Saturday 27 September 2014

The Caretaker

Surprisingly, no comments about his choice of “caretaker” rather than “janitor”. The implication of taking care goes without saying, perhaps.

“Why do you do it? Travel with him?”

Friday 26 September 2014

Who frowned me this face?

io9 takes time out to diss the likeness on the smaller scale Twelfth Doctor figure. And, well, yeah.

(Edit: Having now seen one up close, it actually looks quite like a friend of mine... who is not Peter Capaldi.)

Monday 22 September 2014

The Empire Of Tears

Two ideas spun off from an observation about a Green Lantern comic, thanks to Rose Bailey:

The Empire Of Tears was a throwaway reference in an Alan Moore story, which was expanded on decades later by other writers, along with other references like the Five Inversions which became a group of five demonic beings rather than five things that first demon famously inverted (or one thing he inverted five times)...

So alternate meanings crop up.

“Don’t you see, Clara... we’ve been pronouncing it wrong!”

1: The Empire Of Tears as in crying is the first likely reading. This suggests a vast space empire given over to despair, perhaps by monsters who want or need that (which is the way they went) or perhaps for some other reason. Its leaders are in mourning or filled with existential despair, perhaps, or to make it more threatening they have a nihilistic drive to destroy everything.

2: The Empire Of Tears as in rips. I’m picturing Viking-style raiders who can create teleport gates by shredding holes in reality to get where they need to go. Like the false gods of Stargate but even more able to get into anywhere they want.

Saturday 20 September 2014

Sunday 14 September 2014

Listen

“Do you have your own mood lighting now? Because frankly, the accent is enough.”

Despite Steven Moffat being in charge for several years now, that felt more like an RTD era Steven Moffat Episode than we’ve seen in a long time.

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Leo Tolstoy

An elegant Google Doodle for the, er, 186th birthday of Leo Tolstoy, who apart from a comet in War And Peace was mainly interested in the culture around him, hard to beat if you want a really deep view of Imperial Russia and its mores. Imagine how many social rules a modern time traveller (let alone a modern British time traveller!) could accidentally break in one grand ball.

Monday 8 September 2014

Fracture In Time

A campaign idea from No Ordinary Obsession. Comes with three different hooks for the same setting.

Sunday 7 September 2014

We come for your... market share.

An idea caused by, of all things, a toothpaste advert: It shows a ridiculously super high tech facility where people in white Star Trek style uniforms show their latest innovation to a startled modern-day dentist.

So, idea...

Aliens or time travellers come here to... monopolise something totally mundane with their advanced science. And our heroes are completely baffled as to why they’d put in so much effort.

Until their competitors arrive...

Friday 5 September 2014

Wednesday 3 September 2014

The Second World War

75 years ago, Britain declared war with Germany. 25 years and five weeks after the time before.

Doctor Who has covered the Second World War metaphorically since nearly the beginning - the Daleks are tinpot Hitlers and their Invasion of Earth looked a lot like both the Blitz and the French Resistance - and literally here and there, especially more recently, as it becomes history rather than living history.

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Post 1066 And All That

Forgive the pun, but this is post 1066 here, so it might as well be now.

History throws up a few really significant dates, the kind you’re expected to remember through history lessons. 1066 AD is the classic example in the UK, the year of the Norman Conquest. Don’t ask for a specific day for the Battle of Hastings, though, it’s not like the 4th of July in the USA. See also the 5th of November. We remember, remember, but would probably have to look up which year the Gunpowder Plot happened in.

Which dates, day and year, do you remember from your history lessons? If you stepped out of the TARDIS and saw a newspaper for a specific day, what would it take to get a reaction?