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Tag: Paternoster Gang

CONsole Room 2019 Recap

First things first: Welcome to year nine of Confessions of a Neowhovian (~throws confetti~ ~releases “Happy Blog Birthday” balloons~)!

As I look through my posts, I realize that I haven’t reported back regularly to my readers about the happenings at my local con these past few years. I can understand why I’ve done it that way; after the first couple of years, my attendance at CONsole Room has been a bit more casual. I don’t have anything particularly scintillating, like photos with the guests or even my own cosplays, to share.

But although I haven’t ignored it completely, mentioning CONsole Room in passing from time to time, I thought I should be a bit more formal about it this year—especially as CONsole Room has moved from May to January.

As usual, experiencing it as a commuter con colors my perceptions of CONsole Room, as does the added factor of bringing my daughters along. There were plenty of panels and activities that, had I been a “captive audience” for the con, I would gladly have attended, and almost certainly would have enjoyed. Given my personal constraints, though, this year my attendance was limited to Saturday and a single Friday evening panel.

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Confession #115: I’m Considering Cutting Corners

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My daughters have continued to expand their Doctor Who horizons in the past few months (we’re currently on a Seven-and-Ace kick), which has led them to a broader awareness of my own fannish activities. The last time I mentioned some breaking guest news from Gallifrey One, for example, one of them pouted, “I really want to go to Gally…”

It dawned on me last weekend that although getting them to Gally with me is unlikely to prove financially feasible any time soon (flying roughly 2000 miles isn’t cheap for one, let alone three or four—never mind the cost of lodging, food, and souvenirs), we have a local Doctor Who con (CONsole Room) where they could dip their toes into the experience.

So I wandered over to the CONsole Room site to see what the con might have in store for my girls, should we decide to go. At this early stage (we’re still seven months out), there isn’t a lot of detail to be had. However, there is a headliner who’s been announced, and having seen her myself at Gally, I can vouch for her being a great guest: Neve McIntosh (a.k.a. Madame Vastra). I bet the girls would love her.

Except they currently have no idea who Vastra is.

Now I’m in a bit of a pickle. I have been trying hard not to force any viewing on my kids, because I want them to want to watch my favorite show, rather than to feel pressured into it, thereby enjoying it less. I’ve presented some options throughout the Classic/pre-Hiatus run, and let them choose among those curated offerings. My reasoning is sometimes peculiar, but so far they haven’t come away disliking anything, even the more esoteric and oft-disparaged serials.

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What’s in a ‘Name’?

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Review of The Name of the Doctor
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

So many conflicting emotions. Parts of this finale were brilliant, and I really wanted to love the whole thing. I’m afraid I’m going to have to admit that I’m turning into something of a curmudgeon, though; this show is not entirely for me anymore.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2013 BBC

I’m betting there are few Moffat fans (perhaps more specifically “River fans”) who didn’t adore this episode. For my part, as someone who has been a Doctor/River denialist rather than a shipper, the otherwise lovely bits of the story were somewhat tarnished by the saccharine (Brits would say “twee,” I suppose) farewell between them.

I’ll admit the way River was used through the rest of the episode was clever, and overall I like her. I’ve just never bought that there was a strong, romantic love between them (at least, not reciprocated by the Doctor), so while I was completely caught up in the “you can see me?” conversation, as it ground inexorably toward a big, wet smoochie, I found myself thinking, “Oh, no. Please don’t. He’s gonna – aw, damn!”

One thing that really gets me about this new, post-Library River (who knew that was even possible?) is the fact that we’re left to conclude that she has literally been haunting him for years. I’m not sure I care for that idea. Makes him rather a jerk to ignore her that whole time, doesn’t it? Is she less “real” – does she “count” less – because she’s in the mainframe, and so it’s OK for him not to think about her feelings at all? Way to respect the person you supposedly love, Doctor.

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The Cat’s (Partly) Out of the Bag

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Review of A Good Man Goes to War
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

This one was a real mixed bag for me. Sure, it was a huge-scale production, with epic tie-ins where the Doctor called in favors from across time and space. But it all felt a bit too much. Also – the Spitfires? I ~edit~ hate the Spitfires-in-Space (…which you’d already know if I’d been blogging last year and had published the scathing review I wrote of Victory of the Daleks)! So take out a few of those called-in favors to make it feel less cobbled together (seriously, it has the kitchen sink feel of some of RTD’s most egregious I’m-trying-too-hard ventures), and the story will drive it just fine.

There is, after all, plenty of drama. Will our heroes recover the baby? What is the real motivation behind her abduction? How far will the Doctor go down the path to the Dark Side? (How far can Moffat take a religious order created via an off-the-cuff text message?) Oh, yeah – and who’s River Song?

The episode started out on a wonderful high. I thought it was a lovely twist how Amy talked up the man who was coming for Melody, making the viewers think she was referring to the Doctor (“he’s the last of his kind”; “he looks young, but he’s lived for hundreds and hundreds of years”). That misdirection made for a wonderful skip-a-beat moment when she said that man was Melody’s father, and in turn gave a slightly different meaning to the episode’s title, if one cares to interpret it that way. Not only that, but it bolsters our view of the Amy/Rory relationship and gives the ring of truth to his assertion that “she always knows that I am coming for her!” in Day of the Moon. God, how I love Rory the Badass Roman!

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