"Perhaps he's coming back." "Oh, that would make my Christmas."
I had every intention of coming home this evening and knocking a few writing tasks off of my to-do list, including some final words on My Doctor prior to his, y'know, Thingummie, and then wrap up the night with the New Year's special. Unfortunately, what wound up happening instead was I came home, devoured every piece of chocolate in the house, took half a bottle of Motrin, and fell asleep during the Orbiting Giants bit of MirrorMask. I managed to salvage a bit of productivity (by my standards, at least) when, after Mum woke me for dinner, we finally watched "Double Date" and "Robin 101." Maybe we'll actually get caught up in time to watch it with the rest of the world this season. Maybe.
And, because I feel it needs saying but wouldn't necessarily fit in with what I plan to write about tomorrow, and because I'm still waiting for my hair to dry before I finally go to bed for real, here are a couple of brief and spoilery comments about the 2009 Doctor Who Christmas special:
1) I was pretty much 100% against bringing Simm!Master back, but I am actually really enjoying this. From that first instance of his cackling, bearded face, I knew this was going to be an entirely different role than in S3/29, much more of a marriage between the over-the-top lunatic of then and Classic Masters. If part of my discussion of Ten was going to be about how he ties together aspects of all Doctors past and present (well, present as of "End of Time Part One," at least), then certainly this Simm!Master v. 2.0 combines elements of all Masters we have seen, from Delgado to Beevers and up through his Saxon-y incarnation, and that first flashed close-up reminiscent of "Sound of Drums" benefitted immensely from the rubbish beard. I was ever so slightly distracted throughout by the fact that he had kind of a Tim Bisley thing going on with the bleached hair and the scruff and the jeans and hoodie, but Simm was just perfect, balancing the psychosis and the camp and the history with The Doctor much more deftly than before. And whoever came up with the black hoodie cowl is my hero several times over.
2) Wilf Mott is also my hero. Like, SO MUCH. I can't officially call him a Companion by my standards - at least not yet; there's still a chance, I suppose - but I'm thinking I may waive the "to a different time and/or place than hir own" requirement in light of his being amazing beyond comprehension. And if I do, Jamie's just going to have to thank his lucky stars Wilf didn't get more screen time, because Favourite Companion would likely have been his otherwise. I've always loved him, even back when we only knew him as that old bloke who refused to scarper off at Christmas, but he truly got to shine this time 'round. I acidentally spoiled for myself about two weeks ago that he and Donna would be back, but I had no idea that he would be getting credit-billed amounts of screen time, and it was the most delightful Hogswatch gift I got this year. The bit in the diner is almost certainly my favourite scene from anything released in 2009, and that's no less because of Bernard Cribbins than because of David Tennant. I still want for Ten what Three had and for Eleven what Six had, but, if it had to be a character who wasn't going to continue on as a Companion there with him at the end, you couldn't ask for a better one than Wilf.
I'm becoming increasingly certain that he will not survive the finale, that he will be the final loss for Ten, but I think I'm okay with that.
3) The first time we actually saw Timothy Dalton, I thought "Why is he wearing Roberts!Master's outfit?" And then I discovered why. Have I mentioned lately that I buggering well LOATHE the Time Lord High Council? You can very definintely count me among those who liked them better dead than alive. ARGH@#(QIJW#CVQ@#)(U)J$%^_OOKLH
(Mind you, I'm speaking specifically of the High Council here. I'm not saying I want all Time Lords and Gallifreyans dead for all time, never to be seen again. I just wouldn't mind, y'know, NOT having around the people who killed Two, grounded Three, tried to assassinate Four and Five, prevented Six from saving Peri, and used Seven through Thirteen as a bargaining chip in their dirty dealings with The Valeyard.)
And, because I feel it needs saying but wouldn't necessarily fit in with what I plan to write about tomorrow, and because I'm still waiting for my hair to dry before I finally go to bed for real, here are a couple of brief and spoilery comments about the 2009 Doctor Who Christmas special:
1) I was pretty much 100% against bringing Simm!Master back, but I am actually really enjoying this. From that first instance of his cackling, bearded face, I knew this was going to be an entirely different role than in S3/29, much more of a marriage between the over-the-top lunatic of then and Classic Masters. If part of my discussion of Ten was going to be about how he ties together aspects of all Doctors past and present (well, present as of "End of Time Part One," at least), then certainly this Simm!Master v. 2.0 combines elements of all Masters we have seen, from Delgado to Beevers and up through his Saxon-y incarnation, and that first flashed close-up reminiscent of "Sound of Drums" benefitted immensely from the rubbish beard. I was ever so slightly distracted throughout by the fact that he had kind of a Tim Bisley thing going on with the bleached hair and the scruff and the jeans and hoodie, but Simm was just perfect, balancing the psychosis and the camp and the history with The Doctor much more deftly than before. And whoever came up with the black hoodie cowl is my hero several times over.
2) Wilf Mott is also my hero. Like, SO MUCH. I can't officially call him a Companion by my standards - at least not yet; there's still a chance, I suppose - but I'm thinking I may waive the "to a different time and/or place than hir own" requirement in light of his being amazing beyond comprehension. And if I do, Jamie's just going to have to thank his lucky stars Wilf didn't get more screen time, because Favourite Companion would likely have been his otherwise. I've always loved him, even back when we only knew him as that old bloke who refused to scarper off at Christmas, but he truly got to shine this time 'round. I acidentally spoiled for myself about two weeks ago that he and Donna would be back, but I had no idea that he would be getting credit-billed amounts of screen time, and it was the most delightful Hogswatch gift I got this year. The bit in the diner is almost certainly my favourite scene from anything released in 2009, and that's no less because of Bernard Cribbins than because of David Tennant. I still want for Ten what Three had and for Eleven what Six had, but, if it had to be a character who wasn't going to continue on as a Companion there with him at the end, you couldn't ask for a better one than Wilf.
I'm becoming increasingly certain that he will not survive the finale, that he will be the final loss for Ten, but I think I'm okay with that.
3) The first time we actually saw Timothy Dalton, I thought "Why is he wearing Roberts!Master's outfit?" And then I discovered why. Have I mentioned lately that I buggering well LOATHE the Time Lord High Council? You can very definintely count me among those who liked them better dead than alive. ARGH@#(QIJW#CVQ@#)(U)J$%^_OOKLH
(Mind you, I'm speaking specifically of the High Council here. I'm not saying I want all Time Lords and Gallifreyans dead for all time, never to be seen again. I just wouldn't mind, y'know, NOT having around the people who killed Two, grounded Three, tried to assassinate Four and Five, prevented Six from saving Peri, and used Seven through Thirteen as a bargaining chip in their dirty dealings with The Valeyard.)