Day 55 - RIP Harold Ramis

So this evening, 15 minutes into the Doctor Who Movie we became aware of the untimely passing of the genius that is Harold Ramis. In honour of his memory we have decided to forgo the rest of the movie until tomorrow and instead will be watching the Ghostbusters. I am sure you'll all join us in celebrating his memory.

NEWS - Series 8 - Danny Pink!

Series 8 of Doctor Who is looking ever more exciting by the day! The release of Peter Capaldi’s outfit was exciting enough and now we find out that there will be a new male recurring character named Danny Pink who will be played by Samuel Anderson (The History Boys, Gavin and Stacey) 

Early intelligence tells us that Danny will also be a teacher at Coal Hill School, the same school that Clara works at. Now Coal Hill School has a lot of historical significance through Doctor Who as it the school that the Doctor’s original companion (his granddaughter, Susan) attended and it will not be the first time that two teachers from Coal Hill take off together in the Tardis as during William Hartnell’s time as the Doctor he had two long running companions in Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright who both taught at the School. 

These little nods to classic Who may prove to be very popular with fans of the older episodes and also act as a tipped hat to the pioneers of the Who legacy. We are really excited to see which direction they will take this in and it will be great to see a male companion again after Rory’s departure. I for one can’t wait to find out more about Danny’s story! What do you think?? Will Danny be as reluctant an adventurer as Rory, as eager as Captain Jack or as resigned and resourceful as Jamie? Hurry up Series 8!!

Series 7 - Matt Smith - The Bells of Saint John

The Bells of Saint John was the modern day Clara’s first proper episode with the Doctor and there is something really special about the chemistry between Matt Smith’s Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald. The Doctor’s relationships differ from series to series and Doctor to Doctor and that is one of the most interesting things about Doctor Who, the iconic science fiction show isn’t just about monsters and danger, it is also about people, nature and compassion.

There is no denying that seeing Matt Smith with a companion other than Amy and Rory stirred up the audience and probably caused a few raised eyebrows but Clara is so different and refreshing that you’d be hard pushed to resist her charms. The Doctor definitely isn’t able to. The Doctor adored Amy, he doted on her and he cared for her and he did everything in his power to keep her safe sometimes at the expense of Rory and other people who they come into contact with, their relationship is almost paternal in its nature and Amy’s admiration of the Doctor is contagious, childlike and a little sad.

Series 6 - Matt Smith - The God Complex

The God Complex finds Amy, Rory and the Doctor trapped in a strange alien craft that has disguised itself as a seedy looking Earth hotel where they come across a group of people who have been wandering around the halls for some time. They quickly realise that behind each door, in every room of the hotel is a horrifying nightmare and that somewhere in the hotel is a nightmare that belongs to each of them personally. 

Series 4 - David Tennant - The Fires of Pompeii

The Fires of Pompeii marked Donna Noble’s first adventure in the Tardis as the Doctor’s new companion and is really revealing for anyone trying to work out what kind of companion Donna will be. The Doctor takes Donna to ancient Italy with the intention of showing her Rome and filling her mind with the wonders of time travel, however the Tardis lands in Pompeii instead on the day of Vesuvius’ eruption. 

We’re once again reminded in this episode of the horrible events of the Doctor’s past when Donna presents him with the task of trying to evacuate the people of Pompeii who they both know will die within a day. Donna is outraged when the Doctor tells her that they can’t save the people and exclaims “But that's what you do, you're the Doctor, you save people!” Which leads the Doctor to explain that he just can’t. 

Series 3 - David Tennant - The Lazarus Experiment

 Russell T Davies famously instructed Stephen Greenhorn that he wanted this episode to be like a classic marvel story of a mad scientist gone wrong, and the writer did not disappoint when he created the Lazarus Experiment.

This episode feature the Doctor and his companion Martha Jones and features around the time experiments of an elderly scientist named Lazarus who wishes to make himself young again in the hope of marketing youth and immortality to the people of the world. 

Series 3 - David Tennant - Utopia, The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Time Lords

This three part serial from Series 3 of Doctor Who after the 2005 revival is the first modern storyline to include the Master and Russell T Davies did not disappoint. Our Story begins at the edge of the universe. Captain Jack Harkness spots the Tardis and jumps on it just before it dematerialises sending the Tardis into a spin and taking the Doctor and Martha miles away from their intended destination.

Planet Malcassairo is a planet inhabited by the last of the human race who have begun to evolve into cannibalistic ‘Future humans’. The last of humanity rallies around the strength of a Professor named Yana who has promised to take them to Utopia. 

Season 21 - Peter Davidson - The Caves of Androzani

It seems strange to say that the second Peter Davidson episode that we watched was in fact his last but the fact is ‘The Caves of Androzani’ is widely hailed as one of the Fifth Doctor’s best episodes and the temptation was too much. Despite some slightly peculiar scenes in which Peri is kidnapped with Chloroform by a man names Jek in a PVC gimp suit.

In this episode the Doctor and his companion Peri land on the Androzani Minor and stumble across a ball of some kind of sticky substance, their then taken prisoner by the forces of General Chellak. It is whilst imprisoned that the Doctor and Peri learn that they have entered the early stages of Spectrox toxemia due to their exposure to a Spectrox. Queue the Doctors mission to the deepest part of the caves where there is no oxygen in search of the milk from a queen bat so that he can cure himself and Peri before the toxemia takes hold and they die.

Season 7 - Patrick Troughton - The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Tomb of the Cybermen was actually the first classic episode I ever saw and despite the fact that it briefly fooled me into believing that I didn’t really like the classic female companions at all, it is one of my favourite episodes. Patrick Troughton is captivating as the Doctor, he is silly and serious in perfect harmony and his devotion to his companions is palpable. Most of all though, it is his mind that I admire, he watches the people around him with equal parts curiosity and suspicion and isn’t afraid to do what needs to be done.

Season 7 - Tom Baker - The City of Death

City of Death was the first episode of the Doctor Who to ever be partially filmed on location outside of the UK and the BBC wasted no time in showing us the sights of Paris as the Doctor saw them on his trip with Romana. Much of the episode consists of scenes of them running through the streets of France, the Doctor’s scarf flapping in the wind and Romana nearly losing her hat.

The Doctor and his companion visit the Louvre where they discover that someone is out to steal the Mona Lisa and begin a hunt for an alien who is disguised as a rich baron named Scarlioni who wants to use the money he can get from the painting to fund his experiments in Time Travel. Scarlioni is actually Scaroth the last of the Jagaroth who was stranded on Earth and fragmented through its time line when his space ship explodes. 

Season 2 - William Hartnell - The Time Meddler

The Time Meddler is a really fun episode featuring a time meddler who has disguised himself as a monk and taken up residence in a monastery on the English coast in 1066. From his settlement the Monk plans to change the course of historic events by lighting beacon fires on the coast to guide the Vikings to the shore.

This episode features Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and Peter Purves as Stephen Taylor who have a great chemistry on screen together. They spend much of the episode running around after William Hartnell’s Doctor who has gone off on his own.

William Hartnell’s classic performance is perfect as ever and this charming little episode is definitely one of our favourites so far. There is something that just feels right about William Hartnell’s episodes.

All in all a 4/5

Series 7 - 50th Anniversary Special - Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt - Day of the Doctor

'The man who regrets and the man who forgets' 

50 years of television is a wonderful thing to celebrate and what better way than with a real fan pleaser of an episode broadcast not only on televisions all around the world but also in viewed by thousands of people in cinemas around the UK. The atmosphere at the cinema was brilliant; there were cosplayers everywhere, film crews interviewing fans and a massive queue for the screening. The most exciting thing was seeing just how many people, adults and children alike, there are who love Doctor Who in our area. Sometimes you just don’t realise how much you have in common with the people around you. 

My Toy Collection - By Jack

Even before I became a Doctor Who Fan I have always been a collector. Whether it is Star Wars or vinyl records or Doctor Who I have had a collector in me from a young age. So it was inevitable that when I became a Doctor Who fan I would no doubt want to collect the toys and merchandise from this iconic series. I started buying old annuals at boot fairs, mainly from the Tom Baker and Peter Davidson era, and I found a great Dalek annual from the 60s. I found a complete Tom Baker doll from the Denys Fisher toy line and even began to collect the modern toys as well.

30 days and still going strong! ~ By Kristy

36 days in and I can no longer say with any degree of confidence who my favourite Doctor is. Even though sometimes I come in from work and all I want to do is go to bed and sleep, the prospect of a brand new episode of Doctor Who is exciting enough to keep me out of my PJs just that little bit longer.

I really see this as a fantastic opportunity and have really enjoyed getting to know the different Doctors, their different companions and their wonderful adventures. Everything from the silliness of Sylvester McCoy to the beautiful class that is Tom Baker’s voice and the classic nature of William Hartnell’s performance has been really inspiring and I find myself thinking about Doctor Who even whilst at work.

One month on - By Jack

When I mentioned the idea for this blog to Kristy over the Christmas holidays I didn't think we would really end up doing it but Kristy was really up for it and starting building the blog, this got me very excited just wondering if we could really do it. Now a entire month has passed since we decided to take on Doctor Who for an entire year and we have successfully consumed at least one episode a day and are reviewing as we go.

It sounded easy to begin with, any Doctor Who fan would think watching an episode every day would be a piece of cake. To begin with we started by watching entire stories from the classic seasons every night, however we soon began to realise that such a pace would be impossible to keep up as many of these stories are 6 or 8 sections long. We can only watch episodes in the evening so watching a 3 hour episode meant that we simply weren’t having time to keep up with the reviews. Since this minor hiccup we have only been watching one segement of each serial a night and this is working out much better.  It has served to keep the episodes much fresher and gave us more time to think about the episodes as we consumed them.

Series 3 - David Tennant - 'Human Nature' and 'The Family of Blood'

Human Nature is very much Martha’s story. It tells the tale of her infatuation with the Doctor and shows the lengths she would go to in order to ensure his safety, but most of all this episode shows the lengths the Doctor is prepared to go to in order to preserve his own life and avoid his body falling into the wrong hands.

The Family of Blood are a family of space scavengers who desperately need the life force of a Time Lord in order to sustain their own lives, they pursue the Doctor so relentlessly that he is forced to contain his Time Lord self in a fob watch to push the Family off of his scent. The fact that the Family can absorb the very essence of a life is pretty devilish as far as villains go and their army of animated scarecrows was pretty creepy to behold.