Talkin' bout my r-r-regeneration!
The new Doctor Who aired on the BBC this weekend, which, in spite of what the BBC might want, means it was seen by people worldwide soon after. C'mon, people, same day broadcasts wouldn't kill you, would it? All TV networks have channels abroad, especially to other English-speaking countries, so why the delay? Especially for a series about time travel? :)
Without delving into plot specifics, the first thing that struck me was the new title sequence. The new titles still feature a tunnel of energy/light/whatever and the TARDIS, so that's good (though it did kind of make me think of what might happen if "Highlander" had a love-child with "The Neverending Story"), but the new theme lacks something, especially in the opening notes. You can see and hear it for yourself here. I feel it's lacking the base, beat, or low tones that were present in a lot of the others (the "Drums of War," if you will). It's like listening to a synthesized rock song where the drum part has been replaced by a computerized oboe or something. Matt Smith did a decent job for his first outing. Of course, Tennant needed time to grow into the role, so we'll see if Smith can do the same.
- The TARDIS: Does it make its usual VWORP-VWORP-VWORP sound when it's "flying" as well as when it materializes, or is it's flight considered to be done in a state of dematerialization (and thereby warranting the noise)?
- There's a sequence where the Doctor is trying to remember something he saw. If that happens every episode like a psychic flashback from "The Dead Zone," I'm going to be very annoyed.
- He ran all the way back to the TARDIS? Really? And Amy did the same?
- In the old days, the bits of the TARDIS console were made out of repurposed salvage because the budgets were low. Now it's done to get an "H.G. Wells by way of Make Magazine" effect.
- I would have been more interested if the last thing we'd seen in Amy's room was a voodoo doll of her "imaginary friend" with something horrid done to it; We haven't had a worrisome regular companion since Turlough, really.
- They used old footage from pre-Eccleston episodes for a montage of enemies and Doctors, which was a nice callback to the originals, though I only spied one alien that I was certain came from the pre-CGI era.
Not a bad episode, and it sets up whatever this season's flavor of "Bad Wolf"/"War Drums" is, though we've still got next to no clue what that'll be. And it does seem kind of odd to have foreshadowing for a time traveller, especially if a coming threat will "happen" to everything at once. And how many times can the whole of space/time be threatened before it starts to seem routine? Of course, I'm still watching, so I guess the answer is "not yet." :)
Stargate: Universe has aliens in their shows again. And while it was good to have the return of a semi-bad guy to the show, it kind of nullifies the whole "we've got to stay with the ship or we're stranded" thing. Unless an actor has stated they're departing the cast, chances are a method of catching up with the Destiny will be like seeing someone die in Star Trek: Voyager only to discover it was a time warp, parallel universe, or holodeck accident. But I hear we're going to see more of the ship soon, so I'm definitely in for that.
Of note for fans of the RedLetterMedia 7-part review of "The Phantom Menace," I've got good news: His review of "The Clone Wars" is finally up. Some caveats before I give everyone the linky, as it's not for all audiences. There's salty verbiage, comments of a procreative nature, and I think he often carries the "psycho-killer making reviews shows you his victim" stuff a tad too far and for too long. That said, it's the usual in-depth look at what went wrong with Star Wars. Part one is here, Part one is now available here, because someone at Cartoon Network doesn't have a sense of humor and/or doesn't get how fair use works, and the rest of 'em can be had at his "webzone" on YouTube (in the box on the right-hand side of the page).
And another Terry Pratchett miniseries/movie is on the way! Here's the trailer for 'Going Postal,' one of two novels he's written (the other is 'Making Money') that I think need to be part of college economics courses. I can't wait to see the Mail Sorting Engine in action. Now where's that 'Night Watch' series I keep hearing rumors about? We need something to help us nerds get our Brit-Fix when 'Doctor Who' isn't on the air!
Whew! That's quite a lot of geekTV in one go. It must be sweeps week on the internet or something. In other points of interest, we've got:
- Until this guy mentioned it, I never noticed how much teal and orange is making its way into movies.
- I don't post many optical illusions, but this one was kind of nifty: This is not a spiral.
- An antenna piece (and its friends) are all that were needed to make a truly creepy giant Lego spider.
- Last post, I mentioned the retro-episode of "Fringe" which took place in the 1980's. The opening credits reflected this time period as well, and the guy who put them together describes his technique. There's a link at the bottom of his posting that shows the normal credits, followed by his 80's version.
- GlueFo 3 is the third in an asteroids-type game where you gather small chunks of asteroids to fling at larger ones for money and upgrades (and more shootable bits of asteroid).
- Not since I read a blog about hanging Furbys upside-down and exposing them to odd noises have I seen technology tortured like two iPhones running a voice-parroting app called 'Talking Carl.'
- It's seeing stuff like this that keep me away from the ocean. Sure, sure, it's only some kind of kelp. That's what the "experts" say right after a whole coastal town disappears and the only survivor keeps gibbering about "he who sleeps beneath the waves."
- I don't think I ever played the first game in this title, but The Flood Runner 2 is pretty spiffy! More obstacles ways to accelerate appear the longer you go.