ten things i heart about doctor who
Sep. 22nd, 2007 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prof_pangaeaso, yah, obviously i am probably two weeks behind everyone else on this, yet i update about once every two to six months lately so i am not overly minding that. SO.
10 things i heart about doctor who
thing01: the theme
so when i were about sixteen a friend (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kels ) gave me an album called "sci-fi's greatest hits vol. 1: final frontiers", which was a compilation of theme songs from various science fiction shows since the 60's. the fact that it was produced as some sort of official sci-fi channel merchandise explains the inclusion of such hits as "welcome to paradox" and "mission: genesis" (unless you watched the sci-fi channel in the late nineties you do not and should not have any idea of what those things are, don't worry. so, no one other than me and violetisblue, watching MST3K on saturday mornings). other than including seriously weird versions of the star trek and st:tng themes (midi??), and THREE separate versions of the theme to lost in space, it also had one of the weirdest and most beautiful things i had ever heard, courtesy of ron grainer. being a godless american (and one without access to the fabled "intarwebs"), i think this was my introduction to the Best Thing Ever Made. from the liner notes:
Some of the more interesting television science fiction of the era came from Britain, whose decidedly low-budget shows often attracted loyal (if not large) cult followings in the U.S. The celebrated Dr. Who [yah, he spelled it wrong], first seen in the U.K. in 1963 and widely exported to the U.S. beginning about 15 years later, was a low-budget sci-fi serial which made up in imagination what it lacked in special effects. The enigmatic Doctor was a 750 year-old alien from the planet Gallifrey who assumed human form as he wandered through time and space, outwitting assorted enemies of peace and justice. His time machine was the TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension in Space"), which rather resembled a London phone booth; his companions, one or two adults or children (the series was supposed to be educational); and his most frequent foes, the fearsome Daleks. Seven different actors portrayed the Doctor over the years, in more than 700 episodes, shown in the U.S. on local stations, on PBS, and in the '90's on the Sci-Fi Channel.
being a sucker for anything with archetypes, time travel, "imagination", or supposed educational value, i wanted to watch the thing IMMEDIATELY, of course. but it must have been long after sci-fi stopped broadcasting it, as i had to content myself for the next several years with listening to the song on repeat, with all the lights in my room turned off except for one of those star chart projectors. YES I SERIOUSLY DID THIS. i would turn it on and set it to rotate various star charts across the darkened walls of my bedroom as i listened to the theme, which sounded like mystery and space and beauty and adventure and wonder and awe.
also when i was little i would pretend to be a dinosaur, so this "nerd" thing is a lifelong affliction, i assure you.
thing02: the doctor
so he not only travels in time and space because of his overflowing love for the wonders of the universe, but he wants to share the experience with anyone and everyone, while fighting oppressors and fascists with the powers of smarts and ridiculous stuff he pulls out of his pockets. that is simply PERFECT.
thing03: sometimes the doctor is pretty hott
it's true. sometimes he is and i cannot deny that i enjoy those times. that would not be truthful at all, and i've learned from doctor who that being truthful is a good thing. if only i were as tall as david tennant, and could grow such splendid sideburns. alas, i cannot (mine are rubbish, actually, but at least my fauxhawk is excellent), but i can look at his. also i can look at john pertwee's long legs; those are nice. also i can watch tom baker be excellently handsome. sylvester mccoy is strangely attractive, and no one knows why. patrick troughton is also strangely attractive, but it has been scientifically proven that it is because he is Made of Awesome, so no one minds.
thing04: socialism
DOCTOR WHO/SOCIALISM: IT'S THE ONLY SHIP THAT COUNTS.
thing05: the TARDIS
no that was a lie, because the TARDIS definitely counts. it is a ship that travels through time and space, but it is alive and it is also sentient, but being technological, it is also completely alien to us, far more than the doctor could ever be -- in fact, it is completely alien to the doctor. he's a biological organism, it is a machine -- probably with organic components but it is still a machine -- and they have travelled together for something like six hundred years. the TARDIS and the doctor love each other. which is amazingly beautiful, because they can communicate, but never speak to each other, cannot embrace, cannot do all the things that a biological organism would generally do to indicate a depth of affection (not being a sentient piece of technology myself i don't know what one would generally do to indicate a depth of affection; perhaps the TARDIS does do those things quite regularly). time lords evolved like any other living thing, TARDISes were constructed for a purpose, and their minds must be so different from each other's, but they can still be BFFs. damn i just cannot get over how beautiful that is. the doctor would give up ten years of his life for pretty much anybody, because that's the kind of guy that he is, but he wouldn't do it for anyone else with such deep happiness.
also i like the TARDIS noises. they are so awesome and they make me happy.
thing06: scaring children
i like that there are people who are employed to actually think things like, "no, this won't scare enough children. MUST SCARE MORE CHILDREN," and who measure success in terms of how many times a tactic from the show is used on playgrounds at recess.
thing07: educating children
don't forget the welfare state!
don't forget to rebel against your stagnant, thoughtless society!
don't forget that everyone is important!
don't forget to beat the hell out of nazis with a baseball bat! (metaphorically!)
i'm not forgetting the problematic and mixed messages of recently and the past, but this is a list of love, right? also, i like to give extra points for effort.
thing08: susanandbarbaraandianandvictoriaandjamieandzoeandlizandjoandthebrigandunitandsarahandharryandleelaandromanaandmelandaceandantimonyandalanturingandcharleyandbraxiatelandroseandjackandmartha.
yeah i wrote mel. she's a computer programmer, dammit.
missing spots: sorry i've only seen one fifth doctor arc so far, otherwise turlough and co. would probably be up there. also i haven't been able to brace myself for colin baker's face yet. thus lack of... peri? i don't know. his face scares me.
ok maybe braxiatel never travelled with the doctor BUT WE DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. [/braxchipper]
oh yeah: marthaaaaaaaaa!!
thing09: the master
i have a deep and abiding love for friends turned enemies (plus the reverse). i am a sucker for extreme emotions? add on several centuries of shared history, a society that basically equates them as equally bad for rejecting its tenets, intellectual rivalry, and that thing where neither can bear to actually destroy the other because they still love each other even though the hate each other, and you get a delicious fictional pie.
also any duo that is based on sherlock holmes and professor moriarty is AUTOMATICALLY MADE OF WIN. extra points for gay subtext. or text. (+10000000000 points)
thing10: time travel
oh yeah by the way TIME TRAVEL. there is nothing cooler or more interesting than time travel. literally my biggest regret in life is that we will never be able to see dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures in the flesh and study their true habits and physiology and environment, or, or! the cambrian explosion and start to understand the formation of complex multicellular life. THE FORMATION OF COMPLEX MULTICELLULAR LIFE, PEOPLE. THAT IS AMAZING. some people might think that it would be a good idea to go back in time and keep their parent from dying when they were young, and then things would be nice and that this would be a proper thing to do with time travel, but being a person with a parent who died when they were young, i don't agree. i go with the dinosaur thing. i do empathise, though. (me whenever i see "father's day": ;___; BUT: me whenever i see "rise of the cybermen": *facepalm*. rose dun you remember when you grew as a person?? it was emotionally moving and everything.)
but apart from that the fact that space and time are not separate but connected means that anything to do with time and time travel is to do with space, and physics, and how the universe works, and our place in it, and THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE! maybe. anyway, i think that's why i like time travel so much. plus in a fictional setting you can use it for lols and make shakespeare try to chat up your main character (or his companion).
thing11: synthesiser music!
yah i am cheating but how can i not mention my favourite thing from oldschool, the TOTALLY AWESOME synthesisers they used for incidental music?? the answer is that i can't! i envision dudes standing in front of one of those gigantic wall sized modular synthesisers and twisting knobs and connecting modules with thick black cords. omg the bbc probably still has that same exact set-up in one of it's old buildings. *covets*
now am off to make with the arts. hurrah!
10 things i heart about doctor who
thing01: the theme
so when i were about sixteen a friend (
kels ) gave me an album called "sci-fi's greatest hits vol. 1: final frontiers", which was a compilation of theme songs from various science fiction shows since the 60's. the fact that it was produced as some sort of official sci-fi channel merchandise explains the inclusion of such hits as "welcome to paradox" and "mission: genesis" (unless you watched the sci-fi channel in the late nineties you do not and should not have any idea of what those things are, don't worry. so, no one other than me and violetisblue, watching MST3K on saturday mornings). other than including seriously weird versions of the star trek and st:tng themes (midi??), and THREE separate versions of the theme to lost in space, it also had one of the weirdest and most beautiful things i had ever heard, courtesy of ron grainer. being a godless american (and one without access to the fabled "intarwebs"), i think this was my introduction to the Best Thing Ever Made. from the liner notes:Some of the more interesting television science fiction of the era came from Britain, whose decidedly low-budget shows often attracted loyal (if not large) cult followings in the U.S. The celebrated Dr. Who [yah, he spelled it wrong], first seen in the U.K. in 1963 and widely exported to the U.S. beginning about 15 years later, was a low-budget sci-fi serial which made up in imagination what it lacked in special effects. The enigmatic Doctor was a 750 year-old alien from the planet Gallifrey who assumed human form as he wandered through time and space, outwitting assorted enemies of peace and justice. His time machine was the TARDIS ("Time and Relative Dimension in Space"), which rather resembled a London phone booth; his companions, one or two adults or children (the series was supposed to be educational); and his most frequent foes, the fearsome Daleks. Seven different actors portrayed the Doctor over the years, in more than 700 episodes, shown in the U.S. on local stations, on PBS, and in the '90's on the Sci-Fi Channel.
being a sucker for anything with archetypes, time travel, "imagination", or supposed educational value, i wanted to watch the thing IMMEDIATELY, of course. but it must have been long after sci-fi stopped broadcasting it, as i had to content myself for the next several years with listening to the song on repeat, with all the lights in my room turned off except for one of those star chart projectors. YES I SERIOUSLY DID THIS. i would turn it on and set it to rotate various star charts across the darkened walls of my bedroom as i listened to the theme, which sounded like mystery and space and beauty and adventure and wonder and awe.
also when i was little i would pretend to be a dinosaur, so this "nerd" thing is a lifelong affliction, i assure you.
thing02: the doctor
so he not only travels in time and space because of his overflowing love for the wonders of the universe, but he wants to share the experience with anyone and everyone, while fighting oppressors and fascists with the powers of smarts and ridiculous stuff he pulls out of his pockets. that is simply PERFECT.
thing03: sometimes the doctor is pretty hott
it's true. sometimes he is and i cannot deny that i enjoy those times. that would not be truthful at all, and i've learned from doctor who that being truthful is a good thing. if only i were as tall as david tennant, and could grow such splendid sideburns. alas, i cannot (mine are rubbish, actually, but at least my fauxhawk is excellent), but i can look at his. also i can look at john pertwee's long legs; those are nice. also i can watch tom baker be excellently handsome. sylvester mccoy is strangely attractive, and no one knows why. patrick troughton is also strangely attractive, but it has been scientifically proven that it is because he is Made of Awesome, so no one minds.
thing04: socialism
DOCTOR WHO/SOCIALISM: IT'S THE ONLY SHIP THAT COUNTS.
thing05: the TARDIS
no that was a lie, because the TARDIS definitely counts. it is a ship that travels through time and space, but it is alive and it is also sentient, but being technological, it is also completely alien to us, far more than the doctor could ever be -- in fact, it is completely alien to the doctor. he's a biological organism, it is a machine -- probably with organic components but it is still a machine -- and they have travelled together for something like six hundred years. the TARDIS and the doctor love each other. which is amazingly beautiful, because they can communicate, but never speak to each other, cannot embrace, cannot do all the things that a biological organism would generally do to indicate a depth of affection (not being a sentient piece of technology myself i don't know what one would generally do to indicate a depth of affection; perhaps the TARDIS does do those things quite regularly). time lords evolved like any other living thing, TARDISes were constructed for a purpose, and their minds must be so different from each other's, but they can still be BFFs. damn i just cannot get over how beautiful that is. the doctor would give up ten years of his life for pretty much anybody, because that's the kind of guy that he is, but he wouldn't do it for anyone else with such deep happiness.
also i like the TARDIS noises. they are so awesome and they make me happy.
thing06: scaring children
i like that there are people who are employed to actually think things like, "no, this won't scare enough children. MUST SCARE MORE CHILDREN," and who measure success in terms of how many times a tactic from the show is used on playgrounds at recess.
thing07: educating children
don't forget the welfare state!
don't forget to rebel against your stagnant, thoughtless society!
don't forget that everyone is important!
don't forget to beat the hell out of nazis with a baseball bat! (metaphorically!)
i'm not forgetting the problematic and mixed messages of recently and the past, but this is a list of love, right? also, i like to give extra points for effort.
thing08: susanandbarbaraandianandvictoriaandjamieandzoeandlizandjoandthebrigandunitandsarahandharryandleelaandromanaandmelandaceandantimonyandalanturingandcharleyandbraxiatelandroseandjackandmartha.
yeah i wrote mel. she's a computer programmer, dammit.
missing spots: sorry i've only seen one fifth doctor arc so far, otherwise turlough and co. would probably be up there. also i haven't been able to brace myself for colin baker's face yet. thus lack of... peri? i don't know. his face scares me.
ok maybe braxiatel never travelled with the doctor BUT WE DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. [/braxchipper]
oh yeah: marthaaaaaaaaa!!
thing09: the master
i have a deep and abiding love for friends turned enemies (plus the reverse). i am a sucker for extreme emotions? add on several centuries of shared history, a society that basically equates them as equally bad for rejecting its tenets, intellectual rivalry, and that thing where neither can bear to actually destroy the other because they still love each other even though the hate each other, and you get a delicious fictional pie.
also any duo that is based on sherlock holmes and professor moriarty is AUTOMATICALLY MADE OF WIN. extra points for gay subtext. or text. (+10000000000 points)
thing10: time travel
oh yeah by the way TIME TRAVEL. there is nothing cooler or more interesting than time travel. literally my biggest regret in life is that we will never be able to see dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures in the flesh and study their true habits and physiology and environment, or, or! the cambrian explosion and start to understand the formation of complex multicellular life. THE FORMATION OF COMPLEX MULTICELLULAR LIFE, PEOPLE. THAT IS AMAZING. some people might think that it would be a good idea to go back in time and keep their parent from dying when they were young, and then things would be nice and that this would be a proper thing to do with time travel, but being a person with a parent who died when they were young, i don't agree. i go with the dinosaur thing. i do empathise, though. (me whenever i see "father's day": ;___; BUT: me whenever i see "rise of the cybermen": *facepalm*. rose dun you remember when you grew as a person?? it was emotionally moving and everything.)
but apart from that the fact that space and time are not separate but connected means that anything to do with time and time travel is to do with space, and physics, and how the universe works, and our place in it, and THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE! maybe. anyway, i think that's why i like time travel so much. plus in a fictional setting you can use it for lols and make shakespeare try to chat up your main character (or his companion).
thing11: synthesiser music!
yah i am cheating but how can i not mention my favourite thing from oldschool, the TOTALLY AWESOME synthesisers they used for incidental music?? the answer is that i can't! i envision dudes standing in front of one of those gigantic wall sized modular synthesisers and twisting knobs and connecting modules with thick black cords. omg the bbc probably still has that same exact set-up in one of it's old buildings. *covets*
now am off to make with the arts. hurrah!
