There's something about Donna

FOLLOWING on from my Doctor Who gushfest, a chat with Graham Bandage and Barrie Mills in work about the show has made me think more about Donna.

I'll admit I was blinded by the 'Am I Bovvered?!' hate fest that surrounded the announcement of Catherine Tate stepping into the Tardis full time - one bloke I know has spent the past 12 weeks dreaming up ever more elaborate deaths (on the show) for her character.

Despite that, I have enjoyed her performances more and more as the series has continued, as she brought some real depth and subtlety to Donna, never more so than when she faced her own death in the circle of mirrors in Turn Left.

But maybe that initial dislike has prevented me from looking too closely for the seeds RTD has no doubt been planting. I mean the ones beyond 'she's in for a nasty fate'.

But if you look, they are there - and they seem to be taking on more and more significance, at least in my diseased mind as it desperately tries to avoid thinking about work.

In no particular order:

* She flew the Tardis - only for a second, but she did fly it - the only companion to do so (without absorbing the time vortex), with the Doctor saying that he couldn't believe it.

* Sitting on the steps in the Shadow Proclamation in Saturday's episode, she heard what could have been a heartbeat - but also sounded remarkably similar to the sound of drums the Master heard in the last series.

* She keeps saying 'I'm just a temp' - which to me has two meanings beyond the obvious. One is that the latin word for time is tempus, and the other being that she is temporary, so just filling in for the real person

* When taken over by the trickster beetle, she created a whole alternate universe - something that doesn't happen normally, the doctor said (he also said she has too much coincidence about her), and something which frightened the fortune teller, who commented on how strong she was.

I'm sure there are probably tons more that I haven't seen.

So, that leads me to believe that there is much more to Donna than the companion equivalent of Marmite - I think she is another chameleon-arched Time Lord.

I may be massively wrong and I don't know this for certain - it's all supposition and deduction. But if I'm right - which one?

I would like it to be Romana or even Susan, the doctor's grand-daughter - that would be a wonderful pay off.

But, in what may be one final hint from RTD, or one final example of me thinking too deeply about this and needing to get a life, there is her name - Donna (meaning lady) and Noble, which means aristocratic.

So what, you say? (What you probably say is fuck off and stop wasting our time, loser!)

So this - what is the meaning of Rani again?

Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?

I KNEW it was coming - anyone who had even a passing interest in Doctor Who did.

Companion overload, Daleks, yes, even Dave Ross - I knew it all.

But that still didn't prepare me for what was the latest fantastic episode of this best of all series.

At last the Daleks were actually threatening and evil, led by a truly horrific master - my son actually hid behind the couch when he unbuttoned his top! I nearly joined him!

I loved the attack across Earth, with New York being destroyed and The Valiant falling to a Dalek swarm. I loved the planets in the sky and the Judoon chat.

I loved the subwave network, Harriet Jones - with even the Daleks saying then knew who she was - and the interaction between all the different parts of the doctor's life.

But most of all I loved the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. Have you seen it yet? You must have, but if not I'll write the next bit in invisotext - highlight it to see.

Rose - the Doctor, running towards each other, the doctor being shot by a Dalek! And then ... regeneration!!!

Have the BBC managed to keep the secret of secrets from us, for all this time? Is it the end for Doctor Dave?

On the whole I think not, given that I've heard about Tennant filming Christmas special stuff, and committing to the special editions in 2009. However, I can't really say that with any certainty.

What I have hard on the rumour vine is that there may be more than one doctor next week - Sylvester McCoy was sited on Confidential, which - when combined with Dalek Caan's prophecy of the threeform man - leads me to think he may be popping up, maybe with Peter Davidson.

On top of that the fact they are out of sync with the rest of the universe, at a place where the doctor has a bit of previous - the famed Medusa Cascade - leaves us in a place where anything is possible.

Roll on next week - and for a bit of a preview, click on the blog title and then the little picture of Dave Ross on the right hand side of the screen!

Geek-gasm to end all geekgasms!

LIFE, at times, can be dull - a humdrum day at work, chilling out at home, bla bla bla.

But sometimes, just sometimes, something explodes into being with the force of a nuclear blast, singes your eyeballs with its radiance and makes you call excitedly around your friends and clear your social schedule for the next three Saturday nights.

Such a thing is this picture, emailed to me by my friend Graham Bandage.

OH. MY. GOD!!!!! I have never seen anything this cool in my life!

When I heard the rumour of RTD bringing back every assistant for this series' finale, I had my doubts, but just looking at this image has eradicated them immediately.

It just seems so right, and great to see the gang together - Captain Jack is even on bended knee in front of the doctor! Classic RTD!

I didn't think it was possible to be anymore excited about the final three episodes, but this picture has rocked my world.

Alonsy Doc!

Hugo who?

EVERYONE knows what science fiction is, but do you know where the term first came from?

With a smug grin, I can proudly say I do, thanks to a remarkable discovery made in the most unlikely of places.

On a recent break in the north east with my wife, we chanced across the sort of dusty old bookshop I have always dreamed about owning. After having a brief look around, there didn't seem anything to catch the eye ...until I saw the sign.

Science fiction books - up path and first on the left.

The fact the bookshop had a path was a delight in itself, but after making my way up it I found nirvana.

Shelf after shelf of sci-fi stories, dating from decades ago. I lost track of time and Pam lost track of me, resorting to walking up and down the street outside.

However one magnificently old fashioned title stood out - A Pictorial History of Science Fiction, compiled by David Kyle in 1976.

As you can see from the pictures here, it was filled with fantastic examples of the early sf pulp fiction magazines and books, as well as an incredibly detailed history of the genre, adventurously stretching back as far as Homer's Odyssey.

The genre only really exploded around the middle of the 19th century, when men like Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, then later HG Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs - along with countless others - put pen to paper on some of the greatest stories ever told.

The verve and daring of these wordsmiths caught the attention of a man called Hugo Gernsback. Never heard of him?

I hadn't either, but this native of Luxembourg (of all places!) travelled to America and worked in the fledgling electrical goods industry, in 1905 designing and manufacturing the first mass-produced home radio set - the Telimco Wireless, a transmitter and a receiver for just $7.50.

It was in 1926 that his lightning bolt moment occurred - when he set up a science fiction magazine called Amazing Stories.

Writing in that first edition, which was a massive success, he invented the phrase scientifiction, as a contraction of scientific and fiction, deliberately designed to be a description of the unique material his magazine would cover.

He defined scientifiction as 'the Jules Verne, HG Wells, and Edgar Allen Poe type of story - a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision'.

A bit wordy I know, but they must have been fantastically exciting times and I can't help but envy Hugo.

Now even the boldest and far thinking sci-fi struggles for true originality, but the writers who featured in Amazing Stories were blazing a trail into uncharted territory with such success that a great many of their ideas are now staples of the genre.

I can safely say I will never get tired of reading and re-reading this book.

And although his name has largely faded into history, and he was forced out of the publishing business by rivals, I will also offer my thanks to Hugo Gernsback, a true visionary.