The 2011 Doctor Who Comic Relief Special encompassed all we've come to know and love in Moffat-based Who. Cheeky, almost NSFW humor and enough time-twisting tautology to implode a goat. Here at THT Worldwide we thought most strongly of Logopolis, the last time we had a nested Tardis situation. All we would then need is a white-draped mummy and the illusion would be complete.
We've put together a small gallery of caps from the special. Enjoy.
To Trap One… For a program which has been around for 47+ years, there are precious few deaths which create a stir. Eight of the eleven Doctors are still with us, as are a fair majority of the companions which have graced the screen down through the ages. But the passing of Nick Courtney can and should be a moment of reflection.
Always a character actor, you got the idea that the enduring affection for the Brigadier was bemusing to Courtney, who valued the part at the time for the safety of a paycheck, but was more than happy to sink back into the various character roles which he'd made his living before and after his tenure on the show.
Still the manner with which he often returned to the program also suggests that the Brigadier was a part which hung very well with him, and so he did with us.
Here at the Tour we honor him in the only way we know how. We've separated his "Who Not Who!" pictures off into their own gallery. We'll also be putting Courtney pictures exclusively into the THT Rand-o-Pix of the Day feed for a week or so.
Those wishing for a more concentrated focus on Courtney and the Brigadier should head over to The Brig Blog. Lots to be had over there.
Over and out.
A big, ornery blizzard blew through THT Worldwide HQ yesterday. An unexpected day off can have unexpected consequences.
Time enough to put the finishing touches on the first site-wide update for 2011 jumps the overall image count by about 4400 images to over 105K in all. Jump over to The Master List to look through the changes.
We're also continuing a trend started last year breaking off some of the "Who Not Who!" sections of some of the actors who have larger image collections to show off. Roger Delgado, Bonnie Langford, and John Simm now have their own sections.
At the risk of burying the lead… Caps for A Christmas Carol are now online. There. A week on this latest Doctor Who Christmas Special resonates very well indeed. When we posted the gallery for this story we noted that it situated itself very nicely into the #2 spot on our Christmas Special countdown. But it's also our hunch that asking this question again come Anniversary time in 2011 will vault it into the top spot.
We've also posted (the inevitable) caps from Season 6 Trailer. Nothing to keep the appetites whetted more than an intriguing trailer. Spring (especially if you're up to your you-know-whats in snow) can't come fast enough.
What a grand experience A Christmas Carol was. It rises to #2 in our ranking of the 8 Christmas-related episodes to air so far and reminds us yet again what a treasure Matt Smith is.
Unfortunately owing to family obligations caps for this story will not be available until January 1st, but a gallery of images for A Christmas Carol are now online. We'll save our more complete thoughts until then.
A week's worth of anticipation culminates in this… the unveiling of our #1 in our Christmas Countdown. If you have been following along you've probably already guessed it by process of elimination but it is 2005's The Christmas Invasion. What can we say, you never forget your first special. The first of the modern run of Christmas Specials not only had to entertain the masses, it was the first post-regenerative story in the modern era and had to educate viewers in that as well.
Then RTD made the bold decision to work against viewers expectations by withholding Tennant's full appearance until the last third of the story. But what sets this story ahead of all others in our opinion is it's sense of scale. While very much a Christmas story, the invasion as the title suggests was massively global, and the way the cast reacts seems very in keeping. Rose's increasing helplessness and courage in the face of the threat make the story work. Piper was probably never better than here. And Tennant showed in his brief twenty minutes many of the manic qualities which defined his early run of stories.
Well, well done all the way around. To recap here was our Christmas Countdown…
Just for grins SFX Magazine did their own genre countdown of 35 Christmas episodes across series… Their (Doctor Who) results were:
For the sake of completeness in the SFX survey #3 in their countdown was the 1965 Avengers story Too Many Christmas Trees — highly, highly recommended and #1 was an episode of Supernatural.
Happy Holidays to all… have a tremendous "A Christmas Carol."