Josh and company review Ncuti Gatwa's first season as the Doctor

Here we go! 

Reviews of Ncuti Gatwa's episodes as the Doctor, featuring commentary from me (Josh!) and my kid Percy!

The Church on Ruby Road

Percy: Ruby is a great companion for the 15th doctor. They balance each other well. However, companions are becoming closer and closer to my age. Me? Nervous? Never.

Josh: Companions getting close to your age? Wait till the Doctor stops being older than you!  Peter Capaldi was the last time I'm ever going to have that!

I didn't really warm to Ruby in this one. She was fine, just kinda there, but I tend to give the first episode of each new Doctor a pass. The writers have to juggle a lot of stuff, primarily introducing a new audience to the universe, and having a companion show too much personality could distract from that. So they're a little flatter in their characterization than they would be otherwise.

The Goblin number was bonkers! 

I do like musical episodes in non-musical entertainment. 

RTD has always used music well, going back to the Toxic scene from Eccleston's run.

Josh's Score: 7/10

Space Babies

Percy: I just wasn't super sold on the premise. Sorry to any space babies reading out there.

Josh: You made the Space Babies cry, you monster. I like the absurdity, and I like the smaller "Base under siege" type stories, because there is a tension. Obviously the Daleks aren't going to succeed in destroying the universe but they could be successful in wiping out a bunch of scientists and soldiers.

I mean, obviously, not in this specific instance.  You're not going to reboot your beloved children's show by killing a bunch of babies, but I think you take my larger point.

And it is a children's show. It's beloved by those adults who grew up watching it, but it was conceived as a children's show and it has arguably evolved beyond that but it's a show for kids and it's okay to be silly. 

Tell 'em, Tom!

Besides, that's the kind of storytelling I like and the distillation of what I think science-fiction should be, asking "What if this were true?" and extrapolating and playing it straight from there.

Josh's Score: 6/10

The Devil's Chord

Percy: Drag demon? I'm down for that concept. Go on...

I did think some things were done well here. The crawling out of the piano, the scene of complete silence, the rooftop song for sad lesbians (Josh: Surely that's the name of someone's band), and the brief Charlie Heaton cameo. (Editor's note: Not actually Charlie Heaton, though the resemblance is uncanny) Yes, Music was overdramatic and loud, but guys, it’s MUSIC, the child of the TOYMAKER, what part of that character would ever be read as stoic and phlegmatic?

Josh: I like these mythic episodes.  The Seventh Doctor era is my favorite and one of its defining characteristics was his battle against the Elder Gods.

Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro was radiating WOULD YOU LIKE A LARGE HAM?! energy. 

"I thought it was non-diagetic!" made me laugh out loud.

The costuming was brilliant. 

The Twist at the End was catchy. I don't care what the haters say.

Score: 9/10

Boom

Percy: I liked it more than my dad did, which is a low bar, because he hated it. Some of it was a bit heavy handed, and when my dad remarked that he thought the twist was predictable I was surprised, because I hadn't realized it was meant to be a twist. I legitimately thought it was just a plot point we had already known. I do like a one-location episode though, sue me. I will say, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth when the Doctor shat all over the concept of faith in and of itself. Organized religion can be and often is dangerous, but a young woman who believes in a larger force looking out for her does not deserve to be absolutely microwaved like that in front of a crowd. Also that guy's daughter was so stupid it was exhausting.

Josh: This episode was dogshit.

I'm generally good at making a distinction between "This was bad" and "I didn't like this" or "I would have done this differently."  I can respect the craftsmanship of a well-told story that just doesn't "work" for me. I don't think that's what this was. I think it was just bad. Too quippy, too infatuated with its own cleverness, too eager to call back to Moffat's earlier work. I'm not religious, but it rubbed me the wrong way when the Doctor took some unnecessary cheap shots at the concept of faith.

My very favorite moment from Classic Who is the Haemovores attacking the church in Curse of Fenric. They're a kind of vampires, and like vampires, they are repelled by an expression of faith.  You have to watch his lips because the sound mixing is bad and you can't hear the spoken words over the music, but the Doctor recites the names of his past companions, "Barbara, Ian, Susan..." That's what he has faith in. 

Years ago, I was watching an episode ("Anniversary Dinner") of the Horror anthology show Tales from the Darkside with my buddy Tim. 

It had a hiker with a twisted ankle or somesuch, and she comes across an older couple in the woods. The old woman is nice, the old man is mean. There was an earlier establishing scene with the older couple, where the old man cuts his finger and his wife licks at the blood and asks, "How can an old sourpuss taste so sweet?" and then they say something about "Having the children over FOR DINNER" (looks directly into camera), and we're like "Well, they're cannibals. Are they really going to try to tease this the entire episode?" Yes, that was the twist.

The marines are fighting a war against nobody. They couldn't have made it clearer if someone had winked at the camera hot time tub machine style. 

I'm reminded of Roger Ebert's review of North. 

I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.

Josh's Score: 0/10

73 Yards

Percy: Delightfully creepy. Nails the feeling of isolation. Really fleshes out Ruby's personality. A great character episode, a solid standalone as well as a valuable addition to the season, an overall win. Plus, the aging makeup was better than I might've expected. I love it when an episode makes me want to cover my back a little bit. The tavern scene achieved that feeling!

Josh: I'm firmly of the opinion that exactly one Doctor-light episode is the right number for a season.

Ruby got a chance to shine. Millie got a chance to show off her acting chops. Great character moments with the supporting cast in the tavern.

I always enjoy throwaway references to alternate futures. (I'm thinking of how the Doctor mentions that he was with the Filipino Army when it marched on Reykjavik in the 51st century.) This story does that trope well.

With Roger ap Gwilliam, I think RTD succeeded where Chris Chinball failed. Chinball's first series had no returning monsters and I think that he understood that for Doctor Who to grow, it would have to introduce new and interesting adversaries.  He didn't quite hit the mark, but I give kudos for attempting something new. Roger ap Gwilliam is introduced, built up and vanquished in less than an hour. He's referenced later in the season, but I don't think we'll be returning to him later one. His story was told.

 Really good, in the way Midnight was good. Unnerving. There was a wrongness to it, in all the right ways.

10/10

Dot and Bubble

Percy:

Q: What is Black Mirror without sex, setting, and subtlety?

A: Dot and Bubble.

However, it's nice that we're clearly letting children design the monsters again.

One additional point because I appreciate sending a colony of rich space racists out into immediate and horrible death.

Josh: I...liked this one. I don't know how I raised such a cynical child.

I mean, yeah, it's not a subtle work. We're watching the Boys now and I grew up reading the Narnia books and they were each about a billion times more nuanced with their metaphors.

However, I like that it surprised me in the same way that Voyage of the damned where the one rich jerk, (Rickston Slade, the fucking prick), survives and celebrates, observing that the circumstances of the episode would make him even richer. I like seeing jerks get their comeuppance as much as anyone, but it feels better if it doesn't happen all the time.

I didn't think the scene at the end with the survivors rejecting the Doctor was racist. I thought it was classist. However, other people smarter than I observed that Lindy didn't have any non-white friends.  Like all good twists, it's obvious when you know the secret. 

I didn't notice, because I haven't needed to be vigilant like that in my day to day interactions. It hasn't been necessary for me to cultivate that awareness. I'm aware that it's a reflection of my privilege.

But RTD has confirmed that this was his intent and I went back and watched it and it is extremely conspicuous if you know to look for it.  I guess the message in Dot and Bubble was just too subtle for Josh 

Josh's score: 7/10

Rogue

Percy: This is a great episode of Doctor Who. Emotional, poignant, dramatic, alien. Jonathan Groff is so beloved within my personal friend circle that his appearance in this episode has devolved into a joke, where an attractive person is referred to as 'straight up Groffin' it'

Spawned from this

I wish he got a chance to sing, but that can wait for when we see him again.

...right?

(One last note- A lost loved one is a tried and true way to characterize a Doctor and give some motivation & personality to a new face. I'm looking forward to the Groff search.)

Josh: He better come back. He's a less problematic Cap'n Jack.

I tend to prefer my Doctors to be asexual. Not a dealbreaker, just a preference. I think partnering him with a human diminishes that essential alien nature.  So, No Ten and Rose. (Percy: The only suitable partner for Rose is an oversized garbage disposal.) No River Song. No Moffat using discarded Coupling scripts for his entire run. 

That said, I think the relationship with Rogue is one of the best human romances. Would they have made it long term or was it just mutual infatuation? I don't know but I'm interested in finding out.

I liked the dynamic between the aliens. Real Family of Blood/Human Nature vibe.

Love Indira Varma. Generally the best part of whatever she's in. I loved her as Suzie Costello in Torchwood. 

Josh's Score: 10/10

The Legend of Ruby Sunday

Percy: The Harbinger speech was really solid, I liked the sense of dread there. The kid genius character is a nice guy in real life, and I'm happy he landed this role.

I wish Kate got more chances to be competent. It's frustrating to see a woman in power getting consistently shown up by a man, or a male-presenting Time Lord.

Josh: This episode was pretty great. Steadily rising dread throughout. Exquisitely paced. 

Josh's Score: 8/10

Empire of Death

Percy: Not everything needs to be a one-for-one replica of Original Who. The Sutekh followers just look so goddamn stupid. Why does such a good show always fumble with their choice of contact lenses? It looked really good on the Harbinger and tremendously, embarrassingly shit on everyone else.

The 7th Doctor's sweater vest (AMERICA!) cameo was cute. I like the idea that the doctor carries love and nostalgia for all the people he has been. The 15th Doctor is all about self love, and this is a perfect way to represent that visually.

Reminds me of the "how blue eyed people look at you" joke

Spot the difference, readers

Yeah. Those looked like trash. Also, while I liked the TARDIS wordplay/misdirect, H. Arbinger was just lazy and certainly not clever enough to use TWICE! "Paging Doctor Acula..."

Despite all that, I liked the whole thing a lot. When Kate was dusted, I was like, "Guess we're getting a reset button at the end". I do love RTD, but he leans on that reset A LOT. 

The mom with the baby was some of the best Who ever.

Mel's best televised outing. I liked seeing her curled up with the Seventh Doctor's jumper. It was just sweet.

It goes back to what I said at the beginning of this piece, with my comments on Space Babies and what I've been saying for years. Raising the stakes every season isn't sustainable. ("They threatened the universe last time and now they're threatening ALL THE UNIVERSES!!")  It's mitigated in part, because of how it's tied to the human element. But not completely. 

I liked Mrs. Flood. I enjoy the mystery that came with her and the fact that everything wasn't wrapped up in a season.

Josh's Score: 8/10

Overall, I liked the season a lot. Maybe my favorite of modern Who. 

Doctor Who: The Eighth Day

I was never really a Twitter person. The format goes against my natural inclination towards wordiness and digressions.  I’m pretty sure I created it for the sole purpose of entering a contest by tweeting at some company or other.  I wrote about twenty tweets in the first six years. 

But when I heard that there was going to be a tweet-a-long of the four Paul Spragg memorial short trip winning stories, I decided that I should dust off my account and participate.

 And it was great! I like Big Finish's Doctor Who, of course, but the Paul Spragg stories are especially great. They have that perfect mix of optimism and wonder that I really want from Doctor Who. I called The Best Laid Plans the best kind of Doctor Who story, "an absurd premise taken to its logical conclusion and built upon a rock-solid foundation of emotional truth."

I liked the other authors as people too. I think there's a general overall decency to Doctor Who fans. If you told me someone was a fan, I'd be inclined to think more fondly of them. This went double for these guys. We had each written a story to honor Paul Spragg. I never knew him, but everyone said that he was boundlessly enthusiastic and endlessly encouraging. A good guy, in other words. I felt a real camaraderie with these other authors.

So when Selim Ulug (author of Landbound, the second Paul Spragg winner) suggested that we all stick around and write a story together, I was all over that!  He suggested a round-robin format with one tweet a day with no discussion about where the story was going. And that's what we did!

In addition to the four Paul Spragg winners (Me, Selim, Harry Draper and Ben Tedds) Sophie Iles, Max Curtis and Lizbeth Myles also wrote for the story. 

Sophie contributed art as well, which made me especially happy. 

I thought that was the end of it, but Selim managed to convince Jaspreet Singh and Conrad Westmaas (the Eighth Doctor's companion C'rizz) to offer their services as a sound designer and a reader, respectively. 

The story itself... If you'll forgive the digression, I grew up playing with Transformers toys.  You know, Robots in Disguise. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Soundwave, that lot. There was one an obscure Autobot by the name of Sky Lynx. He was a perpetually angry pterodactyl-headed lynx with two tails who transformed into the space shuttle if he needed to keep a low profile. I don't know if he's the result of a dare or a mad lib or what, but his whole deal is even more bizarre than I'm implying.

Doctor Who: The Eighth Day is a Sky Lynx of a story, pure crazy, next-level cuckoo bonkers stuff. We didn't know where it was going when we were writing, and it's a testament to the skill of my fellow writers that the story came together so neatly in the end.

And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the process. A few of the authors were more established than the rest of us, but there was no ego, no jockeying for position, no one trying to force their vision on the rest of us. It was nothing but the best kind of collaborative "yes, and?" story-telling from a bunch of talented people who wanted to tell a story together that our fellow fans could enjoy. Special thanks to Selim, because it was entirely due to his perseverance that we have this story. 

And finally, the whole thing is in service of a good cause. MindOut: LGBTQ Mental Health Service. Please donate what you can to a very good cause.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XpKH95RHOU

https://www.mindout.org.uk/ 

I hope you enjoy it!

Orders close tonight for Defending Earth: The Adventure of Sarah Jane Smith

Orders close tonight. Get your copy at this link before they're gone forever.

Time Lord Archives reviews Sarah Jane, Superstar!

Extremely nice review from The Time Lord Archives!

Time Lord Archives reviews Sarah Jane, Superstar!

Every anthology needs at least one good meta-story! Preferably full of inside jokes and puns—the sillier, the better. Here, halfway through, Defending Earth delivers!

"I was familiar—as many Big Finish fans will be—with co-author Joshua Wanisko for his audio Short Trip, Forever Fallen, the winner of Big Finish’s inaugural Paul Spragg Memorial Opportunity in 2016. That story is an earnest, serious, thoughtful Seventh Doctor adventure, one that will stay with its listeners for some time. This story—co-written by Joshua’s daughter Lillian Wanisko, for whom this is a first writing credit—is none of that; and that is exactly as it should be! Where that story is full of emotion, this one is full of humor, and utterly lighthearted. How could it not be? It’s Sarah Jane Smith: The Musical!"

Panel at ReGeneration Who

Yikes! I haven't posted in forever! I'm here. Still kicking.

I'll be running a panel at ReGenWho 5:

A History of Violence: A journey from Pacifism to Genocide and all points in between

Terrance Dicks said that 'The Doctor always looks for a peaceful solution - but he never finds one!'

This panel seeks to evaluate the limits of both violence and pacifism and the Doctor’s willingness to employ each in the pursuit of peace. Presentation and discussion will cover all eras of the classic and modern series, as well as the Big Finish audios, with particular emphasis on the Fourth and Tenth Doctors.

Defending Earth Pre-Orders now open

I posted about this collection several weeks ago, but it is now available for pre-order.  Lily and I wrote a story together for it and we’re both extraordinarily proud of it. Proceeds go towards the Cancer Research Institute. Please consider buying a copy if you hate cancer or like Sarah Jane Smith, Doctor Who, Lily or me.

https://defendingearth.bigcartel.com/product/defending-earth-print-and-ebook-bundle

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Twelve

On the twelfth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
twelve talking bedsheets ("Something something Timeless Child"),
a P'Ting with the munchies ("Nom Nom Nom"),
a very lonely froggy ("Join the dead wives club. We're having jackets made!"),
nine reformed assassins("Eye Eye Eye Eye Witnesses"),
eight giant spiders ("Yes, I would prefer a prolonged death due to asphyxiation to a mercy killing. Thanks for asking, Doctor."),
seven wooden witches (It could be witches/ Some evil witches/ Which is ridiculous 'cause witches they were persecuted/Wicca good and love the earth and women power and I'll be over here.)
six rubbish robots (You, gentlemen, are no K-9. “K-9, K-9, Beep Deep Boop, K-9.”) ,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP! (“Once you pop, you just can't stop"),
four lines for Yaz (“…”),
a king crying, "Satan!" ("Excuse me, where does the queue for the fiddle contest begin?")
a time-traveling racist ("But the real villain is racism")
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face! ("You can’t handle the tooth!" )

Thank you for reading!

A couple things:

1. I know it’s spelled Chibnall. Chinball is just funnier to say.
2. I really did like the season. It had a few episodes that were not my particular cup of tea, but I enjoyed what we got and want more of it.
3. Yaz didn’t have enough to do.
4. The adversaries were not great, but I can understand why they did it, and I think introducing new monsters is preferable to strip mining older material for ideas, even if the end result didn’t quite hit the mark.

Have a very merry Christmas!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Eleven

On the eleventh day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
a P'Ting with the munchies,
a very lonely froggy ("It's not easy being green"),
nine reformed assassins,
eight giant spiders,
seven wooden witches ("Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone?"),
six rubbish robots,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP!,
four lines for Yaz,
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist (In his Brando cosplay!)
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face! ("I won an award for sticking teeth to my face. It's a little plaque." )

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Ten

On the tenth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
a very lonely froggy,
nine reformed assassins ("So many eyes!"),
eight giant spiders ("So many eyes!"),
seven wooden witches,
six rubbish robots,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP! (Pop! Pop Pop!),
four lines for Yaz,
a king crying, "Satan!"("Satan!"),
a time-traveling racist
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Nine

On the ninth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
nine reformed assassins,
eight giant spiders ("So many legs!"),
seven wooden witches,
six rubbish robots (D84 wept),
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP!,
four lines for Yaz ("Can we go back to Punjab? I had lines in that story."),
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Eight

On the eighth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
eight giant spiders,
seven wooden witches ("How do we tell if she is made of wood?" "Build a bridge out of her."),
six rubbish robots,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP!,
four lines for Yaz,
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist ("Has anyone seen my razor?")
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Seven

On the seventh day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
seven wooden witches,
six rubbish robots,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP! (Kerblam!),
four lines for Yaz ("I'm still here!" ,
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist  (Like the Meddling Monk...but racist!")
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Six

On the sixth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
six rubbish robots,
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP!,
four lines for Yaz ,
a king crying, "Satan!" ("Satan!"),
a time-traveling racist
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face! ("Son, be a dentist!")

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Five

On the fifth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
CURSED BUBBLE WRAP!,
four lines for Yaz ("I'm the Tin Dog"),
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist ("Do you like my toothpick?")
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Four

On the fourth day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
four lines for Yasmin,
a king crying, "Satan!",
a time-traveling racist
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Three

On the third day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
A king crying, "Satan!",
a time-travelling racist,
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: Two

On the second day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
A time-traveling racist,
and a guy with teeth stuck to his face!

The Twelve Days of Who-mas: One

On the first day of Who-mas Chris Chinball gave to me
A guy with teeth stuck to his face!

Doctor Who Book Review: Rose by Russell T Davies

I listened to the Rose audiobook, narrated by Camille Coduri. I like Jackie Tyler okay, but I dearly love Camille. She just seems to have an authenticity not always found in actors.

I watched the episode prior to listening to the book. When it originally aired I thought it was a very solid (re)introduction to the world of Doctor Who. I realize now how wholly inadequate that assessment was. Watching it now, I find it nothing short of iconic. (I think it came squarely in the middle of the most recent DWM episode poll I saw, which is a crime!) Frank Cottrell-Boyce claims that Davies' greatest contribution to British television drama was saving it from extinction and watching Rose again, I can understand what he means.

Writers are often told to “kill their darlings”, but RTD could never bring himself to do that. He loves them too much. He’s not the most technically gifted scribe to ever write for Doctor Who, but that surpassing affection he holds for his creations is the core of this book. He makes me feel for Rose Tyler how he feels for her. And that is a triumph.

For me, one of the central messages of Doctor Who is that the strong have to stand up for the powerless, and that is the engine that drives the story. There are dozens of tiny details like the Doctor instinctively protecting Rose from shards of broken glass, or Clive sacrificing himself Autons so his family will have time to flee. Mickey comes off particularly well in the book. “The first thing he did when granted the keys to #90 was to prop that door open and make others welcome.”

I had read that the book featured a transgender character, but I thought that things would be written so that the character’s status was only inferred. Nope. “Sally Salter, born Stephen Salter…” She has a safe place in Mickey’s flat, and that makes me love Mickey. He’s not the hero of the book, but we get a little more of his background and it makes sense why he would be reluctant to leave his home, which he sees as a safe place and a refuge.

Also, ”We can't all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.”

Clive gets a larger role as well. His death was technically off-screen in the television episode, and I was dearly hoping that he survived through some improbable twist of fate.

Spoiler: He doesn’t

He gets the same treatment as Mickey and Rose. He manages to stub his toe on his own front door and it’s just so endearing.

For the first time ever, the Autons seem like a real threat. The attack is genuinely unsettling, in part because we’ve been given a chance to know those people threatened by it.

Things that seemed odd in the original episode (the poorly photoshopped picture, why the Nestene kept Mickey alive, Rose’s failure to notice that Mickey was made of plastic) are called and recontextualized until they make sense. Sometimes the “this mistake isn’t really a mistake” can lead to a very clumsy retcon, but Davies handles everything with a deft hand.

Davies has been given a profound gift in this book. He has the opportunity to reframe and refine his seminal work. Rose (the episode) was brilliant, but not flawless, and Davies does not merely transcribe the events of the book, but instead draws on ten years of personal growth and ten additional years of Doctor Who mythology (Clive says of the Doctor “Clever. Isn’t he? Or she.”) to expand and enrich what we saw back then.

I really enjoyed it. Eccleston’s run was my favorite era of New Who, and it’s great to have a chance to go back and rediscover it.

(Re)Generation Who IV Convention Report

This was our fourth outing to (Re)Generation Who, and by now we had established something of a routine. We departed around eleven and arrived around four pm. We stopped once at a rest stop for lunch and again to pick up groceries so we wouldn’t have to eat out for every meal. The rooms weren’t ready at our scheduled check-in time, but that was hardly the fault of the convention. (And the people at the front desk did their best to get us in, so it wasn’t a major inconvenience in any case.)

Badge pick-up for the convention was smooth, but it always is. They’ve expanded every year, and I had a brief discussion with a friend about my concerns that the con might grow beyond what their infrastructure can support. If there are any such problems they were not visible from my perspective. (And I’m sure there must have been a few behind-the-scenes problems, as you don’t have an endeavor with so many people without some difficulties, but again, they weren’t conspicuous to me as an attendee.) What I’m saying is that the Onezumi staff makes a very difficult job look effortless, and that’s no small achievement. I have absolute confidence that they’ll be able to keep the con running for a very long time.

5 pm Friday Fifth Doctor Season 19: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse (Moderator: Keith R. A. DeCandido): We only caught the tail end of this one, but it was really fun. Tegan is one of those companions to whom I’ve warmed considerably since she began appearing in Big Finish.  Janet Fielding is really sharp and funny and she had the best anecdotes from the series. My favorite had to be how Anthony Ainley (the Tremas Master) wore a toupee in real life but took considerable pains to hide this fact. When he had to play Kalid in the Time-Flight serial, he wanted the make-up artists to put second bald wig cap over his existing wig in order to preserve the illusion. They did their best, but couldn’t quite pull it off, so as a compromise they pretended to fit him with a bald cap in his trailer. Doctor Who, everybody!


6 pm Friday: Writer Spotlight: Nev Fountain: Nev is among my very favorite guests at Regen. He’s been a professional writer for ages and has a comprehensive grasp of the fundamentals of the process of writing, as any writer must, but he’s also capable of articulating them in a clear and relatable matter. He gave a bit of advice that will stick with me: Jokes in a humorous story should always serve the story and should be cut if they don’t.

7pm: From Serving Chips to World War I: The Bill Potts Panel (Moderator: Amanda-Rae Prescott. Panelists Joy Piedmont, Tai Gooden, and Alyssa Franke): I know Alyssa’s work from the tremendously great Whovian Feminism site, but I didn’t know any of the other panelists. I came in late and missed the beginning and the panel, but I appreciated what I saw. The panelists have different experiences and perspectives than mine and took different messages from the episodes, but they voiced them in such a way that I understood where they were coming from. They’ve given me a new way to understand something I already love, and I thank them for that.

8 pm: Intro to Big Finish (With Jason Haigh-Ellery and Ian McCann). And a special guest appearance by Lisa Greenwood!  I don’t think I would have fallen in love with Regen as much as I have were it not for their enthusiastic embrace of Big Finish.

I didn’t know how big a player Big Finish had become, but they’ve been at it for 20 years now, and Jason said that they have employed 7,000 actors over those two decades and are now the second-largest producer of original audio programming in the world after the BBC.  That’s just bonkers!

I really enjoyed this panel. I’ll confess that I was not a fan of Flip Jackson, the character Lisa Greenwood plays in the audios, but she was just so lovely and engaging in person that she’s more or less won me over. I may have to reassess my opinion of Flip.

9 pm: We had a late dinner at a kabob restaurant near the hotel. I had the kofta kabob platter and a salted mint yogurt drink. Holy crap that was salty. One of my friends took a sip and asked if it was a milkshake for Poseidon.

10 pm: Writers on Deck Late Night Reading: I was a little bit late for this one, but I rushed in still wearing a winter coat, two scarves and my Strangeness in Space beanie. Kara Dennison was moderating and Keith DeCandido, Rob Shearman and Paul Magrs were on the panel. I’m so glad I hurried. Rob’s story was absolutely haunting and will stay with me for a long time. Paul’s story was deeply moving as well. You can read it at this link, and you should if you haven’t already.

We wrapped up with the 11 pm: Time and Space Jam DANCE PARTY with DJ Kangal and then it was off to bed shortly afterward.

10 am Sat: Big Finish Interview: Jason Haigh-Ellery – Director/Producer (Moderator: Kara Dennison). And another surprise visit from Lisa Greenwood! The most interesting part of the panel, at least for me was when Jason said that he’s often asked how one can write for Big Finish and he started speaking about the Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trips contest, whereupon Kara mentioned that the winner of the first contest was a Regenner and I piped up to say that it was me! (I should have opened with, “And I hear he’s super-talented and incredibly handsome!”, but I get tongue-tied when I’m nervous.) We went back and forth on the topic for a few minutes and the conversation returned to more general Big Finish discussion. The long awaited site redesign should be there soon and he said it takes a lot from Amazon’s layout and will have such features as recommended titles. That will be a welcome addition, I think. The site is functional, but there is certainly room for improvement and it sounds like they’re taking the time to get it right.

11 am sat: Zoology of Doctor Who (Host: Kelsey Wailes) This was another really solid panel. Kelsey Wailes examined certain alien species from Doctor Who and compared them to some real-world animals that exhibit some of the same distinctive traits.  This is an aspect of fandom that I really enjoy, how something that looks silly on the surface can be made to seem plausible with the right context and the proper framing. If you squint at them in a certain light they can appear to seem a little less ridiculous.

Not you, Myrka

1pm Sa Peter Capaldi  (Moderator: Kara Dennison)The big deal for me was that the panel was slightly slow to start, so Jason  Haigh-Ellery stepped up to fill in and I got a shout-out in front of the audience. It was surreal. You can hear Jen shouting out my location on the video. We were near the back. That was partially by choice; Jen was in her Weeping Angel costume and didn’t want to block anyone’s view. I had never experienced so many people turning around to get a look at me.

I enjoyed the interview itself. Capaldi is a very disciplined subject and played it pretty safe with this answers, but just the same he’s a big fan of the series and his love and enthusiasm came through with every reply.

2pm Sa Michelle Gomez  (Moderator: Craig Cobalt) I had to leave halfway through this panel, but I enjoyed what I saw of it. Michelle Gomez is just a fascinating person. She can make anything interesting. I’m quite looking forward to her turn in the Sabrina Netflix series.

We then took a longish break from panels. We spent some time outside the convention, Jen participated in the March for Our Lives (see if you can spot her in this picture!)

and we had brick oven pizza for dinner. I had the “Art Lover”. It had artichokes on it and it was super delicious!

Our next panel wasn’t until 9pm LGBTQ Experience In and Around Doctor Who I won't talk about what anyone said in this panel, out of concern that I might accidentally reveal some personally identifying information about one of the participants, but this hour was accepting and courageous and inspiring, the three traits I associate with Doctor Who at its very best.

10 pm Make Your Book: How to Self-Publish and Self-Market Without Dying (Hosts: Kara Dennison and Ginger Hoesly) I’m a big fan of Kara’s writing and analysis, so I definitely wanted to catch this panel. Knowing how to do something and being able to explain how to do it are two different things and I admire people who can do both. I always enjoy hearing specialists talk about the mindset and techniques that go with specialized endeavors.  I don’t know if I’ll employ anything I learned at the panel, but I’m happy for having learned it.

A gentleman had karaoke set up in the Atrium, so we did that for a while. We also caught the end of the costume contest before going to bed.

We slept in pretty late and the only panel we attended was the 12 pm Big Finish Interview: Lisa Greenwood – Flip Jackson. (Interviewed by Don Klees)

I asked Lisa about the fan theory that Flip is pregnant. I suspect that’s the case; the stories certainly seem to be implying it. Lisa said that she hadn’t been told anything along those lines by the writers, but she admitted that they know she’s terrible at keeping secrets, so they tend not to tell her everything. She really liked the idea and conjured up the visual of Flip running from the Daleks.

She also told the story of how she figured out the identity of the Twelfth Doctor before almost anyone else. She was working with Peter Capaldi on The Hour when he was cast and the BBC showed some close-ups of the new Doctor’s hand in the lead-up to the reveal. She looked at the picture and said, “Aha! I know that wedding ring!” and I thought that was pretty cool.

 And that was it. We did a little shopping. I picked up some shot glasses for Lily from Geek Boy Press, a Miyazaki lanyard from another vendor and a glitter candle. I bought a book and a CD (Peri and the Piscon Paradox. I’m not a huge fan of Peri, but Nev sold me on the story at his Friday panel) and some Kelsey Wailes prints from her booth.

I really treasure this convention. I didn’t know it would become a tradition with my wife and some of my best friends when I went to the first one, but here we are. I got to meet people I only knew through online correspondences and see friends I hadn’t seen for a year.

This year (Re)Generation Who was held on the same weekend as the March For Our Lives and for a time my Facebook feed was filled with nothing but posts about those two events. The confluence of the two is coincidental, but I suspect they’ll always be intertwined in my memory.

The entire weekend made me feel a bit less cynical about people for a little while, as if the convention was not a place where we find respite from the real world, but what the real world can be if we listen to our better angels.