...and then the bottom fell out of my wallet.

[torrain_circles]

Today was Chapters "20% off" customer appreciation day.

They have Doctor Who boxed sets. I have seasons 1 and 27 and 28 (and given the contents, am utterly prepared to forgive the perpetual mislabelling of seasons that appears to have started this century).

"Oh, Grandfather, couldn't we stay a bit longer? The Thals are such nice people."
"And the Daleks are not. Which is more important, my child."

First impression: it's stunning how little the Daleks have changed since '63. Gotten more powerful, yes--I pity the poor bastard who tries to manhandle a Dalek onto a cloak in this day and age--but still ruthlessly survival-oriented and utterly without compassion. And the voices. Gyah. I've got it backwards--I saw them in Season 27 before I ever saw them in Season 1--but there's a certain giddy thrill of safe terror in watching them appear. I know what they are, and how bad they can be. They're the anti-life, the beast of judgement. They dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds...[1]

And I'm watching them meet the Doctor, and thinking it's the end of their golden age, such as it was. They don't know who he is. They don't fear the Oncoming Storm. They don't even know about the TARDIS.

Life on Skaro is about to change.[2]
---
[1] ...yes, I'm mangling Sandman.
[2] And referencing Fallout.

Comments

[drjamez.livejournal.com]

There are days I wish I had your view of the series.

I enjoy it all, of course, but... damn. Thank you for sharing.

- James -

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Welcome. :)

It's odd--I think in part I enjoy it so much *because* I'm such a relative latecomer. I'm a sucker for archetypes, names with history and connotations and flavour, and while I hadn't seen much Doctor Who I did get my hands on some of the novels (sometime between the ages of seven and twelve). Mind you, I wasn't really in a position to look much of anything up at that point--the concept of the Internet as research tool did not even register to a preadolescent back in the mid-late eighties, or at any rate not this one--but I remembered bits and pieces. The back-of-book quote about him changing, and Ian wondering WHO the doctor would be next[1], that stuck with me for decades (as evinced by the fact that I still remember it). So I didn't know much. But I picked up something, then and over the years. TARDIS. Dalek. The Master. Time Lord.

But anyway.

And then I came across the last three seasons, though very slowly. I saw "The Unquiet Dead", and that was good, but I saw it on a TV in a bar and it was the only one I saw--didn't think of the Internet, no TV. And I heard bits and pieces, more and more, and then I saw "Spearhead from Space" (yes, with Three--the Autons sounded cool, they came up in a completely different context) and "The Christmas Invasion". And I got a little more context.

And then I sat down and properly saw "Rose". And I think it was the best possible introduction to the series--watching her learn, knowing enough to expect something wonderful but not enough to be sure of what's happening. It's like the whole world of the series lights up, brilliant and dangerous and marvelous and--

--well, fantastic.
---
[1] Very cheap book. I swear they used the all-caps.