Death in Heaven Review

So I'm not sure what the deal is with the Doctor being so upset about Gallifrey. Two things come to mind, either the Master was lying and it's still gone, or something happened to it. If it's still gone, then that raises the question of how she got out. It could be that she escaped from the Naismith mansion after the events of The End of Time and the Doctor didn't notice. However, I don't think that's very likely as the Doctor didn't look that distracted in that scene. One interesting bit is that Time Lords usually stay relative to one another's time streams, which means the Master must have escaped before the events of The Bells of Saint John. Either that, or she went back along the Doctor's timeline. Another possibility is that some race (such as the Daleks) detected Gallifrey's return and decimated it while it was still recovering from the war. The second scenario doesn't' leave as much possibility for the Time Lords ever returning, so I'm hoping it's still out there somewhere.

It looks pretty darn well like the Brig killed the Master. Of course, there's no way she's actually dead; she's one of those villains that the Doctor will never be entirely rid of. I mean, how many times have the Daleks or Davros been wiped out? I'm guessing she had some sort of back up inside the Nethersphere. Maybe she was inside there the whole time that scene in the graveyard was some sort of projection. I don't know how she's alive, I just know that Moffat or some future writer will come up with a way to make her alive.

So we now have confirmation that every government on Earth knows of the Doctor. Not only that, but they know enough about him to trust him as President of Earth. UNIT (or maybe even Jack and Martha) must have told the UN of his exploits and how many times he's saved the Earth and other worlds. I don't know how they would have proved that this man actually existed and they weren't just telling stories. They must have had some sort of video evidence. Maybe they used that video conference call from The Eleventh Hour. All those geniuses testifying on the Doctor's behalf must have had some sort of influence beyond that which a UNIT doctor and WWII pilot could have offered.

It's awfully conveniently timed how all this took place on the Doctor's birthday. I mean, first off, how did Missy even know? The Doctor doesn't truly know how old he is, so I'm assuming it's his birthday in linear time, rather than his non-linear time travel. That would of course mean, the Doctor isn't actually turning some particular age in this episode. Besides that, how would the Master even know that the Doctor would show up on that day? Maybe she had planned to release the Cybermen on that day all along and knew the TARDIS would take the Doctor there at the correct time.

I'm rather disappointed that no mention of the drums was made in the two-parter. That was one of the biggest issues in Simm's portrayal of the Master. Perhaps whatever got the Master off Gallifrey and into female form cut the signal. Another possibility is what the Master said in The End of Time about the link being inside Rassilon. Once the Master killed him, the drumbeat may have disappeared. My only problem with that is the scene earlier in that story where it was shown that Rassilon's assistant/other member of the High Council was the one who actually placed the signal. It's also possible that with Gallifrey in another dimension, the signal can't reach the Master. Either that, or Moffat is purposefully ignoring the issue.

Gatiss on Time Lords

Mark Gatiss spoke recently at a panel in Brazil about the Time Lords and the return of Gallifrey

Every time you go back to Gallifrey, it starts to make the Time Lords a bit too domesticated. I know that’s why Russell T Davies came up with the whole idea of the Doctor being the last one because eventually if you see them so often they become a bit like a bunch of MPs, whereas if you talk about them as this amazing, powerful force, they’re much more exciting.

On the prospect of writing a Gallifrey-based story

I don’t know if I would want to do one. I think the way the Time Lords were represented in The End of Time and The Day of the Doctor was very exciting because we’re seeing them in a crisis and they’re trying to come up with different ways of saving themselves. But I suppose if the Doctor ever does find Gallifrey again, then we might find out more. Who knows…

Proposal for Series 8 and Beyond

Here are a few things I would like in the coming few seasons (during Peter's time).

More two-part stories. Some of the stories in the new series could have benefited from extra time. This would allow 90 minutes per story, plenty of time to develop characters, lay out background, and tie up loose ends. I also feel like some of the longer stories are more "epic" with more interesting movie-style plot lines.

Keep the credits until Jenna leaves. The current title sequence isn't Matt's and it isn't Peter's, it's Jenna's. The new credits started when she came aboard, and they should leave with her. They can alter them to show Peter's name and face in the beginning. When she leaves, they can start a new credit sequence. I actually like the idea of theme music corresponding to companion, rather than Doctor, and they could probably keep it up indefinitely.

Have the search for Gallifrey be more low-key. This story arc could be drawn out over a long time. However, it shouldn't be as heavy of a plot line as series 6. It should be more similar to Davies' story arcs, where references are only thrown in every couple episodes. There could be a dramatic season finale where the Doctor picks up a Time Lord beacon and thinking it's from Gallifrey, goes to investigate. Instead it could turn out to be a lone scout TARDIS attempting to find a way back home. The Doctor could meet up with the crew and receive news of home while battling Daleks. There could also be an episode where the Doctor attempts to bust through to the parallel universe where Gallifrey is, but instead lands on the set of the show in Cardiff.

Revisit old companions. It'd be lovely to see how Martha and Mickey are faring, or for the Doctor to finally meet Gwen face-to-face. We could even meet a classic companion, such as Tegan or Ace. They don't even have to travel in the TARDIS, just meet the Doctor again for one more adventure.

Bring back Confidential. Seriously. Just do it.

Do something for the 10th anniversary of New Who. I don't care what it is, just something. It can be a brand new story featuring Chris, David, Matt, and Peter. It could also be a documentary about what it took to bring the show back to the air with brand new interviews. A retrospective look at the past ten years featuring never before seen behind the scenes footage would work, too. An Adventure in Space and Time, Part 2 starring Russell T. Davies, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, and David Tennant as themselves with other supporting actors and actresses would be brilliant.

Bring back K-9. There's no time like the present to bring back the Doctor's trusty robot dog. Kids love it, the Doctor loves it, I love it (and I'm a cat person). I think Clara would be amused by the fact that the Doctor once traveled with no more company than a metal dog. They should definitely do it while John Leeson is still alive.

Create a spin-off. I don't care whether they bring back Torchwood or create something brand new. There's been talk of a Paternoster spin-off, however, I would prefer to see the adventures of the Doctor's daughter, Jenny. I know it's been five years, but her story is just one giant loose end that needs addressing. The very least they could do is a novel or Big Finish series. Someone also suggested a semi-canon series where each week River, Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy, & Clara (or some combination thereof) steal the TARDIS and go on their own adventures.

More UNIT stories. I love a good old-fashioned "invasion Earth" story. There haven't been many of these stories since Davies left, in fact, there's only been two with UNIT in them. Just one story of this type per season would be sufficient. I think some fans would like to see more of Osgood and the secret underground base.

Break the fourth wall. A few possibilities exist here. First, the TARDIS could crash and get replaced with the TARDIS set at the studio and the Doctor and Clara swap places with Peter and Jenna. Then they'd have to find their way back. Another possibility is that the Doctor already knows he's a fictional character. Perhaps something happens (such as a plot hole the characters notice) and the Doctor comments on the poor quality of the script.

Have the next companion not be from present-day Earth. Davies and Moffat have been using the same format of present-day Earth girl over and over again since 2005. The classic series had all sorts of different companions. Someone from another planet or another time period would bring a nice refreshing change. Some ideas include a slave girl from ancient Rome, the daughter of some noble in 15th century France, or the sole survivor of some expedition in the 47th century. A Time Lady would work, too.

Develop the Paternoster Gang's backstory. We've already had The Crimson Horror, which was pretty centered on our Victorian trio. However, an explanation as to how Vastra and Jenny met and fell in love would be nice. It would also be nice to see how they came to be fighting crime.

Write pure historical episodes. They haven't done one of these since the sixties. Instead of all the usual sci-fi and aliens, an episode where the Doctor and companion travel back in time and get caught up in historical events. No monster, no aliens, no tech, just the Doctor and friend getting themselves in a pickle and having to get out. It's a nice break from the usual technobabble and complicated timey-wimey stories, just a nice, simple historical. Plus, it would go back to Doctor Who's roots as being educational, although I think we're long past that now.

More episodes set on other parts of Earth. The curse of the new series is London, London, London. Everything happens in London. An episode set in another part of Earth would be nice. There are loads of good places: the Mediterranean, Australia, the Amazon, China, the African Serengeti, North America, etc. It's quite literally a big planet.

Halloween special. With a full thirteen episodes airing in the fall, Doctor Who has an opportunity it's never had before. There's no time like Halloween for Moffat to crank up the fright levels. I know it isn't going to happen, but a crossover with Supernatural would make for some very spooky fun!

Tom Baker-esque pockets scene. I really want another scene where the Doctor is forced to empty his pockets and produces an endless array of random items. He's either captured and made to turn out his pockets or is looking for something and can't remember which pocket it's in. Either way, he produces a bizarre assortment of items that only a Time Lord would have on them.

Clara-centric story. In the theme of having Doctor-lite stories, I suggest something similar to Supernatural's Weekend at Bobby's. Since Clara doesn't travel with the Doctor all the time, it'd be interesting to what she gets up to in between adventures. I suggest something following up on her teaching job seen in The Day of the Doctor, while also showing what happened to the Maitland kids. Perhaps the Doctor phones in several times to update Clara on the status of some adventure he's having. He shows up later, needing her help, and Clara offers to help him in exchange for housework. The Doctor does some chores, then they pop off to another planet to finish his adventure.

Cross-over. I'd be happy with anything really, Star Trek, Supernatural, Sherlock, Warehouse 13, you name it. With the TARDIS' ability to travel to parallel universes restored, the list of possibilities is endless.

The aftermath of the Earth-Zygon treaty. How it plays out all depends on whether it's public knowledge. If it's an international treaty, and not just Britain (since UNIT is a global organization), every politician on Earth would have to be informed. The UN would probably ratify it, and it would have to become public knowledge. Then there's just the question of how much becomes public knowledge. The details of how the treaty was signed could probably be hidden. That way, the public doesn't know about the Doctor or the Dark Vault. Of course, there would always be rumors and speculation as to what really happened.

Pompeii story. I know Moffat has already promised to explain what the 12th Doctor was doing in Pompeii, but I want to see a full-fledged story made out of it. There needs to be a proper plot line (one that isn't totally dependent on David's story) that stars Peter, Jenna, John Barrowman, David, and Catherine Tate. The reason I want Jack there is because he mentioned visiting Pompeii way back in series 1. Also, we always need more Captain on this show.

The Day of the Doctor Review

First of all, let me say, that was amazing. The Day of the Doctor has been anticipated for years now, and I think I can safely say that it lived up to its expectations.

This episode is another reminder of rule 1: Moffat lies. He said that he'd never do a Time War story and that there were no classic Doctors involved in the 50th. He also said that Capaldi wouldn't appear until Christmas. All of those proved to be lies. We finally got to see the war in something more than flashbacks. What's more is that we got to see how it all ended, which is what I think a lot of us have wanted to see ever since we heard that it was the Doctor who was responsible for it. Both Tom Baker and Paul McGann made appearances (see Night of the Doctor for McGann) and archive footage was used for all of the classic Doctors. We also got to see our first glimpse of the next Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi.

A lot of people expected Capaldi to make an appearance, however, I think most of them were thinking that we would see the regeneration. Instead, something happened that's never happened before in Doctor Who history. A future Doctor made an appearance before the current Doctor regenerated into him. We didn't see much of Peter (just his eyes, forehead, and one hand), but it was enough to get most of us (myself included) excited for his arrival. I personally didn't anticipate Peter being in the episode, I thought Moffat would stick to his word about him arriving at Christmas. In retrospect, especially considering Jenna's surprise appearance in Asylum, I really should have seen this coming.

We actually got to see the War Doctor regenerate. I thought during that scene we would get a few seconds worth of Christopher Eccleston, but we didn't. I had been hoping for a while that they were pulling a ruse and he would make an appearance. On the other hand, this leaves the door open for another surprise regeneration between Hurt and Eccleston. I doubt the writers will pull the same trick twice, but you never know what they will do in the future.

I for one, was hoping that we would get to see Rose Tyler and Tentoo from the parallel universe. I was thoroughly convinced that Rose was the woman in the shop who gave Clara the Doctor's phone number (with a bit of information from Tentoo). I also thought we would get a repeat of the Bad Wolf omen from Turn Left, which would alert the Doctor that something was up. I wasn't disappointed, though. We finally got to see the long-discussed relationship between the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I, including the circumstances of their marriage. This does raise interesting questions about whether the Doctor has any claims to the throne. However, given Elizabeth's hatred of him in The Shakespeare Code (which I believe indicates some sort of divorce) and his exile by Victoria, I think it's safe to say he doesn't. I really liked Billie's portrayal of the Moment. She was brilliant, quirky, and just a tiny bit mad. I'm not sure how a galaxy-eating weapon has the power to open up time fissures. I think it might have something to do with the fact that she was in the form of the Bad Wolf. I am beginning to worry, though, that the writers are developing a bit of a sexy wooden box fetish (see The Doctor's Wife).

The director has apparently forgotten that the phone on the TARDIS door is a fake. At least two times (in The Empty Child and The Bells of Saint John) it was stated that it was a pretend phone, as it wasn't actually hooked up to a telephone line. It was only accessible through either an om-com or by dialing a special number than required intricate knowledge of the TARDIS (something only a Time Lord would know). Twice in this episode the Doctor used it as a regular phone. The second time, there was no real reason to since there's a perfectly fine one inside.

I guess we didn't get to see the Doctor and Clara's escape from the Doctor's timeline. They appeared to be trapped there at the end of The Name of the Doctor, since the fissure they jumped through appeared to close. It's just one of those false cliffhanger endings where the writers come up with a quick and easy way out of a situation (in this case by not showing it at all).

The nods to An Unearthly Child at the beginning were brilliant. It was one of those things where if you weren't paying attention for a minute, you would've missed them. All there was was a sign for I.M. Foreman's junkyard (where the TARDIS was originally parked) and a sign saying Coal Hill Secondary School (where Susan attended class). Not only that, but the Chairman of the Governors was none other than Ian Chesterton. This seemed to go against what Sarah Jane said in The Death of the Doctor about there being two professors at Cambridge named Ian and Barbara Chesterton who hadn't aged since the sixties. However, he could have simply had a career change after a more lucrative opportunity showed up.

I always sort of knew that Gallifrey wouldn't be gone forever. I figured that with something that important to the show gone, it was the perfect opportunity for a cliffhanger ending where they bring it back. Especially with the show having the potential to go on for years, some future writer would dare to reverse the consequences of the Time War. This goes with what Steven Moffat said about The Day of the Doctor looking towards the future and reinventing the show. With the Time Lords back, the show is different than it has been for the past eight years. The Doctor can now go seek out his people and return them to the waking universe. This is probably going to tie heavily into Peter's story arc. I feel like he's going to spend series 8 trying to find Gallifrey and bring it back and the rest of his time dealing with the consequences of not being the last Time Lord anymore (another trial anyone?). The brilliant thing about the way Moffat did it, is that is doesn't interfere with the rest of the new series. The Doctor (except for the current one) doesn't remember saving Gallifrey. He thinks it was wiped out at his hand and that he's the last Time Lord, when in reality, they're just in a parallel universe. The current Doctor is the only one who knows this, and he can now deal with that fact.

It appears Moffat decided to advance the Zygon's technology a bit. In Terror of the Zygons, the humans whose identity was being stolen had to be kept in a special booth in order for the Zygons to use their body print. In the event a Zygon was killed, the link was broken and the human was freed from the booth. In this story, it appears the Zygons have enhanced themselves so they can impersonate any human. The only condition is that the human needs to be kept alive, but not in some special chamber. It possible that the chamber was only used to keep the humans in a drugged, unconscious state, rather creating some sort of signal from them.

You can definitely see how much more mature the War Doctor is compared to 10 and 11. He wasn't having any of that silly gobbledegook with "timey-wimey" and "geronimo" and he actually got that the sonic screwdriver, is just that, a screwdriver. I don't know whether it was because the war hardened him or because he was a naturally more mature Doctor, but he had a very no-nonsense attitude towards life. It might also be just that 10 and 11 are simply sillier Doctors.

I'm glad they decided to do epic credits, like they did in Journey's End. I was hoping for a reprise of the series 7.2 theme song with all of the main characters' names squashed in there. Instead we got the first Doctor's theme song and the cast overlaid onto the main picture. At first, I thought something had gone wrong and they were accidentally transmitting the wrong picture. It didn't help that the beginning was black and white. The way the actors' names were overlaid onto the episode itself, rather than the time vortex reminds me of the way movies do it, where they don't actually have an opening sequence like TV shows do. They just have a title card and the actors, producers, and director's names on a non-important sequence, like a landscape or some dark alley. I guess The Day of the Doctor is supposed to be a cinema quality event, seeing as it's 76 minutes long, shot in 3D, and shown in theaters.

Places I Would Like to Visit on Doctor Who

Inspired by The Destinations of Doctor Who (aired last night, available on iTunes), here is a list of places I would like the Doctor to visit in the future.

• the Library
• Mondas (I forget if it was destroyed or not)
• Satellite Five
• Venus before it melted (there was a civilization there at one point, because the Doctor knows a Venusian lullaby)
• Sontar (we've never actually been there except in an audio adventure)
• the Third Reich (I want to see Nazis vs. Daleks)
• Gallifrey (going there in its ancient history during the days of Rassilon and Omega would be cool)
• 1770s America (no sci-fi, purely historical)
• Skaro (I think we're going there in Asylum)
• an alternate universe where Britain never lost its empire but everyone else did

Please feel free to add your ideas in the comments below!