There's a number of issues with The Return of Doctor Mysterio, but I think if we were to find a single, ship-sinking kryptonite criticism of the thing, it would be that it's just sorta there. Its reputation isn't that it's beloved, nor hated, nor divisive, but totally unremarkable, unmemorable, uncommentable. And that's a criticism that... Continue Reading →
Case No.F4: The Image of the ██████
[Note: this file was redacted from evidence and analysis regarding the Flux phenomenon. It attempts to document the Medderton Incident, and the entities there involved. But there's a danger in trying to understand that which doesn't want to be known.]
Dracula Does Double Duty
[This was originally posted in early 2020 under the title "Holistic Storytelling in Doctor Who". Minor such edits] There’s a line from Steven Moffat’s Dracula that jumped out at me this year, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Regarding the three seemingly arbitrary rules that govern a vampire, Van Helsing reasons “But you... Continue Reading →
Endnotes: a Postscript Script Post
[Curated from various comments and notes from the previous posts]
THE FINALE: The Lie of the Timeless Child
[First posted April 2021] This is the end, but the moment has been prepared for and prepared for again. The epic 6 part finale, spanning decades of lore, dozens of episodes, and the incredible, satisfying-yet-subversive conclusion of every thread we've been tugging on all this time. I hope you're lying comfortably.
Mary’s Story: I Am Great Ozymandias, Saith the Stone
[First posted March 2021] Time will be rewritten. Not one line, but all of it, always, all the time. Everything has happened before and all will happen again much the same and much more different. You think your memories are wrong but they're not. The past is just like that.
Praxeus: Fake Plastic Earth
[First posted March 2021] Like many stories this era, and all stories which engage with the politics of the world today, Praxeus is telling a global story. But what does that look like, and how is it done well?
Fugitive of the Judoon: The Book of Ruth
[First posted in March 2021] 'Who is Doctor Who?' is the big question this series, so let's dive deep on that. Who is Doctor Who? And is she really the same person as herself?
Orphan 55: Climate Chaos in Cardiff
[First posted February 2021] Orphan 55 is just unfinished. Every conversation about it has to start there. But that doesn't have to be a dead end.
Spyfall 2: It’s Time She Spent Some Time Alone
[First posted February 2021] We follow up on last week's cliffhanger by asking why, a full series into the Thirteenth Doctor's run, we still don't feel like we know her, and what is to be done.