My mom had me drive out there to Brighton today for an art and craft show and sale. And while I’m not a huge fan of that
sort of thing, it was actually a rather nice craft show with reasonably-priced locally hand-made stuff (unlike the usual
made in China crap you usually get at craft shows), and the art gallery had the artists there showing they’re stuff (not
that I talked to them of course).
The nice thing, though, was walking through the park between the craft show and the art gallery at the old lighthouse.
It was a beautiful day, and there are more leaves on the trees here. We saw two different species of woodpecker, one of
which was very large. It was all nice and calm and peaceful and I
got to talk to my mom about stuff.
My plan for today was to take the camera and post pictures of Belleville and Presqu’ile and stuff, but I ended up
leaving the camera at home. So this is all you get.
The drive back wasn’t that great. Getting onto Highway 8 was a challenge. I think people have started Christmas shopping
or something. Between K-W and Toronto, it was rainy and busy and not very fun at all. So I went up on the 407.
Seeing fireworks going off in the subdivisions along the highway wasn’t as much of a surprise as it might have been. I’d
driven that way during Diwali before.
The first time was a surprise. One doesn’t generally expect to see fireworks going off all over the place throughout the
suburbs. I made a mental note to figure out what the heck was going on that time, and the Internet provided the answer.
The Indian festival of light. Who knew?
I drove straight to Belleville without stopping, listening to Doctor Who
audios. Valhalla was pretty good, with a companion-less
7th Doctor. Personally, I kinda expected more from Marc Platt, but I enjoyed
it. Giant, intelligent termites in space. Who doesn’t love that?
I’m not in Belleville for any particular reason. Although, as this post might demonstrate, I could probably use the
downtime.
I remember when I was a kid, just starting to get into Doctor Who and just starting to read Doctor Who Magazine
regularly, that I was a bit surprised at how incredibly
popular Sarah Jane Smith was among fans. People would write in about
how she was so much better than any current companion. I remember a cartoon that didn’t seem to have a punchline at all,
nor did it make any sense to me. It was just a picture of a boy sitting at the end of his bed, hugging his knees,
staring up at the poster of Sarah Jane he had hanging over his headboard.
It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. To me, she was maybe a little silly and annoying, but otherwise totally
average as far as companions go. If I was going to choose a companion to obsess over, it would be someone like Nyssa or
Zoe. They were smart. And cute and demure, of course. Certainly not confrontational. And not empowered, either,
although 13-year-old me didn’t have any particular concept of what that meant.
Sarah Jane makes are more sense to me now. Because of any of the companions, if there was any of them who you could
imagine going off and having adventures of her (or his, for the rare case) own, it would be
Sarah. Nyssa, while I still think she’s wonderful, ended up an
interstellar chronic care nurse. Zoe, while we’re not entirely sure, is
probably back living her life as a space librarian. (♥)
And that’s exactly what happened with Sarah Jane Smith. She’s not just having exciting adventures as an investigative
reporter, she’s fighting monsters and saving the world, just like the Doctor.
It’s a kids’ show, but it actually works fairly well. Doctor Who is nominally a kids’ show, although it’s traditionally
aimed above the mark. SJA is on the kids’ channel of the BBC and is aimed squarely at kids. Besides Sarah, the principal
cast is kids and it’s much lighter.
For a kids’ show, though, it’s surprisingly well written. While not quite to the same level as Doctor Who, the stories
have definite emotional impact. It’s a bit silly and light and fun, but it still feels like it matters.
Compare and contrast with Torchwood.
One thing I noticed about the show while we were watching it: the writers seem a bit less reluctant to drop in
references to the original series or lift wholesale obscure monsters from the new series. I have a theory about this,
too. It’s the kids.
When you present adults with things they don’t understand, they get all flustered and frustrated and annoyed. Obscure
references to things that they haven’t heard of are a turn off. Kids, on the other hand, take it all in stride.
What’s more than that, it’s the kids that are likely to pour over Doctor Who Magazine, the Annuals, and the new monster
reference books they’ve been releasing. They know this stuff now. And putting sly little references into their show
rewards their efforts.
I think it’s nerdily cool too, but they’ve shown considerably more restraint in the past for this sort of thing. I think
they’re doing it for the kids.
Anyway, I hope they bring the show over here. I don’t think CBC is co-producing. Maybe it’ll show up on BBC Kids or
something. Regardless, if you get a chance and you have any interest in Doctor Who at all, give it a try. I promise it’s
better than Torchwood.