News: David Tennant gets married

Okay, normally here at Kantaloupe, we generally stay away from celebrity-stalking when doing News articles, but I thought I should kick off the year with something nice, and my only excuse for this is that it has to do with Doctor Who. Here goes!

Last night, David Tennant married Georgia Moffett, the daughter of previous Doctor Who actor Peter Davison. The ceremony was held in London, and newspaper sources said the couple tried to keep the ceremony as private as possible.

The two met when she was a co-star on Doctor Who, playing the Doctor’s Daughter in the episode of the same name. The couple have been planning to marry since Tennant proposed last Christmas, and they already have an eight-month-old daughter named Olivia.

When asked of whether he approves of David, Peter Davison said, ‘It’s great because he’s a genuinely nice guy.’ Tennant has stated that he grew up watching Davison’s Doctor, and that his episodes were some of his favourites.

We wish the new couple a Happy New Year, and many great times ahead. What do you think of this news. Should we cover more stories like this? Tell us in the comments.

Review: The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

WARNING: There may be spoilers below

A couple of days ago, on 25 December, the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special aired on BBC1. Here’s the plot summary and a couple of my thoughts.

In this episode, the Doctor is once again alone, and it seems he is keeping busy. The story starts with the Doctor crashing to Earth after having just escaped an exploding spaceship. He meets Madge Arwell, who helps him to get to his TARDIS and whom he promises to help later if she wishes for him to come.

Three years later, Mr Arwell’s plane has been shot down in World War II and Mrs Arwell brings her kids to a big house for Christmas, which has the Doctor as its caretaker. There are some great scenes where the Doctor shows the Arwells around the house. Matt Smith is again his crazy manic Doctor in these scenes, and the kids (who do not know that their father has died) warm up to him pretty quickly. On Christmas Eve, the Doctor has a big box under the Christmas tree for the kids, and the boy, Cyril, cannot resist venturing in ahead of Christmas morning. The Doctor and his sister Lily follow, and it’s here where we are introduced to the monster for this episode.

On the forest planet where the Doctor planned to bring the kids, there are little ‘ornaments’ on the trees, which hatch and grow quickly into tree people. The tree people kidnap Cyril. It’s around here that Madge, looking for her kids, enters the box. She encounters people from Androzani Major, who are looking to harvest the trees. Madge then finds out that her children are in danger, because the harvesters are sending acid rain to burn the forest and everything in it, to obtain fuel.

The tree people decide that the Doctor and Cyril are too weak to help them, and that Lily is strong but too young. There’s a funny moment where the Doctor is offended and says, ‘She’s strong and I’m weak… Interesting….’ Madge then manages to drive the harvesters’ walking-robot-thingy to the tower where Doctor and company are held. She is taken by the tree people, who say that she is strong enough to be their mothership, because she is female. All the stars on the trees in the forest gather in Madge’s head. They all then fly into the time vortex.

Here the kids learn that their father is dead, when Madge accidentally pictures his death and projects it in their escape-pod-thingy. But then when they land at home on Christmas morning, their father’s plane is revealed to have followed them through the time vortex! It was a little predictable that he would survive, but it was quite creative the way they did it, and it was a Christmas special, so it had to have a happy ending.

To finish off, the Doctor visits the ‘Ponds’ for Christmas dinner, and they’re quite obviously three years older. It is a little awkward between the Doctor and Amy at the doorstep, but they all warm up quickly, and the Doctor even sheds a little tear of happiness, to end the episode on a nice fuzzy note.

What did you think of the episode? How did it do compared to the other Christmas specials? Tell us in the comments!

Watch: Doctor Who Cast and Crew Music Videos

A couple of days ago, some music videos surfaced on YouTube that were made by the cast and crew back in 2010 to close the Russell T. Davies and David Tennant era. The first is a parody to the song I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers (whom David is a big fan of) and the second is a funny tribute song from John Barrowman, Catherine Tate, and David Tennant to Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner, who helped make Tennant’s grand 2005-2010 one of the (if not the) best periods in Doctor Who history.

Take a look using the links below:
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s4Czla6tXc&
The Ballad of Russell and Julie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giaMRyn47Xg&

I think many fans who watch this will think back to Tennant’s time which, although it was less than two years ago, seems so much like a bygone era. I only started watching in 2010, so I missed this time, though I’ve now watched all the Tennant episodes, and Tennant is my favourite Doctor.

What do you think of these videos. Do you also think that Tennant is the best Doctor to date? Tell us in the comments.

Task: Save Doctor Who Confidential

As you have probably heard, the BBC has decided to discontinue Doctor Who Confidential in an effort to cut costs. For many Doctor Who fans, Doctor Who Confidential was a great way to have a look into how the brilliant TV series was created. If you, like many other Whovians, do not agree with the discontinuation of DWC, you can do something about it.

There is an online petition which you can sign if you want to participate. It is free to sign, and it takes only about 5 seconds to do. Just put your full name into the bar, and you will be added to the signatures list. It does not take any other information. As of today (13 October) they have collected almost 42000 signatures! Why not add your name?

News: Doctor Who Confidential discontinued

This isn’t exactly breaking news, as this information has been out for quite a while. The BBC, in an effort to cut costs, has decided to discontinue airing Doctor Who Confidential, which always showed just after its respective episode on BBC3. In fact, Doctor Who Confidential was started along with Series 1 and has faithfully followed each and every episode since. Although it can’t really be said that Confidential was a huge success, it’s always had a decent enough viewership. There have even been petitions sent to the BBC by fans trying to make them reconsider. The BBC plans to have BBC3 air repeats of BBC1 programmes for its 7pm to 9pm slots. It would also like to have new original shows unique to the channel.

Although I don’t watch every episode as it airs, I’ve always liked DWC to be there, so I can see the behind-the-scenes of a particularly good episode. It seems that the BBC doesn’t really appreciate the viewership it’s got from Doctor Who, and is trying its hardest to get new shows in, when Doctor Who has given it so much over the past fifty years.

What do you think of this? Tell us in the comments.

Review: The Wedding of River Song

WARNING: There may be spoilers below

Yesterday, the last episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who was aired by the BBC. And what an episode it was! The Silence, Winston Churchill, and the Williams (or Ponds) all return, though this time Churchill isn’t exactly on the Doctor’s side. All the actors act brilliantly portraying themselves in an alternate universe where the Doctor does not die. Matt Smith also does a good job playing an investigative, Indiana Jones sort of Doctor, hat and all. He tries to meet all the people involved with the Silence, including Dorium (the fat blue guy), who is now separated from his body. He also (as we saw in Closing Time) tries to contact all his old friends, which makes for a little scene in which we discover that Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has passed away. The Doctor is now older, as Matt Smith nicely plays once again, giving a bit of a grimmer attitude to the Doctor.

The Silence are now taken prisoner by Amy and River, with Rory as their soldier. Here the Doctor learns that the eye patches are actually a way to keep from forgetting the Silence. At this point, it almost seems that they are doing fine. They do not know, however, that the Silence are perfectly capable of breaking out, which they do so once the Doctor enters the pyramid where Amy has her base. As they are escaping, they must take off their eye patches and run, but Rory is bravely willing to sacrifice himself. There is a great moment where Amy realises that she actually marries Rory in another universe, and she saves Rory, killing Madame Kovarian.

Next we get to the part that gives the episode its name: the wedding of River Song. Here, there is a funny part where Rory (re)learns that River is his daughter, and must give consent. It is also fitting that the Doctor and River get married holding the Doctor’s bow tie. The phrase ‘Rule 1: The Doctor Lies’ is repeated in this episode, just when we were all wondering how the Doctor would survive. I guess I shouldn’t say here how he does it, because I’ve droned on and spoiled a lot already. I also won’t tell you what the Question that can’t be asked is, but it’s in plain sight, and it’s one we’ll never know the answer to!

So have a look into it yourself, and tell us what you think! Although we’ll have a Christmas special, and perhaps an Easter one too, we won’t be seeing Series 7 until Fall 2012 (such a long wait!), where well see the Eleventh Doctor once again, along with Amy and Rory (although they may not be the main companions this time).

Watch: The Wedding of River Song

Tomorrow, the series 6 finale for Doctor Who will be aired by the BBC. We know already that this episode will include the return of the SIlence, Winston Churchill, and our little married couple. Here’s the synopsis from the BBC Press Office:

As the Doctor makes his final journey to the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah, he knows only one thing can keep the universe safe – his own death – in the concluding episode of this series of the time-travelling drama. But has he reckoned without the love of a good woman?

Based on the little preview we were given at the end of the last episode, and the teasers the Doctor Who website has been feeding us over the last week, I think this episode will end the season nicely. What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

Voir cet article en français!

Review: Closing Time

WARNING: There may be spoilers below

On Saturday, the latest episode of Doctor Who was aired by the BBC. I’ve finally been able to see it, and I can’t really say it was a great episode.

I never expected it to be great, because it is, and was meant to be, a sort of ‘calm before the storm’. It isn’t the first of a two-parter, so it’s just a standalone episode for the Doctor to go gallavanting around on his own. With the knowledge that he will soon die, he goes back to visit Craig, the guy we met back in The Lodger. It was nice to see him again, and a bit funny to see him trying to ‘cope’ with having to care for his baby son alone while his wife goes for a short holiday. With Craig, the Doctor later discovers that there are loads of Cybermen nearby. Because I am a new Whovian, I haven’t seen an earlier episode featuring the Cybermen, so I was a little confused about how evil these guys are supposed to be. This is just me, and I’m sure no one who’s seen loads of other Cybermen episodes can agree with me, but the Cybermen don’t seem so evil (according to this episode, anyway). This story never really conveyed how bad they – or I’m sure they – are, and when they are finally defeated, the is solution rather anticlimactic and unclever.

The episode definitely got exciting in the last five or so minutes, when the Doctor gets ready to go to Lake Silencio, where he will meet his fate, and we see River Song taken by the Silence. The last few minutes raise a lot of questions, and really gets you excited for the last episode, which I am really anticipating. Another thing we get to see (throughout the entire episode) is how old the Doctor feels now, underneath his youthful appearance and personality. I thought the way Matt Smith portrayed an aging Doctor was very good, especially in the scene where he talks to Craig’s son.

All in all, this episode wasn’t spectacular, but I don’t really think that’s what the producers meant it to be. It really gets you pumped up for the series finale, which I think is its main role in the series overall.

Watch: Closing Time

Another episode of Doctor Who will be showing tomorrow. Here’s the synopsis from today’s BBC Press Office Programme Information:

In the last few days of his life, the Doctor pays a farewell visit to his old friend Craig, and encounters a mystery, as the time-travelling drama continues. People are going missing, a silver rat scuttles in the shadows of a department store, and somewhere close by the Cybermen are waiting…

Baobab will not be posting this week because he is unavailable but he will be posting a review when he can. Are you going to see it? Leave us a comment!

Source: BBC

Site: Doctor Who and Harry Potter sections temporarily unavailable

I (Baobab) will be leaving the site temporarily. I do not know when I will be back, and until then, there won’t be any new articles and reviews about Doctor Who or Harry Potter. When I get back, I will do my best to catch up with the reviews and articles.

Sorry for any inconveniences this may cause.