Damn Fine TV/Film
If you're anything like me, the holidays are stressful. There's lots to do and not a lot of time to do it. And then there's the whole gift-giving part. Sometimes you just don't know what to get. Here at 25YL, we've compiled a list of some fun gifts to give the TV fan in your …
A familiar villain seeks revenge. Two people have their faith used against them. And the Doctor must restore the universe. Sounds like a high-key finale for “Doctor Who,” right? The episode opens in present day on the planet of Ranskoor Av Kolos, which is inhabited by a micro-species called the Ux. The lone two members …
Continue reading "Doctor Who’s “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos” Ends Not With a Bang but a Whimper"
“I won't open boxes That I am told not to I'm not a Pandora I'm much more like That girl in the mirror between you and me She don't stand a chance of getting anywhere at all” - “Suspended in Gaffa,” Kate Bush A seemingly abandoned and boarded up cabin in Norway. The anti-zone with …
Continue reading "Doctor Who’s “It Takes You Away” Takes Us to New Yet Familiar Fairytale Territory"
“You won't burn (red, red roses) You won't bleed (pinks and posies) Confess to me, girl (red, red roses, go down)” - “Waking the Witch,” Kate Bush A quick jaunt to see Queen Elizabeth’s coronation turns sour—and deadly—when the TARDIS lands in 17th century England and smack in the middle of a witch trial. It …
Continue reading "Waking the Witch in Doctor Who’s “The Witchfinders”"
23 November 2018 marks Doctor Who's 55th anniversary—not as flashy as the 50th, with all its merchandising, special documentaries, and the worldwide broadcast of a very expensively-made multi-Doctor episode shot in 3D, but it's still worth noting. For a show to have a near-continuous run for that long (there was that unfortunate fallow period in the …
It starts with a fez. When an unexpected package arrives via Kerblam man—the universe’s largest e-commerce site—the Doctor is well pleased to get a new hat. But with the surprise comes a cry for help printed on the packing slip, so the team sets out to the moon of Kandoka, where the main facility is …
Continue reading "Doctor Who’s “Kerblam!” Delivers the Goods"
Every family has their secrets—and some are too painful to talk about. When Yaz’s grandmother Umbreen gifts Yaz with a shattered watch but won’t tell her anything else about it, there’s just one thing to do—travel back in time. After all, she tells the Doctor, “What’s the point in having a mate with a time …
Continue reading "Bearing Witness to Love and Hate in Doctor Who’s “Demons of the Punjab”"
A pilot with a weak heart. A cute but dangerous alien dead set on draining a medical ship of its energy. Male pregnancy and the hardships of being a parent. All these obstacles and more make up the bulk of “The Tsuranga Conundrum.” The episode starts simply enough, with the Doctor and her companions surveying …
“Don't you hear this wasted cry, Life is over you” - “Glass Spider,” David Bowie With Rosa Parks’ history safe and sound, the Doctor finally gets Ryan, Yaz, and Graham back to present-day Sheffield, with only a half-hour having passed since they embarked to find the TARDIS. The Doctor seems sad that their travels are …
“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”–Rosa Parks December 1, 1955: African-American seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama, and is arrested. This simple act …
Continue reading "Guarding History: Doctor Who’s “Rosa” Faces Racism Head On"