Welcome to Fancy Things Friday, where I talk about things on a Friday that I think are fancy!!
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has read at least a few of these posts that I have a particular TV Show I adore. There is just something about this show that makes me spontaneously laugh, cry, shout and gasp, all at once. I find myself looking back at episodes with a fondness that I can't quite explain and, this week especially, I have found myself spending my last final moments before sleep going back and rewatching all the best bits of the show whilst I cheer and weep myself to sleep... but in a good way.
I am, of course, talking about Doctor Who. I'm not going to go into the show in general on here, because I fear that after the 600th paragraph of my ramblings, you might switch off. Instead, I've decided to focus on one aspect of the show, mainly because this has been what my rewatching has been obsessed with this week, and that's pretty much how I decide what to write on this thing. I sit down, I think about my week and decide what thing in the past 7 days has warranted more than one day of my attention, coupled with that tell tale sign of craving for more once it's over. This week, I have been pretty obsessed with the speeches of Doctor Who, in particular with the ones including Matt Smith playing the Doctor.
Now, before I go into my reasons for why these speeches kick arse more than I can possibly put into words, I thought I'd demonstrate (to those of you who hadn't caught it the first time round) a small explanation and visual imagery, if you will, over the love that I hold for this programme.
About three years ago, just after the first Matt Smith Series had finished in Doctor Who, Younger-Brother-Daniel and I went to a little Whovian type shindig called the Doctor Who Experience. I, having just started this blog, decided I would put together a video of our day for everyone to see. We were still pretty hung up on the loss of David Tennant, but didn't hate Matt Smith and was excited about what he had to offer. This is how I get, in person, when Doctor Who related events occur in my life. Also, there is a very real chance that I have gotten worse than this in more recent days.
Yeeeaah, so that happened. It was amazing.
So, from that point onwards, my admiration for the eleventh doctor, AKA Matt Smith, grew and grew. My reason for this was simple; the combination of both Matt Smith talking stuff and Steven Moffat writing the stuff he said meant that amazing moments occurred. I knew we were into a pretty amazing time with this doctor after the first episode with him aired. He gave this speech that was so epic, my tiny brain almost exploded, and that would end up being the first in a very long line of epic speeches that would rock my world and send tingles down my spine. I'm going to put this speech down below. For those of you who haven't gotten into the world of Doctor Who yet, it isn't really a spoiler of any kind, just a clip of awesomeness. However, if you would prefer to enjoy the experience first hand without hearing this speech, then feel free to not watch it... although you must only do this if you are planning on watching it... this is important. If you are on the fence about the whole thing, then watch the clip and it will convince you of the show's awesomeness. Just be prepared for the lost hours you will inevitably experience as you become immersed in a world that is awesome. In my opinion, it's totally worth it, but people might begin to wonder where you have gone, so the odd text to loved ones to let them know that you are okay, just spending time with a Timelord, is a must.
Anywho, this clip is from the Eleventh Doctor's first episode and happens at the end of the episode when he sends an alien invasion away with the power of his words. Get ready for tingles, there will be tingles. And it will be glorious.
His face on the "Basically... run" section... my days! I screamed and whooped at that TV screen over and over before collapsing into a mess of satisfied bliss.
What followed in that series alone was more and more awesomeness. Every time a bad person turned up to threaten Earth, he would send them away with words that made me gape at him in shock. One of my personal favourites is the following. About halfway through this series, he comes face to face with one of the scariest enemies that Doctor Who has thought up in a long time. They're called The Weeping Angels. You may have heard of them? Again, this clip doesn't give off any real plot twists so is safe to watch, and in fact I thoroughly recommend you do as, if the above didn't convince you that this is the best thing you could watch, then this should.
Oh I just, I can't even... I love it so much.
There are so many more, but then we're hitting real spoiler land and I can't do it to people who haven't watched the show. You need to watch it first hand to fully experience the awesome and get yourself to the point that you saw me in my first video... which is totally a place everyone should be, and not something that anyone should feel ashamed of, at all. What I will do is put a video below of a compilation of some of the Eleventh Doctor's awesomeness. However, I strongly urge that no one who hasn't seen it watch it. Instead, get yourself on Netflix and begin the experience yourself. They've got all of the series except the latest one on there, and by the time you get to that point, you will want to buy the rest of them, trust me on that. So below is a very spoiler filled video, for all fans, watch and enjoy. It is awesome. Revel in the writing and the performances and remember all the awesome times that made the Eleventh Doctor who he is today. Also, if you are like me and have a tendency to enjoy a bit of fictional writing, be prepared for the inevitable inspiration this will bring to you. If I'm having a bad writing day, I always play one of these compilation videos, they do the trick quite nicely in filling me with all sorts of gusto to write new chapters... also to work on my own two part episode of Doctor Who, which I am certain Steven Moffat is going to want from me the moment we become best friends and writing partners. I like to be prepared.
This doesn't cover all of them, and only goes up to Matt Smith's second series, but still... it makes my point.
I am extremely excited about the 12th Doctor and what Peter Capaldi is going to bring to it. I am completely devastated that we've lost Matt Smith and still can't watch his last speech without crying uncontrollably, but then I was exactly the same when David Tennant left and we hadn't seen what Matt Smith had to offer yet. I know that Capaldi is going to be awesome, because, quite simply, casting the role of the Doctor is too big a thing for someone to get wrong, and Moffat has never disappointed with his casting choices as of yet. I won't post the final moments of Matt Smith's reign as the Doctor because I don't want to tempt any non watchers with it, you need to see it in order. Just trust me when I say it's perfect.
As a writer, I have never been more inspired by a TV show. Yes, there are some episodes that slightly flop, it's written by multiple writers and I do have my least favourites, but overall it never disappoints. Also, I've spent this post talking about the awesomeness of Matt Smith's speeches and haven't even touched on how funny he is throughout the series. This is equally as awesome as the epic stuff. I am a Whovian through and through. I live and breathe the stuff.
If you haven't seen it and have decided to off the back of this then I have a few small tips for you:
If you haven't seen it and have decided to off the back of this then I have a few small tips for you:
1. Start watching it from the 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston (Where it starts on Netflix). Although the show has been running for 50 years, there was a brief hiatus where it wasn't on anymore, and then it was revamped for a new generation. This is the best place to start. If, once you are done, you want to go back and watch the old episodes, do it then. But you don't need any prior knowledge of Doctor Who to get into it from 9th Doctor onwards. I, personally, have only seen a select few of the episodes prior to 9th Doctor. When it was revamped, it was designed to appeal to a generation of people who hadn't seen any Doctor Who, as well as all the previous die hard fans. You will get the most of it by starting there.
2. There will be a brief moment, when you start watching the first couple of episodes, where you're not too sure what you are watching and you will think that it is pretty ridiculous. Just keep at it, because following that, you will then reach a state of still thinking it's silly whilst also having this uncontrollable urge to watch more. After that, you will come to realise what all the hype is about and will love it. This is my experience, as well as the experience of almost everyone else I know who has watched it. It draws you in and you can't help yourself.
3. Get ready for what the Internet calls "Feels." You will laugh, cry, get angry, frustrated, happy, excited and, at certain points, not just cry but sob uncontrollably. The characters are so loveable and awesome that you will route for almost all of them. The companions are as strong as the Doctors and there will be some longing to have them as your best friends involved. Go with it. Although it may never happen (on the basis that they are fictional characters and so don't actually exist), the thoughts alone will keep you warm at night and leave you dreaming of being swept away by an alien Timelord in his TARDIS, which believe me, is never a bad thing.
4. If you are anything like me, there will be moments where you catch yourself longing to talk to someone about the laws of time and space and debate over storylines, wondering if they make sense. In those cases, I have an email section in the right hand bar, send me your questions and theories, it's my favourite conversation to have and my friends have banned me from talking about it now on nights out because they either don't care, have never watched it, or have heard it all before. I'll just leave you with two words on this "Pandorica" and "Paradox." There are things about that that I have spent countless hours debating over. I'm still not happy with my responses. So any theories, please do let me know.
5. Enjoy. And be ready for the uncontrollable urge to watch them all again after you are finished. Remember to take breaks in between, however, for the toilet and eating. Otherwise, you might forget and then get into all sorts of health problems. If you are settling in for a marathon, make sure your fridge is fully stocked and there is definitely nothing you have to do for the next few days, because you will lose track of time and if you have plans, you'll accidentally miss them and people will get mad that you didn't go to their wedding because you were hauled up with a bunch of fictional characters. NB:This is exceptionally bad if the bride and groom have never seen Doctor Who as they won't even be able to sympathise that this is a very real problem and just see the whole thing as "Some TV show" which apparently means you should know better at working out what time it is whilst watching it. This is a very real problem, NB again: In these instances, this is not the time to recommend they start watching the show. They will generally see this as a reason to get mad, rather than be intrigued and tempted to watch.
Okay, that's all the tips I can think of. Go forth and enjoy if you haven't already. If you have, go forth and enjoy again, you can never watch Doctor Who too many times.
Peace out my lovelies.
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