Review: Season 9 Episode 1 ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’

***Disclaimer: This is a very general review of last night’s episode. I am in the USA (East Coast) and the review is slightly out of order because wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey. You should be used to this as a Whovian***

Good Morning!

Yesterday, Whovians took over Twitter and made #DoctorWho a trending topic hours before the season 9 premiere dropped on BBC America at 9PM Eastern. The countdown was officially on as fans posted pictures of their premiere party menus and overall giddiness about the return of Twelve and his magnificent TARDIS. I posted a picture of the cupcakes I made with my 6-year-old daughter on my “regular” Twitter page and I was lucky enough to get a lot of love from my Doctor Who family!

After what has seemed like an eternity, “The Magcian’s Apprentice” finally aired and IT WAS LIT! Here are a few highlights from last night’s show:

The Introduction of the Hand Mines:

At the beginning of the show, we witness an exchange between a soldier (yay for him being Black) and a young boy who are standing in the middle of a desolate field. The soldier asks the boy if he knows what hand mines are and he replies yes. He asks him if he has ever seen one, and he looks down and says yes. Suprise…there is a creepy looking hand around the Black guy’s boot. And, as soon as we celebrated a seemingly cool Brotha, he was GONE. The hand drug him straight up in the ground y’all! The field quickly became populated with hands that had eyes in the middle of the palm.

Suddenly The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver appeared and he started coaching the young boy on how he would survive despite the insurmountable odds. The hand mines looked on like “nah, you bout to die” and the scared boy soon revealed his name: DAVROS…

There Were More Cameos than a Bad Boy Reunion

Everyone showed up last night: Davros, the Daleks, The Sisterhood, The Shadow Proclamation, and U.N.I.T. made the season premiere an action packed event. It honestly went down like a full-fledged movie instead of a TV series and ran about 70 minutes. And, we can’t forget that….

Missy Ain’t Dead

Missy

Thanks to the spoiler world we live in, we knew Missy was going to make her way back into the Whoniverse to stir up some trouble. And, of course, Missy came back with a bang! She stopped airspace and hacked UNIT to catch Clara’s attention. The ladies had an intense tea session complete with Missy calling Clara a puppy (shade), killing two random people to remind them that she is still evil, insinuating that The Doctor was born female, and surprisingly working with Clara to find The Doctor. He sent a will to Missy that indicated he was going to die the next day and Missy was not here for her archenemy dying. After all, her life revolves around being a pain in his ass. Actress Michelle Gomez was masterful (pun intended) as she gave us maximum levels of intelligence and sass.

A Black Member of UNIT Coined a New Catchphrase

Jaye and Kate

When Clara arrived at UNIT, she met up with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and one of her brilliant associates named Jac (portrayed by Jaye Griffiths). I don’t know about you, but I was thrilled to see a Black woman taking the technical reins. When she described the phenomena of planes stopping mid-flight, she gave us yet another memorable line that spread like wildfire across Twitter.

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“Pardon my sci-fi, but this is beyond human technology”

Surely “pardon my sci-fi” will be coming soon on a T-shirt near you….

The Doctor Turned Up for 3 Weeks

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Faced with his impending death and his apparent abandonment of kid Davros in a hand mine field, The Doctor decided it was best to abandon his heroic duties and turn up in medival times. Twelve tapped into his former selves and pulled up to a concert scene on top of a tank. With his electric guitar, plaid pants, and shades, he rocked it out and showed us a lighter side of The Doctor. After spotting Clara and Missy in the audience, he switched it up and started playing the riff from “Pretty Woman.” Fans wondered if he was playing for Missy or Clara. The truth is….he was playing it for me. Real talk…anyway, it was revealed that he was giving himself a final party for about 3 weeks. Unfortunately it all ended when Davros’ creepy watchdog Colony Sarff (he’s made of snakes btw) finds him and takes all three of them to another location called…

SKARO!!!!

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Yes, The Doctor, Missy, and Clara are trapped on Skaro, the homebase for the Daleks. Any Doctor Who fan knows that Davros always comes running through with his woes! Anyway, Davros is about to die and wanted to go home. Oh, and he also made sure The Doctor watched Missy, Clara, and the TARDIS be blasted to smithereens by Daleks. Until next week….

Honestly…this is one of my favorite episodes of all-time! At the very end, The Doctor goes back in time to see kid Davros and he is about to kill him. I don’t know where this is going, but I am down for the ride!

What did you think about last night’s episode?

-The Bad Wolf Blerd

The Countdown to More Doctor Who Is ON!

Helllloooooo!! I’m back from San Diego and ready to talk about all the Doctor Who happenings lately.

First, lets talk about Series 9. As we all know, we are only a little over a month away from the return of the TARDIS, Twelve, Clara, and finding out who the heck that chick is from the trailer. Speaking of said chick, Steven Moffat spilled a spoiler and said that she is NOT someone from The Doctor’s past. So, there goes out theories of our mystery girl being Ace or The Doctor’s long-lost granddaughter. *sigh* The great part is, she is a new character who is slated to make a major impact on the show. I’m hoping she will be a new companion, but I’m trying not to put too much stock into what Moffat says. We were also told Danny Pink was going to be awesomely kick-ass, but we saw where that went. Grrr. But, I’m loving this promo image (courtesy of BBC America) of Twelve and Clara:

They are looking kinda cool y’all!! I don’t know about you…but I’m super excited about September 19th. I plan of compiling a great Whovian menu for the occasion and I will share it with you all πŸ™‚

Moving on…

There is already chatter about Doctor Who‘s 10th season. First of all, round of applause for a 10th season. Now, thumbs down for rumors of it being delayed or abbreviated. Say What?!?! Yep…the word on the street is Moffat is such a busy dude that we may see the season split or delayed. The good news is the rumors are coming from a satirical magazine. The bad news is the same satirical magazine, Private Eye, has been spot on about previous rumors. So, we shall see!

In cool news, there will be a transgender actress on Doctor Who this season! Of course, this really isn’t too surprising for the liberal show, but it’s still dope news. According to my friends at The Mary Sue, comedienne and actress Bethany Black will take her turn beside our beloved Capaldi in an unknown role. Black revealed on her Facebook page that she is thrilled to be a part of the show. And, shes a Whovian like us so she’s basically living our dreams right now. Go head and prosper girl!

Okay…so this picture guys. Please tell me I’m not the only one with my head slightly in the gutter. My Whovian Facebook friends and I had a lengthy and very inappropriate conversation about loving The D. This shirt and its double meaning is wildly inappropriate. I shall buy it and wear it across time and space. Ha!

Throwback Who: Goodbye River Song and The Revelation of Clara OswaldΒ 

  

 

Can you believe it has already been two years since “The Name of The Doctor” aired? If you remember, we said goodbye to River Song in The Doctor’s tomb. Well now, word on the street is actress Alex Kingston may make a return with 12. Given the completely new personality of The Doctor, do you think they will mesh well? Or, do you think many of the dates that River hinted at in the past actually happened with Capaldi’s older Doctor?

   
 In the same episode, Clara’s mystery was also solved when we saw her jump into The Doctor’s timeline and scatter versions of herself everywhere. Do you think the show has tried too hard to make Clara important? And, how do you feel about her progression as a companion?

My thoughts: I like River Song but I think it’s best to leave her story where it ended. I am admittedly not a Clara fan (she annoys me and bores me simlutaneously) but I do like how there is no sexual tension between her and 12. I’m hoping this upcoming season will have the two of them just having fun and saving planets. I’m not here for a River/12 relationship. But if it happens…I’ll watch anyway lol

Clara…hmm. Not sure I’m digging her progression. I feel like the show is overly focused on her. Yes, modern companions are much more of a centerpiece in the series, but it’s a little much with this whole Clara in his streamline and throwing away TARDIS keys in a rage bit. I really hope my mind changes about her in Series 9…

Let me know your thoughts!

-The Bad Wolf Blerd 

Twitter: @badwolfblerd