Doctor Who: "The Kiss"

It shall be forever known in the Sci-Fi Convention Circles as 'The Kiss'

Doctor Who: "Give thanks that Davies' Doctor Who finally regenerated."

[LINK] The Gallifreyan dust cleared by now on the final episode of the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who. And, after watching and digesting the final episodes of the David Tennant era, Davies couldn't move on fast enough for me. The two-part story, "The End of Time," was watched by 10 million in the UK -- flirting with a 50 ratings share. So, it's an undeniable success. It was also an undeniable mess of a story that proved unworthy of Tennant's swan song. Davies forever deserves credit for taking the street credit his successful work on series like Queer as Folk gave him and investing it in one shot from the BBC to bring back the network's crown jewel, Doctor Who. And he deserves credit for increasing the nerdy guy-friendly show's popularity with women by introducing "Buffy-ized" romance and humor. But, the hard truth is Davies isn't a gifted sci-fi genre writer. And it showed in "The End of Time." What irked me so much about Tennant's final adventure as The Doctor? Davies did everything during his tenure as executive producer to weaken one of TV's greatest heroes -- to corrupt him and make him less of a heroic figure. Maybe he wanted to humanize The Doctor. Or maybe Davies is cursed by too much cynicism to allow for heroes. But Davies really trashed The Doctor in these final tales. Why he would do that to a show he loved and wanted to bring back is beyond me. Yes, The Doctor fought back another alien invasion of Earth and bested The Master, but Davies sent The Doctor out crying like a petulant child. In what should've been Tennant's chance to finish up with nobility and heroism, he died whimpering under a layer of pretentious opera music. Suffice to say, I doubt very much the talented writer and new executive producer Steven Moffat will let the new Doctor (Matt Smith) go out with such a lack of fanfare.
Stephanie xx *I felt the same way until I thought it over. A time lord is not immortal. They've established that different regenerations have different personalities. I think Tennant's doctor loved life so much he would miss it. It didn't crystalize for me until the scene at the table with Wilf - it's still him, but he dies, and another man walks away with his life. And the irony that his current regeneration (and life) was about saving civilizations and time and that he died to save one "insignificant" man...yeah, you can expect maybe he'd have some...frustration or disappointment about that. Especially after Waters of Mars with the whole "Time Lord Victorious" thing - I think that that didn't have enough time to play itself out and was crammed in a little quickly, especially with Planet of the Dead not really touching on it at all. One of the things I enjoy about DW and RTD is that you don't get bogged down with the sci-fi technobabble that doesn't make any sense, and would just lower it into Voyager-level sci-fi. Don't forget, half of sci-fi is fiction...sometimes there's way too much science, and it can be way too easy to write yourself out of a corner with a magic wormhole or an alien machine that does whatever you want it to (*cough*immortalitygate*cough*). RTD wrote some awesome stuff - the first Master trilogy (the TARDIS as a paradox machine, etc.) and the Children of Time trilogy were complex and pretty great. I think you're really selling him short. I also think saying he did "everything" to "weaken" Tennant couldn't be farther from the truth - I mean after all, he created the Tennant Doctor himself. I've also read RTD say that the tenth Doctor would have been different if Tennant hadn't played him, so maybe some of the influence you're talking about is based on David Tennant. Again, I think you've really missed the mark here. And I think conversely, RTD managed to make all his companions pretty amazing - he managed to turn Donna Noble from a whiny (and to me, annoying) brat into the savior of the universe...and #10's best friend. RTD managed to handle each companion differently, with complexity, and really told a story - Rose's love, Martha's love for someone who didn't even notice her (perception filter :D) and Donna, the temp who saved the world. I will say though, I wasn't as thrilled with End of Time as I was the other series finales. It lacked an...epicness, I felt. It wasn't what I wanted...but then again, don't the best stories throw you a curve and make you think instead of just giving you what you want?

Doctor Who: 'is in good hands with Moffat'

For those of you who might be worried about Steven Moffat taking over as lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, take comfort in the man's lifelong dedication to the show. In this video, fans get to see a bit more of departing Doctor David Tennant walking around the studios where Doctor Who has been filmed over the years and talking about the show. Moffat, who takes over for previous lead writer and producer Russell T. Davies, remembers his father calling him excitedly to the television, saying Doctor Who was on. It wasn't the show's regular night, but Moffat rushed to the television anyway, only to find it was the kids show Blue Peter, which often promoted and previewed episodes of Doctor Who, and burst into tears. Moffat's impressive resume includes the BBC shows Coupling and Jekyll, and he has written some of the better episodes of Doctor Who since he signed on in 2004, including "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Blink." The tone of the show is certain to change at least slightly with the shift from Davies to Moffat, although Davies has said Moffat was the only writer whose scripts he never rewrote. In this interview, Moffat talks about how the show demands a big story every week, something fitting a feature movie, but Moffat has shown an ability to focus on his characters and their relationships amid whatever universe-expanding spectacle might be taking place (I'm thinking here mostly of "The Girl in the Fireplace"). And he'll have an entirely new Doctor to mold as his own. I, and I'm sure a legion of Doctor Who fans, will be eagerly awaiting the new season set to start this spring. For those who want to review the last year before the change, Doctor Who: The Complete Specials is out on DVD February 2. A quick note, the video title here has the wrong spelling of Moffat's name. It is Steven Moffat, rather than Stephen Moffat.

Stephanie xx :)

Doctor Who: 'Best of David Tennant'

For those of you still crying in your screwdrivers over David Tennant's exit from 'Doctor Who,' and waiting for Matt Smith to fill the void, BBC America has posted a three-minute video of "Tennant's greatest moments as the Doctor" to promote 'Doctor Who: The Complete Specials'.

The clip takes us from "new teeth, that's weird" all the way up to the Master's death, with a good number of clips from the specials in between. And of course, Daleks and Cybermen. There are some nice reminders of how good Tennant was at playing both drama and comedy on the show, including his back and fourth with Sky Silvestry ("Shamble bobble dibble dooble") from 'Midnight' from series four and his exchange with a would-be companion from 'Planet of the Dead' ("People have traveled with me and I've lost them, lost them all").So until we get a new Doctor, here's one last (?) look back at Tennant:

Stephanie xx :)

Dare Say .My Inspiration.

dare i say i have a 'few'?
lol (small grin)

"All we have is to decide what to do with the time that is given to us. " — J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.
-- Casablanca

If I tell you I love you, can I keep you forever? -- Casper

A heart can be broken; but it keeps beating just the same.
-- Fried Green Tomatoes

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
-Professor Keating (played by Robin Williams) in Dead Poet's Society

"Men and women are learning animals. If you do not see what they have learned, you're blind. They are creatures ever changing, ever improving, ever expanding their vision and the capacity of their hearts. You are not fair to them when you speak of this as the most bloody century; you are not seeing the light that shines ever more radiantly on account of the darkness; you are not. seeing the evolution of the human soul!… …True, what you say about war. Yes, and the cries of the dying, I too have heard them; we have all heard them, through all the decades; and even now, the world is shocked by daily reports of armed conflict. But it is the outcry against these horrors which is the light I speak of; it's the attitudes which were never possible in the past. It is the intolerance of thinking men and women in power who for the first time in the history of the human race truly want to put an end to injustice in all forms. -- Marius to Akasha (The Vampire Chronicles) "
— Anne Rice

"Fairy tales, are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated." - G.K. Chesterton

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl

"The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings - words shrink things that seem timeless when they are in your head to no more than living size when they are brought out." — Stephen King

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king." — J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
" - Roald Dahl

"Take pride in your pain; you are stronger than those who have none" — Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue)

"If he didn't care about you, you couldn't upset him." — Neil Gaiman

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills,
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter." — J.R.R. Tolkien

"...Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." — Stephen King

"It's difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within you. No-one really feels self-confident deep down because it's an artificial idea. Really, people aren't that worried about what you're doing or what you're saying, so you can drift around the world relatively anonymously: you must not feel persecuted and examined. Liberate yourself from that idea that people are watching you" - Russell Brand

"...So do we pass the ghosts that haunt us later in our lives; they sit undramatically by the roadside like poor beggars, and we see them only from the corners of our eyes, if we see them at all. The idea that they have been waiting there for us rarely if ever crosses our minds. Yet they do wait, and when we have passed, they gather up their bundles of memory and fall in behind, treading in our footsteps and catching up, little by little." — Stephen King

"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." — J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

"It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what they say. It's not how you look like in that body, it's what you do with it. You are beautiful. - Ian (The Host)" — Stephenie Meyer

---
"For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too.

...But perhaps, it was only an echo."

- Lois Lowry,
The Giver, Ch. 23

*walks off into sunset*