Doctor Who Series 9 Trailer!

Thank you, Comic-Con for new Doctor Who footage! Can't wait until September 19th!

Twelve.

Tomorrow!! TOMORROW CAN'T GET HERE SOON ENOUGH!!! Peter Capaldi will finally, FINALLY, at long last make his debut as the Twelfth Doctor and I am so excited I can't even begin to express it!!

Is anyone going to see it in theaters? I'll be watching on BBC America.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Lego Tribute

This is amazing!!



Seriously though, why are there not official Doctor Who Lego sets?! This should totally be a thing!!

Doctor Who Series 8 trailer

Doctor Who's upcoming eighth series finally has a proper trailer!! Is it August yet??

Fifty Years of AMERICAN Doctor Who...

I love this take on what fifty years of an American Doctor Who might have looked like! I especially think that Dick Van Dyke as the Second and Christopher Walken as the Sixth would have been pretty genius choices!

Doctor Who Series 8 gets a premiere date!

It was announced today that Doctor Who's eighth series -- and Peter Capaldi's (!!!) debut as Twelve -- will happen August 23rd! THERE'S A DATE AND EVERYTHING, PEOPLE!!! It seems so real now. *wink* Here's a new teaser...not much to speak of in the way of new footage, but I'll take what I can get. :)

Twelve is coming...

Is it August yet? I need it to be August already.

Review: Something Borrowed by Richelle Mead

Something Borrowed (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary #6)
By: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Puffin
ASIN: B00AWJYKPK

Review:

Something Borrowed, the sixth entry in Puffin's series of short stories celebrating Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, features the sixth Doctor attending -- as the title suggests -- a wedding. But not just any wedding -- one occurring in the Koturia alien equivalent of Las Vegas (and given the sixth Doctor is known for his wildly colorful clothing choices, one can only assume he'd fit right in *wink*). Along with his long-time human companion Peri (as played on the show by Nicola Bryant over the course of thirty-three Fifth and Sixth Doctor episodes), Six (played by Colin Baker) arrive on Koturia ostensibly to attend a friend's wedding, but find the city under veritable siege by bloodthirsty pterodactyls. In the midst of this chaotic atmosphere, the Doctor begins to suspect something is awry with the identity of the bride, and he and Peri are in a race against time to prevent this would-be dream wedding from becoming an unforgettable nightmare.

Mead elects to have Peri narrate this story, and the first-person narrative from the companion's point-of-view was in this case immediately off-putting as I felt it prevented me from getting a sense of Six's character until the story was almost finished. Though not overly familiar with Peri's on-screen characterization, I thought Mead did a creditable job capturing a no-nonsense American attitude that seems to fit with what I've read about the character -- smart, willing to learn, and able to stand up for herself. The Sixth Doctor's personality is sadly shadowed until nearly the end of this slim story, when Mead finally manages to relate the volatility and arguably egotistical confidence that characterized his tenure.

I was quite impressed with Mead's world-building here and the manner in which she adapted colorful Las Vegas stereotypes to her alien civilization. And her utilization of the Rani, a rogue female Time Lord, was an unexpected and welcome surprise. This *felt* like it had all the makings of a very solid episodic adventure, but for me its potential remained largely unrealized. Between the narrative choice and the somewhat flat characterization of Six, I was never invested in this short story as was the case in previous installments. There is SO much potential here, and fun nods to Six's canon (like the Chameleon Circuit, and a Gallifreyan female villain), but simply not enough time in which to bring all of the elements to a wholly satisfying conclusion. A fantastic premise, and revealing a great imagination, but Something Borrowed just didn't work for me quite as well as some of the previous Who short stories I've read. However, I suspect there is much more avid fans of Six's tenure than I will be able to appreciate within its pages.

About the book:

A wedding on the planet Koturia turns out to be a far more dangerous proposition than the Sixth Doctor and Peri ever expected. It marks the return of a formidable old foe whose genius matches the Doctor's. Can the Doctor outwit this villain, save Peri and stop the wedding in time?

American fantasy author Richelle Mead puts her own twist on the Doctor's amazing adventures through time and space.

Once Upon a Dream - today only at Teefury!

My favorite Doctor Who/Disney artist extraordinaire Karen Hallion has a new t-shirt available today only (1/15/14) at Teefury -- a variation of her first Sleeping Beauty/Doctor Who mash-up entitled "Once Upon a Dream."

Isn't it THE BEST?!

Review: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness

Tip of the Tongue (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary #5)
By: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Puffin
ASIN: B00B54TZBA

Review:

The fifth entry in Puffin's short story series celebrating eleven incarnations of the Doctor is perhaps my favorite yet in the series -- although the Doctor himself receives extraordinarily little page time. This story features the fifth Doctor as portrayed by Peter Davison. Following the popular reign of the colorful Fourth as played by Tom Baker, the Fifth Doctor has always struck me as rather boyish and quiet (the proper Edwardian cricket costume, celery accent and all helps)  by comparison (though I should note that I have limited experience with his on-screen adventures).

Ness sets his tale in 1945 Maine, where Jonny and Nettie, although only children struggle with the stigma of being two of the town's most notable outcasts -- Jonny as the son of a Jewish mother with a German last name, and Nettie, the product of the town's only mixed-race -- and therefore scandalous -- marriage. Jonny wants nothing more than to fit in and get the girl of his dreams, the spoiled Marisa, to notice him. Desperate to do so, he uses a few of his precious dollars to purchase one of the popular Truth Tellers, a small device that slips under the tongue and over the chin, and when worn speaks the absolute truth -- whether or not the object of the wearer's attention wants to hear it.

As is the norm with a Doctor Who tale, the Truth Tellers are far from the simple "toys" the townspeople think, and the Doctor and his current companion -- Nyssa, an alien aristocrat from the planet Traken, arrive to uncover the truth. While the story doesn't really paint a particularly colorful picture of the Fifth Doctor -- unless matter-of-fact observations and investigations were the norm? -- thematically I think this is one of the best and most ambitious Who-related stories I've read to date.

Tip of the Tongue touches on issues of racial and religious bigotry, elitism, and the desire to belong, all within a briskly paced short story that clocks in at just under forty pages. The character development of Jonny and Nettie is well-handled given the length restrictions of the short story format, and Ness colors their world with an excellent feel for the time period's mores and social viewpoints. A thoroughly entertaining, fast-paced entry in Puffin's 50th Anniversary Who celebrations, Ness has delivered a winner -- original, unique, and thought-provoking, akin to the Doctor's best adventures.

About the book:

In 1945, a strange new craze for Truth Tellers is sweeping the kids of small-town America. The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa soon arrive to investigate the phenomenon, only to discover that the actual truth behind the Truth Tellers is far more sinister than anyone could have imagined...

Author Patrick Ness puts his own unique spin on the Doctor, his terrifying alien enemies and time-travelling adventures.

The Time of the Doctor - extended trailer!

WHOLOCK

As I said when I posted this on Facebook, if Moffat actually MADE a mini-episode like this, the internet would actually break. FOREVER BREAK.

The Time of the Doctor trailer

And cue the pre-Christmas special tears...I'm SO excited to see Capaldi take over the role, but Matt Smith...he's been better than I ever dreamed! Eleven, you will be very much missed.

Review: The Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve

The Roots of Evil (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary #4)
By: Philip Reeve
Publisher: Puffin
ASIN: B00B54TZA6

Review:

The fourth entry in Puffin's yearlong celebration of Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary features arguably one of the most iconic Doctors -- the fourth Doctor, the whimsical one with the the wildly rumpled hair and colorful scarf as played by Tom Baker. I knew the Doctor was the Doctor thanks to that iconic scarf long before I ever fell in love with the show myself, and so it was with great curiosity that I approached Reeve's tribute to the fourth incarnation in The Roots of Evil.

Here the Doctor's companion is Leela, played by Louise Jameson during her run on the show. Leela has the distinction of being one of the Doctor's less conventional companions -- a savage warrior, descended from the survivors of an exploratory Earth ship that crashed on an unidentified planet at some unspecified point in the future. Reeve characterizes her as something of an alien primitive, less tech-savvy and "refined" than some of the Doctor's other companions, but extremely bright and self-reliant. The "natural" setting, involving a space station in the form of a sentient tree, is a serviceable showcase for Leela's survival instincts.

I'm unfamiliar with Reeve's other work, so I have nothing with which to compare this slim work, but as a Doctor Who story this was a fun entry in the fiftieth celebrations. I loved the more "natural" setting and the clever manner in which Reeve worked in the unseen -- but very much felt -- presence of Eleven's past actions impacting the future of one of his past incarnations. However, unlike other short stories in this series, I failed to get a clear sense of this particular Doctor's persona and mannerisms. There is the odd reference to the Fourth's scarf, but with my admittedly limited knowledge of his mannerisms, the characterization of the Doctor fell flat.

The Roots of Evil is a worthwhile entry in the short story series if for no other reason than Reeve's clever introduction of a possible paradox between the Doctor's fourth and eleventh incarnations. As a substantive introduction to Baker's Doctor, this story felt lacking -- particularly when compared to its predecessors in the series -- but in sum is still an entertaining, quick read with which to mark my favorite Doctor's fiftieth. :)

About the book:

When the Fourth Doctor takes Leela to visit an immense tree space station known as the Heligan Structure, little do they know that the tree has been asleep for centuries, dreaming of vengeance against a man in a blue box ... As the tree awakes, the Time Lord and his companion soon discover why they are such unwelcome guests.

Author Philip Reeve puts his own unique spin on the Doctor, his terrifying alien enemies and time-travelling adventures.

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

I finally got the chance to watch the companion short film to The Day of the Doctor, and it is HILARIOUS. Everyone, and I mean literally EVERYONE, makes an appearance -- not to mention tons of unexpected Hobbit jokes. *wink* Enjoy!

An Adventure in Space and Time trailer

An Adventure in Space and Time, a film about the story of bringing Doctor Who to life, airs tonight on BBC America:



Happy Birthday to the Doctor! :)

Super Cafe: Who's a Hero

Thanks to Deborah for the tip about this little gem:

How "Doomsday" Should Have Ended

Yep.

The Day of the Doctor - A Children in Need preview

I have just two words for you: Ten and fez. :) :)

The Night of the Doctor

This is the best mini-episode of Doctor Who EVER. The amount of fangirl flailing going on the first time I watched this...well, it can't be quantified, people.