Exactly thirteen years ago today, on Saturday March 26th of 2005, Doctor Who returned to the BBC after a sixteen year absence. Happy birthday, NuWho! 

As for today's viewing, on a surface level it plows the same fields as the Sixth Doctor story Vengeance on Varos but updated for twenty-first century television. So let's talk about that.

The inaugural season of the revived Doctor Who had just finished a remarkable run of five episodes, four of which were superior and the fifth of which was at least very good. In another week it would launch into the big two-part season finale. Sandwiched in between those remarkable sequences, however, apparently Russell T Davies thought to himself, "what this show really needs is another hour of flatulence."

God help me, let's talk about it.

I had a callback today for a show today. I think it went well, but I'm such a neophyte at this acting thing it's hard to really tell. But I saw several friends there from two other shows I have done, and many other familiar faces, so if nothing else it was a lot of fun. With any luck, this summer I will be back on stage again. If not, I will definitely be in the audience because it's going to be a fun show.

Of course, I also watched Doctor Who this morning. It had my single favorite Ninth Doctor scene in it, so let's talk about that.

Today has been a tremendously satisfying day. First of all, I managed to do sixty pushups today. A month ago I could only do three. I expected to barely break fifty today, but here I am. Aside from that, I got a callback for the show I auditioned for. How cool is that? On top of that I had an extremely productive day at work, completely refactoring a big chunk of code plus fixing something like fifteen bugs. Like I say, it's been a satisfying day.

I also watched the first half of arguably the single best story of the Ninth Doctor era. So let's talk about that.

Look, I've got father issues. Heck, I put together an entire show to work through them (seriously, if you are in Central Florida please come see The Gospel According to My Old Man at the Orlando Fringe Festival this coming May). So there was never any question that the story about Rose going back to 1987 and the day of her father's death was going to get me right in the feels. And it totally did.

So let's talk about that.

I really surprised myself this morning, after my 55 minutes on the treadmill I did 48 pushups. I expect on Friday I will break 50. How wild is that? Other than that I pretty much spent my day heads-down writing code, and don't have much of anything interesting to talk about. 

So let's talk Doctor Who.

Today marks the thirteen month anniversary of the day I started this ridiculous project. In that time I have walked 1,339.57 miles on the treadmill while taking 2,579,882 steps, watching 703 episodes and 61 stories of Doctor Who, and losing 57.82 pounds in weight. I have also gone from barely being able to do three push-ups to being able to do forty. I have reached a point where I am no longer actively losing weight, but my body shape continues to change. Heck, just last night I auditioned for a part in a stage production where, if I actually get cast, I will need to be able to roller skate. I feel (to quote the Ninth Doctor) fantastic!

As for this morning's viewing, this is the story that (for me at least) put a stake in the ground and declared, "This is Doctor Who, and it not only has something to say but the skill to say it." So let's talk about that.

I did forty push-ups this morning. Forty! How cool is that? Not so bad for a guy who could barely do three just a few weeks ago. In other happy news, I have an theatre audition in... (checks my watch)... two and a half hours. Wish me luck. I feel good about it, but you just never know. So, lots of good things happening today.

Then again, I watched the second half of the farting alien story today, so there's that. Let's talk about it.

Look, I'm gonna be honest with you: I'm not especially psyched about writing this post. There have been episodes in the past that I haven't been fond of (I'm looking at you, Planet of Giants), but even with the worst of them I haven't been insulted by them. Disappointed? Sure. But never insulted. Until now.

So let's get this over with.

As of about an hour ago, I watched the seven hundredth episode of Doctor Who while walking on a treadmill. Can you believe it? I am still about four months away from the finish line, but it's getting about four miles closer every day. 

It's late, I'm tired, so let's talk about this so I can get to bed.