Sign The Petition to Light the Empire State Building TARDIS Blue!

Attention all Whovians! The intrepid fans over at NY SciFi & Fantasy have submitted paperwork to the Empire State Building to light it up in that all-too-familiar blue on November 23 in honor of Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary.

But they need your help to convince the good people who set up the lights to accept their plea. So please show your support by going to Change.org and adding your name to the petition!

The Doctor has been to New York many times in his travels through time and space, including one that ending in heartache just this past series. What's more, he helped save the ESB and New York from the Daleks in Daleks In Manhattan.

Eyy c'mon, sign the petition? Whatta you some kinda mamaluke? All mamalukes must be EXTERMINATED!

Help the United States honor our favorite British sci-fi show on its incredible anniversary by signing the petition! For more info on the Empire State Building the schedule for each lighting click here. Allons-y!

-Joe

Doctor Who Review: The Name of the Doctor

Well.....wow.....now Who saw THAT coming?? I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time. Absolutely riveting, first class storytelling, questions answered (and some remaining unanswered), and a build up to the 50th that I could not have foreseen. There were tons of raw emotion, but also a lot of laughs. It was one of the most epic hours ever in television history.

I'm going to warn you now...if you have not seen this episode go watch it and come back, because I'm about to Spoil like week-old milk in the Sahara. 

Whovians didn't have to wait long in this episode for things to geekgasm over. In some repair room an alert goes off. One of the engineers wonders...just who would steal a malfunctioning TARDIS? And then, we see an old man and a young girl about to enter a tube when they are stopped by....Clara. Then, as Clara plunges through a swirling mist we hear her voice over how she is the Impossible Girl, and has always been there for the Doctor. And then....and then!...we see Clara interacting with the First Doctor, screaming after the Third, and the Fifth, and the Fourth, searching for the Sixth in the TARDIS, and watching as the Eighth and the Second run past. So much happened so quickly that it was almost impossible to take it all in! But we knew one thing was for sure: Clara was born to save the Doctor!

"If only I could find the little bugger..."

With just moments to catch our breath, the opening sequence rolled and the familiar song played. When the TARDIS doors opened we found ourselves in Victorian London, 1893, and in a prison we hear the rhyming mumbles of a crazy man with a heavy accent. Madame Vastra approaches his cell. He has information, something worth sparing his life over after he'd killed 14 women (possibly Jack the Ripper?). The Doctor has a secret, one he will take to the grave....and it is discovered.

Vastra immediately summons Jenny, Strax, and Clara to a metaphyical dream conference call. Strax, having just engaged in a brawl with a Scotsman (vacation for a Sontaran), and Clara just arriving home to find a letter from the past. One more attendee arrives just a tad late, Professor River Song. You know, it wasn't that long ago we saw Melody Pond in "The Angels Take Manhattan", but it was good to see a familiar face. It gave Series 7 a sense of continuity. And so, they discussed what Demarko had said, and they knew that they had to protect the Doctor. But then, Jenny feels something brush past her in reality. She realizes, to her horror, that she's left the door unlocked. She apologizes to Vastra....and dies. Strax is also taken, and River slaps Vastra in order to wake her up. But too late: The Whispermen have come.

Ladies?

Let me pause to say how much I really enjoyed the Whispermen. An extension of the Great Intelligence, they had style, the creep factor, and that inevitable sense that they would get you in the end. Their soft recitations of impending doom were particularly chilling. And boy, did they have style!

When Clara awakens she finds that the Doctor is already in her house, having been tricked by Angie and Artie into playing Blind Man's Bluff so they could sneak out to the cinema. Clara tells the Doctor about Demarko's news, and he is overcome with emotion. He has to embark on the one mission he should never take on, and go to the one place that he must never go: Trenzalore.

"I wanted a timeshare in Boca...but noooo"

But, ever the adventurer, the Doctor sets off for the TARDIS to save his friends. While he's using Clara's memories to input the coordinates, the Doctor reveals that there is one, very big reason that he should not go to Trenzalore. Time travelers are forbidden to do one thing, and that's go to the place where they die. When Demarko spoke about "it" being discovered he didn't mean the Doctor's secret....he meant the Doctor's grave. But the Doctor resolved himself to rescuing Jenny, Vastra, and Strax. It was a real poignant moment, the Doctor recalling how the Paternoster Gang had been there for him in his darkest hour, after he lost Amy and Rory. Never questioning, never judging, just...being there. He owed it to them to save them, and Clara was right along for the journey.

But the TARDIS knows better, and the old girl refuses to land on Trenzalore and shuts down. But the Doctor has the upper hand and uses the sonic screwdriver to shut off the anti-grav, sending the blue box plummeting to the surface below. The Doctor and Clara exit the TARDIS and into a giant, dark, and ominous graveyard. When the Doctor described it as a military graveyard, I thought about Gettysburg and how a great battle must have been waged there. The stones get bigger, the Doctor says, according to how high the rank of the solider was. What they see next is a monument so large it barely seems possible. Standing taller than a mountain....was the TARDIS.

Cue theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey

As the Doctor explains, when a TARDIS dies the thing that keeps it "bigger on the inside" starts to leak out, and the ship becomes massive on the outside. A fitting tomb for the greatest warrior in the cosmos. As they walk they discover River Song's grave, and the projection of River appears to Clara, saying that the Doctor cannot see or hear her. Suddenly, the Whispermen appear, and River, through Clara, tells the Doctor that her grave isn't a grave at all (it would be impossible, since she was uploaded to CAL in The Library), but a secret entrance to the Doctor's tomb. The duo rush into the catacombs, a macabre echo of their race through the bowels of the TARDIS just a few episodes prior.

Meanwhile, Jenny, Vastra, and Strax wake up and are confronted by Dr. Simeon. Vastra correctly surmises that he is but a shell, and that that they are standing before the Great Intelligence. Simeon then demonstrates his terrifying ability to take human form using the blank bodies of the Whispermen. He then declares that Trenzalore will be the place where the Doctor is destroyed, in order to prevent him from causing bloodshed throughout the universe. The Doctor may be a hero to some, but to others he is known by names such as "Storm", "Beast", and "Valeyard". Fans will pick up the reference to the title "The Oncoming Storm" that the Daleks imposed on the Ninth Doctor, and that the Valeyard (from the classic series) is supposedly an evil future version of the Doctor, occurring after his 12th regeneration). What struck me, though, was "the Beast", the name of the Devil-like evil entity that the Tenth Doctor encountered. I suppose, to some, the embodiment of all evil could be the Doctor. Curious...

"Finally, I'm the best-looking person in a group!"

As the Doctor and Clara search through the catacombs of the TARDIS tomb (TombDIS?), Clara begins to falter as she remembers everything about her time with the Doctor, including his questioning of her before they entered the heart of the TARDIS in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS". She remembers now that he said that they had met before, and that she had died twice. But there's no time to explain, as the Doctor must now face Dr. Simeon. The Great Intelligence needs access to the tomb, and the key is the answer to the Question...the name of the Doctor. Of course, the Doctor won't give it to him, so Simeon sicks the Whispermen on the rest of the gang. While the blank-faced monsters move in to murder his friends, the Doctor pleads for mercy as Simeon, echoing Dorium at the end of Season 6, asks three times:

Doctor Who? 

Doctor Who?

DOC....TOR.....WHO?!

The Doctor shouts something, and the doors open. Did it really, finally happen? Did the Doctor reveal his name?

It takes a long moment to realize that, in a bout of sheer genius on Steven Moffat's part, that the doors have opened all by themselves. The Question was answered, but not by the Doctor. It was answered by the one person that nobody could see or hear, not even us. It was answered by the Doctor's wife, River Song.

Simeon invites the Doctor to fully open the doors, and the group step into the Doctor's tomb....which is appropriately the TARDIS console room. The main console is no longer at the center, replaced with a beam of light that seems to be wrapped in glowing barbed wire. The Doctor explains that his extensive time travel has left not a body, but scars in time. Dr. Simeon at last reveals his plan: to step into the Doctor's time stream, destroying him at all points in time, and erasing him from the universe. Unable to stop him, the gang watches as the Great Intelligence sacrifices his mind and body to eliminate all the incarnations of the Doctor. We see the same montage of the Doctors as in the beginning, but with Dr. Simeon watching instead of Clara. As the Eleventh Doctor writhes in pain on the floor, it seems like this is truly the end for the Time Lord.

"Well then, off to erase you from time and space. Pip, pip, and all that."

Vastra, Jenny, and Strax run outside and watch as the countless worlds and systems that the Doctor has saved blink out of existence. Jenny, too, disappears, and Strax turns on Vastra; none of them having ever been saved by the Doctor. Vastra not only watches her love die, but is forced to kill her friend. 

But Clara, thinking on her rediscovered memories, knows what she has to do, what she was born to do. Despite River's protests, she heads to the beam of light. River says that she won't be "her" anymore, she will be scattered into a million pieces across time and space. But Clara intones her mother's saying, that what makes a souffle is not the souffle, but the recipe. As she approaches the beam, she turns to the Doctor and says, for the last, and yet the first time: "Run You Clever Boy, and Remember Me". Indeed, she becomes the Souffle Girl and steps into the Doctor's time stream, saving him time and time again. As she falls through the vortex, Clara recalls that she has called out to the Doctor, but he never answered back. Except twice, once in Victorian London, and once on Gallifrey. I was beyond riveted as I watched Clara stopping the First Doctor and Susan from making a terrible mistake...choosing to run off in the wrong TARDIS. And then my jaw dropped as a silver cylinder hurtled out of the port on Gallifrey....the TARDIS before it changed into a police box.

As the Doctor regains his strength, he resolves to go after Clara. River tries to stop him, but he amazingly catches her arm. As it turns out, he had always been able to see and hear her, but could not bear to acknowledge her because it hurt too much. They kiss, which, according to the Doctor, must have looked very strange to the Paternoster Gang. River reveals that she and Clara share a link, or else she would have faded right then and there. But...you know....spoilers. The Doctor finally says goodbye to her and she fades (with a fan-pleasing "Goodbye, Sweetie), and the Doctor does what a time traveler must never ever do.

When Clara awakes she is in a roiling, misty, confusing place. Frightened, she calls out to the Doctor and hears his voice in reply. Meanwhile, different incarnations of the Doctor are running past. The First, the Fourth, the Fifth, the Sixth, the Ninth; all racing past as they try to escape the consequences of the Doctor invading his own time stream. The current Doctor sends Clara a way out: the most important leaf in the world, the one that smacked her dad in the face so that he could be saved by her mother. The leaf that represented all the countless possibilities of life. Then, the Doctor appears, begging Clara just for once to let him rescue her as thanks for the infinite times she had rescued him and his incarnations. 

He also takes the time to yell at Anakin that "He was the Chosen One!"

But one man stands, his back to them, amid the chaos. Clara is confused, she has seen all of his faces, and the man she is clinging to is the Eleventh Doctor. But the Doctor knows the truth. That names matter, that they are a promise to the universe. And the man before them broke that promise. Still without facing them, the man explains that what he did, he did "without choice" and "in the name of peace and sanity". Yes, the Doctor replies, but not "in the name of the Doctor."

The man turns, a grizzled older man with the weight of terrible actions bearing on him. The music swells as, in a very "Kill Bill" fashion titles appear beside him. 

"Introducing John Hurt.......as the Doctor."

Code Name: Gallifreyan Time Snake

The Doctor's greatest secret is revealed, and things will never be the same.

Even now, over two hours later, I am still rocked by this ending. The whole episode was a masterpiece and a great nod to the generations of fans who have loved Doctor Who. The implications of this episode, leading into the 50th anniversary special, are incalculable. According to rumors (pretty damn good ones now), John Hurt's Doctor is the one that ended the Time War, destroying both the Time Lords and the Daleks. Hopefully we get to see that play out, especially if we can see Eight regenerate to Hurt, and Hurt to Nine.

But then, Christopher Eccleston is no longer the Ninth Doctor, is he? Nor David Tennant the Tenth, nor Matt Smith the Eleventh. It's fitting that Dr. Simeon mentioned the Valeyard. As I said, the future Doctor comes after his twelfth regeneration. Now that the numbers align, will we see the evil Doctor emerge?

And, of course, what is the link between Clara and River? Clara told the Doctor that she had seen all his faces, just as River did in the Series 5 episode "Time of the Angels". I'm not saying River is Clara, it was proved tonight that they are not the same person, but perhaps that link between them remained. Maybe that's how she knows the Doctor's real name. 

I could not have been more pleased as a fan. Steven Moffat deserves an incredible amount of credit for weaving such a magnificent tale. The Doctor's name remains hidden, as it should, but we learned so very much in just one episode. And now, we must be patient.....only 188 days to go until the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special.

Until then, sweeties,

- Joe

Who's That Girl? The Mystery of Clara Oswin Oswald

And so it's come to this. Trenzalore, the Fall of the Eleventh, and the Question. Tonight the Doctor's biggest secret will be revealed, but that won't be all! We will finally learn the truth behind Season 7's most intriguing (and gorgeous) mystery. Just exactly who is Clara Oswin Oswald? In both "Hide" and "Journey to the Center of the TARDIS" we are told that Clara is just an ordinary girl. But we all know that she's not. She's "The Impossible Girl."

A while back I created a list of all the crazy rumors and theories running around the Internet (yes, believe it or not such things exist!) and this is the result:

Tremble at my mighty geekery!

And so, let's throw the Clara Theorizer on maximum and see what we come up with:

1. Discounted Theories

Let's just get these out of the way, shall we? I don't believe that Clara is River Song, a Time Lord, Susan Foreman, a future version of the Doctor, the Doctor's "daughter" Jenny, or CAL (despite the return of River Song), or a manifestation of the TARDIS (like Idris in "The Doctor's Wife"). There's just not been enough to support any of those claims.

2. Connections Throughout the Series

Throughout Series 7 there have been certain things about and around Clara that have been present in almost every episode. Let's take a look at some now:

A. Memories

Memories have played a pivotal role in Doctor Who, but there has been a particular emphasis put on them during this current Doctor's run. And in terms of Clara, there is one phrase that particularly comes to mind:


It's even on Victorian Clara's gravestone! You'll notice, that although she's only said it 3 times, she accidentally enters "4" into the code. One of the trailers to tonight's episode has her saying the phrase...so are we about to see yet another Clara go by the wayside?

Memories have been shown to hold a certain type of power throughout the Eleventh Doctor's tenure. In "The Pandorica Opens", the Doctor tells a Roman Rory (back from a little condition known as "being deleted from time") that "if you remember something, it's never truly gone." And in the next episode (the series 5 finale), "The Big Bang", the Doctor pilots the Pandorica into the heart of the exploding TARDIS, thereby resetting time, but erasing himself from history. However, at her wedding to Rory, Amy knows something (or someone) is missing. And then she remembers "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

And, of course, the main villains of Season 6 were "The Silence", a religious order dedicated to stopping the Doctor from reaching Trenzalore, answering the Question, and fulfilling the prophecy that "Silence Will Fall". They are represented mostly by aliens who, when you look away from them, you forget who they are.

Because who wouldn't want to forget that face?

I'll explore their connection to Clara and tonight's finale a little later. In the recent Christmas special "The Snowmen", Clara and the Doctor face off against the Great Intelligence and "snow that can remember" and in "The Rings of Akhaten", it is memories that the parasite planet feeds off of, and what kills it is Clara's leaf, which represents all the possibilities of what could have been for her parents. And, ever since the end of Series 6, the Doctor has sought to erase himself from the memory of the universe (because he's gotten "too big"). In "Asylum", Oswin erases the Daleks' memories of their oldest enemy, in "Nightmare in Silver", the Cyber-Planner can't find any trace of the Doctor in the records of the Cyberiad.

So, considering how powerful memories are, and that might be multiplied for a Time Lord, could it be that all the Doctor has to do is remember Clara and she will reappear back into his life? This, of course, syncs up nicely with the next inter-series connection:

B. Nanogenes

Ooh, Tingly.

Nanogenes have appeared multiple times in Doctor Who. During the Ninth Doctor episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", nanogenes heal Rose Tyler aboard Captain Jack's ship, and repair injured humans in the image of a lost little boy wearing a gas mask. But, they also are present in the Series 7 opener, "Aslyum of the Daleks" (in which, you might remember, we first meet Oswin Oswald). When Rory, Amy, and the Doctor are sent down to the Daleks' prison planet, they have to wear special bands so that the nanogenes won't turn them into Dalek clones. But, in order to save Amy, the Doctor gives up his band. Could it be that the nanogenes stayed with the Doctor (and/or Clara) and allowed her to be reconstructed throughout time so long as he remembered her?

C. Clouds

Her bag is also bigger on the inside. Time Lady?

It may be just a way to string together the Clara's, but did anyone notice that in "Asylum" we had the nanocloud, in "The Snowmen" Clara found that the TARDIS was parked on a cloud, and in "The Bells of St. John" Clara was uploaded "to the cloud"?

E. Connections to Rose

Perhaps one of the most pervasive connections to the Clara's throughout Series 7 has been the appearance of roses....and the reference to one of the Doctor's most beloved companions. When Oswin assists the Doctor in defeating the Daleks, she has a rose in her hair. In "The Snowmen", Clara works at a pub called the "Rose and Crown", and in "The Bells of St. John", the Doctor puts a rose on Clara's bedside table as she rests and recovers.

But it goes much, much deeper than that. In "The Bells of St. John", Clara says that she was given the number to the TARDIS by the "girl in the shop". Now, this could be a one-off line, but not likely. When we first meet Rose Tyler, she is simply a girl working in a shop in London when the Autons attack her and she first meets the Ninth Doctor. As she says goodbye to the Tenth Doctor in "The End of the World", she tells him that in the parallel world she's found work in a shop. So, could Rose be that girl in that shop?

Speaking of parallel worlds, don't think that it's gone unnoticed that, at the end of "The Rings of Akhaten", when Clara exits the TARDIS she notes that her home looks different. Much like Mickey Smith noted when he and Rose accompanied Ten to a parallel Earth:

"Everything's the same, but a little bit different"

Something that never changes: How much I hate Mickey Smith

Another interesting connection may have gone unnoticed by fans. At the end of "Asylum of the Daleks" we learn that Oswin Oswald has been turned into a Dalek. What many might forget is that when Nine and Rose faced off against the Dalek Emperor, he revealed that he was able to rebuild the Dalek race by capturing and converting the discarded dregs of humanity. Could that be a connection that Rose has picked up on?

And then there's the beautifully placed reference in "The Cold War". As Clara and Professor Grisenko search for Grand Marshall Skaldak, the Soviet doctor mentions that he likes to sing a song to calm his nerves. His favorite tune at the moment is Duran Duran's smash hit "Hungry Like The Wolf". Rose Tyler became The Bad Wolf to save the Ninth Doctor, did she do so again to save the Eleventh? After all, as the lyric goes

"I'm lost and I'm found...and I'm Hungry like the Wolf!"

3. So then, Who (or What) is She?

At the end of the day I keep coming back to two theories that make the most sense. So, here they are:

A. A Trap Set By The Great Intelligence

That Clara really is great, isn't she? She's brave, smart, witty, beautiful, loyal, and doesn't shy away from a fight. She's the perfect companion....maybe too perfect? The Great Intelligence has been a villain in both "The Snowmen" and "The Bells of St. John" (as well as a serial during the Second Doctor's run). We know from the trailers that we'll see Richard E. Grant reprise his role as Dr. Simeon/The GI. Could he be the leader of the Silence? The cause of the TARDIS exploding in Season 5? And could he, just maybe, be responsible for bringing Clara Oswin Oswald into the Doctor's life again and again? If so, to what nefarious end is he using her to defeat the Doctor?

B. The Bad Wolf

For all the reasons listed above, it could very well be that Clara wasn't born out of the evil designs of the Great Intelligence, but out of the compassion of Rose Tyler. In "The Parting of Ways", when Rose looks into the heart of the TARDIS, she becomes the omnipotent being known as The Bad Wolf. Scattering messages throughout time, she "created herself" so that when the Doctor needed her the most, she was able to save him. Perhaps, as we head into the 50th anniversary and the return of Rose Tyler (maybe in the parallel world), we will see how the Bad Wolf plays into all of this.


The good news is, we won't have to wait long to find out!

See you after the finale!

- Joe

Doctor Who Review: Nightmare in Silver

Just when I thought we'd seen the best episode of the season with "The Crimson 'Orror", writer Neil Gaiman gives us an utterly exciting, fanboy pleasing, past-referencing episode with "Nightmare in Silver". The Cyberman are back in a big way. Leaner, faster, and upgraded like never before!

The episode begins with the Doctor, Clara, and the kids Artie and Angie (who really could not have played the "know it all teenager" any more terribly) popping out of the TARDIS on the surface of the moon....well, not the moon exactly, more like a cheap intergalactic amusement park version.

"We're whalers on the moon...."

They are briefly greeted by Webley, a denizen of the planet who has been waiting for a ride off, before they are interrupted by a platoon of Imperial soldiers. Using the psychic paper, the Doctor convinces them that he is an Imperial consul sent by the missing Emperor and dismisses the group. Webley then takes him into his exhibit, which is a veritable Madame Toussant's of the universe. If you look closely, you can see some aliens from "The Rings of Akhaten", a dummy from "God Complex", and a special appearance by the Blowfish from the Doctor Who spinoff "Torchwood". But what is most surprising is the revelation of a chess-playing Cyberman!

"I also play Jenga..."

They soon discover that the Cyberman is actually being controlled from below the board by none other than everyone's favorite Ewok, Warwick Davis, playing Porridge. It's pretty cool seeing a Star Wars alumn in the Whoniverse, especially since this is also the 30th anniversary year of Return of the Jedi. After some anti-grav fun, the kids settle down for bed as the Doctor and Clara go to speak with the platoon and search for little silver bugs. Meanwhile, back at Webley's, Artie is taken by a Cyberman and the curator himself is "upgraded". Soon after, a new Cyberman rushes in with blinding speed and abducts Angie. The Doctor instructs Clara to stay behind and make sure that the platoon doesn't blow the planet up as he goes off to rescue the kids.

But when the Doctor finds them, he is infected by cybermites thrown at him by an upgraded Webley. Having a thousand years to evolve and change, the Cybermen were able to adapt to any living body, even that of a Time Lord. The Doctor would be the next Cyber Planner and would lead the new Cyberiad to victory over humanity. But, it's not so easy to upgrade a Time Lord and the Doctor struggled in his own mind against "Mr. Clever". They were at a stalemate, each controlling 49.881% of the brain. The Doctor could regenerate, but then "who knows what we'll get", so they decide to bet the remaining .238% on a game of chess. The Doctor outwits the Cyber Planner for a time by utilizing an old weakness, and slaps the golden ticket to the park to the Cyber side of his face. The move buys him enough time to get to Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle and get tied up, and the two once again battle it out on the chess board. Clara tries to speak with the Doctor, but is tricked by Mr. Clever, who almost convinces her that the Doctor loves her. A quick smack to the face ended that ruse, but the Cyber Planner was still able to destroy the remote trigger to the Desolator. Meanwhile, outside, the small "punishment platoon" waged a fierce battle against the new Cyberiad...and it wasn't going well.

"All your base are belong to us!"

Luckily for Clara and the platoon, the Cyber-Planner was so immersed in his game with the Doctor that he used the power of his brethren to boost his processing, temporarily shutting them down. But the Doctor had the upper hand. After playing a move that allows the children to be freed, he gives the Cyber-Planner a moment to claim victory. And when Cyber-Webley goes after the kids, Porridge ends him with a pulse to the leg. And then it was mate in three moves:

1. Move One: Turn on sonic screwdriver. 
2. Move Two: Activate pulse. 
3. Move Three: Apply pulse.

Struggling momentarily with the Cyber Planner, the Doctor is able to slap himself in the Cyber-Face with the pulse, frying the circuitry and allowing him to reclaim complete control of his mind. But the Cybermen reactivate and march in for the kill. With no way to detonate the Desolator, all is surely lost. But, in the most annoying way possible, Angie correctly surmises that Porridge is the missing Emperor, and indeed Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick Cord Longstaff XLI, Defender of Humanity and Imperator of Known Space activates the bomb with his voice.

"Yub Yub, Commander."

The gang is beamed aboard his ship, where they watch as Hedgewick's World of Wonders is destroyed. Content that he had done his duty and redeemed himself, Porridge asks Clara to marry him and stave off the loneliness of intergalactic rule. Clara politely declines (much to Angie's frustration) and the group departs for home.

"Nightmare in Silver" was full of rich characters who played their parts with great depth and conviction (save, of course, for the kids...) Jenna-Louise Coleman really shined in this episode. She was able to hold her own and take full charge of the command the Doctor left her, made quick, tactical decisions, and showed her complete faith in the Doctor (even if she didn't know what he was doing). She was more like her Victorian self than in any previous episode. And the interplay between her and the Doctor (and Mr. Clever) was just superb.Warwick Davis exuded tons of gravitas and made you really feel for the Emperor, who felt lonely at the top and who, much like the Doctor, was still struggling with his actions that may have ended the war against the Cyberiad, but destroyed countless trillions of lives in the process. Even Jason Watkins played a great part in Webley, who went from slightly downtrodden to obedient and proud Cyber-Webley before his demise. 

But this episode belongs to Matt Smith, who was absolutely brilliant as he battled for control of his mind. I believed that "Mr. Clever" was a separate being, and watching the Doctor and the Cyber Planner engage in the oldest game in the universe, with the highest stakes, was exciting. Inside the Doctor's head was fascinating, seeing his past forms (those "ten complete rejects") was thrilling, and hearing Matt Smith say both "Fantastic!" and (epsecially) "Allons-y!" made me shriek with fanboy glee. Even though Mr. Clever was supposed to be a different being entirely, I thought that he really brought out the worst parts of the Doctor (much like the Valeyard or the Dream Lord). It was interesting to watch a Cyber-being exhibit such emotion, even though he clearly detested the concept of having them. He was sharp, cunning, and took fiendish delight in his "assured" victory. And I was enthralled watching him jockey for position with the Doctor.

"'ello handsome!"

And, of course, I have to talk about the re-designed Cybermen. I loved how they were leaner, faster, more versatile, and not so easily defeated. The small difference in placement of the eyes and mouth (which curved up slightly) made them a bit more unnerving this time around. Just like the soldier, I jumped a little when the Cyberman's head spun around. I actually enjoyed the almost constant upgrading because it made them seem invincible. Indeed, it took a planet-imploding bomb to finish them off (save for that one head floating in space...) Their design and mannerisms very much harkened back to the classic era but were something completely new. When they awoke from their "tomb", it brought me back to one of my favorite classic Who stories, "The Tomb of the Cybermen" with Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. For as campy as the old series can be, it is definitely an episode you can't miss. It's also fitting, since Matt Smith marks "Tomb" as his favorite Doctor Who serial and modeled much of his mannerisms and character after Troughton (including the bow tie).

Seen here, the Cyber High School Marching Band

And so, after saying goodbye to Artie, Angie, and Clara, the Doctor was left alone in the TARDIS to once again ponder the mystery of Clara. And he (and we) won't have to wait long to find out. The series 7 finale of Doctor Who airs May 18....and that's when we find out about the Impossible Girl and the Question. Trenzalore is waiting.

Til' next time,

- Joe

Doctor Who Review: The Crimson Horror

Brace yourselves, friends, because as our favorite Sontaran warned, we are going....to the North! And let me tell you, Victorian Yorkshire seems like one hell of a creepy place to reside. Written by the brilliant Mark Gatiss, "The Crimson Horror" brings us a sinister villain, a few cringe-inducing moments, and the return everyone's favorite crime fighting trio.

I have to say, I found this episode a lot creepier than "Hide" (Crooked Man and all). Let's start with the premise: An old woman, Winifred Gillyflower (fiendishly played by Dame Diana Rigg), seeks to rid the world of imperfection and, utilizing a primordial ooze, freezes those she deems "perfect". They shall remain in suspended animation until her plans to cleanse the Earth are complete, and then the residents of Sweetville will repopulate the Earth according to her design. But not even the "best of the best" are so lucky....some do not survive the freezing process. They end up suffering from, as the mortician calls it, "The Crimson 'Orror!"

THIS is what happens when you read spoilers for the 50th Special.

I was also really disturbed when Gillyflower's daughter, Ada (performed marvelously by Dame Diana's real-life daughter, Rachael Stirling), whose jerky movements and scarred face were already pretty jarring, went to feed her pet "monster" (because, after all, "every lonely monster needs a companion"). Let me explain, I once had a very vivid dream about going up a staircase to peek through a single door and see a crazed something flailing on the other side. That, of course, was brought on from seeing the first glimpses of Sloth in The Goonies when I was young and it scared the hell out of me when he finally got the tray of food and held it up in triumph.

This...this freaked the HELL out of me as a kid.

 I will say, though, that the Doctor's affection for her after he is released from the 'Orror was really touching, especially in light of how poorly she was treated by her mother. And when Jenny picks the lock and runs through the other side, to reveal a Frankenstein-like Crimson Doctor, I almost hid under the covers. To see big face with that long chin frozen in pain reminded me of the victims in The Ring, and his wide eyes still give me the shivers.

Before You Die...You Regenerate

But that's nothing compared to the reveal of "Mr. Sweet", the namesake of the pristine community, the source of the poison that induced the 'Orror (I love saying that!),  and someone with whom only Mrs. Gillyflower could speak. Naturally, this was because he was a prehistoric parasite living off of her own body.

Moments later he would don a top hat and sing "Ragtime Gal"
(10 points if you get the reference)

When Mrs. Gillyflower is finally thwarted (taking the Palpatine Express right over the railing in the missile silo), it was so satisfying to see Ada walk over and, when asked for forgiveness, whispers "Never." She then squishes Mr. Sweet with her walking stick, ending the parasite's disgusting existence (and preventing him from launching into an eery chorus of "Under the Sea"). I should point out that this is the second episode to deal directly with a parasite (the first being Akhaten itself in "The Rings of Akhaten") could this be a clue about Clara? An odd coincidence? Or my own mind making random connections?

By Jove, I think it's all three!

This episode also delivered some fantastic bits of comic relief. Strax's frustration with the horse and his subsequent interaction with young Thomas Thomas, who provides directions much like the GPS of his future, was really amusing. And when he crashes into the Sweetville complex with a mighty "Sontar-ha!" and blasting away, I felt glad to finally see him experience some action.

And, may I say, I've never seen anyone elicit such a passionate reaction from the Doctor as Jenny. The giant snog after she freed him from the Crimson Horror, his "sonic excitement" when she reveals her skintight bodysuit, and when she kicks some supermodel tail; it was all so unlike the Eleventh Doctor, who has ever only been seen being slightly flirty with River Song. It was a surprising departure from his character, but one that I thought added a really interesting new layer to his persona. I definitely wouldn't mind going a few rounds with the Victorian housekeeper...if only I was her type...and gender...and species.

"Uh, please don't tell my wife."

Ahem, moving on. The flashbacks to when the Doctor and Clara first arrived and investigated Sweetville, told via grainy camera footage, old-timey music, and sepia-toned photographs, was absolutely brilliant. It was so different from anything we had seen before. And the reference to the Fifth Doctor, his adventures with Tegan Jovanka, and his oft-used phrase "Brave Heart" was a huge treat for this Five fan.

I also really liked Matt Smith's Northern accent, not seen since "The Rebel Flesh". It was also a great throwback to Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor, who was called out by Rose for his accent, to which he replied "Lots of planets have a North!" And I love how Clara took charge, smashing the chair into Mrs. Gillyflower's organ in order to stop the launch of the missile. It was nice to see the sonic not be the only way to solve a problem. And the interplay between Gillyflower, the Doctor, Clara, and Ada at the end was just classic Who.

Now, lest we forget, this is the first time the Paternoster Gang has seen Clara (or any version of her) since she died in "The Snowmen". They are all rightly confused, and the Doctor isn't giving them (or us) any answers. I actually really liked that we didn't learn anything new about Clara. Especially after "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", it was nice not to focus on great mystery of Series 7B. And to so casually dismiss it in the very time we first (er, secondly) met Clara was an obviously playful jab at the fans.

Ultimately, the TARDIS takes Clara back home, where she discovers that her little charges have found pictures of her online (...not that kind), detailing all of her adventures through time. Clara tries to deny that it's her, but when she sees a picture of her in Victorian London, not Yorkshire, she unwittingly spills the beans. The kids threaten to tell their father unless they can come with her on the next trip. And so we head into the eagerly awaited "Nightmare in Silver"!

All in all, "The Crimson 'Orror" might just be one of the best episodes of the entire Series 7. Creepy, exciting, funny, and with tons for Whovians to fan-gasm about, I wouldn't mind being frozen watching this until Judgement Day.

Til next Time (and Space!)

- Joe

Doctor Who Review: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Generations of Whovians have wondered what lay in the deepest corners of the box that's "bigger on the inside". In the classic series we've seen companions' rooms and other sections, but never have we had a topsy turvy adventure leading straight to the heart of the TARDIS itself. "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" certainly delivered on its promise, and gave us a few extra bits along the way.

When the TARDIS is caught in the magno-grab of a salvage vessel, things start to go very very wrong. The Doctor and Clara are separated, a tear in time appears on board, and there are burning zombie monsters running amok. The Doctor asks for the help of the Van Baalen brothers in rescuing Clara, offering them the salvage of a lifetime.

Tons of wires and a wooden box! Congratulations!

Let's put the adventure of the episode aside for a moment and talk about what we saw (and heard) inside the  Big Blue Box. Now, for a whole list of references you can check out BBC One's blog, The Fourth Dimension. As Clara ambles around (and in some cases races through) the corridors, we get a glimpse of a few different rooms, like the observatory with a gigantic telescope (which you might remember from the Series 2 episode Tooth and Claw). We get to see a room with a kind of living metal tree with glowing orbs that can grow any type of device or machine that the Doctor requires. And, finally, at long last, we get to see the swimming pool.

In a surprise twist and crossover, Moriarty unveils his plan to destroy Clara.

Clara also comes across the enormous TARDIS library, stacked high with all kinds of books and documents. In it she also finds items from the past such as the Doctor's cot (or crib, for us Americans), the wooden TARDIS made by a young Amelia Pond, and the Seventh Doctor's first umbrella. And, when hiding from the Time Zombie, she stumbles into the Encyclopedia Gallifreya. I thought it was really interesting that the Time Lords kept an oral record of their history in bottles, as that is the oldest form of passing down stories, culture, and history. Among the mumbles and whispers we could hear something about "The Medusa Cascade". But what she comes across before that sent my fan-sense a-tingling.

TL;DR

As Clara flips through the pages of the history of the Time War, she spots something that intrigues her above all else. Although she is interrupted by the Time Zombie, she is able to see something that makes her say "So that's Who."

Yes. Clara Oswald has learned the Doctor's name.

Getting back to the story, Bram Van Baalen is tasked with junking the entire TARDIS console for scrap. When he lifts open a piece of the control panel, we (and maybe he?) hear a multitude of voices from the past. Our friends at the TARDIS Data Core wiki has provided a full list:

• The voice of Susan Foreman says, "I made up the name 'TARDIS' from the initials: Time and Relative Dimension In Space." (TV: An Unearthly Child)
• The Third Doctor saying, "The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental" and his companion, Jo, asking "What does that mean?" (TV: Colony in Space)
• The Eleventh Doctor saying, "You sexy thing!" then Idris (the TARDIS in human form) replying, "See, you do call me that! Is it my name?" followed by the Doctor's exclamation of "You bet it's your name!" (TV: The Doctor's Wife)
• The Fourth Doctor saying, "That's trans-dimensional engineering. A key Time Lord discovery." (TV: The Robots of Death)
• The Ninth Doctor saying, "The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me they've tried." (TV: Rose)
• Martha Jones saying, "It's just a box with that room crammed in!". (TV: Smith and Jones)
• Amy Pond saying, "We're in space!". (TV: The Beast Below)
• Ian Chesterton asking, "It can move anywhere in time and space?" (TV: An Unearthly Child)
• The Fifth Doctor asking, "You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you?" (TV: Time Crash)

Bram was later admitted to the psychiatric ward of the TARDIS

Now, I thought it was a little weird that he could just lift up the console like that. In Boomtown, Blon Slitheen  does so and is turned back into an egg. In The Parting of Ways, when Rose looks into the heart of the TARDIS that way, she becomes the Bad Wolf, and that leads to the Ninth Doctor's regeneration. Perhaps, because the ship was shut down, Bram could look into it (and climb down) unscathed. That is, until he met a Time Zombie down there.

"I just wanted to see if you had any Jergen's!"

 Meanwhile, the Doctor, Tricky, and Gregor are trying to navigate the labyrinth the TARDIS has created because Gregor has stolen one of the orbs. It leads them back to the console room, which the Doctor describes as en echo (much like the pocket universe in Hide, last week). Clara, too, is stuck in an echo console room, but she has company. Using Gregor's sensor, the Doctor finds Clara and pulls her into their echo console room before the Time Zombie can touch her. Wibbly-wobbly, indeed.

As the team heads towards the center (or centre, for our British readers) of the TARDIS, they see images of the past and the Doctor reveals that there is a leak in time somewhere on board. As they continue on their way Clara hears a rumbling overhead. Then, in one of the more thrilling parts of the episode, beams start bursting through the walls and they run for their lives. When they find the two salvagers, Tricky is has been impaled through the shoulder by a beam. He tells Gregor to cut the arm off, as he is an android and can get a new one. But it's revealed that Gregor and Bram played a joke on their younger brother, and after an accident gave him cybernetic eyes and a new voice box and told him he was an android. Now that is going to make for one awkward Thanksgiving.

After Tricky is freed, the team needs to cross a very dangerous room. They need to pass by the Eye of Harmony. As I mentioned in my review for Hide (in which they used a subset of the Eye to enhance Emma's powers), the Eye of Harmony was integral to the plot of the 1996 movie and had been mentioned once before in the classic series. Here, we see it in its full awesomeness. A sun turning into a blackhole, trapped in its state of decay so as to power the TARDIS. Time Lord technology at its finest.

Don't worry, it'll only turn you into a Time Zombie.

But the Time Zombies catch up with them and trap them between doorways. The Doctor reveals that what they're running from...is themselves. The future has leaked into the TARDIS as well as the past, and it seems that the Doctor has failed to save Clara again. The remaining Van Baalen brothers try to fight off the monsters, but are turned into their zombie selves once again. Clara and the Doctor run, and find themselves...outside. But no, they are actually still in the TARDIS, very close to the engine room. This reminded me a lot of the wave-powered engine room of the ship in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship...just with less pterodactyls.

Muuuuch better.

It's here that the Doctor finally confronts Clara. Is she a trick? A trap? How is it that he has been met her at different points in time, where she has died, and yet here she is once again right in front of him? But the Doctor, sensing how afraid and confused she is, realizes that although their meetings are strange, she is no one and nothing but Clara. Together, they make a leap of faith and jump into the heart of the TARDIS.

Also aboard the TARDIS? An old Templar knight.

Which, of course, is unlike anything we've ever seen (although it did remind me of the Zero Room in the Fifth Doctor's first episode, Castrovalva). The TARDIS, in what looks to be a room totally out of time and space, has contained the explosion temporarily. The Doctor becomes distraught because he cannot figure out a way to save the old girl, who had always been there for him. But when he holds Clara's hand he notices something, that it had been burned....and that burn had written itself into her flesh: Big Friendly Button.

"Good thing...because I was SOL there for a second..."

In the biggest (and probably most literal) Deus Ex Machina ever, the Doctor reaches through the rift in time and tosses the device used by the Van Baalen brothers over to his past self. Clara picks it up and is burned, and when the Doctor retrieves it he laughs and pushes the button (if only Staples had a product placement deal). Time resets itself, the Van Baalen brothers are reunited, Clara and the Doctor continue on their journey, and the TARDIS races through time and space once more.

Overall I thought this was an absolutely exciting episode. We saw more of the TARDIS than ever before, had a race through tight corridors and expansive rooms, were given some wonderful recalls to the past, and given hints that will lead us directly to the 50th anniversary special. There were a few misses I thought: I would like to have seen another old console room instead of another echo room, and I thought the Van Baalen brothers were a pretty week ensemble. But the Time Zombies were very creepy and unsettling, especially when we learned who they were. And I can forgive the "deus ex" bit, because it was necessary for the Doctor and Clara to be saved, and it also leads us into the 50th. I wonder, though, now that that Doctor knows that Clara isn't some kind of trick, how he will go about finding out exactly why they keep meeting at different points in time.

No reason to put this here, I just thought it looked pretty.

Secrets keep us safe, but they also keep us in suspense!

Until next time (....and space),

- Joe

Doctor Who Review: Hide

You know when writer Neil Cross steps up to pen a Doctor Who episode, you're going to get something different. Whether it was the instant classic "The Doctor's Wife" or the still hotly debated "Rings of Akhaten", Cross always puts his unique touch on familiar tropes. Hide not only is no exception, but it is a perfect example.

The Doctor and Clara arrive at Caliburn House, a giant mansion beset by a wailing spirit known throughout history as "The Witch of the Well". Set in the 1970's, this episode used every ghost story antic without seeming cliche. Stormy night? Check. Candelabras? Check. Hard science mixed with psychic abilities? Checkaroo. Splitting up in order to catch something that you're clearly outmatched by? Oh, so much Check! Yes, this episode touched on everything from The Ring to Scooby-Doo and mixed it all together to create a really dynamic, suspenseful, and kind of creepy episode.

You can't die after seeing The Ring if you can't see without your glasses!

But, of course, this is Doctor Who we're talking about, so we know we're not in for a mere ghost story (the Ninth Doctor episode "The Unquiet Dead" comes to mind). As the story progresses we find that our ghost is actually a pioneering time traveler stuck between our universe and a pocket universe (perhaps a nod Neil Cross' "The Doctor's Wife"). In an interesting turn of events, the Doctor discovers that every time they see the ghost they are seeing one brief moment in her timeline, stretched out over hundreds of years. Usually, it's the Doctor who seems to pop in and out of people's lives, but this time it was the other way around. When the Doctor goes through the history of the world, taking pictures in order to piece together Hila's flashes through time, it has a startling effect on Clara. To him, she surmises, they must all seem like ghosts, since the Doctor can witness the birth and death of a world in minutes and not even blink. The Doctor assures her she is "the only mystery worth solving". This very much echoes Rose's sentiments in "The End of the World" (again with the parallels!), but I don't think the Doctor was as successful in comforting her this time.

What? It's just the end of everything and everyone you ever knew! Get over it.

I also like how the contentious relationship with Clara and the TARDIS, first hinted at in "The Rings of Akhaten", was further explored. Clara lets the Doctor in on her suspicion that the old girl doesn't like her, and the Doctor likens the TARDIS to a cat that has to get used to someone. And when the Clara runs to rescue the Doctor from the pocket universe, she has to first get past the TARDIS audio/visual matrix, which sarcastically takes the form of Clara ("the person you most esteem"). Eventually the blue box relents, lets Clara in, and the two rescue their man. I have a nagging belief that their story isn't over, and will come to a head next week.

When the Doctor does find himself in the pocket universe, it is just plain creepy. It's misty, disintegrating, and completely void of life....well, except for one thing. The monster that inhabits this world doesn't look or move like anything we've ever seen. It actually reminded me a lot of old claymation monsters with its jerky movements and that definitely was unsettling. Even though we eventually learn that it (credited totally un-cringe-inducingly as "Crooked Man"), like Hila and the Doctor, was stuck there and just trying to reach its one true love back at Caliburn House, seeing it's face made me jump, and most definitely scared the bejeezus out of younger viewers.

Ladies?

But yes, folks, it turned out that this was a love story, after all. No villains to defeat, no apocalypse to stop, just the simple saving of a girl and the reuniting of lost (if incredibly ugly) loves. I think that's something that a lot of people lose in the new Who, that these stories don't always have to be dark and serious. The show, at its core, is about the power of love and good versus all the badness in the universe. In a way, we were actually treated to three different types of episodes in one: A ghost story, a classic timey wimey story, and a love story. Each one flowing effortlessly into the next.

And this episode, Whovians, more than any so far, should have your inner geek tingling. For one, the Doctor uses the space suit he used during his Tenth incarnation in the two-parter "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" and "The Waters of Mars". Also, in order to boost Emma's psychic powers and her connection to the pocket universe, not only does the Doctor fetch a Metebelis crystal from the TARDIS (a reference to the last adventures of the Third Doctor), he does so utilizing a subset of the Eye of Harmony (last seen as the focal point for the 1996 movie starring Eighth Doctor Paul McGann)! There was also an interesting bit where the Doctor directs Clara to hang up her umbrella, only to remember that he's since removed the coat rack he had in his previous TARDIS (and that of earlier incarnations). And, of course, when things start going wrong (as they inevitably do), we heard the familiar ring of the Cloister Bell.

Also that one episode where the Doctor runs a lot...

A unique twist on a familiar story type, tons of references, a nice and different ending, and a deepening of the mystery and character of Clara, "Hide" definitely delivered! And it was great to see the TARDIS fully in action once again! The episode also touched on unrequited love, fulfilled for Emma and Alec, and the monsters, but perhaps not for Clara? Will she be Eleven's Rose, or will she find her feelings rebuffed like Martha? And what about the Doctor's search to find the answer as to exactly who Clara is...and why she is? Emma's empathic powers were no help, and in fact were used to warn Clara not to trust him. No matter how that story plays out, "Hide" will definitely go on the list of top Eleventh Doctor episodes for many fans (yours truly included.)

Women? Amiright? 'eh? 'EH? Ahhh you know.

 What did you all think? And where do you think this is all leading? Sound off in the comments below and I'll see you next week for the eagerly awaited "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"!



Geronimo!

- Joe