The School That Time Forgot

Those heady days of youth, when everything was experienced, felt, lived and loved in the present moment, and there was not a care in the world — or at least, not of this Earth. Who can forget the conversations with friends in the courtyards, the glances cast towards our crushes in the hallways, the explosions and showers of glass and rubble as Daleks burst through the walls of the science lab? Ah, memories. This week, we look at the past, […]

The Year of the Woman?

Series Nine of Doctor Who was, in a word, groundbreaking. The broadcast format changed. The tone shifted dramatically (pun intended, of course). The stories grew in intensity and weight. The performances from both principal and supporting casts expanded exponentially. The series as a whole felt cohesive, focused, and full of the thrills, adventure, and emotion that marks a stellar season for the program. Over and above all these accolades, and in many ways directly feeding into them, was the rising […]

Clara Oswald: In Memoriam

Back at the close of Series 8, we recorded an episode where we looked at the road traveled thus far with the Impossible Girl, and the changes we were starting to observe with the character. Due in no small part to Jenna Coleman’s ever-expanding performance, writers and directors who explicitly sought to challenge and inspire growth, and highly praised chemistry with (new) lead actor, Peter Capaldi, we came to know and Clara much better, found ourselves endeared to her, and […]

Hell Bent

Emotions are complicated, often messy human traits — flaws, if you were to ask a Dalek or a Cyberman. They can inspire songs and uplift spirits, motivate heroes and move armies, weaken the stalwart and petrify the proud. We rely on them as much as we are hindered by them. In some fashion, we cherish the negative as much as the positive, for as every artist will attest, the light requires the shadow for contrast. What happens when those emotions are altered, muted, or […]

Face The Raven

“You. Now, you listen to me. You’re going to be alone now, and you’re very bad at that. You’re going to be furious and you’re going to be sad, but listen to me. Don’t let this change you. No, listen. Whatever happens next, wherever she is sending you — I know what you’re capable of. You don’t be a warrior. Promise me. Be a Doctor. Heal yourself. You have to. You can’t let this turn you into a monster. So I’m not asking […]

The Girl Who Died

Everyone enjoys a good laugh (Scrooges and Grinches aside). Sometimes, the most impactful or memorable comedy is one that resonates in the heart as well as the smile worn on one’s face. These are the bittersweet moments that are remembered with a complex blend of emotions that link different corners of our brains, and appreciate the good for its contrast against the bad. This week, we discuss the comedic romp that was ‘The Girl Who Died’. We gain a fuller appreciation for squeamish […]

Before the Flood

In 1941, esteemed science fiction author Robert Heinlein published a short story titled “By His Bootstraps”. In it, a scholar Mr. Wilson writing a thesis on metaphysics and time travel, is met by individuals claiming to be from the future. After a series of argumentative and even physical confrontations, Wilson is brought to the future and becomes a man of great power, and realizes after some period that he must inherently become one of those individuals venturing back to meet his former self, and […]

Under the Lake

When there’s something strange, in your subaquatic base, who you gonna call? It’s a long-established tradition that the Doctor takes some satisfaction in debunking claims of ghosts and ghouls, explaining them away as anomalies in an individual’s progression through time, residual echoes of energy in the continuum, or simply a hologram that Old Man Crebbins was using in the barn to keep those meddling kids away from the abandoned amusement park. So what happens when the first person to emphatically […]

The Magician’s Apprentice

The advisement that “your patience will be rewarded” often sounds like something you’d tell a child who asks repeatedly how much longer they have to wait for a birthday, or allowance, or other anticipation. Why would it be any different for us as the groundlings at Steven Moffat’s feet, hoping against hope that this is the day we are given a tremendous gift, and that gift is not only all we hoped for, but perhaps even more for the sake of wanting? Could […]