Love is a major theme in the Doctor Who reboot - romantic love, unrequited love, platonic love, unspoken love, unquantifiable love . . . the list goes on and on. With Valentines' Day coming up, let's look back at some of the moments of love between the Doctor and his companions. What were your favorites? What would you add to the list?
That legendary moment where Rose declares her love and the Doctor says...
When Martha found the strength to accept that she would find love elsewhere, and it was time to leave the TARDIS...
The Doctor feels it's best to be upfront about what he wants from a relationship with Donna. Just need to make sure his words are heard clearly...
He'll always remember his wedding day with River, when time literally stood still...
The Doctor's love for Clara can overcome any betrayal...
Did you (as I did) feel like there was something missing last weekend without a new Doctor Who episode? The good news is, there's only one week left until the Christmas special! One more week until we find out what River's doing with another husband.
Wait . . . that means there's just one week left until Christmas, and I again need to do some last minute shopping. As I was figuring out what good gifts I could buy in time, I came across some great Whovian treats and thought I'd share them with you. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free 2-day shipping, so you can still get these items in time for Christmas. If you don't have it, sign up for a free 30 day trial now and you'll be able to get free 2-day shipping for your last minute Christmas shopping.
Have you recovered from last night's episode, yet? I think I'm still feeling the aftereffects. I was saving my comments on Heaven Sent to combine with this week, thinking it was a two parter, but really it feels more like we had a three story arc with Face the Raven, Heaven Sent, and Hell Bent, where each of them also feels separate from the others.
Heaven Sent - one hander
If there's any Doctor that can work in a story by himself, it's the 12th Doctor, and if there's any actor that can thrive in that situation, it's Peter Capaldi. To be so exposed and carry so much responsibility for the success of the story is a scary thing, but he didn't miss a beat. I was enraptured at every moment and felt such strong emotions - pain, fear, sorrow, hopelessness, hopefulness, and shock.
Who could have guessed that's how he would find Gallifrey? And for a story that required repetition (billions of years of repetition!), they did a great job making it feel like a lot of time had passed while making us feel more strongly for the Doctor each time. Kudos to Steven Moffat, Rachel Talalay, and Murray Gold.
Hell Bent- everything, wow, huh?, ahhhh!!!
That's the best way I can describe up where my mind is with this episode, so I'll take this discussion step by step.
The opening scene - So many tears this entire episode. I was crying right from the beginning when the Doctor started playing Clara's theme on his guitar. That was probably my favorite moment all series.
What a clever set up to the episode having Clara and the Doctor in that familiar diner (Or not Clara? Not that diner?) There was so little given away, and it was presented and played in a way that allowed us to make our assumptions, but later in the episode we saw it could have been interpreted in so many different ways.
The barn - Going back to that familiar place from the Doctor's childhood held so much meaning and added another dimension to the story. The nonverbal interaction between Peter and Linda Broughton (The Woman) was spot on. On a related note, I love how Time Lords seem to always know who each other are, regardless of which regeneration they're in (with the exception of the Master for some reason).
The spoon! - Whovians always love little references to unrelated episodes, and who didn't love that the Doctor put down his spoon when told to put down any weapons? Also note the music from past series and Doctors that were sprinkled in at opportune moments.
Another male to female regeneration - Moffat's on a mission!
Clara and the Doctor - Well this is the last time I'll get to rave about the chemistry between Jenna and Peter and the relationship between Clara and the Doctor. The best acting makes us believe. With Jenna and Peter, we really believe the love and bond their two characters have. Of course the Doctor would put up with torture for over four billion years to try to save her. And yes, at that point, he probably would use a gun and kill for her. And in spite of everything both of them have gone through and are currently experiencing, they still have that same banter-y, working-as-one dynamic. It was wonderful to see their partnering and quips one last time.
Memories - We still feel the pain of Donna losing her memories of the Doctor (damn you/love you RTD!) And now to lose someone else . . . At least this time the memory wipe doesn't seem to be complete, and it wouldn't kill the Doctor if he wound up remembering more of Clara. Their final exchange in the diner was so sweet. Then seeing the TARDIS . . . (thank you Rigsy)
Yes, there may be some holes in different bits, and we have some questions, but in the end, this was a goodbye. Goodbye to the series. Goodbye to Jenna. Goodbye to Clara. And it was worthy goodbye to them all.
One word sums up the last 8 minutes of The Girl Who Died - SQUEEEE!!!!!!!!!
You could feel the excitement and anticipation building as we saw the reflections of Peter Capaldi's face in the eel tanks. Finally, we were going to get the link back to The Fires of Pompeii. We would see how Stephen Moffat was going to explain why Caecilius and the 12th Doctor look like the same person.
The reason itself wasn't that interesting or surprising (I do hope it gets developed more as the series continues), but the way it was explained was fantastic! It was so beautiful how the flashbacks to Deep Breath and The Fires of Pompeii were incorporated. Storytelling at its finest!
Who didn't gasp and hold their breath as the 10th Doctor first appeared with that look to Donna? And Donna! The amazing Donna and her heartfelt plea to the Doctor to save someone. Then seeing the 10th Doctor reach out to save Caecilius. It was better than watching that episode the first time.
That entire sequence was my favorite bit of Series 9 so far.
In the last 8 minutes, we also saw more brilliant moments of acting from Peter Capaldi. The introspective Doctor, who we don't get to see that often, elicits such emotion. The monologue about losing people before the flashback sequence and then the questioning of his saving Ashildr . . . I don't know what to say. The only way I can describe it is an emotional sigh.
Finally, the set up for future adventures with Ashildr was exciting. I can't wait to see more of it next week.
Here's another post from Little Things of Bliss. I've read The Writer's Tale myself, and it's an amazing book. It's such a wonderful feeling when you read Russell T. Davies' thoughts and make the connection to something that we all loved on screen (oh the Doctor Donna!).
Lately, I haven't been posting as frequently as I'd like to on this blog. I've been a bit busy with other things, and to be honest, when I don't have to be doing something else, I've been reading The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter.
I definitely wasn't planning to write another Doctor Who-themed post, but I've become slightly addicted to this book. And season 9 of the show is starting tomorrow (!), so maybe I'll allow myself this indulgence?
The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter is a book that features email correspondence between Russell T. Davies, the Doctor Who showrunner for seasons 1-4 of the rebooted version, and journalist Ben Cook. The correspondence takes place while RTD is writing and running season 4 of Doctor Who, and it gives very honest and candid insight into his writing process, what happens behind the scenes of a highly successful and much loved TV show, and the truth of how the show's stories and characters went from an idea to our TV screen.
For those of you not familiar with the TV show, I give a rough overview of it in my previous Doctor Who post. I would recommend watching the show that was rebooted in 2005 (at least season 4) before reading this book, since it references those episodes, and it will allow you to get the most insight and enjoyment from reading it. Also, there are spoilers about Doctor Who seasons 1-4 and another show, Torchwood in this book. If you don't plan on watching the show but are interested in writing and TV show production, Amazon lets you "look inside" to see a bit of the book so you can decide if you'll enjoy it without being familiar with the show.
For anyone that has already seen the show and is a fan, you will love this book. Did you know the 10th Doctor's last companion was almost going to be someone else? You learn how it all changed. Some episodes were originally going to be completely different than what was aired, and some characters were going to be played by different actors. You can read the early stages of scripts and ideas that were never brought to life. For those that love gossip, you'll also see the seemingly mundane moment that gave RTD the idea to give the 10th Doctor a daughter, which eventually led to a real-life marriage.
This book is fun to read and insightful and let's me re-live the RTD years of Doctor Who. I've never really enjoyed reading non-fiction books, but I'm actually enjoying this one more than some fiction books. Frankly, I can't believe I put it down to write this blog post.
The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter is available on Amazon, Kindle, and iBooks. (Right now the Kindle and iBooks formats of the book are only $4.99!)
