Doctor Who?

Over at Den of Geek, which is one of those pro-bloggy sites which I can't seem to stop reading and would probably quite enjoy working for, I found a thought provoking article about Doctor Who.

It's here, and it's a critique of New Doctor Who. I enjoyed reading it, I also enjoyed disagreeing with it on a couple of points. Rather than attempt a fannish evisceration of the article - where would the point be? The writer isn't wrong - I thought I'd put together a counter argument.

The darkest days of Doctor Who came in the 1980s. As a fan, it was one of the staples of my life. I would ritually settle down in front of a title sequence that I was getting less and less happy with (the one I grew up with is probably still my favourite), listen to the theme music that had drifted away from the spine chilling electronica that to this day I can't get out of my head, and try to pretend that it hadn't all gone a bit wrong.

In the 1980s, Doctor Who was being torn in about three different directions at once. Some of the writers and script editors wanted the show to be a bit more grown up. Some of the fans did too, because by this point it had been on for something like twenty years. The kids who had been introduced to the Doctor in a Totters Lane junkyard now had families of their own, who were seriously unimpressed with the low budget, effects-poor fare that compared rather unfavorably to TV shows from across the Atlantic, and those parents now wanted a show which reflected their changing priorities.

The BBC didn't want the show at all.

The Producer wanted to try for some popularity. John Nathan Turner is often lambasted for his time on Doctor Who, and very unfairly so, given that without him the show wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. His decisions on guest stars, and on some of the directions the show would take, have made him a byword for all that fans thought was wrong with Doctor Who at the time.

What really happened was this: Doctor Who was in no position to move with the times. The BBC didn't want to spend time and money looking at the programme and the format. They had no interest in giving it the budget it needed to look as though it was punching at the same weight as the competition.

All of these things aside, us fans got something close to what we wanted with Sylvester McCoy's last two seasons. We got what appeared to be final stories for the Daleks and the Cybermen. We got a Doctor who started out a clown and became something very much more complex. And then the whole thing got handed off to Virgin Publishing, where a series of 7th Doctor novels would show what Doctor Who was capable of.

I read them. I think I read all but a couple. Some of them were brilliant. Others, not. They all had one thing in common: they were not suitable for children.

The show as it stands now is back with its roots. It is a TV show you can sit a 12 year old down with (or a bright younger child) and be reasonably assured that they will be entertained and that their imagination will be fired. This is what Doctor Who did for me, it's what Doctor Who does best and it's what Doctor Who is busily engaged in.

Aspects have moved on. The kids that started watching in 2005 are now six years older. Some of them will be turning 12. Some will be turning 18. To keep those viewers interested, stuff changes a little. But not much, and certainly not enough to - for example - alienate the new generation of viewers.

Doctor Who can be dark, because fairy stories are dark, and scary because a lot of children's tales are scary. It can be quite callous and hard, if it wants to, because children aren't the lovely bundles of fluff that some parents have decided they should be. Are you kidding? Listen to children playing some time. Children are so empathy-challenged that you can sit them in front of the Disney Channel for 12 hours - an experience that would make even the most ardent BNP supporter want to investigate how good it can be to share things with people who aren't like us - and they will still be selfish, capricious little shits at the end of it.

The call, by some older fans, to make Doctor Who grow up and be something different is never going to be heeded. To survive, the show needs to recruit new viewers and - paradoxically for a show that completely changes every couple of years - it needs constants.

In his article, Mark Reed said that the show suffered from a poverty of vision and that it could be so much more than 50 minutes of fast-paced lightweight scifi. It could be something like The Wire.

It could. And that would mean it stopped being Doctor Who.

Things do change. Companions come and go, there's continuity (of a sort) over years...decades, even... and the style of the show changes. Watch something from the first year of Doctor Who, then have a look at the Patrick Troughton story The Invasion. Then watch something like The Silurians. Treat yourself to Talons of Weng Chiang, and then watch Frontios. It's a completely different style of show, and yet exactly the same. Like the Doctor himself.

The thing that keeps us coming back to the show is not a desire for it to be as dense or complex as The Wire. It's different for all of is fans, but it hinges on the show saying something important to us when we were younger and continuing to say it today.

The Moffat Era is still talking to me, and although I really would like a network and a writer to take a science fiction idea and do with it what was done to The Wire, or The West Wing, I don't believe Doctor Who is the show to do it with.

Perhaps the new incarnation of Torchwood might have what people are looking for. It's a TV show for adults.

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Science fiction triple feature

I've been away from this blog for some time. I'll explain later.

The bad news is that I had written this post just before Blogger died for a couple of days. I know I saved the whole thing as a draft. I mean, I know I did, because I hadn't finished the post and besides that, I wanted to come back and edit it.

Well, it's gone. All of it. As they say in America, sonofabitch.

Never mind. Writing is re-writing.

DOUGLAS ADAMS

is dead. He has been dead for ten years, more or less exactly.

He died young, he left the world much poorer for his passing and it has had to struggle on without him ever since.

I did not know Douglas Adams. I think I might once have communicated with him on a forum - possibly the Digital Village - once. But that was it.

Just as well, too. The horrible teetering thing about being a fan is you might meet the person you idolize and find out they aren't the person you imagine them to be. That might be crushingly awful. Of course they might be wonderful, but people tend to be people no matter the height of esteem you hold them in.

So, the Douglas Adams I knew was constructed from his work. This is the nice thing about writers; they let you into their heads - or limited bits of their heads - and show you what they're thinking. Of course the craft of writing means this is artifice and you have to be wary of that, because this is where the whole fallacy that you know the artist comes from. It's much saner to say that I knew the work of Douglas Adams and was profoundly pleased to have discovered it.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was the place where my sense of humour lived. I damn near memorized several versions of the story. I can still bore people with quotes, although these days I very nearly have the maturity not to. To put this in context, there have been shows - The Goon Show, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Hancock's Half Hour - which define a sense of humour. These shows provide a home, a place where those who share that sense of humour, belong.

I came late to the Goons and Python. I was obsessing about towels long before I understood about pining for the fjords.

With typical Geek appetite, once I had discovered Douglas Adams I wanted to read everything he'd ever written and consequently discovered his love for technology and his concern for the environment. I also discovered that he wasn't a novelist at heart (but had managed to write some good ones anyway) and, essentially, wanted to be given the chance to tinker with stuff and then enthuse about it to people who had receptive minds.

I'm glad that he had the chance to do this. I'm delighted by his imagination, because things he wrote are still with us to be enjoyed, and I'm grateful to him for giving my sense of humour a place to call home.

Moffat Slams Spoilers

There's a really odd relationship between fans and spoilers.

Some of us love them. I think it's the thrill of secret knowledge. Other people love the tang of the illicit.

Like any piece of art - yes, television is art and if you disagree then sorry but you're wrong (at least for the purposes of this blog) - people form relationships with a TV show. Most of us have a pretty normal, healthy relationship with the show and are satisfied with that. Some want more. They want clandestine meetings in seedy hotels, they want to explore relationship elements which, to others, would seem transgressive.

I think that's part of the thrill of spoilers.

My own relationship with spoilers is similar to a Lovecraftian protagonist's relationship with the Mythos. Sure, I want the knowledge. Crave it, even. But I know having the knowledge will drive me mad and result in my face being bitten off by something with too many mouths.

Generally, I try to be Spoiler free.

However, for those who want to be Spoiled and who consent to be Spoiled...well, I can't really tell them they're wrong. Any sensible fan, and any sensible forum, has a special place reserved where people who want to engage in a little harmless Spoilering...can. Behind closed doors, so to speak. If you're a consenting fan, there's no harm in this.

The Moff has vilified the other type of fan. The one for whom blurting spoiler information where any unsuspecting person might see it is cruise control for cool.

I always assume this person is either looking desperately for validation, or else has a staggering lack of empathy, but either way it's a cry for help.

If Doctor Who is art, and if people form relationships with it, then the senseless spoiler is rather like the graceless idiot who sidles up to someone in the first blush of first love and, in an oleaginous whisper, says 'oh yeah...goes like a bunny, they say'.

Neil Gaiman Writes Doctor Who

I saw something in a facebook post. Someone said that the episode written by Neil Gaiman is superb - something I agree with wholeheartedly - and is much the better for the fact that it's written by someone who isn't one of The Moff's inner circle of friends.

I had a chuckle about this.

Because it's wrong.

Well, it's mostly wrong.

I don't want to comment on the relationship between Neil Gaiman and The Moff. I have no idea what it is, beyond the comments made by the men themselves on Doctor Who Confidential. I also have no desire to know. It doesn't matter.

Well, it doesn't matter beyond this: Neil Gaiman is a talented author and all round generally capable writer who wanted to write for Doctor Who and, after having met Steven Moffat, wrote to him to ask if he could.

It helps, of course, that Neil Gaiman has several novels to his name. And some screenplays. And some comics. And quite a lot of other things. Frankly, if Neil Gaiman wrote to you and said that he'd like to try writing an episode of your show, you'd be mental to dismiss the prospect out of hand.

Be that as it may, the author of the original facebook comment may have misunderstood the nature of writers and script editors. To an extent, there's a lot of social networking that goes on. It happens in every walk of life. If we're in a position to be handing out work, we will give it first to people we know and trust. These will, in all probability, be people we also find it easy to like. Before you know it, you've got yourself an inner circle of friends.

Being outside the whole process of Doctor Who, we do not see it and we do not understand it properly. My time as an amateur parapsychologist taught me that when people half see something, they will make shit up to explain what they believe is happening, and that this shit is worryingly difficult to dislodge.

We have to be really careful if we're trying to be critical, careful not to equate "this doesn't work for me" with "I totally understand how this happened, and it's a bizarre conspiracy".

Especially when we're looking at a social network which we're not a part of and which we have no chance of being a part of. It's hard to see what's really there when the shadowplay that hints at how we only think the world works is so much more comforting.

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I was writing

So, successes.

I've been published by Tweet The Meat four times. Yay! Click the link to read the stuff.

My contributions to The Celestial Toybox , the magazine of The Doctor Who Appreciation Society, continue unabated. Next up is issue 375/6 which contains a piece I did on The Cartmel Masterplan. I forget the grand total of issues I've appeared in, but we're looking at half a dozen at least.

Today I completed a bit on the first appearance of The Daleks, revised it (it's lots better now, but bears little or no resemblance to the original).

I make progress with the whole "Time War" thing. I now have one piece revised and another piece in dire need of tweaking. I was always impressed and amused by the dialog between spaceships that happens in Iain M. Banks's "Culture" novels (particularly "Excession") and this resulted in an attempt to write a short story that appears entirely as recorded data. Here's an extract:

[REDACT: node creation parameters restricted to Level 4 and above. If you require access to this data please see your supervisor]
[REDACT: 1.7s placement and space/time data restricted to level 4 and above.]
[REDACT: 4s traffic shaping - non neccessary data]

Identities Present.
AnsharadLiTom77-(red)[1337LART]
ChellPhanAnnie12-(blue)[SomeAssemblyRequired]
PanTorPan-element-Tor-element-Tor[LikenessOfAFreshYoungMaid]

+/set Tom
+/set Chell
+/set Tor

Tom - it's good to be with you again.
Chell - hello tom! It's been a while.
Tor - =image: sunrise over a snowfield=
Tom - it's good to see you too, Tor. We have about 20 seconds here before you go out of range. Do you have anything to share with us?

=stream: 127y data=
Tor - =image: an empty plate, remnants of food and a wineglass with a red residue in the bottom=
Chell - I bet! Wow. That's nearly a whole month's data. You're lucky to be out as far as you are.
Tor - =image: a child's birthday party. several laughing infant humans are present=
Tom - what, all the time?
Chell - I've spotted something interesting here. Tor, the third and ninth packets show an anomalous trend. Can you confirm that for me?
Tor - [ABRIDGED: half a second's worth of astrophysical data related to gravity, depicted as several charts and graphics]
Tor - =image: Rodin's Thinker=
Tor - =image: lightbulb=
Tor - [ABRIDGED: 1/100th of a second further equations and graphics relating to astrophyiscal and cosmological theory]
Tom - well, that's just not very likely.

BOX

Tom - what was that?

++CARRIER LOST - [LikenessOfAFreshYoungMaid]++

Chell - whoa.
Tom - one moment

/locate [LikenessOfAFreshYoungMaid]
\terminus not found

Tom - that's absurd. Even if the ship was destroyed it would take seconds

/display elapsed time
\session open for 2.1 seconds

It needs a bit of work, but I'm essentially happy with it. Of course, it's the last story in the sequence and now I have to go back and write the middle two, and then the one that occurred to me as being quite a cool idea but wasn't part of the plan at all, and possibly the other one that I'm sort of kicking around in a semi-amused fashion.

Anyway, when they are done they will be pulled together as one volume (called something like "Collateral Damage: A Possible History of the Last Great Time War") and presented for download and enjoyment as an ebook. Or eNovella. Or whatever. Part one is already at close to 10k words, so obviously I'd like to finish it and see what happens next.

The plan, such as it is, would be to have this ebook and invite people to d/l it for free, read it, review it if they like and tell people about it. I'd be interested in seeing what people think.

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Top 25 Who Stories

Fandom, as a wise man noted, loves lists. I do not love lists, so here is one. It's in no particular order either.

- note: 2005 onwards, any multipart story counts as one choice!

Edge of Destruction
- an intense two parter, in which the nascent Tardis crew almost fall apart (and stab each other). It's full of 60s dramatic acting, but extremely effective and still compelling, and it contains a turning point for the character of The Doctor - in which Barbara Wright proves herself to be perhaps the most important companion The Doctor has ever listened to, and in which she sets up a situation which Russell T Davies will use again later.

Thinking about it, some current fans might think of Barbara as a sort of proto-Rose. But in fact, Rose is a Neo-Barbara.

The Wargames
- one of the few Troughton stories I've seen without recourse to recons, it's surprising how brave this is and how it manages to keep the attention over 10 episodes. It's worth the effort for the presence of the iconic Troughton era team: Zoe, Jamie, The Doctor plus assorted interesting
supporting characters and the introduction of The Time Lords themselves. This beats out Tomb because of the range of ideas and the performances.

Ghost Light
- an episode shorter than it should have been and occasionally quite baffling, but it's also a tour de force for Sylvester and Sophie, it's atmospheric and creepy, it's strange and it could only have been made as a Doctor Who story.

And don't worry, according to the DVD extras, most of the cast (and the director) didn't understand it either.

Silurians
- one of the best Who stories ever. It's a brilliant dilemma, it showcases The Doctor as a scientist and the Brigadier as a soldier. We get germ warfare, a tense race to find a cure and the unexpected deaths of quite a few civilians which really does raise the profile of the Silurians. After that, you have to wonder whether The Doctor's stance on the reptiles is quite the right one to take.

Spearhead from Space
- a genuinely frightening Doctor Who story, doing what the show does so very well: taking the mundane and making it uncanny. It's interesting to see The Doctor out of action for a comparatively long time, so we get to spend a while with the supporting cast and UNIT, which is important considering how large a part they will play in the coming years.

It's also got a genuinely creepy villain and while the Nestene intelligence is a not particularly good special effect (although the plastic thing in the tank is rather nice and understated), so much of the story is grounded in something approaching reality that you get a sense of The Doctor being a part of the Real World.

Three Doctors
- for me, this is the only multi-Doctor story that has ever worked. The Two Doctors comes close, because watching the contrast between Colin Baker and Pat Troughton brings to mind this initial outing with Pertwee, Troughton and Hartnell. It's not that good a story, really, but the
performances lift it from being an oddity to being something rather special.

Horror of Fang Rock
- this is the first time I realised that the endings of Doctor Who stories are not necessarily connected to the plot resolution. This is as much about the Doctor and Leela as it is about a trapped Rutan. It is chock full of atmosphere and a creeping dread, the supporting cast are fun, the resolution is exceptionally dodgy science, but it's such a Hinchcliffe/Holmes era story (and stands in for all of the stories that I couldn't put here, because it turns out I am a Hinchcliffe/Holmes Fanboy - and proud of it) that it's hard not to like.

State of Decay
- more Gothic horror, but one that features three awesome things. One is Tom Baker really getting into the feel of the story. One is Lalla Ward, and the chemistry she creates alongside Tom. And the third is the only good performance Matthew Waterhouse got out of Adric. Or do I have that backwards?

It's also got camp vampires, who nevertheless contrive to be a great deal more vampiric than Edward Cullen, and while there's very little in the way of scares, there's menace. Oh, and a wodge of Time Lord prehistory to keep the inner fanboy going squee into the night.

Logopolis
- Tom's swansong, and he plays it perfectly. I think it's the strongest performance from Baker, T. we get in at least the last two seasons; you can feel the loathing he has for the Master, the sense of doom he feels once he spots The Watcher and the fact that this is once more The Doctor as a hero: he does what he does knowing that he'll die, and does it anyway.

As exits go, I think this was the right way for the 4th Doctor to go out. Tom Baker was My Doctor, and Logopolis - even with the associated oddness that surrounds the story - underscored that I was going to miss him terribly. I did, too.

Black Orchid
- a BBC specialty and a thing of quiet and unassuming joy; it's the 1920s, the Doctor gets to play cricket, there are no monsters in it and we get to see two lots of Sarah Sutton - one half of which is not Nyssa. Hurrah!

Doctor Who does not need monsters. There are some stories where you can tell that the monster is integral and there are others where it's just been tacked on to fulfill the "hiding behind the sofa" criteria. Here, the monsters are people and vice versa. I find this rather satisfying.

Caves of Androzani
- A case in point. Ignore the stupid mud lava beast thingy, which definitely doesn't belong to any kind of ecosystem and has no place except to go "Raaah!" and claw at things, and concentrate instead on The Doctor and Peri in a great example of the thing only Doctor Who can do: a regeneration story.

It's interesting that the last 5th Doctor story is, in a way, the one that best defines him. Ignoring the supporting characters and subplots, we see The Doctor give up everything to save the life of a friend, and then draw on all of his friends for support as he dies.

Revelation of the Daleks
- Colin Baker really suffered during his tenure, but even in two seasons of very uneven stories there are gems and this is the brightest of them. If you ignore the Daleks, and you put the inevitable Davros appearance to once side there's the friendship between Peri and the 6th Doctor to watch. There's an...interesting...role for Alexi Sayle. There's the plotting and scheming among the staff of Tranquil Repose, which frankly does make all the shenanigans with Daleks worth while, and there's the redemption story for Orsini and his squire. The whole thing jumps and crackles with character and dialog that more or less render the presence of the Daleks pointless.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
- It has the scariest monster of the new run, the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness, some wonderful lines for all of the cast, The Doctor being extremely Doctorish, and possibly my favourite performance from Christopher Eccelston. Plus, everybody lives. It's a winner. If you flick through the number of cool moments, or fun lines, or interesting character moments, you can see why it had to be a two parter.

Boomtown
- It's very cool, this story. The concept of a defeated enemy sitting down face to face with The Doctor and asking him to justify his actions, is interesting. Where does The Doctor, who has been judge and jury for so many, get his right to condemn others? We don't want that question answered, so this becomes a classical Greek play with a deus ex machina at the end to sort things out. Alongside that, there's the tale of Mickey and Rose. Potentially this is the start of Mickey Smith's rise to greatness, so it's good to see him confront Rose about how her decisions have affected him. In a very short space of time, we learn a great deal about our two central characters, and we're reminded - not for the first time since The Edge of Destruction, and not for the last this series - that the TARDIS has some character of it's own.

Dalek
- There was a time, back in the days of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, when the Daleks were badass. They got slightly watered down in the Pertwee years, saddled with Davros during Tom's run and stayed Davros's pet goons down the years that followed. Even with a brief return to being badass in Remembrance, it's pretty much All Davros All The Time. When the 7th Doctor blows up Skaro, it's almost a mercy killing.

This story puts the Daleks back where they belong: intelligent, scary, ruthlessly efficient. Evil.

Some people have commented that the dubious flirtation with Rose Tyler emotions was a bit "Exterminate! Exterminate! What! Is! Love?" but they ignore the fact that the Dalek is not at all happy with the situation and finds itself repellent. It latches on to Rose because it is a Dalek and it needs orders, not because it feels anything for her. Right up to the end, the Dalek is manipulative and determined. It also manages to pwn The Doctor, which isn't bad at all for a lone pepperpot.

Love & Monsters
- People have described this as RTD's letter to fandom. I think of it as a mirror. Fandom has always been something that people come together over, something that gives people common ground and something to tussle over. Fandom is very much L.I'n'D.A. and although we meet them but briefly we can see elements of fans we have known in those characters. And together, via their various conventions and oddities, they actually become something more than just fans. RTD enjoys fandom just as much as we do, and just as we do sees that it also has flaws.

The story works, too. As does the Monster, and particularly well because it was designed by a Blue Peter viewer (something which has to have been the cause of a few sleepless nights for the production team). But inspiration comes in strange places, because the critter turns out to be a rather useful allegory for either superfans or internet fandom. It's perhaps the quintessential RTD story because it's working away on a number of levels, and because RTD can't resist throwing in a few laughs and a sly comment on The Doctor's character. It also develops Jackie Tyler in interesting directions, all of which is unusual and new for the show. There had never been a story like Love & Monsters - at least in Who's canon - and quite apart from introducing us to Doctor Lite stories it does something else equally important: it gives the fans something else to argue over.

Tooth & Claw
- Scottish werewolves! Scottish Kung Fu Monks! Queen Victoria, armed and dangerous! Every fanboy button I own - and note that I am not a particular fan of Scotland, Kung Fu Monks or werewolves by themselves - pushed in very short order. So how could I not include it?

The Shakespeare Code
- I am a sucker for Shakespeare. I am also a sucker for the likes of Shakespeare In Love, so I was always going to enjoy this. Plus, Martha Jones in Shakespeare's London, a bit of location work at the Globe, some local temporal colour and the Carrionites, whom I rather enjoyed - add up to a fun story. Plus, of course, there's the subtle hint to the kids watching: William Shakespeare was the JK Rowling of his day. Interesting approach.

The other thing is, since The Unquiet Dead, it's become obvious that The Doctor likes writers. Dickens, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie...

Of course, being meta about it one realises that this is writers trying to pimp their craft. And long may they do so! Bloody good idea! As long as he never meets L Ron Hubbard, we're good.

Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
- If I wanted to be grumpy about it, this is technically not a three parter. But sod that, it's my list. I enjoy everything about this trilogy. The presence of Derek Jacobi is a treat, the arrival of John Sim is another, the presence of Captain Jack (and the resumption of various running gags about Jack) is a third. We get The Master back, we get cannibal hordes, a stolen TARDIS, the Master wins by becoming Prime Minister, marries, conquers The Earth, kills millions of people, beats The Doctor (griefly) AND does a song and dance number on the way past. There's almost too much to cover, too many reasons why this trilogy leads the others for sheer spectacle and awe.

Oh. For the record. Floaty Jesus Doctor? Totally based on scientific study (if not actual results) so, you know, all y'all and the horse you rode in on if you don't like it.

Partners in Crime
- It's a romp. It's fun, slightly silly, so sit back and watch the cast. It works, it's a great way to remind us who Donna is and why we should like her. Catherine Tate is ace, and a good match for David Tennant. Donna, over the course of this story, is almost in SJS territory and that's instantly endearing.

Plus, I just like the lighter touch.

Midnight
- A Donna Light story. Cramped, unnerving, RTD firing on all cylinders, excellent work from the cast in a Night of the Living Dead situation...

It's a relief when it's over. But you can't take your eyes off it when it's on.

Turn Left
- Way, way back in The Edge of Destruction we see an important moment in The Doctor's character development: his decision that his companions are worth trusting. After that, we sort of forget how important they are to him.

This is the story of what happens if The Doctor doesn't have a companion for one dark moment. Oh, we've seen it before (Rose in "Dalek", Sarah Jane in "School Reunion") but this takes us to a pivotal moment and shows us what would have happened if the Doctor and Donna had never met.

What's most interesting is that, in the end, Donna does the typically Doctor Who thing: she redeems herself totally with an act of self sacrifice. It's a powerful and quite moving story, very human, as we rattle through the last couple of years listening as familiar characters fall (we hear the end of Torchwood, the fall of Sarah Jane Smith and the death of Martha Jones in passing) and events take place which would otherwise have not, and we're left with the understanding that Donna's a lot more important than she thinks.

Of course, this is rather undercut by the reappearance of Rose Tyler. Bah.

Remebrance of the Daleks

Back to the start in so many ways: the Doctor vs the Daleks. But this is the 7th Doctor embarking on what is occasionally referred to as the "unfinished business" arc or the equally portentous "Cartmel Masterplan".

I like it because new companion Ace takes center stage and her relationship with a darker, slightly more dangerous Doctor appears. There's a lot to like in this story, particularly the Doctor's cafe chat and the gleeful demolition of a Dalek by Ace wielding a baseball bat.

The ending is weak - The Doctor Kirks a Dalek - and it's got Davros in it, but that's OK for the rant the Doctor goes off on. It's also nice to see the Daleks making an attempt to get back on form.

The Robots of Death
I had to toss a coin between this and Talons of Weng Chiang, and Robots won.

It's a base under siege story, with the twist that the base has already been infiltrated. The 4th Doctor and Leela feature, with some interesting character points from both, but my attention is largely on the crew of the sandminer - who begin to crack up almost before the killings start - and the robots themselves.

There's even a good reason for the villain to be a nutter - and he is, a quality nutter - which helps round out the whole story.

The "D'you want to come with me?" trailer
Listen, it's my list and I can have this in it if I want.
It's the full pre-season trailer with Eccleston and our first look at the Tardis, and that litany of what was to come. It's the single best trailer I have ever seen, for anything, ever, and it sent - and still sends- chills down my spine. It gives me goosebumps. It causes me to say "now what have we here?" and feel like a tiny child on Xmas eve.

It's pure, distilled many times, Doctor Who. If I was ever in a position to give Who writers advice (ha!) then I would point them at that trailer and say "write like it's going to be ushered in by that trailer".

So, technically, not an episode as such but oh lor, what a trailer!

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The Next Doctor

So, in 2010 we get a new Doctor. Well, the tail end of 2009 really.

Much is being made, in fandom, of who the next chap will be. Some interesting names are being kicked around, including a couple of black actors, and some parts of fandom are not entirely happy with that possibility.

Being charitable, I'd say they've fallen into the trap of "tradition" (a thing that is done because we've forgotten the reasons for doing it that way in the first place). The Doctor has always been a white guy, therefore he should continue being a white guy.

Which isn't really much of an argument.

My point of view is that the role should go to someone who is going to get the most out of it as an actor, someone who will hopefully stick with it for more than one season and someone who will be entertaining. The final choice of actor doesn't matter to me outside these criteria.

I'd like to see David Tennant's replacement last longer than a season simply because The Doctor is important to people. Give the actor a chance to get into the role, to become "my Doctor" for another set of fans, to do something interesting with the part. That's going to take more than one season.

Plus, I'm a fan. I like a bit of longevity in my Doctors. From the little I've seen of Patrick Troughton, I find myself wishing he'd done another year (if only to ensure that more of his tenure survived the great episode cull), but that's just a side effect of me really enjoying his performance and wanting more. I think David Tennant, like Patrick Troughton, has a shrewd eye on his career and has made the right decision for himself and his future - and I can hardly blame him for that, especially given all the fun he's provided over the last few years.

If you really want to speculate, you can probably narrow down the range given the comments made by the cast and crew over the last couple of years, but beyond that I don't really want to investigate too deeply.

Because for me, there's still something magic about regeneration. In a way, I'm hoping they keep this a secret until we actually see the regeneration around Christmas 2009. I'm looking forward to being surprised, and slightly wrong footed, by the choice. Looking at regenerations past -

- actually, one of my first memories of the show is watching the Pertwee/Baker regeneration scene and being curious, a little surprised, and a bit upset that the Doctor was changing. I was equally emotional over the change from Tom Baker to Peter Davison, and once again when Davison became Colin Baker. I was utterly nonplussed at the choice of Sylvester McCoy but by the time he changed into Paul McGann I didn't want him to go either. All the way through my time with the show, I've been enthralled and saddened when one actor bows out and another takes his place.

That magic remains.

In the end, it doesn't matter who plays the Doctor and in all honesty skin colour is probably the single least important aspect of the person who steps into the role next. Time and again, we've been shown that the writing, the ability of the actor and the dedication of the production team are what make the show captivating. As long as the folks in charge of the casting process are aware of this, I feel that they'll make the best decision for the show as an entity. If they want to do something non-traditional, I'm more than happy with that. Things that don't evolve tend to stagnate and a stagnant Doctor Who isn't good for anyone.

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