tv

Sunday various

  • Once again, the predictive powers of science fiction prove to be faulty. Well color me unsurprised. That’s not what science fiction is for. [via]
  • Scott Westerfeld shares this interesting (if not necessarily recent) article on toxoplasma, a terrifying yet often fascinating parasite. While tens of millions of Americans carry the parasite — own a cat? Your chances of being one of them just went up — most will never know it. It’s only pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems who are at any genuine serious risk from disease. But it’s the parasite’s ability to actually alter behavior in its hosts — rats and possibly humans — that makes it interesting. The parasite needs to end up in a cat’s stomach to reproduce, so it encourages behavior that will lead to the host being eaten by cats. The real question, as Westerfeld wonders, is what happens when the cats stop playing along?
  • And as if toxoplasmosis wasn’t enough to worry about, there’s also the threat of radioactive jewlery on eBay. [via]
  • Infomerical: The Series? Well that’s one way of ensuring viewers watch the advertisements. Still, I don’t know about you, but I could do with a little less Billy Mays on television. [via]
  • And speaking of television, I’m very dubious about AMC’s remake of The Prisoner, but at least it gives me an excuse to finally watch the original series.

These go to eleven.

Apparently, the BBC are getting ready to announce who they’ve picked as the new Doctor sometime tomorrow. As Betty suggests, now is the time for any final last-minute predictions.

So here are mine. Any one of these could be true. The new lead for Doctor Who‘s fifth season will be:

  1. David Tennant. That’s right, it was all just an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke that went too a bit too far. You can’t believe everything you read in the British papers.

  2. Russel T. Davies. No longer content to live vicariously through the Doctor, the real reason Davies resigned as executive producer was so that he could now be the Doctor. Although as Nyssa suggested, Davies might actually prefer being Rose…
  3. Rowan Atkinson. What? It’s not as if he hasn’t been the Doctor before…

  4. A Dalek. Well, it would be ironic, wouldn’t it?

  5. The other ten Doctors before him. Through clever editing of past episodes — there are decades of them to choose from! — an judicious use of CGI, no one will ever be the wiser. Call it “The Ten Doctors” or something and fans will eat it up!
  6. No one. Other characters will constantly refer to the Doctor, but he will never in fact appear on screen. Think of all the money they’ll save! And obviously, anyone they cast is going to disappoint someone. This way, you equally disappoint everyone!

Will any of these be the new Doctor? Only time — and very little time at that — will tell.