The penultimate episode of Series Five of Doctor Who aired a few weeks ago in the UK, as well as on countless computer monitors since then, but I managed to miss it. It just aired in the US on BBC America this weekend, but I managed to miss that, too. Luckily, it became available on iTunes shortly after the US broadcast, so I was able to buy and download it there. Why would I buy something that’s just going to re-run for free on TV for the rest of the week? Well, it only seemed fitting to watch a magical, futuristic TV show on my brand new, magical and futuristic iPad! Woohoo!
I must admit that moments after I bought the iPad on Saturday, I experienced a nauseating wave of buyer’s remorse. There was really no pressing need for me to have it. I’ve gotten by without it all these months since its release. The main reason I picked it up is because I was playing with one in the store and decided to see how Fanboys of the Universe looked on it. (FYI, the Apple Store and Best Buy both just love it when you have FBOTU running on all of their display models.) Then I reasoned that displaying the site on an iPad at Comic-Con was somehow more magical and futuristic than using my netbook (which was magical and futuristic last year, but looks terribly dated now). As I carried my purchase from the store to my car, I immediately began chastising myself. “There is absolutely no reason for me to have this.” In fact, I left it in the box and over to one side of my desk much of the weekend, while I entertained thoughts of taking it back. Then…then I missed Doctor Who.
Truly, I got a little giggly as I watched, not quite believing I was watching the Doctor on a tablet right out of science fiction or The Jetsons. I suppose I could have watched it on my iPod, yet the size of the iPad makes all the difference. Somehow, the device feels infinitely advanced, yet uncommonly personal. The Doctor says, “Never ignore coincidence.” So, it’s no mere coincidence, I think, that Doctor Who has very similar qualities. Good sci-fi not only shows you a technologically advanced future or worlds beyond the imagination, but it also makes such flights of fancy real and personal to its audience. So, while I haven’t been 100% on board this season, I must say Steven Moffat and company have crafted a deeply emotional and satisfying episode. River Song returns to deliver a dire warning to the Doctor, and she’s not alone. Joining her, in cameo appearances, are pivotal characters from throughout the season, tying all the previous adventures together extremely well.
River, played to such sexy and confident perfection by Alex Kingston, has become one of my favorite characters, due in no small part to the fact that she serves as the only connection to the previous series. She has gone adventuring with Tennant, and that gives her great credibility here. As for Amy, my concerns that she’s “Donna-Lite” are largely unfounded. In many ways, she is much more a creation of the Doctor than any previous companion. He shaped her childhood, her psyche, her relationship with the world and other men. As we head into the finale, she is quite literally the center of his universe and he is hers. I do care about her. And while I still think she’s terribly bad at pretending to fall around the TARDIS, I can overlook that, because, ultimately, I hope she finds happiness and what she’s really looking for, which isn’t Rory or the Doctor, but herself.
I will most likely be watching the finale at Comic-Con with a thousand other people and not on my iPad. At first, anyway. I’m sure I’ll watch and re-watch it on my little friend, though. And if people get tired of my hawking FBOTU at Comic-Con, I’ll just hold up my tablet, press play and satisfy the masses with a rousing speech from the Doctor:
“Come on, look at me! No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else: I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly little space ships with all your silly little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing! Let somebody else try first.”
-Doctor Who, “The Pandorica Opens”
Quote of the Week: iWho
By Chance
July 19, 2010 at 12:45AM EDT
The penultimate episode of Series Five of Doctor Who aired a few weeks ago in the UK, as well as on countless computer monitors since then, but I managed to miss it. It just aired in the US on BBC America this weekend, but I managed to miss that, too. Luckily, it became available on iTunes shortly after the US broadcast, so I was able to buy and download it there. Why would I buy something that’s just going to re-run for free on TV for the rest of the week? Well, it only seemed fitting to watch a magical, futuristic TV show on my brand new, magical and futuristic iPad! Woohoo!
I must admit that moments after I bought the iPad on Saturday, I experienced a nauseating wave of buyer’s remorse. There was really no pressing need for me to have it. I’ve gotten by without it all these months since its release. The main reason I picked it up is because I was playing with one in the store and decided to see how Fanboys of the Universe looked on it. (FYI, the Apple Store and Best Buy both just love it when you have FBOTU running on all of their display models.) Then I reasoned that displaying the site on an iPad at Comic-Con was somehow more magical and futuristic than using my netbook (which was magical and futuristic last year, but looks terribly dated now). As I carried my purchase from the store to my car, I immediately began chastising myself. “There is absolutely no reason for me to have this.” In fact, I left it in the box and over to one side of my desk much of the weekend, while I entertained thoughts of taking it back. Then…then I missed Doctor Who.
Truly, I got a little giggly as I watched, not quite believing I was watching the Doctor on a tablet right out of science fiction or The Jetsons. I suppose I could have watched it on my iPod, yet the size of the iPad makes all the difference. Somehow, the device feels infinitely advanced, yet uncommonly personal. The Doctor says, “Never ignore coincidence.” So, it’s no mere coincidence, I think, that Doctor Who has very similar qualities. Good sci-fi not only shows you a technologically advanced future or worlds beyond the imagination, but it also makes such flights of fancy real and personal to its audience. So, while I haven’t been 100% on board this season, I must say Steven Moffat and company have crafted a deeply emotional and satisfying episode. River Song returns to deliver a dire warning to the Doctor, and she’s not alone. Joining her, in cameo appearances, are pivotal characters from throughout the season, tying all the previous adventures together extremely well.
River, played to such sexy and confident perfection by Alex Kingston, has become one of my favorite characters, due in no small part to the fact that she serves as the only connection to the previous series. She has gone adventuring with Tennant, and that gives her great credibility here. As for Amy, my concerns that she’s “Donna-Lite” are largely unfounded. In many ways, she is much more a creation of the Doctor than any previous companion. He shaped her childhood, her psyche, her relationship with the world and other men. As we head into the finale, she is quite literally the center of his universe and he is hers. I do care about her. And while I still think she’s terribly bad at pretending to fall around the TARDIS, I can overlook that, because, ultimately, I hope she finds happiness and what she’s really looking for, which isn’t Rory or the Doctor, but herself.
I will most likely be watching the finale at Comic-Con with a thousand other people and not on my iPad. At first, anyway. I’m sure I’ll watch and re-watch it on my little friend, though. And if people get tired of my hawking FBOTU at Comic-Con, I’ll just hold up my tablet, press play and satisfy the masses with a rousing speech from the Doctor:
“Come on, look at me! No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else: I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly little space ships with all your silly little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing! Let somebody else try first.”
-Doctor Who, “The Pandorica Opens”
Magical.
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