No Laundry On The TARDIS: Capaldi’s Doctor Who Costume Revealed

The BBC is trying like hell to keep fan interest in Doctor Who up now that the 50th Anniversary festivities are over, as if for some reason the idea of a brand new Doctor portrayed by an actor with a completely different look and style wasn’t enough to keep people intrigued. But then again, maybe they’ve got a point; after all, on some level the franchise has reached its current level of popularity partially on the back of a quirky pretty boy who’s made two companions and a large percentage of the viewing audience all twitchy in the shorts for him, so I imagine it takes a certain leap of faith to hand everything over to a late middle-aged dude best known for creative profanity.

Part of the mystery has been exactly what Capaldi’s new Doctor will be wearing. Many of the Doctors have distinctive costume elements – Tom Baker’s scarf, Matt Smith’s bowtie, Christopher Eccleston’s big, swinging dick (Yeah, Eccleston’s my Doctor. What’s your point?) – that define the character, since apparently “Time And Relative Dimension Through Space” leaves no room for a fucking washing machine or a closet, or the ability to groan itself into existence anywhere near an Urban Outfitters.

Well, that part of the mystery is over, as the BBC revealed Capaldi’s Doctor costume today. So you might be asking: what’s the gimmick? Purple socks? A pocket watch? Hipster douchebag fedora?

Nah. It’s dressing mostly like a fucking adult.

Cards Against Humanity-Wamanity: Doctor Who Cards Against Humanity

We are still animal sick here at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office. We are on so many antihistamines, if our doctor were to centrifuge our blood, he would fondly touch his lab equipment and then die while Badfinger’s Baby Blue played in the background. I personally verbally communicate via sneezing now, and once I can figure out how to tag the obvious “you” at the end of my currently-mastered explosively sneezed, “Fuck!”, I can let the rest of my language mastery go the way of the Pog.

So we have whiled away the past 24 or so hours by playing rousing games of the bafflingly entertaining party game Cards Against Humanity, which is like a game of Trivial Pursuit as played by the attendees of The Cereal Convention in volume two of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. It is one of our favorite games, although when it comes to the geek front, it is a little anemic.

Or at least, it used to be. Since Cards Against Humanity is published under a Creative Commons license, anyone can, under the right circumstances, create their own cards for the game. And Crisis On Infinite Midlives contributor Lance Manion has pointed out to us that an improv comedy outfit called Conventional Improv has come up with a card set based on Doctor Who. And some of those cards are pretty solid and funny.

Not, you know, “Bigger, blacker cocks” funny, but very, very decent. And you can check a few of them out after the jump.

Talking ‘Bout Regeneration: Deleted Scene, Bonus Footage From Time of The Doctor Released

The Time of The Doctor, where Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor got old, got his regenerations back (Hmm, that’s a promising title to a chick flick), and eventually sucked the pipe (and there goes my chick flick) and regenerated as Peter Capaldi aired on Christmas Day – go figure.

And while we were unable to find a way to watch and live Tweet the original American airing – we were visiting our respective parents on Christmas, who to a one responded to our request to watch the show with, “You mean that show with the cardboard spaceships and the plastic Artoo-Deetoo knockoffs that scream, ‘Terminate?’ Yeah, I think there’s another Christmas movie starring Dean Cain on Lifetime right now…” – But we have not only caught up with the episode on TiVo, but the BBC has released a deleted scene from the episode that has forced me to contemplate the genitals of an alien, who already as at least one set of doubled organs, more than I would like.

And not only that, but they have also released a communique from Strax, that bullet-headed Sontaran douchebag, with his opinion on The Doctor’s new regeneration. And you can check them both out after the jump.

Don’t Call Me TARDIS, Whitey: Time Of The Doctor Trailer Released

Okay, so here’s the tricky thing: Matt Smith’s final turn as The Doctor will be happening in The Time of The Doctor, which will be the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special because… well, because the British. Sure, there are American news organizations swearing up and down that there is an annual War on Christmas, but over in England, Christmas has been Blitzkrieging all comers for years. Here in the states some might claim that Santa is losing ground to multiculturalism (not that I give a shit; Santa could be a plaid Martian so long as he bring me my annual case of Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale), but in London, old Saint Nick annually marches to victory on a road of bones.

But the relative strength and / or armaments of Santa Clause aren’t the tricky part. The tricky part is that the Doctor Who special is airing on Christmas Day… and that means that the editorial staff of Crisis On Infinite Midlives will be scattered across the country, visiting family. Sure, my co-Editor Amanda will be holding down the fort (and making sure Parker, our new mascot kitten, doesn’t eat every network cable in the joint), but I will be in the southern United States visiting my family, Trebuchet and Pixiestyx will be somewhere in Massachusetts, and Lance Manion will be observing his annual tradition of visiting restaurants in Boston’s Chinatown, screaming for cold tea and trying to Roofie himself.

So the question as to how we will watch and report on the death of the Eleventh Doctor is still up in the air. For last month’s The Day of The Doctor special, most of the staff gathered at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office to watch and drink and live-Tweet the experience. We are considering setting up a Google Hangout to teleconference the viewing experience (and maybe wind up with a podcast in 2013)… but that will involve convincing my parents to voluntarily watch Doctor Who (“Why is this limey mincing across my new flat screen calling me a TARDIS?” “For God’s sake, Dad, we’ll put the NCIS reruns back on in an hour!”).

So whether we can even watch the thing in a way that will allow us to report on it is still up in the air… so it might be that the trailer is all we can address in somewhat real time. And thankfully, the BBC has released the latest trailer for the special, and we can all check it out together after the jump.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Chatter – The Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office Twitter Feed

Last night the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office Staff convened for the broadcast of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. I would like to say that a lot of tequila was involved with the construction of these tweets, but there wasn’t. Sierra Nevada and a fair amount of Sauvignon Blanc were the main perpetrators. The rest was inspired by circumstance. And, possibly tequila happenstance. Enjoy.

Seeing Double: Live Tweeting The Day of The Doctor

We all know that there is exactly one event happening in geek fandom today… actually wait: let me check my news feed just in case Frank Miller’s been caught tazing a pack of hippies in Time Square… oh, look at that! Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are moving to New York from Boston. I had no idea they were even still here in Boston, but then again, I doubt they drink in the same shitholes we frequent. Actually they might, but considering our favorite bars specialize in the installation and maintenance of alcoholic blackouts, I would never remember anyway.

But other than that, the only event happening today is the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, The Day of The Doctor, which is simulcasting on your local BBC affiliate at 2:50 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. What time is that in your area? What am I, a Time Lord? Do your own damn math.

To commemorate the experience, most of the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Staff will be assembling at the Home Office in about an hour, upon which we will be heading out to one of the aforementioned shitholes to drink lunch (and watch futilely for Gaiman, now that we know he lives here) before returning to the Big Screen to watch the show. And we will be Live Tweeting the experience via our Twitter feed.

So while we will be assembling those tweets into an actual post for posterity either later today or tomorrow (pending blood alcohol content), we hope you’ll tune into our feed and watch along with us. And by the way, the over / under time for the Tweet reading, “Are there four Doctors on the screen, or is the whiskey getting on top of me?” is 3:25 p.m.

The Night of The Who What Now? Mini Prequel Episode To Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special Released

So I think I heard something about some video on the Internets today…

We’re a little late to the party on this, given that our Twitter feed exploded around breakfast time that this thing existed – funny story: my own brother gave away the Goddamned spoilers to me on this one, which is why he is getting a restraining order for Christmas – but the BBC has released a seven-minute mini episode of Doctor Who to fill in some of the blanks between the season seven finale (which showed us John Hurt as some Doctor or another) and the upcoming 50th Anniversary special (featuring, well, everybody) which will air simultaneously across the world – around 2:30 p.m. here on the American East Coast – on November 23rd.

The video is called The Night of The Doctor, it is set during the Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks, and it features, well, The Doctor. Or one of them. And another one by way of spiffy computer graphics. And it not only fills in a few blanks for the upcoming The Day of The Doctor special, but a few blanks that have been kicking around for a few years now.

Yeah, I know that’s vague, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. I don’t want to descend to the level of my brother… not that I want to paint him as a bad guy or anything! Not when he’s gonna be spending the holidays at your house. You know, provided you live at least 300 yards away from me.

Anyway, why would I bother to spoil it? Because If you haven’t seen it for yourself, you can check it out after the jump.

Look Into The Future: BBC Releases Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Trailers

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special will be airing on Saturday, November 23rd, and it will be airing simultaneously around the world – about 2 p.m. here in Boston – which is a far cry from the days when the show rebooted with Christopher Eccleston back in 2005. Back then, no American broadcaster gave enough of a shit about Doctor Who to broadcast it in the United States until the Sci-Fi Channel picked it up 2006, causing Amanda to send me out into the darker areas of the Internet to, um, acquire them.

Needless to say, anticipation is running high for this special, which will include the Matt Smith, David Tennant and new John Hurt Doctors, along with Billie Piper coming back for the first time in years. So to stoke the flames, the BBC has released two trailers for the special, which you can check out after the jump. Go ahead and check them out; it’ll be much more fun and less fraught with potential lawsuits than trolling the places I had to back in 2005.

There Are Strange Things Afoot At The National Gallery – Doctor Who 50th Anniversary News

So, the BBC have released the official press blurb of the plot to the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. It really is more of a tease than any kind of summary. Behold:

The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.

Something terrible is awakening in London’s Nation Gallery… Uh-oh. Sounds like someone found that opened jar of Marmite Lance someone left under the heating grate in the Impressionists wing back in 1992. I knew nothing good could come of that. Impressionists, I mean. Give me a good Flemish still life, with flowers and table settings that are bafflingly photo realistic. None of this pixelated Water Lily stuff. Am I right?

Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh, right. Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary, a Marmite induced fever dream in which there will be multiple Doctors and murderous plots afoot in Elizabethan England. Aren’t there always murderous plots afoot in Elizabethan England on Doctor Who? How about giving Edwardian England a little love? Haven’t traveled there for a while? Oh well. At least we’ll finally see how John Hurt’s Doctor figures into this and we’ll get to see more David Tennant while finally bidding farewell to Matt Smith. These are all good things. Much better than Marmite. And Impressionists.

I need a nap.

Via Bleeding Cool.

World Class Series: New Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Teaser Released

I have lived in New England for most of my life, and in Boston for more than half of that time, and unless you’ve lived here for any length to time, you don’t know what it’s like when the Boston Red Sox make it to the World Series. Oh sure, for new residents of the area, it seems almost like a common enough occurrence, but for a very long time, through the 70s, 80s and 90s, it felt as likely as seeing decent production values in an episode of Doctor Who.

So what this means is that most of the staff of Crisis On Infinite Midlives started drinking well before the Red Sox / Tigers game started yesterday at 8 p.m., we switched to shots when Shane Victorino hit his grand slam home run, and things got a little hazy after that. So we have spent most of the day quite damaged, being of a certain age where the idea of the Red Sox in the World Series is still damn exciting.

As is the idea of Doctor Who with production values. So as a nod toward the fact that we are truly living in halcyon days, here is the latest teaser trailer for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episode, Day of The Doctor. It’s not the full trailer that was supposedly shown during San Diego Comic-Con this past July, but it is pretty cool, and most importantly: it is genre-related, and can be posted without too much unnecessary motion or sound to make our hangovers fire up.

Since Game One of the series starts on Wednesday, expect several more barely coherent posts for the next week and a half. But in the meantime, you can check the teaser out after the jump.