Review "Sleep No More"

We finally get back to a single part story. I kind of missed them and was sure glad this was not a 2 part story. Talk about a snooze fest, which is kind of funny since this episode is about sleep. Leave it to Dr Who to take eye gunk and turn it into a monster. Which I have to admit kind of looked cool, but the idea that these creatures are made out of sand in the corner of your eye, left me wondering if Steven Moffat ran out of ideas. This whole episode kind of felt like a filler after the Zygon episodes.

Review "The Zygon Invasion" & "The Zygon Inversion"

Finally getting caught up with Series 9 and have just finished watching, "The Zygon Invasion" & "The Zygon Inversion". I picked the perfect time to watch these 2 episodes, because it was alarming the similarity between these  2 episodes and what is going on in real life with ISIS and the Paris attacks. If I had watched these when they first came out, this review would totally be different. This review is not going to be like my normal reviews, instead I want to show you the similarities between these Dr Who episodes and our real world crisis.

I try not to be political at all on this page. I have seen politics ruin long time friendships on Facebook and other platforms. With that being said, I apologize in advance if this seems political, but after watching these 2 Zygon episodes, I couldn't get this out of my head. I want you to look at all the Zygons as Muslims here on Earth and the rebel faction of Zygons as ISIS (or radical/extremist Muslims).

Review "The Girl who Died" & "The Woman who Lived"

After two pretty good serials and with the much hyped appearance of Maisie Williams to Dr Who, I expected a pretty good serial. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was "Bad", not historically bad, but bad none the less.

I can't even really discuss the actually villains, because they were never really explored as characters. I can't even remember their names at all, it was that underdeveloped. I know the point of both episodes was to show Lady Me, or whatever she calls , but it would have been nice to know a little bit about the villains. Then again, it didn't really think there was much to these villains. One of them looked like a space pirate and the other looked like the beast from "Beauty and the Beast".

"Return to Awesome" ~ Connection Conjecture

Let me just say thank you--this is the season I have been waiting for!  We are tying up loose ends, we have a real story arc and we don't have a romance between a thousands of years old man and a twenty something girl. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The first few stories have many underlying concepts running through throughout them which will hopefully coalesce into a grand Christmas special. First is the concept of immortality. Davros wanted it so much that he canned his entire civilization so they could live forever. Next we have the ghosts, which are left at the end of the story as lost souls trapped forever. Of course, we get the immortal Viking demonstrating the loneliness of living forever. Will the Zygon invasion end up with Osgood or Clara in a sort of immortal state? Could be.


The next idea we see is introduced by Davros as a mysterious hybrid. I can only assume every story will include one in some shape or form up to the end--Ashilda, Captain Jack,  Osgood...I think we all know who the ultimate hybrid is though and she is waiting at the end of the season.

I have enjoyed the flashbacks as they have been fixing so many of the complaints I made about last season. We return to Pompeii to explain the face. We return to Mars (not in true flashback, but under the lake was very similar to "Waters of Mars") to see his attitude change about rules. We return to the 3 doctors to see the beginnings of the Zygon invasion. I can only hope this continues, as it shows how interconnected the Who world can be at it's best.

While we are on the subject of the best of writing, let's address last season, which I really didn't like at all. Through most of it, the Doctor was written as a supporting player, begging for Clara's affection. Whether putting down her boyfriend or just trying to impress her constantly, he came off as an ex-boyfriend who had been dumped into the friend zone, being kept around in case the new boy didn't work out. This season there is no doubt that he is the lead. In fact, I would argue that the roles have been reversed, and that he is now a sort of a "booty call" for Clara (not in the true sense of course). Many times it has already gotten to the point that he has told her to leave him alone, basically.

In closing, here's where I hope the season is going. We will continue to see red herrings brought in to divert from River. At some Point, the good captain will return an we will find out he has been keeping an eye on the girl that can't die (casting the "voice of Bo" as her caretaker can't be an accident). We will finally get a huge season ender when the Doctor gives River his sonic in the last scene to mirror the first scene of the season when he gave one to Davros. Zygon Clara becomes the girl in the library to protect river and we have a beautiful end to both of their stories.

Review, "Under the Lake" & "Before the Flood"

It seems like Series 9, is the series of two part stories. No complaints here. So Steven Moffat has brought us Dr Who meets the Abyss adding to that we have ghosts. Interesting pairing choice, not totally insane. In this case it actually works our pretty well.

Watching "Under the Lake", I was really impressed with the creepiness of the episode. I mean the ghosts are really creepy with their eye all blacked out. You know this is 2 episodes in a row now that I have been creeped out over eyeballs. You had the the hand mines with their eyeballs on their hands and now these ghosts with no eyes. With that being said, this first episode is a great mixture of what makes Dr Who great. You have a fantastic mystery, paranormal activity, science fiction and it's all mixed under a lake.

Review "The Magician's Apprentice" & "The Witch's Familiar"

Series 9 of Dr Who has started and has started out with a two-part story featuring the return of some familiar faces. Missy, the Daleks, Davros and even the planet Skaro has returned to open up series 9. These episodes seemed to me to be a gift for classic Who fans. Classic Who fans, like myself, love Davros and dream of going back to Skaro, the home planet of the Daleks.

First off, I usually don't go into much detail about what happened during the episode in my reviews. I figure you can watch it for yourself. Secondly, since this is a two part story, I wanted to wait to see both of them to review it has a complete story. With that being said, here's what i thought while watching these episodes.

Dr Who Series 9 Trailer Analysis ~ Connection Conjecture

As many of you know from reading previous posts, I was not a fan of last season. I love Twelve--he may be my favorite, replacing 9, but feel the story arc for the season was way too much "jilted ex,  jealous of new boyfriend and girlfriend keeping both around just in case" and not enough fun. I watch Dr Who for adventure, not because it's a soap opera. Also, the vast majority of episodes were on or near Earth (or a copy of an Earth train)-not the Who we are used to. That being said, let's hope that keeping Clara around is a way to clean up some messes in story lines she has left. 

We have hope in next season. I've watched the trailer and definitely feel like we may be heading back to Whoville. In general, the feel I get from it is of more fun. They seem to be letting 12 be himself-which I think will be a bit of a Colin Baker "I don't care" attitude. I see more new aliens, more new landscapes (ie, not London) and a new sonic. All of these give me hope. 

J.K. Woodward Interview

We were lucky enough to sit down with comic book artist, J.K. Woodward at Awesome Con 2015. Mr Woodward was on the artist on Assimilation 2, which saw the worlds of Dr Who and Star Trek collide. Big thanks for J.K. for doing the interview. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his website.

Awesome Con 2015 Review

Awesome Con 2015 was held on May 29-31 at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. This was the first time I have covered the same convention two years in a row and it's nice to compare the differences from year to year. As always, I like to look at guests, programing, vendors and overall  feel of the Con. Now Awesome Con covers everything pop culture, so it's not just about Dr Who. This is not a Dr Who Con, so you have to take that in consideration, when discussing Awesome Con. For this review, I am just looking at the Dr Who component of the Con.

Guests:

It seems like every year Awesome Con makes a splash with a big time Dr Who actor and this year was no exception. Alex Kingston, who played River Song, and Arthur Darvill, who played Rory Williams, headlined the Dr Who section of Awesome Con. Now originally, they were to be joined by Karen Gillan, who played Amy Pond, was to join them but had to back out at the last minute. This was unfortunate, but it happens with actors. Projects come up and they sometimes have to make a choice. Alex Kingston & Arthur Darvill were still big enough stars, that even with out Karen Gillan there, it felt well, "Awesome". I don't think I heard anyone upset that Karen could not make it. All I heard was excitement about meeting Alex & Arthur. I never realized how huge the following that both actors had in the Dr Who universe. Both Alex & Arthur were delights to meet and were very personable with all the fans. 

Last Random Interviews from (Re)Generation Who.

We were able to participate in some press conference style interviews with some of the guests at (Re)Generation Who back in March. Here they are:

Nicola Bryant, who played Peri Brown, compares fans of Doctor Who from different parts of the world.

Terry Molloy, played Davros, talks about working with the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors.

Terry Molloy discusses watching previous actors who played Davros before creating his rendition.

Andrew Cartmel, script editor for the 7th Doctor, discusses working on the Lost Stories project with Big Finish Audio.

Matthew Dow Smith Interview

We got to sit down and talk to Matthew Dow Smith, a couple weeks ago at (Re)Generation Who. Matt has wrote and drawn Dr Who comics for IDW publishing. He currently works on the X-Files monthly comic and his own comic, "October Girl".  Check out his site at, http://matthewdowsmith.blogspot.com/

Sophie Aldred Interview

We were lucky enough to get a couple short minutes to talk to Sophie Aldred, who played Ace on Dr Who. Ace was the companion of the 7th Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. Special Thanks to (Re)Generation Who to set this up for us.

(Re)Generation Who 2015 Review

This past weekend I was able to attend the first ever (Re)Generation Who Convention just outside Baltimore, Maryland at the Hunt Valley Inn.  This 3 day Dr Who Con, featured a wide range of guests, performers, vendors and programming. Now realize that when I review a Con, I can only judge it from my perspective and everyone’s perspective is different at a show.  I like to give my fans a little taste of what I witnessed and experience at the Con. I like to break my review down into Guests, Performers, Programing, Vendors and overall feel. One should remember that this was a first year Con and I will take that in consideration for my overall grade.

Guests:

(Re)Generation Who had  a strong and diverse guest list for their first year. Colin Baker (6^th Doctor) & Sylvester McCoy  (7^th Doctor) were joined by their companions, Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown) and Sophie Aldred (Ace).  It’s a luxury for a first year Con to have not 1 but 2 Doctors roaming the halls. I was even lucky enough to have my hotel room right beside Colin Baker’s suite. Hopefully I did not keep him up with my snoring. These 4 actors are regulars on the Dr Who Convention circuit. One of the reasons that they are regulars is because that they are very energetic and very entertaining.  Their appeared to be ample time to get an autograph and picture of your favorite guest. My only recommendation is that it would be nice if the times the guests were signing were posted. They would make announcements after panels in the main hall, but if you weren’t in those panels, then it was a crap shoot to figure out when your favorite actor would be signing autographs.  

Connection Conjecture by Brice Baker

It's been a little while since I've had time to write--working 2 full time jobs will do that. I also wanted to take the time to make this article special. So I finally found the time and sat down with Netflix and a note book to watch "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

First I'd like to point out that I picked this for the connections it made with future episode--some seasons later, truly amazing writing. It occurs in the 51st century, Captain Jack's home time, so immediately we have a link with the past. The introductory scene continues with a discussion about biographies, and the fact that there is always a death at the end...a nice piece of foreshadowing. Surprisingly, the Doctor uses the term "Spoilers" before River does!! I had no idea until this re-watch.

After another reminder of the past, that the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, we finally meet River Song for the first time. Her first appearance is in a space suit with a gun in her hip. Jump ahead a few seasons and we again have her in a space suit with a gun emerging from Lake Silencia to kill the Doctor. I will admit to a moment of wow when this hit me.

Interview with Oni Hartstein from (Re)Generation Who

(Re)Generation Who will be held on March 27-29, 2015 at the Hunt Valley Inn in Cockeysville, MD. We will be at (Re)Generation Who walking around and taking everything in, while updating our fans via Twitter on all the happenings. If you see us, please stop by and say "Hello". Who knows maybe we will reward you.

Oni Hartstein and her husband, James Harnell, are owners of Onezumi Events, an event production company. Oni was gracious enough to sit down and answer some questions for us about putting this great event together. 

What can fans attending (Re)Generation Who expect to see?

Lots of stuff! We will have fan discussion panels, panels with the actors, and the opportunity to meet and get autographs and photos with the actors. We will have a video room playing Doctor Who-themed videos. On Friday and Saturday night we will have geeky performances, bands, plus a dance party featuring Doctor Who fan videos.

The TARDIS photo booth will be there offering green screen photos inside a TARDIS with different Doctor Who-themed backgrounds that you can choose from. At least 2 TARDISes, 2 K-9s, and a mechanical Davros will be at the con for photo ops. 

Costumes are encouraged all weekend! We will have prizes at some events for the best costumes. Our Social Media department will be out and about interviewing and photographing the guests but we will also be featuring the fans. It's a big deal with us to spotlight the awesome work of our fellow Whovians.

We will also have a mobile phone based QR code game that we designed in-house specifically for (Re)Generation Who called The War Games. This is optional to play, but a lot of fun. We plan to evolve it every year. Did I mention that fan creativity is a big deal with us and that our most important thing is supporting the community? Yes, I believe I did. :)

We are so incredibly grateful that Tom Baker and his wife Sue Jerrard were kind enough to work with us for our first year. We are creating a (Re)Gen 1 exclusive Tom Baker career retrospective print which he will sign a limited number of. These must be ordered by Feb. 15, 2015 and are available for pick up at the con only. You can see some preliminary images here.

Mr. Baker will be doing his first-ever (and possibly only-ever) Skype Q&A Session for his American fans at our con on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 12 noon. This is available to every regular attendee with no extra change, but the room can only fit about 1100 people so I recommend you pre-register and get there early on that day.

We have more than this that will be released in the next 2 weeks. We aren't looking at any other con's grid. We are designing fresh panel programming and working closely with the guests to bring you things they have never done anywhere else to this con.

If there is one thing that sets us apart, it would have to be the innovation we bring to fandom. We really love what we do and always try to make everything more awesome than it already is.

Review "The Last Christmas"

Dr Who's Christmas tradition is back with a brand new episode, "The Last Christmas". In the past most Christmas episodes are kinda light and uneventful except for last year's special, when we said "Goodbye" to Matt Smith. This year's special, it seems that Steven Moffat went for light, humorous and then scares the daylights out of us.

"The Last Christmas" is Dr who meets Aliens meets Inception. They even make a joke about this when after the Doctor learns that we have a movie called "Alien", he remarks that no wonder everyone tries to invade us. Easily the best line of the whole episode. The alien in this episode is a creature called a "Dream Crab". these things are down right scary. I'm talking about the checking under the bed before you sleep kind of scary. A creature that sucks out your brain. It's a pretty bold choice for a Christmas episode.