First published in England, January 2011 by Kasterborous Books e: [email protected] w: http://www.kasterborous.com ISBN: 978-1-4457-4780-4 (paperback) Ultimate Regeneration © 2011 Christian Cawley Additional copyright © as appropriate is apportioned to Brian A Terranova, Simon Mills, Thomas Willam Spychalski, Gareth Kavanagh and Nick Brown. The moral rights of the authors have been asserted. Internal design and layout by Kasterborous Books Cover art and external design by Anthony Dry Printed and bound by [PRINTER NAME HERE] No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form binding or cover other than that in which it is published for both the initial and any subsequent purchase. 2 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christian Cawley is a freelance writer and author from the north east of England who has been the driving force behind www.kasterborous.com since its launch in 2005. Christian’s passion for Doctor Who and all things Time Lordly began when he was but an infant; memories of The Pirate Planet and Destiny of the Daleks still haunt him, but his clearest classic Doctor Who memory remains the moment the Fourth Doctor fell from a radio telescope… When the announcement was made in 2003 that Doctor Who would be returning to TV, Christian was nowhere to be seen – in fact he was enjoying himself at the Munich Oktoberfest. Desperate to make amends for this Kasterborous.com was launched, with the help of illustrator and designer Anthony Dry and prop fanatic Brian A. Terranova. While he isn’t bemoaning the end of the Philip Hinchcliffe era of Doctor Who, Christian enjoys meals with his wife, listening to a wide range of music (particularly Led Zeppelin) and playing guitar. 3 4 AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Primarily, this book is for all of the fantastic readers of www.kasterborous.com whose support made this possible. Massive thanks must also go to our contributors, notably those whose work doesn’t appear in Ultimate Regeneration but whose efforts have made it possible. Andrew Reynolds, Meredith Burdett, Patrick Riley and James Whittington in particular have played a massive part in the last few months, while Elton Townend Jones, Paul Cavanagh, Peter Ould, Thomas Shelton, Justin Abbot, Colin Brockhurst, Rick Lundeen, Neil Clarke, Matt Nida, Mark Watson, Laredo Lowtide, Jonathan Barlow, Joe Siegler and Helen Calder have all made vital individual contributions to Kasterborous over the years. Particular thanks also go to my online colleagues Anthony Dry (he of the wonderful Doctor Who DVD boxset illustrations and the stunning cover gracing this volume) and Brian A. Terranova, as well as Gareth Kavanagh. These gentlemen have each been of vital assistance in formulating and publishing Ultimate Regeneration. Finally, a brief dedication to Ceri, for your unending patience. 5 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS About the author ................................................................................................ 3 The Rebirth of Doctor Who .............................................................................. 10 THE DOCTOR’S UNDERCOAT, A WELL DRESSED MAN… MEN?, NEW ROSE, KING OF HEARTS, WE ARE THE MASTERS OF EARTH!, DALEKS: REBIRTH, DOCTOR WHO – NEW SERIES PREVIEW, ROSE, PLASTIC FANTASTIQUE, DOCTOR WHO? WHERE? WHEN? THEMING A TUNE Critical and Popular Success ............................................................................. 42 THE TENTH TENURE, MY TWO PENNETH, THE END OF THE WORLD, THE UNQUIET DEAD, ALIENS OF LONDON, WORLD WAR THREE The Return of the Daleks ................................................................................. 54 DALEK, THE LONG GAME, FATHER’S DAY, THE EMPTY CHILD, CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS, THE DOCTOR DANCES, BOOM TOWN Nation of the Bad Wolf .................................................................................... 75 ADHERENTS OF THE BAD WOLF, BAD WOLF, THE PARTING OF THE WAYS, FANTASTIC! Building on Success .......................................................................................... 87 THE CHRISTMAS INVASION, THE THIRD WHEEL: MICKEY SMITH, THRILLS, SPILLS & CYBERMEN, NEW EARTH, TOOTH AND CLAW, SCHOOL REUNION, THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE, RISE OF THE CYBERMEN, MY ROSE HAS LEFT ME, THE AGE OF STEEL Cause and Effect ............................................................................................ 114 RISE OF THE MERCHANDISE, THE IDIOT’S LANTERN, THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET, THE SATAN PIT, LOVE & MONSTERS, FEAR HER 7 Torchwood Unveiled ..................................................................................... 128 BURNING BRIDGES, ARMY OF GHOSTS, DOOMSDAY, THE 2006 KASTERBOROUS ROUND TABLE, A CHRISTMAS TRADITION, THE RUNAWAY BRIDE Who Do You Love? ........................................................................................ 150 I LOVE WHO BABY, THE TIME LORDS OF GALLIFREY, SMITH AND JONES, THE SHAKESPEARE CODE, GRIDLOCK, DALEKS IN MANHATTAN, EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS, THE LAZARUS EXPERIMENT, MASTER OF SURVIVAL An Arc in Space .............................................................................................. 177 42, HUMAN NATURE, MARTHA’S MEDICINE, THE FAMILY OF BLOOD, BLINK, NO JACKET REQUIRED (OR ANORAK…), UTOPIA, THE SOUND OF DRUMS, SEASON CLIMAX ANAGRAMS, LAST OF THE TIME LORDS, THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF EVIL, ROUNDTABLE 2007 The Bride of Davros ....................................................................................... 211 TIME CRASH, I’M IN LOVE WITH KYLIE, VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED, THE BOOMERANG BRIDE, DOCTOR WHO SERIES 4 PREVIEW, PARTNERS IN CRIME, THE FIRES OF POMPEII, PLANET OF THE OOD, THE SONTARAN STRATAGEM, THE POISON SKY, THE DOCTOR’S DAUGHTER, THE UNICORN AND THE WASP The Sound of Silence ..................................................................................... 238 SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY, FOREST OF THE DEAD, MIDNIGHT, TURN LEFT, THE STOLEN EARTH, JOURNEY’S END Time to Change .............................................................................................. 253 THE NEXT DOCTOR, THE LONE DOCTOR, …AND IT’S SMITHY ON THE BALL, PLANET OF THE DEAD, THE LONG GOODBYE, THE WATERS OF MARS, NATIONAL TREASURE, THE END OF TIME, PART ONE, THE END OF TIME, PART TWO 8 INTRODUCTION Opinions are like a**holes – everybody has one Since Doctor Who’s return to television in 2005, online magazine and fansite www.kasterborous.com has offered critical analysis of the series on a daily basis. Over the course of 5 years, Kasterborous reviewed 60 episodes of Doctor Who plus a couple of shorter specials as well as profiling the actors, characters and writers who contributed to the new series. The book you hold in your hands right now is a distillation of these articles and reviews, a real-time appraisal of each episode of the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who. As is the case within Doctor Who fandom, there is contentious material here. You might disagree with the review of Love & Monsters, for instance, or think that The Long Game is one of the best episodes of the Ninth Doctor’s adventures. Of course, opinions can change – some episodes can improve through repeated viewings for a number of reasons. This book is also a diary of what the Kasterborous team felt about particular episodes when they were first broadcast, and therefore acts as an interesting barometer of changing opinions. (Also please note that our international band of contributors has resulted in a book that adopts both US and UK English; this information might seem superfluous but I am keen to retain their individual voices on the printed page, so if the spelling of “color” particularly grates with you, I left it in on purpose). However, this isn’t some website that’s been printed out, bound and sold to loyal Doctor Who fans at a horribly inflated price. In addition to the 60 reviews and 30 articles, this book also features 50% original written content that cannot be found online. As a team of twenty-something classic series fans when the new era of Doctor Who was ushered in, Ultimate Regeneration also acts as an account of how we all learned how to stop fretting and love the “new series”. So, prepare to travel through time, and enjoy the ultimate regeneration of Doctor Who from its surprisingly successful revival in 2005 to The End of Time itself in early 2010! 9 THE REBIRTH OF DOCTOR WHO It all seems such a blur now – the announcement, the casting, the launch – yet the return of Doctor Who took place over an 18 month period, beginning in September 2003. Amusingly after years of endless hoping that the series would one day return, I was completely unaware of the BBC announcement on September 26th, 2003, on account of being on a coach through France on the way to the Munich Oktoberfest. In fact it was a whole week later before I discovered the good news! As with most fans, I was thrilled that the writer of such successful dramas as Queer as Folk and The Second Coming, Russell T Davies, was going to be the main creative driving force behind the new series. To be honest, it was a Whovian’s wet dream. In those days, Kasterborous was just a constellation in Doctor Who – it would be another 12 months before our first articles and artwork were published online, and in the preceding time