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Changes, and a Giveaway!

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This post officially marks the beginning of my sixth year of blogging. Two days ago (11 Jan 2016) was the fifth anniversary of the publication of my very first post and, thereby, the launching of the blog. Over the years I’ve posted ninety-seven Confessions, twenty Nu-Views, fifteen Retro-Views, and nearly one hundred fifty (!) reviews of new episodes, DVDs, and audio adventures (with a couple of books thrown in for good measure). I’ve also written a smattering of miscellaneous posts describing my experiences at conventions and such.

For the past five years, I have posted at least once a week, every Wednesday and then some. I’ve made something like three hundred entries on Confessions of a Neowhovian, and I don’t have any plans to stop. However, as I stated at the beginning of my not-tongue-in-cheek-enough April Fool’s post last year, that has become wearing. Unless I’m writing a review or a Nu-View, the seeds that turn into posts are ever harder to come by.

In order not to burn myself out completely, then, I’ve decided to make some changes to my blogging practices that I hope will keep both me and you, my readers, engaged. Specifically, I’m going to change the frequency of my posts to allow myself more time both to devise interesting topics and to focus on my other (fiction) writing projects.

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Reader Poll Roundup: Series Nine Edition

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When I drew my comparisons last year between Series Seven and Series Eight, I had to do a little handwaving because of the difference in the lengths of those series (thirteen and twelve episodes, respectively). For similar reasons, the switch between Doctors was difficult to quantify. This time I can draw more direct parallels as both the number of episodes and the current Doctor are the same between S8 and S9; S7 will also get a look-in.

Beginning with the average (mean) ratings of episodes, we see the usual ups and downs over the course of the series. To get the average rating for any given episode, each star rating (e.g., 5 stars) was multiplied by the number of votes it got, the results added, and the sum divided by the total number of votes. For Series Nine, we get the following:

Although there are some peaks and valleys (more on that later), we see that the ratings were fairly consistent throughout the series. Fully half of them fall within less than a third of a star of each other (from 3.45 to 3.75 stars).

If we rearrange the data to show how the episodes scored from highest to lowest, we can see the trend more clearly (note that the episodes are different colors between the above and below charts; apologies for the vagaries of my visualization software):

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Five Point Countdown Plan

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Next month will bring a new series of Doctor Who to our screens, but what are we supposed to do with ourselves during the five intervening Saturdays between now and then? Watching more Doctor Who always seems like a good plan, so I propose a five-week regimen of episodes from each of the extant eight series of modern/post-Hiatus Who to tide you over.

I’ve put together a curated list of episodes that I recommend for this exercise. When I outline the plan below, I’ll also explain why I’ve made these particular selections. As always, take my list with a grain of salt, as YMMV regarding what is representative of any given Doctor/Companion/series, and what is worth repeated viewings.

As I put together my list, I went through several iterations of how to structure the schedule, and eventually settled on two episodes per session: one story from each of the eight series (including a single two-parter) and a special. Some that I’ve chosen are longer than the standard 45-minute run time, but each weekly installment still clocks in at between an hour and a half and two hours.

So without further ado, I present to you my five-part plan for ramping back up to Series Nine.

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CONsole Room 2015 Recap

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This past weekend (29-31 May 2015) was CONsole Room 2015. I’m thrilled that a local-to-me dedicated Doctor Who convention has cropped up and made it successfully through its second year. I have every intention of continuing to patronize it, and am considering upgrading to the Sponsor level. More on that later.

[Side note: I apologize for the lack of photos. After moving house a week prior to the con, I didn’t really have my head on straight, and wouldn’t have been sure where to look for my camera even if I’d remembered. The few photos I did take (with my iPod) were simply too poor to post.]

As last year, I began my con experience on Thursday night at the Pre-Con Mixer. It was a fun time to socialize with the friends I’d made there previously, but due to guest-of-honor Colin Baker’s bad knee, he wasn’t able to circulate among the crowd as Sophie Aldred and Deborah Watling had (and to be honest, we were really spoiled by how much time Sophie spent with us last year). Nor did our table get any time with the other guests of honor. Ellie and Joseph Darcy-Alden (Francesca and Digby from The Snowmen) were unable to be there at all, and though I saw Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones of Torchwood) come in, that was the last time I spotted him.

Having had my expectations raised so far by my first experience, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the Mixer wasn’t quite as fabulous for me the second time around. I doubt, however, that the mild disappointment I felt will be enough to deter me from attending the Mixer next year.

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Farewell, Cruel World

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I've posted at least weekly on this blog for more than four years now. Sometimes the posts come to me easily, and sometimes I struggle, but I've been consistent. Lately, though, it's become more and more difficult to keep up as the low-hanging fruit have mostly been plucked, and the pressures of "real life" impinge on my mental space.

So I'm afraid it's time for me to quote one-time Doctor Who writer and script editor Douglas Adams and say, "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"

While Confessions of a Neowhovian is not a high-traffic blog, I seem to have a small but loyal readership. I truly appreciate all of you, and hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed sharing.

Maybe it's past time I stepped out anyway—this whole fandom is bonkers. Seems practically everyone has a love/hate relationship with the show, and I just can't handle that kind of uncertainty. I've got enough to worry about back here on Planet Me. All the discussion and examination of the same ol' stuff over and over has gotten old. I probably won't even bother re-watching old episodes any more; been there, seen that.

All that is to say, this whole blog thing isn't my cup of tea any more. So today's post is the last one I'll be making. See y'all around the Internet.

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Gally 2015 Recap

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I did a bad job taking my own photos this year. In fact, as I was packing up, I realized I’d never even taken my actual camera out of my bag. While I do have a few taken with my iPod, they’re low quality and exceedingly sporadic. Therefore, it is only through the generosity of others that I am able to bring you a photographic recap of the 26 Seasons of Gallifrey One.

In previous years when we’ve done our group cosplay, we’ve taken the opportunity to get a photo of all of us with one of the guests. Due to the pricing changes for those photo ops, we weren’t up for it this year (though now we can plan ahead for next year). So although several of us have individual shots with Barrowman (and goodness are they fun), we don’t have the entire League of Doctors (our Who character/comic character mashups) with him, which is a shame, as he’s been both Who and DC characters himself.

However, one of our friends (Andy Staats) had agreed to be our “official” photographer. With his kind permission, I’ve included a few of my favorites here. (Unless otherwise noted, all these are his; see more at flickr.) First up is the whole group of us.

We’ve got our Fifth Doctor/Power Girl mashup, our Poison Ivy/Amy Pond (“Poison Amy”), our Harley Quinn/Fourth Doctor, our Loki/Eleventh Doctor (“Elevki”), our River Song/Catwoman, and our Eighth Doctor/Thor (“DocThor,” which is me).

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The 26 Seasons of Gallifrey One: Day Three

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There is a sudden, subtle melancholy to a Gally Sunday. Everyone can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s the train barreling down on us.

Most folks seem to start slowly on this last day of the con. That worked to the advantage of the poor organizers, who have had to switch schedules around due to Alex Kingston’s absence. So instead of the Program A lineup beginning with Barrowman at 10am and Kingston going on at noon, with a live commentary in between, they screened Last Christmas at 10am and had Barrowman start at noon.

My day on the con floor started at 11am with that live commentary, which was writer Jamie Mathieson talking about his episode Mummy on the Orient Express. Episodes I really like are harder commentaries to sit through for me, because I kind of just want to watch what’s happening on screen, but it was interesting to hear his comments about how the story evolved from early drafts through the finished product. My favorite story, which I actually first heard in a panel earlier in the weekend (though I doubt I’ll ever tire of it), was that the cigarette case full of jelly babies was nowhere in the script—that was all Capaldi.

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The 26 Seasons of Gallifrey One: Day Two

My Saturday was panel-rich. I jumped in right at the beginning of programming with “The Gallifrey Genderbend,” a panel discussing the pros and cons of a future incarnation of the Doctor being (or at least presenting) female. There was some rich conversation, including a rapid shift near the beginning from “should it happen” to “who should be cast.” Later, the panelists conducted an informal poll asking who thinks the Doctor should at some point be a woman—yes, no, or don’t care. There were some hands for each option, but the solid majority voted “yes.” Time will tell.

Next I sat in on the interviews of Carole Ann Ford (the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan) and Wendy Padbury (Second Doctor Companion Zoë). Each of them had some fabulous stories about things besides their time on Doctor Who. Carole Ann talked about her early career in a rambling, roundabout way that included getting in a cage with a tiger at the London Zoo, among other things. Wendy talked a little about her time as an agent, including how she became Matt Smith’s first agent (and got him his first job within days of first seeing him). Both are delightful people.

I took a short break to grab lunch and get Carole Ann’s autograph in the dealers’ room before heading to the next panel to meet some of my friends there. On my way into the dealers’ room, I ran across said friends, though. One of them was still shaking from the adrenaline rush of getting her photo taken with John Barrowman. For the past three years, since she first made her 60’s style TARDIS costume, she’s wanted this photo, and she finally got it. I have to say, “Captain Jack” clinging to the TARDIS is among the best celebrity/fan photos I’ve ever seen. She had every right to be excited.

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The 26 Seasons of Gallifrey One: Day One

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Gally started full speed this year. LobbyCon was already in progress Wednesday night, and by Thursday it was insane. People had Fourth-Doctor-sized ribbon chains well before the con even began.

As for me, I had the chance to hang with the awesome local friends after I got in on Wednesday night. I’d planned to spend Thursday sitting in the lobby writing and socializing, but another pair of friends roped me into an excursion around town. So we traipsed off to the La Brea Tar Pits (equal parts fascinating and disturbing), then had lunch at Pink’s Hot Dogs.

Somewhere along the way, we heard the disappointing last-minute news that Alex Kingston had to cancel her appearance, since poor weather at her current filming location (Vancouver) had pushed filming out through the weekend. I think the screams of tortured Whovians could be heard throughout LA.

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Incoming!

Today’s the day I give my annual forewarning to my readers that the onslaught of Gallifrey One posts is about to begin. This year marks my fourth time attending the con, and more of the usual shenanigans are on the horizon.

I was all set to make this post about various panels, planned costumes, and so on, but things took an unexpected turn last week when I slipped while walking the dog (fresh, fluffy snow + previously-melted-to-a-fine-sheen ice = super slippery), fell, and broke my wrist. So my Gally 2015 experience may well have a strong cast-related component.

One of my first thoughts on having the break confirmed (I was pretty sure it wasn’t just sprained, but you have to have X-rays to tell for sure) was, “At least it won’t interfere with my new cosplay!” As with the last two years, I’ll be part of a group cosplay. This one we’ve dubbed the “League of Doctors”; it involves mashups of Doctors (or Companions) with superheroes (or sidekicks, or villains). My costume is sleeveless, so a bulky cast won’t completely ruin the look. Look for photos here in the roundup next week.

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