Doctor Who
Season 9, Episode 7 “The Zygon Invasion”
Directed by Daniel Nettheim
Written by Peter Harness
Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver
BBC America
Air date: Saturday, October 31, 2015

Doctor Who is not a series that generally tackles contemporary issues head-on. It was primarily started as a children’s entertainment designed to educate and inform, where possible, but not directly enter into controversy. So the Daleks can attempt genocide, we can all boo and hiss, and the Doctor can stop them, commenting about why they are so very wrong along the way. Looking back over the last 50-plus years, there are only a handful of serials that take stands on pressing political or social topics of the day. The Jon Pertwee serial “The Green Death” is remembered for its mention of environmental issues, as one example. The Tom Baker serial “The Sun Makers” dealt with the high British tax rates that made musical artists like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin into tax exiles, as another.

In this context, “The Zygon Invasion” that we see this week is a very rare bird indeed. It is a UNIT story, perhaps the first real UNIT story in a very long time. It is also one with a very contemporary edge. With the Zygons now settled on Earth through a treaty created in “The Day Of The Doctor,” this episode takes on what happens next… which turns out to tie in very neatly with issues of terrorism and surveillance in a post-9/11 world, the ethnic and social identity of refugees, and social reactions to the Syrian refugee crisis. How does the episode perform? Let’s find out.

For Doctor Who fans, the countdown to the fiftieth anniversary of the long-running television show is a road that goes ever on and on. Despite the fact we still have some time until November 23, 2013, some fans are already gearing up for the celebrations.

YouTube video maker, BabelColour, has released an updated tribute that is essentially all 224 adventures (which adds up to 784 episodes) of Doctor Who in ten minutes. You can view the video at the bottom of this post.

We bid farewell to the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen, as The Sarah Jane Adventures concludes, with a story that includes an odd CEO of a big tech corporation that Sarah Jane and her companions must investigate. With some underhanded references to modern tech companies, we soon learn that the company is nothing more than a front for something far more sinister and disturbing.

During TARDISblend 45, we review the events of The Man Who Never Was, and pay tribute to Elisabeth Sladen in final adventure in the Whoniverse. Later we make a few recommendations for people to check out, both in earlier Sarah Jane episodes, and in the era of Classic Doctor Who.

All this and more on the latest TARDISblend!

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The Sarah Jane Adventures continues, with a new adventure that’s become considered to be as good as a Doctor Who episode. An odd meteorological occurance leads Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and her team into investigating a strange totem pole on display in a museum. While examining the exhibit, Clyde Langer (Daniel Anthony) gets cut by a splinter from the totem, causing an unnerving series of events.

Following his blood being spilt by the totem, Clyde’s name becomes cursed… turning everyone around him to hate and despise him after the mention of his name. Disowned and kicked out from home, Langer finds himself on the streets alone, homeless, and without hope… until a homeless girl he had previously helped callled Ellie (Lily Loveless) enters his life, and helps him adjust to the street life.

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Elisabeth Sladen may be gone, but she is not forgotten, as her final episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures are released at long last. The fifth and final series begins with a strange knock on the door in the middle of the night, in which Sarah Jane finds an infant abandoned at her doorstep.

Naming the baby Sky, she soon discovers this child has the strange ability to conduct and absorb energy, causing havoc across the area. But Sarah Jane is convinced that Sky was brought to her for a reason – and it turns out that it is central to a galactic war between two civilizations who have now brought their battles to Earth.

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It begins with a knock at the TARDIS door, while still in deep space, and an important message from a long-lost Time Lord friend. The distress signal prompts the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to literally leave the universe, and leads them to a junkyard asteroid. The matrix and power of the TARDIS is immediately drained, leaving them stranded on this odd world, where they confront a mysterious entity called the House (Michael Sheen). What secrets does the mad bitey woman known as Idris (Suranne Jones) hold for the Doctor?

During TARDISblend 26, we review the events of the long-awaited Neil Gaiman-penned episode, The Doctor’s Wife, an episode that proves to be much of the best Doctor Who has offered in a long time.

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The BBC has announced that they will not be filming any more episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures, but they will be broadcasting the final episodes that Elisabeth Sladen had filmed for Series 5 later in the year. Sladen passed away from cancer earlier this year, and is sadly missed by Doctor Who fans around the world.

While filming the fourth season in 2010 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the cast and crew also filmed 6 episodes for Series 5. There was rumor for some time that the BBC might make a final episode to wrap the series in memory of Elisabeth Sladen, however, it has since been decided that no more filming will be done and only the completed episodes will be broadcast.

I have to be truthful. I was absolutely devastated when hearing the news yesterday that Elisabeth Sladen had passed away. We reported her death here at Geeks of Doom, and tributes from around the world began pouring in on the internet in memory of her. The Australian ABC invited fans to share their Sarah Jane memories on their Facebook page; and the BBC created a Sarah Jane playlist on YouTube. Fantastic artwork, such as the beautiful design above by DalekBigBoy from the Gallifrey Base forums, also began sprouting around the web– through other avenues as well, such as Twitter and social news sites.

I can’t help but reflect more on Elisabeth Sladen — since it’s important, in my view, to highlight (especially to newer fans), that she was more than just a companion to us oldies and dinosaurs. She was a defining person during our early years, so her death is felt so much closer to the heart for us.

The teasers in the universe of Doctor Who continue to come out. With Series 6 only three weeks ago, and following the official BBC trailer release the other day, BBC America has posted a trailer for the American broadcast including additional footage. On top of that, also in the Whoniverse, Starz USA has also released their teaser trailer for Torchwood: Miracle Day. You can see both trailers at the bottom of this post.

2011 is a big year for Doctor Who fans, with Series 6 premiering with opening episode The Impossible Astronaut on April 23. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Alex Kingston reprise their roles in the series, performing in stories penned by Steven Moffat, Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss, and more. This year is the first time a Doctor Who season will be split into two portions; with the first half playing during Spring, and the second following in Fall.

Big news for Doctor Who and Torchwood fans today, as Starz USA announced that the fourth series of Torchwood will launch its premiere episode on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT. Starz has also released some new poster artwork for the new series, which you can view here at right. Entitled Torchwood: Miracle Day, the series originally from the BBC, will feature the return of John Barrowman and Eve Myles who will be reprising their roles as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper respectively.

New to the world of Torchwood are Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman, Lauren Ambrose, Alexa Havins, and Arlene Tur. Phifer is said to have a major role in Miracle Day, portraying Rex Matheson, a CIA agent investigating a global conspiracy behind what could be a serious threat to humanity.

The official announcement from Starz elaborates on the plot of Miracle Day: