Thursday, January 10, 2008

I went to bed around 1am, and slept until just a few minutes ago. I can probably get back to sleep...though I'm not sure that I want to. I should take my meds.

Ok. I'm gonna go on a long ramble about Doctor Who and the lists that I make for random fun. I'm just warning you that this entry isn't about anything else, so if you're not interested in this topic you can escape now. lol

People that know me well, know that have a good memory for random things. Well, part of that is that I have this compulsion to make lists of things. Just lists. I've never tried to stop because it doesn't hurt anyone; I think it's fun, and it helps me remember things. So...it's all good, isn't it?

Well I often make these lists of tv shows that I like; especially the more complicated ones. The ones where there are more than one show involved (Buffy/Angel, Star Trek) or where the timeline of the series is particularly dense with information (ALIAS). Sometimes this is very helpful, while sometimes this can ruin a series for me. It ruined ALIAS for me, because I found a glaring flaw during Season 3 that was never corrected, and was often referenced as fact when it couldn't be - and the characters should have known this.

Currently I make my lists of the new Doctor Whoniverse. That's the Doctor Who series that started in 2005, and it's spin-off shows: Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Because they all take place in the same universe, I think it's fun to try to figure out what order they go in. There are also bonus episodes here and there that you have to work out for yourself, which is also a fun challenge. And I know there are fans that try to squeeze in every book and comic as well, though I'm not one of those people; the continuity of the televised adventures is what matters to me.

So the first season of the New Who (or the 27th Season of Who overall) is fairly straight forward:

01 Rose
02 The End of the World
03 The Unquiet Dead
04 Aliens of London [Part I]
05 World War Three [Part II]
06 Dalek
07 The Long Game
08 Father's Day
09 The Empty Child [Part I]
10 The Doctor Dances [Part II]
11 Boom Town
12 Bad Wolf [Part I]
13 The Parting of the Ways [Part II]
14 Children In Need [Part III]
15 The Christmas Invasion [Part IV]

The present day episodes of thie first season mostly take place in 2006, though "Rose" is set in 2005.

Now, the first season actually ended with "The Parting of the Ways", and "The Christmas Invasion" which aired on Christmas 2005 was actually produced as part of Season 2, but the episode closes out the cliffhanger of "The Parting of Thw Ways" - and there's obviously a bit of time between this episode and the first episode of Season 2.

The "Children In Need" is actually a mini-episode that aired during the Children In Need Telethon. It bridges the minor gap between "The Parting of the Ways" & "The Christmas Invasion". There's a similar episode in Season 3. And there are Christmas Specials like "The Christmas Invasion" in every following season until 2008, and possibly in 2009 as well.

There was another holiday episode produced for 2005 called "Attack of the Graske", which was an interactive experience, in which the 10th Doctor spoke to the audience through their tv's and gave them the power of the sonic screwdriver through their remote controls - then they could make choices within the episode and see what happened. It was well done and everything, and fun, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it being included in my lists of the show - I mean, it didn't make any sense storywise where it aired. But it did feature a Slitheen, and it introduced the Graske who were later featured on an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, in which it seemed like this epsiode of Who was referenced - which kind of gave this episode more weight for me. I found a spot in Season 2 where this episode would actually support the continuity of the series. This season also had a Christmas Special that wrapped up the Season Finale so I always include that as well.

All the present day moments in Season 2 take place in 2007.

So Season 2 (or Season 28) goes like this...

01 New Earth
02 Tooth and Claw
03 School Reunion
04 The Girl In The Fireplace
05 Rise of the Cybermen [Part I]
06 The Age of Steel [Part II]
07 Attack of the Graske
08 The Idiot's Lantern
09 The Impossible Planet [Part I]
10 The Satan Pit [Part II]
11 Love & Monsters
12 Fear Her
13 Army of Ghosts [Part I]
14 Doomsday [Part II]
15 The Runaway Bride [Part III]

So...that's all sorted. But Season 3 is a bit more complex. Season 3 had another Christmas Special, another mini-episode, an animated episode, plus a season of Torchwood that featured a crossover. Parts of the story took place in 2007 & 2008, with the first 10 episodes of Torchwood taking place between last season's "Doomsday" & "The Runaway Bride". It's also odd to view Torchwood & Who together as Torchwood is mostly based in one time and place, while Doctor Who is skipping all about through time and space. I figured I had 3 rules to follow to make the season work as a whole. 1) I wanted to keep all multi-part stories together, as separating them annoys me. 2) To me, the animated episode, "The Infinite Quest" makes the most sense between the Doctor Who installments "Gridlock" & "Daleks In Manhattan". Others argue that it must take place later in the season, sometime between "The Lazarus Experiment" & "Utopia", but I strongly disagree. 3) The final 2 episodes of Torchwood Season 1 have to take place before the "Utopia" episode of Who. After following those basics I just kind of sorted it out the best I could. Like...it made sense to have a few Torchwood episodes between "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones" as it seems that a bit of time has passed for the Doctor, and that helps the audience feel that time lost. Also, I like the idea of "Smith and Jones" which introduces Martha Jones as the cousin of the character Adeola in "Doomsday" - directly referencing the events of that episode, viewed just before Torchwood's "Cyberwoman" episode which is another sequel to those same events.

Season 3 goes like this:

DW=Doctor Who
TW=Torchwood

01 TW Everything Changes
02 TW Day One
03 TW The Ghost Machine
04 DW Smith and Jones
05 TW Cyberwoman
06 DW The Shakespeare Code
07 TW Small Worlds
08 DW Gridlock
09 TW Countrycide
10 DW The Infinite Quest
11 TW Greeks Bearing Gifts
12 DW Daleks In Manhattan [Part I]
13 DW Evolution of the Daleks [Part II]
14 TW They Keep Killing Suzie
15 DW The Lazarus Experiment
16 TW Random Shoes
17 DW 42
18 TW Out of Time
19 DW Human Nature [Part I]
20 DW The Family of Blood [Part II]
21 TW Combat
22 DW Blink
23 TW Captain Jack Harkness [Part I]
24 TW End of Days [Part II]
25 DW Utopis [Part III]
26 DW The Sound of Drums [Part IV]
27 DW Last of the Time Lords [Part V]
28 DW Time Crash [Part VI]
29 DW Voyage of the Damned [Part VII]

"Time Crash" is this season's mini-episode, which takes place within the closing moments of "Last of the Time Lords"; expanding on that episode and explaining how the Season 3 cliffhanger is even possible. "Voyage of the Damned", the 2007 Christmas Special wraps up the season nicely. ;-0)

Now Season 4 is fast approaching, with episodes that take place in 2008 & 2009. The Sarah Jane Adventures, which aired late last year will be part of this season, as it's set in 2009 - so in a sense, Season 4 has already begun. Torchwood Season 2, which begins in just 6 days will also be part of this season, as well as Doctor Who Season 4, which begins in March or April. But it's hard to figure out how they all fit together until we actually have the episodes in question. Especially since we know there will be at least 2 crossovers between Doctor Who and Torchwood (Martha Jones & Captain Jack Harkness). And there are rumors that Sarah Jane will show up in the new Season of Who as well.

There have been 6 confirmed titles for Torchwood, 5 for Doctor Who, and all of the Sarah Jane Adventures. I hate waiting for episode titles. It drives me mad. lol. I can't believe I'm writing this all out. I really am quite insane. lol. But it makes me laugh.

The episode titles for the Sarah Jane Adventures are:

01 Invasion of the Bane
02 Revenge of the Slitheen, Part I
03 Revenge of the Slitheen, Part II
04 Eye of the Gorgon, Part I
05 Eye of the Gorgon, Part II
06 Warriors of Kudlak, Part I
07 Warriors of Kudlak, Part II
08 Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane? Part I
09 Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane? Part II
10 The Lost Boy, Part I
11 The Lost Boy, Part II

Confirmed titles for Torchwood Season 2 include the first 6 of 13:

01 Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
02 Sleeper
03 To The Last Man
04 Meat
05 Adam
06 Reset

"Reset" will feature the 1st appearance of former Doctor Who Companion Martha Jones on Torchwood. She'll be around for a total of 3 episodes, and will also be appearing in 5 episodes of Doctor Who's 4th Season. Captain Jack will also appear at the end of Season 4. And that's where Sarah Jane is rumored to appear as well.

Confirmed titles for Doctor Who Season 4 are as follows:

01 Partners In Crime
03 Planet of the Ood
04 The Sontaran Statagem [Part I]
06 Midnight
07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

Martha Jones will appear in episodes 4 & 5, and is rumored to appear in 11-13 along with Rose, Donna, and possibly Jack & Sarah Jane. There are even rumors of K9, Jackie & Pete Tyler, and Mickey Smith appearing, though only Jack, Rose, Martha & Donna have been confirmed. Following episode 13 there will be another Christmas Special. It's possible another mini-episode and/or animated adventure will also surface.

Aside from the Sontaran 2-parter, and the multi-part season ender, there will also be a 2 Part adventure written by Steven Moffat, who is my favorite Who writer; he previously wrote "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", "The Girl in the Fireplace", "Blink", & "Time Crash"; all of them astounding episodes - so I'm very excited about those, which would seem to be episodes 9 & 10 of the 4th Season.

Ok...I've been writing for like an hour now so I'm gonna stop here. lol. Sorry if I bored anyone along the way. But this is how my brain works sometimes. lol

   posted by Bald Jason at 08:34 AM
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