Life stuff
2011 featured a lot of ups and downs for me. Fortunately, it was comprised of mostly Ups. I saw some friends in Scotland again, which is always a good thing. Two of my best friends got married, which is definitely a good thing! I was an Usher for them, and recieved a very nice wallet as a thank you. There were also the usual Birthday Parties and night outs to enjoy, which are always good.
One set back came when the woman I currently like became involved with someone else, but what can you do? I didn't make a move in time. It's no one's fault but my own in that respect. As the old saying goes, there are plenty more fish in the Sea.
My health related issues got a little worse for reasons I won't go into here. The people who need to know details already know details and for everyone else can simply sod off!
I also find it a little worrying that most of what I can think is related to sci fi stuff, and not my own life.
Likes and what not
As always, my love for Science Fiction was sated with Doctor Who, Fringe, Haven and, towards the end of the year, Terra Nova.
The figures produced this year were a bit hit and miss. There were plenty of Classic Who Releases, including Enemy of the Nth Doctor Sets, a concept I hope continues for a while, and The Chase Set! Gotta love some classic Daleks! On the flip side, the Nu Who Line left me disappointed. While there were some truly brilliant figures, most of the line was made up entirely of re-releases, both tweaked and untweaked. As I mentioned in a previous post, the new CB line seems to be getting a bit more attention.
2011 was something of a bittersweet year for Doctor Who Fans. Two beloved actors, Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen, sadly passed away. In the latter's case, this meant the end of the popular spin-off Sarah Jane Adventures. Fortunately, the last episode served as a fitting finale, and Sarah Jane Smith was most definitely at her best throughout!
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| Gone, but definitely not forgotten |
Doctor Who was, as usual, brilliant. Some episodes could've been better, especially Night Terrors. I think Mark Gatiss spent too much time building up the atmosphere (he did that well) and found he had to rush the conclusion. Another slightly lackluster episode was "The God Complex", though I think this was more to do with how much this episode was built up by trailers and what not. Fortunately, these two were the only bad episodes of the second half of the Series. The rest were brilliant, especially those with River Song. The Wedding of River Song was stunning, both visual and in terms of storytelling. Moffat will have to pull out every stop to top it (which I have every faith he will).
As I mentioned above, the passing of Elisabeth Sladen spelt the end for the Sarah Jane Adventures. However, due to her illness, Mrs Miller (her married name) had requested that they film part of Series 5 with Series 4, which meant that there were a few more episodes to show. "Sky", the premiere episode, opened the series with a bang. Named for the "new Luke" character, it served as a suitable introduction for the soon to be Sky Smith. The Curse of Clyde Langer followed it, and featured Cylde falling under the influence of an Alien entity and becomes instantly hated by any who hear or read his name.
The finale, The Man Who Never Was, served as an exceptional end to the Series. Due to it not being intended as such, it has a feel of "All Good Things...", the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation to it. I have to say, I love endings like that. For those not in the know, "All Good Things..." ends with Captain Picard joining the Poker Game and the Enterprise flying off into Space, ready to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life. I always like the idea of endings which imply that, while this part of the story has ended, the main one hasn't. Obviously, with Elisabeth Sladen's death, several mysteries that were intended to be explored in later episodes and series, such as the identity of the Shopkeeper and Captain, will never be explained, but I can live with that.
Torchwood: Miracle Day left something to be desired as well. After two brilliant episodes, the plot just seemed to slow down. The characters you wanted to live died in the end, the characters you wanted to die lived and (in one case) (SPOILERS) became immortal (SPOILERS). The explaination for what caused the Miracle was medicore at best, and downright lazy at worst. The only good thing about the series was seeing how the Rhys/Gwen dynamic had evolved, and the end of the damn Jack/Gwen/Rhys Triangle, with Gwen FINALLY choosing Rhys over Jack.
Other stuff of note
There really isn't anything else I can think of to add, beyond 2011 was just as good or bad as the year before it (except for May - May 2011 was DEFINITELY better than May 2010). As an overall final grade, I give 2011 a 7/10. Lots of good bits, but some bad ones as well.
There you go.
It is now 01:28am and I am done. Please return to your regular lives.
Seriously, it's done. Leave please.
No more Retropectiving.
This is just sad. Go away.
GO AWAY, DAMNITT!
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