doctor who

Doctor Who Missing Episodes (sort of) (not really)

Last year, for nobody’s amusement but my own, I made a parody Twitter account purporting to tweet synopses of the 97 episodes of Doctor Who that have been erased from the BBC’s archives. Instead, I tweeted synopses of episodes that I made up entirely, allowing me to poke fun at the show I love so very, very much. (Too much, possibly.)

The account didn’t gain much traction, probably because I stopped updating it (although I did get a few amusing mentions from people who seemed to think I was an official Who account). In the spirit of my general move away from social media and back to this blog, here are all of those tweets to date (in story order, not the order I tweeted them). If for some reason you want to give this fake account a follow, it’s @WhoMissing – if enough people jump on, maybe I’ll start posting again!

The First Doctor

The Rock Lords Part 2 – “Masters of Stone” (1963) The Doctor tricks Ian into falling off a cliff.

The Song of Melodia Part 2 – “Timpani of Terror” (1964) Barbara attracts the romantic attentions of the Melodians’ handsome maestro. Susan faints.

The Macedonians Part 2 – “Key Coiffure” (1965) Imprisoned in the dungeon by Philip, the travelers plan an escape using Barbara’s hair-do as a battering ram.

The Macedonians Part 5 – “Catamite Calamity” (1965) Vicki, disguised as a boy, catches the eye of Alexander.

Sweet Danger (1965) TARDIS takes Dr Who and his grandchildren John and Gillian to the planet of living pastries. When Gillian bites the head off a shortbread boy, John defends her by wiping out the entire civilization with a handy laser rifle.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 13 – “The Nightmare Continues” (1966) After Sara is aged to death, the Doctor and Steven flee the Daleks. New companion Beth joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 14 – “Aftershock” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Beth is killed by the Daleks. New companion Eric joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 15 – “Winds of Doom” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Eric is gunned down in 1930s Chicago. New companion Molly joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 17 – “History Repeats Itself” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Eliza is vaporized by the Daleks. New companion Jerry joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 19 – “Not That Button” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Katarina is sucked out of an airlock again. New companion Dirk joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 20 – “Bubbles of Disaster” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Dirk is boiled in acid. New companion Kelly joins the crew.

The Daleks’ Master Plan Part 21 – “The Yeast of Steven” (1966) Steven watches in horror as Kelly is baked into a loaf of bread. New companion Tommy joins the crew.

The Lifeless Planet Part 1 – “Footfall of Doom” (1966) Dodo trips over an anthill, inadvertently wiping out an intelligent insect race.

The Weather Masters Part 3 (1966) Ben and Polly stall the Weatherians while the Doctor takes the week off.

The Twilight Beast Part 2 (1966) The evil Jotun refers to the Doctor as “Doctor Who,” but nobody makes a big deal out of it.

The Second Doctor

Curse of the Cybermen Part 3 (1966) Polly fends off the Cybermen with hydrofluoric acid she makes out of perfume. The Doctor finds a fun hat.

The Castle of Terror Part 3 (1967) The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria escape through a maze of corridors, which don’t wobble at all, smartass.

The Castle of Terror Part 5 (1967) The Doctor and Jamie are captured by the Pale Green Robots. Victoria screams.

The Stealers of Smartness Part 2 (1968) Zoe is arrested for solving Fermat’s Last Theorem without a license.

The Third Doctor

The Absorbent Snowmen Part 3 (1970) The Doctor and Liz track the errant Yeti to a loo in Tooting Bec.

Evolution of Death Part 1 (1970) The Doctor meets a colony of friendly ape-people. The Brigadier kills them.

The Foibles of Myopia Part 1 (1971) Jo bumps into a wall.

Village of Darkness Part 2 (1972) The Master murders everyone in the village. The Doctor shares a bottle of expensive cognac with him.

The Perils of Paperwork Part 4 (1974) Captain Yates is court martialed for having a character arc prematurely.

More Mutants, More Problems Part 1 (1974) The Doctor takes Sarah Jane to another planet he first visited with Jo, and she pretends not to mind.

The Fourth Doctor

The Mandatory Sensitivity Training of Weng-Chiang Part 1 (1977) The Doctor makes some racist jokes and we’re just supposed to roll with it, I guess?

The Mandatory Sensitivity Training of Weng-Chiang Part 4 (1977) Leela sits the Doctor down to gently explain why him calling her “savage” bothers her. He cries and says he feels very attacked.

The Haze of Health and Safety Part 1 (1977) The TARDIS lands in a thick dark fog. Leela says something naïve yet terribly clever.

Horror of Prog Rock Part 1 (1977) The Doctor syncs the TARDIS up to “The Wizard of Oz” and it works surprisingly well. You can totally hear the dematerialization noise just as the witch is melting.

Horror of Prog Rock Part 2 (1977) Leela performs a fourteen-minute flute solo.

Terror of the Turgids Part 3 (1979) Romana finds the seventh segment of the Key to Time disguised as a cheap portable radio.

The Bleakness of Nihilism Part 1 (1980) The Doctor, Romana, Adric, and K-9 land on a planet of existential dread and foreboding music.

K-9 and Company title card

K9 and Company: “Midsommar” (1982) The villagers crown Sarah Jane as their May Queen. Things get hot for Brendan when he dons a bear suit.

K9 and Company: “The Wicker Man” (1982) Sarah Jane investigates a young girl’s disappearance. Things get hot for Brendan at the village May Day celebration.

The Fifth Doctor

Plague Day Part 4 (1982) Nyssa saves the Morvilles from destruction while the Doctor, Adric and Tegan argue bitterly about the weather.

Glamour of the Ganjites Part 1 (1983) Reunited with Tegan in Amsterdam, the Doctor and Nyssa take her for what they intend to be a fun holiday. Nobody mentions Adric.

The Inlay Annoy Part 3 (1983) The Doctor suspects that Mr Theaste may not be who he claims.

The Ensliming Part 1 (1984) The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are menaced by giant slugs. Kamelion stays in the TARDIS.

The Awkwardness Part 1 (1984) Following Tegan’s departure, the Doctor and Turlough eat breakfast together in silence. The Doctor doesn’t look up from his paper.

The Awkwardness Part 2 (1984) The Doctor cracks a joke about that time Turlough tried to murder him, but it just makes things weird.

The Awkwardness Part 3 (1984) The Doctor fakes an emergency landing just to give him and Turlough something to talk about. Kamelion stays in the TARDIS.

The Sixth Doctor

The Psychotic Solution Part 1 (1984) Peri criticizes the Doctor’s coat. He hits her in the head with a shovel.

Eye of the Fruitbat Part 2 (1985) Peri is turned into a fruitbat. The Doctor murders a guard.

The Failing Grade Part 1 (1985) On a brief hiatus from adventuring, the Doctor and Peri take the opportunity to indulge in some light character development.

The Trial of a Time Lord Part 15 (1986) A vital clue might prove the Doctor’s innocence, or confirm his guilt. It’s never mentioned again.

The Seventh Doctor

Death Department Part 1 (1987) Mel needs a megabyte modem so the Doctor takes her to the galaxy’s biggest department store.

Death Department Part 2 (1987) The Doctor and Mel find the store overrun by gangs of colorfully dressed post-apocalyptic shoppers.

The Perils of Perivale Part 1 (1989) The Doctor makes Ace relive the day her childhood dog got run over.

The Wilderness Years Part 1 (1993) The Doctor, Ace, and Benny do drugs and have sex and swear.

The Wilderness Years Part 2 (1993) Trapped in New Neo City, Benny must neurojack into the information megahighway to free the AnarchoPixelz from derezzing at the cyberhands of the TechnoPunx.

The Wilderness Years Part 4 (1993) A reunion with an old companion reveals her life after the TARDIS was one of misery and despair. The Doctor stands helplessly by as a sordid death comes for…I don’t know, let’s say, Polly?

The Eighth Doctor

Summer of Love (1996) The Doctor and Grace travel back to 1967 San Francisco and kiss.

Fever (1996) Grace tracks down patient zero of an alien plague threatening San Francisco, while the Doctor works on a cure. Then they kiss.

The Weaker Sex (1996) The Master takes over Grace’s body, but his deception is revealed when the Doctor kisses him.

Eggheads (1996) The Doctor discovers an evil plot at the heart of San Francisco’s chapter of Mensa. He kisses Grace.

The King is Back (1996) The Doctor and Grace save San Francisco from a race of evil alien Elvis impersonators. Then they kiss.

The Ninth Doctor

Wartorn (2005) The Doctor and Rose visit the trenches of World War I. A dying soldier mutters “bad wolf” but nobody hears him.

Smooth Cruelty (2005) Jack seduces an Auton but is disappointed with what he finds.

The Tenth Doctor

The Emotion Loop (2007) Martha stares at the Doctor and sighs. The Doctor stares at a picture of Rose and sighs.

Sanitation (2007) The Doctor digs out the truth at the heart of the planet of garbage. Martha meets the Quarks for some reason.

The Sarah Jane Adventures title card

The Sarah Jane Adventures: “Drink Up, Sarah Jane Smith” (2008) The Trickster removes the kids from time and Sarah Jane takes one damn second to enjoy the quiet before saving them, and can you blame her?

The Eleventh Doctor

Just Don’t (2013) The Doctor makes a comment about Clara’s sweater being tight, and it’s weird for everyone.

Fetish of the Man-Child (2011) Amy and River display hyper-competence while the Doctor and Rory fumble and bumble adorably. Later, Amy and River are in danger, and it’s up to the Doctor and Rory to save them.

The Twelfth Doctor

Smell (2014) The Doctor and Clara realize there’s one surefire way to determine if the shape under the bedsheets is a malevolent alien or a small child. But do they have the stomach for it?

The Thirteenth Doctor

Cry Babies Cry (2018) A small but loud faction of humanity erupts in anger because the Doctor, Yaz, and Ryan exist. Graham’s fine for some reason.

Capitalism Is Good, Actually (2018) The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham save the benevolent VoidLife Corporation from the evil workers’ strike.

The Establishment Doctors (2018) The Thirteenth Doctor meets the Third and they get along very, very well. Ryan expresses discomfort with the idea of UNIT in a moving monologue that has no impact on the plot. Yaz and Jo kiss.

Posted by Brian in Doctor Who, 0 comments

New York Comic Con 2016 (Day One)

Thursday, October 6, 2016

It’s that time of year again! New York Comic Con is back! I look forward to it all year, taking a long weekend off from work so I can go on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

img_1597

 

I applied for a pro pass again this year, which is an amazing deal if you can manage it. They toughened up the application process, so I was very happy to be granted mine. The best part is it lets you enter through a different entrance from everyone else, skipping the line, which this year was wrapping around the block. I’m not the kind of guy to get up at the crap of dawn to wait in line for hours for almost anything, so I was able to get there around 9:30 in the morning and slide right inside.

img_1618

Right off the bat I saw my first cosplayer, and I took it as a good sign that she was my favorite Star Trek character.

img_1619

Lt. Uhura!

I usually avoid the mainstage panels, since you often have to wait ages in line to get into them, but I arrived a little early this time around because there was one I just couldn’t bring myself to pass by. ReedPOP, the organizers, handle these brilliantly, though – since the badges have little RFID chips in them, you just go to the line, tap in to register, then go away. You come back when it’s time for your panel and are guaranteed entry. How long you wait in line is up to you, depending on how good a seat you want. So I tapped in and then went on to explore the show floor for a while. I spotted this amazing Lego Supergirl.

img_1621

And a few more cosplayers.

img_1623

Carol Danvers, in her second Ms. Marvel/Warbird costume. Love that sash!

img_1625

Raven and Beast Boy!

Pretty soon it was time for the first panel I had planned on attending, “Body of Evidence: How We See Ourselves in Comics.” I’m what they call a social justice warrior, so I try to go to as many panels on diversity as I can. This one was pretty good.

img_1629

From left to right, the panelists were Birgit Pols, Leeanna Ladouceur, Tim Ferrara, Annit Stoll, Jessica Chautin, David Baxter, and moderator Valeria Acklin. There were a lot of interesting comments about body issues and how different body types are portrayed in media, but I was particularly struck by a comment Pols made about the feedback loop of us being fed a certain ideal by pop culture, our attractions being shaped by what we’re fed, and then pop culture giving back to us body types we’re attracted to.

I had a bit of a break before my next panel. First I got lunch in the massively crowded food court, where I spotted this lovely family.

img_1630

Doctor, TARDIS, and Dalek! You know what they say, the family that Who’s together, glues together.

I went down to Artist Alley, my absolute favorite part of the con. While there I had a rather excruciatingly embarrassing moment with Ryan North, creator of Dinosaur Comics and current writer of one of my favorite comics, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. I told him how much I liked his work, bought a copy of his choose-your-own-adventure Hamlet, To Be or Not To Be, waited for him to sign it, complimented him again, and walked away. Whereupon he said, quite politely, “Uh, that’s twenty bucks.” So, yeah. My social awkwardness made me steal a book from a creator I really admire. I stammered an apology, paid, and walked away. I spent the rest of the con hiding my face whenever I walked by his table, dying slowly of mortification. I’m dying again just thinking about it. Let’s look at more cosplayers, quick.

img_1631

Green Arrow! I am living for this guy’s facial hair. I mean the whole costume is great, but that goatee is perfect Oliver Queen.

img_1632

Aquaman! This guy’s ready for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade with those props.

img_1634

Dazzler, in her classic disco ensemble! Love the hair.

And then it was time for the highlight of my day: “Tales from the TARDIS with Matt Smith, Alex Kingston and Jenna Coleman.” Oh, yeah. This was the panel I had arrived early for. I got back in line a full hour before the panel started to try for a good seat, and I was already pretty far back in line. Whovians are a devoted bunch. But I got in, and being on my own meant I was still able to score a great seat,  just a few rows back from the front.

Things started on a bit of a sour note for me – two pre-show hosts came out to warm up the crowd, and one of them made a bit of a transphobic/homophobic joke to a Missy cosplayer. “You’re cute for someone who used to be a man.” Blergh. People laughed. I booed, but nobody heard me. It’s the kind of comment that so many people would think nothing of, which makes it all the worse.

But I let it go once the stars came out. I was too enraptured for my mood to be befouled by thoughtless prejudice.

img_1641

There they are! So close I could touch them!

I can’t remember the moderator’s name, and Google is no help, but he did a great job of keeping the Q&A moving along. It was an hour of fun stories from some of my favorite people from my favorite show, so I was very, very happy.

Next up was another panel, “Body Confidence and Positivity in Cosplay.”

img_1643

Left to right are panelists David Baxter, Bernadette Bentley, Robert Franseze and moderator Ivy Doomkitty. This was a really fun panel. I’m not a cosplayer myself, but I really appreciate the talent and dedication cosplayers put into their craft. Combined with my interest in diversity issues, it was fascinating to listen to these four talk with such enthusiasm and positivity about what cosplay has added to their lives. I dug it.

Speaking of cosplay…

img_1645

That’s black-suit Spider-man, classic Spider-man, and Venom ganging up on the Black Panther. Personally, I think T’Challa could take them all.

img_1646

Luke Cage, Power Man! Love it.

I was torn for my next panel. One option was “X-traordinary: The LGBT Characters of the X-Men.” I didn’t go to that, and kind of regretted it later when I heard that Peter David went on a bizarre racist tirade about the Romani people. I mean, I know it was ugly and uncomfortable, but it also feels like a real “you should have been there” moment. I watched video later, and yeah, it was pretty nasty. His apology on his blog didn’t cut it for me, either – felt like a deflection, and then in the comments section a doubling-down on his original statements. Really sad, as I like David’s work and he’s so progressive in other ways.

While I try to hit as many LGBT panels as I can, at the same time was “Using Tumbl to Sell Your Idea (From Marketing to Webcomics).” As much fun as NYCC is, I’m there primarily for business purposes, so anything that might be useful to my writing career has to take priority. I love Tumblr but have never found it of much use to me as a writer, and I was hoping to pick up some tips.

img_1648

From left to right, that’s Zack Rosenberg, Marlene Bonnelly and Amanda Brennan, all from Tumblr, and then some creative Tumblr users, Nick Tapalansky, Kendra Wells, and C.B. Cebulski. The panel was interesting, but focused very much on Tumblr as a visual medium – most of the tips pertained more to artists than to writers. I’m not sure I got a whole lot of useful information that I didn’t already know, but it was entertaining and I’m glad I went.

I had a little time to kill, and found one ominous cosplayer…at least, I hope she was a cosplayer…

img_1650

Death! Eep! I’m too young!

My last panel didn’t start until 8pm, but it was worth waiting for: “Race & Sexuality: A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tee “Vixen” Franklin & Steve Orlando.” I’m a big fan of both Coates and Orlando, and an admirer of Franklin’s work on furthering the conversation about diversity in comics, so there was no way I’d miss this.

img_1654

From left to right that’s moderator Jonathan W. Gray, Orlando, Coates, and Franklin. It was a great panel, with a lot of illuminating info on Coate’s Black Panther and Orlando’s Midnighter and Virgil. Some tension arose when Franklin called Marvel out for going outside the comics industry to find their first black woman writer, a situation that Coates pointed out applied to him as well (Black Panther is his first comics work), but the awkwardness got smoothed over. (Mostly.)

And that was it! I headed out for dinner with some friends before making the trek home. Here’s my loot from day one:

img_1655

Looking back now this was a fairly light day. The top row is all freebies. A couple of paperbacks from the Penguin Random House table that I will probably never read. They look fine, it’s just that I still haven’t read the free books I picked up last year. Why did I take them, then? What, and pass up free books? I also got some free comics from Dynamite, which I will read, and a postcard from someone that I haven’t looked at yet. I bought the first trade of Midnighter from Steve Orlando and got it signed, and there’s To Be or Not To Be, the horrifying story of my purchase of which from Ryan North I told earlier. And then there’s the convention program, with Wonder Woman looking very martial.

Then it was to bed, to get some rest so I could do it all over again the next day!

Day two coming soon…

Posted by Brian in Pointless Babblings, Website, 0 comments

Love Doctor

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of the holiday, I’m taking a look at that cosmic Casanova, the Lothario of space-time, the Don Juan of the vortex. For someone so often portrayed as either apart from, confused by, or simply uninterested in human romance, the Doctor sure does get a lot of play. Let’s celebrate love with the Time Lord by going backwards through the many, many, many loves of Doctor Who

Missy kissy.

Missy kissy.

The Master

Let’s start with what is possibly the most significant relationship in the Doctor’s life – his love/hate affair with his eternal nemesis. The Master may have waited for a gender-swap regeneration to finally plant one hell of a smacker on her arch-enemy, but come on. This was building between them for a long, long time. Just take a look at that death scene in Last of the Time Lords – the Master cradled in the Doctor’s arms, the Doctor weeping, begging him to stay, promising they’ll spend eternity together, just the two of them…now that’s a love scene. (Should it worry me that I find  a scene that ends with suicide-by-spite romantic?) Producer Steven Moffat clearly considers the Master to be the Doctor’s One True Pairing – way back in 1999’s charity comedy spoof Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death he had Jonathan Pryce’s Master walk off into the sunset with Joanna Lumley’s Doctor. (But more on that story later…) It’s a fine line between love and hate, they say, and the Doctor and the Master have been straddling that line for a long, long time.

Continue reading →

Posted by Brian in Doctor Who, 0 comments