January's Figurines

Well, technically these should be December's figurines, as the postman tried to deliver them on the 30th of last month. Anyways, what we have this time round is a pair of figurines from the Tennant era.
First up is the Hath, from The Doctor's Daughter, looking more impressive than it did on screen. A big chunky model, you can't really go wrong with it. RTD had a habit of producing aliens that were simply animal heads stuck on humanoid bodies - usually wearing a boiler-suit (e.g. Pig Slaves, Tritovores). Moffat on the other hand favours skull-like faces atop black suits.
Talking of black suits, the other figurine is the John Simm Master, as he first appeared in The Sound of Drums. He's striking a casual pose, and holding his laser-screwdriver. I wouldn't claim it as the greatest likeness in the world, but it is harder to do better with such a small scale figurine, and my model looks far better than the one they photographed for the accompanying magazine.
Next time we are still in Tennant territory, as we get one of the Carrionite witches.

B is for... Bambera, Brigadier

UNIT Brigadier Winifred Bambera was placed in charge of a convoy carrying a nuclear missile, which came off the road at an archaeological site beside Lake Vortigern. This was close to the English village of Carbury. The area had associations with the legend of King Arthur. Bambera found herself under attack by knights in armour, armed with powerful energy weapons. These knights had travelled to the area from an alternative dimension, where the Arthurian legends were real. Bambera took the knight Ancelyn prisoner, but he was a member of a rival faction which opposed the others, who were led by the Witch-Queen Morgaine and her son Mordred. Morgaine sought the sword Excalibur, and wanted to revenge herself against Arthur. She intended to deploy the UNIT missile in her schemes.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was called upon to help out when it became known that the Doctor had become involved. Though still a member of UNIT, he did not know Bambera either by sight or by reputation, as he did not even know she was a woman. Bambera, equally, did not know about the Doctor - having to be informed about the one-time scientific adviser from her sergeant.
Over the course of their battle against Morgaine and Mordred, a romantic relationship formed between Bambera and Ancelyn, based on their admiration for each other's bravery and fighting skills.
It is not known if the relationship continued. Did Ancelyn stay on in our dimension, or did Bambera join him in his? Or did the pair have to separate?

Played by: Angela Bruce. Appearances: Battlefield (1989).

B is for... Balazar

The official Keeper of the Books in Marb Station, on the planet Ravolox. The books in question were Melville's Moby Dick, Kingsley's The Water Babies, and UK Habitats of the Canadian Goose, by H.M. Stationery Office. Balazar assumed the latter's publisher was a person. Marb Station was really a survival shelter built into the remains of London's Marble Arch tube station, for Ravolox was the Earth - repositioned in space by the Time Lord High Council. Train Guard Merdeen helped Balazar escape the station, sending him to find the Tribe of the Free. These were people whom Merdeen had assisted in escaping from the periodic culls of the population ordered by Drathro - the L3 Robot. Balazar was welcomed into the Tribe. He later joined the Doctor, Peri and Sabalom Glitz in returning to the station to save the human community when it was realised that Drathro's Black Light power source would explode. At one point, the hapless Balazar got himself covered in green goo - the foodstuff fed to the station personnel. Once Drathro had been destroyed, Balazar and Merdeen led the humans to a new life on the surface.

Played by: Adam Blackwood. Appearances: The Trial of a Time Lord (1 - 4) aka The Mysterious Planet (1986).

• Blackwood voiced James Bond in four 007 video games.
• He was ribbed (no pun intended) rather mercilessly by fellow cast members for his costume as Balazar, as it made him look like he was wearing a giant condom.

B is for... Baker, Major

Head of security at the Wenley Moor nuclear research centre. He was not very happy when UNIT were called in to investigate the power losses and staff problems that were afflicting the centre, as this reflected badly on himself. The Brigadier informed the Doctor that Baker had previously had some sort of unspecified problems in another role. Baker was convinced that the strange goings-on were the work of enemy saboteurs, and refused to believe the Doctor's tales of intelligent reptilian creatures. Whilst accompanying a UNIT search party, he shot and wounded one of the Silurians, forcing it to seek refuge on the moors. Even after being attacked by the Silurians' dinosaur guard, he remained obstinate in his views. Determined not to be sidetracked from the investigations, he broke out of the sickbay, knocking out a UNIT sergeant. He went into the cave system alone, and found himself captured by the Silurians. He was furious with the Doctor when he thought he was allying himself with the reptiles. The Silurians released Baker after infecting him with a lethal plague virus. Baker died from the illness soon after, but only after the infection had begun to spread.

Played by: Norman Jones. Appearances: The Silurians (1970).

B is for... Baker, Juno

A friend and neighbour of Lavinia Smith, in the village of Moreton Harwood. When Sarah Jane Smith came to visit at Christmas 1981, Lavinia had gone off to the States for a lecture tour earlier than planned. Juno and her husband did not have contact details for her, and tried to reassure her that nothing was wrong. When strange things started to happen at her aunt's home, Sarah suspected that Juno might be involved. It transpired that she was quite innocent of any involvement in the pagan cult presided over by Major Pollock and Lily Gregson.

Played by: Linda Polan. Appearances: K9 & Company - A Girl's Best Friend.

• Polan appeared again with Lis Sladen the following year - in the Barry Letts directed Gulliver in Lilliput.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio - Reviewed

The first new episode of Doctor Who in 366 days, and it seems to have followed on directly from the last Christmas Special. The Doctor has had his last meeting with River Song - that 24 year night back at the Singing Towers of Delirium. As well as references to Song, Nardole is back. The Doctor put him back together again, for a bit of company, but he's acting as a kind of Jiminy Cricket as well.
To be honest, Nardole might as well not have been present. He didn't contribute greatly to the plot. Then again, neither did the Doctor when you think about it.
The story was really that of Grant and Lucy - or the Ghost and Lucy. Superheroes have been big business in recent years, what with the on-going Marvel movies, and the Superman / Batman series. Young Grant is a big fan of comic book superheroes - both Marvel and DC evident in his bedroom. For a change Christmas was purely incidental to the opening sequence, when the Doctor accidentally turned Grant into a superhero.
Now, Amy and Rory's departure was the least thought-through of any recent leaving. New York became a no-go area for the TARDIS due to the time anomalies created by the Weeping Angels. This was the reason given for the Doctor not retrieving his companions when they got sent back in time. However, all he had to do was park the ship a mile or two beyond the city limits, and Amy and Rory could have jumped on a bus and rejoined him.
The events of The Angels Take Manhattan were referenced in the opening sequence, as the Doctor is trying to cancel the anomalies out. That's when we first meet Grant, aged 8, and the Doctor unintentionally turns him into the Ghost. We also see that the Doctor has visited him occasionally to check on his progress.

Moffat had a whole plethora of superheroes to reference, but he elected to concentrate on Superman, and his relationship with plucky girl reporter Lois Lane. Did you spot the mention of Mr Brock's aides - Shuster and Siegal? They were the onlie begetters of Superman. And Harmony Shoals' New York office had a big spinning globe on the roof - just like the Daily Planet newspaper where Clark Kent and Lois Lane work. Like Lois, Lucy is a reporter, but Grant has grown up to become a nanny - and Moffat has a lot to say about how carers are superheroes in their own right.
The aliens are brain-creatures, who want to take over the bodies of the world's leaders as part of their colonisation attempt. It wasn't explicitly stated, but are these the same lot who appeared in the last Christmas Special? Or did Moffat just like the imagery of people opening up their heads. Their plan had a touch of the Slitheen about it, fitting, as their heads also zip open.
A sequel is obviously on the cards, as both principal villains - Brock and Dr Sim - got away at the end, though Sim switched to the body of a UNIT soldier. It's a pity that Sim swapped bodies, as Aleksander Jovanovic made for a great villain. The Bond producers should go knocking.

Matt Lucas may not have done much, but he did have some nice one-liners. I liked the idea that he had ruled the Byzantine Empire for a time en route to meeting up with the Doctor. Capaldi mainly rattled off funny remarks. I had to watch a second time last night just to catch them all.
The real stars, though, were Justin Chatwin and Charity Wakefield as Grant and Lucy. Moffat is no stranger to writing pure comedy, and the plot for this episode allowed for plenty of farce as Grant sought to keep his alter-ego hidden from Lucy. I've only ever seen Chatwin in one thing before - the War of the Worlds remake, where he's Tom Cruise's son.
Being a Christmas Special, the story was bright and breezy and generally sped along. The rooftop meal might have brought things to a halt, but it was full of humour. Not too sure about brain transplants and people opening their heads up at 6pm on Xmas Day, but they got away with it last year.
This year we already had half a new season in the can, so we got to see a preview of Series 10 at the end. The Dalek episode looks quite good, but apart from some funny looking robots and something lurking behind a tree there weren't any new monsters on show. Can't say I'm looking forward to the arrival of Bill that much. I wasn't impressed by the preview back in May. Her stupidity might just be a bit too annoying.

And a Merry Christmas to all of you at home...

Am going to be away for the next few days, so will take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas. In case you hadn't noticed, we actually have a new episode of Doctor Who on the 25th of December. I'd forgotten what they looked like...
My review of The Return of Doctor Mysterio will have to wait until well into next week - Thursday 29th hopefully. In the meantime, Happy Holidays!