Vote Dalek?

If they were playing fair, print media in the US/Australia/Canada would have waited until now to announce the results of the UK general election so it accompanied the right Doctor Who episode for those who don't know how to use the internet. "But what relevence does Doctor Who have to the UK election?" I hear you cry. Everything, at least superficially. When Gordon Brown starts publicly talking about David Tennant being his favourite Doctor instead of the economy or whatever, you know that Doctor Who has reached unprecedented levels of influence. This article sums up and provides links to most of the shenanigans. In response (to the shenanigans) Lawrence Miles suggested a "Simple electoral reform: the party with the most Doctor Whos in its election broadcast wins. (The BNP may have to exhume William Hartnell.)" Oh, and Britain's main television guide magazine thing, the Radio Times, brought back its "Vote Dalek" (What does that mean? Is that really what the Radio Times wants voters to do?) cover idea from 2005, this time allowing readers to choose the cover whose Dalek (2010 design) colour corresponded to their party of choice. In response, the Green Party released this ad (after the jump).

Beatles and Daleks in time for Christmas: sparknotes for Season One

Sorry it's been a while. I was playing a wild dog/tour guide/weatherman in a piece about Hurricane Katrina. You know how it is. To get us back into the swing of things, I want to look at Doctor Who's inaugural season as a whole. If you still haven't watched anything from Season One, do so now, because we're moving on. But also, here's a guide to what you missed.

Of course, if you have seen stuff from Season One, it might feel a bit odd to think of it that way. Certainly, fans of the New Series might wonder how The Reign of Terror (1.8) could be a "season finale" if it doesn't have an army of CGI Daleks in it. Fans of Buffy or Babylon 5 might look in vain for an over-arching plot, theme, or monster. And fans of Lost or Battlestar Galactica will might be puzzled by the lack of cliffhanger revelations in the final episode to get everyone excited about Season 2. It just goes to show how different TV is now. Each episode of Doctor Who was made in a week, and one was made every week, so what is in retrospect seen as a break between seasons was in fact just a well-earned rest for the cast and crew over the summer. The production team and viewers thought in story arcs (the serials) between 2 and 7 episodes long, and it won't be until Season Five that we start seeing any evidence of thought into how those story arcs might fit together. About Time says that, from a production perspective, An Unearthly Child (1.1) through The Dalek Invasion of Earth (2.2) could be considered one season, and The Rescue (2.3) though "Mission to the Unknown" (3.2) another. This actually resembles a little more a "season" as we've come to understand it. That way "Season One" ends with the return of the series' first and most popular monsters, and the departure of the "Unearthly Child" who got Ian and Barbara mixed up in this business in the first place.