Appreciating John Hurt’s Tenure as The Doctor

Over on TrekBBS, there was some discussion last night and today about John Hurt’s tenure as the Doctor. A poster by the handle of Newspaper Taxi kicked it off: I don’t really see a lot of people talk about the Hurt serials that ran from ’01 to ’05. I really felt that the show tookContinue reading “Appreciating John Hurt’s Tenure as The Doctor”

Madame Vastra and Doctor Who Spin-Offs

After last night’s Doctor Who, the clamor for a spin-off series starring Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax the Sontaran has resumed. We met these characters in the sixth season in “A Good Man Goes to War.” Vastra is a Silurian who was awoken from her aeons-long slumber in Victorian London and set herself up aContinue reading “Madame Vastra and Doctor Who Spin-Offs”

On Doctor Who Casting News

The news has broken on casting for November’s Doctor Who anniversary special — in addition to John Hurt, the special will also guest star David Tennant and Billie Piper. Fandom, naturally, is sharply divided. There is wailing that there’s no Eccleston from the new series. Classic Doctor Who fans are wailing that the pre-new seriesContinue reading “On Doctor Who Casting News”

On Imagined Doctor Who Conversations

I woke this morning to discover that Doctor Who fandom was in turmoil. The reason? Matt Smith has signed for a movie to begin filming in May. You may be saying to yourself, “What’s the big deal?” And no, it’s not a big deal. Smith is an actor, and actors like to work because actors,Continue reading “On Imagined Doctor Who Conversations”

On the Revolutionary Time Lord

Today was Inauguration Day. Barack Obama, whose second term as President began yesterday, was administered a ceremonial oath of office this afternoon for a public inauguration ceremony. Obama’s inaugural speech was strongly progressive in its outlook, but some of the speech’s invocations of god irked me. I tweeted my irksomeness, and Stuart Ian Burns repliedContinue reading “On the Revolutionary Time Lord”

On Bernard Cornwell and Doctor Who

Yesterday, I made an odd, random little Tweet: Won’t happen, but I wish Bernard Cornwell would write a Doctor Who/Sharpe novel, preferably starring the eighth Doctor In truth, the tweet wasn’t that random; my commute read this week has been Cornwell’s Sharpe’s Gold. Nor was it that odd; I like Cornwell’s prose and find itContinue reading “On Bernard Cornwell and Doctor Who”

On Christmas With the Daleks

An extract from a parchment found in the ruins of Skaro in the 38th-century: “And there were in the same country Kaleds abiding in the wastelands, keeping watch over their mutants by night. And, lo, Nyder came upon them, and the glory of the Lord Davros shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.Continue reading “On Christmas With the Daleks”

On What I Want for Doctor Who’s 50th-Anniversary

My last panel at Philcon this weekend was on 50 years of Doctor Who. It was a very good panel — it was mainly about why the series has lasted as long as it has, and there was also some good questions from the large audience. (It was the best attended panel I experienced allContinue reading “On What I Want for Doctor Who’s 50th-Anniversary”

On Matt Smith’s Desire for a Sherlock/Doctor Who Crossover

Well, this is interesting. Matt Smith is expressing an interest in a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover. Though I’d much rather see John Munch turn up in an episode of Doctor Who, I have to admit that the idea of the Doctor and Sherlock Holmes crossing paths isn’t a bad one. With the Canonical Holmes, there’s PatriciaContinue reading “On Matt Smith’s Desire for a Sherlock/Doctor Who Crossover”