nineandrunning

[nineandrunning]

"i'm a terrible student, and you'd get bored of me, i'm afraid. besides, i have strict rules. no companions." who's refusing who now? funny, how desperate he had been for the master's company, to help his oldest friend, to make him see the beauty of the universe. now? he's not sure. he's mostly angry. "and you still count as that, whether you want to or not." a clap, excitement, as things click further. "hah! you were my companion! one of my humans, just hanging around. how's that feel?"

' ah , yes , the forgiveness even after genocide spiel , ' he says , rolling his eyes. he remembers how his past self had recoiled at that , nearly collapsed , hunched over , scared by the force of the doctor's feelings. pathetic , really. when the doctor mentions taking notes from him , he can't help the delight that shines in his eyes. ' really ? hm , would you like to learn a bit more from the master , then ? one on one instruction is much better than reading the cliff-notes , dear. '

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"no such thing as good timing, dear." his returning grin is almost a mirror of rory's - the master's. "not in this face at least. it's the anger issues, i think. plus last me, vanity boy, liked to play hero and suppress the bad, it was bound to backfire a little." he backs off with a twirl, returning his attention to the now fully dead body. "as for wisdom... i think i've found some, even if i had to take a leaf or two from your book."

a false sigh of disappointment leaves his lips. ' i suppose of the two of us , i'm the only one who seems to find wisdom as we age. ' he can see the way the information clicks in the doctor's eyes , the way he leans in to peer. a sharp grin , not like one this human guise used to wear , covers his expression. ' long time no see indeed. you know , i think this might be the only time i'm ever going to say this , but i almost wish you were more moral. this would have freaked you out when you were younger. perhaps bad timing on my part. '

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"by all rights, you should be trapped." except- yes, there, that little feeling in his brain. ah. AH. how- well, he knew how, but how? "i'm old. you know this. brain doesn't always like to connect the obvious." he's leaning forward now, looking into rory-not-rory's eyes. ah. AH! "well. hello. long time no see."

he can't help but roll his eyes as he smacks the offending finger away. ' oh , do hurry up and catch on now. you're being a tad bit slow. '

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"oh, well. i could have done that myself, rory." give him a second. he'll catch up. "hang on-" and he's just going to stare. and maybe poke him.

' oh , well , i can fix that. ' steps forward and shoots. then , he pauses and shoots again.

[nineandrunning]

"well let's all calm down. he's only a little dead."

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SEVEN + ACE 📺 Tales of the Tardis (2023)

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SEVEN + ACE 📺 Tales of the Tardis (2023)

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Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred on the set of Doctor Who (1988-89)

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I think about that Happiness Patrol scene every day he did that for what

Bonus:

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dorothy ace mcshane taking former companions in her hands and just 'you are amazing, you deserve the world, the doctor is an absolute moron'

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Also I feel like with the trailer for the Christmas special? I’m gonna need to update my Doctor Who favorites chart because 15 is already high up there.

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Following up on my post from before about the first of the specials now that I’ve finished them all, spoilers under the cut. TL;DR/spoiler free version, they’re all decently fun, the third one actually makes it feel like an anniversary

First episode thoughts haven’t changed, it’s fun, standard Doctor Who fair, felt like it was made for everyone who stopped watching after 10 regenerated with barely enough context to get people over the jump, worked entirely because David and Catherine have amazing chemistry.

Second episode is filler, but with a purpose. One scene during the actual adventure exists to set up the plot, but outside communicating to Donna that the Doctor’s in a mess of an identity crisis and thankfully establishing that RTD isn’t going to hand wave away canon events, overarching plot isn’t really there but that’s fine. It was a lot of fun, and was silly and exciting. Definitely shined because again, David and Catherine have great chemistry. Didn’t feel like part of an anniversary.

And then Part 3. Objectively the best part of them all, and for three reasons: Kate Stewart, Melanie Bush, and the 15th Doctor. And those three are doing a lot of heavy lifting for me because I… have opinions that matter a lot to me, and absolutely no one else. The Toymaker is, I’m very aware, a biased narrator, but the way 11 and 12’s companions were portrayed in the episode’s puppet show rubbed me the wrong way.

Which might have been the point. Kill the nuance, give the death and not what came after, and cast the Doctor as the problem to make Donna doubt him and him doubt himself. Genuinely that’s going to be how I read it. And the blatant lack of mention of any of thirteen’s companions - probably because all of hers left. Completely alive, memories in tact, in their original universe.

The bi-generation bit is a little bit of a cop out but it was desperately fun, and I’ve come up with a working in universe explanation for myself so I can roll with it, even though I doubt it’s what RTD is going for. Pretty sure it’s mostly so they can try and give DT a spin-off and convince people to not drop Disney+ between seasons if they’re only using it for Doctor Who. Or milk the franchise the same way they’ve done it with Marvel and Star Wars and their own animated canon.

But back to what I was saying. It finally felt like the anniversary special we were told it was. There was a celebration of Doctor Who within it that was deeper than looking back exclusively at things done in Series Four. The past mattered. I hate to say this because Catherine Tate is flawless but it was nice to pull away from Donna for the little it did and give the Doctor breathing room.

I wish it didn’t take so long for me to look at it and say ‘yes, this set of episodes is meant to celebrate 60 years of Doctor Who’, but in the end I did get there, which is a marked improvement on where I was when we only had one episode. I’ll take it.

I won’t come back to it constantly like I do with the 50th. But it gave me the 15th Doctor. It gave me back Melanie Bush. I’m glad to finally have the Doctor I was promised all those ages ago. And I had fun. In the end, that’s all I ask of Doctor Who.

[nineandrunning]

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES | Death of the Doctor

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The Doctor breaking Ace’s faith in him in The Curse of Fenric is often used as *the* example of 7’s character, but the next scene is even more important. The way he’s genuinely distraught by his actions yet considers them necessary is at the core of what makes him interesting.

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Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it still and I’m gonna go into my thoughts under the read more, not actually touching on any details, just my feelings. Tried to be as objective as I could, but it’s feelings about a vibe so. You know.

The special was fine. I’m probably not going to rewatch it for a while, I’ll probably go back to my rewatch of 11 and back into 12 and 13.

Here’s the thing: I’m not big on Russel T Davies’ style when it comes to Doctor Who. I like his stories, but it never hits me the way I’m looking for, so I usually come out in a ‘that was fine, it did what it needed to’ emotional level for me.

I also will admit, going in I had this idea in general: It feels like they’re playing it safe, and playing entirely to nostalgia to what certain vocal groups consider ‘peak Doctor Who’ Ten and Donna. Is that Ten’s best season? Probably, because the actors are such good friends they have chemistry even when playing cartoon duck sworn enemies. The issue is the episode didn’t overcome that apprehension. There were some surprise delights, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that it felt at times to me like I was being made to watch a fix it fanfiction only for the actual fix to be a narrative cop out.

It didn’t feel like the show’s 60th anniversary. It felt like the anniversary of Series 4.

You don’t need multiple Doctors for a good anniversary, though it’s always fun. Remembrance of the Daleks made for a better anniversary with one Doctor and one companion. Hell, Power of the Doctor makes for a better anniversary special.

This doesn’t feel like a move forward, it feels like a nostalgia-bated placeholder for the adventure I’m excited for.

All that considered, I don’t take back what I said earlier. I had fun. I’ll probably have fun with the rest of them. The new sonic is insane, and I like it. Sucks it’s on Disney.

trying to get up my nerve to just. watch the special.