Hey there, Leo--Sorry, I haven't been around the board since the beginning of the month. Yeah, Who is a phenomenon, I can;t think of another way to describe its impact. As much as its appreciated here in the US, its on a whole other scale in the UK. I did like Mary Tamm as Romana I--there was that elegance & sophistication which is funny when you consider that Lalla Ward's dad was Viscount Bangor, and yet she played someone a bit more playful, kittenish (that's the way I saw her anyway). And the Key to Time was an interesting plot device, I agree. A whole season devoted to a single quest--then again, coming in the age of concept albums I suppose it was also inevitable.
I've been lucky--I've had BBC America for nearly 7 years now, even after switching cable providers (I'm now on U-verse so now I'll also theoretically be able to catch the new Torchwood on Starz next year--assuming I like U-verse by then and they don't jack the price up too high on me). The new series seems to either irk people or make them smile. It made me smile, for what that's worth. And both of my nieces adore Matt Smith (my older niece is sick of me calling her Amy (tho' she complains while hiding a smirk), but the little one like me calling her Amelia--when you see the shows you'll understand). The girls & I just had a 3 day marathon of Who--we caught something from nearly every doctor from Hartnell on (no McGann tho')--thankfully I save the season finale on my DVR.
I'd have loved a 2d season with Eccleston myself, but he only agreed to play the role if it was for just 1 season. I guess he wanted to be one of those few who was The Doctor, but didn't want to loose too much time with his film career or wind up getting typecast. I can respect that, but it feels a lot like we hardly got to know Doc 9.
The End of Time was absolutely brilliant! Yep. I am hoping we haven't seen the last of Bernie Cribbins. For that matter I'm hoping Tennant's departure doesn't mean we've seen the last of Jenny ("The Doctor's Daughter"). I have a theory that River is Jenny. I imagine a lot of people have that same theory though! Dalton was absolutely brilliant as well. I am hoping that Gallifrey returns again, and that Dalton reprises the role of Rassilon. That was just too good; as was seeing the Doctor's mother there.
As for being a member of FTV, I'm not at the moment, unfortunately. I have missed out of some very lovely gentlewomen the past several months. I moved a couple months ago, changed ISP/Cable cos, and had some other expenses I hadn't planned on that took a toll. And I'm thinking about Christmas now for my nieces which means socking funds aside for them (there's a Tardis playset coming out in Sept. that I know my younger niece would go ga-ga over, and I now have enough to afford it while its available--these things seem to come & go very quickly). I had seen Aslyn Rae in some Girlfriend's Films releases and thought she was astoundingly lovely in them, so I'm learning to be patient and hoping to join FTV again, even for a month, sometime after I've made sure Christmas presents are sorted out--maybe a Christmas gift to myself. I'll have to keep an eye out for this Alley you mentioned as well, eh!
Cheers!
