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pl9090 · 2 years

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[Fanfiction] Shorts

Short canonweldy fanfiction anthology I wrote while tired. Not serious and feedback appreciated.

Robert Scarratt would like it to be known that he is no way biologically related to the... thing calling itself, "Captain Jack Hackness", regardless of what it might try to claim in order to, 'pull'. He is aware of his unfortunate reputation and while he doesn't, "give a toss" about being a gossip topic on the Homeworld there are limits.

Cousin Gilbert used to allow himself to privately feel a little bit of personal pride in the fact he was the only Faction member that had been able to pull off swearing a traditional flatcap with the ceremonial mask. It was a small achievement he could legitimately call his own. A melding of age old traditions. That was before that woman, that... what was the term? Fashionista? Cousin Marshall started harassing him to, 'discover his secret'.

She hugged him. He still wasn't used to that and probably never would be.

"Please don't do that".

"What?".

"You know damn well". Swearing on the other hand was something he'd happily gotten used to.

"You need it".

'What did that mean?', he wondered though experience told him it was probably better not to ask.

"Regardless please stop".

The hug continued.

"Please".

She removed her arms from around him and moved to one side with a stroppy facial expression.

'103's', he grumpily thought to himself.

"Grandfather!", exclaimed Mother Oswald.

The figure's attire marked them as an Earth based member of Justine's, "reborn" Faction: a resin wolf skull mask, plain black hoodie, black formal trousers, and cheap light red sash with the Faction's skull logo printed on it. It really did look like cheap cosplay, though she appreciated how comfortable and Faction like the black hoodie was.

It didn't make any sense to her, why was a Dalek cowering, (as much as once could) behind someone? Scratch that, why was a Dalek traveling with a Faction member? To those pepperpots the Faction was pretty much an irrelevance and the Faction had never been stupid enough to go anywhere near a Dalek even during it's early more daring phase before the Second Wave Crusades. What was going on?

"Human Factor Daleks are a protected species under the Shadow Proclamation", the Faction member replied. While his tone was deadpan she was sure behind the mask he was smiling matter of factly at her. "A Homeworld agent like you should know that".

'Why can't they say Gallifrey like everyone else?', she wondered irritably.

Men are from Gallifrey.

Women are from Karn.

Their teenage children go to the Eleven Day Empire.

#faction paradox #fanfiction #shorts #bbc doctor who #dr who #whoniverse

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bostonfly · 2 months

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...Traditionally served on Christmas morning. But you could make this version any time you want to celebrate. What gives it its distinct taste is cassareep, a sauce made from the cassava root. There’s no substitute, so you’ll want to plan ahead and find some online or at a Caribbean grocer. If you can’t find wiri wiri peppers, Scotch bonnets will work. Whatever you do, don’t forget to serve this braise with thick slices of white bread, roti or rice to sop up that delicious gravy.

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 bunch thyme, stems removed

1 bunch basil, leaves and tender stems

½ bunch parsley, leaves and tender stems

10 to 12 scallions, chopped

1 head garlic, peeled

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 to 4 wiri wiri peppers or 1 whole Scotch bonnet

4 pounds bone-in stew meat (oxtail, beef chuck, goat or mutton), cut into 3-inch pieces

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, chopped, plus more to taste

1 large onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup cassareep

¼ (lightly packed) cup brown sugar (dark or light)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon whole cloves

3 medium cinnamon sticks

Peel from 1 medium orange

4 scallions, cut into 4-inch lengths

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)

Bread, roti and rice, for serving

PREPARATION

Prepare the green seasoning: Add all ingredients to a food processor. Blend, adding water a few tablespoons at a time, until you get a thick purée. (You’ll have 3 cups. Keep any extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)

Season the meat with ¼ cup green seasoning, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and transfer the meat into the pot, leaving behind any excess marinade. Brown the meat in batches. Transfer to a plate.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, if necessary. Add Scotch bonnets and onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, another 30 seconds.

Add in the cassareep, brown sugar, ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, scallions and bay leaf. Add back the meat and the juices from the plate, and add water to cover the meat. Let come to a boil over high heat.

Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and cook, covered, for 2 to 2½ hours, until the meat is tender. Skim as much fat as possible from the top.

Remove the meat from the pot, and, once cool enough to handle, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer set in another bowl.

Carefully add the reserved liquid back into the pot and bring to a boil.

If you'd like to quickly thicken the stew, you can add cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water to a cup, and mix well. Add the slurry, if using, to the pot and mix until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (You may have to boil a bit longer to let the liquid reduce to this consistency.) Taste and readjust your seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the meat back to the pot. (Alternatively, you can skip the cornstarch and make the soup up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate until ready to reheat and serve.)

Serve with bread, roti or rice.

#food & drink #cooking #recipes #goals

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madmarkinabox · 4 months

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"Life depends on change, and renewal."

- The Second Doctor, The Power of the Daleks

Season 4

The Power of the Daleks

Following the Doctor's regeneration, the TARDIS lands on Vulcan, where a capsule has been unearthed from the mercury swamp, containing a small Dalek force painting themselves as servants of humanity. Can the Doctor convince everyone of the Daleks' true nature in time? And can he convince Polly and Ben that he is still the man they knew?

How do you get a British public, unused to the idea of regeneration, quickly accustomed to a new Doctor? Pitting him against his greatest foes can't hurt, and this story has some wonderfully sinister deeds from the old pepperpots. For the first time, they have to pretend to be benevolent and want to help these colonists, and you can see that this is driving them nuts, it goes against everything they believe and want to do, at least until they're self-sufficient. Unfortunately, the story is rather slow for the first 3 episodes as we get bogged down with political malarkey within the colony and trying to get the Daleks working.

But by the time we get to episode 4, the story perks right up as the Daleks increase their numbers and finally show their true colours. This was also where the character of Lesterson became very entertaining to me as he snaps from a scientist hellbent on his work to a gibbering wreck. A bit hammy in his performance, but fun too. And of course, Patrick Troughton, even in this first story, shows off how different, kooky and strange he is compared to his predecessor. I'd forgotten he used to wear that ridiculous hat. Now as for the animation, it's OK. The humans are very basic in their motion for the most part, especially when the Doctor's playing his recorder, but the Daleks are CGI and the uncanniness of their movements and appearance only helps them to create an impact. And I know this is going to be controversial, but I have to give props to the sequence where new Daleks are being built, particularly the part where they're rolled into the space to join their fellows. Originally the room was filled with life-sized Dalek cut-outs hidden behind the working props to give the sense that there was a lot of them (a trick used from the very beginning), but with animation, the room, shot from a new angle, is crammed full of over 20 fully animated Daleks. Is this an unnecessary liberty the reconstruction team took? Some might say yes, but I think it helps showcase how much danger the colonists are now in.

All in all, do check this one out. Stick with it through the first three parts, I promise it gets good.

The next story, The Highlanders, is completely missing. A real shame too, that's where we're supposed to meet Jamie. And after that is The Underwater Menace, and half of what's available there is screencaps and audio. Not easy to watch. So we'll go straight to The Moonbase.

#classic doctor who #doctor who #second doctor

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relative-dimension · 2 years

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“The Ambush”

Season 1, episode 8 - 11th January 1964

[id: The Doctor, Susan Foreman, and Barbara Wright all shout and hammer on a window from the inside, as Ian Chesterton stands behind them and waves both hands /end id]

As with last episode, the scenes of the Tardis gang escaping are really good, and the Daleks are presented as a genuine threat in a way they won’t really be in a lot of episodes after this.

Is it an entertaining watch: 3/5, eh, it’s fine. There’s a good tense buildup to the Daleks’ attack on the Thals, and like I said the escape scenes are well done.

Does the production hold up: 4/5, I have many questions about the Dalek sculpture they find to throw down the lift shaft. Like. What the fuck was up with that? Apart from that, though, the designs are as good as always.

Does it use its time well: 3/5, this episode sits at the midpoint of the story, and it does feel like a transition between the two main plotlines - the investigation of the city and capture by the Daleks, and the attack on the city with the Thals. Shame that the second of those is much more boring than the first. Nice cliffhanger, though.

Are the characters consistent and well-used: 3/5, they don’t all get their own Moment in this one, but none of them are directly shafted by the plot to focus on side characters or anything.

Is there anything actually going on under the surface: 4/5, this episode being the real introduction to Thal culture, we get the return of the idea of nuclear devastation, the development of their pacifism (which will come back into play next time) and a few lines about the Daleks being racist.

Does it avoid being a bit dodge with its politics: 3/5, I’m not entirely sure how to explain this, but something seems wrong with the fact that all the Thals are white and blond and that makes them, as Susan put it last episode, “perfect.” Obviously this was the BBC in 1964 so it seems like the fact that the cast is entirely white wouldn’t really be worth noting - except this story is saying something about racism. As Ian puts it, the Daleks are motivated by “a dislike for the unlike,” and many, many, many other Doctor Who episodes after this will draw parallels between the pepperpots and Nazi ideology. Their utter hatred for the Thals, and, in later iterations, all other life, is what motivates them. But when the Thals are oh so beautiful and perfect and white, I can’t help but feel that they’re trying to present some sort of reverse racism, where the Daleks are the monsters because they find western beauty standards repulsive (that’s not true obviously - the Daleks are the monsters because of all the murder - but bear with me, I don’t think I’m spouting complete and utter bollocks). One way of reading this might be that the Daleks hate the Thals because (as stated in the story) the Thals have mutated into a more “perfect” form than the Daleks did, or something. This got very long because I’m not entirely sure what I’m trying to say, but there are implications by having the Thals be white and described as “magnificent people.” There’s not enough there for me to knock it below the last episode, but it’s there. Probably. Idk.

Overall Score - 20/30

#the massive paragraph at the end there probably isnt really anything #but that's just where my mind was wandering to as i was thinking about this serial #tomorrow i get to talk about the thals pacifism in that slot and oh boy i am not looking forward to tackling that one lemme tell u #dw #doctor who #dw review #first doctor #season 1 #ian chesterton #barbara wright #susan foreman #daleks #16-20

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infinitedungas · 2 years

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i have spent more of my precious time on this earth than i care to admit deciding which of the doctorwhos will say fuck

here are my findings, please enjoy

first doctor: swears once in a blue moon. always catches people off guard which he thinks is hilarious, cue much heeheehoohoo wehehehe

second doctor: a wholesome grandpa who has never said anything stronger than "fiddlesticks". gently bonks jamie on the head if he says a naughty word

third doctor: let off a litany of curses in front of the brigadier once, just to see what would happen (outcome: subject rendered puce and speechless)

fourth doctor: will let off a booming great “FUCKING HELL” when under stress but rarely in front of sarah jane. censors himself less around romana and definitely swears at K9

fifth doctor: absolutely does not swear, thinks it’s terribly bad taste and tegan swears enough for all of them anyway

sixth doctor: RIP peri and mel they put up with so much from this foul mouthed little rainbow gremlin. swearing intensifies when mel puts him on a diet

seventh doctor: swears with an impressive amount of creativity, mostly to get a laugh out of ace and usually in languages no-one else can speak

eighth doctor: swears often and with enthusiasm, prone to following with a ramble about the etymology of certain curse words

war doctor: has been through the wringer so hard that most swear words feel insufficient now, but will use a well-timed f-bomb now and then

ninth doctor: realises soon after his regeneration that northern accents were made for swearing. fookin ell rose it’s the fookin daleks

tenth doctor: keeps it extremely tame. most companions get a half-joking, half-serious “oi. language” if they swear - the exception being donna bc he quickly realises she is a lost cause

metacrisis doctor: canonically curses in the extended universe stuff and rose calls it “donna swearing”, confirming my suspicions that donna will say fuck and ten will not say fuck

eleventh doctor: absolutely does swear but people are always surprised / mildly scandalised by it because he looks about twelve

twelfth doctor: of course he fucking does, get in the fucken box clara we’re gonnae go shit up davros and his wee pepperpot cunts

thirteenth doctor: not a swear in sight. possibly got it all out of her system in the previous incarnation. yaz reacts with mock outrage if she even says “heck”

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gstqaobc · 3 years

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Our dear Queen: never alone THE MONARCHIST LEAGUE OF CANADA 🍁🇨🇦

FOR TOMORROW, OUR QUEEN'S ACTUAL BIRTHDAY,,,We invite members to respond by return email by completing one of the following sentences in no more than 25 words of which we will publish an assortment of the most interesting tomorrow. You never know what might happen if yours is judged best. NB: this challenge is not the place to express condolences to The Queen or refer to her recent loss, which we each will do in our own way, with a full heart and no interest in publicity or reward. 1) I find The Queen's most endearing trait to be... 2) If I could ask HM one question, it would be... 3) If I were asked to give one piece of loyal advice to our Sovereign, I would say... LEAGUE POETRY COMPETITION ON THE NINETY-FIFTH BIRTHDAY OF THE QUEEN THREE WINNING POEMSWe were surprised and delighted by the number of entries in this first poetry competition of the League. But then, given its subject, perhaps we should not have been taken aback. The sentiments were universally heartfelt and the loyalty clear. We are therefore awarding three prizes. Two were written in English and one in French: naturally, we are not translating them! The first is a subtle evocation of The Queen’s sense of duty and her love of horses - the poet’s reference to giving up riding was of course an allusion to HM’s ceasing to ride at Trooping the Colour - she enjoys riding as relaxation to this day! The second is true to the spirit of Holst’s stirring melody, known to many as “I Vow to Thee, My Country.” And the third, the winner, explores HM’s Realms whimsically with a touch of gravity by means of their national foods. The poems could not be more different - which is as it should be. Our thanks to all who entered the competition! SECOND PRIZE TIED by Tom MacGregor, Ottawa ON QUEEN ELIZABETH’S 95th BIRTHDAY On her ninety-fifth birthday, I think of the Statue on Parliament Hill Of her confidently seated On a horse named Centennial Given to her by The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The small woman unveiled it In 1991 after she had given up riding. Still, she carried on More than 60 years as Queen And 95 of service. FIRST PRIZE by an anonymous member who is donating the value of the prize to supply a food treat to the homeless today in honour of The Queen’s birthday QUEEN OF THE SIXTEEN REALMS On the 95th birthday of Elizabeth II PROLOGUE Elizabeth, to your Realms grandmother, sister, friend and Queen: How can we embrace you, and today let you know That we would your sorrow share, wish you could lean On our sixteen hearts, like the drums, beating slow. We look back as you must on Philip’s decades: Your strength and stay during storm and fair days. We gaze also to our future wish: grief ‘midst memories fades To joy of life full-lived, walked on the fields of praise. So follows our birthday wish, from Realms richly diverse, Who now tune their heart-strings to the happier times Which will follow, dear Ma’am, as sure as sunrise: A great truth of life, which we need not more rehearse, But, rather, assure you: north, west, east, southern climes Gather round to uphold you, dear Queen - loving and wise! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Elizabeth, our Queen and friend, the nations’ joy and pride, Her 95th today is hailed through Realms both far and wide; And since all share in most fond wish to serve special birthday treat - These lines some local fare suggest - loyal banquet so replete! In ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, small islands to be sure, But big in heart and loyalty - FUNGIE ‘tis special allure: Polenta-based and spicy hot, with pepperpot ‘tis served, A treat for their beloved Queen, one surely well deserved! Down Under, AUSTRALIAN mates present their VEGEMITE: This brewers’ yeast extract not yet the world’s delight! But served on toast throughout the land, a tribute singular - quite - Antipodean Queen finds on Aussie plate a most distinct delight. THE BAHAMAS offers special dish: folk there pluck CONCH from sea: And dressed with lime and vegetables - ‘tis rich in Vitamin C! Bahamian Sovereign will enjoy devouring “Queen Conch” recipe, Dressed with fruit, offered with love and Island loyalty BARBADOS, amidst disloyal dance, bakes up its famed RUM CAKE On which Monarch’s pain at such dalliance might well her sweet tooth slake; Since toothsome confection is topped up with frequent rum infusion: EIIR hopes (though’d never say) “Drink deep: to republican confusion!” BELIZE proffers its BOIL UP, reminiscent of the pie in rhyme: No blackbirds for its Queen today, but fish, eggs, veggies: good time! Tis topped with broth and dough, then baked - a treat fit for a princess, The Central American domain diverse could offer her no less! CANADA may indeed be home to most loyal Maple Throne: Thus on this day POUTINE shall stand in prominence, alone: Like the Dominion, flavours many, with toppings beyond measure - As each in own way toasts our Queen, the True North’s splendid treasure! GRENADA’s OIL DOWN, savoury-sweet, a one pot dish of stew, With coconut leaching flavours out to make each casserole new To taste - and variegated ever for all this island nation. Which prospers under Reign of she whose birthday brings elation! Next in our roll of Realms, JAMAICA, island, of many peoples, blest To keep cool ‘neath tropical sun with ACKEE AND SALTFISH zest: Its spices mirror nation’s mix, from planters to Bobsled team; And dread-locked Rasta men, who share deepest love of Queen. PAVLOVA is NEW ZEALAND’s gift to the arts culinary, Its Kiwi, cream, meringue mix cherished by settlers as by Maori; Whether Hobbits share such taste, brave Frodo first and foremost, We know not - but all in the island realm drink to EIIR a toast! If MUMU you were offered while exploring PAPUA NEW GUINEA shore, Polyglot island lines hot coals with leaves - adds meats, fruit, veg and more, To make a stew from ground oven of savour nonpareil, Thus honouring their Queen and friend with two Hemispheres’ “hooray.” SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS to birthday brings STEWED SALTFISH, which they blend With coconut dumplings and plantains for feasting without end, As no close they ever sight in good Queen’s service to tiniest sovereign state In Hemisphere - large they be in duty, love - thus this day they fete! SAINT LUCIA pairs fish and fig, GREEN FIG AND SALTED COD! Antilles population takes a week to give the nod To stew that melds, as island does two seas, Atlantic and Caribbean, And mix a Bounty cocktail to raise their glass to Queen! A BREADFRUIT ROASTED in iron pot, add fried jackfish for great repast, Is SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES’ entrée, not easily surpassed: Its thirty-two islands celebrate their Monarch’s special day, Sing “...Land, so Beautiful” to big drum, calypso, steel pan and reggae! Now Taro roots make sticky POI, SOLOMON ISLANDS’ favorite food, The wise old King lends his name to 900-strong island brood; Thus Melanesian Queen presides, with Governor-General elected: Their birthday bouquet beauteous, as from 200 orchid strains selected! TUVALU brings to feast PULAKA, swamp taro cooked for hours: Raising ocean discourages cultivation - ‘tis time for Commonwealth powers To use their world wide fellowship to save this crop essential: Their Queen fears global warming looms, Polynesian threat potential. The UNITED KINGDOM is Elizabeth’s home, of sixteen Realms The Queen: No longer a colonial power, but from Empire’s legacy yet seen: Its “national dish” CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA now claims pride of place, Transcending old-style differences of climate, Raj and race! ~! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ EPILOGUESo, all hail, dear Queen, gracious Lady: your true realms lie deep within, Not geographic, to be sure, but values kingly. gracious, human; Constant Commonwealth care for its nations great and small, Reflects deep-reciprocal, hailed to your heart, one voice echoed by all! So here’s to Elizabeth - long may she reign, long live our monarch so great! Here’s to her courage in fair weather or foul, duty done, chosen not - happy fate! Here’s to the faith ever kept, beyond clamour of sectarian creeds; Here’s to the hope she brings all, so nourishing humankind’s needs; Here’s to her ninety-fifth birthday, her years’ gift to us, thus today we proclaim:God willing, all your Realms do their duty And each subject in turn do the same!

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

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ngkiscool · 3 years

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Prompt: 6. “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”

Fandom: Good Omens

Word Count: 330 words.

Summary: The aliens are confused.

They returned to the flying saucer, bewildered, exhausted, and above everything else, just craving a hot cuppa.

“Didn’t we already have this conversation?" asked the alien that looked almost, but not exactly, like a toad.

There was something like that at Alpha Centaury also, if I recall correctly. Remember that place? It was so lovely there during that time of year." The second member of the party looked at the estimated direction of the plant with a smile on its face. The silver helmet kinda made interpreting its facial expressions harder.

The pepperpot chirped in excitement, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"Yes, for the millionth time, we know you were there too. How can we forget, when you won't stop talking about it?"

This time, the pepperpot made clicking noises that were less cheery than last time.

"It's been a long day, and I'm not sure what I'm doing here," the frog murmured. "I was minding my own business, and suddenly I found myself on an alien planet, flying around in spaceships I hadn't seen before, sending a massage of 'of universal peace and cosmic harmony an’ suchlike' to a race I did not know about its existence until this morning. Work with me, I’m apologizing here"

The pepperpot did not respond, and that seemed to settle the matter. The toad squinted meaningfully at no one in particular: "Anyways, as I was beginning to say, it was also the same there. The natives lived a good life, and then CO2 levels rocketed, and it changed forever."

The three of them look longingly towards what they believed was the right direction but was actually the direction towards the new intergalactic bypass. Not all aliens were born equal, and those three were definitely not the first in their respective classes on the subject of navigation. Nonetheless, they set out again for their next destination, hoping that this time they will find someone who actually knows what's going on.

#good omens #the aliens #fictober21 #newt pulsifer #6 #navigation is hard #even aliens just want a cuppa

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ctyguidelondon · 3 years

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This is the Guildhall's Great Hall. There are a few different ways of seeing inside here... the first way is just to walk in. If you stand outside the front of the Guildhall and look to your left then you'll see a little pepperpot shaped entrance with some glass doors, if you head through there and go round to the right then you can have a nose around inside. The second way is to go on a guided tour of the Guildhall, but the most interesting way is to attend the Common Council meeting once a month. That's when the LordMayor of London comes in and sits on that top table with the Aldermen to discuss the City's business.

#guildhall #common council

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twistedtummies2 · 3 years

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Ele-May-ntary - Number 25

Welcome to Ele-May-ntary! All throughout the month of May, I’ll be counting down my Top 31 Favorite Portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, from movies, television, radio, and even video games! Earlier in the list, we mentioned how The Fourth Doctor got to play Holmes…but did you know that the Daleks played Holmes, too? Number 25 is…Nicholas Briggs.

Nicholas Briggs played Holmes for a series of audiobooks and radio plays for Big Finish Productions. In fact, he’s STILL playing him, as the Big Finish Holmes line is still ongoing! For those who don’t know, Big Finish is a company that primarily creates audio plays based on popular literature and various sci-fi/fantasy properties. They got their start doing audio books and radio plays for “Doctor Who,” and they still do things of that nature for the franchise to this day. However, Doctor Who is hardly the ONLY franchise or world they’ve tackled: for example, they’ve done a lot of audio plays for Sherlock Holmes, obviously! Briggs is most well-known for voicing the Daleks…ALL the Daleks…in Doctor Who. My guess is it was his alumni status for that series that helped get him the role of Holmes for Big Finish, as he’s one of the company’s major stars. Honestly, just the fact it’s the Daleks as Holmes is kind of awesome on its own terms: it really does show the range Briggs has as a vocal performer, given how far removed the two roles are from one another. He’s just as great as the Master Detective as any of the Pepperpot Space Nazis who confound the Doctor time and time again, and you would never be able to tell one was played by the other. Briggs’ Holmes has a certain strange quality; it’s difficult to describe. He is both warm and frosty at the exact same time; there’s a softness and a lightness to his voice as Holmes, yet he’s given to sarcasm and has a coolness to him that is seldom broken. It’s hard to faze him, no matter how ghastly or gruesome the situation, and much like Ian Richardson, there’s a sort of casual dismissal to his eccentricities. I also like the way his relationship with Watson – played by Richard Earl – is handled: you really do feel their friendship and care for each other, yet Holmes often feels like something of a mentor to Watson, almost as if he’s trying to teach his friend how to take over in his stead. This take on Sherlock has also faced some pretty impressive enemies: not only have several of the Holmes stories Conan Doyle wrote been adapted for the Big Finish series, but so have some contemporary tales and original pieces. Among these are stories where Briggs’ Holmes faces such figures of infamy as Jack the Ripper and Count Dracula! Leave it to a Dalek to run into so much trouble! One of the great things about Big Finish is that – like all self-respecting audio production companies should do – they’re able to create an excellent sense of atmosphere through nothing but ear candy. I’ve always found the art of audio plays and radio shows to be fascinating to me; entertaining the theatre of the mind is a difficult but very rewarding challenge, and Big Finish always steps up to it with aplomb. Still, it would be nice to have some visuals, such as through animation…(pauses…remembers the Doctor Who animated episodes)…on second thought, no, I think audio alone works well enough. Tomorrow, the countdown continues! Who will be next? Check in and find out!

#ele-may-ntary #top 31 sherlock holmes portrayals #number 25 #nicholas briggs #big finish productions #sherlock holmes #audio dramas #exterminate my dear watson

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9or10allgood · 3 years

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I'm indulging in the Doctor Who marathon on BBCAmerica. It's been wonderful. I'm in the middle of Twelve, now, which is - next to Ten - my happy place.

Thirteen is looming.

Now, before anyone has a knee-jerk reaction and thinks I don't like the Thirteenth Doctor, you couldn't be more wrong. I love her to bits. Jodie Whittaker is awesome. She has poured herself into being the Doctor, heart and soul. I love that she travels with an entourage - going back to the First, the best Doctors do. She's had some really good stories, courtesy of Chris Chibnall - in fact, I give her first series a B+/A-. The second series, however...

Stick with me for a bit.

I like - no, I looo-ooo-oove fan fiction. Partly because it is a fairly consistent reaffirmation of creativity and literacy (yes, I said it!) and courage and daring - because it takes guts to put yourself out there for public critique without getting paid one red cent. But mostly because it is a way of indulging in flights of fancy within a bubble. Because fan fiction is, even when it is "canon compliant", still shading or filling in the blanks or expanding on what the original author set down. And the bubble is a safe place, where everyone (mostly) respects those boundaries between source material and fan fiction.

The perfect example of this is everything that happened in Pete's World post-Canary Wharf. We assume that the Doctor was going to tell Rose he loved her before time ran out, and copious amounts of fan fiction has been written about that. We assume that TenToo rectified that issue at Bad Wolf Bay the second time around. But we don't know, and that's okay because the veil was drawn on Pete's World with the disappearance of the TARDIS, and Pete's World became a creative goldmine. Thank God.

Back in the day (and I swear I still have a point) I belonged to a fan fiction site based on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. (Not "Dragonmount", thank you very much!) Between twenty and thirty writers, drawn together by our love for that amazingly complex series of books, we wrote - individually and in small groups - epic fiction based on the Age of Legends and the Trolloc Wars, because neither era was portrayed in the books, other than very brief glimpses. Even so, there was a canonical framework that we existed in, and we respected it. For example, there were hints of Aes Sedai being able to fly during the AoL, but that didn't mean that the Sisters during the TW were going to do it, because canon told us that the miracles of the Age of Legends had been lost with the Breaking and were not recovered until the timeline of the books. As long as the canon was respected, the writing flourished - for years. Eventually, though, lines were blurred and the stories suffered, and it's been years since anyone has written anything there.

And now I'll get back to my point.

When Russell T Davies brought Doctor Who back to television, he respected the canon that had been established. He didn't change Gallifrey, he removed it. It had given us the Doctor and the Master and the TARDIS and a running potential of planets and races affected by the Time War that could keep the Doctor occupied for a long, long time. It's purpose had been served. It's *nebulous hand waggle* demise fuelled the great engine of angst that powered the reboot. It heightened what had become a bit of a stodgy "oh, no, it's the Daleks, again" sensibility regarding a cross between a pepperpot and a wheely-bin, and gave them a renewed sense of villainy. It's what made the episode, "Dalek", such a gut-punch. It's what made seeing a mighty Dalek armada when there was only one Time Lord to stand against it so dramatically Quixotic - in an end-of-all-things sort of way.

It should have stayed that way.

I love RTD. I do. He was an awesome showrunner and he, with Julie Gardner, shepherded the reboot through possibly the greatest comeback in entertainment history. But I wasn't comfortable with the (temporary) return of Rassilon et al as his farewell to the show. And, sure 'nuff, it cracked open a door that Moffat bulldozed through with "The Day of the Doctor". And by the time he was through, the Doctor was popping "home" for soup and a bit o' sedition, and the next thing ya know, Chris Chibnall is turning the whole thing on its ear with the Timeless Children business and a convoluted plotline that would've needed an entire series to unravel and still would have read like fan fiction based on a poorly remembered fever dream.

Yes, I know that "Doctor Who" has been "fine-tuning" itself from the beginning. The First Doctor invented his time machine that his granddaughter named "TARDIS" - for Time and Relative Dimensions In Space. Today's canon has TARDISes grown, sentient, and having numbered in the thousands once upon a time. But there's a difference between an adjustment, here and there, and re-inventing the Time Rotor on the fly, as it were. One is a tweak to make the whole better. The other is throwing a bucket of yellow paint across a classic portrait of the Queen just so you can paint galloping horses on it. Why would you do it?

I'm really sad that Graham and Ryan are leaving. I'm really looking forward to the return of Captain Jack. I hope that bringing back someone as integral to the days of Russell T Davies will remind Chris Chibnall that the basic story of the Doctor has always been that an ancient alien from a fabled world travels throughout space and time with a lucky human or three, faces down injustice, rescues those who need it, and dances around fixed points and moral dilemmas with (occasional) alacrity.

And if Chibnall needs inspiration, I can point him to any number of fan fiction writers that totally get it.

#doctor who #chris chibnall #the difference between #canon #evolving and being blown to smithereens #meta

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nessataleweaver · 4 years

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Happy International Dalek Appreciation Day!

On December 21 1963, the DALEK first appeared on the second story of Doctor Who and immediately became a sci fi legend.

(Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman, and William Hartnell as the First Doctor are in there too)

Whatever your opinion of the Daleks, they’ve been an icon for 56 years... not bad for a giant tin pepperpot that originally had a whisk and a plunger for weapons! (no, seriously, that’s what they used to make the first Daleks. The BBC didn’t have much in the way of a special effects budget)

The Daleks were the brainchild of producer Verity Lambert (who says women can’t write scary shit?? Go read Frankenstein you troglodytes!), who naturally nearly got fired over it (to be fair, the executive producer said from the start he ‘didn’t want any bug-eyed monsters in the show) but talked her way out of it.

So cheers to Verity Lambert, too!

If you’re in the mood to get seriously smashed, raise a Exterminator cocktail (or two???) to celebrate!

#International dalek appreciation day #dalek #EXTERMINATE!#doctor who #classic doctor who

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pervocracy · 5 years

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One opinion about almost every episode of Doctor Who that I’ve watched

spoilers, although they’re mostly from like 2005

An Unearthly Child: Whoa, they nailed the theme song right from the get-go!

Rose: The Doctor’s speech about feeling the Earth turning under his feet was chilling, and I think about it a lot in moments later in the series when he’s being goofy and casual.

The End of the World: They spent a lot of money on this one--costumes, effects, even licensed music--to prove to everyone that This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Doctor Who.

The Unquiet Dead: I realize saying “every myth is actually aliens” is kind of the Brand, but this one came off particularly strongly “we wrote a Victorian ghost story but then the boss said it had to be aliens so okay, fine, they’re fuckin’... alien ghosts.”

Aliens of London: “Being the Doctor’s companion will completely destroy your life” is a surprisingly grim running theme in the series. Every companion eventually brings grief to their friends and families, in one way or another.

World War Three: Rose returning to the TARDIS as a conscious decision, bags packed and ready for adventure, is adorable. The show implies that certain people are just made to be companions to the Doctor, and Rose is one of them.

Dalek: It was an interesting choice to introduce the Dalek as sympathetic and pitiful, and at the same time one of the most brutal killers on the show. And at the same time, it’s still a ridiculous-looking thing with a toilet plunger for an arm.

The Long Game: Hey! That’s Simon Pegg! He looks weird with blond hair! Hi Simon Pegg! I’m waving at the TV!

Father’s Day: I only watched this one once. Couldn’t deal with the feelings.

The Empty Child: Stephen Moffat was so good when he wasn’t allowed to take over the whole show so he actually had to write stories with endings!

The Doctor Dances: And what a glorious ending it is! Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, EVERYBODY LIVES!

Boom Town: The Doctor’s dinner with the Slitheen, and their cold deconstruction of each other’s brutality, is one hell of a scene considering the silliness of the setup.

Bad Wolf: Today on Shit You Did Not Expect: a... The Weakest Link crossover? Really? Really. They play The Weakest Link with a penis-headed robot who blasts people with her laser eyes. And then they’re on Big Brother! Hey! My dad worked on that! I don’t think he was actually part of this episode though.

The Parting of the Ways: Rose doesn’t look or act like she’d make a fearsome demigod. Which makes it much more powerful when she does.

The Christmas Invasion: “Who is this weird new guy? I’ll never get used to him being the Doctor!” -me, for about 5 seconds before falling completely and permanently in love with Ten

New Earth: This one is so much fun! Rose and the Doctor are so adorably playful with each other, and then they get to do some incredibly goofy bodyswap acting, and then even Cassandra gets to have a sweet, humanity-affirming ending.

Tooth and Claw: So you’ve got a Scottish actor who normally fakes an English accent, pretending to be faking a Scottish accent, then pretending to forget to fake a Scottish accent and “slipping” into an English accent again. Meanwhile I can’t even speak with a Massachusetts accent and I was born here.

School Reunion: “I couldn’t bear to watch you grow old and die” is a bullshit excuse for ditching a companion, coming from a guy whose entire personality essentially-dies every time he has a contract dispute or “creative differences.”

The Girl in the Fireplace: “Every time I travel through the time portals, several years pass for Reinette. Too bad I have no pattern recognition abilities!”

Rise of the Cybermen: I’m glad Mickey finally gets an episode where he’s not just a barely-wanted tagalong. He was on the verge of becoming the Xander Harris of this show.

The Age of Steel: Noel Clarke’s “I’m two people” acting is so good! You can see whether he’s Mickey or Ricky in each shot with a glance, just from his facial expression.

The Idiot’s Lantern: ahahaha look at their hair in this episode

The Impossible Planet: I’m glad they came back to the Ood later, because it’s rather unpleasant how the Doctor in this one kinda shrugs off “so these people are keeping slaves, what’re you gonna do, cultural differences and all that.”

The Satan Pit: Making literal Satan the bad guy here is adorable. It’s like something you’d see on 60s Star Trek, but no, it’s happening in our modern CGI-enhanced post-irony Golden Age Of TV world. A man in a spacesuit is yelling at a giant red devil that just growls back at him and it’s all very serious drama. I love this show.

Love & Monsters: This is the one where a girl gets turned into a paving slab but then her boyfriend announces that it’s okay because they’re still having sex. Yeah. That happened.

Fear Her: I think this one’s mostly filler

Army of Ghosts: There’s just way too much going on here. We’ve got ghosts and Cybermen and Torchwood and Daleks and a parallel universe and... anyway I think the concept of using those flimsy paper 3D glasses as a magical item is kind of adorable.

Doomsday: ROSE! ROSE NO! COME BACK! ROOOSE!!!

The Runaway Bride: Catherine Tate is so good! I’m so glad they brought her back!

Smith and Jones: I love that Martha immediately distinguishes herself as a potential companion by being excited instead of terrified that they’ve been teleported to the moon. She doesn’t even know how they have air, but she’s already like “sweet! an Adventure!”

The Shakespeare Code: By theater nerds, for theater nerds, probably insufferable to everyone else, but theater nerds have long been comfortable with that.

Gridlock: It feels a little too Socially Responsible how the Doctor and Martha are immediately and violently anti-drug. This world has patches that bring you magical joy with no apparent side effects, and instead of being curious about it the way they usually are about future technology, they just go straight to “SAY NOPE TO DOPE, KIDS!!!”

Daleks in Manhattan: Having Daleks use the old-school pepperpot design and robot-screamy-voices in the modern series is like putting nipples and a codpiece on the Batsuit in The Dark Knight. Which is to say, it’s brilliant and I love it.

Evolution of the Daleks: too much plot, I’m sleepy

The Lazarus Experiment: I cannot believe multiple adults saw the wig Mark Gatiss wears in this episode and agreed that would be okay.

42: I really like these self-contained episodes that don’t set up any big arcs or prophesies or personal dramas. There’s just a ticking clock, a mystery, a spaceship, and a whole lot of running up and down hallways whilst shouting.

Human Nature: Hey, it’s Jojen Reed as an uncanny psychic child! And Viserys Targaryen as a sadistic upper-class brat!

The Family of Blood: Man, the Doctor really dicked Martha over with this one. “You’re going to be a domestic servant, because you’re black! And I’m going to turn myself into an old-timey racist who doesn’t know who you are! And yet somehow you’re supposed to be in charge of making sure I carry out all my plans!”

Blink: This is a perfect episode of television.

Utopia:💖😍🥰😘 jack harkness i love you 😘🥰😍💖

The Sound of Drums: “Menacing goofiness” is a strange place for an actor to aim, but damn if John Simm doesn’t hit it.

Last of the Time Lords: “I’ve been traveling around the world, fomenting resistance and spreading hope... in the idea that the Doctor is magic and can fix everything by himself. That’s what resistance to fascism is, right? Just throwing all your resources in with a different all-powerful authority-father-savior figure?”

Voyage of the Damned: Giving the Doctor a one-off temporary companion, and expecting people to care about her as much as Rose or Martha, doesn’t really work. “Oh no, she’s dying. Not whatserface. Oh no.”

Partners in Crime: I love that they’re giving the Doctor a companion who doesn’t have any kind of psychosexuromantic entanglement with him, but is really just a friend. I love that they’re giving the Doctor a companion who’s (by actors’ ages, at least) older than him. ...Oh shit, is it bad that these are the same one?

The Fires of Pompeii: “I wish we could save the people of Pompeii, but I am powerless to change this part of history... oh wait, no, I’ll save this one random family on a whim. Guess I could change history after all! Sorry, other 20,000 people who are still getting volcanoed to death!”

Planet of the Ood: “The companion is the Doctor’s conscience” is always true, but Donna really owns it. She spares no time for pretending that “oh but what if the Ood are supposed to be slaves” is an interesting argument.

The Sontaren Strategem: Another one of those “too much plot for me” episodes. I’m a simple man; just give me a monster and a hallway to run down.

The Poison Sky: ditto

The Doctor’s Daughter: It’s weird that they got married in real life. Like, their actual age difference is within the half-plus-seven rule, and she wasn’t even really his daughter daughter on the show, but, like, it’s still a little tiny bit weird.

The Unicorn and the Wasp: I guess if I read Agatha Christie books I would understand some of these references?

Silence in the Library: Holy shit, this one is scary. I don’t hide behind the couch often watching Doctor Who, but... “Hey, who turned out the lights?”

Forest of the Dead: River’s speech about “when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call, everybody lives” is self-indulgent Stephen Moffat hooey and a blatant repeat from “The Doctor Dances” but I’ve got goosebumps anyway.

Midnight: Wow. You don’t really expect to be using the phrase “a gut-punch of an episode” about the same series that was just playing Detective Funtimes With Agatha Christie, but this was a gut-punch of an episode.

Turn Left: I’ve rewatched a lot of these, but I couldn’t watch this one more than once because I felt so sad about Wilfred. Something in his performance is just wrenching.

The Stolen Earth: I couldn’t watch this one more than once because it’s hard to summon up the energy to follow the “let’s throw everything that’s ever happened onto the show into this stew” plotline.

Journey’s End: HOW DARE YOU DO DONNA LIKE THAT. HOW DARE YOU.

The Next Doctor: Hey! That’s not Matt Smith! I thought it was gonna be Matt Smith.

Planet of the Dead: The Doctor without a permanent companion is always an uncomfortable dynamic. Both because he needs a conscience/foil/audience-surrogate, and because otherwise we have to go through the “the Doctor is the perfect boyfriend who always breaks your heart” narrative all over again every damn episode.

The Waters of Mars: I like when the Doctor isn’t a good person. When he gets all arrogant and inhuman and at moments even sinister, that’s far more interesting than when he’s a straightforward hero.

The End of Time: Look, I loved David Tennant’s run on this show. He’s my favorite Doctor and my imaginary boyfriend. If there’s anyone I don’t mind watching get a bit self-indulgent, it’s Ten. But even from this perspective, I think it was not a good idea to let him spend a half hour dying while crying piteously and also somehow touring his entire history on the show. It really was not.

The Eleventh Hour: This feels like the first episode of an entirely new show. There’s very little in characters or plotlines (or writers or producers) connecting it to anything that happened before. The sense of a fresh start is nice, but this literally is not the same show I enjoyed before.

The Beast Below: Oh. It’s a space whale. That’s cool I guess. This show is okay and everything, but there’s no way I would have really gotten into it if I’d started watching here.

Victory of the Daleks: Upon reading the Wikipedia summary of this episode, I realized that I had, in fact, watched it.

The Time of Angels: “Blink” was, as I said, perfect. But not because the Angels are the greatest enemy ever devised; they’re creepy and all, but most of the fun in “Blink” comes from the meticulously satisfying construction of the time loops. Taking that element out, and just making the Angels into generic boogeymen, was a terrible idea.

Flesh and Stone: Oh god, there’s so many mediocre Eleven episodes. Don’t get me wrong, Matt Smith is great. I don’t blame him. But I’m just not feeling the energy to go through every one of these damn things anymore.

[...]

Let’s Kill Hitler: This is the one that finally defeated me. I wasn’t really offended, just... tired. Things had gotten so wrapped up in complicated portentous chosen-savior-of-everything plots and we couldn’t have even one episode anymore that was just a normal time travel adventure. I think about halfway through here, I gave up on Doctor Who.

Oh well. There��s still time to come back to it if I want. And we’ll always have “Blink.”

#doctor who #long post #looooooong post #longest post

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