strange and random happenstance

Reveal: Robbie Williams by Chris Heath
Published by: Blink Publishing
Publication Date: November 28th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""It's a diary of a very modern entertainer and his ever-changing thoughts, the story of somebody who escaped Butlins, and the tale of a pop star trying to find his feet again after coming out of early retirement. It's true, and funny, and occasionally sad, and well-written, and very entertaining. I hope people enjoy it." Robbie

More than twelve years ago, Robbie Williams and Chris Heath published a ground-breaking memoir, Feel, about Robert P. Williams' rise to fame; a book that was met with worldwide acclaim, from critics and fans alike. Since that time, Robbie has released six solo albums, reunited with his old band Take That and, in the wake of his twelfth UK number-one album, has returned to the stage with a sold-out run at Wembley Stadium. In Reveal, bestselling author Chris Heath has been working closely with Robbie for many years to create a personal and raw account of fame, fortune, family and music; a vivid and detailed story of the real highs and lows as Robbie has found his way forward, that is unprecedented in its intimacy and honesty. Long-awaited by millions, Reveal is the uncensored and compelling portrait of the man as you've never seen him before."

I have a vague recollection I read Feel and it revealed a little TMI... so yeah, I'll still read this and probably regret I did in the end, but I love me some Robbie. 

The Sabling Volume 2: Roots by George Mann
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: November 28th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Doctor, Alice, and the Sapling – now growing further into adulthood – take on another selection of insane adventures!

Still missing many of their most treasured memories, the TARDIS team stumble across a Memory Ark, and their reality starts to fray further at the edges...

Can the Doctor and Alice stop the Sapling from growing into the genocidal creature of destruction it is doomed to be? Can they reclaim their missing memories without destroying this new being? And can they have amazing, brain-bending trips through time and space along the way?

To the last question – absolutely! For everything else, you’ll need to read on!"

Dammit George, you've had like a book a month out here, it's a little hard on the wallet of someone who has to have everything you do!

The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross by Lisa Tuttle
Published by: Random House LLC
Publication Date: November 28th, 2017
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"The paranormal answer to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Jesperson and Lane are turning the Victorian era upside down in this bewitching series from John W. Campbell Award winner Lisa Tuttle.

“Witch!” cries the young man after stumbling unexpectedly into the London address of the consulting-detective partnership of Mr. Jasper Jesperson and Miss Lane. He makes the startling accusation while pointing toward Miss Lane . . . then he drops dead. Thus begins the strangest case yet to land—quite literally—on the doorstep of Jesperson and Lane.

According to the coroner, Charles Manning died of a heart attack—despite being in perfect health. Could he have been struck down by a witch’s spell? The late Mr. Manning’s address book leads Jesperson and Lane to the shrieking pits of Aylmerton, an ancient archaeological site reputed to be haunted by a vengeful ghost. There they sift through the local characters, each more suspicious than the last: Manning’s associate, Felix Ott, an English folklore enthusiast; Reverend Ringer, a fierce opponent of superstition; and the Bulstrode sisters, a trio of beauties with a reputation for witchcraft.

But when an innocent child goes missing, suddenly Jesperson and Lane aren’t merely trying to solve one murder—they’re racing to prevent another."

Yes, that atmospheric cover sold me on this book even before I read the blurb. 

Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Moran
Published by: HQN
Publication Date: November 28th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sarah Morgan is back with more love and laughter in her acclaimed series, From Manhattan With Love, which Publishers Weekly calls a “sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic experience.”

Determined to conquer a lifetime of shyness, Harriet Knight challenges herself to do one thing a day in December that scares her, including celebrating Christmas without her family. But when dog walker Harriet meets her newest client, exuberant spaniel Madi, she adds an extra challenge to her list—dealing with Madi’s temporary dog sitter, gruff doctor Ethan Black, and their very unexpected chemistry.

Ethan thought he was used to chaos, until he met Madi—how can one tiny dog cause such mayhem? To Ethan, the solution is simple—he will pay Harriet to share his New York apartment and provide twenty-four-hour care. But there’s nothing simple about how Harriet makes him feel.

Ethan’s kisses make Harriet shine brighter than the stars over moonlit Manhattan. But when his dog-sitting duties are over and Harriet returns to her own home, will she dare to take the biggest challenge of all—letting Ethan know he has her heart for life, not just for Christmas?"

Christmas in New York has always been something I want to experience. Until then I have books like this. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Doctor Who, Feel, George Mann, Jesperson and Lane, Lisa Tuttle, Moonlight over Manhattan, New York, Reveal, Robbie Williams, The 11th Doctor, The Curious Affair of the Witch and Wayside Cross, Tuesday Tomorrow

Fifty years, now that shows endurance. With the rebooting of the regeneration cycle we can have a whole new slew of Doctors (see, I waited to write this till after the Christmas special). Even if the show goes fallow again like it did in the 90s, the fan base is strong enough to keep it going, to make a comeback feasible. But how is this possible? Why does The Doctor endure? A fan base cannot be the only reason. I feel it's a combination of two factors, people love the familiar, and people love something new. No matter when you turn into the show, in essence, it's always a mad man in a box. Yet the face might be a new one or an old one, the companion someone you don't know, or the writers putting a twist on it that you never thought and you hopefully agree with. The love and nostalgia of the familiar, and the hope of something new, because, right now, I do have hope, I have to, because I've just said goodbye to my Raggedy Man, and while I don't think it was the send off he deserved, he is now gone. The Doctor is dead, long live The Doctor. Perhaps for another fifty years?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Matt Smith, Raggedy Man, The 11th Doctor, The 12th Doctor

The first question to ask when picking a tree for your Doctor Who Christmas is which color? In my mind you have two choices. One is TARDIS blue, the other is white. I wanted, no needed, TARDIS blue. Oddly enough it wasn't too hard to find a tree of this color, and a small one at that, for a nice table top tree. Seriously, I think Amazon does have everything you could possibly need. At $100, this was the big ticket item, everything else I bought didn't even equal this, which was very nice on my wallet. Also, this tree had some interesting fiber optic capabilities... which, well, they were odd when turned on and the tree would strobe green and red and blue, but when off, the little fiber optics caught the light really well and made it shine that much more.

The next question I asked myself is what does Doctor Who and the TARDIS represent to me. So I thought, blue box shooting through outer space to see the stars. Stars would therefore become a theme. So as for tree illumination, I wanted something faceted that would twinkle like the stars as Wilf looked through his telescope. I picked these LED lights up at target for a song.

After tree and lights, the next item on a tree is always the garlands. Because I had gone with the blue verses the white tree, then the garlands would have to be the white accents of the TARDIS, whereas if I had gone with a white tree I would have needed TARDIS blue garlands (which oddly I already own, but refer to them as my Cookie Monster garlands... which makes me realise that Cookie Monster is the same color as the TARDIS!) This white garland I found at Target for $3.50.

Next, there's the stars. I loved this garland I found and target, because not only was it a cheap $2.00, but because the stars seemed to be alive in a spinning vortex of silver. Like the TARDIS racing through the space time continuum in the opening credits.

I mean, seriously, look how cool this is!

And because one garland of stars is NEVER enough, I picked these up at Target for another $3.00. In fact, the majority of this tree's decorations were found at target for rock bottom prices.

This is how the tree looked once the garlands and lights were on. As you can see, it's very much the TARDIS in tree form.

After the foundations were laid (because really, lights and garlands are like a Christmas trees foundation garments) then the fun really starts! So, almost all trees have nice circular glass ornaments. They're silver and pretty and make it shine. But, to a Whovian, they have something else to recommend them. Do they happen to look a bit like the bumps on a Dalek? YES THEY DO! So pretty silver, spacey, and reminiscent of Daleks, sign me up for one box at $6.00!

Then, when I was ambling around Jo-Ann Fabrics, I found blue balls (no inappropriate jokes please)! The reason I had to get these (and really, you have to really really want something at Jo-Ann's because seriously, the check-out takes forever) is because these are perfect TARDIS blue, just like the tree, only with glitter!

As for the final touches. I decided to go with my two favorite Doctors, ie, David Tennant and Matt Smith. As the Christmas wrapping paper and bows are right next to the ornaments, I was wandering around and looked up and saw this box of red bows for $1.00. And what did I say aloud, rather embarrassingly, "I wear bow ties now, bow ties are cool." So instead of adorning presents, they adorned branches on my tree!

Still looking for cheap items I thought of one thing that reminded me of David Tennant that indeed turned out to be cheap. 3-D glasses! On Amazon you can get a 10 pack for only $2.00! I mean, that's insanely cheap!

As for the tree topper... well, it had to be a star didn't it? A nice big silvery one. Ideally it would have been a TARDIS, but, I didn't think the top of the tree could hold the weight. So instead I settled for this topper which was only $3.00 at Target. So let's look to see how the tree is progressing... TARDIS blue, check, time and space through starry vortex, check, hint of Dalek, check, nods to 10 and 11, check, all at a reasonable price ($138.50), check! But where's a Doctor when you need one?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 3-D Glasses, Bow Ties, Christmas, Daleks, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Matt Smith, Stars, TARDIS, Target, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, Themed Christmas Tree, Wilf

The thing with Doctor Who is that it's so ridiculously popular and has such a strong fanbase that you can literally never slack the thirst of the Whovians for more more more. Besides the myriad books and comics and episodes starring The Doctor, there is also that time honored tradition of the "spin-off." While there are the more obvious spin-offs, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K-9 (the successful 2010 spin-off, not the failed 1981 spin-off which ironically costarred Sarah Jane), and of course, Captain Jack's vehicle, Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who itself), there are more spin-offs then you might imagine. These books and audios and shows have expanded the Whoverse to be something more. The thing is, Doctor Who isn't just about The Doctor. Look at the most wildly popular episode of the new series, "Blink," and you will see that I am right. This episode is Sally Sparrow's, not The Doctors. So where to begin?

First, let's talk about characters that have actually appeared in the television series. There is the hilarious comedic duo of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot who appeared in the 1977 serial with Tom Baker, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." These two men made the episode so fun and you just didn't want to leave them at the end of the story when the TARDIS left. The duo of "an upper class gentleman with the voluble cockney showman" was recognised at the time as a winning combination worthy of a spin-off. Sadly, we had to wait over thirty years but Big Finish has now created a series of audio adventures with this daring duo. The fact that characters from one serial could have such a following that they reappear thirty years later shows the loyalty of the fanbase. It must also be noted that if it weren't for Big Finish and their Doctor Who audios, who knows if the series would have ever come back so strong. Other characters from the show that have had spin-offs in printed media are the 5th Doctor's companion Turlough, as well as the 4th Doctor's companions Harry Sullivan, K-9 and Sarah Jane, who all got novelizations in the "Companions of Doctor Who" full-length novels.

But there is another level to this. There are characters now that have been created in the novels that have then spun-off to their own series or made cameos in the authors own works. The two I am thinking of most are Iris Wildthyme and Professor Archibald Angelchrist. Iris Wildthyme is a character that was created by Paul Magrs and was featured in a few of his books where she exhibited some Time Lord like attributes. Flash forward to the short story "Old Flames" and Iris is hanging out with the 4th Doctor because they are old friends. Iris went on to be in four Doctor Who novels, numerous short stories, tons of audio adventures, and two of her own books so far. Iris has made her mark on Doctor Who and gone on to be just Iris. Though in an interesting case of wibbly wobbly timey wimey, in the audio plays she's voiced by Katy Manning who played Jo Grant on Doctor Who... As for Professor Angelchrist, he made his first appearance in the 11th Doctor's book Paradox Lost by George Mann. But that hasn't stopped him from jumping into Mann's other books and weaving himself into that world. Angelchrist has showed up in Ghosts of Manhattan and talked about Newbury and Hobbes... so it's all worlds within worlds. But for the true Whovian, all this commingling, expanding, and wibbly wobbly timey wimey makes this expanded Whoverse that much more rich and rewarding. So go out and see what else this universe has to offer!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Angelchrist, Big Finish, Captain Jack, Doctor Who, George Mann, Iris Wildthyme, Jago and Litefoot, K-9, Paul Magrs, Sally Sparrow, Sarah Jane Adventures, The 11th Doctor, The 4th Doctor, Torchwood, Turlough

The Silent Stars Go By by Dan Abnett
Published by: BBC Books
Publication Date: September 29th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 279 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The Doctor has promised to get Rory and Amy home to Leadworth for Christmas. Rory should know by now that, well, there's a strong chance this won't happen. The Doctor does find them a very Christmasy/Christmas-esque, planet. Meaning it's not the planet Earth, but an Earth like planet. At least there are humans though... humans that are scared. Getting quickly separated, The Doctor and Amy are taken to the small settlement and put under arrest, while Rory is the first to encounter the creatures that are terrorizing this small community. The Doctor and his trusty companions are faced with two of their more common problems that can be summed up in one sentence, save the people who don't trust them. So The Doctor vows to help them and his suspicions are soon confirmed... but there are perplexing inconsistencies... what else might be going on here? And can The Doctor ever get Rory home for Christmas... the right one?

My journey with The Doctor has not been the smoothest of rides, but at least it ended on just the right note. The Silent Stars Go By was a quick read that would translate easily to screen and had a wonderful Firefly meets Salem, Massachusetts circa 1692 vibe. While there were things I could nitpick about, instead I will revel in what it nailed. The anticipatory glee that this pre-holiday time of year can bring means that this was a case of right book right time. In this week leading up to Thanksgiving, snow still holds a mystical quality. The big fluffy flakes as they tumble out of the sky have a mesmeric quality. Just last night I watched snow come from the heavens holding my breath to see if the temperature had decreased enough to allow for a little ground covering. I'm not yet at the stage where I wish I had heat vision to melt the snow off my car or am screaming into the wind because it's so cold it's literally making me cry. Dan Abnett caught this elusive and fleeting feeling with his book. He marvelled in the snow with both his Morphan settlers and in Rory's glee to get home for Christmas. There was a childlike wonder that this reverence of the snow captured with this book, a childlike wonder that I think embodies what Doctor Who is all about. Well done Abnett, well done.

With the snow the adversary might be easy to guess, and is really easy to guess if you've seen the non-fiftieth cover. Ice Men... I mean Warriors, Ice Warriors. A lot was made of the Ice Warriors return earlier this year in the episode "Cold War." That episode left me cold... ok, yes, I know, bad bad pun. The redesign of the Warrior itself wasn't the problem, I think that was actually wicked awesome, it was the lack of suspense or any real plot. It was Alien on a sub... so Alien written by Tom Clancy? There's a part of me that so wishes that this book had been the Ice Warriors return to Doctor Who, and not just because I'm a Clara hater... which I am. Abnett was able to capture the menace, yet still show us the multifaceted nature of the Ice Warriors. Oh... just thought of that, the Ice Warriors are like a snowflake, multifaceted, could be good, could be bad, like the first lovely snow fall verses the blizzard that takes out your roof... hmmm, this is something to think more about. But I was seriously almost dancing up and down, if I hadn't been comfortably lounging, because for one of the rare occasions in these books there was a proper use of a monster! Also, near the end, he brings out the big guns and it turns into this Island of Dr. Moreau tribute that made it go above and beyond what I expected and I felt it tied in very well with the show and it's moral questions raised in "The Rebel Flesh."

Yet it wasn't just that Abnett used the monster properly, he also understood how to write the story to introduce the monsters to new readers by also to give little jokes to those who are long time fans. Instead of just being an inside joke of saying, oh, Victoria thought of the name Ice Warriors, instead he adds that Victoria was his friend and fellow time traveller! See what a little qualifying can do? It can make a book work for new and old readers alike! The Doctor's throw away line about having a coat around somewhere would just make sense on it's own, but if you know the ridiculous coat that Patrick Troughton wore when he and Jamie, with the aforementioned Victoria, first met the Ice Warriors... well, a little inside joke that works for both levels of readers. Thank you so much for writing a book that didn't require prior knowledge! I didn't have to spend half my time on Wikipedia.

I have seen some reviews that felt it stagnated at parts, which I can't disagree with, because there's only so many chase scenes you can read. You say run on a tv show, it's a nice little romp. You say run in a book, it's pages and pages of boredom, or at least, partial boredom. But then I'd say the feeling of stagnation is one that came and went as I read all the Doctor Who books for the fiftieth. There are some that are wonderful and some that made me want to cut people. A show like Doctor Who which has been on for fifty years will have times when it's right on and times when it doesn't just miss, it strikes out. Yet, at the end, am I glad I did this challenge? Am I glad I read all these books? Yes I am! I feel more connected to The Doctor then ever before. I think I have a deeper understanding of his universe, and I have to say, our world would be a far far sadder place without him. Oh, and just a heads up authors, stop referencing you old covers in your intros. You got pretty new ones, get over it, signed the Graphic Designing book junkie Miss Eliza.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Amy Pond, Cold War, Dan Abnett, Doctor Who, Firefly, Ice Warriors, Island of Dr. Moreau, Matt Smith, Patrick Troughton, Rory, The 11th Doctor, The 2nd Doctor, The Silent Stars Go By, Tom Clancy

Fear of the Dark by Trevor Baxendale
Published by: BBC Books
Publication Date: January 6th, 2003
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Nyssa, are aboard the TARDIS when a malign influence infiltrates Nyssa's dreams. The fact that there is something that could breech the protections of the TARDIS worries The Doctor and he decides they must track this evil to its source. Arriving on the small moon of the benighted Akoshemon, the travelers stumble upon a mining operation masquerading as an archaeological dig. Stoker and her men are hoping to get a jump on the mining Consortium that is pushing honest pirates out of work. Thanks to a hot tip this planet could be Stoker's biggest payday ever, making her and her team millionaires if the Lexium deposits turn out to be as wealthy as supposed. Yet one of her team, Vega Jaal, who comes from a sensitive race of miners, feels that something dangerous is lurking in the depths of the moon and that they should abandon their mission. Nyssa and The Doctor also feel the danger, but there appears to be no way to convince Stoker of the danger.

Then the first death happens. Then they find the door. There is a subterranean lab that appears to have been used for studying suspended animation. But the next two deaths force one of Stoker's team, Bunny, to go behind her back and issue a distress beacon. Of course the only chance of rescue they have is from the Consortium, the very last people Stoker wants to see. They could override her claim on the Lexium find. Yet when they do arrive, it's the Captain that has a bigger effect on Stoker. It's her lost love, Lawrence. As the death toll mounts and the dangers increase, there appears to be a darkness, "the" darkness, that is manipulating events and people to it's own end. Could the destruction that reigned down on Akoshemon happen to the rest of the universe if The Doctor doesn't succeed?

Fear of the Dark is dark in name and dark in nature. This book is so dark that if you're looking for a good time with The Doctor, well, stay well clear. Now this isn't a criticism of the book, far from it, the story and the emotions that play throughout are interesting, terrifying, gut wrenching, and tearful. This book is packed with an emotional punch. Yet like how Houdini died (he didn't have time to prepare for the blows) if you aren't prepared for the depths this book will take you to, well, it will be a rough ride. It mines the depths of human despair, suffering, and loss. I kid you not that death upon death is in your future if you pick this book up. The fact that Baxendale made you care for each character before then killing them shows what a good job he did, that sadistic bastard. At one point I was hopeful that someone other then our core three whose fates weren't in Baxendale's hands would survive... but no. There is no hope. There is no chance of survival. The Doctor's success might save the entire galaxy... but not those he meets on this desolate moon. No chance. No chance at all. Why, you might be asking am I telling you this? Because it was the false hope being ripped out from under me that undid me the most, emotionally. You need to prepare yourself for this book. So you are now hopefully prepared.

As for the 5th Doctor... I've always had such a warm spot for him, and Baxendale captures him and his companions perfectly. What's even more perfect is that this is after Adric's death. Yes Adric, I do hate you so, I'm smiling as I think about your death. Blue star my ass. Ok, back to The Doctor and his companions that are still living... for some reason I must have blocked out Time-Flight (which I'm sure my friend Paul would complement me on) because I didn't realize that Tegan was away from the TARDIS for a year before rejoining The Doctor and Nyssa. Which does play into the story kind of significantly. Which makes me wonder, yet again, who would read these books but die hard fans? I mean, yes, the story does a nice job of kind of explaining what was going on with Tegan and what happened, but even I was a little confused. Now someone who'd never seen any of this series? Well, they'd be lost. But on the plus side, they wouldn't be hearing Tegan's voice in their head during her dialogue in the book, which isn't as annoying by the way as hearing Peri's voice in your head, just fyi. While I'm still dwelling on The Doctor I would like to also compliment Baxendale on creating a book that has not just captured THIS Doctor, but a basic Doctor core. I could just as easily see this story staring 11 and the Ponds.

As for things I really liked, well, Baxendale takes us straight into the action. There is no lenghty set-up. We see The Doctor working among Stoker's team and get flashbacks to how they all met much later on. I can't tell you how refreshing this was. Usually it's tons of time going about explaining that it's just "Doctor" and that he just dropped by and everyone is suspicious until they finally see he's there to help. Instead, bam, he's there, he's helping, he's trusted. Short track to success, switch things up. Two big thumbs up. Of course, the fact that each of the three sections of the book could have used severe editing and seriously, they typos were appalling... plus the depressive nature of the book, well, it did cost the book a star. But way to bring your "A" game Baxendale. And now... for the monster. The writers of Lost should have taken note, this is how you make an unsubstantial monster terrifying. Seriously, The Dark would have that smoke monster pissing himself. Of course, no monster is perfect and his little substantial minion kind of took away a bit of the mystique of this malign nothingness... but no book is perfect, but this is a huge step up from the previous book. Faith restored in this series... onto 6 and Peri...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Doctor Who Book Challenge, Fear of the Dark, Lost, Mining, Nyssa, Peri, TARDIS, Tegan, The 11th Doctor, The 5th Doctor, The 6th Doctor, The Dark, The Doctor, Time-Flight, Trevor Baxendale

So, earlier, when introducing this three month themed extravaganza I mentioned "The Doctor Who Reading Challenge," and then told you you'd have to wait for an explanation. Well now is the time for said explanation. For us bibliophiles, what better way is there to celebrate Doctor Who then to read lots and lots of Doctor Who books? In fact, the written and audio books should be lauded as what kept the show alive during the years it was dark. We got new stories from new authors, some of which went on to then write on the show! Mark Gatiss anyone? So yeah books and yeah Doctor Who!

The idea behind this book challenge is that there are 11 Doctors so far (remember we're not quite 100% sure what they're doing with John Hurt and the 12th doesn't come round supposedly till Christmas, I'm guessing it will be at the 50th though). The 50th anniversary is in the 11th month of the year. So the idea is to each month count down till the 50th by reading a book staring that months Doctor. So January would be the 1st Doctor all the way till November would be the 11th Doctor, you get the idea. I'm more condensing this into an epic read crammed into three months, and this is for a multitude of reasons, my other themed months being one of them. But my main reason was I was figuratively paralyzed... what books to read? I mean, I have a lot of 9th and 10th Doctor books lying about, and a few 11th. Then there's a few old 4th Doctor paperbacks I have somewhere... but which ones to read? Then I started to make a list based on authors I love who wrote Doctor Who books, you know, Mark Gatiss, Paul Magrs, George Mann, those ones... but so many of them are out of print. Grrr I say.

So the BBC came to my rescue. I don't know if they had planned this all along for the 50th, or, if hearing about this book challenge, went "Aha! A marketing idea we can exploit!" So what they did was re-release eleven books, one for each Doctor, in nifty new and special 50th Anniversary editions (seen above on my Doctor Who shelf, and yes, I have a Doctor Who shelf, no judging). So viola! My reading list was made. Of course the books didn't come out till April, so there's four months wasted right there, so time to cram some reading in now! Therefore, over the next few weeks, one of the features of my 50th Anniversary Special is the review of said books... here's hoping these live up to the name of The Doctor (whatever that name might be)!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 12th Doctor, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who Book Challenge, George Mann, John Hurt, Mark Gatiss, Paul Magrs, Reading Challenge, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, The 9th Doctor

So who is my Doctor (the above picture should give you a clue)? If you aren't familiar with this idea, here's how it goes. Everyone has THEIR Doctor. This is The Doctor that made them a Whovian. The one who made Doctor Who an integral part of their lives. He is the first Doctor you think of when someone mentions Doctor Who. He might not even necessarily be your favorite Doctor, but you know that he is what defines the show for you. He is YOUR Doctor. For me, this is a concept that I have struggled with. Not because I didn't grasp it, but because I kind of wanted David Tennant or Matt Smith to be My Doctor. Until Matt Smith came around, I would have said that David Tennant was hands down my favorite Doctor, but there's something about Matt Smith, his raw acting ability, the fact that he can rise above sub-par writing and being labored with crappy companions to be this luminous, amazing Doctor makes me want to go, "There, that's him, there's My Doctor." Yet I know this would be a lie. I would just be tricking myself into what I wanted while all the while Tom Baker is My Doctor.

Why is Tom Baker My Doctor? Because he just is. This isn't something that can be easily explained, it's something you just know in your bones. But that goofy grin and that scarf are what is at the core of Doctor Who for me. Perhaps it's because he was The Doctor when I was born and PBS only showed his episodes when I was young and impressionable and sitting on my grandparents slightly gross shag rug (I mean, it started out brown and over time it became like orangey/red with hints of green... that is NOT right.) But he IS Doctor Who to me. So who's Doctor Who to you? Who is YOUR Doctor?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: David Tennant, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Matt Smith, My Doctor, PBS, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, The 4th Doctor, Tom Baker

Ask the majority of Steampunk fans and they will say their favorite author is George Mann. It's easy to see why, his Newbury and Hobbes books have a quirky Britishness that I would compare to The Avengers but as easily appealing to fans of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. Not to forget strong female characters, go Victoria Hobbes! He is also amazingly nice and polite and generous, can you think of many authors who would not only put up with answering silly questions but also write a little piece of new work for a blog, that isn't their own, I think not, you are the man George! If that hasn't yet convinced you of his awesomeness, he's not only written a 11th Doctor Who book, Paradox Lost, he's met the 11th Doctor! See, that's real geek and Steampunk cred right there!

Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?

Answer: Not strictly steampunk, but for me you have to go back to Verne and Wells. Wells's 'The First Men in the Moon' is a particular favourite.

Question: What drew you to this genre?

Answer: I love the freedom that steampunk offers, how it makes a fantasy from the past. There's something very honest about exploring 'what never was'. Plus I get to play with all the things I love - clockwork robots, airships, tentacled beasties, occult secret societies...

Question: How do you take your tea?

Answer: Assam in the morning, Earl Grey in the afternoon, with a dash of milk in both

Question: Must have sartorial accessory?

Answer: A sword stick, of course. Preferably with an ornate silver handle.

Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?

Answer: Aesthete.

Question: Top hat or bowler hat?

Answer: Always a top hat, obviously.

Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?

Answer: Clockpunk with a dash of Gaslight Romance.

Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?

Answer: Veronica Hobbes ;-)

Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?

Answer: The naysayers ;-)

Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?

Answer: Doctor Who.

Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?

Answer: Aether.

Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?

Answer: Victoria.

Question: Victorian or Wild West?

Answer: Victorian.

Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?

Answer: No! Have you READ The Affinity Bridge? Those things are dangerous!*

*Yes George, thanks for the nightmares!

Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?

Answer: 1880s Monmatre, for a glass of absinthe and a visit to the Moulin Rouge.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Doctor Who, Earl Grey, George Mann, H.G. Wells, Monmatre, Moulin Rouge, Paradox Lost, Sherlock Holmes, The 11th Doctor, The Affinity Bridge, The Avengers, Veronica Hobbes

So, where we last left off in this two parter... Amy was turning to stone and the angels were surrounding them. Of course, despite time being able to be re-written, they survive, but obviously not all of them. Iain Glen, that fabulous actor, had a nice big target on him since day one that said, really big actor here, I will die or be the bad guy, and I was right, he died, cause I don't think the angels have sidekicks. Though in fact everyone but River, The Doctor and Amy died, so again, very similar to River's previous story. All in all the second half of this story made me just feel that this could have been an amazing and tight one shot episode that they dragged out to two parts so that they could make full use of the angels return and Alex Kingston. But the truth is, by bringing them back and giving them a voice the angels weren't as scary. And when we finally learned that the big crack is a giant time eraser, if you fall in, it will be like you never were... well, that's not too creepy and having the angels scared of that... eh. Giving something that is so terrifying fear, it makes them less terrifying. Of course, this should logically make me more scared of the crack, because we should fear things that scary creatures fear... but it's a crack! I'll have to see how it plays out, but the crack, while intriguing, doesn't have me all fussed.

What does have me fussed? Well River! We now know she is/was a criminal for killing the greatest man she's ever known. Now, her being a criminal does not come as a surprise at all, criminal genius her, like Moriarty to The Doctor's Holmes. But now of course, my mind is whirring, like out of control. The Doctor fears River because she knows his future, as it turns out he knows hers, and not just her future, but her death. So what if it's vice versa as well? What if the entire time River has known the Doctor she knows how her dies? Not only that, what if she killed him? Now I'm not saying evil, I kill you in the name of... I'm saying she had to kill him for some reason, and perhaps his 13th regeneration... so she's his final death. She did seem very sad about it. At least we have her reappearance when the Pandoricum opens to look forward to!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:00 PM 3 comments  

Labels: Alex Kingston, Amy Pond, Iain Glen, Moriarty, Pandoricum, River Song, Sherlock Holmes, The 11th Doctor, The 13th Doctor, The Doctor, The Weeping Angels

Hello sweeties, there's only one way to sum up this episode: Best opening EVER! River Song could easily hold her own with James Bond, perhaps even beat him... I want to float to a TARDIS backwards while blowing a kiss after sending a message in a dead language thousands of years into the future! But let's get to the episode itself, because, truthfully, River Song would just adore taking over this post. So River discovers a Weeping Angel and with the help of The Doctor and a bevy of troops, plan to take it out. Seeing as this is a two part, most of it is a build up to a cliffhanger of everyone in peril and the Doctor thinking of a way to save the day, of course a catch phrase thrown in, this is a Steven Moffat episode after all ("Are You My Mummy?" "Donna Noble Has Left The Library, Donna Noble Has Been Saved"). So in all fairness, this review can only be a partial review, because I won't know till the resolution how I feel about how this plays out. Because in the abstract, bringing back the angels, expanding on their mythology is really cool and scary. But at the same time, their one appearance in the scariest episode ever made them unique and interesting, and the idea of any statue could really be one, like the Vashta Nerada, is cool. But right there we're hitting on the problem I had with the episode. This really seemed like a refashioning of River Song's other arc. We have people, trapped in a place where the darkness is lethal and then the baddies start using the walkie talkies to communicate. Angel Bob, you're too much like other Dave... I'm sorry. But still, Moffat is able to get some amazing humor and horror working side by side. Amy being trapped with the image of an Angel... were it turns out the image is really the same thing, and then when her eye starts leaking sand... creepy. I also love the play River and The Doctor have of a married old couple, and I love that River is as enigmatic as ever and that this ship crash was mentioned in their previous adventure, even if it was River's last. Also I'm sorry, but Matt Smith doing the sound of the TARDIS, I forgive him for not being David Tennant just for that, as well as biting Amy to prove she wasn't stone, you're officially a Doctor, I shouldn't have doubted. But as for final judgement.... turn in next week...

As a funny aside, if you watched this in England, this episode caused controversy because of a Graham Norton cartoon promoting "Over the Rainbow" interrupting the big cliffhanger. Over 3000 calls and countless emails, really countless, I couldn't be bothered to find out. But Graham had a great comeback on his show, a sort of apology, as only Graham can do!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Blink, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Graham Norton, James Bond, Matt Smith, River Song, Steven Moffat, The 11th Doctor, The Time of Angels, The Weeping Angels, Vashta Nerada

Fuck the Daleks! I'm so damn sick of them, sure this time Mark Gatiss got to write about them, and sure, we've got Winston Churchill and the war, but, not another freakin' Dalek episode! Plus, did anyone else keep thinking that they basically just wanted to do a World War II version of Star Wars while watching this? I love Mark Gatiss' enthusiasm, but still, this is the first meh episode for me, in fact Mark Gatiss and Confidential were far better than the episode itself. Bill Paterson and his amazing acting saved this for me, but that's about it. So of course, it makes sense to have the Daleks show up in World War II, they have so much in common with the Nazis that the Nazis were probably their inspiration. And Mark Gatiss has an amazing grasp at capturing other time periods, even if the "wishes were kisses" line was a little too hackneyed for me. I liked that the Doctor is called in by Winston, who is not only an old friend, but openly covets the TARDIS and will do anything to win the war, anything... even if it's the new "ironsides" aka, Daleks in disguise to trick the Doctor into helping them re-jump start the new Dalek evolution. Servile Daleks are funny, but then we're all back to colored Daleks and they escape, I'm sure to return again and again and again and again... at least Mark Gatiss didn't give me any false hope that they were gone forever... so that's one plus. But overall this episode felt too contained, too small in scope. Here we have the greatest war the world has ever faced combined with the Daleks and the Doctor who together had the greatest war time has ever faced and we get these small, confined sets that were claustrophobic and lacking in the scope of these great historical events. I did like the rage the Doctor displayed and the way Amy totally embodies all that is good in humanity. But could we do all this with a new villain? Or a less used old villain? All I kept thinking was, damn, they should just go get Captain Jack and end this in five minutes. One sweet twist, Amy's never seen the Daleks... which is impossible right? And the crack... is time fracturing? Is the Doctor in the correct timeline? Very interesting! Personally I can't wait for next week though... River Song AND the Weeping Angels! Heaven! Or hell... if you think about the nightmares it will probably induce...

Also I bet you can guess my opinion of the game trailer they showed seeing as I've made my opinion of the Daleks so well known. Looks clunky, looks like way too many Daleks, looks like a pass. And I'm usually the one defending my movies and tv shows being turned into video games! Shocker!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Bill Paterson, Captain Jack, Daleks, Doctor Who, Ironsides, Mark Gatiss, Nazis, River Song, TARDIS, The 11th Doctor, The Weeping Angels, Video Game, Winston Churchill, World War II

Never judge a new doctor by his first episode, always judge them by their second. The first is all kind of new and maybe a little weird, the second is when they come into their own. I gotta say, I'm loving Matt Smith. Not my lustful worshipping of David Tennant, but in a quieter, he's goofy and works as a sort of Tom Baker Doctor kind of way. The second episode of a new companion always has to be a huge moment, the moment not when they meet the Doctor and deal with him on their turf, but the moment when he takes them out into his turf. His turf happens to be the British Isle floating in outer space. There are weird menacing mechanical carny booths, think Zoltar, in the 30s, but with a real hidden wicked streak and total control over the ships populous called Smilers. Theirs a complete distillation of all things British into one wickedly fun market, like Bladrunner with bunting. There does seem to be more of a children slant, could it be that they're actually going to not traumatize children forever? No, this episode would so have traumatized me. I already have an unnatural fear of elevators, if one of those Smilers went all evil and dropped me into the bowels of a ship for not doing my homework, I'm sorry, I would have totally lost it. It's that underlying menace of what the Smilers do and that no one stands up to them or even tries to change it that makes the Doctors arrival so important.

So we have an oppressed British people hurtling through space and a Queen, cause there always has to be a Queen, searching for a truth that she is not meant to find and when she does, it's a doozy. But it's the Queen that makes this episode the best. Sophie Okonedo as Liz 10 was a combination of Lara Croft and V. Flowing cap, guns at the ready, and lots of goblets of water laying about as if she were in the movie Signs. The eventual saving of the day happens, of course not from the Doctor but from Amy, who was very Arthur Dent and saved the world in her pajamas. But the Doctor being wrong, and not just slightly wrong, but majorly wrong, was interesting. This Doctor is willing to make harder decisions... he's willing to let there be a looser, versus all winners come hell or high water. But Amy tempers him. Too bad next week we have the stupid overused Daleks, because I like where Steven Moffat is taking us, new villains not the same old same old... well at least that's what I thought till I saw those freakin' Daleks!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Bladerunner, Daleks, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Lara Croft, Liz 10, Matt Smith, Signs, Smilers, Sophie Olonedo, Steven Moffat, The 11th Doctor, Tom Baker, V, Zoltar

I gotta say it. I might have been wrong. I think Matt Smith will work as The Doctor. "The Eleventh Hour" was funny, engaging, just that little bit scary, but in the end, though it wasn't David Tennant, it was Doctor Who. I don't think it will ever happen again for me, that emotional connection that I felt with David Tennant, that empathy, where his pain was my pain. But my favorite tv show has not been ruined, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief, as I think any Whovian out there is, the consensus seems to be good. Unlike most regenerations, at the time of his death The Doctor didn't have a companion, so therefore, whoever is the new companion will view this Doctor as the only Doctor. A clever concept, so we don't have to sit through the whole, it's me but not me shtick one more. But added to this is a little girl who, due to The Doctor and his miscalculation of time, ends up waiting for The Doctor a little longer than 5 minutes... a girl, who might know The Doctor better than he does, cause while he's been himself for a short time, to Amy, he's been The Doctor practically all her life. Amy, a feisty red head who won't take shit from The Doctor, after all, she's been stood up a few times by him already. As is the case with all Doctor Who Earth episodes, the world will end if a monster isn't stopped, this time a Prisoner whose guards are trying to find him. Of course the Earth is saved and Amy runs off with the Doctor, even if it's the night before her wedding.

Of course, me being me, I must find fault. Problems... looks like we're lumbered with yet another stupid boyfriend/fiance. Didn't they learn after ass face Mickey? Who knows... maybe he will be better, more like Rhys on Torchwood and less like ass face. Don't really like the new Tardis, it's hard to feel the space, it's too jumbled. The new sonic screwdriver... it looks ugly , green and vice like. But the negatives are far less than the positives, could change once those overused metal heads the Cybermen and Daleks show back up. The new opening credits, love the theremin being back. Great how Amy being a cop turned out, also addressing the "overtly sexy" criticism at the same time. Loved the scene where Amelia cooks for him. And I loved the preview of whats to come, River Song floating to the Tardis! All in all, a solid start, in fact more solid than David Tennant ever had, so we'll have to see if they can keep this up now won't we?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Amy Pond, Cybermen, Daleks, Doctor Who, Matt Smith, River Song, The 11th Doctor, The Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, Torchwood

Posted by Miss Eliza at 3:08 PM 4 comments  

Labels: Doctor Who, Easter, The 11th Doctor

And a sci-fi fangirls dream if it turns out to be true. But I'm not believing this rumor till I hear it direct from Neil Gaiman's mouth... or at least on his blog, oh, you know what I'm trying to say. The man himself must confirm the rumor to make me dance with joy. So to the rumor... This rumor has been swirling around for quite some time, and his been constantly fueled by Neil having had lunch with Steven Moffat or Neil making a comment about if he were to write for this show his episode would not be about that. In other words, Neil has been very good about sidestepping the issue as to if he is or isn't going to write an episode for the 11th Doctor. Whoa... that felt weird typing 11th Doctor, I'm not going to get used to that anytime soon. But yes, he has only ever issued statements to flatly deny things like rubbish titles, "I haven't denied that my Doctor Who episode "Faces in the Dust" will have Ice Warriors in it, because I'm not writing a Doctor Who episode called "Faces in the Dust" (which is a pretty rubbish title, who makes this stuff up?) and I've been having much too much fun not denying anything about Doctor Who, other than admitting to having enjoyed some nice dinners with Mr Moffat, as chronicled on this blog. (If I'd denied it, I would have denied it here, and as you might have noticed, I didn't.) But I'm denying this because it's said in that authoritative way that makes it look as if people know what they're talking about, when it's just people-making-stuff-up-bollocks."

But today an interesting twist. SFX claims that in a special message sent to them for Neil's acceptance speech, that Neil has confirmed he is writing an episode of the 11th Doctor (yep, still weird writing that): "As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching -- from behind the sofa -- when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called “The House of Nothing”. But it definitely isn’t called that any more."

Hmm... could this be true? Or is it just people-making-stuff-up-bollocks? As I've said, due to lots of recent false information swirling, I'm not going to believe this till Neil tells me. After all, that New Yorker interview, not only badly written, but badly fact checked and misquoted. Also the news on the web that The Graveyard Book movie adaptation is DOA, totally false. There is so much out there that's not true about Neil right now I'm not going to get my hopes up till Neil goes: "Yes, I'm doing Doctor Who." Then, dancing will commence. Because what could be better? One of the greatest sci-fi writers writing for one of the greatest sci-fi shows... oh wait, if he had written for David Tennant. That would have made it perfect.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:51 PM 3 comments  

Labels: Blog, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Faces in the Dsut, Ice Warriors, Neil Gaiman, Scarves, SFX, Steven Moffat, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, The 4th Doctor, The Graveyard Book, The House of Nothing

The Doctor is dead, long live The Doctor. Regeneration is one of those givens in Doctor Who... it doesn't mean I have to like it. The end of the 10th Doctor has been immanent for some time, and in the intervening months I have had much denial followed by anger (last week)... but I think I've reached acceptance, of a kind. The episode, while overall not the best, did have it's moments where David shined and made me repeat his utterance "I don't want to go." I don't want a new journey, I don't want to go to a new Doctor, I want him to stay. I'm going to sound old, but this young guy looks too flash, too, not David Tennant. Oh no... it's not the denial coming back again is it? Because me and denial, we're good friends... for example in my world, Jonathan didn't die on Buffy, neither did Anya, Zander is a pirate though, which seems kind of impossible without the others, and Wes and Fred are happy as can be over on Angel... and how may years has that been? Six, seven... see, me, denial, friends! Especially when it comes to Joss Whedon shows, and Russell T. Davies is kind of the British Joss. Also Wash didn't die in my world, come join me!

But I think I'll let the 10th Doctor have his death. It was a good death, it was a noble death, not some lame ass spider bite, it was a death. I think that's what hits home more then the other regenerations, and it's what Russell T. Davies tried, and I think accomplished, doing, he gave the Doctor a death. Before it was always more a moving on not a full stop. The man goes on with just a different face, but it's not that... it's more. It's the death of a man the world loved and this new guy, we're not sold on. When Christopher Eccleston died, it was a kind of transcendence and a glory, here we are left with sadness.

Coming up in the next paragraph, as River Song would say: "Spoilers!"

We begin were we left off, the "Master Race" has taken over the world and there are no more humans. After some more Master ranting The Doctor, Wilf and the two cacti retreat to outer space to regroup. All this is inter cut with more Star Wars prequel Timelord delusions of Russell T. Davies which are saved from being pure tack by Timothy Dalton being awesome. He was made to play villians, he never worked as Bond because bad is in his bones... Hot Fuzz anyone? So the Timelords have gone major bongo crazy and have actually created the drumming in The Master's head so as to escape the timelock that was created for the Time War. What's even more crazy is that they don't seem to care that they would bring about the end of time, quite literally, when Pandora's box is reopened in the form of this timelock, because they all believe in the Rapture and ascending to another plane. To put it simply... The Master even thinks they're a little not all there. Of course things work out as they should, but not without some more Star Wars references thrown in. Gallifrey falls again and The Master Peter Petrelli's his way out, which made me think that he was going to go nuclear and The Doctor would die of radiation... I was right on the radiation, wrong on the why.

The prophecy of doom, the knocking of four, turns out to be Wilf, trapped in the radiation chamber... he's the Doctor's doom. A person he loves and would willingly die for, is his death, not the Timelords, not The Master. He could live if he wanted, he could let Wilf die, but that's not The Doctor we know and love. The soliloquy of David's is heartrending. You know he'll save Wilf, it's what The Doctor does... but for once he breaks down, rages against the world, how he, someone who is a Lord of Time could die to save a no one. But it's those who deserve saving all the more. And Wilf knows what's coming, he begs The Doctor to let him die, he knows how important the Doctor is to the world.

What Russell T. Davies leaves us with is just designed to tie up loose ends while pulling at the heart strings. Because we're having a changing of the guard at Doctor Who, Russell and Julie are leaving with David, and hence all those companions are too. It's, presumably, the end of Wilf and Mickey and Donna and Martha... we'll see Sarah Jane and Jack, but what about Jackie and finally, what about Rose. I'm beyond pissed that apparently Mickey is with Martha... icky icky, I hate Mickey and Martha deserves better. Donna, while getting what she wanted pre-Doctor, still is so unrealized as a human and looses out the most. Jack... I should have seen that Jack would be in some Star Wars dive bar and then run into Alonso, aka Russell Tovey, and that, they would say, seems the beginning of the next season of Torchwood... Jack has his new Ianto. Allons-y Alonso! And Rose... it's a farewell without her ever knowing, and that's what makes it all the more powerful. Russell didn't reunite them to fight a common enemy, he didn't have them all flying the TARDIS and banishing the foe, he had The Doctor, alone, watching over his friends, some of them without them ever knowing, as his final goodbye. It was the quiet that was needed and lacking in the first part. I will miss the 10th Doctor, but hopefully the 11th Doctor won't be all bad, he just won't, and can't be David.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 PM 3 comments  

Labels: Angel, Buffy, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Donna, Gallifrey, Joss Whedon, Russell T. Davies, The 10th Doctor, The 11th Doctor, Time War, Timelords, Torchwood, Wilf