Ode to the Universe

Continuing my week/month/year/lifetime [delete as you think appropriate] of Doctor Who obsession, yesterday I was fortunate enough to find myself in the Royal Albert Hall for the Doctor Who Prom. I was excited when I first heard that there was going to be a Doctor Who themed Prom as part of the BBC’s Prom season, so I applied for tickets and headed down to London early Sunday morning to take my seat in a packed arena.

The programme was a mix of music, mostly pieces from the series composed by the brilliant Murray Gold, but interspersed with some well known classical pieces which all seemed to fit the intergalactic theme; there was Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man to open the proceedings, along with Ride of the Valkyries (complete with the four horn players in horned helmets), Jupiter from Holst’s Planet Suite and Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets (those last two both always remind me of steam trains!).

The whole thing was introduced by Freema Agyeman, with help from Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, an unexpected appearance from Catherine Tate (she wasn’t in the programme), and Julian Bleach complete in full Davros make-up. There were also regular appearances amongst the audience by Cybermen, Ood (who stood with arms raised at several points, in a circular building, echoing the episode), Judoon and Sontarans, which gave the younger ones something to watch while the orchestra was playing non-Who music (All the music from the series was accompanied by clips from the show, which I felt was a shame as it meant we didn’t get the close-ups of the orchestra on the screens at that point). And there was a wonderful moment when a Dalek appeared on stage to announce that they had travelled back in time to kidnap Henry Woodso that  “from now on the Proms will only play DALEK MUSIC”, which made me chuckle!

There was also the specially filmed scene, Music of the Spheres. In this the Doctor, with help from a Graske, found a portal in the Tardis which allowed him to speak directly to the Albert Hall. I have to give credit to both Russell T Davies writing and David Tennant’s performance in that they had the timing of the audience’s responses to a T. The scene was brought to life more by the appearance of the Graske on stage (armed with a waterpistol to terrorise the orchestra) and the Doctor’s composition being thrown through the ‘portal’ so sheets of music floated onto the stage to be grabbed and handed round by the orchestra. There was also a wonderful message about music being for everyone (not just orchestras and pop stars) and how you just need to listen to hear the music within you. All good fun, which seemed to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

But for most of the morning the music was from the series, by composer Murray Gold (conducted by Ben Foster), and it was this that I’d come to see performed. And it was beautifully performed – from the opening ooo’s of Melanie Pappenheim’s vocals to the closing crescendo of the theme tune, it was all superb. I appreciate this music when it is used in the show, but to experience it live was a hairs on the back of the neck moment (and a few teary ones). Highlights for me were the Doomsday music, the Dalek and Davros themes (with added Dalek on stage seemingly conducting the orchestra) and the stunningly beautiful Song of Freedom from this year’s series (the Ood episode and Journey’s End, which I’ve mentioned I loved then) which was made all the more special by the child sitting next to me, who can’t have been more than four, holding his Tardis-shaped programme and turning it round and round, as though in flight. That’s the magic of Doctor Who!

What a Con!

Yesterday I went to my first convention in a very long time. My last convention experience hadn’t been great, so it took something very special to entice me back into the world of cons. And what was promised at the London Film and Comic Con was indeed very special – all three Goodies together! That (together with a couple of other people I would like to see) persuaded me to buy a ticket and so on Saturday morning I arrived, with C, at Earls Court a bundle of excitement and anticipation.

First stop was the talks venue. I knew The Goodies were doing a talk first thing and so queued up to get in, spotting some Giddies on the way. It was rather confusing trying to find the seats, but soon we were all ready and waiting. But it started with a rather disappointing message – Graeme Garden wasn’t able to be there, which was sad. But the other two were there and were welcomed on stage. Most of the half hour was taken up by Robert Ross asking the guys questions about various aspects of The Goodies, which left only a few minutes at the end for questions from the audience.

After the talk ended we were milling around a bit, trying to decide what to do, when we noticed Tim was still at the front of the auditorium talking to Jenny (from GROK). We waved and wandered over to say hello. We all chatted for a little while before people for the next talk started to appear, so we all walked back across the hall with Tim, commenting on his escort of six young (ish!) females!

Most of the signing tables were across the back of the hall, and I was very pleased to spot that right next to the Goodies was Peter Davison (one of my favourite Doctors), so I was quite happy to spend time standing around that end of the hall. Although there was a moment of sadness when they took Graeme’s picture down from behind the desk where he would have been.

Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering round spotting people like John Hurt and Christopher Lloydwalking past, seeing who else was at the other signing tables (and telling C which episodes of Doctor Who some of them had been in!), and looking at the stalls. I was very impressed with myself for not buying anything, although I already have far more Doctor Who stuff than I could ever really need! And it was with fangirlish glee that I spotted the Tardis on display, with a new series Cyberman posing for photos and stomping around scaring small children. I was also quite impressed with the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

During the afternoon we spent ages waiting for the queue for Bill and Tim to go so that we could talk to them (there’s strict rules on not talking to guests if you’re not buying an autograph and there are other people who want to, and I didn’t want to break the rules!) As it had been Tim’s birthday a couple of days before I had made cakes (just an excuse really – I enjoy baking cakes!), which we shared. And Jenny had made a card, so it was a proper mini celebration.

The highlight of my day has to be meeting Peter Davison. I’d been keeping an eye on the queue to see him, debating whether or not I had the courage to meet him. I noticed the queue dropped to just a couple of people and took a deep breath and joined it, before I changed my mind. To quote Steven Moffat, “he was my Doctor” and to be able to meet him took me right back to being six again. Only he wasn’t on the telly, he was there, right in front of me, signing my DVD cover! The Doctor!! I didn’t really get to talk to him as I couldn’t actually speak, let alone string a coherent sentence together. Afterwards I struggled to put the cover back in the DVD case as my hands were still trembling so much! (Actually the real highlight might have been in the queue waiting to see him, oblivious to what was going on, when C pointed out that Tim was standing behind Peter’s desk, hands on hips, looking quite put out that I had gone to see someone else!)

A final wander round the hall to see if my photo was ready (it wasn’t) brought us back to the signing desks to find Bill and Tim had gone! But as we were walking past some of the stalls we noticed Tim walking towards us, so there was just time to ask for a quick hug (can’t not have a hug!). After which a random girl rushed up and asked Tim is she could have a hug too, then another asked the same thing – like moths to a flame! Then it was time for goodbyes before I went to collect my photo and head home, very tired.

The End

Doctor Who – Journey’s End

So the Doctor bypasses a full regeneration by syphoning off the regenerative energy into his hand in the jar – what a surprise (we never saw that one coming, even with the big, unnecessary close-ups of said jar)!

More excitingly Sarah Jane is saved by dimension-jumping Micky and Jackie. armed with dalek blasting guns. Meanwhile back at Torchwood, Ianto and Gwen are saved by a time bubble defense system that Tosh created (while it’s nice continuity to name-check a past team member, I wonder if it confused some of the little kids who don’t watch the series?)

Everyone ends up in the dalek crucible – the Tardis is taken and Sarah, Micky and Jackie surrender. The Doctor, Rose and Jack go out to talk to the daleks. But Donna gets trapped in the Tardis, with its systems down, which is plunged into the fiery heart of the dalek ship. Do Donna and the Tardis perish? No, because there’s still power in that handy jar which, once Donna touches it, unfathomably grows into a whole extra Doctor (only he’s part human – only one heart – but let’s not start that one again) who can pilot the Tardis away in order to save the day.

Much plotting from the Doctor’s companions kills some time before they’re all brought to the dalek crucible to witness the destruction of the Universe. But they haven’t figured on the second Doctor and Donna who, at the last minute rush in to save the universe, destroy the daleks and return all of the missing planets, except Earth, back to where they belong. How? Well, it seems Donna got a bit of Time Lord brainpower when she touched the hand and became all clever.

The Universe saved, it’s just up to the Doctor to use the Tardis, with full compliment of six pilots, to tow the Earth back and return everyone to their rightful place. He takes Rose and Jackie back to the alternative universe (Micky had elected to stay in ours – he said there was nothing left for him in the other), back to Bad Wolf Bay to again say goodbye. Only this time he was physically leaving part of himself with Rose – the other Doctor, who needed her care and guidance (and love) while she would have a version of him who would grow old with her. All a very convenient and, hopefully, final end to that chapter of the Doctor’s adventures.

So the Doctor heads off again with Donna. Only he has to take her home. The transfer thing in her brain was killing her, so he has to wipe her mind of all trace of him before leaving her in the safe care of her family. There’s a lovely moment with Wilf, just before the Doctor leaves, where he says that he’ll keep watching the skys for the Doctor, on Donna’s behalf. The Doctor sets off alone, again.

There was such a lot going on in this episode, almost too much at times, with the Doctor, clone Doctor, seven companions (now that’s a crowded Tardis!), Davros, daleks and Luke and the Torchwood team on Earth. But there were some great moments – the banter between the Doctor and Davros was as good as it has ever been, a meeting of great minds, and echoed their first meeting in Genesis. There was also a wonderful reaction from Sarah Jane to seeing Davros again, and he recognised her too. Another highlight was the Tardis being piloted by everyone, pulling the Earth home, not just because it was a moment in which to see all the companions in the Tardis being happy, but there was some amazing music from Murray Gold to accompany it (it was based on the freedom Song of the Odd, which I had liked so much earlier in the series).

But the finest moment has to be Bernard Cribbins character Wilf and his watching the skys speech. It’s sad that we probably won’t see his character again. If ever someone deserved a flight in the Tardis …