The Doctor's Companion Blog

My partner commented yesterday that if having a time lord brain in her head was really, really dangerous for Donna (the DoctorDonna) and would probably kill her, how come it was all right for half human Doctor to have it?  He only had one heart after all.

Its a very valid point and one I had never thought of before, as my partner pointed out smugly.

I suppose it just goes to show that I had been carried away by the power of the writing and acting so it passed me by.  Thats my excuse anyway.

Having spent much of today setting up this blog in its new format, it is only right that I should relax with a sausage sandwich.  In homage to Professor Emilia Rumford and the aptly named Vivien Fay from fourth doctor story, the Stones of Blood, in the Key to Time series.

Although sadly I don’t think the good professor finished her sandwich in the episode.

We have had a bit of a change here at the Doctor’s Companion blog.  I have taken it off Typepad (although an archive will stay there for a bit) and it is now a self hosted WordPress blog. 

I am using the wonderful Innanis Glass theme. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you will find a handy little box (click the circle at the bottom left) where you can select another theme. I quite like the default theme, but do have a look at the others. They all fit in quite well with a Doctor blog.

So, all set ready to write about the new Moffatt era. Although I will also be writing about old Who too. Watch this space!

I bought myself the box set of the Doctor Who – The Key to Time recently as an extra Christmas present for myself.  It is one of my favourite Doctor series.

So far I have just re-watched the first two.  The Ribos Operation is, for me, made by the wonderful performance of Ian Cuthbertson as Garron.  He is just perfect as the confidence trickster who loves his work.

Then the Pirate Planet is such a wonderful explosion of inventiveness from Douglas Adams, so clever the subtle way he introduces the nurse and the whole idea of planets mining planets.

To come, the excitements of earth and the Kaliad, the Androids of Tara and the rest.  People are often a bit disparaging about the power or Kroll and the Armagedden Factor, but I have always enjoyed them.  The whole series is great, with the wonderful Tom Baker, the marvellous Mary Tamm (the perfect ice queen) and the brilliant K9.

Excuse me, I must go now.  I have a series to watch.

As I have disk two of Doctor Who series 1 in my machine (after doing my review of Dalek), I have just been watching Aliens of London. You know its really very good.

I know that people are a bit negative about AOL, and I suppose it is not in the same class as Dalek, but it is very entertaining none the less, even the farts are bearable. And the acting is great. I love David Verray and Rupert Vansittart as the sligheen brothers, not to mention the fabulous Annette Badland as Margaret Slitheen. And the possibly even more fabulous Penelope WIlton, as Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North.

Plus it has Andrew Marr, who had one of my all time favourite lines (which he delivers brilliantly) “Oh thats Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale, he’s chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary…” How does Russell think of them?

I accept the point about the super speedo CGI slitheen perhaps being a bit silly, but on the whole it is a very enjoyable episode. In fact, if you will excuse me, I think I will now watch World War Thee.

Mind you, they don’t seem to have invited Keith Boak back to direct again.

Well I have read the survey results in DWM and I’m not happy with it. I don’t think the Caves of Androzani is the best Dr Who of all time.  Its just the favourite of the sort of blokes (and its bound to be blokes) who read DWM.

Mind you, I should speak really, we did mean to send in our lists but never managed to finish ticking all the boxes.  But there you are – this list is made up of the likes and dislikes of the people who did manage to finish it. Says it all really.

Looking at the list in a bit more detail, there are a lot of inconsistencies.  Numbers 200 – 101 (described disparagingly in DWM as ‘clunkers’) had the Doctors-Daughter-in-a-tight-green-top at number 140!  What happened there?  And Fear Her, a reasonable episode although admittedly not my favourite, was number 192.  How can this be considered worse than the Macra (137), now only visible as a selection of photos connected by narrative on the BBC web-site?

The trouble also about lists like this is that it seems to indicate that those at the bottom of the list are bad.  Or ‘clunkers’, to quote DWM.  But I really like loads of the ‘clunkers’ at the bottom.  Even Time Flight (196), which everyone is rude about, last time I watched it I really enjoyed it.  Is that not the test of a good program?  Even if it does have rubbish props and effects.  And I have always  been rather fond of the Krotons too (166).

Jumping ahead, what about the top 10?

10. Bad Woolf – yes OK;
9. Robots of Death- hmm, not as good as others, e.g. The Fires of Pompeii (56) IMHO;
8. City of Death – yes definitely one of the best;
7. Pyramids of Mars – mmmyes all right;
6. Human Nature/Family of Blood – great episode;
5. Empty Child/Doctor Dances – of course, brilliant;
4.Talons – yes, yes, all right;
3. Genesis of the Daleks – no, sorry that has never rung my bell, too gloomy;
2. Blink – great of course but not actually my favourite Moffat;
1. Caves – no, not my favourite.

So what is my all time fave?  I suppose, thinking it over, it is the Library (24).  Which is probably why I felt I wanted it for my first review.

Just got this months DWM.

We got the one with the cover of Peter Davison, which is sort of appropriate as we are watching the Black Guardian Trilogy just now (see my review of Mawdryn Undead here).

However actually I think the Caves of Androzani is my least favourite of the four episodes featured.  Not sure though which of the other three I like best (City of Death, The Empty Child or Human Nature).  It is a tough choice.

But no more now, I must read my magazine …

My son doesn’t seem to be as interested in his Doctor Who Adventures Magazine as he used to be.  And he is showing an increasing interest in Doctor Who Magazine.  

But this is not good, because Doctor Who Magazine is MINE!!!

When starting a new blog, it is often customary to give an introduction (even though it will end up at the bottom of the page).  So here is my introduction to the Doctors Companion blog.

I was a fairly late convert to the Doctor, as we did not have a TV when I was a child, and for quite a while after that I either did not watch much, or was again without a telly.  I knew about the Doctor of course, and I think I did watch a few episodes when I was young.  The first of these must have been with the Third Doctor, as I have a feeling somehow that he is ‘my Doctor’, which must be because I saw him first (although I love ALL the Doctors).

I first watched Dr Who properly in the 1980′s when there were a couple of repeats, first The Revelation of the Daleks, and then Battlefield.  I loved both of them, and was very upset to learn that Doctor Who was no longer to be made by the BBC and was in effect finished.

A few years later I married, and my partner (who had been, and still is, a fan) came with quite a few Dr Who videos, so I was able to watch The Pyramids of Mars, The City of Death, The Arc in Space, the Quest for the Key to Time series, and quite a few others.

Our son, as he got older, was also introduced to the Doctor, and he also loved him. It was with enormous excitement therefore that we all learned that there was to be another series in 2005!  On 26 March 2005, we sat round the TV together and watched with baited breath the  openng credits rise on Rose, and in following weeks, The End of the World, the Unquiet Dead, and all the rest of the series.

About half way through that first series I learned that there was a Doctor Who Magazine, which I instantly subscribed to, and an online web-site called Outpost Gallifrey, which I also joined.  Sadly Outpost Gallifrey is no longer with us, although it has a worthy successor, and I often read this and other Doctor Related web-sites online.

Series two, three and four of the new (as opposed to the Classic) series have now passed, and as I write, we await the Doctors travels to Mars, and later to unspecified places where he will in due course regenerate into Matt Smith.

Although I prefer some episodes more than others, I can honestly say that I like them all, and that the Doctor has enriched my life.  I love reading about the Doctor as well as watching him, but although there are the online forum and news sites, there do not seem to be many sites with fuller commentary.  I used to really enjoy reading the reviews on Outpost Gallifrey and missed them when they stopped.  I have found a few blogs, but they don’t seem to have the sort of comment I enjoy reading.  So the obvious solution was to create my own!

I hope you will enjoy traveling with me, and the Doctor, through space and time, and will also enjoy reading about other aspects of the Doctors world, both today and in the past.

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