The music explodes you into this wonderful place where your itching with excitement, ready to brace yourself for anything that might alight in front of your eyes, except for exactly what emerges on screen! The Doctor and the content of the series is well-written, bang-on Brit(!), quirky, humour with a dose of heart, with a good dash of otherworldly charm to endear you to watch it! You adjust your sensory perceptions to allow for the pace of the series to settle into you, rather than fight the progress of how the story is being told, and somewhere between the opening sequences before the TARDIS jumps through the wormhole to the concluding scenes,… you realise, I AM A WHOVIAN! Who knew!? Seriously, WHO knew!? :)

Randomly Becoming Acquainted with a bloke called: The Doctor

I knew I wouldn’t have enough hours in the day to fashion myself a true Whovian, as I didn’t want to rush through the series, but rather take my time to soak into them! Absorb the characters, the setting, and the quirky TARDIS at a rate that befits the series and pays homage to the creatives behind the project! This is a series that has had such a well-established fan base that it revivals all the ones I have been a part of myself! :) Therefore, with Rinn’s quick-thinking to contact a few Whovians who could pick out at least 5 episodes that they deemed fit to help a person become acquainted with the series, I took up the challenge to accomplish the impossible: ILL (inter-library) loan the series in 5 dvd set increments!

These are the Who episodes as I watched them for the first time and the impressions they left me with afterwards! Consider this the Wide-Eyed Girl’s Diary of Doctor Who! And, for those who are curious how I came to settle on ‘how’ to watch the recommended episodes!? I compiled the list by ‘series’ and then made a bit of a haphazard erring on not always getting the ‘episodes’ in order of proper sequence! I felt The Doctor might smirk knowing that, considering he cannot sort out the difference between 5 minutes (of being gone!) to 12 years!! Time is temporal and is in a state of flux!

NOTE: There are SPOILERS in this post because its a reflection of my thoughts as I watched the series!

| Doctor Who – Series 5 |

1. Vincent and the Doctor

Overview Images on the DVD Menu: A sci-fi series that reminds me of Quantum Leap (for time travel), Star Trek (for alien creatures & citizens), most BBC mystery series; Alien Nation. Gadgets: James Bond, Babylon 5, etc. I could dig this! I really, seriously could see myself digging this! I don’t know why that lizard is extending its tongue but then again, maybe its weapon or warning device!? Everything I’ve seen in Star Wars & Trek make me aware of numerous possibilities! This is going to ROCK! :)

Impression of the Music: upbeat, adventurous, exciting, exploding with curious perplexities, possibilities that lie in the impossible, a gearing up for the unknown. I wonder if the music and score is put to soundtrack!? Ooh, boy! Wait. IF I seek out if this is true I just might have on my hands a whole new realm of soundtrack music to collect! Afterall, most of the music I listened to growing up (aside from the 50s-70s, classical, and contemporary singer-songwriters) came from sound for motion picture!

Opened with Vincent van Gogh in a cornfield painting which flicks back to Museé d’ Orsay in Paris. (clever imagery!) The Doctor finds an anomaly in the church painting with a monstrous face in the window. (reminds me of watching series on SciFi Channel – Dark Shadows? Night Gallery? One of them!) The curator tells the Doctor that Vincent painted the painting of the church approx. 1-3 June, 1890. Vincent actor looks a lot like the artist and takes his role seriously. Cottage full of his paintings. Vincent shares his philosophy of the wonders of the universe, including his view of how colours dictate the paintings. Creature with a tail comes out of nowhere to attack Amy, the Doctor, and Vincent in the courtyard garden. (okay this is SERIOUSLY reminding me of “The Land of the Lost” now!) First look at the TARDIS. I *love!* the typewriter! (scanner, printer, uploader of information – Sam’s Ziggy would be impressed!) The creature sequences reminded me of “The Land of the Lost”. Finally learnt the girl’s name is Amy as I didn’t catch it at first.

The creature was a “Graface” or such (did not understand the term) of a brutal race that solitary was left behind when the rest of its kind left the planet. Reminded me of being trapped in Jurassic Park when they were in the confessional vs the freezer/fridge. In the death of the creature Vincent felt remorse as he was not seeking to kill it. The creature died afraid, alone, and blind. He could relate to the desolation the creature felt due to how he was treated in towne. Whilst they were entwined with hands in circle on the ground whilst watching the heavens parade before them Vincent started to narrate what would shape his painting “Starry, Starry Night” for all to see. The TARDIS takes all 3 back to Paris and the Museum so that Vincent can see that he has worth and that people adore his art. Its nearly too much for him to take in, and I guess this universe with the TARDIS doesn’t mind going against the rules of not revealing too much too soon!? Amy was eager to get back to Paris to see if there were more paintings painted before he died, as she was certain he would not exit the world at age 37 now that she had interacted with him. The Doctor had to reassure her that every life is a mixture of good and bad and each part doesn’t erase the whole. A lot of heart in this episode, can see why it was recommended! Sunflowers was enscribed “For Amy” which made her feel better inside, but she felt so deeply for Vincent I know a part of her grieved.

Parting Thoughts:

Clearly this was not what I was thinking it was going to be like and these were the quick notes I took *whilst watching the episode!*, as I wasn’t keen on hitting the pause button the whole time! It was a mad dash to get the notes jotted down and not have my eyes off the screen for more than seconds at a time! By George, I did well, eh!? Seriously though, when I saw that mutant (& larger version!) of the rooster-bird, I knew right then and there I was going to be ‘in for it!’ Meaning that I have a sensitive heart, scare easily when it comes to freaky creatures who come at you from the shadows (i.e. Harry Potter (the motion pictures) pushed my limits tenfold!), to where I get freaked out of my skull very easily! Hence the reason I do not watch horror movies!! Ooh, my dear ghouls — no! Exception only applies to a limited filmography of Hitchcock (big Hitch fan!), and of course, classic film noir and psychological suspense from the 1920s-1960s which is truly called: classic horror, who knew!? (no pun intended that time! laughs)

Joking aside, this was an emotional episode because I felt for Vincent as much as I felt for Amy,… tears were surely welling because you could get inside the mind & heart of the artist of Vincent rather than perceiving him as his peers left him to be known. History I think has always been decidedly harsh on Vincent, enso, it was nice to see he was treated better in this retrospective piece! Definitely recommend you have a tissue box handy to watch this episode’s concluding scenes! The Museum scene when they take him to see the Gallery featuring his paintings!? Ooh, my dear ghouls — gutting!

Makes you wonder if everyone who struggled as much as he did in life could have had someone intercede on his behalf and turned around the ending of which we all know happened!? The episode pointed out a few things to this regard, and its always true that a person who has a friend is a person who is in better spirit and health! There was so much heart in this episode! My heart was warm and overflowing with emotion! Its a brilliant one to start with I can tell you that!

Mum saw most of this episode with me but she didn’t get to see the others except for a brief viewing of the next one.

2. The Eleventh Hour

Dangling outside the TARDIS over London (I think!?) and TARDIS is on fire, appears to be self-destructing. (now there is an opening sequence for you!) Decidedly British. Slingshots through space. Crashed at a house of a young girl who bore the striking resemblance to Amy! The Doctor was soaked straight through because he was in the pool which was placed in the library of which he had to climb out of to get to the surface on the rope! She needed help with a crack in the fissure of time that was in her bedroom wall! The TARDIS meanwhile spilt into two. Bubble of light came out of the Doctor and his fingertips glowed bright gold. (is this an indication of his regeneration/reincarnation?) Started to crave apples. Then, yoghurt, bacon, beans, bread & butter, and finally settled on fish fingers & custard which reminded me of a woman who was withchild and experiencing cravings of her own! Laughs. The same repetitive message said “Prisoner Zero Has Escaped”. Giant eye in crack flicked a card out into the world where the Doctor caught it and read the same message. Highly eccentric Doctor and disheveled. (love it!) TARDIS starts to work again. Amelia packed her suitcase and waited outside in the garden for the Doctor to return. Which he did, but he thought it was only 5 minutes when it had been 12 years! She hand-chuffed him to the radiator which made me smirk to no end! I had a feeling she wasn’t a bobby too! :) Prior to this, I knew there was something to ‘do’ with the extra door opening and closing but I was not quite prepared for what emerged! :( (remember: sensitive heart!? creatures from the depths of the ocean do not bode well either!)

The quick switch to the coma patients threw me off a bit, but I resettled into the pacing of Who, as it takes a bit of adjusting to learn the series quirks, trades of mannerisms, fade ins/outs, and the pacing of the stories as their told. Once you get the hang of it, it glides rather easily and you can just soak up the stories! Amelia Pond became Amy Pond. I liked how she said she went through several shrinks. Of which is how I presume she put her ‘fantasy’ of the Doctor to bed once she created the cartoon and stories of him!? Loved how they had 20 minutes to the end of the world due to a misunderstanding of the statement by the aliens wanting to collect the errant prisoner. He keeps collapsing and grabbing his chest, but I cannot fathom as to why!? Is that the key that speaks to him in such a physical manner or can his own race communicate with him internally through pain!? Lost on that note! Revealed he’s not just a time traveler but a time lord!

A hint of the back-story! I picked up on the psychic link for a dormant mind bit. The freaky scary images I had to get used too  but I think I’m in for a long ride of them! Laughs. The eye ship for sure was less intense than the prisoner which was too much like a creature that lives in the bottom depths of the sea with those bone sharp scary teeth that gives me chills! :( Loved the firetruck that went through the hospital! Two years later from the date he left Amy he finally returns! I oft wonder how he loses track of time so easily!? Offers Amy to go with him which she does! Loved seeing the inside of the TARDIS again even though I have yet to know why its called a “TARDIS” which I know is an acronym!?

Parting Thoughts:

What I appreciated about this episode is that it shows the way in which the Doctor met Amy and how she came to travel with him in the TARDIS! I loved the interplay between the two of them, and can we just say that the Doctor has some of the best facial expressions for an actor that I have ever seen!? I didn’t catch his name, but he is fast becoming my ‘favourite’ Doctor,… is he the 5th Doctor because this was the 5th series!? Or, am I making the wrong presumption!? I just loved how he put his whole being into playing the part, giving me the impression that he loved it dearly! I liked how Amy was meant to travel with him, and I had a feeling that the crack in time meant more than they were saying, because I distinctly remembered a ST: TNG episode where a similar crack in time caused a LOT of havoc! I cannot think of what else to say, because I was so enthused about watching it!!

Except to say, I thought it was hysterical how he kept saying he had a new face and with it comes a whole new palette for food! I was wondering, truly, if I was starting to see glimpses of who the Doctor is on a personal level and how he is able to be seen as he is. I suspected he was not of Earth but rather a traveler from another place in the universe but I wasn’t confirmed on this note until I saw the Weeping Angels episodes that made me have shivers and chills up my spine! Oyy.

3. The Time of Angels

Gun is a laser to open a safe to get a message to the Doctor by having an object called a home box placed in a Museum. The box was stolen 12,000 years prior to when the Doctor would find it! Love the wide shifts in time continuum! (even if I could not sort out where ‘time’ began for Amy and where it had taken them both next?) I liked the opposite of the black box is the home box. Clever. Timens!? Professor Riversalt, no Riversoul? no Riversong! She looked so familiar to me! I kept thinking is that Beatrice!? (only to google her name and realise that it is actually Dr. Corday from ER! apparently my memory took a hiatus!) (Alex Kingston) (Corday by the by was always a favourite of mine, hence the familiar recognition even if this is one time I couldn’t place where I knew the actress!) Wicked exit and entrance to the TARDiS in space. Diary of her past and his future. (now that is a juicy tidbit to hear!) The troops arrive which I thought was interesting as they were led by Father Octavian and Clerics serving under him instead of a traditional army — did I catch the Doctor say 51st Century!? The Weeping Angels were what led them to where they were on a planet I barely caught the name of! Amy & the Angel on the tv was a close call but even I knew that was a foreshadow for a greater problem down the road! When I saw Amy had the itch in her eye I knew I was right! There was a rumouring of what the Doctor doesn’t know but should know but can’t know at the same time. The Angel in question was hidden in a catacomb of statues. Although those statues turned to be an army of Weeping Angels and the crash of the ship was not an accident but a rescue attempt as they needed an energy source! (reminded me of several Trek episodes!) When Amy’s hand turned to stone I feared which direction this would take me next!?

Parting Thoughts:

Honestly, I now understand why everyone thought I’d dig this series due to my passion for Trek! Its so blatantly obvious to me now that its laughable to consider that I held off so long in watching it! Oyy vie. I think the reason I couldn’t pull forward where I knew Alex Kingston from is because I have sort of shelved my memories of ER over the years to where all the lovely memories of those episodes are slowly erasing a bit in my memory. I had to let them go because it was too difficult for me to keep them after what happened after Season 5.

The Weeping Angels were some of the most intense villains I have ever come across!!! Although I haven’t seen a lot of Who I would have to imagine that for Whovians, they might agree with me that the Angels are the most intense!? I tried not to think about some of the more shuddering bits of this episode but reflect more on Riversong’s presence and her affect on the Doctor!? He revealed more bits about himself in this episode and for every random fact given, I had a swirling of questions floating inside me! This is a series that makes you want to ask ‘questions’ but without SFN I wouldn’t have the option to ask!

4. Flesh & Stone

They find the oxygen factory-forest in the ship. Crack in the wall of Amy’s room apparently meant more than they let on previously as it re-appeared on the ship. An angel grabbed the Doctor but failed to capture him. As Amy started to die in the forest, they had her close her eyes so that the angel inside her couldn’t see and therefore would delay the reaction of being consumed by death. She was supposed to remember what the Doctor told her at the age of 7, but even I struggled to remember which specific thing he said that had the impact he was looking for in that moment!? Mind you, being so new to Who I was trying to absorb everything in one night as the set was due back the next day! :( Stonecage is a prison where Riversong was kept after killing a good man, which made me think she killed the Doctor in a future timestream. Not sure why I felt that but I did. The time crack was still happening despite the Angels being cast into it to seal. Amy had to walk with closed eyes through the forest before being transported the rest of the way. The Doctor thought at first he had to go into the time crack but released the gravity instead to send the angels. Amy learns that she’s a time traveler now officially and that it alters her perception and memory of everything she experiences. The Doctor felt good about realising that time can be re-written which lends to reason he wants to know that for a future time. Amy kisses the Doctor who is completely gobsmacked by her attentions after learning she was meant to wed another in the morning! (I thought for sure she intended to wed him!) He told her he was 907 years old and that he wouldn’t age anymore but she would. She kept trying to engage him romantically but he finally realised that he had to address the other matter of the time crack, the fact that it was referencing Amy Time as the base code of the universe. And off they went in the TARDIS and I wished I had had more time to watch more episodes!

Parting Thoughts:

This one brought up a lot of questions in regards to the Doctor himself and his position in the life of Riversong! There is something ‘there’ but I am not sure what ‘it’ is! The crack in time also reminded me of ST: Generations (film) by the by! Mostly due to the emotional keel of this episode I was a bit disappointed I had not an extra one to see that might have been a bit lighter in tone as getting through two episodes with those Angels was trying! :( On the level of production, I loved how they created the ‘effect’ of the Angels, especially in how they were portrayed and how they kept increasing towards the actors!

| Doctor Who – Series 5 | Concluding Remarks

Ooh, my dear ghouls why did I not watch this series SOONER!? No, seriously, I am wayy over the moon in happiness for being in a position to watch Doctor Who!! The humour is bang-on Brit and the methodology of the production is very British too which is an asset because the Brits know how to make motion pictures & tv serials like this one shine and rock! I like the fact that everything in our known reality and universe is simply suspended! Including, some of the ethical choices from other series (i.e. Star Trek, Quantum Leap, etc) where there was always a borderline knowing of when to cross the line and when not to cross the line. I was highly surprised to see Vincent walk into the Museum in other words! Happy, overjoyed, but surprised!

I spied titles of other episodes as part of the Series 5 set, but I promised myself I’d limit myself this month during SFN to ‘stick to the plan’ by watching *ONLY!* those episodes that were sent to me in a list by Rinn! I can always resume where I left off by re-attempting to get all of them back afterwards!! :) I am sure my local library will think I jumped straight to the moon at that point, but perhaps, one day they will get the Whovian Universe in the catalogue!? One can hope!!

I’m itching to see more Who, and I have to be patient because between my posting schedule + my ensuing book tours, I have to balance the time I have to give to SFN + to my blog! Therefore, through patience and persistence I shall be watching the rest of the Who sets that arrive!! I have a heart full of gratitude to Maria & Rinn, as well as the 2 others who tweated about my foray into the world of Doctor Who based on my previous post! Warmed my heart, you all! I’m not in the social media realms (aside from the bookish blogosphere of course!) due to time constraints, but my appreciation for those who are active and think of others whilst they are tweating or Facebooking is limitless! Bless you for spreading the word! :)

Will I make it!? There is only one way to find out! Come back each *Saturday!* to see my progress!

I yield to the Whovians who are participating in SFN to help me understand better the bits of Who that befuddle me and of the pieces of which I might understand if I had had the time to watch each serial straight-through rather than in the bobblements that I am choosing to do! I look forward to seeing your comments! I like how this is taking shape as its seriously a “as I watch Who, I am writing about Who” diary! My eyes are WIDE OPEN! Cheers!

This feature is brought to you by:

In conjuction with: A Wide-Eyed Girl Slips into the Whovian Universe!

{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

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