Hide

I misjudged my calculation on my TARDIS and have ended up a day later than I meant to. Still, better late than never, here’s some thoughts and discussion on the latest episode of Doctor Who, Hide. It’s a spooky one. Kind of. It will contain spoilers of course so if you haven’t yet seen the episode, I suggest you hide (see what I did there?)

So, Hide. This was one of those episodes of Doctor Who that continually messed with your expectations. The Doctor and Clara arrive in 1974 in part of a ghost story. After an appearance from the “ghost” we learn it’s no ghost but a time traveller trapped in a pocket universe, being chased by a monster. Eventually the gang manage to rescue her and then the Doctor finally realises the monster isn’t chasing her, it is trying to get home to be with it’s partner. So it’s not a ghost story, it’s a love story. Only Doctor Who could make that happen!

Part of the love story comes from the guest characters, Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling. It’s rare that we get such a well characterised guest cast but writer Neil Cross managed to do it this week. The unusual approach of having the Doctor already know who they are worked a treat. Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) was formerly a spy and he caused lots of deaths during his time with the service. A bit like the Doctor, he was trying to do something to counteract his past. Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) was an even better character, an empathetic physic, a woman who can sense feelings but therefore lives a difficult life. The two characters were made for each other and finally became an item thanks to Clara and the Doctor. Incidentally, Jessica Raine will play Verity Lambert in the upcoming Doctor Who making of drama An Adventure in Space and Time.

The other part of the love story came from the hideous creature that is apparently called “The Crooked Man”. It was a great example of the old saying “never judge a book by its cover” and just because it is an ugly creature doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of love! How sweet!

This episode contained a direct reference to the Third Doctor era with the blue crystal from Metebelis III. The Doctor first picked one of these crystals up during the course of The Green Death and it was a central part of the plot in Planet of the Spiders which led to the Doctor’s regeneration. The crystals have psychic powers, hence there inclusion in this story- although it does mean the Doctor has returned to Metebelis III since that regeneration. Some fans noted Matt Smith’s mispronunciation of the name, although I would have to question whether he got it right and it was actually Jon Pertwee would pronounced it wrong…

We had some more development with Clara relationship with the TARDIS. Clara still senses that the TARDIS doesn’t like her but there’s no real evidence that it true. If the TARDIS doesn’t like Clara, is it just because she’s new like the Doctor said or because of what she is- the same way that it tried to shake off Captain Jack because he’s an anomaly. Maybe Hide was the end of this dislike though as the TARDIS did open it’s doors to let Clara travel into the pocket universe to rescue the Doctor. I’m sure we will find out for certain next week in a story largely set within the TARDIS!

Once again we didn’t really find out anything to explain the mystery of Clara. Emma Grayling decided she was a normal girl and nothing out of the ordinary. It did spark off a new mystery which we will be seeing much more of as time goes one. Emma said the Doctor had “a sliver of ice in his heart”. Steven Moffat has said that the 50th anniversary special will reveal a dark secret that the Doctor has. I haven’t the slightest idea what that might be though!

Next week is an exciting episode as we take a Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Join us then!

Cold War

It issss once again time to analysssse another epissssode of Doctor Who! Thissss week it’ssss time to board a sssubmarine with an Ice Warrior! OK, enough of speaking like an Ice Warrior, it’ll soon get boring and I’ll wear out by “s” key. As usual there’ll be spoilers so if you haven't seen the episode yet I suggest you don’t read on!

Before anything else, I feel a little bit of history on the Ice Warriors is necessary. They first appeared in 1967 when the Doctor Who team weren’t allowed to use daleks as the pepperpots were being used in films. Various monsters were created and Ice Warriors were quite possible the best. In The Ice Warriors the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria found the Ice Warriors frozen in ice in the Earth’s future where a new Ice Age had occurred. It was actually Victoria that named them Ice Warriors and the Martians don’t seem to mind. The trio faced them again in The Seeds of Death when they tried to use the trans-mat system to take over the Earth and then the Third Doctor bumped into them in The Curse of Peladon where they had renounced their old ways. In The Monster of Peladon though a rogue faction of Ice Warriors had gone back to the old ways.

That was in 1974 and the Ice Warriors haven’t been seen on screen since. Until now that is. Mark Gatiss had been desperate to bring the Icw Warriors back in the new series but showrunner and friend Steven Moffat wasn’t so sure. Then Gatiss came up with the idea that made the Ice Warriors scarier- they can come out of their armour. Yep, here Skaldak leaves his armour and runs around the Soviet submarine finding out about humans by killing them. The master-stroke was the creepy hands hanging over people’s heads. Suddenly the Ice Warriors have become a whole lot scarier!

I’ve been scratching my head trying to work out a timeline for the Ice Warriors. This is technically the earliest in time we’ve ever seen them and Skaldak had been in the ice 5,000 years. All the other episodes were set far in the future, though Varga and co in The Ice Warriors had been there for “centuries”. Maybe Varga and Skaldak come from a similar time? All we know is that they were once a great empire, they weren’t for a huge proportion of humanity’s life and then they were again. There’s still plenty of room for expansion of their story and I hope we get some of that in the not so distant future.

This episode is the first one where Clara was in real danger. It’s the first episode of Series 7 Part 2 where we actually had some deaths, and even then there were only three, a relatively low body count for the show. It was great to see how terrified by it all she was and how much she enjoyed the whole saving the world thing. There is pretty much no further clues to help solve her mystery. The only thing I picked up on was when the Professor asked her what hobbies she had and she couldn’t come up with an answer. Clara’s life before the Doctor seems disturbingly empty. She was quite scared at the time though so it could mean nothing!

I have noticed something which may be vitally important to the series arc or might be a coincidence. In this episode there is a direct quote from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”:

“What do you want from me?”

“Much”

In The Rings of Akhaten there was a quote from “Alice in Wonderland” and someone I was watching with reckoned there was a quote from “The Woman in Black” in the preview for next week’s episode, Hide. I don’t remember any book quotes in The Bells of Saint John although there was the obvious mention of the book by Amelia Williams. Are these book links a clue? Or is this just another Doctor Who coincidence?

For me the highlight of Cold War, apart from Skaldak of course, was David Warner’s professor. Most of the submarine crew weren’t particularly fascinating characters but the professor was great. He was good fun what with being an old Russian man who loved Ultravox and Duran Duran but he was also a caring character who was really sweet. The two-hander with him and Clara was brilliant! Definitely guest star of the week!

One final thing is when the Doctor talks about resetting HADS on the TARDIS he pretty much repeats what he said way back in the 1969 story The Krotons! Few other shows can do continuity like Doctor Who does!

That is it for this week but do join us next week for the creepy ghost story, Hide!

The Rings of Akhaten

Hello and welcome to another post new Doctor Who episode discussion! This week the Doctor takes Clara to her first alien planet. As usual there’ll be spoilers so if you haven’t seen the episode yet I suggest you look away now!

The Rings of Akhaten was written by Neil Cross, who is based in New Zealand and wrote Luther and quite a few episodes of Spooks. The episode has split the fandom, with some absolutely loving it and some absolutely hating it. Personally I am more leaning towards the hating it side of things but there were still plenty of things to love!

First of all, the pre-credits sequence, which saw the Doctor pretty much stalking Clara’s Mum and Dad. He was making sure Clara was definitely human and normal and it seems she is. The secret of the leaf is revealed and it turns out not to be something sci-fi at all but simply a symbol of her parent’s relationship when said leaf hit her Dad in the eye. And then we discover that Clara’s mother died when she was a child, giving us some great emotional context for the new companion.

The Rings of Akhaten are an asteroid belt, full of many varying alien races. And it’s now time for alien safari- here’s all the alien races that are ‘named’ in the episode:

The story itself revolves around saving a little girl from being sacrificed to what is pretty much a god. I must mention what a brilliant little actress and singer the girl is- her name is Emilia Jones and she is the daughter of infamous Welsh choral singer Aled Jones. The currency in Akhaten is sentimental items and Clara gives up both the leaf and her mother’s ring to save the day. For once the companion has some empathy with the idea of the Doctor’s loss of his own people. And speaking of which, what an incredible speech Matt Smith gave on that subject:

“I have lived a long life and I have seen a few things… I walked away from the last great Time War, I marked the passing of the Time Lords, I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment until nothing remained, no time, no space, just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. I watched universes freeze and creations burn, I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, I have lost things you will never understand - and I know things, secrets that must never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken… knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze! So come on then! Take it!”

OK, now some things to notice in this episode. Firstly, the Doctor mentioned he’d been to the Rings of Akhaten before, with his grand-daughter. The Doctor’s grand-daughter, Susan, appeared with the First Doctor and was left in London in the year 2164 to help rebuild civilisation after a dalek invasion with her new boyfriend. Maybe she’ll make a return one day?

The Doctor claimed he had nothing of sentimental value on him, except his sonic screwdriver, but that’s not exactly true as he must still have Amy Pond’s reading glasses on him (he had them when he was watching Clara’s parents after all). The Doctor simply cannot part from them!

There wasn’t much in terms of solving the mystery of Clara in this episode, although maybe there is a clue when she says that the TARDIS doesn’t like her. The TARDIS is a living thing and theoretically could try to stop someone getting in. As it can see through time and space it probably knows the secret behind Clara and might not like it. But then again you always need a key to get into the TARDIS and Clara doesn’t have one yet. In fact she’s not really reached companion status yet and is dropped home at the end of the episode, which seems a bit odd. The part-time companion thing worked well for Amy and Rory in the first half of series 7 but it doesn’t feel quite right with Clara. Maybe next episode will see her enter the TARDIS permanently?

That’s all here for this week but join me next week as I discuss The Cold War, where the Ice Warriors are back in their first appearance since 1974- expect some Doctor Who history within it!

Doctor Who Book Club

Today I am discussing a selection of Doctor Who books which have been released recently.

The Silurian Gift by Mike Tucker (Quick Reads)

As a quick read, this is great! It sees the Doctor use his UNIT connections to investigate an Antarctic power station claiming to have a new fuel to solve all the world's energy problems (although why the Doctor doesn't just go in the TARDIS is beyond me). It soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems (it never is) and the Silurians are involved. As usual, there's conflict between the humans and the Silurians and some indivduals of each species just make matters worse. There's a nice surprise half way through and the return of the Myrka which is good fun.

This isn't that original but it doesn't need to be. It's action packed and almost feels like it could be a Second or Third Doctor story but for the presence of the Eleventh Doctor, who is characterised well here. As with most solo Doctor stories we get a temporary companion, in the form of a journalist called Lizzie. Lizzie is an interesting character who has some major flaws which the Doctor is very disappointed to discover.

As a full length novel this would be a disappointment but as one of the Quick Reads series this is excellent- lots for fans of classic Who, lots of action and some typical witty lines from the Doctor. A great and easy read. ★★★★★

 

The Dalek Project by Justin Richards

This Doctor Who graphic novel sees the Doctor comes face to face with the daleks in the middle of the First World War. Initially the story is not that dissimilar to the Series 5 TV episode "Victory of the Daleks" but after a while it does take a different direction as the daleks plan is much bigger than it first appears.

The daleks are at their manipulative best here and look brilliant, as does every part of the artwork. For some reason their speech just doesn't quite work the same in comic form- that feeling probably wasn't helped by the fact they do talk quite a lot. The Doctor's characterisation isn't great here, probably because it's quite hard to put the long speeches into speech bubbles so they are limited. Considering he is really supposed to hate the daleks, for the most part he here he doesn't seem that bothered.

It has fantastic art and some brilliant dalek moments but the relatively weak plots lets this down a bit. For the most part, it's just the same old threat that's easily beaten. ★★★☆☆

The Nameless City by Michael Scott (50th Anniversary E-short #2)

This is much better than the First e-short, A Big Hand For The Doctor. When Jamie brings the Second Doctor a book, he doesn't realise it will lead to terrible danger as the TARDIS is dragged to a glass city where the Archons want to get revenge on the Time Lords.

It's a great adventure which feels very much like it belongs in the Second Doctor era. Jamie is characterised well, and Scott uses the medium to share some of his thoughts and they feel right. The moment the Second Doctor arrives it feels just like Troughton is on screen. Scott is clearly a big fan of the era.

Scott does mess with a few things though, some of which is good and some not so good. The archons claim to be behind Time Travel which perhaps conflicts a little with "The Three Doctors" but is sort of acceptable. There's an appearance from (view spoiler) who of course never actually met the Second Doctor but only Jamie meets him here so it works rather well. Something that doesn't work so well is the TARDIS speaking records. The TARDIS has never ever done this and it doesn't fit very well in the book. There is also a link to the new series with there being a mention of a swimming pool somewhere in the TARDIS.

All in all a great adventure for the Second Doctor and Jamie, a little rushed perhaps but on the whole a great short read. ★★★★★

I’ll leave you with an exciting promo image for the new series (note the monsters shown in the shards of glass):

Top 10 First Doctor Stories

Everyone loves a list! This one contains my ten favourite First Doctor stories- I’ve only selected them from the complete stories. For those not in the know, the BBC had to store all it’s programmes on film. To save space, and I mean real space, not virtual space, they threw a load of stuff out including a fair chunk of early Doctor Who (almost all the third series is gone!).

10 The Sensorites: The Doctor and his friends meet some creepy aliens who turn out to not be as creepy as they seem. The basic concept is something which Doctor Who has used numerous times over the years.

9 The Aztecs: A great historical story. Back in these days historical stories were purely historical, not an alien in sight. Except the Doctor. This sees the first mention of re-writing time and the Doctor accidentally gets engaged.

8 The Time Meddler: The first time another Time Lord appeared, although the name itself was never used. The Doctor meets another of his species who is disguised as a monk and is messing with time.

7 The Romans: A comedy story with Nero finding companion Barbara very attractive and the Doctor having a fantastic fight.

6 The Tenth Planet: The first appearance of the Cybermen and the Doctor’s first ever regeneration. Regenerating was a fantastic idea and is probably the reason the show is still going strong today.

5 The Edge of Destruction: A short story set entirely in the TARDIS, this sees the Doctor finally become friends with his unwilling companions Ian and Barbara.

4 The Dalek Invasion of Earth: It’s the year 2164 and the daleks have taken over Earth. It’s up to the Doctor and some humans to overthrow the deadliest race in the universe. Also the story where the Doctor’s hearts are broken when his grand-daughter Susan remains on Earth with her new lover.

3 The Chase: Daleks chase the TARDIS through time and space. Some good bits, some silly bits, all brilliant. Also Ian and Barbara finally make their way home and it’s still one of the best companion leaving scenes the show has ever had.

2 An Unearthly Child: The very first story. The main story is pretty rubbish but the first episode is brilliant. It’s where fifty brilliant years have spawned from and it still stands up as great TV.

1 The Daleks: The second story and the Doctor’s greatest foes are introduced. Their very first appearance still remains one of their scariest and it began years of Doctor/dalek battles.

I expect that there might be huge debate about this list among the Who community so if you have something to say about it, please leave a comment!

Review: A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer

The first of a series of short e-books to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, this sees the First Doctor rescue his grand-daughter Susan from the Soul Pirates, who steal children to sell their body parts. I liked the premise but over such a short space of time it felt too simple.

Colfer does a fairly decent job with the characterisation, with the First Doctor being fairly grumpy, but he is certainly more adventurous than in the TV show, although this is sort of explained by his desperation to save Susan. There were some very clever references- lots of mention of the Doctor being a Time Lord (something never mentioned during the First Doctor era), a reference to the Second Doctor and a mention of Hogwarts, proving even the First Doctor was a Harry Potter fan.

A good effort with some witty lines in it- it's just a shame the e-short format limits what the author can do.

Assimilation Squared

You may have heard about a series of comics called Assimilation² that combine the universes of Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation (another show I’m a huge fan of). The series has now finished and I’ve recently caught up- as with any comics, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with any series due the limited availability in the UK. Normally I would warn you of spoilers now but I’m not going to have a detailed look at the story because I suspect many people might still want to read this. Instead I’m going to pick some of my highlights from the series- there may be some minor spoilers but I shall try my best to avoid any major ones!

Before that though, a basic summary of the plot. The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in the TARDIS on the holodeck of the USS Enterprise. Before they know it they need to help the crew take on an alliance between the Cybermen and the Borg. But can the Doctor get Captain Picard to trust him?

1: The TARDIS on the Enterprise

The TARDIS lands in the holodeck of the Enterprise. Except it looks like San Francisco. It’s only when the Doctor notices a certain android is present that all is not as it seems.

2: The Fourth Doctor and the Original Enterprise Crew

Data looks into the Enterprise’s records and discovers that the crew of the original Enterprise met the Fourth Doctor. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Bones join forces with the Fourth Doctor to fight off classic series style Cybermen. It’s a great link into the history of both shows- and there’s even some jelly babies!

3: The Doctor meets Guinan

The Doctor meets the oldest person on the Enterprise, bar tender Guinan. Being pretty much the eldest beings in their respective universes, they have a lot to talk about.

4: Doctor Who Continuity

There are plenty of references to past Doctor Who adventures and what the characters have been through. Amy and Rory mostly take a back seat in the story but every now and then they do something brilliant. (The panel above sees Amy explaining to Picard some of the events of The Eleventh Hour).

5: Picard in the TARDIS

The legendary Captain Picard enters the legendary TARDIS. He says the legendary line. The Doctor is very happy and so is everyone reading.

6: A universe ruled by Cybermen

The Doctor shows Picard a possible future, where both the Doctor Who and Star Trek universes are taken over by the Cybermen. We see them take over Raxacoricofallapatorius (home of the Slitheen), the Judoon (as seen above), the Klingons, Vulcan (home of Spock) and the Star Fleet academy.

7: The Next Generation Continuity

There’s not as much continuity from Star Trek as the episodes tend to be more standalone, but there’s lots of talk about the history of the Borg and when Picard became on of them. The Doctor, Amy and Rory even ending up meeting Locotus, the Borg version of Picard!

8: The Cybermen/Borg Alliance

The idea of some of the most feared beings from both universes working together is brilliant. This makes the whole idea of the squared bit of the title make sense- it’s both an alliance between the Doctor and the Enterprise crew AND an alliance between Cybermen and Borg. But will either alliance last?

9: Data looks into the heart of the TARDIS

Data does a Rose Tyler and looks into the heart of the TARDIS. It would destroy any human and forces Time Lords to regenerate. But can an android contain it?

To avoid being obvious, I am stopping at nine. Didn’t expect that did you? I was very excited when this series was announced and then quickly began to worry that it would be too hard to do. Well it turns out the writers created something fantastic. It combines Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation brilliantly in my opinion, making this a great read for fans of both shows. It also has fantastic artwork that captures the likeness of all the actors brilliantly. All in all, a truly wonderful thing.

The series was released over 8 issues but you can buy it as a graphic novel in two volumes. The first volume is on sale on Amazon in the UK right now, link here. If you live elsewhere, Google is your friend! Thank you for reading and there’ll be more from the Time Vortex very soon!

Top 10 Christmas Episodes

Everyone loves a top 10 list and everyone whose name isn’t Ebenezer loves Christmas so I thought it would be a great time to do the top 10 Christmas Doctor Who episodes. Enjoy!

10) The End of Time Part One (25th December 2009- Written by Russell T. Davies)

The first part of the Tenth Doctor’s demise was set on Christmas day but that was a fairly irrelevant plot point. The story itself has nothing to do with Christmas as the Master comes back and converts all humans into himself. Plus the Time Lords are returning and it looks like we’re all doomed. And the Doctor is going to die. Happy Christmas!

On a plus note though, we did have some really Christmassy Doctor Who idents that year. The Doctor, the TARDIS and some reindeer. If only that could have found it’s way into an episode:

9) The Runaway Bride (25th December 2006-Written by Russell T Davies)

The Doctor has just lost his beloved Rose and in the best cliff-hanger ever Catherine Tate suddenly appears in the TARDIS in a wedding dress. This episode has some great features including a TARDIS chase, the return of the robotic Santa’s and deadly baubles but whilst we come to love Donna in series 4, here she’s mostly annoying. Plus the giant spider and Christmas star thing is ridiculous even for Doctor Who.

8) The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe (25th December 2011- Written by Steven Moffat)

The Doctor is rescued by the Mum from Outnumbered and then proceeds to help her and her kids out by sending them to a forest that is about to be destroyed. Good work Doctor. It has some great moments- I loved the Doctor showing the family around the house- but the plot is weak and the ending is too sickly sweet.

7) Attack of the Graske (25th December 2005- Written by Gareth Roberts)

This was an interactive episode which aired via the red button. It’s very Christmassy and you get to be the companion. It’s a Who fan’s dream come true. You even get to fly the TARDIS. It’s great fun and you can now play it online here. There are few things more pleasing than the Doctor telling you that you’d make a good companion.

6) Voyage of the Damned (25th December 2007- Written by Russell T. Davies)

I love Voyage of the Damned- the Doctor running round a space version of the Titanic trying to stop it hitting the Earth and fighting off robotic angels along the way. For the most part it works brilliantly but seeing as though most of the cast die off it’s hardly cheery! And don’t get me started on Kylie’s ridiculously unnecessary death- maybe RTD felt Titanic had to have silly deaths after the James Cameron film.

5) The Unquiet Dead (9th April 2005- Written by Mark Gatiss)

This was the Ninth Doctor Christmas special that never was. It was early on in “Series One” and saw the Doctor and Rose fight off gas monsters with the help of Charles Dickens. It’s a great episode and much more Christmassy than some of the specials. It’s great when the Dickens decides to use the ideas for The Mystery of Edwin Drood and although a bit scary for the young ones, this is brilliant stuff!

4) The Next Doctor (25th December 2008- Written by Russell T Davies)

The Next Doctor is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand the Cybermen are rubbish here with a giant Cyberking and the awful Cybershades. But on the other hand you’ve got David Morrissey as a man claiming to be the Doctor but is actually some bloke called Jackson Lake who is just a bit confused. Although there’s some dark moments everything turns out OK in the end and hardly anyone dies! Plus it has a great ending with crowds saying thank you to the Doctor who then goes for Christmas with Jackson Lake and his family.

3) The Feast of Steven (25th December 1965- Written by Terry Nation)

The first Doctor Who Christmas special, although unofficially, this was part of the epic First Doctor saga The Dalek’s Master Plan. It has sod all to do with the plot though as the Doctor and his companions run round contemporary Earth and then sit down for Christmas dinner. The First Doctor even turns to the camera and says “Incidentally a happy Christmas to all of you at home!"

2) The Christmas Invasion (25th December 2005- Written by Russell T Davies)

The first official Doctor Who special, this sees the aftermath of the Doctor’s regeneration as Rose (and the audience at home) try to cope with his new face and personality. He’s asleep for most of it, only waking up when there’s killer Santa's and Christmas trees around (best line in a Christmas episode from Jackie Tyler here: “I’m going to get killed by a Christmas tree!”). Eventually the Doctor wakes up in time to have a sword fight with the aliens and save the world as per usual. Everyone’s happy and Christmassy!

1) A Christmas Carol (25th December 2010- Written by Steven Moffat)

The Doctor is inspired by Charles Dickens’ tale and changes an old miser (played by Dumbledore) into a better man. Which is weird when you think about it because Dickens only came up with the story because of his adventures with the Doctor- see above! Anyway, we get a bit fun romp as the Doctor, Kazran and Katherine Jenkins meet up every Christmas and do fun stuff and then it gets all sad. A beautiful, fun, sad, emotional and awesome story. Plus there’s a great snowman near the end.

I’m sure you instantly disagree with my ratings so please let me know what you think in the comments below. Fingers crossed that The Snowmen will be worthy of coming high in this list. I’ll be here next week with a full discussion on it!