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Tales of the TARDIS launches the Whoniverse by bringing back some of Doctor Who’s most loved Doctors and companions for six nostalgia heavy scenes

Russell T Davies promised that the 60th Anniversary celebrations would contain lots of surprises and so far he hasn’t disappointed. Though possibly the manner in which they casually revealed six new Doctor Who minisodes, Tales of the TARDIS, just days before they dropped on iPlayer is the biggest yet. They’re exclusive to iPlayer, and therefore the United Kingdom. And they’re a vital part of the plan to get British fans to check out the new Whoniverse iPlayer channel. It’s a gateway to almost every episode of Doctor Who from 1963 to the present day, as well as all the spin-offs like Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures. With lots of other content besides, it’s the most ambitious ever project in the show’s online life.

 

The Doctor (Peter Davison) and Tegan (Janet Fielding) reunite as Tales of the Tardis: Earthshock kicks off the Whoniverse,,BBC Studios 2023,Alistair Heap New outings for the Fifth Doctor and Tegan, and the Seventh Doctor and Ace, are sweet but come too soon after Power of the Doctor to be truly effective

As it turns out, more than anything else they’ve designed Tales of the TARDIS to encourage fans old and new to check out some of those classic episodes. Each short narrative wraps itself around a new omnibus edit of an existing serial. Essentially they serve as an in-character introductions to the stories. Pairs of former travellers in the TARDIS find themselves summoned to the ‘Memory TARDIS.’

There they catch up, hug it out, and then launch into their memories of past adventures. It’s a rigid format that doesn’t leave a lot of room in each six minute minisode for anything much deeper. In the cases of Earthshock (pairing the Fifth Doctor and Tegan) and The Curse of Fenric (the Seventh Doctor and Ace) they also suffer from comparison to recent, better, variations of the same idea. Even so, they’re still full of sweet moments. Tegan wears the Doctor’s panama hat and Ace does her best Scottish accent for an imprrRRrresion of McCoy. But combinations we hadn’t seen before might have better represented these eras. How emotional would it have been, for instance, to see Peter Davison’s Doctor confronted by Matthew Waterhouse as the memory of the man Adric would have grown up to be?

 

Clyde (Daniel Anthony) and Jo (Katy Manning) in Tales of the Tardis: The Three Doctors),BBC Studios 2023,Alistair Heap Katy Manning is still a force of nature as Jo, teaming up with Sarah Jane Adventures’ Clyde for the Whoniverse’s most fun and surprisingly heartfelt new Tale

Surprisingly, by far the most satisfying of these Tales is the most seemingly random. The Three Doctors is introduced by Jo Jones and Clyde Langer. The two had previously met during the Death of the Doctor storyline on The Sarah Jane Adventures. Even so, reuniting them to introduce Doctor Who’s tenth anniversary adventure appears at first glance an unlikely choice. But it works incredibly well. That’s in part because it is one person who was there relating it to someone who wasn’t. It’s in contrast to the other Tales where two people rehash their shared experiences and things they both already know.

It’s also one of the only ones to really push forward its characters’ personal stories. Jo grapples with being a widow who’s outlived the love of her life, and helps Clyde with his quarter life crisis, offering good advice on grabbing love while you can. Squint a little and it even feeds neatly into Big Finish’s recent outings for the characters.

But above everything else, it works because Katy Manning is a barely diminished force of nature. A whirlwind of energy she pivots from knockabout comedy to heartfelt emotionality with grace and speed. Meanwhile, Daniel Anthony, apart from not having aged a day, hasn’t lost a step in playing Clyde. He’s still expertly portrays the regular guy able to point out how weird this life actually is.

 

Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) recover their memories of the Whoniverse in Tales of the Tardis: The Mind Robber,BBC Studios 2023,Alistair Heap Tales for Time Meddler and Mind Robber see the casts slip almost effortless back into character in some cases half a century on from their last appearances

The Time Meddler and The Mind Robber, provide reunions for Vicki and Steven, and Jamie and Zoe, respectively. They’re also both pretty delightful. There’s something magical about how quickly these veterans of 1960s Doctor Who snap back into place. Steven and Vicki have only just acknowledged how old and grown up they are now, before Vicki is instantly looking for mischief and pooh poohing the fretting Steven as a ‘spoil sport.’

Considering O’Brien effectively retired from acting decades ago, she’s a bit of a revelation here. If she had a mind to it, she’d be primed for a fine line in impish older lady detectives.

Wendy Padbury as Zoe is another who easily slips back into her old performance. The bobbed hair may now be white, and she may have acquired a gown in place of her catsuit (if no less sparkly.) But every atom in all the old energy and enthusiasm is here. In contrast, Frazer Hines takes the opposite, but equally satisfying, tact. Sinking gratefully into his armchair, this is a Highlander who has led a long, tough life. He’s collected regrets over the decades and is now facing the discovery of yet more he’s forgotten.

After all, with shades of what happened much later with Donna Noble, both Jamie and Zoe had their memories erased by the Time Lords on leaving the Doctor. And it’s their contrasting responses to getting their memories back that powers their dynamic. Jamie is fearful they’ll lose them again if they step outside the TARDIS. Zoe is confident and optimistic that they’re back for good. Neither able to know for sure. It makes for one of the Tales’ most touching scenes.

 

As the Whoniverse dawns, Peri (Nicola Bryant), the ‘warrior Queen’ returns in Tales of the Tardis,,Vengeance on Varos,,BBC Studios 2023,Maxine Howells The Sixth Doctor and Peri’s reunion is probably the least successful Tale, saddled with the legacy of one of Who’s most unconvincing companion departures

Bringing up the rear, Vengeance on Varos provides the weakest of these Tales of the TARDIS. Nothing about it quite works. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are really only barely in character and dressed in what looks distinctly like their own clothes. While the script tries to see how many times you can say the phrase “warrior queen” in six minutes. Mostly, the fault for this lies back in 1986, and Peri having one of the most implausible and unsatisfying companion departures of all. There have been attempts in various media to retcon it, expand on it, and undo it over the years since. But as far as this Tale goes, it feels like nobody at any level really believes in it, even as they do their best to paint it as a happy ending for the character.

 

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) find themselves about the Memory TARDIS in the Whonivere’s Tales of the Tardis: The Curse of Fenric,),BBC Studios 2023,Alistair Heap As endearing as they are slight, the Tales of the TARDIS are a lovely bonus for iPlayer users, but not worth international fans getting upset about missing out on

Ultimately these little slices of Doctor Who swing for big emotions and inevitably sometimes hit and sometimes miss. It’s hard to say how effective an introduction they are for new viewers, each one instantly leaping into the deep end of the show’s lore. The budget may be cheap and cheerful. Certainly, the magpie console room set gives a distinct wobble whenever buttons are pressed. But that might be a good transition into the classic stories for fans used to modern VFX.

Few would call Tales of the TARDIS absolutely essential. Fans outside the UK definitely needn’t be that aggrieved about missing out. But for those who’ve already grown to love these characters, this is a lovely, and lovingly made, revisitation, all the sweeter for having been so unexpected.

All episodes of Tales of the TARDIS are now available on iPlayer’s Whoniverse channel

 

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials,25-11-2023, The Star Beast, Special 1,The Doctor (DAVID TENNANT), Donna Noble (CATHERINE TATE) Rose (Yasmin Finney),BBC STUDIOS 2023 ,Zoe McConnell and Alistair Heap Doctor Who returns on the 25th of November with The Star Beast on BBC One in the UK and Ireland, and Disney+ worldwide

The post REVIEW: Doctor Who: Tales of the TARDIS appeared first on Blogtor Who.

 This little session report comes on the heels of last weeks South of the border fiasco.  Nikita Crusca weapons expert is in our infirmery. And being guarded against any unforseen occurances. Today coming back from breakfast at our favorite diner. The group of players needed some extra cash to trick out thier new lair in Houston. So they decided to do a bit of bounty hunting to get some extra Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

While drawing in this wee sketchbook I just decided to do a very simple OSR sheet. No room for extras, dammit! This game is about the basics, you losers. Go play 5e if you want squishy drama and backstories, you pieces of shit. If it doesn't fit on an index card you don't need it, you rubes!

Ok, that's enough of my sarcasm. Play your games the way you want, you're valid, etc. Blah blah. And artful character sheets RULE!

Crits or DIE!

 

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The post Preschool – November 5th appeared first on Church of The Rock.

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The post Elementary – November 5th appeared first on Church of The Rock.

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The post Collide – November 5th appeared first on Church of The Rock.

When I got back into gaming and dived into doing OSR stuff around 2012, I leaned into it pretty hard. I wrote Howler and Winds of the Ice Forest and other bits with a nod to old school modules and a careful eye toward the rules written in Labyrinth Lord. I started a series in Black Pudding called "Adventures in the North", which started in issue 5 and has a bit in issue 6. But it is incomplete and try as I might I cannot bring myself to finish it.

Why?

There's a character class I wrote and turned into a mini-zine for a Gary Con I attended. It was called The Lug. It's basically a big, dumb brute of a guy who has a heart of gold. Essentially Fezzik from Princess Bride. You know the trope. I have often thought I should give The Lug a rendering in Black Pudding, but I can't seem to do it.

Why?

It seems to be because these are relics of a decade ago when I was in a very different mindset. I was just discovering the beauty of revisiting old school D&D and it was shiny and new again. And I wanted to put on the aesthetics of that era. I did work. Then I changed and moved on. I have other ideas now and my approach is very different. I can't put myself back into that mindset.

It was a mistake to start Adventures in the North as a multi-part series. I've never been good at maintaining that sort of thing because my inspirations drift over time. It would have been wise of me to do it as a one-shot adventure location instead of an 11-point mini-setting.

The Lug has the same problem. It was a cool idea at the time, but now I think about it... it feels very liming. Your character would be a one trick pony. You bop people on the head and smash things. 

Where IS the God of Tits & Wine??

Game of Thrones
Great series. The character-driven pacing is such a brilliant build-up. No show has more absolutely detestable pricks than Game of Thrones.

Too bad this 10/10 performance petered out and landed on a 4/10 sour note, like a toddler who says "I'm gonna stay up all night!" but their wild energy turns to irritation and then slumber.

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Alright, you NEED to watch the video for Goblin Dice! If it doesn't bring back memories of the Shake Weight (and various comedy sketch shows that did their own take on it) you are definitely a young one ;)

Notice also that you DON'T see the Goblin Dice device being shaken and the dice result in the same short. I suspect they didn't have a working prototype when they did the promo video.

Interesting idea, I just don't think it's needed. Still, I'd love to see some Goblin Dice in use at a convention :)

Now please allow us to introduce Goblin Dice - Your Ultimate Digital Dice Companion. With its innovative shake & read design and environmentally friendly kinetic energy conversion, paired with a sleek brass metal exterior, Goblin dice will be your instant solution for an enhanced gaming experience and more.

Eco-friendly Kinetic Energy: Our innovative design converts kinetic energy into electricity, requiring only a gentle shake to generate power. No external power source or batteries are needed - it's eco-friendly and hassle-free!

 

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 "Many long years ago the denizens of Mount Yr Wyddfa crawled beneath the earth; foul minded fey, goblins and others of that ilk; they fled for reasons unknown to any but themselves. The terraced slopes, the valleys, ravines and forested highlands settled in peace, farms spread along the greens, people settled and prospered. But the world unfolds, for ever turning, mirroring the past. It began Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

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