yet another Doctor Who trailer

And this one is TWICE AS LONG as the first! Can't wait! Ten and Eleven, on-screen at the SAME TIME?! Epic. :)

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary TRAILER

We finally have a trailer, people!! Can. Not. WAIT!!!

this is really happening...

On Saturday it was announced that David Tennant and Billie Piper have been confirmed for the 50th anniversary Doctor Who special, airing this fall. And today, today in my Facebook feed the glorious picture above appeared -- Tennant and Matt Smith IN THE SAME ROOM at the 50th anniversary read-through.

*dies of happiness*

Pride and Prejudice meets Doctor Who

This video made my day! Two of my favorite things, immortalized TOGETHER?! Yes, please. :)



My undying gratitude to Laurel Ann for posting this video! (Matthew Macfadyen's voice coming out of David Tennant just cracks me up...)

Review: The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner

The Stone Rose
By: Jacqueline Rayner
Publisher: BBC Books
ISBN: 978-0-563-48643-5

About the book:

Mickey is startled to find a statue of Rose in a museum – a statue that is 2,000 years old. The Doctor realizes that this means the TARDIS will shortly take them to ancient Rome, but when it does, he and Rose soon have more on their minds than sculpture.

While the Doctor searches for a missing boy, Rose befriends a girl who claims to know the future – a girl whose predictions are surprisingly accurate. But then the Doctor stumbles on the hideous truth behind the statue of Rose – and Rose herself learns that you have to be very careful what you wish for…

Review:

The Stone Rose is my second Doctor Who read by Jacqueline Rayner (following Winner Takes All featuring the ninth Doctor). Rayner takes the Doctor (as played by David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) to ancient Rome following Mickey’s discovery that a statue of the goddess Fortuna, modeled after Rose, is on display in the British Museum. When the two arrive in Rome, they discover that a nobleman’s son has disappeared after modeling for an unlikely sculptor who’s all the rage for the lifelike quality in his works. Rose soon discovers that the sculptor’s talents stem from sinister motivations, and she and the Doctor are thrust into a time-bending, paradox-forming, high-stakes quest to save the sculptor’s victims, oh and the planet too while they’re at it. This novel was a nice change of pace setting-wise – I’ve always enjoyed the television show episodes that allow you to see the Doctor acting within the confines of a historical time period instead of an alien, distant future. For the most part, I enjoyed this story (though I think Winner is a better effort from Rayner) – the first half of the novel was well-constructed, but the second half falters a bit once the whole time paradox element comes into play. It felt like Rayner didn’t quite have the handle on that element of the story that would’ve been required to pull off the reader’s suspension of disbelief successfully. Character-wise, Rayner once again gives an excellent, entirely believable representation of Rose. For the most part I’m also quite pleased with her take on David Tennat’s Doctor, though he does become a bit overly melodramatic (particularly during the arena scene). The supporting cast is also solid, particularly Mickey and the new character, GENIE. It’s a bit unfortunate that Vanessa’s character, around whom so much of the latter half of the story hinges, feels as though it’s developed too little, too late. I’m quite pleased with Rayner’s ability to bring the Doctor and his companions to life, and I’ll definitely be reading more of her Who fiction in the future.

Review: Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner

Winner Takes All
By: Jacqueline Rayner
Publisher: BBC Books
ISBN: 0-563-48627-9

About the book:

Rose and the Doctor return to present-day Earth, and become intrigued by the latest craze – the video game Death to Mantodeans. Is it as harmless as it seems? And why are so many local people going on holiday and never returning?

Meanwhile, on another world, an alien war is raging. The Quevvils need to find new means of attacking the ruthless Mantodeans. Searching the galaxy for cunning, warlike but gullible allies, they find the ideal soldiers – on Earth.

Will Rose be able to save her family and friends from the alien threat? And can the Doctor play the game to the end – and win?

Review:

Winner Takes All is only my second Doctor Who read, and my first to feature the adventures of the ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper). Rose convinces the Doctor to make a quick trip back to present-day Earth to visit her mother, Jackie, who’s just won a holiday in a sweepstakes competition. The Doctor, who has little patience for Rose’s family and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Mickey, soon suspects that this trip to Earth may not be wasted time after all. The newest videogame craze, Death to Mantodeans, is taking Rose’s neighborhood by storm, and when people start disappearing – including Jackie – the game turns out to be a very real, very alien threat to humans. Since Christopher Eccleston only brought his unique and unforgettable spin to the Doctor’s character for only one season, it’s nice to have additional adventures available that help flesh out his time and relationship with Rose. This story itself started off a tad slowly for me, and it took a couple of chapters for me to really get “hooked.” Once Rose and the Doctor reach the Mantodean stronghold for the final showdown, Rayner had my attention – particularly in the superb way she revealed just how much Rose’s friendship has grown to mean to the Doctor over the course of their time together. Rayner does a fantastic job with all of the series’ character voices – the Doctor, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey are all true to character and fit seamlessly within the context of how they are portrayed on the show. The new characters – especially Robbie, with his Harry Potter-esque fantasy life – fit well within the context of the story and interact well with the canon characters. While porcupine-like aliens are a trifle silly, even by Who standards IMO, this novel works immensely well as a ninth Doctor adventure and I – somewhat surprisingly – thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review: The Resurrection Casket by Justin Richards

The Resurrection Casket
By: Justin Richards
Publisher: BBC Books
ISBN: 0-563-48642-2

About the book:

Starfall – a world on the edge, where crooks and smugglers hide in the gloomy shadows and modern technology refuses to work. And that includes the TARDIS.

The pioneers who used to be drawn by the hope of making a fortune from the mines can find easier picking elsewhere. But they still come – for the romance of it, or in the hope of finding the lost treasure of Hamlek Glint – scourge of the spaceways, privateer, adventurer, bandit…

Will the TARDIS ever work again? Is Glint’s lost treasure waiting to be found? And does the fabled Resurrection Casket – the key to eternal life – really exist? With the help of new friends, and facing terrifying new enemies, the Doctor and Rose aim to find out…

Review:

The Resurrection Casket is my first foray into the world of Doctor Who fiction, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with this introduction. This novel features the tenth Doctor, as played by David Tennant, and his companion Rose, as played by Billie Piper. It’s not too much of a stretch to envision this novel as an episode set sometime during series 2 of the current television show. While not quite the caliber of the series 2 episodes, the characterization of Rose and the Doctor is strong enough to make Casket a nice and believable addition to the chronicles of their adventures. When the TARDIS encounters a powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse), all systems shut down and Rose and the Doctor are unceremoniously stranded on the world of Starfall, where the most advanced technology is steam-powered. Many of Starfall’s inhabitants, like young Jimm who befriends the Doctor and Rose, dream of escaping their hardscrabble existence and striking it rich – perhaps even finding the fabled lost treasure of the dread pirate Hamlek Glint. The whole pirate angle of the story – especially the way the “Black Shadow” is used to mark someone for death – owes a great deal to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Those elements of Treasure Island translate well into the fantastic, science fiction realm of the Doctor Who universe. Richards’ story accomplishes what so many of the Doctor’s adventures do so well – adding a though-provoking, or terrifying, or fantastical new element to the familiar and known, changing all the “rules.” The biggest strength of The Resurrection Casket is Richards’ characterization of the Doctor – as far as I’m concerned he nails David Tennant’s mannerisms, perfectly capturing the wonder, joy, intensity, and manic energy Tennant brings to the Doctor on-screen. If you’re like me and can’t get enough of the Doctor’s adventures, Casket’s an enjoyable read, suitable for whiling away a couple of hours lost in the Doctor & Rose’s company.