Louis

In case you’ve been sleeping through the past several days:

The Loeuwis Files (with Lewis and Louis)

MeAndJeffAndSonny (with “Jeff” and “Sonny”)(actually Reggie and Chas)

Mutant Malaphors (with Aly and Justin)

OctaviusPepperOfficial (with Mr. Tom (that’s me) and The Peter)

realhumanbees (with Hallie and Madeline)

AND THERE’S NOT EVEN CREDIT OR ANYTHING TO NEDROID (but there’s the school’s watermark at the bottom! - which I blurred out to keep them anonymous unless the artist wants to know).

I really like the sonic sunglasses as a replacement for the screwdriver and it’s cool if you don’t but here are a few points in defense of the sunglasses from the point of view of someone who is… y'know, actually still invested in the show:

The glasses are silly, yes, but the Doctor is supposed to be a little silly and unhip. They’re introduced into the show as part of the Doctor’s hamfisted attempt to embrace wearable tech, as a sort of “embarassing old dad tries to be cool and fails but you love him anyay” kind of thing which is certainly within the realm of what the Doctor has been before.

The sonic screwdriver was getting to be a really big fucking problem in terms of the show’s overall storytelling where the writers were using it as an all purpose magic wand to solve literally every problem the Doctor ever came across. This was actually kind of the case in the 80s which is why in season 19 they got rid of it and never brought it back for the remaining seven-and-a-half seasons of the show. But the problem was morre pronounced IMO in the RTD era and then got even worse in the Moffat era to the point where in series 7 sometimes (I’m looking at you, The Power of Three) the entire plot could be solved by the Doctor literally waving the fucking screwdriver at a screen and not even explaining what he’s doing but somehow the bad guy was now defeated. The screwdriver seriously needed a break.

I think the glasses will be an improvement on the above because they disrupt the routine of pointing the Doctor’s magic wand at a problem and auto-solving it. In part because of how silly they are, the glasses draw more attention to their use on-screen, which I hope will encourage the writers to use them more sparingly and to greater narrative effect. In the one episode that has aired since their introduction, “Under the Lake”, they have been used exactly once and it was in an interesting and inventive way that was not presented as a magical solution to a problem but instead one tool in an actual, legitimately clever plan.

Yes, the screwdriver is closely aligned with the Doctor’s mission to help and assist. Do you know the circumstances in which he loses it? I’ll go ahead and spoil it, assuming that if you cared to watch it you’d have done so right now, but if that’s not the case, skip to the next bullet. In the series nine premiere the Doctor is using the screwdriver to save a little boy who is lost in the middle of a minefield on a war-torn planet. He gives the screwdriver to the kid, but when the kid identifies himself as Davros, the Doctor freezes up, loses his cool, and abandons Davros in the mindfield, essentially leaving him to die. This is how he loses his screwdriver, and he does not replace it because he (quite rightly) feels that he failed to help and assist where he should. By the way he eventually does goes back and save the young Davros, but does not ask for the screwdriver back. Given what we agree is the metaphorical significance of the screwdriver, I think this is a pretty good character-motivated reason to write it out of the series!

The glasses are, as much as the screwdriver ever was, linked with the Doctor’s current characterization. So far in the Twelfth Doctor era, vision has been a hugely important motif linked with the Doctor’s complicated emotional intimacy issues (his need to be seen in “Deep Breath”, his and Clara’s need not to be seen by one another in “Death in Heaven,” the odd stuff with facial recognition throughout his era so far, etc.) and the use of the glasses in “The Magician’s Nephew” seems deliberately related to this motif, although we’ll have to see how this develops.

All of which is to say: I think the glasses are shaping up to be a huge improvement over the screwdriver (although I don’t think they’ll stick around terribly long or achieve the same iconic status).

The Cloister Room 120 - Willing to Wiggle Discussing Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka

Tom and Louis take a side step into the world of animation for a discussion of the 2003 webcast, Scream of the Shalka, starring Richard E. Grant as the Doctor! Topics of discussion include animation budgets, robot roommates, and the new series that never was.

Direct Link (listen in your browser, or right click and choose “save as”)

iTunes (subscribe, rate, and review) RSS feed (if you’re some kind of fancypants)

The Cloister Room 116 - You’re Stuck in the Hallway Discussing Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang

Random wandering brings Tom and Louis to the point just before they began podcasting together–the two-part finale of the 2010 series, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang! Topics include the mysterious voice that says “Silence Will Fall,” the Jim Carrey version of the Doctor, and the Sontaran’s fashionable carrying accessories.

Direct Link (listen in your browser, or right click and choose “save as”)

Well, I hope so, because The Cloister Room is returning with a proper weekly schedule! For real this time!

Starting May 7th you can expect to receive a brand new episode of The Cloister Room in your podcatcher every Thursday. 

The Cloister Room 110 - Would You Like Me To Tide Their Blood? Discussing Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Code

This week Tom and Louis discuss the Shakespeare Code! Topics of discussion include the Harry Potter dating controversy, and the genius of the audience member.

Direct Link (listen in your browser, or right click and choose “save as”)