own (alluding to The Waters of Mars). It's rare to see the Doctor in such a vulnerable state. Of course John Simm as the Master is brilliantly terrifying after his resurrection goes horribly wrong. Simm and Tennant have an excellent scene together showing their acting prowess without upstaging each other.
Most importantly: the duel cliff-hanger ending. The Master converts every human being on earth into himself. I did not expect that, very nightmarish, I'll have to see how it pans out until I decide whether I love it or hate it. (Leaning towards hate, but hey, they could pull it together.) Simm does look nice in a dress however. The other cliffhanger is that the Timelords have returned. I was sort of expecting that honestly. What this means for the Doctor, the universe, the show, and how much the Master had to do with their return remains to be seen. Also, the mysterious "Lady in White" has cause much speculation.
The preview for the second part looks good, the Doctor seems to go through a bit of a beating if the shot of his face is any indication. There is also a clip of the Doctor, possibly for the first time ever, brandishing a gun in the preview. Uh-oh...
I can't give this a letter grade until I see its conclusion.

The Waters of Mars

The first of the final three Doctor Who specials aired last night. As much as I thought the "infection" made its victims look vaguely zombie movie-ish, it was frightening. Water in itself is the most powerful force on earth, as the Doctor say 'it wears away the mountain tops.' There is so much unknown and unexplained in this episode, the source of whatever it is in the water is never revealed. The unknown is always something this series plays on. It's why "Midnight" was one of the most frightening episodes.
What was most terrifying about this particular epsiode was the Doctor himself. He's reaching the end, he knows his death is inevitable. That coupled with his extreme feeling of loneliness, of loss and his own fear leads him to rail against the rules he's been living by. He's tired of doing the right thing and suffering for it. In the end we see a half crazed Doctor decide that he can and has the right to change time. He wages a battle against time itself, and yet in the end we see his extreme vulnerability and fear eclipse the arrogance he was projecting. He asks "Have I gone too far?"
That is where we are left until next Saturday and the US premeire of "The End of Time Part 1."
There's an article in The Guardian today. It's a bit long and there are a few lines that are spoilerish about the finale, but if you don't mind risking it, check it out here.

Photo courtesy of The Guardian, December 20th 2009.

Too Much Doctor Who

If there is such a thing.
Last night I watched the new Doctor Who animation "Dreamland" on YouTube. It's very... weird. The animation is a little stilted, not much expression from the characters. "Infinate Quest" is superior in animation in my opinion. Besides it has Anthony Stewart Head, the Doctor as a renegade running from library fines and impersonating a pirate, and light sabers. A win all around.
I say that maybe I've had too much Who lately because last night I actually dreamt about "The End of Time." I saw on IMDB that both Matt Smith and Billie Piper are appearing in the finale, in spite of the attempts to keep some things shrouded in mystery IMDB resumes reveal all. (So we will get to see 10 regenerate into 11, essentially.) Anyway, I had a really strange dream about Rose and the Doctor reuniting, they were in a huge pool of water, it was very peculiar. Being one that often remembers their dreams I sometimes try to analyze where different elements have come from. Water has been a constant underlying theme in DW- River Song, Jackson Lake, "The Waters of Mars" with Adelaide Brooke, the new companion will be named Amy Pond. There is a heavy significance placed on water with Doc 10. Does this mean anything? No idea. Just making a speculative observation.
Tomorrow is US premeire of "The Waters of Mars" and I am very excited. After that I swear I'm taking a break from Doctor Who until Boxing Day, when part 1 of the finale is aired.
I chalk it up to research, though. Since my new story is SciFi/Fantasy I need to educate myself about the genre, beyond DW I really don't usually watch or read any thing like that. To write well one must read well, that I firmly believe. I've just been to the library and have my hands full with reading over the holidays, Middlemarch included, it's like the book that never ends I swear.