An Adventure in Space and Time

Warning : Spoilers Ahead!

The creation of Doctor Who back in the 1960's is explored in a docudrama written by Mark Gatiss entitled An Adventure in Space and Time.

 

Main Cast-

William Hartnell/The Doctor - David Bradley

William Russell/Ian Chesterton - Jamie Glover

Jacqueline Hill/Barbara Wright - Jemma Powell

Carole Ann Ford/Susan Foreman -  Claudia Grant

Sydney Newman - Brian Cox

Verity Lambert - Jessica Raine

Waris Hussein - Sacha Dhawan

Patrick Troughton/The Second Doctor - Reece Shearsmith

Synopsis-

Sydney Newman, recently hired away from ITV by the BBC has created a new science fiction series entitled Doctor Who, which was designed to fill a gap in the BBC schedule.  Sydney assigns production duties to Verity Lambert, an up and coming television producer who has found it challenging cracking the glass ceiling because she is a woman.

Verity and her first director, Waris Hussein, are able to convince William Hartnell to take on the role of the Doctor, and the introduction of the Daleks in the second story proves to be a huge success.   William Hartnell and the cast bask in the glow of celebrity, but the early cast members leave and William Hartnell's health issues eventually force the BBC to replace him with Partrick Trougton.

Review-

An Adventure in Space and Time covers territory that's well known to long time fans of Doctor Who.  Since the story of the creation of the series is well known, it is thus up to the actors to keep the viewers interest.  

David Bradley (Harry Potter and the Doctor Who episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) is dead-on as William Hartnell/The First Doctor.   His performance is, to put it simply, brilliant.  One almost wishes that Bradley had been allowed to play the First Doctor for real in Day of the Doctor.  It would have been awesome. 

Jessica Raine (from the Doctor Who episode "Hide" and Call the Midwife), Sacha Dhawan and Brian Cox also have large roles as Verity Lambert, Waris Hussein and Sydney Lambert, respectively.  Jessica and Sacha are trying to make a name for themselves in British television in an era that was dominated by white men.  As a female producer and an Indian-born director, Doctor Who offers Verity and Waris a chance to break the glass ceiling and allow themselves a chance to make it in British television.

Hartnell, in contrast, is presented as an actor in a rut.  Dissatisfied with the roles he has been offered, he takes some convincing to take on the iconic role of the Doctor.   

As Waris and Verity leave the program to take on other projects, the movie begins to explore Hartnell's illness and the eventual, but brilliant, idea to replace Hartnell with Troughton.  

The movie also doesn't really delve too much into the various companions, particularly the later companions like Steven, Vicki, Ben and Polly.  While a bit disappointing, it's difficult to fit everything into a ninety minute film.

 

One can feel Hartnell's pain about losing the role of a lifetime, because while he was at first hesitant about taking on the role he had grown to love playing the Doctor.  There's also a quite touching scene at the end where Bradley (as Hartnell) views his what his legacy has wrought, which includes a cameo appearance by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor standing alongside Bradley's Hartnell Doctor.

The original Ian Chesterton, William Russell also appears early on as a parking lot attendant named Harry who demands to see Sydney Newman's parking pass.   Carole Ann Ford (Susan) also puts in an appearance as well. 

Overall, this is a brilliant piece of work, and it's a wonderful way to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary.  The Day of the Doctor has its work cut out for it, as Adventure in Space and Time (along with Night of the Doctor) have set some high standards for excellence.  If you haven't yet had a chance to see this, I suggest making the time to do so.

The Last Day

Spoilers Ahead!

We visit Arcadia, located on Gallifrey through the eyes of a new recruit, in the second of two mini episode previews to the Day of the Doctor

Synopsis-

The Last Day takes place on Arcadia, the so-called "safest place on Gallifrey".  A new recruit to the Arcadia defense force has just had a headcam implanted.  A fellow soldier is helping the new recruit adjust the new headcam's settings.  The fellow soldier also warns the new recruit about possible side effects, particularly hallucinations that some consider to be premonitions.

These hallucinations show Arcadia being attacked and destroyed by the Daleks.  Eventually, the mini episode ends with the Daleks arriving and commencing their attack upon Arcadia.

Review-

I loved the Night of the Doctor, because while it was also rather short it was able to make us care about the pilot Cass and helped us to understand the Doctor's dilemma with the Time War.  For whatever reason, I simply didn't get much from the Last Day and I think it opens up way too many questions.  Who are these soldiers, and why should we care about them?  Why do the soldiers receive headcam implants and why do the implants cause hallucinogenic premonitions?   Most importantly, does this mean that the fall of Arcadia will be a major plot point of the Day of the Doctor?  Will we be seeing these soldiers again later today?  

I think, in the end, as a stand alone mini episode, the Last Day simply doesn't work.  The Night of the Doctor worked as a stand alone story, and the Last Day's reputation will rise or fall depending on how well it fits in with the Day of the Doctor.  In hindsight, I may very well find the Last Day to be a brilliant prequel for the Day of the Doctor.  But for now, I'll admit that I simply didn't get much out of the Last Day.

Night of the Doctor

Spoilers ahead!

With the anniversary weekend upon us, I'm going to take a look at the two prequel mini episodes that have been recently released by the BBC, as a build up to the anniversary episode Day of the Doctor.  I'll also be offering my review of An Adventure in Space and Time, the First Doctor docudrama featuring David Bradley as William Hartnell.

Up first, The Eighth Doctor returns to television, in the Night of the Doctor.

Main Cast-
The Doctor - Paul McGann
Cass - Emma Campbell-Jones
Ohila - Clare Higgins
The War Doctor - John Hurt

Synopsis-
Set during the Time War, the Night of the Doctor begins with Cass, a young pilot who's spaceship has been damaged and is about to crash into the planet Karn.  The Eighth Doctor (in his first television appearance since the TV Movie) arrives with the full intention of rescuing Cass.

However, once Cass realized that the Doctor is a Time Lord, she refuses his help and the ship crashes onto Karn with both Cass and the Doctor aboard.  It seems the Time Lords have become a hated race due to the ongoing Time War with the Daleks.  The Doctor, unlike the rest of his race has chosen to remain uninvolved with the Time War.

The Sisterhood of Karn and their leader Ohila retrieve the Doctor and Cass from the wreckage of the ship.  The Sisterhood cannot save Cass, but are able to temporarily revive the Doctor.  The Doctor will die a second time, but if he drinks one of the Sisterhood's potions, it will trigger the regeneration process.  The potion will guide the regeneration, giving the Doctor whatever he needs.  After seeing Cass' body, he asks for the potion that will make him a warrior.   After drinking the potion, the Eighth Doctor regenerates into John Hurt's War Doctor.

Review-

Doctor Who fandom, of course, went crazy when this was released last week.  Seeing Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor return to television screens was going to do that.  It's also quite impressive that McGann, producer Steven Moffat and the rest of the cast and crew were able to keep this thing secret for so long in the age of the internet.

This is, by far, the better of the two mini episode prequels.  McGann is, of course, excellent as The Doctor.   The mini episode does have a lot of exposition, since it clears up a great many details.  John Hurt's War Doctor, for example, slots in between Eight and Nine.  The Time War clearly was/is a major cataclysmic event that affects every known corner of the universe.  Finally, it's clear that the Doctor only participates reluctantly.

Of course, much has been made of the fact that the Eighth Doctor, prior to regenerating, mentions his Big Finish audio companions by name.  It's a nice touch, especially for a Doctor who really became known to fans via the Big Finish audio plays and legitimizes the Big Finish audios by making them canon.  Personally, I already considered the Big Finish audios to be canon, but I realize that other fan's mileage may vary.

In the end, Night of the Doctor was a wonderful salute to the Eighth Doctor and, by extension, the Classic era of Doctor Who.  The biggest problem with Night of the Doctor is it simply leaves one wanting to see even more of Paul McGann's Eight Doctor.



    

Southeastern US Doctor Who convention guide

A guide to the various Doctor Who conventions dotting the landscape of the Southeastern United States...

Hurricane Who - Category Four Closing Ceremonies

This past year, I've been able to attend four different Doctor Who events, all located in the Southeastern United States.  Prior to 2005, none of the events even existed!  That's quite a wealth of riches but it also leaves people with a dilemma.  Which convention should I attend?   

Oddly enough, each convention has its own vibe, and while one can simply pick a convention based on the guest list, there are also good reasons for picking a convention based on their programming mix as well.  There's also Megacon (Orlando) and Dragon Con (Atlanta) to consider as well, since both will bring in Doctor Who guests and feature Doctor Who related programming.  This guide, however, will focus on the Doctor Who-centric conventions, where Doctor Who is the major (or only) focus...

Time Lord Fest - Tampa, Florida (January 26th, 2013)

Time Lord Fest is a one-day convention that, basically, is one big party.  Actual guests from the show are non-existent, so if that's something you're looking for then Time Lord Fest is not the convention for you.
  

However, the convention does feature a wide variety of dealers selling Doctor Who merchandise, panel discussions with knowledgeable fans and a concert by the Ken Spivey band (who, coincidentally, puts on the convention).  Costuming and cosplay are encouraged at Time Lord Fest.  Indeed, the more involved you get in the activities (rather than simply watching), the more one will get our of Time Lord Fest.

The next Time Lord Fest is this weekend (November 9th, 2013).  I won't be making this one, since it comes one weekend after Hurricane Who.  However, if you're in the Central Florida area and you missed Hurricane Who, or you want another chance to party and hang out with your fellow Whovians, Time Lord Fest can fit this bill very nicely.

Timegate - Atlanta, Georgia (May 24th-26th, 2013)

Caveat: I'm a staff member at Timegate, where I run one of the programming tracks.

Timegate is a more traditional convention, unlike Time Lord Fest.  This year, the headliner guest was Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor).  Other highlighted guests included Colin Spaull (guest star on both the Classic and the New Series) and Andrew Cartmel (script editor during the Sylvester McCoy years).

Timegate is also notable that while it does feature a full weekend of Doctor Who programming, it also features a full weekend of Stargate programming (the 'Gate portion  of the con) along with a full programming track covering other fandoms, a costuming track and a literary track.

As such, Timegate has a major advantage over the other conventions listed for those who might be attending with wives/husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/etc. who might not necessarily be into Doctor Who (sacrilege!).  It also allows oneself a break as well, without actually having to leave a convention.  Star Trek - Into Darkness had just come out a week prior to this year's Timegate, and Timegate had a panel on Saturday to talk about the film.

The disadvantage of Timegate is apparent, however.  Since it must serve two different fandoms (Doctor Who and Stargate), sometimes the guest list will lean heavily towards Stargate.  This year, the guest list was Doctor Who heavy due to the 50th anniversary of the show.  Next year, the big name on Timegate's guest list is Paul McGillion from Stargate Atlantis, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Stargate franchise.

Still, the convention does try to have guests from both shows at each convention.  This coming year, Paul Kasey and David Banks have already been announced as Doctor Who guests (among others).  Banks played the Cyberleader in the Classic Series, while Kasey has performed as various monsters throughout the New Series and its spin-offs.

The hotel layout also gives Timegate, despite its size, a buzz that can be lacking sometimes at these smaller conventions.   The Timegate Charity Cabaret is also something unique to the convention scene, as various guests perform skits, routines and songs with all proceeds going to various charities over the years.

The costuming track is also unique amongst the various conventions, and can be a great place to get ideas for your next Doctor Who costuming project. 

The next Timegate will be held on Memorial Day weekend, 2014 (May 23rd-25th)

Con Kasterborous (June 8-9, 2013)

Con Kasterborous is held in Huntsville, Alabama.  Unlike Timegate, Con K focuses squarely on Doctor Who.  This year, their main guest was Caitlin Blackwood, who played young Amelia Pond opposite Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor.

I attended the convention on Sunday, and there's a review of my visit on this blog.   Con K felt very similar to Timegate, with the exception that the Stargate and other programming wasn't there.

Sadly, the fact that only two weeks separated Con K and Timegate I think precluded most people from attending both conventions.  Most of the people that I saw at Timegate chose not to attend Con K, and vice versa.   I can only surmise that the close proximity of both conventions had a great deal to do with this.

Fortunately, next year an entire month separates Con K and Timegate, which might allow more people to attend both conventions.   Con K's headliner guest next year will be Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor himself.



Next year's Con Kasterbourous takes place on June 28th-29th, 2014.

Hurricane Who (November 1st-3rd, 2013)

You can read my review of Hurricane Who right here on this blog.

Hurricane Who is a very different beast than Time Lord Fest.  Time Lord Fest, as I mentioned, is one big party.  Hurricane Who is a fan-run convention that takes its fandom very seriously.  Unlike Time Lord Fest, it does bring in big name Doctor Who guests to the Central Florida area.  Also, unlike Timegate in Atlanta, it can focus on bringing in Doctor Who guests, since it's a Doctor Who-only convention.

It does feature some alternate programming, including some costuming panels for the costumers.  While perhaps not to the extent of Timegate, Hurricane Who also features panels on subjects beyond Doctor Who.  Hurricane Who has invited Jim Korkis, a noted Disney historian the past two years to talk about various aspects of Disney fandom.  In addition, this year they had two guests from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to celebrate that show's 20th anniversary.  These are great additions to the programming mix, and I hope that this continues at future Hurricane Who conventions.

Conclusion

So, which convention should you attend.  Well, if your plans are to attend Time Lord Fest, that's this weekend so you better plan quickly!

If you're planning to party, Time Lord Fest is probably your best bet.  Since it doesn't feature guests, it allows one to hang out and party without the fear that you might be missing out on your autograph and photo opportunities.

If meeting guests, collecting autographs and photos from the actors is your big thing, any of the conventions with the exception of Time Lord Fest will fill the bill. 

If having additional programming beyond Doctor Who is something that appeals to you, Timegate is your best bet, followed distantly by Hurricane Who.

The biggest issue I suspect anyone will find is the close proximity of some of the conventions.  The two Florida conventions are one week apart, which isn't a very good idea as that forces people to choose between the two.  I'm hoping this is simply a one-off for Time Lord Fest for the anniversary, as I think it was much better being held in January and away from Hurricane Who.

Con Kasterborous and Timegate also had the same problem this year in that they were too close to each other.  With one month's separation between the two, it should make it much easier for people to attend both rather than forcing people to choose between the two.

In the end, it's up to you to decide which convention you'd like to attend.  With Time Lord Fest and Hurricane Who being one week apart, I had to choose which convention I would travel to attend.  Since I do like meeting guests, the decision was easy and I attended Hurricane Who.

However, if meeting guests was not that high on my agenda, I might have chosen to attend this weekend's Time Lord Fest.  That's something that each person will have to decide, but I really wish the conventions would try to space themselves out a little better so that it's easier for fans to attend as many as they possibly can.  But that's just my two cents.

Hurricane Who - A Review

Having fun hanging out with fellow Whovians at Hurricane Who, a review...

Tony Lee, Frazer Hines and Terrance Dicks from the 1960's panel 

Hurricane Who was started several years ago, and started off by holding a series of one-day events in and around the Central Florida area.  In 2009, Hurricane Who held its first convention which I attended.  That first year, the headliner guests were Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto from Torchwood) and Louise Jameson (Leela).  Since that time, the convention has held three more events, this year's version being labeled Category Four.

This year's guest list was much larger than that first year, and it was a rather nice touch that each decade of Doctor Who had a representative, along with every entertainment form (the television show, the audios, books and comics).

The 1960's were represented by Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Terrance Dicks (writer of The War Games, amongst many other things). Terrance Dicks, of course, was script editor during the Pertwee Era of the 1970's, and Pamela Salem guest starred opposite Tom Baker (and later, Sylvester McCoy in the 1980's).  Bob Baker was also present, the creator of K-9 and writer of the Three Doctors (amongst many other episodes).

Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) and Colin Spaull (guest star in the Colin Era, and again in the David Tennant Era) represented the 1980's.  The 1990's were represented by Daphne Ashbrook, Grace Holloway from the TV Movie.

The 2000's featured Spaull and Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto from Torchwood), which the 2010's were represented by Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill in Victory of the Daleks opposite Matt Smith).

Representing the comic book end of things was Tony Lee, writer for many of the IDW Doctor Who comics, David Howe and Terrance Dicks both writers who've worked on various Doctor Who projects (reference, novelizations and original works) and Chase Masterson representing the audio-only contingent.

The convention didn't actually begin until Friday, but a Convention kick-off party opened things on Thursday.  Basically a chance to socialize, dance, eat and drink, this was a fun event even though it was rather lightly attended, probably due to the somewhat high extra charge (on top of the cost to enter the convention).

Friday featured one of my favorite panels of the weekend, the 1960's panel with Frazer Hines and Terrance Dicks.  Frazer talked quite a bit about the recently found Enemy of the World and Web of Fear.  Frazer even had a limited edition print made for the Web of Fear available at the convention.

Bob Baker and Ian McNeice also headlined two separate panels that were also quite entertaining.  Bob talked about his years on the show, including the creation of K-9, and also talked about the creation of the more recent K-9 series as well.

Saturday, of course, was the big day for the convention.  Lots of costumers in attendance all three days, but Saturday had by far the most variety.  All Eleven Doctors were represented, along with many various companions, adversaries and monsters.   The Masquerade, held Saturday evening, allowed those interested in participating a chance to show off their costumes.  Frazer Hines even made a surprise appearance as the Second Doctor, appearing opposite a Jamie costumer.  

Sunday was also quite excellent, and features my favorite panel of the weekend, the Companions panel.  Ian McNeice, Chase Masterson, Daphne Ashbrook and Frazer Hines had a very good rapport with each other, and it was quite entertaining.  

While I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I'm making plans already to attend next year's Hurricane Who, there are a few things that I think would make some great additions to the con.   The long dinner break is a nice idea if one is planning a sit-down dinner.  However, I was on a budget and I didn't really need a two hour dinner break.  Thankfully, Downtown Disney wasn't all that far away and provided the filler needed for that two hours.  Still, if Hurricane Who had a video room or some gaming in that lull period, I might have partaken of that rather than driving over to Downtown Disney.

Overall, if you're a fan of Doctor Who and you live anywhere near Central Florida, Hurricane Who is a convention you simply don't want to miss.  Jarrod and the other convention organizers are already working on next year's convention and have already announced a few guests for the 2014 version, including Terry Molloy (Davros).  

A Return from the dead...so to speak!

When I started this blog earlier this year, the intention was to watch all of Doctor Who by the time of the 50th anniversary.  Obviously, those plans fell apart once July rolled around, and I found I simply didn't have any time to devote to the blog (I work a great deal of overtime at my job during the summer).  I've never completely forgotten about this blog, and I've been wanting to restart and reboot this blog at some point. 

As such, the original plan for this blog has to be thrown out the window.  There's no way I could watch the rest of the Classic Series, along with all of the New Series by the 23rd of November, even if I had the entire time off from work.

Therefore, the new plan is simply to pick up where I left off, and soldier on.  No artificial deadlines this time, just simply enjoying the episodes in order of transmission along with other British shows and movies that happen to catch my interest.   Perhaps I'll be finished with my marathon watch of Doctor Who by next August, when the Twelveth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, has his first full adventure.  No promises, though.

I don't think I'll be trying for daily postings, but will endeavor to try to update on a somewhat regular basis.   I'll be starting off today and the rest of this weekend by posting some archived reviews that I had written prior to the hiatus and which I've now edited and polished off for your enjoyment.

In addition, I'm also including my review of Hurricane Who, a Doctor Who convention that was held this past weekend in Orlando, Florida along with a Southeastern US Doctor Who convention guide.

It's good to be back!

Story #68 - Planet of the Daleks (Dalek War, Part Two)

The Doctor and Jo team up with the Thals to thwart the plans of the Daleks as they attempt to harness the power of invisibility to conquer the universe.

Main Cast-
The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Jo - Katy Manning

Main Guest Cast-
Vaber - Prentis Hancock
Taron - Bernard Horsfall
Rebec - Jane How
Codal - Tim Preece
Marat - Hilary Minster
Latep - Alan Tucker

Synopsis-
Continuing on from the ending of Frontier in Space, The Doctor has been gravely injured by The Master.  The Doctor goes into hibernation to heal his wounds.

Jo, concerned for The Doctor, ventures forth onto the jungle planet that the Tardis has landed upon looking for help.  Jo runs into a group of Thals, who have ventured to this planet to battle the Daleks, with whom they share their homeworld of Skaro.

It turns out the Daleks have created an army of Daleks armed with the power of invisibilty taken from the native inhabitants known as Spiridons.  The Daleks intend to unleash this army upon the universe.

The Doctor, Jo and the Thals team up to thwart the Daleks plans.  They do so by sealing the Dalek army in ice from one of the planet's ice volcanoes.

Review-
An improvement over Frontier in Space, but that isn't saying much.  One has to wonder why the BBC (or Barry Letts) felt that it would be a good idea to try to take two rather mismatched stories like Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks and try to make them into an epic.

Classic Doctor Who has had a mixed record with epic length storylines.  Some have been great, like the War Games and the Key to Time.  Others have been decent or average like the Dalek's Master Plan.  Dalek War, sadly, falls into the latter category of major mistake, just like the much later Trial of a Time Lord. 

Still, it was interesting seeing the return of the Thals, absent from the program since the first Dalek story.  The Thals are no longer pacifists, like they were in the original story and The Doctor is know mentioned in their history. 

The Thals' reappearance, along with a much more interesting storyline make for a much improved viewing experience.  It still isn't anywhere near as good as The Three Doctor or Carnival of Monsters, but at least it closes the Dalek War storyline on a higher note.