Doctor Who: The Ultimate Anomaly

Doctor Who, in its astounding fifty year run of time and space, has produced several loose ends still waiting to be tied up neatly. Ace (how did she leave the Doctor?), Captain Jack Harkness (What about those two years of missing memories?), and Sally Sparrow (just what happened to her after Blink?). Not to mention the many Time Lords and Ladies with unfinished stories left to tell: Susan Foreman, the Meddling Monk, the Valeyard, that mystery woman in The End of Time, and of course, the one-episode never-spoken-of-again Jenny.

To recap, Jenny was introduced in The Doctor's Daughter, a series four episode first broadcast back in 2008. We saw her birth on the planet Messaline as the Doctor (played by David Tennant) had his DNA forcibly taken and put into a progenation machine, meaning that his cells multiplied and produced offspring with the genes of one parent. 
Jenny, played by fifth Doctor Peter Davison's daughter Georgia Moffett, was brutal and tough due to her purpose as a soldier, before learning from her Dad that she didn't have to be that way, that she had a choice. She was athletic, enthusiastic, stood up for herself, and incredibly brave: all the makings of a great companion.
So it was a shock when *SPOILERS* she died in the Doctor's arms after taking a bullet for him. Just when you thought that our favourite Time Lord was about to get some kind of family back, some roots to Gallifrey, someone to really look after, T Davies smashed all our fangirl/boy hopes. 
Then, right at the end of the episode, just as you were resigning yourself to the fact that it wasn't meant to be, Jenny jumps up and into an escape pod, soaring away from Messaline with a grin: "I've got the whole universe! Planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat... And an awful lot of running to do."

Jenny has never been seen, heard, or even spoken of again in the Whoniverse (as far as we know). However, that almost six-year cliffhanger has produced a vast number of FanFictions dedicated to the character which for the writers, myself included, and the readers, myself included, a little bit of closure while Moffat thinks up a way to bring her back for real... Hehe. (SHAMELESS SELF ADVERTISEMENT: if you're interested, my fic The Anomaly is basically a Who/Torchwood crossover series rewrite with Jenny included, which you can find at: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9266013/1/The-Anomaly)

Because Jenny, despite only being in one 45 minute episode, is remembered and loved so fondly by the fandom she is automatically associated with any kind of secret or mystery that pops up in the show. For example:
Take yourself back to Saturday 28th June 2008, around 7pm. You're watching The Stolen Earth. All of the Doctor's companions and friends are returning: Rose, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane, Martha... Could his daughter make an appearance? Sadly not.
11th April 2009. Right at the end of Planet of the Dead, Carmen makes her chilling prediction: "It is returning through the dark..." Could it be Jenny? New Years Day 2010, and no. It's actually Gallifrey.
2011 and series 6's story arc consists of the question who is River Song? Some suggested that the imprisoned doctor was an older regeneration of Jenny, which to be blunt is just plain wrong. 
Once we'd discovered the identity of River/Melody and her parents had departed the TARDIS in 2012, a brand new mystery woman presented herself in the form of Clara Oswald. Could this companion, twice dead already, be a version or three of Jenny? Alas, no. The Name of the Doctor told us so.

However, eleven has now passed the TARDIS key on to twelve, and with him will apparently be brought a 'back to basics' approach. From what we know already, this is looking true: a brand new regeneration cycle, Gallifrey back (trapped in a pocket universe, but still, it's around), plainer attire, and two teacher companions. This is where my theory comes into play. 
So, a new regeneration cycle brings back a similar Doctor to the first, William Hartnell. When Hartnell began the show back in '63, the companions who travelled with him were Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, his granddaughter and two teachers respectively. Capaldi, number twelve, already has his teachers on board (Clara and Danny Pink), but what about the familial relation? 

... Jenny. 

Could Jenny make her long-awaited return to travel the universe with our established TARDIS crew? It's worth noting that Steven Moffat personally requested that she did not die in The Doctor's Daughter, and he is the sole reason for her staying alive. He must have some kind of plan for her, and a brand new era of Doctor Who would be the perfect time to do it. My fingers are crossed!

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

One of the most ambiguous and oldest questions in human history that will always begin detailed conversations and a plethora of stories, goes something like this:

Do you believe in ghosts?

It is a phenomena that remains unanswered, even after all the years of discussion and

The castle - first built in the 1100s
and rebuilt in the 19th century

research. Just think of all the things the human race has achieved - advances in medicine, technology, space travel - yet the simple idea of a ghost hasn't been explained. This is one of the reasons why the topic interests and scares me simultaneously. Another is that I'm from a small town in the south west of England which dates all the way back to the early 12th century. There are over 500 listed buildings, including houses, pubs, churches and a castle. Given its history, my little hometown plays host to many a ghost story and some of the most reputably haunted places in the country. When you can find tales and myths about buildings that you know, in my experience it automatically becomes more interesting and inclusive. 

But do you actually believe, I hear you ask? My answer to that question is yes. I definitely believe that there is something paranormal there. It's hard to deny when some of my friends and family have had spooky experiences, and I've had one definite encounter myself that I just can't explain. When someone you know to be fully sane and rational tells you that they have seen or felt another presence, it's hard to deny, and that is what I would say to non-believers. Not that they don't have the right to not believe, and I understand to some extent the phrase "I have to see to believe", but those who dismiss stories as "rubbish", even if they hear them from people they trust, could re-evaluate their reactions to them. You don't have to believe every detail of said story necessarily, but respect that the person believes that what they experienced was true.

OK, preach over. I mentioned above that I have had one experience with what I believe to be a ghost, and in the interest that you trust my sanity, here is the story:  

Fuengirola beach

I went on a summer holiday to Fuengirola in Spain when I was twelve. It was with my family, the weather was beautiful and the place was fairly busy. Not your typical setting for a ghost to appear, right? Well, we were staying in a block of apartments, one of which was rented out to holidaymakers. I shared the small room with my sister which had one single bed that I slept in and a pull out mattress thing that she had, so on one side (the right) I would face my sister and the wardrobe, and the other (the left) would be the curtains. This room layout is important, I promise. One night, I woke at around 3am for no apparent reason and begrudgingly opened my eyes (note that I was laid on my left side, facing the curtains). There before me was a fuzzy outline of a person, right by my bed. In my still sleepy brain I concocted a theory in which I had turned my whole body around so that my head was at the foot of the bed, and the person was in fact my sister who was being weird in her sleep (she used to do weird things in her sleep). As I became more awake, however, I realised that I was still the correct way up. I immediately looked back at the figure, which was still there, but was now clearly not my sister. The more I stared, the less fuzzy the person was. It was an old woman, dressed in heavy rags and maid/nun-like attire on her head. She was very still and staring right back at me. I must have gone through a thousand different explanations in my head, the most prominent of which being that I was still half asleep and imagining it, so I tested my theory. I looked away for a couple of seconds. I looked back. The old woman was still stood beside me, just as, if not more, solid. I blinked. Still there. Blinked again. Still there. And this is the thing that makes me really believe that the old woman was a ghost. In my experience, if you see something at a glance or in a sleep-addled state, when you look back the thing is gone, and you resign it to your wild imagination. But the old woman was staying, no matter how many times I looked away or blinked. So, I did what all sane people do, and threw the covers over my head, staying that way despite the uncomfortably hot temperature until morning. 

I am now nineteen and it's been almost seven years since that happened, yet I can still recall every detail. I don't care what anyone says, I am convinced that the old woman I saw was a ghost. 

The Sixth Sense - great movie, but not
what I believe ghosts to be

However, I don't believe in the typical Hollywood movie theory of ghosts. I don't believe that they are souls of the dead who have unfinished business, waiting to pass on... For me, that's too much like religious ideas of heaven, hell and purgatory. I think that structures and places can hold memories so strong that they embody themselves in ghostly manifestations, particularly if those memories carry extreme emotions. Think about it, all of the ghost stories you hear involve some kind of scandal or secret the person those apparitions are believed to be went through. Many are tales of murder or suicide or illness.
However, I also have another theory which involves my idea of life after death: at the moment of death, we rewind all the way back to our moment of birth, or conception, and play through our lives all over again repetitively (it would explain déjà vu). Ghosts fit in because if this is true, and this happens to every human and animal that ever lived, then all of time must be happening at once. In particularly old buildings, generations and generations of families must be living under the same roof, just in different time zones. At times of powerful emotion, perhaps timelines cross over and we call the images ghosts.
I realise that's a bit sci-fi, but let's face it, with all the Doctor Who I've watched I'm bound to think in such ways.

The perfect description of my life
 after death/ghost theory

I'll link some of my favourite ghost stories from good ol' Blighty below. 
And finally, beginning detailed conversations and a plethora of stories, do you believe in ghosts?

One of the most haunted pubs in Britain, in my hometown
Where I walk my dog
The woman who allegedly haunts my old school
Famously haunted pub near my hometown
Ghosts in my university's city

Did my heart love till now?

It’s that time of year again! The shops have heart-shaped boxes of dairy milk, bunches of red and pink flowers and rows upon rows of sickly sweet lovey-dovey cards with unoriginal, impersonal poems inside. Yep. It’s Valentine’s Day this week.

Valentine’s has never really bothered me before. Usually I just toddle through, shrugging with indifference if anyone asks me my opinion on it, and generally ignoring the whole affair. However, this year I feel different. I now live in a flat at uni with some really brilliant people, and I love them just as much as the friends I’ve known for years… but that means that when the day comes, I’m going to be around a good few couples gazing into each other’s eyes. Also, three of my best friends back home are in committed relationships (one recently engaged). Don’t get me wrong, that’s all good and fine, and I’m happy for them. It just reminds me of the fact that I’m not really anywhere near to having the same.

Not that it particularly worries me right now. There’s plenty of time for all that.

If you’re interested, on February 14 itself I will be surrounding myself with those (super-awesome) flatmates in the same boat as me, watching a couple of good movies that probably won’t be anything to do with romance/love/perfect couples (urgghhhhh).

Speaking of, when it’s not Valentine’s Day, I do like a good love story whether it be on the big screen, small screen or pages of a book. And, as I don’t want this post to be an entirely anti-Valentine’s one, I’ve ranked my favourite fictional couples (I like lists):

1. Jack & Rose (Titanic)
2. The Doctor & Rose (Doctor Who)
3. Captain Jack & Ianto (Torchwood)
4. Rapunzel & Flynn (Tangled)
5. Amy & Rory (Doctor Who)
6. Monica & Chandler (Friends)
7. Sheldon & Amy (The Big Bang Theory)
8. Forrest & Jenny (Forrest Gump)
9. Romeo & Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
10. Belle & the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
11. Harry & Ginny (Harry Potter)
12. The Doctor & River (Doctor Who)

These are susceptible to change at any given moment, except maybe for the top few… Jack & Rose are just beautiful, and the Doctor & Rose… weelllll… it’s the Doctor & Rose. Come on. If you’ve not seen them together, then DO IT NOW.

(If that has made you go watch the first 2 series of Who, then I apologise for inflicting Doomsday upon you…)

So, if you’re in a dedicated and beautiful relationship, then have a lovely Valentine’s Day with your lucky guy/girl. If you’re not, enjoy the cut-price chocolate from Saturday onwards, and look forward to the time when you’ll be one half of a couple on Valentine’s! ♥♥

Who Episodes That Will Make Me Cry

My friends will back me up when I say that I cry at quite a lot. Being a Leonardo DiCaprio fan, the obvious one is Titanic, which despite the fact that I can recite pretty much the entire movie due to the amount of times that I’ve seen it, I still weep at every time. Again, my mum will vouch for me when I tell you that I properly broke down when Ianto died in Torchwood (and I mean bawling). However, if you really want to make me cry in front of the telly of an evening, then play an episode of Doctor Who.

I recently wrote a piece entitled ‘Why Rose Tyler is the best new Who companion’, so obviously I’m going to be biased towards anything to do with her. However, I think anyone who’s seen ‘Doomsday’ will agree that it’s one of the most heart-breaking episodes. From the moment that Rose clings to her magna-clamp, I sit there struggling to hold my tears in. When she desperately bangs on the wall in Pete’s world, the Doctor silently shocked on the other side, it gets even more difficult. But once we’ve reached Bad Wolf Way, there’s no hiding it, and I think that’s down to a pair of brilliant actors and their script writer. It’s Billie’s shattering cries as her Doctor can’t do anything to help, and his unfinished words “Rose Tyler-“

Who writers often send companions off in a very emotional way. Amy and Rory’s last story, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’, is one that gives Rose a run for her money. In that episode (which I am watching as I write this) it’s the teasing of the audience from Moffat that keeps the tension high: the Ponds’ throwing themselves off of the roof of Winter Quay in a particularly Reichenbach fall fashion, then popping back up alive a matter of seconds later. We think they’re going to be OK, then look what happens… and finally, Amy’s afterword for the Doctor. Moffat certainly knows how to rip our hearts out, but here, I put some blame on Murray Gold, too. ‘Together or Not At All – The Song of Amy and Rory’ is simply stunning.

Another piece of brilliant music is ‘The Long Song’, which featured heavily in the series 7 episode ‘The Rings of Akhaten’. That episode brings tears to my eyes not because of character deaths or terrible separations. It’s that damn song… (Along with Matt’s speech that can’t be described as anything other than magnificent. That NTA was well deserved.)

Another one not specifically due to a departure that makes me cry is the brilliant 50^th anniversary episode ‘The Day of the Doctor’. Although I’ve not seen most of the classic Doctors (I’ve started recently, right at the beginning with Hartnell), the moment when all 13 come together to save Gallifrey is just spectacular. Then, right at the end, another of Matt’s speeches as he joins the line of Time Lords looking up to his home planet… Rassilon, that’s when I properly well up with happy tears. However, my heart(s) dropped when David left in his TARDIS, because at that moment I realised that it is unlikely he’ll ever tie up the laces on his Converse or swing his big brown coat on again. And they just had to do it, didn’t they? “I don’t want to go…”

Which brings me nicely to ‘The End of Time Part 2’. Regeneration episodes are commonly emotional, but the most recent ones have been particularly earth-shatteringly heartbreakingly awful. The last 20 minutes or so of David’s last episode (where he visits all his old companions) is tough to watch, especially Donna’s wedding and Rose’s first encounter (on a side not, a very clever move by Russell T Davies). But then, that Ood appears in the snow and ‘Vale Decem’ starts and that’s it. One last line. And… result? I’m an utter mess.

Although David was my Doctor, it was Matt’s last episode that totally destroyed my sanity and reduced me to a complete wreck (Seriously. I’m talking hyperventilating, shaking, blubbing.) ‘The Time of the Doctor’ has met with some less than positive reviews, so I think I’m in the minority when I say that it was a wonderful farewell to the eleventh Doctor. For this one, the uncontrollable tears began when we saw the Doctor as an old man, forgetful and weak, not even able to pull a cracker with Clara. At this point, I already couldn’t stay still sat down, so I was pacing up and down the room all through his explosive defeat of the Daleks, and back into the TARDIS. I’ve mentioned a couple of Matt’s speeches during this blog, but this one, his very last, was his very best. For the majority of it, he was the Doctor. But then, there are moments, seen in the glistening of his eyes as he says “I will never forget one line of this… I will always remember when the Doctor was me” when it is Matt being Matt. But still, that wasn’t what made an eruption of sobs gush from my eyes. Amy’s “Raggedy man, good night”… even thinking about it…

My list of 20 episodes, ranked in order of crying likeliness:

1. The Time of the Doctor
2. Doomsday
3. The End of Time, Part 2
4. The Angels Take Manhattan
5. Vincent and the Doctor
6. The Day of the Doctor
7. The Doctor’s Wife
8. The Doctor’s Daughter
9. The Girl Who Waited
10. Journey’s End
11. The Rings of Akhaten
12. The Family of Blood
13. The Last of the Time Lords
14. Father’s Day
15. The Big Bang
16. The Name of the Doctor
17. Forest of the Dead
18. The Girl in the Fireplace
19. The Parting of the Ways
20. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

Why Rose Tyler Is The Best New Who Companion

When it comes to the universe of Doctor Who, everyone has their favourites. When meeting a fellow Whovian, the social convention is to ask and discuss all aspects of the show, and in many cases, you will end up defending your Doctor as faithfully as he defends the Earth. Everyone has their favourite enemy, episode, music (if you’re interested, mine are the Master, ‘The Day of the Doctor’, and ‘The Long Song’), and of course, companion.

Being too young to have watched the classic series’ when they were broadcast, my earliest memory of watching Doctor Who was the episode ‘New Earth’, the opening to David Tennant’s first full series as the wonderfully witty Time Lord. At eleven years old, the fast-paced show was like nothing I’d seen before, and the Doctor was simply a hero to everyone watching. As I continued with the intergalactic adventures every Saturday night, it quickly became clear to me that while the Doctor was every bit the enigmatic wonder, his companion Rose Tyler was just as brilliant. 

With her determination, loyalty and “domestic approach”, Rose (played magnificently by Billie Piper) was the perfect mix of intrepid adventurer and girl-next-door, providing the audience with the eyes through which we watch the show. Yes, she could be jealous at times (notably in ‘School Reunion’, which was not particularly helped by Sarah Jane’s equally derisive remarks), but quite simply, that’s what made her real. After all, wouldn’t you be a little displeased if another woman turned up and diverted David Tennant’s attention away from you? Yep, exactly. Me too.

Speaking of Sarah Jane, Ms Piper must have had a difficult task in bringing to life the companion who would reintroduce Doctor Who to Britain. I’d go as far as to say it was just as tough as Christopher Eccleston’s feat, and Rose Tyler has certainly lived up to my expectations. Going back to ‘Rose’ in series 1 after her tearful exit in ‘Doomsday’ (I’ll come back to that later), I can see why the nation took the character to their hearts. She was open and innocent with a brilliantly argumentative streak that was displayed during her scenes with the Doctor on many occasions. Creating a character who would follow in the footsteps of the greats (Sarah Jane Smith, Leela and Ace to name but a few) is an achievement to be applauded, especially when beginning the new series with an episode entitled as the companion’s name.

There is no doubt in my mind that Billie Piper carried the show through the first two series of the revived BBC classic, her very human portrayal keeping the ratings high even after Eccleston’s beloved ninth Doctor departed the TARDIS. Even after leaving herself, the show continued to run on the very idea of Rose. During series three, she was mentioned in no less than six out of thirteen episodes and returned for three full episodes in series four, as well as her image being used by the Moment in ‘The Day of the Doctor’. Surely this, to an extent, shows how much Billie’s character was loved not only by the nation, but the Doctor himself.

A companion/Doctor relationship was somewhat a new concept aboard the TARDIS when Russell T Davies took the show on. However, I am a believer that Rose was a perfect match for the broken Time Lord, picking him back up, sometimes kicking and screaming, when his memories of the Time War threatened to darken his character (look no further than ‘Dalek’ in series one). For the Doctor, Rose was a beacon of hope and love (much like the Olympic flame in ‘Fear Her’) who brought him out of the shade and gave him faith again, which he confirmed himself in ‘The Satan Pit’ – “I believe in her.” For saving our Doctor, we must love Rose Tyler just as much as he did (or does).

The Doctor’s love for Rose was blazingly obvious throughout the series’, culminating in the heart-breaking finale of series two, ‘Doomsday’ (told you I would come back to it). Even if you didn’t like Rose, the last ten minutes or so must have convinced you that the Doctor truly loved her, or at least pulled on your heartstrings a little. If not, then I’m afraid to say you might be part Dalek… which is OK, because it might just mean that you’re an echo of yourself after jumping into the Doctor’s time stream… which is a whole different companion. Sorry, back on track.

As I was saying, that memorable moment when the Doctor says “Rose Tyler” on Bad Wolf Bay is one of the saddest in the show, even beating Tennant’s regeneration and the Ponds’ departure for me. The only consolation I have when bawling my eyes out over the scene is that I know, eventually, Rose will have her very own Doctor.

Finally, I can’t possibly write anything about Rose Tyler without mentioning Bad Wolf. The end of series one perfectly summarises Rose’s character: her stubbornness and determination, shown as she desperately cries for the TARDIS to take her back to the Gamestation; her bravery, opening the heart of the TARDIS and absorbing the time vortex just to save her Doctor; her concern for her friends, displayed as she brings Captain Jack back to life (accidently forever, although we can’t blame her for wanting that. We wouldn’t have Torchwood if it wasn’t for her); her love for the Doctor, and lastly, his love for her.

While it is blatantly clear that Rose, in my opinion, is the best New Who companion to date, this is not to say that I dislike any of the others. In fact, every constant TARDIS traveller since Rose has been equally likeable (the others in my top three are Captain Jack and Donna), but what Rose Tyler brought to Doctor Who was love, compassion, humanity, a little rebelliousness, and ultimately, the Doctor that we hold close to our hearts.