My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x04: "The Long Way Home Part 4"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

General: “Sound off! Who’s hurt? Stay calm, damn it.”
Buffy: “No. Panic.”

Each issue so far has ended with enough hooks to keep pulling us back in for some more and when your last one ends with the sudden reappearance of a character that should be long dead, it’s safe to say that answers are needed and fast too.

Of all the people Willow would have the misfortune to be kidnapped by, a vengeful Amy was bad enough but discovering that her boyfriend is Warren, still in his skinless state of people, I can’t help but wonder – what the hell?

Strapped down to a table, Willow gets a brief synopsis on why her most significant kill is still alive. Well first off all, after yanking off his skin, Amy managed to pull a Houdini and get Warren out of there before she could finish the job. The only other question is why Amy would do that?

It turns out that I’ll assume after their spat in “Doublemeat Palace”, Amy took to stalking Willow and saved Warren’s ass in the very hopes of causing further misery down the line. Warren is also very quick to point out that he was in on Amy’s punishment scheme from “The Killer In Me” and more interestingly that Amy’s magic is his skin.

The whole involvement on Willow turning into her nemesis in Season Seven could be cool. I hate the idea of Willow actually feeling bad for doing Warren so her involuntary having to become him is now made tolerable as a result.

As for the whole “her magic is my skin”, what can I say – Amy is an incredibly smart girl. If she’s been stalking Willow for all the this time then obviously she must have some idea that Warren is an avowed misogynist and is completely untrustworthy individual as well.

Her using her magic as a substitute for actually regenerating Warren’s skin is probably Amy’s way of keeping Warren in line. As useful as he might be in her personal vendetta with Willow, having some form of control over him is smart. We’ve seen Amy advance in the magic field so it’s unlikely that she’s unable to regenerate Warren’s skin, she’s just not doing for her own benefit.

Bigger question then would be why isn’t Warren trying to find ways of doing it himself? Like I said the guy is an avowed misogynist and there’s no way, grateful for not being totally killed would he willingly want to be under someone else’s thrall.

Then again, Warren is more naturalistically happy to exact some of his own revenge on Willow as he goes after her with an exactor knife while Amy just looks on. The Master and Lucy Saxon this lot aren’t as despite my fear of any eye injuries, not much terror is being generated.

Briefly cutting away from Warren’s revenge, we get an almighty pissed off Dawn smashing her fists into the castle walls and generally being reminded that she is a super size she isn’t super strong. It also sucks for poor Dawnie (who’s assertive I’m liking) that she’s unable to fit through the portal the gang are working on to get Willow back.

Buffy isn’t that much in trying to calm Dawn down and her efforts for attempting only resulted in Dawn rather insensitively telling Buffy that Willow is like a mum to her. I guess that is a bit consistent as Willow and Tara did parent Dawn between Seasons Five and Six but Xander was right on the money when he noted sarcastically how much Buffy must have loved that particular comment.

Getting some mini-witches to help open a portal seems to be taking it’s sweet time and it’s moments like this when you really miss Giles, who is the only other magic expert the Scoobies really have. Xander however continues to impress by telling Buffy to find her fighting buddy and not to go all gung ho. This is only further proof as to why he is shaping up so excellently this season.

Back to the land of torture, Warren is not only goading Willow about how he would love her to go dark again but he’s also quick to jab her eye with the exactor knife and also tells her that the stronger her magic becomes the harder it is for her to break free out of her bonds.

That might also explain why Willow isn’t talking to. Perhaps the nifty spell on those bonds are stopping her from chanting any kind of magic that would free her but the severe lack of a two way exchange between them kinda sucks to be honest.

We’ve had interesting exchanges between Willow and Amy in the last issue but not once does Willow get a chance to convey disgust that Warren is still breathing when Tara is stone cold. I hope no-one holds it against me when I say I want Willow to finish what she started on Warren, those two and a half years ago.

After getting a brief look of Willow’s mind and five bizarre looking women who want to grant the tortured witch access, the plans to actually save Willow before Warren succeeds in dicing her are in play. Well just Buffy telling Satsu to load up but I can tell you I knew the outcome before witnessing it.

Meanwhile bored from seeing Willow squirm, Amy has to answer to General Voll who isn’t thrilled with Amy disabling their cameras. Geez, Voll do you really think Amy isn’t going to find some way of ensuring once she’s lived up to her end of the deal that she isn’t gonna find a way of making sure you aren’t a threat to her? This guy is every bit as stupid as those Initiative suits.

Getting past some boring bickering between Satsu, Leah and Rowena, Buffy and Satsu are then set to get Willow back and when Buffy borrows some lip gloss of her intern, the cinnamon thing is revealed. Was it Satsu who kissed Buffy awake last issue? Who knows? Joss is good at throwing us off the scent but in comic book form anything is possible, right?

More interesting is the trip into Willow’s state of mind where her weird new pals are telling her that her refuge is only temporary and even go as far as to show her images of people burning in the flames and it doesn’t take a genius to get that this particular imagery is representing the very real pain she’s being subjected to.

On screen something like this would look absolutely amazing and while Willow doesn’t really say much to the ladies in her mind, the sheer surrealism of what we’re seeing is enough dialogue in of it’s self. We know that Willow is in deep shit and this only emphasises it.

Fortunately though she isn’t the only about to get shafted as the idiotic soldiers are about to learn that some traps really aren’t as effective as they might appear to be. Then again, demons and gods can be smart; suits just can’t on this series.

With the mini-witches finally getting the portal opened and some delightfully cheeky dialogue exchanged between Buffy and Xander, the soldiers’ plan to take aim on Buffy and Satsu with a laser cannon is nicely deflected with the Scoobies nifty use of a mirror. See, soldiers on this show/comic book really are stupid.

It also doesn’t end there as Buffy and Satsu get through and start beating the ever holy crap out of the attacking soldiers so much that to a degree it almost beggars belief but while Buffy may be winning this fight without even really trying, it’s almost nice that she doesn’t actually derive any pleasure from the damage her and Satsu are being kinda forced to inflict.

So Buffy grabs one of the Generals and makes a reasonable request – she’ll get his men fixed up if he tells her where Willow is being kept and in all fairness he doesn’t really have much option to disagree with Buffy’s benign request.

As Buffy and Satsu whoop another soldier out of the way, Xander figures out that they are two miles south of Sunnydale and also is quick to warn them that Amy is waiting for them as well. Suffice to say, Amy is there all right but it seems that Buffy is more than prepared for her.

Willow mentions to one of the weird looking ladies in her mind that her and Buffy are a part of each other. I thought it was a rather weird way of saying that her and Buffy’s friendship is on the same ground as the first five seasons of the series but in actual fact it means that Willow is seemingly able to suffuse some of her mojo into Buffy who doesn’t waste much time using this to her advantage against Amy.

Once again Amy makes the speedy move of underestimating her opponent and while she might be right about Buffy’s sudden magical abilities being a lightshow, the slayer is easily able to distract her by pulling an image of Catherine Madison long enough for Satsu to throw a bomb in Amy’s direction.

Naturally it doesn’t actually kill Amy because obviously enough she is vital to this whole lengthy series arc but it’s effective enough for the gang to get to Willow and Buffy to seemingly recognise Warren before he and Amy make their not so great escape. Crap and I was hoping someone would nuke Warren, guess I’ll have to wait for that.

Even slightly more crap is that whatever damage Warren inflicted on Willow is gone by the time Buffy is able to free her friend. Not that I wanted Willow to be horrifically scarred but it does kind of kill the impact of her whole capture and makes a large chuck of this issue feel rather pointless as well.

Also rather pointless is Whedon’s decision to kill off Ethan Rayne when Buffy finds him dead in one of the cells thanks to General Voll. Without a reaction from Giles and with only the dream space hints of last week, Ethan’s demise should’ve been something far more stronger than this. Maybe it will help advance the arc but it feels so bloody anticlimactic.

Fortunately there’s an explanation for Voll’s vitriol Buffy and her band of slayers and despite Buffy’s annoying assumptions that Voll is another in a long line of dudes threatened by strong women, his reasons for wanting Buffy defeated is his fears that her and the slayers will become further corrupted but the inner demon and will want to reshape mankind.

You kind of have to wonder where Voll is generating this assumption from. Sure there are slayers will become corrupted and tread the wrong path and unlike Faith won’t be redeemed but Voll doesn’t exactly seem to be coming with some form of a compromise in the matter. It’s nice that there’s something more to go on with the Twilight thing but Buffy’s forlorn response doesn’t bode very well.

Also in “The Long Way Home Part 4”

Cover for this issue was Giant Dawn with Buffy in the palm of her hands. So far each cover star has played a big part in the issue but Dawn didn’t have a lot to do here.

Warren (to Willow): “I remember thinking and it comes up again in this situation, I just have to wonder – are you bored now?”

This issue opened up with a brief flashback to “Villains”. Is it me or is the lack of a mention of Tara from Willow a bit surprising?

Xander (re Dawn’s comment): “Oh I bet you loved hearing that.”
Buffy: “How much longer.”

Warren (to Willow): “All your power is siphoned into those bonds. The stronger you get. Try it, go dark. I wish you would. I think you might.”

The women in Willow’s mind were a mummy, blue smoke, painting, wolf and one of paper and equations. Abstract representations of Willow’s power/lives/lovers etc?

Amy (to General Voll): “But the witch belongs to my boyfriend. They have a history. She’s kind of a history major.”

I have to ask but when Amy refers to Warren as her boyfriend, is she actually screwing him because it can’t be pleasant if she is?

Buffy: “Yes sir, Mister Watcher sir.”
Xander: “I’ll watcher your butt.”
Buffy: “Your grammar is not so much.”
Xander: “Bring me back a witch.”

Buffy: “Where are we?”
Xander: “About two miles south of Sunnydale.”
Buffy: “Sunnydale, well I’m the one who wanted to go home.”

This is the second time in the series the Scythe has been used in battle. It seems that Buffy is keeping ownership on that thing.

Amy: “Time to go, Sweetie.”
Warren: “This isn’t over slayer.”
Amy: “I just do not get tired of saying that.”

General Voll: “We’re not waiting for that to happen, we will wipe you out. Not just monsters anymore. It’s you against the world. You’re at war with the human race.”
Buffy: “Oh. Kay.”

This issue ended with a BTVS logo at the end. Stack this entire arc together and you would have a complete episode.

What started off as a rather intriguing arc is marred by a final instalment that gives us only some answers but leaves you mostly unsatisfied. “The Long Way Home Part 4” has some interesting moments but there aren’t as many standout scenes or characters moments that the first three issues had and some of the dialogue is a bit clunky in comparison. It also stinks that we have to wait until August for standalone issue “The Chain”.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x03: "The Long Way Home Part 3"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Dawn: “We totally have to talk. Are you evil again?”
Willow (re Amy): “It’ll fade. She just really pissed me off.”

Opening things up after the previous issue’s cliff-hanger, the mystery older man who called Buffy “My Love” turns out to be Ethan Rayne. Unlike someone else later on in the mix, Ethan’s return in a welcome addition to this interesting four part arc.

Getting over the My Love spiel, which makes Buffy want to projectile vomit when she point blank informs him that he takes up none of her subconscious; their reunion has Ethan explaining the nature of a Dream Space to which Buffy suddenly has a very legitimate reason to get embarrassed over.

Not only do we get to see a graphic sexual fantasy in which a naked duo of Angel and Spike are caressing Buffy in a nurse uniform while the three of them are all chained together and we have Cupid’s hovering over them along with a train going into a tunnel as well as stakes and orchids in the background.

This is probably the only thing that Joss has conveyed on comic form so far that would’ve posed some difficulties if the show was still on the airwaves and it’s the most surreal image ever seen. In fact it might be the very thing you’ll remember about this entire issue on a superficial level as well.

It was only a matter of time before either Angel or Spike were going to factor into the mix so instead of actually bogging the story by reintroducing them in the flesh, Buffy’s little sexual fantasy not only reinforces the sexual hold both vampires have on her but it also further highlights her glowing lack of a sex life too.

Suffice to say, Ethan probably took a little pleasure in seeing Buffy having to squirm but for some reason he seems to have hitched a ride into her subconscious to help he rather than kill her. Maybe being locked up since “A New Man” has changed, then again more likely Ethan is up to something and he’s quick to warn Buffy that things are going outside.

If there’s something these first two issues lacked, it was a certain Wicca in the mix and the return of Willow in the last issue is put to excellent use here as not only has her reappearance wiped the smirk of Amy’s smug face but it doesn’t take long for the girls to renew their rivalry in glorious style.

By that I mean they take to the sky above the castle and begin a magical duel that’s probably straight out of Harry Potter to a degree. For those of you who like their Foe Yay, Willow and Amy seem determined to provide it in spades.

Although Willow is probably still the most powerful one of the two, Amy is quick to taunt her about trying to destroy the world and now only producing weak craft as she seemed to be successful in deflecting Willow’s blows. Then again, Amy was never the most attentive of people as Willow soon reveals that she’s only absorbing her Mojo to decode it. Not entirely sure why Willow is doing that unless she’s planning to use Amy’s own magic against her, which would be sweet.

Anyways minor distractions such as Xander praising Willow to some slayers as the rest of them defend the castle from the undead are fine but it’s the light show and army being apparent distractions that begin to see the Willow/Amy thing escalate into a bit of a pissing contest between.

So far the light show hasn’t killed either witch but there have been slayers getting the living daylights beaten out of them by the living dead, which proves that at least one distraction is effective. It’s looking that in her quest for power/revenge, Amy really doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process.

So it’s three cheers when her overconfidence is then punished by Xander commanding Dawn to literally step on Amy long for Willow to knock her out and freeze her. I’m surprised with her size; Dawn wasn’t able to crush Amy despite her good timing.

Dawn’s brief exchange with Willow is humorous, despite voicing concerns about Willow’s magic. Willow was furious with Amy and Dawn was savvy enough to pick up on it, however it doesn’t seem like we have to worry about Willow losing herself just yet.

Meanwhile in the land of nod, Buffy seems to be in classic denial when Ethan warns her of potential and for the loyal viewers you can spot the various moments of the previous seven seasons while Ethan draws Buffy closer to his desired location.

I was kind of hoping Ethan’s place would be Hellmouth related but it’s more to do with Amy’s cage which both Ethan and Buffy get to see from a rat size perspective. There’s a thing about Roman symbolism and it’s interesting to know that Ethan wasn’t aware of Amy’s magical havoc. Perhaps he really is out to help the Scoobies though I’m more interested to see how it would benefit him.

When Ethan isn’t providing Buffy with cryptic clues in her dream space, the Scoobies are trying to find a way to get Buffy to wake up but whatever else Amy may lie about, she wasn’t kidding when she said it required the kiss from someone who is in love with Miss Summer. Heck, even Willow has to point out to Xander and Dawn that her magic is useless against this spell.

So someone is in love with Buffy and they might not subconsciously know it? Well whoever the culprit, they realise it quick enough to actually do the deed and succeed in waking Buffy from her involuntary slumber.

With there only be Xander, Willow and a few slayers in the room, it’s largely implied that it’s Xander who successfully brought Buffy back to being awake. However just because Xander is the only male there, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s him who did it even if Buffy did dream about him in the previous issue.


While I seriously doubt that Willow has suddenly developed feelings for her, there is the question of the handful of slayers in that room there too including Leah, Rowena and Satsu. It’s likely it could be the latter given the sort of rapport her and Buffy seem to have developed.

Perhaps Satsu has a thing for Buffy. Is it likely that Buffy would reciprocate? If we’re gonna get girl-on-girl stuff, I’d prefer to be Willow and a resurrected Tara but it’s too early to tell about anything. Buffy hasn’t shown any interest in women before and little is known about Satsu to determine her sexual leanings yet.

Elsewhere when I’m not guessing sexuality or enjoying Foe Yay action (though Willow/Amy have nothing on The Doctor/The Master in Doctor Who), there’s the matter about that lizard demon’s death from Issue 1. Apparently some of those fights had been engineered and further information in regards to the Twilight symbol is scuppered. Still though it’s nice to see Giles but I wish to God he was given more to do as his appearance only amounts to a page here.

Also the eternally annoying Andrew is on the phone to Xander and more or less telling him nothing of any real help. In fact, there are two things about Andrew’s appearance that are noteworthy – there’s no geek referencing (from him at least) and Andrew seemed to be oblivious to the strip poker session with his batch of slayers in Italy. Now this is the kind of Andrew I can handle.

Speaking of handle, do I detect a little bit of flirtation between Xander and Renee? In the first two issues it looked a little one sided but here when he’s trying to cheer up a demoralised Renee (who blames herself from the not entirely successful fight with the undead), he gives off the impression of being a little more interested in the girl, especially with the butch. I like Renee and perhaps Xander could date her. It’d be a bit more plausible than Buffy.

As Willow her awesomeness is highlighted when she quickly discovers that Amy’s magic is mixed with technology and is also quick to tell Buffy that her and Kennedy broke up. Thousands of Willow/Tara shippers will cheer at that particular and it also might give the indication that Joss Whedon could either want to bring Tara back or just not feature Kennedy at all in this eighth season.

I don’t particularly hate Kennedy but from the word go, I just knew her and Willow wouldn’t last in the same way that we all knew that Buffy and Riley wouldn’t either. To Iyari Limon, it might feel like a slap in the face that even in comic book form, Kennedy is royally shafted. For that I pity her!

However the best thing about this entire comic is the scene between Buffy, Xander and Willow all reminiscing and discussing their lack of love lives. I have to admit nostalgically, it feels like the first half of Season One when all three of them were single and people/demons like Cordy, Oz, Angel, Riley, Spike, Tara, Kennedy and Anya didn’t play such major parts in the sexuality and teen/adult relationships. The only thing missing from that scene was of course Giles. It bugs me how he’s not in the same vicinity as Buffy, Willow and Xander.

Of course when things get a bit cute, there has to be something to spoil it and of course when Willow finally gets a reaction from Amy, it’s soon apparent that Amy’s magic does have technology on her side. This should be the gang’s first hint that Amy and General Voll are on the same team.

It also should’ve been a massive hint for Willow that her best enemy had managed to spring a trap as soon enough both Amy and Willow slip through a portal with a pissed off and confused Buffy and Xander to realise they’ve been played again. In a weird way, hats off to Amy who might as well savour her victory moments for the time being.

As for Willow – what’s worse than being tied to an operating table and having the woman who tried to make you off the deep end bait you about falling for a simple rope a dope stunt she pulled? I tell you – it’s learning that her disfigured boyfriend is none other than a skinless Warren, who’s more than anxious to repay the damage that was deservedly placed on him.

Its nice way of ending the issue but the phrase “what the hell” springs dangerously to mind. Put it this way, Warren’s reappearance is most definitely not welcome. Shouldn’t be dead? Why on earth would Amy want anything to do with him? These are only two questions that need answering.

Also in “The Long Way Home Part 3”

Cover art this issue was Willow looking dark and somewhat kinda sexy with tonnes of mist and smoke.

Ethan: “We haven’t oodles of time.”
Buffy: “You’re a chaos worshipping winnable sorcerer who takes up none; count it none of my subconscious. Which means you forced your way into my dream.”

With Ethan constantly saying “pet” and “my love”, is there any chance that he might have feelings for her? He was being pretty lecherous by saying those phrases a lot.

Amy (to Willow): “Oh man, this craft is weak; didn’t you almost destroy the world once? Now you can’t even put up a fight.”

Xander: “Ladies and gentlemen, the indescribable Rosenberg.”

In some of Buffy’s memory we got to see Faith, Tara, The Master, graduation, Joyce’s death, Angel, Spike, Riley and even Joss Whedon himself. How bizarre!

Ethan: “I’m more an antique Roman than a Dane.”
Buffy: “Did I mention I’m not crazy good at symbolism?”

Willow: “Serious magic is kinda like improv, Dawn. You can’t just stop it cold, you’ve gotta adapt.”
Dawn: “Is that why I’ve got an army of the undead playing Pride And Prejudice around my ankles?”

Aside from Kennedy dying for a month, coming back to life and ending her relationship with Willow, what else has the latter been up to for the past year? It’s not like she had the opportunity to tell Buffy much.

Xander (re the quietness of Italy): “Sounds good to me.”
Andrew: “No trust me, you’d be bored stiff.”

Renee: “You’re so butch.”
Xander: “Almost a kind of masculine vibe, don’t you think?”

One of Andrew’s slayers was reading Fray. There was an ad for the same franchise in this issue too.

Willow: “Seems like things are hopping here.”
Buffy: “Same old. Cept for Dawnie. She’s definitely not Mama’s little girl anymore.”
Willow: “Yeah, what’d she do, bone a Thricewise?”

Xander: “There’s funny bonhomie happening and I want in.”
Buffy: “No, ahh, ahh, girl thing.”
Xander: “Girl thing? With girl parts? Now I really need to know.”
Willow: “Slow year Xan?”

The letter pages seemed to indicate that this eighth season might go on for forty or fifty issues. There are pros and cons to that of course.

Amy (to Willow): “Great big all powerful earth-mother goddess and she still falls for the rope a dope.”

Warren (to Willow): “Killing Buffy Summers is gonna be a party. She pissed me off more than a little but you Rosenberg. You really got under my skin.”

Chronology: Minutes from “The Long Way Home Part 2”

Continuing on a very strong note after the excellent previous issue, “The Long Way Home Part 3” wastes no time in setting up mystery and confrontations but how the heck Warren’s return is going to impact on this series is mystifying. I hope Joss Whedon knows what he’s doing bringing this guy back. Still at least we got some quality moments with most of the Scoobies.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x02: "The Long Way Home Part 2"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Dawn: “What do you know? You don’t have a sister.”
Xander: “Have you seen this place? I’ve got all my sisters ‘n’ me!”

After a disappointing no-show in the first issue, the returns of Giles and Willow are two of the many things that this second instalment in “The Long Way Home” four parter gets so right. Mind you don’t expect a lot from either character!

With Giles it’s a rather brief appearance at the beginning where he muses about how he used to be a watcher and how watchers in general tended to outnumber slayers but how thanks to “Chosen” that statistic has been more than reversed. This musing thing was done in the first issue but while Giles’ doesn’t add anything we don’t know already, it’s still pretty good to have him back no less.

Staring out of his balcony, Giles surveys the plethora of new slayers training and compliments them before telling them that while some of them are developing skills that could even surpass Buffy, it’s generally not enough. At this point, Giles’ lecture is in danger of falling into the same format of Buffy’s ones from Season Seven.

So it’s then a pretty good thing when we cut to Buffy, who quips about slayers fighting alone is formidable before getting her main girls Leah, Rowena and Satsu to try and trounce her. Naturally the girls fail but Buffy is quick to compliment them on their moves and even Satsu’s hair.

It’s nice to see Buffy building a little bit of a rapport with the girls instead of being a strict general. Pissing off slayers last time got her kicked out of her house. I’m pretty sure Buffy doesn’t want to be kicked out of that lovely castle she’s acquired in Scotland, especially given that she’s got an upcoming war on her hands.

If Giles’ lecture was risky and Buffy’s was fun, then the one Andrew gives to his bunch of slayers on a campfire trip in Italy is just pointless. Unlike Giles and Willow, Andrew’s return for me wasn’t particularly warranted so his little tirade in regards to what he felt about Return Of The Jedi is just tiresome.

One of the reasons why I can’t stand Andrew as a character is because he walks around like a Geek Encyclopaedia and uses his pop culture savvy in a way that is generally unhelpful. Then again, I’m probably one of a few people who feel Andrew was neither use nor ornament in Season Seven or in this issue at all.

Andrew’s rant about Lando Calrissian’s outfit is apparently a more relevant discussion topic than giving his batch of slayers some weapons knowledge. Then again, his anti-gun stance soon has him getting onto some dos and don’ts in regards to head butts, which makes me hope some of these slayers head butts him for the hell of it. Suffice to say my Andrew hatred won’t be dying down just yet.

However when there’s something I hate in this comic book, it’s usually followed up by something I love and Giant Dawn using an entire lake to bath herself while talking to Xander about Buffy not wanting her there is a good scene.

Okay whinging Dawn is hardly compelling but it’s better than listening to Andrew babble on about Star Wars and once again, she has a point. Buffy may be building a good rapport with her slayers but she is generally still ignoring her but in fairness the fact that the gang can’t be bothered to contact Willow and change Dawn back or find Kenny and see if he’s able to reverse the process is annoying me.

Xander is once again stuck in the role of mediator and tries to excuse Buffy’s lack of contact and while I’m sure Buffy does wish Dawn was getting an education rather than being a giant, it still wouldn’t kill her to spend some time with Dawn. One of the amusing things about Dawn’s situation is her splashing Xander after he makes an inappropriate quip. On screen this could’ve really worked too.

Onto the more serious elements in this issue at Drextal Corp Recycling Technologies or the even lamer version of The Initiative, which personally I prefer to address it as, we have the vile General Voll telling a suit that he generally wants Buffy out of the picture.

Besides being responsible for the destruction of Sunnydale and the fact he views Buffy and her slayers as terrorists, I can’t help but wonder what other reasons he might have for eliminating her. He’s hardly Mr Squeaky Clean himself as he pretty much admitted that he has no aversion to blowing things up himself either.

Then there’s the fact that he has half sun down logo which we see when he’s on his own. It was the same symbol the victims at that derelict church had in Issue 1 and there has to be something significant to it. In all fairness it’s too much of a coincide to not bear any significance.

So the questions regarding this particular reveal are – Is Voll a part of some doomsday cult? Is he even more destructive than he cites Buffy and her girls to be? The answers to this aren’t gonna come any quicker sadly. Which sucks given when comic books are a monthly basis.

Getting back to the thorny issue of Dawn being a giant, both Buffy and Xander go back to discussing and more or less what they say here is a rethread of what they’ve said before, well to an extent.

Essentially Xander throws the notion to Buffy that while Dawn didn’t deliberately make her super big, subconsciously Dawn wanted her attention so bad and by having something so extreme happen to her, perhaps she would finally get it.

Of course Buffy has so far treated this as an imposition, neither her nor anyone else has actually tried to come up with a solution or contact Willow about it and once again, Buffy also tries to downplay Dawn’s abandonment issues as well, even though Xander is quick to point out that Dawn has lost a lot of people she’s deeply cared about in recent years, including Buffy herself at two different occasions.

Another reason why Buffy then isn’t so keen to discuss Dawn is down to the fact that she really wants Xander to come to bed with her. The first actual shock of the entire book is the possibility of a Buffy/Xander hook up and seeing as the two of them kiss with Buffy knocking Xander’s head off and then being set alight by a demon gave things away about it being a dream sequence.

Buffy and Xander as a couple is a strange thing though. This issue hints the possibility but doesn’t actually say that something like that will happen. Buffy hasn’t gotten laid in a while and for over a year, Xander has been the main man in her life and his new proactive watcher style role is quite alluring.

If history didn’t dictate otherwise, I’d almost jump at the chance of Buffy and Xander together. Anything would be better than the horrifically toxic relationship she had with Spike in Season Six but on the series Buffy never displayed any sexual attraction towards Xander and his crush on Buffy also seemed to wane as well.

Also I don’t even get the vibe that Xander is really into Buffy now. Although he hasn’t exactly openly grieved for Anya or met anyone else, he still doesn’t seem to be anything in Buffy’s life right now other than good friend and trainer to the new slayers.

You’d also have to wonder how Renee would react if Xander did go for Buffy too. Her attraction to Xander is a lot more forthcoming in this issue as one of her slayer mates is quick to notice the sudden interests Renee has taken upon herself as well as the fact that Renee was quick to volunteer them for night watch.

As for Buffy being burned to a crisp by a demon, that was all a part of dream, one she seems to be also locked in a Sleeping Beauty. In reality Amy has put the whammy on her and has an unconscious Buffy tied to the bed while deciding to do Voll a favour and finish her off.

The thing with Amy is while she may have gotten craftier in her spells and was able to sneak into Buffy’s bedroom, it didn’t take long for Xander and a few girls to note their displeasure at seeing her as well as shooting the bitch in the arm with an arrow.

While it’s true to form for Xander to slag off Amy’s lame sacrificial knife which managed to become split in four, its Amy who still has the last laugh. After all she was still able to get into Buffy’s room and put her under that spell so while her attempts to kill her are a failure she succeeds in pointing out to Xander only a kiss will wake Buffy while the other slayers are busy battling the army of the undead Amy also brought along for amusement purpose.

Just like Sleeping Beauty, the kiss has to be from someone who is in love with Buffy and Amy’s baiting about Xander perhaps giving it a whirl might back up the theory that perhaps Joss Whedon just might pair Buffy and Xander up as well. I’m still not sure about this but Buffy is pretty useless to the season if she’s asleep so if Xander’s kiss is the very thing that wakes her up, then fine by me in the respect.

In the land of nod when Buffy isn’t dreaming about kissing Xander and being roasted alive and constantly reminded that she is the dark, there’s a mysterious older man who calls her “my love” and tells her that there’s a lot she needs to see. I think the chances of us finding out who this guy is are a bit higher than the grotesque thing Amy is screwing around with.

Speaking of Amy, while she might be feeling all smug about Buffy being in dream world and her zombies doing some slayer damage, that little smile on her face is wiped out when Willow hover over her window and basically challenges. It’s a play on Giles’ reintroduction in “Two To Go” but it ends this issue nicely and a fight between Willow and Amy via magic should be very fun to watch.

Also in “The Long Way Home Part 2”

Cover for Issue 2 has Eye Patch Xander all stealthy in his leather jacket alongside Buffy. I love how physically Jo Chen’s artwork resembles Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicholas Brendon.

Giles: “There were hundreds of watchers and one slayer. Scales have tipped of late.”

Last Issue Buffy had a Serenity Logo, this week her T-shirt is Hong Kong Phooey. Satsu also had a “Rude Girl” badge. Those style of badges are popular among students.

Xander: “That’s overstating it, don’t you think?”
Dawn: “I’m a giant, everything I state is over.”

General Voll (to a suit): “There’s no problem so big or complicated that it can’t be blown up. That’s not a saying we share with the public but …”

Where exactly is Drextal Corp based? From last issue, I would guess somewhere near Sunnydale.

Buffy: “No, no I can’t go outside, I’m afraid of the dark.”
Xander: “Buffy, you are the dark.”
Buffy: “That’s what I meant.”

Buffy has got some interesting looking weapons in her room. One of them almost resembles Faith’s knife from Season Three.

Amy (to an unconscious Buffy): “I couldn’t bear it if this was painless.”
Xander: “Amy, long time, no desire whatsoever to see.”

Xander: “This isn’t open wand night in Sunnydale sweetcheeks. You’re dealing with pros.”
Amy: “Any of you pros notice she’s still asleep?”

If Buffy’s room is so mystically protected, then shouldn’t Amy little Sleeping Beauty plan never have come to fruition? Or does the protection spell not view involuntary slumber as harm?

Renee: “Please there’s no love.”
Slayer: “No right of course. The sudden interest in comic books, James Bond movies and drywalling has absolutely nothing to do with Mr Harris.”

Xander: “But not friend love.”
Amy: “Right. Someone who wants to kiss her, like they’re passionate about her.”
Xander: “And not a sister.”
Amy: “Well a twisted sister.”

Anyone notice the dress Willow is wearing is very much the same one Tara wore in “Once More With Feeling”?

Xander: “Who’s breaching?”
Slayer: “Living dead sir.”
Xander: “Man, Amy you’re doing all the classics tonight.”

Willow (to Amy): “As a friend of mine once said, I’d like to test that theory.”

Chronology: About a day or two after “The Long Way Home Part 1”.

Better executed than the opening issue, “The Long Way Home Part 2” merits from the returns of Giles and Willow, the Buffy/Xander/Dawn scenes, adding more mystery with the dislikeable General Voll and making sure Amy is her very nasty self. It also helps that the quips are kept a coming and the action wasn’t far behind either.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x01: "The Long Way Home Part 1"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Buffy: “The thing about changing the world … Once you do it, the world’s all different. Everybody calls me ma’am nowadays.”

It’s been four years since Buffy and company have parted our TV screens. I think I can speak for the majority of viewers when I say it was time for the show to end. All good things come to an end after and no-one appreciates a show that outstays its welcome. Charmed I mean you!

Within those subsequent years I’ve latched on to many shows including the big cultural zeitgeists such as Alias, Lost, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes and I have a soft spot for Supernatural while shows such as Smallville and The Dresden Files have been the odd guilty pleasures for me.

The biggest shows in a post Buffy/Angel world that ignite the same bloodlust and undeniable passion for me have the phenomenal Doctor Who and its fun if flawed spin-off Torchwood. As it doesn’t need to be pointed out, we are now in a situation where there are more genre shows than you can shake a stick at.

The bigger question is why after such a reasonably longish time has Joss Whedon decided to continue his career landmark in the form of comics? Don’t get me wrong, I knew there was no way in hell that he would be able to round up all of his main cast for a movie but even the inner cynic in me has to ask that very question.

The very public Buffy lover however is thrilled about learning what has happened to some of the characters he’s cared deeply about since “Chosen”. I may have stopped wondering after a while but having official answers is something I wouldn’t have dismissed for the world.

Like an episode of the show itself, things open up on a pretty sharp note. We have Buffy musing about how the world has changed because of what she did to the Slayer line and soon enough herself and three slayers named Rowena, Leah and Satsu jump from a helicopter all secret agent like and storm a church in Scotland protected by a force field.

Well I lied, the force field is pretty useless because soon enough Buffy and company are able to get past that but soon enough they find themselves scrapping with a bunch of lizard like demons. A part of me thinks they look like something from a Marvel comic but they look brilliant that it doesn’t matter.

One of the best things about this opening sequence is the dialogue and it’s undeniably Joss’ with the demons stupid enough to underestimate Buffy and our main Slayer then happy to rectify that arrogance by literally crucifying him. I just had to throw that pun in there, despite its risk of being deeply immature.

However a bunch of demons attacking a church isn’t any good without a body count or better an idea of what they are after and when Buffy spots a weird symbol on the victims chest along with some arsenal, this comic already has you grabbed.

Then it gets slightly better as the previously underused Xander is told by his best friend to send Giles a copy of the symbol found on the victims. It turns out that Xander has gone from carpenter to watcher in over a year. Not that I’m complaining because if Andrew could become a trainee watcher then surely the more useful Xander would be deserving of an elevation in status.

One of the worst things about the last televised seasons of Buffy was the horrific lack of Xander. Obviously better at taking criticism than the likes of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, if making Xander a watcher is Joss Whedon’s attempts of further developing his character and just simply giving him more to do, then Joss is going to have a lot of pleased readers on his hands, including me.

With both Willow and Giles being collective no shows in the first issue (and yes, that is a major let down), it’s Xander and his general awesomeness that really makes this comic fly in a lot of places. Sure this issue doesn’t lack some mystery or a fight sequence or two but Xander is the best damn thing of this entire issue.

Reasons to love him here include playing his not unfamiliar role of confidant to Buffy, who once again has managed to distance herself from others. In fairness I’m glad Buffy is talking about her fears and insecurities to one of her best friends rather than sleeping with a peroxide vampire she’s never loved.

What’s great about Xander is while he’s sympathetic to Buffy’s plight he’s also savvy enough to know that a lot of Buffy’s distancing is essentially her own fault, not that even Buffy is keen on admitting it. Xander doesn’t push the issue and manages to lay off some of the moralising that has been annoying in the past.

Another thing that Xander seems skilled in is his new role of watcher. In Season Seven Xander did have to look after some of the potentials in his own home, now he’s actually instructing them and unlike the relationship some of them seem to have with Buffy, the girls here take to Xander and his instructions pretty well.

In particular there’s a girl named Renee who seems to be happy at the very sight of Xander and has even gone to the extent on reading up on her Nick Fury, much to the new watcher’s delight. In fact Xander’s very response is a nudging nod to how Whedon credits his fandom’s general savvy.

However the biggest state of Xander awesomeness throughout the entire first issue is his role of mediator between a quarrelling Buffy and Dawn. Remember how in both “Grave” and “Chosen”, Buffy made allusions of building a relationship with Dawn? Well suffice to say, the first problem they have and Buffy slips into the role of Crap Sister. Yes, that’s right viewers, its Dawn’s side you should be taking.

Seeing as Dawn is now at least 17, the girl has naturally become sexually active and a tryst with a Thricewise (it’s not explained what that is here) named Kenny has reaped the nasty consequence of her becoming fifty times her normal size. In fairness Dawn should count herself lucky – there’s no way Season Eight could redo something like an Angelus type nasty first time sexual experience. As for us readers, thank God we don’t have to deal with a supernatural pregnancy.

While Dawn may have gotten several warning from various concerned people about bonking Kenny and not heeded them, I have to admit that Buffy’s lack of concern is a pain. Your sister has become tall; perhaps worrying over treating it like an imposition is a more responsible reaction because Xander certainly thinks so.

As a detractor recently pointed out, if Buffy became gigantic, you’d bet your ass Willow would be summoned ASAP to undo it but like the Fred/Illyria debacle on Angel, Dawn has to wait until Willow comes back and this is one reason why she had better pop up sooner as opposed to later. So instead of being in Berkeley, Dawn is now in a castle.

It also doesn’t really help that while not only does Buffy have to be practically nagged into seeing her sister but when she does, she’s not exactly helpful. Buffy has a right to be concerned about Dawn being safe but hey, Dawn also has a right to be in relationships of her choosing even if her judgement is suitably wonky. Not wanting to divulge to Buffy the extent of her fling with Kenny and instead only to tell Willow does very little to remedy the tension.

As much as I like Dawn, I can’t exactly admit I’m keen on the idea of a Giant Dawn for this entire arc. I’m sure in case of attacks Buffy and her new Slayers will encounter, a Giant Dawn would be an advantage but unlike Xander’s new and improved role, it feels like she’s getting the short end of the stick.

Also as for the new girls of the bunch, we’ve only encountered four new Slayers and while the likes of Satsu, Rowena, Leah and Renee are probably the most strongest or experienced of the lot, a part of me missed not having Vi, Rona and even Kennedy around the place. On the plus side, these new girls managed to not bog down proceedings and if that doesn’t earn the girls some likeability, then what will?

Moving away from all the interpersonal stuff, there’s also the set up of some big trouble and unlike The First Evil, these ones are perhaps tangible. The symbols on the victims that Buffy and her Slayers found don’t look good. At first I thought these victims might have been sacrifice material but it was kinda deduced earlier on that they had gone into that church looking for a fight. I keep wondering whether whatever is behind it is the season’s Big Bad or a foe solely for this arc alone.

But that’s not the only problem facing Buffy and the gang. Once again, the US government, perhaps a new formation of The Initiative lead by General Voll seem to also pose a threat. Of course, like The Initiative, Voll views himself as a good guy and is quick to draw parallels between Buffy’s destruction of Sunnydale and her band of Slayers as a terrorist cell. The guy even makes the audacious comment of Buffy being deliberately anti-American as well.

The Initiative weren’t exactly the most effective villains we’ve ever had on the series and Voll’s little army aren’t as enticing as pure evil, a cavalcade of ancient vampires of a Hell God but either way, Joss plans to use Voll for something and the demented general and his people aren’t surveying what is left of Sunnydale, they end up nabbing two attackers.

The first one which seems to be a boyfriend is unseen but alluded to as being disgusting but it’s the girlfriend who really sparks interest and low and behold, it’s non other than Amy Madison.

Amy’s a clever little thing who turns being captured into her own advantage as the comic comes to a conclusion. Not only will she help General Voll take Buffy down but she’ll do it provided her and her boyfriend are let go and given a laboratory and magical hardware as well as immunity if they success.

It’s great to have Amy seemingly cast as a season big bag. It makes sense but I’m really wondering who her boyfriend is though. Since she became human, Amy only had a flirt with some random guy in the episode “Smashed” when she wasn’t trying to send Willow of the deep end.

It doesn’t take much to guess that Amy’s willingness in helping General Voll is motivated by a desire to get back at the Scoobies, especially Willow. Amy’s irrational hatred hasn’t died down. Still though, I’d take her more seriously than Voll any day of the week.

Also in “The Long Way Home Part 1”

Artist Jo Chen seems to be doing two covers for each issue. The one I acquired was the solo Buffy with the scythe.

Demon: “Stupid human, I am no vampire. You think I fear the cross?”
Buffy: “You might wanna start.”

It turns out that there are two girls pretending to be Buffy, one of them is dating The Immortal which Andrew thought would be funny. Not so funny if Angel and Spike had blown the girl’s cover in “The Girl In Question”.

Leah: “That were a wee bit repulsive.”
Buffy: “Went okay. Cept I feel a little weird about using a crucifix to kill someone.”
Leah: “Yeh dinno much religion, do yeh?”

Xander: “I used to be in construction. Pay was good, hours were way better than this. They even ended occasionally but when duty calls you don’t exactly get time to screen.”

So far this Season Eight seems to be running for an undecided amount of issues. How about 22, like each regular season would be itself?

Renee: “Wasn’t Nick Fury a Colonel when he ran S.H.I.E.L.D?”
Xander: “I like him better in his Howling Commando days but your nerd points are accumulating impressively.”

General Voll (re Buffy): “Worst of all, they’ve got a leader. Charismatic, uncompromising and completely destructive. I mean for the love of God, look what she did to her home town.”

I noticed Buffy was wearing a Serenity logo on her shirt. This issue had ads for the Serenity comic as well.

Buffy: “You’re a terrible watcher.”
Xander: “Well clearly.”

In the beginning of this issue Buffy mentioned there being at least 1800 slayers out there with 500 of them working for her in 10 different squads. The gang are making an effort to contact the rest, right?

Dawn: “Kenny never said he was a thricewise.”
Buffy: “I said he was a thricewise, Leah said he was a thricewise. Giles said he was a thricewise and he only met him on the phone.”

There’s a lot of people missing from this issue including Willow, Giles, Andrew, Kennedy, Rona, Vi, Faith and Robin.

Buffy (to Xander): “I miss my home. I miss my Mom, I miss the gang and churros and sex. Great muppety Odin, I miss that sex.”

Chronology: It’s been 18 months since “Chosen”, so it’s November 2004.

Well this was definitely a good start to what will hopefully be a compelling continuation of the Buffy-verse. “The Long Way Home Part 1” earns points for the Whedon esque dialogue, the introduction of some old and new baddies but scarcely referencing other characters and being only 32 pages long makes you feel a bit short changed at times. Still though, Joss is finding his feet and it will take a while before everyone really sinks their teeth into proceedings but at least we’re off to an interesting start.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Lost - Season 2 Review

US Airdate: September 21^st 2005- May 24^th 2006 on ABC.

The Island drama hits quite the few bumps in its second run as we’re introduced to new characters, hatches and learn just how far The Others are willing to go to get what they want.

I Swear If I See Another Hatch, I Will Scream – At some point in every good series, you are gonna come across hopefully one season that will test patience and faith in the show. This happens to every single show going but when you are a show that has become a cultural zeitgeist, the critics are even more anxious to tear you down even further. Season Two is sadly the very season in question for Lost.
The show wasn’t alone as ABC’s other zeitgeist, Desperate Housewives the same uninviting fate and since then recaptured its glory. However some viewers seem less forgiving about this show’s less than stellar second year.
The first half of the second year has two major plots – the hatch discovered by Jack, Kate, Locke and Hurley and the discovery of survivors from the tail section of Flight 815.
There were plenty of things you could hope to find in a big hatch but a Scottish bloke named Desmond with an affinity for Mama Cass and a computer telling you to programme those infamous numbers every 108 minutes to avoid destruction wasn’t one of them.
Still though it opens up premiere episode “Man Of Science, Man Of Faith” pretty well but for some odd reason why this hatch would become a temporary blessing and a hindrance to the series, the more interesting things in regards to the opening episode involved Shannon spotting a captured Walt. Spooky Walk is one of the many things this season won’t bother to explain and if you think about it too hard it will lessen your enjoyment of the season.
With Desmond’s slight arc dominating both “Adrift” and “Orientation” and not really igniting much interest, the best thing from these two episodes is the introduction of the tail section. We already met the volatile Ana-Lucia from the Season One and it’s amazing for a character who seems to be a better leader than Jack that she became an instant hate figure for audience but thankfully the charismatic Mr Eko and the introduction of Rose’s husband Bernard and fellow tailies Cindy and Libby in “Everybody Hates Hugo”, you’ve got the most compelling plot to the first half of this season. The tailies first capture Jin, Michael and Sawyer when they mistake them for member of The Others and then decide to help them go back to their camp.
If the Fuselage had suffered with Claire, Charlie and Walt’s abductions, then Ana-Lucia and company’s experiences with The Others have fared worse to the point where Mr Eko is hiding in the bushes in “And Found” and Ana Lucia is more than willing to leave a wounded Sawyer behind in “Abandoned”. The sixth episode is the first one of this season with some real action and our second kill with Ana Lucia inadvertently shooting Shannon. To nearly every viewer that solidified Ana Lucia as a hate figure but at the same time any realist would’ve noted that it was an accident but still the very harsh experiences that the tail section had to suffer at the hands of being stranded on the island and routinely attacked by The Others is brilliantly highlighted in “The Other 48 Days”. Easily the best episode of the series’ entire run, this captivating episode was essentially a retelling of the two part Pilot episode but it was much better and it really made you sympathise with Ana Lucia all the more.
With keeping Sayid from killing her, Ana Lucia’s flashback episode “Collision” offered some explanation into her abrasive nature while not attempting to justify her killing of an innocent woman.
With the tail section and the fuselage all reunited, stuff that happened in between wasn’t quite as compelling. Okay we had Locke and Jack constantly fight over control of the hatch like jackals, Hurley being badgered by Charlie who in turn was badgered about Locke in regards to his addiction and co-dependant relationship with Claire and Aaron but overall the tail section drama kept these episodes more exciting.
The flashbacks this season however hit a snag in predictability. For instance with Sawyer, it’s scamming someone, Jack who just wants to fix things and Locke who seems to be consistently duped. Kate’s only flashback episode the predictably titled “What Kate Did” revealed that her crime involved doing in her scumbag biological father and only upped the by now tiresome triangle between her, Jack and Sawyer. I don’t really understand why the writers both so much with this arc when the likes of Sun and Jin, Rose and Bernard and the developing romance between Hurley and the mysterious Libby are far more believable.
Better plotted however was “The 23^rd Psalm” which revealed that the silent but deadly Mr Eko was once a deranged drug lord and also had him scaring the crap out of the smoke monster to boot. Even yapping Charlie’s involvement couldn’t bring this plot to its knees along his contribution to Season Two is akin to Andrew’s in Buffy Season Seven – horrifically pointless.
After a good start the second half is less than impressive and our confrontation with The Others in “The Hunting Party” is dull. It doesn’t help a lot that Jack is an unsympathetic asshole throughout the entire episode with little cause. Even direr is “Fire And Water” which not only represents the series’ worst episode but is also just horribly all over the place. Both Charlie and Locke were characters I liked in the first season but by this year, I had grown tired of them.
The worst thing about the Losties is that if they aren’t sharing information, then they’ll resort to dirty tricks in order get power over each other. Sawyer did this in “The Long Con” by getting Charlie make it look like The Others attacked Sun so it’s a relief in “One Of Them” when Danielle re-emerges to bring back a mysterious man named Henry Gale who she believes is in cahoots with The Others despite his protestations other wise. The criminally underused Sayid doesn’t believe him and is quick to torture him but the wily man played to perfection by Michael Emerson, is soon just conflict among Jack, Locke and Sayid to his advantage. By the next episode “Maternity Leave” you’ll have already figured out which side Henry is on but honestly Danielle helping Kate and Claire and the discovery of her daughter Alex is a joy even more than Sun’s discovery of her pregnancy in “The Whole Truth” and the closeness that it brings to her and Jin but the season takes a progress with “Lockdown” as Locke managed to get duped again and we learn Henry Gale isn’t the real man’s name before Libby’s suspicious past is tapped upon in “Dave”. I liked the idea of a Hurley/Libby relationship but this episode did make me wonder whether or not her intentions towards Hurley were noble.
It’s a pity that both Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros’ drink driving offences became their undoing because once we get past the rather dull “S.O.S.” (which gave us some backstory on Rose and Bernard), the pivotal “Two For The Road” then saw both Ana-Lucia and Libby spectacularly shot by Michael, who was coerced by The Others in order to get Walt back. It’s a fantastic parting episode but surely Libby could’ve been spared long enough to give us more on her. Too bad for us then!
With this episode finally igniting some real excitement and danger back into the series, the final four build upon it and the discovery of another hatch in “?” is superfluous compared to The Others demanding to Michael during his flashbacks in “Three Minutes” to bring Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to them.
Season finale “Live Together, Die Alone Parts 1 and 2” then has our Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley all bound and gagged at a pier where the captive foursome learn that Henry Gale is the leader of The Others while for a second year in a row, Locke decides to put people’s lives in danger by stopping Mr Eko from punching in the code. Frankly I’m sick of Locke’s volatile nature being excused or skimmed past. He caused Boone’s death in Season One and got away with it and here he nearly caused more deaths. As much of a pain in the backside Jack is, even he isn’t that. Other highlights included Desmond’s return which was far better than his introduction and his flashbacks involving girlfriend’s Penny’s attempts to get men to reach the island is intriguing.
Season Two has had a mixture of ideas, some were excellent, and a lot weren’t. There were some unmissable episodes and there was ones that I wouldn’t be in an immediate hurry to watch again. Some more answers, less of the daddy issues wouldn’t go amiss.

EXTRAS: Well there are the usual array of commentaries for the likes of “Man Of Science, Man Of Faith” with Matthew Fox and Cuse and Lindelof, “What Kate Did” with Evangeline Lily”, as well as ones for “The 23^rd Psalm”, “The Whole Truth” and “Dave”. You’d think with episodes as strong as “The Other 48 Days”, “Two For The Road” and “Live Together, Die Alone” we’d get producers talking about them too. Disc 7 has the most material though with an extensive behind the scenes on at least ten different episodes, a smattering of deleted scenes, theories by the show’s actors and fans alike, a rundown of Sawyer’s nicknames, secrets about the hatch, the Channel 4 trailer, flashbacks we didn’t see and some hilarious bloopers. Fault the season all you want but the DVD set is once again excellent.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

2x01: Man Of Science, Man Of Faith = 8/10, 2x02: Adrift = 7/10,
2x03: Orientation = 7/10, 2x04: Everybody Hates Hugo = 6/10,
2x05: And Found = 7/10, 2x06: Abandoned = 9/10,
2x07: The Other 48 Days = 10/10, 2x08: Collision = 8/10,
2x09: What Kate Did = 7/10, 2x10: The 23^rd Psalm = 10/10,
2x11: The Hunting Party = 6/10, 2x12: Fire And Water = 4/10,
2x13: The Long Con = 9/10, 2x14: One Of Them = 7/10,
2x15: Maternity Leave = 8/10, 2x16: The Whole Truth = 8/10,
2x17: Lockdown = 7/10, 2x18: Dave = 8/10,
2x19: S.O.S. = 6/10, 2x20: Two For The Road = 10/10,
2x21: ? = 8/10, 2x22: Three Minutes = 7/10,
2x23: Live Together, Die Alone Part 1 = 8/10,
2x24: Live Together, Die Alone Part 2 = 8/10.

Season Two is currently available on DVD.

David Tennant On The Friday Night Project – March 2008

I don't usually do reviews for shows like this but this is a one off as it was quite a hilarious episode. I've been watching it again on YouTube.

Well The Friday Night Project is by far the funniest in terms of both a skit show and a chat show series. Since 2006, both Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins have taken over the reigns and elevated the series' popularity even more than usual. Not that the original hosts weren't
any good but Carr and Collins' have had a natural chemistry that makes this such an irresistible watch.

One of the many highlights of the previous seasons has been the relentless teasing of Big Brother contestants but because the sixth season of The Friday Night Project has started weeks before BB9, this series has had to improvise a little.

The opening episode with Elle McPherson was pleasant enough and like many shows like this, the enjoyment largely depends on who is guest hosting. Some guest hosts' work well, other fall flat and really excellent ones come back for seconds.

David Tennant is a good example of the third outcome. He wowed audiences last year when he presented the opening episode of the fourth season so pulling him in for episode 2 of Season Six seems a smart choice.

For Tennant, his stint came a week before Doctor Who came back to our screens so it was one of many shows in which he could plug the new season. Alan and Justin seemed to have fun about the idea of Catherine Tate perhaps playing her character Donna like her iconic swearing Nan and David did spill the already established spoiler that Season 4 would be a hot bed of companions. And with the uses of Dave Ross, maybe a certain Dalek creator is coming back also.

As for the guest hosting, Tennant managed to better himself even more. Dressed in a sleek and sexy suit, we had Tennant play out a group therapy session with Alan and Justin which descended with the three of them going into Asda and declaring their love for each other. Trying to keep a straight face during that bordered on the impossible.

It also helped that the comedy came in thick and fast. The lead singer of the Wombats came out with some comment about his mum that David, Alan and Justin all misconstrued for something else and both obesity in Scotland, a pregnant transsexual and Camilla's anatomy can under fire during the news section.

Other highlights include the "Who Knows The Most About The Guest Host" bit. With Freema Agyeman and Suzanne Shaw doing their best to help Alan and Justin, the host with the most did manage to electric shock his fellow hosts. Actually Freema was the only one who managed to escape being shocked and she did hesitate at one point.

However we did get a pure silly moment in this spoof with Carry On Who. Seriously it's times like times where innuendos can go a bit too far but the Cyberman's baby a little cutie and Tennant played it up for laughs better than last time. Also the questions moments from the audience saw a defence of genetalia and a lucky woman ruffling Tennant's hair.

The big highlight of the episode though was the prank bit. All the celebrities resort to an extreme prank to scare the living daylights out of some ordinary person. Sometimes this person happens to be a fan of the guest host, but in recent instalments it's just been random
strangers. Either way it's one of the best parts of the episode.

In this episode it was the best thing full stop. Given that Doctor Who has got an obsessive fan base, it was thought that the sight of David Tennant bound and gagged to a bed in his undies being kidnapped by an obsessive fan would be the perfect recipe for some unwitting estate agent. Gee, not much stereotyping there then.

Granted the agent in question fell for the trick set up by David and the guy's boss but imagine if he had left David Tennant bound and gagged to the bed? Well apparently one of his mates did. When you think about it, the spoof is the type of peril situation that would've
been common on the old Doctor Who.

Overall as episodes went, this one was clearly the most inventive and filthiest of the bunch. We've had plenty of great hosts and gross out moments but this one really did take things that bit further. Does this mean that we can get John Barrowman for a second time, now?

- Freema Agyeman mentioned something about French Fancies to escape
getting buzzed at one point.
- The strangest place David was asked for an autograph was in a shower
at a gym.
- The nurse in the spoof for Carry On Who had a rude name and three
breasts.
- We saw a clip from “Partners In Crime”.
- David looked horrified when Justin read out Doctor Who porn. Though
he did joke that the second one came from John Barrowman's blog.
- Suzanne Shaw once got mistaken for Hannah Spearitt.

Quote Of The Episode

David Tennant (bound/gagged to a bed to Barry): "This room here. In here please, hurry up. I'm in here. Please this fucking psychopath has had me here for two days. Please get me out of here. This fucking mental man, this fucking nutter has had me here for days and, and I've been fucking tied to this bed. He fucking kidnapped me in this house. Thank you for coming. Why are you here?"

Rating: 10 out of 10.

Into Space, Time And Beyond Imagination - Why I Love Doctor Who

Martha (re The Doctor): “His name is The Doctor. He has saved your lives so many times and you never even knew he was there. He never stops, he never strays, he never asks to be thanked. But I’ve seen him. I know him. I love him and I know what he can do” – Last Of The Time Lords.

It’s a mouthful but it’s certainly a nice way of describing the undeniable awesomeness of this particular show. I knew of the original series but it was something that bypassed me. Thanks to this series however I’ve amended that mistake and have been hunting for certain stories but when it comes to the new series of Doctor Who, I was hooked instantly. I didn’t need a few episodes or nagging from certain people because everything about the opening episode “Rose” pulled me in.

We had a strange man in a leather jacket and Northern accent with two heartbeats and the ability to travel through time and space in a police box and the sad knowledge that a Time War eradicated his species.

As for our gateway into this crazy environment we got a 19 year old in a dull shop job who was drifting through life looking for a reason to feel alive and a part of something important. In fairness that’s pretty easy to relate to, I’ve done a fair amount of drifting myself so in some ways I could relate to that myself. I think many people can, have and done, which is why for this series Rose works so well as a companion. She may not be the best companion in this series history but as gateways go, she played an essential part in the phenomenal second time success for this series.

In some ways it’s amazing that Doctor Who is a success the second time around. You’d think people wouldn’t have the time for a series with a less strenuous plot compared to the likes of Lost but sometimes the most simple of premises can be the most effective ones. Also much as I love the new Battlestar Galactica, it would be kind of a shame if it was the only other series that had success second time round. Russell T Davies more or less has said in some of his interviews that many people would jack in their lives for the opportunity to travel in time and space – I know I certainly would and as a hero, there’s something pretty unconventional about The Doctor. He’s not necessarily a lady killer (despite the fact we’ve seen him smooching Rose, Martha and Captain Jack) but this is a hero who has gone from looking like an elderly gentlemen like William Hartnell to more prettier (and nubile) specimens like Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. He’s also opposed to violence and in nearly every episode; he’s even given his adversaries a chance to redeem themselves.

Of course many of them have been stupid to decline that generous offer and during moments of devastation, The Doctor can exact some pretty extreme judgements. In “The Runaway Bride” he slaughtered The Empress Of Racnoss’ kids and in “The Family Of Blood”, he gave the psychotic family their wish to live forever as long as they didn’t mind being trapped in every mirror and being used as scarecrows. Eccleston’s Doctor had angst; Tennant’s despite the charm could almost you sorry you were even born. He didn’t react too well when Harriet Jones tried to defend earth by nuking the Sycorax’s ship in “The Christmas Invasion” and in possibly a moment that makes The Doctor come across as being a bit of a dick, he tried to avoid Captain Jack by going to the end of the universe in “Utopia” (though going that far was more TARDIS involved). Plus he was pretty hot and cold with the brilliant Martha Jones in some episodes of Season Three.

Either way, he makes for a refreshing hero – noble in one sense but also capable like any hero of falling into the darkness. Some of the dark moments make this series as the series’ ability to blend humour and scares is what separates it from most UK TV.

It also helps that the production team are actual fans of the former series. Both Billie Piper and new cast member Catherine Tate may not have been avid viewers but the likes of Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson grew up with this series as did David Tennant and John Barrowman and from a crew perspective, a show like Doctor Who has to be one of the more intriguing jobs to be on.

Over here, it’s become every bit as tabloid fodder and scrutiny as likes of soaps and reality and often the clever plots and dialogue and powerhouse acting serve as a reminder of how futile those particular genres are now becoming. This is the closest to a detailed series over in terms of plotting, characterisation, internet fan base, DVD sales and heck, actual episode titles. It’s weird that many UK shows don’t do that with their dramas.

Unfortunately there is a flipside to all that scrutiny and that mainly means plots being largely revealed months before we actually see new episodes. We all knew when this series would return that influential villains such as the Daleks, Cybermen and The Master would be popping up and thanks to the likes of The Sun, we got perhaps too spoiled. Season Four looks set to bring back the Sontarans and the rumours of Dalek creator Davros returning have also surfaced.

We also knew in the first week of the series arrival that Christopher Eccleston was leaving and that David Tennant was replacing his as The Doctor. In June 2006, Billie Piper’s exit from the series as Rose Tyler was announced as was the arrival of Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones in the show’s third season.

Speaking of Freema Agyeman, the week of “Human Nature” being aired and after a fantastic interview with Jonathan Ross, The Sun told us she had been axed. To make things even nastier, they claimed it was on the ground of her character not working. Some lies are easy to catch out – Freema’s chemistry with David was perfect and Martha as a character. Granted people weren’t crazy about Martha having a crush on The Doctor but people didn’t hate her for it (I certainly didn’t) and after the transmission of “Last Of The Time Lords”, the actual truth was that Martha’s role would be reduced to five episodes which would suck if we weren’t going to be seeing her in three episodes in Torchwood’s second season so either way, in 2008, we’ll be getting a more mature Miss Jones both in the hub and in the TARDIS. For Freema, that’s a bit of a sweet gig.

Also it’s not like The Doctor will be riding solo for Season Four as Catherine Tate’s gobby Donna Noble will be the full companion for next year along with Martha for the latter half of the season.

Of course with so many rumours, there are a few that are false too – We aren’t meeting the Ice Warriors just yet, David Tennant’s not quitting and the series hasn’t been axed. A few specials in 2009 and a fifth full season in 2010 with Tennant more or less on board should kill that particular recurring.

More interestingly was the rumours of a big battle in the fourth season which would see The Doctor, Donna and Martha united with Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Pete, Captain Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith against Davros. Well 2008 does represent the show’s 45th anniversary and excluding Tylers, it’s perhaps possible that there could be some truth behind this one. I did say possible!

So counting the upcoming Christmas special “Voyage Of The Damned”, how does the new compared to the old series? Well the effects are obviously better and the writing can be even more zeitgeist than before (especially episodes like “Blink” and the love of DVD Easter Eggs and such) but to me one thing that makes this series better than the old one is the structure. 14 episodes, with 3 two part stories (or in Season Three’s case two 2 part stories and a 3 parter for the finale) allows the stories and arcs to be more consistent and if you despise a particular villain like the Slitheen in “Aliens Of London”/“World War Three” or the Abzorbaloff in “Love And Monsters” you don’t have to put with them for too long.

As for the DVD’s, the show is glorious in that arena. Not only do you get commentaries for every single episode but some of them for Season Two were in-vision and there’s something very great about the condensed Doctor Who Confidential as well as video diaries on all three seasons box sets from Russell T. Davies, Mark Gatiss, David Tennant, Billie Piper and Freema Agyeman but the plethora of trailers, the Pudsey cutaway (Children In Need) scene, the 2006 Music and Monsters concert on the Season Three set as well as that brilliant interview with the gorgeous John Barrowman on the Season One set, this is a show built for DVD and not even the absences of TARDISODES or the cool 90 second trailers for Season Three fails to kill the buzz surrounding this show’s DVD treatment.

So far we’ve only dealt with two incarnations of The Doctor on this series. To say I prefer David Tennant’s Doctor is obvious but out of 42 episodes, he’s been in 30, affecting every televised season so far and the fact that this guy is every bit as much as a Doctor Who fan as I have become and millions of people way before me has helped. Eccleston’s Doctor was brilliant and it was a pity he only lasted a season because episodes like “The End Of The World” and “Dalek” showed his impressive range as an actor.

The companions have been more plentiful too. A great return from Sarah Jane Smith in Season Two’s “School Reunion” showed not only how brilliant she was as a companion to The Doctor but also the intrinsic flaws of being with The Doctor as well. For the first two seasons, Rose Tyler was in love with The Doctor and Billie Piper’s chemistry with both Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant was electric but their relationship was never going to last as long. The hints in the latter episodes ushered her and The Doctor’s separation and by “Doomsday”, it was her being stuck in a parallel with on/off boyfriend Mickey, mother Jackie and an alternative version of her father Pete that would peek more interest that a battle between the Daleks and the Cybermen. Then again that episode had me balling like a baby so I can talk.

Of course two of my favourite companions have been pivotal. “The Empty Child”/“The Doctor Dances” debuted Captain Jack Harkness, a bisexual 51st Century conman/Time Agent who may or may not be the Face Of Boe but who has definitely had two years of his memory removed and currently runs a version of Torchwood. Jack is a cute little puzzle and easily the most sexualised of companions for this series and perhaps one of the most universally loved ones too. John Barrowman is not only hot to look but he’s made Jack into such a charming character, he even upstages The Doctor and like Tennant, Barrowman has chemistry with just about anyone he encounters. Plus Jack can be loyal judging by his willingness to die in battle with the Daleks in “The Parting Of The Ways” and also in his determination to help The Doctor and Martha with The Master in “Last Of The Time Lords”. But also Jack is loyal to his Torchwood team and even turned a chance to go back travelling in the TARDIS to help Gwen, Owen, Toshiko and Ianto deal with monsters in Cardiff. Let’s just hope his zesty, flirty humour also remains intact.

Then there’s Martha Jones - another gorgeous medical student played by relatively then unknown actress Freema Agyeman but a bit like Captain Jack, while The Doctor did care about Martha, a part of you felt she almost had to work extra hard for him to really notice her. She was willing to stay in an era where both her race and gender could be used to discriminate her in “Human Nature”/“The Family Of Blood” in order to protect The Doctor and she travelled through every part of the world as a fugitive in “Last Of The Time Lords” in order to stop The Master’s reign of terror. Plus her exit upon rewatching is dignified and poignant. She loves The Doctor, he does not feel quite the same and she recognises that and realises that things need to change. So she left to help her family recover with the solemn vow of returning.

The girl had me from the first five minutes of “Smith And Jones” and by the end of the season she instantly became one of my all time TV characters. Her return in Season Four with a mature outlook should be fun but it might the dynamic between her and Donna that could be more fascinating. Whether or not I will be enamoured with Donna Noble in Season Four remains to be seen but I have confidence that the writers will try and make me care about Donna as a character and if Catherine Tate can avoid going OTT, the chances of me liking could be good. This show works more effectively with The Doctor and two companions a lot of the time.

However every good show needs better villains and in terms of the original ones, creatures like the Gelth (“The Unquiet Dead”), Reapers (“Father’s Day”), Krillitaines (“School Reunion”), Clockwork Droids (“The Girl In The Fireplace”), The Ood (“The Impossible Planet”/“The Satan Pit”), Carrionites (“The Shakespeare Code), killer scarecrows (“Human Nature/“The Family Of Blood”) Weeping Angels (“Blink”) and the Toclafane (“The Sound Of Drums”/“Last Of The Time Lords”) are definitely effective and the treatments of the Daleks in the three seasons aired so far has been great. Okay so “Daleks In Manhattan”/ “Evolution Of The Daleks” deserved a stronger plot but their invasions/body counts in “Bad Wolf”/ “The Parting Of The Ways” and “Army Of Ghosts”/ “Doomsday” were thrilling as was the moral dilemma in “Dalek” when The Doctor’s emotions were used against him. The Cybermen so far have only appeared in Season Two’s “Rise Of The Cybermen”/ “The Age Of Steel” as well as “Army Of Ghosts”/ “Doomsday” and are still physically threatening but they need a bigger storyline in the future. As for The Master, well having two excellent actors in both Derek Jacobi and John Simm playing him and the homoerotic relationship with him and The Doctor fleshed out in “Utopia”, “The Sound Of Drums” and “Last Of The Time Lords” certainly made Season Three my favourite season. He’s still psychotic and even more ruthless in his attempts of victory and his for now death was incredibly sad.

Other former villains like the Autons and the Macra have only gotten an episode each such as “Rose” and “Gridlock” but with Season Four definitely returning the Sontarans and more than likely Davros as well, the ties between both the old and new series are nicely maintained. Overall this is pretty much the best thing on TV at the moment and here’s to many more glorious seasons to come.

Previous Eight (1963-1996)

First Doctor

Portrayed by William Hartnell
Tenure 1963–1966
First appearance An Unearthly Child
Last appearance The Tenth Planet (regular)
The Three Doctors (played by William Hartnell) The Five Doctors (played by Richard Hurndall)
Number of series 4
Appearances 29 stories (134 episodes)
Companions on television: Susan, Barbara, Ian, Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dodo, Ben, Polly

The First of our Doctors but not necessarily my favourites (though it should be pointed out that there aren’t any I detest), Hartnell’s rather old Doctor was a cantankerous so and so with a young granddaughter in Susan and a bigger desire to get rid of the two teachers who more or less became a part of his first adventures. An Unearthly Child was a rather modest way of opening a series that would have a 40 plus year history but it was also a nice way of establishing the show’s concept about travelling and in Hartnell’s era we did see Cavemen, Marco Polo and King Richard and he was also the same Doctor that gave us both the Daleks (both on Skaro in The Daleks and invading London in The Dalek Invasion On Earth) and Cybermen, with the latter’s introduction in The Tenth Planet signalling Hartnell’s exit from the TARDIS. Plus one of the companions also died during his tenure as Time Lord. Doctor Number 1 did also pop up to help/antagonise his successors in both The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors as well.

Second Doctor

Portrayed by Patrick Troughton
Tenure 1966–1969
First appearance The Tenth Planet
Last appearance The War Games (regular)
The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors (guest star)
Number of series 3
Appearances 21 stories (119 episodes)
Companions on television: Ben, Polly, Jamie, Victoria, Zoe

Would you believe that he’s one of my favourites? A rather happy, manic guy with a penchant for a recorder, Troughton brought some more humour to the role than his predecessor upon his debut in The Tenth Planet and we also got two of the best companions in both genius Zoe and Highlander Jamie as well as epic moments involving the Daleks in The Power Of The Daleks and The Evil Of The Daleks and the Cybermen in both Tomb Of The Cybermen and The Invasion as well as a memorable confrontation with The Ice Warriors and the Macra as well. Like Hartnell, Troughton’s duration on the series would only be for three seasons and his exit in The War Games is memorable for the callous way the Time Lords erased both Jamie and Zoe’s memories and their own particular punishment of the Second Doctor himself. It also didn’t stop him from popping up in The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors where where he offered his help to Doctors Three, Five and Six. It’s also around his era that UNIT would pop up to occasionally help The Doctor as well.

Third Doctor

Portrayed by Jon Pertwee
Tenure 1970–1974
First appearance Spearhead from Space
Last appearance Planet of the Spiders (regular) The Five Doctors (guest star)
Number of series 5
Appearances 24 stories (128 episodes)
Companions UNIT, Liz, Jo, Sarah,

Another incredibly strong Doctor, Jon Pertwee’s era represented an impressive lot of firsts for the series as a whole. Aside from the fact his lasted five years as The Third Doctor (along with Bessie the dream car), his era also saw the debut of some of the series most impressive of villains with the Autons in Spearhead From Space, rogue Time Lord The Master (played by Roger Delgado) in Terror Of The Autons and the Sontarans in The Time Warrior. This was also the very era that debuted many pivotal and fan favourite companions into the mix as well come to think of it. Cool, calm and collected scientist Liz Shaw made for a welcome relief of the more screaming assistants we had in the past and it’s a pity that she departs after the seventh season. Jo Grant is by far the most important companion of the bunch and perhaps the first in which The Doctor really showed feelings for. Her departure in The Green Death even saw The Doctor unable to celebrate her engagement to Cliff Jones and she’s the only companion to have lasted three full seasons during the Pertwee era of the series. Then again sassy Uber-feminist and journalist Sarah Jane Smith would then go on to be one of the most enduring companion and a lot of that is down to Elisabeth Sladen’s magnificent performance as well Sarah’s abilities to show her cunning, notably during her debut in The Time Warrior. Also 34 years after her first appearance on the series has her own series called The Sarah Jane Adventures. UNIT also played a prominent role in the Third Doctor’s largely earthbound adventures. Both The Brigadier and Sergeant John Benton had been familiar with the audience from the Second Doctor but here both men formed a close friendship with The Doctor and were able to get him out of many a tight predicament. The most interesting member of the UNIT bunch however was Captain Mike Yates. Aside from the fact his debut episode Terror Of The Autons was the same episode to debut both Jo Grant and The Master, Mike Yates may have featured less than The Brig or Benton but he was given some pretty interesting character development (when he wasn’t getting kidnapped half the time). In The Green Death he succumbed to being hypnotised by the BOSS computer and even betrayed UNIT during Operation Golden Age during Invasion Of The Dinosaurs through a misguided attempt to help the world. That resulted him being forced to retire from UNIT. The writers did give the man some redemption in Planet Of The Spiders when he alerted The Doctor and Sarah Jane to the goings on of a creepy cult in the Meditation Centre he happened to be staying in. He might also be the first gay companion if certain rumours are to be believed as well. It’s also worth noting that from here on in the show went from black and white to colour and even had The Doctor involuntarily bound to Earth as punishment from the Time Lords. The show also celebrated itself tenth anniversary in The Three Doctors with exiled Time Lord Omega attempting to become corporeal by using The Doctor and the rivalry between him and The Master surfaced throughout several episodes such as The Mind Of Evil, The Daemons and The Sea Devils as well as our favourite deranged pepper pots wreaking havoc in the likes of Day Of The Daleks, Planet Of The Daleks and Death To The Daleks as well as the brilliant alternative reality episode Inferno before departing in Planet Of The Spiders. To me this was definitely the best era in the old series history. We got the best Doctor, Villains, Companions and a lot of these stories just stand up better than later versions of the Time Lord.

Fourth Doctor

Portrayed by Tom Baker
Tenure 1974–1981
First appearance Planet of the Spiders (Episode 4)
Last appearance Logopolis (regular)
The Five Doctors (archive footage)
Number of series 7
Appearances 41 stories (172 episodes)
Companions on television: Sarah, Harry, Leela, K-9 (Marks I and II), Romana(I and II) Adric, Tegan, Nyssa

Tom Baker was certainly a force to be reckoned with and regardless of on set antics, there’s no denying no matter how a particular story in his era was, his presence could be felt in outer space. For a lot of people, he is the Doctor and in the seven years since his first full story in Robot, Baker’s Doctor had both Sarah Jane and Harry for the first year and a half when the latter left in Terror Of The Zygons and the former was abandoned in The Hand Of Fear. The main villains of the series had some interesting outings but after the Daleks, Cybermen and The Master, another long lasting big bad emerged in Dalek creator, Davros. Every bit fuelled with hate as his creations Davros schemed against The Doctor/Sarah Jane/Harry in Genesis Of The Daleks (which is possibly the best story in the series’ history) and Destiny Of The Daleks. Our pepper pots also caused their fair amount of chaos in both these instalments and the Cybermen also re-emerged in Revenge Of The Cybermen. When Sarah Jane departed, Leela had been the next main girl before the sixteen season had The Doctor travelling with Time Lady Romana Mark 1 for the season’s 26 episodes/6 stories. Played by Mary Tamm, Romana was another companion written to intellectually equal The Doctor and her second incarnation played by Lalla Ward both encounter Davros in Destiny Of The Daleks and married Tom Baker in real life. Her tenure was also significant for the introduction of K9 and an unaired episode called Shada in which bits would be used for The Five Doctors. The Master who hadn’t been seen since 1973 would also return aged and decayed in The Keeper Of Traken and then rejuvenated and played by Anthony Ainley by the time of Logopolis. The Master’s latest form would look like that of one of The Doctor’s companions Nyssa’s father before The Doctor himself would regenerate in this particular story. By the last season in his tenure, The Doctor had three companions including the reserved Nyssa, unfairly loathed by some Adric and mouthy air stewardess Tegan Jovanka.

Fifth Doctor

Portrayed by Peter Davison
Tenure 1981–1984
First appearance Logopolis (Episode 4)
Last appearance The Caves of Androzani
Number of series 3 Appearances 20 stories (69 episodes)
Companions on television: Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion, Peri

By far the younger cast of the Doctors, Peter Davison was a strapping 29 year old when he bagged the role as Time Lord and his debut in Castrovalva had him in yet another one of The Master’s elaborate traps and their rivalry would certainly escalate in the 19th season’s convoluted finale Time-Flight which also saw a temporary departure for Tegan. Not that she could be missed as she appeared in the opening episode of the twentieth season Arc Of Infinity, which was also significant for the return of Omega. Maybe it’s me but there’s some rather unsatisfying about Omega’s return and some of the stories in Davison’s tenure aren’t quite as strong, despite him being a wonderful Doctor. A lot of the departures however are incredibly powerful such as Adric’s sacrifice against the Cybermen in the glorious Earthshock or Tegan’s realisation that’s it’s no longer travelling with The Doctor in Resurrection Of The Daleks, another episode that would see the return of Davros. Nyssa’s in Terminus is more downbeat and creepy school boy’s Turlough is okay enough. Another significant moments from the Fifth Doctor’s era includes the show’s twentieth anniversary special The Five Doctors which not only had the first five time incarnation of The Doctor together but it also was the only story to have the Daleks, Cybermen and The Master together as well as several returned companions like Susan, Jamie, Zoe, Sarah Jane. Other companions in this time included Kamelion and botanist Peri Brown, the show’s American companion whose debut in Planet Of Fire saw a fiery death for The Master and the show hit a dark moment in The Caves Of Androzani when The Doctor suffered one of his most violent regenerations. Post onscreen action, Davison has reprised the role of The Fifth Doctor for audio CD’s thanks to Big Finish and for the 2007 Children In Need scene called Time Crash, he will end up meeting David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.

Sixth Doctor

Portrayed by Colin Baker
Tenure 1984–1986
First appearance The Caves of Androzani
Last appearance The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe
Time and the Rani (Replaced by Sylvester McCoy)
Number of series 3
Appearances 11 stories (31 episodes)
Companions on television: Peri Brown and Melanie Bush

Quite possibly my least favourite Doctor from the ten there has been on TV but nevertheless poor Colin Baker was a good example of doing the best he could with what he had. He wasn’t quite as awful as you’d think but sadly he came onto the show at a time when the people behind the show weren’t supporting it enough. He’s also been the only person cast as The Doctor who has played another role in the series, such as Maxil in Arc Of Infinity. The Twin Dilemma is a decent enough debut but the return of the Cybermen in Attack Of The Cybermen is easily one of his best stories from the series as well as the forced team up between The Master and rogue Time Lady The Rani in Mark Of The Rani, set during the Industrial Revolution. One of the things that bugged me is that Baker’s Doctor could often be too shouty or overly aggressive towards Peri. Granted Peri can be quite annoying but it’s still a shock to see him try to strangle her in The Twin Dilemma and while Timelash is one of the worst episodes in the show’s history, there’s another interesting Dalek/Davros confrontation in Revelation Of The Daleks as well as the meeting of the Second and Sixth Doctors against the Sontaran in The Two Doctors. Halfway throughout the series, Peri then left and The Doctor wound up with high screamer Melanie Bush with a very OTT performance and once again, The Doctor ended up facing trial in Baker’s last season. Thanks to the joys of Audio CD, Baker has gotten the opportunity to continue his role as The Doctor.

Seventh Doctor

Portrayed by Sylvester McCoy
Tenure 1987–1996
First appearance Time and the Rani
Last appearance Survival (regular) Doctor Who (guest star)
Number of series 3
Appearances 13 stories (43 episodes)
Companions on television: Mel and Ace

Heading into the last three years of the show, despite producers being interested in the series, it seemed the poor show had even less support, which is odd given how interesting a lot of the stories in the era really are to a point. Time And The Rani was a good way of introducing Sylvester McCoy as well having a return for Kate O’Mara’s bad girl Time Lady but the season’s finale Dragonfire ditched us of annoying Mel and debuted IMO the original series’ best companion to boot Ace. A volatile girl with an aptitude for explosives and out dated phrases, Ace’s dynamic with The Doctor is something that would definitely be influential to the likes of Rose, Captain Jack and Martha but here it’s more father/daughter than lovers and as a results, it’s perhaps more effective. Ace goes through personal journeys in the likes of Battlefield and The Curse Of Fenric and even has the pleasure of physically assaulting a Dalek in Remembrance Of The Daleks, which would be the last story for both them and Davros as well as meeting the Cybermen in their last tale, Silver Nemesis. In the series finale, Survival, Ace would then have an encounter with The Master as the series then wrapped up with The Doctor musing about work that had to be done. The show’s cancellation may have came out of nowhere but it didn’t kill McCoy doing Audio adventures like Peter Davison and Colin Baker.

Eighth Doctor

Portrayed by Paul McGann Tenure 1996
First appearance Doctor Who: The Enemy Within
Last appearance Doctor Who: The Enemy Within
Number of series None
Appearances 1 story (1 episode)
Companions on television: Grace

The shortest running of the Doctors with only the 1996 TV Movie as a credit, McGann’s adventure with doctor Grace against The Master (played by Eric Roberts) was the Beeb’s first attempt to resurrect the series and while it may have it’s flaws, it’s certainly not the worst thing I’ve seen. McGann was great but perhaps the most vulnerable of our Time Lords and his credibility is cemented due to an image of him in the Tenth Doctor episode Human Nature. We’ve also gotten more adventures for him via Big Finish and the wonderful world of comics.