A Companion Piece: Clara Oswald

As 2015 draws to a close I thought it might be an appropriate time to look back at someone who had a big impact on the Doctor in 2015, and for several years previously, Clara Oswald.



Clara first met the Doctor as a child, although neither party realised it at the time [The Bells of Saint John Prequel]. This shows that the pair were also destined to meet- indeed the Eleventh Doctor had already met two version of her previously that had died [Asylum of the Daleks/ The Snowmen].

The Doctor finally met Clara properly when she rang the TARDIS, believing it to be an IT helpline (the number given to her by an undercover Missy) [The Bells of Saint John]. At the time she was nanny for the Maitland children and unlike many companions she didn’t simply run away from her life to board the TARDIS. Her adventures were occasional, the Doctor turning up for a quick trip here and there. I suppose this shows that she was a strong character who had a real life that was important to her too.

Her travels with the Doctor did put pressure on her real life at times. The Maitland children found out she travelled in time and space and ended up accompanying her to an abandoned theme park and getting kidnapped by cybermen [Nightmare in Silver]. She used the Doctor as a ‘boyfriend’ at a family Christmas dinner only for him to turn up naked [The Time of the Doctor]. Then her relationship with Danny Pink was severely put in jeopardy by the Doctor’s regular appearances [Listen, Time Heist, The Caretaker].



For the Doctor, Clara was at times a troublesome companion. She fell out with him after he left her on the Moon with Courtney to make a difficult decision [Kill the Moon]. She even betrayed him completely in an attempt to bring back the deceased Danny Pink [Dark Water].
The Doctor desperately needed Clara though. She did more for him than perhaps any other companion. She dived into the Doctor’s timeline to fix problems caused by the Great Intelligence. Versions of her saved the Doctor throughout his life [The Name of the Doctor]. Then it was Clara who convinced three versions of the Doctor not to use the Moment to end the Time War, saving Gallifrey and removing the Doctor’s guilt [The Day of the Doctor]. She refused to let the Eleventh Doctor die alone [The Time of the Doctor] and supported the newly-regenerated Twelfth Doctor [Deep Breath].

As Clara continued to travel with the Doctor she became more and more like him, much to the Doctor’s concern. This eventually led to her death when she took on Rigsy’s execution to save him [Face the Raven]. Her life was extended somewhat thanks to the Doctor and she eventually became even more like him by stealing a TARDIS and travelling the universe [Hell Bent].




Most companions become better people after spending time with the Doctor but Clara was already amazing before that happened. She saved the Doctor throughout his life and changed it forever. Without Clara the Doctor, particularly in his Twelfth incarnation, would have been a very different man.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Beast of Fang Rock

This is both the third main book in the Lethbridge-Stewart series, following the Brigadier before he was the Brigadier, and also a sequel to the excellent Fourth Doctor TV story Horror of Fang Rock. 

There's been sightings of ghosts and a UFO at Fang Rock so Lethbridge-Stewart goes to investigate. He calls upon Anne Travers for assistance and she ends up in the middle of a timey-wimey adventure.

This isn't really a Lethbridge-Stewart book, it's an Ann Travers book. She's the star here and she continues to be the strong female scientist ahead of her time that she was in The Web of Fear. She's so well portrayed here and you can't help but like her as a character.

The plot is more to with complicated time travel than it is alien attacks but the Rutans do make an appearance. It's largely independent of the original TV story, using that more as inspiration. There's lots of Doctor Who references here which is always fun and I can only admire the way the author swerved around copyright issues. 

There are still a few problems though. Lethbridge-Stewart really should have had more to do as he is the star of the series. There's the inclusion of a werewolf which I didn't think really added much to the story. And several times the narrative re-writes itself. I felt the plot needed ironing out generally.

Another good addition to a series which has really found it's feet now.

Haunted

Every year the Doctor Who website runs an "Adventure Calendar" during December and as part of that releases a new short story. This year we have the brilliant Haunted, released in three parts. 

It's really good. 13 year-old Ross is dared to go into the school basement where a ghost is thought to exist. Next thing he knows he meets a man called the Doctor and finds out whether ghosts are real. 

The plot of this is rather good. You can't do a traditional Doctor Who story in a short story, there isn't really time, and Lidster wisely gives us something a little different. It's well told, both managing to be convincing as something written by a 13-year-old but still flowing well. 

The characterisation of the Twelfth Doctor is perfect. He's that grumpy version of the Doctor, but still Doctor-ish. It's also completely in continuity after the Series 9 finale so there's a couple of neat little references to that.

I suspect these short stories aren't read by that many people but this one deserves to be because it's excellent.

Download for free:  Part One    Part Two    Part Three

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Fright Before Christmas

Download for free here!

A great Christmas short story set within the Lethbridge-Stewart series. Lethbridge-Stewart is attending a Santa Claus party, much to his frustration. But when alien spheres start attacking civilians and head to Buckingham Palace it's up to Lethbridge-Stewart and his fellow Santa's to save the day. 

This is a genuinely exciting story and the threat feels very real. Of course the whole Santa costume thing is something of a gimmick but it is used well here, meaning Lethbridge-Stewart doesn't have his usual authority and is mistaken for a drunk reveller. 

I'm also intrigued that though the threat of the story is beaten, it's not revealed where it comes from- I wonder if we'll find out in one of the upcoming Lethbridge-Stewart novels. 

A great short story, yet another great freebie from the publisher.

Weapons of Past Destruction

A Ninth Doctor comics mini-series by Cavan Scott

The Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness begin a new adventure. Set somewhere in the latter stages of 'Series 1', this sees the Doctor find Time Lord technology for sale. It eventually transpires that two rival races are at war and for the Doctor it all seems to familiar. 

I have to start by saying that Scott nails the characters here. The Ninth Doctor is probably my favourite incarnation and this really feels like him. Rose and Captain Jack also feel exactly like they do on screen. 

The artwork is great here, with decent likenesses, although it did feel a little like our leading three had been photoshopped all the way through. The landscapes and aliens looked stunning. 

I did have a bit of a problem with the plot. I mean, it's fine in itself but it feels a bit off compared to the Ninth Doctor stories we saw on TV. This is all about the legacy of the Time Lords and other than the Ninth Doctor's character, mythology like that was given a backseat. There are no human characters other than the leads and Earth is nowhere to be seen. In terms of plot, it doesn't feel very Ninth Doctor-y. 

This story must have done something right because it's lead to an ongoing series. It's not quite fantastic, but it's lovely to see the Ninth Doctor again, especially when he is characterised so well.

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth

This second Lethbridge-Stewart book is much better than the first. Like the first book, this focuses on the character of Lethbridge-Stewart shortly after his TV introduction in The Web of Fear, before UNIT existed and he was made the Brigadier. 

Lethbridge-Stewart is on his way to Tibet when something strange happens. The next thing he knows he can't remember his recent past properly and the world doesn't seem quite right. As he investigates mysterious capsules he begins to question his sanity. Is it his brain that has gone wrong or the rest of the world. 

That's about all I am going to give you otherwise I'll give too much away. I think it will be fairly obvious to most Who fans that this is a parallel world story but the details are very mysterious and there are some great reveals which I didn't see coming. I suppose it has a hint of the brilliant story Inferno about it but doesn't have a connection to it in anything but theme.

Anne and Professor Travers have a small role to play here and Chorley is mentioned a few times too so this is very much in the post-Web of Fear universe of the series. Yet at the same time, this feels very independent and you could read this without even knowing that over Lethbridge-Stewart novels exist. 

I adored this, much more than the first. A good idea with some great moments which is well told. It starts a little slowly perhaps but as you gradually learn what's going on it gets better and better.

Deep Time

A Twelfth Doctor Glamour Chronicles novel by Trevor Baxendale

I've loved all of Baxendale's Doctor Who books and this one was no different. As part of their mission to track down the mysterious Glamour, the Twelfth Doctor and Clara join the crew of the exploratory ship the Alexandria. They crew are following the last Phareon road, a wormhole created by an ancient, mysterious race.

For Doctor Who, this is pretty hard sci-fi. It features dangerous and gritty space travel, time fluctuations, an alien planet and a fair bit of pretty up to date psychics. This may put off some people but I thought it worked really well. For me it felt quite like the Alien-prequel film, Prometheus, with a similar atmosphere and mission, although the crew here are considerably more competent and likable than the crew of Prometheus.

The Doctor and Clara are well portrayed here, especially Clara. Baxendale really manages to get inside her head, something you can't do on TV, and it works wonderfully. What really makes the book are the other members of the crew. There's an element of Firefly about many of the characters, which is definitely no bad thing. Ray Balfour, the billionaire funding the mission, is fairly typical of sci-fi books whereas 'astrogator' Jem is considerably less so. Together the crew feel like real people with real histories and goals. 

In summary, I loved it. There's no way that all Doctor Who should be such hard science-fiction but on occasion it's great. For me, this felt like a high-budget TV episode, which is exactly what you want from a Doctor Who book.

Four Doctors

A Multi-Doctor event! In comics! 

Here Titan Comics three main Doctor Who issues come together. The Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors along with their companions Gabby, Alice and Clara team-up, which you know means bad shit is going down. Here it's a picture of the three Doctors arguing which is going to cause the end of the universe. 

The plot itself is OK- I loved the first four issues but the resolution is not great. The main enemies are the Vvord, monsters from the classic 60s story The Keys of Marinus, although their look has been improved somewhat. It also focuses on the person leading them, a character I didn't really like in that role. 

What makes this shine is the usual things you get from a multi-Doctor event. For one, it's the joy of having the Doctors and their companions interact with each other. Twelve has yet to meet any past incarnations so it's fun to see how he deals with his immediate predecessors here. It's also good to have Gabby and Alice, the two Titan Comics original companions, involved as much as Clara. 

The other thing you want from a multi-Doctor event is a celebration of the show and we certainly get that here. Cornell re-uses the Reapers, the monsters from his TV episode Father's Day and both the War Doctor and the Ninth Doctor make quick cameos. It really has that celebration feel that a crossover event should have. 

The biggest downside of this is the artwork. It's not bad and the monster and landscape pages look brilliant. But the characters often don't look much like the actors that play them (especially Matt Smith, who I get the impression is especially difficult to draw). It's not all the way through, so I suspect it's less a case of a poor artist and more a rushed one.

A really great crossover event, but I'd suspect nothing less of Paul Cornell!

Series 9 Prologue

A prologue to series 9 has been released, showing the Doctor visit the Sisterhood of Karn once again. You can view the prologue here.

It raises far more questions than answers. The Doctor is hiding from an old enemy, though it's never revealed who that enemy is. You would assume it was the Master but given the fact they are described as 'he' makes you think it's unlikely to be the Missy-incarnation of the character. It's also suggested that the Doctor and this person have been enemies all their lives, which seemingly rules out virtually all other contenders- hardly any enemies have appeared more than a handful of times.

I have one theory on the subject- it's Death. It would make sense that the Doctor has been enemies with death all his life and if he's going into great peril it also makes sense the way the Doctor says "an enemy is just a friend you havn't got to know yet". It would also work with the gender problem, as Death is usually described as male.

If this is true, I doubt it means we will actually see a Grim Reaper-type figure on the screen- I suspect it's more the concept of death that the Doctor is fighting.

There is also going to be another prologue, a US exclusive it appears (until the box set presumably), entitled The Doctor's Meditation which looks to follow straight on from this prologue.

Also, I'm really pleased the BBC are finally calling these things prologues instead of prequels!

The Blood Cell

A Twelfth Doctor Book written by James Goss

This is a rare case of the a Doctor Who novel doing something that the show just couldn't do. Generally these books feel like an episode of the show, albeit one with an extremely high budget. Goss uses the format to his advantage here though and tells a story in the first person.

The Governor of a prison on an asteroid is intrigued by new inmate Prisoner 428- the Doctor. He's a prisoner who keeps escaping and his friend Clara is really quite friendly when she comes to visit. But something is going on deep in the prison and the Governor is struggling to keep things under control.

The first-person narration is great because we get to see the Doctor and Clara through the eyes of a third party. The Governor is an interesting character, almost Doctor-ish in many ways, yet much harder and easily exploited. I also thought the setting was rather good, although the plot itself wasn't great. It's one of those cases where there was a good basic idea but a limited plot to put in it.

The other big problem was that we wait half the book to find out why the Doctor is in the prison and who the Governor really is but it's an underwhelming reveal and lessens the pace. I would have much preferred it if this had been done at the very start of the book- it would have been an intriguing start and would have set up the context of the prison much better.

Characterisation can often be an issue in these tie-ins. Clara is great here, although she barely appears in the first three-quarters of the book. This book was written before any Twelfth Doctor episodes were aired, so presumably Goss had only a few scripts to get the idea of the newest Doctor's character. Whilst there are some obvious Twelfth Doctor traits, it's a watered-down version of the Doctor- any of his incarnations could be shoved in here with little change to the dialogue.

I really enjoyed the book but it's a fairly middle ground when it comes to Doctor Who tie-ins. It's by no means one of the worst, but equally a fair way from the very best too.

The Wheel of Ice

I love Stephen Baxter's books and I love Doctor Who so it baffles me that I've not read this book before now. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on the Wheel of Ice, a mining facility around Saturn. The TARDIS thinks something is wrong there and not just the increasing dissatisfaction of the residents and the way they are treated by the mining company. Blue creatures keep being spotted and there's a desperate intelligence at the heart of it all trying desperately to achieve it's aeons old mission: Resilience, Remembrance, Resolution.



As ever, this has the usual scientific accuracy you can expect from the author. It feels fairly plausible for a future society mining around Saturn. However, it has that element of fantasy that Doctor Who so often contains, something not really based on any science but works excellently for the story. 

Baxter's weakness is so often his characterisation but he's given the lead characters of the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe already. Each is characterised really well and he delves well into the minds of Jamie and Zoe, making them more well-rounded characters than they were often written for the show. His supporting cast is also unusually strong, from the villain of the piece Florian Hart to MMAC, a Scottish robot. I really think it's the best characterization I've ever read from Baxter. 

The story feels fairly like a story from it's era, but there's something about it to make it a bit faster and more engaging than many of the stories feel now. It manages to fit its era yet feel modern at the same time. It's also really steeped in Who mythology. As well as loads of minor references to the Second Doctor's adventures, one of the characters has a direct link back to The Ice Warriors and in many ways the book is a prequel to Zoe's debut story, The Wheel in Space. The Silurians also make an appearance, sort of. Plus, for Stephen Baxter fans, this book can genuinely be considered part of his Manifold series- Bootstrap Industries is the company involved and the Doctor mentions having met its founder once- Reid Malenfant presumably! 

This is everything you want from a Doctor Who story really. It is lots of fun and has strong characters, a decent and interesting plot and feels like it has some genuine depth. I really hope Baxter gets to do another Who novel at some point because I'd love to see what he does with other incarnations of the Doctor!

Doctor Who at Comic Con 2015

Doctor Who has become a staple of San Diego Comic Con in recent years and this year was no different. Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez and Steven Moffat were all in attendance and we were given some real treats. 

First up was more details on Doctor Who's role in the upcoming Lego Dimensions game. I think most people who knew about it were quite excited about the prospect, but this trailer really blew us all away:

The game sees a Lego version of the Doctor interact with a crowd of other famous characters, like Batman, Scooby-Doo and Homer Simpson. Capaldi, Coleman and Gomez all lend their voices and you can play as all thirteen incarnations of the Doctor. The attention to detail is superb as the TARDIS interior will change depending on which version of the Doctor you are playing as.

There are a number of Doctor Who levels in the main game and an additional level pack, and fun pack, will be available to purchase separately. The game is released across all the main consoles on 27th September.

 

Then the excitement grew when we were treated to a trailer for Series 9 at the Doctor Who panel. It looks like the BBC has listened to criticism from previous years and has released the trailer shown at the panel online and given us a firm airdate, September 19th. 

It all looks very exciting, although frankly gives very little away. I've taken the liberty of taking a few screenshots of some of the most interesting moments.

The Doctor rocks out!

A daleks are back!

We are told that a dalek city appears in Series 9 and given that this resembles the dalek city seen in the original 1963 dalek story, we'd guess this is it.

We don't know what this is, but it's terrifying!

We get a few glances at Missy

Maisie Williams in Series 9

The moment that caused the most speculation is the final scene featuring Maisie Williams. "You!" exclaims the Doctor. "What took you so long, old man?" says the mysterious character. But who is she?

Potentially she could be a new character but the dialogue and the fact we are teased at the very end of the trailer suggests differently. Now given that Maisie Williams hasn't appeared before it seems likely this is a character in a new regeneration. The number of female Time Lords that have appeared is pretty small so let's speculate:

- Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. Last seen left on Earth to start a new life and clean up after a dalek invasion. The age works well- you can imagine Williams as Capaldi's granddaughter. She was also present in the original dalek city, so given that the city is being revisited why shouldn't the character too.

- Jenny, the Doctor's (accidental) daugher. Last seen flying off in space, believed dead by the Doctor. She's a more recent character which may be in favour. However, although we know Jenny can regenerate life-force as she does at the end of The Doctor's Daughter, we have no evidence that she can regenerate into a new body. I think. And I suspect if Jenny does ever appear, Georgia Tennant nee Moffat would be the one to play her!

- The Rani- A female evil Time Lord. Unlikely, given the Master now fills that role, that Williams is very unlike Kate O'Mara and that Steven Moffat has said he doesn't want to bring the character back.

- River Song- As far as we know we have seen all of River's regenerations- small child, then Mel, then Alex Kingston. We don't know for certain that the child did regenerate into Mel but that seems likely.

- Romana- Companion to the Doctor. Given that Jenna Coleman is likely to leave in the near future this is the other possibility for Williams to take on a companion role. Williams doesn't come across like the well-spoken, elegant Romana we know and love though. And as far as we know Romana is still on Gallifrey, wherever that is these days.

- Another Doctor relation- Given we don't know who Susan's mother and grandmother were, could Williams be playing one of them. It would be a bit weird if she played the grandmother, considering then she would have a romantic connection to Capaldi. But the Doctor's original daughter, mother of Susan, is possible, if unlikely.

These have pretty much been ordered in terms of likelihood. I still think Susan is the best bet.

I guess only time will tell...

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Forgotten Son

The first in a series focussing on Doctor Who's legendary Brigadier, this story follows shortly after the character's first appearance in Doctor Who, The Web of Fear. Still only a Colonel, Lethbridge-Stewart is tasked with returning everyone back to London. But when a body goes missing he soon realises the Great Intelligence is still at large and up to something in the town Lethbridge-Stewart grew up in. But why can't he remember his childhood clearly. 

I thought this book did many things well. It is a decent sequel to The Web of Fear and tells Lethbridge-Stewart's backstory, something we have never had before. I wasn't entirely convinced on the Great Intelligence being at all involved with his childhood but it was just about explained through timey-wimey stuff. Without wanting to spoil things, the Great Intelligence plotline is closely linked to the modern episodes to feature the 'creature', especially The Name of the Doctor. I thought this was a good idea as it means this book is accessible to fans of New Who as well as the classic series. 

There were a few problems though. I wasn't keen on the way the book was set out, lots of switching between scenes. I felt it would have worked much better with shorter chapters which focused on one group of characters rather than continually switching between perspectives. And for a short book, I think there should be lots of short chapters rather than only a few long ones. 

I also wasn't entirely enamoured with the writing style. It read very much like it was written in the late 1960s, feeling almost like a Target novelisation. I liked the period details but the style felt old fashioned and along with the long chapter and switching of perspectives made the pace feel slower than it could have been. 

I thought this was a really good story which was not written as well as it deserved to be. Great to have a series focussing on Lethbridge-Stewart and I look forward to the next few books!

Boom Town- Newspaper Article

Now I couldn’t quite find enough stuff to create an “in real life” post for Boom Town, which aired ten years ago today but I thought it would be fun to share the newspaper front page from the episode as well as the story that appears on said front page.

CARDIFF’S new Lord Mayor, Margaret Blaine, marked the start of her tenure by announcing an unprecedented new development at the heart of the city. In a move which could see the creation of up to 5,000 new jobs, Lord Mayor Blaine, 45, revealed plans to demolish Cardiff Castle, replacing it with a state of the art nuclear power station.

Ms Blaine was keen to stress that fears over the safety of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ project were groundless. She also assured environmentalists that ecological considerations were at the  top of her agenda, and demonstrated her commitment to green issues by sponsoring a dolphin.

Goronwy Siencyn of the Pan-Wales Culture, History, Sport, Industry and Heritage Institute later issued a supporting statement. He stressed that, while the castle was a notable landmark, it was, nonetheless, a symbol of English oppression.

“A lovely brand spanking new power station puts industry- very literally- at the heart of this fine city. Next to all the shops.”

The outcry that first greeted rumours of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ nuclear power project has become considerably more muted in recent weeks.

This may reflect the success of a ‘softly softly’ approach from the new mayor towards local activists and the environmental lobby.

However, as reported this week, the ‘Summit on the Summit’- a picnic meeting on Snowdonia, where protesters were encourage to air their views- ended in tragedy when the train carrying delegates was derailed by an aggressive sheep. Ms Blaine expressed her deepest sympathies.

The new Lord Mayor described the project as a ‘real coup’ for the people of Cardiff. Joking that she had no desire to re-open the notorious divide between North and South Wales, she did want to point out that although Trawsfynffd had been mothballed, North Wales still had Wylfa. A power station in Cardiff ‘made the score one-all!’ quipped the new Lord Mayor.

She also revealed that at one point, Wales had nearly lost the project to the newly established Independent Republic of Cornwall, which would have been “unthinkable”.


^{(The newspaper image and the text from it come from this website.)}

The Empty Child in "real life"

This is the latest in a series of Doctor Who in “Real Life” posts. The idea is that I discuss how episodes work from a real world perspective. To celebrate it’s ten year anniversary, today I am looking at the two-part story The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.

Surprisingly, a few photographs exist from Albion Hospital during the blitz of 1941.

Unfortunately there is little written evidence about what was referred to as “Empty Child Syndrome” other than this unclear sheet of medical paperwork:

More recently, UNIT published a press release about Sclechter Wolf bombs:

They’ll be another “in real life” post next week!


^{(Once again, the material from this post comes via here.)}

The Doctor and the Dalek

I realise I am a bit late on this one but having recently purchased a new tablet I finally downloaded the excellent game “The Doctor and the Dalek”.

Ostensibly this is a computer programming game aimed at children- programming is a big part of the latest National Curriculum. However, the programming aspect is only a part of the gameplay and like the show the game is child-friendly but equally enjoyable for adults.

In a plot written by Phil Ford, the Twelfth Doctor (actually voiced by Peter Capaldi in the game) finds himself teamed up with a dalek which has malfunctioned and is now “good”. You control the dalek, sending it through the tombs of the cybermen, the clone chambers of the sontarans and the belly of the dalek-infested Time Lord ship the Starbane to collect the pieces of an ancient artefact.

The story is fairly simple but there’s a great twist at the end which I didn’t really expect. Most of the game features fairly standard 2D platforming as you travel through the various levels, hovering and exterminating enemies which get in your way. Most players will be familiar with this type of gameplay- it’s like a Doctor Who version of Mario.

During each level there is a programming section. In these sections you select instructions for the dalek so it can either collect an object or exterminate all the enemies. It starts off fairly simple with a tutorial but gradually increases in difficulty throughout the levels. The best thing about it is that their is always an obvious solution but the challenge is in putting in the fewest number of instructions to complete the level. The programming challenges are also available outside of the main gameplay by clicking “TARDIS Training” on the home screen.

My only complaint about the game really is the length- there aren’t that many levels and if you know what you are doing it won’t take very long to complete. Still, considering this is something for nothing it is really rather good and I recommend it to all Doctor Who fans. I really hope the BBC do more of this sort of thing in the not too distant future!

You can play on your computer or on a tablet by downloading an app from the Apple, Amazon or Google Play stores.

Aliens of London in “Real Life”

This is the third in a series of Doctor Who in “Real Life” posts. The idea is that I discuss how episodes work from a real world perspective. To celebrate it’s ten year anniversary, today I am looking at the episode Aliens of London.

Some time before the events in London, certain areas of the internet already believed there was some kind of conspiracy in the British government. One site posted this:

Rose Tyler was reported missing to the police who ran a large campaign locally to find her. Much of the suspicions fell on her boyfriend, Mickey Smith who wrote online:

Their net of suspicion has closed in around me - they refuse to consider the evidence I have of what REALLY happened. And of who it really affects.

The following poster was put up around the Powell Estate and the local area.

The spaceship crashing into Big Ben and landing on the Thames was witnessed by a considerable number of people. Surprisingly little footage of the incident was captured, probably due to the speed of the incident, but this was one photo taken by a witness.

Various people told of their sightings of the event- here are a few witness statements:

Bill: I was on my first vacation in years. I saw the crash through my video camera! I tried to get closer, but your army wouldn't let me anywhere near. They even took my camera! I want to know who to contact to get it back! I'll tell you this. I was scared out of my mind on the flight home!

Connor: I was site seeing with my family when there was a really loud humming! i didn't have a clue what was happening and suddenly this huge ship flew stragiht over and crashed into big ben! The sound was immense i saw all the shards of big ben falling from the sky! i was really scared but was told to evacuate the area!

Andy H: I didn't see the crash but I was visiting my nan in Albion Hospital when all these army men turned up and turfed everyone out. Apparently they put the alien in there. There were men with guns everywhere and despite what was going on they kept telling us there was nothing to see. Yeah, right.

Padrone: A soldier told me that it was just an experimental plane that crashed and the pilot was killed. He said they haven't named him yet as his family has to be told. They UFO story started because people panicked!

The incident led to various parties and lots of internet memes, like the one below:

Though the Albion Hospital was supposed to be sealed off to the public, an image from within did make it online:

The person who posted the image also shared a sketch of the supposed pilot of the spaceship.

That’s all for this week but keep checking back as I continue by look back at Series 1 of Doctor Who!

^{(Again, much of the content comes from here. The missing poster comes from here although is an exact copy of the one in the episode)}

Lethbridge-Stewart: Top Secret Files

This is a fun addition to the series featuring Doctor Who's Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Although it costs 99p on the Kindle Store, you can get the e-book free as a PDF from the publisher's website here.

The Ambush: A short story originally published in Doctor Who Magazine which explains the moments before Lethbridge-Stewart's very first Doctor Who appearance in The Web of Fear. It's nothing hugely special but it is a nice little extension of a wonderful TV story.

We Won't Let him Down: An extended edition of a chapter from Companions focussing on the Brigadier. It's essentially a run down of his TV appearances and I suspect most people reading the book won't get much from this, but it is a useful addition for newer fans.

What Lies Beyond: A quick look at some novels featuring the Brigadier. It's basically just a further reading list.

Graeme Harper: An interview with the only man to direct both Classic and New Who who directed Nicholas Courtney a number of times during his career. It's an affectionate little interview that only makes you wish that Courtney was still alive for more.

Original Prelude: This was originally going to be the opening to The Forgotten Son. It is set much more recently, in the Brigadier's last few weeks of life and explains where the stories in the series come from. I really liked it.

The New World: The opening chapter of The Forgotten Son. I've yet to read that book but this is very promising, continuing Lethbridge-Stewart's story on from the end of The Web of Fear.

All in all, a pretty decent collection considering you can get it for free and makes me eager to read the first in the series.

Doctor Who Unlocked: The End of the World

It’s ten years today since the Ninth Doctor’s second episode The End of the World first aired. To celebrate, I thought the episode was ideal for an edition of Doctor Who Unlocked where I look into minor bits of continuity and the extended Whoniverse that are easy to miss.

So, The End of the World introduces us to a lot of new aliens so I’ve taken a look at all those that appear on Platform One.

The Crew

The crew appear to be fairly normal humanoids, although with blue skin. They are from the Crespallion. Raffalo tells Rose Tyler that Crespallion is not a planet but part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. Whatever that means. It appears in the episode that many of the Crespallions are much smaller than humans and the Doctor Who Encyclopedia says that whilst make Crespallions are about human-size, females are the size of a human child.

Trees from the Forest of Cheem

Three individuals from the Forest of Cheem are present on Platform One- Jabe, the female with the wealth and her associates Lute and Coffa. Cheem is the planet they live on. They are humanoids made of wood and evolved from trees- Jabe explains to the Doctor that they are actually descendants from the tropical rainforests of Earth. They have retractable lianas on their arms which they aren't supposed to show in public.

The Moxx of Balhoon

A diminutive blue alien who travelled on a fast-moving anti-gravity chair. He was present aboard Platform One representing the solicitors Jolco and Jolco.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme

Sinister-looking hooded robots that were controlled by the Lady Cassandra. Their purpose was to give the robotic spiders to the guests and divert suspicion from Cassandra herself. They weren’t entirely robotic, being composed of organic strands connected to their hand. The Doctor works out the name simply means they are an idea rather than real aliens.

The Brothers Hop Pyleen

Reptilian humanoids from the planet Rex Vox Jax. They became rich and famous by inventing the Hyopslip Travel Systems. Due to being cold-blooded, they wear fur clothes in order to keep warm on Platform One.

The Face of Boe

The Doctor meets the Face of Boe several times. It is a large face which usually communicate by telepathy, although can speak verbally. The Face was the main sponsor of the Earth Destruction event and was later believed to be the oldest being in the universe. It is reported by Bad WolfTV that he had fallen pregnant with children and he seemed to spend much of his time on New Earth dying of old age. Captain Jack Harkness said that he was known as the Face of Boe as a child and as he cannot die the Doctor and Martha wondered if Harkness and the Face were one and the same. This has never been confirmed but equally there has been no other explanation to how the Face knew the Master was still alive.

Lady Cassandra

The last “pure” human being. She was born a male and presumably underwent surgery to change to female at some point. By the time she arrives on Platform One she has undergone 708 surgical procedures and is nothing more than a piece of skin with eyes and a mouth stretched on a frame, connected to a brain in a jar below.

Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light

The ambassadors are creatures with pointed ears, multiple eyes and four-fingered hands with claws. They wear long robes and are oxygen sensitive so oxygen levels on board Platform One were constantly monitored. A member of their species can be spotted enjoying the festivities in The Rings of Akhaten.

Scholars of the University of Rago Rago 56 Rago

The four scholars visited the end of the Earth as a result of receiving 27 A++ scores at their university.  They appear to be of two-different species. One species had faces of golden metal whilst the other resemble tree stumps and appear to be made of wicker. They all wore white robes.

Cal MacNannovich and Noxwen Van Coofen

Cal is a cybernetic film star and Noxwen was his plus one. They wore large hooded cloaks and cybernetic face masks which pumped some form of special air into their faces.

Mr and Mrs Pakoo

Avian humanoids which look almost identical.

That’s all for today but come back each week as I continue my look-back over Series 1!

Rose in “Real Life”- Part Two

This is the second in a series of Doctor Who in “Real Life” posts. The idea is that I shall discuss how episodes work from a real world perspective. This might be from a science point-of-view, from a historical point-of-view or simply real-world elements of the episode.

In this post, I look at the events of Rose themselves.

The earliest evidence of the events of the London incident come from security cameras in a restaurant in Kennington, South London. The footage is unclear but it appears to show Rose Tyler, 19, and her boyfriend Mickey Smith. It appears the Doctor was also involved.

This image appears to show the London Eye becoming a wheel of fire:

Approximately a minute after this plastic dummies rampaged the streets. Here are a few shots taken by passers-by, although they are unfortunately quite blurry:

Various people reported witnessing this event. Here are some of them:

Mark Fraser-Betts: I was in Chelmsford High street having coffee with my girl friend. She dropped her coffee and I thought she was mucking around but then I saw the dummies coming towards us, we just ran out of there. I thought we were going to die.

Billy Hopper: I was patrolling (im a policeman) when I saw the man in the photograph followed by a young lady run down by the Thames. I decided to tell them that they were not allowed there so I followed them into a big room. There was some molten lava stuff moving around and the man started talking to it. It was moving. Then the place started to rumble and shake and plastic dummies came and grabbed the man. I think I passed out at that point. A couple of hours later I woke up and found that the lava stuff was gone and everyone had gone. I told the sergeant but he didn't believe me. Am I mad or did I see that stuff?

Dr. J. Smith: As a spokesman from the Meteorological Office, I can confirm that this is nothing more than a combination of mass hysteria, and hallucination brought on by the Earth passing through the electromagnetic tail of a large comet. Equally, the explosion at Henrik's department store, which some have claimed is connected with the so-called rampage was caused by a gas leak. Thank you, and I hope you all continue to maintain such refreshing interest in extraordinary phenomena.

SG1981: Didn't see it myself, though my mate Dave swears blind his sprite bottle tried to eat his face. This isn't the first time this has happened, either. I heard rumours of a government cover-up of something similar in the 70s. Or was it the 80s? Anyway, sorry to hear about Clive. Keep fighting the good fight!

UNIT published the following press release after the incident:

A conspiracy site reported 78 dead and 300 wounded. Henrik’s Department Store was rebuilt and the store started a large advertising campaign, running big Christmas promotions and advertising across the city.

^{Cab with Henrik’s Advert}

Next week I’ll be looking at The End of the World, where I shall be taking a more scientific approach on things!

^{(Again most of the material here comes via here. The cab was seen in The Runaway Bride, as was the store itself complete with Christmas sale. Small adverts for Henrik’s have appeared various times during the RTD era.)}