New Beginnings: A New Book and a New Doctor

 New Beginnings: A New Book

It's here at last--the release of my first novel in my series, Loving Who, a sci-fi romantic-comedy full of Who fans and fun, is now available from Devine Destinies Books. Also available at Amazon in print and e-formats, and from other online retailers. You can read an excerpt below before I give my take on the "New Doctor."

Loving Who
by Cynthianna
http://www.devinedestinies.com/loving-who/
 
Screwball comedy meets the world of Doctor Who fandom. Cici Connors' life will never be the same and it all changes when she takes a mysterious man into her life—and her bed. John Smith makes the perfect Doctor for their club's fan film, but is he really good boyfriend material? His fondness for popcorn and whipped cream are the least of his eccentricities, as Cici discovers not everyone sees the same man she sees.

When will John confess he's not from this planet? Will Cici regret having an affair and becoming mixed-up in an extra-terrestrial kidnapping plot? After all, how many alien assassins tracking her does one fangirl need?

And now an excerpt from Loving Who.  In this scene, our heroine Cici is transmatted from Earth to an alien world for the first time:

I don’t know when I began screaming, but my ears throbbed from my shrieks upon our arrival on a dark, featureless plain. I clapped my mouth shut and stared at John Smith, the man, alien, sentient being, who had made the unthinkable possible, the undoable doable, and in the process, had taken me to where I’d always wanted to go.

“Look up,” he said calmly.

I did. A million stars stabbed my eyes from a sea of the blackest velvet. A billion times better than staring through my souped up telescope. A trillion times better than pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope on the internet.

I was actually here.

“Like what you see?” He chuckled at my dumbfounded response. “Fancy the Bygons placing their teleportation deck where they keep their observatory.”

He strolled toward what appeared to be a console and flipped a couple of switches. Low-level lightning came on about the walls and a hum of machinery filled the emptiness of the circular chamber. I continued to gaze up through the huge skylight window.

“Cici? You okay?”

I pointed upward. “Stars,” I said at last. “Lots of them.”

“Eloquently put.” He came to my side and looked up. “You may or may not recognize any of the constellations but try not to worry. I’ll sort it out.”

“So many stars.” I had to close my mouth to keep from drooling.

“Uh, yes.” He frowned. “It appears I’ve made bit of a miscalculation. We’re not in Earth’s orbit. We’re not on a ship, either.”

I gasped. My knees turned to jelly. The piercing lights above began to swirl about me. I could feel my breakfast rising as a wave of nausea swept over me. John caught me by the elbow and lowered me to sit cross-legged on the deck.

“Where…are we?” I asked.

“A planet somewhere to the south and west of St. Louis by several million light years I estimate.” He stood and shrugged. “Not too far off the beaten path.”

“Not too far off?” My brain switched back on, and things began to sort themselves out internally. “We’re several million light years away from Earth, and you considered that close?”

“It’s all relative. Ask my friend Albert. It’s what he said. Anyway, we can go back the way we came, so we might as well avail ourselves of a tour of this curious facility.”

He offered me a hand, and I shakily regained my feet. “Where is everyone? I thought we’d run into the ghostly geeks with the shades.”

“So did I. Maybe it’s their tea time or something. Come along. Let’s explore.”

Loving Who now available from Devine Destinies Books and other fine online book sellers. (Now available at Amazon.)

 
You can read more about the other books in the series coming soon on my Loving Who series page by clicking here. If you can, please leave a review of my books on Amazon, Goodread, Facebook or elsewhere and let me know when you do so I can thank you. 

Loving Who was first written in the David Tennant era, so no, it doesn't mention the latest Doctor. It's about fans of both the classic series and the new. What do I think about the recent announcement of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor? Well... I've not said much about the announcement online since I've been busy lately, and I've seen some fans attacking other fans over either liking or not liking the Beeb's decision.  Some even attacked Fifth Doctor Peter Davison for simply voicing his opinion. 

That's simply not right. It's a TV show, folks. In the grand scheme of things, it's entertainment--not life or death. Peter and all Whovians deserve the right to express their thoughts in a respectful manner. So with that in mind, here's what I say about this latest bit of Who news.

 A New Beginning: A New Doctor
  

As an author myself, I'm not always sure it's a good thing to mess with another artist's creative vision. Verity Lambert and Sydney Newman (the original producers/show creators) created  Doctor Who to be "family friendly" and "educational," but it has wandered far afield from this early concept. They made the Doctor a crusty, older British-sounding male, and cast William Hartnell in the role. If that's how they saw the character of the Doctor, who are we to argue with them? It would be like saying, "Huckleberry Finn is now a middle-aged, Chinese female instead of a young American boy." What would Mark Twain think of what you did to his character of Huck Finn? (Does a radically different Huck make sense in the context of the entire novel?) Since Verity and Sydney are no longer with us, we'll never know what they think about how others have interpreted their vision, but don't we owe it to their legacy to take care of their artistic creation?

I wonder why the BBC doesn't start a new, completely unique show with a "Time Lady" (such as Romana or the Rani) instead. Then the new show creators could do whatever they like with the Time Lady character without the worries of upsetting fans of the old show or going against series canon. I hear rumors of actress Georgia Moffat returning as the "Doctor's Daughter" in her own television show, so it is possible to start fresh with a spin-off if you're feeling trapped by the older show's scope.

Since the Doctor has regenerated thirteen times now--and has always been "male" in appearance and British in his speech patterns--why would he/she/it become "female" now? What good reason can one give for this radical change in the character? Why isn't the Doctor African or Asian instead? Why can't the Doctor speak with an American or Australian accent? Why does the Doctor have to speak English at all? Why not make the Doctor Brazilian or Mexican? The fans south of the border would love it! It just doesn't make much sense within the internal logic of the Doctor's  character to change his basic make-up since it has worked so well for the show for almost 54 years.  Such a radical change comes across as a ratings' ploy more than an artistic choice. Is the show in such trouble that it needs to pull a "stunt" to gain new viewers? What's the real motive behind this "gimmick"?

Still, Jodie Whittaker is a good actress, and it's worth a look to see how she handles the part.  I wish her and the new showrunners the best of luck. Fingers crossed they give her decent scripts to act and not the poor quality scripts Peter Capaldi was sometimes stuck with. It's the poor scriptwriting of the newer Who series that's disappointed me at times--never the actors, settings or SFX, etc., which are generally first rate. Having studied screenplay writing and film critique, I hate to see opportunities wasted to create brilliant science fiction on screen. The talent is out there writing-wise, BBC. Please use it!

Loving Who now available from Devine Destinies Books and other fine online book sellers!

 

Moffat Falls Short (Again)

 Moffat Falls Short (Again)

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

I held off writing a review of the last three episodes of Doctor Who in hope the season would end on a stronger note. Alas, this isn't the case. Peter Capaldi's last series as the Doctor ends on a whimper and not a bang. It's not surprising when you consider the last two episodes were written (and I use the term loosely) by Steven Moffat.

The third from last episode, The Eaters of Light, was about par for this season. We scratched out heads  wondering why aliens who ate light ran around in the darkness after human beings. Oh well... The Roman costuming was pretty good and the scenery of "Scotland" a nice change of pace. Definitely ranks with the mediocre episodes for the sheer amount of plot bunnies, but not totally a write-off with the good SFX. With some rewriting, it might have actually worked.

Then we come to the two-parter, The World Enough and Time, followed by the aptly named The Doctor Falls. Perhaps these two episodes should be collectively titled, Any Chance of A Coherent Storyline Falls Apart as the Doctor definitely "falls" into a big pile of steaming you-know-what.

The science part of the science fiction was missing in action throughout.  Bill winds up being shot and taken away  because the Doctor can't simply tell his companions to "Quick, run into the TARDIS and let's get out of here!"  (And why not take Bill into the TARDIS and take her someplace for surgery, huh?) Bill and the Doctor can't be together because there's too many floors in a space station between them, and time is happening faster at the back end than the front. This is a phenomenon noted by Einstein, but even a 500 story "building in space" wouldn't experience that much of a time dilation. It would have to be many light years in length for any noticeable effect. (Oops, that bothersome science of physics rears its ugly head again.) And finally, you take along your "prisoner" Missy out on a trip for what good reason, Doctor? Rehabilitation on the run?

Of course, if you live in a "building in space" you live in late 19th century houses and burn fossil fuels and blow things up all you like, never worrying about blowing a hole in the side of the space vessel thus allowing all the atmosphere to vent and be sucked into the nearby black hole. Yeah... My suspension of disbelief got so suspended that my eyes rolled into the back of my head and threatened never to roll back if I didn't watch something more intelligent within the next twenty minutes.

On the up side, the "Mondas Cybermen" were fun in their sock-puppet-with-a-lantern-0n-top way, and Nardole proved to be quite a hero and a gentleman. It was interesting to see John Simms channeling his inner Roger Delgado/Anthony Ainley as the Master again, complete with goatee beard, but the logic of how he came to be on the space station and why he'd help build Cybermen in the first place eluded us. (Didn't John Simms' Master end up being burned on a pyre after his Harold Saxon election-scheme fell through? It was confusing enough as to how he wound up as Missy, but logic doesn't seem to be necessary--or wanted--in a Moffat written script. Perhaps the Master faked his death then and went on to help Donald Trump's campaign?)

 The saddest thing character development-wise was how horribly the female companion was treated yet again. Correction: female companions. Both Bill Potts and Missy didn't exactly have ideal endings to their story arcs and both are made to suffer physically and emotionally first before they're dispatched. Moffat obviously wanted to do a "controversial kiss" scene in this last episode, and so he does with Bill and Heather, but it seemed tacked on and not very controversial. Bill's rescue scene is a bit of deus ex machina in implementation. We all saw that one coming, didn't we? 

It seems Moffat's idea of a happy ending for female companions is to 1.) Kill them and/or 2.) Regenerate them into an alien (or into a walking zombie in Clara's case). Either way, the girls never get to return home. Obviously, he feels women characters have to be punished by exile from Earth. Ow. He isn't making any brownie points with feminists once again.

The Doctor's "fall" isn't so much a classic Disney-death-by-falling as much as a fall-on-your-back-in-a-big-explosion (after doing terribly stupid and heroic hand-to-hand combat with Cybermen in a holographic meadow inside a space station, no less) fall. At least the Doctor is going out in a noble fashion, trying to save others by fighting the bad guys. But Moffat doesn't know when to stop there, and so we have a repeat of David Tennant's  Tenth Doctor's "I don't want to go!" whiny regeneration started. We'll have to wait until Christmas to see how whiny and clingy to Peter Capaldi's gorgeous body the Twelfth Doctor will be. Thank goodness it looks like it's going to be a "Two Doctors" special with a return of David Bradley as the First Doctor. 

Until Christmas, we'll be holding our breaths and crossing our fingers for a decent final send off for Peter. I'll be asking Santa that it be a story written by either Mark Gatiss or Jamie Mathieson. Please?

What do you think of these last episodes of the Peter's final year as the Doctor? Write your comments in below.

P.S. I'm looking forward to next month when my novel Loving Who will be released by Devine Destinies Books. (The female companion experiences a happily ever after ending, too!)

The Doctor As Show Man and Space 1889 Cosplayer

The Doctor As Show Man and Space 1889 Cosplayer
(Spoiler Alert!)

It's been a busy two weeks, so when I finally sat down to catch up with Doctor Who, I had two episodes to watch. The first episode, The Lie of the Land, is actually part three of the two previous episodes which I found to be mediocre as best. 

Was I expecting anything better for this storyline's finale? No, not really. The Lie of the Land didn't disappoint on that respect. It was mediocre in script and well-done in acting and execution. Bill is still a strong, sympathetic character willing to lay down her life to save others, Nardole is still a loyal aide-de-camp willing to go the extra mile to help out, and the Doctor is... Well, he's a show man of sorts, selling the evil monks' "new history" to the unsuspecting public through slick commercials. Why the evil monks ever go to the extent they do to take over the world is never satisfactorily explained, including the gigantic statues of their mummy-like visages. They should have taken a lesson from the Daleks and Cybermen. Good ol' fashioned firepower and metal suits work just fine to invade Earth in Doctor Who.

Missy is seen once again in The Lie, but her cameo doesn't seem particularly necessary to the plot, as the Doctor should be able to figure things out himself with his abilities and resources. She's incarcerated in a TARDIS-styled vault and seems content to be locked up. There's hints she's not as sociopathic/psychopathic as she once was, but she's still not portrayed as a positive middle-aged female image, but rather as a figure of ridicule/hate. Actress Michelle Gomez could do better and deserves a stronger role.
 
The Orwellian overtones of "He who owns the past owns the future" are good in The Lie, but the overall arc of the trilogy of episodes isn't quite pulled off.  A good script editor could have helped cobble these three disparate episodes together in a more coherent and effective manner and brought out the strengths in each. As is... nice try, but it's very sad how this trilogy falls flat. At least Bill has a decent hairstyle this time out, and I enjoyed the "Maoist China" style of bland/uni-colored clothing of the populace as well as the Doctor's "worn" jacket.

Empress of Mars is a stronger episode in that it doesn't try to be anything it isn't.  The Doctor meets his old foes, the Ice Warriors. They've been updated a bit without losing their lovable "monster of the week" look about them that they've sported since the Patrick Troughton era. My husband was pleased to see the Victorian-era military men on an expedition on Mars, very reminiscent of the characters one takes on in the role playing game Space 1889. (The military costuming was accurate historically according to hubby who is an expert on such things, too.)

Why there is oxygen underground on Mars is never explained, especially since the surface is dead and there's no obvious plant life left.  The frozen/hibernating Ice Warriors are very similar to the Patrick Troughton series Cybermen who were hibernating on Mondas in a pyramid-like set-up. 

Hmm... Pyramids and spacesuits seem to be returning images in this season, as the Doctor and Bill have been seen in spacesuits in Empress of Mars, Oxygen and in underwater diving suits in Thin Ice. The evil monks have a spacecraft (I assume that's what it is since it "flies") that's pyramid-shaped in Nemesis, The Pyramid at the End of the World,  and The Lie of the Land. Is there some kind of connection we're suppose to make with the reoccurring imagery? I have to say, Peter looks great in a form-hugging spacesuit. I hope the hoodie look has been put to rest for good.

With only a few more episodes to go in Peter Capaldi's last year as the Doctor, fingers crossed we get another Mark Gatiss-written story. What's your take on these last episodes? Please write your comments below. Thanks.

 Can't get enough of the man in the spacesuit, can you? :)

Coming Soon... The Loving Who series from Devine Destinies Books!

The Doctor as U.N. President

 

 

The Doctor as 

(Possibly Unsuccessful) 

U.N. President

(Attn: Spoiler Alert) 

 

When does a television show "jump the shark" and become a sad parody of itself? Is it possible "to unjump the shark" and redeem itself ever? That's the question playing through my mind after watching the second part of a two-parter storyline, beginning with Extremis and ending with The Pyramid at the End of the World. 

 

Perhaps the question is more along the lines of "Has Doctor Who finally given up on being original, fresh or even half-way intelligent and instead gone for the bleeding obvious?" The wonderful special effects, sets, costumes and mood lighting notwithstanding, it's hard press to tell you of anything of the actual plots of these two episodes, simply because there's not much of any actual plot. It seems to be a series of well-photographed scenes with little true emotional connection between them. One if left scratching his/her head and saying, "What was all the fuss about then?"

The stakes are high since Missy is back--or is she? The stakes are high because the Doctor is still blind after saving Bill--or is he, since he has those groovy sunglasses? Sometimes he seems able to see just about everything he needs to in a scene, and then in the dramatic moment in The Pyramid he can't seem to see the combo lock on the door. Even those with just the basics in fiction writing can understand why such contradictory plot points make for an unsatisfying resolution.

 

The "monks" (which seems to be a common term for most DW alien/baddies in recent years) are predictably ugly, evil and controlling with their Matrix-like program of optical wires that is running a simulation of all life on earth. (Where have we heard something like that before? Oh, yeah, in the Matrix movie trilogy!) The Doctor and others find out about the program by reading a dark magic book called the "Veritas", eerily similar to this season's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Darkhold" book of evil spells and power. So, the world is all fake and we're being watched by aliens--what's new about that even in the Whovian universe?

 

After the build up of Extremis, we were really looking for a satisfying ending and a tying up of strings, but The Pyramid didn't deliver on any promises. It sticks us back in "reality" (out of the Matrix) and sticks a pyramid in the middle of Central Asia where three great military powers are standing off, but no warfare ensues. Cool SFX of landing a B-52-like a Harrier jet, but that's about it. The end of the world is coming we're told, but not by falling nukes or the tiny hands of Donald Trump it seems.

 

A separate story line gradually develops, and we're told the great disaster  to end all life in the world is because of a Monsanto-clone and its evil GMO and biochemical meddling. (That made me smile actually since it's more than likely will be the case.) Generals die because their "consent is not sincere" enough for the evil monk-aliens to stop this from happening somehow. Only the true-hearted Bill can give consent because of her love of the Doctor and concern for his safety. Earth is or isn't safe at the end, but who really cares? The Doctor can see again.

I guess it helps if one is blind to the possibilities of science fiction and to the great acting abilities of Peter Capaldi and company to think these two stories were anything more than mediocre. Peter and the entire cast and crew deserved better scripts. After trying so hard to keep an open mind about Steven Moffat's scriptwriting ability this season, he's done it again in my opinion--butted into the show mid-season and put in the two weakest episodes so far. If I were the showrunner, I'd fire him. 

 

Oh, yeah, he's not about to do that, is he? On to next week and hopefully a much stronger story. It wouldn't take much to top this last pair.

What do you think? Too harsh or not harsh enough on Moffat's latest escapade? Leave your comments below.

P.S. I have a tentative release date of August for my novel of fan-filmaking gone wild, Loving Who. Yeah! Something to look forward to in the Who universe!

 

The Doctor as Labor Leader

 

The Doctor as Labor Leader

(Attn: Spoiler Alert!)

We're just back from Marcon 52 and trying hard to catch up with things, so this week's review wasn't the first thing on my to-do list. I put off watching the latest Doctor Who episode for a few days (so I could make myself finish several projects first), and now I wish I hadn't. 

I find it amazing how my "day job" of being the editor of Our Revolution Continues dovetailed nicely into this week's episode, Oxygen. Both blogs are on the topics of worker/employer -- or more accurately slave/master-- relationships. To see what I mean, check out my piece at the O.R.C. blog, How to Build a Better Slave, er Worker. The fact that most human beings don't recognize how they're being manipulated and used by the oligarchy isn't a new concept, but seeing it portrayed in an effectively sinister way on Doctor Who really surprised me. Kudos to writer Jamie Mathieson, known for penning the better scripts in Peter Capaldi's first season, for once again writing a worthy episode for Peter's Doctor.

 Oxygen is quite a unique screenplay. The overt theme of the story is particularly intriguing, considering the accusations the BBC head  made thirty years ago against the producers of Doctor Who for  putting on a "leftist show." It got the show cancelled, so is this "leftist bent" made during the Theresa May leadership going to result in the same thing, or is the Beeb more interested in ratings rather than politics this time around? I think they're in it for the money, so a story theme about how human life is cheap and easily disposed of by those with the power and wealth is even more poignant.


But it wasn't all just politics--the "spacesuit zombies" were pretty creepy. You don't expect something that's supposed to protect you like a spacesuit to try and kill you. Nice touch linking the capitalists' greed to overtly killing their workers/slaves. At least the worker/slaves at the Chasm Forge understood they had a limited supply of oxygen, but they expected their masters to provide more. Too bad, so sad their corporate masters felt the workers weren't worth giving the "benefits of breathing."

There was definitely more "meat" to the plot this time out, and more Nardole as well. I've been wondering if Matt Lucas was going to get more lines, and this story featured him well. He's a loyal and conscientious companion, and he's trying to keep the Doctor on task--which we all know isn't an easy thing to do. How Nardole as a character will develop in subsequent episodes intrigues me and will keep me watching.

Bill in this episode plays the innocent in space, trusting that the Doctor and a spacesuit will protect her from the evil of the "zombies" and the faceless corporate oligarchs. The Doctor risking his own sight to save her--and then seemingly risking her life to save her again later--was quite dramatic. It's great to see Peter Capaldi playing a heroic Doctor who is willing to lay down his own life/health for the safety of his companion without hesitation. We've had enough of the "darkness" Steven Moffat tried to infuse into the first two seasons of Peter's tenure. 
 
Let the Doctor be a hero and his companions worthy aides in his fight to save humanity against the evils in the universe. Please, Doctor, come to Earth and be our labor leader! Save us from the blind greed of our corporate masters who take and take from the working poor to fill their bloated off-shore bank accounts!

What do you think of Peter Capaldi's Doctor and  the episodes so far? Leave your comments below.

P.S. It's sometimes uncanny how you can predict the future, even if you're not a Time Lord... While I was doing some edit work on my upcoming re-release of  Leaving Who, I realized I'd coin the term "The Mistress" many years before Steven Moffat had. Maybe I time traveled and didn't realize it?

The Doctor as Helper/The Companion as Conscience

 
Sorry for the delay--it's been an awfully hectic month for yours truly--but I thought I'd write a quick review of the last two episodes of Doctor Who before we head out to Marcon in Columbus, Ohio, this weekend to chat with fellow Whovians in person.

This season is off to a solid start, much better than Peter Capaldi's previous seasons, in my opinion. We finally see the "classic Who" Doctor emerging, the one that most of us fell in love in (in his various incarnations), the one that we saw in the performances of Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and even Matt Smith in the newer series. In both Thin Ice and Knock Knock we see the Doctor as helper. The Doctor isn't just casually breezing by the scene and becoming involved in spite of his reluctance; he's actually there to help human beings solve a mystery and make the world a bit safer. His intent is humanitarian, not selfish, which is the heroic trait many Whovians admire the most.



On the companion side, we have Bill. She's coming across as the Doctor's conscience in these stories--the human sidekick who tells him when he's crossed the line into selfishness or cruelty. In many respects, Bill reminds me of the Nu Who companion Donna Noble. Donna was never afraid to tell the Doctor when he had stepped over the line. She begged and pleaded with the Doctor when he seemed heartless, such as in the Fires of Pompei when she begged him to save the Roman family headed up by... well, by Peter Capaldi of all people!

I also see a bit of Leela from the Tom Baker era in the character of Bill. Leela was also brave and not afraid to tell the Doctor when he's crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. In Thin Ice, Bill points out the "coldness" of the Doctor allowing some to die in front of her eyes without apparently trying to save them. In Knock Knock she begs him to save her friends and housemates from death by alien termite. The companion's prime role is to keep the Doctor on the straight and narrow morally, not to be just another pretty face beside him, which has happened frequently in the recent series to the detriment of the Doctor's character. 


A brief aside on the settings, SFX and costuming: I do like Bill's hairstyle with bangs, as it's much more flattering than her previous hairstyle without the face framing. And can Peter Capaldi's Doctor ever rock a top hat! He should wear one more often. The Regency era setting and costuming of Thin Ice were excellent, and I can't recall this historical era being done before on the show, so kudos for giving us another cool look into the past. Knock Knock's "haunted house" and super creepy insect special effects were very effective at striking a subtly horrific chord. Actor David Suchet will never be stereotyped as the clever and polite Hercule Poirot for me ever again!

The Doctor needs his human companion(s) to act as conscience since he isn't human (he's Gallifreyan), and he often forgets what his actions (or lack of actions) can mean to humans. The very first Doctor's companions of Barbara, Ian and Susan were perfect examples of how the Doctor's conscience is necessary. If you don't know what I mean, watch the very first episode An Unearthly Child and the three after it. Where would the Doctor be if his companions didn't help him then become the hero we know and love today?

I'm looking forward to the next episode and possibly seeing you at Marcon. Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think about Peter Capaldi's last season so far. Isn't he (to quote Doctor Nine)  fantastic?

P.S. I've been working hard on edits for the re-releases of my Loving Who series of novels. I'd forgotten some of the wild and wacky things my "companions" got up to in the series... "Time travel" makes us all a little forgetful occasionally!

P.P.S. I love the new cover for the third book in the series, Losing Who, don't you?

Smile: Isn't that the name of a Chaplin song?

 Smile: Isn't that the name of a Chaplin song?

A very quick review of episode two, Smile, because I've lost my notes, and I'm coming down with a cold. Achoo!

I had big expectations for the second episode after The Pilot, hoping that we'd see more of the Doctor in action making the world a better place and not wearing that dreadful hoodie again. In a way, Smile fulfills some of those expectations and in another way, it doesn't. The hoodie with the Doctor's velvet coat returns (ugh), but it's the least of my worries. The title Smile is the name of a classic song written by the great comedian (and violinist) Charlie Chaplin (and also the name of a funny movie about beauty pageants), but it doesn't bother me really. There's something else nagging at me from my long term memory unaffected by spring allergies.

The story premise seems overly familiar. Where have we seen "inanimate objects" come to life and kill/harm humans before? Another one word title comes to mind: Blink. Instead of Weeping Angels, we now have killer Emojibots. The little robots are adorable, but I wish they could have been more noble in their actions and not quite so predictable.

Another overly familiar Doctor Who plot scenario--colonists in cryogenic status in danger of  waking up and not making it. Remember Tom Baker's The Ark in Space? Okay, so you can't always avoid repeating some set-ups in sci-fi, but could we at least see some more original twists in the set-up?

The setting and SFX photography are fantastic (to coin the Ninth Doctor's catch word) in Smile, and I really felt the Doctor and Bill were on an alien world and inside a futuristic building. The chemistry and camaraderie between the Doctor and Bill works well (in spite of her awful hairstyle and both their poor fashion sense). One would hope with good acting and great production values the script-writing would live up to these high standards, but it's not quite there. Yet.

I live in hope of episode three. Will the story quality match the quality of execution? We'll see.

What is your opinion so far of Doctor Who this season? Leave a comment below if you like. Thanks.

P.S. I'm finishing up my edits for the re-release of Loving Who. Can't wait for you to see it--all the adventure, comedy and romance a Whovian craves in one novel!

Doctor Who--and Loving Who--Return!

Doctor Who--and Loving Who--Return!

It's been a while since I wrote about the Doctor, but this month I have something to write about concerning both the latest series premiere and the re-release of my original Doctor Who-inspired series, Loving Who.

My wacky sci-fi romantic-comedies, beginning with the novel Loving Who, are no longer in print from their former publisher (due to a change in business model). The good news is they will be re-released with new cover art and new editing in all new editions from Devine Destinies Books. I'm excited because I really enjoyed revisiting my old friends Cici Connors and the alien John Smith from Loving Who, Leaving Who and Losing Who. I know a lot of new Whovians will enjoy their wild adventures in time, space and fandom, too. I can't wait to introduce them to these new Who-fans.

I don't have an exact release date yet for the first title, but I'll let you know when I do. In the meantime, I'd like to ask you favor... Would you be interested in reading and writing a short review of Loving Who and then posting your review to Amazon and Goodreads? I'd sincerely appreciate it, as the old reviews posted there will no longer be associated with the new release. So, if you're interested, please email me at cynthianna @ hotmail.com (no spaces) and let me know if you're able to help me out with a review. Thanks.

Now onto the quickie review of the opening episode, The Pilot. I must say Peter Capaldi is looking great and  seems very relaxed in the role of the Doctor. His hiding out at a university and teaching physics seems up the Doctor's alley, and it gave me a flashback to the partially filmed Douglas Adams' story, Shada, where the Doctor met an old friend who was hanging out as a professor at an English university. The TARDIS in the corner of his well-appointed office fits the decor perfectly.

The reasons why the Doctor has settled down for a spell to teach--and why the alien Nardole is still with him--aren't given, but I'm willing to give it a pass for now. The university professor situation is intriguing,  and the young woman he meets and encourages to study science is intriguing as well. "Bill" isn't your typical college co-ed, as she's not officially a student, and yet she's bright and eager to learn. (After seeing say some rather dumb lines in the trailers, I wasn't sure if I would like her, but she's much more intelligent than those short blurbs indicate. Whew!) About the only criticism I have of Bill after the first story is her horrible taste in clothing and unkempt hairstyle. Nothing she wears is flattering for her body type, in my opinion. I hope the costume and makeup department get to work on improving her look.

We learn in snippets that Bill (Pearl Mackie) is a foster child and never knew her mother. She's a sympathetic character and seems to have the ambition to make something of herself despite her poor circumstances. The Doctor and Nardole (Matt Lucas) seem to be protecting a "vault" in the basement of the building where the Doctor's office is located, but for what reason and from whom are still a mystery. The opening story isn't overly complicated, but it flows at a good pace and introduces Bill and the audience to the TARDIS and the idea that the Doctor is much more than meets the eye. This is always a good way to restart a series after it's been in hiatus for a while.

I'm looking forward to episode two, and hopeful Moffat doesn't derail the more positive and helpful Doctor to bring back his morose persona of the past seasons. Peter Capaldi announced this will be his last year to play the Doctor, and I'd rather he go out on a high note than a low one, wouldn't you? Fingers crossed!

P.S. My short story, If You Give a Time Traveler a Cookie, featuring Cici and John from Loving Who, will also be available from Devine Destinies. Keep it tuned here for details.

Romancing the Doctor (On New Doctor Who)

Old lovers can still be friends.

Romancing the Doctor (On New Doctor Who)

by Cynthianna 

***Spoiler alert!***

One wonders why the current producers of Doctor Who feel it's necessary to do a "Christmas special" (since the Doctor isn't human nor professes to be a follower of Jesus) but every once in a while it's nice to see an episode slightly out of the ordinary. This season needed a break from the soap opera angst of the Clara story arc, so anything to take our minds off of it is a good thing.

Even my husband agreed with me on this point concerning The Husbands of River Song. Less teenage angst and lots more humor--and Alex Kingston to boot. It's nice to see an actress who's equal in charisma to Peter Capaldi playing opposite him. River Song is a fun and mischievous character who is always up to something, so the lighthearted jaunt to sell off a pilfered diamond to a race of genocidal alien one-percenters aboard a space cruise liner is just the mindless entertainment we needed.

It's not a perfect episode of course. The threat of killing River's "husband" the cyborg king with a human head and then crashing a ship full of passengers (no matter how heinous their crimes) is a downer. Fortunately, the excellent performances of and the magical chemistry between Capaldi and Kingston pretty much drown out that tinge of nastiness that always seems to be a part of a Steven Moffat script. The unneeded nastiness really could have been edited out, but this season pretty much proves script editing is not of importance to the show runners.

See? The Twelfth Doctor can smile. And it fits his face just fine.

Ah, but to stare into the handsome face of Peter Capaldi and admire the beautiful radiance of Alex Kingston on screen for an hour! Now, that's a holiday gift worth the wait.

What do you think? Please leave your comments below, and check out my reviews of earlier episodes of this season of Doctor Who:

Hell Bent 
Heaven Sent
Face the Raven  
Sleep No More
The Zygon Inversion (or Inversion of the Zygons)
The Zygon Invasion

The Woman Who Lived

The Girl Who Died    
  Before the Flood

Under the Lake

The Witch's Familiar

The Magician's Apprentice

Classic Who on Retro TV