Note: I accidentally posted a draft blog entry earlier today. It wasn’t ready yet, so I removed it for now. It was just a list of links, so you’re not missing anything. Sorry about that!
So a priest in Cardiff (!) is using Doctor Who to preach to the masses.
Ohhhh… kayyyyyyy.
But they’d better be careful about the statuary in the church yard.
Via Fark. The comments are HILARIOUS! And yes, that’s my TARDIS, and the gargoyle was a gift to The Little Astronomer, because she liked "Blink" so much.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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September 16th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
hey that entry on the Weeping Angels gives away the whole episode. If you’ve got it TiVo’d and haven’t watched it yet, don’t read that entry.
I must say I think David Tennant is a better doctor than even Tom Baker.
September 16th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
There was another blog entry? Wow, I guess it’s true what they say about not blinking…
September 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Right, so in order to teach about Jesus, the priest will be saying “here’s a fictional story which we may liken to the story of christ”… yeah, I can see might work…
September 16th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Despite being a “Doctor Lite” episode (i.e. the Doctor doesn’t appear in it much), “Blink” is one of the finest episodes of Doctor Who in many a long year. It’s, creepy, scary, intriguing, beautifully written, plotted, directed, and acted. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that it’s going to be repeated on SciFi next week, but the next three episodes are belters (very good) too.
(** Please do not take this comment as an excuse to post spoilers for upcoming episodes! **)
Sadly, the excellence of Doctor Who just highlights what dreck the new SciFi series, Flash Gordon, is.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
P.S. I think I’m in love with Sally Sparrow…
September 16th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I hate to sound snarky, but if their religion was really correct, why would they have to resort to such a gimmick?
It would be classic Dr. Who if, after the service, the priest decided to eat everyone.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Blink: One of the finest hours of SF television. EVER!
September 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I agree with tacitus and the Little Astronomer, Blink was a fantastic episode. An instant time-travel classic.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Tacitus i would have to agree with you
blink was very good
September 16th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I have trumped the coolness of tha toy Tardis.
http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=EL502
Freaking Lego ice cube trays!
Ice sculpture made easy.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
My boys and I watched “Blink” this afternoon (it was recorded due to band camp).
We decided it was creepy, and I actually caught a 17 year old boy let out a little squeak of fear at one point. (just to let BA know… this is not normal nor admissible behavior for 17 year old boys!)
If plans work out… we will be going to Europe next summer. We will not be looking at statues quite the same!
September 17th, 2007 at 12:39 am
We will not be looking at statues quite the same!
I know what you mean there. I recorded it also because I was at a HS football game with my sisters. Just watched it today and loved the episode. Never really got into Dr. Who until recently and wish I had started watching it earlier.
Don’t blink. Don’t turn away.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I think “Blink” is commonly regarded as one of the finest episodes ever written. Interesting that it’s by Steven Moffat who also penned “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” – other classics.
As for using Dr. Who to promote Christianity, well it’s all about finding images, ideas and concepts that people are familiar with to explain complex ideas. Even scientists do that from time to time.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:06 am
“Blink” was a masterpiece, pure and simple. The two-parter after it where the Doctor becomes John Smith in 1913 England, it must be said, is just as good.
The second half of Series 3 is just brilliant on every level.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Surely you’ve gotten to the point now that you all like Martha much better than Rose!
September 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am
The second half of Series 3 is just brilliant on every level.
I might argue that point having seen Last of the Time Lords, but seeing as Americans haven’t gotten to it yet, I’ll save that for another day. However, if you choose to treat that three-parter as a single serial (classic Who fan, eh?), then Sound of the Drums is so ridiculously awesome the whole thing’s a classic nonetheless.
September 17th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Hi, physicist from Cardiff here
Honestly, I feel a bit uncomfortable with that church’s doing this; on the one hand, the Church of England still says that homosexual acts are “incompatible with scripture”, while Dr Who and Torchwood are two of the most tolerant series out there — of course, most church types don’t have trouble doublethinking the “love everybody” message with the “hate the gays” rhetoric anyway; on the other hand, the Doctor is already a better messiah figure anyway
September 17th, 2007 at 8:42 am
BLINK: without wanting to get my hand slapped for spoiling it (tho those links you posted Phil are guaranteed to ruin it for people… ok, ok, they don’t have to look, I know, but they will, human beings are curious creatures by nature…), I have to say that it’s one of the finest DW episodes ever. Trust me, if you haven’t already seen it you’ll fall in love with Sarry Sparrow. And if you have already seen it, you’re already IN love with Sally Sparrow.
And after BLINK the episodes just get better and better and better. The one where the Cyberman army ride Daleks into battle against a legion of Zygons and Sontarans is a classic. (That was a joke by the way, not a spoiler… but wouldn’t you love to see that?!)
I have no problem with churchy types using Dr Who. After all, I’ve worshipped Martha Jones since her first episode…
September 17th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I loved Blink. Outside of the final 3 part episode it was my favorite episode of season 3. However my mrs will not let me show it to my 6 year old. She thought it was too scary.
September 17th, 2007 at 9:47 am
[...] Time Lord and Savior A peek above our garters to Dr. BA for pointing us to this thread at Fark.com which led us to these two comics from [...]
September 17th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I saw Blink Saturday. People who’ve seen it kept raving about it, and they’re right. An excellent, excellent episode. I’m going to watch it again later today, because there’s so much going on that i think I missed a few details.
“The angels have the phone box” is already a pop-cultural slogan.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:47 am
“Interesting that it’s by Steven Moffat who also penned “The Girl in the Fireplace†and “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances†– other classics.”
And don’t forget “The Curse of Fatal Death!” (I’m serious–he actually wrote that one, too!)
September 17th, 2007 at 10:50 am
“However my mrs will not let me show it to my 6 year old. She thought it was too scary.”
Are you kidding? That’s the reason TO show it to a 6-year-old! My almost-6-year-old loves Doctor Who and loves Blink, and even loves hiding behind the sofa!
Am I bringing her up right? Of course I am…
September 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Shane,
I chase her around the house with my arms stuck out saying “Exterminate”. She stops from time to time and yells back “Delete”.
Note that I said that my wife won’t let me.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Jesus as a Lord of time? Even priests are getting in on fanfiction. Scary.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Spoilers ahead (future path of the show and major point of S4 and major points of S3 finale). Ye be warned, me hearties! (Yes, I’m two days early, but who cares?)
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Steven Moffat has written some of the best Doctor Who to date. It makes me hopeful that he will in fact be the one to take over after RTD leaves. I’m not sure I can yet imagine the awesomeness of Steven Moffat with greater say in the direction of Doctor Who.
Also, while I didn’t hate Catherine Tate (Donna) in the Christmas special as so many of my British friends did even before the show aired, I’m unhappy with the fact she’s to be the new companion in S4. Sally Sparrow would have definitely been a better choice. Pretty much everyone I know has said Sally should be a companion, and I’m quite inclined to agree. Still sucks to not have Martha, though, even if she will come back for a few eps.
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Spoilers End.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Loved the bit with the transcript. It reminded me of a gimmick from a (really bad) sci-fi novel called “Conrad’s Time Machine”.
The book has a society that uses time-travel for even the most trivial of domestic purposes. Their Navy has instantaneous two-way communication mediated via time-travel. Here’s how it worked:
Instead of a radio, the communication console has two tapes. One is set to play, the other records. At some point in the future, they blip back with the “record” tape from ship 1 and install it as the “play” tape from ship 2. Vice versa with the tapes from ship 2.
It’s a delightful little paradox in an otherwise dreadful book.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
“Steven Moffat has written some of the best Doctor Who to date.”
Have to agree, “Blink” is a classic.
If the BBC series “Jekyll”, with James Nesbitt in the lead role ever makes it on to U.S. TV, it’s well worth a watch too.
It’s a modern take on the Robert Louis Stevenson story that was shown here during the summer, also written by Steven Moffat.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Alex, Jekyll has been in BBC America, which is available on cable and satellite in most places in the states.
I loved the first few episodes of Jekyll, but didn’t care much for it after about episode four. I didn’t see the very end bit coming, which makes any future episodes potentially pretty interesting.
Nesbitt is completely brilliant in the show.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
At church camp this summer, I was a councilor and the theme was spies on a space station trying to stop an asteroid impact. I never got to use them, but just in case I ever do it again, I thought up a space story that corseponds to each day’s virtue.
1) Trust- We can trust like the crew of Apollo 13 trusted mission control to bring them home.
2) Unite- We can unite as many nations have to build ISS and in the 2003 Mars missions.
3) Train- We can train and practice to be our best as every step in the Space Race was practice for the moon.
4) Follow- We can follow the examples of others like the Voyager mission to Saturn was a model for the Cassini mission.
5) Lead- We can lead the way going where no one has before like New Horizions.
Yes, I can be OCD at times. Why do you ask?