I'm about to cross my timeline in the biggest way possible.

Evening all. If your reading this from anywhere other than the UK, then you are probably not aware that today is a public holiday here. Or a bank holiday as we call them, for reasons that still remain stubbornly opaque to me (actually, if anyone knows the answer to this, could they leave me a comment. Cheers). And on this bank holiday, as is traditional, the rain god has decided to catch up on all that flexi-time he owes and pull a double shift, which has given me an opportunity to have a bit of a mull today on The Time War (or The Last Great Time War if we're being exact). I've been having a think about this for over a week now after finishing Engines of War, which I really enjoyed, and started a little more reading vis-a-vis The Time War.

Now, it's an obvious point to make (and yes, I know I'm still making it) but after the events of Day of the Doctor, the Time War was always going to become ripe for plunder. And I'll be the first to admit that I am an absolute sucker for the mythological mists clearing and getting a view of events that were previously a mystery. Therein lies a problem for me. We all know that Gallifrey was subject, in storytelling terms, to a law of diminishing returns. My heart says MORE, but my old grey head, that has lived through cancellation gets very, very wary at the thought of the series having a touchstone to return to again and again.

Now, I don't think this will happen, but you never know. The point of all this though, is too ask a question. Russell made it quite clear that he believed that the events of Genesis of the Daleks was the Timelords firing their first shot across the Daleks bows and it's got me wondering if their are any other classic stories that could be looked at through the filter of the Time War and indeed if their events were influenced by the Time War reaching backwards and shaping events. Online histories of the War include the events in classic series Dalek stories, so why not others? I'm intrigued to hear any repiles you have.

Goodnight

Tony

You've Redecorated. I Don't Like It.

Well, I'm back.
I have, it has to be said, been very neglectful of my little blog and there are reason for that. Reasons I may, over the coming months, share with you or may not. They're not particularly juicy or scandalous but they are a distraction. I've started to realise that a distraction is needed from the afore mentioned distractions, so here I am.
A new era seems like a good time to make a return and it would be almost churlish to not make some comment on the new series, although, as it is something that is set to unfold over the coming months, I would rather keep my thoughts on this brief for the moment until there is a more complete picture.
I've now watched it twice and, looking at it from the perspective of a Doctor's debut, the shift in tone from "The Eleventh Hour" to "Deep Breath" is quite marked. The stand out moment, strangely enough, is an  absence of any declaration of intent. There is no "I am definitely a madman with a box" moment, no need to to sum up the new Doctor in a soundbite, which points to a greater level of confidence coming from the entire production team. This is not to criticise The Eleventh Hour, which I adore, but does point to a confidence in the production team that allows the Doctors  new identity to remain a undefined. To not give the game away first go.
The story, whilst not earth shattering by any stretch, does it's job well. Its job, in this instance, is to create just enough space for the two principles to shine(and I think it's fair to say they both share the limelight). Peter Capaldi does a fabulous job in not giving too much away, whilst at the same time inhabiting the Doctor and starting the process of showing us a new Doctor. Jenna Coleman, meanwhile, is allowed to give an entirely new interpretation of Clara, and this is all for the better. Her scene were she is under threat of torture, but still standing up to the cyborg is superb and her constant looking and looking away gives a real tangible sense of fear. The pacing is markedly different, with longer, dialogue heavy scenes replacing the breathlessness that marked season 7. The Paternoster Gang are on their usual reliable form and their growing resemblance to the UNIT family makes the "Here we go again" comment from Madam Vastra seem like more than just a passing nod to the past.
My final thought is about the new titles, or more specifically the music. I noticed what seems to be a Joe Meek vibe running through the whole thing, with it's vibrato tones. Now Joe Meek cuts an interesting figure when viewed through the prism of Doctor Who. Joe Meek was a gay man heavily influenced by the space race, the occult and ideas of the future. The fact that he inhabits almost exactly the same spaces as large swathes of Doctor Who fandom makes the idea of the accidental adoption of a theme tune in almost precisely the same style as his tenuous indeed. In fact, Stuart Maconie, in his excellent The Peoples Songs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l9qb8 makes the point that both Meek and Doctor Who sprang from the same very fertile soil of early 60's fascination with both technology and the space race.
I think that that is all from me for tonight. It's late and I need to turn in.
Night folks and thanks for reading.

A Slight Return

First, apologies for the delay. It has been a difficult few weeks, with a technology collapse at work dovetailing neatly with a behavioural collapse from my youngest son. Ah yes, my youngest. I don't think I have mentioned him yet. You see, in essence this blog is about him and for him. He is 7 years old and diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and it was whilst my wife and I were digging down into the autism mine for his diagnosis that we first struck the seam that apparently runs from father to son. Yep he got it, because I've got it. Beats inheritance tax everytime when it comes to shit things to pass on to your children. But why does this make the blog for him? Simple. Anything that puts the contents of my head in order and allows me to communicate better, is better for him. And I owe him at least that, because communication is the absolute black heart of all the problems that come with being on the spectrum.

Just recently we have had to go to his school, to discuss his behaviour and try to work out a plan to help him. And what seems to have come shining through in all of this, is anxiety. It's a constant black cloud over his life and what seems to make it worse is that all he can do when he gets anxious is run away. He runs away from everything that worries him. Spiders, loud noises, the written form of the English language. You name it, he legs it. And we need to find a better way for him to communicate these anxieties to us. But more importantly we need to find a translation tool that allows him to communicate without burning up lactic acid. The problem lies in the fact that, with myself being on the spectrum as well, finding a way to cut out some of the interference in my head just doubles the amount of work necessary to help him. And that, to some degree, sums up the point of this blog. Catharsis for me, catharsis for him.

Now, this is both my apologetic entry and my worthy entry. I'm going to post twice today (swoons), the other entry actually being about Doctor Who. So if the pills and scotch haven't made your vision swim too much, have a read and tell me what you think.

Today I had a most terrible epiphany. Truly awful. I realised that Back To The Future is, in large part, a conformist, right-wing wet dream. And just to add another scoop of self loathing, I STILL LOVE IT.

Let me give you a little background. I have, for a large part of my life been on the left of the political spectrum, mellowing slightly with age. Still, if you ask me who in this world needs looking after, it will always be the poor and not multinationals. Fine, the system gets abused, but better that than child poverty is my way of thinking.
The thing is, before I became interested in politics in any way, I loved Back to the Future. And it's only upon recent re-assessment of it that I have really begun to realise just how skewed my own critical facilties are when brought into direct contact with something I really enjoy. Let's just take a moment to examine why anyone could suddenly consider this example of cinematic breathless wonder an icon of conservative exclusion.
First, it's extraordinary anti-intellectualism. Biff might be the "baddie", but all of the films scorn is aimed squarely at it's two boffins. And even here there is a form of favouritism. Doc is a dilettente but is at least allowed a death and redemption (Pertwee, anyone?) but poor old George McFly? He's not just a science geek, he's a writer too! Could he be any gayer (yes I know he's Marty's father, but we are in strict Malboro smoking, blue collar territory here).There seems to be a genuine pleasure in his humiliation. Even Marty, his own son, doesn't actually want to help him. He just wants to save himself. If anyone wants an insight into how geekdom was viewed before the current incursion of interlopers, look no further. George McFly tells you all you need to know.
Second, how characters win. Basically by punching. George McFly is a humiliated doormat throughout until he learns to stop using that pesky brain of his and start swinging. And then? He gets the girl. He gets to be class president. And, this being the 80's and all, he gets a Beamer. Stop Thinking, Start Winning. I think I've just defined the 80's. Even when Marty get's back, his brother, defined as a loser because he delivers pizza, is now a winner because he works in an office. Thats winning? And his sister is no longer a loser because men like her. Hooray for them.
I should really, really hate this film. Just about everything that I loathe in life is championed as a virtue here. Intellect has to be beaten or ridiculed, being poor is BAD, and happiness comes in German, car-shaped boxes.
So why is it so bloody wonderful. I love it like I love my limbs. In fact I love it so much, it's taken the best part of thirty years to actually think about it in any subjective manner.
Even my wife only got 5 years.

I've just finished listening to a couple of Tom Baker audio's today (Sands of Time and War Against The Laan) and it's got me thinking about a relatively untouched subject. The Doctor before your Doctor. You see, Peter is still (and probably always will be) my favourite Doctor. The reasons for this will be dealt with at a different time, but for most of us, I think it's probably the case that we came to Doctor Who young. I think that for a lot us The Doctor before ours always carries a little of the dark stranger about him. And this feels true even with a figure as iconic as Tom Baker. I drank in the Davison era in a way I had never done with anything before, and even today feel a sense of belonging to Davison era Who in a way that isn't quite repeated anywhere else (although McCoy does come close).
The point of all this is, I suppose, that I felt, coming off the back of these two audios, that I'm still unable to actively engage in the Tom era. And that's not to criticise that era in any way. If you ask my head it's favourite story, you get Brain of Morbius. Ask my heart and you get Castrovalva. In a way that is enormously difficult to communicate, an era wraps itself around you, to the point where it's flaws can become an irrelevance. And it also has a way of affecting your relationship to the previous era. For years I felt it strange that the era that gave us Ark in Space, and Talons and Genesis wasn't my favourite, like I was missing something. How could I prefer the era that contained Time-Flight or Warriors of the Deep? And the answer. Well, the answer is completely unimportant.
Don't ask why you love, just love.

Sunday 9th June 2013

Yes, You'll Always Find Him In The Kitchen At Parties

I have decided that, rather than starting this by raking over the barely glowing embers of the past, I will, instead, start by peering myopically into the near future. The reason for this is because, I, at the grand old age of 42, am going to my first convention. And I'm terrified.

Now I'm sure that to the two people (and one of them includes me) who are currently reading this I sound ridiculous. But the problem is, I'm going on my own. You see, I understand at a basic level that other people probably don't enjoy going into a room full of strangers alone, but that's really something in the abstract. For me, the feeling of dread when it comes to the horror of small talk is palpable, a sweaty-palmed, near-nausea inducing panic that has, for the past 30 years, kept me away from conventions and from the larger swell of fandom in general. Don't get me wrong, this isn't isolated to Doctor Who. This is something I've had to deal with since forever. The big difference seems to be that, since I went through the diagnosis process, or to put it another way, since I gained some context on my past, I now feel ready to reclaim some of that past that this condition has stolen from me. Hence, I'm going to a convention.

Doctor Who, has, for me, been an intensely private matter for many years and the big problem looming at the heart of this conundrum is this; I don't know how to be a fan. No clue. Not the first idea. Certainly not around other fans. Now, I can imagine the chorus of "just go and enjoy yourself" being shouted at me right now, but imagine going to a family wedding, where every person in the room knows every other person in the room, and they have all known each other for over thirty years. That's what going into a room with new people feels like to me. A minefield of unspoken rules and etiquette, everyone working from a body language script that I'm unable to read. Or to put it another way, HELP!

What I would like from you lovely folk are some do's and don't's, some obvious "making a tit of yourself" avoidance schemes, especially when you meet someone from the series at a meet and greet (Sophie and Fraser specifically).

And one last thing. I am SOOOOO excited about going I can hardly type.

It's Only Words

Saturday 8th June 2013

It's Only Words

How can the prospect of typing some words be so terrifying? Really? Just some words. I use them all the time. Lots of them. Anyway...

Let me introduce myself. My name is Tony Macklin and I am:-

a) A Doctor Who fan 

b) Autistic

c) A Husband and Father.

There's no order of importance to the above, but they do, as a whole, give a small insight into who I am and more importantly why I am writing this blog.

I have recently become a great fan of Philip Sandifer's Eruditorum site,http://www.philipsandifer.com/ and find his continuing cultural analysis of Doctor Who an unending source of fascination. One thing I keep noticing is how much I seem to have missed in terms of sub- and para-text. This stems from the facts of my autism. Both myself and my youngest son have Asperger Syndrome and, broadly speaking, sub-text and nuance are something of a closed book to us both. The strange thing is, I still love Doctor Who every bit as much as someone who sees the underlying text as plain as the nose on their face. And this is what I aim to explore on this blog, why the two ends meet in the middle. Doctor Who from the point of view of an autistic kid, who only found out he was autistic at the age of forty one (that's last year by the way). The Scottish girl in the English village. Off we go.