Day 13 of Doctor Who Awesome

No horrific violence

I love that I can watch it with anyone and I know that when I watch Doctor Who I can get caught up in great storytelling without having to see people's heads being cut off, torture and constant sex scenes.  We live in a violent world and I don't need to see it all the time; I guess I'm young at heart and have a rather child like imagination in that way; the things that scare me most are the little things; things that move in the dark when you can't see, daleks hiding in corridoors etc

Doctor Who deals with death brilliantly, there have been some horrible deaths over the years; sacrifices, wars, murder but it never shows you blood, never torture, never shows you prolonged amounts of agony or suffering.  When death occurs you know its for a purpose in the story not just any excuse for a bloody battle or to kill off as many people as possible. It also shows you that killing is wrong and that their is nothing glorious about it but also at the same time it doesnt shy away from the fact that sometimes in order to beat evil we have to stand up and defend ourselves. The Doctor isnt a pacifist and the programme doesnt promote that either, the Doctor fights for what he believes in; and he does it without a weapon. He is not the sort of man who would point a gun at someone but he wouldnt stop someone with a gun from shooting the enemy (because he is responsible for his own actions).

I'd much rather watch the weaponless Doctor, than gun mad CSI type detectives anyday; there is too much violence in real life and too many guns and luckily with Doctor Who, using weapons is only in self defence or a last option.

Why we love Ian Chesterton...

Well as much of this blog seems to be devoted to the first Doctor and the first companions today is not going to be an exception.  Ian Chesterton is (along with Barbara of course) my ultimate favourite Doctor Who companion and here's why:

Ian is honourable, brave, determined and devoted. his own safety comes miles behind everyone as he will do anything to save everyone else first. He made the others leave him behind stuck in the Dalek shell and also stayed and risked extermination to warn the Thals, he even led the group of Thals and Barbara through the caves and waited for each one to jump to safety and then followed last. He also had a huge stress out that the Daleks paralysed him meaning that he was unable to get the drugs and had to send Susan as she was the only option.

How many science teachers can temporarily paralyse with a thumb?  Ian showed that he could use fighting to defend himself and others but also proved that knowing strengths and weaknesses and using intelligence would always triumph over pure punch ups. He only used violence when necessary.

Ian was knighted! but most modestly and with the intent purpose of rescuing Barbara. he was always willing to do anything to save Barbara (Even if she was very capable herself) Its not against feminism but I kind of like his protectiveness towards women, he even confronted King Richard in order to get his point across and never gave up, in most of the stories he and Barbara have the toughest deal, in theses early days you really felt they could die, they didn't have the Doctor to come and save them suddenly, they had to do it for themselves using their history/science knowledge and pure belief in each other.

And overall I love Ian's playful side, sure a lot of the time he was stubborn and irritable but lovable but when he was teasing Barbara and having fun, he was adorable.  Dancing to the Beatles like an embarrassing Dad shows this wonderfully.  He is a fun character and a noble character, he loved adventure but at the heart of him was the desire to go home and that's what I love about Ian, the shift from the non-believer at episode one to the hero to a regular guy who just wants to go home sit in a pub or watch a cricket match.

The sheer joy shown in the monatge photos on Ian and Barbara's return to London brings tears to my eyes. He is not a character who 'wants to stay with the Doctor forever' in fact he never wanted to go in the first place but the friendships were built and I imagine that their adventures with the Doctor were with them forever as we hope they began their new lives together.

Ian is a wonderful character, William Russell created a great character even when at times he was given clunky dialogue, he is definitely my fave and a very very attractive man too, I love the sixties look, cardigans, blazers, side partings they beat tracksuit bottoms and checked shirts to me anyday, he is so handsome but much of that attractiveness also comes from the personality.  And on that note I'm going to watch An Uneartly Child again...

Day 12 of Doctor Who Awesome

UNIT:

Check out the awesome clothes!

As in United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.  The UNIT team have been with us all the way since the sixties during Patrick Troughton's run and have helped defeat aliens with their badass ways.  During the 70's the team were an extremely important focus on the Earth bound episodes and the relationships between the Doctor and the Brigadier were particularly brilliant.  The Brigadier is one awesome companion and has been there for Docs 2, 3, 4, 5, I'm unsure of six as my knowledge of that era is limited but I know he graced another presence in Battlefield with our beloved 7th Doctor and continued his battles in various audio.

Sadly Nicholas Courtney died this year so my hopes to have him appear in the show now are gone but am so glad he was with the show such a long time, really annoyed that they didnt have a tribute to him on TV, I mean he also worked with Hartnell's Doctor (albeit as a different character) but he was a great influence on the history and legacy of Who.

So whilst I love UNIT and am glad they returned in the new series and praise their time on the series, I think for now I'm happy to not have many more UNIT episodes. I don't want in all honesty another era set primarily on Earth and if I had to choose I wouldn't like series based around military organisations as I hate the formality thing, I want the Doctor out and about the universe not in an office, but anyway no more moaning, the UNIT era of Doctor Who is as important as any other and very watchable and the relationships were fantastic so I'm looking foward to part two of Inferno tonight, would have watched more than one part last night but at that time of night, scientific jargon and bright yellow cars couldn't hold my concentration.

Be seeing you...

Rose



Why all the hate for Rose? I like her, Billie Piper plays her brilliantly and I cannot understand the negativity towards her. Ok I can except she's not a favourite to many just as for example I'm not a huge fan of Nyssa or Victoria but to be so bitchy about it gets my back up. What gets me is the whole 'doctor and Rose in love thing' which people seem to detest. I don't mind it myself really, The Doctor can fall in love hence with Cameca in the Aztecs, with Madame de Pompadour maybe and prob others I'm not aware of, so why not Rose? People say 'but why her? she's no better than Sarah or smarter than Romana or prettier than Peri'...but that isnt why people fall in love is it? she may not be better or smarter or prettier than any of the companions but the Doctor loved her. He may have loved other companions as well but the writers decided not to take that route, deal with it! Also, why is Rose not allowed to fall in love with the Doctor but Amy's allowed to come on to him and try to sleep with him the night before her wedding to Rory...umm double standards, apparantly that's ok for some people for Amy to treat Rory that way but when Rose did it to Mickey there was an uproar...jeez.

The reason I like Rose is because when the programme started again in 2005, I was nineteen like her, I was bored working in a shop like her and would have given anything to be swept away in a blue box, so I can totally understand her attatchment to the Doctor especially as she had no male role model in her life. Rose isn't perfect, she's jealous can be bitchy to Mickey etc but she's a good character...she grows up, learns from her travels, befriends people who are scared (something Amy lacks) is scared herself but also can take charge. 

And she isnt a chav, thanks to television the defintion of chav has been taken well out of context, both Rose and her mother worked hard all their lives and are law abiding citizens they are not work shy, weed smoking drunks. Living on a council estate doesnt make you a chav, your attitude does...Rose is merely a working class hero and as a working class person I can relate to her.

Sorry for the ramble but I feel like I need to defend Rose (who is my third fave companion) because she gets an awful lot of hate.

Day 11 of Doctor Who Awesome

A dedicated follower of Fashion:

Whether it be a frilly shirt, a cricket outfit or Edwardian chic, the Doctor will always be kitted out in memorable fashion to suit the persona of each of his incarnations.  Fezzes are cool, bowties are cool, perhaps the multi-coloured coat might want to remain in the TARDIS wardrobe along with the boring leather jacket.

Hey you! capes are cool.

What's with the ???, we know its called Doctor 'Who' but lame.

Geek Chic!

Never stop the mad fashion Doctor....

Day 10 of Doctor Who Awesome

The Whole production:

Just because in general everyone who as ever helped to make Doctor Who is very awesome indeed so to the :

Directors, writers, producers, set designers, costume, construction, special effects, make up, cinematography, lighting, assistants, actors (obv), sound people, voices, people dressed as aliens, extras, grips, techie guys or girls, runners, electricians, catering, editors, location crews, cameramen, vision mixers, PA's, model makers, CGI peeps, animators, authors, Big Finish guys,  people who got us all the fab DVD's, musicians and composers- the Radiophonic workshop, Sydney Newman, the title credit person, script editors, foley artists, publicity and photography, set dressers, stunt guys, fight co-ordinators, choreographers, and any more that we've forgotten.

These people make the show and as much as we love the actors and writers there is no Doctor Who without the entire production team, there is no 'I' in team even if there is an 'I' in Pie (sorry couldn't resist Shaun of the Dead quote) 

be seeing you...

day 09 of Doctor Who Awesome

Britishness
I don't care if it's a word or not but I love the fact that Doctor Who is a british institution along with fish and chips, tea and the Beatles. In fact the programme is sooo British that it is probably why they've never tried to make a version in the States like they have with nearly every other programme (spaced, life on mars blackpool etc) anyways it wouldnt work; the US has brill sci-fi like Star Trek and Stargate and what not but the British iconography is what makes Doctor Who special. Only in Britain could a cup of tea re-awaken David Tennant's synapses during his regeneration.

Deborah and Patrick celebrate filming with a good old cup of tea.

Eleven tries to defeat the Daleks with a Jammy Dodger!!

It's eccentic and nutty and mad and basically just like and DW fan.

Day 08 of Doctor Who Awesome

Companions:

The Doctor likes to travel with an entourage, they may be humans, they may be aliens, they may even be tin dogs!

Of course the Doctor adores his companions now and will do anything for them.  But back in 1963 poor Ian and Barbara were pretty much kidnapped to stop the secret of his ship getting out to their 'friends'. the best thing about these early eps was the change we see in the Doctor, with the help of the bond between Ian and Barbara and the Doctor's granddaughter Susan, we see him change from an anti-hero, a selfish and un-sociable alien into a caring old man who comes to love his companions. What Ian and Barbara (and all one's other companions) do for him is the most important thing because without them he would not be the Doctor he is in 2011.
As the Doctor regenerated to his second incarnation he would have even more companions, particularly a close bond with a companion from the past, a very close relationship apparently!

The Doctor's companions in the 70's especially during Tom Baker's era tended to be attractive young women and he travelled with a range of humans, aliens and even a Timelady in two of her incarnations.

in the 80's there was a lot of team TARDIS again during Peter Davison era but this ended with much of the 80's being attractive young girls again.

in the revival we have been treated to an assortment of different companions who play very significant roles in the Doctor's life as they did back in 1963, perhaps maybe a bit too much as the time goes on. I mean how many comanions can do things as extreme as absorbing the heart of the TARDIS, saving the world from the Master, becoming part time lord or most recently....giving birth to...who we learn is River Song?

Companions make Doctor Who what it is nearly as much as our Doctor and without them he definitely wouldn't still be around saving worlds. each companion has their own merits and bad ass moments and even though we all have faves I hate bad mouthing any of them because they have all impacted the world of the programme we love.

Be seeing you...

Day 07 of Doctor Who awesome

The Daleks

Dortmun in the Dalek Invasion of Earth described them as motorised dustbins whilst they've also been compared to evil pepperpots and nazi like machines created by Davros (and created in real life by Terry Nation and Ray Cusick who was the designer of the iconic look) They are definitly the number one Doctor Who villiain/monster and with no emotions, remorse or reasoning, they are the ulitmate in hatred whose only aim is to wipe out everyone who is not a Dalek; pretty strong stuff and plenty of nightmares for children!

The First glimpse of the Daleks: Ian is paralysed temporarily.

White Daleks: with Ace and Seven

Suicidal Dalek: with Rose in the aptly titled episode Dalek

I-Daleks: the latest look (and one im not fond of)

I read somewhere that Steven Moffat's giving the Daleks a break for a while and I'm glad, I mean I love them but after stealing the earth and trying to destroy reality itself and everything; it must be hard being quite as epic. See you in a few years maybe fella?

Day 06 of Doctor Who Awesome

Cheaper Budget= Bigger Imagination and better storytelling:

Us Doctor Who fans are not ones to worry too much about DIY aliens and carboard scenery, if your like me you're more interested in the story, actors etc. in fact if you're noticing the set more than anything else than I think the story isn't engaging you.

CGI is a good thing in some instances but our reliance on it today is so frustrating. I noticed yesterday on Doctor Who Confidential the crew waflling on about they needed it to be big and epic like Star Wars...um no it doesn't, I like Star Wars but I never want Doctor Who to be that extreme.  They kept saying that the hangar they filmed in needed to look vast and military like, personally I rarely noticed it as I was too busy eager to discover River Song's identity and what was going on with Amy's baby. To me it looked no different than a set.

I love the 60's eps as you can gather from this blog. I love the imagination that goes into them when faced with a criminally low budget, directors and designers have to be so much more creative under those circumstances.  the new eps look awesome but they have seem to forgotten that it isn't essential for Doctor Who.  My Dad for example thought the sweeping American Scenery in The Impossible Astronaught was a waste of time as he thought it was CGI and anyway as far as I'm concerned I don't need to be shown American landscape to know that that's where they are, heck an American flag would have done the same storytelling.  it almost feels they want to shoot movies not TV where obviously emphasis is on style and visual but TV is not supposed to be that way, it is character driven and inventive and a way to make statements about ourselves and our world.

Anyway bit of a rant, don't get me wrong I love any era of Doctor Who I just wish they wouldn't act like early episodes were 'oh they're good for the time I suppose'. NO they're great full stop, they're great now as they were then because the storytelling and acting is there and the creepy sci-fi is the most important thing.

Ooh really want to watch classic Who now.

Be seeing you.

Day 05 of Doctor Who awesome

Anything is Possible- Time and Space

With Doctor Who there is no end to the realms of possibilty and many of them have been done too; from time windows, to parallel worlds, to alien invasions, other world revelotuions, quests, monsters, bugs, time travel, alien disease, cyber malfunctions, tombs, black holes, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, mummies, robots, strange new worlds, time loops, dinosaurs, virtual reality, moon landings, space crews, underwater creatures, interplantery war, witches, fairytales, living mannequins, killer plants, clone doctors, loch ness monsters, pirates, telepathy, mulitiple Doctors, space decks, arks, spiders, crabs, gravity, mutations, shrinking, rockets, teleports, living statues, volcanoes, slavery, wasps, human colonies, doppelgangers, wars, battles, civil wars, war games and so many more...

sorry for the long list; I just wanted to emphasise the scope and awesomeness...

Day 04 of Doctor Who Awesome.

Doctor Who Historicals

Doctor Who in 1963 used history and science to educate its 8-14 target audience and used Ian and Barbara as ways to do this (Them being history and Science teachers at Coal Hill)

In the early years the historicals were brilliant but less loved than the sci-fi, these days I think we have a real interest and love for the history and the 60's had great ones. unfortunately for us history lovers the history eps were phased out in the 70's and 80's but thankfully in the revival; history, or at least pseudo-history and comedy and the Doctor meeting famous people exist for us to enjoy.

Particular faves of ours are the  comedy based historical The Romans, pure historical Marco Polo despite the fact it only remains as tele-snaps and audio whic makes me weep inside

The Doctor and Vicki visit the court of Caesar Nero.

The missing episodes of Marco Polo

 Modern faves are the Fires of Pompeii which is definitely psuedo-historical because of the inclusion of the Pyrovillia and the Doctor's involvement in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius; and Vincent and the Doctor because it's emotional and deals well with depression.

Karen Gillan as a Soothsayer in Pompeii.

Amy and The Doctor meet troubled Vincent.



Overall I love historicals but feel the new eps tend to focus on famous authors etc rather than specific time periods, would also love to see a pure historical where our time travellers go back to say a Civil War and there is no alien threat, only humanity.

Day 03 of Doctor Who awesome

Different eras, constant change

With every new Doctor or executive producer or decade or whatever, Doctor Who gets a revamp, which can be wonderful, change is always good and there is different styles to suit everyone. What other programme can do this? Star Trek yes had different ships, crews, captains etc but Doctor Who is a continuation.

Barbara and Ian in The Aztecs

In the 1960's, the black and white really helped to creat a eerie atmosphere in the episodes with cybermen, Daleks or on other worlds. The brilliant historicals were also a huge part of the deal in the early days but were phased out later.

The Doctor works with The Brig and Liz on earth.

The series has a fun and different feel when the Doctor is exiled to earth and works at UNIT. Most episodes were also set on earth.

 Six and the cybers!

The colourful eighties! A direction that some people didnt take to but I personally like the Colin Baker eps.

Series 5- Doc and Amy.

With Matt as the new Doctor and Steven Moffat as the new exec producer, the show has a more fairytale style and vivid cinematography.

Lots of different styles, Doctor's and changes but ultimately the same great show!



Day 02 of Doctor who Awesome.

Re-generation

Ok so it started as a way of keeping the series going after poor William Hartnell got too ill to maintain the role but the idea to have a character literally chnage his entire physicality and personality but retain his memories and Doctor-ish qualities was a stroke of genius allowing the programme to grow, change and live on and on for us all to enjoy.

And with every re-generation comes a wondeful British actor, it takes awesome actors and lets them bring their own style and acting ability to the programme. every Doctor has been excellent and it has defintely got unknown actors noticed!  You never know who or what he might re-generate into next which leaves a fantastic suprise element as the years pass by.