Sherlock vs Sherlock Holmes- A Study in Pink

So I 've realized lately how differently I appreciate all the different adaptions of Sherlock Holmes in comparison to those who have never read the original stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a marvellous cast of characters, came up with some memorable quotes, and fabricated some famous scenarios, but not many people realize how ingenious most of this stuff is. Those of us who have actually read the original stories can watch the adaptions and catch small references that are cleverly woven into the plot or hidden in the background or something, making the show that much more exciting.

I recently introduced my mom to one of my favorite shows, BBC's Sherlock (which you can read about here). I believe that she thoroughly enjoyed it and will be happy to watch the next season when it's available. She is also a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. So, I think you could say that she is a fairly thorough Sherlock Holmes fan... except for the fact that she has never read any of the books. Now, I'm not saying that you can't be a fan without reading the books. My mom is perfect proof that this is not so. My point is that those who HAVE read the books just appreciate the adaptions in a completely different way.

In my boredom, I've decided to rewatch the first episode of Sherlock and make a list of all the references to the books as I could find and put them here just to justify my point. So if you have never seen the show, I would not recommend reading any further as there will be spoilers.

SHERLOCK- EPISODE 1- A STUDY IN PINK: written by Steven Moffat

(Moffat is also the head writer for Doctor Who, so he is a skilled writer when it comes to plot twists and mysteries. He's also an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, so he stuck heavily to the original SH tales.)

• The first reference is obvious. It is based off one of the few novels SACD wrote, A Study in Scarlet.
• John Watson is staying in a rather rubbish hotel room before he moves in with Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street.
• Watson keeps a handgun handy.
• Watson is an army doctor recently belated home from Afghanistan. In the original stories, Watson was an army doctor also recently belated home from the Afghan Wars.
• I'd just like to point out something I read. The writers poke fun at SACD's continuity error in the books by giving Watson a psychosomatic limp when he was actually shot in the shoulder. In the books, it was originally written that he was shot in the shoulder, but then later it said that he was shot in the leg.
• Stamford (the one who introduces Watson and Holmes) and Watson had an internship together at Bart's hospital and meet again after Watson returns from Afghanistan.
• The name on the coffee cups Watson and Stamford are holding says "Criterion". Stamford and John met again in the Criterion Pub.
• In Sherlock's first scene, he is beating a dead man with a riding crop. Stamford mentions that he saw Sherlock Holmes beating a corpse with a stick in the original stories.
• Watson first meets Holmes in a lab in Bart's hospital.
• Holmes immediately deduces that Watson is an army doctor from Afghanistan, but doesn't explain how he knew right away.
• Holmes lists off his short-comings when he realizes that Watson wants to share a flat with him. (Playing the violin when he's thinking, not talking for days when he's upset, etc.)
• In the show, Watson expresses his skepticism over Holmes's claims on his website about how he can deduce a person's profession by looking at the tiniest details. In the books, Watson does the same thing except by reading an article Holmes wrote for a magazine.
• "The game is on!" is a play on one of Holmes's famous quotes, "The game is afoot!"
• Holmes is the only consulting detective in the world because he invented the job.
• Holmes's deduction using Watson's phone is similar to the original deductions in the books, except using a pocket watch.
• The murder to which Holmes is summoned to is located at Brixton, Lauriston Gardens.
• A wedding ring was an important factor at the crime scene.
• "RACHE" was found written at the scene of the crime. In the show, the police thinks it is the german word for revenge while Holmes scoffs at them and says that it's supposed to say "Rachel". In the book, it is vice versa.
• Holmes enjoys Watson's astonishment at his skill
• In the show, Holmes sends Watson two texts "Come at once if convenient" and "If inconvenient, come anyway.". In the originals, Holmes leaves a note for Watson reading, "Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same"
• "It's a three patch problem" vs the original quote, "It's a three pipe problem". In the show, Holmes uses nicotine patches rather than smoking it through a pipe like in the books.
• In the show, Holmes uses Watson's phone to send a text just in case his own number is recognized. In the original story, Holmes puts an advertisement in the newspaper, but uses Watson's name in case his own is recognized.
• Lestrade orders a drugs bust on 221B and it is implied that Holmes has had trouble with drugs in his recent past. This is in reference to the original stories where Watson is constantly trying to get Holmes to stop his cocaine habit.
• The victims were killed by a poisonous pill. They were presented with the choice of a good pill and a bad pill.
• A cab driver was the murderer.
• The cab driver is suffering from an aneurism.
• Mycroft Holmes says that he is working on losing weight. This is because Mark Gatiss (the actor who plays Mycroft) is not overweight like Mycroft is described in the books.
• Sherlock says that Mycroft doesn't just a have a position in the British government; he IS the British government. The books don't specify exactly what Mycroft does for the government, but they say he is indispensable.

A Great Week to Fangirl

We wish you a Merry Whomas and a Happy Lockyear!

That^^^ has been trending on my other blog all month. Forget Christmas and New Years, it's all about my fandoms! The top quote is referencing the Doctor Who Christmas special and Season 2 of Sherlock. This week has been full of madness! I honestly don't know if I'm happy or sad anymore. I think I'm just verging on insanity. I'm excited for Christmas and all, but this week has been so whack that... well, allow me to enlighten you all on everything and maybe you can just barely begin to fathom my excitement.

Dec. 19- Two preview scenes from Sherlock season 2

Dec. 20- A scene (half way through the interview) from Sherlock that sends fangirls of Benedict Cumberbatch screaming

Dec. 21- Four trailers for season 2 of Sherlock and new promo pictures and a trailer for Tangled Ever After

Dec. 24- Merlin season finale

Dec. 25- Doctor Who Christmas Special

Jan. 1- Sherlock returns

The Sherlock thing is particularly exciting because season 1 aired almost 2 years ago and there were only three episodes, so we've felt a bit deprived. Therefore, suddenly getting all this new stuff is extremely exciting and slightly overwhelming. As someone on my other blog put it, "All this new footage at once after ages of having so little is like trying to eat way too much after you’ve starved for ages". Couldn't have put it better myself.

Then Merlin! Ohhhh! I cannot express how flippin' epic the finale looks! (Even better than last season's finale, which was pretty darn fantastic). The title itself is epic: "The Sword in the Stone part II".

Of course, Doctor Who. This year's Christmas special is based on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Previews, promo pictures, etc. were released forever ago and I've got to say... I have no idea what to make of it. Of course it will be good, because it's Doctor Who and it's Steven Moffat (our master writer of Doctor Who AND Sherlock). I've heard it will be better than last year's special (which I adored. It was based on A Christmas Carol).

Now, Tangled Ever After. Not many people were even aware that there was going to be a mini-sequel to Tangled. Of course I knew about it ages ago. EXCITED!!!!! The preview was terrible quality and only like 5 seconds long, but still! IT EXISTS!

And just for the heck of it, I will mention that The Hobbit trailer debuted last night as well. It was all the rage. I sort of got in on it because I knew a lot of the actors, but not much because I'm not in on The Lord of the Rings stuff (but don't worry, I will be soon).

So, who knows what else will come up this week. I keep thinking, "they've already given us so much, they wouldn't possibly give us anything else" and then BAM! The next day, I wake up to people on my other blog raving over some new footage of whatever it may be.

In summary:

"This is the story of how I died"

--(a quote from either Doctor Who or Tangled).

Most Loathable

In case you didn't know, I have lists. Lists of my most loved characters, most loved TV shows, most loved movies, most epic speeches, most attractive characters, and so on. I also have a most loathable characters list.

For time and eternity, I thought that nobody could possibly compete with Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter in my top spot of my most hated characters. What with her prissy voice and her pinkness and her orderliness. Ooh! No way, right? However, recently she has had a tough competitor in one of my favorite TV shows, Merlin.

He's only recently turned up in the latest season, season 4. His name is Lord Agravaine. Oh my word, I just want to pound my fist into a wall or something every time I see his face now! In fact, even when I was searching for a picture to put on this post, I was ready to explode. I literally glare at the screen and grumble my disregard at him every time he appears (like: "Go away. Nobody likes you. Go rot in a hole. I hate you."). Just... gah! I can't stand the guy!

He's Arthur's uncle. He comes to Camelot to serve as a source of council to Arthur while he is running the kingdom while Uther is unfit to rule. At first he seems to be just another loyal subject, but of course we soon learn through Merlin's eyes, that he is in league with Morgana and wants to overthrow the rightful king and put Morgana on the throne. So why does he bother me so much more than any past villains with the same motives? (Because basically all the villains of Merlin have this motive of overthrowing the king). WELL... let me tell you.

He's so... manipulative, for lack of a better term. (I'm not going to give very specific examples since the season is still running and some people may not have seen it yet.) It's just that Arthur, the knights, and all others with authority trust him and it drives me insane because he's so obviously a traitor sometimes, but he's so darn good at covering it up. There was one specific time where he was caught red-handed, totally obviously a traitor, literally a knife in his hand and everything. No way out surely, but he still managed to wriggle his way out of it. I kid you not, I was banging my head in frustration. He's always giving advice that will work to his and Morgana's advantage and he's always trying to direct blame at obviously innocent people, to name some other things that bother me. I've never been more anxious for a character to die in this series. Nathaniel Parker (who plays him) does a brilliant job with the character, I think.

(One thing I'd just like to point out and laugh at is that he and Morgana sort of remind me of Pinky and the Brain. Agravaine: "Gee Morgana, what are we going to do tonight?", Morgana: "Same thing we do every night, Agravaine. Try to take over Camelot!")

So, I'm not so sure he beats Umbridge out of top spot, but he's definitely tied with her at least.

In a Land of Myth and a Time of Magic...

...the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name... Merlin.

(Actually, recently the intro has changed to "rests on the shoulders of a young man". Congratulations, Merlin. You have graduated into young manhood.)

HaHA! Who was wondering if I would ever blog about this show? I definitely was. I was watching this show long before I had even discovered Sherlock or Doctor Who or any of the sorts.

First, par usual, I shall tell you how I was introduced. Let's see, I think it was during my winter break of 2009, I was super bored (of course. How else do I discover amazing things?). One morning, I looked up a list of Disney movies so that I could look them up on YouTube. As I scanned the list, I found The Sword in the Stone. I decided to click on it just for fun. "One thing led to another" (a little Brian Regan humor there) and soon I was reading a little bit about the Arthurian legends. Eventually, I came across a list of movies and TV shows based on the Arthurian legends. I randomly clicked on one titled 'Merlin' made by the BBC. After reading the synopsis, I decided I wanted to go look it up. I found the first episode on YouTube. I thought it was pretty good and decided to watch the next one. I ended up watching the entire first season on YouTube and was completely hooked by the end. I continued watching the second season on Netflix instant play. The third season was eventually released in the UK, but I had to purchase it on iTunes. Now, the fourth season is airing in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Basically, it's about King Arthur before he becomes king, the knights of the round table before they become knights, Guinevere before she becomes queen, Morgana le Fey before she goes bad, and most importantly Merlin before he becomes the most powerful sorcerer in the world. So it's the backstories to the Arthurian legends.

SYNOPSIS: Merlin is a young wizard who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius. He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, has outlawed magic and imprisoned the last great dragon deep under the kingdom. The dragon tells Merlin that he plays an important role: to protect Uther's son, Arthur, who will bring forth a great kingdom. When Merlin meets Arthur, he believes that he is an arrogant bully. And Arthur, likewise, has a less than stellar opinion of Merlin. Merlin must keep his magic secret or face being executed by Uther.

MERLIN played by Colin Morgan

Our main character. Like the synopsis said, he's a young wizard. He was born with extremely powerful magic, which is apparently unheard of. Today, most people picture Merlin as an old rickety man with the long white hair and beard, right? Ha! Well, not here. (Actually, wait for some later episodes where he uses an aging spell. Hilarity ensues!). He serves as the personal servant to Arthur and eventually as the two of them become better friends, he sometimes serves as a source of trust. He is also known as Emrys to magic folk. (He has been spoken of in many ancient legends under the name of Emrys which is why he is called that by the magic people.)

ARTHUR played by Bradley James

I ain't putting no spoilers here. He's not a king, he's a prince. When we first meet him, he's an arrogant brat and a bully. No one really likes him very much. Guinevere even says in disgust, "who'd want to marry Arthur?". As the series progresses though, we watch him become more mature and responsible. He is significantly more caring and merciful than his father is, and will often choose banishment over execution.

GUINEVERE played by Angel Coulby

Known as "Gwen" to her friends. She is a servant girl to Lady Morgana and also her best friend. She is high and mighty and not afraid to speak out. Pretty much everyone respects her and her opinion, even though she is just a servant. She, like everyone else, doesn't like Arthur very much at the beginning, but as he matures and gains responsibility, she starts to fall for him.

MORGANA played by Katie McGrath

When we first meet her, she's King Uther's ward, living in the castle. She was born with magical powers (though not nearly as powerful as Merlin's), but doesn't know how to control them on their own. Her story is very complex, but in summary she falls to the dark side because of constantly being lied to, the fear of possessing magic, and eventually learning to control it. It doesn't take too long before she is the main antagonist of the show.

GAIUS played by Richard Wilson

The court physician and Merlin's mentor. Apparently, Gaius once practiced magic. He's one of the few people who knows of Merlin's powers. Everyone in Camelot trusts Gaius (and it makes absolutely no sense to me when the king starts questioning his loyalty -__-).

UTHER played by Anthony Head

The tyrannical king of Camelot and father of Arthur. He is very strict towards Arthur and Morgana, but he does care about them. He hates all forms of magic (for a reason that I shall not share here) and will kill anybody practicing it without question.

Other characters have appeared too. Such as Lancelot, the Lady of the Lake, Gwaine, Morgause, Nimueh, Mordred, etc.

All the episodes somehow introduce some part of a legend, like how Excalibur came to be, or where the Lady of the Lake came from, or how Arthur and Guinevere fell in love, or how Morgana went bad, or something. It's an excellent show! "Four stars. Two enthusiastic thumbs up" (some more Brian Regan humor for you).

Quote Board

My wonderful mother requested that I do this. So, in my dorm, my roommates and I have a quote board. A board on which we write strange and/or funny things we say. I'm just going to give a couple examples here on this post. Now, most of the things on the board are usually only funny to us because of an inside joke, or they're only funny because of how they were said.

"My hair could eat your hair for breakfast and still be hungry."

(While discussing Brenna's hair volume as opposed to mine)

"I was going to sit on your lap, but it was going to be awkward."

"Why?"

"Because you're kind of naked."

(She wasn't actually naked, but she was wearing tiny spandex)

"AHHHH! Relish and pickles!"

"What am I going to do with my life?"

"Sell your body for money."

"My computer just flashed me!"

"There's no place to be in this kitchen."

"Except out of the way!"

"Kelsi, answer the door! You're the only one dressed!"

(I'm the only one to dress modestly for bed)

"Eyes on the road, not on the prize."

(While Brenna was looking at Daniel in the rearview mirror when she was driving)

"I cuddle with my stuffed elephant."

(While everyone was sharing their cuddling experiences)

The One

And Doctor Who is back! (Well, the show's not back, but my writing about it is back.) Aren't you excited? I'm excited. So the last time I blogged about Doctor Who, I talked about the Doctor (see here). Now I'm going to put my focus on the companions. They are an extremely important part of the show for many different reasons. The Doctor, himself, is always saying how important everybody is and makes sure his companions know that at all times. I'm putting my focus on the New!Who companions because I know the most about them (and this post would be sooooooooo long if I included all his companions from the beginning. Actually, I'm not even including all of the New!Who companions (just the long term ones).

The Doctor explains his reason for having companions: "I'm 907. After a while you just can't see it. I look at a star and it's just a big ball of burning gas, and I know how it began and I know how it ends. And I was probably there both times. Now after a while, everything is just stuff. That's the problem, you make all of space and time your backyard and what do you have? A backyard. But you, you can see it. And when you see it, I see it."

Also, he's lonely. He needs friends, people to talk to, and as one of his companions points out, "someone to stop you" from going too far.

They're usually female because the writers want to give the show some balance in gender. Because of this, the writers also make it a point that the companions kiss the Doctor at least once XD.

To explain the title of this post, the Doctor always has to leave each of his companions at some point. Each one was heart-wrenching in their own way (some more so than others). I've given a title to each of them that sort of sums up their reason for leaving. But like I said before, they all are important. Each one had a very significant impact on the Doctor's life.

Rose Tyler: The One He Lost

Rose met the Doctor when he saved her life from shop-window mannequins in a basement at her job. He decided to bring her along after she saved his life and helped stop the alien "invasion". She's the only New!Who companion to witness the Doctor regenerate. She and the Doctor, over time, fell in love with each other. However, it didn't last long. To make a long story short, Rose got trapped in a parallel universe and only got two minutes to say goodbye to the Doctor before never seeing him ever again. The One He Lost.

This girl is amazing. She is the girl that saved the Doctor from himself. I mean, he was so alone and so hardened and bitter from the Time War, but then he met Rose who was so full of compassion and it wasn't long before she saw that he needed her. She didn't travel with him for the glamor and fun of the ride, it was because of him. That's true companionship, I think. Her stubbornness and determination is a great characteristic of hers. Of course, in the end, that's what led to her separation from the Doctor. Their goodbye scene was truly tragic. (I cry my eyes out every time.) But she saved the world and got stuck in an alternate universe, she certainly earns the title the Doctor gave her, "Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth".

Martha Jones: The One Who Left

Martha met the Doctor in the hospital where she was studying to become a doctor. The Doctor decided to bring her along for "one trip" after she saved his life. However, their "one trip" escalated into several trips. When the Doctor finally took her home, they got caught in another adventure to which the Doctor offered to reward her with another trip. Martha at first refused, saying she didn't want to be just a passenger anymore, to which the Doctor agreed to take her on as a full-time traveller. Eventually, Martha saved the world single-handedly, but at a great emotional cost. She decided she wanted to stay behind with her family and to finish becoming a doctor. Plus she had fallen in love with the Doctor, but he didn't reciprocate so she felt she had to get out and move on. The One Who Left.

Martha gets so much hate, and I don't understand it at all. She's freakin' amazing for what she went through. Don't get me wrong here because I love the Doctor, but he was not always completely sensitive towards her. He's completely oblivious of her obvious affection towards him. Also, he's angsty because of his loss of Rose and it's sort of taken out on Martha sometimes. I love Martha, really. I love her intelligence, her bravery, and her selflessness and dedication to the Doctor in the face of all the hardly ideal situations they get into. Then this woman saves the world all on her own. On. Her. Own. No Doctor, no TARDIS, or anything. If that doesn't qualify her as a boss, then I don't know what does.

Donna Noble: The One Who Forgot

Donna didn't exactly meet the Doctor per say. She was sucked into the TARDIS, much to her chagrin. After much confusion and some saving the world, the Doctor and Donna grew to like each other and the Doctor invited her to come along. However, she refused, but advised him to find someone else. This was all before the Doctor had met Martha. Later, after Martha left, Donna and the Doctor crossed paths again, this time Donna said that she would like to join him. The Doctor said she could come on one condition, she must not fall in love with him because it had complicated things in the past, to which she more than happily agreed. Because of complicated reasons that I'm not going to go into, Donna becomes part Time Lord- part Human and saves the universe. However, the Time Lord part of her brain starts to kill her and in order to save her life, the Doctor wipes her memories of all her time and adventures with him. The One Who Forgot.

Donna is one of my favorites. Her sassiness, her chatter, her loyalty, her friendship. The Doctor and Donna just formed this great partnership. They were this awesome duo, you know? Not in a romantic way, because they both agreed at the beginning not to get into that. They were best friends. They were perfectly in sync and they really needed each other. Donna needed someone to reassure her that she was important and that she was special, and the Doctor needed her to make him step back and take a hard look at himself when he needed to.

Tribute for the Companions of Seasons 1-4

Amelia "Amy" Pond: The One He Saved

Amy first met the Doctor when she was eight years old, after the TARDIS crash-landed in her backyard, suffering damages from his regeneration. He promised to take her away with him after he repaired the TARDIS, but when he came back, he got the date wrong and returned 12 years too late. He had decided to take her with him when she was little to save her from a crack in her bedroom wall that would have erased her from time eventually, but after she helped him save the world when she was older, it reaffirmed his decision. After so, so, so many life-threatening situations, the Doctor took her and her husband Rory back home telling her when she asked why he'd taken them back, "Because you're still breathing." The One He Saved. (Her story doesn't end here, but I had to give her a title.)

Oh Amy. What can I say about her? I can't say too much without being too spoilery (because I know my mom reads this, and I know that I am going to make her watch Season 6 when I come back home). She and the Doctor have this special bond. Sort of like Donna and the Doctor had, but different. I love how she always teases the Doctor like a little brother. She's so fiercely independent and feisty, yet she's also quite the damsel in distress sometimes. I've been noticing she sometimes has been making up for the Doctor's lack of angst lately, with some of her own. This isn't really a bad thing, it gives the show more emotion and real life. When she really shines though is when she's standing up for her family. She will do just about anything to defend them and she sticks close to them whenever she can. She puts them first. That's what makes her different from the other companions. She puts her family before the Doctor.

Some others who have travelled with the Doctor are Mickey Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, River Song, and Rory Williams. (There are also many others who are "unofficial companions").

Video: A Beautiful Companion Tribute

A Holmes-y Analysis

So first it was Doctor Who, and now it's Sherlock Holmes. Don't worry, Doctor Who will most likely be back once the next season starts (which won't be until next year or possibly even the year of its 50th anniversary in 2013 *mega cries*). However, I've been filling my empty void by watching practically every Sherlock Holmes show/movie in existence (the ones that were available to me, at least). It's been a couple months since I started this and I think I've finished. What I've really enjoyed about this experience was seeing the many different portrayals of Holmes. He’s the most portrayed movie character of all time, with about 75 actors playing him in over 211 movies. How awesome is that? This post is dedicated to a couple of my favorites. (Of course there are many other men who portrayed Holmes, but they were not worthy enough to make it on my list.)

1) Robert Downey Jr. in the movie Sherlock Holmes (2009)

One of my mom's favorites. I did sort of talk about this one in a previous post. This portrayal was not very true to the books in many respects, but it was still well done and very entertaining altogether. This version is sort of like the action-hero version of Holmes. Because even though he's still superior intellectually, he doesn't use his smarts so much as his fists in order to defeat his enemies. He doesn't have the deerstalker cap, but he does still have the pipe. Of course I must mention that this Holmes is the only one to get some romantic involvement (well, physical romantic involvement). I know this version of Holmes gets all kinds of hate, but I don't think he really deserves most of it.

2) Ronald Howard in the TV series Sherlock Holmes (1954-1955)

This version of Holmes had a lot of focus on his quirky side. I was very entertained while watching this show, I found myself laughing a lot. It wasn't that this Holmes was a goofy character, it was just that he would do weird things in order to test theories or to get out of sticky situations. For example, Inspector Lestrade and Watson had left Holmes alone with a constable at a crime scene. When they got back they asked the constable where Mr. Holmes was. "He's sliding down the banister, sir." "He's what?". They later found out he was testing to see how much faster someone could get downstairs if they slid down the banister than if they ran. Another time he, Watson, and Lestrade were being watched and guarded in a pub, so he started a brawl-- much to Lestrade's horror-- in order to get the police there. Of course he has the trademark deerstalker cap, pipe and magnifying glass. However, what he lacked was the arrogance and the occasional coldness. This Holmes was too nice and too human, but I still found him extremely enjoyable.

3) Benedict Cumberbatch in the TV series Sherlock (2010- present)

I've dedicated an entire post to this show (see here), but I really love this portrayal of Holmes so I had to include him. Set in today's modern world, he pretty much embodies everything in the books. He does seem a bit more child-like though (I sometimes wonder how he got on before he met Watson). I am a bit disappointed that he hasn't donned a physical disguise yet. Well, he sort of did... he wore a security guard's uniform in order to get a look at a guarded painting in a museum, saying, "the art of disguise if being able to hide in plain sight". He does, however take on "personality disguises" in order to get what he wants (he is capable of crying on demand and such). Of course, being set in modern times, he doesn't wear a deerstalker cap, nor does he smoke a pipe. But he does use a magnifying glass. Not a traditional looking one, mind you, but a smaller, modern-looking one. I mentioned above that the Robert

Downey Jr. was the only version to

get romantic involvement, but then I added that it was the only version to get physical romantic involvement. That's because this version has a female lab tech who has a crush on him.

(EDIT: Since I've watched season 2, he has worn a deerstalker cap! XD. Not as a fashion statement, but he grabbed it from a nearby costume rack in order to hide his face from the press. It then became his trademark in the press, him wearing the hat. Cudos to the writers for slipping that in!)

4) Jeremy Brett in the TV movies Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994)

Probably the most accurate portrayal of Holmes in comparison to the books. I really don't know how to comment on this version because it's just so spot on. I can't even give examples or anything because all the movies were just portrayals of the books. My goodness, some of the disguises though were just amazing! Even though I knew it was him, it was so hard to tell, no matter how hard you stared. Really the only criticism I can give is that his normal voice bothered me a bit XD. He does wear the deerstalker cap occasionally and he does have the pipe and magnifying glass as well.

5) Basil Rathbone in a series of movies Sherlock Holmes (1939-1946)

One of the most famous portrayals of the character. I quite liked this version. A couple of the movies were set in the proper time of the late 1800's, but then most of them were set in the (then) modern times of the 1940's. For the ones set in their proper time period, Holmes did wear the deerstalker cap, but the ones set in the 1940's, he wore a normal stylistic hat of the period. In both, he always had the pipe and magnifying glass. I really have no criticism for him at all. Nothing even trivial like an annoying voice or something. He was a very accurate portrayal. The only criticism I would give would be directed at either the plots or at the portrayal of Watson (but I won't go into how annoying I found this Watson at times or else this would be a rather extensive post). I did find this Holmes's disguises quite good, although it was fairly easy to tell that it was him most of the time.

HONORABLE MENTION: Barrie Ingham as Basil in The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

He doesn't really count since he's not actually a portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, rather a shout-out. He gets a mention because he has all of Holmes's personality traits and such (as well as his deerstalker cap, pipe, and magnifying glass). I also like that the character's name is Basil after Basil Rathbone (named above). He also gets a mention just because I just really like his voice.

48 Years

48 years ago today, the BBC televised a daft little show about a man with a flying box. They didn't expect much; it was supposed to be an educational family show. It relied on string and staples for its special effects. Its main villain had a sink plunger attached to it. Yet, almost half a decade later, the show has become a national institution for Britain, an international phenomenon, and along with it has produced a fandom that spans three generations. 48 years ago today, the BBC televised Doctor Who.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOCTOR WHO!!!

(If you want to know more about this show, read my previous post here: New Favorite)

My Doctors

Oh yes, we're back to Doctor Who. In the Whoniverse, every Whovian has "their Doctor", meaning either the first Doctor they watched and got attached to, or their favorite Doctor, or both. You might have noticed that this post is titled "My Doctors" with an "S". It's not that I have more than one. As a Whovian, of course I have my Doctor. I started out watching the Ninth Doctor, but MY Doctor is actually the Tenth. However, I've decided to dedicate this post to all three of the New!Who Doctors, Nine, Ten, and Eleven because they are the ones that really got me hooked on this show.

NINE- played by Christopher Eccleston

Watch an Eccleston Tribute

Accounting for regeneration, each of the Doctors have slightly different personalities. Nine is probably the most hardened out of all eleven of his regenerations. But take a look at the facts. He has just lost all of his family and friends, his entire race. His planet burned before his eyes and it was his fault. He was the cause of genocide for two whole races. Imagine having that on your conscience. He is a hardened, slightly angsty warrior who's trying to make up for it by saving everyone else. The Time War seemed to have removed some of his moral principals though, he doesn't have very much mercy. But then he meets Rose who helps him see the better way of dealing with things. Of course, he's still the Doctor, so he's not all angst and stiffness, he's definitely got a silly and fun side too. Nine's sense of humor is very unique next to other Doctors'. He's not straight out goofy like a lot of them, nor is he particularly witty, but he's got a sort of subtle silliness. Like switching a gun for a banana, or offering air from his lungs as a gift of peace, or acting indifferent in a life-threatening situation. He's also the sassiest out of the three New!Who Doctors, which I love XD

REGENERATION INSPECTION: "*looking in a mirror* Ah, could have been worse. Look at the ears though."

CATCHPHRASE: "Fantastic!"

TEN- played by David Tennant

Watch a Tennant Tribute

Yes, this one is my Doctor, but that's beside the point. So the Doctor says that this regeneration of himself "certainly has a gob". He definitely does. He's one of the most talkative of all his regenerations. He's a bit more bouncy and lively than his previous self, but he still retains a bit of that sorrow and stiffness. He's the most emotionally open out of all his regenerations, I think. He's cried openly more than any of his previous selves, and he is easily angered. In fact, when he meets River Song (who knows him as the Eleventh Doctor), she expresses her frustration with his being so emotional. But I think that's one of the reasons I personally like him so much, because of his emotion. Plus he's just adorable all around. He's easily excited by the funniest things (like the anatomy of a robot that just tried to kill him).

REGENERATION INSPECTION: "What do I look like? No, no, no, no, don't tell me. Let's see, two legs, two arms, two hands. Slight weakness in the dorcile-tubicle. Hair! I'm not bald! Ooh, big hair. Sideburns. I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin. A little but thinner, that's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it. I have got a mole. I can feel it. Between the shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's alright, love the mole. Go on then, tell me, what do you think?"

CATCHPHRASES: "Allons-y!" or "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

ELEVEN- played by Matt Smith

Watch a Smith Tribute

The floppy-haired, bowtie-wearing madman. Doctor number eleven is definitely the quirkiest of the New!Who Doctors. I sometimes think that, although Time Lords have no control over what they get when they regenerate, their sub-conscience sort of taps in somehow sometimes. I think this was the case for the Eleventh Doctor because Nine and Ten went through so much emotional turmoil that Eleven's personality was designed specifically to defend himself against future pain. He's a complete goofball and a child, but he also has an unusual coldness and darkness about him sometimes.

REGENERATION INSPECTION: "Legs! I've still got legs! Good. Arms, hands, ooh fingers! Lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose? I've had worse. Chin, blimey! Hair... oh my gosh! No! No! No! I'm a girl? No! And I'm still not ginger! There's something else. Something important. I'm- I'm... Ha! Crashing! GERONIMO!!!"

CATCHPHRASES: "Geronimo!" or "(insert object) are cool."

The Art of Movies

This is post's subject is on my level of expertise. Movies. Oh yes, you couldn't ask for a better person to comment XD. It's what I devote like 85-90% of my life to. As my parents say, I speak in movie quotes and I know all sorts of trivia on all types of movies. I must warn you beforehand, this post might be a little scatter-brained.

So what got me really thinking about movies was my art class. Last week, we were talking about cinematography. The entire class was devoted to how movies have evolved over time as an art form. It was extremely fascinating to me. Now I'm not going to bore you with who invented the projector and where the first movies were shown, etc., but I will be bringing up some of the things I learned that apply to my post.

I've observed that a lot of people today really don't know a good movie when they see one. They think a good movie has something to do with the camera techniques, the special effects, and so on. While those thing contribute to a movie, I believe that they are not the key to a good movie.

Plot. That's what I think is what is really important to a movie. It always comes down to plot. As time wears on, people seem to care less and less about the plot, and more and more about the techniques put into the film. This has really been driving me insane lately since I've come up here to college and I've seen people's tastes in movies. I can't tell you how many movie nights I've skipped out on because they were watching a horror movie. Now, I know some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking, "What's wrong with a horror movie?" Well, nothing really, it's just that I don't really like that genre, but that's not my point. It's that the particular horror movies that they were watching were the blood and gore, slice and dice type horror movies. (I know this because they would always be talking about the exploding heads and stuff later). Why on earth would people want to watch this? People are beginning to fail to appreciate good plots and just enjoy such violence on the screen.

I seem to be the only person to enjoy old movies. Really old stuff. I've watched things from the 1930's, the 1950's, the 1960's, etc. and enjoyed them all. However, many people will watch the same thing and will be bored out of their minds. This is because they grew up in this day and age where they are always bombarded with visual stimulus. I mean, a lot of that old stuff didn't even have color, much less lots of action.

For example, I was watching The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934). I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have yet to meet someone else who enjoyed it just as much as I did. Now I also enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) and these same people watched it and enjoyed that version much more. Why didn't they like the 1934 version? I know why they didn't like it very much. To name a few: it was in black and white, there was hardly any background music, the special effects were not very adequate, there was hardly any camera movement, and there were some long drawn-out scenes that easily could have been cut down to a few minutes. So why did I enjoy it so much? Well, because of the plot. In the old days, moviemakers really paid attention to the plot and much less to techniques. That's why I find old movies so fascinating.

People often complain that old movies are "too slow". Quite right too, if you're comparing them to today's movies. In my art class, my professor showed us a clip from the old King Kong movie, where King Kong was battling the T-Rex (in which he breaks its jaw). The fight seemed to go on forever and things were just repeating themselves, I found myself asking, "Is something going to happen already?" until finally it ended.

The fight probably lasted around five minutes. Then my professor showed us a clip from the King Kong remake from 2005. It was the same fight scene and it lasted probably just under a minute. His point of showing us the clips were for a different reason than what I'm going to explain here, but what I observed was just what I explained above; we're bombarded with so much visual stimulus today, that we are easily bored with that old stuff because it's "too slow".

Now back to plot. People also like to complain that a good book will be ruined by turning it into a movie because they movie always changes the plot. This is true. The book's plot will be adapted for the screen in different degrees, but just because the plot is changed, that doesn't mean the movie will be bad. True, it may not completely butcher the book, but the movie itself may still be good. Take, for example, Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now that plot was altered by almost every degree, but if you're some stuck up literature nerd (*cough* I'm not naming any names *cough*), I suggest you still give the movie a chance.

I will now bash techniques again. Sometimes adapting a book to movie will ruin the book though. (I'm sorry to those of you who loved it) Pride and Prejudice (2005) was a little too focused on rather than the story itself. It was an absolutely gorgeous movie, with brilliant costumes, sets, scenery, music, camera movements, etc, but the story was annoyingly rushed.

When a movie can equally combine plot AND techniques that equals a fantastic movie. While I am more interested in plot rather than the beauty, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. As an artist and an amateur movie-maker, I probably appreciate it more than the average citizen and am more nit-picky when it comes to my movies. I won't watch some stupid horror movie with a lame plot that's full of gore and nastiness. Where's the art in that?

So I'm not saying that technique and beauty aren't a good thing. On the contrary, it will definitely keep you in your seat watching the entire time, but plot is what makes you come back to watch it again.

Sherlock

I said in my last post that I might expound on the TV show I mentioned there. Well, I've got a long weekend of doing nothing ahead of me so I thought now would be a good time to write about it :)

OK, where to start... I guess I'll start where I normally do. A summary of how I was introduced. (I know I sort of did in my last post, but this will be a little more detailed). So, being a Doctor Who fan, I heard about two of the writers from Doctor Who that got together and came up with an idea for another show. Naturally, being a fan I was interested in other TV shows that they wrote, so when I came across the TV show called Sherlock... "WHAT IS THIS?? 8D" I didn't watch it right away though. For one thing I didn't know where to find it. And for another, I wasn't completely caught up on Doctor Who yet, so I was determined to finish that first. I have another blog elsewhere and some of the people I follow on there happen to watch the show. I started noticing their posts more and more and became more and more interested in it. Eventually, I found it on Netflix instant play and started to watch. After the first episode, I was hooked.

Sadly there's only one season with only three 90 minute episodes. However, despite the lack of footage, it is an amazing show! Season 2 is scheduled to air sometime in early 2012.

Anyways. What it is, is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. The original Sherlock Holmes stories take place in the late 1800's, so I find it extremely entertaining to see the characters and situations placed in a modern setting. Each episode is actually based off of at least one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories (unlike most of the movies where the writers have just made up the story entirely), except it's been modernized.

Sherlock Holmes is played by Benedict Cumberbatch (try saying that when you've just woken up), who's absolutely fantastic! Since it's modern, the characters refer to each other by

their first names which explains why the name of the show is just 'Sherlock' and not 'Sherlock Holmes'. One thing you need to remember about this character is that he's not a psychopath, he's high functioning sociopath "do your

research". In this adaption he loves to text and is extremely skilled when it comes to researching on the internet. Sadly, he doesn't smoke a pipe like the original Holmes (although, I suppose that would seem a bit odd in today's society). Instead, he uses nicotine patches, saying that "it's impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days". Even though he's in the modern world, he still maintains most of the original Sherlock Holmes character that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. Cudos to Benedict Cumberbatch for memorizing all those extremely long monologues of Sherlock's deductions and spewing them out at 90mph.

Dr. John Watson is played by Martin Freeman. This Watson has an amazing amount of depth compared to past Watsons. The episodes actually are mostly from his point of view like the books are. He is a traumatized war hero with trust issues, but then he meets Sherlock Holmes and then, boy, does his life get turned upside down. For the modern world, instead of writing down his adventures with Holmes as a diary for the public, he writes a blog. Another thing I found amusing was that the writers poke fun at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's continuity error by giving him a psychosomatic limp in his leg when he actually got wounded in the shoulder.

Each adaption of Sherlock Holmes portrays the Holmes/Watson relationship differently. In this adaption, their relationship is sort of like an older brother/younger brother relationship. Watson is constantly reprimanding Holmes for his rudeness, childish behavior, lack of moral principals, etc. But then of course, Watson obviously admires and trusts Holmes more than anybody else he knows. Despite their differences, they are very good friends. Watson is really the only person that Holmes actually seems to care about (and he clearly does a great deal by the third episode). Occasionally, people assume that Watson and Holmes are a couple because they live together, which I suppose is what would happen sometimes in today's society -__-. This is played for comedy as a running gag in the show since Watson gets annoyed at it and Holmes (par usual) hardly cares and lets Watson deal with it. More comedy comes from Holmes constantly insulting and being rude to everybody ("What is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring.") and Watson always having to cover and apologize for it.

Of course other original Sherlock Holmes characters are present as well. Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Moriarty. Mrs. Hudson's character doesn't really alter much from the original character as Holmes's and Watson's landlady. Lestrade has been modernized to a detective inspector who respects Holmes's abilities, but is easily irritated with him. The Holmes brothers are basically pure comedy; They're so melodramatic ("This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer.") and Sherlock's always just a sassy little brother to Mycroft XD. And then Moriarty... well I'm not going to say much on him. You'll just have to watch and see how they've upgraded our hero's arch-nemisis.

There's so much more I could say, but then I'd just give away the entire series. Basically, this show is amazing and I highly recommend it (especially if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan). I personally, get excited every time I notice a reference to the books, so I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was never bored.

CLICK FOR TRAILER

So to finish, I'm just going to put a couple of my favorite quotes here for my own amusement.

Sherlock: Shut up.

Lestrade: I didn't say anything.

Sherlock: You were thinking. It's annoying.

Sherlock: Anderson, don't talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the whole street.

Sherlock: Shut up! Everybody shut up! Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe! I'm trying to think! Anderson, face the other way, you're putting me off.

Anderson: What? My face is?

Watson: So why do you put up with him?

Lestrade: Because I'm desperate, that's why. Because Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day- if we're very, very lucky- he might even be a good one.

Watson: We can't giggle, it's a crime scene.

Sherlock: I need some air. We're going out tonight.

Watson: Actually, I've got a date.

Sherlock: What?

Watson: It's where two people who like each other go out and have fun.

Sherlock: That's what I was suggesting.

Watson: No, it wasn't.

Sherlock: I've disappointed you.

Watson: It's good, it's a good deduction, yeah.

Sherlock: Don't make people into heroes, John. Heroes don't exist and if they did I wouldn't be one of them.

A Mystery History

Guess what? It's NOT Doctor Who, or Disney, or the Scarlet Pimpernel, or any of the sort. I have other interests as well. The title should give you a hint if you know me at all. Any guesses? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Some might guess Nancy Drew. Well that's a good guess because I did read those an awful lot in my past, but that's not it. It's Sherlock Holmes.

Yeah, you probably thought of that as soon as you saw the word "mystery" (or maybe you didn't, what do I know?), but that's with good reason. He is, after all, the most well-known

detective in the world. I'm actually surprised at how many people don't know about Sherlock Holmes. They know he's a detective, but not much more than that. "Oh that guy with the weird hat and the pipe, right?" Well, allow me to enlighten you all.

First-- as it's a tradition in my posts-- I'll start by describing how I was introduced to Sherlock Holmes. Well, like most people, I just grew up hearing the name in pop culture. He's the

popular icon for detective. His magnifying glass and deerstalker cap= detective. Everybody

knows that, right? Anyways, I just knew that Sherlock Holmes was this great detective. Actually for the first probably about 8-10 years of my life I actually thought Sherlock Holmes was a real person. I had no idea he was a made up character in some books.

I found this out while I was in my dad's office and I found an extremely fat book entitled "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle". On the spine it said "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/ The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes/ The Hounds of Baskerville/ A Study in Scarlet/ And others". Of course, I was a bit confused. I wondered if it was some sort of a biography or something. I flipped through a couple pages and gathered that they were stories. Despite what some people think, I am actually an intelligent person (and was even when I was a kid) and I deduced that Sherlock Holmes was in fact a fictional character. I attempted to read the book, but since I was only about 8-10 years old, it was waaaay beyond my level so I quickly gave it up and put it back on the shelf. I soon forgot about it.

Several years later, I was a sophomore in high school. I, being a picky teenager, was bored with my entertainment. My mom continuously suggested reading a book; advice which I always ignored. One day I was in my dad's office, scanning the bookshelf out of boredom, when I found the fat red book again. Well, I decided to give it another try. To make a long story short, I was hooked after the first couple short stories. I started taking it to school to read in between classes (despite its massive size). It didn't fit in my backpack, so I carried it. It took me a couple months to finish the entire thing. So I can proudly say that I have read every single Sherlock Holmes story ever written (at the least the ones told from Watson's POV).

Now that we've got my background, on with my post. So I've always had an interest in mysteries and intense/suspense plots. I like it when stuff ties together in elaborate ways that makes you go "OH!! That's brilliant!" at the end of the period where you're whacking yourself in the head because you want to know what the heck is going on so badly. (That's why I thoroughly enjoy Doctor Who [especially season 6, good golly!]). The Sherlock Holmes stories are particularly unique mysteries because Holmes is such a genius. In most stories the author tries to make the main character relatable (in other words, makes them like us. Makes them a real person). In mystery novels, the detective or the person solving the mystery often is a person with real emotions and average intelligence with an average thinking process. That way we can follow them and figure out the mystery along with them. Also if the character has these average emotions, other options such as hostage situations, romantic connections, and other suspense situations are available for the author to include in their story.

Sherlock Holmes is different. I don't remember where I read it... some website... where somebody had calculated Holmes's IQ. I don't remember the exact number, but it was abnormally high. He also lacks certain human characteristics that don't allow the reader to connect with him so easily. The point of the stories, however, are not to connect to Sherlock Holmes. The goal is simply to observe Holmes as he unravels the mysteries that fall at his door. Holmes's friend, Dr. Watson, kindly laid out a list rating Holmes' knowledge/talents: "Literature- nil.; Philosophy- nil.; Astronomy- nil.; Politics- feeble; Botany- variable; Geology- practical, but limited; Chemistry- profound; Anatomy- accurate, but unsystematic; Sensational literature- immense; Plays the violin well; Is an expert in single-stick player, boxer, and is a swordsman; Has good practical knowledge of British law." Watson was also shocked to learn that Holmes did not know simple facts such as that the earth went around the sun. Holmes explained that if he ever did know that fact, he erased it from his memory because he only stores information in his mind that is useful to his work... which is a consulting detective (where the police consult him when they are out of their depths).

My favorite mysteries off the top of my head are A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, and The Red-Headed League. There's one more, I can remember the story, but I can't remember the title... oh well. What I like about the stories is that for a lot of them, Holmes doesn't even have to go investigate much. He just hears the story from the witness and draws a conclusion from the details. It's extremely fascinating. The stories are told from Watson's point of view for good reason because then we can follow HIS thought process and be amazed by Holmes's logic and abilities. Excellent writing choice on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's part.

One more thing I'd like to make a remark on: no where in any of the books does it mention a deerstalker cap. So I'd like to know where this tradition started. Who was the first to put him in one and why has it stuck? It does talk a lot about his pipe and I seem to recall him using a magnifying glass on occasion, but what's with the deerstalker cap and plaid coat?

That's one thing I liked about the recent movie with Robert Downey Jr. they didn't put him in the deerstalker hat. Despite what several people have said, I thought that RDJ did an excellent job of portraying Holmes and the story was very true to a Holmes adventure (even though it wasn't based off any specific one). The only difference was that it added a lot of action and violence, but I justified that by saying that the movie had to please today's audiences (also Watson specifically mentioned that Holmes was a boxer in the books). The portrayal of Watson was a refreshing take also. In the past, Watson was always Holmes's bumbling companion who happened to live with him. In the movie, he's younger, more athletic, and more capable of handling himself. Plus he seems more of a friend rather than a colleague to Holmes (as he should be. Although their friendship is a little more sassy in the movie than how it's described in the books). Of course they had to make Irene Adler a love interest to Holmes. I couldn't really justify it since the book specifically said that Holmes never looked at her romantically, but only remembered her because she was the only woman to ever outsmart him. But... it's a 21st century movie, there needs to be romance. However, I can't criticize it too much because the movie was very true to Sherlock Holmes, overall.

Sooo... what has rekindled my love for this detective lately, you might be wondering? Well, you will not be surprised that Doctor Who had something to do with it XD

Two Doctor Who writers came up with a modern-day Sherlock Holmes TV show called Sherlock. Being a Doctor Who fan, of course I heard of another show where the writers teamed up. Sadly, the next season doesn't come out until next year so I've been rewatching the three 90-minute episodes occasionally while up here at college. But maybe I'll make another post detailing the show some other time. Right now, I'm just going to leave this here. :)

My Top 10 Epic Speeches from DW

This is the same as my last post except with some of the Doctor's most epic speeches. Eleven has had the most epic moments so far I think, so he's on this list a lot. Now this is my personal opinion so just because they are his most famous speeches doesn't mean they are the most epic in my opinion. To pass as epic for me, it means they either give me shivers and/or they just make me grin proudly. Well, here we go then :)

#10) Bye!- Given by the Tenth Doctor in The Stolen Earth.

#9) The Devil- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Wedding of River Song.

#8) Fear Me- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Doctor's Wife.

#7) Genocide- Given by the Tenth Doctor in The Doctor's Daughter.

#6) Don't Blink- Given by the Tenth Doctor in Blink. (It starts at 1:35 in this clip)

#5) No- Given by the Ninth Doctor in The Parting of Ways.

#4) Trap- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Time of Angels.

#3) I'm a Time Lord- Given by the Tenth Doctor in Voyage of the Damned.

#2) The Pandorica- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Pandorica Opens.

#1) Basically, Run- Given by the Eleventh Doctor in The Eleventh Hour.

Top 10 Funniest Moments of... you guessed it :P

Again, this is just my own amusement. I'm compiling the top ten funniest moments from Doctor Who in my opinion. Like I said in my previous post, the show isn't all seriousness and action, there's some pretty darn hilarious stuff too. It was rather difficult trying to narrow it down and rate them into favorites. So here we go :)

#10) Off With His Head- the Doctor meets Queen Elizabeth I for the first time, but it's not her first time meeting him.

#9) The Judoon- The Doctor and Donna meet the Judoon, but since they are under jurisdiction of the Shadow Proclamation, they cannot use the TARDIS translation circuit. Luckily the Doctor speaks all languages.

#8) The Thing- The Doctor needs a plan. If he keeps talking, maybe he'll come up with one.

#7) Ghostbusters- The Doctor and Rose are going to investigate some paranormal activity.

#6) Look At These People- The Doctor gives a speech about humans... but are they really his words?

#5) The Fez- The death of everyone's favorite headgear.

#4) Rory's Stag Party- Rory has a surprise guest the night before his wedding with some surprising news.

#3) A Target- The Doctor comes up with a plan to figure out what's shooting at him and Amy

#2) Possessed- A woman's spirit has possessed Rose and the Doctor makes her leave her body, but where's she going to go?

And finally, my absolute favorite laugh out loud...

#1) Poisoned- While visiting Agatha Christie, the Doctor gets poisoned. But he can fix that by brewing up a recipe with Donna's help.