An Unearthly Child (TV Episode) - Thoughts

 One of the most groundbreaking science fiction shows of all time, one that has lasted for over 60 years, one that has won numerous awards and have made many a career and told many a story about both the world today and also leading us towards the future, a show which could be anywhere and any when, and open to so many possibilities...

It almost seems obvious when one looks back, but we open on this series, on a single, small, interesting tale about an Old Man, his granddaughter, and two of the granddaughter's teachers as they are flung back in time to see cavemen and their lives, and help deal with a small power struggle within a caveman tribe.

Balatro - Thoughts

 So, what if I told you that you could have all of the creature comforts of playing poker, without the threat of losing all your money to the house over a bad couple of hands?

Trying to play over and over Balatro, trying to learn when or what is the best hands to use when, along with the myriad of jokers at your disposal, trying to create each run and make the best run possible, even beyond the 8 ante limit into the endless, trying to make the exact runs to reach Infinite Score and the endless possibilities.

Or you could be Frezno Infernos and win on your second game with the Glory that is Two Pair?

Welcome to Balatro.

Whose Line Hoedown - Snow

Winter's made it's chilly call, on this Friday Afternoon.
It looks like the North Pole, from here down as far as it looks to Cancun.
With school out it gives a child a beautiful sledding opportunity,
Just make sure not to turn into a George of the Jungle Parody.

An Unearthly Child (Target Novelization) - Thoughts

 (Warning: Possible Spoilers ahead)

A  new year means a new year's resolution for me to possibly go around and explore using when I am trying to figure out just exactly I want to do and how I want to do it. 2024, as a whole, was not perfect in the mental health department, but it did give me enough time to ponder on just exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to explore my options coming into the new year. 

It's what led us to this point, where I have lead the few who dare to come past the spoiler tag into, and as such, welcome. Over the year I will be discussing and talking about various Media I have read into, or watched, or seen, mainly as a way to get my mental juices flowing and get me consistently writing, so I do apologize if it does sound like I am rambling. I am merely putting my feet together to try and figure out a way of doing this.

So then. An Unearthly Child.

Some of you may have heard of this name because of the backlash from it not being able to be easily viewed thanks to a child trying to cling onto their father's work and claiming that they were the first and as such, the "Birth", of Doctor Who. While this claim is completely laughable, we are not yet talking about the Episode which created from it an over 60 year franchise that has found new and innovative ways to reinvent itself against changing norms and changing narratives.

One such reinvention was reintroducing the way that they brought back stories of old to the children, in the days before VHS. (For younger Audiences, VHS was the Video Medium before DVD) This was what became known, and what became heralded, as the "TARGET NOVELIZATION", A short form where the writers of Doctor Who could bring back these old stories that were either lost to time or weren't being shown any longer, and rerelease them to the public to let them be re-experienced in a new and fascinating manner.

An Unearthly Child is an ok "Time Travelers meet Caveman" story. None of the future things that people know Doctor Who for are here, not the alien timelord (He is merely the Doctor here, and he does not act the way he would, even later in the incarnation), we have the introduction of his granddaughter, and two of her human schoolteachers. Honestly though, for the introduction story, it is a fine way to show the premise and get everything settled and moving forward (Before of Course the Dead Planet came in and well...Dalekmania).

But this story, retold nearly 20 or so years later, in the 80s, would give a fresh coat of paint on the story, reintroduce the original tale to the youth, and show them how this time travel show began. Which, honestly, barring two things, is a very faithful adaptation to the script of the episode, with some added flourish by Famous and noted Doctor Who writer and Former Script Editor Terrance Dicks.

First, is the way that the original episode is written, trying to adapt both the broadcast version, and the Pilot episode, which are nearly identical (Barring the complete lack of pacing for the Pilot, the attack of Ian to the Doctor by Susan calling out for them to stop her grandfather...I know as a Doctor Who fan this is almost blasphemy, but I would trade the pilot for Marco Polo so Season 1 could be finished). 

Secondly, we need to briefly mention the idea of rose-tinted glasses. The First Doctor in the original episode is a bit of a grump, a jerk, he does not care about others (except for his granddaughter) and the superiority of himself that these people aren't listening to him. An Unearthly Child is the introduction to the Time Traveler to having companions, he would be very angry, in terms of his character at this moment.

Sadly, in this part, is where the book somewhat lacks, where how the lines remained the same, the way he acts in the book brings up images of a later 1st Doctor, one who has already gone through and aged past the original's coldness and near total apathy towards the Cavemen and the humans, to the point of walking over with a pointed rock.....and well, you get the picture.

Overall, it is a fascinating book to read, although it is a bit of a victim of rose-tinting the past.

However, I recommend people do go out and try to read it, if they can.