The 12 Days Of WHO – Day Two
On the second day of waiting, that didn’t go so fast…
we watched two Amy Ponds,
and got a new website for our podcast!
Author Archive: Shaun
Doctor Who Fiction: For The Glory Of Unicorns
DOCTOR WHO: For The Glory Of Unicorns 
Featuring The Eighth Doctor
By Shaun Collins
The bell overhead dinged when the door opened, an interesting item of note since there was no one present to be alerted by it. The man paused for a moment, as if expecting someone, some postal clerk to come running to the melodic tone of the bell. He was oddly dressed in an almost Edwardian ensemble, gray smoking jacket over a gold and gray suit with a silver ascot. His stringy brown hair flowed from his scalp, and his piercing blue eyes, though lined and tired were alive with energy.
He took a deep reassuring breath, despite the stale air in the dark and dim corridor. The room was long and narrow and paneled in dark wood, and along both walls stood row after row of locked metal post office boxes. The florescent lights overhead barely illuminated the place.
The Doctor strode down the aisle, deep toward the back row of post office boxes. He pulled from one pocket a key. The man was no stranger to keys. In his many lifetimes, he had owned several, some as alien and exotic as the locks they opened or the items secured behind them. This key was small, brass and quite plain. Almost a disappointment considering other ones that he’d come in contact with. From another pocket, he produced a wrapping of black velvet.
The Doctor continued his search until he found what he was looking for. Post Office Box number 5274. He inserted the key into the slot and rotated, the lock’s mechanism turning true. The door swung open. The box was empty, just another non-descript storage slot in a room full of them.
Next he hesitantly began to unwrap the velvet package. He glanced around again, making sure he was alone in the room before revealing a long, bright white cone; so white it seemed to almost glow against the dark fabric.
A Unicorn Horn.
He held the horn aloft in his hand and let the meager light from the overheads play off its spiraled features. It glinted and gleamed, even in this dimness. The promise of hope, of renewal, of second chances…
…of life.
The Doctor sighed deeply. He felt a great measure of responsibility for the atrocity in his hand. After all, he’d been the one who spirited the Unicorns off Earth all that time ago to prevent their extinction, but not even he could have predicted that millennia later their new home planet would be, “of strategic importance” in the words of the High Council. Not even he could have predicted that that importance would ultimately lead to the genocide of the unicorns, as their planet was currently the site of some of the fiercest fighting between the forces of good and evil—his own race, the Time Lords on one side, and the mechanical menace of the Daleks on the other.
Planets destroyed, histories altered, whole species fighting for survival, caught in-between the two clashing forces in what was shaping up to be the final conflict. They were calling it the Time War.
The Doctor suspected that many more battles and much more spilled blood was yet to come.
He re-wrapped the horn and placed it gently, reverently in the post office box, then closed and locked the door. Unicorns, like Time Lords, had the ability to heal and regenerate—on Earth long ago, this very scientific process was mistaken for magic—and there was enough residual energy in the horn that in time with a little luck, he may be able to rebuild the population. As a champion of Earth and a child of Gallifrey, knowing that each species had had a hand in nearly destroying the Unicorns, the Doctor felt responsible either way. It was his duty to help.
But all that would have to wait until the war was over.
The horn also contained enough energy to be perverted into a weapon if it fell into enemy hands. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but he hoped that Earth would be spared the carnage that even now raged throughout the cosmos. If it did, the horn would be safe until he was ready. It was far safer here, in a random post office box in a small town on an anonymous backwater world, than in any of the Time Lord strongholds.
The way things were going, the Doctor feared nothing may survive.
He pocketed the key and strode back along the endless rows of boxes, and out into the bright sunlight afternoon. Across the parking lot sat the TARDIS, forever locked into the familiar shape of a Police Box. He took a last look at Earth, and another deep breath of air un-tainted by war and death. Then he vanished inside and a moment later, the de-materialization process started and the box itself vanished.
High in orbit, a satellite re-tasked its orbit to pass overhead. Its cameras and scanners surveyed the area, having detected a brief but powerful temporal disruption, and relayed the information back across the ocean to a tall building in the heart of London. There an overnight analyst poured over the data. She found nothing out of the ordinary, despite the satellite sensors. She classified the incident, filled it in the “Unknown Occurrence” file, and flagging it for eventual follow up by Torchwood field agents. <>
The 12 Days Of WHO – Day One
On the first day of waiting, that didn’t go so fast…
We got a new website for our podcast!
Welcome To Our New Home!
Welcome to the new home of the Traveling The Vortex podcast! Please let us know what you think of the site.
Recording Tonight!
We’ll be heading back into the “studio” tonight to record the next episode of the podcast, talking about David Tenant stories “School Reunion”, “The Girl In The Fireplace” and the subject of this week’s Friday Night Who, “Rise Of The Cybermen” and “The Age Of Steel” two parter.
Friday Night Who 4/8/11
Tonight at midnight CST, join us for Friday Night Who! This installment will be “Rise Of The Cybermen” and “Age Of Steel” 2 parter with David Tennant. Live tweets on twitter via @vortexkeith, @vortexshaun and @glenn_bartlett.
Doctor Who Insider – Issue One NOW AVAILABLE
WHO – Happening NOW
From the BBC America Web site…
Cast and crew from Doctor Who arrived in New York this week to promote the upcoming season premiering April 23. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill will kick off the press tour with a signing at the Fifth Avenue Barnes And Noble store in Manhattan on Friday, April 8.
And on Monday, April 11 at 7 pm EST, BBC America is holding a free U.S. premiere screening of the two-part season opener at the Village East Cinema in Manhattan. The screening will be followed by a QA with Smith, Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, AND showrunner Steven Moffat. Nerdist‘s Chris Hardwick will moderate, and the QA will be recorded live for a special Nerdist podcast.
Note: the screening is first-come, first-served, and an RSVP does not guarantee admission. Turnout to the Season 5 premiere screening at Village East Cinema wrapped around a city block last year, and while there will be additional seating this year, you might want to show up a bit earlier than 6:59 pm. Just a word to the wise.
Wish we were there! Anyone wanna send live reports to our google voice mail number?
This Week’s (4/8/2011) Friday Night Who
On this week’s Friday Night Who, we jump foward to David Tennant and Series 2. We’ll be watching and live tweeting the two part episodes “Rise of the Cybermen” and “The Age of Steel” as homework for this week’s Podcast. We start at midnight, CST (which yes, we realize actually the next day, but “Saturday Morning Who” doesn’t have the same ring to it.) And then next week we have an Advasary Achive for the Cybermen, detailing Patrick Troughton’s “Tomb Of The Cybermen” and “The Invasion”, and Peter Davidson’s “Earthshock.” We’ll let you know which one of those episodes will be featured on next week’s Friday Night Who …on saturday morning. 🙂
Cool Stuff and Second Chance Doctor Who Merchandise
As you all know, we are big fans of the shirt of the day sites, ESPECIALLY when they feature Doctor Who threads. But nothing is more heartbreaking than realizing you missed the sale! Weather you got busy, or forgot, or didnt have the cash the first time around, seeing that shirt relegated to the gallery instead of in your closet really sucks. Recently, I found this site: Red Bubble which features art and tshirts and somehow has managed to offer former deal-of-the-day T-Shirts! Now, the good news is they have a wide selection of these babies, the better news is you can select your own color! The bad news is they dont have all of them, so you run the risk of not getting one if you dont order it immediately when you do see it, (I’m still trying to find the Stargate/Who mash up for Mel) and the worse news is the shirts are a bit expensive, averaging $25. BUT for second chance at a classic, it might be worth it… Oh, and the WHO shirts are here.
Photos from Planet Comicon
Sorry for the delay, but I finally have the photos downloaded off the camera and posted to our FACEBOOK site from our recent trip to the Kansas City Planet Comic Con. Here’s one of the group, and one of me and Mel with guest Jeremy Bulloch, who played the original Boba Fett and Hal The Archer in the Doctor Who episode “The Time Warrior”.
Click HERE if you’d like to see the rest of them!
Announcing: Friday Night Who
In keeping with Glenn and my fond remembrances of watching Doctor Who at midnight on Fridays on our local public television station, we’ve decided to reinstate the practice! Join us on twitter tonight for “The Time Warrior” for live tweets as we watch the introduction of Sarah Jane Smith. (Coincidentally, this ties in with our upcoming Sunday recording of our first Companion Archive. It’s like a homework study group!)
Each Friday night, we’ll catch another episode. Sorry for those across the pond who may not be awake by the time Midnight rolls around here in the midwest, but we wanted to keep the ambiance from our youth.
Traveling The Vortex Traveling To Kansas City Planet Comicon
The hosts (and friends) of Traveling The Vortex will be attending this years Planet Comicon in Kansas City, the areas largest nerdfest. While we are not there in an official capacity, (we thought getting a table for our 12 episode strong podcast was a bit pretentious) but if you are in the area and planning to attend on Saturday, please say hi! We’ll be the ones dressed like geeks. (should be very easy to spot in this crowd!)
The Miracle Starts 7/8/11
Thanks to the Doctor Who News page for alterting us that Starz has annouced the premire date for the fourth season of Torchwood will be 7/8/2011 in the states.
Torchwood Miracle Day brings the Doctor Who spin off stateside, focusing on a more international feel. There is no word yet on when the show will premire in the UK.
Returning to the show are John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper. Joining them this time out will be Mekhi Phifer (“ER,” “Lie to Me”), Bill Pullman (Independence Day, The Grudge), Wayne Knight (Juassic Park, “Seinfield”) and, in an extended guest role, Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under,” The Other Woman).
For those of you following along at home…
Okay, in case you missed the madcap recap within episode 12, here’s what’s on tap for us to review in the up coming weeks:
Episode 13 this coming week will see Keith’s proper introduction to David Tennant, with the 1st Children in Need Special, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, and Tooth And Claw.
The following week episode 14 is special because it will be our first Companion Archive. (or should that be Chronicle? Companion Chronicle. I like that. [shouts over shoulder] “Glenn! Does ‘Companion Chronicle’ belong to anybody? If not, copywrite it!” Anyway, our first companion focus will be on the ever popular Sarah Jane Smith and K9. So, we need to know what episodes we should watch! We’re pretty set on The Hand Of Fear and The Invisible Enemy, Sarah’s swan song and K9s introduction stories, (this will also (finally) introduce Keith to Tom Baker). We’re also gonna try and throw A Girl’s Best Friend into the mix, the pilot episode for the unrealized spin off series K-9 and Company. But we need one more good Sarah Jane adventure. What do you think of these:
The Time Warrior
Robot
Pyramids Of Mars
The Android Invasion
Be sure to vote in the poll and let us know which one to add!
Episode 15 has all the homework with Sarah Jane and K9 pay off, as we jump back to David Tennant’s series 2 for School Reunion, The Girl In The Fireplace, Rise Of The Cybermen and The Age Of Steel.
Then, the following week brings us episode 16 and another Adversary Archive, this one featuring of course, The Cybermen. And what better way to do the Cybermen than with Patrick Troughton stories Tomb Of The Cybermen, The Invasion, and Peter Davidson’s Earthshock?
And then FINALLY, Episode 17 becomes primed for the RETURN OF MATT SMITH IN SERIES SIX. Happy viewing!
(and please bear in mind this schedule is subject to change without notice. The time vortex is not always predictable. :))