Sunday, September 11, 2011

Doctor Who... Now What?

Well, I've caught up watching Doctor Who episodes. I didn't really think I was going to actually manage to do that but I did. Well at least with the newer stuff.

I've seen ALL televised versions of Doctor Who from the 8th Doctor through the 11th Doctor's current episode that aired yesterday, Season 6, Episode 10, "The Girl Who Waited." Starting with that craptastic 1996 TV movie simply called Doctor Who but often tagged "Enemy Within" by fans. And then the entire new series starting in 2005 with the 9th Doctor (Christoper Eccleston) Season 1, Episode 1 "Rose". Though all Doctors and companions, 10th Doctor (David Tennant), 11th Doctor (Matt Smith), Rose Tyler, Jackie and Pete Tyler, Micky Smith a.k.a. Ricky a.k.a. Micky the idiot, Captain Jack Harkness a.k.a. The Face of Boe and the Torchwood 3 team from Cardiff, U.N.I.T., former prime minister Harriet Jones, Matha Jones, her sister Tish and their brother and mom and family, Astrid Peth, Lady Christina, Donna Noble, her mom and granddad Wilfred Mott, the return of Sarah Jane Smith & K-9, Mr. Smith, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song a.k.a. Mel a.k.a. Melody Pond, Winston Churchill, The Daleks, Cybermen, The Master, The High Council of the Time Lords, Adipose, Sontarans, Weeping Angels, Ood, The Silence, Judoon, Silurians, Hath, Vashta Nerada, and a hundred others I can't even remember from the battle of Canary Wharf to the Pandorica, past, present, and future. I've seen all the holiday and seasonal specials, all the animated versions including "Dreamland" and "Infinite Quest". Have also watched all of Torchwood including the two normal seasons, the 5 part "Children of Earth" and the 10 part "Miracle Day".

So, now what? I grew up watching 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) mostly and some of the first 3 Doctors in repeats and such. I guess I need to watch Doctors 5-7? Somehow I imagine those as sucking since the series sort of died for 12ish years or something after them (not counting the stupid 1996 movie). I'm tempted to go back to Season 1, Episode 1 and start over and watch ALL of it again... But, that was like a lot. I figure if you add it all together both Doctor Who and Torchwood and specials it's over 100 episodes easily. Torchwood alone is 41 episodes and there's 69 from Season 1-5, plus 10 so far in season 6, plus the specials and animated. So, 120+ hours roughly. It was all so freaking awesome. I cried like a baby through most of it with the companions and friends coming and going, very emotional. Hence, a lot of it sort of blurred together. Especially back to the 9th and 10th Doctors, it blurs for me and is hard to recall which one did what, or which companion was where when. Also, that first time through was confusing figuring out how and more significantly when Torchwood fit in to the Doctor's timeline. And I'm still confused over Capt. Jack's entire history and time line. Thing is, a lot of what made those episodes great was not having any clue of the bizarre twists. One of the only shows I've ever seen that constantly catches me unprepared where I thought I knew what was going on and suddenly something totally different and unexpected would happen and completely change every thought I had up to that point. Watching it a second time, already knowing the twists and turns and how it's going to go might really make rewatching it kinda crappy.

As much as I like Matt Smith, I do miss David Tennant a lot. He was so much cooler. The 11th Doctor is insane. Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor is just way over the top. Show is so much darker now, too dark. And it's not like when we changed from 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) to 10th Doctor (David Tennant). Going from 10th to 11th we got all new companions, all the old ones gone forever, Sarah Jane Smith actually died in real life so she's definitely not coming back. Even the writers and production crew are all different. The theme music and introduction and even the logo all different. The TARDIS is new both inside and out. He dresses different, sonic screwdriver is different, different habits and terminology and everything. 9th and 10th Doctors were so similar. I mean we went from "Fantastic" to "Brillaint". What does 11th Doctor say? "Fezes are cool." "Bow ties are cool." I mean wth is that? lol And I quite miss "Allons-y", "Molto bene", "What!? What? What???", "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry.", "ooooh yes!". All the 11th Doctors expressions are weird. I mean, "Fish fingers and custard", seriously? And the 11th Doctor is too out of control, he thinks he's god now. He's chased off entire armadas with fleets from his worst enemies over 908ish years by telling them who he is and that they should let someone else try to kill him first. He's too cold, too crazy. I do still like the new show but it's not what it was with Doctors 9 and 10 in the Russel T. Davies years.

I do want to add this little bit about Torchwood, a quote copied from the Wikipedia entry:
Torchwood explores several themes in its narrative, in particular LGBT themes. Various characters are portrayed as sexually fluid; through those characters, the series examines homosexual and bisexual relationships. The programme also addresses issues around existentialism, the nature of human life and the absence of a traditional afterlife, and the corrupting nature of power.

That also holds true for Doctor Who. I would just like to say you can lock me in a phone box with the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) any day! rofl

Thursday, September 1, 2011

September...

Well, July was just about the best month ever! August, mostly frustrating and annoying, still quite a bit of fun though. September however is already looking like it's going to suck pretty bad. All I see for this month is a lot of legal and medical crap, a lot of helping my mom and dealing with a house that's falling apart. And who knows what else.

Month starts out with one of my best friends birthdays. Someone I pretty much grew up with. Known him for 22+ years. Today's his 35th birthday and we can't even celebrate because he got into some trouble. Stupid trouble, stupid situation, all because of alcohol. It's sad, I keep thinking of him on his birthday unable to celebrate with friends and family, unable to wake up or go to sleep when he wants, unable to go where he wants, unable to eat what he wants, or even watch TV or see a movie that he wants. Extremely upsetting and not a thing I can do about it. Happy birthday Rodney, hope to see you again soon...

On the plus side, October is looking to be an AWESOME month, if I make it that far!