You know what makes me stupid happy? This graph:

A week ago I had pretty much come to the conclusion that I had more or less reached the endpoint of my weight loss, and that I was going to level out in the upper 250's. I spent most of October hovering around 258 - sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower, but not really making any forward progress. And then five days ago the dam broke. You can see the exact moment in the chart above, where the blue line takes a sudden dip down at the end. That dip makes me extremely happy, all the more so because it is consistent over several days and not just a fluke. Whatever plateau I was up against, I seem to have broken through it. Five days ago I was feeling pretty demoralized despite my overall success, today I am feeling energized. What a difference a week can make.

I also finished the final story of the fifteenth season of Doctor Who this morning, so let's talk about that.

The Invasion of Time - Parts 5 & 6

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The fifth episode has everyone reeling from the sudden appearance of the Sontarans, with the Doctor and friends swiftly escaping to relative (if brief) safety, and of course with the slimy Castellan Kelner (played by the very awesome Milton Johns) immediately sucking up to the Sontarans.

"I, for one, welcome our new insect Sontaran overlords."

The real fun happens in episode six, though. The Doctor has holed up in the TARDIS along with Leela, K9, and several other friendlies, but Kelner is able to bypass the locks and let the Sontarans inside. Much of the episode is spent running around the extensive interior of the TARDIS, including passing through the same two locations multiple times to great comedic effect. Prior to this episode we have virtually never seen any space inside the TARDIS aside from the control room, and now we finally spend nearly twenty minutes exploring just how ridiculously massive the interior is, and how maze-like and non-linear the layout is. 

In the end the Doctor does a Clever Thing and destroys the Sontaran invading force. As a side effect, he also loses all memory of the entire story, including the fact that he was ever President of Gallifrey. Also in the end, Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey to be with Captain Andred, with whom she never showed even a glimmer of attraction throughout the story. It is a completely random swerve, largely because actress Louise Jameson didn't make a decision on whether or not to sign a new contract until literally the last possible moment, so the writers had to keep their options open. Not only does Leela stay behind, but K9 elects to remain with her to "look after the Mistress".

In the final shot, however, as the Doctor dematerializes in the TARDIS, he brings out a new large box labeled "K9 Mark II". So, K9 both stays behind and also continues on for all effective purposes.

I loved this story so much. If it doesn't quite soar to the heights of the Holmes/Hinchcliffe Gothic era, it only misses the mark slightly. Tom Baker still has three more seasons left in his epic run as the Doctor, and the next season is the immoral Key to Time cycle of stories - for the first time linking together an entire season into a single over-arching plot. Not to mention I also get to meet the Time Lady Romanadvoratrelundar again for the first time. 

Oh, I love this project.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Leela, K-9
Episode(s): The Invasion of Time - Parts 5 & 6
Steps Walked: 7,519 today, 1,651,795 total
Distance Walked: 4.10 miles today, 826.91 miles total
Weight: 254.50 lbs (five day moving average), net change -52.80 lbs