"Can you Hear me" Review by Brice Baker

You know I needed a break from the Doctor, but don't fear, Brice Baker has picked up the slack and given us a review of "Can you Hear me":

Doctor Who began as a simple show meant to trick kids into learning a little bit of history, think about some science and ponder the technology to come. Over the next 60 years it has progressed to a thoughtfully written program with deep character development and wide ranging story arcs. Fast forward to this season and we have obvious foreshadowing, blatant pandering and no character growth. Maybe, just maybe "Can you hear me" will be the dartboard hit that gives us hope. 

"Praxeus" Review

It's official, I'm behind on reviews. I have been putting this review off for awhile, but I guess I gotta do it. "Paxeus". What can I say about "Praxeus"? I'm sorry to say it's not going to be very positive. I was hoping after we had a mildly decent episode in "Fugitive of the Judoon", that maybe the season was looking up. Man, was I wrong. I think "Praxeus" might have been the worst Dr Who episode since in returned to TV in 2005.

So the whole story is that people from another world infect our plastic so they might be able to come up with a cure for their own people. I'm a pretty good environmentalist . I think we are killing our planet and those people who think the world is not warming are complete idiots. With that being said, I don't want my favorite television show to smack me right in the face with it. Now, people will say "Well, Dr Who has always been show about activism" and that is partially true. The difference is that the show used to bring up social issues with a more subtle approach. Not being slammed right in the face with it. Even if you agree with the message (like I do), it's a total turnoff.

I can't even think of anything positive about this episode. The story doesn't make a lick of sense. The companions don't have much to do. Jodie Whittaker is still lousy. I guess the only positive from this episode was that it was not a two-part episode.

I'm keeping this short, because I never want to relive this episode again. I will give "Praxeus" a 0.5 Tardises out of 5. We can only go up from here. 

"Fugitive of the Judoon" Review

This past Saturday, "Fugitive of the Judoon" aired and after watching it, I still don't know what I think. I enjoyed certain things, certain things depressed me and other things made me think, "What if".  I'm sure you all have seen it, so I'm not going to tell you much about the story but instead just give you my thoughts. So let's try and dissect this pivotal episode of the series.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this episode. This was probably the biggest part of any episode that the Judoon have had since they first premiered back in "Smith and Jones". The Judoon are one of the best new series creations that there are. I have been wanting to see them player a larger role since I first saw them many years ago. How could you not love a space police rhino? It was nice to see them play such a large role in this episode for at least the first half, then they were forgotten about.

"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" Review

I know I'm a week behind, but I continue to trudge on through season 12. Today, I look at "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror". That's a mouth full. Why not just name it "Night of Terror"? Who knows. This is the  yearly historical episode of the season. Every season has to have one nowadays and this historical time has a lot of potential. We have Thomas Edison in one corner and Nikola Tesla in the other corner. So many possibilities. And......this was a snooze fest. We have a predictable plot where there is a power source that the Doctor is trying to track down, when she stumbles upon Mr. Tesla. The usual bad aliens show up and want something and threaten to destroy the Earth if they don't get it. Then the Doctor teams up with some locals to stop them and there you have it. A cookie cutter Dr Who episode.

"Orphan 55" Review

I didn’t know if I would make it, but I’m back for a 2^nd week of reviewing Season 12 of Dr Who. “Orphan 55” gives me a bunch mixed feelings. On one hand, the story is decent but on the other hand the execution of it was horrible. I honestly think this episode was a little better than “Spyfail”, but is this what Dr Who has become? A mediocre show that if not for its long rich history, I would have turned off a long time ago.

"Orphan 55" sees the Doctor and crew taking a vacation (does this ever work out for the Doctor and his/her companions?) to a relaxing spa that just so happens to have a slight problem of flesh eating creatures trying to break into it on a constant basis. The story premise itself was not bad per say, but this was so rushed and frantic that it took away from the story itself. There is no buildup of a threat, we are just thrown right into the threat right away. I know Dr Who is only an hour show, but maybe cut out some of those chase scenes and we might actually have a good episode here. Unfortunately, that's not what happens here. Instead it felt like as soon as they got off the Tardis, the crew are running for their lives or chasing after someone. Slow down!!!!

Spyfall Parts 1 & 2 Review

I'm back and better then ever. Last season, I didn't even review the finale because I just couldn't do it anymore. I watched it and actually kind of enjoyed it, but I couldn't write about Dr Who anymore. Season 11 was so bad, it just about killed my love for the show. Even people who love everything about the new Doctor and the show, admit that season 11 was a little lacking. "Lacking" is an understatement.

So after over a year and I am finally able to wash the taste of season 11 out of my mouth, I'm ready to give it another try with season 12. It's time to watch Spyfall .... and..... shoot me now. Spyfail, I mean Spyfall tries to combine Dr Who with James Bond and by "combining it",  I mean just give it a James Bond title and that's basically it. There is hardly anything even remotely resembling a James Bond movie in these episodes. There is some James Bond weapons that they don't even try and use until episode 2, but that's basically it.

Season Review by Brice Baker

I started writing these articles because of my love of how uniquely Doctor Who could connect storylines from episode to episode, season to season and decade to decade. I thought I’d use that to help explain a bit about this season. Bear with me—wibbly wobbly.

I had two problems with Peter Capaldi’s reign as the Doctor, Clara and his sudden fixation on getting to Gallifrey. I think I have finally wrapped my head around both of these in one neat bundle...by going back to his first appearance. In “The Day of the Doctor,” he saves the planet and all of the inhabitants by placing them in a picture, essentially a pocket universe. Due to the crossing of timelines, The Doctor couldn’t realize this until his 11th incarnation. Instead, the Timelords hid away and allowed him to believe he had destroyed them. Soon after that, they forced him into a sort of prison on the planet “Chistmas” as he simultaneously protected them from the hoards of evil monsters and prevented them from returning for hundreds of years. Once again, Clara saved his life and bargained for a new set of regenerations for him.

Fast forward to “Face the Raven,”and he can’t prevent the death of Clara after all of the times she has saved him. Not only could he not protect her, but her death was in a way at the hands of the Timelords. Realizing what was going on, when he was teleported in “Heaven Sent,” he used her memory to keep his sanity for over 4 billion years and formulated a way to save her and hold Rasillon accountable for her death.

The next season is spent, in large part, protecting Missy, whom he now understands more and sees as his last chance at a family. The Doctor also takes on Bill as a companion when he sees a spark in her, however we don’t know how many years he spent as a professor before he accepts her. We can assume it took him a very long time to trust himself again. Suddenly, yet another is taken from him by the very person he was sworn to protect. Yet another failure in his part.

We can finally understand his not wanting to regenerate again. The Good Doctor has failed a loved one again. He had always sworn to bring his companions back safely and now has had multiple losses. He is done, but in seeing his previous incarnation, he gains hope for trying again.

However, this hope includes a complete break from the past. New everything, with no direct connections to the past. And seeking a new family, not necessarily companions but a family the (s)he had lost so many times.

Review "The Witchfinders"

Well, it's time for another Dr Who review. Sorry for the recent delays in reviews. I have been having computer trouble and getting ready next weekend to move into my new house. I'm looking forward to having my own Dr Who room. With that being said, let's get to "The Witchfinders". Oh, crap. I'm bored already.

I seriously was bored during this whole episode. There wasn't anything in this episode, that really caught my attention. It was another bland villain with a bland backstory and to top of it off another bland performance by Jodie Whittaker. I seriously think this season has been the worst season of villains, we have ever seen. I understand that they are trying to stay away from the old favorite villains like the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans to just name a few, but there's a reason that they have turned up over and over in Dr Who. They are POPULAR! They have an interesting back, history with the Doctor and finally they are beloved by fans. I think it's great they are trying to make new villains, but the villains they have created have had the personality of bubble wrap. Oh wait, we actually got an episode with evil bubble wrap in it. (shaking my head).

The whole time I was watching this, I was thinking to myself "Why didn't they air this during Halloween?" But then I thought, "Well, maybe the UK does not celebrate Halloween." I did a little Google search and yes the UK celebrates Halloween on October 31st, just like us. What idiot does not schedule a Dr Who episode with witches in it around Halloween? Oh, I would assume that would be Chris Chibnall. Whoever made the decision to air this episode at the end of November, should be fired.

I will give "The Witchfinders" a 2 out of 5 Tardises, Someone asked me at work what I thought about this season and I summed up the whole season so far in one word, "Ok". That pretty much sums up the whole season. Nothing has been great (Brice, "Kerblaam" was not great), everything has been, well...."Ok".

Review "Kerblam" by Brice Baker

It finally happened. Like scratching that lottery ticket and winning $100, we finally got a Doctor Who episode this season. We’ve had decent ones and painful ones, but with "Kerblam", we finally have a real one.

First, we have links to the past that we haven’t really seen up to now. The fez was obvious but welcomed and the Agatha Christie comment was icing on the cake. Next, we have the Doctor blundering into a situation without any plan. She actually gets in the way by overthinking things when the system initially puts her in custodial. It was much more of a fluid situation which she had to adapt her plans to on the fly as opposed to "Rosa" and "Demons of Punjab", where she was basically protecting a forgone conclusion. Also, The companions were real active in parts of the plot instead of being sent away on some unrelated side quest. And finally, the thing that put it over the top for me was the twist. Making a common item scary or dangerous is a long tradition (Autons and Angels to name a few), and lethal bubble wrap just adds to this. I don’t know if it was an intentionally homage to the green bubble wrap monsters in arc in space, but I like to think it was.

In other words, this episode had a nice mix of mystery, fun, history and some relevance to today, as a good episode should. Without hitting us over the head with it. I’ll give it 4.5 out of 5 Tardises.

Review "Demons of the Punjab"

It's that time again to review the newest Doctor Who episode and I'm sure I will hate it.  And..... I didn't hate it. There's a first for me. I know most of you think I will hate everything this new Doctor does, but that's not true. Actually, there were other episodes that I liked, but it always ended up being my partner in crime, Brice Baker's turn to review it.  So here's my chance. Now, let's not get carried away. I didn't love this episode, but it was Ok. 

Review "The Tsuranga Conundrum"

We are onto episode 5 of this season and thank goodness, there were no spiders in this episode. "The Tsuranga Conundrum" features the Doctor and her companions on board a medical ship that is being eaten by a small creature called a "Pting", who has an insatiable appetite for energy and will stop for nothing to devour all of it. Plus as an added obstacle, if they deviate the ships' path the people controlling it will blow it up. Sounds like a pretty juicy episode, right? WRONG!

This episode was a complete waste. First they make the baddie, the Pting look like a cute little chubby creature that you might want to snuggle with. Not that menacing. I know why Chris Chibnall created the Pting like this, because he always wants to be different and do unconventional things. But there's a reason why you don't make the monster a cute a little creature, because it doesn't work. 

Review "Arachnids" by Brice Baker

With Arachnids in the UK, this season continues on its steady improvement. The characters are fleshing out nicely and supporting family and friends adding to their dimensions. I found the reasoning for each to continue being companions particularly interesting.

The story was a nice change. It wasn’t an alien invasion, it wasn’t in London and it was in the present. The Doctor is very proud of herself that she got them to the right place for a change! She is fantastic at the socially awkward one liners and her facial expressions are over the top. This story continued the tradition of seemingly unrelated threads coming together in the end. The spiders are all going crazy without an obvious reason. The Doctor finds a strong advisor who begins to bring the mystery together. The Doctor’s unique ability of seeing connections, places a bulls-eye on a swanky new resort. We meet the owner, a stereotypical American businessman, who is a shoot first control freak. As his eyes are opened to the damage he has caused, he becomes angrier and eventually killing the “mother spider”. A brief mention of a toxic waste disposal company ends up tying up the loose ends.

Review "Rosa"

We are onto the 3rd episode of this season and we get our first historical episode from Jodie's Doctor, which features Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott.  Now when Doctor Who does a historical episode, it tries to blend historical facts with an element of science fiction that is trying to cause the historical moment not to occur. It's a pretty simple formula to follow, but somehow this episode messed up the science fiction part.

The historical part of this episode was magically done. It had great acting, especially Vinette Robinson who played Rosa Parks, great sets and great drama. If they would have just stopped at that, we would have had a great episode, maybe not a great Dr Who episode, but a great TV episode nonetheless. In order to make it a Dr Who episode, they needed to add some form of science fiction to it and here's where they dropped the ball. Enter Krasko, who is a rehabilitated murderer who can't kill anyone because of his neural implant. For some reason, Krasko blames Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement on all of his troubles in the far, far future. This futuristic criminal really blames the Civil Right Movement on all of his troubles?

Review: "The Ghost Monument" by Brice Baker

I must admit to enjoying the change of pace with the new Doctor. I’ve said it before that Peter Capaldi, through no fault of his making, ended up with formulaic predictable storylines. Both episodes of the new series have been far from predictable, but had a bit of a familiar feel. “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” just had a hint of the manic pace of “Rose” and “The Ghost Monument” had the attitude of “The Eleventh Hour.”

In the second episode, we begin to get more of a feel for where each member or this group fit in. This is where we do run into a bit of predictability in that Graham is the steady, observant and responsible one, Yasmin is the emotional support and Ryan is the technical support. I see that the bike riding in the first episode will be a symbol for Ryan’s growth throughout the season.

"Woman who fell to Earth" Review

Welcome back to the new season of Dr Who and a new season of us writing about our thoughts of the shows. We have a new Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), new Companions (Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole & Bradley Walsh) and finally a new Executive Producer (Chris Chibnall).  With all that being said the first words out of my mouth after watching this episode were "What the hell was that?"

To begin with, I do not like first stories of brand new Doctors. I have pretty much hated every one, except maybe Patrick Troughton's 1st story, "The Power of the Daleks", but to be fair I only say it in it's animation form. It's tough to like any first story of a new Doctor. The actor is just learning how they want to portray the character, the writer has never written for this Doctor before and the fans have a tough time connecting to any new Doctor. It takes awhile to figure out what works. But what I saw in this episode did not even feel like a Dr Who episode. This was a Torchwood meets Sarah Jane Adventures mash up and the result was a disaster in my opinion. They used the dark and gritty look of Torchwood and combined with that a really bad looking villain that looked like was used on the SJ Adventures and you got this episode. If you took the words "Doctor", "Tardis" and "Sonic" out of this episode, I adventure that you would not have known what you were watching Dr Who and that's a Bad thing. The blame goes to 1 man, Chris Chibnall. Jodie Whittaker will not be the death of the show, but Chris Chibnall very could well be if he continues this look for the show. I dare to even say these words, but this episode kind of made me miss Steven Moffat. I shudder at the thought.

Connection Conjecture ~ Farewell to #12

With the oncoming return of The Doctor, I’ve wanted to revisit some of Peter Capaldi’s episodes. It was in scrolling through those, that I realized there weren’t any that stood out. "Heaven Sent" was a favorite but ruined by "Hell Bent". I consider him to be the most Doctorish of the new Doctors but his tenure was tarnished by two things, lackluster writing and Clara Oswald.

A lot of the stories seemed to reach for the lowest hanging fruit on the tree or absurd suspensions of reality. We save Robin Hood by shooting a golden arrow with a long bow through a window of a moving space ship...yes we are dealing with science fiction but this is a stretch. Another example was the season leading up to Missy. We spent all season wondering who this new character is, only to be not only given the obvious but also a grand finale that miraculously gives armor to the dead and buried out of thin air (or dirt?).

Awesome Con 2018 Review

As Dr Who fans, we have become extremely spoiled attending Awesome Con. We have had the pleasure to meet, Peter Capaldi, David Tennant, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Jenna Coleman, John Barrowman, etc at previous incarnations of Awesome Con. Those are some pretty big names for a convention that is not geared soley toward Dr Who, but rather geared toward everything that is pop culture. With this being said, I only give my reviews as it relates to Dr Who and the Dr Who Universe. I do not take in consideration anything that is not Dr Who. Is this fair? Probably not, but that's why I'm stating this here right up front. 2018 Awesome Con was geared more toward fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, Arrow, Star Wars and not Dr Who fans. I always review each Con based on Guests, Vendors & Programming.

Guests:

This is was by far the worst Dr Who guest lineup that Awesome Con has ever had since I have been covering them. The guest line-up would have been a little different if Karen Gillan had not backed out. As it was, John Barrowman was probably the biggest Dr Who star at the show and this was his 3rd straight appearance at Awesome Con. I'm guessing they brought him back since this year they included lots of other actors from the Arrow Universe. But 3 years in a row is getting to be a little bit much for me.

ReGeneration Who Review

ReGeneration Who took place March 23rd-25th in Baltimore, MD right next door to the Inner Harbor. This was my first time attending ReGeneration Who since their inaugural convention back in 2015. A lot has changed and some things have stayed the same. Now when I'm reviewing a convention, I like to look at Guests, Programing and Vendors. Just an FYI, I only attended the first 2 days of the Con.

Guests:

ReGeneration Who went all out this year in the quantity and quality of Dr Who guests. The headliners were clearly Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez. These two were fresh off their final appearances on the show and the attendees were certainly glad to see them in a smaller setting. Not only were Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez there, but ReGeneration Who brought in a slew of more guests like Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and the list goes on and on. The 2 guests that I was particular interested in were Matthew Waterhouse who played Adric and William Russell who played Ian Chesterton. Out of all the conventions I have attended, this was my first time meeting both of them. The character of Adric might take a lot of flack from fans, but as kid of about the same age when I started watching Dr Who, he was the character that I could most relate to. Then what can you say about William Russell? He was there from the beginning and was an intrical part in the early success of the show and it was a honor to meet and thank him for his excellent work on the show.

"Twice Upon a Time" Review

It's become a Christmas tradition of mine, that after spending the whole day with the family, opening gifts and eating way too much food, that I settle down that evening to watch the Dr Who Christmas Special. Plus, as an added bonus, this episode will be the last of Peter Capaldi and the introduction of Jodie Whittaker. It's also the last episode for Steven Moffat as show-runner, but more about that later. 

In this episode we see the 12th Doctor and the 1st Doctor team-up to stop....well really nothing. This episode is them literally deciding on if they should regenerate or just die. Oh, there is a "glass being" that they are first trying to stop but then realize that the "glass being" is actually good and that really this whole episode is a waste of time. Throw in a couple cameos and a not-so shocking surprise at the end, that the Captain's last name is "Lehtbridge-Stewart", and there you have probably the worst regeneration story ever. The previous episode of series, "The Doctor Falls" is how Peter Capaldi should have went out. That was a fantastic story, with excitement, emotion and the Doctor sacrificing his life to save people he hardly knows. Instead, we got 2 Doctors acting like kids who don't want to clean up there bedrooms. 

Why the Doctor should Not be a Woman

So it's been about 4 hours since the BBC announced that Jodie Whittaker will be the new Doctor. I have had 4 hours to digest it and read plenty of comments about the matter. I am in the, unpopular corner that the Doctor should never be a woman and I will try and explain my position in this post. First, I have nothing against Jodie Whittaker as an actress. She would not have been my first choice for a woman to play the Doctor and she wouldn't have even been my first choice of an actress from the TV show Broadchurch (that would have been Olivia Colman), but she is a fine actress. Secondly, just because I do not want a woman playing the Doctor doesn't make me a male chauvinist pig or sexist as it seems that the world of Twitter Trolls are attacking everyone with that opinion. They remind me of Trump fans, with them yelling "Deal with it".

Before I begin my argument, I think a distinction has to be made between "Dr Who Fans" and "Whovians". There is a difference. Dr Who fans like the show, they might even love the show, but to them it's just a show. Not to Whovians. For Whovians, Dr Who is kind of like a religion. We do not just see this as just a sci-fi TV show, but rather something that we have obsessed over from our early childhood into adulthood. One of the reasons why Whovians love the show so much is because of it's rich history. We can follow this adventure way back to a lonely junkyard. Whovians do take the show too seriously sometimes, but if it wasn't for that obsession we would not have Dr Who today. Whovians are the ones that kept this show alive, when there was no Dr Who. Whovians are the ones who never gave up on the show. Instead of looked down upon, we should be cherished. As you can guess, I consider myself a Whovian. I will continue to watch the show, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree with the choice of changing the Doctor's gender. I have yet to see one good point on why Time Lords should have the ability to change gender.

So here's my simple argument, "what if you were married?" So we know that Time Lords do marry ("Invasion of Time", when Leela stayed on Gallifrey to marry a Time Lord). So what if you are a Time Lord and married to another Time Lord of the opposite sex and you are married for hundreds of years and truly love that person. Then one day, your spouse regenerates and they regenerate into someone of the opposite sex then what you married? That would devastate you and destroy your whole marriage. I know it sounds funny, but it's true. The whole concept of marriage on Gallifrey would be in shambles if they could just regenerate into a different gender. The argument against the Doctor being a woman has nothing to do with us being against women's rights, but has to do with this universe that us Whovians live in. It doesn't make sense to the story.

I would be ok with them killing the Doctor off and starting a whole new show with the lead Time Lord as female. I would watch that in a heartbeat. Dr Who has had some strong women in the past, that "Dr Who Fans" don't know or don't remember. Romana was a Time Lord that travelled with the Doctor. She was smarter then the Doctor and could pilot his TARDIS better then the he could. She even became the President of the High Council of Gallifrey. Don't forget about the Rani, a renegade Time Lord traveling the universe as well and even the Master took a backseat to her. I would have loved to see either of these characters come back to life and be featured prominently, but instead Steven Moffat has decided to go all in with his obsession to make the Doctor a woman. It just seems a like a cheap pop and not addressing the true problem with the shows, the stories.

I hope I am wrong and that Jodi Whittaker does a fantastic job, but it will ultimately come down to stories and being able to explain why this make sense to us Whovians.