Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor costume revealed!


Surpise, much?

Yesterday at 2pm EST/7pm GMT, the BBC released the photo of new incumbent Doctor Peter Capaldi's new outfit. The new outfit consists of a navy Crombie coat, a cardigan, white shirt, navy trousers and jey black Loake books which can easily be mistaken as Doc Martens. Plus a ring (albeit hard to see in the photo above if not paying attention).

In my view the outfit looks fantastic.  It harkens back to not only Jon Pertwee (in the red linen and one button fassened to give it a cape like value) but also Christopher Eccleston (in dark colors). It is as Capaldi himself described: “He's woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord.”

Capadi's full season debut arrives this August on BBC1 and BBC America.





Friday, January 24, 2014

Friends and Companions: A Guide to the 8th Doctor's Companions (2 of 3)


Part two in this series focuses on the companions of the 8th Doctor comic strips. Shortly after the TV Movie aired, the Doctor found himself in the four color media immediately via both Doctor Who Magazine and the Radio Times. The Radio Times strips ran from June 1996 through March 1997.





Stacy Townshend
First appearance: Dreadnought (1-7 June 1996 - 3-9 August 1996)
Last appearance: Coda (15-21 March 1997 - 22-28 March 1997)

Stacy Townshend was born in 2220. She worked aboard the ship Dreadnouhgt when it was boarded by Cybermen which claimed the lives of her crew and her fiance. The Doctor was able to arrive and vanquish the Cybermen but no one but Stacy survived. No where left to go, she joined the Doctor's company.They had several adventures to gether; among them was during an early period of Martian history where she met her future husband, the Ice Warrior Ssard. The two left the Doctor to settle down.




Ssard
First appearance: Descendance (10-16 August 1996 - 12-18 October 1996)
Last appearance: Coda 15-21 March 1997 - 22-28 March 1997)

Ssard was an Ice Warrior from an earlier period of Martian history and served as a guard for Izaxyrl, the son of High Lord Uzoxx of Balarzus Mons. He  met the Doctor and Stacy admists the royal bloodbath caused by of High Lord Artix and of Luass, wife of Uzoxx and mother of Izaxyrl. After this event, Ssard joined the du on their travels. He developed a relationship with Stacy and tghe two later left the Doctor to settle down.




Izzy Sinclair (voiced by Jemimia Rooper)
First appearance: DWM #244 -Endgame Pt 1 (23 October 1996)
Last appearance: DWM # 328 - Oblivion Pt 5 (2 April 2003)

Izzy was the adoptive child of Les and Sandra Sinclair of Stockbridge found solace in all things Sci-Fi for escapism. She and the villiage's resident UFO nut Max Edison aided the Doctor in saving Stockbridge from the Celestial Toymaker.From that moment on Izzy joined the Doctor and the new TARDIS duo would set out for many new adventures ranging from the Threshold to the Master.She endured a body switch with Destrii that caused friction between the duo briefly before the tract down Destrii and reversed the switch. After the events of Oblivion, Izzy returned home to Stockbridege back to the night she left with the Doctor.




Destrii
First appearance: Doctor Who Magazine #300 - Ophidius Pt. 1 (February 2001)
Last appearance: Doctor Who Magazine #353 - The Flood Pt 8 (March 2005)


The Primatrix Destriianatos, an amphibious humanoid from the planet Oblivion. The Horde ruling class feared and respected her more than her abusive mother the Matriax who groomed her into becming the planet's next ruler. Like Izzy, she found solace in Sci-Fi programs and her loving uncle Jodafra. She first met the Doctor and Izzy when she was on the run from the Mobox; she switch bodies with Izzy in order to evade them only to end up incenerated by them (and later decomstructing by them releasing her in the jungles of its homeworld over a pit of piranha-like Mykkadons. Upon being found by the Doctor, Destrii was taken back to Oblivion where the Horde reveresed the body switch and made her the Primatrix. She manage to overcome the powers and vanquished the Horde. She was retrieved by Jodafra and escaped in his vessel. The duo later encountered the Doctor in 1875 where Jodafra made an agreement with the Windigo to feed it human flesh (children included) in exchange for help navigating the time stream. Realising that cold truth, Destrii thwarted her uncle's plan only to end up beaten by him for that betrayal. Finding her the Doctor took her to a hospice in space for recovery. It was also invaded by the Zeronites. Upon aiding the Doctor in ending the invasion, he allowed her to stay in the TARDIS. From that moment on plus gaining a holographic devise that makes her appear human, the duo had several adventures before they parted company When and how remain undocumented (for now)....


NEXT: The Prose Companions

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Matrix Databank (Part 10): The 10th Doctor



The Tenth Doctor. To some he was cheerful, charismatic and enthusiastic yet a vain, patronizing, hypocritical, emo git. His birth came right off the heels of his previous incarnation's defeat of the Daleks and their emperor on Satellite Five. For Rose Tyler, the regeneration was once that took her by immediate surprise and horror. Just as he tried to reassure her that he's still the same man she first met a year ago, the Doctor began to suffer from the aftereffects of his regeneration while he attempting to land the TARDIS back to the Powell Estate in London 2006 on Christmas Eve. Shortly after the crash landing the Doctor calapsed and went into a deep coma much to not only to Rose's horror but Jackie and Mickey confusion and shock seeing a scrawny fellow in the Doctor's clothes. He snapped out of the coma briefly when disarming a killer Christmas tree only to wind up back into it once more. It was that Christmas that the Sycorax invaded Earth. With the help of a cup of tea Jackie left for him, the Doctor reawoke from his coma and challenged the Sycorax leader to combat for the fate of the planet. Severed hand aside, the Doctor defeated the Sycorax leader and ejected him from the ship. Just as he was pleased with the victory as the Sycorax ship departed, now Prime Minister Harriet Jones order the ship to be taken down (while the Doctor was comatose, a few lives were killed by the aliens). Angered, the Doctor got Jones ousted from her seat by whispering to her aid "Don't you think she looks tired?" Little did he know that it was a move that would come back to bite him and Earth in the long run.... Now dressed in a brown pinstriped suit, creme' trainers and a long brown coat, the Doctor and Rose looked to the stars for adventures new.


Sometime after, the duo resumed their travels. Among their adventures were the mystery of Platform One, encountering Sontarans, a visit to New Earth where they crossed paths with Cassandra once again (and the Face of Boe), Belgium 1914, the Mirrorlings, Rome 120 AD, the Waterhive, and 1879 Scotland where the duo met Queen Victoria and rampaging werewolves; the encounter led to the Queen founding the Torchwood Institute. The Doctor and Rose (with the aid of Mickey) investigated Deffry Vale High School where alien activity was occuring via the students acedemics and the food courtesy of the Krillitanes. It was this event that saw the Doctor reunite with his former companion Sarah Jane Smith and the K9 Mk III (later rebuilt as the Mk IV).  From that moment on, Mickey joined the TARDIS crew, much to Rose's chagrin. For a brief time, the trio traveled to the SS Madame de Pompadour where the Time Lord entered through time windows into the life of the ship's namesake who fell for him whilst being pursued by robotic beings. Then to a alternate Earth when they encountered that Earth's Cybermen and for Rose an alternate version of her father. Instead of returning with the Doctor and Rose back to their home universe, Mickey stayed behind to succeed his alternate counterpart after he was tragically killed. Their later adventures included the corronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the planet Phostris, Wales 2007, 22nd Century Africa, Laylora, Krop Tor, LiNDA, and the 2012 Olympics. Their time together came to an abrupt end with the Battle of Canary Wharf where the Doctor, Rose and her mother encountered the Torchwood Institude who were creating ghost shifts which in turn brought lose the Cybermen from Pete's World as well as the Cult of Skaro and their Genesis Ark of Daleks.Rose ended up being transpoirted to Pete's World after almost being sucked into the Void. As far as our world was concerned, the Tylers and Mickey were among the prersumed dead while having to make due of their new lives in an parallel world; for Rose a life without the Doctor. The events of Canary Wharf and the loss of Rose altered the Doctor's disposition. Before he could have a chance to mourn his loss, he gained a shocking surprise in the form of an obnoxious bridezilla by the name of Donna Noble who was teleported inside the ship midway during her wedding to Lance Barrett. It was learned that Donna was being used as an incubator for Huon particles to revive the Racnoss race as planned by their Queen. The Doctor prevented this by flooding the underground Torchwood base with the river Thames and rescued Donna. Just as the Racnoss Queen's Webstar could destroy the planet it was shot down by the military under the orders of the new Prime Minister Harold Saxon. The Doctor returned Donna back to her home in Chiswick; she noticed his grim mood and told him to "find someone" to help him out of his dark mood despite his insistence that he didn't need anyone. For some time, the Doctor traveled solo. Some of his travels included a reunion with Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart while dealing with a ailing War Keeper. Later, he travelled off to Centuria where he had multiple run-ins with the Cybermen. Space Station Alpha, 12th Century England, Honduran, Hotel Hysteria, and 1914 Belgium.





The TARDIS landed in London 2008 where the Doctor went to investigate the Royal Hope Hospital for regarding plasma coils where he first met a young medical student named Martha Jones. The entire hospital was sent up to the Moon by the humanoid rhinoceros police force known as the Judoon who were on the hunt for a Plasmevore in the form of an ederly woman. The Doctor nearly died letting the Plasmevore drink his blood in order for the Judoon to catch her. Martha managed to revive him just in time to turn of the MRI set to wipe out all in the hospital. With the hospital returned, the Docto thanked Martha for her help in the form of a trip in the TARDIS. Though her behavior towards her was less friendly; a stark contrast to how he got on with his previous companions many regenerations before. The trip eventually became three in the form of 1599 at the Globe Theatre, New Earth, and 1930s New York whetr the Cult of Skaro set out to convert into Dalek-Human hybrids. After these events, the Doctor returned Martha back to her home 12 hours from when they left. He stayed to investigate an ailing rich man who sought to deage himself only to backfire and morphed  into a monster.  It was this event that cause great concern from Martha's mother Francine after a representative of PM Saxon informed her of his part in her identical niece's demise during the Battle of Canary Wharf. After this, Martha resumed her travels with the Doctor full time much to her mother's horror. The duo's further adventures included dinosaurs, Cybermen, Slitheen, SS Pentallion, Zygons, the Whispering Gallery, Tiermann's World, the Museum of the Last Ones, Fraxinos and the Skrawn. While evadind the Family of Blood, the Doctor used the Chameleon Arch to make himself into a human school teacher in 1913 England with Martha in the guise of his maid in order to protect fob watch while he had zero memory of his true self. He, under the alias John Smith, fell for a matron by the name of Joan Redfern. After the chaos cause by the Family, the Doctor was restored to his old self and admistered the punishement fitting their devious scheme for wanting his body to achieve immortallity. After this, the Doctor and Martha were off to adventures new. Their later adventures included Blackwood Falls, The Weeping Angels, the planet Sunday, Antarctica 1915, Lumana, 40th Century space pirates, 1880 Colorado and Snowglobe 7. While in Cardiff for refueling the TARDIS, the Doctor was spotted by the now immortal Capt, Jack Harkness, Scared of his impossible existance the Doctor took off as Jack clung on to the TARDIS while it hurled into the vortex. The TARDIS (and Jack) arrived 100, 000, 000, 000: the end of the universe. Admist the men's tense reunion, the travelers were chased by the Futurekind. The Doctor, Martha, and Jack took refuge at Silo where they met Professor Yana; unaware until his own fob watch opened to reveal that Yana was in fact the Master thus confirming that the Face of Boe's words were right: he was not alone. The Master got in the TARDIS and regenerated after he was gun down by his assisstant. The TARDIS took off with the Master inside while the trio were left to fend off the Futurekind. After fixing Jack's vortex manipulator, the trio return back to 2008 London to learn under the alias Harold Saxon, the Master became the new Prime Minister (thus the Doctor's ousting Harriet Jones paved the way for the Master to take over). With Martha's family captured after Francine aided in entraping the Doctor, the trio went on the run. After the creation of thr perception filters via the TARDIS key, the Doctor, Martha, and Jack went on board the Valliant where the TARDIS was used as a paradox machine. Once he summoned the Toclafane, the Master had them assassinate the US President before a live television broadcast, the Doctor was aged by his old foe's new Laser Screwdriver (replacing the Tissue Compression Eliminator) as the creatures set out to slaughter a tenth of the planet's population. Martha managed to escape capture and walked the devestated Earth for a year spreading the word about the Doctor's importance to humanity. Upon Martha's return and freeing her family and Jack, the was restored to normal with the psychic energy from humanity's hope via the paradox machine; Jack destroyed the machine leading to all of the Master's year long conquest being undone. Upon forgiving the Master, the Doctor planned on keeping him as his prisoner until the Master's companion Lucy gun him down. Shortly after Jack left to return to his Torchwood crew, Martha was returned home to her family with her leaving on her own terms. The Doctor realized how much of a prig he was in treating her unfairly just because she wasn't Rose. Just as he headed off into the vortex, the TARDIS crahed into another ship: the Titanic. The Doctor when on the star cruiser name after its Earth namesake only to discover its owner sought to destroy (and most of Earth it in order to collect the insurance money. He was able to steer the ship from crashing albeit casualties prior to it including a stewardess named Astrid Peth.






Shortly after this and several solo short trips, the Doctor went back to Earth to investigate Adipose Industries where he reunited with Donna Noble who spent several months looking for him after declining the invite long ago. The duo managed to save the majority of London from being killed and their bones and organs morphing into miniature Adipose offspring. He offered to save the matron shortly before the mothership dropped her to her death. Shortly after, Donna joined the Doctor and the new friends set off to brand new journeys while her grandfather Wilfred Mott (who he met during the Titanic adventure) watched on. Their adventures early on included Pompeii, Uhlala, Hollywood 2012, Baktek, Death's Deal, Calcutta, the Ood Sphere, and Planet 1. The Doctor and Donna returned to Earth where he got the call from Martha Jones (who's now apart of UNIT) to invetigate mysterious deaths courtesy of a teen genius and the Sontarans. After the Sontaran event and the planet Masseline, the Doctor and Donna resumed their travels. The following adventures included Eddison Manor with Agatha Christie, the Zyglot, the Mandragora Helix, the Sycorax widows, Galaxy 12, a 51st Century Library dealing with the Vashta Nerada, the planet Midnight, Ice Warriors, and the planet Shan Shen where a member of the Trickster's Brigade created an alternate universe for Donna onlt to undo it with the aid of Rose Tyler. Upon leaving the planet Donna told the Doctor about the message"Bad Wolf". While in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Donna discovered the Earth was missing along with other planets unknown to them and old friends on the planet (i.e. Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, and Sarah Jane Smith) that it was being invaded by Daleks and their creator Davros. With his friends able to contact him, the TARDIS was able to lock on the planet's location in the Medusa Cascade. Once on Earth, the Doctor and Donna spotted Rose onlt for him to be shot by a lone Dalek. Upon Jack turning and killing the Dalek, the three got the Doctor to the TARDIS where he used his regeneration energy  and aimed it toward his severed hand. Immediately the TARDIS was taken aboard the Dalek Crusible where all but Donna (still inside the ship) were captured as Davros had the ship sent to the pit for destruction. While inside, Donna touched the severed hand which automatically resulted in a meta crisis version of the Doctor as well as her becoming part Time Lord; fulfilling the Ood's Doctor-Donna prophecy. Just as all hope seemed to be lost, the TARDIS returned from the Crucible pit and Donna managed to disarm Davros' reality bomb. With it and the Daleks defeated the Doctor, "Handy", Donna and the others returned to the TARDIS to tow the Earth and the other planets back into alignment. Rose and Jackie were returned back to Pete's World with "Handy" in tow while Mickey remained back in his proper universe along side Martha, Sarah Jane and Jack. The victory came at a price, however. Because of Donna absorbing the regeneration energy of the hand's jar, it nearly killed her; thus the Doctor had no other alternative but to erase all of her memories of her time with him including when they first met. Donna was returned home back to her mother Sylvia and her grandfather Wilf and the Doctor went off to travel alone once again. For a time, the Doctor's solo adventures included a invasion of his mind by a Callufrax Minor native, 1940, and 15th Century Italy.  For a time he was accompanied by Wolfgang Ryter and Heather McCrimmon; the latter, a decendant of Jamie.





Sometime later and alone once again, the Doctor re-encountered time-travelling businesswomen from Vessica named Majenta Pryce when he went undercover as a medical doctor at the Thinktwice Orbital Penitentiary. She had been imprisoned as a result of his part in the fall of Hotel Hysteria. Much to his horror, he learned about the cruel regime and extreame psycological methods used triggering Magenta's amnesia. While the reunion restored her memory of the first time they met, all prior to it remained a blur. After the prison was brought down, the Doctor reluctantly took Majenta aboard the TARDIS to have her memory issue sorted out. Along the way, the unlikely pair visited Stockbridge reuniting with Max Edison; saving the village from Lokhus of the Zytragupten. Later, the Doctor and Majenta made two trips within the Proxima System: Stormlight House on the edge of it and the planet New Old Detroit. Upon an attempt to take Majenta to Panacea, the TARDIS landed in Sydney, Australia where the duo assisted UNIT's Aussie branch in battling the Skith Leader. It was this event that saw Majenta reuniting with her old friend Fanson, who posed as a UNIT soldier. It was revealed that he erased her memory to spare her pain as he died from his injuries from the Skith General. Sometime after the Sydney incident, the duo went to Graveworld 909 followed by the London Underground where they encountered Mnemosyne. Upon receiving another prophecy about the end of his life, the Doctor decided to stick to his "no companions" rule and intended to take Majenta to Panacea. Before he could take her there, a fleet of ships surronded Earth, having finally tracked down him and Majenta. While held captive the Doctor leard that Majenta is a member of a severely dangerous group called the Crimson Hand. Majenta was mind-probed by Intersol's computer, Justice, and then attacked by her old cellmate, Zed. The Doctor convinced Zed into becoming his ally, helping him escape and save Majenta. However, the four remaining members of the Crimson Hand arrived, having followed the TARDIS around the universe. Most of Intersol's staff were slaughtered and took Majenta over again. As she was taken over, she teleported the Doctor and his TARDIS in a pocket dimension, making her Crimson Hand friends believe that she had turned the Doctor to ashes. In one swoop, the Crimson Hand members seized control of the whole universe, Majenta restored her homeworld of Vessica. It had been a planet of immense poverty; this changed when she used the Crimson Hand to make the planet wealthy again though the happiness would be short-lived. The planet's civilization turned against her and she brought the Doctor back into existence. After resisting the urge to use its power to bring back everyone he had lost, the Doctor and Majenta finally destroyed the Crimson Hand at the cost of Majenta's life. The Doctor sucessfully resurrected her and placed her in the restored New Old Detroit. As long as the Doctor remembered her, she would stay alive. Once more the Doctor was alone; although he'd later travel with the young actress Emily Winter and a film studio employee named Matthew Finnegan (who later became the Tef'Aree).




Long after the Doctor took a trip to Mars where he inadvertedly altered the fate of the Bowie Base One crew; particularly the fate of their leader Adelaide Brooke. Disguested by his Timelord Victorius hubris, Adelaide commited suicide in her home thus the Doctor came to relize that he went too far; that he was no better than the very enemies who sought to alter Time on several occasions. An Ood appeared to him as he pondered his fate. Horrified about the inevitable, he attempted to prolon his inpending death with more traveling including 1958 America, his dalliance with Queen Elizabeth I and joining forces with his 9th and 11th self in battling both Cybermen and a Time banshee who sought to destroy all of creation. While on the Ood Sphere, the Doctor was informed about a shadow descending upon creation and its connection to his former companion Donna Noble and her grandfather Wilfred Mott. Upon an unsuccessful attempt to stop the Master resurrection, the Doctor went after his trail whilst meeting with Wilf in the process. He was able to track the Master only to be ambushed by a mad billionaire's private army as they captured the Master. The billionaire Joshua Naismith sought the Master's aid to open the Immortality Gate. Upon his recovery, the Doctor and Wilf went into the Naismith Mansionto stop them from opening the gate. It was underneath the mansion that the duo met the Vinvocci Adams and Rositier who told thje Doctor of the gate's real purpose: to turn the human race into a literal "Master race". Whhile held captive, the Vinvocci rescued the Doctor and Wilf and escaped into their ship. The Doctor immediately realized that the Master sought to bring back the Time Lords from the final day of the Time War with the help of a White Star diamond. The Star succeeded in bring the War Council to Earth (Rassilon reversed the Gate's process) as the Doctor piloted the ship back to the mansion to perform a difficult task to stop either the Master or the Time Lords. In the end, the Doctor shot the White Star, severing the link, which saw him, for the second time, condemn the Time Lords to the "hell" of the last day of the Time War; this time taking the Master with them as he fought Rassilon. Upon is angered rant, the Doctor heard the phrophecized knocks from Wilf who was about to be doused by radiation. He prevented it by getting into the booth next to Wilf and took a huge radiation hit which began to kill him. With the entire ordeal over, the Doctor returned Wilf home as he payed a visit to all of his past companions one last time ranging from saving Martha and Mickey from a lone Sontaran to making a quiet appearance at the funeral of Jason Kane to Sarah Jane, Jack, and Rose circa New Year's Day 2005. The dying Doctor piloted the TARDIS to orbit as the Ood sung him to his  regeneration via the Ood Sphere. After saying his last words, he regenerated inside the ship as the energy damaged it. Gone was the face of the Lonely God; in came a young nergetic, lively, eccentric who shouted Geronimo as the damaged TARDIS was crashing towards Earth.