62 Years of Doctor Who

Or my annual post on the state of the show.

Frankly, it's not a great one. I stopped reviewing the most recent season due to lack of time, but what early promise it had pretty much evaporated by the time the final episode aired - which I watched in the cinema. Also, being funded by Disney didn't improve security about plotlines.

Disney never really cared for the show - they seem to have largely washed their hands of the deal (made under their previous CEO) even before the news that they were not paying for anything else after The War Between the Land and the Sea, which will air next month, then promptly be forgotten about by most people. The BBC haven't really rolled out the marketing on that one either.

The claims that the show has gone "woke" have very little merit. What has occurred is a decline in quality and quantity. When you're down to eight episodes and a Christmas special a year, then there is far less room for clunkers. While there weren't really any of those, nothing was truly excellent, with the exception of "The Well". Some of it got rather silly. There is little in the latest run that I would go back to rewatch unless I had no other choice..

The ratings have been pretty poor - worse than 1989. The show now longer attracts any major media interest and I would not be surprised if Stranger Things beats it handily in audience figures now that Netflix is appearing in the Top 10.

The show is now a BBC-only production, reliant on the licence fee and whatever sales it can get. It is going to be operating with a considerably reduced budget. It is telling that Russell T Davies is only stated to be writing the Christmas 2026 special and no mention of the showrunner is made. I suspect we'll be getting someone new.

As for the 16th Doctor. Will it be Billie Piper or someone else? I don't know. To be honest, the show needs a regeneration in more ways than one.

Ukraine and the "peace plan"

It looks like Ukraine is facing a very bad choice in the next week or two. Either accepting a humiliating peace deal or face the loss of US support at a time where it can ill-afford such loss.

It is clear to me that Ukraine is nowhere near being able to expel Russian forces from its territory. It can throw as many Flamingo missiles at oil refineries as it likes, but that is not going to make Russia collapse. A concerted campaign of sanctions and economic isolation would be more likely to do so, but like a game of Jenga, you cannot predict with certainty when the tower is going to collapse.

Accepting the deal would likely just be an armistice for a few years until Russia can reconstitute then attack again on some dubious pretext. But continuing to fight risks a Ukrainian collapse.

Europe is not going to commit actual ground troops to liberate Ukraine. It is too reliant on Russian gas.

There is a danger of pride overcoming common sense - but it might not be common sense. I wouldn't like to make this decision anymore than Zelenskyy.

Let's hope he makes the right one.

This is also Spinal Tap... (Review: 'Fringe' 1.18. "Midnight")

Just a lot more gory, even if all the drummers survived this one.

Remembrance 2025

We've all spilt a glass of water at some point in our lives, or dropped a mug that's broken. The actual act of the spillage may take a couple of seconds, but the clearing up can take sixty times as long as that. If not longer.

War is like this, except with blood and bombs. The impact of the actions of aggressors or those making a genuine mistake under pressure last far longer than the initial action itself. The negative consequences last for much longer.

I've been researching the history of my local area in the Second World War recently. I now know that an area of flats near my house was built on the site of houses destroyed by a V2 missile. I imagine that those living in that street would have remembered it for the rest of their lives.

Most of the people who did the actual fighting in the war have passed on - we are now left with those who lived through it as children. The damage to their childhoods through things they did not choose to start will affect their children, their children's children and so on.

The Second World War lasted six years. Its legacy will be with us for much longer. 

However, many gave their lives to stop the damaging legacy from being even worse and bringing an end to Nazism, whose plans for Europe were utterly horrific. Just the part they did do was the biggest crime in history and it is a pity that so many did escape justice - at least in this world. The right side won at the end of the day and those who claim it was not worth it are completely wrong.

May we act in ways that will prevent more death and destruction in the future.

We will remember them.

Blog updates

I'm continuing to work my way through Star Trek: The Animated Series - I may end up releasing the reviews for the first half of Season 1 when I get through that. Make things a bit shorter and quicker in posts there.

Also, a review of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 episode is planned. I have yet to decide which one for certain.

Strange Dreams are made of Liv (Review: 'Fringe' 1.17, "Bad Dreams")

Who am I to disagree? Well, I am going to a bit, anyway.

Also, has it really been four-and-a-half months since the last review. This contains spoilers for the episode.