"You might want to look away now, we're about to critically examine a children's Christmas television special."

Just finished watching the Doctor Who, and I have some strong opinions on it already. Oh dear.

They are:

a) The Doctor trying to 'take care' of things was adorable.

b) Bill Bailey and his crew needed much more screentime. Great actors, funny dialogue, and wasted potential.

c) The attempt to tackle sexism made me seriously hate the writer (who I just found out was Stephen Moffat. Oh, Moffat, why do you have to disappoint me?).

The story began with a woman who can't drive, and continued to crash every vehicle she came across in the episode. Then in the middle, the story decided to make it very clear that the alien race view females as 'strong' and males as 'weak' - a cute little cultural twist that I liked, and it worked well with the story. These aliens made a big deal out of how much of a strong person the car-crashing woman was, and everyone present generally nodded and agreed 'oh yes, the strongest woman ever because she is a mum and that is wonderful'. Shortly afterwards, this 'strong' woman started gushing about how she met her husband: he followed her home every day from work, even though she didn't seem romantically interested in him, and eventually she gave in and married him.

So this strong, admirable woman was blackmailed into a relationship? What.

If you're going to write a story about how strong women are, it helps if you put a strong woman in it. Just an idea.

(EDIT: 'even though she didn't seem romantically interested in him' originally read as 'even though she didn't care for him', this was reworded for clarity.)

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

This is the UK, a flat space colony which sits on the back of a giant star whale floating through space.

All I'm saying it, if they ever go back here the Doctor better be wearing a hat saying he's a Wizzard.

Not much to be said about the episode that hasn't been already said on Twitter - I thought the episode was very unsubtle in it's points and subtext, but the messages about political choice were fun nonetheless - especially "Every five years, you choose to forget."

Our Inverness girl Amy was lovely as the assistant, she really starred in this episode and currently has a good relationship going on with the Doctor that's just childishly innocent enough to nod back to how they met.

It was also great seeing Matt's take on the Doctor when his personality becomes less human and more Timelord. When the Doctor distances himself from humans is always some of my favorite parts, whether he's talking about how powerful he is, his past, what all he's done in his time, and even when he's simply giving the aliens a point of view. It's these moments that give the Doctor his flair as a unique character - he isn't human, and if he's always acting like one he loses a lot of what makes him the Doctor. In the last two episodes particularly he seems to be having trouble keeping his usual level of respect towards humans, though after this episode that will probably slacken off a bit.

Personally, though, I think Matt needs a bit more practice at conveying emotional intensity. When he spoke about what he was going to have to do to this episodes alien, the dialogue was perfect but the delivery fell a little flat. I think it's because I'm used to Nine and Ten, who could suddenly switch to serious dialogue with some big clues in their body language and tone.

Liz 10 was a fantastic character for the first half of the episode, but she lost her brilliance quickly as soon as they got into the tower. I was half-hoping the mask would mean she was half-Smiler and the mystery as to what was going on with them would deepen, but it was glossed over instead. It was fun while it lasted.

This episode is a lot more enjoyable after the Discworld connection was made, though, so thanks to Hannah for pointing it out. You can check out her blog over here.

The next episode is the one I'm really excited about though, despite it's weird and wonderful concept. Stereotypically British Daleks spouting lines that were tailor-made for me to love. I'll be counting the minutes. I hope one of them has a top-hat and monocle, c'mon Moffat!

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

Bear with me, I'm being a bit experimental here - I want to do a round-up of all the random awesome stuff I've seen on the internet. If I was cool, I would do this on Wednesday and make it Web Round-Up Wednesday - however, I'm not, and most of my randomly articles tend to be gathered throughout the week.

So instead, let's make it... Skiver's Friday! AKA. I should be working but it's almost the weekend and I've found some funny links - day. Then I got distracted and didn't finish the post, so really it's Skiver's Saturday. Shh.

WOO ENTERTAINING IMAGES. If I posted every image that entertained me, I'd never sleep.

Then there's Iconic Photos, some great photos from throughout history.

In the news, we have lots of stupid people. Including yet another woman who can't live without her expensive things and someone who got a Pit Bull to look 'hard' and couldn't be bothered to train it.

It seems people are having divorce parties now? Can't decide if that's a good thing or not - I like the idea of making things a bit easier in a rough time, but the cakes there - particularly the 'Hooray, I'm free of them now' feel of some of them - are just laughably bitter.

Awesome Christmas presents - Fondue Mugs, EatMeCrunchy Bowl, Baconnaise and Marshmallow Fluff. I don't like Christmas much - not only is it generally quite unlucky for me, but the pressure to find the perfect gifts for everyone really bothers me. I'm quite far behind on my Christmas shopping, argh. D: Feel free to leave a comment with your go-to gifts when it comes to finding Christmas presents for people - this year I'm abusing the use of cute microwavable teddies, and presents from last year that I never managed to post out.

*resisting the urge to comment*

For gamers, there's a Flash demo of the newest Ace Attorney game. I am rushing to play it as soon as this post is done. <3

(EDIT: Played it! Be careful, when examining the scene it'll glitch if you examine the chess board first. Examine something else instead.)

If you're a fan of sparkly vampires, 11 Points' 11 Random Observations Outside the New Moon Premiere is very funny. The Vatican have also complained about Twilight leading Christians into a world of undead romance, or something.

On the fanfiction front, I've been reading some Doctor Who fanfics. Today's recommendations are short, standalone stories that are suitable for all - 'This Moment Has Been Prepared For', a cute re-imagining of Donna's ending with a winning first line and 'Drinking Tactics for Nine Hundred Year Old Minors', a comedic story of Elven & Sally Sparrow's drinking trip turned feminist nightmare and the only good thing related to the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith that I've found so far. Oh, and it makes me giddy that a campaign to Save (Torchwood Character) Ianto Jones raised £12k for Children In Need.

Last stop are some writing related links. The  Reality of a New York Times bestseller has been crushing dreams for a while now, but it's still required reading for anyone expecting to be the next J.K.Rowling. A follow up to the post is here. There's the guide to Write Badly Well, which has taught me things like the word 'syllepsis'. I knew what it was, but didn't know there was a name for it? Now I can proudly say that syllepsis is (are?) awesome.

For those of you who like reading more than reading about writing, there are the 'Very Short Stories' of Edith Zimmerman. An example is below the cut, so click 'Continue reading' for a sample.

Candy

October 29th, 2009

A very short story.

“Hi kids!” I said to the trick-or-treaters who had gathered on my porch. “Do you guys like candy?” I asked as I brought out the Halloween bowl.

“Yes!” they screamed.

“How much?” I asked.

“A lot!” they screamed.

“Do you love it?” I asked.

“Yes!” they screamed. “We love it!”

“So why don’t you marry it?” I asked.

“Nooo!” they screamed.

“Why not?” I asked.

“You can’t marry candy!” they screamed.

“Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do,” I said, fiddling with my wedding ring. “Ever.”

E.Maree

xoxo

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com