Nothing O'Clock

Author and legend Neil Gaiman has a new collection of short stories out called Trigger Warning. One of the stories is Nothing O'Clock, a Doctor Who story which was written for the show's 50th anniversary. It's not a new story but as it is reaching a new audience in the collection I thought I would review it here anyway.

Neil Gaiman is a master of short stories and after writing two brilliant episodes of Doctor Who (The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver) this was always going to be something special. It is set around the early part of Series 5, somewhere between The Eleventh Hour and The Vampires of Venice, and sees the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond fight off the Kin, sworn enemies of the Time Lords. 

The Kin are a great and genuinely scary monster and I could really see them appear on the show one day. They look like a man wearing an animal mask and you must never answer them when they ask you "What's the time?". My goodness they give me the shivers and their "monster-power", for want of a better phrase, is wonderful. 

Gaiman tweeted this image recently which shows what the Kin are supposed to look like:

Having written for the characters before Gaiman has no trouble nailing the eleventh Doctor and Amy and even has Amy joking about the fact this Doctor makes up words. Gaiman also has a little girl in the story who is well described and really does what a little girl would do. So many authors struggle to make children seem realistic but Gaiman does it with ease. 

Gaiman merges his fantastic TV writing to his brilliant short stories and creates this work of art. A must read for any Doctor Who fan and still a really enjoyable read for a non-fan. The rest of the collection is also pretty awesome, so I recommend checking out Trigger Warning!

The Return of Missy

It was today confirmed that Michelle Gomez will return as Missy, the Time Lord previously known as the Master, in Series 9 of Doctor Who. Not that this was a huge shock to most of us seeing as though Gomez revealed the news in an interview a few months ago.

 

What is bigger news is the details of her return. She is going to appear in the first two episodes of Series 9, which will be a two-parter. We already knew that the first part would be called The Magician's Apprentice and it was today revealed that part two will be called The Witch's Familiar. 

This brings lots of questions to mind. Obviously a major one is how did she survive her death in Death in Heaven? I'm not too sure on the answer to this but I suspect it'll be fairly simple, given that Steven Moffat had always planned that she would return. It seems likely her "escape" was planned at the same time as her apparent death. 

The title is intriguing. Now I have assumed that The Magician's Apprentice refers to Clara, being the apprentice to the Doctor's magician. Now The Witch's Familiar sort of makes me think that "Witch" refers to Missy. But then who is her familiar? Could it be that Missy is getting a companion of her own? Or maybe in typical cruel Moffat fashion, both titles could refer to the same person- maybe Clara, or maybe a new character. 

It's also interesting to note that it's a two-parter. The first block of filming was a Toby Whithouse two-parter, which I think is supposed to be episodes 3 and 4 of the series. This suggests then that Series 9 might only consist of two-part stories- six two-parters?

It was also confirmed today that Jemma Redgrave will return as head of UNIT Kate Stewart. It's fun to see the Master vs. UNIT theme coming back after how good it was back in 1971. I wonder maybe if Series 9 will replicate Season 8 of Classic Doctor Who in that the Master/Missy will appear in every story? This seems possible from what we know so far.

Well there's a few things to think about. Whether my suggestions turn out to be true or not, I can't wait to see Missy back in action!

Dematerialisation

It's always interesting when a fan made YouTube video does the round and this latest one sees user John Smith try a new take on dematerialisation. 

John Smith: "Since the TARDIS' dematerialisation effect has remained largely unchanged for the past fifty years, I thought it might be interesting to try out a new approach. So this is my attempt at capturing what travelling through time and space might look like from the point of view of the TARDIS- from take-off to landing, all in one shot."

 

I think this effect is superb, a really interesting idea. Usually we see the TARDIS dematerialise from the point of view of a passer by, rather than from someone following the TARDIS. I don't think it contradicts what dematerialisation is, but simply changes the perspective it is viewed from. It would be awesome to see this effect on the show. 

That said, I see a few issues with this effect. For one thing we hardly ever see the full journey in a Doctor Who episode. We might see the Doctor arrive or leave but not usually where he has been or gone. I also fear this only really works when the TARDIS is parked in an open space like a square or a forest as seen in the video. The Doctor seems to like his TARDIS parked up against a wall or in a cupboard. I don't think the effect would be anywhere near as exciting if we just saw the contents of a cupboard spin around. A great idea though and it is something that I think could be used on occasion, when it works to follow the TARDIS rather than see it arrive or leave.

Seasons of War: Tales from a Time War

This is an unofficial Doctor Who short story anthology, created to raise money for a charity called Caudwell Children. You can find out all about the charity and the project here. The stories focus on the Time War and the War Doctor, played by John Hurt on screen. 

It would be tempting to say you should donate and get this book just because it's a great cause. But actually the book itself is really rather good. Here's a little bit on each story:

Epilogue- Warsmiths by Matt Fitton: In typical timey-wimey fashion the prologue and epilogue are the wrong way round here. This story sees the War Doctor confront someone trying to stop the daleks from ever existing. It's set just before we meet the War Doctor in "The Day of the Doctor" and is an excellent start. 

Karn: This tells the story of the War Doctor's first moments of life after his regeneration in "The Night of the Doctor". It's a bit bleak but pretty wonderful.

Crowsnest Past by Warren Frey: Not very war-y, this is the War Doctor doing a typical Doctor Who story involving banking-based monsters set in Canada. I wasn't too keen on this story. It's fine but I felt any Doctor could have been involved here, and the book is focusing on the War Doctor.

The Eight Minute War by Lee Rawlings: The War Doctor assembles an army on board his TARDIS but things don't work out too well. This is one of my favourites of the collection and is a story that only feature this incarnation of the Doctor.

Everything in its Right Place by J.R. Southall: A weird land of fiction type story that features Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I fear this type of story has been overdone in the written world of Doctor Who and there's little that makes this particular story any better than others.

Corsair: The War Doctor works alongside fellow Time Lord the Corsair. It's fun to see more of a character only mentioned in the actual show. 

The Ambassador From Wolf-Rayet 134 by Kate Orman: An ambassador for an alien species that is time-sensitive visits Gallifrey. The War Doctor is on hand to ensure things run smoothly. An interesting alien species and interesting to see the War Doctor be war-like without having to be violent. 

The Amber Room by Simon Brett and John Davies: A new room in the TARDIS! And a human soldier meeting the War Doctor. A really enjoyable tale.