Review: The Magician's Apprentice

The first episode of Series 9 of Doctor Who's revived format, the first of many two-parters this season, aired on Saturday, and enough time having passed for stragglers to catch up, I thought I'd do a review.

The Doctor is sought out by a mysterious snake-creatures named Colony Sarff, who has a message for the Time Lord: Davros, creator of the Daleks and "Dark Lord of Skaro", is dying after having been killed off at the end of Series 4's Journey's End.  Davros knows and remembers something pertaining to the Doctor, namely, that his latest incarnation refused to help Davros out of a weird 'hand' minefield in which hands with a single eye in the middle of their palms spring up from the ground to drag people underground, when the Kaled future despot was just a child.

Missy, aka The Mistress, aka The Master, appears again after getting the world's attention by freezing every airborne vehicle in time, in order to arrange a meeting with Clara Oswald.  Missy hijacks Clara in time via a stolen vortex manipulator and the unlikely pair are off to locate the Doctor, who has been throwing himself a three-week going away party in Medieval England.  Sarrf inexplicably appears to take the three time travelers to see Davros for the Kaled's final confrontation with his age-old enemy.

As is typical with head writer Stephen Moffat, no proper explanation is given as to how Davros and Missy survived their deaths at the end of their respective, prior episodic appearances.  This is what irritates me, as a writer, to no end: Moffat has an extremely annoying tendency to completely ignore previously established canon in order to tell his story, and never offers up any good reason for anything.

Next week's episode, The Witch's Familiar, had damned well better explain things adequately.  I'm just about fed up with Moffat's piss-poor writing.

Low Points:  The anachronistic biplanes firing lasers at people on the ground, the 'hand minefield', Colony Sarff

High Points: None, really.

"The Time of the Doctor" Preview!

Thanks to Krypton Radio for this link!


Time is running out for the Eleventh Doctor as the Silence gather their forces for the final battle at Trenzalore! Tune in at Christmas to find out what happens!

I get paid tomorrow, and with any luck I'll be able to order a replacement motherboard to get my computer up and running again.  Having to rely on public terminals to get online is a real drag, and I'm falling so far behind it's ridiculous.  I've already missed the 50th anniversary special, but if I can get my computer properly repaired I'll watch that and write up a review for you.  Until then, wish me luck, and if you'd like to contribute to helping me get my computer fixed, please click the following link.

Lost Doctor Who Episodes Found In Africa, and the Regeneration Limit

Krypton Radio reports via the BBC and other news agencies that lost episodes of Doctor Who have been discovered in Africa.

Some new episodes of the popular BBC science fiction television series have been found in the archives of the Ethiopia Radio and Television Agency, and as the dust settles from the discovery it appears that 90 episodes are being recovered.  In fact, it is looking like everything that had been lost is now found again, according to Bleeding Cool, except “nine episodes of The Dalek Master Plan, plus Mission To The Unknown, two episodes of The Invasion, two episodes of The Ice Warriors, and two episodes of The Wheel In Space.”

This is very good news for fans worldwide, who have had to be content with surviving audio and still photographs in place of the missing episodes.  What's more, with the show's fiftieth anniversary coming up next month, it gives fans another chance to become acquainted with the legendary William Hartnell, the first actor to portray the enigmatic Time Lord from Gallifrey in his broken old T.A.R.D.I.S.

Rumors frequently circulate about lost episodes in the hands of private collectors, but only seldom do they prove true.  In the vastly finite wisdom of its earlier days, the BBC destroyed or recorded over its video tapes and film reels, or sold them off, not realizing the future potential in raking in money from home video sales.  As a result, many episodes of many television shows are now "lost", and can only be recovered if copies are found from stations in other countries that preserved them, or from people who were prescient enough to record them when they were first broadcast.

So this latest rediscovery is good news for Doctor Who fans, and for the BBC.  I for one am looking forward to seeing the recovered episodes in all their remastered glory.

Oh!  It seems the issue of the Doctor's thirteen-life-limit will be addressed.  Departing actor Matt Smith, who plays the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor, is handing the role over to Peter Capaldi in the Christmas episode at the end of this year, leaving only one or two more lives for the Time Lord under current series canon.  But Stephen Moffat hinted back in August that a way will be written into the show that resolves the limit on Time Lord lives, and others have speculated on how the 12-regeneration limit could be breached.  Obviously the BBC isn't going to let one of its biggest cash cows be canceled for lack of a plausible writing gimmick, so don't be surprised to see the issue resolved soon.

I'll be back next week with a review of a recent Who episode, as soon as I dig my DVDs out of boxes.  Until then...see you in the Time Vortex!

Return of the Time War Daleks!

As previous entries will reveal to readers unaware of last year's fiasco, the last time Dalek avatars came up in association with my name, it didn't go very well.  That was entirely my fault, it was stupid, I got caught, and had to admit it publicly.  That cost me a few friends and trashed my reputation.  Again, my fault entirely.

Since then, many things have happened, but lately work has been underway to correct my previous mistakes.

And so, without further adieu, I am proud to present you with the first of what is hoped to be the resurrection of the (hybrid) Daleks.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/SFE-Dalek-Supreme/4261825

The new Dalek Supreme was made under the account of Malcolm Danick, and is priced at 400L$.  Features include HUD control, flashing dome lights when typing, head rotation, laser beam effect, and an opening and closing casing.

The avatars were built under supervision.  Some parts, such as the eye stalk, plunger, and interior parts, were used from my old line with permission.  Everything else was made by Malcolm Danick and scripted to function as you see in the pictures.  Other Dalek avatars in the line will be released as they are finished testing.

The design is a concept one blending the classic series Daleks with the Russell T. Davies-era versions, with some features unique to this line.  The shoulder slats are spaced farther apart, and two handle bars are mounted on each shoulder behind the arm boxes, the for attaching grenade belts and other weapons or tools.  Color schemes include gray, red, blue, and supreme, with rank numbers below the eye stalks.

In-world, you can visit our vendors here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Naughty%20Naughty/220/100/23

Stay tuned for further updates!

Who News!

Check it out!  Nonamei Scribe provides the voice commentary for this video evaluation of the upcoming first half of Series 7.  Tip of the hat to Jayne Gudkov for linking to the blog on The Doctor Who Zone blog.

SL Grid Issues Over Weekend

As I posted yesterday, we had a roleplay battle to give New London's Dalek mothership one hell of a send-off.  Unfortunately, Second Life was experiencing major league grid issues that caused a roll back of the TARDIS region.  I was supposed to DJ a dance event at the New London Maldovarium, but the grid problems forced me (and pretty much everyone else) off line.  What's more, the region itself was rolled back to a slightly earlier time in the day, undoing most of the dismantling of the Dalek mothership.  This also resulted in my contest board and my favorite tip jar, both of which were no-copy, to be deleted forever.  Fortunately, I was able to buy a new contest board that is copy-permission and which has more textures to fit a wider range of color schemes.

So today we did another roleplay battle to re-destroy the Dalek mothership, which you can read about here.  And notices sent through the New London-affiliated groups presented a new Wordpress-based blog for New London.  The Doctor Who Zone blog will apparently still be maintained for relating Whovian-themed events, but the main focus now is on TARDIS region as a London-themed one with less emphasis on Doctor Who.  I doubt this will placate certain parties, but oh well.

Phoenix Industries owners Nonamei Scribe and Koschei Yuhara are in the process of moving to another city in real life, so they'll be off line most of the next week, appearing only sporadically until they are settled in their new place.  Any questions may be directed to Phoenix Industries group officers, or wait until Nonamei and Koschei return.  They're working on developing ground level for the mainland region they're on, so be sure to check the PI Support Group for updates.  To visit the Phoenix Industries main store, you can go here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Villeneuve/147/177/3497

We're also located in TARDIS region where the old Archangel Network stall used to be.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TARDIS/204/152/2690

I'll keep you updated on further developments.  See you later!

Dalek Battle in New London!

Sadly, SL grid issues have thoroughly trashed my scheduled DJ event at the Maldovarium in New London today.  People can't log in, teleport, receive notices or messages, and so forth.  BUT...we were able to hold a Dalek battle in the now ex-mothership, which culminated in the destruction of said mothership.  Here are some snapshots taken of the battle.

Poor Static got his fender blasted off!

Emergency!  Emergency!

Jane's getting tough!

Laredo's looking a little exposed...

Kill da mean ol' Time Lord!

A Tennoob dressed like a Smoob?

Gang up!

Raising shields!

Mayo is a real Boy Scout!

Who's on the run?

Wellzy rushes to assist!

"Exterminate!"

"Exterminate!  Annihilate!  Destroy!"

Left 'em smokin'!

Uh-oh!  Dalek exterminated!

As you can see, there wasn't much left of the place after the Time Lords got through with it.  What a mess, huh?  The Daleks got their encased backsides handed to them.  I'm gonna try to log on to SL again and see if the grid is back up.  Check back later for more updates!

Archangel Network Daleks Relaunch!

Archangel Network has relaunched its line of Dalek avatars!  These fully scripted models come with a variety of features, including rotating heads, sound effects, and a death ray that is compatible with New London Systems' upcoming Type 50 TARDISes.  Here are the ads.  Enjoy.  :^)

Variant colors, classic series avatars, and more coming soon from Archangel Network!

New Dalek Updates and Other News

It's been a while since the last update, but we're back with news regarding the latest Dalek avatar updates from Archangel Network.

The current line is a hybridization of the classic series Daleks and the Davies-era variety.  Color schemes range from gray to "Planet of the Daleks" supreme.  Also getting a revamp are the classic series Dalek avatars, which when they're finished will look much closer to those seen in their respective episodes.  Wellzy Horngold is working on getting the details right.  DALEK Jinx's AOs help make movement with the prim avatars run smoothly.

This latest update is the final one before proceeding to the next phase of the avatar development: sound effects HUDs.  I'll be working on working ray gun effects and opening-and-closing shells as well.

Locations of Archangel Network vendors are at A1 Sci-Fi Mall and at Spyker Enterprises.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TARDIS/223/229/2668

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Aloha%20Spirit%20Bay/141/116/25

I've also been invited to the group, The New Dalek Empire, where my Dalek-building skills will be promoted.  Thanks to the crew from that group.

Finally, many thanks go out to Kat Kassner, Laredo Lowtide, and all the residents, visitors, and friends of New London in Second Life's TARDIS region.  I'm now a regular DJ at their Travellers Rest Pub on Sundays.  This means I get to play my music library, and add to it as well when people make song requests.

Until the next update, cheers!

Archangel Network Releases Familiar, Yet New, Foes

At the Archangel Network stall in A1 Sci-Fi Mall are a new line of Dalek avatars by Archangel Mortenwold and DALEK Jinx, with help from Wellzy Horngold.  Standard chassis go for 250L$, and the emperor Dalek goes for 275L$.  Variant color schemes will be released later this week.

Freebie Items!

We have two freebie items from Archangel Network, the main vendor location for which is at TARDIS region.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TARDIS/223/227/2669

The first is a sonic screwdriver-inspired prop.  It is seventeen prims and has animated energy-flow textures.  A scripted version with cool special effects and other features is in the works.

Up next is a biggie.  It's a flying saucer inspired by the Dalek time ships from the RTD era of Doctor Who.  It is a mere nineteen prims, but it is quite large — 52x52 meters.  A smaller, 10x10 version will also be given out through the vendors later this week.  The saucer is no-modify.

If you like Doctor Who in Second Life and want some props to spruce up your land, these are good items to do just that.