#imagine donna and jamie interacting

[witchofthemidlands]

tales of the tardis is enough for me, it is, it really is, after all those years, jamie & zoe finally got their memories back & if that's the last we see of jamie mccrimmon that was fantastic, it was more than enough, there is & now will always be a conclusion

but

if i had to bring any classic who companion back to new (new?) who it would be jamie, it would always be jamie because the idea of jamie meeting a modern doctor sends me just a tad feral, just a a little bit balls to the wall feral.

[headcanonsandmore]

Sergeant Benton with every Doctor (1-13)

1- I get the sense that One's initial dislike of being questioned would soften a little when dealing with Benton's sweet earnestness. Especially if Benton risks his own life to save Susan (because of course he would).

2- On the rare occasions where Two interacted with Benton, they seem to get along perfectly fine. I think that if Benton was around full time, he'd definitely develop a strong friendship with him. And, of course, Benton and Jamie would get along super well.

3- As we all know, Three was the closest to Benton out of the incarnations who met him, but I think Benton being a fully-fledged traveling companion would put an interesting spin on things. I think Benton would have a great time, although he would probably get tons of marriage proposals from the inhabitants of planets they'd travel to (I mean, he is super lovely, after all). And I'm sure Jo Grant would appreciate having her himbo bestie around.

4- Four liked Benton the most out of the UNIT soldiers he interacted with, so no surprises that he'd appreciate having Benton as a traveling companion a lot. I imagine Sarah-Jane would also appreciate a sweet himbo to bounce ideas off (especially since Benton is basically the opposite of Harry Sullivan in every way).

5- Five would get along so well with Benton, it's unreal. Benton is such a calming influence that Five would have him around just to chat over tea with. I also think the most personable of the classic Doctors would appreciate Benton's down-to-earth nature and sense of cheery humour. Also, Benton is the only UNIT man that Tegan and Nyssa would actually like, and we all know those two need at least one himbo third wheel with them at any given moment (Benton tries to sneak date money into Tegan's purse so she can take Nyssa to a cinema, Tegan gets flustered and turns bright red, Nyssa is confused but pleased nonetheless).

6- Benton would not only be able to restrain Six during his initial regeneration mood swings, but he'd also help Peri acclimatise to the situation. Mel would probably remind him a bit of Jo Grant, and he'd naturally fit into being her best friend.

7- Listen, I don't want to split up the duo of Seven and Ace, but -if I had to- Benton would slot in well. He'd be able to see through Seven's manipulations as well as acting like a sweet big brother to Ace. He'd probably get a little worried about all the pyrotechnics, though.

8- Eight would either have a slight crush on Benton, or try manipulating him into a scheme of dubious morality. Either way, Benton would have a hard time dealing with this eldritch figure. He'd probably get along well with Eight's rotating line-up of queer companions, though.

9- God-tier duo. Can you imagine human golden retriever Benton being around Nine? Nine; the incarnation with a boat-load of trauma and guilt who just wants to save people? Well, Benton's making him take a day off at the beach with some ice cream, plus some healthy discussion of emotions and wellbeing. He'd save that time lord's life just by being his friend, and it would be fantastic.

10- To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Benton got exasperated with Ten at times, especially with how he treated Martha. Also, that whole "Time Lord Victorious" thing? Couldn't happen with Benton there. Doc, I dunno about the nature of time, but you're supposed to help people, not decide who's important and who isn't *upset puppy dog eyes intensify* *Ten immediately reverts back to normal*. Oh, but can you imagine Benton around Donna? That would be amazing.

11- I feel like Benton would probably calm down Eleven's energy a bit, and would also be a nice calming influence on all the TARDIS crew. He'd also probably be a little confused by River Song, just in general. Also, he'd tell tons of embarrassing stories from when he used to babysit Kate Steward.

12- Listen, we know that Twelve has a... difficult situation with U.N.I.T but I think he'd value Benton's presence despite that. I also think Bill especially would like Benton's sweet nature. And -hey- Benton would also be immune to Missy's shenanigans so conflicts would be resolved a good deal easier. Although Benton would definitely be a little alarmed by Clara, and try to help her and Twelve ease their co-dependency.

13- Given the amount of himbos in Thirteen's TARDIS teams, I think Benton would probably fit in quite well. He'd definitely bring an 'older cousin' vibe to a friendship with Yaz, and I imagine he'd also be there for Yaz when Thirteen is being a self-sabotaging jerk. He would also probably have a double-act with Dan. The lovely din-dins man meets the Dan with a plan and a pan. 🤣😂

[timespace]

jamie & capt jack or jamie & donna (as mates because jamie is OBVIOUSLY in love w 2) as a crossover?

ive thought about both of these before but im so bad at imagining non canon possible interactions i apologise skdjfsj

i think jack would def hit on jamie as is standard (its the kilt) and jamie would go OI but hes not actually bothered, maybe a bit flattered bc glad Someone appreciates it round here. hes just as touchy feely w jack as w anyone else (a lot). jamie being really interested in all the alien tech torchwood has + jack giving him a tour around the hub and he goes to pick up everything... doesnt understand what any of it is but it looks cool... he calls myfanwy a flying beastie...

i think donna and jamie working together as a team to go OFF at a mutual enemy would be spectacular (like the scene in enemy of the world where jamie and victoria just yell at ‘salamander’) but idk donna shares her brain cell with ten and jamie shares his brain cell with two like ... is that a good combination. for some reason i see donna teasing jamie a lot but i have no clue what about

in conclusion

[image desc: tweet from Frazer Hines (jamie’s actor) @/WhoFrazer, replying to @/bigfinish, reading “Capt Jack/ Jamie” /end desc]

[geekmedium]

Favorite Doctor/Companion Teams

Because I want to spread some Doctor Who good cheer for Christmas. Also, I’m not doing the 9th or 13th doctor because they’ve really only had one team. Anyway...

1. The Original Team 

The ones who started it all. They would win by iconography, but even with that, they’re just a lot of fun to watch. This is the doctor at his most curmudgeon; he’s rude, fairly detached, and very much not the hero we’re use to. So they gave him a granddaughter who he cares for, and two teachers who act as the parents and honestly more noble, likable people.

It’s a family dynamic, one which we don’t see often. I appreciate that they were a team who grew to care for each other, but still had radically different approaches to whatever situation they found themselves in. And it is through this team up that the Doctor could mellow out and be a more straight up heroic figure. He learned from them just as much as the reverse.

2nd, Jamie, and Zoe 

Where the first team had a family dynamic to it, the second doctor had a more “bro” relationship with his team. He and Jamie are famously close, and if I’m not mistaken, Jamie is still one of the longest lasting companions. They joked around, had each others backs, and were just great pals. While Doctor Who was meant to be a teaching show, I believe these two turned the tone from edutainment into one full of Wonder.

As for Zoe, well I just like her. She was probably the first companion who could be considered of super intelligence. I like the Doctor and Jamie as two bros hanging out, but Zoe can be in there to keep everyone from getting along too well. Her intelligence could lead her to be smug, but she was truly loyal to the Tardis team. And I loved her interactions with Jamie as brother and sister.

3rd and Jo Grant 

I kind of like the Doctor with a ditzy companion. Despite not being remembered very well, I think Jo was able to occasionally pull her weight and she worked well with the Doctor. Plus their last scene together, when he says goodbye? Man, you could tell how sad that made not only them, but their actors as well.

4th and Sarah Jane

There were so many choices, but ultimately I can’t help thinking of this one as the best. Not only is Sarah Jane still considered one of the best companions, her dynamic with the Doctor was one of equal love and exasperation. She would often debate with him, grow frustrated with him, but still be with him through some of the most terrifying threats any companion had to deal with. And when it was time to go, she took it with good grace; she would always remember her time with the Doctor fondly, and only asked that he do the same. Magical.

5th, Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa 

Here we have the family dynamic back again. I just really like the Doctor acting like a mentor to Adric, with Tegan and Nyssa as best friends who act like the big sisters of the group. I feel that while the first Doctor’s family was a generational thing, with each passing something to the next, the fifth Doctor’s family was a group of siblings. They were kind of equals with each other, and they got into plenty of small arguments, constantly annoying each other, but with a kind of affection that made them want to be together even when they were mad.

I know it’s hard to write Doctor Who with more than 1 or 2 constant companions, but I personally like family dynamics the best. With the 2nd through 4th, there isn’t a ton to say because they got on very well. There were disagreements sure, but for the most part, they were great friends and always happy with each other. A family dynamic, like with the fifth ensured a lot more dynamic back in forth bickering, with everyone's different backgrounds playing off each other in a way unique to Doctor Who, that could bring people from different timelines and planets together.

6th and Evelyn

I’m going to cheat a bit by going off the grid into the audio dramas. No offense to Peri fans, but Evelyn is everything a companion should be. Tough, strongly opinionated, and incredibly empathetic, she provided a good foil to possibly the most selfish Doctor.

But what I loved most about her was that she was elderly. It provided a different dynamic to the Doctor, who occasionally acted the part of student to her mentor, instead of the usual status quo which is the reverse. Even more than that was her role in the story; she wasn’t there to be a young companion who realizes her potential under the Doctor. She was there to show that even if your bones don’t work like they use to. Even if you’re not most people’s ideal of good looking. Even if you’ve lived a life full of joys and sorrows, you’re never too old to start over. To gain new experiences, new joys, new pains, and new love.

I think that’s really beautiful.

7th and Ace

I struggled with if I wanted to add Bernice Summerfield to this team, because she’s great. But then I realized so much of what I like about the 7th Doctor and Ace works when they are a two person team.

The 7th Doctor is believed to be the most manipulative, actively using his own loved ones for the greater good. He can be cold and calculating in a way few other Doctors ever approached. And so that made his relationship with Ace all the more heartwarming. Here was this little delinquent of a girl, who thought she was worthless, and yet she was the only person in the universe who could bend the 7th Doctor to her whim; he loved her like a daughter, and the scenes where they interact is all the more special when you contrast them with the cold Doctor.

Having another companion kind of intrudes on this very intimate bond. I think Ace should be special to this Doctor. The one person who he would sacrifice himself before he sacrificed her. A companion who can be horrified with his more manipulative acts, but nevertheless stuck with him out of a loyalty to the first person who ever took a chance on her. Hurt Ace at your peril; the 7th Doctor will come for you.

8th and Izzy (plus Fey) 

Ignore that Izzy’s a fish, she isn’t usually.

This one is pure nostalgia. The 8th Doctor’s comic strip adventures were my first real introduction to the WHO-niverse. So while I’m sure Izzy is probably last on most people’s list (if they know her at all), she’ll always be my companion. She was probably the first pop-culture savvy companion who could offer a quip that stumped even the Doctor with how contemporary it was. She was finding herself on her journey with the Doctor, and had a character arc that I think inspired RTD when it was his time to reboot the series. Plus, from what I’ve read of other 8th Doctor material, he tends to be romantically linked with most of his other companions. Some people might like that, but I think you can tell from this list, I like my Doctor as a more celibate fellow.

Fey is someone who I think of as an intermittent companion. She helps out the Doctor a great deal, and her position within the universe is very unique and imaginative, but I wouldn’t want her in for more than a story arc or two at a time before moving on to another spatial-temporal James Bond style adventure.

10th and Donna

Like the fourth Doctor before him, I had plenty of options. I was even gonna pull a fast one and pick another comic strip companion, the self-centered businesswoman Majenta Pryce. But the 10th Doctor and Donna are special.

Not only is she one of the only companions the Doctor has called his best friend, when you get down to it, she was who he needed at the time. After the last two companions had ended in a sort of tragic romance, the Doctor was walling himself off again. Donna, however, came into his life as purely a friend. Someone to pal around with and banter with. For the Doctor, this must have been a godsend. No drama, no hassle, just true companionship in every since of the word. And she still has possibly the saddest exit for any companion to date.

Goodbye Donna Noble. You definitely lived up to the name.

11th, Amy, and Rory (plus River Song) 

The last family companionship on this list, and quite honestly, my favorite Tardis dynamic in the whole series. Why? Because it’s such a glorious mess that should collapse in flames but becomes something that’s just so interesting to think about.

The Doctor was Amy’s childhood crush she never quite got over. She eventually grew to love Rory, but both she and the Doctor were kind of dismissive of him. But does Rory angst and get into a love rivalry with the Doctor? Not really. He grows into himself, faces numerous dangers for them both, and by the end both Amy and the Doctor love the guy to pieces. And then you have River Song, who should turn the whole thing into a kind of Jerry Springer prize winner. I won’t go into spoilers, but what could have seemed creepy is actually a very interesting relationship with the Doctor. Though like Fey above, I think she works best as an intermittent companion who often goes off on her own adventures.

Still, they are the best family and if that’s controversial, it is the hill I will die on.

12th and Clara

The final companions are another friendship. In a lot of ways, this is pretty fun, because the 12th Doctor is an old curmudgeon like the first. But with all that he’s been through, it is interesting to see how they contrasts, especially in their companions. Because while the 1st Doctor was happy to play the cranky grandfather type, 12th had a genuine friendship with Clara.

They didn’t always get each other. They frequently disagreed, and could even be resentful. But when the chips were down, they would follow each other into hell together. The Doctor always tried to be a little more considerate for her than most others around him, and Clara tried to defend him against his critics. And while the end to their companionship could have been handled better, it was still an impactful parting between two friends.

So do you agree or disagree? Who are your favorite teams? I would love to know.

[johnnymundano]

Prom Night (2008)

Directed by Nelson McCormick Screenplay by J.S. Cardone Music by Paul Haslinger Country: Canada, United States Running time: 88 minutes CAST Brittany Snow as Donna Keppel Scott Porter as Bobby Jessica Stroup as Claire Davis Dana Davis as Lisa Hines Collins Pennie as Ronnie Heflin Kelly Blatz as Michael Allen James Ransone as Detective Nash Brianne Davis as Crissy Lynn Kellan Lutz as Rick Leland Mary Mara as Mrs. Waters Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Elisha Crowe Johnathon Schaech as Richard Fenton Idris Elba as Detective Winn Jessalyn Gilsig as Aunt Karen Linden Ashby as Uncle Jack

Theft Alert: All images from IMDB

Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow; working hard here, bless) is the only survivor of a family massacre perpetrated by Richard Fenton (Johnathon Schaech; looking very Sean William Scott), a creepy teacher with a boner for her. Tonight Donna’s Prom Night is being held at a swanky hotel,  but tonight is also the night Richard escapes from The Home For Creepy Teachers With Wayward Boners. Everything you expect to happen happens, just a lot less interestingly than you would expect for a slasher movie, certainly for one that cost $20 million. Prom Night (2008) is like an experiment see if it possible to make a slasher flick so inoffensive and dumb it could be screened at tea time on The Disney®©™ Channel. It turns out it is in fact possible to make such a thing, but unfortunately no one would want to watch it. It actually makes you hanker for Prom Night (1980), as low-budget and timeworn as that disco slasher may well be.  

For starters, Prom Night (2008) is not a remake of Prom Night (1980) despite what anyone says. Fuck that noise, someone obviously just wanted to use the title. End. Of. They are both slasher movies which take place on Prom Night, but that’s it. I know this because I watched Prom Night (1980) recently for the first time, and last night I watched Prom Night (2008) for the last time. Prom Night (1980) has a mystery surrounding the identity of the killer, which keeps you awake and which also has a surprisingly strong emotional pay off, whereas in Prom Night (2008) we know who the killer is from the off, which is boring and has no pay off at all. Essentially then, this is the difference between the two, one is a bit amateurish but very entertaining, while the other is slick as snot on a door handle and as dull as ditch water. 

Ultimately only one Prom Night successfully evokes the youthful exuberance of the night in question, which is important as I am 50 and English, so I have no personal experience whatsoever of a Prom Night. Also: get off my lawn! Prom Night (1980) makes it look like a fantastically enjoyable event at which hormonally crazed kids dance enthusiastically to fantastically simplistic disco. Apparently the movie was shot with the cast dancing to real, popular disco hits until the makers realised you have to actually pay to use other people’s music (?!who knew!?). Being a bit strapped for cash they had the soundtrack composer Carl Zittrer cook up some home-made disco beats at roughly the same tempo so the visuals and sound would still gel. Carl Zitterer did an excellent job.  A bit too excellent in fact, since the similarity was still so pronounced a $10 million lawsuit was brought against the movie (and settled for $50,000 – phew!). A small price to pay for one of the most cheerful and fun dance sequences I’ve ever seen, particularly as I didn’t pay it. Prom Night (1980) is a decent slasher flick but the dance floor sequence is just pure joy.  Prom Night (2008) makes Prom Night look like a shit night club where nobody knows anyone else there; seriously, the interaction of the core group with everyone else, who they apparently have known for years, is ridiculously minimal. And the songs are the kind of heatedly sexual nursery rhymes I am generationally disposed to dislike. I just don’t get it, basically. You crazy kids! “Who’s your daddy? And is he rich like me?” isn’t so much a song lyric to me as a reason to call the sex police. And while technically the dancing in Prom Night (2008) is smoother, the dancing in Prom Night (1980) is more realistically ramshackle and energetic. 

Also, in Prom Night (1980) the killer, whoever they are, is refreshingly human (they slip on the slippery floor at one point, etc) but in Prom Night (2008) the killer is a tediously efficient killer; which is odd because he’s just a school teacher with a creepy boner for one of his female students, which explains none of his killing efficacy. By rights he should just be crying while wanking over the school yearbook, as I imagine most creepy schoolteachers with boners for their female students do. Maybe creepy schoolteachers with boners for their female students find that reductive and a little offensive of me, and that’s a real crying shame there, because the last thing I want to do is offend creepy teachers with boners for their female students. Every school has that one teacher who dates his female students “secretly”, and as the female student ages out of school he replaces her with a new female student. Maybe you are that guy. In which case you need to hear this: Dude, you are creepy. No one is impressed; they are creeped out. Preying on children is not cool. And if they are in school they are children, I don’t care how developed their chest is. A light prison sentence or some intensive therapy are what you need, creepy teacher dude, not high fives and Budweiser with the bros. (I do apologise for the fact I went to school in the 1970s leading to my not acknowledging that creepy schoolteachers can also be female, and the students being creeped on can be both female and male; with any combination of gender being creeper and creeped upon. I guess everyone sex creeping on everyone else, well, that’s progress? Well done, everyone. Personally I would have tried to phase out the whole creepy-schoolteacher-with-a-boner-for-their-student thing but I guess expanding it across the gender spectrum is certainly one way to go.)

In terms of cast Prom Night (1980) only really has Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen as “names” but everyone is okay, and the characters are all quite quirky and sympathetic. Prom Night (2008) might not have many “names” but it has a far more professional level of acting, which is a win for it. But, alas, while there are real actors in Prom Night (2008) and they all try hard with what they are given, what they are given is so lacklustre and generic it is dismaying how much effort they probably had to put in just to make the characters seem as bland as they do. There’s the black couple; he’s good at sports, she’s a bit sassy. There’s the co-dependant bickering couple; he’s controlling and drinks too much, she’s whiny and, well, she’s just whiny. The gym teacher is sparky and enthusiastic like absolutely no gym teacher I’ve ever met in my half a decade existence, but very like every gym teacher in American high school set shows on Nickleodeon. The most interesting character is Detective Nash, and that’s only because James Ransone appears amusingly miscast; unless a cop who resembles Christian Bale if he was a candleblogger is your idea of a movie cop.  Obviously that’s nobody’s idea of a movie cop, luckily though Idris Elba knows what everyone expects from a Movie Cop and delivers it with lightly self-parodic gusto. Of course   Idris Elba is unarguably a charismatic screen presence; I know that because most of the things I’ve seen him in are godawful but he is always a pleasure. Maybe it’s just unfortunate choices on my part and I’m actually missing a string of entertainment pearls starring Idris Elba, even so Prom Night (2008) would come in on the poopy side of the mark sheet. But, again, even in something as poopy as Prom Night (2008) Idris Elba is fun. Here he’s The Big City Cop so he walks like he’s prolapsed and rasps his dialogue like he regularly gargles lava-hot cawfee. The enthusiasm Elba invests in playing this poorly written part makes up a bit for the utter idiocy of the character. Ultimately though nothing could distract from Detective Winn’s stupidity, so colossally boneheaded are his actions in the movie.

Prom Night (2008) seems to take place in an alternate universe where every authority figure is a moron. In a better slasher flick this might be a genuine attempt at a point, but here it’s just bad writing. Sure, you might think that everyone in authority in the universe we actually inhabit is a moron, and at this point in history you would have a strong case, counsellor. Exhibit one being our current lying coward of a Prime Minister (I write this in the year 2020). But the authority figures in Prom Night (2008) are actually more excessive in their cretinous obliviousness than even that lying shyster. Having (eventually) realised that the killer is loose Idris Elba visits Donna’s guardians, who decide not to bring her home immediately or have her placed in police custody for her own protection, because it might “embarrass her” in front of her friends and put a big downer on this magical night of awful dresses, terrible music and light fingerbanging. Idris Elba, a policeman remember, goes along with this, which is kind of epically dumb, but then he raises the dumbness stakes by going to the Hotel Swank to keep an eye on Donna. Literally. He actually stands by a bit of silver scaffold in the dance hall for hours, and stares at the back of her head, occasionally rubbing the top of his own head and pursing his lips. Incredibly this does nothing to locate and apprehend the killer, who is merrily killing staff and guest alike at his own convenience. Idris Elba even asks at the desk if they have seen the killer, even showing them a picture (which is some amazing police work for Prom Night (2008)). But when asked by the desk clerk if he should be concerned Idris Elba says ”no”. Later when the fact that the killer is in the hotel killing people can’t even be avoided by Idris Elba he pulls the fire alarm and the entire hotel decants chaotically onto the street. Because there’s absolutely no way the killer could get out unnoticed during that, right? Absolutely no way at all. Nu-uh! Essentially most of the people in Prom Night (2008) who die do so because Idris Elba’s character has all the brains of a shoe.

And a lot of people do die in Prom Night (2008), but don’t get too excited slasher flick fans, because it doesn’t really feel like it because the kills are largely inoffensive stuff; which in a slasher movie is kind of offensive in itself. Prom Night (2008)  tries to distract from the lack of splatter with sudden bursts of convulsive editing which just makes it look like the killer is over amorously cuddling people to the floor, or re-enacting his favourite Super Bowl tackles. The only clue that his victims are dead comes later when we get to see the body with some dainty little red marks on their clothes. So averse is Prom Night (2008) to actually getting bloody that one character has their throat slashed and so little claret splashes it’s preposterous. If you were asleep next to somebody with their throat cut you’d wake up sodden in the red stuff, you wouldn’t have to turn them over to discover they were dead. Maybe Prom Night (2008) should have invested some of that $20 million in a medical professional acting as a consultant to tell them that throat wounds tend to, you know, bleed profusely since it’s all the blood inside you coming out of that new hole that kills you. Okay, sometimes it’s the shock of blood loss that offs you but, whatever, there’s a lot of blood involved. There is, I admit, one artfully shot kill where an arc of blood spatters a sheet of plastic but mostly the effects in Prom Night (2008) are less Tom Savini and more Tom and Jerry.

Sadly then, when it comes to this particular Prom Night (2008) you’re better off staying at home and washing your hair.

[upslapmeal]

Second Doctor Thoughts

When I finished the First Doctor’s era a year after starting it and in the summer before I started university I joked that at this rate I’d graduate before finishing Classic Who. Well joke’s on me because I very nearly graduated before even finishing the Second Doctor’s era, avoided in large part thanks to a conveniently timed DWSoc screening of The War Games that pushed me to finish the previous two serials in time for that. And I think all this makes it seem as though I wasn’t particularly interested or invested in Two’s era but that really wasn’t the case. Rather, it was more that my progress was bogged down by a combination of having a ridiculous amount of uni work, combining that with starting several other new tv shows (I’m super great at time management and priorities guys) and there being so many missing episodes. I know Power of the Daleks took a month to watch because of the combination of missing episodes making it hard to get a feel for what Two was like (the animation didn’t come out for another year). 

And now it feels weird having to talk about my thoughts on something I started three years ago. When I was writing up my thoughts on The Krotons the other day I was struggling to remember what my notes were referring to and that was only several months after watching. But then again this is my thoughts on the era as a whole rather than individual parts of it. And there’s definitely something to be said for taking so long to watch. I mean Two and Jamie have been on-and-off fixtures of my life for the past 3 years which is more or less what they would have been for DW fans back in the 60s. And a six-episode serial back then would have taken over a month for people to watch. Maybe I should pretend this was all intentional to get a ~realistic viewing experience~….

I’m looking back now at my post where I talked about my First Doctor thoughts and I had split it into four sections: the Doctor, the companions, the aliens and the writing/visuals etc. I feel as though I have less to say this time, both as a result of 2/3 of Two’s era being less recent to me than the entirety of One’s had been at the time, but also because I feel as though I went into this era with a better idea of what if would be like. I started Classic Who blind, more just to fill the time while DW wasn’t on air than wanting to actually see what it was like and a lot of my post once I finished One’s era was talking about how pleasantly surprised and how I hadn’t expected to love the characters/character development/plots as much as I did. I had really gone in expecting very little and if you’ve spent any time on my blog you can see how much I really love One’s era now. However, since starting Classic Who I’ve followed a bunch of Classic Who blogs. I’ve seen people talk about Classic Who (including Two’s era) and I’ve even see some people I follow start and work their way through Classic Who at a significantly faster pace than me, going through Two’s stuff before I got there. I tried to not pay attention to plot details (oh how I wish I hadn’t known about the Time Lords in The War Games) but not only is it hard to avoid 50-year-old spoilers, I didn’t start watching only to be surprised by how good a lot of the characterisation and plots were. The quality of some serials still took me by surprise (I knew people said it would be good but The Enemy of the World was really EXCELLENT, can’t wait for Two to save 2018) but I generally had higher expectations.

Obviously this era suffers from missing episodes significantly more than One’s era. I watched all the reconstructions but so often something would be described in the scrolling text that I would pay large quantities of money to get to actually see (x x) and there were serials like The Macra Terror which I could tell were really good and enjoyed but would have been even better if there were full visuals to go with the audio. It’s a shame because all these missing episodes must seems like a huge barrier to a lot of people when it comes to starting Classic Who and I’ve seen people under the impression that most black and white episodes are missing.

But anyway. On to the actual thoughts. Like I said this is going to be shorter than it was for One’s era but please don’t mistake that for lack of enthusiasm. Also I’ll put it under a cut because this preamble has already gone on long enough.

The Doctor:

Isn’t Two fantastic? He’s really just out there to have a good time and explore and help out, and it really builds up well to the revelation that he ran away from the Time Lords because he wasn’t content to just observe the universe without interacting with it. He doesn’t seem to have misconceptions about him in the same way One did and I can’t imagine anyone watching the era and not thinking Troughton was an absolute delight. There’s a child-like amusement mixed in with scattiness that often seems to act as a mask to his thought processes (though not always - this is someone has done the blowing-up-an-island equivalent of sawing off a tree branch while sitting on it). And when you see Two switch to being dead serious you know that the situation warrants it. It was fascinating in particular to get a first glimpse into his interactions and relationship with the other Time Lords and I’m looking forward to the Master being introduced now I’m going into Three’s era to start to build on that (I know we had the Monk with One but that felt different, understandably, as I’m sure at the time there was so concept of Time Lords). Two had a deceptive child-like glee, not the same as One’s but not entirely different either, and I’m going to miss this recorder-playing space hobo and his expressive face. 

The Companions:

I didn’t talk much about Ben and Polly in my First Doctor post because I felt I hadn’t really got to know them yet, although I don’t think their four (well…..really three, it’s a shame they weren’t in most of their last serial) stories with Two really told me anything I hadn’t seen with One other than giving them a new surface to bounce off of. I just loved their combination of small, frequently surprised sailor and hip 60s woman who defeats the cybermen using knowledge about nail polish. And of course they were the first ever companions to deal with regeneration and I really enjoyed seeing their different approaches and different amounts of trust in this new Doctor during Power. I’m not usually fussed about the whole ‘first face this face saw’ but seeing how overlooked these two are I like to think they had a special place in Two’s hearts because of this.

And then there’s Jamie who is unquestioningly the defining companion of Two’s era and for good reason too. A lot of the era’s comedy comes from Two and Jamie bouncing off of (and clinging to) each other, and seeing that Jamie lost all that time he spent travelling with the Doctor was really right up there with Donna losing her memories. It would be easy to just think of Jamie as not very clever, but I feel like a lot of the time this came down to a lack of familiarity with what would later become familiar technology (I really enjoyed having a historical companion, done much better than Katarina RIP). Yes he would sometimes be slow to get things and be the butt of the joke, and sure he would do things like jump in front of an ice warrior but it would work and he had a lot of heart and a lot of love for his friends. He would often be an outside perspective to Two, being a voice of reason when Two got a bit carried away (cf. Two’s blowing-up-an-island equivalent of sawing off a tree branch while sitting on it). Here are just a few favourite Jamie moments: x x x. Oh and of course, Jimbo McCribbob.

Quick shoutout to almost-companion Samantha Briggs - if she had ended up staying as originally intended we would have missed out on Victoria so I don’t wish that had happened but I thought she was really brilliant in The Faceless Ones and I loved her interactions with Jamie.

What I loved and also found sad about Victoria was her interactions with Two, how he showed a real understanding of the fact that she had lost everyone and come on the TARDIS out of a sense of having nowhere else to go rather than out of curiosity and a sense of adventure (Tomb of the Cybermen stands out in particular in this respect). She was often scared (and I’m pretty sure I would have been terrified in the situations she was put in) but always kind and I thought her exit was really earned. She deserved to live in a stable place with people she could grow to call family and not constantly feel in danger. That life just wasn’t for her as much as she loved Jamie and Two and I appreciated that the Doctor refused to try and persuade her otherwise, no matter what Jamie said.

Oh Zoe. My science daughter. My incredibly intelligent science daughter who didn’t know how candles worked #just21stcenturyproblems. Firstly: congrats Two! You only (accidentally) kidnapped one (stowaway) companion! I liked that she was introduced in a cyberman episode, contrasting her wanting to feel everything like someone who hasn’t been trained to be a human computer and the cybermen who want to erase emotions. And again, all that is lost when she leaves and it’s a tragedy. But this show always has to have bits of tragedy woven in every now and then, keeping us grounded. It’s a show that does bittersweet well. Her advanced scientific and mathematical knowledge meant that she had a dynamic with the Doctor that we also saw with Vicki only to a lesser extent and I liked that she often thought of things before the Doctor (oh what I would have given to see Zoe and Vicki meet at some point). Also, and very importantly, Zoe always made a cute(r than usual) face when she was complemented! 

The aliens:

This is going to be very short, limited to four quick points:

I found Two-era cybermen increasingly difficult to understand and I’m not sure if that was just me or something people found in general

also interesting to see the introduction of another (if less-so) recurring alien with the ice warriors (and in a serial with Peter Sallis no less!)

yeti!! made even better by the fact that I got to see the actual costume when I went to the DW Experience this summer

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE MACRA

The plots, writing, and visuals:

I think this is where I’m going to have notably less to say than in my post for the First Doctor. What I will say is that while there were many outstanding or particularly fun stories (Enemy and Macra as I said earlier but also The Faceless Ones, The Mind Robber, The Invasion, The Web of Fear (Anne Travers <3 and the Brig!!) and The War Games to name a few), I’m definitely more a fan of going-on-an-adverture-to-find-stuff-out stories than the base-under-siege pattern that this era had a lot of and I felt like there were more stories that I was indifferent to than in One’s era, but even then that wasn’t any great amount. Oh and historicals. I miss historicals. One thing that I will say is that while this era managed have more roles played by black actors, whenever we we met a black character my first thought was always ‘I hope they don’t die’ (especially Kemel and Fariah), and as far as I can remember I was let down every time. But that is more a complaint with 1960s TV in general rather than being something specific to Doctor Who.

Overall:

The Second Doctor era has really been a constant in a significant era of my life, and I don’t think I have anything left to say that I’ve not already said in this overly-long post. I’m glad it’s not totally goodbye forever though, there’s still the anniversary specials to look forward to and I haven’t heard characterisation complaints for Two and co. in the same way as for One and Susan. But for now it’s onto the (temporarily) Earth-bound world of colour and UNIT, back with the Brig and getting to meet Liz, Benton and Yates (and later Jo and Sarah-Jane)! Autons! Dinosaurs! The Master! Let’s just hope this doesn’t take another three years!

Goodbye cosmic hobo. I’ll miss you.

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

Stuck with me, stuck in the middle with you: Cameron & Donna continue to confound in “FUD” (or, an inverse H&CF recap)

"FUD" picks up where the pilot leaves off, with the arrival of IBM's representatives. It also picks up the pilot's character dichotomy of Cameron the Mystery Gal versus Donna the Housewife, but deepens both of them and the other characters in unexpected ways.

The show masterfully uses IBM's visit to trigger a surprising amount of development, and without prolonging their stay. IBM's inquisition is over within the episode's first four minutes, but that's all it takes for them to sow the eponymous fear, uncertainty, and doubt! Before the opening titles roll, Cameron is paranoid about her expendability after she finishes the BIOS (and also her liability), Gordon is unsure of how useful his extensive microcomputing experience (and failures) will really be in fully realizing this project, and J*e manages to lull himself into a false confidence that his plan went off perfectly and that his prior personal implosion at IBM is in the past.

He finally reveals the big idea to Cameron and Gordon -- "2X FAST, 1/2 PRICE" -- and that's when all the feels start to come out. Gordon panics at first ("…that's physically impossible, I mean it's literally a physics problem"), but, typical engineer, within a few minutes he's ecstatically solving the seemingly unsolvable. Naturally, Cameron has the opposite reaction, seeing not a worthy hardware challenge, but a serious failure of imagination, and one that she signed on for without actually knowing what she was getting into. She and Gordon clash immediately over the project's basic worth, and he talks down to her for a few minutes before Bos and Debbie come to escort her to the 'clean room'. On top of having to contribute to an offensively boring project, she has to do so in a beige box of a room while a middle aged white dude lawyer sits there reading his fishing magazine watching everything she's doing. Confined creatively and physically, and stuck making a beige box in a beige box, Cameron confronts what is clearly her own personal hell.

Gordon's apparent contempt for Cameron implicates Donna, who is relieved and overjoyed when Gordon comes home in time for dinner to tell her that IBM is gone and the project is underway. As in the pilot, Donna only appears in this episode in relation to Gordon, and acts as his better judgment. Initially she charmingly insists that whoever they got to write the BIOS "must be the real deal if you're on board." But later, after she meets Cameron in the Cardiff ladies' room, Donna deduces that her husband is keeping a lot more than a colleague's gender from her. Donna is visibly mesmerized by Cameron, but is also attentive enough to her family's needs to not be distracted by her, or to trust her on sight. Delightfully incapable of coddling  Gordon, she responds to his eventual admission that he lied about Cameron and also didn't have very much say in her hiring with a wearily ominous, "Yeah, well…let's just hope J*e was right." The conflict between Gordon and Cameron manifests as tension between Gordon and Donna, introducing a strange but impossible to ignore dynamic between Cameron and Donna.

The dynamic between Cameron and J*e is a lot darker, and their interactions in this episode (which, no, are not romantic, so don't start or @ me) are difficult to watch. Cameron lasts less than a full work day in the clean room despite being legally mandated to be there, moving to some kind of concrete basement space replete with chainlink fence accents? (Every punk in Dallas is trying to set up shows there, I bet, every punk I know in present day NYC & Philadelphia would be.) There's this running not-joke of Cameron consistently not ever being where she's "supposed" to be; she isn't supposed to be at Cardiff at all according to Gordon, isn't supposed to be sleeping there instead of finding an apartment, and most of all she is never in her assigned workspace, much to the aggravation of her coworkers.

Which is how J*e realizes that he has no control over her, but damn if he doesn't try. He purposefully inserts himself into her space (…ew), repeatedly, to try to pressure her into following his plan of opening the IBM binder instead of writing her own BIOS from scratch, a criminal offense that could land her in prison. (Which, who would say no to that show? But, focus, Jamie.) He tries to sales pitch his way into forcing her to get on board, but then becomes really and truly rattled when he realizes that he unequivocally cannot smooth talk her, and also can't shame or exhaust her into humoring him or just going with it.  (Note his reaction to, "Wow, did you practice that in a mirror?" He starts to really lose his cool, and Cameron doesn't hesitate to interrupt or dismiss his spiel.) He invades her new workspace, talks down to and over her, and eventually yells at her, screaming in her face about 'getting in the game,' and to her credit, she doesn't cave. ("Why don't you go do whatever it is a product manager does?" Way to keep it sassy, C.)

What really are the odds of Cameron going to prison, or of J*e (or Gordon?) turning her in? I don't know, but it would be a convenient way to get rid of her, and J*e and Gordon do agree to let her go after she finishes the BIOS. J*e tells Gordon he plans to do this, interestingly, after Cameron manages to chase him out of her workspace by aggressively propositioning him, and going out of her way to make him very uncomfortable. (But that scene is worthy of its own post, if I ever have the wherewithal to write it, ACK.) Again, ICYMI: J*e does not like that he can't control her, and no, it's not hot, it's just disturbing.

Since Bos has been doing his job during all of this, he knows something fishy is happening. He's the only one who isn't completely shocked by IBM's unexpected but inevitable final offensive. J*e is forced to admit that he didn't foresee the raid, but even that isn't enough to knock any sense into him. If anything, by the time he, Gordon and Cameron confront each other in the Cardiff parking lot (the first time we see them all together since the beginning of the episode), J*e has fully doubled down on his need to regain control of this scheme, even if it requires a bewildering but admittedly spellbinding, shirtless monologue about how different and dangerous to the world the three of them are, and how much potential they have if they could just work together and rise above this new threat of Cardiff's recent financial decimation. There's no room for infighting; it's only a few days into the pc's development, and they've all already invested far too much, and begun to learn the real cost of doing business.

If nothing else, J*e's monologue convinces him, and when he gets to work the next morning, he seems elated to see Cameron and Gordon. But Cameron is there because she literally has nowhere else to go, and Gordon, stone-faced when J*e smiles at him, has no real choice. J*e can spin whatever story he wants, but Cameron and Gordon (and by extension Donna, though not onscreen with them here) know that they're really just stuck with him, and each other.

Stray bytes:

I didn't even get into the bathroom or dressing room scenes, what kind of camxdonna blogger am I?! I've said if before though: Cameron goes shopping after she meets and gets thoroughly cruised (!!!) by the unattainably perfect and deceptively prim Donna. Donna is already having an effect on her, if not a positive one.

Gordon, with his cushy job, nice house, cute kids, and utter gift of a wife calling Cameron an 'entitled school kid': L M A O

This scene is saved by Bos though imo, when he comes in and refers to Cameron as "Slim" <3 <3 <3

Not to get overly deep with it, but the way Cameron figures out what J*e is doing and unhesitatingly yells back at him suggests life experience to me, i.e., that she's used to being berated, but I'm thinking by her mom. For the record, I'd also completely buy Cameron responding by shutting down, because every survivor is different.

How satisfying is it when Gordon sees Cameron's work for the first time, and says it's 'brilliant'? Judge not, betch.

That very last scene though. “Is that right?” As always, Cameron sees right through you, dude.

"…Carl's a no." Bos is the both the show's moral compass and sole source of humor. That doesn't feel like coincidence.

Every time I watch the parking lot argument, I think of Carrie Bradshaw shouting, "Stop it! You're MIDDLE AGED!" at Big and Aidan. It also makes me think of, "I know cooler heads should prevail, but am I the only one who wants to see this?" It s too easy to imagine Cameron thinking both of those things, at the same time.