Doctor Who Conquers the Martians

On Saturday night, the eighth season of Doctor Who came to a close in “Death in Heaven.” I’m not here to talk about that. I’d rather discus the teaser for the forthcoming Christmas episode, with Nick Frost (probably best known to Americans for his collaborations with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright — Shaun of theContinue reading “Doctor Who Conquers the Martians”

A Changing of the Guard

Jenna Coleman is leaving Doctor Who. If you believe the Mirror, that is. I don’t believe the Mirror, not exactly. I think the basic story is right — she’s leaving the series at the end of the year — but the details are invented. The characterization that she “quit” especially strikes me as false. IContinue reading “A Changing of the Guard”

Doctor Who: Engines of War

A few months ago, BBC Books announced George Mann’s Engines of War, a hardcover Doctor Who novel that starred John Hurt’s Doctor, seen in the 50th-anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor,” during the Time War. The Great Time War has raged for centuries, ravaging the universe. Scores of human colony planets are now overrunContinue reading “Doctor Who: Engines of War”

Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks

BBC Books recently published Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks. Newly discovered entries and drawings in William Shakespeare’s journals reveal for the first time the astounding relationship between the Bard of Avon and the Doctor! BBC Books has rediscovered notebooks, long thought lost, compiled by the Bard in which he divulges the influential role the DoctorContinue reading “Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks”

Thoughts on the Leaked Doctor Who Scripts

Yesterday, the first five scripts of the eighth season of Doctor Who leaked to the Internet. Despite the BBC’s pleas for fans not to share them, the scripts are out there, fans are sharing them, and fans are discussing them. People have asked me if I’ve found them. I didn’t find them myself, but IContinue reading “Thoughts on the Leaked Doctor Who Scripts”

The Deemphasis of Doctor Who Novels

A few days ago on Gallifrey Base, there was some discussion about the deemphasis of Doctor Who novels in the marketplace in the past two years. Wait, I should qualify that. There has been a great deal of Doctor Who prose published in the past two years, but it’s been a different kind of proseContinue reading “The Deemphasis of Doctor Who Novels”

Two Doctor Who Thoughts

Two quick things. First, the more I see of Matt Smith and David Tennant together, the more I really wish the “two Doctors” series idea Matt pitched to Steven Moffat had come to pass. They have such brilliant chemistry together. They’re both goofy, but in entirely different (and complementary) ways. And second, I would reallyContinue reading “Two Doctor Who Thoughts”

Thoughts on “The Day of the Doctor”

Years ago, a little more than a decade now, EB Games put me and thirty-odd other managers through a pilot management training program. Our instructor was a man by the name of Harry Friedman. He had created a sales management training program, and EB wanted to see if it would work for the company. IContinue reading “Thoughts on “The Day of the Doctor””

The Year of Two Doctors

The Radio Times had a curious article this morning. As we know, Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who at Christmas, to be replaced by Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It). It turns out that Smith had a plan to continue with the series, and it turns out Steven Moffat said no. Matt Smith had workedContinue reading “The Year of Two Doctors”

Steven Moffat and the Difficult Second Album Theory

A band will come out with a kick-ass debut album. Acclaimed, inventive, groundbreaking. Then they come out with a second album, and it’s… well, it’s disappointing. Some of it feels like a retread of what worked before. Some of it is unique, but it’s not as well thought out as the original album was. (MumfordContinue reading “Steven Moffat and the Difficult Second Album Theory”