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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

6 Comments

  1. Josh04
    December 13, 2021 @ 1:52 pm

    I do have some sympathy for the Big Finish fans, because I myself would be happy to spend 22 years revisiting that one joke at their expense.

    Reply

  2. JdR
    December 14, 2021 @ 4:08 am

    Thanks for this. I’ve been avoiding the threads of speculation elsewhere, but anticipated that I’d share your views.

    One bit of a ‘throwback’ that I’d like to see – the Doctor as a scientist, and science as something of a running theme in season 2023.

    Reply

    • Harry Thornton
      December 15, 2021 @ 10:11 pm

      The Doctor being a scientist… I think it’s been deemphasized in recent years because some people fear that’s going down a path where the show becomes overly pedantic, and focused on explaining how all the Doctor’s stuff works. I remember Moffat in particular deriding that kind of technobabble as only something fans who write and read Star Trek Technical Manuals would care about.

      And to be clear, all of that is true to a degree, like part of why I’ve (so far) been unable to connect with Star Trek: TNG like I have with TOS are the scenes where characters are just spouting off soulless technobabble. And I certainly wouldn’t want an episode where it’s just the Doctor explaining how the Sonic Screwdriver does what it does. But look at something like the Magic School Bus: It’s literally IN THE NAME that there’s magic involved, but it’s still an educational science show that can teach you (and me, watching the show as a kid) so much about science and the scientific process, and doesn’t need (nor should it) go down any pedantic technobabble path.

      Basically, the magic and science of Doctor Who can coexist, and need not be in competition with each other.

      Reply

  3. Harry Thonrton
    December 15, 2021 @ 9:59 pm

    Thanks for this! Lots of fun to read on how to look back at RTD, in 2021, with episodes that for some fans are easy to otherwise mock and deride. For me my favourite moment is the ending of Gridlock, where the Doctor reminisces about Gallifrey as the drivers flies above New Earth once again, while the choir plays one more time. It’s such a beautiful scene that’s often overlooked, where the Doctor finally opens up to his still-new companion in a way he hasn’t in so long.

    Also, I have to correct this since I’ve known them personally for a long while: Evan Collins’ “Institute for Y2K Aesthetics” is now called just CARI. It’s short for “Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute”, and was created to properly describe how we’ve expanded our horizons beyond the Y2K Aesthetic (such as McBling).

    Reply

  4. Przemek
    December 19, 2021 @ 5:48 pm

    I really enjoyed that and I hope you’re right in regards to the aesthetic we can expect from RTD2.

    Also, thanks for introducing me to the idea of the anxious interval – fascinating stuff.

    Reply

  5. Citizen Alan
    December 20, 2021 @ 12:59 am

    “Another wholesale 1960s revival is now about as likely as an 1860s revival.”

    Given the state of American politics, this is actually a chilling comment for me.

    Reply

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