Doctor Who Universe

The Doctor Who universe is vast and sprawling, including “classic” and “new” Who, novels, comics, audio dramas, and spin-offs, including Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Check out our commentaries, reviews, interviews and discussions!

Doctor Who – The Impossible Astronaut – Review

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The Impossible Astronaut, or ‘Silence in the White House’, starts off Season 6 of Doctor Who in the most ridiculously explosive way imaginable. In the run up to this series two things have been vigorously advertised; it’s American credentials (simultaneous broadcast with America, shot on location in America, set in a quintessentially American locale of the White House, featuring the American space programme) and that one character would die in the first episode.

Now, if you’ve ever seen any Sci-Fi at all, you’ll know how that works. One character will die means it’s a hoax or a dream or a clone, or there’s a handy hand lying around to siphon off regeneration energy into*. The character will come back, or a clone of them will, or their body will be possessed by a primal force, or there will be an alternate reality version of them appearing soon, who’s left handed or has a beard or something. What it never means is that that person is gone.

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Article – Science & Fantasy, Part 2: The New Voodoo

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In my last article, I tried to rescue science-fantasy from the dumpster of “soft” sci-fi and restore it to its rightful place as an equal but contrasting genre with its roots in traditional folklore. But this “science-as-magic” approach to storytelling is not confined to modern space operas.

Evil spirits, monsters, ghosts, the undead, fatal curses, mysterious powers… Of all genres, horror has the clearest links to the folklore and fairytales of the past and still relies heavily on supernatural tropes to drive its stories. And yet, just as with science-fantasy, the genre has been undergoing a secular revolution in the last handful of decades.

Bela Lugosi (and friend) in 1932’s “White Zombie”

Take zombies, for example. Throughout the first half of the 20th Century they stuck pretty closely to their Voodoo origins. A powerful, charismatic but ultimately malevolent figure uses black magic to raise a workforce of mindless slaves (sometimes living drones, sometimes re-animated corpses) in an attempt to further his power over society. At the same time, he usually pursues a beautiful and virtuous young woman who resists his advances until she too succumbs to the zombie curse and has to be rescued (or dispatched) by the heroes.

In such scenarios, the zombies are little more than a psychological threat while the true danger is posed by the zombie master himself (it’s always a man – has there ever been a zombie mistress?) whose role is to remind us that even the strongest will and most upright morals can be undermined and usurped. (Not unlike the character of Dracula. Is it a coincidence that Bella Lugosi was cast in 1933’s White Zombie?)

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Article – Science & Fantasy, Part 1: The New Magic

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Splashdown according to Jules Verne...If you think you’re a science-fiction fan, you might have to think again.

Sir Terry Pratchett ruffled a few feathers recentlywhen he claimed that only ‘people who don’t know what science-fiction is, say that Doctor Who is science-fiction’.

To claim the adventures of Matt Smith and Co. are closer to fantasy than sci-fi might feel like stating the obvious but I’m willing to go further and claim that most of what passes for science-fiction in today’s media actually belongs to the genre’s trickier, more nebulous cousin: science-fantasy.
Before we go any further, let’s define our terms. The Collins English Dictionary defines science-fiction as ‘a literary genre that makes imaginative use of scientific knowledge or conjecture’. Those last four words are key. Yes, the writer has to tell a good story, yes the characters should be well rounded and believable but if the narrative doesn’t mine the challenges and pitfalls of science as sources of drama, it ain’t science-fiction.

The Half-Time Score

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We’ll be bringing you our verdict on series 5 as a whole very soon. But here are our half-time thoughts on the first half of the series, as polled mid-way through.

What are your overall impressions so far?

Aled: Good, I’ve enjoyed all the episodes, and there’s been a decent mix of Moffat scariness and general Doctor Who bonkers-ness. I like the continuity of the cracks in time appearing in most episodes, though whether they’re good or not will depend on the finale.

Swithun: It’s doing ok- started slowly and had the Victory of Merchandise, but the last two episodes [Vampires of Venice and Amy’s Choice] have seen an increase in quality. Let’s hope some more innovative ideas in the second half of the season.

Peter: Not the seismic shift in tone I’d been expecting; despite a welcome increase in the more overt fantasy elements, the show often seems reluctant to leave its comfort zone and Moffat seems to deliberately ape RTD’s style at times. But we’ve also been offered tantalising glimpses of something fresh and different and I hope we see more progress in this direction as the series continues. Most importantly, Moffat has made the show interesting again! Hoorah!

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Doctor Who – Vampires in Venice – Review

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‘Vampires in Venice’ is schlock. Pure and simple. It’s cheesy and silly and daft and sort of naff and everything about it is just brilliant. I really enjoyed this episode.

Now, much like Daleks in World War 2 this is an entire storyline that is entirely set up to appeal to people like me. It’s an entire storyline, much like Werewolves in Scotland, which is perfectly crafted for people who love period creature features. I have a love of alternate history which Doctor Who is a regular vehicle for appeasing. Vampires have a similar place in my heart, being one of those monsters with an iconic set of features that can still be rewritten and crafted to fit the demands of the writer.

There’s almost nothing else that could be so universally malleable as the Vampire. From Anne Rice to Stephanie Meyer, Bram Stoker to Joss Whedon, you have as diverse a range of monsters as is possible. Personally, I don’t care what my Vampires are as long as they suck blood. Make them friendly, let them fly, or walk in daylight, make them mutants, infected, aliens, whatever. Vampires in my book are always cool. It takes a lot more than sparkling in sunlight to turn me away from this.

Making them into fish aliens, yeah, I’ll manage.

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Doctor Who – Amy’s Choice – Review

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‘Amy’s Choice’. Right.

They should just have called it ‘Boring’s Boring’. Because it was boring, you see?

Yeah, this was an episode in which Doctor Who finally managed to cross the threshold of common sense and end up in the world of dreams. Not the good world of dreams, mind you, where anything that can happen isn’t just your everyweek Doctor Who plot involving aliens in old people. No, this is the land of boring dreams. Welcome to the land of boring dreams!

Repetition. That’s funny isn’t it. Key to comedy repetition is. Key to comedy repetition is. So it’s a good thing that we get so much repetition in here. It must be funny, right. Here they all fall asleep, here they have a conversation, here they fall asleep again, and then we’ll have that same conversation. Now repeat, through the episode. I guess it saves on them learning new lines, and it makes the writing easier when you can just cut and paste.

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