The Way It Is

You know, faithful reader, I'm very proud of Outpost Skaro. I haven't always been, it has to be said. But now, I am. We have a great forum, there, and, it has to be said, it's even greater now I'm not head honcho.

One man's voice always sounds like the right one in his own head. It isn't always though. Skaro was born out of a fight, and it came out of the womb kicking and screaming. And it's interesting to see how first impressions last.

On DWF recently there was a thread about bad experiences in fora, and, inevitably (because we ARE the best alternative) Skaro came up. A couple of people really do have the wrong impression. It's been described as insular and paranoid, and suggests that the Moderators attack people without provocation.

Right here, I'd like to apologise if that has happened to anyone. In the early days, Skaro was finding its feet, and was being attacked on all sides by a lot of very nasty people with some very nasty things to say. People like MLock and Fat Boab warned me via private messages that they would deliberately go out to spoil it and they almost did. Perhaps we overreacted then, and others got caught in that flack. That isn't right. Sorry folks.

Another thing we are accused of is being a DWF (Doctor Who Forum) basher. I'd like to say catergorically that this is not the case. We discuss FANDOM in Skaro, all aspects of it, and, of course, DWF is the foremost forum on the net, so must by definition come into that remit. I've said before that it is a wonderful forum. It is a fabulous place full of fabulous people and, on the whole, run by fabulous people too. Shaun Lyon is professional, gentlemanly and a thoroughly decent egg.

Because it is so vast though, unfortunately it attracts the same bad guys we do. And those guys are very established there. One of them - a fellow who goes by the name of Doc Filth - hounded a female poster to the point where he threatened to visit her at her place of work and threatened that "he knew where she lived". This is very sinister, and most distressing for the woman in question. I'm sure no one would condone such creepy threats, even if they were meant in jest. My own treatment - from the likes of AWF, Co-Ordinator, 72lf and Mlock - pales into insignificance next to that.

But we must be careful to realise that these guys are NOT DWF. It can be a distinction that is difficult to realise sometimes, due to their high profile, but it is an important and vital one. DWF is the wonderful Canterbury, or Reeecey or the fabulous Mrs Jo Smith. Its doctorwho2008, it's Aspidistra, it's the genius boys and girls in the Toy section - go their, those guys are friendly, welcoming, warm and funny. It's shinyford and his wonderful fanfic, and it's Future Regeneration and his much anticipated audio plays. It's Arisia, and her cool head, and it's Lucy_Who who takes no shit - and rightly so.

Lately, though, there has evolved a new and sinister development. The abusers, by their nature, crave attention of the people with a profile. I have such a profile, of course, so I am constantly bombarded with abusive messages on the fora I visit. Of course, the upside is that I get a lot of nice attention too, and that is very welcome. However, this new thing, is the cult of "one on one". People who, whilst they may visit the Outpost Skaro and they may even do more than lurk there, feel it necessary to engage me on a one to one level.

The latest of these is a young lady called Isobel Clarke. She claims I'm old enough to be her dad, so she must be all of a teenager, but, boy, she has issues. Accusations and name calling abound, a girl who craves the one to one attention of myself for a reason I can only guess at. I reckon it's the thrill of kicking the sleeping tiger. You know the kid who waits til the big guy's knocked out then creeps up behind the bullies and hits him a kick? It must be quite thrilling, to hold me in such high regard, call me names AND get a personal reply. What a rush, I'd imagine. Poor girl. She engaged me over the course of a week, and got increasingly manic with every correspondence. A shame really, she was almost clever. I wish her well.

My point is, it's a new phenomenon. She wasn't after the notoriety of eejits like Fat Boab who tried to engage me in the forum, so they can say "hey guys, check me out, I just called Eddie a cunt...", it was a much more intimate form of engagement. Rather sad. I know a few of the Mods in Skaro have had similar experiences. It's weird. A little violating. Maybe for them too.

However, Skaro flourishes. We're ignoring the latest shot over our bow by the fabulously funny Angry Who Fan and taking it in the spirit in which it was delivered. Satire. We are of course a good target because we're big and loud and powerful in opinion. We're also a recognised voice now, and that's a good thing, so, like the best Rory Bremner episode, I'd rather be the Prime Minister being satired than the back bencher being ignored. The good thing about the publicity afforded by the AWF and DWF is that our membership always swells, and the people who join can see for themselves that we are open and honest and funny and genuine. No vitriol, no nastiness, no name calling. Just honest debate, the occasional peak inside the workings of Doctor Who and membership to the (and I say this as a punter, now I've reliquished control) best new forum since DWF.

Maybe if you happen across this blog, and you're not a member yet, click on the link and join the fun. It's the place to be.

Happy times and places


Eddie

Planet of The Dead

I think, faithful reader, that Planet of the Dead is going to work better as a prologue to what's to come, rather than a one-off Special, and that the next four - or even all five Specials if you count The Next Doctor - will work best as a whole than as individuals. Can't wait for the boxset.

However, despite the exuberance and bonkers flying bus, Planet of the Dead was a little cold for me. It wasn't the romp RTD promised us, and, in fact, was pretty slim on incident and thick on coincidence. If it hadn't been for the Tritovores magic crystal bus levitating devices Time's Champion, the man who gives monsters nightmares and the last of the Time Lords (cept for the Master, and maybe someone else) would have been munched up by some metallic coated stingrays gleaned from an old Judge Dredd comic, not standing screaming with a flaming torch at the gates of some Greek-sounding Time Battle. Pity that. The Dubai setting - whilst pretty - was, well, pretty bland and very underused. This was, I'm afraid, Who by numbers.

What I don't hold with is others views on David Tennant. He's sparkling in every scene, and slipped back into the Doctor's Chuck Taylors after eight months away with aplomb. The Tenth Doctor is a wonderful creation. Good too, was Michelle Ryan, who I've been banging on about for years, as the faux-companion (technically, pedants, not an ACTUAL companion, of course... no TARDIS trips for her). Lady Christina, whilst Lara Croft inspired and Tom Cruise dressed was a decent character (although how much better would it have been to have started with a Ball in the museum with her in flowing robes and dripping class, only to sneak away and change into the cat burglar - give us a sense of the "Lady" instead of the odd plumby vowel) and a good foil for the Doctor, but, of course, in the end, fell into the "what is it Doctor?" mould of yore. Pity that.

Lee Evans, however, was a revelation. Wonderfully comic, a proper "LOL" and warm and believable. Even his Welsh accent. Definitely someone I'd like to see again, and, as UNIT's scientific advisor, maybe that isn't impossible.

The whole thing however, was a bit "meh" for me. It's always good to see the Doctor back, and I love the little echoes as to what's heading his way, but I feel the effort and expense to get the bus, ship it to Dubai and to use that actual setting was an effort because they could, not because they had to. In the long run Gareth ditched most of The Highest Science for an hours worth of fluff. I think I'da prefered an adaptation.

This isn't a bad episode of Doctor Who. Don't think it is. It's all just a bit "so what?". It was fun, it was bonkers, it was original in parts. But, ironically, the derivitives wasted good ideas, the Tritovores were badly realised and underused plot devices (oh, whilst I'm on about the Tritovores, did anyone notice my stinger...? When first shown I made a comment on Outpost Skaro about the similarities to them and Kocquillion in The Rescue, and, indeed, some similarities in plot. Before long the lauded DWF was declaring that the Tritovore was actually Malcolm in a mask! Hmmm, never learn that lot...) and the rest of the characters two dimensional.

It's been said RTD has run his course with Doctor Who, that his tricks are all out of the bag. I don't think, in all honesty, he would disagree. And, sadly, neither would I. The bonkers-ending and kitchen-sink plots have all been done. This isn't a criticism, RTD has been remarkable as head writer on Doctor Who and shown many, many original and genius stories and styles. But, with this, The Next Doctor and even Journey's End, he's probably leaving himself no where else to go. Except for Mars, I suppose. If you think he's run out of steam, believe me, he has nothing to lose with these next three Specials. By New Years Day we'll have seen him throw caution to the wind in abandon and put our tenth Doctor - and the RTD family - through more than you'll ever think he would.

Planet of the Dead is a nice starter, a prawn cocktail of a first course in a meal that, by the end, is going to leave us all amazed, satisfied and exhausted.

Happy Times and Places

Eddie