Doctor Who Middle-Age Madness

At last the BBC announced the next actor to portray the Doctor on science fiction television's longest running series, Doctor Who. It's Peter Capaldi. Yeah!

 I'm thrilled because I think Peter will be excellent in the role. He starred in the David Tennant/Catherine Tate 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii". He also played quite a spine-chilling baddie in the spin-off series Torchwood in its "Children of Earth" episodes. I've loved him from the first time I saw him on screen in the wonderfully warm and witty movie comedy Local Hero. What's not to love about an actor who can play heroic, comical and pure evil characters with equal ease?

 

I think the persona of the Doctor needs a good balance of heroic and not-so-heroic traits. After all, he is an alien--he's not human (according to canon). What we puny humans may see as "evil" may not seem that way to him and vice versa. It makes for a very dynamic character, one that is at times unpredictable and at others dependable. It makes for a character that has been extremely popular for a half century now and shows no signs of diminishing in popularity.  

This brings me to the reason behind my blog post title. I really enjoy the idea of watching another "middle-age" Doctor (who, of course, is much older than he looks).  While the current producers may have thought that young people would only watch the show in record numbers with "one of their own" in twenty-something Matt Smith playing the title role, I do believe they've come to realize that it's not the age of the actor that matters but his energy level. I think Peter will have the right energy level in addition to the handsome, distinguished looks that women in  my particular age group will relate to well.

As the old saying goes, "Snow on the roof doesn't mean there isn't a fire in the hearth." ;-)

What does this mean for my ongoing Doctor Who-inspired series Loving Who (and its sequel Leaving Who)? The next title in the series that I'm working on is Losing Who. In a way Peter Capaldi becoming the new Doctor works into the plot outline quite well. Things change. My character Cici Connors experienced an abrupt change in the last installment, so a new face to confront and get to know is just par for the course at this point in her life journey. 

And who knows... Cici might find a good-looking man of a certain age worth getting to know better. ;-)

I'm looking forward to the fiftieth anniversary special coming in November and the Christmas special when Peter's Doctor will make his debut. How about you? Are you excited? Has Doctor Who "middle-age madness" taken hold of you? Or are you still crying about Matt Smith (or David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston or...) leaving the show? What sort of storylines or characters do you envision in the new season episodes? Are there any mortal enemies of the Doctor you'd rather not see?

Let me know your feelings in the comments below. You never know-I might just use one of your ideas in the plot of Losing Who!

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Horse TV

Everyone has their favorite thing to watch on TV when they feel like “vegging out” and unwinding from a tough day, week, month, or year. One of my favorite TV stops happens to be the late night programs on the Food Network. I seem to enjoy watching people compete to build the tallest cake shaped like a Dr. Seuss character or feed a crowd of a thousand in just seven hours with ramen noodles, ketchup packets and a couple of dull knives. But when I really, really want to unwind, I take a short walk north from my front door and watch Horse TV.

I know what you’re thinking—there’s no such thing as “Horse TV”. I beg to differ. If you stand still and look through a rectangular frame-device at horse for hours on end, you are watching Horse TV. It makes no difference if the frame-device is called a “fence” or a television screen. The end result is the same.

You enjoy crystal clear HD reception on Horse TV. Plus, you really get a three-dimension experience of smells and sounds and touch. I like to make those horsey “snickers and snorts” back and forth to the big guys and watch their reactions. (They tend to mosey on off further into the pasture and ignore me. “Stupid human trying to fool us that she can talk to us,” is what they’re thinking, I’m sure.) Some of the smells… Well, I could live without the horse manure scents, but the velvety softness of a glossy horse’s coat and petting a fuzzy muzzle more than makes up for that unpleasantness.

I’d better clarify what I really mean before my readers start calling the guys with the straight jackets. Grant’s Farm (http://www.grantsfarm.com/) lies adjacent to my neighborhood. It’s the home of the world famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses. Grant’s Trail, a converted railroad track, now a bike and pedestrian trail, is spittin’ distance from my computer. So whenever I need to take a break from the stress and the computer (one in the same recently when my hard drive melted down), I head on up the trail and watch the Clydesdales at play.



The farm is actually a deer park and tourist attraction, but it’s a very accessible one. The newborn foals there will let you pet them through the fence if you’re lucky. There are mother horses watching over their young, and big, strapping pulling horses out munching breakfast, lunch and dinner… In fact, their muzzles seem permanently glued to the ground. If they’re not pulling that beer wagon, they seem to be chomping away constantly. Hard work must create a huge hunger.

Their lives seem serene and complete for the most part to me. They are well fed and cared for—they are beautiful and majestic and don’t mind being put on display. For horses—or human beings for that matter—they seem the contentest of creatures on the face of the earth.

And that’s why I enjoy watching the horses whenever I need to unwind. I’m hoping some of that immense contentment will wash off on me.



What do you do to unwind after a particular tough time? Is it always the same thing or do you do different things? Do you watch Horse TV? Share one of your unwinding experiences or relaxation techniques here in the comments section, and I’ll put your name in the hat for my next monthly prize drawing.

Thanking you in advance… I’m off now to check out how clear the reception is today at the fence.