NEW WHO REVIEW:
"THE GHOST MONUMENT"
So now, with everyone established and settled in, and with the introduction to the whole concept of the Doctor taken care of for all the newbies, it's time to get down to a proper adventure on a strange new world.
In the last review, I mentioned that it was devoutly to be wished that whoever scooped up the Doctor and her new companions, their ship should come up equipped with the infinite improbability drive from 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy'....
For the full splainin, click here.
And for alls I know, both of the ships - one owned by Angstrom and the other by Enzo - were equipped with the drive. By that point on the Toobworld timeline, the "IID" may have been available for general usage - as long as they could afford it or get away with stealing one.
Epzo claimed to be a Muxteran, and Angstrom was from Albar. Both were humanoid in appearance at least superficially, but neither had ever heard of human beings. Still, unlike the Centaurans from ‘Babylon 5’, who look humanoid on the outside, but who have those tentacles (which come in handy while playing cards), I think the Albarians and the Muxterans are descended from the same basic gene pool as the Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans among others. ‘Star Trek’ provided the best backstory for the prevalence of the humanoid form with the story of the Preservers seeding the universe with that DNA structure. And so I cite the Preservers with every look at humanoids throughout the “Whoniverse”.
I have no O'Bservations based on Angstrom or her home planet which could serve as theoretical links to other TV shows. (I am thinking that if this season is leading to a final showdown with the Stenza, why not set it on Albar and bring Angstrom back for a return engagement?)
As for Epzo, the only idea that came to me was based on his name. I'm assuming his planet gave his people their name; so the Muxterans are from either Muxter or Muxtera? Either way, both planets are probably to be found in the Twelve Galaxies. More on that later.
Now being a Muxteran, it could be that Epzo's people can be found on other planets, even on some that they colonized themselves. It doesn't seem out of reason considering that Epzo is proof that they are space-worthy.
So I'm wondering if it's pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that the Muxterans colonized Sigma Iotia II. This is the planet that was contaminated by a book left behind by the crew of the Horizon 100 years before the Enterprise paid a call in the 'Star Trek' episode "A Piece of the Action".
The reason i suggest this is because Epzo's name is so similar to those sported by the Iotians - not so much Bela Oxmyx and Mirt, but especially Zabo, Tepo, Kalo, and Jojo Krako. Epzo would fit right in!
Sigma Iotia II may have been in one of the Twelve Galaxies, but I believe its timeline was analagous to ours. Therefore, it's also pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Sigma Iotia II IS the home planet of the Muxterans. The arrival of the starship Horizon wouldn't happen for about 300 years, and "Sigma Iotia II" could just be the classification of the planet from the perspective of (Never in the script do the natives of that world call themselves Iotians.)
But I'm going to stick with the idea that Sigma Iotia II is a colony planet, with only a sparse population in relative scale to what that planet could hold.
This was not the first time mention of the Twelve Galaxies has come up, at least as a 'Doctor Who' reference.
From the TARDIS Data Core:
Around the year 2,000,000, this region might have contained the planets Proamon and Svartos. Kane offered Ace the chance to join him, saying that Twelve Galaxies could be hers. The Seventh Doctor later offered to take her on a trip around the Twelve Galaxies before taking her home to Perivale. (TV: Dragonfire)
Mention of the Twelve Galaxies also comes up in BookWorld and the Audioverse as well, but those are separate universes borne out of the imagination of Mankind. Not my purview.
The Stenza may be 5000 galaxies away from Earth, but I think the Twelve Galaxies are much closer - still under the sway of the Stenza, but close enough for Federation starships to reach. Since Sigma Iotia II could be reached by the starship Enterprise, then maybe ‘Star Trek’ has visited the Twelve Galaxies.
We don’t get to follow what happened to Angstrom and Epzo after they jointly won the race. But it would make for excellent fanfic – maybe a shipper story even. If so, I think there would be no barrier to a Muxteran/Albarian mixed heritage child. Just sayin’, is all.
On to other points…..
DOCTOR:
Want to borrow my shades?
GRAHAM:
Oh, ta.
DOCTOR:
Like an old pair of mine. I say mine. Can't remember who I borrowed them off now. It was either Audrey Hepburn or Pythagoras.
GRAHAM:
Eh? Pythagoras never wore shades.
DOCTOR:
You obviously never saw him with a hangover.
Oh, I hope it was Pythagoras! We could then suggest that the Doctor met the version from ‘Atlantis’ played by Robert Emms. (It would take some splainin, but I think that show could be kept in the main Toobworld.) However, since she mentioned Audrey Hepburn as a possibility, then she must have met the actress at some time in her past during one of her male incarnations. Because of the sunglasses, it may have been during the production of her movie “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”, which should be great fodder for fanfic. Have at it!
The grandmaster of the Twelve Galaxies race, a former winner named Ilin, informed the Doctor that he was overseeing this race. But he also casually tossed off that it was to be the final race. There’s a backstory to that I’m sure, but most likely we’ll have to wait for somebody to come up with fanfic for it.
The Remnants are the first interesting alien life forms – if they are alive – of this season. “Tim Shaw” of the Stenza was okay, but he was a Predator derivative. And that coiled thingie of his was just a robot. But it’s early days and hopefully “Chibbers” will keep it coming with new species. [Hat tip to Rob Buckley for "Chibbers". You'll find the link to his blog "The Medium Is Not Enough" there to the left, My Remnants!]
I question if the Remnants are alive because even though they seem to have a hive-mind, they were bio-engineered at best by scientists held captive by the Stenza on that planet now known as Desolation. The best thing I liked about them was that it was a continuation of something that the Grand Moff excelled at – making the ordinary scary. They looked like dirty rags… deadly dirty rags. I realize they’re evil, but like the Weeping Angels, they would make great recurring villains. And provide a nice paycheck for Ian Gelder who supplied the communal voice for them.
Okay – the Timeless Child. I’m not going to hypothesize about it. I’m willing to go along for the ride. I admit, I disliked the ‘Torchwood’ episodes which Chibnall contributed, to the point that I wanted to use his last name as a word in the Televizh language to stand in for some English word signifying something coarse and disgusting. (I’ve already used “zmed” as “shit” and “veena sud” for “fuck you.”) However, he redeemed himself with that first season of ‘Broadchurch’ (the other two were enjoyable but were diminishing returns to my mind.) So I’m willing to cut him some slack as long as he keeps up the quality of these first two ‘Doctor Who’ episodes. (But fail me and he’ll wind up in the lexicon!) Anyhoo, it would be futile to guess where this “Timeless Child” clue is going, so why bother coming up with theoretical links to other facets of Toobworld now?
Now…. The TARDIS. I never expected the Doctor to say “You’ve redecorated…. I don’t like it.” upon first seeing its (her?) new interior. Every Doctor incarnation has liked the new interior which the TARDIS comes up with for them. They only dislike the ones created for their later incarnations. Should the Thirteenth Incarnation ever meet one of her past selves, I’m sure we will see that incarnation spout the now-familiar phrase upon seeing this crystalline fortress for the Doctor’s solitude.
I do wonder if the deciding factor was that they wanted to avoid any hint of femininity about the décor, not wanting to add fuel to the fire for those foes of a female Physician er, Doctor. (Gods, I love alliteration!) After the last two designs seemed to reflect their incarnations, this seems to go against that mode. Although crystals do seem appropriate, I guess. (The outside veneer looks great as well.)
I seem to be a bit fixated on fanfic with this year’s blogathon as you’ll see as the day progresses. So I’m thinking that what the TARDIS did during those thousand-year intervals between appearances as the “Ghost Monument” would make some great solo TARDIS adventures, challenging though they may be in writing for a character that’s a big blue box. It can’t talk, but we know it can think. I had a blogathon post last New Year’s Day about that idea and it looks like this intermittent phantom existence could provide plenty of other opportunities for such stories.
One last O’Bservation regarding next week’s episode, “Rosa”. I’m very excited for this historical episode as I know of one TV show episode already which I could link it to thanks to the televersion of Ms. Rosa Parks.
Allonsy!
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