Meetings and Partings

Even the most out of touch of my blog readers probably know there were two main events last week: the premiere of season 6 of Doctor Who (Yay!) on Saturday and the still shocking loss of Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane) to a battle with cancer that many of us did not know she was courageously and silently fighting.  To be honest I was a bit taken aback at how deeply her parting affected me.  When she was first introduced as the Doctor's companion I hadn't even been born.  I've never met her, although I do know many people who worked with her both on Doctor Who and the Sarah Jane Adventures.  Of course I, like many others discovered her strength, beauty and grace by watching reruns on PBS and later DVDs.  By the time the first series of SJA was announced I was already completely in love.  There have been so many tributes this past week but perhaps the most touching were the messages left on the CBBC website left by 9, 10 and 11 year olds.  I fancy myself a writer and wordsmith but I could never compete with that.  Instead I would just like to encourage all of you to donate to a cancer charity.  I know there has been a justgiving page set up in her memory.  There are also wonderful organizations like AICR and Abolish Cancer that can connect you with various efforts.  Thank the Time Lord we had a spark of light at the end of the week in the form of new Who!

Now to the Impossible Astronaut.  Already every element is being picked apart by fans on forums and twitter.  I would remind them of two things 1) It's just the first frakkin' episode so we don't know what certain elements mean or how they relate to the overall story arch 2) There is such a thing as poetic license, meaning you're just going to have to accept certain things, illogical though they may be so the story can move along.  I love the new monsters, "The Silence," Strange beings that are forgotten as soon as one looks away-very Steven Moffatt.  I can't wait to see where this story will take us, and I'm looking forward to see how Moffatt has matured as a showrunner, now that he's got one series under his belt.