The Best (and Worst) Doctor Who of 2012

The io9 science blog published it's annual TV review of the year last week. The Best and Worst Television Moments of 2011, again from Meredith Woerner, features two recent Doctor Who stories. 

The season opener, Asylum of the Daleks is actually named as both one of the 'Best' and 'Worst' shows. The story is praised for the shock introduction of Jenna Louise Coleman as "the dazzling Oswin Oswald" then criticised for the Ponds' divorce storyline: "Amy and Rory pretend to fight for almost 25 seconds. This whole divorce.. was a sham.. [it] came from nowhere and went right back there.. [they] deserved better than this.. Amy sure as hell wouldn't "give up" Rory. If Amy has proven one thing, it's that she will fight to the bitter end for her centurion. Same goes for Rory. Boo to this facade of emotion."

Thankfully, the list of top sci-fi and fantasy programmes redeems the show, and includes Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, described as a "bit of fun before we had to say goodbye to the Ponds forever. This episode.. was a nice return to the "fun" Doctor, if only for a while."

Great Doctor Who Quotes #21

"There's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me, he's on his way..
There's a man who will never let us down. And not even an army can get in the way..
He's the last of his kind. He looks young but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years.
And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you'll never be alone..
Because this man is your father.. He has a name but the people of our world know him better.. as the Last Centurion."

- Amy Pond, A Good Man Goes to War (June 4th 2011)

Written by Steven Moffat

New SFX Magazine Poll

A new poll in the latest SFX magazine has been published to find readers' Top 100 Sci-Fi Icons of the 21st Century. The results include 10 characters from the Whoniverse/Torchwood, and the highlights are as follows:

• 85 - Martha Jones
• 82 - Rose Tyler
• 71 - Rory Williams
• 52 - Donna Noble
• 44 - Gwen Cooper
• 41 - Amy Pond
• 27 - River Song
• 5 - Ianto Jones
• 3 - Jack Harkness
• 2 - The Doctor

Many 'icons' come from brilliant BBC shows like Being Human, and Life On Mars, and that other giant of British culure, Harry Potter took the No. 7 slot. The highest placed American character was Buffy Summers, at No. 4. Obviously, as a Whovian I'm biased, but I was stunned to see that the No. 1 position is taken by Mal Reynolds of Firefly! At least Sheldon Cooper would be pleased.

Doctor Who: Ripper's Curse #2 Preview

Story - Tony Lee

Artwork - R P Rayner

Covers - T L Edwards (left) and Chris Samnee (right, courtesy of deviantart.com http://www.chrissamnee.com/2011/01/doctor-who-vol2-3-variant-cover.html)

Issued - March 2011

Part 2 of Ripper's Curse (Vol. 2, Issue 3): Jack the Ripper has been captured! The Doctor is in custody accused of the Whitechapel Murders, whilst the real killer is following Amy. What connects her to Mary Kelly, and how has Rory become chief of police?

The alternative, unused version of Samnee's cover was dropped by IDW because of the BBC's strict "no knives" policy (despite a story that centres around the grisly murder of prostitutes).

My favourite Doctor Who novel, Matrix, by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry, also presents the Doctor as a Ripper suspect.

Doctor Who: Ripper's Curse #1 Preview

Story - Tony Lee

Artwork - Richard Piers Rayner

Cover - Tommy Lee Edwards

Issued - February 2011

Published - IDW (Idea and Design Works), USA

(http://uk.io9.com/5781994/its-jack-the-ripper-vs-the-11th-doctor-in-this-exclusive-preview-of-the-doctor-who-comic)

The ongoing Doctor Who comic-book series from IDW presents part 1 of Ripper's Curse (Vol. 2, Issue 2): The TARDIS lands in the East End of London in 1888. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory soon become embroiled in the hunt for history's most infamous murderer, Jack the Ripper!

The Doctor has investigated the Whitechapel Murders before, in Matrix (BBC Books, 1998). Here, the Valeyard travels to Victorian London and assumes the identity of Jack. He uses the killings to power the Dark Matrix (a computer store of the TimeLords' evil impulses), and plans to unleash it's contents into the universe and gain himself a true body. The Seventh Doctor escapes the Valeyard's influence by sealing his conscious mind in the telepathic circuit of the TARDIS, and regains control in time to prevent Ace from becoming the Ripper's sixth victim.

Radio Times Doctor Who Poll

Weekly TV listings magazine Radio Times has today released the results of it's latest Doctor Who poll, and listed the Doctor's most popular travelling companions. Unsurprisingly, NuWho's first (and to date, the longest serving) companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) heads the survey. Runner-up, and old fan favourite, Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elizabeth Sladen since 1973) is the most loved Classic series assistant, closely followed by the ever popular K9 (voiced by John Leeson), both highly placed no doubt due to the success of CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), newest TARDIS crewmember Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and (thanks to Torchwood), Captain Jack (John Barrowman) complete the Top 6 positions. The full listing can be found at http://http://www.radiotimes.com/blogs/1103-doctor-who-billie-piper-rose-tyler-voted-best-companion/, and even includes the Doctor's helpers from the Specials. Guess who's ranked last at number 48? Anyway, here's the top 10:

1) Rose Tyler

2) Sarah Jane Smith

3) Donna Noble

4) K9

5) Amy Pond

6) Capt. Jack Harkness

7) Ace [McShane]

8) Leela of the Sevateem

9) Jo Grant

10) The Brigadier