StormWolf Ramblings

The other day, we found out that David Tennant had wrapped for the final time on Doctor Who. This opened up a torrent of emotion and inspiration within me, and I decided to make a video. I have one planned once the final episodes aired, so this is a mini-tribute, if you will.

I got this idea from the end of the Casanova mini-series, starring David Tennant, when Edith tells him (the older Casanova, played by the legend that is Peter O'Toole) that the person he loved most was his younger self (played by Tennant): "That man. That stupid, daft man and all his adventures." The line really made me think of Ten. The video here is supposed to be mostly Ten's happy, quirky moments, with a tinge of sad endings.

And yes, I know I missed clips from Runaway Bride and Voyage of the Damned. I completely forgot to add them to my list.

Still, here it is. Nothing fancy, just a simple video to say thank you to David Tennant.

The song is the theme to Forrest Gump.

I have been a complete lazy git lately. Well, that and I have had zero inspiration to write, or vid, or...pretty much anything creative. I think I probably overdid myself. There was a point there where I was working on the fanfic every night and when I wasn't writing, I was playing around in Sony Vegas trying to get another vid going.

So yeah, complete creative overload ends in a big popping noise, then a fizz, and then smoke comes out of my ears.

Anyway, Planet of the Dead. That's what I logged in to write about. There will be spoilers, of course. This is a review after all.

On the whole, I liked it. I mean, it was no Turn Left, or Blink, or Girl in the Fireplace, but it wasn't meant to be, and it was fun. The setting was beautiful, the Tritovore were...well...guys in rubber masks and boiler suits, but I didn't care, the dialogue was great, and the acting was all good.

Special mention goes to Captain Magumbo and Malcolm. I've really liked Captain Magumbo since she appeared in Turn Left, and it was awesome to see her again. I've been despairing over the portrayal of UNIT soldiers lately, but Magumbo is getting up there in Brig territory when it comes to my affections. No nonsense, gets the job done, and takes no shit from anyone. I loved when she told the Doctor she was going to salute him whether he liked it or not. Good girl.

And Malcolm. Oh, adorable, geeky Malcolm. My affection for the character is high enough that I'm even attempting to do a fanvid dedicated just to him. Still, it's difficult to do him any justice in writing. You have to see him for yourself.

I couldn't find a video with just Malcolm, but these are (in the vidder's opinion) the funny bits, so...basically...all of Malcolm's best scenes are here.



One character I wasn't fond of in the least was the companion-of-the-moment, Lady Christina DeSouza. Many people found her awesome and all that, and Michelle Ryan did a great acting job, but my impression of the character was one of a smug, spoiled brat. One very vivid example of that was when the Doctor realized exactly what was in the sand of San Helios, namely what was left of the population of the planet. The Doctor is talking about an entire planet full of people being dead, and what is Christina upset about? Her hair. Yes, the poor dear had dead people in her hair. I'm sure the people of San Helios would commiserate, dear. That is if they weren't, you know, dead. It made me miss his previous companions. Hell, not even Donna would be that shallow, and that's what they wrote her to be. I was really not all that bothered when the Doctor told her no when she invited herself to travel with him.

Of course, all of the Doctor's fun came to a screeching halt at the end when Carmen, the psychic woman, approached him and gave him a warning of his coming fate:




A lot of people say it's the Master who will knock four times, but RTD and David Tennant seem adamant in saying that it's not what we think. Maybe it's not, or maybe they're being sly and leading us astray so we can be surprised. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see. Until then, we've got The Waters of Mars to wait for, and that one looks incredibly spooky.

So, all in all, a fun episode. Nothing to write home about, but a good bit of entertainment for the Easter holiday.

I have joined Twitter. God help me.

This is more of a request than anything, but if I start ranting, bear with me.

I'm looking to find fan-made audio commentaries for New Who. Specifically, I'm looking for people who've done fan commentaries of *all* the episodes, not just a handful here or there. I'm also looking for fan commentaries from people who don't spend 90% of the episode moaning about how bad the episode is. I'd like to hear some witty commentary that actually sounds like these fans are actually enjoying themselves, because really...I've tried a few and it's hard to try to watch a scene I enjoy while listening to people rant and rave about how completely crappy the scene is. It drives me nuts, because I spend most of the time just yelling, "Okay, I get it! You think New Who is crap! Now shut up, turn the video off and go put in Caves of Androzani or something!" It's also grating when they talk like they have no clue of the subtleties of what's going on, when if they'd just pay attention, rather than complaining, they might actually get it.

I don't know, I think I may have been spoiled by the commentaries that are on the Red Dwarf DVDs. I got so used to listening to the actors sitting around together, having a good time and if they did have criticisms, they were made in such a way that sounded more teasing and goofy than just pure nastiness.

Or maybe I just have to invite some friends over and make my own. I don't know.

One thing I love about having a blog is that I can turn the hose on my fellow raging fans now and then and spray them down without getting bitten in return. Sure, very few people actually read it, but at least it makes me feel better when I rant about the amazing boneheadedness of my fellow Who fans. I'd say that we, as a group, are probably the worst when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot, but then that would exclude my fellow MMORPG players out there. And if you don't believe they're worse, pull the plug on their game's server for...30 minutes. Watch them go nuts and start calling for heads to roll. We Who fans can't even hold a candle to that level of insanity.

Anyway, like I said in the title, we have become spoiled. Doctor Who's only been back for 4 years and already we've become spoiled. You'd think after being off the air for over a decade, we'd be a bit more appreciative of even *having* the show. However, we (and I say we because I don't want it to seem like I feel superior to anyone. For good or ill, I'm part of the fanbase) can never seem to be completely happy.

Every few years, the Doctor Who fans engage in a ritual known as "Crucifying the New Guy". This time around, the poor fellow going through the gauntlet not only is going through "Who's he??", "He's too young!" and "Ew, he looks emo!", but now he's got to deal with, "Oh my god, he can't be the Doctor because he's not a fan of the show!"

I hate to break it to you guys, but...most of the actors who've played the Doctor weren't fans. From what I've read, Tom Baker himself has said he didn't really watch before and he hasn't watched since. And most of you guys revere the man. Christopher Eccleston said on multiple occasions that he really didn't watch the show as a kid, beyond getting into the excitement of the regeneration events, and he was very good. Not my favorite, but one of them. I know she just played a companion, but Catherine Tate knew nothing about Doctor Who before she played Donna, and still she was brilliant.

We just happened to get very, very lucky these last three years and had a man who was as much of a raging fanboy as the rest of us. And still, even with David going, we're still going to have a head writer who's so much of a fan that he could probably recite every episode of Doctor Who backwards...in his sleep. Trust me, soon enough, Matt will know all he ever needs to know about Doctor Who. The Moff will make sure of that.

Trust me, speaking from personal experience, as someone who wasn't extremely familiar with Classic Who before New Who came out, Matt has plenty of time to get to know every detail of the show. Especially considering he's been hired to play the Eleventh Doctor, he'll have lots of access to old episodes, books, audio adventures, magazines, etc. If I can do it in a short amount of time, so can he.

Littleradge is a guy who has a vlog on YouTube, who also happens to look a crapton like David Tennant. Amusingly enough, he's also Scottish.

Anyway, he has an important message that all of you should hear, and has asked that it be spread around the internet so more people know about this.



This goes for ALL celebrities, not just David. If someone approaches you online and introduces themselves as some celebrity or other, DO NOT get suckered in. 99.99999% of the time, it's NOT them. Especially if they offer to have you meet them somewhere. It's not them. It's very, very likely to be a sicko.

I wish I had a TARDIS of my own, to go back to the time when Peter Davison was announced as the man to replace Tom Baker as the Doctor. I was only four at the time, so I don't remember the reactions myself, but I can almost guarantee that the wailing and moaning we're seeing from some people right now about Matt Smith taking over from David Tennant is almost a mirror image of the cries that came from people when they found out Peter Davison was taking over. Back then, he was the youngest actor to play the role at a mere 30 years old. And I bet even back then they were screaming that he was too young.

I think it's a common thing among Doctor Who fans. They fall in love with a Doctor, and are determined to hate whoever replaces their beloved Doctor. Not even David Tennant was immune from that. Plenty of people thought that he couldn't fill Chris Eccleston's shoes. And just look -- he became someone lauded as one of the best Doctors ever.

And yes, he's not a very well-known actor. So what? Relatively speaking, neither was David Tennant when he first started. I know I had no clue who he was until a couple episodes into series 2. Sure, he had been in a few more things than Matt Smith has, but they've both got superb theater credits as long as your arm.

What surprises and disappoints me are the people slagging Matt Smith off over his appearance. Excuse me, but what business do we sci-fi nerds have in making fun of anyone's looks? Most of us aren't supermodels either. In fact, I've been to conventions (not specifically Doctor Who conventions, but close enough) and I can guarantee you people that you aren't exactly Adonis either. Though...I think he's pretty fetching, actually. Interesting bone structure in his face, but he has a charmingly crooked smile.

So, in short, we as Doctor Who fans should have learned our collective lesson years ago. Do not judge a Doctor until you see him on-screen a couple times. Trust in Steven Moffat. He hasn't led us astray yet, and if The Moff thinks this guy is absolutely perfect for the role, then we should cut him some slack.

David will always be the Doctor that I consider as "my Doctor", but still...bring on 2010. I'm excited to see what this kid can do with the role.

This is one of those times when I was so absolutely wrong, but what really happened was so good that I wasn't all that bothered about being wrong. Well, except for the fact that David Morrissey's character ended up not being the Doctor at all, but that's just because I think he'd make a fantastic Doctor. Still, who he actually was was very special in his own way, so it wasn't a huge let down.

The chemistry between the two Davids was so great. It certainly hasn't flagged since the last time they were together on-screen. In fact, all the acting was superb this year, especially, of course, David Tennant's. I think I've said this before, but the man doesn't have to say anything to convey everything that we need to know. And the breaking of his voice as he said "they break my heart" instantly brought me to tears. I'm such a sap.

RTD's writing was very clever. I liked how he used the concept of the fugue state to explain Jackson Lake's broken memory. It makes so much more sense than other shows I've seen where a person goes through immense trauma, and just shrugs it off and keeps going. I love that Jackson went through so much that his mind just ran away from it all. I found it much more satisfying than the rumors I'd heard that the Cybermen had been brainwashing him.

Lastly, I think The Mill really outdid themselves this year. That Cyberking contraption stepping on London was fantastic! Also, apparently the balloon part of Jackson's "TARDIS" was pure CGI from The Mill as well, but if I hadn't heard RTD say it, I would have never known! It looked so real!

All-in-all, I'm very pleased. My favorite Christmas special is still The Christmas Invasion, but this comes a very close second. It was ten times better than Voyage of the Damned, I must say.

Combom was kind enough to post a YouTube link to the latest Xmas trailer for us poor pathetic people not in the UK.



The new little snippets raise some interesting new questions.

• Why is the Doctor wearing his stethoscope? I think the clear (or at least, clear to me) reason is because he's checking David Morrissey's Doctor for two hearts, which would prove whether DM's Doctor is a Time Lord or not.
• What exactly will the two Doctors be "finding out" together? From the tone of his voice, it obviously has nothing to do with what Rosita asks right before, which is, "What do the Cybermen want?" Having watched David Tennant enough the last few years to sort of get a feel of the emotion he is trying to portray with a certain tone of voice, that tone certainly didn't feel like his "We're going to beat the bad guys" sort of voice. It was much softer, much more...personal and gentle I guess would be a good way of saying it. I think it must have something to do with David Morrissey's Doctor.
• Who in the world is Ten carrying across on that rope? This is a small detail, but it's got me baffled. It looks too small to be David Morrissey, but too big to be that kid, and doesn't look to have a skirt, so I don't think it's Rosita. Hmm...

We'll just have to find out on Christmas Day. Ten days left! Woohoo!

For all of you who love clues, here's an interesting picture that's recently come out to tease us before The Next Doctor airs. Many people have had a theory that maybe David Morrissey's Doctor is actually a Time Lord (and might actually truly be a future Doctor), who's turned himself human with a chameleon arch, and (like the Doctor in Human Nature/Family of Blood) his dreams inspired him to go around as the Doctor.

Or...something like that. I actually like the theory, even if I'm completely inept at describing it.

Anyway, it looks like there might be something to it.



The Doctor, sitting with the other "Doctor", holding a fob watch that looks amazingly like the one the Doctor and the Master used, with a very serious look on his face.

Veddy eeenteresting indeed.

So, another Children in Need telethon has come and we got our yearly Doctory goodness. I hope you folks in the UK donated lots of money. It really does look like a very, very good cause.

Anyway, this year we were graced with the first two minutes of this year's Christmas Special, The Next Doctor. It was good to see our poor old Ten looking chipper. He does really love Christmas, doesn't he, despite all the crap that happens? Though, of course, things have to go tits up, don't they? This year we get Cybermen terrorizing Victorian England. If that wasn't going to be complicated enough, the Doctor also has to deal with a cocky guy who claims to be him.



Now that you've watched it, mull over these questions with me. RTD does so love to confuse the hell out of me, that's for sure.

1. If he's just an impostor, like many are saying, how the heck did he get a TARDIS? I can deal with him having a sonic screwdriver. Sonic technology isn't the sole perview of Time Lords after all. Miss Foster had a sonic pen, if you remember. TARDISes, however, have always been the sole creation of the Time Lords, and as far as I knew, no non-Time Lord could fly one without the Time Lord owner's permission. The only way Rose managed to get the TARDIS to fly back to the Doctor when he told the TARDIS not to was by pulling open the console and soaking in the Time Vortex. Considering this guy isn't dying, how the heck is he flying a TARDIS if he's not a Time Lord? If they were so easy to steal, Daleks or some other race would have stolen one long ago, wouldn't they?
2. This other Doctor's behavior seems a bit suspect. Would the Doctor really be parading around acting like that? Well...I suppose so. His sixth incarnation was rather arrogant, at least. Sort of an ass, actually. If David Morrissey really is going to be Eleven (which nobody knows if he is or not, I'm just speculating), I certainly hope that he tones that down a bit. I was not very fond of Six, and after David Tennant, I'd really rather have a Doctor I can like, thanks.
3. What's with the other Doctor's companion's name. Rosita? Interesting...considering Rosita is a Spanish version of Rose. Is RTD running out of names, or is that symbolic of something? Either way, I rather like her. She's got spunk. I wouldn't mind if she stayed on.
4. Did you notice his sonic screwdriver? It didn't really look like a sonic scredriver, and it didn't have a glowing blue bit at the end. It looked like just a stick, really. However, since they end the clip before either Doctor can use their sonics, we have no idea if it works. Then again, wouldn't Rosita have noticed this a while back? She seems to have been around long enough to know what he was asking for when he asked for the sonic screwdriver, and didn't pipe up with, "Why? It doesn't do anything. It's just a stick!" Then again, maybe she's in on the trick. Who knows?
   

So, we have a few possibilities here. He could be a fake, but then I point to question 1. Maybe he's a Time Lord who hid away in a chameleon arch and thinks he's a human pretending to be the Doctor. Or, maybe he's a parallel version of the Doctor (from a parallel universe other than Pete's World) who slipped into this universe during the time that the walls were breaking down thanks to Davros. Or maybe he's some guy from this time period who's been brainwashed by that Miss Hartigan woman, which would then beg the question, "How does she know enough about the Doctor to make this guy convincing enough for her plot to work?"

So, to sum up, it seems this preview has left me more confused than I already was. Then again, it's also made me more curious than I already was, which was probably what they were going for, right?

So, the dust has settled and everyone knows now; David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who. At the end of the 2009 specials, the Tenth Doctor will be no more.

Being the big ol' girl that I am, (how convenient, since I am a girl) I blubbered like a baby the night I found out. Not constantly, mind you, but every now and then I'd see something that would set me off. The first being while I was watching David make his announcement at the NTAs. Despite the shock, I kept it together...until David's voice broke with emotion and it was all over for me. The floodgates opened and I was a blubbery mess. Then, deciding to go back and watch all I could of series 2 again, I was watching The Christmas Invasion, and when Ten leaned into Jackie and said:

"It's all waiting out there, Jackie. It's brand new to me. All those planets, creatures and horizons, I haven't seem them yet! Not with these eyes..."

I was gone again.

I'm mostly okay now. I've come to accept that he'll be gone, but I will miss him terribly. Despite being 31 years old and having already seen previous Doctors on PBS in my childhood, David was my Doctor. I didn't start watching New Who until series 2, and from the moment he popped his head out of the TARDIS in The Christmas Invasion, I was intrigued. When he popped out again in his jim-jams near the end, I was captivated. Now that I've gone back and thoroughly watched all of the Doctors, I still have to say that Ten is the best of the lot. A perfect mix of excitement, energy, joy and tragedy. David's Doctor could make you laugh or cry without even uttering a word.

Okay, yes, I'm gushing. Shush.

Now, that's not to say that I'll lose interest in Doctor Who after David's gone. Oh, absolutely not. I am a complete fan of Steven Moffat's writing, so I'm completely excited to see what he does with the show while at the helm. Every episode he's written has been fabulous, so I'm sure it will be great.

I just have two concerns:

• Who they will get as Eleven
• What David will do after this

Whether you liked David Tennant or not, you have to admit that it will be very difficult to fill his shoes in series 5. Any actor that steps into the role of the Doctor is going to have to be able to portray a very complex personality with about as wide an array of emotions as any character they may have played in the past. They also have to have the energy to do all that running.

Now, apparently David Morrissey is playing the title role of the Christmas special, The Next Doctor...or is he? I know he's supposed to be a Doctor, complete with sonic screwdriver, but is he really the next Doctor? I wouldn't oppose that. I've seen him in a few roles and think he might actually be able to pull it off. Or, the Who Crew could pull a switcheroo and the next Doctor will be someone completely different. As long as they're good, I don't mind if it's David Morrissey or not.

I know they love reusing actors, but it will really mess with my head if they use an actor they've already had as the Doctor. I mean, it's fine to do that when casting a companion, or some other mortal, but not the Doctor. It's easy to use the explanation they did with Martha and why she looked like that woman in Torchwood.

While you could technically come up with the explanation that the Doctor can try to force himself to regenerate into the form of someone who's already existed, but really...in the case of Patterson Joseph, (as much as I loved his acting) would the Doctor really say, "Gee, I think I'll make myself look like that git who was running around Satellite 5 yelling about his money"? I...don't think so.

Should he turn into a woman? No, no, a million times no. Time Lords are Time Lords, and Time Ladies are Time Ladies. Think of how well it would have gone over if Romana II had come out as a man? It wouldn't be Romana anymore. I understand that it's supposed to be thoroughly modern of us to think that the essence of who we are is completely separate from our gender, but it's generally not. Romana was thoroughly feminine and the Doctor has always been thoroughly masculine. And that's neither a good thing or a bad thing. It's just how the characters are. To have the Doctor be male for 45 years, then suddenly make him female just screams "Gimmick!" to me. And, canon-wise, I don't think there's ever been a Time Lord that has become a Time Lady or vice versa. I have a feeling that when they're first born, their gender is sort of set. I have nothing against transgendered people, I just don't think the Doctor is one. Jack on the other hand...well, he's been pregnant, so who knows? ;)

I've also seen a few movie stars on the "possible 11th Doctor" lists, and I must say I think the people making these lists up are mad. Movie stars, especially those of the Hollywood variety, are not going to go back to doing a TV show on the BBC. A mini-series, sure, but not a full-blown television show where they'd have to devote nine months of their lives to filming. Sure, Chris Eccleston was in a few movies, (heck, I've seen him in a scene opposite Nick Cage) but look what happened with him. He left after only one season. Considering we can only have thirteen Doctors (twelve regenerations), having Eleven only last one season would cut the show's run by a significant amount. Which means...sorry ladies, it's not going to be Daniel Radcliffe or James McAvoy, and probably not Robert Carlyle either (even though I'm quite intrigued about the idea of him being the Doctor). They'd all be good, but I doubt they'd give up their Hollywood careers for a TV show, no matter how good it is.

And now, one last name I've seen on lists: John Barrowman. Okay, that name convinced me that these list makers are insane. Torchwood is still running, folks, and even so, John Barrowman is Captain Jack, and will always be (as far as Doctor Who goes) Captain Jack. Same goes with John Simm. He's the Master. Sorry folks, I don't think he'll be anyone else. And Christopher Eccleston? Why, so he can leave again? I loved him as an actor, but just up and leaving seems to be his M.O. with television shows, so...no thanks. I want to be able to experience this new Doctor for a few years, thanks.

Honestly, my money's on David Morrissey, and that suits me just fine.

As for what David will do in the future, I'm sure anything he does will be fabulous. My worry, however, is admittedly completely selfish. What if he decides that he wants to stick to theatre as a full-time member of the RSC ensemble? That would pretty much guarantee that, except in some sort of miracle situation where a lot of money and time comes into my hands and I am able to travel to wherever they're doing a play at the time, I would never get to see him perform again.

But, you know what? It's honestly a silly worry. He's done TV before Doctor Who, and he'll do TV after, I'm sure. Or movies, though considering he doesn't seem to be the Hollywood type, he probably won't be doing that a lot.

Whatever he does will be great, but, again...I'll miss Ten.

Yeah, I know, it's been a while since I posted anything, but really...as this isn't a news blog, per se, I haven't had much to talk about. I'm not much for rumors. Well, I am, but more on the speculation side and not on the reporting side. I suppose I could post about what rumors I find completely laughable. That might be interesting.

It's been a long, long few months without Doctor Who. I've been trying to keep that part of my life busy with fanfics and fanvids, but ideas have been slow in coming.

The Good: I seem to have made quite the impression with my Doctor Who/The Tudors opening credits crossover. Not for a second did I expect it to get the reaction it has. I even got someone requesting a video from me for their fanfic thanks to them really liking that video.




The Bad: I think I've almost given up on that tribute to Ten using the song "Inner Universe" by Origa. The song is SOOOOO difficult! I add a few seconds onto it, and then just get completely frustrated.

The Ugly: I made an attempt at my first AU (Alternate Universe) video the other day. It's a short movie-trailer-ish video for the recent, climactic chapter of my fanfic. What a MESS! I always make the mistake of being too ambitious in my first attempts at something. I should have tried something simpler for my first AU.

From the itinerary of the San Diego Comic-Con:

12:00-1:00 Doctor Who— Writer Russell T Davies (Doctor Who), executive producer Julie Gardner (Torchwood), and writer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) discuss their creative process and experience working on the BBC’s Doctor Who—Britain’s most successful sci-fi franchise—with exclusive clips and a Q&A session. Ballroom 20

1:00-2:00 Torchwood— Writer Russell T Davies (Doctor Who), executive producer Julie Gardner (Torchwood), writer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), and actors John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Naoko Mori and Burn Gorman discuss their creative process and experience on working on BBC America’s highest-rated show ever—Torchwood— followed by a Q&A session. Ballroom 20

So, the one time in likely a long while that anyone from the new Doctor Who will be anywhere near me, and I can't go. First of all, registration is closed. Secondly, it's an 8-hour drive from here and I don't have the cash to pay for airfare and car rental and hotel and tickets to get in and food and knick knacks.

Well, if you're going, do me a favor and tell RTD and Steven Moffat that a wannabe writer in Northern California sends her admiration and wishes she could worship them in person, but will have to continue to do so from afar. *le sigh*

As some of you know, on top of being a blogger, fanfic writer and all-around sick-in-the-head fan of Doctor Who, I'm also a maker of fan videos. My videos are, so far, all on YouTube here. And, thanks to the jam-packed two-part finale for series 4, my muse has donned a dominatrix outfit and begun to whip me mercilessly. So far, I've committed myself to making a four-video set for the finale, on top of the other ideas I've had brewing in my head. It's hard to keep track of it all, so I figured here was as good a place as any to put my to-do list so I can keep track.

• Part one of the finale set, a general "Doctor and his friends kicking serious Dalek ass" video to "Against The Wind", by Maire Brennan. Finished.
  
• Part two of the finale set, a dedication to the Doctor's "family", the Children of Time to "I'll Always Be Right There", by Michelle Branch.
• Part three of the finale set, a dedication to Donna Noble, though I still can't decide on the music. I keep going back and forth between a song with lyrics or an instrumental. Finished. I chose the violin theme to Schindler's List.
  
• Part four of the finale set, a dedication to the Doctor, his other Self, and Rose to "Say My Name", by Within Temptation. Finished.
  
• A fast-paced action dedication to Ten to "Inner Universe", by Origa. This one is a PAIN in my ass!
• A dedication to the final episode of Torchwood series 2, still not sure to what song.Finished. I chose "Scars (Stronger For Life)" by Corrinne May.

So, here's my theory, based on things Brown Suit Doctor said about Blue Suit Doctor, and the ways he compared him to his Ninth incarnation:

The original Doctor explains to his other self that he was "born in battle - full of blood and anger and revenge," then looks to Rose and explains that, "That's me. When we first met."

This makes me think that it means that the event that caused Eight to die and regenerate into Nine was during the Time War, either before he did what he had to do to end it, or as a result of whatever he did to burn up both the Daleks and Gallifrey. That would explain why he said that the person he was when he and Rose first met (ie, Nine at the beginning of his incarnation. If you remember he hadn't even seen himself in a mirror yet before he entered Rose's flat) was like the new Doctor.

Well, it made sense in my head.

Okay, the question has been asked over and over again:

"Why didn't the Doctor stay in the parallel world with Rose?"

The answer is simple and not nearly as psychologically convoluted as people are making it out to be. And the answer is: He couldn't. He literally could not stay there. They only had a few minutes to get Rose back to her world and leave again before the walls between realities closed up again forever, AND he had to get Donna back home. He had to get Donna back to her home, so she could live her life after he wiped her memory.

Exactly how was he going to manage to do all that while fulfilling his fantasy of being with Rose again? It would have been a horribly selfish move to leave Donna's head burning up from the inside out while he went gallivanting around with Rose. He also couldn't wipe her mind and leave her all on her own in the parallel world either because she'd be left with nobody and no memories of what happened to her, and it's not like the Doctor could stay around her, because the memories would come back and she'd burn.

So, really, the answer is simple. He didn't because he couldn't. He has a greater responsibility to others than to his manly urges.

I am without words. Well, except for these three statements.

1. Boy was I wrong in my theory, and yet...not wrong. While Donna didn't die literally, who she had become did die. I'm going to miss you so much, Donna.
   
2. RTD is a horrible, naughty cheater and tease. He gave me the "I love you" I was looking for, and managed to do it without letting us actually hear it. Thankfully, I could tell from the movement of his jaw and cheek that it was exactly what he was saying, and it was confirmed by Julie Gardner that the Doctor whispered "I love you" in Rose's ear.
3. I think I will remember the moment with all the Doctor's loved ones around the TARIS console, flying Earth home for the rest of my life.

Oh, and to cheat, here's one more. I can guarantee that you'll see a huge wave of Blue Suit Doctor and Rose fanfics, but that's nothing new. Fanfic writers have been writing stories of the Doctor and Rose reuniting and having a life together ever since they split two years ago. I'm afraid that, as a wannabe writer myself, I just can't resist the siren call of writing how the other Doctor and Rose manage a life together with him with a normal lifespan and the inability to regenerate and Rose having to fix this Doctor like she did the original one. It's just too good a situation to resist writing about. I almost feel like RTD was giving this to fanfic writers. Well, then, thanks Russell!

You know I love spoilers. And so, you also probably know that the BBC not revealing so much as a blip of spoilerific goodness is TORTURE! AUGH! We're being given tiny little crumbs of info, though, so I suppose it's better than nothing. However, it's far, far less than what we've been given before. No Fear Forcast, a nearly useless script exerpt in the jigsaw puzzle, and only a 30 second trailer. Understandable, yes. Still torture? Ohhh, you betcha.

So far, this is all we know:

• The TARDIS will be on fire again, with exploding roundels and poor Donna stuck in the middle of it.
• Jackie, Mickey, Sarah Jane and whoever else will get captured by the Daleks and taken to one of their ships.
• Martha will use the Project Indigo device again (according to the script exerpt).
• One of the companions will die, but we've known that. Actually, that's not new info at all, scratch that.
  
• Oh, and Davros will rant. Yeah, no surprise there.

That's...about all we got so far. I'll check in with all the Doctor Who info people when I wake up. It's already 4:30 am. I should be in bed, but this torture is effecting my sleep, since I keep digging and digging for info.

*has another small gloat for calling the fact that Harriet Jones was not only not the red Dalek, but also not in league with the Daleks at all*

Okay, with that out of the way, I have to say...oh my FREAKIN' God! This episode absolutely proves my theory that finding out who the bad guy is, or whatever rumor you hear about who or what is in it, totally does not diminish a show. The "spoilers" we get aren't real spoilers at all because they don't spoil the actual important part of the episode. It's the how and why that never seems to get leaked because it doesn't seem important which ends up being the most important of all.

I've been scouring for spoilers this whole season, and no amount of hearing about Davros' return, or that the planets were stolen, or even that the Doctor gets shot down, could have ever prepared me for that episode. All you RTD haters can suck it after what I just witnessed. Don't like it? Oh well, it's my blog and my rant. I challenge anyone to honestly say that was a horrible episode or that RTD is a horrible writer after that without first admitting that they just hated it because RTD wrote it and dismissed it before it even aired. I've heard complaints of too much shouting. Well, guess what. Explosions, earthquakes, and total anarchy are going to make people yell.

But oh, good ol' Davros was disturbingly calm, which made for a lot of goosebumps on my part, I tell ya. Can't wait to see him start ranting like he has a habit of doing. And Caan! Oh my goodness, Dalek Caan has gone, if you'll pardon the phrase, batshit crazy. He looked like he's gone through hell and back, so I don't honestly blame him for losing his mind.

I must admit, I gave out a huge cheer when Harriet Jones said that she developed the sub-wave with the Mr. Copper Foundation. Mr. Copper did good with that money and kept his promise to the Doctor. Good man.

Of course, the question on everyone's mind is, if David Tennant is contracted to do the upcoming four holiday specials, how can he regenerate now? What's going on?

Well, I don't know, but I have a theory. It's not that thought-out, and I don't have any proof of this, so nobody go off of what I'm saying as fact (like a lot of people have done with other rumors around, deciding that because they read it somewhere, it was true). My theory is that Davros somehow has found a way to stop the Doctor's regeneration, in hopes that it would make the Doctor die permanently. So, the regeneration stops and the Doctor lays dying on the floor of the TARDIS.

Now, we know there's something special about Donna. Characters in the show keep mentioning that. Did you hear the heartbeat? Hmm. People think it was the Master's drums, but I don't think so. I think whatever it is that makes Donna special could be used, in my theory, to save the Doctor's life, at great expense to her own. In other words, the total loss of it. RTD is good at tying up loose ends. This theory of mine solves three mysteries in one action: How is Donna special, how does the Doctor not end up regenerating so it stays as David Tennant, and which of the companions Dalek Caan is speaking of when he says that one of them will die. It also solves how Donna leaves the Doctor's side when she swore absolutely that she never would. I don't think at this point in time that she'd pull a Martha and decide that it's not worth it anymore. The situations are just completely different. No jealousy, no love unrequited, no feeling second best to other companions. It just makes sense in my mind. Whether or not it happens, nobody knows. I'm fairly sure RTD can think of something. I may be a writer, but I've never been published, let alone earned an OBE from the Queen of England, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing better than I do. I still do maintain, however, that if he doesn't write in the Doctor telling Rose he loves her by the end of next week's episode, I'll hunt him down and, as the British slang goes, "twat" him one. Well, no, I won't because I like not going to jail, but you get my meaning.

And in conclusion, two years of waiting was well worth this...


That look...oh that look of utter joy. Thank you to the whole Who Crew, from David, to Russell, to Graeme, to the camera men, to the lighting crew, to Murray and his beautiful music. Just...thank you, from the bottom of my fangirly heart. I love you all.

Okay, if you hate spoilers, run now.



There, now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's time for me to indulge in a nice, big, TARDIS-interior-sized gloat.

I've said, over and over again, that it just makes absolutely NO flippin' sense for Harriet Jones to have teamed up with the Daleks. Does anyone listen to little ol' StormWolf? Nooo... they keep going on about Harriet Jones being the red Dalek as if it's an accepted fact.

Well, if this article in TV & Satellite Week, which was provided by the wonderful BlogtorWho, is correct, and I assume they are considering they seem to have interviewed RTD himself, Harriet Jones is among the people that the Doctor and Donna "team up with".

You can see it here in glorious giganto-vision. Right there, top paragraph of the middle column, it says:

"The Time Lord and Donna team up with former assistants Rose, Martha and Sarah Jane, Torchwood's Captain Jack, Gwen and Ianto, ex-Prime Minister Harriet Jones, and Martha's officious UNIT boss General Sanchez."

So yeah, as we Americans like to say...BOOYAH!

And now, I shall steal Mickey's "I told ya so" dance and dance off into the...*looks out the window* um...sunrise. (it being 5 am and all...why the hell am I up still?)

Spoilers...I love 'em.

Now, I know many people absolutely hate them with a passion. I have friends that won't even let me say if something they haven't seen is good or not. "Oh, Midnight was gr--" "DON'T TELL ME!" Well, good grief. I was just going to say it was great. Sue me. That is one of the reasons why I started this blog, even though I haven't gotten to it yet. I'd like to actually be able to talk about episodes people might not have seen yet without being yelled at for even saying if an episode is good or not.

However, I love spoilers. For me, the joy of watching something is to enjoy good writing and acting. My interest has never really been in being surprised. I in fact like knowing little hints of what's going to happen, because it fills me with anticipation to find out just how they pull off the little tidbit I've seen. I get all this information on what's supposed to happen, but they're disconnected, so I enjoy watching how they end up getting woven together.

For instance, the whole River Song business. So, we got a "spoiler" that she was going to be a future love interest for the Doctor, blah blah. When I saw that, I sort of groaned and decided I'd just wait and see. And lo and behold, I watched the episodes and simply loved the way Steven Moffat pulled it off. He didn't over-sap it, he didn't make it overbearing. It was just there. We find she's from his future and very close to him...and then they move on to more pressing business of shadows eating River's crew. That's what had me hooked on those episodes, not being surprised that River's a future love interest.

Some people are up in arms over the fact that we know that all the companions are going to come back and fight together, and that the Big Bad of the series is Davros. My thought is...so what? Isn't the good part of it finding out how he got there and what he's doing, rather than being surprised that he's there? It's like the Master in series 3. Okay, so it was a big reveal that the Doctor wasn't actually the Last of the Time Lords like he thought he was the first three series. So what? Isn't the story the important part, not who the big bad guy is or who's going to make an appearance?

Well, I think so, at least.

I can't believe series four of Doctor Who is almost over. It makes me rather sad, because once it's over, all that anticipation that I've been feasting on these last few months will be gone. Sure, I could anticipate the Christmas special, but that might drive me mad, as it's six months from now.

Speculation about these last three episodes of the series has been running rampant, ranging from fairly rational to completely bizarre. Please tell me it's not true that Harriet Jones is inside the red Dalek. C'mon. Sure, the Doctor ruined her career, but I seriously doubt that she'd go so far as to join forces with an alien race that will not only try to destroy her beloved Britain, but the entire planet.

My personal speculations are pretty much like they were with the question, "Who is River Song?" That being, it's pretty straight forward, and I believe some people are going way overboard on their predictions. The big enemy is almost certainly Davros and his Daleks. No, Rose is not some secret baddie that's going to turn on the Doctor suddenly, and neither is Donna. No, Donna is not some secret regeneration of the Master. No, it was not Jenny who picked up the Master's ring at the end of series three, nor was it Donna. The ring Donna wears is FAR too big to be the Master's ring. Yes, I know the Master's ring is a man's ring, but it certainly didn't have a giant faux stone on top of it, and Donna's ring has none of the green Gallifreyan script that was on the Master's ring.

I think it will be as straight forward as a Doctor Who series finale can be. That is, not completely cut and dry, but not *that* insane. I would think, and I hope the writers and producers would also think, that it would be a very bad idea to end a series that's going to be the last weekly ongoing story until 2010 by betraying the trust of the viewers and turning someone we've learned to trust completely into someone totally evil. Sure, kindly old Professor Yana turned out to be the Master, but he was just a character from one story. Quite different from having a beloved companion turn evil after being trusted by the Doctor and, by proxy, the viewers, the entire series. I know I certainly would have a sense of betrayal, and I'm sure the Who Crew understands that and won't pull that trick on us.

We'll get to share the Doctor and his friends' fear, their joy at seeing Rose again, and a beautiful sense of family when every major character who's lives the Doctor has touched in the last four years since the show came back to television band together to save both this universe and all the other paralell universes. From the hints we've been given, I'm sure there will be a terribly sad moment, or two, or three, or four... but all-in-all I don't sense that there'll be a huge betrayal. Just love, friendship, family and sacrifice, wrapped up in an incredibly dark storyline.

How do I know? I don't, but common sense tells me I'm right. And since this is my blog, I'll just leave it at that. ;)

Normally I ignore the nasty comments from fans of the old series who absolutely hate the new series with a passion. However, this is my blog and I'm going to vent my spleen on the subject right here, right now.

If, gentle reader, you are one of those people who hates the New Who with a passion because it's not the Classic Who, and has had the bad taste to spend your online time trashing every detail of New Who, let me just give you a little tip to lower your blood pressure:

1. Step away from the computer
2. Pull out your Classic Who video tapes
3. Watch Classic Who, and forget New Who even exists

No, really, it gets tiring to watch someone complain about something they can easily just change the channel on, or just plain turn off altogether. Why people choose to go to websites and blogs about Doctor Who and specifically go to sections for the new series to bitch and moan, when there are perfectly good places to just discuss Classic Who, is beyond me. The only thing I can think of to explain it is that they're not really against New Who at all. They just like being trolls.

It's simply not fair to those of us who like New Who to have to wade through post after post of constant complaints and insults towards something we enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, don't participate in discussions about it.

And vice versa, by the way. If you're a New Who lover who thinks the Classic Who was lame for whatever reason, either find a constructive way to express that opinion, or stay out of Classic Who discussions. You are neither wanted nor needed there.

I guess common courtesy is about as "common" as common sense, eh?