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More “Meh” Than Nemesis

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Review of Silver Nemesis (#151)
DVD Release Date: 02 Nov 10
Original Air Date: 23 Nov – 07 Dec 1988
Doctor/Companion: Seven, Ace McShane
Stars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Preceding Story: The Happiness Patrol (Seven, Ace)
Succeeding Story: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (Seven, Ace)

Marching through our list of under-represented Doctors (in terms of the percentage of their stories I have reviewed in one form or another), we come now to the Seventh Doctor, whose lone encounter with the Cybermen happened to fall on Doctor Who‘s twenty-fifth anniversary.

While the production team—writer Kevin Clarke in particular—made a valiant effort to add a sense of significance to the passage of that particular twenty-five years (1963-1988), the result was perhaps not as compelling as they might have hoped. Making that span the orbital period of an eccentric object (launched, it turns out, by the Doctor himself some 350 years prior) was not altogether a bad idea (presuming it’s orbiting the sun, that would put it beyond Jupiter, but not as far as Saturn, were it in a nearly circular orbit—which admittedly seems unlikely). However, the logical contortions they have to employ in order to make that quarter-century seem consistently historically significant are awkward at best (1913 is called out as “the eve of the First World War”; 1938 “Hitler annexes Austria”; 1963 “Kennedy assassinated”).

As for the Cybermen, they’re not even the eponymous Nemesis; that name actually belongs to a mysterious statue made of validium—”living metal.” Frankly, I found the title to be more about misdirection than double meaning. While one could argue that both statue and Cybermen are silver nemeses, the Cybermen are relegated to a secondary or even tertiary role.

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Confession #101: I’m Tired of Speculating

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About two and a half weeks ago, on 23 Apr 2016, we got the latest big news in the continual evolution of our show: the announcement of the new Companion. In a two-minute video titled “Friend from the Future,” we were introduced to Pearl Mackie’s character Bill as she and the Doctor hid from Daleks. Fandom immediately began passing judgement.

I will admit that first impressions can be important in forming an attachment to a character, but I find it astounding that some fans have already decided they either love or hate Bill based on 124 seconds of footage. I only read a few reactions (mostly along the lines of, “Why won’t she shut up? What part of ‘killing machines’ doesn’t she get?”) before I stopped paying attention.

Frankly, I’m tired of all the speculation so far ahead of the fact.

Regardless, it’s kind of the bread and butter of fandom (especially for those of us who blog) to leap into the speculative fray. I’m therefore essentially duty-bound to give you my own thoughts on what may be in store for us once Bill’s adventures aboard the TARDIS come to our screens. Long time readers will be shocked (sarcasm) to hear that I am “cautiously optimistic.”

Here’s the thing. While I can see the point of those who think Bill’s lack of chill when faced with Daleks makes a poor addition to a potential Companion’s résumé, all we have by which to judge her is this tiny snippet of time during which she is immersed in a completely foreign situation. We have no idea what led up to that moment, what else she may or may not have been exposed to while with the Doctor up to this point, or what else in her life might have led her to find him in any way credible. In other words, we know nothing, Jon Snow. (Sorry—wrong franchise.)

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All That Is Gold Doesn’t Glitter

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Review of Revenge of the Cybermen (#79)
DVD Release Date: 02 Nov 10
Original Air Date: 19 Apr – 10 May 1975
Doctor/Companion: Four, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan
Stars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter
Preceding Story: Genesis of the Daleks (Four, Sarah Jane, Harry)
Succeeding Story: Terror of the Zygons (Four, Sarah Jane, Harry)

Continuing my exploration of Cybermen stories featuring Doctors who have been under-represented in my reviews over the years, this month I consider the Fourth Doctor’s only encounter with these iconic enemies in Revenge of the Cybermen.

Aside from being the first time in nearly six and a half years that the Cybermen had appeared on screen (and the last time for another seven), Revenge had the dubious honor of falling between what became two of the most highly regarded stories of the pre-Hiatus (and some would say any) era: Genesis of the Daleks and Terror of the Zygons. How, then, does a mild-mannered serial make its mark on the world? With a fabulous TARDIS team and a plot that has just enough twists to keep it interesting, of course.

The story opens—as every story in T. Baker’s first season—following directly on from the end of the prior one. The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry are all gripping the Time Ring, hoping to land back on Space Station Nerva where they began. Although they arrive intact, the TARDIS has not yet made the temporal adjustment to meet them. Obviously, they decide to look around while they wait.

To their dismay, they find dead bodies scattered everywhere. It turns out that Nerva Beacon, as it is currently known, has been under quarantine the last few months, as all but three crew members and one civilian (an exographer, there to study the asteroid the beacon is orbiting) have succumbed to a mysterious plague. However, what’s really behind all the deaths is even more sinister.

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Confession #100: I’m Still a Neowhovian

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Five plus years ago, when I decided to start this blog, it seemed to me that most of the opinions I was reading online about Doctor Who were being offered up by “old school” fans—the ones whose formative years included watching Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, or Peter Davison and who really seemed to know their shit. I’d been searching for a way to talk to more people about what I thought of the show, and figured writing a blog that came at it from the POV of a newb (I’d been a fan for only about two-and-a-half years at that point) could be my niche.

Since then, of course, fandom has continued to grow. Being “new to Who” is hardly uncommon these days—there’s even a Twitter hashtag about it. Further, as time marches on I have moved gradually toward that Old Guard territory, especially as I include the entirety of the pre-Hiatus/Classic run in my personal brand of fandom. I feel like some sort of weird hybrid (no Series Nine capital letter there, though) between those drawn in by the modern revival and those forever faithful to whichever flavor of the original run they grew up with.

At my core, though, I know I am still a neowhovian. Much as I adore the serial format and other hallmarks of the pre-Hiatus years (not least the various Doctors), I still view those stories through a lens of history rather than one of nostalgia. For me, nostalgia comes firmly in the form of the Ninth Doctor and Rose. Every time I hear the synthesizer sting screaming into those brass-heavy bars and the frenzy of the strings’ “Chase,” a sense of rightness and anticipation washes over me. To my brain, nothing will ever be so quintessentially Doctor Who as Series One.

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Attack of the Mediocre

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Review of Attack of the Cybermen (#138)
DVD Release Date: 07 Jul 09 (Out of Print)
Original Air Date: 05 – 12 Jan 1985
Doctor/Companion: Six, Peri Brown
Stars: Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant
Preceding Story: The Twin Dilemma (Six, Peri)
Succeeding Story: Vengeance on Varos (Six, Peri)

After I posted my last review, which was for the Peter Davison audio adventure Spare Parts, one of my regular readers pointed out that I haven’t reviewed all of the televised adventures, and suggested I consider doing more. Given that my focus has generally been on the more-readily-agreed-to-be-canonical TV run, I thought that was a great idea—especially since it also makes it easier to come up with something to post about.

So I went and made a list of the DVD reviews I’ve already done, and the stories covered on in Nu-Views and Retro-Views, and proceeded to make a convoluted spreadsheet. I decided I should begin with ones I’ve never touched on at all, and try to even out the proportionality of reviews to available serials across all the pre-Hiatus/Classic Doctors.

Colin Baker turned out to be most slighted in this sense, in that only two of his eleven serials (counting the Trial of a Time Lord as four serials) have been reviewed, and one of those was a Nu-View. That means 82% of C. Baker’s run is untouched (T. Baker is at 62%, Davison 60%, McCoy 50%, Troughton 50% (of existing serials), Hartnell 47% (existing), and Pertwee 33%). I seemed obvious, then to start with Ol’ Sixie. But which serial?

It didn’t take long for me to pick one, and several to come after. Having just witnessed the ultimate beginning of the Cybermen last month, and realizing that three more Doctors also had unreviewed Cybermen stories, I settled on a theme. First up, then, is Six’s encounter in Attack of the Cybermen.

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Confession #99: I’m as Fangirly as Anyone Else

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In midst of the announcements of the upcoming regime change in Doctor Who land, one major detail was left unresolved: the status of Peter Capaldi’s position as the lead. This week we learned that Capaldi has been asked to stay on, but hasn’t yet made a decision about whether or not to accept that invitation.

My reaction to this revelation was a combination of elation that the door hadn’t been closed entirely on the possibility of seeing Capaldi under a different showrunner and extreme wariness; I know how uncertain my desired outcome is. I recognize that there are plenty of folks on the other side of that fence, but that fact baffles me. I have never for a moment wished anything less than a T.Baker-esque tenure for Capaldi’s Doctor, so when I run across folks who think he’s the Worst Doctor Evar, I just can’t relate at all. As I reflected on that chasm of differing opinion, I realized that I am, in fact, a Capaldi Fangirl.

I almost hesitate to apply the label “fangirl” to myself, simply because of the vitriol that seems to come with it. For some people, being a fangirl is the worst possible thing another fan can be, a close cousin to the “fake geek girl.”

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Genesis of the Cybermen

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Review of Spare Parts (#34)
Big Finish Release Date: Jul 2002
Doctor/Companion: Five and Nyssa
Stars: Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton
Preceding Story: Neverland (Eight, Charley)
Succeeding Story: …Ish (Six, Peri)

Years ago when I first became aware of Big Finish and had conversations about which releases were “best,” Spare Parts came up again and again. It’s thus been on my “to listen” list for ages, though for one reason or another didn’t make it into the rotation until now.

Having now heard it, I completely understand why Spare Parts was recommended so highly. It has its pros and cons, as any of the audio adventures do, but what makes it so appealing is the way it adds to the larger tapestry of the Whoniverse—it’s the story of how the people of Mondas became the Cybermen, well before the Doctor first encountered those iconic antagonists in his First incarnation in The Tenth Planet.

Any good Cybermen story needs some body horror, and we get it here, though it’s not immediate; after all, we need to get to know characters besides the Doctor and Nyssa so that we can be properly appalled when horrible things happen to them. This slow burn adds to the tension as the TARDIS crew struggles with the implications of their actions on the future they know and what they believe, hope, or wish could be changed.

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Giveaway Winners!

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Thanks to everyone who entered The Neowhovian Experience giveaway! Prize-winners are listed here below, and I will be in contact with them to arrange delivery of their prizes.

For the rest of you, 2011 and 2012 editions of The Neowhovian Experience are available for purchase online now at Amazon (2011 here; 2012 here) in paperback. All remaining editions (2013, 2014, and 2015) will be going up soon in paperback; we will also release ebook versions of the remaining editions (2012-2015).

As the cover art for 2015 is still pending and my layout designer is still finishing up page proofs, I don’t have an exact date for when each of the new editions will go on sale, but rest assured I will keep you posted as the situation develops.

     

 

Now for our winners!

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Gallifrey One – Station 27: Day Three

It’s interesting how unique a character each of the three days of Gally has, and how consistent those characters are from year to year. For me, at least, Friday is fairly giddy, with a “pinch me; I can’t believe how much awesome there is, and it’s only just starting!” vibe. Saturday is the super busy con-in-full-swing day that never seems to slow down. Then there’s Sunday, which always suffers a vague pall of sadness somewhere in that mental space between denial and acceptance as everyone tries to squeeze all possible awesomeness out of the last of our time together.

As the day marches inexorably toward Closing Ceremonies, the harsh reality of another ending becomes ever more undeniable and friends cling together or seek each other out, having somehow missed each other the rest of the weekend. So as I sit in the unusually empty lobby on Monday morning, I look back on Day Three with a combination of melancholy and gratitude for more great experiences.

My Sunday on the con floor started in the audience of an interview panel with Sir John Hurt. There were several memorable moments, including his answer to an audience question about whether he’d ever, shall we say, taken anything home from the set that he wasn’t strictly supposed to take. He said that after the first Harry Potter movie (in which he played Olivander the wand maker from Diagon Alley), he brought home four wands for his two sons and a couple of nephews. Then he told us that people sometimes bring their wands in boxes to him to be signed and “I remember making every one of them.”

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Gallifrey One – Station 27: Day Two

Saturday at Gally always feels most hectic, though not in a frenetic way. The stress, at least for me, tends to come from the fact that there’s always awesomeness available than it’s ever possible for a single person to partake in (though I’ll admit I’ve seen a few folks with time turners…). On the up side, programming never begins first thing in the morning. For some attendees, that means they have time recover a little from the previous night’s hangover; for me, it means time to blog.

So after getting my Day One recap finished and posted, I had plenty of time to laze about our hotel room and get dressed in my cosplay for the day before my first event. That happened to be the second of my two panels. Just as my first one, “Ninth Symphony” (a review of Series Nine) proved to be a fascinating discussion with lots of input from both the panelists and audience members.

From there, I headed straight to the Verity! meetup where they were giving away Verity! tumblers, candy, and ribbons (each Verity had her own color). Someone even brought a cake to share (including the inscription “Because cake should be a business expense”). Everyone, fans and podcasters alike, was lovely, and I was sad to duck out early.

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