Tag Archive: Doctor Who: The Movie

Victorious Mastering of the Schedule

Cpt 7

Lucky number seven. Double-O seven, Seven-eleven…

“Will you knock it off?” She asked, though she wasn’t entirely sure who she was talking to anymore. It might be a plea to the author, (if she ever pleaded for anything, which she didn’t), or perhaps she was talking to herself, ordering her brain to cease its whimsical connective association game. Or hell, it may even be that she was talking to him.

The rest had done her some good, and now she gingerly sat up in the bed, finding the restraining field had dissipated. There was a red light on the console next to her, silently blinking on and off. Surely an indicator to the console room that she was awake and mobile.

Which meant the next move was hers.

Well, technically the next move involved getting to the wardrobe, which indeed, opened only on a sparse closet containing her clothes and sword and not into the fabulous fantasy world of Narnia.

“Well, he did warn me.” She mumbled, getting dressed. Which lead to the next thought. If he was honest about the clothes and sword, was he being honest about everything else? She barked out a laugh, which same so quickly and forcefully it startled her. What was she even thinking?

The only thing the Master was honest about was his dishonesty. The Doctor’s oldest foe, (and hers too, if she were quite honest), he put the MY in enemy. Fiendish, clever, ruthless, and evil, but still charming in his own way. What with the whole Time Lord Victorious nonsense, this was no time for him to show up and wreak his usual brand of havoc.

And yet, he had returned the sword to her. He was either being extra dubious, or he didn’t see her as an immediate threat.

She’d have to cure him of that notion, toot sweet.

Dressed and armed, she made her way through his TARDIS. Whether through simple necessity or some trick of the trans-dimensional engineering, the sickbay bedroom was just down the corridor to the console room, so she didn’t wander far. She drew the sword, and with her left hand grasped the doorknob to the nerve center of the ship. She didn’t have a plan so much as an inkling of a course of action, but sometimes those were best. With a mighty bestial roar (what Whitman described as a barbaric yawp and Robin Williams tried to explain to a group of adolescents in that movie), she charged through the door, sword leading the way.

He stood at the controls on the far side of the center console, the lighted column in the middle rising and lowering with each great breath of the time machine indicating they were in flight.

And because that was the scene she expected in her mind’s eye, the sheer number of him in the room stopped her in her tracks and the yawp died in her throat. There was a Master in a fetching purple three-piece checking the time on a fob watch. Another Master wearing a leather coat and sunglasses leaned against the wall looking for all the world like he’d rather be somewhere else. A Master who looked like he’d been left too long in the sun—scratch that, ON the sun—hunched over the other side of the console consulting with still another Master in black crushed velvet.

There was some Mucho Master going on.

Another sword tip parried hers, and SHE stepped forward in her blue and orange Mary Poppins ensemble. Suddenly that nightmare about a classroom full of clowns was starting to look pretty good.

“Oh, you’re awake my pet” Missy said, managing to be all kinds of condescending. “Pity.” She turned to yet another Master, this one with short blonde hair. “I owe you a five spot.”

“Double or nothing she disarms you in under two minutes.” The Master leaning against the wall said.

Missy turned back to face her. “What do you say gosling? Shall we dance?”

The Master, (the original in her mind, though honestly who could know at this point where his timeline diverged and folded back on itself) stepped forward. “Now now, is that anyway to treat a guest? Arissa is here at my invitation. I do not want her to feel unwelcome.” He raised a gloved hand and lowered the points of their still crossed swords.

Arissa took a chance a lowered her guard. Either this would look cool and carefree, or Missy would try and run her through. “Alright, I’m here. I’m not fighting–” She stopped herself. “—yet. So what’s going on? You having a soirée? A little get-together? A meeting of the Master-minds?” She was proud of that one. She knew by pushing she was increasing the odds of Missy lunging point first, but she was on a roll. “Are there refreshments? Some chips and dip? OOOOhhh, a convention! Where’s the ‘I tried conquering the universe and all I got was this lousy t-shirt’ vendor?”

Missy smiled that quirky, half smirk of hers, and Arrisa steeled herself for the steel that would surely be plunging into her any minute. But instead, she turned her maniacal glare back to the Master—damn the descriptors when multiple versions of the same person are present—and said menacingly, “We don’t really need her, do we?”

The Master surprised her then. “In point of fact, we do. My dear Arissa, as impossible as it may be to believe, I rescued you from THE DARK TIMES—”

“Oy!” Shouted the blond Master.

“Forgive me. WE. We rescued you from THE DARK TIMES… because we need your help. Not only has the Doctor’s foolish Time Lord Victorious crusade endangered the cosmos on scale we could only hope to dream of, but your podcaster friends are in trouble as well.”

“The author? But he’s controlling all this.”

“If only that were the case. You keep sending out their schedule because it was what you were contracted to do, and you never renege on a contract. An admirable trait. But its so much more than that. Despite its insignificance to the world at large, the very act of sharing it is also a tether. A very tenuous tether keeping the real world from disintegrating entirely.”

“We know a thing or two about disintegrations.” Said the purple clad Master a little too eagerly.

“Speaking of” the crispy Master spoke from his perch at the controls, and his voice was as dry and raspy as his skin. “It’s time to transmit the new schedule.”

“Then by all means.” The Master said, moving back to the console and pressing a series of buttons, then flipping a toggle.

They all turned to the viewer, which irised open to display the following:

491 – Lethbridge-Stewart The Laughing Gnome: Havoc Files (5) by Various Artists

492 – 25th Anniversary of Doctor Who: The Movie, Big Finish Master!: #1 Faustian, #2 Prey #3 Vengeance

493 – Fury From the Deep (Animated) DVD review

494 – Sarah Jane Smith: Roving Reporter by Various Artists

495 – TLV: Echoes of Extinction (Big Finish Audio)

496 – TLV: The Edge of Time (Video Game), Time Fracture (Event), The Time Lord Victorious & Brian the Ood (Action Figure/Short Story?), Overall impressions (w/special guest Timothy Harvey of SciFi4MeTV’s TARDIS Sauce)

“What do you mean tether? Why is this podcast so important to the fate of everything? And what does the author have to do with this?”

Missy whirled on her, her eyes flashing. “Tell us poppet, what do you know about The Land of Fiction?”

Schedule Resolutions We Intend To Keep (…but may not)

  • UPDATE 1/4/16:

As we wind down 2015 and turn our eyes firmly forward to 2016, we present the upcoming schedule:

Friday Night Who on 1/1 is the swan song episode for Ian & Barbara. We’ll break “The Chase” into two weeks, parts 1-3 of the Hartnell episode are first

TTV #262 sees a return to Big Finish with mainline story #65 “The Juggernauts”, and we’ll offer up our opinions on the Titan Comics 9th Doctor mini-series event (issues #1-5)

FNW 1/8 concludes “The Chase” with parts 4-6.

  • And then we’ve expanded TTV #263 into a full blown Adversary Archive: The Mechanoids! We’ll review “The Chase”, (Goodbye, Ian and Barbara) cover some early Who comics with the stories The World That Waits (Comic – The Dalek World Annual), The Eye Of War & Impass (Comic – The Dalek Chronicles), and the short story Birth Of A Legend by Justin Richards (Doctor Who Files: The Cult Of Skaro). 

Sylvester McCoy returns to FNW on 1/15 in “Delta And The Bannermen”.

TTV #264 sees the return of last year’s “Beyond The Doctor” feature. For Sylvester McCoy we’ll be discussing his turn in the 1979 Dracula staring Frank Langella.

We had a request for some “funky Pertwee”, so FNW 1/22 is “Claws Of Axos”.

Since we’ve already tackled that story, it frees up TTV #265 for some Candy Jar Books fun. We’ll talk the Lethbridge-Stewart Short The Cult Of The Grinning Man, have our “Spoiler filled” Book Review of Lethbridge-Stewart: Beast Of Fang Rock by Andy Frankham-Allen, and catch up with the 10th Doctor in Titan Comics #11-15 and we may have a special treat with a special guest on the show this week.

FNW 1/29 – is the animated “Scream Of The Shalka”.

TTV #266 starts season 2 of Big Finish 8th Doctor Adventures: #1 Dead London, #2 Max Warp

Been a while for one of our favs, FNW 2/5 is “Doctor Who: The Movie”.

TTV #267 sees us go “Beyond The Doctor” with 8th Doctor Paul McGann… AND 9th Doctor (Alternate) Richard E. Grant in Withnail & I.

This one could be a bit of a bother. We are launching a new series of discussions on Lost episodes, and starting with William Hartnell’s “The Crusade”. Obviously, with missing episodes, there will be some logistical challenges for Friday Night Who on 2/12, but we’re confident we can square that away. Or at the very least muddle through.

TTV #268 is the first in our “Lost In Time” discussions over “The Crusade”, the Reconstruction and Novelization.

After that? Well Gally looms for those who can go. Not sure on our end yet, but we are ever hopeful. And of course we’ll have our Book review over January’s Goodreads title, and a few other surprises…

Stay tuned, true believers! And thanks for all your support!

The Schedule Has Been Prepared For

Finally.  Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, but as always, thanks for your patience.  For those of you who like to follow along at home, read on.  For those of you that like to be surprised by your podcast content, spoilers ahead…

Friday Night Who returns to FRIDAY on  the Fourth Of July with “The Seeds Of Doom”, Parts 1-3 (hey, what could be more patriotic than watching SCORBY blow stuff up?).

TTV #184 will be our reviews of the fifth (and final) season of the Sarah Jane Adventures.

FNW 7/11 sees us finish off “The Seeds Of Doom” Parts 4-6

And then a show I am dreading doing, as we look back in fond remembrance: TTV #185 In Memorium: Elizabeth Sladden: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith

A whole month of Audio goodness follows!

Friday Night Who on 7/18 is Sylvester McCoy in “Silver Nemesis”

Which sets us up nicely for Traveling The Vortex #186 since it’s the seventh Doctor month!  We’ll cover Big Finish Audio #36 “The Rapture”, and E Book 7: “The Ripple Effect”.

FNW 7/25 sees Peter Davison return in “Resurrection Of The Daleks”

TTV #187 we’ll give our thoughts on issues #1 of Titan Comics NEW WHO Lines, and cover Big Finish #39 “The Church And The Crown”.

Set the waybac machine (or TARDIS controls) for the William Hartnel era,  FNW on 8/1 is “The Space Museum”

Episode #188 will cover our thoughts on “The Space Museum”, and Big Finish #43 “Doctor Who and The Pirates” (Looking at you, Dr. Phil!)

I know we just did it back in October of last year, but since this is the eighth month, we had to work some Paul McGann in somewhere.  How fitting on 8/8 for Doctor Who: The Movie?

Traveling The Vortex #189 celebrates the eighth Doctor with Big Finish Audio #101 Absolution, and E-Book 8: Spore

Friday Night Who 8/15  brings David Tenant Back in the two part “Human Nature”/”Family Of Blood”.

A special show this week for #190 as we look at the similarities (and differences) between the episode Human Nature, and the New Adventures novel Human Nature by Paul Cornell that it was taken from.

And then, the wait is OVER! We’ll revisit Matt Smith’s departure on 8/23 (sorry Keith) in “The Time Of The Doctor” for Friday Night Who to make room for incoming Peter Capaldi!

and our 191st show will be all about the Series Eight premier “Deep Breath”.

After that?  Well, to quote a certain museum curator, “Who knows?”

Schedule Update

We were unaware when we were scheduling that IDW “Prisoners of Time 9” does not release until 10/2 so to give everyone a chance to buy a copy and read the comic we are pushing our review off a week. The schedule below is updated to reflect that. Changes will be in bold.

October is here, (or it soon will be) so it’s time to start our celebration of the Ninth Doctor era!  We kick things off on 9/27 with Friday Night Who and the just released,animated, alternate ninth doctor Richard E. Grant in “Scream Of The Shalka”.

Traveling The Vortex comes to you a bit late for episode #144, and we’ll discuss Shaun’s trip (we’ll indulge him a bit, but not much), and the Big Finish/Audio Go “Destiny Of The Doctor: Night Of The Whisper”.

On 10/4 if you missed it during Daphne Ashbrook’s great re-watch, you get another chance as we do “Doctor Who: The Movie” as Friday Night Who continues to countdown the Doctors.

TTV #145 brings us our thoughts on  the IDW “Prisoners Of Time 9”, and we’ll step back to the 6th Doctor and Evelyn in Big Finish #23 “Project: Twilight”.

A light of another kind illuminates Friday Night Who on 10/11, “Ghost Light” is our 7th Doctor offering for the countdown.

A double dose of seven for TTV #146 as we review “Ghost Light” and Big Finish #12 “The Fires Of Vulcan.

Number six on the countdown for FNW 10/18 is “Vengeance On Varos”.

TTV #147 is all about our 50th Anniversary Discussion of The 9th Doctor Era & the Doctor Who Revisited: The 9th Doctor.

And Friday Night Who on 10/25 features our mascot, the mighty Myrka.  Oh yes, “Warriors Of The Deep” made the countdown.

And going forward?  Let’s just say we’re celebrating Halloween a day late but it will be filled with Terror…

OF THE ZYGONS!

Schedule No. 9

Thanks (or as Shaun would say, Mahalo) for standing by while we worked out the scheduling details while dealing with his Holiday.  Details follow…

October is here, (or it soon will be) so it’s time to start our celebration of the Ninth Doctor era!  We kick things off on 9/27 with Friday Night Who and the just released, animated, alternate ninth doctor Richard E. Grant in “Scream Of The Shalka”.

Traveling The Vortex comes to you a bit late for episode #144, and we’ll discuss Shaun’s trip (we’ll indulge him a bit, but not much), the IDW “Prisoners Of Time 9”, and the Big Finish/Audio Go “Destiny Of The Doctor: Night Of The Whisper”.

On 10/4 if you missed it during Daphne Ashbrook’s great re-watch, you get another chance as we do “Doctor Who: The Movie” as Friday Night Who continues to countdown the Doctors.

TTV #145 brings us our thoughts on the Doctor Who Revisited 9, and we’ll step back to the 6th Doctor and Evelyn in Big Finish #23 “Project: Twilight”.

A light of another kind illuminates Friday Night Who on 10/11, “Ghost Light” is our 7th Doctor offering for the countdown.

A double dose of seven for TTV #146 as we review “Ghost Light” and Big Finish #12 “The Fires Of Vulcan”.

Number six on the countdown for FNW 10/18 is “Vengeance On Varos”.

TTV #147 is all about our 50th Anniversary Discussion of The 9th Doctor Era.

And Friday Night Who on 10/25 features our mascot, the mighty Myrka.  Oh yes, “Warriors Of The Deep” made the countdown.

And going forward?  Let’s just say we’re celebrating Halloween a day late but it will be filled with Terror…

 

OF THE ZYGONS!

Series Seven Part 2 Scheduling Part 1

Ah. That time of year when you can smell New Who on the air like the coming of Spring, and all my scheduling work goes out the window and has to be cobbled together last minute to take those new episodes into account.  Oh well.

Tonight’s Friday Night Who (3/22) is part of our monthly celebration of the second Doctor, “The Mind Robber”.

Episode #117 of Traveling The Vortex is all things second Doctor, and will include our reviews of “The Mind Robber”, IDW’s comic “Prisoners Of Time 2”, Big Finish: Destiny Of The Doctor 2: Shadows Of Death, our look back over the 2nd Doctor Era for our 50th Anniversary Discussion, and, if Keith gets it read in time, his review of the book “The Moonbase”

Friday Night Who on 3/29 gears us up for the new season by revisiting Matt Smith in “The Impossible Astronaut” and “Day Of The Moon”…

…which leaves TTV #118 reserved to devote our full attention to “The Bells Of St. John”.

On 4/5 FNW revisits “Doctor Who: The Movie” in celebration of Daphne Ashbrook coming to Planet Comicon that weekend.

Look for updates all weekend long, (and maybe a few special exclusives too,) but we’ll give you the full scoop on Planet Comicon 2013 in episode #119, as well as start the month of April with our celebration of Jon Pertwee’s third Doctor by reviewing IDW Comic’s “Prisoners Of Time 3”.

FNW 4/12 is “The Waters Of Mars” with tenth Doctor David Tennant.

Because of the hugeness of Planet Comicon, you may have noticed we didn’t review the new episode of Who last week.  Well fret not, because you’ll get a two-fer in Traveling The Vortex #120, covering both “The Rings Of Akhaten”, and “The Cold War”.

and the plot thickens…

Gally Update 9 – Drezzing For The Occasion

Okay, one more tonight. Couldn’t leave the listeners hanging. Mel and Shaun check in one more time tonight with an update from Gallifrey One’s Network 23 in California.

I’m sure tonight they will be exhausted, sleeping deeply, and dreaming of the fond memories they have had at this year’s convention. But, we will have more from them when they return on Monday to Kansas.

But here you are, another fine update.

Enjoy!

TARDIS Console At Gally 2012

With under a month to go to Gally, yet another guest has been announced…

Gallifrey One’s Network 23 website reports the original TARDIS console created for the 1996 TV movie will be on display at the convention for it’s first ever public appearance, with the same lights, motion and newly added sound effects.  Guests can see this restored, one-of-a-kind prop in person all three days of the convention in the Cosplay Hall.  Professional photos with the console will also be available.

As if I wasn’t excited before…

Down The Vortex Way Come Christmas

As 2011 winds down, we’re getting all wound up.  This week’s Friday Night Who closes out David Tennant’s series four with the E P I C two part story “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End”, which will be the topic of discussion for episode 51. (And barring any more Doctor Who episodes rescued from the lost and found, should result in a lively, if shorter discussion this week than last week’s behemoth-lurking-as-a-podcast anniversary special.)

The following week is Christmas, and how appropriate that for Friday Night Who (which since we start at midnight on Friday technically means first thing Christmas Eve) we’ll hit the most Christmassy of all Christmas specials with “A Christmas Carol.”  It’s the eleventh Doctor’s first time on FNW, so join us for some fun!  Also, a special note.  We will be doing a “LIVE” recording that night, putting together a special Christmas episode.  40% podcast, 50% audio commentary on the episode, 30% candy canes and all kinds of fun (Wonka math, gotta love it!)  So be sure to join us on Twitter for the Tweet-A-Long and we’ll read your comments out on the podcast.  This is not our normal show, (or part of the podcast line up) just holiday greetings from us to you!

Since we’ve already reviewed “A Christmas Carol” (all the way back in episode 1!) Episode 52 will in fact cover Matt Smith’s NEWEST Christmas special, “The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe”, as it airs on Christmas day and we’ll be recording Christmas night!

The following week is New Years Eve, and what better way to spend Friday Night Who than with Paul McGann’s eighth Doctor, ushering in the millennium in “Doctor Who: The Movie”?  Again, we’ve already reviewed it, (see episode 7) but its a perfect primer for episode 53, our first foray into the world of Big Finish Audio.  And who better to hold our hand for the transition, than the eighth Doctor?  In true Traveling The Vortex style we plan to skip around their universe a bit too, but we’ll be reviewing the first three McGann stories from the main line; “Storm Warning”, “The Sword Of Orion”, and “The Stones Of Venice” (numbers #16, 17, and 18 in the chronology).  So you’ve got two weeks to listen!

And the new year has plenty of good stuff on tap, including an Adversary Archive on the Ice Warriors, a farewell to David Tennant as we conclude the specials, a full blown look at the Time War, more Big Finish audio, and the return of the Black Guardian. I’ll go into more details later, but for now can only say “Spoilers.”

 

12/16 – Friday Night Who: “The Stolen Earth” / “Journey’s End”

TTV #51 – “The Stolen Earth” / “Journey’s End”

12/23 – FNW: “A Christmas Carol”

TTV Christmas Greetings (With our audio commentary for “A Christmas Carol”)

TTV #52 – “The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe”

12/30 – FNW: “Doctor Who: The Movie”

– 2012 –

TTV #53 – Big Finish Stories #16 “Storm Warning”, #17 “The Sword Of Orion”, #18 “The Stones Of Venice”

1/6 – Friday Night Who: “The Seeds Of Death”

 

Hope you can join us for the fun, and as always, THANK YOU for listening!