Before I get to today's viewing of The Highlanders, I need to tell a weight loss story. So, last night my wife and I were getting ready to go out on a date to see a show. I had just put away a bunch of laundry, and I chose a nice gray button-down shirt to wear. As soon as I put it on, it felt a little snug. "That's weird," I thought, "lately I have been fitting into shirts I haven't worn in ages, this should fit me fine..."  I started to button it, and it really started feeling tight. I was beginning to panic, thinking my belly had suddenly bloated in size. It was really frustrating, especially since last week I had a definite road bump in my weight loss progress. I tried to adjust the shirt a little (as if that would make any difference), when my wife looked at me and said, "Are you trying to wear one Ben's shirts?" (Ben is our 23 year old autistic son.)  All of a sudden it made perfect sense. I wasn't suddenly fatter again, I was just stupid! I had mistaken the top shirt from his basket of laundry as my own. Lord, I am moron sometimes....

Anyway, about Doctor Who: today I started The Highlanders, which is notable for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is the last pure historical story every done in the series (unless you count 1982's Black Orchid, which is set in a historical time period and with no science fiction elements, but which is not based on any real historical event.)  Second of all, it is the story that introduces Jamie McCrimmon, who would go on to be the longest running Doctor Who companion of all time.

Let's talk about that.

Given that the fourth episode of The Power of the Daleks ends on the huge Dalek factory reveal, it is no great surprise that all hell breaks out for the last two episodes. The rebel uprising that has been simmering in the background so far comes to full fruition, just as the chief of security stages his coup to seize the governorship and the army of Daleks are finally unleashed upon the colony. The level of mayhem and bloodshed is simply breathtaking for a story of this era.

Let's talk about that.

Back when I was in college, my best friend and I invented a fake hair metal band named Baby Factory. (I swear there's a point to this.) Their first album was titled Pre-Mature Labor, with cover artwork that showed a sweatshop factory with conveyor belts manned entirely by babies wearing hard hats. There first big single was O.B.G.Y.N. (Oh Baby, Gimme Your Number). They also had a second album titled Oedipus Complex, with a cover design showing a block of suburban tract houses with the hard hat babies out front mowing their lawns, and each house had big Roman columns framing their front doors. It's been 25 years, and every once in a while I still noodle around with the idea just because it's so fun. I even started actually writing the song once. What does that have to do with Doctor Who? Well, in today's episode there is a big reveal with the Daleks constructing a fleet of new pepperpot tanks, and then manning them with freshly-grown tenticularly blobby baby Daleks. They have literally built a Baby Factory.

Let's talk about that.

Okay, so I am going to admit my bias right up front: Patrick Troughton is my favorite Doctor, hands down. I can certainly understand when someone picks Tom Baker (or David Tennant, depending on their age), there is a strong argument to be made for either. But it was Patrick Troughton who invented the Doctor as we know him today. William Hartnell was a proto-Doctor, a waspish prick at the end of his first life who spent most of his time imperiously bossing people around with wild arrogance. With the Second Doctor we finally see the mirthful genius who can effortlessly glide between clownishness and terrifying resolve. He set the template for every Doctor to follow, and it is his performance that energized and rejuvenated the show.

Let's talk about that.