How to Build a TARDIS: A DIY Project When Dad Does Everything

Let’s not bury the lead here.  Having my own TARDIS is fantastic!  Modelled on the TARDIS used by the Ninth and Tenth Doctor (as far as the size and TARDIS exterior goes), it stands 8’ tall (without the lamp, more on that below) and it’s 48 ¼” wide at the base.  I’d say having my own TARDIS is every bit as exciting as I thought it would be except I never could have imagined loving it this much.  I mean, I have a TARDIS.  I.  Have.  A.  TARDIS!  I have a TARDIS!  How could I ever prepare for this sort of excitement??  The TARIDS was completed on Christmas Day (poeticly perfect timing) and we moved it into my classroom over Christmas break.  However, I’ve waited until now to tell this story as this is my 500^th post on My Comic Relief which warranted a special piece.  And what could be more special than having a TARDIS?!!?

Nearly seven years, 500 posts, and 1,258,447 words have led to this – the story of my TARDIS.   

David Tennant is the Fourteenth Doctor: Thoughts and Theories Part 2

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.  The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of TARDISes and Toymakers danced in their heads.  And Mummy in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.  When out on Twitter there arose such a clatter as the BBC teased a new trailer for the Doctor Who 60^th Anniversary special dropping tomorrow!!!  Naturally, that “long winter’s nap” could wait.  Russell T Davies enthusiastically encouraged our theorizing when he said, “If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way!  The path to Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun!  And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble?  How, what, why?  We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”^[1]  So, with a trailer (or something??) coming tomorrow, tonight felt the perfect time to think and theorize (at least a li’l bit) about what may lay ahead for the Doctor and Donna next year.

Impressions of the Second Doctor – A Journey Through All 695 Episodes of Classic Doctor Who

Literally my first impression of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor was he seemed stern.  I thought this long before I saw him play the Doctor or even knew his real name.  It was just my immediate reaction to the images/pictures the BBC usually chooses when they show all the Doctors.  Maybe it was the dark hair?  Maybe it was the piercing stare?  I don’t know.  But once I began my journey through Classic Doctor Who I knew I’d see if there was any truth to my uninformed first impression (my bet was there wasn’t).  And my journey’s progressing!  This is the second installment in my series of feelings/impressions upon meeting each Doctor!  Patrick Troughton’s run as the Doctor would span three series, from 5 November 1966 to 21 June 1969.

“Fancy a Trip in the Box?” – Considering the TARDIS and Each Companion’s First Trip

One of my favorite things about Doctor Who is the first trip the Doctor makes with any new companion.  Now I’m not talking about their first adventure, where they meet the Doctor and get pulled into a much larger world than they knew existed the day before.  No, I’m talking about their first trip, the moment they decide they want to travel through time and space with the Doctor inside that little blue box.  I love it, in part, because these episodes always make me think how would you even begin to choose?!!?  If you had allllllllllll of time and space laid out before you, where would you even want to go first?  How could you pick?!?  Or, if you were in the Doctor’s place, how do you decide what first to show your new companion?  

I Don’t Know What To Do With All This Love – A Fleabag Reflection

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag is one of those shows where I wonder how I lived without it.  My first time through the series (I watch it often), I watched all of Season One in a day and Season Two the following day.  My pause between them was only to allow myself time to try and process all the feelings the first season left me with.  The show is hysterical while also being one of the most moving shows I’ve ever seen.  It’s wildly intelligent and the emotional journey it takes you on is unforgettable.  Returning to this was one of the first things I did when quarantine hit – it’s a thoughtful comfort show, making me laugh, think, and feel in equally strong waves.  As I watched it, I realized I’d never written about my love for this series, something I want to do now with this reflection on a remarkable juxtaposition done in the fourth episode of the second season.

Note, there will obviously be spoilers (but not beyond S2,E4).  I’ll be as general as I can be with the plot but if you haven’t seen this show maybe watch it now?  I don’t wanna be bossy but it’s brilliant.  Every.  Single.  Moment.

Doctor Who – Getting to Know the Thirteenth Doctor Once a Week

Jodie Whittaker’s debut as the Doctor was special for me.  I’ve only recently come into the world of Doctor Who, watching all ten (modern) seasons of the show last year.  I began in the fall of 2017 with Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor (well, technically I started with David Tennant but my friend Theresa kept making sad sighs when she heard I didn’t start at the beginning so I went back and did) and finished Peter Capaldi’s run in the spring of 2018.  So Jodie Whittaker became the first Doctor I got to watch as the season aired.  It was so exciting!  As this eleventh season (or series if I’m being English about it) of Doctor Who unfolded, I kept thinking of a post I wrote awhile back about being exhausted by binging and streaming TV shows.  Jodie Whittaker and company have consistently delivered everything I’ve come to love about a Doctor Who episode!  But I think part of the magic of this season came from watching it on a weekly basis.