THE DOCTOR IS A KEN DOLL! (HE'S AN ACTION FIGURE; HE'S NOT A DOLL!)

2023 proved to be a big year for Ncuti Gatwa.  His role as Eric in ‘Sex Education’ came to an end after 4 seasons and 32 episodes; he was in the mega-hit summer blockbuster of “Barbie” as one of the five central Kens; and with the last episode of the 60th anniversary trilogy celebration of ‘Doctor Who’, he made his debut as the Fifteenth Incarnation of the Time Lord.

There were a lot of Kens in Barbieland, but five central ones – Ryan Gosling as the main Ken, with Gatwa, Simu Liu, Scott Evans, and Kingsley-Adir as his main companeros, with John Cena making a cameo appearance as the Ken of the Merfolk.  Because there were so many Kens, he didn’t really stand out from the other citizens of Kendom until nearly the end – he had a sweet reunion with his Barbie, who was played by his ‘Sex Education’ co-star, Emma Mackey, who looked like she could be Margot Robbie’s brunette sister.

O’Bservation – I was floored to find while writing this post that another of their ‘Sex Education’ co-stars (Connor Swindells) was also in “Barbie”.  He played lowly Mattel office drone Aaron, a far cry from his closeted homosexual school bully in the Britcom.

I would not be surprised if “Barbie” experiences a renewed surge at the box office on re-release, once Whovians who previously had no interest in seeing the movie about a doll learn that the latest Doctor is in the cast….

QUOTH THE RIVER

 

REMEMBERING ADRIC

 

FANFICCER'S FRIEND - A COMIC INSPIRATION

Apparently Mrs. Blumfield knew that her husband Carl had been trapped in the past due to a time machine.  It could have been one of his own making, or one that he found abandoned, or he got picked up by The Doctor in the TARDIS and unfortunately died during one of their adventures together back in 1924.  (Which incarnation of The Doctor?  If this newspaper comic inspires you to write fanfic to expand the story, it could be any one of your choosing.)

But I've got a suggestion to get you started – what happened during 1924 which could have gotten Carl killed?

Here are a few historical suggestions from Wikipedia, any one of which could have had an alien influence at work behind the scenes....

• January 25 – The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics open in Chamonix, in the French Alps.
• April 27 – A group of Alawites kill several nuns in Syria; French troops march against them.
• April 28 – An explosion in a mine at the Wheeling Steel Corporation in Benwood, West Virginia kills 119 men.
• May 4 – The 1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies are held in Paris, France.
• May 26 – Harry Grindell Matthews attempts to demonstrate his "death ray" to the War Office in the United Kingdom.
• June 8 – George Mallory and Andrew Irvine are last seen "going strong for the top" of Mount Everest by teammate Noel Odell at 12:50 P.M. The two mountaineers are never seen alive again.
• June 13 – In Hungary, a devastating tornado, "Wildkansas", strikes, in 3 hours leaving a 500-1500m wide and 70 km long path of destruction from landfall at Bia to its end near Vác, completely destroying the village of Páty. 9 people are killed, 50 injured and many left homeless by one of the strongest tornadoes ever not only in Hungary but in Europe, estimated as F4.
• July 19 – Napalpí massacre: Around 400 indigenous people of Toba ethnicity are massacred in Argentina.
• Autumn – In the United States, the final raid of the Renegade period of the Apache Wars takes place, bringing the American Indian Wars to a close, after 315 years.
• December 30 – American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.

Or you could make up your own.

Mrs. Blumfield’s mention of a time machine seems to lock in that plot point.  But I still get the feeling that this could have been due to a Weeping Angel.

 

THE NEW WHO DUDS

On December 17, 2022, the new look for the 15th Incarnation of the Doctor was revealed.

My instant reaction upon seeing it – I like it.  I gives me a 70s vibe, reminding me of the fashion catalogue pages which still rise up from memory of those nightmare trends.

But this is a muted design and I especially love that top with the chain.  Definitely 70s cool.

As for Millie Gibson’s outfit for her role as Ruby Sunday, I feel as though it evokes an 80s, maybe 90s, flavor.  Perhaps it means that she will be a Companion from either of those two decades.

I won’t make any other suppositions than those.  I’m usually wrong anyway....

BTV - ALL BERNIE, ALL THE TIME

 

Besides the new dawn of the Biden administration, the flurry of executive initiatives, and the looming Trump impeachment trial (Number Two for a number two), the big thing to come out of the inauguration was the Bernie Mittens meme tsunami.

I know that many people were sick of the memes within hours of that first deluge, so I’m offering only the Toobworthy ones here, and even those can be a flood.

I think I’m done with the watery metaphors now.

Bernie and his mittens found themselves in sitcoms, cop shows, kid shows, reality shows, sci-fi & fantasy, period pieces, character-driven dramas, game shows, anime, cult classics, and news programs, both local and national. (Plus a couple of actual news stories.)

I’m also including a trio of memes from my all-time favorite movie, which used to be a once-yearly TV event in my youth.  My blog, my rules.

TV show-connected memes which I’m surprised I haven’t seen done yet:

Bernie Mittens in ‘Let’s Make A Deal’, ‘The  Price Is Right’, ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, in the water tower of ‘Petticoat Junction’, the group family photo for ‘Soap’, ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Twin Peaks’, ‘Dynasty’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’, ‘The Love Boat’, 'Captain Kangaroo', and TV Westerns (‘Bonanza’, ‘Maverick’ - at the poker table, natch! - and as the guy at the end of the street having a showdown with Marshal Dillon, in the opening for ‘Gunsmoke’.)

They may have been done, I just haven’t seen them.  (If you have, let me know where to grab them.)

So here ya go!

And that movie I mentioned....?

I hope you enjoyed that. 

Heck, I hope you survived it!