What, you may ask, is the League of Extraordinary Bloggers?
The brainchild of Brian at Cool And Collected, the LoEB is essentially a kind of interview-cum-link exchange feature, the purpose of which is to give a little insight into the tastes and views of our fellow geeks, nerds and bloggers and along the way maybe find some cool, like-minded individuals with whom we can trade stories (and links to each others blogs.)
OK, so now you're probably asking where Assignment One is. Well here it is. Just without any contribution from me, as I was too late getting in on the act. That won't happen again.
Anyway, onto this week's assignment.
You have an unlimited budget and space is not a problem. What piece of Hollywood memorabilia would you want hanging around in your batcave?
As ever, I'm going to be awkward about this and point out that my bit of memorabilia wouldn't be from ''Hollywood'' but would in fact be this:
You may not recognise this - kudos to you if you do - but this is The TARDIS, the vehicle of choice (yes, it moves though space AND time) of the eccentric alien traveler known as The Doctor.
All those references you've been seeing in Leverage about bowties? Abed from Community obsessing over his new favourite show, Inspector Spacetime? Memes about ''I wear an (insert item of clothing) now. (Item of clothing)'s are cool?'' All down to the British sci-fi show Doctor Who.
Doctor Who began as a semi-educational historical drama series back in 1963 (and despite what SyFy may try to tell you about Stargate: SG-1, this is the longest running sci-fi show in the world) and over the course of its decades-long run its entertained and thrilled generations - yes, generations, plural - of kids, despite its low budget, creaky effects and - at times - dodgy acting. But when you're an 8-year old watching The Doctor being chased by the Cybermen (basically, the Borg before the Borg) down a corridor that wobbles, or conversing with aliens made from bubble wrap, or that his most feared enemies - the Daleks - featured limbs clearly made from toilet plungers, none of it matters. The way the show fired the imagination was more than enough to cover any such cracks.
 |
| From Left to Right: The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor, The Doctor and The Doctor. |
Sadly, a decline in viewing figures and a ''more sophisticated expectations from the audience'' saw the show cancelled in 1989. An attempted relaunch in 1996 - co-produced with Fox and set in the US - failed to engage audiences but the latest relaunch - begun in 2005 - worked. One of the highest-rated and most-watched shows on BBC America, the new, sleeker show features state-of-the-art (at least for TV) effects, witty writing and fantastic performances. If you're a sci-fi fan and you've never seen Doctor Who then go and do so immediately, as it's the Best Sci-Fi Show Ever.
So, now the history lesson's over with, let's get back to the original question. My choice would be the above vessel: Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space - or TARDIS. Or ''Sexy'' if you're channeling Neil Gaiman's version of The Doctor.
Why? Because if I had an unlimited budget, I'd use it to start developing a fully functional, dimensionally transcendental, vortex-navigating, sentient TARDIS. It doesn't matter how long it takes to actually complete, because, thanks to wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, it would be completed seconds after I commissioned it (see? That's the beauty of a time-traveling craft.)
And if you think about it, a TARDIS is the ultimate toy collector accessory: not only can you travel back in time and buy-up all those toys and collectibles you passed-up as a child but also you've an infinite amount of space in which to store them.
But if that proved too much to ask then I'd settle for a plain old wooden box... And just use my imagination.
So... What About the Rest of the League?
That's my pick. What about some of my fellow Leaguers?
Having been on twitter for a while, I think it's inevitable that I will have to revisit this series some day. But where to begin!? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd start with the Christopher Eccleston Doctor (2005 Series 1) if you're not familiar with the character. It is a bit hammy at times and some of the SFX are a bit wooden but overall it's a good relaunch.
DeleteIf you've seen earlier episodes, then there's the David Tennant stuff that followed but to be honest, the best of the new stuff comes in with Matt Smith's Doctor. Although with that you'll have to watch from his first episode - the 11th Hour - onward, as there's an ongoing plot arc.
Alright, I am really going to try and give this a shot. Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteWelcome. The first three or four seasons are a little uneven but personally I think Matt Smith has to rank as one of the best Doctors ever.
Delete