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/