The Shining Man

I enjoy reading the Doctor Who tie-in books. Many are of high quality but I think this is probably the best of the many I've read over the last twelve years.

The Shining Men are everywhere, scaring children on street corners with their long hair, blank faces and shining eyes. But surely it's just a hoax, idiots dressing up for fun. Except people are going missing and the link is the shining men. Cue the arrival of the Doctor and Bill.

Clearly the idea of the shining men came from the real world 'killer clown' craze. There's plenty about the police dealing with idiots dressed up and the fear caused by them. Mostly though this book imagines what it would be like if the creepy things were actually terrifying killers rather than people dressed up.

In terms of Doctor Who continuity this book is set after the first three episode of Series 10 (The Pilot, Smile and Thin Ice). There's also lots of references to things discussed and shown in the Torchwood episode 'Small Worlds'. I think it really adds something if you've seen that episode.

If you know said episode, you'll know it's about fairies. Indeed this book explores the idea of fairies in some depth, using some scientific Doctor-technobabble to explain some of it but still essentially being something from fantasy. Actually this has very few Doctor Who elements to it other than the Doctor and Bill being present and as well characterised as they are they don't do much. The Doctor is largely used as the character to explain the idea of fairies.

This had everything I wanted from a Doctor Who book. A good sci-fi/fantasy idea, warmth, humour, drama and a portion too ambitious to have appeared on TV. If you are enjoying Series 10 of Doctor Who and want some more, this is the place to head.

Homosexual Who

It has been revealed that the new companion Bill Potts will be Doctor Who's first "openly gay" companion. Anyone with any sense is pleased with this news. Plenty of die-hard Doctor Who fans have been discussing how correct the statement that she is the "first" is so I'd thought I'd explore that.

The obvious go to when searching for a gay companion is Captain Jack Harkness. The first problem with this is whether he actually counts as a companion. Of course there's no set definition for what a companion is but traditionally the companion hangs around for a whole series or more. I would argue that he's only been a companion in (Boom Town, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, Utopia and The Sound of Drums) and a supporting character in (The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, Last of the Time Lords, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End).

Though Jack is very open about his sexuality, he isn't simply gay. He's bisexual from virtually the moment we meet him. Having flirted with a male soldier he then flirts with Rose Tyler. I think many casual viewers consider the character as gay. The actor John Barrowman is and many of Captain Jack's more significant relationships are with other men- like Alonso and Ianto Jones. But in Children of Earth we learn he had had a child with a woman and he is shown to be in love with Gwen Cooper throughout Torchwood.

The other character referenced in the BBC News story about Bill Potts was River Song. Now all of River's on screen relationships with the Doctor have been heterosexual- mostly with the Doctor but also with several others in The Husbands of River Song. It is suggested she is bisexual though with a mention of her "second wife" in that same episode. She's certainly considered bisexual by creator Steven Moffat but the on-screen evidence in limited.

Many fans have discussed the idea that Clara Oswald is also bisexual. On screen she is shown to be attracted to the Doctor and Danny Pink. Oswin Oswald claimed the first person she fancied was a girl called Nina, though seeing as though this was only a version of the character and potentially a joke anyway I think we can rule that out. Clara definitely suggest she had some sort of relationship with Jane Austen though ("great kisser") and the Doctor seemed to think Clara was attracted to Ashildr.

Again, it's all very much suggestive. The casual viewer is likely to assume that both River Song and Clara are straight. It's all very well suggesting that characters are homosexual but that almost suggests it's something to hide away or some sort of joke. Bill Potts will be clearly stated as gay from her second line.

Other than companions, here are some more gay characters from Doctor Who (a by no means complete list).

• Alice and May Cassini are an elderly gay couple stuck in the traffic jam in Gridlock
• In The Unicorn and the Wasp it is uncovered that Roger Curbishley is in a relationship with male servant Davenport
• 1800s Torchwood Three's Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd are gay.
• In Day of the Moon Canton Everett Delaware III says he wants to marry a black man.
• In spin-off Class Charlie and Matteusz are gay and in a relationship for the majority of the series.
• The Fat One and the Thin One are "Thin/Fat Gay Married Anglican Marines" in A Good Man Goes to War.
• Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint are notable for having a relationship with is both homosexual and inter-species. They pair have so far appeared in A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen, The Crimson Horror, The Name of the Doctor and Deep Breath. 

Doctor Who has long held that message that everyone is equal and I like that it has repeatedly been suggested that in the future there is no such thing as homophobia and that sexuality is fluid. Bill Potts is the latest in a long line of role models that cater for a range of people and I am proud to call myself a fan of a show that can do this.

Torchwood: Children of Earth

As part of my ongoing Who Catch Up project I've been watched Torchwood's epic third series, Children of Earth. I ended up writing a quick piece about each episode and here they all are.

Day One

Day One feels like fairly normal Torchwood fare for most of the episode albeit with a bigger budget. Creepy children & lots of banter.

The big oddity is the civil service subplot with John Frobisher, who looks suspiciously like the Twelfth Doctor. At this point it means very little & feels a bit out of place.

We get some new character stuff here: Jack has a secret daughter & grandson, Ianto has a sister & Gwen is pregnant. It’s nice that they kept doing the character stuff in a big event, and of course all of these things become more relevant later on.

The last part is surprising though. Suddenly Captain Jack is going to be blown to pieces, along with the Torchwood hub. That’s much bigger than your normal Torchwood episode! And much of what’s going on is still a mystery! It’s a promising start & a surprisingly slow one too.

Day Two

Day Two is a superb episode, despite the fact that not much actually happens. The Torchwood team are split up & Jack has been blown to pieces. Gwen and Ianto are on the run & it quickly transpires that there’s a massive government conspiracy to kill them. It’s proper thriller stuff, only mostly set in Cardiff.

What I think works really well here is the lack of sci-fi elements. The main plot with the children & approaching aliens isn’t that important for this episode. The only other element is Captain Jack’s ‘Lazurus ability’ and that too is treated more matter of factly than it often is. When I think about it Torchwood has often been at it’s best when the sci-fi stuff doesn’t go too far. It’s the human enemies who are truly scary

Day Three

After all the excitement of the previous episode, this one is a bit dull. The Torchwood team mostly sit around in an empty warehouse simply watching what’s going on. The 456 arrive in dramatic fashion and eventually demand 10% of our children. It turns out we gave them 12 children back in 1965, & Jack was involved. This episode is all about filling in the plot.

It’s a great moral dilemma. The choice is to give them some children or face extinction. You kind of have to give up the kids, it’s instinctive to do anything to survive. But how do you live with that, especially if you are immortal like Jack.

Suddenly the human villains are less scary, especially now we know Jack was one of them. They just had an impossible choice.

Day Four

Day Four really is a rollercoaster- a disturbing rollercoaster. It begins with Jack having to explain the horrible dilemma of giving away Children to save lives. Then we see politicians discussing the practicalities of giving children to the 456, in a way that feels horribly realistic. You can really imagine those conversations would actually take place.

Hope emerges when Lois (who is a superb character, a reluctant Torchwood helper) speaks up & Jack faces the 456. But then it is taken away from us as Ianto & a whole building full of people are killed. It’s emotional and is a rare time in the Whoniverse where it genuinely feels like there is no hope. The best episode of Torchwood ever?

Day Five

Day Four may have been Torchwood’s best episode but this is the most horrific. We find out the 456 use children as drugs and then watch as the government and the army round up 10% of the children. Gwen has to tell Ianto’s sister of his death & tries to rescue all the local children. Frobisher kills himself & his family too. It’s disturbing & because of the sci-fi elements of the story being downplayed horribly realistic.

Then at the last minute Jack finds a solution but it involves killing his own grandson. It’s well acted by all involved as we are forced to watch Steven die. I remember how people complained at this ending at the time & whilst I agree it’s disturbing it is an effective end to the story.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Mind of Stone

This series has had a fairly familiar format up until now. Something mysterious happens and Lethbridge-Stewart and the Fifth Operational Corps go an investigate. This book begins very differently, with Lethbridge-Stewart in Wormwood Scrubs prison.

It's a great way to start the book as it really changes the status quo. Firstly there's the mystery of why the Brigadier is in there in the first place. It seem fairly obvious as a reader that he hasn't actually done anything bad but it's unclear if it's a miscarriage of justice or part of some grand plan. Putting Lethbridge-Stewart in this situation also works well because it's a rare time when we see him isolated. Here the Brig is utterly on his own and that's a great dynamic to see.

There's a wonderful homage to the Ronnie Barker prison-based sitcom 'Porridge' at the start of this book, before the drama really unfolds. The Brig shares his cell with Stanley, who is almost identical to Barker's character Norman Stanley Fletcher. There's also a nasty warder called Fulton, named after Fulton Mackay, the actor who played Porridge's warder Mr Mackay. There were a few other small references too and it was a lovely touch and really helped to set the scene.

The latter half of the book transforms into a Bond-esque thriller as Lethbridge-Stewart rushes to stop a villain. There's even a classic Bond fight in a sleeper train sequence. I really like it when this series goes for this feel and doesn't try to be too Doctor Who.

The sci-fi element of this book wasn't my favorite and coming straight after Lethbridge-Stewart: Blood of Atlantis the general idea felt a little tired. It did work in context of the story though and it was nice to have a relatively minor threat. It's mostly Lethbridge-Stewart who is in great danger here rather than the world in general.

A different style for the series which worked really well and kept things fresh- I really enjoyed it.

The Thirteenth Doctor

Peter Capaldi has announced that he is leaving his role as the Twelfth Doctor. He's been a fantastic Doctor and I'll be sad to see him go. What it does mean though is that at some point in the not too distant future the Thirteenth Doctor will be cast.

Lots of people are making lists of possible Doctors but many are not very likely. It's extremely unlikely that a major Hollywood actor is going to take the role. Even very big actors who have appeared in short series are unlikely to commit to a role as big as the Doctor. It's also very unlikely they will cast someone who has had a major Who role before- a guest part in one episode maybe, but not a returning actor like Alex Kingston or Maisie Williams. And I also think they are unlikely to choose an actor of a similar age-range to Peter Capaldi.

There's lots of talk that the new Doctor could be a woman. It's certainly a lot more likely now than it was when Peter Capaldi was cast. The Master's latest regeneration is a woman and we even saw a Time Lord regenerate from male to female in Hell Bent.

Whether the Thirteenth Doctor will be a woman is largely down to new showrunner Chris Chibnall. He is the man who will probably have the major say on the new Doctor. Personally I feel it would be ambitious for a new showrunner to come along and cast a woman as the Doctor- it's a change in the character dynamic which a new showrunner may not want to make straight away.

If they do choose a female Doctor Hayley Atwell would be my top tip. She's a great actor, demonstrated a fairly Doctor-ish role in Agent Carter and has no long-term commitments (it looks like her current TV series Conviction will not be renewed). Another highly possible one is Gemma Chan, who has become more successful in recent years and has played a Synth in sci-fi series Humans.

Hayley Atwell (as Peggy Carter)

I do think it's quite likely that the next Doctor will be a different race. It's well known that a black actor turned down the role a few years ago (it's thought to have been Chiwetel Ejiofor by many). A lot of people seem to be talking about Richard Ayoade taking the role. As much as I like him it's hard to imagine him doing the serious drama parts of the role, and he's pretty busy in the near future hosting The Crystal Maze. There's talk of Game Of Thrones' Alexander Siddig taking the role but at 52 he is probably too old. My preferred non-white Doctor would be Sacha Dhawan- Doctor Who fans might know his for his role as Waris Hussein in An Adventure in Space and Time. He's a superb actor who I can really picture in the role.

Sacha Dhawan

The bookmaker's favourites for the role include Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear, both best known for their roles in the James Bond franchise. I like Kinnear but I fear he's a little old for the role and might Ben Whishaw be too big for the Doctor?

Rory Kinnear

A likely BBC favourite would be James Norton. He shone in Happy Valley and War and Peace and seems to be an actor in favour with the beeb at the moment. He is busy for much of the year in ITV's Grantchester at the moment but he is certainly a possible.

James Norton (as Sidney Chambers in Grantchester)

I have a couple of lesser known ideas for the role. Bertie Carvel played Jonathan Strange in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and I really feel would make a great Doctor. Then there's Damien Maloney, who played vampire Hal in two series of Being Human. He's a fantastic actor who I really feel ought to have a big role in something.

Damien Maloney (as Hal in Being Human)

Could we maybe have someone Chris Chibnall has worked with before? I couldn't find many people in the Broadchurch cast list who I could imagine as the Doctor but one was James D'Arcy. He played Lee Ashworth in Broadchurch, a very non-Doctor-y role. But in Agent Carter he was the butler Edwin Jarvis who was closer to the Doctor- the variation in roles really shows how good an actor he is.

James D'Arcy (as Edwin Jarvis in Agent Carter)

I also think there's a strong chance we'll get a fairly unknown actor. Hardly anyone knew who Matt Smith was when he was cast and the same could be said for the last three companions. It would be great if the show finds another amazing actor we'd never even heard of before.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

John Hurt

It was really sad this morning to wake up to the news that John Hurt has died aged 77. Doctor Who fans know him best as the War Doctor of course but he's been a popular British actor since the 70s. I thought it would be nice to consider some of the roles I personally know him for.

In Alien he played Kane, a.k.a as the unfortunate crew member who has an alien burst through his chest. That scene was voted one of the more memorable movie moments of all time. We're perhaps more familiar with this kind of horror in 2017 but in 1979 it was more surprising. On paper it sounds like it could be awful, but it really works. I think the visuals are fairly good but it's the acting that really makes that scene work. John Hurt was the only actor in the scene who knew what was going to happen so the reaction of the rest of the cast is hardly surprising. Hurt had to really lead that scene then and he did so fantastically.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone he plays wand-maker Ollivander. This was the first time I saw John Hurt in anything and he really shines despite the little time he appears. Up until this point Harry Potter has not spent any real time with a wizard and so John Hurt has the unenviable job of being the actor has to make wizards look good. And boy does he do it! He's funny and enigmatic and owns one of the most memorable scenes in the film. "The wand choose the wizard Mr. Potter- it's not always clear why."

He then returned to the role of Ollivander in The Deathly Hallows (towards the end of Part 1 and at the start of Part 2). Here the character has been tortured by Voldemort and the Death Eaters so Ollivander is something of a broken man. And you really believe that in Hurt's performance- you can almost see the fear and self-loathing in his eyes. Ollivander is another of the film's representations of loss of innocence- he's the first proper wizard Harry meets and gives him magic through a wand and later the tables are turned and Harry has to save his life.

Hurt has a small role in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth and later film in the series. Let's face it, it's not a patch on the original trilogy. But I think Hurt's character, Oxley, is one of the few characters who really works in that film. Oxley has been driven mad by the crystal skull but was once an eminent archaeologist. Hurt's performance is a complicated one- he has to play for laughs, come across harrowed and still convince as once having been intelligent and with it. I think he somehow manages it too- there's a hint of tortured Ollivander but as if he was broken even further.

Let's not forget his wonderful voice work, including Hazel in the Watership Down film and General Woundwort in the Watership Down TV series, Aragorn in the animated Lord of the Rings, the Narrator in The Tigger Movie, the Owl in The Gruffalo and the Gruffalo's Child and memorably the mostly unhelpful dragon in Merlin. What a voice that man had, perfect for a wise and friendly mentor.

And finally, let's talk about Doctor Who. Hurt played the War Doctor in The Day of the Doctor, the incarnation that fought in the Time War and ended it (although that was sort of re-written). Hurt may only have played the Doctor for a short time but he really nailed it. He's very Doctor-ish- funny, a little arrogant and really compassionate. But he takes the dark side of the Doctor further than ever, so far it's broken him. My favorite scene is when he talks with Clara in the Black Archive, when you really understand the dilemma he's in.

Doctor Who was lucky to get an actor of Hurt's stature to appear in the 50th anniversary special and Hurt embraced it. He took it seriously and asked Steven Moffat if he counted as a proper Doctor. I really believe he does. Technically he's a regeneration and we can't ignore that but he also proves himself to be one of the very best actors to have played the Doctor. Since the special he reprised the role with Big Finish in audio, giving us a Doctor deep in the Time War. This shows how much he enjoyed the role- I havn't heard any of his audio stories yet but I am definitely going to seek them out.

The other thing that's worth mentioning about John Hurt is what a nice man he was. The Doctor Who network online has been full of praise for him, not just an actor but as a person. It seems everyone who's met him has a similar anecdote to share about how friendly and warm he was.

John Hurt's death then sad but at least he will always be remembered for his many fantastic roles, not least as the War Doctor.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Blood of Atlantis

In this book Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart , Anne Travers & the team head to the Aegean Sea to investigate strange goings-on, as ever. This time it's a damaged Royal Navy ship & a series of missing vessels.

Candy Jar books chose Simon A Forward well as a writer for this series. He really gets it, making an action story, almost James Bond like, but keeping the sci-fi Doctor Who stuff in the story. This series is about a military man and his colleagues and Forward really sees this.

All of the series' regular cast are well treated here. It can be hard to focus on the Brigadier and keep both Anne Travers & the likes of Bishop & Ware plenty to do. Forward splits them up for much of the story, and like in Doctor Who this is often the best way of showing the characters. 

Forward also creates several of his own characters, all of which are great. There's cat lady archeologist Señora Montilla, who is like the Anne Travers of a different field. Then there's Captain Bugayev, a Russian who ally's with Lethbridge-Stewart in the middle of the Cold War. I really liked this whole element to the story, the uneasy friendship between the two sides and the Brig never being sure he can trust the Russians.

The threat is a good one and a little different to what we've seen in this series before. It's can get repetitive having intelligent strong aliens being the antagonist every time and here we get something different.

There's plenty more I could praise about this book too. The bittersweet ending, the chapter titles are based on Doctor Who stories/episodes. I've enjoyed much of this series but none more than this one.