Doctor Who 6x04 The Doctor's Wife

Hello Sexy

Of all the episodes for Series Six this was the one I was most anticipating. Not only was it written by Neil Gaiman, but the title showed promise. But did the broadcast episode live up to expectations?

As far as I'm concerned, the answer is a definite yes! For those hoping we were going to meet Susan's mother, this must have been a dissapointment. But for those like the notion of exploring the Doctor/Tardis relationship, then this is made of win. A lot of 90s fan fiction including Toy Story by Lawrence Miles has explored similar ideas, but nothing quite like this has ever been shown on public television, unless you count the exploration of the environment in Castrovalva.

Some older, stuffy fans will groan about the continuity. They'll say that this is like exploring the wardrobe instead of Narnia. Personally I think this kind of story is great because it inspires children to invent their own worlds and mythologies. Stories like Logopolis and Castrovalva, whatever their viewing merit, inspired new generations of fans. If there is any kind of New Adventures range it'll be inspired by stories like this.

Neil Gaiman has written a love letter to Doctor Who. It's self indulgent, yes, but like a big sugary cake, it tastes delicious!

10/10

Doctor Who - Movie Rumours

People are once again talking about a Doctor Who Movie. At the moment there's no script, actors or anything, so it's still really just an idea. A Doctor Who Movie has been in discussion for ages, and could easily fall into development hell.

What would a Doctor Who film actually be like? At best it could be an exciting family adventure film, like The Adventures of Tintin or the Harry Potter series. At worst it could be a bloated cash cow like the Pokemon or Transformers movies. The nature of the Tardis means the film could be set anywhere in time and space, in any number of genres. Where would a scriptwriter even begin to plan a storyline?

There's also the question of whether a movie would actually benefit the TV series it came from. Tie in films like Pokemon or the 1995 Power Rangers film were both turning points for their respective franchises, as each became less popular after the film showed, possibly because of the overkill in popularity and merchandising.

I personally feel that a movie franchise would work better once the TV series has come to an end, like the Star Trek films of the 80s, which featured the original cast and crew, and were able to develop in their own way, without being constrained by what the TV show was doing, like the Next Generation 90s films were.

Still, I'm cautiously optimistic. If anything comes from this film, I hope it's at least halfway decent.