Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 144 – Tegan Jovanka
Rabbits! Tegan Jovanka has to be up there in the pantheon of iconic companions. She blundered aboard the TARDIS in the Fourth Doctor’s dying days and stayed for most of the following incarnation’s tenure. Well, I say blundered – but was she part of the Watcher’s plan? As the events Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 143 – Ancient History
One of the benefits of Doctor Who being a show about time travel is that one can travel back into the dim and distant past. In fact, the Doctor, Susan, and the kidnapped teachers Ian and Barbara did just that in the very first story when they encountered the Tribe Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 142 – Aliens
The aliens of Doctor Who never fail to capture our imagination. Much of that is down to the ingenuity of the writers and production team who, especially in the classic era, never let a little thing called money hamper their skills or imaginations. As a result, we have Sontarans, Rutans, Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 141 – The Missing Episodes
The missing episodes of Doctor Who are a well-known story. I think the idea of junking episodes to our modern eyes and the ways in which we consume media seems crazy. To the BBC at the time, Doctor Who (and many other programmes) was just old stock costing them money. Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 140 – Clara Oswald
Clara Oswald is a somewhat divisive figure in Doctor Who. Some fans like her, others really don’t. For me, this can be encapsulated in The Impossible Girl story. It’s a nice idea, and a great use of classic footage, but the implications are that she’s somewhere in every story and Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 139 – Doctor Whodunnit?
It’s no accident that Doctor Who has paid homage to Agatha Christie murder mysteries over the years in Black Orchid, Terror of the Vervoids, and the Horror of Fang Rock (amongst others), as both genres benefit from the same plot devices. A handful of characters with motives isolated in a Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 138 – Religion in Doctor Who
Like all good science fiction, Doctor Who reflects our present day world. From the very beginning, this ethos has involved religion, but not just the predominant Christianity of 1960s England. Going back in time to meet The Aztecs was a masterstroke, for example, because it created the tension needed for Read more…
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword 137 – Donna Noble
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at Sarah Jane being the quintessential companion. Donna Noble is surely up there in the companion stakes. She’s brave, funny, knows her own mind, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She’s also a survivor. Life may dent her armour but she gets right back Read more…