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.
While I'm still getting set up, I'll post a couple blog entries from our friend Little Things of Bliss. Many thanks for the permission to repost on my site.
------------
In 15 days, a show that has been airing for 52 years (ignoring a brief break in the 90s) returns to our screens. Yet another recent discovery for me due to mini marathons on BBC America. Any British person will know I'm speaking of Doctor Who, but since the show relaunched in 2005, it has become a worldwide phenomenon.
Doctor Who is classified as a sci-fi show, although due to the nature of the show, it can be a drama, comedy, romance, thriller, action adventure, period piece, mystery, western, and any other genre that exists. This range is due largely to the main character, an alien called The Doctor, and his time machine, the TARDIS, that can travel through all of space and time.
It's a bit difficult to describe - "timey-wimey," if you will. But here goes. There is a non-Earth being, who's called The Doctor (not Doctor Who). He happens to look human, but he is actually a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He has a time machine that looks like a 1960s London police box on the outside, but it's much bigger on the inside. This time machine is called the TARDIS, which stands for "time and relative dimension in space." Using the TARDIS, he can travel to anywhere in the universe and any time past or future. He usually has a traveling companion, often a human. They go on adventures that seem to always turn into them saving someone, a planet, or humanity.
How has this show been in existence since 1963? Another core part of the show that provides flexibility - the Doctor is not human. His species happens to have the ability to regenerate when they are about to die. They just happen to change the way they look when they regenerate. To date, the Doctor has had 12 different faces (and been played by 12 different actors).
Doctor Who is incredibly well-written and very well-acted. These days, the special effects are quite impressive, especially considering the budget of the show. The show is family friendly, although similar to Harry Potter, there have been some bits that would be scary even for adults.
Many people say, if you're new to the series, you should start by watching the episode Blink. The odd thing is the Doctor isn't very central to that episode, but it is a self-contained story that deals with monsters and time travel, so it is a good way to get familiar with how the series works and feels without needing any background information. Some other good ones could be The Girl in the Fireplace, Voyage of the Damned, The Fires of Pompeii, A Christmas Carol, and Vincent and the Doctor. You can purchase single episodes on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes to see if you like it before committing to the whole series. iTunes also gives you a 30 second preview clip of each episode.
I actually started with a complicated two-parter (Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead), and I was still able to catch on and fall in love with the show, so it doesn't matter too much how you start - just start.
