So what did y'all think about the midseason premiere of
Doctor Who, the Bells of St. John? I give it an A-. While Matt Smith is still not my favorite Doctor, this episode seemed tailor made for his incarnation of our favorite Timelord.
Small elements from classic
Who were incorporated, like UNIT and the Great Intelligence. Bells of St. John kept me guessing. I still haven't the faintest idea
who Ms. Clara Oswin Oswald is, but speculation is her catchphrase, "
Run, You clever boy, and remember..." has something to do with it. Moffat is good for putting the "spoilers" right in front of your face that you miss them entirely. Almost. I might figure this out just yet. I nearly had the whole mystery with River Song figured out. Nearly. Well, OK. I was floored...
Now, on to commentary on classic
Who. My father introduced me to the Doctor and his crazy blue box, the TARDIS, when I was about five or six. I remember rushing at night to get my homework done so I could turn on our local PBS station, WHYY Channel 12 for the nightly half hour segment. I used to hate the cliffhangers over the weekends, but was prep and ready for my space adventure come Monday!
Tom Baker was my first Doctor. For all intents and purposes,the only
DOCTOR. Back then, I hadn't understood that he had been some other old crotchety dudes, just the loveable curly-head buffoon with a multicolored, incredibly long, scarf and his penchant to offer Jelly Babies everyone he met.
Waitaminute? Jelly Baby? Doesn't he mean Jelly
Beans????
Silly me hadn't quite heard of the confectionery delicacy, and chalked it up just the British way way of pronouncing"jelly bean." You know, like they say
sched-ule, instead of our
sked-ule, or throw "e" at the end of particular words... And thus, I was hooked. How fascinating.
Crazy monsters like the Sontarans, Zygons, Daleks, and Cybermen crept into my universe. Far off and away places, came into view... Skarro, Castrovalva, Trakken, Gallifrey. Ah yes, Gallifrey. Timelord Central, filled with stuffy old dudes with funky robes that never died, barring accidents.
Yes, the acting was campy. The special effects were off-kilter, but this was just
the show! The end
all be all.
Jump forward 40 plus years and we have the new Doctor for the 21st century. Oh, he's regenerated twice since the revival. I miss David Tenant
, but am ever so grateful mean ass Christopher Eccleston is gone. Ugh! The Doctor was always a bit eccentric, petulant at times, but never plain mean and nasty. Eccleston's portrayal was good only to get the series jump-started. I'm glad he left after the first year or else I truly believe the show would have bombed.
Oh and the best thing about the revival? There's gay and black characters on the show. Don't ever recall seeing anyone of color even before the show ceased production in the late 80s/early 90s. And gay companions? Pbbt. Please. Oh there were gay actors. Matthew Waterhouse, Adric from E-Space, is gay in real life, but no homosexuals in space. Now? Well we have an assortment openly gay roles, played by gay actors like Russell Tovey and John Barrowman.
I'm impressed Doc!
So wonder when this all began, did the producers ever believe years later the show would still be in full effect? Did they understand the cult phenomenon they were creating? Probably not. This is just my little recollection on how Who has impacted my life. I'll post things periodically until we hit the big anniversary in November. Until then, shall wonderfully enjoy the second half of Season 7 Or is it 8? I've lost track!
To quote that the Doctor himself, "
I tried to keep a diary once, but that's the trouble with time travel, one never seems to find the time."
-Ian
Like quite a few shows that are taking people by storm (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead) I've yet to jump that bandwagon. I've soem positive things about Hunting Season, but have not made the effort to commit. One, I just don't have time to get sucked into one more television program. Two, the last show I got really hyped about, DTLA, turned out to be a huge disappointment. Three, did I mention I just don't have time to be watching that much television?
