When I set out on this journey, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Obviously, I had heard of 'Doctor Who', and I knew that it was one of those wonderful, geeky things that had a huge following (and therefore, that I would probably love it), but I didn't expect to get so attached so quickly.
After forging my way through the First Doctor (admittedly, with a great deal of effort at times), I began the Second Doctor wondering if I would really enjoy 'Doctor Who' as much as I'd hoped I would. After only a few episodes with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, I knew I was doing the right thing.
I love the Second Doctor. Almost obsessively so.
I had some very strong opinions on the Second Doctor after only 1 or 2 episodes. What's with the recorder? Where did he come up with that haircut? Why are his clothes so big? But all these little quirks grew on me pretty quickly an all became part of the reason I loved the Second Doctor so much. It's a really good thing he was such an engaging character, because most of his episodes are missing. Seasons 4 and 5's 16 series are almost entirely audio (59 of 83 episodes), and only one series, 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' exists in completely video form. It's a good episode, but I really wish some of the others had been more complete. Damn you BBC. Season 6 is only missing a few episodes, and the series are interesting, so you're really able to see what the Second Doctor is like. By the time Season 6 ended I was emotionally invested in the Second Doctor and I was really sad to see him regenerate. I'm now almost finished with Season 7, and I have to say that I don't enjoy the Third Doctor as much as the Second.
After the First Doctor becomes injured 2 series into the 4th season, he regenerates into the Second Doctor. Unfortunately, this is one of the episodes that exists only in audio form, so it loses some of its impact. Listening to the transformation doesn't really make you understand what's going on. Ben and Polly (who you'll remember were the last 2 companions the First Doctor had) are present for the regeneration, and through them we can hear what happens. The Second Doctor's journeys are usually into the future and to other planets (with some exceptions, most notably 'The Highlanders' where he picks up the fabulous Jamie McKibben), instead of to the past, which were the staple of the First Doctor.
The Second Doctor is a lot quirkier, funnier and more lovable than the First, so maybe this is why he has far fewer companions than his predecessor. I know I'd stick around longer with Patrick Troughton than William Hartnell. He's also the first Doctor to use the Sonic Screwdriver! Fun fact about Patrick Troughton; his grandson Harry Melling plays Dudley Dursley in the 'Harry Potter' movies. Geek crossover at its best!
So without further adieu, I introduce to you the companions of the Second Doctor.
Ben and Polly are the first to see the newly transformed
Doctor. I didn't really like them with the First Doctor, and I still didn't like them with the Second. Here you see them making weird faces. I try to ignore the fact that Ben closely resembles one of the cavemen from the GEICO commercials, but seriously, look at this picture.
Shortly before Ben and Polly jump ship (yay!), they end up in the Scottish highlands somewhere around the 17-1800's and pick up Jamie McKibben. Jamie is a fantastic companion. He's funny, brave and always ready to save the day, or more accurately, the Doctor. Despite his time period, he doesn't look down on his female companions. And he does it all in a kilt.
Next to join the Doctor and Jamie is Victoria Waterfield. She decides to come with them after her father is killed in an ill-conceived attempt to work with the Dalek's. You just can't trust a Dalek. Victoria is a Victorian young lady and tends to scream and worry a lot, but she also doesn't shy away from dangerous situations and doesn't like to be left behind where it's safe. She doesn't leave much of an overall impression though, and eventually can't handle the stress and constant unsafe conditions they live in and leaves the TARDIS to wander the beach and become adopted by an earth family in safer times.
The Doctor's final companion is Zoe, a scientist from the 21st century who helps the Doctor out of many a technical pickle. She wears a lot of extremely tights suits, but overall I liked her, and the relationships between her, Jamie and the Doctor are believable and heartfelt.
Here are the 5 things that stuck out to me about the Second Doctor.
1. The Doctor's Recorder; I'm not talking about a tape recorder, I'm talking about the musical instrument you learned to play in elementary school. Much like the First Doctor's laugh, the recorder appears in the most inopportune moments, although it does come in handy to identify the real Doctor from an imposter at one point. It isn't used as much as the seasons go on, but it makes frequent appearances in the first couple of seasons.
2. The Doctor's Fashion Style; Oh, the plaid pants pulled up too high. And the massive suit jacket. And that haircut. I'm still not sure if he'
s wearing a wig or if he actually has that much hair. Half the time he looks like an unmade bed, but he knows what he's doing, so I guess we can just chalk it up to the eccentricities of genius.
3. Quark's Voices; The Quarks appear in the series 'The Dominators', and they are robots who 'cannot be destroyed'. Jamie finds a way, however, and blows them up. Not sure why he's the only one who had ever come up with that plan, but I guess that's why Jamie is the man. This is an interesting series for many reasons, but mainly for the costumes. The man in the shredded garbage bag suit and paper maché hunchback seen in the picture is a Dominator, and he and his race command the Quarks.
The Quarks themselves don't appear too dangerous, but they shoot nasty lasers that kill quickly. They trundle along, drilling into the planet's core so the Dominators can power their ships with the radiation at the center of the planet, before blowing the planet up after they take off. My major complaint with the Quarks is that they are IMPOSSIBLE to understand. Their voices are so high pitched and mechanical that it wasn't until the very end of the last of 5 episodes that I discovered they were speaking English, and even then I think I only caught one word.
Also worth noting in the costume department is the fact that the men on this planet wear skirts even shorter than Jamie's kilt. I think they're shorter than most of the women's skirts for that matter...
4. The War Chief's Facial Hair; My favourite series of the Second Doctor is the final one, 'The War Games'. Although I don't usually like series with more than 5 or 6 episodes (just get to the point already!), this 10 episode series kept me interested. In this series, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find themselves on the battlefields of multiple wars, including World War 1, the American Civil War and many more. They eventually discover that they are in the middle of a game board run by a race of aliens determined to find out what makes the best soldiers. The aliens are being helped by the War Chief who is one of the Doctor's own people, a Time Lord (Gallifreyan), who has employed TARDIS technology to transport soldiers from their own time onto the game board. As I was watching I couldn't help but notice the War Cheif's impeccably coiffed facial hair. He looks like Seneca Crane's long lost brother. Kudos to them both for their dedication to grooming!
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| Seneca Crane |
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| The War Chief |
5. Jamie's Kilt; Jamie is a Highlander, so I know he's used to tromping around in a kilt, but I couldn't help but laugh sometimes. He's mountain climbing in a kilt, riding through space on the control panel of the dismantled TARDIS in a kilt, climbing up ladders in a kilt, hanging onto a railing as the ship tips sideways in a kilt. When Victoria joins the Doctor, his first thought is to get her out of her Victorian garb and into something more practical. She even wears pants a few times. Zoe's wardrobe consists of many pantsuits (most of them skin tight), and she only wears a dress once, in 'The Dominators' series, where even the men of the planet wear dresses. And yet, pants are never once offered to Jamie. He does impersonate a soldier at one point, so he may wear pants for a few minutes (I can't remember), but for almost 3 whole seasons he's kicking ass and taking names without any pants on. Yet another reason why Jamie is my favourite companion to date.
Another of my favourite series was 'The Mind Robber', the one seen above where Jamie and Zoe have to ride around on the control panel of the TARDIS when it falls apart. All the characters they encounter are fictional characters from books and stories. I especially enjoy when Jamie is turned into a paper cutout of himself with his face removed and the Doctor has to put it back together one piece at a time. Let's just say he gets it wrong the first time, leading to an interesting few moments of an alternate Jamie.
So that's what the Second Doctor looked like to me. I miss the Second Doctor and his companions, since so far the Third Doctor hasn't done anything to grab my interest. But I'll keep going anyway!
List item number 16, Harry Potter Movie Marathon is complete!! It was a pretty big undertaking and I was horribly exhausted when it was over, but it was an amazing chance to spend time with my cousins (who love Harry as much as I do), try some new food and watch some wonderful stories come to life.
For those of you who haven't read or watched the Harry Potter series, they are fantastic. As usual, the movies cannot possibly live up to the books, but they do a really good job (with the possible exception of the third movie, but more on that later). The casting is impeccable, the visuals are (for the most part) excellent, and the performances are stellar. I still recommend that everyone read the books because I feel that many things are only vaguely explained in the movies and some absolutely wonderful things from the books are left out entirely. If you know nothing about HP you may be slightly confused by some of the things in this posting, but I hope you will gain some knowledge and maybe I'll spark an interest in some of you to join the world of Harry Potter yourselves.
Why do I love Harry Potter so much? It's hard to say. Obviously, as you will have learned by now if you've read much of my blog, I am a geek, so naturally I gravitate towards the fantastical aspects of the stories. But I think the thing that sticks with me the most is the humanity of the series. Strip away all the magic and fantasy and you are still left with an incredible group of characters, with relationships that run deep and stories to tell. J.K. Rowling has a way with words that can have you laughing out loud one minute and crying the next, and more than one of her quotes has stayed with me long after I finished reading. It is the ultimate 'good vs evil' story, proving time and time again that even the worst times will end and hardships can be overcome.
I have learned throughout the process of completing list items that I have a lot more dedication to my plans than I thought I did. It first hit me when I made all those gifts. At any time I could have given up and bought people gifts, but I persevered and ended up with some really great, special gifts. When I started planning for the Harry Potter marathon I decided that I'd make some HP themed treats to munch on while I watched, and soon after the plan morphed into a Harry Potter themed food only weekend (which came complete with a $100 grocery bill to feed all of us. Ooops). Shortly thereafter I decided to invite my 4 cousins (the same cousins who have participated in several other list items including Sleep Under the Stars and Handmake as Many Gifts as Possible), which proved to be a challenge, since I then had to work around the work schedules of 4 other people who all work at least one day of the weekend, but I figured it would be more fun to have a crowd and definitely less hermit-ish than me sitting in my apartment watching 8 movies and gorging on chocolate frogs by myself. We eventually found a weekend when most of us were off for most of the weekend (and with a well-timed snow storm even more of us were available at once), so four of us were here for day one and all five of us were present for day two.
We started later on day one, around 2 pm, and only had one meal and some snacks. Day two started pretty early and went pretty late, since we had 5 movies to watch and multiple meals and snacks. I did a lot of prep ahead of time, and was actually up until about 3am on Friday night making treats that took some extra time. I have since come to learn that a lot of HP food is VERY heavy and too much of it will wreak havoc on your digestive system. As a side note, I used recipes from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (Bad idea. I will explain as I go). Many of the recipes HP fans may recognize from the books, but a lot of the meal food was only mentioned in passing. You die hard fans out there will recognize some of it though.
And now, the saga begins.
Each of the movies runs roughly 2 and a half hours, and there are 8 of them. That equals out to roughly 20 hours, plus time for eating. Our schedule ended up looking something like this;
Day One
Three of my four cousins arrived around 1:30 or 2, and there was still some prep to do, so we actually ended up starting half an hour late.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone began at about 2:30.
We toasted the beginning of the marathon with glasses of nice, cold pumpkin juice. This was actually better than I'd expected, although it tasted more like the juices used (apple, pineapple and white grape) than pumpkin, and it required a lot of stirring since the pumpkin pulp is not a liquid and kept sinking to the bottom. Overall it was quick, tasty and a lovely shade of orange.
Chocolate frogs made from melted chocolate and a frog mold I was lucky enough to find at the bulk barn. The chocolate melted really nicely in the microwave and was delicious. Sadly, I couldn't get them to hop for some reason...
On the right are some lovely gummy snakes I bought because I thought they were appropriate, being giant snakes and all. During the course of the movie giant gummy worms popped up everywhere treats were sold. On the left are a simplified version of lemon drops, in honour of Dumbledore's beloved Sherbet Lemons.
Lemon Ice Lollies like Harry eats when he goes to the zoo with the Dursleys. These were pretty good, but I found they tasted more like sugar than lemon and all the zest ended up in the tip.
We originally planned to stop for supper here but decided to keep going and eat a bit later. We stopped about halfway through to put our supper in the oven. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets began at around 4:45.
We had the first of MANY cups of tea at this point. Tea is a staple in Harry's life, as it is in mine and my cousins'.
We added in a few licorice wands (one of the few things we DIDN'T make).
We ate supper while we watched the third movie. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkban started around 8. This is the movie I have the most problems with. The new director went in a different direction than the last and it ends up seeming disjointed and doesn't flow as well as the other movies. AND they completely relocated Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow which just seemed sloppy to me. Makes me mad.
We decided to make Hagrid's beef casserole (minus the talons), which my cousins ended up liking a lot more than I did. The recipe was written badly. Told us to remove the meat, make the sauce and put the sauce in the oven without ever telling us to put the meat back in. Luckily we aren;t idiots and figured it out. The meat ended up being nice and tender, but the sauce had a strange flavour to me. Maybe it was the lack of talons...
For dessert we had Mrs. Weasley's fudge. This took a bit of time and was better the second day, when it had really hardened. It was delicious though, and I'd definitely consider making it again. This movie ended at around 11, at which point my cousins went home and I went to bed.
I was up at 8 the next morning to get a start on breakfast. All four of my cousins arrived around 8:30 and we started cooking away. Check out the spread!!
These tomatoes were horrible. You see them on plates in the movies all the time. Fried tomatoes didn't sound too bad. Two of my cousins went up to my mom's stove to cook these bad boys and gave up half way through. The end result were mushy, flour coated tomato skins with very little tomato still intact. Bad recipe.
The Cheesy Chivy Scrambled Eggs were yummy, but it's pretty hard to screw up scrambled eggs. One of my cousins doesn't like scrambled eggs (???) but she said these weren't too bad, which is pretty much a glowing recommendation from her. We also had bacon and toast, but I didn't take a picture of those since they're just plain bacon and toast.
These little darlings are sausage rolls. I got breakfast sausages because they were cheaper (and I knew my total would be astronomical as it was), but I don't really like breakfast sausages. They're wrapped in puff pastry and have mustard inside, but the mustard disappeared so I ended up dipping the whole thing in mustard. One of my cousins used ketchup and said that was good. They were ok but I wouldn't make them again.
This. THIS is marmalade. This stupid bottle took me HOURS to make and made the whole house smell like boiled oranges (which, incidentally, smell like soggy, hot Froot Loops, and is DISGUSTING). I had to drag out the candy thermometer, which I hate and had to use 3 times that weekend, but only this time did I consider throwing it, pan and all in the trash. Marmalade is not supposed to look like this, but I followed the (horrible) directions and this is what I got. Tasted like orange jam. I hate it. Anyone want it because I NEVER want to see it again. You can even keep the jar.
With our breakfast all ready, we toasted day two with another glass of pumpkin juice and some tea. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (my favourite book in the series) began at around 9:30.
We were still full from breakfast when G of F ended, so we forged ahead. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix started just before noon.
Our very own Crookshanks joined in the festivities! My cat Diggory is actually named after one of the characters in Goblet of Fire. He thinks it's cool.
For lunch we had Bangers and Mash, a very British dish that is made up of sausages and mashed potatoes. It was supposed to have gravy, but since we were already stuffed we opted out. This was another bum recipe. The 'bangers' were basically hot dog shaped hamburgers, not sausages. They were dry and tasted of tarragon, which the recipe called for but I don't like. And yes, I had too much butter on my potatoes.
My times are totally off, but I think Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince started around 3.
At this point we had afternoon tea, in typical British style. We had tea, some leftover fudge and chocolate frogs and a couple of new treats. These are Hagrid's rock cakes, but mine weren't rock hard. They were actually really good, and pretty easy to make. I'll probably make them again.
Pumpkin pasties!! My cousin made the crust, which was really nice, and the pumpkin filling was tasty too. They were like a mini pumpkin pie without so much filling (my main reason for not liking pumpkin pie is that there is too much filling). I'm still not a huge pumpkin fan, and I hate making pie crust, so I probably won't make them again.
We settled in with our supper to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One at around 6:30.
This is chicken and ham pie. I cheated a bit here and used the easy recipe, which called for pre-made pie crust. I'd roasted the chicken and taken the meat off the bones on Friday night, so that cut down on prep time. This was another poorly written recipe. It instructed us to make a gravy and to put the meat and veggies in the pie, but it never tells you to put the gravy in the pie. This woman and her editor were apparently drunk while finishing this book. Again, my cousins liked this more than I did. I don't think I finished my piece and gave the leftovers to my parents.
By this point in the evening we were all pretty tired, stuffed with heavy foods and sick of cooking. At least the movies were good! I hadn't see the last 2 movies since I saw them in theatres and I hadn't read the last few books for a while either, so it was almost like seeing them for the first time. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two started around 9.
We decided to relax and cap the night off with a Butterbeer. This recipe didn't come from the cookbook, my cousin found it on the internet. We'd tried a different recipe once before and we didn't like it so we tried this one, hoping to like it better. It was REALLY sweet. I also mis-measured the salt, so it was overly salty on top of overly sweet. I ate too much of the topping and got a stomach ache, so for the next few days every time I heard or said the word Butterbeer I could feel the vomit rising in my throat. Even now I cringe at the thought of it.
All in all it was a really fun weekend. It was nice to spend so much time together doing something we love and trying new things. I have to say, I'm really glad they were here to help me with the cooking, because if I'd had to do it all by myself, I'd probably still be at it. Also, I'm really glad I found the cookbook online and didn't pay for it, because it was really poorly written and very few of the recipes I tried were worth the trouble involved in the preparation. The movies themselves were enjoyable, as always. Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Rent) directed the first two and did an amazing job making you emotionally invest in the characters. The third was directed by Alphonso Cuaron and I really don't think he much for the series. He seemed to focus more on his vision and less on J.K. Rowling's, and it took the series to a really dark place a lot earlier than it went in the books. Mike Newell directed number four, which I enjoyed overall. The final four were directed by David Yates and his films were very well done. I'd forgotten how quickly you are able to connect with the characters in these films, so much so that every time one of them dies, you can feel a tug at your heartstrings. By the final two movies, where many, many of the characters you've come to love leave the series forever, you feel like you're right there with the characters, fighting their battles with them and you come to realize that the lessons they learn are applicable to your own life.
So if you haven't read the books, I recommend you do. And if you're not a reader, at least watch the movies. Everyone can learn from Harry Potter and can share in his joy and in his grief. And there will be many lessons you will take with you, just like I have.
Mischief managed.
Ben and Polly are the first to see the newly transformed 
1. The Doctor's Recorder; I'm not talking about a tape recorder, I'm talking about the musical instrument you learned to play in elementary school. Much like the First Doctor's laugh, the recorder appears in the most inopportune moments, although it does come in handy to identify the real Doctor from an imposter at one point. It isn't used as much as the seasons go on, but it makes frequent appearances in the first couple of seasons. 
