Today marks exactly four months since I started this ridiculous project, and I am so grateful to have had you (my imaginary readers) along by my side for every step of the way. Speaking of steps, in that time I have taken a total of 775,660 steps on the treadmill for a total distance of 374.91 miles. Also during that time I have lost 33.28 lbs, which is an average of 1.96 lbs per week. I have long understood that the healthy rate of weight loss is about 1-2 lbs per week, and so I feel like I am right on target.

Let's talk a bit more about that, plus about the end of The Invasion.

This morning's viewing of episodes five and six of The Invasion culminated in one of the most iconic shots in the history of Doctor Who. After much skulking about in the sewer system, the Cybermen are finally fully revealed as they emerge onto the streets of London, including a group of them marching down a flight of steps with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. If you were going to pick a single image to represent the Second Doctor's era, this would be the one. So much so that a few years ago, when my wife and I took a trip to Great Britain, there was a moment when we were walking around London and I suddenly noticed exactly where we were and I had to take a photo. Sure, I took lots of other touristy pictures, but that was the one moment that really spoke to me. 

But long before we get to that point, there are two episodes full of story that made me realize that Professor Watkins' daughter Isobel is truly a sociopath.

Let's talk about that.

Keeping this one brief, because it's late in the day and I want to go to bed. Also, today's two episodes of The Invasion really just finish setting up the main story.

Let's talk about that.

Oh, there are just so so many things to say about The Invasion, which I started today. It's a slow-burner of a story (although not originally intended to be), and contains a long list of firsts for the show. But before I get there, just a bit about my progress -- after fighting mightily to break below the 280 mark, I had a very rapid drop of weight in what seemed like a very short time. It felt like I dropped from 280 to 274 virtually overnight. As generally happens whenever I have a rapid drop like that, it is followed by a short bounce-back, which is where I have been the past few days. The good news is, although the five day moving average still went up a bit again today, I am very much back on a downward trend in the daily numbers. I expect to see it turn around again tomorrow. In the grand scheme of things I am very much on pace with where I want to be. As a matter of fact, tomorrow I need to go shopping for a new belt because I have already punched one extra hole in my current belt and now that's too loose. How's that for a happy problem?

Anyway, getting back to The Invasion... let's talk about that.

The five day moving average is a double-edged sword. Today is the third consecutive day in which I have weighed in lower than the previous day, and also the third consecutive day in which the moving average of my weight has gone up slightly. Thanks, math! I think tomorrow is the day it turns around again, so that will be nice. Speaking of turning things around, in this morning's viewing of The Web of Fear the Doctor definitely turned things around against the Great Intelligence.

Let's talk about that.

Of the 97 seven currently missing episodes of Doctor Who, some are more disappointing than others. I mean, I don't find it particularly galling that three out of the four episodes of The Celestial Toymaker are missing, but it is particularly sad that we have lost William Hartnel's final episode, and all of Marco Polo and The Highlanders. Today's viewing provided another sharp disappointment: The very first appearance of Then-Colonel-and-Eventually-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart happens in episode 3 of The Web of Fear, and is the only episode missing from that story. Lethbridge-Stewart is a towering figure in Doctor Who history, with appearances spanning from The Web of Fear in 1968 all the way up through to an episode of The Sarah Jane Chronicles in 2008, always played brilliantly by Nicholas Courtney. His calm unflappability in the face of any danger, no matter how bizarre, marks him as a staunch ally and personal friend of the Doctor, and one of the very few who spanned multiple regenerations. I was so excited to finally meet him on the show today, and so sad that his initial appearance was just a series of still photos set against a cleaned-up audio track. There is no question that as soon as he steps into the story, the quality goes up immediately.

Let's talk about that.