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Confession #70: I Want to See Others’ “Christmases”

We have plenty of evidence of the Doctor’s familiarity with British culture and customs, including its religious ones. He’s also at least aware of many other human practices and can identify them as readily as he does members of Species X from Planet Y (e.g., recognizing that Rita was Muslim in The God Complex). So I can’t help but wonder what sort of winter festivals he could show us, were we to travel with him to the far reaches of the Galaxy.

Usually when we get a look in on the Doctor, he’s put his foot in it, and things are about to go all wahooney shaped. But it’s only when he’s on Earth that we ever seem to see his adventures intersect with an annual religious/cultural festival. The closest thing I can think of off the top of my head is the Festival of Offerings in The Rings of Akhaten, but that was a rarity, rather than yearly event. Why don’t we get to see other people celebrating their “most wonderful times of the year”?

Granted, certain species aren’t likely to have any such thing. Given that the Daleks don’t (normally) have a concept of blasphemy (see: The Parting of the Ways), they wouldn’t have a sense of the sacred, either. No Dalek Christmas, then. Similarly, I find it unlikely that the “emotionless” (~cough~) Cybermen would have any such thing. Not exactly a celebratory lot.

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Confession #69: I’m Dreaming of a Blue Christmas

December gets super busy for most folks I know. Several of us are coming down off of NaNoWriMo and attending to tasks we’d let slide during November (like paying bills, or bathing). Some are gearing up for the heavy gifting season (whether that be Christmas, Hanukkah, or other holiday of choice). Others are just waiting to see what the Christmas special has in store for us.

But what the upcoming holiday season means to me—aside from a couple of weeks during which I lose those eight hours a day when I don’t have to keep track of my kids—is a prime opportunity to catch up on my Whoniversal pastimes. Life kind of hit me upside the head this year, and I’m feeling really behind on almost everything (for someone who used to get all her Christmas shopping done by the end of August, that’s an unsettling place to be). I mean, I didn’t even get my plane ticket for Gallifrey One (affectionately known as “Gally”; coming up in February) until just this past Monday!

So although I find myself alternating between the flappy hands of glee at the prospect of more Capaldi on Christmas and the eyerolls of cynicism when I remember he’ll be accompanied by Kris Kringle himself, there’s no waffling when it comes to my anticipation of the pending break. Not only do I have plans for concocting our family’s “usual suspects” list of holiday goodies, but there’s so much Who-related stuff for me to do, I’m practically dreaming in TARDIS blue.

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Confession #68: I’ve Found “The” Doctor

There have been some wildly varying reactions to Series Eight both around “t3h Intarwebz” and here on the blog. (A big “thank you!”, by the way, to everyone who’s taken the time to vote in the reader polls or comment on a post. I love hearing from you!) I’ve heard pretty much everything from “Moffat must go!” to “Best. Series. Evar!”, not to mention quite a few opinions in between.

This wild variation could be seen in microcosm for almost every episode, too. Next week, when I post the aggregate results of the reader polls for this series, I’ll go into more detail, but suffice it to say, several stories with lots of 5-star votes also got a lot of 0-star votes. Anecdotal evidence from online conversations bears out this love-it-or-hate-it reaction to much of the series.

The one thing I haven’t really seen, though, is Capaldi hate.

Of course, there’s always someone; no Doctor—no person—has universal appeal. And perhaps it’s just due to the particular corners of the Internet that I frequent (I’ll admit that it’s rather insular, by design) that I haven’t seen angry fans frothing for Capaldi’s immediate removal. But I’ve been pleased (though not surprised, thanks to personal bias) that even when people ranted about the hyper-stinkitude of this or that episode, and called for other heads (particularly Moffat’s), there’s been no sense that Capaldi’s to blame for any perceived shortcomings in the series.

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Confession #67: I Won’t Be Sad to See the Back of Clara

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This past weekend, just days before the first episode of Series Eight is to air, rumors started to surface that Companion actress Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) would leave the show at the end of the series (specifically, at Christmas). Should the rumors prove true, Clara’s departure comes sooner than I would have anticipated, but I can’t honestly say I’ll be sad to see her go.

That’s not to say I actively dislike the character, and I certainly think Jenna has done well with what she’s been given. I simply have never taken to her. As long as two years ago, before she even arrived on the scene, I was disinclined to enjoy Clara’s turn in the TARDIS. As I pointed out at the time, she’s yet another in a long line of 21st Century Brits to tag along with the Doctor, and it’s getting tiresome.

Once she had a chance to show her personality, though, she… barely had one. No, that’s not fair. Clara’s got a personality; what she doesn’t have is agency. The character’s entire raison d’être is dependent on the well being of someone else (“I was born to save the Doctor”). From a narrative standpoint, she’s only there—just like Amy was in Series Five—as a mystery for the Doctor to unravel (the Impossible Girl).

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Confession #66: I Need a TARDIS

I know everybody talks about needing a TARDIS so they can do everything they want to get done in their busy lives. I’ve said that on many an occasion myself (though perhaps a Time-Turner like Hermione used in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban would be more appropriate for venues like Gallifrey One). Nothing new there.

But I need a TARDIS for the storage space.

Seriously—why can’t I rent a storage locker that takes up 5’x10′ in the building floor plan, but is actually the size of my house? Taking decades’ worth of accumulated crap (some of it more crappy than others) and whittling it down into a space small enough to be transported 4 or 5 miles (~7 km) across town is a mighty endeavor. If I didn’t have to worry about cramming it all into a volume the size of a single room (or even three), I’d be much less stressed out right now.

And being able to store it all right in the vehicle that would haul it? Bonus!

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Confession #65: I’m Not (Just) a Neowhovian

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Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a local general-SFF convention called CONvergence. I understand it’s pretty well known, even outside the Twin Cities, and Who writer Paul Cornell (also a perennial guest at Gally) tweeted some pretty complimentary things, too. I suspect at least a few of my readers have heard of it, if not attended it themselves.

This being another one of those tricky in-town cons for me (complicated by the fact that we are in the throes of packing up to move house), I dashed in and out of the con again, getting only the tiniest taste of the experience. Each of the four days, I attended only one or two panels, including Cornell’s “Advanced Cricket for Americans” masterclass on Friday afternoon. (What’s more American than playing cricket on Independence Day? Errr…..)

What really threw me off, though, was that I am still very much a newb where cons are concerned; this was my first broad-spectrum con (as opposed to a dedicated Who con). Not only was it much larger than any other I’ve attended (about twice the size of Gally), but it was packed to the gills with other fandoms.

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Confession #64: I’m Nervous About August

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This week we finally got a formal announcement that the first episode of Series 8 will go out on 23 August (as several fans had already surmised). While I’m still looking forward to Capaldi as our new Doctor, I’m getting really nervous about what the series has in store.

I’ll admit, a lot of it has to do with Moffat remaining at the helm. When the Grand Moff first came on board, I was pretty psyched. I’d really enjoyed his episodes under RTD, and figured we were in for some great storytelling. Three series later, though, I’m long since ready for him to move on. (This week’s other news—that Moffat is staying at least through Series 9—thus had me grinding my teeth.) The real question, though, is whether the change in lead will yield any change in either tone or structure of the stories being told.

Capaldi himself has been in the business a long time, and as a life-long Doctor Who fan (like Moffat), has his own ideas about what is or is not Doctor-ish. I can’t help but wonder whether or not these two facts will allow Capaldi the confidence to push back against Moffat. Something about Matt Smith makes me doubt he would ever have dreamed of second-guessing the man. I can only hope having someone equally knowledgeable of the Doctor’s history might rein in this show-runner.

Because seriously—it’s time for some new tropes.

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Confession #63: I Wonder If the Doctor Gets Vacations

Do you suppose the Doctor’s vacations ever go to plan?

There have been a few times here and there where we’ve witnessed him taking his various Companions off to some particular (intended) place and time for the sole purpose of relaxation and recreation. Most often, the results are less than ideal, as the TARDIS crew gets pulled into some brand of local trouble.

For example, in the eponymous tale, the Fourth Doctor took Romana II to the Leisure Hive to make use of its famous facilities. Of course, they find themselves smack in middle of serious political machinations instead. More recently, Ten took Rose off to New15 York in New Earth, only to discover something seriously wrong with the medical research facility. Even when he merely takes a moment out of his otherwise full schedule to fish (see, e.g., The Androids of Tara or The Two Doctors), things soon go all wahooney-shaped.

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Confession #62: I Hate Spoilers

Fans are notorious for, shall we say, extreme enthusiasm in anticipation of new material. It’s a key characteristic, no matter the fandom. Along with that fervor, though, comes a more controversial byproduct: the spoiler.

The Internet really seems to have changed the way we interact with our media of choice. Whether it be film, television, books, or any other format, fans now have near-instantaneous contact with both creators and other fans. Creators, who are still accustomed to the traditional idea that they can control how their stories are presented to their audiences through the specific publicity they sanction, have sometimes had difficulty adjusting to the new realities of cyberfanaticism.

This issue is especially prevalent in visual media, like Doctor Who. Instead of images, potential plot points, and other juicy details coming directly from the production team when and as they see fit, eager fans (or unscrupulous insiders) tend to leak them to social media, where they spread like wildfire. Such spoilers change the intended narrative, and sometimes ruin what were meant to be surprises carefully crafted over as much as months. Thus, as you might expect—and like absolutely everything else in fandom—spoilers tend to polarize fans.

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Confession #61: I Want a 50th Boxed Set

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Over the weekend, reports surfaced that The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot; the unofficial-but-officially-sanctioned half-hour special written and directed by Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and co-starring Colin Baker (Six), Sylvester McCoy (Seven), and (briefly) Paul McGann (Eight); would at some point be released on DVD. The source of this information is apparently C. Baker himself, sharing the news at a Doctor Who Appreciation Society event. Details are ridiculously sketchy, pretty much only including the fact that it’s slated to happen and that it will be part of a “special set” focused on Matt Smith.

Folks are already speculating wildly about what will be on this rumored set, though most (like me) seem to have settled on the idea that it will be something 50th anniversary-related. My favorite overly enthusiastic and admittedly too optimistic list of items that might be included encompassed everything from the Proms to Hurt interviews to a specially created farewell to Eleven.

Admittedly, if it does turn out to be an anniversary set, there is a lot of material from which to choose. A lot of material was only available in one part of the world or another (e.g., the aforementioned Proms, or the Doctors Revisited series which didn’t make it to the UK until mere weeks before the anniversary). But how likely do we really think it is that BBC Worldwide would include videos of panel interviews, for instance? Realistically, there’s a pretty short list of what they’re likely to use.

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