It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Unless you're not a Whovian and/or have been living under a rock for the past week or so, you'll know that Doctor Who starts back in the UK, America, and Canada on Saturday night. Australia, on the other hand, will not see it grace our screens until September 8th. HOWEVER. The ABC announced yesterday that they will be putting the new episodes onto iView less than an hour after they air in the UK.

Yes, that's Tom Hiddleston doing a fangirl flail. Source

This is insanely exciting, as it means I don't have to avoid the entire internet for the better part of a week, trying to stay away from spoilers. (I should point out that I will NOT be getting up at 5.10am on Sunday mornings to watch it. As much as I love Doctor Who, I can wait until a civilised hour, thankyouverymuch)

ANYWAY. In honour of this brilliant news, I hereby present you with a list:

Kirsti's Ten Favourite Episode of New Who (to date)

1. Tooth and Claw
Where I feel like Christopher Eccleston took a while to settle into his role as the Ninth Doctor, David Tennant dove in with fanboy glee, and had the Tenth Doctor to perfect by his second episode. As much as I love New Earth (seriously, how can you go past Cassandra??), Tooth and Claw is my favourite episode. Werewolves + Queen Victoria + Tennant being Scottish (albeit briefly) + the founding of Torchwood + an enormous diamond + kung fu monks + the chemistry between the Doctor and Rose = OMG SO AMAZING.

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2. Partners in Crime
A close second to Tooth and Claw for me is Partners in Crime. Obviously, I very much like the idea of being able to lose a kilo overnight EVERY night. I also love the scene where Donna sees the Doctor through the window and they start miming at each other. Kills me every time. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the Adipose are completely adorable. And to finish, that squee-worthy moment of "OMG ROSE FOUND A WAY BACK!!!"

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3. Blink
This episode terrifies me. I really want to go and take photos in the cemetery not far from my house, because there are all kinds of interesting monuments in there. But there are statues of angels, and NO THANK YOU. That said, the Weeping Angels are fantastic villains. And Carey Mulligan carries this episode fantastically well. It's a rare show in which you can put all the main characters in the background for an entire episode and still have it work brilliantly.

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4. Vincent and the Doctor
This is basically the only episode I loved from season 5. Sure, there were others that I enjoyed and that I'd happily go back and watch again. But THIS? I could watch every day without getting sick of it. It's written by Richard Curtis, the man behind The Vicar of Dibley, Mr Bean, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Love Actually. And once again, he delivers that perfect mix of humour and "OH GOD, RIGHT IN THE FEELS". Tony Curran is truly phenomenal as Vincent van Gogh, especially during the scene in the Louvre.

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5. The Runaway Bride
This is the only Christmas special to date that I've loved. Set seconds after the heartbreak of Doomsday, it gave us Donna Noble and the lines "Santa's a ROBOT!!" and "With this ring, I thee biodamp", showed us how the Doctor really does need someone to keep his humanity around, and taught us the importance of pockets. Especially pockets that are bigger on the inside. Also, the Doctor's not from Mars. Just in case you missed that.

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6. The Doctor's Wife
I seem to have this thing that my favourite episodes of the Moffat era are written by...Not Moffat. This was hands down my favourite episode from the giant mindfuck that was season 6 (PLEASE let season 7 be better. Pretty pretty please...), and it was written by Neil Gaiman. It's phenomenally beautiful and a little bit terrifying, with a wee dash of hilarious and a dose of heartbreak. You know, everything you expect from Neil Gaiman! Plus, Suranne Jones is phenomenal as the oddball Idris.

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7. The Empty Child
This is my favourite episode from the Christopher Eccleston era. It's not only completely creepy (I once walked through a supermarket and heard a small child saying "Mummy? Mummy? Mummy??", and basically ran for the exit), but it's the episode that finally sold me on Doctor Who. Prior to this point, I thought it was okay, but not great. From here onwards? Watch *ALL* the episodes! I swear it had nothing whatsoever to do with the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness, although he certainly didn't hurt!! (Seriously, Moffat. Can you bring Barrowman back please???)

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8. Closing Time
Another one from season 6, and an episode that is basically Amy and Rory free. It was almost like a palate cleanser after...well, all the episodes in between The Doctor's Wife and this. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I love Gavin and Stacey, so it was great to see James Corden back again. The idea of the Doctor working in a shop is pretty fantastic, but my personal favourite thing from this episode is obviously Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All. It'll never not be funny.

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9. The Shakespeare Code
Because I'm a giant history nerd, I love the back-in-time-meeting-famous-figures-from-history episodes more than the what-whacky-future-can-we-come-up-with-this-time episodes. (This is probably already apparent from the inclusion of Tooth and Claw, Vincent and the Doctor, and The Empty Child) So an episode in which the Doctor both discusses his love of Harry Potter and also meets Shakespeare was always going to be a win in my book.

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10. Silence in the Library
While the Vashta Nerada are completely creepifying, how would I not love an episode that includes the biggest library in history, a crapton of books, David Tennant, and archaeologists?? I mean, come on. It basically has "Hey Kirsti, check this out!" written all over it. It also marks the arrival of River Song, back in the days before Moffat destroyed her character completely. SIGH.

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Honourable mentions:
Doomsday - It's amazing, but OH GOD SO MUCH UGLY CRYING
Journey's End - Again, completely amazing. The Doctor travelling with everyone at once. The Donna Doctor. Ten Too (aka the Metacrisis). But SO MUCH UGLY CRYING PART II.
The Unicorn and the Wasp - I love the international jewel thief part and the Agatha Christie part and the "How is Harvey Wallbanger one word????" part. The giant wasp bit was kind of bonkers, even by Doctor Who standards. But the rest of it is fantastic.

So. Questions for you:
1. What is your favourite episode?
2. Are you kind of relieved that Amy and Rory are leaving?
3. On a scale of 1 to Kermit flail, how excited are you about season 7?
4. If you don't watch Doctor Who, why the hell not?

K xx

101 in 1001 #94

And so we come to the last day of NaBloPoMo. I'm sure you're all rather relieved that I won't be clogging your Google Readers every day from now on! And that I didn't resort to entire posts featuring nothing but gifs of David Tennant and Jake Gyllenhaal. WARNING: While I won't be going QUITE that far today, it is going to get a *wee* bit Tennant-y in here. 

For several years now, I've had to put up with listen to my BFF Sara telling me all about how awesome Doctor Who is. And then when I started working on the gallery, I discovered there are an *awful* lot of Whovians working in the museum sector. So it was only a matter of time before I caved. Task #94 was to watch Doctor Who, starting from the 2005 revamp.

So when I moved back to Melbourne in July and signed up for Quickflix (and seriously, if you guys still rent DVDs the conventional way, WHY??? Also, Quickflix don't know I exist. I just think they're awesome!), one of the first things in my queue was Doctor Who. I'd actually seen one or two episodes over the years when there was nothing else on TV, but out of sequence it was never compelling enough for me to add it to my TV schedule.

The Bloggess (and if you don't read her blog, GO AND DO IT NOW BECAUSE SHE'S AWESOME) started watching Doctor Who earlier in the week, and I think she said it best:

EXACTLY

I made it through series 1 and part of series 2 before I left for the US. I *may* have flailed with fan girl excitement when Lyndsy was showing me how to use Netflix streaming and Doctor Who was available. I made it through the rest of series 2 and most of series 3 in Denver. An excellent use of the $1300 airfare, I think!!

I haven't QUITE finished series 6 yet (and thank you, Steven Moffat, for the mind fuck that is series 6...), but suffice to say I've added Whovian to my already lengthy list of fandoms (which also includes Scooby, Salt Gunner, Browncoat, and Gleek).

I love it all, from Christopher Eccleston:

"I bring you air from my lungs!" Also, Billie's face is priceless. Also also, source.

To Matt Smith:

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Though David Tennant will always be my favourite, hands down:

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I love it from the brilliance of the Neil Gaiman episode in series 6:

The look on Matt Smith's face is hilarious. Also, source

To the creepiness of The Weeping Angels:

Sorry if this makes anyone have a seizure/pee their pants. Also, source

And I'm doing a lot of internal fan girl squeeing over the fact that my parents have agreed to buy me this for Christmas:

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(Also, if you live in Australia, you can order that from Amazon UK for £45 with free shipping, rather than paying the $287 that it costs here. And the one from Amazon is Region 4 compatible!!)

In short(ish), Doctor Who is best summed up by John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness:

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Allons-y!

Please tell me I'm not alone in my nerdy Whovian fan girl corner?? Also, thoughts on classic Who - worth it or not?
K xx