Doctor Who News for 2017 (Season 10)

Two seasons in a row we saw a BLACK companion get converted into a Cyberman and given a strange send-off. The first, Danny Pink, was supposed to be Clara Oswin's love interest -- we even saw them rescue an apparent descendent of that match-up, until Moffatt needed someone to be converted into a Cyberman. Then in Season 10, we had Bill Potts, an excellent companion, get converted into a Cyberman because Moffatt needed someone to be converted into a Cyberman. The history of Doctor Who has not seen a successful conversion of a Companion into a Cyberman until Danny Pink. With Bill Potts we have a second successful Companion-Cyberman-conversion. What's the commonality? Both the actors are BLACK?

I was going to let this pass -- until todays news included Moffatt bragging about the story twist in The Doctor Falls of having Bill Potts saved by her love interest, Heather. Ugh. Really? It's all okay because you gave yourself a magic way out of the corner you wrote yourself into?

No matter how brilliant Moffatt is in coming up with clever stories -- this shows a weakness in that he writes himself into corners, and rather than face the consequences of the story he's penned, Moffatt comes up with a magic way out.

Want to know more about Nardole and Matt Lucas? This video has Nardole answering questions for a Youtuber named Crispy Pro.

Earlier we asked "Why is Nardole still around?" Because, well, it's kinda strange that a person presented as River Song's side-kick, and then disassembled and inserted into King Hydraflax's body, would be able to reappear as a functioning person helping the Doctor. But then this is Doctor Who.

Unfortunately our curiosity isn't answered by Matt's answers. He's very good at saying things and being funny without really answering questions or saying anything of substance.

This week's Doctor Who, The Lie of the Land, deserves a real review because it's such an excellent story. As I noted yesterday, this story strikes very close to reality given the problem we have with Fake News currently. This story goes way beyond Fake News to Fake History, and a telepathic broadcast of fake information to delude the population.

What happens when we're told an idea enough times? So long as the idea is plausible humans will eventually accept that idea and get on with their lives. This happens all the time in the real world with certain news channels routinely reporting falsehoods as if they're real, and fake ideas affect enough people to influence major elections. Witness last Fall in the USA, and several elections since then in France, and Moldova, and Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, where fake news propagandists had enough success to sway a few of those elections.

I watch every Doctor Who episode, at least once, sometimes a couple dozen times, but I almost did not watch this one. The preview information on this episode sounded like it was much too close to the reality we're living today. That's doubly so considering today's violence on London Bridge in which a 'Lorry Driver' drove his truck into a crowd of people, and in a possibly separate attack someone with a long knife attacked people in South London.

I apologize to anyone put off by my bringing reality into the enjoyment of Doctor Who, but that's what is in front of us in the real world. Once I did watch the episode, I found it to be excellent, and maybe after I write this I'll write a regular review. At the moment I cannot separate this from the concerns I have over what's actually happening in the world around us.

The timing of this episode -- June is six months into the year, and approximately 6 months ago the Trump Administration was being sworn into office. That's more than a curious coincidence especially given the assault on truth going on with the Trump Administration in power.