50th Anniversary Day of The Doctor WHERE ARE THE ZYGONS AND QUEEN ELIZABETH?

Wow that's a long title.  Well, let's start with what we know, supposedly. 75 minutes long, offered simulcast on TV and selected theaters world wide.  There will be the bio-pic about Verity Lambert, the first producer of Doctor Who, and what it took to get it running.  There is supposed to be an "unannounced" surprise coming yet.  Rumors are also running that several of the Classic Doctors were seen hanging around the BBC, carring signs that said "No Classic Doctor, No Who", but of course this could be a red herring,

So you’re looking at them handsome gentlemen not quite smiling up there, and saying, what is wrong with this poster.  Well, most people were soo busy having heart palpitations over the pretty boys, I was busy examining the rest of the poster.  One of the first things I notice was under MATT SMITH’S armpit is a brick wall with BAD WOLF on it.  Well know we know which version of Ten and ROSE we will be receiving. Also notice what is MISSING, the Zygons!  I never saw the 70's epsiode in which they were features but after all the fuss they made they should be on the poster.  Neither is Queen Elizabeth or the actress that is supposed to play her Joanne Page.  Hmm...   Then I noticed the shadow for John Hurt has a longer scarf then he is wearing.  I think it is a way to honor Tom Baker with out him being in the program.  Then, who could miss the giant mechanical hand, the stairwell, and the burning DALEKS.  Although they were announced previously.  If you look Careful behind John Hurt you can see the TARDIS, maybe exploding,There also appear to be Cybermen and a Time Lord Seal.  Also the cloud formation behind Matt is more squared off and the clouds behind Tennant are more round.  This appears to match the time tunnel for the credits.  I hope stuff comes out soon.  REAL SOOOOONNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 Part 3-For whom the Bell Tolls

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part three- For whom the Bell Tolls

When Tom Baker decided to leave I’m sure the BBC was in a lurch.  Would the show survive?  But this is what regenerations are made for!  In a three part series, The Keeper of Trakken/ Logopolis/ Castrovalia, Tom Baker left the show and Peter Davison took over the role of The Doctor.  Logopolis is a kind of messy episode, jumping all over the place.  This is the first time the Cloister Bell is heard, sounding alarm.  The Doctor decides to fix the chameleon circuit after who knows how many years it’s been broken.  Then the Master shows up.  Then we are on an alien planet to fix the TARDIS and the Master follows.  It seems like a script writer was given certain elements and told to make it work.  But it doesn't.  Then we have the Doctor crossing his own time stream.  Don’t cross the streams.  Then the Doctor has trouble with his regeneration.  What do his companions decide to do?  They play “Which Way” with the TARDIS, immediately falling into a trap set by the Master.  It is not till the end of Castrovalia that we get a idea of what the new Doctor is about.  This may have been done on purpose to place more time between Tom Baker and Peter Davidson.  When we do get the Doctor new clothes, it is an outfit of cricket clothes(that aren't really cricket clothes) and celery.  I’m sure at the time no one knew what to think.  Later producer said that this costuming was because of a newly growing American audience.  We also have a superfluity of companions.  No Doctor until David Tennant has ever had more “companion” in the TARDIS at once.  This overload of characters caused issues with plot development.  They were eventually written out to help concentrate on character development.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Trailer

So we kinda got a fiftieth trailer… Well the 2000 people that were at comic con got a trailer.  The rest of us got the promise of a trailer sometime in the future.  We also got threatened if anything leaked to YouTube that there would be no more goodies at comic con for us(them).  Well the trailer for “An Adventure in Time and Space” leaked already.  Guys, if you were gonna leak a trailer and get us in trouble you leaked the WRONG ONE!!!! Fortunately several media outlets had coverage and described the trailer in detail for us.

Here’s a link to the beebs review of comic con http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/07/doctor-who-panel-recap-matt-smith-says-thank-you-to-the-fans/

It doesn’t seem to reveal anything that wasn’t in the “press kit”, excuse me, media coverage from April when the “filming” went on.  There were no real “gotcha” moments.  We knew the Daleks would show up.  We knew there would be a wand weighing, sorry, sonic screwdriver comparison.  The catchphrases MUST be used.  Everyone had pretty much guessed that the Time War would be involved.  I wanted some new details.  I want to know who else is in it.  We know like 10 cast members.  How can you do a 1 to 2 hour movie with 10 cast members?  How long is it?  I’ve heard anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.  John Barrowman said he wasn’t involved.  When Moffat said Jack might be back, was he just being mean?  Is River going to show up?  Will the other Doctors be involved either live or digitally?  Moffat is just plain mean!  Oh well, we get to stew for another 4 months.  Or until they put up a REAL trailer!

P.S. BBC has already pulled the one leaked trailer so if you missed it you weren't fast enough!

P.P.S. Check out my Regenerations twelve part review and other blogs.

My FIRST Doctor...

So everyone says you always have a soft spot for your first doctor.  I think I like Doctor Who despite my first doctor. My first episode was the first episode of the new version.  I am too young and too American to have seen the original.  There had been no expectations.  I had watched other modern BBC programming but never a sci-fi.  For some reason there is no vivid recall of a lead up to that first episode. I don’t remember a great advertising campaign, or someone telling me about it. I just remember watching it.  Then suddenly the doctor was a part of my life, as much as if I had grown up watching the original serials on Saturday mornings in Britain. 

Chris Eccleston may be other things but he just will not be remembered as Doctor Who. The only important thing he did was further the plot. He introduced us to Rose and Jack. For that we should be nothing more then grateful but as the doctor he just didn’t impress me. 

Then… REGENERATION

David Tennant will always be my first doctor no matter who I actually laid eyes on in which temporal order, after all this is the doctor. Here was this bright eyed intelligent young old alien, quick witted who had morals and cool adventures every week. Every episode was fast paced and full of these great little puzzles.  The doctor was always there to save the day, but there was a big picture going on too.  American television, with a few exceptions, had been lacking these key ingredients. The good shows had a tendency to either get cancelled or bounced around from night to night.  Every Saturday night, I got to see my doctor, all summer. 

Then Jack got his OWN show, TORCHWOOD.  I made it through the off time between Doctor Who by surviving on this spin-off police procedural.  It was battling aliens every week, X-files but everyone knew what was out there.  Of course, there was that unerringly British inclination to kill someone off every week too, but it keep you guessing.  Who will be the last man standing? (Please, dear god, let it be JACK!)

Five years, I had my wonderful, quirky doctor.  Times were great. Then the clouds started to gather.  Rumors began that David was leaving the show. NOOOO!!!  It couldn’t be true, could it? I not only faced losing my first doctor but would the show even go on without him?  And what about the fate of Torchwood?  Would I lose all my television show at once like a nuclear bomb?

Then REGENERATION…