Tag: Doctor Who

Favorites Friday: Authors I’d Like to Meet (Time Travel Edition)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday5 Comments

Last week I wrote about living authors I’d love to meet–and since they’re living, it’s at least somewhat possible.  Many of my favorite authors, however, lived several generations ago, putting meeting them out of the question.  Unless, of course, I had the ability to travel in time–using a TARDIS, perhaps!  If the Doctor ever showed up and asked me what time I wanted to visit, I’d know exactly what to tell him…

L. M. Montgomery would be the first person to meet, probably to no one’s surprise!  I’ve read every scrap of writing by her I can get my hands on, letters and private journals included, so more than any other author she already feels like a friend.  I know exactly when and where I would like to go–June of 1908, when Montgomery was still living in Cavendish, on Prince Edward Island.  According to her journal, her copy of Anne of Green Gables arrived on June 20th.  Besides that excitement, it seems to have been a cheerful period (not always the case).  Her journal also mentions that it was the most beautiful June she could recall–and I’m sure she said somewhere else that nothing is more beautiful than Prince Edward Island in June.  If I had a TARDIS, my first stop would be to go pick strawberries and ramble through woods with Maud Montgomery.

William Shakespeare would be my next trip (following the Doctor’s footsteps, in this case) because, I mean, Shakespeare!  I have to wonder if he sounded out loud like his plays, or not (probably not…)  And then there’s that authorship question to explore.  I’d visit Shakespeare in autumn of 1599, when my favorite comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, was debuting at the recently-opened Globe Theatre.

Brenda Ueland is a far less famous choice.  She wrote my favorite book on writing, If You Want to Write.  She also taught writing classes, and if they were anything like the book, they must have been wonderful.  If I could, I’d visit long enough to take some of her classes–perhaps in 1938, the year her book was published.

Diana Wynne Jones wrote so many amazing fantasy books, and by all accounts (and the evidence in her own semi-memoir, Reflections on the Magic of Writing) she was a fascinating woman full of extraordinarily colorful anecdotes.  I don’t know precisely when I’d like to meet her…unless possibly when she was at university, so that I could join her attending lectures by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

J. M. Barrie is probably no surprise either.  Like Montgomery, I feel as though I know him, because all of his books (and plays, somehow) feature a most charming narrator.  I can’t help feeling like that narrator is Barrie himself.  I’d like to meet Barrie and the Davies boys (the inspiration for Peter Pan) in April of 1904–in Kensington Gardens, of course.  George, the oldest boy, was twelve, and Barrie had just finished writing the play version of Peter.  The other advantage to April is that the daffodils would be blooming in the Gardens, and I love daffodils.

So if the Doctor came to your door and invited you for a literary spin in the TARDIS, what authors would you go to meet?

Saturday Snapshot: Doctor Who Shirts

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot19 Comments

Every so often, I just can’t resist a good fandom t-shirt.  So I wandered into Hot Topic a few weeks ago and went exploring through the Doctor Who section.  After poking through a lot of Matt Smith (11th Doctor) merchandise, I finally found two David Tennant (10th Doctor) shirts.  The 11th Doctor is all right in his way, but I’m a Tennant fan…and even better, the shirts center around two of my favorite 10th Doctor jokes.

Doctor Who Shirt (1)

Here’s Mr. Tennant himself, with the 10th Doctor trademark phrase, “Allons-y!”  It’s French–means “Let’s go.”  And this brilliant video collecting the Doctor’s “Allons-y” moments will explain the fun of it far better than I can.

Doctor Who Shirt (2)

This is a 10th Doctor quote from the excellent episode “Blink,” and context…would not really explain much (though here’s the clip, if you want it–the quote above is about a minute and a half in).

Suffice to say, this was the Doctor’s explanation for some time travel weirdness, and the real fun of it is quoting it in Doctor Who (or general geek) discussions.  Anything not quite making logical sense?  Eh–it’s just wibbly wobbly, timey whimey.  The best is when you can get several fans together who will join in and recite in unison.  It’s happened to me. 🙂

All right, so much for your Saturday dose of geekdom! 🙂  Have a splendid weekend–and, of course, check out At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots.  Allons-y!

The Doctor’s Voice

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction2 Comments

My various posts about Doctor Who have already told you that I haven’t been able to get over David Tennant leaving the show.  I still enjoy the Matt Smith seasons, but…!  One symptom of this unacceptance is that I’ve been seeking out Doctor Who audiobooks.  Not novels–audiobooks.  Specifically, ones narrated by Mr. Tennant himself.

I’ve listened to three so far, and was delighted to find that not only is David Tennant perfect at delivering the voice of the Tenth Doctor (as you might imagine…), he’s quite good at doing other voices too.  Here’s a run-down on all three I’ve explored.

Doctor Who: Pest Control by Peter Anghelides

The Doctor and Donna land on a dark, muddy planet in the midst of a war between human colonists and centaur-like natives.  No, really–centaurs!  The Doctor and Donna get pulled into the conflict, especially when, in a Kafkaesque twist, humans start turning into giant insects.  Obviously, this is a bizarre one in some ways, and it has some dark (and gross) moments.  But there also some good moments between the Doctor and Donna (she does not appreciate the mud, or what it’s doing to her clothes), and even some Star Trek humor.  The Doctor initially introduces himself as Dr. McCoy, and Donna as Captain Kirk.

Doctor Who: The Last Voyage by Dan Abnett

This one is set in between seasons, possibly after Donna’s season, as the Doctor is without a regular companion.  As happens in the specials, he adopts a companion for the day.  In this case, it’s Sugar MacAuley, a flight attendant on the maiden voyage of an experimental new space craft traveling across the galaxy (in 90 minutes!)  When the engines go amok, most of the passengers vanish, and strange creatures start appearing, the Doctor and Sugar have to find answers, or be lost drifting between dimensions forever.

I particularly like the plot of this one.  It’s a good mystery with some neat details.  There’s just one drawback–first, Sugar suffers from a really dumb name, and Tennant compounds the problem by trying hard to make her sound distinctive and winding up giving her an annoying voice.  If you can look (listen?) past that, Sugar is actually a pretty solid character.  I would recommend reading this in book form, except–it’s worth it on audio to hear the Doctor’s voice.  He gets some really wonderful Doctorish lines that I loved hearing Tennant say.  There’s even an “allons-y!” at one point (and if that doesn’t excite you, you must watch this clip).

Doctor Who: The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner

This is my favorite of the audiobooks so far.  As you might guess, it’s a Doctor and Rose story.  Mickey finds a stone statue of Rose in the British Museum, and when he shows it to the Doctor and Rose, they’re off to ancient Rome.  They meet an old man looking for his lost son, a young girl claiming to know the future, and a quite creepy sculptor…and the Doctor becomes convinced that the stone Rose is not a statue at all.

The-Doctor-and-Rose interaction here is brilliant, and I enjoyed the trip to Rome.  Tennant’s voice talents really shone here–he does great voices for Mickey and especially for Jackie.  His Rose voice was less distinct, but worked fine.  There’s a wonderful convoluted (but ultimately coherent) crossing of time lines, some good twists, and the last ten minutes is just lovely.  It’s a wonderful funny and sweet scene between Rose and the Doctor that’s adorable and just makes me smile and smile.  I listened to that bit twice.

As a means to an end, I can’t say that more Tenth Doctor adventures have helped me accept Tennant leaving the show…but more Tenth Doctor adventures are an end in themselves!

Favorites Friday: Doctor Who Episodes

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday6 Comments

I have noticed myself having frequent conversations which involve the sentence, “Oh, you have to watch Doctor Who!”  So I thought I’d do a blog post on that subject.  I already did one review of the first couple of seasons of the current incarnation.  For something a bit different, rather than giving you the sweeping commentary, I decided to zero in on some absolute favorite episodes–giving due attention to each Doctor and companion.

“The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances” – This two-parter is my favorite Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor) episode, possibly my absolute favorite of the series.  Rose and the Doctor arrive in 1940s London during the Blitz, looking for a crashed alien spacecraft.  They find a strange little boy in a gas mask stalking London’s street children, plaintively asking for his mummy.  It sounds odd–it is SO creepy.  This episode also introduces the delightful Captain Jack Harkness.  The first time I saw this, I was absolutely riveted.  It’s scary and suspenseful, woven through with wonderful bits of humor, and the last ten minutes are so feel-good that they make me incredibly happy–even when I re-watched it on a nine-hour plane flight.

“The Girl in the Fireplace” – I think this is my favorite Rose and David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) episode.  They’re my favorite pairing so it’s hard to choose–but this one has the Doctor crashing through a mirror on the back of horse.  That was the moment I decided David Tennant was an awesome Doctor.  With regards to this pairing, due honorable mention given as well to the episode when Rose leaves.  So unbelievably heart-breaking.

“The Shakespeare Code” – Unquestionably my favorite Martha episode.  I mean–they visit Shakespeare!  At the Globe!  And there are witches, and a mystery involving Love’s Labor’s Won!  Probably my favorite destination the TARDIS ever went to.  It’s where I’d want to go (after Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, circa 1907.  Then Shakespeare’s Globe).

“Turn Left,” “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End” – Lots to love about the Donna and David Tennant episodes, but this multi-part set is fairly mind-blowing.  I don’t feel like I really appreciated Donna until “Turn Left,” and then the last two episodes…there are Daleks, and everyone unites to fight them.  We get to have so many amazing characters in an incredibly epic confrontation.  Love it.

Honorable mention also to David Tennant’s last episode.  I really think the writers did everything they could to NOT help me deal with him leaving.  I’m still not over it.  But on we go to Matt Smith…

“Vincent and the Doctor” – I have more mixed feelings about the seasons with the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith (something for another post), but I do madly love this episode.  The Doctor and Amy visit Vincent Van Gogh.  I’m pretty familiar with his paintings, and it is SO MUCH FUN to see iconic paintings scattered all over Van Gogh’s living room (he apologizes for the mess).  There are little bits and pieces referencing his paintings all over the episode.  It’s also a beautiful, moving story about the pains and the joys of life.

If anything–anything at all–in here is catching your attention…you have to watch Doctor Who!  And if you already have, I’d love to hear about your favorite episodes.

Saturday Snapshot: Bad Wolf

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot14 Comments

My photo for this week is not impressive from a photography standpoint, but there is a fun story to it.

Doctor Who fans will know that “Bad Wolf” is a recurring phrase throughout the first few seasons of the new series.  It’s something that shows up in random places and in the backgrounds of scenes—like in graffiti.

So I was quite excited to see it scratched into a table at a restaurant.  That particular table is a big one in the back covered with random carvings and graffiti—none of the other tables are like that, so I have to assume the management gave approval at some point!  There are probably lots of references to different topics if I looked for them, but the “Bad Wolf” one excited me—because it’s graffiti of something that was, in its original form, graffiti…it’s like a double reference.

The first time I noticed the carving I was in the restaurant for a meeting of a Sci Fi Book Exchange, and I did not, alas, have a camera (though I was with people who understood my sudden exclamation).  Fortunately I was back a few weeks later with my book club, just after viewing the recent solar eclipse, and had my camera ready to go.  I hit a snag, though, because the table was occupied; there was a group there playing Magic.

I debated whether to ask them to move their game boards so I could take a picture, and finally decided…if there was ever a group likely to understand why I wanted to snap a picture of “Bad Wolf” graffiti, this was probably it, right?  So I asked, and they were gracious and didn’t look at me like I was crazy, and I got my picture.

And no, it’s not impressive photography.  But it’s graffiti of Doctor Who graffiti!  Either someone was very clever, or the Doctor and Rose came through for lunch one day.

Visit At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots!