elisi's humble abode

Some of you may remember, but almost 6 years ago Promethia created a wonderful spreadsheet of Classic Who, giving an overview of the showrunners and descriptions of the different eras.

Recently I became inspired to do one for New Who. It's a bit more comprehensive than the one for Classic Who, and very much my own take on everything. Also it's a little tongue-in-cheek.

Spoilers for everything aired so far.

( Here be spoilers for Doctor Who 2005-2025 )

Please note that I will (at some point) probably write up some actual thoughts about Disney Who so far. However I have all the time in the world for that, so just be aware that this is not the post for yelling about last night's episode. I mean - you may yell, but I'm very zen about it all. 🫶

A few petitions:

Urgently review the current Ofsted Framework and associated methodology

Good Law Project: Protect Our Rivers

Stop “conversion therapies” in Colombia

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Fascinating video essay:

Doctor Who Was Queerbait
The Doctor and the Valeyard's lesser known second trial, with Thasmin on the stand.

Brilliant format and it examines the topic from every angle. Whether or not you agree with the verdict, they delve into both pros and cons and their conclusion is very nuanced.

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And a few interesting news stories from Aljazeera:

Refusing Putin’s war: The Russians fleeing to Kazakhstan

Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ justifying colonialism

Hydrogen no break from fossil fuels, energy colonialism: Report

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Daily Dimash: Together

🎶 If you want to change the world let’s start today 🎶



On April 9, 2023, Dimash Qudaibergen released a new music video for the first composition work of his younger brother Abilmansur. The cosmic plot of the music video “Together”, starring Dimash, Abilmansur and Raushan Qudaibergen, tells about how important friendship and support of relatives is.

(For a breakdown of the video please see this article. And the quality of his videos is just *chef's kiss*)

It's a lovely and very catchy pop song, with a really positive message, but mostly I'm 😭 because he is working with his brother and they're so happy together.

Also it's amazing that he is able to steer his own career without any compromises or signing up with a record label. I wish all artists could have this degree of freedom.

ETA: Wonderful reaction here, delving into not just the music but also the meaning:

We got a trailer and a date for Jodie's last episode:



( A few thoughts, spoilers for the trailer )

But, in more exciting news!!!



It feels like a million years since Good Omens aired... as with most things pre-covid. But goodness, a single poster is poking at emotions that have merely laid dormant, waiting for their moment. Their wings form a heart! The background is nicely grey. The number 2 has both a halo AND a tail. *flail*

I also look forward to spending 9 months speculating on what the blue feather means.

Feel I ought to write something, so here goes.

Watched 'Legend of the Sea Devils'. Spoilers under cut.

( Um, not terribly positive )

ANYWAY. Onto GOOD and WONDERFUL representation. I watched Our Flag Means Death which is exactly as delightful and enjoyable as everyone said.

There is a lovely article here:

How Our Flag Means Death’s creator made a period romance disguised as a pirate comedy
David Jenkins opens up about everyone’s favorite queer pirate show
^MANY MANY SPOILERS

And such_heights has a vid:

Bohemian Like You
summary: No I haven't heard your band, 'cause you guys are pretty new.

All I can really say is: Watch it! ♥ ♥ ♥

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Sidebar: Amazing Good Omens icons here by magnavox_23 who is incredibly talented.

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What else? Oh yes. Then we binged the first three episodes of S2 of Russian Doll and ohmygodilovethisshowsomuch

I don't think I ever wrote about S1, partly because it was simply so perfect that I had nothing to say. S2 looks like it's equally inventive and SO CLEVER OMG (although going in a different kind of direction, no Groundhog Day this time). Partly I am just in awe of the ingenuity, but the other half of me just adores all the characters to tiny tiny pieces and I simply just want to spend more time with them. I'd watch them read the phone book, they're that wonderful and complex and real.

It's sort of... the opposite of Chibnall Who.

ETA: Watched episode 4, and it's just so gooood. Crazy, crazy clever and inventive, as well as just crazy. It all just runs off the sheer chaos energy that is Nadia.

Thought: There must be cross-over fic with Doctor Who. Esp since Nadia is probably one of the few people who a) could understand what the Doctor is on about (like, the science) and b) is more chaotic than the Doctor. Ye gods, the sparks would fly. <3

(In OFMD world, Ed would love her. She would make Stede very nervous.)

Just FYI - S13 will premiere on Halloween. Nice post here:

Den of Geek: Doctor Who Series 13 is Titled ‘Flux’ and Starts On Halloween
Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall’s final series as the Doctor has a name, a release date, and a first teaser trailer.

The meta café is BACK!

It’s not as shiny as it used to be (this ain’t Moffat), but (insert relieved sigh) it turns out that the dullness of S11 was a deliberate choice and Chibnall CAN write interesting stuff. It’s very RTD-like, but I like the RTD era (it was what first hooked me), so here I am.

(This is basically a combination of raw meta and flaily capslock.)

( Spoilers all the way down )

This is probably the closest I'll be getting to actual meta on S11.

It's essentially me trying to understand Thirteen and how she fits with what came before. She is of course perfectly Doctor-y, but she feels a little bit like she fell out of E-Space. I don't really see the age, that core of darkness we know she carries inside. There are tiny glimpses, but it's nothing more than that, and continuity-wise the Time War might as well never have happened. (I presume this will get fixed in the future, and that they're just giving us a nice fluffy season of a breather to start off with.)

But to illustrate what I mean I shall use Four, whose era I am currently working my way through (just finished Season 13!). Four is of course utterly brilliant and effortlessly ageless and alien. But he feels young. (He's full of energy and action and curiosity and vitality, a happy man enjoying life.) I have been imagining this little exchange in my head, adapting River's first meeting with Ten:

RIVER: But look at you. You're young.
FOUR (wide grin, you know the one): See, this is exactly what I was saying to the Sisterhood of Karn the other day. Life doesn't begin until seven hundred and fifty!

In the same way Thirteen is perfectly 'ageless', easily striding across the universe and endlessly capable - a perfectly Doctor-y Doctor, with odd clothes and strange habits and full of obscure knowledge; but she doesn't seem to have that age to her that Nine onwards do, that burden of her blood-stained past, and sits much more comfortably alongside the Classic Doctors than the New ones. I presume this is a conscious decision, but I need that link, the acknowledgement of her history and her past to fix her properly in my head.

Or as Promethia said back when S11 was airing:

Back during Season Five I remember an old-timer saying that watch enough Who and inevitably your favorite character become the Doctor and your favorite Doctor becomes the Doctor. Which made enough intellectual sense to me to take note of, but man, I am feeling it this season. I get it now. Like, yes, your new friends seem lovely, but slightly in the middle of a 55-year old character arc here. Bit keen to get back.

The Doctor's internal conflicts have been the driving force of the show for... all of New Who, basically, so suddenly having a [perfectly nice, don't get me wrong] blank to work with is disorienting.

Now pointing out the issues obviously doesn't really help in trying to work out how to reconcile what's on screen with the disparity in my head. Thankfully, I found an explanation that works for me.

( Why Does Thirteen Run? )

( New Year's better be good... )

In other news, I have almost finished S22 and may write up some thoughts on that! Six is my darling and I luff him to pieces. ♥

If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same
(T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding - many apologies)

I had a sort of mini-epiphany. I've said that the show now feels [in texture] like Classic Who, and that you could jump from then to now with no problem.

And I think that's the thing. The show has been re-booted, but it's still anchor-less. There is no part of it that makes it a continuation of New Who. (Except for Thirteen wearing Twelve's clothes and the shorter format etc etc, that's not what I am talking about.)

So far Thirteen is absolutely the Doctor, no doubt about it, and she's brilliant, but like... sort of in parallel to the past? Her stories could be set at any point. She could be a Classic Doctor, like... a re-cast Five? And you needn't change a thing.

I'm not saying this is bad. But it means there is nothing that really grabs me.

So, instead of complaining I'm off to watch Classic Who! Watched Battlefield last night (S26, ep 1, Seven's final season) and loved it to pieces. Next up is Ghostlight which thisbluespirit bought for me. ♥ And once I'm done with Seven I'll start on Six properly. Hurrah for the 50+ years of show!

New Doctor Who composer revealed for Jodie Whittaker’s first series
Segun Akinola is set to create “a fresh take on the legendary theme tune” as the first new composer the series has had in over a decade

And via Owls, his Soundcloud