Saturday 29 October 2016

Regeneration

To quote Cameron McEwan at BBC Worldwide on Twitter:

50 years ago today, Doctor Who fandom was truly launched with fans moaning, “The new guy isn’t as good as the one before!”

It’s the idea that let this show run for half a century, especially when Patrick Troughton didn’t just play a rejuvenated version of William Hartnell’s Doctor but the role changed to suit him.

It’s very obviously an idea brought into the fiction from practical concerns, but it has come to matter to the story, especially with other Time Lords changing as well - and usually being better at it than the Doctor, as they can stay similar across regenerations more easily in smaller roles. I’ve run with that in RPGs, where recasting isn’t necessary - Kai in The Door In Time is really good at regenerating under stress, for example.

And I’ve used regeneration as a plot hook a few times. Its power can ignite dying stars, save (and change) other lives, burn, and more, and it allows a skilled user to become someone else even if they don’t need to heal...

Wednesday 26 October 2016

The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was 135 years ago today. It was also not actually at the O.K. Corral, starting a grand tradition of reporting it inaccurately, as seen early in Doctor Who...

Monday 24 October 2016

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

Happy... 384th birthday to Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, father of microbiology.

Yes, I know Doctor Who did Fantastic Voyage a couple years ago with Into The Dalek, but hey.

Saturday 22 October 2016

Class is now in session

For Tonight We Might Die is an interesting title choice for the first episode...

The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo to follow.

To avoid spoilers, reviews once they’re on the unsmart TV in a few days.

Sunday 16 October 2016

Saturday 8 October 2016

Anniversary Of The Cybermen

Fifty years today! Their golden anniversary!

What? Oh.

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, the Cybermen are great creepy identity-destroying body horror monsters - for kids! Daleks reign supreme but it’s the Cybermen that give me the chills. Notice how Asylum Of The Daleks has them converting people...

As the Daleks are the opposite of the Doctor’s tolerance and reluctance to use violence, the Cybermen are the opposite of his individualism and warmth.

Want to bring them into a game? Always a good excuse to use a different design!

The totally-impractical-on-TV Flood Cybermen perhaps...

And maybe to mess with expectations, bring in Kroton!

An adventure hook from Peter Capaldi

The Doctor finds himself in... Doctor Who.

Paul Cornell did something similar in the last IDW comic special, from the outside looking in.

So did Eerie Indiana, and I stole it for The Watch House before Supernatural did. ;)

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Time Clash

Doctor Who: Time Clash!

Nearly named after one of the most poorly reviewed Doctor Who stories ever, Time Clash is a new card game from Cubicle 7 about the Doctor and enemy teams trying to move their plans forward and thwart the other side.

The Trans-Siberian Railway

A lovely and slightly mad animated Google Doodle celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Trans-Siberian Railway and a reminder that it was completed while Russia was busy falling apart while fighting the Great War, making it all the more remarkable.