Help! I've Fallen into the TARDIS Again (and I'm Blaming Murray Gold)

I have never had any kind of cable or pay TV so I have always relied on a large antenna, pulling in nearby broadcast channels and our local PBS station to catch up with Doctor Who over the years.  Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, was my first, back in the late seventies, and along with Leela,  K-9, and the silly, low-budget monsters (like the actors covered in bubble wrap in "The Ark in Space") - I loved him and his long scarf that he was always tripping over and his readily proffered bag of jelly babies.  I later ended up naming one of my cats Leela.

The years rolled on and I was able to catch most of Four, some of Five (Tristan Farnon!), and a glimpse of Six .  I never saw Seven and never even heard of Eight until recently.  My allegiance remained with Four.  (As they say, you never forget your first Doctor.)  I have also seen most of the first three Doctors’ episodes, here and there along the way.  I love each of them in their own way.  The early episodes are constantly on the retro stations.

Then few years back, out of the blue (so to speak), CBC began airing the Third Series of the reboot - you know, the one with David Tennant as Ten.  Oh my!  What a cutie and my oh my how everything had changed in the world of Doctor Who!  I was instantly hooked and watched as many episodes as I could.   Which turned out to be most of the 3^rd and 4th Series.  The fearless and brilliant Martha Jones and the endearing and madcap Donna Noble were his companions.  But this strange blonde kept showing up . . .

One particularly moving episode was Planet of the Ood, which planted two seeds:  the DoctorDonna plotline into the series, and the haunting songs of the Ood into my brain.   It finally occurred to me to search out this music online and of course I found a treasure trove on YouTube.  So, a few months back, I went hunting on ebay and found the soundtrack to Doctor Who, Series 4, with the Ood songs on it.  After it arrived I spent a month listening to this one CD over and over and over.  Good grief, Murray Gold - what have you done to me?  I could not stop listening to it.  At first, I had the Ood “Songs of Captivity and Freedom” on repeat for a few hours each day, but gradually I found myself being drawn more deeply into the rest of the album. How to describe such music?  Words like haunting, soul-stirring, rousing, lush, brash, funny - a little bit of everything wrapped up in one glorious package.

I decided to do some searching to find out the lyrics to the Ood songs and discovered a website that not only had them (in Latin and English) but also the lyrics to Vale Decem (Goodbye Ten) so I had to track down the CD with that on it.  Thus began my Whovian saga.

Ood Song of Freedom

With silence, we shout

With silence, we shout

Without salvation

He provides our salvation

He provides out salvation

As long as we are

Among humans

Let us be humane

With silence, we shout

As long as we are

Among humans,

Let us be humane

With silence, we shout

I ordered the DVDs for Series 4, Part 1.  Watched them - got hooked, ordered Series 4, Part 2 a month later.  By then I needed all of the Tenth Doctor’s episodes so I bought Series 2 and Series 3, with companions  Rose Tyler and Martha.  And I bought the DVD with the Specials, and more CDs of each series’ music.  Damn you, Murray Gold! 

Then I figured I needed to go back to the beginning of the reboot, to find out where Rose came from and the background of the Bad Wolf storyline, and so I bought the Christopher Eccleston Series 1. That was gonna be it.  I swear.  But by then was becoming confused, so I found an episode guide, from the First Doctor through the Eleventh. 

Of course then Series 1 introduced me to the delightfully drool-worthy Captain Jack Harkness.  Lordy, lordy! 

After watching Series 1 through 4, I decided I had to give Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor a chance, so I bought Series 5 through 7.  By this time Jodie Whitaker had broken the glass ceiling and debuted as the Thirteenth Doctor, (I have seen a few clips but no episodes yet).  What the heck.   I purchased the Peter Capaldi Series.

Mama Lucy always says "Allons-Y!"

I realized my obsession was getting out of hand when I purchased a David Tennant t-shirt with “Allons-Y” (my spell check thinks this should read “Alonso,” hee hee hee) on it, River Song’s journal, a couple more Doctor Who books, a comic book with a great drawing of Ten on the cover, more music, a few more specials, and then . . .  then I started in on Torchwood.  While awaiting the arrival of the first two seasons of Torchwood in the mail, I occupied myself watching John Barrowman panels at various Cons over the last few years on YouTube.  It takes a pretty secure man to prance onstage in red high heels and a TARDIS onesie, let me tell you.  I am old enough to be his mother, but good grief - what a doll!  And such a talent - plus the good example he is providing for the LGBT kids in the fandom.

Of course, now I have on order Barrowman’s (first) autobiography, plus both the Doctor Who and Torchwood Encyclopedias.  And the music from Torchwood.  Of course!

When I bought the Capaldi series, it came with a free vinyl mystery figure.  Looking back on the number of Doctors, and the number of companions, and the number of foes, I was almost afraid to open the little silver Mylar bag.  But guess what?  Out fell Tom Baker, complete with his famous scarf!  I was so chuffed!

One day's ebay deliveries - this is getting out of control!  (But in my defense, I ordered them from all over the world over a period of several weeks - they just all arrived the same time.)

Speaking of the famous scarf, in 1979 I had a friend knit one for my wasband, and he paired it with a long brown suede double-breasted coat and a brown fedora.  Unfortunately the friend who did the knitting used polyester yarn and knitted it so it rolled into a tube.  But - what the heck - it worked for a Halloween costume!  (Wishing I had a photo...)

That scarf was long lost so a few years back I found an “officially licensed Doctor Who scarf” online and bought it for him for his birthday.  Close but no cigar:  polyester.

Now I have a friend who is both a Whovian and a knitter and she is finishing a proper wool scarf for me - eleven inches wide, and eleven feet long plus fringe!  I am so excited!

Four, DoctorDonna, Ten, and TARDIS

Ten by talented artist Alice X. Zhang (wibbly wobbly timey wimey frame by me)

I have framed a few little pictures of my favorite Doctors for my Doctor Who wall (a work in progress) and I am searching for the perfect Captain Jack image.  I am halfway through watching Torchwood and, thanks to the Internet I know what is coming.  Dammit.  It was hard enough watching Owen and Tosh die - I am not sure I can bear the death of Ianto Jones. I cry every time I watch Season 1’s Captain Jack Harkness episode (which in my mind is right up there  alongside Ten’s regeneration “I don’t want to go” scene).

Back to the man who began my most recent bout of crazed fandom.  Murray Gold:  the mastermind composer behind the incredible soundtrack of the Doctor Who reboot from Series 1 to 10.  Thank you Murray Gold, and as Executive Producer Julie Gardner wrote in the liner notes on the first CD, “I will play this album for the rest of my life.”  So will I, sir, so will I - all of them!  Thank you!

P.S.  I am also thanking Ben Foster, conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, David Temple, conductor of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, Jake Jackson (a man of many areas of expertise), and various soloists including Mark Chambers, Neil Hannon, Yamit Mamo, and Melanie Pappenheim.  What a talented bunch of folks!  Thanks to all! 

Me and my fabulous new scarf, posing with knitter Arlene and her hubby Alan.