I
got behind on a bunch of projects in August (several of them for this
blog), but it was still a pretty good month. A new school year is
beginning now, and I'm actually back in classes myself this year, so
it's going to be hectic and busy, but I'm at my best when it's hectic
and busy. I'm quite looking forward to it!
Of
course, August was all about the return of Doctor Who,
with Peter Capaldi making his first outing as the Doctor! There
was a new trailer early in the
month, and we also learned that the new title sequence would
be based on a fan-made sequence posted to YouTube last year. But
August 23rd was the main event,
as the first episode of the new season aired, and
the second has aired now as
well. I was quite impressed
by “Deep Breath” and I was
absolutely ecstatic about “Into the Dalek”. I'm
always excited about new Doctor Who,
but I'm feeling a much bigger thrill this year. Peter Capaldi is
amazing in the role.
Also
premièring in August along
with Doctor Who was
Doctor Who Extra. This
behind-the-scenes programme is similar to Doctor Who
Confidential, a programme that
ran for several years from 2005 until the end of Series 6 in 2011,
when it was cancelled. Doctor
Who Extra, however, is much
shorter than Confidential,
which had 30-minute episodes in its early seasons and 45-minute
episodes later on. Extra
runs about 10 minutes per episode. The first episode of Extra
has not been made available for viewing outside the United Kingdom,
so I haven't seen it. I'm not sure why it isn't available as the
second episode is, and all further episodes will also be available as
they are released each week. You can watch the second episode in the
player below:
To
be honest, I was never much of a fan of Confidential,
especially towards the end when they were clearly running out of
ideas to fill up their full running time. Coming up with 45 minutes
of extra material for every single episode of Doctor Who
was really overreaching. Extra's
shorter running time will likely be to its advantage in this respect.
The “Into the Dalek” episode is entertaining and reveals some
interesting behind-the-scenes information. Alas, even though it airs
after Doctor Who, each
episode of Extra is
still essentially an advertisement for its associated Doctor
Who episode, meaning that Extra
is likely to suffer from a need
to praise uncritically. I much prefer behind-the-scenes documentaries
made well after their subject programmes, like the documentaries on
classic Doctor Who
DVDs and the DVDs of other older shows. Although memories may not be
as fresh, the people involved are generally able to be more honest
and reflective in recounting
the making of the programme. They can say if they don't like a
particular episode as much as other episodes. Likewise, when they
declare a particular episode as their favourite, you can be confident
it really is. With documentaries made at the same time as their
subject programmes, those programmes always have to be portrayed as the greatest
thing ever. At any rate, I'm curious to see how Doctor Who
Extra turns out as the season
progresses.
Moving
on from Doctor Who, I
didn't get round to a lot of Pathfinder things this month, but I did
get in reviews of the final two parts of the Mummy's Mask
Adventure Path: The Slave Trenches of Hakotep and Pyramid of the Sky Pharaoh. There
are several more reviews pending, including the Mummy's Mask Player's Guide,
People of the Stars,
and the Advanced Class Guide.
Expect those in the next couple of weeks.
Have
a great September, everyone!
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