This is a very funny idea: a Doctor Who Adventure calendar. They’re counting down the days until the next Christmas special like an advent calendar. It’s a brilliant way to get people to come to the BBC site every day, too.
Tip o’ the sonic screwdriver to Tegan.
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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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December 6th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
And I will be over there to watch it… woohoo!
You are never too old for a hefty dose of Doctor Who.
December 6th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Oops, that should have been:
And I will be over there to watch it… (didididum, didididum)… woohoo!
December 6th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
And, just to get you in the mood, two of the best Doctor Who comedy sketches of all time are back up on YouTube:
The Web of Caves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnP_BB_9fMs
The Pitch of Fear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Y4gWxiPHo
December 6th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Since Bad Astronomy insists upon talking about religion (which I think is wrong), then this subject is fair game:
When Mitt Romney’s father ran for the presidency 40 years ago, his Mormonism was not an issue. When Mo Udall was a major challenger for the Democratic nomination in 1976, his religion was so irrelevant that today most people don’t even remember that Udall was a Mormon.
Five members of the Senate are Mormon. Are there any intimations that the Mormonism of Harry Reid, Orrin Hatch, Gordon Smith, Michael Crapo or Robert Bennett corrupts, distorts or in any way diminishes their ability to perform their constitutional duties?
Mormonism should be a total irrelevancy in any political campaign. It is not. Which is why Mitt Romney had to deliver his JFK “religion speech” this week. He didn’t want to. But he figured that he had to.
December 6th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I absolutly love Dr. Who!
But without Billie Piper, it is just not the same.
As an “old fart” that watched Dr. Who back in the 70’s, a female was rather shocking. Billie Piper changed everything that I had ever expected about Dr. Who.
Just my personal thoughts on the subject….
December 6th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Funny, I don’t remember seeing any Mormons in Doctor Who…
December 7th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I remember watching this back in the early seventies in Britain, where I lived at the time. One episode in particular: it concerned maggots. To this day, they creep me out! Dr. Who messed me up for life! BTW, I love the new incarnation.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:32 am
Maggots…. ah yes, “The Green Death”. Surely a classic. Gave me the willies too when I was a kid.
December 7th, 2007 at 4:48 am
Hey, Phil, here’s Kylie singing the new song for Voyage of the Damned, “Stowaway”:
[url]http://www.myspace.com/silvascreenrecords[/url]
December 7th, 2007 at 5:51 am
The Green Death was nothing on “The Talons of Weng Chiang”.
Steve H. The Doctor almost always travelled with female companions. Jo Grant (who posed naked with a Dalek for Playboy). Sarah Jane Smith. Leela.
Even before the 70’s, women were present. Dodo, Zoe, Vicky.
But the one thing Doctor Who never did was to bring religion into it (well, the Crusades might have dallied a bit.)
The Doctor (so far) has never met Christ, Buddha, Mohammed – in fact the only religious figure I can remember him meeting was Satan (or the creature on which Satan was modelled).
He never even named a teddy bear after a religious figure. And he never visited Sudan
December 7th, 2007 at 5:58 am
Oh, and by the way. They did a Doctor who calendar last year.
Or is that next year. Never could work out which was which.
December 7th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Selina, you made good points. I’m not certain, but IIRC, the Doctor has travelled with more female companions than male ones. You ommitted a few females, though: Susan, who called him “Grandfather”, Ace, Peri, Nyssa, Liz Shaw, Barbars, and of course, who could forget the 2 Romanas.
And a few of the female companions were among the most annoying and despised: Tegan, Mel come to mind.
December 7th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Tegan was okay. Mel – God, I hated Bonnie Langford.
I don’t know if anyone has produced a league table of companions (they used to be called “assistants” in the 70’s) – I was just trying to quote the ones prior to the 70’s.
But none could beat Leela. Sent a teenager’s hormones into overdrive.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:28 am
— Since Bad Astronomy insists upon talking about religion (which I think is wrong), then this subject is fair game:
It’s a personal blog. There is no wrong, per se.
— Mormonism should be a total irrelevancy in any political campaign.
Piffle. There is no such thing as Mormons. It’s an urban myth.
December 7th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Let’s see, male companions. There was Ian Chesterton (1st Doc), Steven (1st Doc), Peter (1st Doc – I think that was his name; he later did “Blue Peter”), the sailor bloke whose name I can’t remember (1st & 2nd Docs), Jamie (2nd Doc, of course), Adric (4th & 5th Docs), Turlough (5th Doc), and (from the current incarnation) Mickey (9th Doc) and Capt. Jack “too sexy to live” Harkness (9th & 10th Docs). I don’t think I forgot anyone. Clear and away, most companions have been female.
Does K-9 count as a male companion?
December 7th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Gar, Peter Purves was the actor who played Steven Taylor, companion to the 1st Doctor, and who later presented Blue Peter.
The Doctor was always had female companions; the Tardis has never had an all-male crew. What made Sarah-Jane Smith special, however, was that she was the first female companion who actively joined in the fighting, rather than screaming and cowering and waiting to be rescued. This, of course, reflected the changing times. SJ was the first liberated companion.
FYI, the “sailor bloke” was Ben Jackson, played by Michael Craze.
December 7th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
By the way, BBC is also airing “Torchwood,” which has as its main character none other than Capt. Jack “too sexy to live†Harkness.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
I stuck with Torchwood through the first season, but it was pretty rough in parts. There were a couple of excellent episodes (the one with the people flying in from the past was a standout) but there were some stinkers too. Chasing cannibal yokels (in a highly melodramatic fashion) around the Welsh countryside was probably the nadir.
But the biggest let down was Cap’n Jack as the leading man. When he was the Doctor’s sidekick he was great, especially in this last season, but somehow he just doesn’t have the gravitas needed to anchor his own show. Dunno if it’s the actor (because we know from Dr. Who he can act) or just the way the part is written, but there is definitely something missing.
Still, the new season approaches (January) so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an improvement. In the meantime, the first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures was a lot of fun (and better made than Torchwood IMHO).
December 7th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Thanks, Kimpatsu. I thought I had my wires crossed about Peter Purves. And I couldn’t think of the late Michael Craze’s or his character’s name to save my life. And of course Sarah Jane Smith is by far the best companion, largely for the reasons you’ve sited. She and Tom’s Doctor in particular had such a lovely rapport.
Oh, and the TARDIS did have an all male crew at least once: in Turlough’s last episode with Dr. 5, Tegan had just left and Peri hadn’t joined quite yet. So briefly anyway. Now Peri was probably the worst companion. Voice = grating.
I have enjoyed Capt. Too Sexy in Torchwood. However, I have to say that he does seem to at his best when he’s playing against the Doctor (either 9 or 10). Haven’t seen SJ Adventures. Should check it out.
December 8th, 2007 at 2:24 am
FYI: The Sarah-Jane Adventures is a kids’ show (so don’t expect the same themes as in Torchwood!) but the first series was very good and the stories (five 2-part 25 minute shows) were interesting and kept you guessing (well, me anyway!).
December 8th, 2007 at 9:23 am
The Sarah Jane Adventures were better than I thought they would be. The first couple of stories are the most kid-show of the lot.
The one with the evil nuns was ok. The final two (two part) stories were the best of the lot. One with Sarah being removed from the time line and the final story with Luc (Sarah’s adopted son) being taken away were quite good.
The only thing they really need to get rid of is the music and steam when Sarah’s computer, Mr. Smith, make an appearance.
Oh, and K-9 makes a brief appearance in the final episode!
December 26th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Here’s the info on male companions from a true Whovian:
Ian Chesterton (William Russell — 1st Doctor), Steven Taylor (Peter Purves — 1st Doctor), Ben (Michael Craze — 1st Doctor & 2nd Doctors), Jamie McKrimmon (Frazer Hines — 2nd Doctor), Dr. Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter — 4th Doctor), Adric (Matthew Waterhouse — 4th & 5th Doctors), Turlough (Mark Strickson — 5th Doctor), Chang Lee (Yee Jee Tso — 8th Doctor), Mickey (9th & 10th Doctors), Captain Jack (John Barrowman — 9th & 10th Doctors).
Let’s not forget those brave men from UNIT: Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney — Several Doctors), Captain Yates (Richard Franklin — Several Doctors), Sergeant Benton (John Levene — Several Doctors.)
Then we can’t entirely forget the two robots voiced by men: K-9 and Kamilion.