I cared about the minor characters--all of them felt like real people. I cared about the Doctor (more than I have pretty much ever since Moffat took over; he didn’t say or do anything disturbing but was still a morally complex character who acts his age, and Peter bless him took full advantage of the amazing material this episode.) And OF COURSE I cared about Bill Potts--I mean honestly, she’s a bright young lesbian with a love of learning that’s being fostered by the Doctor and she’s as soppy and single as me, also ‘low key in love’ with the TARDIS (finally the ultimate femslash ship we’ve been waiting for XD)
I don’t know how to explain it but this episode FELT like the Doctor Who I love. Its tone (mischievous and quick) wouldn’t’ve been out of place in RTD’s era and the narrative condemned racism and classism, emphasising the value of human (and diverse other kinds of) life--these are the values which have been making Doctor Who such a unique and well-loved show for over half a century <33
Sarah has worked on Merlin and Being Human in the past as well as creating her own Welsh romantic-comic series (Cara Fi), and today she wrote an episode of the show I grew up with, the show which comforts me when I’m anxious and lifts my spirits when I’m depressed--the show which reminds all of us of our individual and collective worth 💛 :)
The cookbook at the front is delicious.: 5 of the Best, by Valli Little. It collects recipes from delicious. magazine. I happen to own a copy. It's pretty great.
Here's the blurb:
Stuck for a simple yet scrumptious midweek meal, or searching for an exciting new recipe for a special dinner party? Then look no further: ‘5 of the Best’ is the answer to a cook’s prayer, offering all this and more. Internationally known food editor Valli Little has trawled through five years’ worth of delicious. magazine’s favourite feature recipes to bring you a stunning selection of dishes for every day and every occasion. This book will quickly establish itself as the only cookery book you’ll ever need, as it fast tracks to the very best recipe in a wide range of categories. No more searching through other books for the simplest starter, the most successful fish dish or the most delectable dessert. Whether it’s side dishes or main courses, meat or vegetarian recipes you’re after, you’ll find it here in no time in this easy- to-access collection.
All the dishes are quick and easy to make, with creative yet accessible combinations of ingredients and simple, straightforward methods. Beautifully illustrated and with a total of 150 recipes, ‘5 of the Best’ really does provide a complete – and, of course, delicious – culinary repertoire.
Allow me to get my publishing nerd on.
This is an Australian book but that copy was obviously purchased in the UK (see: price sticker in pounds). I can't quite make out the logo on the spine but it's definitely not the ABC Books logo, which makes it a coedition rather than an export copy. A quick dig online says Quadrille licensed UK rights, and I guess the spine logo matches that, although I can't say for sure.
It doesn't look like a library book, which means Vic probably didn't 'long-term borrow' it, as we know he did some of his other cooking reference materials.
5 of the Best was first published in 2007 in the UK and is the most recent-looking of all of the cookbooks visible here (with the possible exception of the one at the back, which I can't get a good look at).
Headcanon: Vic feels like he's across most of what he needs to know about cooking, but he likes to read some more recent stuff every now and again to try out new things. And to feel a slight sense of moral superiority when he finds errors and inconsistencies in the recipes: the ingredients list don't match the method, for example. He doesn't get to feel morally superior all that often.
I'd like to think that he didn't outright steal this book, but, well. Who can say with Vic. This is definitely the kind of cookbook a middle-to-upper-class family might keep in their holiday home, so.
In episode 4, Lee uses her mad skillz to hack into her school's website. (It's around the time Brian does his martini-glass shimmy, so it's understandable if you don't remember it that well.)
What do we learn about Lee based on this scene?
I enlisted the help of my inhouse software engineer (a fellow Cara Fi fan) to dig into these screenshots. There are two – the second one will get its own post.
Lee's tablet is running Windows 8 and she's using Linux commands in the terminal window. It looks as though she's got a Linux shell, or a full Linux install alongside Windows – see the 'ls' command at the bottom.
The most interesting things, character-wise, are the names Lee has given her user account and her machine.
My consultant says:
Lee's login is "geppetty5", which seems to be "Geppetto" with "tty" at the end, and then a "5". "Tty" is "teletypewriter" – an oldskool acronym for typewriter access to an online source. Generally, this just means console access to something. Which is awesome, and makes so much sense—she's clearly an updated Nancy.
Of course, Mister Geppetto is the creator of the puppet Pinocchio. Couple that with the computer's name, Monstruo – I guess the Welsh version of 'Monstro', aka the whale from Pinocchio – and it's not too much of a stretch to conclude that Lee sees herself as a modern-day puppetmaster.
What's up with the '5'? I am not sure. It could be a l33t 's'; however, given what we know about Cara Fi, I would almost put money on it being a pun. For what it's worth, I believe the Welsh word for '5' is 'pum' (masculine) or 'pump' (feminine). But I throw speculating on the actual significance of the '5' open to you, fellow nerds.
Why is the computer called Monstro? Geppetto and Monstro are enemies in the film, so on first glance it doesn't make sense for Lee to name her trusty computer after an antagonist. Well, according to the Disney film, Monstro's 'a whale of a whale ... he swallows whole ships!' I find it pleasing that Lee's unassuming tablet has such an outsized, obscurely threatening name.
Also, one of the problems Pinocchio faces when trapped inside Monstro is that 'everything goes in ... nothing comes out', which is probably a good thing if you're hacking other people but want to limit your own vulnerabilities. (I dunno, most of what I know about hacking comes from Infosec Taylor Swift.)
Alternative suggestion: Monstruo is the Spanish word for 'monster', and many of Lee's downloaded files have Spanish names, as we'll see next, so that may be relevant.
This screenshot also shows us (some of) the contents of Lee's Downloads folder. What kinds of files?
png, jpg, docx, pdf – pretty obvious, especially for a web designer
iso – a kind of disk image
tar.gz – gzip compressed tar archives, used to distribute Linux software
There are also two subfolders:
JDownloader – a program for automated downloading
Responsive Wordpress Templates – definitely appropriate for a web designer!
Some of the filenames appear to be in Spanish, which makes me wonder if a proportion of Lee's clients are offshore. (Or maybe she's just got specific interests.)
Please offer your thoughts and interpretations! And stay tuned for the next screenshot from this scene, where we'll really get nerdy.
