Anyway, April meant this month’s Doctor Who episodes were the Tom Baker era, and in doing so I found myself in a bit of a quandary. Tom Baker was on the show for a record-holding seven years, and went through multiple producers and script editors. He’s also for the original series, the face of the show in the United States. While I was extremely lucky to grow up in an area that had two PBS stations that showed all eras of the show, for many areas all they got were Baker’s stories.

With so many stories to pick from—including some favorites near and dear to my heart—I ended up deciding to start with three stories that most consider “classics” but which I’d never actually seen. (I know, I know. For two of them I read the novelizations growing up and the third… well… I’d seen lots of bits and pieces but never sat down and watched it all the way through.) The end result? Not what I expected.

#076: The Ark in Space

Baker’s second story, “The Ark in Space” for me locks in the overall tone of producer Peter Hinchcliffe’s era. It’s the first hints we get of the gothic, dark tinged stories that he (and script editor Robert Holmes) dreamed up. Fans of the films Alien and Aliens will see some certain similarities; people in suspended animation in the future, an alien that infects other species to reproduce, a confined area with no easy escape. “The Ark in Space” is a remarkably effective story, one that uses its run-time almost perfectly. This is a story which lets the Doctor and his two companions (Sarah Jane and Harry) interact with just each other and not worry about a supporting cast for the entire first episode and gets away with it wonderfully, after all. With so many “it’ll eat you from the inside” type stories now, I suspect “The Ark in Space” is a bit old hat but at the time I can only imagine how freaked out audiences must have been.

Sarah Jane had been introduced the previous year (and is probably to this day one of the original series’ all-time favorite companions; considering they brought her back for the new series and then gave her a multiple-season spin-off of her own, that’s a reasonable assumption to make) but poor Harry gets an outing here. Harry is a character whom, if I remember correctly, was supposed to be the muscle opposite a much older actor playing the Doctor. Then they hired Baker and oops, Harry was no longer needed. As a result he ends up a bit bumbling to give him something to do, but here’s the thing: he’s got charm thanks to actor Ian Marter. It’s a real shame the character didn’t get to stick around, because I love him.

Some of the effects have been redone for the DVD as an optional extra. Halfway through I switched over to them just to see what the new version of the outer space shots looked like. Are they better? Yes, a thousand times so. Were the old ones bad? Well, no… dated, yes, but not bad. Honestly I’m surprised they didn’t go whole hog and replace the “oh no, he’s got green bubble wrap on his hand” special effect while they were at it. Ultimately unnecessary but inoffensive in terms of a change. But anyway, “The Ark in Space” was a real joy to watch; I’m sorry it took this long.

#091: The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Bizarrely I just realized that both this and “The Ark in Space” were written by the same person (Robert Holmes), and that this also closed out the Hinchcliffe producer era. (Holmes would stay on for a few more stories as script editor under incoming producer Graham Williams.) But where “The Ark in Space” was as good as everyone claimed, “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” is anything but.

First let’s tackle the elephant in the room. The main Chinese character—Li H’sen Chang—is played by a Caucasian man in yellow face. Is it offensive? Yes, yes it is. Director David Maloney, when asked about the casting of John Bennett in the role, has said they couldn’t find a qualified Asian actor but I find that incredibly hard to believe. Then again, all the other Chinese characters are either part of the Tong or are coolies, so maybe actors were steering clear? At any rate, it’s truly offensive in this day and age. Lots of heavy-accented mispronounced words, I think at one point the word “inscrutable” is used, and in general it’s every bad stereotype piled on. So for that aspect alone, it fails miserably.

But even if you ignore that (which many fans have and still do), it’s not a very good story. At six parts it overstays its welcome and just plain drags. Lots of “we didn’t do it / yes you did” scenes to pad out the start, and then massive run-arounds in the later episodes. And not to mock bad production values, but the giant rat is one of the more laughable disasters in the history of the show. There’s no reason for this episode to last as long as it does, and it overstayed its welcome with me.

There is one high point, though, and that’s companion Leela (a “noble savage” that the Doctor is educating) interacting with Professor Litefoot. There’s more than just an Eliza Doolittle relationship here; the moment where after Leela is chowing down on the roast by picking up a piece and chewing and he does the same (as to not embarrass his guest) is adorable. If Leela had left at the end of this story to stay with Professor Litefoot I’d have been just fine with that end result.

Ultimately, I’m a little befuddled on why this is regarded so highly. It has big ambitions but it fails to come together in any satisfactory manner for me.

#105: City of Death

Last but not least is “City of Death,” which is notable in part for being co-written by then script editor Douglas Adams, and also for its extensive location filming in Paris. It was the first big foreign location shoot for the show, and you can tell the show is reveling in it; lots of episodes of Baker and actress Lalla Ward running through its streets and seeing its sights. Charlie watched this episode with me and at one point he remarked that we were really watching a tourism video from the government of France.

The story itself is fun, involving hiccups in time, seven Mona Lisas, and characters popping up all through time where they shouldn’t be. Watching the Doctor, companion Romana (a female Time Lord that is in many ways the Doctor’s equal), and villain Scaroth (played by Julian Glover) interact with one another is fast-paced and witty, and there are so many little dialogue gems it would be impossible to count them all.

Here’s the thing about “City of Death.” People often remember it for the cameos (John Cleese and Eleanor Bron), or guest star Julian Glover, or the Paris location work, or the “can I hit it?” guest character of Duggan. But there’s no one thing that makes “City of Death” fun, it’s that everything works together in near perfect unison. That’s all the more surprising when you look at “City of Death” in context of the rest of its season. It was producer Williams’ final season, and generally speaking it’s a disaster. “City of Death” not only stands out as the best for that year, but it’s one you can hold up against most of the Baker era and it does well. In some ways it’s slight and silly, but there’s such a pleasant charm to “City of Death” that I don’t care. It had me smiling from start to finish, and it was a lovely experience and doubly so to share with Charlie.

So, three “classics” where two really were as good as everyone said, and one where I’m baffled with the love displayed towards it. That’s not a bad hit percentage, and a fun way to tackle the Tom Baker era in general. (It’s also the last one I could do this sort of selection with, since I’ve seen all the episodes for the remaining eras ahead.)

Next up? Peter Davison’s three years. This should be good.

(full set)

But anyway, Pertwee’s five years on the show were a huge change in general for Doctor Who. Not only was it in color, but he was trapped on Earth for his first three seasons and worked with UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (introduced in Patrick Troughton’s story “The Invasion”) as their scientific advisor. It’s a very different sort of era, although even within it there are distinct sections…

#051: Spearhead from Space

Pertwee’s debut, this story (and the three that followed) were a very serious take on Doctor Who. I like to think of this as the “competent UNIT era” because it was only in Season 7 that we really got that. The Brigadier is ruthless and a strong military man, and new companion Dr. Liz Shaw is a Cambridge professor who is supposed to be a near-equal for the Doctor.

I say “supposed to be” because she’s barely in the second half of this story, once the Doctor is up and running around and working with UNIT and the Brigadier to stop an invasion of strange plastic-inhabiting creatures known as the Autons. (Fans of the modern series might remember they came back in the debut episode “Rose.”) It’s a little slow paced at times, but “Spearhead from Space” is entertaining. I like that you’re kept in the dark for the majority of the story on what’s really going on, and the immediate clash between the Doctor and his new “employers” in the form of a military group is brought up effectively. As a throwing the glove on the ground and announcing that this is the way the series will now be, it works.

#059: The Dæmons

“The Dæmons” is one of those stories where it’s been proclaimed a classic for as long as I can remember. I remember seeing it in the ’80s (back when the BBC only had some black and white prints in their archives) and enjoying it a great deal. So as a result, for the Pertwee stories I watched, this one ended up being the biggest disappointment when I revisited it. There is an awful lot of padding in this story about the evil Master trying to revive (and gain power from) an ancient alien known as a Dæmon. The Doctor is constantly diverted away from the main story, presumably to stretch things out. New companion Jo is adorable, though, which goes a long way. And UNIT? Well, they’ve started to slide into buffoon territory. They’re not out-and-out incompetent, but they’re mostly used to help stall. (Although Sgt. Benton’s sharp-shooting is presented as quite effective. Sgt. Benton’s groovy red pants, perhaps not so much.)

This was also the final story of the season that introduced the Master (think Moriarity to the Doctor’s Holmes) as an adversary to the Doctor, one that used him in every single story. I’d say he’d gotten tired by this point, but actor Roger Delgado (who gets second billing!) is so good that I don’t care that he’s overused. He’s amazing and somewhat hypnotic to boot. But still, it’s hard to deny that this story is a bit silly in places, never bothers to fully make sense, and has a god-awful resolution. The memory cheated on this one. It’s not bad, per se, but it is by no means a classic. I’m actually fine with waiting another 25-odd years to see this one again.

#066: Carnival of Monsters

For this story, I had two friends (Erik and Jason) come over to watch it, which was a fun way to experience it. Erik had seen it somewhat recently, it’d been years for me, and Jason had never seen it. It’s a bit of a run-around with the Doctor and Jo isolated from the other main characters but it’s an enjoyable (if perhaps atypical Pertwee) story. No longer Earth-bound, this story traps the Doctor and Jo inside a strange alien zoo machine while an entirely different story unfolds on the planet where the machine is located. The two don’t connect until the final episode, but there’s such a strange air about “Carnival of Monsters” that it works. The two circus/carney folk who have the machine are a riot (and not just because of their ultra-crazy outfits), the aliens on the planet are wonderfully bureaucratic, and the Doctor and Jo manage to carry a story where they go around in circles for a hell of a lot of time. It’s not like most Pertwee stories (it’s short, it’s concise, there’s no UNIT, no karate-chopping, not set on Earth, no long chase scenes) but it’s very much like a typical Doctor Who story, if that makes sense. A fun way to wrap up the Pertwee stories for March.

And that’s it! I wish I had more to say about Pertwee, but the best laid plans and all that. (Even this entry is a little shorter than I’d hoped. Once again, time restraints and all.) In August (details still being worked out) I might be revisiting some earlier Doctors so I’m hoping to squeeze in a Pertwee then. But we shall see…

Cinnamon Vanilla Ice Cream
One of the pieces in the latest issue was an interview with two ice-cream makers. When asked for their favorite flavors, one that both of them mentioned was cinnamon vanilla ice cream. “Hmmm,” I thought to myself, “I bet I could make that.” And so, I did.

As it turns out, adding cinnamon to my vanilla ice cream recipe is a big hit. I love the vanilla ice cream recipe (thanks Alton Brown!) but the touch of cinnamon makes it that much more amazing. I’ll be trying some new flavors of ice cream this summer, but I think this is one I’ll be keeping in my back pocket in general. Homemade ice cream in general is such a pleasure; over the winter I barely made any (which my waistline thanks me for, at least) but I’m going to try and break out the ice cream maker a bit more this year.

Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is one of those board games that I’ve been seeing for years, now. I first encountered it at my friends Trevor and Matt’s house, when I saw some people playing it. It looks deceptively simple—collect colored trains to form connections between cities to earn points—but it’s the sort of game that clearly requires a lot of strategy and wits. I’ve held off on buying it (another huge box to store!) but I recently discovered that the game company also released a version for the iPad. Having now played it for a few days… it’s wonderfully addicting. Evilly so, in fact. And I haven’t even played it against other people (either online or locally), just against the computer. Absolutely loving it. Board or electronic game, this one is clearly a winner.

No More Amy Pond
Non-Doctor Who fans can just skip along to the next item. But I am genuinely happy that when Doctor Who returns in a couple of days, it will be without Karen Gillan, the actress who played the character of Amy Pond for the past two and a half years. I really didn’t like the character, but the bigger problem wasn’t the writing for Amy Pond but Gillan’s acting. She just wasn’t up to the level needed for such a major role, and she pulled down the show a great deal. So knowing that there are eight episodes ahead without Gillan? Well, I’m delighted. (Sadly her co-star Arthur Darvill is also gone, but it’s a fair trade.) Her replacement, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, already feels like a real improvement.

A Great 40th Birthday
Today I finally hit the big 4-0, it’s true. And in celebrating it this year, the thing that’s struck me the most was that I’m really lucky to have so many great friends that it was actually difficult to make a guest list because I wanted to invite everyone I knew. I ended up having a medium-sized party over the weekend at the tavern on the ground floor of our building, and as much as I would’ve loved to double the guest list, my gut feeling on how many the facility could hold was more or less dead-on accurate. I had a great time talking with my friends, and the food and cake were both excellent, and at the very end the manager provided us with a nice champagne toast. Then today, two co-workers (and good friends) took me out to lunch and provided cake in the afternoon (with a cannoli on top!), followed by getting a massage in the evening.

Add in the over 200 birthday greetings on Facebook (no, seriously, we’ve crossed the 200 mark), and it’s been a very pleasant way to enter the new decade. Fortunately, I’m not one to get freaked out over those milestone ages, but still, a good way to do so. (Now ask me again when I turn 70 and that might be another story entirely…)

Like Hartnell’s era, the three seasons of Troughton’s time on the show are rather incomplete in the BBC Archives due to an old policy of purging old television shows over time. Unlike Hartnell, Troughton’s era is missing far more (thanks to there being less countries overseas that had bought prints that would be recovered years later); no complete stories exist from Troughton’s first season, and only one (“The Tomb of the Cybermen”) exists from his second season. Watching the stories (and pieces of partially-recovered stories), it’s all the more a pity because there’s something about Troughton’s physical performance that can’t be quite captured via script or even audio recording. Watching him leap and jump about the screen, he’s a true performer who brought so much more to the role than he was ever asked. Most Doctor Who fans hold out hope for more stories of his being recovered; every new piece and fragment found is a virtual goldmine.

#037: The Tomb of the Cybermen

The oldest fully-complete Troughton story, which kicked off his second season. This story was originally one wiped from the archives entirely, and only returned to the BBC in late 1991. I remember watching it a year or two later, excited about seeing an previously missing story that was thought to be a masterpiece. Now that I’m rewatching it 20 years later? It doesn’t quite hold up. There are some good bits here and there. Having previously joined the Doctor and Jamie in the season finale, new companion Victoria gets some great scenes with the Doctor; they’ve got a lovely surrogate-father/daughter relationship right off the bat. On the other hand, she’s religated to damsel-in-distress more times than one can count. The bigger problem is the casual racism in this story, with the treatment of Toberman (the only non-white character). He’s every bad stereotype of the African character; the muscle-bound, brainless slave who lives to serve his masters. It’s honestly appalling. Once you skirt around this impossible-to-ignore problem it’s also just a so-so story; the idea of finding the last remnants of the evil Cybermen race and someone trying to resurrect them from their tombs is a great one, don’t get me wrong. But as soon as the secret trap of the Cybermen is revealed, it’s a story that falls apart once you try to apply logic. “The Tomb of the Cybermen” is one of those stories that works only until you start to think about it afterwards. There are (much) worse stories out there, but this is sadly not the masterpiece that my 19-year old self remembered.

#044: The Dominators

When watching this story—the first of Troughton’s third and final season—I commented to Charlie that the real title was “Planet of the Idiots.” Infamously cut down from six to five episodes, it’s not hard to see why. It’s a story populated by stupid characters (on both sides), one that seems almost entirely designed just to introduce the Quarks, robot servants of the evil Dominators. The Quarks are at least visually cool, but they’re utter non-entities with no personalities, little more than tools. How they were supposed to be the next big thing is a bit of a mystery. The high point of “The Dominators” is ultimately how the two bad guys clearly loathe one another, and it’s their hatred that ultimately makes them lose. If they’d just cooperated instead of trying to one-up each other, they’d have killed everyone on this planet of stupid people (a bad parody of hippies) and moved on by episode 3. As slow as this story was, though, I had no idea of the slogs that were still ahead. This is the first full story that features Zoe, though, and she’s a delight; as a hyper-intelligent young woman from the future, she’s a real improvement over the damsel-in-distress that was Victoria.

#045: The Mind Robber

One of the real high points of Troughton’s final season, easily, “The Mind Robber” is a lovely and slightly surreal story with the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe being trapped in a bizarre, different realm. In a plot where the characters struggle to keep from being turned into fictional characters, it’s hard to ignore the sly wink to the audience. Even ignoring that aspect, though, “The Mind Robber” is wonderfully odd. Where else can (in order to hide the fact that Frazer Hines had gotten sick) a story turn Jamie into a cardboard cut-out, then have him replaced by an entirely different actor for the week? It’s silly and funny and clever from start to finish. The less you know about this story in advance, the better. Check it out.

#046: The Invasion

One of the longest stories in Doctor Who history (clocking in at 8 parts, although a longer one is just around the corner), “The Invasion” is actually missing two of its episodes (1 & 4). Thanks to the soundtrack still surviving, though, BBC Video ended up taking an interesting tactic: they animated those two missing parts. The animation isn’t great, but it’s a fun way to have a complete story for a DVD release, and turns lemons into lemonade. The story itself is great for about its first two-thirds, with a mysterious alien invasion being full of trickery and tension. It’s also one of the rare stories from this era to be set in the present day, giving it an extra punch. Unfortunately, it’s also a story where there aren’t eight episodes worth of material, and the last couple of parts feel extremely choppy. Strangely enough it veers between dragging and then leaving huge chunks of story out. Things start happening off-screen, and the climax of the story ends up involving characters just waiting around for missiles to strike and the like. “The Invasion” starts out great (and has such great Swinging Sixties moments like Zoe wearing a feather boa for several episodes, or introducing Isobel the photographer who keeps taking glamor shots of everyone), but it ultimately overstays its welcome.

Still, “The Invasion” ultimately acts as a template for what’s to come in the next year. It introduces the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) and brings back a character (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) from the previous season to lead it. It’s a concept that would end up ruling the next three years of the show once Jon Pertwee took over, making this story somewhat crucial in the evolution of the show. But that will be explored further come March…

#047: The Krotons

The best thing about “The Krotons,” by way of comparison, is that it’s blessedly only four episodes long; in fact, it’s the shortest story of the entire season. Long time and prolific writer Robert Holmes gets his start on Doctor Who here, and it’s a minor miracle he was ever asked back. The basic premise of the story—evil aliens enslaving a planet to sacrifice their brightest to them so their brainpower can be used to fuel the evil aliens—isn’t bad at all. But it’s a story with no memorable characters, and aside from the neat look of the Krotons themselves, it’s barely a blip on the radar. By this point, the high point is really watching the Doctor and Zoe interact; she has a great rapport with the Doctor. It’s not so much father/daughter (like we’d seen before with past companions) but almost teacher/pupil. Watching little moments like the Doctor trying to get a better score than Zoe did on the intelligence-measuring teaching machine are nothing short of hysterical; it’s a reminder of how much Troughton did to turn the most boring scripts into something watchable.

#048: The Seeds of Death

“The Seeds of Death” is another one of those stories where you get the sneaking suspicion that at six parts, it could’ve used a slight trim. It’s not bad, but it’s in many ways the epitome of the base-under-siege story format as the Ice Warriors return and take over a base on the Moon that controls all of the T-Mat teleportation system on Earth. The best thing about “The Seeds of Death” has got to be the strange decision to have Troughton start performing pratfalls in a huge sea of foam; I started expecting to hear the “Yakity Sax” music playing as he yelped, tripped, and floundered through what looked like a scene right out of I Love Lucy. Ultimately, the story’s a little dry, but once again Troughton’s a winner.

#050: The War Games

Remember how I said that “The Invasion” ran eight episodes? “The War Games,” closing out the season and the entire cast’s time on the series, clocks in at ten episodes. But here’s the crazy thing: there’s barely any padding at all. “The War Games” is most known for introducing the concept of the Time Lords (of which the Doctor is declared to be a member), and fan lore would tell you that until they appear in episode 9, it’s a skippable story. Fan lore doesn’t know what it’s talking about. I watched the first nine parts on a flight across the country, and I was actually irritated that we landed 40 minutes early and I didn’t get to finish it right then and there. It’s a great story about people being yanked out of their own time zones and forced to fight in never-ending wars by unknown manipulators; it’s remarkably engrossing right from the start.

“The War Games” has a tiny bit of fluff near the end, but it’s remarkably little; you can trim it down to eight episodes if you want, but I actually would say that it’s not worth doing so. What you end up with is a great fake-out, where it looks like another typical “this is how the Doctor saves the day” conclusion only to then have it go horribly wrong and a decision of last resort has to be used instead. “The War Games” is ultimately a great way to wind down the cast’s time on the show. It’s funny because before this re-watch I’d probably only seen episodes 1-2 and 9-10, but now I’d highly recommend this story to just about anyone. “The Mind Robber” is my favorite Troughton story, but this comes a close second.

#032: The Underwater Menace • #038: The Abominable Snowmen • #041: The Web of Fear

Earlier I said that a bunch of the stories were missing. For some of them, however, a handful of episodes from the overall story remain. I was going to try and watch all the remaining episodes and pull a Troughton hat-trick, but alas, I ran out of time. (February is, after all, the shortest month, and work got particularly busy during the last week.) As for those I tackled? Well…

“The Underwater Menace” recently shifted from being 25% complete to 50% complete in the archives. It’s still a fairly rubbish story though, one that literally has a mad scientist who wants to blow up the planet. Aside from some nasty peril for the companions (Ben, Polly, and Jamie) it’s pretty unremarkable at best, and grimace-inducing at worst. “The Abominable Snowmen” and “The Web of Fear” I”ll lump together, though, since the second is a sequel to the first. Who knew that lumbering robotic Yetis and a disembodied voice could be so creepy? Unlike “The Underwater Menace” I was enthralled with each, despite that they’re both 6-part stories with only 1 part surviving for each. I’d love to see more of these stories found down the line.

And to the surviving episodes of “The Moonbase,” “The Faceless Ones,” “The Evil of the Daleks,” “The Ice Warriors,” “The Enemy of the World,” “The Wheel in Space,” and “The Space Pirates”… well, at least I’ve seen all of you (except for “The Ice Warriors”) before. I’ll try and squeeze in a re-watch of them sometime this year, but not for the official Troughton month, alas.

What’s next? An entirely new cast, crew, setting, structure… and a shift to being filmed in full color. See you in March!

My Abuela’s Table: An Illustrated Journey into Mexican Cooking by Daniela Germain

Oscar-Nominated Shorts Compilations
Every year, Charlie and I go to see two of the Oscar-Nominated Short Film compilations (the Live-Action and the Animated categories). These are pieces that chances are you’d never be able to see otherwise, unless you hit the film festival circuits. And while I don’t think there’s ever been a year that I was crazy about all the nominees, there’s always something to recommend about each one. This year I was especially taken by Death of a Shadow (a strange steampunk tale about a man who captures the shadows of people about to die all throughout time) and Asad (a Somali boy struggles to become a fisherman) among the live action pieces, and Adam and Dog (the story of the Garden of Eden through the eyes of the first dog) and Paperman (the start of a romantic relationship with the help of paper airplanes; you may have seen this before Wreck-It Ralph). But like I said, there’s something to recommend for all of them. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I’m coming to this one a little late. I’d been hearing recommendations about it for ages (and first and foremost from Linda Holmes on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour), but I knew very little about it. That’s a good thing. I hate to do this, but it’s a book that the less you know about, the better; all I’ll say about the plot is that it’s about a woman who vanishes under mysterious circumstances. It’s a book that digs down deep and gets you at just the right moment, and it’s also a very fast read; I think I read it in two days. It’s not high art, and in a few places you’ll scratch your head and say, “Really? Really???” when it’s over. It doesn’t bear too much thinking about it afterward, to be honest. But it’s a classic example of the pageturner, and I’m glad I read it.

“Candy” by Robbie Williams
I know this song is a few months old (and I’ve talked about it on Facebook before, in fact), but every time I need to grin I just listen to it. Seriously, I defy you to not be happy after listening to “Candy.”

Great Friends Every February
Every year in February I head out to Los Angeles to attend the Gallifrey One convention, which is all about my all-time favorite television show Doctor Who. And yes, a lot of the attraction is the convention’s guests and programming; this was my 13th straight year of attending, after all. But just as much of an attraction is going to see all the friends that I’m reunited with every year because of Gallifrey One. There are too many to list—over the years I’ve met so many great people there—but let me just say that if none of my friends were going one year, I might stay home too. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of friends there every time I go. My friends? They’re the greatest. Just what the doctor ordered to perk up what could be a cold, grey month.

With eleven different actors playing the Doctor in a major form on the television show, I’ve decided to take the first eleven months of 2013 to revisit each era of the show in the form of a re-watch. I’ve identified three stories for most months (with the exception of August, which I’ll talk about in greater detail when we get there) to make a concerted effort to view, plus several “bonus rounds” to add in if I have the time and willpower. For each month, I tried to try and select in a way that provided a variety of supporting cast characters, approaches, and the like. We’ll see how well this goes…

January kicks off the great re-watch with William Hartnell, who played the role of the Doctor from 1963-1966. His era was different than any to follow, with a mixture of “historical” (set in Earth’s past with no science-fiction elements aside from the time machine that brought them there) and science-fiction stories (either in Earth’s future, or on other planets). By the time the show ended, it had discovered a new format (modern-day with science-fiction elements), gone through several casts and production teams, and finally inexplicably survived the recasting of the title role. Both Hartnell and his successor Patrick Troughton also have large swathes of episodes missing from the BBC Archives due to a mass purging of older television shows over the years, before the age of home video.

More importantly, the Hartnell era is pretty great. With little to look back on, the show reinvented itself on a regular basis and took chances bigger than any other era has since. In my story selections, I tried to find a mixture of historical and science-fiction, as well as hitting as many of the companions (those who travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS) as I could. I ended up watching 10 stories (or 40 episodes) in all, and while I could blather on about each one of them for some time, just a quick comment on the viewing choices.

#001: An Unearthly Child

The very first story, its initial episode is fantastic; it introduces the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and inquisitive teachers Ian and Barbara who get sucked up into the adventure against their will. Unfortunately, episodes 2-4 are set in the caveman era and are a bit problematic. The story itself isn’t that bad in theory (with a bit of an allegory over the arms race using a quest for fire) but the direction/acting involving the cavemen is just teeth-gratingly bad. There’s a reason why many people watch episode 1 and then skip ahead to something else, rather than episodes 2-4 of this opening story.

#006: The Aztecs

“The Aztecs” is easily one of the best Hartnell stories, there’s no doubt. The plot is a fun one; landing in 15th century Mexico, schoolteacher Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the high priest Yetaxa and treated as a god, and she decides to try and save the Aztecs by attempting to stop their practice of human sacrifice. It’s a marvelous story, with Barbara struggling to try and fight the tide of history even as the Doctor tries to explain that her attempts are futile. “You can’t rewrite history! Not one line!” is a statement of the Doctor’s that quoted often, and it sums up the story well. “The Aztecs” is the rare script that 50 years later could be reused with no problem whatsoever.

#007: The Sensorites

“The Sensorites” is, unfortunately, the worst story that I watched in January. It wasn’t bad, but rather ill-paced and plotted. There’s some good stuff in it—an alien culture with telepathic powers that doesn’t want to destroy but rather just to keep from being pillaged by humanity—but with six episodes it drags.

#011: The Rescue

“The Rescue” features the second half of the first cast change of the show; the character of Susan (the Doctor’s granddaughter) had left in the previous story (“The Dalek Invasion of Earth”) and here we get her replacement, Vicki. It’s a short story (only two episodes instead of the standard four) and it is just the right length. The mystery of the monster Koquillon menacing the stranded Vicki and Bennett is easily solved, but it doesn’t need to be too crafty; as a way to bring Vicki on board it works perfectly.

#012: The Romans

“The Romans” is a riot, though. Or half a riot. I love how it’s really two different stories in terms of tone and plot; we get the comedic story of the Doctor and Vicki dealing with Emperor Nero (who knew burning down a city could be funny?) and the darker story of Ian and Barbara being kidnapped and sold into slavery. That said, the balance between the two halves works well, and it’s another story that moves quite quickly.

#015: The Space Museum

One of the reasons why I picked “The Space Museum” is that I don’t recall a single thing about it (I last saw it in 1986) but it’s always had a strange reputation where the first episode is loved but episodes 2-4, not so much. That said? I think “fan knowledge” is wrong. Don’t get me wrong, the first episode is very different from the rest as the main cast “jumps a time track” and finds themselves ghosts in a future where they’ve been captured and turned into a frozen museum exhibit. But with episodes 2-4 involving them trying to avert their fate and helping an enslaved planet regain its freedom, it’s still engaging and fun. (Ian’s kicking the butts of two Morok guard followed by Vicki becoming a revolutionary leader was the moment where I realized I was having a blast.) This definitely doesn’t deserve its bad reputation.

#017: The Time Meddler

The first story where the entire initial supporting cast had been replaced (Ian and Barbara having departed in the previous story “The Chase”), “The Time Meddler” is the first of two Hartnell stories that changes the format of the series (either pure historical stories set in the past, or science-fiction stories set in the future or on other planets) and provide a template of what’s to come. Here, the Doctor, Vicki, and new companion Steven go up against another time traveler who’s attempting to change the course of history during the Viking invasion of 1066. With Doctor Who having not had science-fiction elements in Earth’s past before as a major plot point, their discovering a phonograph and wrist-watch is a big game-changer. And watching the Monk whip out a pair of binoculars is a fun little moment, but doubly so for the 1960s audience who had never had a story quite like this one. Even if it wasn’t historically significant, though, “The Time Meddler” is one of my all-time favorite Hartnell stories; it’s sharp and entertaining from start to finish.

#023: The Ark

Nearing the end of the Hartnell era is “The Ark,” which also has a clever story structure; the first two parts involve the Doctor, Steven, and Dodo visiting and then leaving the far-future space ark, with parts three and four having them return to the ark some 500 years later to discover that they hadn’t quite fixed the problems they thought they’d solved the first time around. It’s a setup that I’m surprised we didn’t get more often in Doctor Who, but more importantly it’s a shockingly well-realized story. A huge cast of extras, some great alien costumes, and even a baby elephant! Even brand-new companion Dodo gets less irritating with each episode, as they clearly try to tone down her deficiencies. The later Hartnell episodes don’t get the attention they deserve, and this is one that should.

#025: The Gunfighters

A song (“The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon”) that serves as a narrator! Bad Western outfits! Even worse American accents! Steven singing while Dodo plays the piano! The Doctor using a gun to hold a woman hostage! “The Gunfighters” is legendary in Doctor Who fandom, although there’s one thing that most people don’t seem to remember: it’s supposed to be a comedy. Viewed in that light, “The Gunfighters” is deliberately ridiculous and entertaining. It makes me laugh a lot.

#027: The War Machines

The last complete Hartnell story in the BBC Archives (“The Smugglers” is missing all four episodes, and the final story “The Tenth Planet” is sadly missing its final part, episode 4), “The War Machines” is the other story that, like “The Time Meddler,” changes the format of the series. Unlike almost all of the series up until this point, “The War Machines” is set in modern-day London and deals with a threat to its people. Science-fiction elements are no longer banished to the future or other worlds now, and in doing so it opens the show to all sorts of new possibilities. “The War Machines” itself is a good if not great story; its ambition is its big selling point. The introduction of new “swinging and hip” companions Ben and Polly is unintentionally amusing, if nothing else, even as outgoing companion Dodo is dismissed so suddenly she doesn’t even get a farewell scene. It’s a nice little story, and if the Hartnell era couldn’t end on its actual final story, this is a good a place as any to do so.

Next Month: Patrick Troughton

Warning: it’s infectious.

Movies:

1. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
2. The Artist
3. Albert Nobbs
4. The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Animated
5. The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Live Action
6. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
7. Bully
8. Mirror, Mirror
9. The Avengers
10. Headhunters
11. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
12. The Hunger Games
13. Moonrise Kingdom
14. Prometheus
15. Safety Not Guaranteed
16. Beauty is Embarrassing
17. To Rome With Love
18. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
19. Brave
20. Magic Mike
21. The Amazing Spider-Man
22. The Queen of Versailles
23. The Dark Knight Rises
24. The Imposter
25. Cosmopolis
26. Sleepwalk With Me
27. The Master
28. Argo
29. Cloud Atlas
30. Wreck-It Ralph
31. Holy Motors
32. Skyfall
33. Hitchcock
34. Travels With My Aunt
35. Les Misérables

Books:

1. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
2. The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
3. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
5. A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
6. Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman
7. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
8. Glasshouse by Charles Stross
9. Embassytown by China Miéville
10. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
11. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
12. Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater by Frank Bruni
13. After the Apocalypse: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh
14. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
15. Welcome to Bordertown edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner
16. Bumbling into Body Hair: A Transsexual’s Memoir by Everett Maroon
17. Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
18. Moominpappa’s Memoirs by Tove Jansson
19. American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama
20. God’s War by Kameron Hurley
21. Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson
22. Howards End by E.M. Forster
23. The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux
24. Who Is The Doctor: The Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who: The New Series by Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?
25. The Ninnies by Paul Magrs
26. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
27. Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction edited by Brit Mandelo
28. All About Emily by Connie Willis
29. Hav by Jan Morris
30. A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files

Fiction Magazines, Chapbooks, and Zines:

1. James Patrick Kelly’s Strangeways #1
2. Fantasy Magazine July 2011
3. Fantasy Magazine August 2011
4. Fantasy Magazine September 2011
5. Fantasy Magazine October 2011
6. Fantasy Magazine November 2011
7. Fantasy Magazine December 2011
8. Chelsea Station Issue 1
9. Lightspeed Magazine July 2011
10. Lightspeed Magazine August 2011
11. Lightspeed Magazine September 2011
12. Lightspeed Magazine October 2011
13. Lucky Peach Issue 2
14. Lightspeed Magazine November 2011
15. Lightspeed Magazine December 2011
16. Fireside Magazine Spring 2012
17. Lightspeed Magazine January 2012
18. Lightspeed Magazine February 2012

Graphic Novels:

1. RASL Volume 3: Romance at the Speed of Light by Jeff Smith
2. Princess Knight Vol. 1 by Osamu Tezuka
3. Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, and Ramon Perez
4. Kobato Vol. 5 by CLAMP
5. Blue by Pat Grant
6. Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
7. Cross Game Vol. 5 by Mitsuru Adachi
8. Prince Valiant Vol. 4: 1943-1944 by Hal Foster
9. Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics by David Kelly
10. Blabber Blabber Blabber: Vol. 1 of Everything by Lynda Barry
11. The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti by Rick Geary
12. Picture This by Lynda Barry
13. Twin Spica Vol. 11 by Kou Yaginuma
14. Cross Game Vol. 6 by Mitsuru Adachi
15. The Silence of Our Friendsby Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell
16. Farm 54 by Galit Seliktar and Gilad Seliktar
17. Baby’s in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles in Hamburg by Arne Bellstorf
18. The Moon Moth by Jack Vance and Humayoun Ibrahim
19. Animal Man: The Hunt by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman, and Steve Pugh
20. Swamp Thing: Raise Them Bones by Scott Snyder, Yanick Paquette, and Marco Rudy
21. Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
22. Batwoman: Hydrology by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
23. Daredevil Vol. 1 by Mark Waid, Marcos Martin, Paulo Rivera
24. Twin Spica Vol. 12 by Kou Yaginuma
25. Take What You Can Carry by Kevin C. Pyle
26. Shuteye: Six Tales of Dreams and Dreamers by Sarah Becan
27. Habibi by Craig Thompson
28. From Headrack to Claude by Howard Cruse
29. Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, and Tony Akins
30. The Shark King by R. Kikuo Johnson
31. The Art of The Secret World of Arrietty by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
32. GoGo Monster by Taiyo Matsumoto
33. The Strange Talent of Luther Strode Vol. 1 by Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore
34. Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin
35. I, Vampire Vol. 1: Tainted Love by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino
36. Justice League Vol. 1: Origin by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee
37. Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
38. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Vol. 1: War of the Monsters by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli
39. Resurrection Man Vol. 1: Dead Again by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Fernando Dagnino
40. Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
41. Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel
42. Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass, Federico Dallocchio, and Clayton Henry
43. Nightwing Vol. 1: Traps and Trapezes by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows
44. Superboy Vol. 1: Incubation by Scott Lobdell and R.B. Silva
45. Demon Knights Vol. 1: Seven Against the Dark by Paul Cornell and Oclair Albert
46. Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales, and Andy Kubert
47. Superman Vol. 1: What Price Tomorrow? by George Pérez, Jesus Merino, and Nicola Scott
48. Justice League International Vol. 1: The Signal Masters by Dan Jurgens
49. Batman & Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
50. The Fracture of the Universal Boy by Michael Zulli
51. Liar’s Kiss by Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano
52. Fantastic Four: Season One by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and David Marquez
53. The Walking Dead Book Two by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard
54. Hawk and Dove Vol. 1: First Strikes by Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld
55. A Bride’s Story Vol. 1 by Kaoru Mori
56. Brody’s Ghost Vol. 3 by Mark Crilley
57. Bloody Chester by J.T. Petty and Hilary Florido
58. Bakuman Vol. 5 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
59. Real Vol. 10 by Takehiko Inoue
60. Rohan at the Louvre by Hirohiko Araki
61. Genetiks™ Vol. 1 by Richard Marazano and Jean-Michel Ponzio
62. Judge Bao Vol. 1: Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix by Patrick Marty and Chongrui Nie
63. Mouse Guard, Labyrinth, and Other Stories by various creators
64. Fallen Words by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
65. Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde vol. 5: The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde and P. Craig Russell
66. Marathon by Boaz Yakin and Joe Infurnari
67. Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
68. Love and Rockets: New Stories Vol. 4 by Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez
69. Only Skin by Sean Ford
70. The Hive by Charles Burns
71. Oishinbo: Fish, Sushi, and Sashimi by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
72. Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
73. Crogan’s Loyalty by Chris Schweizer
74. The Dare Detectives!: The Snowpea Plot by Ben Caldwell
75. Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle
76. Little Nothings Vol. 4: My Shadow in the Distance by Lewis Trondheim
77. Fatale Volume 1: Death Chases Me by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
78. The Wild Kingdom by Kevin Huizenga
79. Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
80. Cow Boy by Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos
81. Superman: For Tomorrow Vol. 1 by Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee
82. Superman: For Tomorrow Vol. 2 by Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee
83. Wandering Son Book Three by Shimura Takako
84. Beanworld: Tales of the Beanworld by Larry Marder
85. Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth by Dean Mullaney
86. Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man by Carl Barks
87. Showcase Presents: Showcase Vol. 1 by Various
88. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 2009 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
89. RASL Vol. 4: The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla by Jeff Smith
90. The Complete Peanuts Vol. 18: 1985-1986 by Charles M. Schulz
91. Ralph Azham Vol. 1: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love? by Lewis Trondheim
92. Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan
93. A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse by Frank Viva
94. Benny and Penny in Lights Out! by Geoffrey Hayes
95. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
96. Thief of Thieves Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, and Shawn Martinbrough
97. No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics edited by Justin Hall
98. Sumo by Thien Pham
99. Love and Rockets: New Stories Vol. 5 by Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez
100. The Red Diary/The Re[a]d Diary by Teddy Kristiansen and Steven T. Seagle
101. Polterguys Vol. 1 by Laurianne Uy
102. The Sixth Gun Vol. 3: Bound by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt
103. The Sixth Gun Vol. 4: A Town Called Penance by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt
104. Mudman Vol. 1 by Paul Grist
105. Hildafolk by Luke Pearson
106. Hilda and the Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson
107. Nobrow 6: The Double edited by Alex Spiro
108. Nobrow 7: Brave New World edited by Alex Spiro
109. Showcase Presents: Dial H for Hero by Various
110. Oishinbo: Vegetables by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
111. Transposes by Dylan Edwards
112. Cross Game Vol. 7 by Mitsuru Adachi
113. Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
114. Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Guts by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, and Tony Akins
115. Dial H Vol. 1: Into You by China Mieville, Mateus Santolouco, Riccardo Burchielli, and David Lapham
116. Suicide Squad, Vol. 2: Basilisk Rising by Adam Glass and Fernando Dagnino
117. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 24: Return of the Black Soul by Stan Sakai
118. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 25: Fox Hunt by Stan Sakai
119. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 26: Traitors of the Earth by Stan Sakai
120. A Bride’s Story Vol. 2 by Kaoru Mori
121. Parker: The Outfit by Richard Stark and Darwyn Cooke
122. Julio’s Day by Gilbert Hernandez