The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi

This is definitely one of the best books I have read lately. I can definitely understand why this book won both the Nebula and the Hugo awards, and more.

The story is set in Bangkok, in the near future, when the Earth is ravaged by man-made viruses, and companies profit from producing "safe" seeds and foodstuffs. Reading the descriptions adn the main story from the internet one may think that this is a book about economics and big corporations. While this is the setting, the book is about much more than this; the book is about human nature, about survival, about humanity in general.

The book is told from the viewpoint of 5 different characters. Each chapter a different character, and each character with their own motivations, their own background, their own hopes and desires. Initially, you think that there is no connection between some of the characters, but, as the story unfolds, the connections start to emerge. And in the midst of all this, a genetically engineered girl, the Windup Girl, connects the dots.

Some people have objected to the fact that the book "forgets" about some scientific concepts, and that it could be more scientifically accurate. My answer to this is that this is a science fiction book. Yes, it may have junk science, or whatever in it; the science is not the important point in this. This is not a scientific book; this is not a science textbook; this is fiction. Was Van Vogt scientifically accurate; were any others of the pioneers of science fiction or other writers? To me it does not matter, because this is fiction.

Some people may think that the changing perspective may tire the reader; but Bacigalupi knows full well how to avoid this, and each character brings something new in the story, his own unique perspective. At no point does this become tiresome, or boring. On the contrary, it keeps the reader interested, and you want to read just a page or a chapter more, until you finish it.

And the ending is not the "live happily ever after" ending. If you want that kind of ending, then this is not the book for you. This is the book where actions have consequences, and sometimes they have dire consequences. The ending left me with a bitterness, and sorrow. One that I still feel every time I think about the book.

Doctor Who - Season 5 - Matt Smith

And here we are with the 11th Doctor: Matt Smith! I finished watching Season 5 on Monday, and I must say that Matt Smith has managed to win me over. Of course, David Tennant is still my favorite doctor, but Matt Smith convinced me that he is the Doctor, almost since the beginning of the 5th season.

New Doctor, new companion, and her name is Amy Pond. A redhead, sometimes naive but full of life, Amy Pond is a bit of a mystery since the beginning. A mystery that does and does not unravel at the end of the series. The cracks are following Amy, but why? Or are they following the Doctor? But why is it that they appear whenever Amy is around?

Along with Amy, we have her fiancee, Rory Williams. I must admit that I was skeptical at first about Rory. I thought he was another Mickey Smith, and did not want him along. But Rory managed to surprise me, and show that he is nothing like Mickey, not in the least. Initially, he does not want to get into trouble, does not want the hassle; but soon he starts to like it, and shows both courage and a huge heart. Especially when it comes to Amy, for whom he sacrifices a lot. I think that Rory provided the glue to the whole relationship between Amy, the Doctor and himself. And I definitely want him there with Amy, as the Doctor's companions.

And then, we have the return of River Song, and her mysterious relationship with the Doctor. Who is River Song? How does she know so much about the Tardis? What is her relationship with the Doctor? River is a mystery even for the Doctor at the moment, as shown from this exchange at the end of the season:

The Doctor: River... who are you?
River: You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes.

And of course, along with the Doctor, we want to know the mystery that is River Song.

As for this season, it definitely was a good season. The first episode, the Eleventh Hour prepares the ground for the rest of the season, and for the main plot, which is the cracks in spacetime. What are those? What caused them? And why do they have the same shape everywhere they appear?

The return of the Angels from the 3rd season episode Blink, is one of the best moments of the season, and it comes with River Song. She seems to be everywhere in this season. This double episode managed to scare me. It was a bit claustrophobic, a bit terrifying...

And here we are talking about the end of the season. About the season finale, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. What exactly is the Pandorica? Why does Van Gogh see the destruction of the Tardis? Why and how did all the enemies of the Doctor, from the Daleks to the Sontarans and beyond, manage to ally with each other?

Of course, we could not have the end of the season without River Song. She did say to the Doctor, in the Angels episodes, that she was present when the Pandorica opened.

But what did happen at the end? We already had our suspicions about the cracks in spacetime, and what caused them. However, the end of the season leaves us with more questions than it answered.

This was one of the best season endings I have ever watched. Although it gives some closure, it creates lots more questions. And I want River Song back in the next season.

Doctor Who is at the moment the best science fiction TV show, if not the best TV show. And really I have been won by Matt Smith's performance as the Doctor.

Waiting now, for the Christmas Special. Looks like Rory and Amy are going to spend their honeymoon on the Orient Express.

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn

I am a Star Wars fangirl. I admit that. I have almost all Star Wars novels and other assorted books. I love the Star Wars world, and especially the fight between Sith and Jedi.

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction is set about 1000 years before the events of the classic trilogy, about 3000 years after Revan saved the Republic in the KOTOR game.

Dessel is a miner on Apatros. Due to a killing of a Republic soldier, Dessel must run. He joins the Sith army and his potential in the Force is seen by one of the Dark Lords, Kopecz. He is taken in the Academy at Korriban, and there he takes the name of Bane and learns the ways of the Dark Side. Bane will be the destroyer of the Sith, but also the builder of a new Sith era. But for the rest, it's better to read the book.

As a whole, the book is one of the best in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, with good characters. You believe Bane, and you want him to succeed despite him being a Sith Lord. You want him to have his revenge, you want him to end the war and start his new rule. Except for Bane, there was also another Sith Lord I very much liked in this book: Kas'im, Bane's main instructor. And I would love to have even a short story about this Dark Lord, and how he became part of the Brotherhood of Darkness.

As for the writing, Drew Karpyshyn does well for a newbie writer. He has his problems, but I think that they are mostly associated with his writing for games rather than anything else. His action scenes were well described, well done, and were some of the best written parts of the book. Also, the chapters when Bane is on Ambria are also well written.

Some parts though needed to be a bit refined. Some of the dialogue seemed like it was written for games, it is too short, and at times, I was left with the impression that there were more things that should have been said. There were some chapters, especially when Bane is at the Academy on Korriban which needed something more. Too short? Too little detail? There was a bit of the "game" writing in that, which is not always bad, but needed a bit more colour, and more detail.

All in all, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I was one of those people who played KOTOR at least 5-6 times in a row, and I love the Old Republic, and the whole Jedi vs.Sith adventure. I wish I had the time to play the online Star Wars The Old Republic game, but with my very limited time and my unreliable net connection at times, it's not very possible for the present.

Short story in 6 words...

I've tried writing some of my own stuff, like poetry and short stories, and I admit, I am not the best of writers. Probably, like most people, I have a few good ideas, but don't know how to put them down on paper. However, I did once write some short stories in 6 words, and here are the results:

Sun nova. Earth destroyed. No survivors.

Spaceship lost. New planet. New life.

I travel the stars and galaxies.

Mars terraformed. Colony established. Martian Federation.

In the end, we are immortals.

We create, we destroy, we Gods. 

Future brother returned from the past.

Universe imploding. Big Bang. New universe.

Aliens invade. Wars stop. Humankind saved. 

 

Torchwood - Children of Earth

Last Torchwood season was a special of 5 episodes, entitled "Children of Earth". This is the best episode up to now, this is exactly what I was looking to see from Torchwood. Surprises and twists, and if the series continues, I expect the same quality.

The story is simple but complicated at the same time. Extraterrestrials are using the children all over the world to communicate with humans. "We are coming": nothing more nothing less. But who are they? Have they been here before? Why are they coming? What is the link between them and the children? And what does Jack have to do with all this?

Spoiler warning, for the rest of this post. So, if you haven't watched the special, and you don't want to know some details, don't read ahead.

Their name is the 4-5-6 and they have been here before. They want children, specifically 10% of the world's children population. What do they actually want with the children?

Jack, Ianto and Gwen need to know what's coming. Torchwood has been destroyed, Jack has been jailed, Gwen, Ianto and Rhys are on the run. They do find some unexpected help, but is that enough before the 'units' are shipped?

When Jack tries to stop the 4-5-6, they respond, killing everyone in the building that houses them, including Ianto. Torchwood has lost, Gwen and Rhys are taken back to Cardiff, Jack is once again jailed.

However, the people that initially tried to kill Jack, free him. He finds a way to stop the 4-5-6, but this way has a terrible price for Jack: he has to sacrifice his grandson...

The deaths of Ianto and his grandson, as well as the deaths of Owen and Toshiko, weigh heavily on Jack. He spends a few months here and there on Earth, but he can't escape his feelings. He finds Gwen and Rhys to say goodbye, and leaves Earth.

Again Davies left us with a bitterness at the end of this season of Torchwood. It is after those events in Torchwood, that the Doctor finds Jack to say goodbye, and Davies has tied the timeline quite well.

I hope to see Jack and Gwen in the future, even as guest stars in the new season of Doctor Who. Can you imagine Rhys in the TARDIS?

My information tells me that the new Doctor Who series will start March 13th. One month more or less, and more information says that River Song will return in Episode 4. Can't wait.

I want more Torchwood. I want more Doctor Who.

Torchwood - Season 2

Second season of Torchwood, and I thought that the episodes might get a lot better. But we had mostly a repeat of Season 1. However, the beginning of the season is quite good, because James Masters (Spike from Buffy) is guest starring as Captain John, a time agent from Jack's past. 

But, after the first episode, we get the same quality as last season; fine but not what was expected, even if we also have Martha Jones for a few episodes in the series, and a very nice twist with the character of Owen Harper.

 

Owen is dead! However, Jack finds the second glove and brings him back from the dead. But that glove is different, and something comes back with Owen, from the eternal darkness. In the end, problem solved, but Owen is still among the living, a different kind of living dead. This twist I liked, but I felt that Owen was underused and underdeveloped, especially with him being a living dead. They could have build a story or a backplot around Owen and his condition, but all we get are sentimental moments and comedy relief!

Okay, we did know that Gwen and Rhys would get married. But did we have to watch another wedding-going-wrong-but-in-the-end-everything-is-fine episode? And of course all wedding cliches were there, and almost every damned series has a similar episode, with max 1-2 having an original twist or something. Gwen is maybe my favorite character for her humanity and strength.

I think that the best episode of the season is Adrift. When Gwen wants to find a 14-year old missing boy, Jack tells her to leave it alone. What is Jack hiding? And is it better to know the truth, or live with hope?

Toshiko is very intelligent and the writers could have used her technical expertise and inventiveness in much better ways, but she always underdeveloped, and mostly in sentimental scenes or episodes, like the soldier of the past needed to save the future stuff... She certainly ahs her own strengths, and the writers could have shown us much more from Toshiko.

Ianto is the only one who did not have his own episode in this season, mainly because he had the worst episode of Torchwood, Cyberwoman, in the last season. There isn't much to say about Ianto, other than he could have been developed better as well, and maybe show us something from the past, as he was working for Torchwood 1, until its destruction in the battle of Canary Wharf (Doctor Who, Doomsday).

Final verdict is that the best episodes of the season, are the episodes with James Masters as Captain John and the episode Adrift.

At the end of season 2, only Jack, Ianto and Gwen are left in Torchwood. Toshiko was killed by Gray, and Owen was disintegrated saving Cardiff from a nuclear explosion (he was dead anyway!) I am currently watching the 3rd season, which is a 5 episode special "Children of Earth", which is much better than the previous seasons.

Torchwood - Season 1

After having watched all seasons and specials of the Doctor Who series, I started watching the spin-off series, Torchwood, which features the character of Captain Jack Harkness.

Generally, it is not a bad series, and it is quite interesting. However, we are talking about Captain Jack Harkness and the worlds of Doctor Who. So, excuse me, if I wanted something more than just another series, which has not been delivered.

The characters and the setting are very good, and if the scripts were much better, we could have a lot of good and shining moments for the characters. What is missing especially is that twist in the script, that one episode that people will remember. But there is nothing in this season. Just some good episodes and some bad episodes (in the latter category, I would definitely put Cyberwoman...)

The series could have more episodes about Jack's past; after all he was born and lived in the 51st century, he was a Time Agent, he has been around the universe with our favorite Timelord, and there could definitely be a few stories about his past (and there could have been a couple of cross-overs with Doctor Who).

 

The best episode of the season is, in my opinion, "They Keep Killing Suzie". The Torchwood team has to revive Suzie for a couple of minutes, using a certain alien glove; however, Suzie does not want to die again!

That glove there, was very similar to Rassilon's glove from Doctor Who's End of Time. Of course, the Doctor Who episode was produced much after Torchwood's first season. 


Next, on my three best episodes list, is Out of Time. This is where we have good character development, especially for Jack, Owen and Gwen. But still, it could have been a lot better.

 

And the last episode that I liked more than the others, is "Combat". This is an Owen Harper episode, where we do see that Owen has more depth and hurt than anyone else on the team maybe, and that there is something hidden deep within Owen.

And last scene of the season, is the glowing hand of the Doctor, the sound of the TARDIS materializing, and Jack and hand disappearing...


Closing, this is not a bad series. The episodes are just okay, and I felt like there could be much much more. I don't know whether to categorize it as Undelivered Potential, Wasted Potential or both.

Doctor Who - 2008 - 2009 Specials - David Tennant

This post is about the last episodes of David Tennant as the Doctor. As from Spring 2010, we will have a new Doctor, but more about this later.

Firstly, we have the Christmas 2008 episode, "The Next Doctor", set at Christmas Time in London of 1851. Guest starring David Morrissey as a second Doctor! But is Morrissey one of the next regenerations of our beloved timelord, or is there a different explanation for this second Doctor? The answer lies with a fob watch, like the one every timelord has in their possession, like the one the Doctor has in Human Nature/Family of Blood and the Master has in Utopia.

This is a good episode, nothing special though as far as the story is concerned. Here we start to see the influence the events in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End had on the Doctor. This is an episode based on the performances of Tennant and Morrissey, and on this end we are rewarded. They make a good team, especially for the first part, when Morrissey thinks he is the Doctor. The initial scene with the rope was hilarious!

Planet of the Dead and a new companion maybe for the Doctor? I wish! Lady Christina De Souza is an interesting character, and I would gladly have her as the Doctor's companion for another season with David Tennant. The two had good chemistry, maybe Lady Christina has a lot in common with the Doctor, but also a lot of differences. However, this is where Davros' hard words find their aim: the Doctor does not want a companion, he is afraid that those words were true.



The next special, Waters of Mars is maybe the best of the specials. It's neither the story nor the enemies of the Doctor, that are the central theme here. This special is a character study of the Doctor himself, of his feelings, of who he is, and what he is doing. The events of Waters of Mars are fixed in time, and cannot change without dire consequences for the future. Is there a solution? Can the Doctor do something, even a little thing?

But why does he do it? Is it because he really wants to help, or is it because of his pain? Maybe because of his own ego? The last few minutes, from the moment he talks and brags to Adelaide, until the end of the episode, those are some of the series' finest moments.

 

And here we are at the end of Tennant's Doctor, with the End of Time Parts I and II. I was expecting much much more from a special that marks the end of one of the most loved Doctors, where we have the Master, and the return of the timelords... The first part was such a disappointment, story wise! If it weren't for John Simm and David Tennant's performances, it probably would have been totally unwatchable. Honorable mention to Bernard Cribbins, he is wonderful as Wilfred Mott... I liked his character very much, all through the 4th season.

In the second part, things get a little better, especially in the second half of the episode, where we have Timothy Dalton portraying Lord President Rassillon! Really wonderful to see so many good actors on the screen together.

I didn't like the reason for the Doctor's regeneration at all. I thought it was quite lame, and it was like the writers just put that scene there so that we can have a regeneration. I don't know what or how I wanted it to be, but certainly something a lot better. Anyway, the Doctor has a bit of time before his regeneration, so he goes to say goodbye to all the people he traveled with in the last 3 seasons. He even finds Rose, before the events with the plastic consciousness, before she ever met the Doctor...

I don't want to go, the last words of the timelord before his regeneration. Neither did we Mr. Tennant!

I don't know how Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor will be. I am certainly going to give Matt Smith a chance to convince me that he has that special quality to make at least a good Doctor. And frankly, I want Matt Smith to be good in the role, I want to be watching and enjoying Doctor Who for years to come.

Doctor Who - Voyage of the Damned & Season 4 - David Tennant

And we come to the last of Tennant's seasons as The Doctor. The Christmas Special is the episode named "Voyage of the Damned", with Kylie Minogue guest starring, and surprisingly, she was good in her role! It's not one of the best episodes of Doctor Who, and could be a lot better. However, there is one very important reason to see this episode: David Tennant's portrayal of The Doctor. You can have a bad script, a bad director or all of those put together, and still Tennant's performance will make a difference. In this Christmas episode, he finds someone named Alonso, so he finally gets to say "Allons-y Alonso!"

Fourth season and Catherine Tate returns to the role of Donna Noble. We had seen her in the previous Christmas Special, the Runaway Bride, and I am really glad she joined the cast this season. There is good chemistry between Tennant and Tate; from the first moment they are together, you know it's going to be good. They are opposite characters or is Donna just hiding more than she shows? Maybe something she isn't even aware of?

Throughout the season, Tate's performance is one of the best of the series. She has strength, she is impetuous, and her character ties very well with Tennant's Doctor. Donna has a very human side, and one of the scenes where this is evident, is in the second episode, when she asks the Doctor, maybe more like a demand, to save just one person from the destruction of Pompeii.

Martha Jones phones the Doctor, because UNIT has an alien problem. Something's not quite right in the ATMOS factories, and the Doctor goes to Earth once more to help. The Sontarans, old enemies of the Doctor, are behind everything, and it is up to the Doctor and some unexpected help to save the day. I liked Martha Jones in this double episode much more than in Season 3.

Two of the best episodes of the season are Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. Guest starring Alex Kingston as Professor River Song, who is an old companion of the Doctor from... his future! And maybe the only person we've seen so far that knows his real name...

I really liked the character of River Song; she is a strong character, someone who related well to The Doctor, and who had a dynamic relationship with him, I would say. A big part of this double episode, was based on the relationship between the two, and yet again, the performances by the actors were what made it work. The script was also good, but I have seen good scripts being ruined by incompetent actors... But here we have strong performances and a good, solid script.

This is the best episode of the season: Turn Left. What would have happened if Donna did not have a job at HC Clemens? What would have happened if The Doctor had died before being able to regenerate in the events that took place in the Runaway Bride, exactly because Donna was not there?

Rose Tyler returns to help Donna, and through Donna sends The Doctor a very important message: Bad Wolf.

In the last double episode of the season, we have the return of almost all the characters that at one time or another have been companions to the Doctor, and a few more surprises: Rose Tyler comes back, along with her mother Jackie, and Mickey; we have the return of Captain Jack Harkness, and Martha Jones; Sarah Jane Smith, and an enemy from the past: Davros. This episode though has left me with tears and bitterness at the end.

Due to a metastatic crisis, Donna becomes a human/timelord hybrid, and acquires all the knowledge of a timelord. The Doctor:s hand, due to the same metastatic crisis, regenerates into a human Doctor, with all the knowledge and memories of The Doctor. The Donna-Doctor hybrid, along with the human Doctor, are the ones who will get the rest of the gang out of trouble.

However, it is the Human Doctor, that will give a permanent solution; a solution which our beloved Timelord does not like. But is this the reason he leaves Rose and the Human Doctor together in the parallel world? Or is he really thinking of Rose's feelings and happiness, because the Human Doctor has one heart, will grow old with Rose and will not regenerate? And he harbors the same feelings towards Rose as the Timelord?

In the final scene, he has to wipe out Donna's memory, otherwise the knowledge of a Timelord, will kill her. If she ever remembers him again, Donna will die. He has to say goodbye to her, forever. The rest of the gang proceeds with their own lives, leaving the Doctor alone once more.The hard words spoken by Davros have left a deep scar, a mark on the Doctor, and this will influence his behaviour in the specials, that mark the last appearance of David Tennant as the Doctor.

Doctor Who - The Runaway Bride & Season 3 - David Tennant

 The third season starts with a Christmas Special episode, "The Runaway Bride" starring David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble or the Bride! Suddenly, a bride named Donna Noble materializes on board the TARDIS, chaos ensues, and the Doctor returns to Earth and tries to get Donna on time for her wedding. What the episode has is excellent performances from both David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Catherine was wonderful, and she had a very good chemistry with Tennant. I was sorry she did not continue for the rest of the season.

I am going to say it again and again: I love David Tennant! I think that he is the best Doctor up to now, and I have watched episodes from all his predecessors. I have even the movie with Paul McGann, the 8th Doctor. But Tennant portrays a very different Doctor; he may seem hard at times, but this a humanist Doctor, a Doctor that hates guns and weapons, a Doctor that prefers to use his head and find a solution, he wants to give everyone a second chance, he smiles, he laughs, but he knows when to be serious and when to use humour.

In this third season, we have a new companion for the Doctor, Martha Jones, who is a doctor. Freema Agyeman, who portrays Martha, and the character of Martha are fine, but there was no chemistry between Agyeman and Tennant. It would have been much better if Catherine Tate stayed with the third season. 

Maybe this third season had to do more with the Doctor and his emotions, with what it meant for the Doctor to lose Rose, although they are not the centerpiece of the season. However, they did play their role in the Doctor's behaviour, and choices.

The loss of Rose Tyler is obvious since the events in runaway Bride, and throughout the third season, you can see how it has affected the Doctor. It plays a role especially in my favorite episodes, Human Nature/The Family of Blood, where the Doctor, using the Chameleon Arch, to become fully human, to escape some aliens. Even though he is human, and his consciousness and all that a timelord is, is locked within a pocket watch, in his dreams, there is adventure, there is the TARDIS, and there is Rose! The Doctor falls in love with someone else who is very similar to Rose... This double episode is one of the best moments of the series, and one of the best performances by David Tennant. I was moved and cried with these episodes.

However, the best episode of the season, is Blink. I don't want to make any spoilers for this episode, so I am not going to say much more. I consider it one of the top 5 episodes of any Doctor Who up to now. I cannot talk about this episode without giving something away, but please, while watching it, don't blink!

The last three episodes are memorable, because we have the return of the Master and Captain Jack Harkness. John Simm gives an excellent performance as the Master, and coupled with Tennant's performance, we get a good season ending. It wasn't the best season finale; I consider the second season ending to be the most emotional and strong still.

Season ending, and Martha Jones leaves the Doctor to find a new companion. I did not mind her leaving the series at this point, and wish that Billie Piper had stayed with the show. Captain Jack has to go back to Torchwood [good series, just started it], and we get a little hint about the Face of Boe. We have seen the Face of Boe at least three times up to now, and, at the start of this season, told the Doctor "You are not alone..."

Doctor Who - Christmas Special 2006 & Season 2 - David Tennant

In the previous article about the new Doctor Who series, I wrote that I had liked Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, and that I had just started watching David Tennant's Doctor. To be honest, I think that David Tennant is brilliant in the role! I definitely think that he is the best Doctor up to now.

David Tennant starts as the Doctor in the last episode of Season 1, when the Doctor regenerates. The first Tennant episode is the Christmas Special of 2006. Initially, I was a bit unsure about Tennant's style, after the dark and grim Eccleston, but at the end of the Christmas Special, I knew that he was going to be a very good Doctor.


The Doctor has changed towards the better: he is more open, more humorous, he is more certain of  himself and his companions. In contrast with his predecessor, the new Doctor always gives a second chance to everyone, because he really believes in second chances. If they refuse, then tough luck for them: they will experience the wrath of a Timelord...

I loved the way David Tennant and Billie Piper related to each other in their roles. At first, it seemed like there was an awkwardness, like they did not know where the relationship was going. However, from the 3rd episode of the Season, "School Reunion" their relationship started to actually show, it showed its strength; it was a strong one but more discreet, I would say. The last scene of the season, definitely shows the strength and power of that relationship, and I was sorry to see Billie Piper go.

 


I thought that it was a big mistake to add the character of Mickey Smith into the team, and I was right. I don't think that the character of Mickey really worked; he was supposed to be a comic relief character, but this does not work for every show. Instead, he was an obstacle into the relationship between the Doctor and Rose. Mickey really showed his capabilities in the episode The Age of Steel, and I was glad to see him go. When he returns in the double episode for the finale, he is a much different Mickey Smith, not a comic relief character anymore, but someone who can really help. And that Mickey Smith I really liked, although I would not have him disrupt the Tennant-Piper duo under any circumstances. 

 

As far as the episodes go, I liked School reunion, and the reappearance of Sarah Jane Smith. I loved the dynamic between Sarah Jane and Rose, I thought they worked very well together. I almost choked from laughter when I saw Tennant as a teacher in the school in that episode [Wish my teachers had been as goodlooking and sexy as Tennant... I think many girls would definitely pay much more attention in class!] In this episode, Anthony Stewart Head is the main bad guy, who portrays the leader of some huge vampire bat-like creatures! If anyone remembers, Anthony Stewart Head was playing the character of Rupert Giles, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was responsible for helping Buffy fight vampires and other creatures of the underworld.

The reappearance of the Cybermen was a good and strong double episode, but I must say that my favorite of the season, has to go to The Impossible Planet/The Satan's Pit. In this episode, we see the power of both characters, and how strong Rose Tyler is, how much more she could have given the series had she stayed.

The worst episode has to be Love & Monsters. It was supposed to be the comic relief episode of the season, but, I don't think it worked as well as expected. Add the fact that the main characters of the show, appear for a couple of minutes before the end...

The finale of the season is a double episode, featuring the Cybermen vs. the Dalek vs. everyone else. A sample dialogue between Cybermen and Dalek:

Dalek Sek: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek. You are superior in only one respect.
Cyber-Leader 1: What is that?
Dalek Sek: You are better at dying.

The dialogues between the Cybermen and the Daleks were wonderful! Very cleverly written, and despite the humour in them, you can see that this is the way that a dialogue between such creatures would probably be.

The last scene of the season, where the Doctor says goodbye to Rose Tyler, is one of the most beautiful, strong and emotional scenes of both seasons. I cried at that scene, really cried, and every time I think about it, I still get tears in my eyes.

I love David Tennant as the Doctor! Truth to be told, he is tall, handsome and sexy. What's not to love?

Doctor Who 2005 - Season 1

I had bought the DVDs of the first new season of Doctor Who for a while now, but had not had time to watch it. I did in the last few days, and it was a blast! I had loved the show as a child, at least the few episodes they showed on greek national TV (just 2 national channels at the time!)

I am sorry that the season had just 13 episodes. It ended and I wanted more. More Eccleston, more Jack, more of everything! And I was sorry to see Eccleston leave at the end of the season. He is quite handsome!

I have loved the new Doctor Who, from the way it looks to the stories and the characters. Christopher Eccleston did a wonderful job as the new Doctor, the 9th Doctor. I was really happy when I heard that there would be a new series of Doctor Who, and was hoping for a good show, and I got more than that.

Eccleston's Doctor is handsome, I would say heroic, as most Doctors were; he is a caring individual, he cares about his traveling companion, Rose, and tries to spare her at the end of the season. He doesn't like to hide, and dashes in, sometimes, or better most times without a plan. The new Doctor is mysterious and charming, he is a Doctor for a new millennium, but also a Doctor that appeals to the older generations.

As for his companion, Rose, she is a young woman full of life, she is a human being first of all, and shows it all the time. She has no problem going to meet the unknown, and is taken on the ride of her life by the Doctor. There is also something more between the two, but it's not that explicit in the series, I don't know if there is the same chemistry with the 10th Doctor, David Tennant.

I loved the new look of the TARDIS in the interior. It looks like a real mumbo jumbo of a spaceship, of adaptations from the Doctor, since he is the last of the Timelords, the rest of them killed in the Time War. The Time War between the Daleks and the Timelords, had a very high cost for the Doctor, and in the series it shows. It is meant to be shown in the first season, so that we at least try and understand his own feelings and hurt. He says it was not his choice to live, and maybe there is something to discover in that mystery.

The Daleks are back in the series, in 3 episodes, and I thought those were the best episodes of the season. And finally, the Daleks have solved the stairs problem! How can you be one of the most feared races in the universe and not be able to go up a flight of stairs? Simple: no money for special effects in the old series! And this stairs problem was also an in-joke in the first of the Dalek episodes, from which the above photograph was taken.

And of course, I shouldn't forget, Captain Jack Harkness, the ex time agent turned con-man (or is he?) that Rose and the Doctor meet in one of their adventures. Not only do they meet him, but he becomes part of the crew for the rest of the season. But who is Jack? A 51st century man, a bisexual or better a pansexual, as he is a 51st century man, when mankind has reached to the stars and has met with various species. Jack doesn't hide his sexuality at all, he is who he is and is very comfortable with it. I applaud both the series producers and John Barrowman for this; the issue of one's sexuality is important, and in the show, it is portrayed in the right kind of light, without being vulgar. On the contrary, you almost immediately like Captain Jack Harkness and you don't even have to try. He is likeable, dashing, and charming!

And of course, Jack did get his own series (which I hope returns in 2010), named Torchwood. Well, I know what I will be watching after I finish with Doctor Who!

As far as the episodes go, my favorite are the 3 Dalek episodes. After that, the second episode, The End of the World is one of my favorites. The Doctor takes Rose into the future, 5 billion years into the future, at the time when the Earth will die, engulfed by a dying Sun, when he becomes a red giant. Mankind has gone to the stars and the Earth is just another rock in space... Will we ever be able to go to the stars?

And of course, Father's Day. Rose and the Doctor go back in time when Rose's father dies. Rose saves him and creates a time paradox. Time creatures attack to cleanse the Earth not only from the time paradox but from the human race as a whole.

A good season, this first one with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. I just started to watch the second season with David Tennant, and for the first few episodes, I like it. More when I finish the second season.