Tag Archives: postaweek2011
Introducing The random yet sometimes Doctor Who blog!
It only seems like yesterday when I changed this blog’s name from Alex’s Blog to All of time and space. But since it’s the New Year (well, we’re about 1/12 way through the year now), I thought I’d give it a new name. Introducing…
The random yet sometimes Doctor Who blog
It’s got the same URL, and I think I’ll carry on posting about the same stuff etc., but it’s nice to have a new name.
The Life and Death of Doctor Who
Ok, that seems a bit dramatic. But it is kinda true. Look at it this way:
In 2011, Doctor Who had a full series (though it was split), plus a Christmas special. Not only that, it had three, yes three, spin-off shows (DW Confidential, Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood). 2011 was a great year for perhaps the best TV show in existence. As was 2005, 2006, 2007 etc.
And now we’re in 2012, there just isn’t as much Doctor Who stuff as before. Firstly, there are no spin-off shows whatsoever. Below are the fates…
- Doctor Who Confidential – price cuts
- Torchwood – low ratings, American version didn’t work
- Sarah Jane Adventures – Elisabeth Sladen passed away
It’s not just that – Doctor Who starts in the Autumn this year, and, from what is currently known, there will only be about 7 eps., inc. the Christmas special. The remaining eps. are going to be next year. In case you didn’t know, it’s Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary next year. We were told that the BBC were fully committed to the big event. What a way to celebrate – less episodes. And did I mentioned that there’s no planned 2-parters for this year (or next)? I like 2-parters! You can have longer stories!
So though people are saying that Doctor Who’s going to keep being on our TVs every year, I’m worried about it. True, it has good ratings (bad ratings killed it off in 1989), but they’re not that amazing now compared to other shows (e.g. soaps get way more, X-factor gets way more, even Sherlock - which is amazing – is getting the same viewings). I really hope that DW survives for many more years. But, to be honest, it’ll need more eps., and at least one spin-off show to do that.
A Carnivore’s Guide to Going Vegan for 30 Days (via Way Too Much Free Time)
An interesting post on how an avid meat-eater went vegan for a whole month. I’d find it really hard to go vegan, and I’m a vegetarian, so I can’t imagine what it was like for him:
A Carnivore’s Guide to Going Vegan for 30 Days.
It’s a really good blog in general, I recommend you “follow” it.
No, you don't need meat to survive...
Merlin Series 4 – the two-part series finale – Review
When I saw the trailer for The Sword in the Stone – Part 1 I wanted it to be next Saturday (aka. 17 December 2011) straightaway. It was amazing, and the episode lived up to it. You can view the trailer below:
And the exact same for part 2:
I’ll stop talking about the trailers now, though, and talk about the actual episodes, which were by far the best in Merlin Series 4. Maybe in all of Merlin – they were that good.
If you’ve read my other Merlin Series 4 reviews, you’ll might know the basic plot – Morgana tries (and suceeds) attacking Camelot. But it’s more than that. Just reading that description would make me think it was a repeat of last year’s finale. It wasn’t, though.
These 2 episodes pack everything that’s good about Merlin into, well, 2 episodes. There’s funny moments, great acting, an amazing plot and an interesting kind-of cliffhanger. I’ll give you an example of ‘funny moments’ – Arthur is made dumb by a spell cast on him by Merlin, and it’s really funny watching him, for example, hug trees and wear simple clothes. Great acting… well, everyone does great acting in Merlin, but Katie McGrath is really good as Morgana. And as for the cliffhanger…
Morgana’s just been stabbed (it seems fatally), and she’s staggering around in a forest. Then the dragon that Merlin saved earlier in the series comes and appears to breathe life back into her…
And then episode ended with the simple words: Merlin Will Return. I can’t wait! Does this mean the dragon will become evil? Will Morgana return? So many questions!
Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe – Review
Happy New Year’s Eve everyone (actually, as I write this, it’s Christmas Day), I can’t believe how fast 2011 has gone. And I present to you today a review of the Doctor Who Series 7/2011 Christmas special.
I’ll start by saying Doctor Who certainly knows how to do Christmas specials. This is the seventh Christmas special (eighth if you include the 2010 New Year special), and each one has been amazing. My favourites are:
- The Voyage of the Damned (2007)
- The End of Time (2009)
- A Christmas Carol (2010)
You may notice that this year’s episode isn’t on that list. It isn’t that it’s a bad episode. Not at all. There isn’t a single episode by Steven Moffat that isn’t great. It’s just that, well, the plot is perhaps too simple. Last year’s was complicated, and sad, yet happy at some places. It had also got some amazing music. This year’s was kinda predictable, the music was good but not amazing, and not complicated.
Enough of the negatives. On to the positives – Amy and Rory are back! I probably should have put a spoiler alert before writing that. Ah, well. The only thing that’s sad about that is that you know those two are going to come to an unfortunate yet unknown end in the next series. And also that the Doctor left it two years before coming back to them. 
Overall, a good, reasonable episode. Worth watching, but not my favourite episode by a long shot.
I hope you’ve all had a great Christmas (if you celebrate Christmas, if not than I hope you’ve had a great holiday). I’m now an owner of a Kindle, which I now think is this future of reading, though my family disagree. 
Have a great new year, and I hope 2012 is a good year for you all!
Doctor Who – Series 7: what we know so far
A lot of things are changing in the next series of Doctor Who, and this post simply aims to put all the known information (as of 17/12/11) in one place. So, what’s changing?
- The series will be split across 2012 and 2013
- There will be 14 episodes (I think that includes the 2011 Christmas special)
- It will start in Autumn 2012
- It is not clear whether 2012 will have a reduced episode count
- There are no two-parters planned for Series 7
- Matt Smith will stay until at least 2013
- Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Pond) will leave in a “heart-breaking episode” at some point in Series 7 – whether it’s in 2012 or 2013 is unknown
- The Eleventh Doctor will get a new companion, who is yet to be cast
- Steven Moffat will stay as the lead writer
- 2 executive producers are leaving
- The series main plot will be something to do with “the fields of Trenzalore” and “the fall of the eleventh”
- The Silence will most likely return
- The filming will start next year – unlike with previous series, where the filming has started in the previous year
- This means a trailer for Series 7 won’t be shown at the end of the Christmas special
- The format is estimated to be: 7/8 eps. in Autumn 2012, a 2012 Christmas special, then 17/8 eps. in Spring 2013 (this is not confirmed)
- It is unknown whether River Song will return
- It has got several names: Series 33 if you count all the series ever, Series 7 is you count the series since 2005, and Series 3 if you count it from a) the start of the Eleventh Doctor or b) since the 2010 partial reboot (so many things changed that year, so some people started counting the numbers again).
And I think that’s everything. The thing I found hardest to believe is that Amy and Rory are leaving. I, like a lot of other people, thought they’d leave after the 11th Doctor, or at the same time. I really can’t imagine Matt Smith with a different companion.
By the time this post is published it will be… Christmas Eve, I think. Remember to watch The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe tomorrow at 7pm (on BBC One). And have a great Christmas!
A new, short URL
Just a quick note to say that you can now access All of time and space at a new, shorter address (as well as the old, long address):
This makes the blog much easier to share.
Have a great Christmas!
Merlin Series 4 episodes 10/11 – Review
I’m no expert on reviews, but I know that when reviewing something, you usually start at the beginning of it. And you also review the thing that’s older first. This review completely goes against what I have just said.
So I’ve just watched episode 11, and I’m wishing it was Saturday 17th now. I know that it will be at least that date by the time you read this, but it isn’t for me. Oh, no. Moving on. After an amazing episode with some unexpected moments, a trailer was shown that gives the impression that this year’s series finale (part one) is going to be the best yet.
As mentioned, episode 11 was great – and it wasn’t just because of the trailer. You know that I’ve previously mentioned that Merlin can be kind of like a soap opera (though it’s much better)? Well, in this episode, Arthur plans to marry a princess from another kingdom, but eventually cancels because he realises he loves Gwen, who he is ‘destined’ to marry but he exiled her out of the kingdom because she betrayed him. And while that’s happening, Arthur’s evil uncle is working with the evil Morgana to take down Camelot (because Morgana thinks she should rightfully be Queen). Yeah, complicated. Episode rating? 10/10. It was awesome.
On to episode 10, which in fact aired… 2 weeks ago today (at least for you guys, not for me). I didn’t write about it last week because I did a post on the Doctor Who movie, so here is the review two weeks after it aired. I know, terrible service. So episode 10 aired before episode 11, but I’m reviewing it later in the post because I was really excited about the ep. 11 trailer as I started this post. Moving on…
I’ll start the fifth paragraph by saying that this episode is:
- Creepy (especially at the beginning),
- Sad,
- And, finally, happy
It mainly involves (at least at the start) a creepy-looking pale boy who is soaking wet appearing creepily randomly. Did I mention only one person can see him? We, the audience, can see him, and so can this other guy, but this gives us the idea that he could be there without us knowing. Merlin was meant to get darker with series 4, and it defintiley has. As of 10/12/11, my brother still hasn’t seen the episode – he saw a clip with the creepy kid on iPlayer with me, and decided not to see the ep. Merlin has got darker. Episode rating? 8/10. A good episode, but it’s just maybe a bit too creepy. I know Merlin has moved to a later time slot (usually about 8pm), but families will still watch this.
So those are reviews of two episodes. Series 4 is coming to an end, and I don’t know what I’ll write about after that. Any ideas, anyone? Can be Doctor Who, can be something else…
Best book/movie of the year
Way better than the movie version... but doesn't beat People's Republic.
I haven’t done posts in during the week for a while, but I saw this Daily Post topic and thought I’d write about it (and also because I wanted to see the new ‘published screen’). I’m not entirely sure whether the book/movie had to be published/released this year, or whether I’d just have had to read/see it this year, but I’ll go for the latter.
Best movie
I’m not a really big movie fan, but there have been a few good movies this year. I think Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 was very good, even if it did differ a bit from the storyline. I’d also like to put The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 on here, but I haven’t seen that yet (I’m going to soon, though). And the award goes to… HP7 – Part 2. Because making BD win without actually seeing it wouldn’t really work. Moving on…
Best book
I’ve read a lot of great books this year, but the winner has to be CHERUB: People’s Republic (click here to see my review of it). It was the first book of the second CHERUB series, and was published this August. I couldn’t find any faults with it… except that I have to wait until 2012 for the sequel!
What’s your favourite book and/or movie of the year?
