Tag Archives | Science Fiction

Recent viewers of Doctor Who will recognise this scene (which can be clicked for enhanced magnitude) where Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor holds Karen Gillan’s Amy Pond aloft in space by one foot:

But what I didn’t realise, until I came across the image below, was that the aforementioned scene was an hommage to a publicity photo from 1986, announcing Bonnie Langford’s casting as companion to Colin Baker’s 6th Doctor. (Langford is dressed as Peter Pan because that’s the role she was just coming off from – which is presumably what inspired the image to begin with.)

It’s a somewhat odd choice for an hommage, given that Steven Moffat is famously not exactly a fan of that particular era of the show.

In other Who news, here are three preview clips from the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special – which will be the last Who we’ll see until next fall.

As for what we’ll see then, Moffat offers some (very slight) hints here and here.

See also Neil Gaiman’s favourite moments from last season.

I just got back from seeing Hugo, which I found absolutely magnificent – the best movie I’ve seen all year (as well as the best use of 3D – that lately much-overused medium – that I’ve ever seen in a movie). I wish Georges Méliès could have seen it.

I was particularly pleased to see how good Asa Butterfield is, given that he’s been cast as the lead in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.

Speaking of Card, he has posted what struck me as a somewhat tone-deaf review of Hugo. Here’s an excerpt:

In Hugo, Sacha Baron Cohen plays a crippled policeman. It is obvious – oh so obvious – that the movie wants us to think his attempts to chase Hugo through a train station are funny.

We are supposed to be amused when his leg brace jams and he has to manually free up the hinge.

But my reaction was initially to be appalled: What, are cripples supposed to be funny again? Will Scorsese next bring on a retarded person for us to laugh at?

Soon, though, I left “appalled” behind and was merely bored. Yeah, yeah, funny funny, we’re all so amused, move on with the story.

I thought this response by “Aros” is almost absolutely right (“almost” because “no comedy (at all)” goes too far):

[Card sees] the scenes with Sacha Baron Cohen chasing Hugo through the station …. as failed attempts at comedy. I am astonished. Not only did I see no comedy (at all) in the film, but I thought these scenes were WONDERFUL. First, they gave a believable excuse for fantastic cinematography. Second, they showed the character’s devotion to his duty, to his job, and to his world-view. Yes, he is crippled, and it causes him physical pain to chase the children. Furthermore, by following his duty he is flagrantly (and regrettably) telegraphing his weakness, of which he is very ashamed, to the woman he loves. Far from being humorous, I felt that the scenes were both very endearing character portraits (from Cohen’s perspective) and very lively 3D set pieces (from Hugo and the audience’s). I felt tension, wondering if Hugo would escape. The scenes hit every note correctly – I cannot conceive how one would believe that they were meant to be humorous.

I would add that Cohen’s character is pretty clearly a reference to Inspector Javert; after all, Jean Valjean even gets name-checked at one point.

Hartnell plays Doctor while Diana does the twist

Philip Sandifer, whose fascinating Doctor Who blog TARDIS Eruditorum I’ve mentioned previously (see here, here, and here), has released his first set of posts, on the Hartnell era, as a book, along with bonus material. Info here, buy here.

Sandifer is also working on an equally fascinating Wonder Woman project, which will go forward only if he receives enough contributions via KickStarter. (Excerpts here and here, contribute here.)

Read some really great academic geekery!

Back in the 1960s, shows like Doctor Who and The Avengers were broadcast once and then usually destroyed or taped over. So there are lots of missing episodes from those early shows. But every once in a while, one of the strays turns up – sometimes because a fan recorded it at home (a more arduous process in those pre-VCR days), sometimes because a copy was shipped to an overseas affiliate and never returned.

As of today, the number of missing Doctor Who episodes has dropped from 108 to 106. The two recovered episodes – one from Galaxy 4 and one from The Underwater Menace – aren’t exactly at the top of fans’ most wanted list (probably the last episode of The Tenth Planet, or any episode from Marco Polo, The Massacre, or Power of the Daleks, would fit that bill better), but hey, we’ll take what we can get.