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I’m a massive Dr. Who fan, and this really took me back. There were more than a few late nights spent watching Tom Baker’s magical scarf trip the light fantastic across my local PBS station’s airwaves. Baker will always be “my” Doctor, and I can’t wait to introduce Scout to hers (probably David Tennant or Matt Smith).

But, in spite of the changes in actors, sets, TARDISes, companions, and showrunners, one thing that has always remained constant is the awesomeness of the theme song. Variations abound across the 50 year span of the show, but that heavy, driving pre-electronica synth bass riff has always been the anchor for me. This youtube video has all the themes used on the show since the 60s, and watching/hearing them all back to back made me appreciate its constancy over the course of the show even more. Check it out!

The Doctor Who Themes (Every Doctor Who Theme 1963 – 2010)

Bonus: All the Doctor’s regenerations! Doctor Who Regenerations

So, in the midst of continuing work on the next issue of Venger, I have stumbled on an interesting little new release. Put together by Ignition Entertainment and Access Games, Deadly Premonition is an incredibly odd duck (gameduck?). Admittedly I am only through Chapter 1 so far, but I am hooked.  Here’s why.

As a kid, I clearly remember the slathering hoopla around a little show called Twin Peaks. The brainchild of David Lynch and Mark Frost, the series built a deep mythos of intriguing, odd characters all affected by the sudden death of a local high-school girl named Laura Palmer. Her murder was a shock to the small town of Twin Peaks that caused most of the community’s demons to bubble to the surface. Witnessing this cauldron of hidden issues was the eccentric FBI agent sent to work with local law enforcement to sort out the girl’s grisly end (she was found wrapped in plastic inside an abandoned train car). The show got weirder as time went on, introducing opposing forces of good and evil (represented by white and black “lodges”) and the now-infamous backwards-talking little person, portrayed by highly underrated character actor Michael J. Anderson (last seen in the also highly underrated Carnivale on HBO). It was a show that required your attention and demanded faithful viewership a good 15 years before someone went and invented Lost and changed serialized drama for good. Even as a kid I loved it. Dale Cooper (the FBI agent) was my hero and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I clearly remember watching the first season finale. It ended with a horrendous cliffhanger and I was royally peeved. I didn’t know how I, as a satisfaction-seeking twelve year old, was going to make it 6 months before I found out what happened next. I then recall watching the news right after the finale aired and seeing the footage from all the Twin Peaks parties that had been held in the area and their wordless gasps as the final scene played out, at least knowing that others were in the same boat as me. It’s an indelible part of my pop culture upbringing.

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