If you enjoy this post, feel free to shout me a coffee on Ko-fi! I’ve discussed David Whitaker at length in this project already. Over the course of both The Tribe of Gum and The Dead Planet, the picture we’ve seen of him so far is two-sided: David Whitaker as one of the creative geniuses… Read More The Edge of Destruction
If you enjoy this post, feel free to shout me a coffee on Ko-fi! Let’s do a bit of demythologising here. This is The Dead Planet, and we’re going to trace how the first episode of this serial is a thematic outgrowth from The Tribe of Gum. This cross-serial thematic cohesion is truly what makes… Read More The Dead Planet
If you enjoy this post, feel free to shout me a coffee on Ko-fi! I ended my previous entry, which covered the first episode of Doctor Who (“An Unearthly Child”), by raising two critical concepts—Darko Suvin’s “novum” and Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt (V-Effekt). I used these models to try and understand what that episode’s final act… Read More The Tribe of Gum
If you enjoy this post, feel free to shout me a coffee on Ko-fi! It is November 23, 1963. The president of the United States, John F Kennedy, was shot the previous afternoon at 12.30PM local time in Dallas, Texas. Across an ocean, in the United Kingdom, there has been relentless news coverage of this… Read More An Unearthly Child
William Hartnell, a wiry man with a twinkle in his eye, walks through the yard of a scrap merchant’s. A cloak hangs from his shoulders, and a fur karakul perches itself atop a head of long, silver hair. He walks through the set of “An Unearthly Child”, the first episode of a new science fiction… Read More Eh? Doctor Who?: A Brief History of William Hartnell
Stranger Things’ third season is an odd thing, combining Red Scare tropes with girl power as it continues to do very Stranger Things things… Read More First Thoughts: Stranger Things 3
Anime Thursday Akira There are many films that are considered masterpieces – most of these tend to be at least 15 years old, meaning that they’ve had enough time to age as classics of their genre. One film that stands out as one of the greatest to come from Japan (according to one book I… Read More “Akira”: Review (repost)
Doctor Who The Wedding of River Song Last season was all about the cracks in the universe. There were clues along the way that Silence would fall, and that River killed the best man that she ever knew. In this episode we finally resolve the story-arc of River’s murder, and pave the way for (what… Read More Doctor Who S6 E13 “The Wedding of River Song”: Review (repost)
Doctor Who Closing Time Something that irks many people with the new series of Doctor Who is the tendency for the dreaded Daleks to appear every single season. Historically they’ve been part of a trio of dastardly villains, also including the Master and the Cybermen. Closing Time brings the Cybermen back as primary antagonists for… Read More Doctor Who S6 E12 “Closing Time”: Review (repost)
Doctor Who The God Complex is, in many ways, both an original story as well as a mash-up of certain eras. At first glance it has many hallmarks of a Sylvester-era story – a small cast, a dark slightly supernatural plot, and a studio set. Upon closer inspection, though, I think it also has elements… Read More Doctor Who S6 E11 “The God Complex”: Review (repost)
Chair with a Panda 