No Taste For Carrot Juice: Why The BBC Programmed Whovians To Hate The Sixth Doctor

 by Shannon Lush

The 'Doctor Who' actor whose television tenure was, to use his own words, 'thwarted in it's progression', has in recent years been given renewed life and a character re-appraisal with Big Finish Audio...but why do so many Whovians continue to disdain this incarnation? Let's explore the possibilities...

Big Finish Strikes Back: The 'Doctor Who' Audio Trilogy Inspired By Star Wars

by Shannon Lush

Big Finish Productions, the audio play specialists who create dazzling new adventures for classic Doctors, have for many years now squeezed every last penny out of their licensing agreement with BBC, cranking out excellent stories that rival, and in many ways surpass, the current television series. Taking full advantage of the 'Doctor Who' actors under contract to them, they have produced so many stories for the Eighth Doctor that it makes a mockery of the fact that incarnation has only appeared on screen twice in almost twenty years. The much-maligned Sixth Doctor has, under Big Finish's careful guidance and with the benefit of simply superior scripting, become a jewel in their audio range crown. Fans who have worn out their copies of multi-Doctor team-up stories have been given the gift of stories featuring several Doctors together, and in the case of the recent release of 'The Light At The End', all classic Doctors together. Simply put, Big Finish produces material that demonstrates what love and passion for 'Doctor Who' can, when focused and determined, accomplish.

Time lords And Time for the Lord: Religion In Doctor Who

By Shannon Lush

The relationship between religion and science fiction has always been one of mutual exclusivity. The very nature of popular science fiction, with its usual reliance on scientific technology and principals, seems to preclude the presence of real-world religious belief. Certainly, the three most popular science fiction television and film franchises, namely 'Doctor Who', 'Star Wars', and 'Star Trek' ,have all seemed to decide that, in their fictional universes, religious belief, specifically the Judeo-Christian concept of God, is simply not a concept worth exploring in great detail, if at all. Each franchise was created from the ground up by hundreds, if not thousands, of contributors from all walks of life. It is safe to assume that, somewhere along the way, by intentional design on the part of the initial creators of each franchise, an unwritten rule was put in place to avoid the topic of real-world religion altogether where and when possible.

The Anniversary Of Destiny: 11 Doctors, 11 audio stories!

By Shannon Lush

Big Finish Productions, keepers of the flame of the original series, have consistently produced unique audio play content that expands and builds upon the Whoniverse as originally presented in the classic TV series. From ‘what if’ speculative adventures in their ‘Doctor Who Unbound’ range to seasons of adventures featuring Romana II on Gallifrey, Big Finish have produced material that cannot fail to delight and entertain dedicated Whovians. Breathing new life into old characters and providing adventures for classic Doctors undreamed of in their televised tenure has become a company hallmark.

The single limitation, if one could call it that, of Big Finish has been, until recently, their license to produce ‘Doctor Who’ content only as it pertained to the classic series. Due to the nature of television licensing, content featuring the New Series could not be produced…until now. Partnering with fellow audio licensee Audio Go, Big Finish have, in addition to their excellent multi-Doctor story ‘The Light At The End’, produced an eleven-part series of stories entitled ‘Destiny Of The Doctor’, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

Diamonds Are Forever: Review Of Big Finish Audio Episode ‘Grand Theft Cosmos’

By Shannon Lush

Doctor: Eighth (Paul McGann)

Companion(s): Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)

Writer (s):  Eddie Robson

Director: Barnaby Edwards

Producer: Nicholas Briggs

Duration: 1 episode, 60 minutes.

Following on from the problematic ‘Skull Of Sobek’ which I reviewed in the previous entry, the next release in production order, ‘Grand Theft Cosmos’, is, quite simply, refreshing.  The story is simple;  in 19^th  century Sweden, The Doctor and Lucie are traveling on a miracle of the ages, an electric train. While Lucie grumbles over being forbidden to bring her iPod for fear of cultural contamination, The Doctor engages in conversation with an expert in the works of the artist Claudio Tardelli. Turns out Tardelli is more than he seems;  he’s an alien and his work contains dangerous by-products that can and do harm the  fabric of the universe. The Doctor has been attempting to suppress the man’s work across time and space, going so far as to ensure that is continually discredited. But now his work is being snapped up by the King of Sweden. The expert, Simonsson, has been charged by His Majesty to hunt for Tardelli’s little-known and rare work. The Doctor realizes that he is responsible for creating a collector’s market for Tardelli’s work, given the man disappeared in the 17^th century.

Canon And Crocodiles: Review of Big Finish Audio ‘The Skull Of Sobek’

Doctor: Eighth (Paul McGann)
Companion(s): Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)
Writer(s): Marc Platt
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Producer: Nicholas Briggs
Duration:  1 episode,  60 minutes.

Paul McGann was the first ‘new’ Doctor of my early Whovian days. In 1994, having completely caught up to the past 31 years of televised adventures (with the assistance of the telesnap archives printed in ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ to fill in the missing stories, and a full devotion to the Target novelizations to fill in the rest), I eagerly followed along with each item of news regarding what would eventually become the FOX Television Movie. Many Whovians malign that movie; they appeared to have missed the entire point of its existence as a ‘backdoor pilot’ in hopes of launching a new series. I didn't mind the oh-so-shocking kiss between The Doctor and his companion Grace;  it was a wonderful, innocent moment of two people expressing joy. I didn't mind the reference to the chameleon circuit as a ‘cloaking device’, to liberally borrow a term from ‘Star Trek’. After all, the Borg certainly had much in common with the Cybermen, so turnabout is fair play. In fact, both myself and Steve Lake, the other host of ‘The Whostorian’ podcast, will point to this single movie as the best place for people not familiar in the least with ‘Doctor Who’ to obtain a crash course. Call it selfish on my part, but one of the reasons I do so is the hope that the old adage of ‘you always remember your first Doctor’ for Whovians will ring true, and we can mint new fans of Paul McGann’s wonderful Eighth Doctor close to twenty years after the character’s first appearance.

'Titanic' Connections in 'Doctor Who' Fact And Fiction

by Shannon Lush

Throughout its 50 years, 'Doctor Who' has mined hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pre-existing songs, films, books, oral and written traditions, and established world history for source material. From the 'historical', stories of the First Doctor's era that would see the TARDIS crew encounter well-known figures from history such as Emperor Nero and King Richard the Lionheart, to the Jason and the Argonauts-parallels to the Fourth Doctor story 'Underworld', the adventures of The Doctor have in some way or other been inspired by outside elements.

Torchwood: Children Of Mirth

By Shannon Lush

This particular entry will be delving into (it’s fair to admit, obsessing over), Torchwood, the ill-fated spinoff series of Doctor Who. Before I ascend too far up the ladder of vitriol, reigning down buckets of Whovian spittle all the way, a few admissions…

First, I never particularly liked anything to do with this series.  When the project was revealed, I felt the concept of a secretive, alien-fighting’ band of government agents was served quite well by UNIT and any newly-created group of like-minded characters were nothing more than watered-down versions. For over thirty years in Doctor Who and just as long within spinoff media, it was well established that UNIT were the world’s foremost defenders from the threat of alien incursion. If any organization was deserving of a televised spinoff from Doctor Who, it is UNIT. Indeed, Big Finish Audio has created excellent spin-off adventures featuring established and new characters. One such adventure even provided David Tennant his first Doctor Who credit, years before he gulped a cup of tea and discovered his fighting hand.

We'll Rant And We'll Roar

by Shannon Lush

This particular entry of the blog is going to be a little different, primarily as it will basically detail my response to a recent review of The Whostorian Podcast found on iTunes. The reviewer quite nicely provided our humble little podcast with a 4 out of 5 star review, which is not only appreciated it's definitely a big help to us, as every comment and review on iTunes (and, indeed, everywhere else we are found online) helps us stand out and gain listeners. So, to this reviewer and to all who have sampled our show and associated media output such as this blog, a hearty 'thank you'. Both Steve and myself continue to perform the podcast as a labour of pure love to both 'Doctor Who' the franchise and to fellow Whovians, and feedback, even if it's negative, is greatly appreciated. 

'Who And Me': Former producer Barry Letts's audiobook review

by Shannon Lush

As an old-school Whovian, I am well accustomed to searching high and low for 'Doctor Who' goodies. Pulling tatty copies of  'Doctor Who' comic books from dusty boxes at comic shops, finding a battered and weather-beaten Mel action figure from a garage sale, and traveling on two buses across two cities in order to track down Target novelizations are all escapades I've endured, and enjoyed, to build a humble collection of merchandise. Canada in the 1980s and 1990s was not a country overflowing with 'Doctor Who' merchandise, and Whovians worth their salt hunted like Slitheens high and low for whatever they could unearth.

Episode 66 - The 2nd Greatest Show In The Galaxy

listen to ‘Episode 66 - The 2nd Greatest Show In The Galaxy’ on Audioboo

'World (Re)Shaping With Grant Morrison

by Shannon Lush

As promised a very long time ago now (sorry readers, been awhile since I've been able to sit down and compose a proper blog entry review for this page, I'll try and be more prolific now that we all are impatiently waiting for the 50th Anniversary episode), it's time to delve into 'Doctor Who' comics review. We'll begin with tales from the current rights holder of the property for comics, IDW Comics, who in addition to publishing an on-going series featuring the current Matt Smith Doctor (I've been catching up on some of them, so expect a review soon), also produce special issues such as the recent 'Star Trek The Next Generation/Doctor Who' crossover story 'Assimilation Squared' which Steve (rightly) slagged to pieces on 'The Whostorian' podcast. To add to this creative output, they also print a title, 'Doctor Who Classic Comics', that exclusively presents material reprinted from 'Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly/Magazine' ongoing comic strip, and it is an issue of that series we will be reviewing this time around.

Podcasting 101

This week for the Whostorian blog I thought I'd go off on a different tangent. I've been reading some articles and listening to a couple of shows by other members of The 76th Street Network talking about what process goes into making their podcasts and what equipment they use. So this week, instead of talking Doctor Who, I'd like to talk about podcasting in general and the learning process that went into bringing the show to where it is today. 

Steve's guide to New Whovians

by Stylin' Steve

As I said on the podcast, this week my friend Gerry asked me "What is Doctor Who and why is it so popular these last few years." Word for word, here is my answer;

"Doctor Who is a British Sci-Fi show that's been on for the past 50 years. It's about an alien time traveler who calls himself The Doctor and his adventures with different people tagging along."

The Pages Of Time: A Brief History Of 'Doctor Who' Comic Books

by Shannon Lush

Note: Due to technical oddities beyond my control, I won't be reviewing 'The Minister Of Chance' podcast featuring 'Doctor Who' alumnus at all now, sorry. If you enjoyed it, then perhaps, if you ask nicely, Steve Lake will handle a review of the series on 'The Whostorian' podcast itself. It's available on iTunes for free download, and their twitter account is @MinisterChance. I support them, so should you!

..and now, we return to our regularly scheduled blog entry, already in progress....

Elvis Tunes And Area 51: A Review Of 'Dreamland' Animated Webcast

By Shanon Lush

December is the month for 'Doctor Who' fandom to flex their democratic muscles, it seems. Fans can vote for the current series on TV.com's 'best of television' poll, as well as give their collective nod likewise to The People's Choice Awards. Former Sixth Doctor Colin Baker sadly fell short in his quest to be crowned this season's winner of the British reality TV series 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here', though he 'did' manage a few respectable vote tallies during some of the individual contests. While Americans were occupied last month with deciding who would be the 'most powerful man in the world', Whovians this month are busy voting in more important matters, helping to secure 'Doctor Who' in its rightful place as a pop culture institution. Besides, every card-carrying Whovian worth their TARDIS key chains already 'know' the good Doctor is 'really' the most important in the world, or even the universe.

Who A'Ween: Cryptids, Monsters, And Legendary Creatures In 'Doctor Who'

by Shannon Lush

Writer's note: This particular blog entry was patched together, must like Frankenstein's Monster, over a period of time. For several days, I had suffered from debilitating stomach flu, and was only able to write sporadically, if it all. Thus, if some of the narrative appears disjointed at times, please factor in, it was written at various times through a period of almost two weeks. Thanks, hope you enjoy it, and Happy Halloween!

For a television series such as 'Doctor Who', based on the premise of a time traveling alien who encounters and opposes all manner of devious and demonic monsters, the idea of utilizing classic monsters as antagonists 'should' have been a slam-dunk. After all, the modest budgets allocated each season were stretched to their limits in creating new and unique alien monsters every week; why not present home-grown versions of classic cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Dracula, etc.? Not only would it save valuable exposition, as the vast majority of the viewing audience were no doubt familiar on 'some' level with these legendary creatures, but the design work was, essentially, already done for the production team, as the basic visual framework for these characters existed within the public mind already. On paper, then, it is odd that more stories involving these creatures were not pitched, and even odder that there was such a relatively small amount of appearances that did make it to the screen.

Why I Hate The Eleventh Doctor

by Shannon Lush

As the leaves wither and die on the trees and the kids prepare their costumes, I contemplated a Halloween-themed blog this week. Then I decided, since many have cause to question my reasoning, to detail, finally, the 10 reasons I hate the Eleventh Doctor, instead.

'Some Of Them Die': Companions Who Get Killed

By ShannonLush

This week, in honour of the on-screen deaths of Amy and Rory in the mid-season finale episode 'The

Angels Take Manhattan', we take a special look back at the companions of the Doctor who have been

killed, directly or indirectly as a result of traveling with the Timelord.

The Moment Has Been Prepared For, Part Two: From Question Mark Apparel To Half-Human..On My Mother's Side!

by Shannon Lush

Last time, we took a peek at the first four actors to play The Doctor on TV, and appropriately, we ended on Tom Baker, the most popular actor to this day. This week, we shift our focus to the glitzy, superficial 1980's, and we will end off on the era that could have been, the so-called 'American Doctor Who', headed by Paul McGann.