Author: Rene Schwiesow

A self-professed word nerd, I picked up a pen in elementary school and haven’t stopped writing. Though my first love is poetry, my publications also include flash fiction, short story, book reviews, articles for newspapers, and academic essay. My work has been featured on the Massachusetts Poetry Festival site and on the radio in Massachusetts and Vermont. I currently serve as a co-Managing Editor for Ibbetson Street magazine and have had the privilege of offering edit for two phenomenal novels. I keep my trusty set of sonic screwdrivers by my bedside and look to the stars each night, waiting for that madman in a blue box. He’ll be here soon, right?

Categories
Essay

The Magician’s Apprentice

season 9: the doctor on skaros

If you’re expecting consistent sequential logic, you’ll not find it in this premier episode of Series 9, which feels like a series of vignettes bridged together by “huh?” moments. In the world of Doctor Who this is not necessarily a bad thing. Based on the medieval nature of the prologue that was released, one may have thought we were in for a Lord of the Rings romp, but instead we find ourselves on a bleak planet, standing on hand mines, and faced with a confused, young boy. The Doctor tosses his sonic screwdriver to the boy for assistance. The hand mines are a cool effect and the eye in the center of the palm makes them all the more eerie; however, it is convenient that they show themselves to the boy and that the area surrounding the Tardis appears to be free of them. When the boy’s name is revealed as Davros (who would later create the Daleks), the Doctor is shocked and offers no further assistance. But neither does he kill Davros — yet. Evil at one time has its innocence, and this scenario revives the question of whether or not the Doctor is a good man. We’ve a pretty good idea where we may eventually arrive, but at this point we jump into what appears to be a mash-up of Who, Potter, and Star Wars when a cloaked individual looking very much like Voldemort enters a Cantina-type bar ala Tatooine looking for the Doctor. I begin to wonder if Moffat finally got J. K. Rowling involved in the writing. She has been “almost” involved before. Or is Moffat simply enamored with Potter villains and chose to pattern this character after the sinister Lord?

I’m still chewing on the similarities when we jump to the Shadow Proclamation and then to Karn, where the search for the elusive Doctor continues. On Karn the floating Voldemort-like figure reveals that a dying Davros is summoning the Doctor. The message links us back to the opening scene, implying that Davros remembers being abandoned. The Doctor, we find, is being harbored by those on Karn.

Another jump and we’re at the Coal Hill School. After throwing her students into panic, Clara whisks from the classroom in response to a call from UNIT. She takes on a persona that demands attention. If this was unsettling to anyone else, you weren’t alone. With the Doctor unavailable, Clara, who was called to UNIT by Kate Lethbridge-Stewart because airplanes have been frozen in flight, wields a power that does not seem to fit even the Impossible Girl. And, seriously, UNIT asks if they should send a helicopter? When Toni Basil got a nod in the Series 8 episode “Death in Heaven” with a parody of the song, “Mickey,” it was a cute addition that fit Michelle Gomez’s portrayal of Missy as The Master. But when the lyrics of the parody scrolled across a computer screen at UNIT in this series premiere, it brought a groan from this reviewer. Is someone picking up a few royalties?

Missy is behind the mysterious hold on the airplanes, but her tampering with them has little to do with the storyline. It serves as nothing more than garnering attention and she quickly drops her hold at Clara’s request to prove that she cares about the Doctor’s whereabouts. The world, it seems, is not really in dire danger. But is the Doctor? In an open plaza, Missy shares what apparently contains his last will and testament. Together she and Clara track down the Doctor and Missy teleports them to his location. The relationship between the Doctor and the Master has always been intriguing, but Missy’s connection to the Doctor in this episode shows a complexity that Clara does not understand. It is likely that most viewers are left with another “huh” moment as well.

I am still wondering at the title of the episode and the question is not yet answered by the Doctor being introduced as the magician. He enters an arena (Is this to be a Thunderdome?) on top of a tank playing an electric guitar. Where did the guitar come from and for what purpose is it being used? Where did the tank come from? This scene does, however, provide levity to what may be a dire situation. After recognizing Clara and Missy, the Doctor behaves uncharacteristically by hugging Clara and making an allusion to Series 8 with the statement that hugging is a good way to hide your face. Missy does not find his behavior unconventional. The Doctor then pulls a snake from a man and the Voldemort character re-appears revealing another Potter-like allusion – snakes ala Basilisk? We bridge back to the opening again when the Doctor is faced with the memory of abandoning an innocent Davros. When the Tardis is secured, we are left wondering if the Doctor’s entire three-week party was a set-up from the get-go.

Eventually we find the Doctor meeting up with Davros, who is frail and dying as we have been told. He approves of the Doctor’s new regeneration. Meanwhile, Missy uses the word “gravity” as a clue from the Doctor to explore beyond the doors of what they believe is a spaceship. After a gratuitous nod toward the possibility of causing Clara’s demise (Nope, Moffat, I wasn’t fooled into believing that), Missy carefully walks out of the ship to find a planet hidden by invisibility — and not just any planet, but Skaro, a rebuilt Skaro. I’m not surprised by this, but as the planet’s invisibility wears off and the Doctor sees Skaro through a window, he apparently is surprised. Where else would Davros bring him? A flashback to previous regenerations and, specifically to the 4th Doctor, conjures other Dalek dilemmas, a wonderful touch for those who are Classic Who aficionados.

The cliffhanger leaves us with two apparent casualties – both Missy and Clara downed by Daleks — and a destroyed Tardis. “Davros made the Daleks, but who made Davros?” asked the Doctor. Indeed.

It’s the series opener, highly unlikely that Missy and Clara’s death and the destruction of the Tardis is final. Despite questions and little annoyances, “The Magician’s Apprentice” opens Series 9 with some fine cinematography and sets the stage for the rest of the series, while utilizing several allusions to Series 8 as tie-in for the relationships between the Doctor and Clara and the Doctor and Missy. There are some fabulous and funny lines from each character and each has their chance to bring value to the episode. As for the complexity of the Doctor’s relationship with Missy, perhaps they really are two aspects of the same. Where there is light there will also always be dark.

Help me out in the comments by sharing your view on the title – why “The Magician’s Apprentice?” It has to go deeper than disappearing coin tricks.

Categories
Essay

The TARDIS: a Time Lord Lifemate

“…You call Me ‘Sexy’.” There is something sensuous about the angles and curves of the console, the way one’s hand would maneuver dials and levers — something tantalizingly mysterious in placing travel through all of time and space into TARDIS hands. Before you claim that the TARDIS is simply a machine, purely AI at best, be assured that a TARDIS is a “living, semi-sentient creature.” fully capable of developing affection for alien or human beings. The TARDIS is birthed from a form of Distributed Cluster Algebra — block mathematics — originally devised by the people of Logopolis. Incubated in Dimensionally Transcendental Cradles (located in the Gallifrey Black Hole Shipyard), the young TARDIS spends a decade using transdimensional engineering to grow its interior and exterior shells. At ten, the Time Lords implant the temporal drive and the chameleon circuit as well as either XX or XY circuitry for gender. A male TARDIS, however, is rare. Less than 1 of 100 become male, based on the fact that only 1 out of 80 Time Lords are female. It appears that to date, TARDIS/Time Lord relationships are only heterosexual in nature.

Despite the contention that a TARDIS is grown and not built, the plaque of each TARDIS states:

TARDIS
Time and Relative Dimension in Space
Build Site: Gallifrey Black hole Shipyard
Type ## Build Date: ####
Authorized for use by qualified Time Lords only
By the Shadow Proclamation
Misuse or Theft of any TARDIS
Will result in extreme penalties and possible exile

It is common knowledge that a TARDIS chooses its Time Lord. Though, there is some indication that certain Gallifreyans with a symbiotic nuclei may purchase a TARDIS. The symbiotic nuceli is a modification of biodata completed at the Time Lord Academies. At this crucial point, let us look at the Rassilon Imprimature, a “symbiotic bond of transcendent biomechanics” that is at the root of a connection so intimate, it can be described as sexual.

“Warning. It is useless to try operating this machine until the correct telepathic link has been established. This link is known only to the Owner of this Type 40. Attempts to tamper with the control console will be met with the strongest possible retaliation.”
TARDIS Type 40 Master Control Console Operating and Repair Manual

Once this bond is established, the link makes Time Lord and TARDIS one — inseparable “soulmates.”

The intimate nature of the relationship between Time Lord and TARDIS was shown well in “The Doctor’s Wife” (written by Neil Gaiman). In this 4th episode of the 6th series, the TARDIS was portrayed physically by Suranne Jones. The heart and soul of the TARDIS is drained and replaced into a woman named Idris, chosen for this by House, the sentient asteroid where the Doctor has landed. When Idris first sees the Doctor (Matt Smith), she kisses him, then bites him. She refers to him as her “thief.” “Thief” is a reference to the canon that the first Doctor has stolen this TARDIS, though there are varying stories as to how the theft came about. The Doctor and Idris create a visible bond that emanates their love for each other. The human body, however, cannot withstand the drain of the TARDIS core, and eventually Idris succumbs to her weakening and dies, while the matrix is released back into the main control room. One final, emotional conversation with the Doctor ensues as the TARDIS matrix projects itself onto Idris’s body. The conversation is tender and heartbreaking, ending with the matrix’s whispered words, “I love you.”

Though this is not the first time that the TARDIS has taken physical form, the utilization of the word wife and the nature of the communication between Idris and the Doctor has been said to cement the relationship of intimacy that a Time Lord and its TARDIS share. Previously, the TARDIS has taken on the form of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, a sentient TARDIS named Compassion, and Rose Tyler in the well-known episode, “Bad Wolf.”

The TARDIS, like sentient beings, is bigger on the inside. Exploring the corridors and rooms is guided by gentle light. The TARDIS, like compassionate beings, does not want an individual to become lost. Yes, the TARDIS is sexy, and the TARDIS does its best to protect; but perhaps a TARDIS recognizes the reciprocal balance, beauty, and intense power of love too.

“Call Me Sexy” illustration by Paul Hanley

Categories
Essay

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary: A Dynamic Duo

In March of 2005, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper made their debut in “Rose,” the first episode of the Doctor Who reboot. Eccleston had a well-established television and movie career at the time of his casting. Piper was a pop music sensation with a record deal at the age of 15. She left music in 2003 to return to acting, her first love. In 2004 Piper won the role of Rose Tyler, companion to the 9th Doctor. Link to TARDIS Data Core for both Eccleston and Piper

Russell T. Davies, head writer and showrunner for New Who, has maintained that he had Eccleston in mind for the Doctor from the outset, though he was not certain Eccleston would want the part. Other actors considered for the role included Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Nighy, and Allen Davies. Once Eccleston accepted, he took the script and built the Doctor’s character around aspects of Davies’ personality. “Fantastic,” was Davies’ favorite word. As further role preparation, Eccleston watched Tom Baker in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” (1977). Yet Eccleston’s Doctor had an edge that likely did not evolve from Davies or Baker. That edge is strictly Christopher Eccleston’s. Steven Moffat, who wrote two episodes for the 2005 Series 1, called Eccleston “an amazing Doctor.”

“What an amazing Doctor. This gritty, determined northerner. And he was written like a man in a pub. A clever man in a pub, but still a man in a pub.” Steven Moffat on Christopher Eccleston, South Wales Evening Post

Moffat also weighed in on Billie Piper as Rose:

“It was Billie Piper who brought it back. I think those first two years, that was Billie Piper’s show. It was all about Billie, and Billie as Rose. Russell [T. Davies] was so clever in creating that character and casting that character so perfectly.”

pubguy

But was there chemistry between the two? Yes. Contest that if you will, but it is difficult to deny. What begins with a giddy school-girl seeking adventure continues with an unconditional connection. During “The Parting of the Ways,” Rose looks into the Time Vortex and takes on the energy to save the Doctor. The episode ends in the Doctor kissing Rose to draw the energy, which forces his regeneration.

The BBC announced the casting of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in May of 2004.

Julie Gardner, head of drama for BBC Wales in 2003, felt that Billie was perfect for the role Gardner called her a “unique, dynamic partner for Christopher Eccleston.” Given her age and past history as a music pop star, many had a difficult time believing Piper was the final choice. Some fans felt that it may have been a publicity stunt.

Billie showed them just how real she was in “Rose” (official air date March 26, 2005), which drew in 10.81 million viewers within one week. Spurred by the success of the episode, the BBC made the decision to go ahead with Series 2. This was made public on March 30, 2005. In a stunning leaked release on the same day, the BBC announced that Christopher Eccleston would not be returning for the second series. While the BBC originally stated that Eccleston’s reasons for leaving were based on his hesitation in being typecast, this was not an official statement from Eccleston. The faux pas likely was confirmation for Eccleston that his decision to leave was a good one. Eccleston did not see eye-to-eye with senior members of Doctor Who; however, he has stated that he was proud to have been able to play the role of Doctor.

What exactly was the relationship between the 9th Doctor and Rose Tyler? Eccleston put it this way:

“He loves her, simple as that. And she loves him. They both deny it, but her mother can see it. They’re very similar, Rose and the Doctor: both carry a sense of loneliness. He allows her freedom—he’s always encouraging her to experience things—but he expects a great deal of her, too. He’s constantly telling her, ‘If you want to travel with me, then don’t become a burden.'” Christopher Eccleston, Radio Times

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper created a Doctor/companion team that helped to solidify Who‘s journey toward world-wide cult status. Love them or not, their legacy is undeniable.

Who fact: The world lost a great fantasy author this month: Sir Terence David John “Terry” Pratchett. Pratchett fell heavy on the critique of Doctor Who, saying it is “ludicrous and breaks most of the laws of narrative.” Though he felt that Who embraced “makeitupasyougoalongeum,” Pratchett continued to watch. Who can help themselves?

Categories
Essay

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary: Show Runner Extraordinaire, Russell T. Davies

photo: Russell T. Davies thinking of Peter Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor
Why didn't I think of that? Russell T. Davies thinking of Peter Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor

Stephen Russell Davies was born the same year as Doctor Who—1963. His family had no idea that their son would become one of the most influential writers/producers of British television. Under the pen name Russell T. Davies, Stephen resurrected Doctor Who after a 16-year hiatus of the BBC run series and a failed attempt at a back-door pilot telemovie. A collaboration of the BBC and FOX, the 1996 movie was a ratings success in the UK but not America. It had been intended to kick-off an American-produced Who series, which was not commissioned. Who was waiting for Davies.

As a young adult, Davies had wanted to become a comic book artist. His color-blindness forced him to study English literature, which led to screen and playwriting. In 1985 Davies began working for BBC’s Children’s department. His work on Dark Season and Century Falls was highly successful. In l994 he began writing for adults, which ultimately led to his stint as show runner for the new Doctor Who. A fan since childhood, Davies had been lobbying for Doctor Who‘s return since the late 90s. His ideas (doubling the episode length, paring back the mythology of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, increasing the production values) were accepted. During Davies’ reign, the longer episodes were welcomed. The reduced Time Lord mythology led to plot holes, which continue to cause confusion for the fandom.

Davies writes openly about sexual orientation and continues to develop sexually diverse characters. The pansexual Captain Jack Harkness is one example. Doctor Who and Torchwood have same-sex couples. (Davies created Queer as Folk before Doctor Who, and gay lifestyle shows Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu after.) John Barrowman, the actor who portrayed Captain Jack, said that Davies “changed the face of television in the U.K.” Barrowman added, “He has taken subject matter that nobody else will touch, and he has put in characters that nobody else will bother doing.”

Davies was approached about becoming involved in a tenth anniversary celebration for new Who:

“Someone from the [BBC’s] branding team sent me a very lovely email saying do you want to do something. I don’t know what they imagined…a talk or a convention, perhaps. I just said no, to be honest. A program can’t have its fiftieth and then its tenth anniversary. I think that’s just confusing. It’s marvelous and glorious; let it carry on.”

According to Davies, current show runner Steven Moffat asks him to write an episode every year. Davies response: “I love Doctor Who with all my heart but nothing is more important to me than my own stuff.”

Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu seem to have Davies full creative attention. Ironically, Davies was quick to confirm interest in writing a Doctor Who movie if approached: “If we could get the lawyers and contracts flying now. You know I would do that because I think there’s a big leap to be made.”

Davies’ imprint on the cult-status Doctor Who continues. Moffat said Davies had a theory for Peter Capaldi, who appeared in Davies’ “The Fires of Pompeii” and in an episode of Torchwood. Davies phoned Moffat to applaud the casting of Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor. Moffat asked: “Okay, what was your theory, and does it still work?” Davies’ reply was, “Yes it does. Here it is…“

Moffat (who often lies) says that he will use Davies’ original plan for Capaldi, and will “play that one out over time. It’s actually quite neat.” However, in Radio Times Davies said: “I know Peter Capaldi. He did a Doctor Who with us and he did a brilliant Torchwood and when they cast him I was just envious. I just thought: so brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that? Brilliant.” Does that contradict Moffat’s assertion that there was secret plan?

Davies continues to be touted as the savior for Doctor Who. One aspect of his legacy seems certain: “It’s now impossible for it to ever be axed,” he told Radio Times. “It’s certainly heading that way. Could you imagine if it was axed now? There would be uproar in the streets. Twitter would be set on fire.”

You can take the man out of Doctor Who, but apparently cannot take Doctor Who out of the man. If the BBC’s offer is right, we may see Russell T. Davies pen a script for the Doctor again.

Who Fact: Stephen Fry wrote a Doctor Who script. It was inspired by the story of Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight, a traditional Celtic medieval poem. Davies thought it too complicated and requested revision. Fry never had time to do so.

Categories
External Content

The Science of Time: The Doctor Is Right

Jesse McDougall for GOOD Magazine:

“The Doctor is right. The speed at which time passes is both variable and malleable. We can speed it up. We can slow it down. In fact, you do so every day without even knowing it.”

Excellent article from 2013. McDougall does a great job of using the physics of time, gravity, and Einstein’s theory of relativity to make spacetime soup.

Categories
Fan Fiction

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary: Rose-Colored Dream

Theme image
Main image uncredited. Baby Rose screenshot from "Father's Day"

In the quiet, evening light, Ginny drifts to the sound of the TARDIS on take-off. Earlier today she was a clerk at a department store, but tonight she will travel with a madman in a box. The television flickers all of time and space into her bedroom, and she imagines herself as Rose Tyler. The sound of the alarm clock that wakens Rose in the streaming episode is a hypnotic trigger that sends Ginny deeper into the vortex of her own timeline.

One moment she is lying on her back, tucked in by comforter and blanket while she watches Rose grab purse and lunch, and toss a good-bye over her shoulder to her Mum. Then, in an instant, she wakes up on the floor of the TARDIS. Staring up into the bright lights of the console tower, she vaguely makes out the shape of the Doctor. She can tell he is agitated by the tone of his mumbling. The only word that Ginny can wholly understand is ‘baby.’ The Doctor stumbles around the console, trips over Ginny and continues muttering about the Silence. She watches, wonders why he’s so obsessed with silence. He stops. Starts. Stops. Looks back over his shoulder.

“Oh, hi. So who are you?” He goes back to pressing buttons and manipulating levers.

Ginny props herself up on one arm, shields her eyes with the free hand, “Rose” she says, “Rose Tyler.”

“Well, a name is fine, but who are you Rose Tyler?”

She shakes her head, tries to orient herself to the inside of the TARDIS: “Just a shop girl. A tired shop girl.”

“Hmmmm, nobody is ‘just.’ I’m the Doctor. I’m not yet sure how you appeared on the floor of my ship, but you’re here now and there’s no turning back. We’re off to rescue an infant! Though I’ve no idea whose infant or why.”

Rose raises herself to a seated position then pulls herself up to standing by grabbing onto the console. Everything looks familiar to her. “I’ve seen you on television,” she says, “haven’t I?”

The Doctor looks amused. “Really? On the telly? I am rather fantastic, aren’t I?”

Rose doesn’t understand, decides that it wouldn’t progress matters to probe the question. “I lost a baby two years ago. Odd,” she says, “her name is Rose too.” She pauses for a moment, “Or, is that a story I know from someone else?” Rose rubs at her temple. Brain freeze, she thinks.

He glances over at her then faces her full on. His eyes scan her from the top of her head down to her toes. He picks up his sonic screwdriver and uses it to scan her a second time. “There are no coincidences Rose. Maybe the baby I’m looking for is yours. Or, you.”

At that moment the TARDIS lands with a lurch. Rose startles and the Doctor strides to the door. “After you Miss Rose Tyler.”

Outside of the TARDIS, daylight jolts Rose from reverie to high alert. In front of her is a house that looks disturbingly familiar. Standing on the lawn is a woman in a skirted business suit holding a cell phone to her ear. She turns and waves at the Doctor, ending her phone call.

“Glad to see you got my message,” said Kate Stewart, of Unified Intelligence Taskforce.

“Of course, UNIT calls and I answer immediately. Your wish is my command, dear Kate.” The Doctor grins. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you! Now, what’s this important flutter about a baby?”

“Yes, well a baby is missing, but I’m more concerned about who may have taken the baby. The parents cannot seem to remember anything. They have a feeling that something had been watching them for a while, but no concrete information to give us. You understand what I’m thinking, yes?”

“The Silence…” started the Doctor

“Yes,” said Kate while Rose wondered, again, what the hullabaloo over silence could be. “Why, Doctor, would they want this baby?” Kate finished.

“Bad Wolf.” The two words came up from deep in Rose’s throat. Stunned by her own strange outburst, Rose clapped a hand over her mouth. Kate and the Doctor looked at her in surprise. “Wha…” Kate began.

“I scanned Rose when she arrived in the TARDIS. She appeared out of thin air. I’m certain that the baby we’re looking for is Rose,” revealed the Doctor.

“Could someone please explain to me what’s happening?” asked Rose.

“Sure. You’re you. But you may not have been you if Kate and I weren’t here to get you back from the Silence.”

Rose stared over the shoulder of the Doctor to a man and a woman sitting on the porch of the house. They appeared to be consoling each other. She rubbed her temple. Odd, she thought, I’ve an ice-cream headache that won’t go away and I haven’t eaten any ice-cream. She continued to rub her temple and asked “Would they be my parents?”

“If what the Doctor says is accurate, then yes,” said Kate. “The lost baby’s name is Rose. Her parents are inconsolable. Now may not be the best time to spring your adulthood on them. Don’t you think Doctor?”

“I’m not worried about talking to them right now or introducing Rose to them. You’ve got professionals to help them deal with the loss and the ongoing search. Let’s go into the house, Kate. Show me what you’ve discovered.”

“Doctor,” Kate said, “somehow this baby’s abduction has everything to do with you, doesn’t it?”

“Us,” said the Doctor pointing to Rose. “It has everything to do with us.”

Inside, the house was in chaos. UNIT personnel had a makeshift control center set up in the living room. LED light poured from computer screens, phones rang, and a large white board, covered in written bullet points and pictures of a baby, had been hung on one wall. A monitor scrolled through up-to-the-moment pictures of each room of the house. Rose watched the pictures. The kitchen, bathrooms, the basement, bedrooms, and the attic all represented, all apparently fit with security cameras.

“Doctor,” she said, “Can we take a tour of the house?”

The Doctor was in the midst of a conversation with a young man seated at a computer. He used his finger as a pointer and poked it at the screen while talking about cracks in the universe. “Not now, Rose. Why don’t you go into the kitchen and get yourself some coffee.”

“But I want to make myself useful.”

“We’ll tour the house in a short while. You can come along then.” said the Doctor somewhat absent-mindedly.

Rose shrugged and wandered off toward the kitchen. She found coffee and an assortment of baked goods. On the other side of the kitchen island she noticed a narrow stairway beyond an open door, decided she wasn’t hungry and made a beeline for the stairs. Once she was a step up, she turned around and pulled the door shut. She didn’t want anyone trying to stop her. At the top of the stairs Rose found what appeared to be a room used for nothing more than storage. Rose shivered. It was oddly cold in the room. She walked over to a file cabinet and opened the top drawer. While she was rifling through folders, she caught sight of a dark shape out of the corner of her eye. She shivered again, then went back to rifling, forgetting. When she turned from the file cabinet she found herself face-to-face with a tall creature in a black suit. She jumped back and let out a screech. He cocked his head at an angle and told Rose to bring the Doctor to this room. She turned and ran for the stairs then through the kitchen and back into the living room.

As she tumbled in, the Doctor noticed she had gone pale. “All right Rose Tyler?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure, fine,” Rose replied.

“Then why are you stumbling about all out of breath?

“Huh,” Rose said. “I guess…well I guess I don’t know. I feel a bit foggy and unsettled.” She shook her head in an attempt to clear the fog. “I think I need that coffee.”

The Doctor followed her into the kitchen. He wanted to take time to ask her questions about herself and how she ended up on the TARDIS floor when he noticed the stairway that Rose had gone up earlier and walked over to the doorway.

“I’ve been up there. Not much there but some file cabinets,” Rose said.

“Ok,” the Doctor said and walked to the coffee pot, “later.” He poured himself a cup of coffee, placed it on the counter and then looked straight at Rose.

“Why do they want to take you Rose?” Rose shrugged. “Tell me about your parents,” the Doctor said. “Maybe there’s some type of a clue in who they are or what they do.”

“Nawww. My parents?” Rose asked. “They’re just simple folk. Well, my Dad isn’t really all that simple. He invents things. I always thought they were interesting things, but no one else did apparently. He never sold any of his inventions, though he tried.”

“Tried?” asked the Doctor. “Is he gone?”

“Yes, he died in a car accident.” Rose said. “We should go up those stairs, Doctor. You should probably look in those file cabinets.”

“Nahhhhhh,” the Doctor began. “I want to learn more about you.”

“I can answer all your questions while you’re looking through those files!”

“Oh, ok. Let’s go up then,” said the Doctor.

As they walked up the stairs, they heard a baby crying. Rose glanced over at the Doctor. The Doctor seemed to take the sound of the baby in stride.

“Did you hear that?” asked Rose.

“What?” asked the Doctor. “You mean the baby crying. Yeah, of course I heard that. I’m surprised it took so long for me to hear the baby. We are here, after all, because of a missing baby.”

“True,” said Rose. “But we didn’t think the baby would be in this house.”

“You girls from London. Always thinking you know what’s what,” the doctor said through a grin. “I knew the baby would be in the house. We’re here. If the baby were not here in the house, we would not be here.”

At that moment they heard the baby cry again and hurried up the stairs. A Silent met them at the top. The Doctor stared at him hard, keeping his eyes focused. “Where is the baby?” he demanded.

“In exchange for you, Doctor, the baby will be given back,” uttered the Silent.

“Right. No,” said the Doctor and walked beyond the Silent toward the baby’s cry. Rose followed. The Doctor handed her a black marker. “What’s this for?” she asked.

“Every time you see a tall alien in a dark suit, put a tally mark on you. I want us to keep track of when we see them.” Rose shook her head in confusion. “The Silence erase your memory,” said the Doctor. “You are only aware of them when you look at them. When you look away they are forgotten.”

They found another door on the other side of the room. When they opened it they saw a cradle suspended over a vat. The cradle swung precariously as the baby moved around. It was only a matter of time before the cradle tipped too far and the baby fell out and into the vat below. “Acid,” said the Doctor.

“If that baby falls into the acid, what will happen to me?” asked Rose.

“You’ll cease to exist. Poof. You’ll disappear, timeline erased,” said the Doctor.

“How comforting,” said Rose. “Let’s get that baby down!” She turned and yelped. A group of Silents had entered the room. Marker ready, she wrote down the tally on her arm.

The Doctor had climbed on a chair and was busy examining the rope structure suspending the cradle. He did not look back, but called to Rose, “Don’t take your eyes off them!” At that moment, UNIT personnel burst into the room: Silents scattered, Rose screamed, and the Doctor took a spill from the chair he’d been standing on. His sonic screwdriver rolled away and across the floor. A passing Silent picked it up, then strode from the room.

Kate followed the UNIT personnel. “We hear the baby crying. That baby could not have been in this house the entire time we’ve been here!” she exclaimed. “And why was this room not fit with a security camera!”

“You’re right, the baby was not here the entire time. I would imagine that the Silence brought her here once I arrived. Rose, look at your arm. How many tally marks are there?” The Doctor asked while crawling around on the floor.

“Ten,” Rose gasped. “What are you doing crawling around on the floor?”

“Looking for my sonic screwdriver, I dropped it when I fell. Kate, the Silence is here now. We need to keep an eye on the cradle so it’s not taken while we look away.”

At that moment, a UNIT member shouted, “A rope’s been cut, the cradle is going to tip over!” No one remembered seeing the rope cut, but out of the corner of her eye, Rose had seen a Silent and marked it on her arm.

“Eleven tally marks,” she said to the Doctor.

A UNIT member appeared with a ladder, the cradle tipped further, so far to the side that everyone could see the baby now. The Doctor scrambled to get the ladder set up, but as he began to climb he saw a Silent reach for the baby, pull it from the cradle before the Doctor could, and hold it high above the vat. “Don’t stop looking,” the Doctor called out. “Don’t…stop!”

UNIT members rushed the Silent, their eyes trained on him. The Silent’s grip released on the baby and she flew up into the air and tumbled down toward the roiling vat of acid. The Doctor grabbed a round table top, grinning and whooping “you gotta love storage rooms” and placed it over the vat. He reached over the table top and grabbed the baby’s sleeper with one hand, while the other hand flew up and under her armpit.

“Got her!” he cheered, drawing her close to his body and shielding her. UNIT members surrounded him to aid in protection.

“Silence will fall,” they heard a guttural voice proclaim.

The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver rolled across the floor and stopped at his feet. “Thanks for that,” he said as he bent to pick it up.

“Thirteen tally marks!” called Rose.

“And no more tonight,” said the Doctor. “Let’s get baby Rose back to her parents.”

“She is me,” Rose said with wonder. “I have seen pictures of me in this sleeper. Can I hold her?”

“Unfortunately not. The paradox would bring harm to both of you,” said the Doctor as he carried baby Rose downstairs.

Rose’s parents were standing in the kitchen. They had been alerted that the baby was in the house and would be retrieved soon. When the Doctor walked through the doorway holding the baby, their tears began to flow.

“How can we ever thank all of you?” they gushed.

“You already have,” said the Doctor. “Baby Rose is special. She will grow up to travel to distant places and do great things in this wibbly-wobbly universe,” he said with a wink to Rose. “Your daughter will scatter her words throughout time and space.” Rose’s parents stared at him blankly, then returned to hugging the infant. The Doctor said his good-byes to Kate and other UNIT members and began to make his way out of the house to the TARDIS.

“C’mon,” he waved to Rose, “It’s time to get you back home.” Rose was fixated on her parents. She wanted to say something to acknowledge her Mum and Dad, but words would not come. She took a step closer and reached a hand out toward her Mum, but her parents were locked in their group hug, baby Rose smashed between the two of them. Rose decided it best not to interrupt. She turned and followed the Doctor, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Home,” Rose whispered as she stepped inside the TARDIS. She looked around and knew that she felt oddly at rest in this traveling ship that was bigger on the inside. “I don’t want to go home.”

“For tonight, Rose. You’ll be back in the TARDIS again. I’ll take you to distant stars, beautiful and tragic planets. You’re going to have a good year, Rose Tyler, a very good year.”

The sleepy Ginny vaguely heard the credits of the episode she had been watching. She rolled over on her side, stretched long like a cat, and peered cautiously out of half-closed eyes. On the hardwood floor next to the bed she noticed a pile of what looked like soot or ash. What on earth is that, she wondered. Wait, she thought, that looks like the ash left from the dream crabs in “The Last Christmas.” She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. The last of the credits were rolling off the screen. Ginny remembered seeing the Doctor. Slowly the dream images began to come back.

“Wow,” she said out loud. “That was wild. I was Rose Tyler. I was the Doctor’s companion, how timey-wimey and wibbly-wobbly. And dream crabs are real.”

She turned off the television, settled back beneath her blanket and comforter and smiled. Bad Wolf, she said softly to herself. As she drifted off for the night, she heard the sound of the TARDIS on take-off.

The End

“Rose-colored Dream” collage by David Marshall. Silents tally mark image uncredited (if you know the artist, please tell us!) Baby Rose screenshot from “Father’s Day”

Categories
Essay

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary

The first episode of Classic Doctor Who aired in 1963, then saw two plus decades of air time ending in 1989. After a failed attempt to bring the series back in 1996 with a television movie, the BBC rebooted the program with Russell T. Davies at the helm as showrunner and head writer on March 26, 2005. In millions of homes, Billie Piper (alongside Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor) burst onto the screen in “Rose” as the Doctor’s new companion. The show is ingrained in British culture and has become a world-wide phenomenon and a cult favorite. Recently, Russell T. Davies said “It’s now impossible for it to ever be axed. It’s certainly heading that way. Could you imagine if it was axed now? There would be uproar in the streets. Twitter would be set on fire.”

Indeed, the recently completed Series 8 with Peter Capaldi debuting as the 12th Doctor, was viewed by 30% more Americans than the previous series (Moffat, November, 2014). The term “Whovian” may be on its way into Webster’s and the words Time and Relative Dimension in Space are synonymous with a time-traveling vehicle. I cannot help but wonder what H.G. Wells would have to say. Or, perhaps he has been feeding Who writers. After all we saw a similar feat occur in “Blink” (Series 3, Episode 10).

As the tenth anniversary for New Who nears, there has been ongoing speculation as to whether there will be a celebration. Radio Times reported that Russell T. Davies was approached by the BBC to participate in the tenth anniversary. Davies’ answer was a resounding no. Currently, Davies keeps very busy with his new venture, Cucumber, Tofu, and Banana, a serialized drama examining gay life in Britain. While his focus and commitment to his new project is understandable, the fandom certainly loses.

Davies’ contention is that Doctor Who recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and a tenth anniversary the following year is confusing. On November 23, 2013, BBC aired “The Day of the Doctor” to mark the 50th. A New Who tenth anniversary special would air a mere 16 months later. However, with the first episode of Series 9 another 8 months away, many Whovians would welcome the oasis of a celebration amidst the desert of empty months after “Last Christmas“, which aired on December 25, 2014. When Steven Moffat, Who’s current showrunner and head writer, was asked in August of 2014 about a tenth anniversary special, he indicated that a special would not occur, “unless” he said, “I’m lying.” Ironically lying has been a theme in Moffat’s Series 8.

So what’s a Whovian to do as the March New Who tenth anniversary approaches and thirst for the Doctor increases? The Doctor Who Hub on facebook is hosting “Rose” Day. Many may choose to join this event and watch Series 1, Episode 1 “Rose” in celebration. Others may host house parties offering Who episodes for viewing, and yet others may find Who-related events at nearby pubs. How do you plan on celebrating New Who’s tenth?

Who Fact: Russell T. Davies and David Tennant chose to leave Doctor Who at the same time (2009). When Davies was asked if he would write an episode for Tennant’s successor, Matt Smith, his reply was: “Absolutely none. I wouldn’t want to write a single word for him. When he appears, every word will be written by Steven Moffat. He’s Steven’s, and Matt’s, character.” (Undated interview with Russell Davies and David Tennant on david-tennant.com)