I make no excuses for my love of Doctor Who, and one of my favorite things about it since it was rebooted back in 2005 has been the music. I have always loved the title theme (originally written by Ron Grainer), ever since I was a little kid, and the modern orchestral reworking of it by Murray Gold is magnificent. I listen to the soundtracks all the time.
Gold wrote a new theme for The Doctor for Matt Smith’s version of the character, called "I Am the Doctor", and it’s fantastic. It’s got an odd beat to it, because it’s in 7 (as opposed to the usual 2, 3 or 4 beats per measure of most music). A bit off-kilter, just like the Time Lord himself, and with an underlying momentum and power. Also like The Doctor.
And that’s why I love this video: Murray Gold playing the theme on the piano — which he posted pseudonymously to YouTube!
Very cool. I’m looking forward to getting the Series 6 soundtrack as soon as it’s available here in the US. But for now, I think I’ll just go have a listen to this track from Series 5 played by the National Orchestra of Wales. Allons-y!
If the recent season finale of Doctor Who made you despair of waiting a year for the next season to start (with only two holiday episodes between now and then to alleviate the pain), then try watching this fan-made trailer for the show. It’s quite well-done (and there are no spoilers for the last episode).
Sigh. Yeah, now the wait will be even worse. And I should know: I’m a doctor.
Oh– there are two other fun DW vids, if you’re so inclined: this one, a Series 6 synopsis that is spoiler-ish, and this one, which is a quite spoilery funny mashup of the good Doctor with Tik Tok from Lady Gaga Ke$ha. Yes, seriously.
One of the more fascinating meta-qualities of the intertubez is how it’s opened up a bunch of sub-cultures to people who would otherwise have no idea they exist. Sure, we all know about Trekkers and Whovians and Steampunkers, but until the advent of Twitter, Facebook and the other social nets I was not aware of the popularity of crafters: people who make things. I mean people who knit, do papercraft, create clothes, and so on.
Oh sure, I knew it was a fun hobby and all that — what I didn’t know is how devoted some folks are to it. It’s pretty cool; they make cozies, socks, hats, skirts, dresses, sweaters… it’s amazing. And of course, this being the web and all, a lot of these folks are also space/math/science/scifi nerds. Still I never, ever, ever would’ve predicted this. I present to you The Vitruvian Dalek:
This makes me so happy: my pal Chris Hardwick — look up "nerd" in the dictionary if you’re not familiar with him — is taking his gargantuanly popular Nerdist podcast to the TV airwavery:
W00t! This airs after Doctor Who on BBC America September 24 here in the States, and I will watch (though on my DVR as I’ll be at TEDxBoulder talking about trying to save the world). I’ll note this will be broadcast so it’ll be PG-13 or so; that ought to be fun. His podcast is NSFW in much the same way that standing next to a gamma ray burst is Not Safe For Being Alive.
Chris is really, really funny and one of the few bigger Doctor Who fans than I am. And I am not at all jealous that his guests on the show will be Matt Smith and Craig Ferguson. Not at all.
I somehow totally missed the fact that the mid-season premier of Doctor Who will be August 27, in just three weeks! Yay!
Still, for us squeeing Whovians, that seems like ages. So why not fill this long, dark tea-time of the soul by looking over Bob Canada’s cheeky Doctor Who infographic? It’s pretty good, and has some solid stuff in it for newbies and Who veterans alike. He also has one for the 1960s and 70s era villains, too.
As for the premier, I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible — I haven’t even watched the trailer for the next series. The past two series have opened up a lot of questions that remain unsolved, but I’ve been a Steven Moffat fan for a long time (have you watched the adult sitcom "Coupling"? Brilliant!) so I know patience will pay off.
Duncan Kitchin is an amateur astronomer in Oregon. Like many of us, he has a telescope that’s kind of a pain lugging outside (my old ‘scope was the same size and shape as a water heater, leading to much hilarity as it sat in the living room). Duncan got tired of dragging it out when it was clear, then hauling back inside when the observing was done.
What’s a guy to do?
Well, if you’re an astronomer and a Doctor Who fan, the solution is obvious: pour a concrete pad, install the permanent mount for the ‘scope, and then make yourself a protective shell around the whole thing… shaped like the TARDIS!
FanTAStic. How flippin’ cool is this? It’s an excellent replica, and it’s functional (hmmmm). The side with the handles comes off, revealing the mount; the rest of the TARDIS is on wheels and can be rolled back, leaving just the ‘scope itself to bring out and install:
That makes for a much easier night of observing. Duncan notes it’s designed to keep water out. I hope it keeps water in as well, in case of any mishaps with the Doctor’s pool.
I want one of these (and that telescope, a very yummy Takahashi FSQ-106ED) SO BAD! And Who wouldn’t? After all, it may look small on the outside, but it has access to the whole Universe on the inside.
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's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.
The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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