Is It Tomorrow Yet?

Well, of course, in a sense it is. It's 3:49 AM, so technically it's Saturday. I just finished watching my one-viewer marathon of 2008 Doctor Who episodes, in preparation for the one that airs a little later today in the U.K. When I finish writing this entry, and maybe doing a few dishes and putting a little time in on Heirs Chapter 3, I'll go to bed. With any luck, there will be a copy of today's episode waiting for me when I get up.

I've been looking forward to this particular episode since last November, when the news hit that Billie Piper, who played Rose Tyler in 2005-6, was returning to Doctor Who. That was when I joined the Doctor Who Forum, in fact, just so I could read the location shooting reports from the fans who spotted her filming. It's been quite a roller coaster ride since then, and I've only gotten more obsessed with the show. You can tell, can't you?

It's actually not a good thing to want to rush through time to see the 11th episode of Series Four. There are only 13 altogether, and next year there are only three or four specials (the count varies in reports, but it's probably Christmas 2008 plus three in 2009). It would be better to savor each show and not rush toward the looming drought of new Who. But I can't help it. This year's "Doctor lite" story sounds too intriguing to be waited for with patience and equanimity.

In theory, Rose Tyler was stuck in another universe forever at the end of the 2006 series, but this year she's been popping up mysteriously, not in every story but beginning with the first one of the season. She walked through the last two minutes of "Partners in Crime" only to fade away like a ghost, leaving fan squee and consternation in her wake. She's popped up on computer screens, unheard but clearing shouting for the Doctor, unseen except by the tv audience. But later today Donna talks to her repeatedly and in person, and apparently does not know at first that the mysterious young woman is Rose, whose loss the Doctor was mourning when he first met Donna.

The episode is called "Turn Left," and it seems to be an alternate history story in which the Doctor died because Donna wasn't at HC Clements a year and a half ago at Christmas. I've seen a little more speculation and spoilery detail than I care to know in advance, so that's all I'll say here on the subject. But it's just the first of the three season-ending episodes, which apparently tell one apocalyptic story. As usual when the show does something daring, I'm a little nervous in advance of it. It could crash and burn, and really damage the show. But it won't, will it? I'm sure whatever showrunner Russell T Davies has in mind for this, it will be great. I hope.

Meanwhile I heard from another Tucson Doctor Who fan tonight. Hello there! This person arrived in town when the show was already gone from Tucson's PBS station, and only a year or so before out local fan club folded. Most of the original United Whovians of Tucson are scattered to the four winds now. It's nice to know that my friend Kevin and I (and to a lesser extent John) aren't Tucson's only remaining Who fans.

That's it for now. I'll try to have something interesting tomorrow night for those of you who aren't even a little interested in my favorite tv show. Meanwhile, good night!

Karen