emily k(nits, watches, and writes)

Why hello there! Happy 2009! I decided to put up my Doctor Who paper on here. Check out the links to the left. I’m still cleaning up some code, sorting out videos, and figuring out the best way to include my citations. So as of right now it’s at about 90%. I’ll get the rest sorted in the next few days. Enjoy, and please leave comments!

I’ll just get right to it. Here is the best episode of Star Trek. Ever.

1. The City on the Edge of Forever
S1E28, Originally aired April 6th, 1967
Written by Harlan Ellison; Directed by Joseph Pevney

Captain’s log, supplemental entry. Two drops of cordrazine can save a man’s life, a hundred times that amount has just accidentally been pumped into Dr. McCoy’s body. In a strange, wild frenzy, he has fled the ship’s bridge. All connecting decks have been placed on alert. We have no way of knowing if the madness is permanent or temporary, or in what direction it will drive McCoy.

Star Trek, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

Who didn’t see this coming? This is an absolutely incredible episode, and it deserves all of the praise it has received over the years since it’s first airing. The script is incredible, the acting is terrific (particularly Shatner, this is quite possibly his best acting ever), and the story has a great mix of comedy and tragedy.

I immediately knew I loved this episode when Kirk and Spock have their encounter with a 1930s police officer. It’s absolutely hilarious. When you watch a show like Star Trek it’s so easy to feel comfortable with the characters and their surroundings. Seeming them as powerless, as fishes out of water, makes them that much easier to relate to and somehow seem more “real.” Once you see them here, and see that they are infallible in a way yet to be explored by TOS, you really just love Kirk and Spock.

Edith Keeler and Jim Kirk

Time travel is always a tricky issue. I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who (as you’ll note if you know me and/or my research) so I deal with time travel and canon in tv quite regularly. What happens when you travel into the past? What changes? The implications and ramifications of time travel are mind boggling and so so cool to think about. The fact that this one person, Edith Keeler, is so instrumental seems totally far-fetched. But the ramifications of her life, or death, makes the story so compelling. Throw in Kirk, a lonely and love-starved star ship captain (a character trait little explored in TOS during the first season, but something famously exploited in the remainder of the show), and you know you’re in for a ride. A tragic, angsty, ride.

Please, please go watch this episode. Right now.

Here are the videos for my presentation titled “Representation of Genre in the Music of Doctor Who (1963).”

The Twilight Zone Intro (1959)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7uGEPgoXk]

The Outer Limits Intro (1961)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjhWhw2I8]

Doctor Who Full Opening Sequence from “An Unearthly Child”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLYSfWzKilI]

Doctor Who, Into the TARDIS
Our first look at the interior of the TARDIS
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNUpeGu9a4]

And just for fun:
Futurama‘s spoof on The Twilight Zone/The Outer Limits
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma2Hqq0PVbU]

I just posted this to the main page of the site, but I want to share it here for prosperity. This is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen in my entire life. If you appreciate this humor send me an email. We should be friends.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACCAF04wSs]