HotAir links to my second favorite cartoon of the week.
My favorite is here.
Archive for the ‘doctor who’ Category
Two great cartoons
Posted: December 26, 2008 by datechguy in doctor who, opinion/news, UncategorizedTags: obama
The Next Doctor; my review
Posted: December 26, 2008 by datechguy in doctor whoTags: 10th doctor, doctor who, nostalgia
I managed to get a chance to watch The Next Doctor yesterday afternoon on the BBC site (via proxy).
I was pleasantly surprised at several things, I found myself guessing wrong over and over in terms of what was happening. The doctor finds himself in the mid 1800 in London (in the years before his Victorian Exile see Tooth & Claw) when he finds himself in league with a man claiming to be a time lord called “The Doctor” who is investigating several murders battling the Cybermen.
Tennant’s 10th doctor is intrigued while Morrissey’s “Doctor” doesn’t recognize “John Smith” but appears to remember him from the day the Cybermen made him regenerate.
The 10th Doctor’s initial conclusion is a regeneration crisis. Clues and adventure follows as the Cyber plot is revealed and the doctors work to foil it.
The interplay between the two actors is very fine, the Doctor’s companion Rosita (Velile Tshabalala) is an interesting character and our primary villain Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan) is rather solid as the “wronged” woman using the Cybermen to avenge herself.
After watching it and the Dr. Who Confidential (one of the WORST i’ve seen) I see only one fault and that’s a scene that needed trimming. I also thought the final resolution was a bit weak, particularly considering his “outrage” at the actions of the “Blue” Doctor at the end of Journey’s End.
The Next Doctor is well worth popping over to the BBC site to watch it during the week long window when it is available. Enjoy it now since we will have to wait months for our next Time Lord fix. Except of course for the Big Finish monthly audios.
The Doctor Who Christmas Special is only 2 days away. The Christmas countdown calendar is running out of features. If you are all excited by this there is some bad news , some good news, and some more bad news and some more good news.
The bad news is The Next Doctor will only be televised in England, the Good news is that the BBC usually puts up the video at the Doctor who web site to watch, the other bad news is that video is only viewable if your PC is in the UK. The good news is you can always use a proxy server.
A proxy server is basically a computer that stands between a machine and where it is going, for example if you are in a large business you likely have all your net traffic going through a proxy to try to block both virus and sites that your work doesn’t want you go to.
In this case you want to use one of the free proxy sites out there to find a server in the UK. When you set proxy values basically your machine will go out to the computer in question, and that computer will make the request. The BBC then see it as a UK machine and you can watch it.
There are several companies that offer proxy use to shield your IP from the net, that way the fact that you are surfing from your machine is hidden from the world. That is the advantage of an anonymous proxy server. The disadvantage is that speed will of course be decreased as every request has to pass through a particular machine at an unknown location. The pay sites will be faster than the free ones.
Just remember the machine you are passing through will now have a record of where you are going, so think and act accordingly.
A quick how to on how to setup a proxy in IE Connection tab under Lan Settings is here. You can set it in Firefox under Tools, Options, advanced, settings. The placing of the values are basically the same, but details are here.
If you want a quick preview of it now well your wish is my command, at least in this case;
And don’t forget to send the charity a fiver.
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that for some of the calendar things also need the proxy server to play.
Update #2 My review of the Next Doctor is here.
Dr Who and the Return of the Krotons. Review
Posted: December 22, 2008 by datechguy in doctor whoTags: Big finish
Since this item is not “for sale” but is a special episode for subscribers to the Big Finish Doctor Who series this review will be here rather than at Amazon.
Return of the Krotons continues the adventures of the 6th doctor with his companion Charley Pollard who still has a secret about his future. They find themselves in a human colony during the time of the solar flares. (See Doctor Who the Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. With the 4th doctor) and as always start to poke around.
The human commander Cobden (played by Dr who Vet Philip Madoc who ironically appeared in the original Krotons episode 40 years ago.) seems obsessed with a headset and the energy it produces. It turns out that rather than manipulating the technology as an energy source it is he that is being manipulated by the Krotons to re-power their ship.
Colin Baker as the Doctor and India Fisher as Charley Pollard are their normal excellent selves, the now familiar team continues to impress, however the hints concerning Charley’s true relationship with the doctor continue to come out and the doctor continues to take them in.
There is also a very nice 11 min interview with Philip Madoc after the adventure.
Nick Briggs wrote and directed this story and also plays one of the Krotons voices. It is a good short (1 cd) story and worth your time. Since you can get a subscription staring with any issue it would be worth your while to begin one to get this episode. If you don’t already have The Condemned or The Girl who Never Was you might consider starting with one or the other to get up to speed on what is going on.
My gut says there is a climax coming soon I don’t know how soon but since one doctor or another has been traveling with Charley since January 2001. Of course the only problem with the continual adventures of Charley is that we don’t see any adventures with Peri, Mel, Evelyn or even Frobisher with Doctor 6 but there is nothing stopping them from throwing in an adventure or two of the others in between.
Either way it is worth your time and a listen.
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