Honeymoon 3: "The thing about aliens is, they're alien."

Wandering about the south bank of the Thames in the rain while we wait to check in to our AirBnb, and gosh, I won't say that I'm not tempted by this theatrical opportunity at the appropriately named Southbank Underbelly Festival.

- Sid

P.S. Sadly, not meant to be, we would have had to attend that evening, and jetlag recovery won out. 

Honeymoon 2: "Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved."

Jenny: Oh, I've got the whole universe. Planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat and an awful lot of running to do.

The Doctor’s Daughter, Doctor Who

In my opinion, there’s a certain cachet in being able to watch Doctor Who in England, but sadly the premier of the new season takes place one day after we get back to Canada from our honeymoon.  However, it’s not all bad - I somehow doubt that any of the Airbnb’s (or regular BnB’s, for that matter) will have 65 inch HD televisions.

- Sid

P.S. The second trailer for the new season is out, and based on that cursory overview it all seems to fit into the standard format as per The Doctor’s Daughter:  planet saving, civilization rescuing, creature defeating and an awful lot of running, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether or not you’re expecting new show runner Chris Chibnall to break the mold. Commenting on the new season, he said:

It’s not a reboot it’s just that great, unique thing which is built into Doctor Who: a fresh start happens every few years. This is no different to when Tom Baker changed to Peter Davison, or when the show went from black and white to colour, with Patrick Troughton handing over to Jon Pertwee. The show has a history of renewal, while also staying faithful to what it is.

It’s the amazing thing about Doctor Who is this fresh start every few years which brings a whole new jolt of energy to the show. And hopefully encourages the next generation of audiences to try the show, while also reminding existing audiences why they love it.

Casting a new actor also brings in new opportunities to think about where the show is, think about where the world is, think about where you might want the stories to go. I hope we’ve got a fresh set of stories that are engaged with, and resonate with, the world we live in now.

It's a busy time for the show, with a new showrunner and a new Doctor, and the first episode, written by Mr. Chibnall, will be under a lot of scrutiny as the frontrunner for the new season.  Will it manage to successfully combine tradition and innovation?  As always, time will tell…

Honeymoon 1: London Calling*

It's been just over a month since our wedding, and Karli and I are at last heading out on our honeymoon: we leave today for six days in London (with a day trip to Paris), an overnight stay in York, a quick Ryanair puddlejumper flight from Leeds to Dublin, followed by a four-day coach tour of Southern Ireland and then back to Dublin for the last three days of our trip. 

We're very excited and eager for the trip:  we've both been to London before, although it's been a while for Karli, but Ireland is unknown territory for me, so I'm quite looking forward to our time there. Really, though, it's all going to be a little more special this time because we're going to be there together.

In addition to just wandering hand in hand beside the Thames in the autumn rain, we do have some definite plans for our time in the capital of the Commonwealth.  We'll be there for my birthday, which we'll commemorate with a trip to the Tower of London and a visit to London's geek shopping paradise, the Forbidden Planet megastore.  We also have tickets for the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, which will take us out of the city to suburban Watford for a visit to Diagon Alley and the Great Hall, among other locations. (Platform 9 3/4 can be found at King's Cross Station in London, if you're curious.)

 

But first, we need to finish packing and get ready to head out to the airport for our afternoon flight. Poor Jaq the Cat can sense that something's going on, and he's been roaming around meowing apprehensively while we stack up clothing, iPad chargers and toiletries.  Sorry, little fellow - we'd love to take you with us, but I don't think you'd enjoy it quite as much as we're expecting to.

- Sid

* I've never really looked at the lyrics to the Clash song before this - it's an astonishing list of apocalyptic disasters:

The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growin' thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I, I live by the river