Doctor Who Project - Catching up

Wow I'm rubbish at this. I did honestly watch the remaining episodes and I watched them several months back too, just didn't get round to writing about them. I'm so bad with this blogging lark that we've had a 50th anniversary special which introduced a new Doctor, Captain Grumpy aka "The War Doctor" and Matt Smith's Doctor has aged several hundred years and regenerated into Peter Capaldi. Which reminds me... KIDNEYS!! Sorry, it's like tourettes, love that opening line especially as it was delivered in Capaldi's native Scottish accent and with a manic frenzy. Really can't wait to see more of the "13th" Doctor. Hmm not sure I agree with that title, he will always be the 12th in my eyes as John Hurt's Doctor was explicitly referred to as the "War Doctor". Anyhoo I digress.

Series 4

By far Tennant's best series in the role (before RTD ruined it all with the overdrawn farewell tour of the specials especially "End of Time"). As I have so many episodes to get through I think I'd best do a quick review for each one:

• Partners in Crime - Great fun little opener and Donna's back this time full time! Wish Adipose existed, I'd happily take it. RTD's time on Doctor Who is littered with social comments from the over reliance on Sat Navs, cosmetic surgery (the Lady Cassandra) etc and this is no different with Davies mocking the diet industry and get slim quick schemes. Reminds me of Peter Kay's sketch "14 stone in a day!".
• The Fires of Pompei - Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi in the same episode! Ok episode mostly memorable for the mention of specific events like Pompei being "time locked" as well as The Doctor playing God and saving Capaldi's family. Bit of foreshadowing for the "Time Lord Victorious"? More of that to come. Good Donna story.
•  Planet of the Ood - The Ood make a welcome return (as if the title didn't give it away!) although we may have grown tired of seeing them before series 5. Plenty of character development for the Ood here although they're a race rather than just one singular character (then again they are very interchangeable). Quite a good story with a serious point to make but not one of my favourite Tennant stories.
• The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky - The return of the spudlike warmongering minute clone race. The first time I saw this episode was the first time I'd come across the Sontarans. I've since seen a few 'Classic Who' Sontaran stories and this is quite a weak one in comparison especially compared to their debut in 'The Time Warrior'. Martha's back too and now she works for UNIT who again pale in comparison to their 'Classic Who' counterparts. Boy genius Luke Rattigan is annoying and the point of us all being over reliant on sat navs (including a scene where it drives itself into a pond which in itself seems to have become just as associated with sat navs) and pollution is a bit heavy handed. The Sontarans come off as stupid and comedy villains although unlike the Cybermen it kind of suits them given their diminutive stature. Moffat however has proven with his use of the recurring Sontaran character Strax that the Sontarans work better as single characters played for laughs rather than some evil race intent on taking over the planet.
• The Doctor's Daughter - Featuring an actual Doctor's (Peter Davison) daughter Georgia Moffat (no relation to Steven Moffat) and now mother to another Doctor's (David Tennant) child, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Interesting concept exploring the possibility of The Doctor being a Father (although his first ever companion Susan was his Grandaughter!) even if she was produced from his DNA rather than the traditional method of err being produced from his DNA. You know what I mean! Just a shame we never get to see the eponymous daughter "Jenny" again. Oh and Martha's in this episode too.
• The Unicorn and the Wasp - Continuing the theme of The Doctor meeting celeb history figures (Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, Charles Dickens et al) this story sees The Doctor and Donna in the middle of an Agatha Christie style 'whodunnit' plot with wait for it Agatha Christie, cue references and gags centered around Agatha Christie's work. The story is supposedly a straight out comedic episode but mostly fails to deliver on that part. Additionally the story and the monster are also quite weak it's no wonder Agatha Christie forgets the events (although The Doctor shows Donna that she subconsciously remembers parts of it by brandishing a copy of one of her books with a wasp on the cover).
• Silence in the Library/Planet of the Dead - RIVER SONG! I should end the review of this story right there but that would be an injustice. One of the all time greatest 'New Who' stories ever. This story introduces the character of River Song, a character like no other as she knows The Doctor (quite intimately it's implied) but he's never met her before. She has her own sonic device that The Doctor gave her and she even knows his name. Just as well Moffat took over as showrunner because with a build up like this we needed to know more about her. The story also features the creepy spacesuit villians in the form of the Vashta Nerada as well as an alternative (digital) world where people are "saved" once they've been bumped off by the Vashta Nerada. This is a brilliant story that allows Donna to explore her own story whilst The Doctor is introduced to River and ultimately the two come together when he saves her in this digital world.
• Midnight - Another great story that is atmospheric and creepy yet so simple. The Doctor decides to go on a little space tour which of course breaks down before some being gets onboard and possesses  one of his fellow travellers. The idea of the "monster" repeating what everyone is saying before saying it simultaneously then speaking before them is so simple yet so brilliant. It evokes childhood memories of repeating what people say to wind them up then takes it to another level. It very quickly moves from annoying to scary. Oh look out for another Doctor's (the 2nd Doctor) offspring in this episode ie David Troughton as well as Merlin (Colin Morgan).
• Turn Left - A 'what if?' story. Another simple idea and suprisingly a Doctor light episode (this along with Blink actually works) exploring the idea of Donna never meeting The Doctor. The Doctor dies and subsequently Earth is attacked several times with no one to defend it. The story proves to Donna what The Doctor keeps on telling her that she isn't just some temp from Chiswick, she is incredibly important. Of course all this building up can only mean one thing and with a series finale on the way you can guess what it will be! Rose also makes a return in this episode which I'm sure they could've gotten around, why keep bringing her back. Her story is finished, just let it rest.
• The Stolen Earth/Journey's End - Yet another example of RTD going for the epic finish to a series then cocking it up with the concluding part. Why does every series under Russell T Davies have to go for the bigger is better spectacular ending? Why always the Daleks too?! Hated seeing all the companions and hanger ons (Torchwood, Harriet Jones etc) all coming together like the bloody Scooby gang. This story is also the reason why Matt Smith is supposedly the 13th incarnation of The Doctor (because 10 had vanity issues! LOL). The Doctor/Donna idea is a bit silly as well as the extra "handy" Doctor grown from the hand of the 10th Doctor lost whilst battling the Sycrorax in the 'Christmas Invasion'. Of course the extra Doctor means that Rose can go and have her happy ending in a parallel universe. Pass me a sick bucket! To add to the misery The Doctor then has to wipe Donna's mind so she no longer remembers him or their adventures. FFS RTD! Worst series finale since the reboot.

As I said earlier Donna is a great companion, ok I've not exactly sold her very well above but she's awesome. Firstly she's not pining over The Doctor unlike Rose and Martha, she's not even remotely interested in him (get the impression she prefers guys with a bit more meat on them! LOL). She's intelligent, funny and definitely more than a match for him. There's something about the older companion that definitely works in this case. There just best mates seeing the universe together and she helps him get over Rose (something Martha could never really do), just a shame they bring her back again at the end of the series to spoil it all!

Ok now that's done, let's have a look at the specials.

The "Specials"

After 4 years in the role David Tennant decided to take on a new challenge in the form of Hamlet amongst other roles. As a result he couldn't commit to the role full time and filmed several 'specials' throughout 2009 before regenerating into the excellent Matt Smith.

• The Next Doctor - Playing with the idea that we don't yet know who the next Doctor will be David Morrissey's "Doctor" even has Tennant's Doctor going for a bit before he works out what has happened. This is a fun episode ruined only by the crap (yet again) Cybermen.
• Planet of the Dead - What a great companion The Lady De Souza would have made. Also Lee Evans as Bernard, brilliant. The story and the villains are a bit crap which is a shame. Oh and he will knock 4 times.
• The Waters of Mars - Now this is more like it! Another 'time locked' event where the Doctor intervenes this time it goes wrong and still results in the death of Adelaide (after she gives him an ear bending. The monsters are great too although the Ood make another appearance at the end.
• The End of Time - Oh dear God, why? This could've been so much more better though to be fair RTD didn't have a great track record with finales. Yet again he goes for the epic spectacular and then overdoes it with sentiment. The Master is awful in this story. Firstly they bring him back with magic potions then he develops super powers and a flashing skull face. The Naismiths are bumbling idiots as are the cactus aliens. There's a massive fall from a spaceship that doesn't even affect Tennant's Doctor yet a fall from a much smaller height killed off Tom Baker's Doctor! Just as things couldn't get any worse RTD throws in the kitchen sink and brings back the Time Lords with some mystery woman who may or may not be The Doctor's Mum (it's never explained) however it's not The Doctor that saves the day but The Master by taking out the Time Lords. This story isn't all bad, The Doctor sacrifices himself to save Wilf (Donna's Grandad) and there's a great scene with them chatting in the cafe as well as on the spaceship however all this is undone with the ending. As I said above RTD overdoes the sentiment as Tennant goes on a farewell tour, saying goodbye to all his former companions before uttering "I don't want to go", get over yourself! Four years on and this line still irks me! Tennant's farewell could've been handled so much more better but instead we get this crapfest. Kind of sums up Tennant's era all over, some moments of brilliance ruined with some cringeworthy scenes and awful series finales.

So there it is the whole RTD era covered. Of course Matt Smith's run has come to an end so I have the option of covering that too, maybe later. Re-watching these episodes has made me realise just how "fantastic" Christopher Eccleston was and that David Tennant wasn't as great as I once thought (ok Matt Smith's awesome portrayal may have slightly influenced this!) not that he was bad in the role. I think a lot of  the downsides with Tennant's Doctor were the quality of the stories (particularly series finales) and the relationship with Rose especially as this should've been tied up at the end of series 2 instead of bringing her character back time and time again. There's also the whiney emo side to Tennant's Doctor too that's perfectly encapsulated in the line "I don't want to go". Yeah because you really were the centre of the universe, so much so that your regeneration almost destroyed the TARDIS. FFS. The minute or so of Matt Smith at the end of 'End of Time' was such a welcome relief. It really shouldn't be like that, I should be sad to see a Doctor go not happy (although  it's always great to see a new Doctor). In my eyes Tennant isn't the worst Doctor (he's still above McCoy and Colin Baker as well as poor McGann due to limited TV stories - thank you so much Moffat for the Night of the Doctor) but he's far from my favourite. I'm sure that last line will upset a few fan girls and boys. Oh well.

Doctor Who Project - 'Voyage of the Damned' aka the Kylie Christmas Special

Martha's gone, The Master's been defeated and The Doctor's left holding a life ring from the Titanic screaming "What? What? What?". The next thing we know David Tennant is chatting away to Kylie Minogue who's dressed in a maid's outfit (think a lot of men's Christmas wishes came true right there).

To be honest that was probably the highlight of this episode, that and Bernard Cribbins cameo. Richard Bucket from Keeping up Appearances was annoying with his off the mark Earth facts. The rest of the supporting cast were just as bad. There was the 'big' couple who were there just to make fat jokes, the red conker and the smarmy rich guy who ended up making money out of the whole catastrophe. Sums it all up. Even the baddie was crap. Some bald eye-patched guy's head on a steam punk version of Davros' life support system. His big plan was to crash the Titanic and claim the insurance (or something like that, I stopped paying attention by this point to be honest) and live in luxury for the rest of his life. Yeah it was that bad!

Oh well series 4 to come.

Oh one last thing, The Doctor trying to save Kylie after she fell to her death felt a bit like how he rescues River Song in 'The Silence in the Library' (the 1st time The Doctor meets River and the last time she 'meets' him, whilst alive anyway!). Oh wait that hasn't happened yet has it? Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey and maybe a little foreshadowing for next series (4 aka the Donna series that is).

Onwards and upwards. Alons-y!

Had to be done!

Doctor Who Project - Series 3 finale - Blink, Utopia, The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords

Okay, it's been a while since I last watched a Tennant episode. So much for my project! With an afternoon and no plans I decided to put the Series 3 Volume 3 DVD and finally re-watch 'Blink'. This was after I'd re-watched 'Genesis of the Daleks' and before I knew it it had turned into a marathon ending with the 2007 Christmas special 'Voyage of the Damned' aka the Titanic/Kylie Christmas special.

So without further delay here's my thoughts on the last few episodes of series 3:

Blink

Classic episode and for good reason too. This is one of the few if only times a new Who monster warrants a return. It's hard to believe that The Doctor is hardly in this story. 'Blink' is one of those stories that have now been affectionately known as a 'Doctor light episode'. On top of that you've got Carey Mulligan, yes that Carey Mulligan as well as some classic lines like "The angels have the phone box. I've got that on a tshirt." and of course "wibbly wobbly, timey wimey". 'Blink' is clever, well written, well acted  and well err just brilliant all round. It's definitely one of the best episode since the show's return and was probably the main reason why Moffat got the big job. Go and watch it if you haven't seen it yet.

Utopia

Captain Jack's back. Meh. Never really cared for Captain Jack anyway but RTD couldn't just leave him alone. Also do face tattoos, dodgy teeth and body piercing now make you non human? Then there's Chan - Can't say anything without it being bracketed by the beginning and end of her name which becomes really annoying after the 2nd or 3rd time you hear it - tho. What saves this episode though is the excellent Derek Jacobi as Professor Yana (You Are Not Alone) and Martha's realisation that he has a fog watch just like The Doctor's ie the Chameleon Arch pocket watch. After hearing a few recognisible terms Professor Yana becomes so curious that he opens the watch and lets Hell loose. Just like opening the fog watch in 'The Family of Blood' the professor is restored to his true Time Lord self only this time it's not one of the good ones, it's only The Doctor's arch nemesis (well one of them anyway) The Master. There's also the small matter of the last humans boarding a rocket to utopia. Like I said small matter but thought I'd mention it as it plays a role in the finale.

The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords

Possibly one of the worst series finales since 2005. Here's why: Martha's family, references to 'The Lazarus Experiment' and 'The Christmas Invasion', the Toclafane (WTF?!), the perception filter working on everyone but The Master, The Master's bad taste in music, the Americans coming in and stealing our (Brirtish) thunder, Martha walking the Earth, the resolution (who would have thought everyone thinking the same word at the same time would have that effect), a flying aircraft carrier, the big reset at the end so that the past year didn't exist (the effect with the Earth reversing seemed a bit Superman 2) and worst of all the old (Dobby) Doctor. Awful awful episode. Think The Doctor sums it up best when he says "What? What? What?" at the end of this story (albeit because he's just been struck by what appears to be the Titanic!).

Doctor Who Project - 'Human Nature/The Family of Blood'

So here it is the first of three excellent new Who episodes in a row and what a start. The Doctor's rewritten his DNA, hiding his Time Lord self in a pocket watch we're reliably told is a chameleon arch (RTD sowing the seeds for later episodes). He's also (unknown to himself) disguised himself as an early 20th century boys boarding school teacher, falling in love with the school's matron (aka Fat Cheryl from The Royale Family). Of course there's a reason why The Doctor's gone to such lengths, the family of Blood.

What makes this story so compelling is the Doctor/John Smith conflict. As the human John Smith, The Doctor has fallen in love with the school's Matron Joan and has a happy life. There's no reason why he should believe the things that Martha tells him, despite his dreams that he's logging in a scarily accurate journal. I mean it all just sounds too fantastical but then the baddies show up and what baddies. The young lad with the creepy stare is brilliant. the scarecrows look fantastic (such a simple idea, realised so brilliantly). On top of that The Doctor is ruthless on how he deals with the family. He doesn't kill them, that's not The Doctor's way. Instead he gives them what they desire, a long (immortal?) life. There's a lesson in there, be careful what you wish for.

I don't think I can even begin to explain just how brilliant these two stories are. As well as the above, there's a nod to the First World War (the story is set the year before war breaks out) and there is definitely a sense of foreboding. There's also the sense that this war isn't the only war on the horizon. There's a storm coming. The best thing I could say is to just go and watch these two episodes. It's the only way to experience just awesome it is.

2013

I started writing the previous post with the intention of telling you all about how much I am looking forward to this year (and what I have enjoyed so far as we are now a third into it!) but my review of last year kinda took over and it got a little long so I decided to split it into 2 parts (as most film franchises seem to do these days!).

OK 2013 so far:

• I signed up with a local gym. I'd been missing going to the gym since I quit my last one at the end of September (it was too far to travel to either of the chain's closest gyms to me).
• I'm writing new songs. :)
• I'm in a far better frame of mind. I feel that this is mostly due to a change of seating at work. I was in a bit of a bad way there the other month and really hated  it. After a bit of bother I was moved to another part of the office and I just seem to be in a pretty good mood all the time. Seriously I must've been feeding on the negative energy of those sat around me. I'm sure there must be some Eastern belief that ties into it. Anyway I feel much better at work which makes me feel better overall as that's where I spend most of the week.
• I saw Deftones again! Ever since I saw them at Download in 2010 I've been wanting to see them again. That happened again in February this year this time around at the Academy in Manchester.
• And now for the biggie: I met JK Rowling!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, I got to speak to the author of the Harry Potter series and got my book signed (albeit her new novel, 'The Casual Vacancy').

I'm just going to spend a few more minutes talking about the JK Rowling meeting because it has been a major highlight of this year so far. Firstly it was something one of my Harry Potter friends had mentioned to me in December. I almost didn't go through with it due to money. I needed to pay £25 there and then for the ticket etc and with it being December I ummed and ahhed a little before finally agreeing. There was also the little matter of travel (it was held in Bath which is around 200 miles from me!) and accommodation. I'm so glad that I went ahead with it now as it wasn't just the experience of meeting a living legend but it was like taking a holiday and to be honest I didn't mind the 400 mile round trip as most of it was motorway. I really liked travelling to a completely different part of the country, chilling in the hotel, discovering a new city and meeting up with some friends I haven't seen for years and getting all geeky, talking about all things Potter to some stupid time in the morning. Enjoyed it so much that I've signed up to do it all again!

Yes that's right in around 10 weeks time I'll be driving down to Bath yet again. This time around though it's a completely different author. In fact I'm probably looking forward to this more as it's my favourite author Neil Gaiman!!

Ok, the experience is going to be completely different to the JK Rowling road trip. I'm going to be driving down again but this time I've found a hostel that charges just £22 a night and is very close to the venue. I'm not going to be meeting up with others (I have hinted but I guess Neil Gaiman isn't as big a draw to some people, weirdos! lol) but this time around I think I'm going to go earlier in the day and explore Bath (especially as I will probably be leaving the next morning rather than afternoon). Saying that if parking isn't too bad there I may stay later and spend some of the Saturday there as well. So far I'm thinking of visiting the spas there or the Jane Austen museum. I may just wander around the city. It doesn't seem so big and I seem to have the measure of the city centre from my last trip. To be honest though I couldn't care less if I just got there and crashed on my hostel bed until the event itself as I'll be meeting Neil Gaiman!! Oh and on top of that I get a chance to not only pick up a copy of his new novel 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' before it's officially released but to get it signed by the man too! Can't express how much of a big deal this is. I was looking into ordering pre-signed copies via his website but this is a million times better. Not just that but there's the format of the evening also. The JK Rowling night involved a one on one interview with the artistic director of the festival who appeared to know Jo quite intimately which resulted in a relaxed intimate informal conversation followed by a Q&A from the crowd. If the Neil Gaiman event follows suit I will be a very happy chappy. Just need to think of questions I could ask now!

The fun isn't just restricted to day trips to Bath to meet world renowned authors though. The other week I was at my best friend's house and after a few pints of Guinness, a Chinese takeaway, some of the nastiest cider known to man and half a bottle of red wine (which was a stark improvement on the cider) we got talking about how we need to go to a convention. We'd previously talked about this and had decided to go to a Jack the Ripper convention (he's into all that) and a Doctor Who convention (he had to make some compromise after all I was going to a Ripper fest.) but that had all fallen through before we'd bought tickets as he couldn't get the time off work. Alcohol or divine inspiration took over though on this fateful night and I mentioned Comic Con Manchester. I knew they'd held it at GMEX (or Manchester Central as it's known these days) the other year but that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn't know if it was a regular event, how much it costs, what events they had on or anything. As is customary these days with a smartphone and wifi at my fingertips I set about Googling. The event was on this year, it's a day he can definitely attend and best of all early bird tickets (meaning we can enter at 9am rather than queuing at 11am) are only £9 each!! Needless to say tickets have been booked and we now await the 20th July. This date also falls slap bang in the middle of our birthdays so we'll probably get very drunk. I have no doubt we'll end up at our old haunt Fab Cafe before a pizza and a tram journey back to Eccles.

But wait there's more. After completing the Mega Hike last year, the girl from work who I finished it with wanted to do it again but wanted to beat the sun, starting and finishing during sunlight hours. This is a massive task as it would mean finishing hours before we did last year. Fortunately she can't make it this year due to other commitments. I however managed to find a new challenge; a 10k run throughout the streets of Wigan! This ties in nicely with me joining back up at the gym and wanting to lose more weight this year. Plus I've always wanted to do a 10k. Been eyeing up the Manchester 10k for years now. Best of all this is closer to me, I know Wigan quite well having spent 10 years living there and I know at least one other person who is definitely running it (in fact I found out about it via her). I've already started training for it and have ran 10k on the treadmill (was tweaking the speed and incline to make it more of a challenge), it's harder than I thought but I can definitely do it. On a treadmill at least! My aim is to finish it without having to walk at any stage. Would love to do it in around 40 minutes but think that might be asking a bit too much considering it's my 1st long distance run since school!

Finally (so far) LeakyCon is happening in London this August. I knew absolutely nothing of it until my Potter/United friend from Colombia said she was in London in August over Facebook. Whilst I won't be going to the convention I'm hoping to meet up with her at some point. Probably show her Old Trafford. This all depends on me booking time off work mind. It falls within the same fortnight I booked off last summer and I was thinking of booking the same 2 weeks off this year but hadn't as I was waiting on confirmation re when she'll be in the country. Going to ask in work tomorrow, fingers crossed.

So there you go, plenty to look forward to this year and that's on top of doing things like gigging with the band/choir (I joined a community choir last week! It's popular songs none of that hymn nonsense.), the Doctor Who 50th anniversary specials and whatever else this year may hold.

2013 is going to be legen - wait for it - dary.

2012 Overview

I seem to be continuously blogging about Doctor Who (seriously the last time I didn't was January 2012!) and I really wanted to review Saturday night's episode. Decided to refrain though, firstly because I need a break from Who and secondly I think I'm going to keep up my reviews throughout Tennant's era right up into Matt Smith's latest episodes. To be fair I'm probably going to be looking at the 50th anniversary or Christmas 2013 special(s) at the very earliest  but I think it will be worth it. Anyway, I digress.

Like I said I need a break from Doctor Who after all I'm probably boring anyone who actually reads this blog and doesn't necessarily like the show. One thing I have wanted to talk about but haven't gotten round to yet is how much I'm looking forward to this year (Okay I know we're 4 months into it now but that still lives two thirds of the year to go). Before that though I think I'll have a quick look back on last year.

I didn't particularly enjoy 2012 but there were some highlights and I managed to achieve a few of my targets for the year.

Firstly I lost a stone and a half! Would've been more if it wasn't for Christmas (I've since struggled and have hit a slump since with my weight fluctuating week to week but never really going down like it was last year). I put most of my success down to downloading an app called My Fitness Pal which allowed me to track the calories I was consuming and burning off.

Secondly I started a band! Although it's still early days it sounds amazing so far. Think 90s alternative scene, bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam with some Deftones and Jimmy Eat World, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith thrown in for good measure. Had a bit of a hiatus over autumn and winter but we're back on it big time. Fingers crossed we have a permanent bassist in place too as had a few problems in that department. Hopefully 2013 will see us play our 1st gig together.

I passed 2 music exams! First was my theory exam in November. I couldn't take it in the summer as it clashed with the day I was hiking across the Pennines (I completed the 50 mile Mega Hike in 2012 by the way!) and to be honest I don't think I would have been ready at the time anyway. The extra couple of months though allowed me to prepare enough so that I came out with a pass. Narrowly missed out on a Merit by just 1 mark! Incidentally I passed Grade 5 Singing in December, scraping through on a Merit (this time by a mark or two on the other side). I'm now looking to work towards a Grade 7 Singing qualification.

I didn't save enough to go on holiday. :(

There is a pretty good reason for this though. I paid off my car insurance in one payment using the money I saved. I have been meaning to replace this money but so far haven't mostly because since last August I have been living on my own. Yep I finally moved out. Am now planning to budget so I can afford to save for holidays etc. I have got one or two little adventures planned this year which are as good as a holiday.

On top of all this I also walked across fire, finished the 50 mile Mega Hike across the Pennines and got my 2nd tattoo this summer. :P

And how good were the Olympics? I had the good fortune to book the two weeks off on which they happened. I booked the time off work not because of the Olympics but because I wanted time off around my birthday and had the idea of going away somewhere or at least driving down to the beach a few times during that fortnight. As it turns out I ended up staying in or going out house hunting. The good news was that I got to see most of the defining moments of the games whilst most of my work colleagues had to catch up on highlights later on.

Honestly 2012 wasn't all that awesome, there were a few low, low moments but I'm not going to dwell on that just now.

So onto this year's targets:

• Lose more weight. I still want to get down to at least 14 stone and even though I have moved a Hell of a lot closer to that goal in the past 12 months I've hit a bit of a snag since Christmas and it seems just as far away as ever before.
• Pass Grade 7 and maybe take on another instrument after all I haven't taken on anything to replace my theory lessons.
• Save money. Seeing as I epically failed at this last year. I need to save for something like a holiday. Definitely need a break.
• Find another job. Over 2 years in the same role is enough, think I need to progress and move on.
• Finish a 10k run. I'm signed up to do one in September is a great incentive to shift some lbs too and is this year's big challenge as I'm not doing Mega Hike this time.
• Play a gig with the band.

My Grade 5 Music Theory certificate.

Doctor Who Project - 42

Like the last review, I've put off reviewing this episode. I saw it weeks ago and to be honest it was so forgettable I've just had to look it up online. I honestly confused it with the story that has The Hoth and The Doctor's daughter in it (isn't that called 'The Doctor's Daughter'?!). Made a commitment to this project though and I really want to watch some of the next episodes especially as we're getting towards the end of this series and have series 4 to look forward to which was easily Tennant's finest point.

Like the last episode we see another soap actress cast in one of the major support roles (last time round it was Mavis from Corrie now it's Cindy Beale from Eastenders). RTD stunt casting aside this episode is most memorable for the "burn with me" line muttered by the baddie. I would imagine this bad guy would be scary to younger viewers especially when The Doctor becomes 'infected' and turns on Martha muttering the baddie mantra of "burn with me".

There's the obvious pun on '24' in the title, especially as they only have 42 min to save the ship from falling into the sun but having never seen '24' that's where my comparison to that ends.

42 isn't that bad of an episode, it's still filler but at least it's not 'The Lazarus Experiment' or others I care not to mention. It has the benefit of not being set on Earth (although most of it is on the ship) and you get the sacrifice at the end, the ship's Captain putting right to her wrongs whilst dying in her partner's (who is infected with the Sun's energy) arms which gives a far more satisfying conclusion than ringing a bell and hoping a giant primordial genetic throwback falls to his death.

Yet again at the end of the story we see the obligatory Saxon mention, this time around it's more heavy handed with Saxon's people doing an FBI listening in on Martha's call to her Mum. The story also parallels the previous story as The Doctor gives Martha a key to the TARDIS (previously had told her she's ok to carry on travelling with her).

Oh well onward and upwards the 'Human Nature/Family of Blood' double followed by 'Blink' next!

Alons-y