Nice. The new season opens without a pre-credit teaser, and straight into a slice of the new companion’s life. As before. Thankfully, we’re not woken by a honking alarm clock and Murray Gold’s acid gerbil ‘techno’ soundtrack, but by something a little more real, a little more urban – some hippedy-hop.

I like the opener; it introduces Martha’s family deftly and in a light-hearted way, and with its sudden appearance of the Doctor sets up a time travel gag that the kids will love looking out for later in the episode. But my god, RTD’s all about the cellphones, isn’t he?

So much of this story has been either publicised through advance images or, in the case of the Judoon, fierce fan rumour. Here we see the result and the bits missing – and it’s pretty much as you’d expect. Some lifting of Virgin Books moments (stranded on the moon in a hospital rather than Timewyrm: Revelations’ church, but still…); a bit of the absurd mingling in with the sinister (a blood-sucking alien – with a straw!); a plucky companion not screaming; a plucky Doctor verging on OTT and, in a movement surely to be repeated in playgrounds across the Commonwealth, shaking radiation out of his shoe – like you do; oh, and mention of Rose again. Sigh.

But as it goes, Smith and Jones is fun and a great improvement on the smug and irritating New Earth. Not only does this hospital have a gift shop, but it also has some wonderful alien foils – rhino Judge Dredds with marker pens (the name must surely be a portmanteau of ‘Judge’ and ‘Goon’). The Plasmavore story strand didn’t work so well for me – I wondered later whether the villain of the piece might have avoided detection more easily by just borrowing a whiteboard marker from the nursing station desk; and having endured the novelty of an MRI scan myself the threat of its magnetic field seemed a little… overstated. Still quite enjoyable though, and with some wonderful effects and shots – the best laser beams in the series yet, and the Judoon spaceship landing sequence was just lovely. With some strong CGI behind it Doctor Who has entered the age of the ‘landing strut’ sequence anew, but in a good way.

So then – a fun story, some minor scares for the kids, the new girl looks sensible and resourceful but is sufficiently Not Rose, and the Judoon came off a lot better than I’d anticipated.

And a mention of Mister Saxon too. Who’d have guessed?

PA

Another series, another chance to take a guess at what we think will happen in Series 3. 13 episodes = 13 theories:

1. The Judoon will be the big surprise repeat monster of the last episode!
2. To everyone’s shock, there will be a commentary with RTD involved in which he won’t say “Hoo-ray!”
3. There WILL be a multi-Doctor story at the end of this season.
4. The season cliffhanger will be companion-centred. Think an abducted Martha (allowing a bridging Martha-less yuletide romp on ice).
5. Gallifrey will somehow be ret-conned back into existence.
6. A well publicised spoiler will actually be a massive misdirection up a garden path (we wish)
7. Captain Jack will return the happy-go-lucky character he left as, with no mention made of the dark and moody Torchwood version (or stopwatches please).
8. Exodus Ark. Feel free to infer from that what you will…
9. The series and spinoffs will encounter a backlash or scandal in the UK.
10. Torchwood, SJS and K9 Adventures will all get name checked during Series 3.
11. Despite a thousand rumours to the contrary, there won’t be an appearance by The Rani.
12. Gridlock and 42 will generally be seen as the weakest episodes of the season.
13. Two Christmas specials with mentions of Mars in them? In a row? You don’t fool us, Russell – Ice Warriors in December 07!

JP-PA-AH-DR-JE

We live in fast times, and no times are so fast than those of the monthly pubzine. Although we’ve boasted of Zeus Plug’s loose-playing, throwaway element (“Winner of Wellington’s Best Beermat-cum-DW-themed-Pubzine for 2006”), the truth is that it’s taken a lot of energy and no small amount of money bringing it out to a monthly schedule. Could we keep doing it at this rate in 2007? Probably we could after a four-month break; but we’re not going to.

Oh sit down. You’ll still have Zeus Plug! But like Ranquin in The Power of Kroll we’re bowing to the inevitable Tentacle of Progress. Zeus Plug the pocket-sized publication is no more – Zeus Blog must live!

So, you ask – what is a Zeus Blog and what will it do for my family? Well, it won’t put bread on your table for a start. Worse, it won’t put bread on ours. But it will do a few trickier things that your old A6 publication couldn’t do: it’ll be faster and more colourful, quicker to arrive and, best of all, interactive. That’s right – this time your actual opinion of what you’ve just read will now be able to be posted alongside the rest of the inane drivel content. That’s the main benefit, alongside the sheer lightning speed of modern teckernology; everything else is just gravy – cartoons, pugnacious opinion pieces, regular head-to-head battles, and your favourite features of the old pubzine. Oh, and some reviews too, because there really should be somewhere for these to go that doesn’t require a six-month publication lead-up, and we hear that Interweb thing is just the place.

Paper is dead, baby – these days it’s all done online!

Avid readers will know by now that we here at ZeusPlug Terraces have been… somewhat… tardy on covering Torchwood. Why? Tardiness, mainly. There’s no great conspiracy, and what you’re witnessing is something not unlike the current situation with TSV, where it seems entire seasons of a show can be screened between issues, meaning that whatever reviews and overviews that do come out in the following issue start to look REALLY dated. ZeusPlug doesn’t actually ‘do’ reviews, but this blog does take an interest in what other blogs have to say about the different issues affecting Who fandom. For Torchwood then, it’s interesting to see the excellent Public Address System covering TVNZ’s recent purchase of Torchwood and the politics therein. The talkback is good too – particularly from the likes of Epsom and Wellngton (er, and the obligatory pitch-in by Paul). You can read the original G2 post commenting on the purchase here, plus Paul’s comment again (he gets around, you know).

As for ZeusPlug and Torchwood – watch this space. Given that ZP9 won’t be out until April, the chances of any Torchwood season one commentary (or Runaway Bride come to that) appearing then are nil to zero, so this here blog’s the place it’ll likely turn up in some shape or form. Not that anyone was complaining, but just so you might want to mark it in your diary or something

Sad news for Who publishing today – OG is reporting, as the excellent TV Cream website had also, that Dreamwatch magazine (nee Dreamwatch Bulletin, nee Doctor Who Bulletin, or DWB for short) is shutting up shop just shy of issue 150 of its relaunched volume.

I have one or two issues of Dreamwatch, and about half a dozen of DWB and can say that of the material in those early late 80s, early 90s issues, there were few of them that didn’t offer some riveting critique of the show (even in its ‘wilderness years’) or the world of fandom. Indeed, before its editors decided to go commercial, to broaden the focus beond DW and into other telefantasy, the zine was one of a rare breed, an educated, opinionated title that expressed opinions of the ashow and of fan ‘ownership’ thereof, with litle regard for its then-controller, JN-T, a man who was to be the subject of many a heated letter or article. It was DWB which demanded the producer’s resignation, which spawned the ill-fated ‘Day of Action’, an attempt to bombard the BBC switchboards with fan demands for the show’s return, and it was in the pages of DWB that Paul Cornell wrote a scathing critique of Terror of the Autons, ending with the phrase that for a while would be his calling card – ‘dissent is good’. There were many more episodes in DWB‘s early history, and as the zine matured and became more professional, those stories somehow seemed to become fewer in number and diminished in impact. While the zine was born out of a desire to provide a fan-owned ‘alternative voice’ to the JN-T obeying Doctor Who Monthly, it seemed that once the focus was shofted to a broader world beyond Who, it had a larger battle to fight for the hearts and minds of a greater fan culture already catered for with the likes of well-established titles such as Starburst, TV Zone, Cult TV and, most significantly (and arriving not long after DWB‘s mid-90s reinvention), SFX.

The door isn’t utterly closed on Dreamwatch however, there is talk of it becoming an e-zine. Whether such a venture can survive in yet another new world, this time of instant blogging, RSS feds and free news sites remains yet to be seen. It has been reported many times over the past few years that this new version of the Internet, the so-called and much-hyped ‘Web 2.0′, will surely prove to be a large nail in the coffin of print news media. That the Internet, an arena enthusiastically adopted by much of what we would call modern fandom, could prove the death of one of fandom’s earlier (but not so old) progeny, has a sad inevitability about it. The news world is unforgiving and fickle enough without fandom’s added enthusiasm for rumour, spoilers and innuendo.

So farewell then, Dreamwatch. Thanks for the years, the exclusives and contributions. May the electronic world which is surely taking your place prove to be as challenging and interesting in the years to come.

Just in time for Chrimbo – Zeus Plug would like to present (geddit?) its loving readers with a free gift – for FREE! Everyone knows a Doctor Who fan is the easiest person to buy for this Christmas, but here’s an extra special addition to the gift for the ‘enthusiast’ who already has everything. All you need is a colour printer, some nice paper, and Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Click here to download an A4 version

Click here for an A3 version (you’ll need the right paper, obviously)

Motif designed by Peter A and realised in loving digital form by Mrs P. Results may vary. The Daleks are Copyright etc etc Terry Nation’s Estate blah blah. Not for re-sale (are you MAD?)

Another fine Wellington day and one with which we had decided to break with tradition and meet on a Tuesday rather than a Friday or Saturday. I’m rather new to the group and this was only my fifth ‘outing’ as it were but I feel I’m getting to know the guys, their likes, dislikes and opinions of both the new and old series as well as Torchwood.

It was lovely to meet Christopher Owen for the first time. Chris wrote the TSV novella “Glory of the Daleks” about 15 years ago and it was a pleasure to meet him, alas he had to leave early but hopefully he will be able to attend a future meet. He did mention he had been ‘in absentia’ from Who fandom for quite some time and we had a quick chat about the new series. I always find it fascinating to see what the fans of the ‘classic’ series think of the new series.

Let’s see, what else did we talk about? Well, in the Doctor Who realm:

• Torchwood…do we like it? I do, but others in the group have mixed opinions. Tim was given the first four episodes to view, so maybe he can be wooed to the light side.
• Zeus Plug – we devoured the latest issue with some of us turning to it immediately while others dipped in and out. One thing that is clear, is that Peter can really hold the floor on this topic
• The Tachyon TV incident at the Dimensions on Tyne convention where an old review of The Twin Dilemma was republished lashing Colin Baker. Colin happened to be a secret guest at the end of the con where he went on to rip apart the review and received a standing ovation for his troubles.
• Ian Levine ‘quitting’ fandom and his argument with RTD at a press conference!
• RTP! and a possible Torchwood-themed issue.
• The state of fandom re: people who really don’t enjoy the new series. I always wonder about people who continue to watch something they really can’t stand… is it like a car crash and you want to turn away but you can’t?
• The new 8th Doctor audios that are coming out – while Peter is looking forward to them (as I am) Jamas seemed a little disillusioned with the audios in general.
• We briefly considered the future of Who (past the 4th Series) – who would take over assuming RTD/David Tennant both leave at the end of series 4?
• We recapped on some of David L’s theories from the previous month.
• Possible future developments with TSV – smaller but 3 times a year, the effect of Adam moving to the UK.
• Prime repeating the series over the next few months.

And outside the Who realm…

• The new James Bond movie – don’t even try and understand continuity…yes, Casino Royale is the first Bond movie and yes M is still the head of MI6 but…just enjoy the film!
• The Borat movie – a thumbs up from Foo.
• Work Christmas parties (again!)
• Bill Hicks/Chris Rock & comedy in general
• Gigs: David Bowie, Pixies and Elton John (I had no idea that Mr Adamson was a fan) [He's not but blah blah U2 yadda yadda scalpers etc etc arm and a leg to get to Auckland anyway, oh look! A long-legged horse!- Ed.] 
• The impact of technology on getting access to new shows. No longer do we wait for grainy copies of new episodes to come over from the UK, we can literally watch them hours after they have aired.

Finally, our evening ended with the Pub quiz through which we managed to get through 4 rounds before we started to drift homeward. All in all, a great end to the year and I’m looking forward to the next one in late Jan.

Pub Report by Foo – cheers there, fella

Wellington Chapter Meeting 24^th November 2006

I’ve come to enjoy the rejuvenated pub meets of the last couple of months, they’ve become a great opportunity to catch up on news, new releases, website gossip and what people get up to outside of the club (Yes, there is life beyond the sofa) Murphy’s is a good venue with a relaxed atmosphere, decent sized snugs, sport on the big screen for those awkward moments and a house band (if you’re lucky). They also offer a reasonable menu for those wanting food for thought (or is that the other way around?) Though running out of ice cream is the best excuse I’ve heard for not receiving the dessert I ordered (particularly given it was an ice cream sundae) however I settled for a discounted Apple Pie instead.

The second to last meeting for 2006 managed to drag seven souls out of the blazing sun and into the cooler climes of the resident snug where season three was definitely not on the agenda. Foo got the merchandise distribution out of the way early on (calendars and DVDs under the Christmas Tree makes for happy fans) and it was into the first discussion of the evening the merits of office Christmas party locations (I never knew there was a bowing alley in the Wellington CBD), followed by Torchwood (seven episodes down and is it any good?), the U2 concert (why weren’t YOU there?), upcoming TSV articles (After hearing his description of it, I’m hanging out for part two of David Lawrence’s BBC EDA retrospective) and whether Blake’s 7 has stood the test of time (it hasn’t).

ZeusPlug 7 was duly received and perused – another well balanced mix of the serious and sublime (The idea of Battle of the Seasons was an unexpected surprise). The Eds are to be commended for constantly getting it out on time each month, only one more to go guys and then you can take a breather (Though I still think a bumper A2 Christmas special could be a nice tie-in with this year’s Christmas Invasion And it got ‘freed out’ in one sitting which makes a nice change. Highlights of the evening for me were: David’s conspiracy theories regarding whether Matthew Jones actually exists (or is RTD under another name), David Tennant’s acting abilities (or is he really playing up the Doctor’s manic depressive side?) the none-too-subtle plugs for RTP (particularly the interview Dave gave them, which I really, really want to read – not-so-subtle hint can anyone out there hook a guy up ) series one versus series two (and an interesting conversation around the structure and ongoing character development of series one vs the lack thereof in series two) and of course how can we overlook Simon Granville finally being able to make an appearance (Welcome back mate!)

At nearly four hours it was one of the more lengthier and energetic meetings we’ve had this year, I wonder if the final one will top it? Here’s hoping.

Report by Tim B, Posted by Peter A