Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Countdown: The Eighth Doctor

The Eighth Doctor was an effortlessly charming, romantic figure. He was unguarded about his background and was equally candid about what the future held for people he came into contact with. It seems ironic that so much about this open Doctor remains a closed book.

When the Seventh Doctor was shot on the streets of San Francisco he didn't immediately regenerate. He was whisked away to a city hospital where - despite his pleas - he was operated on by Doctor Grace Holloway. After a dramatic operation, in which his alien physiology confused and complicated the procedure, she thought her attempts to save his life had failed. But later that night in a creepy morgue the Doctor began to change…

It would prove another tricky regeneration. "I was dead too long, this time," he told Grace. "The anaesthetic almost destroyed the regenerative process." Perhaps because of this complication, the new Doctor initially suffered from amnesia. He could remember things about Leonardo di Vinci and reminisced about Puccini, but he couldn't recall who he was. Most strikingly, he somehow knew extraordinary facts about people around him. As he was happy to share this knowledge it led to several poignant moments. "…it was a childish dream that made you a doctor. You dreamt you could hold back death," he reminded Grace, before adding, "Don't be sad… You'll do great things."

The Eighth Doctor soon regained his memory and unlike previous Doctors seemed at ease when discussing his childhood, bewitching his companion with stories of a youth spent on Gallifrey with his father. Indeed, he came across as being incredibly open about who he was and his entire background, chatting about everything from his two hearts to his home planet. He was also a more romantic figure than previous Doctors and kissed Grace as fireworks exploded on New Year's Eve.

Yet just like the Third Doctor he could be a man of action - zipping across the highways of California on a motorbike and using a fire hose to drop down the outside of a building! He also demonstrated a gift for sleight of hand, dexterously stealing a policeman's gun at one point and later removing the ID pass from a man he was chatting to, without him noticing!

Most of the Eighth Doctor's adventures remain a mystery to us. We saw him battle the Master and save the world in 1999 before bidding farewell to Grace. She questioned how she could find him again and he replied "I'm easy to find! I'm the guy with two hearts, remember?" Moments later, he was gone…


Taken from the BBC.

Thursday: Sunnydale's Number 1 Witch

Yes, it really is Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Just like last week, my sketch doesn't completely 100% look like Willow, but I think you can tell who it is.

I think all of her proportions are correct, although her hair is slightly too long. I think this sketch of Willow is a lot better than the one I did of Buffy, but the face still seems odd. Much like the other Buffy sketch, the left eye is too big and the pupil is out of proportion with the rest of the eye. I really need to work on that!

Sorry there aren't any face emotions again this week, I'll tell you the reason why tomorrow...

Wednesday: The Queen of Evil

I love Maleficent, she is my favourite female Disney villain. I've been dying to draw her ever since I started this drawing project. I didn't want to draw her yet as I wanted to wait until my drawing skills had improved slightly. But after hearing about the Maleficent movie that's currently in production from last weeks D23, I thought I can't wait anymore!

I think the proportions of the face and Maleficent's hat thing are correct, it's her facial features that let the sketch down. I love the way I've drawn her eyebrows, they look really evil. The eyes aren't too bad, but they could be better.And the nose is ok, although her nostril is a bit too high. I really need to learn to draw lips properly, because the lips ruin this sketch for me.

Tuesday: I've Shocked Myself

Today's animal sketch really surprised me, it can fool people into thinking I can actually draw. I don't like drawing things from books, because it makes me feel like I'm not really that good. But anyway what has become traditional in my sketches, I've managed to mess some of it up… again. This time it's the beak, it is slightly crooked and longer than it should be. But other than that I really like it!

Monday: Hoping It Will Get Better

It hasn't been a very good week for me. I've been really worried about university, mainly because I don't know if I can progress onto the second year of my animation course. I love my friends, my class and everything about uni, so I hate the fact that I might not be able to go back. I only need twenty points in order to continue. I re-submitted some work for two of my modules, but I still didn't have enough points. I don't know if any of my lecturers recieved my work and I won't find out till September. The only thing that's stopping me from going totally insane with worry is my drawing project.

Sadly I couldn't go to the life drawing class in Birmingham this week, so it was back to random images from Google.

This week's and last week's sketches haven't been too bad, to be honest. But the above images were kind of easy to draw, I need more of a challenge. So hopefully the life drawing class in Birmingham will be that challenge and I will get better!

Thursday: Everyone's favourite Slayer

I know you can't tell, but it really is Buffy! I've really wanted to draw something from Buffy's world for a while now, because Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off show Angel are two of my favourite shows of all time. I decided to start with the main slayer herself… Buffy. Her hair is a bit weird and her left eye is too big, but it does look a lot like Miss Summers if you see it from the corner of your eye!

There won't be any face emotions this week, but everything will be back to normal next week!

Wednesday: Back to Disney

After hearing the news about Disney's latest movie The Pirate Fairy from this year's D23, I decided to draw two of the stars from that movie. The first character I have chosen is Tinker Bell, she and her friends go to a mystical island and get their powers switched. The second character I've chosen is James, who you should recognise because he will one day become Captain Hook!

I'm really pleased with these sketches, apart from maybe Mickey or Goofy, I think Tinker Bell and Captain Hook are the best Disney drawings I've done since the dwarfs. My Tinker Bell sketch is pretty much perfect apart from the right eye, it looks like its been stretched and so doesn't match her other eye. My Captain Hook sketch is great too, but there are two things that just aren't right. The first thing is his arm that is stretched out, it might just be me but it looks weird and I should've drawn it better. Secondly the way I've drawn the bottom of his jacket makes it look like he's wearing a dress!