Connection Conjecture

You know what really grinds my gears????  It's when plot points, big and small, aren't resolved. I've said before that I love how the writing of Dr. Who tends to wrap around itself. Things in this universe are interconnected (hence the title of my articles). However, this expectation just makes it more aggravating when things are left dangling. I thought I would list some of these questions left unanswered before the Christmas episode (maybe some will be resolved in it)

I will try to do this from most recent to oldest, and it is by no means comprehensive. This is just from the top of my head.

1-Soooo. We are to just brush of that apparently all the graves in the world are now empty??

2-no repercussions from a teen posting pictures from the moon?? While we are on the subject, recently there seems to have been an open door policy to the tardis.
2a-whatever happened to the kids that Clara nannied??

Altoona Con - Review

Today I had the pleasure of attending the first (hopefully) annual con in Altoona Pennsylvania. Unfortunately the advertising for this was lackluster, but I was pleasantly surprised. 


The space was a corner room in the grand Altoona hotel (formerly Ramada). Thinking positively, all of the tables were filled with a decent variety of artists and regional dealers. However, the room was small and cramped. For $2, we got a gift of free comics and an enjoyable introduction to comic cons for my kids (my 7 year old girl went nuts at any Dr Who stuff). They also got to see a few cos-players as well. 


For a first year, it was nice. Vendors were pleasant and prices looked very reasonable. Hopefully the organizers will realize how needed this is in my area and increase the space. Until then, we have "sci fi in the valley" in May.

Review "Dark Water" & "Death in Heaven"

So the Season has come to end with a two part serial, "Dark Water" and then "Death in Heaven". Since this is one serial, I am going to review both episodes together as one.

There's a lot to take in from both of this serial. First the Master is back as a woman named "Missy". One mystery down. The Cybermen are back. Danny Pink is turned into a Cyberman and is potentially lost forever. The Brigadier is back, well kind of. We learn what the after-life is all about and I now know that I don't want to be cremated. That's a lot to take in. Lets look into each of these.

Review "Flatline" & "In the Forest of the Night"

Reviewing this new season of Dr Who has been trying for me, but I'm plugging away. Since I watched both "Flatline" & "In the Forest of the Night" today, I figured that I would review them both.

"Flatline" is first up and it's a bag of good and bad. The good, the special effects. The shrinking of the Tardis and having the Doctor trapped inside looked awesome and having the hand come out of the Tardis was really well done.  It's the not the first time the Tardis has been shrunken. In "Logopolis", the Master shrinks the Tardis down to a miniature size trying to kill the Doctor. You know the Master, he loves to shrink things. The other special effect that I thought was great was the 3-D versions of the monsters. They were creepy. I mean very creepy. I mean so creepy that if I saw one of them in person, I would crap my pants.

The thing I didn't enjoy at all was the overall lack of depth to the story. Yes, the creatures had some great moments, but they lacked depth (in more then one way). We know absolutely nothing about these creatures. This is the type of story that needed a more drawn out story. We need to know why they are here and their history. I just feel like after watching this episode, I could have skipped this episode and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. It was rather boring.

Review "Mummy on the Orient Express"

"Mummy on the Orient Express" is the eight episode of this season. This episode did nothing for me, it was rather boring. So the Doctor, Clara and some other scientists have the figure out why the Mummy is killing people and why he is there and this was all brought together by an unknown person named "Gus". That has to be the un-scariest name in history. Gus sounds like a car mechanic, not an evil mastermind. Then after all of that, we never find out who Gus is. Disappointing.

"Mummy on the Orient Express" had a decent premise and looked promising, but under delivered. The worse part is watching Clara tell anyone who will listen about her relationship with the Doctor and if she should travel with him anymore. *Yawn*. I need less Clara whining and more Mummy. The Mummy actually looked good. Really good. If they ever reboot the classic Mummy movie franchise, that's how I want the Mummy to look. He was scary and his walk was fantastic.

All New Connection Conjecture

Do you Know this Face?

by Brice Baker

Donna could never remember, the doctor can never forget. In the recent history of Doctor Who, a running (pun intended) theme has been the amount of running, both literal and figurative. The Doctor always runs away from the aftermath of what he has done - never daring to look back at the carnage. Except once. One time, facing a fixed point in time, the most important companion he ever had made him turn around. In the moment he went back to Pompeii, he became more human. He cared for the first time since he was jilted by the loss of Rose. 

Fast forward to the "Stolen Earth". In what should have been wonderful moment, all of his previous companions came together. In the same moment, he saw that he had made them all soldiers. Looking back on what he had done jarred the Doctor to the core. This season has focused on his dislike for soldiers. 

Review of "Kill the Moon"

Sorry for the delay in my review/analysis of the seventh episode from this season, "Kill the Moon". This episode is classic science fiction episode, where we discover that the moon is not really the moon but rather it's an egg. An egg. Let me repeat that, the Moon is an EGG. The Incredible Edible Egg. Ok, so we can't eat this egg. So the Doctor allows Clara, Courtney Woods (I will get to her later) and Lundvick decide what to do with the moon, let it hatch or blow it up. They allow the people of the world to vote on their decision, kind of like Big Brother. Just like American politics, the popular vote doesn't matter and Clara decides for us. Maybe we would be better off if Clara Oswold decided every election for us.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Doctor taking himself out of the decision on whether or not to blow the moon up. I think the Doctor should do this more often. It's not the Doctor's place to decide how humanity lives. He should let us mess up sometimes if we chose to. I totally agree what the Doctor did and for Clara to be so upset at him at the end I think was wrong on her character's part. The other part I really enjoyed was the science fiction part. The whole concept that the moon is an egg is actually pretty cool. We know it's not true, but I wasn't expecting that and never had that idea in my head before this episode. The antibodies looking like spiders was pretty terrifying if you ask me. I hate Spiders and I really hate Moon Spiders.

Connection Conjecture ~ Courtney Woods

The thing I enjoy most about Dr. Who since the reboot is the writing. The way that relatively minor details throughout a season (and sometimes, even many seasons in the past) can come together into something major is amazing storytelling. It always keeps me intent on every line of dialogue, every minor character and every detail in the background. That being said, this week I would like to discuss.....

COURTNEY WOODS

We were introduced to her as a random student in Clara's class in "Deep Breath" when she offered very wise advice to her teacher. Here we see how we need to watch episodes with a mind to the broad story arc of the season and beyond. As of deep breath, she is simply a random nameless student. However, remember--in the Dr. Who universe, people are rarely given lines, especially important ones, without a reason.

Next she pops up , again as a random nameless student, in "Into the Dalek" with one line as she listens in on Danny's conversation with the school secretary. "She wishes" could be a harbinger line for late in the season.

Finally, in "The Caretaker" she literally bursts in as a full fledged character. I would argue that this entire episode was written to introduce us to Courtney, and give her a name. In one episode, we learn her name, meet her parents, see that she is a "disruptive influence" AND she becomes a de facto compaion with ride in the tardis.

Blast from the Past ~ Caves of Androzani

Well, this is where the journey ends for the fifth doctor Peter Davison, and is considered to be one of the best episodes in the Classic Era.

Plot:

As the story opens, the TARDIS arrives on Androzani Minor where the Doctor and his new companion Peri decide to explore some caves and accidentally fall into a seemingly innocent nest which coats them in a white sticky web like substance. As they exit the nest they run into the forces of General Chellak who mistakes them for gunrunners so they are arrested and taken back to the General’s base. The General consults TrausMorgus who is based on Androzani Major and controls the mining interests of a powerful drug called Spetrox. Morgus, unknown to the General hired the gunrunners and orders the Doctor and Peri executed after not recognizing them. As they are being held for execution, the Doctor and Peri begin to feel itchy and see that the areas where they were touched by the sticky web are becoming red and blistered. Before being taken to execution they are captured by Sharaz Jek and replaced by a pair of perfect android duplicates.

Review of "The Caretaker"

After some very good Dr Who episodes this season, Steven Moffat has given us a stinker, called "The Caretaker". I know they can't all be great, but this was pretty big letdown. "The Caretaker" sees the Doctor trying to lure a robot into a school to destroy him. You know how I feel about androids like this. If you used some kind of robot, not named Daleks or Cybermen, you have to have someone who something controlling them. It never works when you just place a robot in a story as the main bad guy. Moffat has done this at least twice this season.

If that wasn't bad enough, most of the episode was the Doctor trying to be funny and eventually finding out who Mr Pink is. When the episode is trying so hard to be funny, like this one did, it falls flat on its face. The Doctor is funny, when you least expect it with a quick jab or joke. This episode was trying way too hard to be funny and it made me yawn.

Lastly, the Doctor finally finds out that Mr Pink is Clara's boyfriend and that he is a "Solider". What happened to the Doctor that he hates soldiers so much? He worked for UNIT for many years on earth and they were soldiers. One of his best friends was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who was in charge of soldiers. So why now all of a sudden is the Doctor so anti-solider? It doesn't make sense. If the Doctor really wants to hate Mr Pink, he should dislike him because he is boring. The only thing he does is bang his head onto a desk or table. Where are the Weeping Angels when you need them?


I give "The Caretaker" a  1.5 Tardi's out of 5. You could have skipped this episode and not missed a thing.

Review "Time Heist"

"Time Heist" is the latest Dr Who episode for Peter Capaldi and I was very entertained. The Doctor, Clara  and 2 others have to break into the most secure bank in the universe, all while being chased from the Teller, a creature that makes your head look like a deflated basketball. This episode was kinda like Dr Who meets Mission Impossible. I'm just glad Tom Cruise didn't show up. Then again if the Teller would have deflated Cruise's head like he did to the poor sap in the episode, I would died and gone to heaven.

"Time Heist" is a very solid episode. The pacing is great, the acting is great and even though it wasn't hard to figure out the Doctor was the Architect, it had some good twists and turns. Having the Teller end up not really being a monster was a fantastic idea. The other characters, Psi & Saibra were a great addition to the Doctor's team. The one that really shown through was Saibra. Saibra is such a emphatic character , not being able to touch someone without changing into them is a curse. It kinda reminds me of Rogue of the X-Men. I would even argue that Saibra was a lot more important then Clara was. Clara could have eliminated from this episode and I wouldn't have missed her.

Overall, I give "Time Heist" a 4 out of 5 Tardis's.

Review "Listen"

"Listen" is the  latest Dr Who episode and is by far the best this season. In "Listen", we have a whole episode where there really isn't a monster or villain. The whole episode is based around what Clara tells the Doctor when he was a kid. The only flaw in this theory is what was under the sheet in that kid's bed? So maybe there really is a monster that doesn't want to be seen and that grabs our ankles, when we get out of bed. I never really thought about someone grabbing my ankles but I can not lie and have to admit, I've been getting out of bed really quickly in the morning.

The highlight of the episode was seeing Clara talking to the Doctor has a child about "Fear". It got me thinking, I wonder how many parents are going to use the "Fear is a Superpower" speech to their kids. I know if I ever have kids, I will. We also find out that the barn that the child Doctor was sleeping in was the same barn that the War Doctor went to, to end the Time War. That is what I love about Dr Who. It's a show so rich in history, that we have a scene that connects Williams Hartnell to Peter Capaldi. I was literally on the edge of my seat wanting more. 

My only problems about the episode is first, what was under the sheets in the boys bed and secondly how did the Tardis get to Gallifrey. I don't buy that hooking the Tardis up to Clara could bypass the time lock. By that rational then, the Doctor could hook himself up to theTardis and get to Gallifrey anytime he wants to. Then again, maybe he will do that in the near future. A Whoivan can only dream of an episode set on Gallifrey.

This was by far the best episode of the season and one of Moffat's best work on Dr Who.  I give "Listen" 4.5 Tardis's out of 5. I think I will go watch it again before the new one airs.

Review of Robots of Sherwood

It seems like every season Dr Who brings us a time period piece like this past week’s episode, "Robot of Sherwood". We have met William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, Vincent Van Gogh and now we finally meet Robin Hood. I enjoy these types of episodes very much. It puts the Doctor and his companion in a situation where their knowledge and technology is far beyond what the locals could imagine. They have to be careful not to alter the future. 

 This is a fun episode of Dr Who. It's not meant to be too dark and has a very lighthearted feel throughout the whole episode. The highlight for me was seeing the Doctor fight Robin Hood with the most unlikely weapon, a spoon. This episode also did a great use of robots. They made them an extension of the one controlling them, which is why I disliked "Deep Breath" so much. That is how you use robots. It kind of reminded me of the "Androids of Tara", a medieval setting with robots and sword fighting. That episode was broken into 4 weeks and this one was wrapped up pretty quickly. Can you imagine spending a whole month watching "Robot of Sherwood"? I mean, yes it's a good episode, but you would really have to drag out the story to get a month’s worth. Of course back then the segments of the episode were only a little over 18 minutes. As a Classic Fan, it does make me reminisce about the old days. I think some of the new Dr Who episodes should be expanded into more than one episode, but some like "Robot of Sherwood" are just about right.

 

 I was also really impressed with the acting. Ben Miller who played the Sheriff was fabulous and he kind of reminded me of the Master. He has the evil quality about him and would make a wonderful Master. Tom Riley played Robin Hood was also fantastic, but I think we all secretly wanted Jonas Armstrong who played Robin Hood in the BBC television show. 

 So, no Missy, no Mr. Pink, no wondering if the Doctor is a good man, just a Dr Who episode that stands alone and has certain of a classic feel. I give this episode, 3 out of 5 Tardis's.

Review "Into the Dalek"

"Into the Dalek" is Peter Capaldi's 2nd episode and finally after straightening out his new body, it felt like normalcy again. This Doctor is dark, older and kinda reminds me of William Hartnell. Not totally, but he's got some Hartnell in him. He's struggling with the thought, "Am I a good man?" After these last 2 episodes, I don't know if we can answer that. I think that's going to be a running theme during the season. I don't think I can ever recall (and I know you guys will tell me if I'm wrong) the Doctor disregarding life, except maybe William Hartnell. He lets two of the people on his crew die and doesn't even feel remorseful about it. He even uses one of them to track down where his body went. That's not very Doctor like if you ask me. That seems something like the War Doctor would do.

The episode itself was decent, but not great. It was cool to see the Doctor and companion being shrunk down just like in "The Invisible Enemy", where a clone of the Doctor and Lela travel in the Doctor's own body. Sitting here watching the Doctor travel inside the Dalek, I was thinking "Man, Devros was a genius". A Dalek is a pretty impressive scientific accomplishment and consider he did it, all while being confined to a chair. Not too shabby if you ask me.

 On the negative side, it wasn't that all exciting. For a Dalek storing, it was kinda boring. I feel like these last two episodes are kinda throwaway episodes. Don't get me wrong, the scenes with Missy (the women in heaven) are very important and the th
eme of if the Doctor is "good" are very important but the actual stories are lacking. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I just want a strong Dr Who episode.

Lastly, during this episode I was thinking "What's with the companions getting picked up by the Doctor?". The companions of the last 2 Doctors just go with the Doctor for adventure and then go back to their normal lives. Then the Doctor pops up again and takes them a way. It should be that the companion is stuck on the Tardis or traveling with him the whole time during their run. Then when they get off the Tardis, they are done. I miss the old days of companions that traveled with the Doctor until A) The Doctor finally gets them home B) They marry someone, or C) They die stopping the Cybermen and cause the extension of the Dinosaurs. Maybe this is why the Doctor is not a good man anymore, he has no one to travel with him full-time.

"Into the Dalek" gets a 2.5 Tardis's out of 5. I can't wait until next week, Robin Hood.

Review of Deep Breath (Spoilers)

Finally, Dr Who is back on TV and I just watched the first episode of Peter Capaldi's run as the Doctor called, "Deep Breath". It's hard to gauge first episode's of new Doctors, because they are always not themselves, falling down and just plain goofy after regenerating. The Doctor always ends up being someone totally different from their first episode. I like the new direction that Capaldi's Doctor is heading. He's no longer this sexy, cool Doctor. He even makes fun of it by telling Clara that the previous Doctor was her boyfriend. This new Doctor is what the Doctor had been in the past, a father or grandfather type. Now will this alienate the young fans? Time will tell.

The episode itself was lacking in my opinion. It's hard to introduce new robots to Dr Who, cause we have so many classic ones. Andy why does the Doctor always have to find some kind of android in his first episode? Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston and now Peter Capaldi all fought some kind of robot in their first episode. At least Troughton fought the Daleks. This robot was lacking in back story and he wasn't that menacing. Most android stories need a human or monster controlling it to get the best out of the episode. Robots are needed to be used as tools to fight the Doctor to make the story go along, with exception to the Cybermen and Daleks.

The other problems with this episode, just like every other first episode of a new Doctor, is that the Doctor is all over the place. It makes it hard to watch. I know it's part of the story, but wouldn't it be nice if he regenerates and acts in control?

The only saving grace to this episode was the phone call from Matt Smith. I was never a big Fan of Smith's Doctor, but that scene with him calling Clara did bring a tear to my eye. I think it was not only a message to Clara, but a message to fans to give this Doctor a try. He needs us and we need him.

It was nice to see Jenny, Strax and Madame Vastra back again. I was worried that we might have seen the end of them with a new Doctor taking over. They are so much fun to watch, that I think they deserve their own spin-off show. Also, was that the first same sex kiss on Dr Who? I know we have seen Captain Jack kiss men on Torchwood, but I don't recall seeing any other same sex kisses on the main show.

I do think this episode set up some major story lines in the future, like who in the heck was that lady at the end. I think after this season is over I might look at "Deep Breath" a little

differently. For now, I give it a 2 out of 5 Tardis's.

Big Finish Turns 15

This past week was Big Finish Audio's 15th Anniversary and it got me thinking about the impact Big Finish has had on Dr Who and myself. If you answered, tremendous impact, then you would be correct. Let's think about the Dr Who landscape when big Finish started. In 1999, we were 3 years removed from the failed Dr Who movie and we were 6 years before the show came back. It was a dark time for Dr Who fans. We didn't have any new Dr Who stories, except for fan fiction. Then in 1999, Big Finish started producing the Dr Who audio series. They started with "The Sirens of Time", written by Nicholas Briggs and staring, Peter Davison, Colin Baker & Sylvester McCoy. That's an impressive cast to kick off Big Finish and they have never looked back. Producing brand new stories for the 4th Doctor through the 8th Doctor. They have a created a brand new adventures for the 1st through the 4th Doctors as told by their companions call the Companion Chronicles. They even created Dr who spin-offs that would probably never have a chance to be made on TV like, Gallifrey, UNIT, I Davros, Jago & Litefoot & more.

Like I said before, the impact Big Finish had on Dr Who was tremendous. One could argue, that if not for Big Finish, Dr Who might have never returned to TV in 2005. They were able to keep the fans' love and excitement about the show going and create new excitement. Their audio stories, were a major reason that Dr Who just wouldn't die. That reminder of how great Dr Who was, I believe was a major reason for it's return. Even when Dr Who returned to TV, Big Finish has only grown in popularity. They have created a whole history for the 8th Doctor and Paul McGann, that we would not have if not for Big Finish. They did such a good job that the TV show basically canonized all their work. I would even argue that Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's best work playing the Doctor was on Big Finish and not on the TV episodes.

I was a late fan when it comes to Big Finish. I was skeptical that I could truly enjoy just listening to a Dr Who story. I still remember the first story, I ever listened to. It was free in my issue of Dr who magazine and it was called "Cuddlesome". I was blown away by the quality and my ability to see the episode in my mind. From that day forward, I was a Big Finish fan. When I go to conventions, I always make a point to stock up on Big Finish products. They have made my daily trip to work, the best part of my day. Thank you Big Finish.

Upcoming Conventions Updates

If you are like me, I usually can only attend 1 Dr Who Convention per year. I like to maximize my experience with the most guests, but more importantly the most guests that I have never met before. So, I thought this would be a good time to update everyone on the upcoming Dr Who events in the US.

First up is Gallifrey One, which will take place on Feb13-15, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA. Unfortunately, this event sold out in 75 minutes back in March. They have not announced guests as of yet for the upcoming Con. So if you don't have a ticket, you are probably out of luck. This Fall they will open up ticket transfers for people who have a ticket and can't go. They can sell their ticket for you at cost.  The folks at Gallifrey One need to address this problem. If your Con sells out in 75 minutes, then I think you should look into getting a bigger place. If you can't handle more people as a staff, then get a bigger staff. People want to come to Gallifrey One, but its ridiculous that I have to get a ticket within the first 75 minutes. http://www.gallifreyone.com/

Next up is Chicago Tardis. Novemeber 28-30, 2014 in Lombard, IL outside of Chicago. After having a huge guest line-up in 2014, I'm looking forward to see who they are bringing in 2015. They have not announced any guests as of yet for 2014. You can still purchase tickets, though. Hopefully, we get some announcements coming soon. http://www.chicagotardis.com/






The newbie on the block is Long Island Who, being held November 7-9, 2014 in Ronkonkoma, NY, which I'm guessing is part of Long Island. Finally, we have some guest announcements. The 8th Doctor, Paul McGann will be headlining this event. The guest, I'm looking forward to the most is Writer/Script Editor, Terrance Dicks. That's a great guest for new Dr Who Con. Mr Dicks is someone who's a legend in the Dr Who community. They are also featuring,Yee JeeTso, Frazer Hines (who calls the Con the "Long Island Ice Tea Con"), Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury & Deborah Watling. Adding in legendary sound man, Dick Mills and comic book writer, Tony Lee, they have a pretty solid guest line-up. http://longislanddoctorwho.com/


Lastly is Hurricane Who, being held on October 31- November 2, 2014 in Orlando, FL. So far their guest line-up features Eve Myles from "Torchwood", Frazer Hines, Terry Molloy & Jemma Redgrave who played Kate Stewart the new leader of UNIT. No Doctors as of yet attending, but there's time. http://www.hurricanewho.com/

A couple Dr Who Conventions just passed. Timegate 2014 (http://www.timegatecon.org/) was held in Atlanta, GA and The Console Room in Minnapolis/St. Paul, MN, http://console-room.mpls.cx/ If you know of any other Dr Who Cons in the US, please email us to cover them. EastCoastWho@yahoo.com

I still haven't decided where, I'm going yet.

Paul Spragg

On May 8th, Big Finish Audio and the Dr Who world lost a good friend in Paul Spragg. Paul had worked for Big Finish Audio for the past 5 years doing a lot of the behind the scenes work, like answering emails, editing the Vortex magazine and appearing on many of their podcasts. I met Paul at this past year's Chicago Tardis. I got him to sign my program and he wrote, "From easily the most hairiest BF employee". I didn't know Paul, but for those who did, he will truly be missed.

Big Finish has set up a campaign to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in Paul's name. I encourage everyone to do so. http://www.justgiving.com/Big-Finish-Paul-Spragg

Awesome Con 2014 Review

Awesome Con 2014 was held this past weekend at the Walter E Washington Convention in the heart of Washington DC. I was there the Saturday and Sunday at the Con covering all the happenings. I was highly impressed considering this was only the 2nd year of the Con. The variety of celebrities was very impressive. Billie Piper to Ernie Hudson to voice actors to multiple actors from the Walking Dead. This Con had something for everyone.

Now before I tell you the negatives of Awesome Con, I want you to remember this was only their 2nd year and what they pulled off in only their 2nd year was pretty.......well, Awesome. My major complaint was the autograph structure. There were no set times for autographs. You just had to wait in line to hope the person you wanted the autograph from was coming back. I waited over 3 hours on Saturday in line for Billie Piper and the volunteers had no clue when she would be back to sign autographs. I did finally get my autograph on Sunday, when there was less people at the show. This was a problem only with the major stars like Billie Piper. Some of the other lesser known guests, were a lot easier to get their signatures. But it would be nice to know when they would actually be signing.

The other negatives about Awesome Con are just minor. The attendance for the show was incredible on Saturday. Which met lines for pretty much anything you wanted, panels, food you name it and you were in line. Maybe a cap on Saturday should be in order. Lastly, the number of dealer stands needs to be increased. For some folks, this is there one chance a year to
buy merchandise that their local comic shop doesn't carry.

Now for the positives of Awesome Con. The variety of guests was such a huge plus in my book. Yes, I would love to see more Dr Who actors, but it was nice to see Ron Glass, Sean Austin and Rob Paulsen/Maurice LeMarche, the guys who voiced Pinky & the Brain. I am also now a fan of Richard Horvitz who voiced Invader Zim. I sat in on his panel on Sunday and was blown away by Richard's humor. Now, I'm starting to go back and watch some of his work.

I was also impressed with the number of volunteers helping out at the Con. For the most part they were pretty knowledgeable about what was going on. The venue was superb. It was big enough to house all the attendees on Saturday and I didn't feel overwhelmed, except when I was waiting in lines. Lastly, I was impressed with the panels. Every guest had a Q&A and the major guests had a Saturday & Sunday panel. I was only able to attend 2 panels, Richard Horvitz and Simon Fisher-Becker. The audio was great in the panels and the seating was comfortable. I wish I would have been able to attend more panels, but I was not leaving their without adding Billie Piper's signature to my collection.

Now just looking at Awesome Con as a Dr who fan, having Billie Piper there was like the Holy Grail for some fans. I knew she was popular, but the number of female fans of hers really stood out to me, She looked very tired, but was as nice as nice can be. My highlight was meeting Simon Fisher-Becker and being able to sit down and interview him for the site. We was such a pleasant man and if you ever get the chance to catch him performing "My Dalek has a Puncture", you have to see it. His story and background was sad, but inspirational. There was a good selection of your usual Dr Who merchandise. It would have been nice to see some Big Finish audio cd's, but we can't have everything we want. The other Dr Who item I want to highlight was the Tardis photo booth. I had never seen them at a con before and was impressed. For a fee you got to step into the Tardis with a green screen behind you. You got to select the background you wanted and then got pictures taken, like at a photo booth. I will try and post my pictures on our Facebook page.

So to rate Awesome Con 2014, I would give it a 4 out of 5 Tardis's. They have the beginning of a great Con, that's actually on the east coast. I want to thank the staff at Awesome Con for having me and a special thanks to Simon Fisher-Becker for allowing me to sit down and interview him.

See you in 2015!

Interview with Simon Fisher-Becker

I got to sit down and interview Simon Fisher-Becker, who played Dorium Maldovar in multiple Dr Who episodes. You might remember him as the "big blue guy" along side Matt Smith. This was conducted at Awesome Con 2014 in Washington DC. 

Kate O'Mara Passing

I am sadden to learn that Kate O'Mara passed away today. Kate played the evil Time Lord, Rani in "Mark of the Rani" and "Time of the Rani". She was probably best known for her role on "Dynasty".

The Rani was such a great character. When we first meet her in "Mark of the Rani". She's really not evil, she's just a scientist doing research. She just didn't have much regards to human life. She thought she was better then the humans. They were lab rats. That really doesn't make her evil. It's kinda like how we test things on animals. It would have been nice if her character was used more, but it was toward the end of the show, so it's hard to blame them. 

In my opinion, the Rani had one of the best TARDIS console rooms ever. It was beautiful. It even had, what looked like the rings from Superman II instead of the column in the center of the console. Come to think of it, it's the only TARDIS owned by a female we have ever seen. It shows that her eye for decoration was much better then the Doctor, Master and the Monk. I wonder how Romana  would have decorated her TARDIS?

Kate O'Mara will be missed dearly by the Doctor Who community. 

East Coast Who Coming to AwesomeCon

April 18-20, 2014 in Washington, DC will be the site of Awesome Con, a pop culture gathering of all things geekdom. We here at East Coast Who are happy to say that we will be attending and reporting all the happenings back to our fans. Now we here at East Coast Who tend to gravitate toward the world of Dr Who and Awesome Con has us covered.

Billie Piper aka, Rose Tyler companion of Eccleston and Tennant will be a guest at Awesome Con. I am stoked about meeting Billie Piper. You just don't get many opportunities to meet her and get her autograph. I realize, I will have to wait in line but it will be worth it.

Simon Fisher-Becker better known as Dorium Maldovar will also be a guest. You might better know him as the Blue guy during Matt Smith's run as the Doctor. Last we saw of his character, he was just a head in a box. Simon also has a one man show called "My Dalek has a Puncture" that is touring the UK.

Lastly, Ernie Hudson peaks our interest. Yes, he was a Ghostbuster, but he also was on Torchwood " Miracle Day" as Stuart Owens opposite of everyone's favorite Captain Jack Harkness.

Awesome Con has a big list of celebrities, voice actors & comic writers and artists that will be attending. We are honored to be covering this event for our fans and hope to maybe snag an interview with one of the Dr Who actors. Keep your fingers crossed. You can learn all about Awesome Con at their site http://awesomecondc.com/  If you see us walking around Awesome Con wearing our East Coast Who shirts, come over and say hi and we will get you a free pin.

Forgotten Legend

Most of us fans of Dr Who know the actors names that play the Doctors and his companions. Some of us more hardcore fans can tell you some of the writers, producers and even script editors. But not many of us know who Christopher Barry was until he passed away this week. He was a brillaint director and worked on some of the biggest episodes of the classic series. He directed the first episodes of the 2nd and 4th Doctors, The Daemons, the Brain of Morbius and directed The Daleks. In The Daleks, he gave us one of the greatest scenes and moments of Dr Who, when we end the episode of Barbara screaming and all we see is the plunger of the Dalek. Absolutely brilliant. The scene still gives me goosebumps and I can't imagine what people were thinking in 1963, when they saw this. Christopher Barry should be celebrated right there up with any of the actors, writers and producers of the show. He was that important and will be missed by the whole Who Universe.

Brand New Gospel of Gallifrey Column

Just posted the newest edition of Gospel of Gallifrey. TJ examines the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi. Click here to enjoy.

Video History of Dr Who Contest

We need your help. We have a new monthly video history of Dr Who done by our newest contributor, Katie. What's the problem you ask? We need a name for it. That's where you guys come in. What should we call this? The winner will win an East Coast Who pin and an autographed card of John Levene who played Sgt Benton of UNIT during the 3rd and 4th Doctor eras.

Watch the video below and think of a cool name that we can call this monthly video. Submit your name ideas to eastcoastwho@yahoo.com with your name and mailing address. Katie will be selecting one winner from the entries. Contest ends on February 8th, 2014. Good Luck.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker.

Review "Time of the Doctor"

Time of the Doctor is the last episode for Matt Smith's Doctor and he went down with a fight. He literally fought just about every enemy he has on Trenzalore. By the way, Trenzalore is a great name for a planet. Now, the town called Christmas on Trenzalore is stupid. You win some, you lose some.

This episode was good mix of comedy (Sontarans having trouble with their invisibility), action and some very important things that will change Dr Who forever. We learn that Matt Smith is the last regeneration of the Doctor. Not a big fan of this. You would have thought if he's the last, then they could have built up a whole season of him facing his own mortality. They would have been heart wrenching. Instead he just says that he's the last and explains why. Which it would have been  nice for a flash back of when Tennant regenerated for newer fans. Then the Time Lords give him a new set of regenerations. This I don't mind. This is not a new concept. The Time Lords offered this to the Master in the Five Doctors special.

I think this episode had lots of potential, but didn't live up to it. There was too much stuff packed into this one episode. They should have made this a 2 part episode and really expanded on the battles on Trenzalore. I wanted to see the Doctor team-up with the Silence, not just a quick clip of it. They had a great story and didn't take the time to really show it. Disappointing.

I have to admit, even though I'm not a big fan of Matt Smith, I did shed a tear when he was saying goodbye. It's hard to say goodbye to any of the Doctors. What's nice about Dr Who is that it's not the end of the Doctor. He will be back making us laugh, making us cry and saving the universe just like he has since 1963. Who knows, we might see Matt Smith again one day. I enjoyed Peter Capladi's short time on the episode. I hope they keep it that he doesn't remember how to fly the Tardis. I always loved the classic Dr Who, when the fans and even the Doctor didn't know where he would end up. The more recent Doctors have become very good at flying the Tardis, but I love that this Doctor forgets how.

Overall, I give Time of the Doctor a 2.5 out of 5 Tardis's. It had lots of potential, but they crammed too much into a short period of time.