One fat geek's SUCCESSFUL attempt to regenerate into a not-so-fat geek by watching the entirety of Doctor Who while walking on a treadmill

Sky and the Bannerman (Road)

Dec 31 2018
Sky and the Bannerman (Road)

It's New Year's Eve, the classic day for taking stock. Here I am, very nearly two years into this ridiculous project, and although I completed the entirety of Doctor Who itself several months ago I still have plenty more material to work through. I will wrap up The Sarah Jane Adventures in a few more days, and then I still have the Australian K9 series to watch, the more recent YA spinoff Class, I have the two Peter Cushing films, three semi-unofficial spinoffs featuring Sergeant Benton and the like, not to mention the recent Thirteenth Doctor's debut season. Oh, and also the recent reconstruction of Shada, the recent BluRay release of the Fifth Doctor's first season, and I expect the upcoming BluRay of the Fourth Doctor's final season will be out before I run out of these things. So yeah, several more months to go before I even have to think about what's next. As for my own personal progress, it feels like this year has been a mixed bag. I am much stronger physically than I was a year ago, able to do a hundred push-ups with little difficulty and two hundred sit-ups with somewhat more difficulty. I am about fifteen pounds heavier than I was a year ago, but some of that is clearly do to increased muscle mass. And in any case, I keep stressing that this isn't about weight (more often than not I am stressing that to myself, because on some days it is awfully hard to believe that). But broadly speaking I am extremely satisfied with what I have accomplished with this ridiculous project, and with how I continue to improve health-wise. So hey, 2018 has been a pretty dang good year overall.

Sky - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

I don't want to sound too cranky, because on its own merits this was a perfectly serviceable story. An alien baby is left on Sarah Jane's doorstep, the baby is being pursued by two opposing forces, and the Earth is about to be caught in the middle of an interplanetary conflict. Isolated within itself, as I say, it is a perfectly well-written and well-performed story.

But.

First of all, as my post title above alludes to, Doctor Who previously did a story about a rapidly-growing alien child who is a hidden weapon being pursued by multiple forces, back in Delta and the Bannermen during the (very excellent) Seventh Doctor's run. Sure, that story was laden with 1950's references and rockabilly music, but the central plot was very similar indeed.

Also, this show already swapped out one character for another almost identical character when Maria was replaced by Rani in the second season. Although I have grown to like Rani quite a bit as her character has grown and changed, the simple fact is that when she was introduced she really was just NotMaria -- plugged into the script with virtually nothing to distinguish her from her predecessor. Now here we have Sarah Jane adopting yet another genetically engineered teenager who had been created to be a weapon and who has now grown a conscience under Sarah Jane's guidance. Ok, so Sky is a girl where Luke was a boy, and Sky really is an alien where Luke was purely human. But in every important aspect, Sky is just another character being slotted in to fill exactly the same role and function because of the departure of another cast member. It's just... lazy.

Unfortunately for Sky, she isn't going to have the opportunity to grow and evolve like Rani did. In another, happier timeline where Elisabeth Sladen did not tragically pass away, she might have had a chance. But I really don't see her getting the opportunity to do much in the next two days.

I dunno, I guess I will find out next year. By which I mean tomorrow.

Happy New Year's to all of you, my dear imaginary readers. I treasure every single one of you (even if you don't really exist).

STATS:

Featuring: Sarah Jane Smith, Sky Smith, Clyde Langer, Rani Chandra
Episode(s): Sky - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,439 today, 4,208,921 total
Distance Walked: 3.85 miles today, 2,203.22 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 100 today, 9,500 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 2,665 total
Weight: 260.84 lbs (five day moving average), net change -45.92 lbs


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