Amy: I have chosen. Of course... I've chosen. It's you stupid.
Rory: Oh, good. Thanks.
I love "What is reality" stories. Growing up, my favorite Star Trek: TNG story was Frame of Mind where Commander Riker is trying to figure out which version of events is the real one and whether he is losing his mind. This story operates on very similar lines.
Plot Summary
The Doctor lands in a quiet village to find a pregnant Amy and Rory living after their travels with the Doctor. Suddenly they fall asleep and find themselves back on the TARDIS with the controls disabled and the TARDIS falling towards a cold star. In trying to figure out what is happening a figure appears calling himself "The Dream Lord." He states that one set of events is real, the other a dream and they must choose with things in both worlds trying to kill them. In the village they are pursued by elderly people who have been possessed by aliens while the TARDIS world continues to fall into the star. Eventually, in the village, Rory is killed and Amy decides that the village is not real and kills herself and the Doctor in a van crash. They wake in the TARDIS (with Rory alive) and the Dream Lord congratulates them on winning. He returns the controls and disappears. The Doctor then overrides the controls and destroys the TARDIS. Both worlds were dreams and all three awake to find that they had inhaled psychic pollen and that the Dream Lord was the manifestation of the dark side of the Doctor's ego.
Analysis
Even if you are not as interested in "What is reality" stories, this is a very good episode. There is a nice tenderness between Rory and Amy, especially in the village scenes where they seem very comfortable with each other, exactly as you would expect a longer married couple to be. There is a real sadness felt when Rory dies just because it means saying goodbye to the promise that the village dream life held. This is also the first time that Rory dies so it had yet to become the joke that it later would in the series. It's one of the reasons that the coda letter to Brian Williams following The Angels Take Manhattan is so touching despite it being a near direct copy of Kathy Nightingale's letter from Blink.
Also excellent is the Dream Lord. When the Doctor was confronted by his dark side in The Trial of a Time Lord season, the Valeyard was very direct and just as prone to temper as the Doctor was. The Dream Lord on the other hand is like a pest, sniping insults and taunts at the Doctor, smug and self possessed. Yet, he is compelling and enjoyable to watch as a character. You want to see him get his comeuppance but at the same time you also want to see him strut in front of the Doctor more. It's just a very entertaining performance.
There is also a darkness in this episode this in enjoyable. The tone is obviously dire, but there is an extra level of dark that gives it a bit of a knife edge as well. It is probably the only episode I can recall where children are killed as the first manifestation of the aliens in the elderly is to kill the school class as they approach the Doctor, Amy and Rory. Granted, it's done off screen, but the aftermath is shown as there are a bunch of ash piles where the children had been seen before. The consequence of knowing that the only escape is to allow yourself to die in one reality brings a heavy weight as well. For some reason, that weight was felt more by me in the village scenes rather than the TARDIS for some reason. Maybe because it was an active foe invading what should have been a peaceful setting while we are used to danger in the TARDIS and it's passive nature there is less jarring.
I think my only nit to pick on this episode would be that it is not an episode to show a newbie. Not because of the Doctor, but because it required the development of the relationship between Amy and Rory a bit more. In fact, with The Eleventh Hour and The Vampires of Venice being the only Amy and Rory stories prior to this, the depth between them was probably not felt as well as it would be going back and watching it again after their full story is told. In fact, it gains an extra level of sadness when you know the River story line and it's impact on their lives. But that is a small quibble and one that goes away on rewatch.
This is an episode that I actively choose for rewatch. I think I could sit down at just about any time and enjoy this one without question.
Overall personal score: 5 out of 5
Friday, January 8, 2016
The War Games
You can't just change what I look like without consulting me!
You would think that when faced with a ten-part story, a feeling of dread would come over as you anticipate mounds of filler. But in fact, The War Games is one of the best Second Doctor stories out there.
Plot Summary
The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe land in what appears to be WWI France. They are caught in cross-fire but are rescued by a passing ambulance driver who gives them a lift back to the sector HQ. They are treated well until the commanding general sees them and their out of place look. They are sentenced as spies and prepared to be shot. But the base comes under attack before that can happen and the Doctor and his companions flee with another soldier. The find evidence that the British general is working with a German general. They then stumble through a fog and find themselves being attacked by Roman legions. They flee back through the fog and back in to WWI France.
At this point the Doctor suspects that something is amiss. They investigate further and discover the general has a machine that takes them to a central control room where a series of different battles are taking place. The Doctor disrupts things as best he can while Jamie and Zoe help to unite soldiers who have broken the alien conditioning and been operating as small rebel bands. Together they unify into a large fighting force.
The Doctor also discovers that the aliens are led by a man called the War Lord and have been aided with TARDIS technology supplied by a rogue Time Lord called the War Chief. However, the War Chief's machines are inferior to the Doctor's own TARDIS and begin to break down. Knowing that his usefulness will run out, the War Chief attempts to ally with the Doctor to overthrow the War Lord. He is exposed and seemingly killed by the War Lord. The united rebels soon arrive and take control of the central command but things are at a stalemate so the Doctor summons the Time Lords to aid him.
The Time Lords arrive and return the soldiers to their proper times. They also dispatch the War Lord and his people when they attempt to escape. The Doctor is put on trial for his violation of his people's law of non-interference, he is found guilty but given a mitigated sentence of exile with a forced regeneration. Jamie and Zoe are returned to their respective times with their memories wiped of all but their first adventure with the Doctor. The episode ends with the Doctor beginning to transform into his third iteration.
Analysis
Again, you would think that a long running story with several back and forth trips from war zone to war zone and from the central command to the war zones would get tedious. But at no point is there ever a real feel of padding. There are a couple of moments where I can guess that they lengthened events to push something that might have taken one episode into two, but the quality of both the writing and the acting really carries things.
The escalation of the villains is also interesting. The first villain is the alien posing as the British general. This upgrades to the alien overseeing the German and Confederate armies. We then face off against the War Chief, and then things reach a head with the War Lord, who looks and acts a bit like Steve Jobs. Each villain is more controlled and thus more menacing. The War Lord commands presence despite his diminutive stature, especially relative to the War Chief. It keeps raising the stakes and doesn't give time for the conflict to go stale.
The Doctor is at his best in this story as well. He schemes but also is forced to improvise. He is serious but also gives moments of levity. He cares for his companions but also trusts them enough to get certain tasks done in dangerous environments. Given that this story ends with a regeneration, it is interesting to note that the Second Doctor is the only Doctor to have regeneration forced upon him. Two Doctors (the first and eleventh) regenerated due to old age but all the rest were fatally injured in some fashion. It adds a little prestige in my opinion that despite his appearance as a kindly little bumbler, the Second Doctor was the best survivor of all the Doctors.
The War Games is not without some flaws but they are hard to isolate. As I mentioned earlier, there are a few points where you can guess that the scene was extended or split off to be used later. This gives you the niggling feeling that with a little extra work, the story could have been cut to nine episodes. But it's much better than in some stories where there are whole episodes that are complete filler. Whatever other flaws there were, they did not register with me other than anachronisms of the era (and I would include the War Chief's hair style in that).
I would definitely recommend this one to watch again. Given that it is ten parts, I probably wouldn't recommend trying to get through the whole thing in one go, but that's only because general fatigue might set in over the course of the four hours it would take to watch it rather than for any section that drags. Besides, a good story like this should be savored rather than binged.
Overall personal score: 5 out of 5
You would think that when faced with a ten-part story, a feeling of dread would come over as you anticipate mounds of filler. But in fact, The War Games is one of the best Second Doctor stories out there.
Plot Summary
The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe land in what appears to be WWI France. They are caught in cross-fire but are rescued by a passing ambulance driver who gives them a lift back to the sector HQ. They are treated well until the commanding general sees them and their out of place look. They are sentenced as spies and prepared to be shot. But the base comes under attack before that can happen and the Doctor and his companions flee with another soldier. The find evidence that the British general is working with a German general. They then stumble through a fog and find themselves being attacked by Roman legions. They flee back through the fog and back in to WWI France.
At this point the Doctor suspects that something is amiss. They investigate further and discover the general has a machine that takes them to a central control room where a series of different battles are taking place. The Doctor disrupts things as best he can while Jamie and Zoe help to unite soldiers who have broken the alien conditioning and been operating as small rebel bands. Together they unify into a large fighting force.
The Doctor also discovers that the aliens are led by a man called the War Lord and have been aided with TARDIS technology supplied by a rogue Time Lord called the War Chief. However, the War Chief's machines are inferior to the Doctor's own TARDIS and begin to break down. Knowing that his usefulness will run out, the War Chief attempts to ally with the Doctor to overthrow the War Lord. He is exposed and seemingly killed by the War Lord. The united rebels soon arrive and take control of the central command but things are at a stalemate so the Doctor summons the Time Lords to aid him.
The Time Lords arrive and return the soldiers to their proper times. They also dispatch the War Lord and his people when they attempt to escape. The Doctor is put on trial for his violation of his people's law of non-interference, he is found guilty but given a mitigated sentence of exile with a forced regeneration. Jamie and Zoe are returned to their respective times with their memories wiped of all but their first adventure with the Doctor. The episode ends with the Doctor beginning to transform into his third iteration.
Analysis
Again, you would think that a long running story with several back and forth trips from war zone to war zone and from the central command to the war zones would get tedious. But at no point is there ever a real feel of padding. There are a couple of moments where I can guess that they lengthened events to push something that might have taken one episode into two, but the quality of both the writing and the acting really carries things.
The escalation of the villains is also interesting. The first villain is the alien posing as the British general. This upgrades to the alien overseeing the German and Confederate armies. We then face off against the War Chief, and then things reach a head with the War Lord, who looks and acts a bit like Steve Jobs. Each villain is more controlled and thus more menacing. The War Lord commands presence despite his diminutive stature, especially relative to the War Chief. It keeps raising the stakes and doesn't give time for the conflict to go stale.
The Doctor is at his best in this story as well. He schemes but also is forced to improvise. He is serious but also gives moments of levity. He cares for his companions but also trusts them enough to get certain tasks done in dangerous environments. Given that this story ends with a regeneration, it is interesting to note that the Second Doctor is the only Doctor to have regeneration forced upon him. Two Doctors (the first and eleventh) regenerated due to old age but all the rest were fatally injured in some fashion. It adds a little prestige in my opinion that despite his appearance as a kindly little bumbler, the Second Doctor was the best survivor of all the Doctors.
The War Games is not without some flaws but they are hard to isolate. As I mentioned earlier, there are a few points where you can guess that the scene was extended or split off to be used later. This gives you the niggling feeling that with a little extra work, the story could have been cut to nine episodes. But it's much better than in some stories where there are whole episodes that are complete filler. Whatever other flaws there were, they did not register with me other than anachronisms of the era (and I would include the War Chief's hair style in that).
I would definitely recommend this one to watch again. Given that it is ten parts, I probably wouldn't recommend trying to get through the whole thing in one go, but that's only because general fatigue might set in over the course of the four hours it would take to watch it rather than for any section that drags. Besides, a good story like this should be savored rather than binged.
Overall personal score: 5 out of 5
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The Doctor's Wife
And I'm Sexy
Is it wrong that I best know Neil Gaiman from a guest appearance he did on Arthur? I have seen Coraline, but I'm not really familiar with his work. I already dogged Nightmare in Silver so it's fairly obvious that I don't really care about who the writer is. But The Doctor's Wife is a pretty good story.
Plot Summary
Lured by a Time Lord message, the Doctor, Rory and Amy land on a planet in a bubble universe. There, the essence of the TARDIS is drained out by the planet (calling itself House) and placed in the body of a woman named Idris. House eats TARDISs and once the essence is extracted, he moves to consume the Doctor's. But the Doctor, thinking he's saving them, has Rory and Amy go back to the TARDIS where House has taken possession. House launches the TARDIS back towards the normal universe in the hopes of finding more prey and amuses himself by setting Rory and Amy into a mental fun house. The Doctor and Idris cobble together a makeshift TARDIS console from the eaten TARDIS leftovers and manage to land within the Doctor's TARDIS. House corners them in an old control room but when he attempts to erase them, he accidentally transports them back to the main control room. This allows the essence of the Doctor's TARDIS to reenter the mainframe, destroying House in the process. Idris' body burns out from containing the TARDIS essence and she dies, although the TARDIS returns to normal. The Doctor, Amy and Rory fly off to new adventures with the Doctor last seen caressing the console and talking to the TARDIS in a loving manner.
Analysis
This was a very entertaining episode. It's a very interesting concept to see the TARDIS taken out and given a personality. I think we have all talked to a vehicle in some fashion and the idea that it might be able to talk back and interact is a fun one. What's more, despite the direness of the situation, there is a lot of humor in this one. House's two servants, Auntie and Uncle, are particularly amusing in a reserved and gallows humor manner.
The interaction between the Doctor and Idris is particularly good. Idris is a confused mess at first which leads to some amusing lines but as she orients herself she develops a very good re pore with the Doctor. They act in a manner somewhat similar to the Doctor and River do only without River's confidence and more social faux pas. But there is still a very clear bond between the two that would only come from a long and comfortable knowledge of each other.
Amy and Rory are also good, although they don't have as much of a role. The producers play the "let's kill Rory" game again, although it is only an illusion in Amy's mind done by House. This part is the darkest of the episode as there is no levity and some some genuine hatred emanating from the Rory in Amy's mind about her abandoning him. It's a rather interesting juxtaposition to the abandoned Amy in The Girl Who Waited later in the series. But it also gets a touch of the time filler feeling as it goes on.
If there is a complaint about this episode it is that it is pretty thin. There is no real twist other than the soul of the TARDIS being put into Idris' body and House is dispatched with relative ease. I already mentioned that the scenes with Rory and Amy in the TARDIS are good, but do have the air of filler about them and that doesn't help the thin argument.
But, it is good. It's an enjoyable ride and best of all, when Idris dies, you are left with both a sad feeling of losing a friend and wanting the story to go on longer. This is a good rewatch episode and also probably a good episode to show someone less versed in the Doctor Who universe, despite there being a lot of little nods to the Classic Series in it. Definitely one of the high ones for the series. Just not the be all and end all of existence as some of the Neil Gaiman fans might think it is.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Is it wrong that I best know Neil Gaiman from a guest appearance he did on Arthur? I have seen Coraline, but I'm not really familiar with his work. I already dogged Nightmare in Silver so it's fairly obvious that I don't really care about who the writer is. But The Doctor's Wife is a pretty good story.
Plot Summary
Lured by a Time Lord message, the Doctor, Rory and Amy land on a planet in a bubble universe. There, the essence of the TARDIS is drained out by the planet (calling itself House) and placed in the body of a woman named Idris. House eats TARDISs and once the essence is extracted, he moves to consume the Doctor's. But the Doctor, thinking he's saving them, has Rory and Amy go back to the TARDIS where House has taken possession. House launches the TARDIS back towards the normal universe in the hopes of finding more prey and amuses himself by setting Rory and Amy into a mental fun house. The Doctor and Idris cobble together a makeshift TARDIS console from the eaten TARDIS leftovers and manage to land within the Doctor's TARDIS. House corners them in an old control room but when he attempts to erase them, he accidentally transports them back to the main control room. This allows the essence of the Doctor's TARDIS to reenter the mainframe, destroying House in the process. Idris' body burns out from containing the TARDIS essence and she dies, although the TARDIS returns to normal. The Doctor, Amy and Rory fly off to new adventures with the Doctor last seen caressing the console and talking to the TARDIS in a loving manner.
Analysis
This was a very entertaining episode. It's a very interesting concept to see the TARDIS taken out and given a personality. I think we have all talked to a vehicle in some fashion and the idea that it might be able to talk back and interact is a fun one. What's more, despite the direness of the situation, there is a lot of humor in this one. House's two servants, Auntie and Uncle, are particularly amusing in a reserved and gallows humor manner.
The interaction between the Doctor and Idris is particularly good. Idris is a confused mess at first which leads to some amusing lines but as she orients herself she develops a very good re pore with the Doctor. They act in a manner somewhat similar to the Doctor and River do only without River's confidence and more social faux pas. But there is still a very clear bond between the two that would only come from a long and comfortable knowledge of each other.
Amy and Rory are also good, although they don't have as much of a role. The producers play the "let's kill Rory" game again, although it is only an illusion in Amy's mind done by House. This part is the darkest of the episode as there is no levity and some some genuine hatred emanating from the Rory in Amy's mind about her abandoning him. It's a rather interesting juxtaposition to the abandoned Amy in The Girl Who Waited later in the series. But it also gets a touch of the time filler feeling as it goes on.
If there is a complaint about this episode it is that it is pretty thin. There is no real twist other than the soul of the TARDIS being put into Idris' body and House is dispatched with relative ease. I already mentioned that the scenes with Rory and Amy in the TARDIS are good, but do have the air of filler about them and that doesn't help the thin argument.
But, it is good. It's an enjoyable ride and best of all, when Idris dies, you are left with both a sad feeling of losing a friend and wanting the story to go on longer. This is a good rewatch episode and also probably a good episode to show someone less versed in the Doctor Who universe, despite there being a lot of little nods to the Classic Series in it. Definitely one of the high ones for the series. Just not the be all and end all of existence as some of the Neil Gaiman fans might think it is.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
The Massacre
The Doctor is not the Abbot! He's only pretending!
I've said it before about some recons, but it is a real shame this one does not exist. I must admit that I cheated a little and read a historical summary of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, but it did help a bit with my understanding of the story.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Steven land in Paris a few days before the massacre. The Doctor leaves Steven at a tavern as he wishes to go see a scientific mind of the time. He promises to meet Steven that evening. Steven then falls in with a group of Huguenot nobility who offer him a place to spend the night when the Doctor fails to return after curfew. Meanwhile, a young girl named Anne Chaplet runs into them and is rescued from a group of guards sent by the Abbot of Amboise. She tells them that she overheard a group of people talking about what sounded like a Catholic plot. Steven continues to be concerned for the Doctor but thinks he recognizes him when he sees the Abbot the next day. His recognition of the Abbot arouses suspicions of the Huguenots and Steven eventually flees when they refuse to take him to the Abbot's house. There he overhears a murder plot but doesn't know who the target is. He tries to warn the Huguenots but he is turned out without listening to him.
The target is the Admiral de Coligny who is a close friend of King Charles IX. Steven and Anne go back to the Abbot's house to learn more and figure out who the target is. They flee once again to the Huguenots and this time one listens to him. He runs to warn the Admiral, who is returning from a council meeting, but the Admiral is shot and wounded anyway. The Marshal, angry that the Abbot's plan failed, orders him killed. The locals think the Abbot was murdered by Huguenots and Steven is distraught as he believes the Doctor has been killed (convinced that the Doctor has been impersonating the Abbot). Steven flees back to the shop where the Doctor had originally gone and Anne is hiding. They search the place looking for the TARDIS key to allow Steven to escape when the Doctor reappears. He had been searching for Steven who never returned to the tavern after the first morning. The Doctor soon realizes what is about to happen and sends Anne away, ordering her to hide at a relative's house. He and Steven then run back to the TARDIS and take off as soldiers begin pounding on the Admiral's door. The Doctor relates to Steven what happens and notes that he cannot change the past. Steven becomes angry that the Doctor left Anne to her presumed death and demands to be let off when they stop again. He walks out and the Doctor contemplates what to do next. Dodo (a descendant of Anne's) walks in to the TARDIS thinking it was a real police box. Steven charges in shortly after her warning the Doctor to take off as the police are approaching the TARDIS. The Doctor takes off and welcomes Dodo to the team.
Analysis
This is a real cloak and dagger story. It does a pretty good job explaining the history of what happened but with it already being a recon, I think I was better off reading the historical summary first. It allowed me to concentrate on the story rather than have to juggle the historical facts in addition to the story (which is fairly complex).
This story is a showcase for Steven. The Doctor is only in episodes one and four and the Abbot is only given lines in episode three (suggesting that William Hartnell was on holiday during episode two). Steven meanwhile does all the heavy lifting except for the scenes involving the royal council. I'm not familiar with the British acting corp of the 1960's but these scenes are very well acted with folks who are probably experienced with period drama. I enjoyed Steven's scenes a great deal, but I could have easily watched a full episode of political machinations between the Admiral, the Marshal and Catherine de' Medici.
It is that depth of talent that does point out a few of the shortcomings. Steven does a good job but he seems to equate intense emotion with shouting and that can actually decrease his believability at times. There is another character, Gaston, who is also a bit shouty and there is a scene between the two (including a sword fight) where there is a lot of shouting back and forth at each other. I get they are trying to show intensity, but it felt a bit amateurish, especially when compared to the depth shown in other scenes.
My other small complaint is that this story could have used a little levity. It was dour throughout and that did provide a nice intensity, but a little joke here and there would have been nice. Granted that might have taken away from the gloom that was building throughout the episode, but a little pun or a touch of gallows humor scattered here and there would have kept things moving during the few slow spots.
I would definitely watch this one again if it was found in some capacity. I'd be very interested to see how William Hartnell played the Abbot versus the Doctor. They sound rather similar but I'd be curious to see how he made them look different. The ending is a bit weak and rushed as I would have liked a better introduction for Dodo, but it did have a nice quiet moment of the Doctor reflecting on the past and his future. Quality that should only improve with a return to motion.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
I've said it before about some recons, but it is a real shame this one does not exist. I must admit that I cheated a little and read a historical summary of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, but it did help a bit with my understanding of the story.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Steven land in Paris a few days before the massacre. The Doctor leaves Steven at a tavern as he wishes to go see a scientific mind of the time. He promises to meet Steven that evening. Steven then falls in with a group of Huguenot nobility who offer him a place to spend the night when the Doctor fails to return after curfew. Meanwhile, a young girl named Anne Chaplet runs into them and is rescued from a group of guards sent by the Abbot of Amboise. She tells them that she overheard a group of people talking about what sounded like a Catholic plot. Steven continues to be concerned for the Doctor but thinks he recognizes him when he sees the Abbot the next day. His recognition of the Abbot arouses suspicions of the Huguenots and Steven eventually flees when they refuse to take him to the Abbot's house. There he overhears a murder plot but doesn't know who the target is. He tries to warn the Huguenots but he is turned out without listening to him.
The target is the Admiral de Coligny who is a close friend of King Charles IX. Steven and Anne go back to the Abbot's house to learn more and figure out who the target is. They flee once again to the Huguenots and this time one listens to him. He runs to warn the Admiral, who is returning from a council meeting, but the Admiral is shot and wounded anyway. The Marshal, angry that the Abbot's plan failed, orders him killed. The locals think the Abbot was murdered by Huguenots and Steven is distraught as he believes the Doctor has been killed (convinced that the Doctor has been impersonating the Abbot). Steven flees back to the shop where the Doctor had originally gone and Anne is hiding. They search the place looking for the TARDIS key to allow Steven to escape when the Doctor reappears. He had been searching for Steven who never returned to the tavern after the first morning. The Doctor soon realizes what is about to happen and sends Anne away, ordering her to hide at a relative's house. He and Steven then run back to the TARDIS and take off as soldiers begin pounding on the Admiral's door. The Doctor relates to Steven what happens and notes that he cannot change the past. Steven becomes angry that the Doctor left Anne to her presumed death and demands to be let off when they stop again. He walks out and the Doctor contemplates what to do next. Dodo (a descendant of Anne's) walks in to the TARDIS thinking it was a real police box. Steven charges in shortly after her warning the Doctor to take off as the police are approaching the TARDIS. The Doctor takes off and welcomes Dodo to the team.
Analysis
This is a real cloak and dagger story. It does a pretty good job explaining the history of what happened but with it already being a recon, I think I was better off reading the historical summary first. It allowed me to concentrate on the story rather than have to juggle the historical facts in addition to the story (which is fairly complex).
This story is a showcase for Steven. The Doctor is only in episodes one and four and the Abbot is only given lines in episode three (suggesting that William Hartnell was on holiday during episode two). Steven meanwhile does all the heavy lifting except for the scenes involving the royal council. I'm not familiar with the British acting corp of the 1960's but these scenes are very well acted with folks who are probably experienced with period drama. I enjoyed Steven's scenes a great deal, but I could have easily watched a full episode of political machinations between the Admiral, the Marshal and Catherine de' Medici.
It is that depth of talent that does point out a few of the shortcomings. Steven does a good job but he seems to equate intense emotion with shouting and that can actually decrease his believability at times. There is another character, Gaston, who is also a bit shouty and there is a scene between the two (including a sword fight) where there is a lot of shouting back and forth at each other. I get they are trying to show intensity, but it felt a bit amateurish, especially when compared to the depth shown in other scenes.
My other small complaint is that this story could have used a little levity. It was dour throughout and that did provide a nice intensity, but a little joke here and there would have been nice. Granted that might have taken away from the gloom that was building throughout the episode, but a little pun or a touch of gallows humor scattered here and there would have kept things moving during the few slow spots.
I would definitely watch this one again if it was found in some capacity. I'd be very interested to see how William Hartnell played the Abbot versus the Doctor. They sound rather similar but I'd be curious to see how he made them look different. The ending is a bit weak and rushed as I would have liked a better introduction for Dodo, but it did have a nice quiet moment of the Doctor reflecting on the past and his future. Quality that should only improve with a return to motion.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
Monday, January 4, 2016
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
He is using your basic fears against you!
The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit are an interesting and well put together combo. Like many of the Moffat two-parters, they have very different styles of storytelling in each part, but both work well and do not detract from each other. It is up to the preferences of the viewer to decide which part is a bit more to their liking.
Plot Summary
The Impossible Planet sets the stage as a suspense thriller. The Doctor and Rose land on a planet too close to a black hole. It is only not sucked in because there is an energy source generating a counter gravity field against it. A team of humans has come to discover the source of the power and exploit it if possible. They have also brought Ood workers to handle the actual drilling and maintenance (this is the first appearance of the Ood). The team archaeologist begins hearing voices and is eventually taken over by an evil spirit. In this form, he kills one of the workers and also begins to mind control the Ood. Adding additional peril, the TARDIS falls into a chasm in the planet when an earthquake destroys part of the base. The episode ends with the Doctor and one of the crew members (Ida) having gone down to the cavern to which the drill has penetrated. The see a pit which is opening. Meanwhile the Ood are moving against the rest of the crew, having already killed one member.
The Satan Pit picks up the tale as a base under siege story, but with a bit of philosophical punch. The captain has locked the Ood out of the control room while Rose and the surviving members of the crew are holed up in the dig room. The Doctor and Ida attempt to travel back up but the line is cut to their capsule and they are trapped in the cavern. The Doctor then opts to rappel down into the pit using the severed cable. Rose and the other crew figure out how to disrupt the Ood control, giving them breathing space to get to the escape rocket. The security chief is killed in the escape but Rose, the Captain, the archaeologist and the Ood monitor launch away in the rocket. Meanwhile, the Doctor finds himself in a cavern with a chained beast. He realizes that only the body of the Beast is here and that the mind has invaded one of the crew members. Faced with the dilemma of letting the Beast escape or destroying the gravity field which will kill everyone (including those in the rocket), the Doctor opts for the noble sacrifice and destroys the gravity field. As the rocket is pulled towards the black hole, the Beast panics in the body of the archaeologist, revealing his disguise. Rose blows the window of the rocket and releases his harness causing the Beast to be ejected into space towards the black hole before emergency measures reseal the rocket. Down in the pit, the Doctor falls backwards and finds the TARDIS has fallen into the same region. He then rescues Ida from the planet before it is sucked in and pulls the rocket to safety. The remaining crew return to Earth while the Doctor and Rose fly off.
Analysis
There was very little of this two-parter that I did not enjoy. The atmosphere is built up very nicely in The Impossible Planet with some genuine fearful notes established. The oscillation of the Ood between helpfulness and murderous dialogue also gives a strong sense of unease. Things are further put off balance with the Doctor himself being confronted by something that is completely outside his knowledge and openly challenges his understanding of the universe with the evidence presented. Coupled with the loss of the TARDIS, the Doctor is unsettled and seemingly on the wrong foot for nearly the whole episode which helps keep the viewer on edge.
The Satan Pit follows things up well despite my fear that the shift in tone would bring the episode down. If the episode had shifted too much into a chase scenario, it would have lessened the effect. Instead, the Ood are simply outside trying to get in providing a more soft pressure. The only chase sequence comes in a tunnel moving sequence that is very much an homage to Alien and shows just enough to keep the tension up without getting too cat and mouse. It also helps that the performances of the major players are very well done with their limited screen time given over to strong character building moments. When Mr. Jefferson is trapped and is about to die, you fell genuinely sad that this character is lost because he was someone you liked and had bought into. Likewise you understand the burdens the Captain is going through.
Probably the best aspect of either episode is that no character makes a decision that seems out of place. The crew act like real people with real backstories that affect their how they behave and react and it gives a genuine tone to everything. It also emphasizes the Doctor's alienness throughout especially as he reacts to their actions in the way a human does when their pet does something they love to see. It is both patronizing but also endearing. His optimism and bubbliness, even when confronting the Beast's body still set him apart from the grim realness the crew and Rose give off.
My favorite part of either episode was in the first few minutes of The Satan Pit where the Doctor is openly challenged by the Beast, both directly and philosophically. In most Doctor Who stories, the argument between science and religion pulls strongly to the science side. It was rather nice to see a strong challenge from the religion side, something the Doctor couldn't come up with a final answer to, leaving it up to the viewer to decide the Beast's origins and whether he was lying or not. There are many things that cannot be explained except in this manner and it is nice to see that question debated and left open to interpretation.
The only thing I didn't quite care for was the ending. Not the dilemma, I liked that; it was the miraculous reappearance of the TARDIS that bothered me. The removal of the TARDIS was important as it aided the sense of being trapped on the planet and it would of course be necessary to end the story with the Doctor and Rose escaping in it. However, I wish a little more set up had been made to the possibility of it being near there. To see the Doctor back out of the foreground simply fall on to it's side was the absolute definition of a Deus Ex Machina ending. I understand it's necessity, but I wish the ending could have been set up a little better because it just felt like cheating at the end.
In the end, this was a very enjoyable two-parter and quite possibly the best of Series Two.
Overall personal score: The Impossible Planet - 5 out of 5; The Satan Pit - 4.5 out of 5
The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit are an interesting and well put together combo. Like many of the Moffat two-parters, they have very different styles of storytelling in each part, but both work well and do not detract from each other. It is up to the preferences of the viewer to decide which part is a bit more to their liking.
Plot Summary
The Impossible Planet sets the stage as a suspense thriller. The Doctor and Rose land on a planet too close to a black hole. It is only not sucked in because there is an energy source generating a counter gravity field against it. A team of humans has come to discover the source of the power and exploit it if possible. They have also brought Ood workers to handle the actual drilling and maintenance (this is the first appearance of the Ood). The team archaeologist begins hearing voices and is eventually taken over by an evil spirit. In this form, he kills one of the workers and also begins to mind control the Ood. Adding additional peril, the TARDIS falls into a chasm in the planet when an earthquake destroys part of the base. The episode ends with the Doctor and one of the crew members (Ida) having gone down to the cavern to which the drill has penetrated. The see a pit which is opening. Meanwhile the Ood are moving against the rest of the crew, having already killed one member.
The Satan Pit picks up the tale as a base under siege story, but with a bit of philosophical punch. The captain has locked the Ood out of the control room while Rose and the surviving members of the crew are holed up in the dig room. The Doctor and Ida attempt to travel back up but the line is cut to their capsule and they are trapped in the cavern. The Doctor then opts to rappel down into the pit using the severed cable. Rose and the other crew figure out how to disrupt the Ood control, giving them breathing space to get to the escape rocket. The security chief is killed in the escape but Rose, the Captain, the archaeologist and the Ood monitor launch away in the rocket. Meanwhile, the Doctor finds himself in a cavern with a chained beast. He realizes that only the body of the Beast is here and that the mind has invaded one of the crew members. Faced with the dilemma of letting the Beast escape or destroying the gravity field which will kill everyone (including those in the rocket), the Doctor opts for the noble sacrifice and destroys the gravity field. As the rocket is pulled towards the black hole, the Beast panics in the body of the archaeologist, revealing his disguise. Rose blows the window of the rocket and releases his harness causing the Beast to be ejected into space towards the black hole before emergency measures reseal the rocket. Down in the pit, the Doctor falls backwards and finds the TARDIS has fallen into the same region. He then rescues Ida from the planet before it is sucked in and pulls the rocket to safety. The remaining crew return to Earth while the Doctor and Rose fly off.
Analysis
There was very little of this two-parter that I did not enjoy. The atmosphere is built up very nicely in The Impossible Planet with some genuine fearful notes established. The oscillation of the Ood between helpfulness and murderous dialogue also gives a strong sense of unease. Things are further put off balance with the Doctor himself being confronted by something that is completely outside his knowledge and openly challenges his understanding of the universe with the evidence presented. Coupled with the loss of the TARDIS, the Doctor is unsettled and seemingly on the wrong foot for nearly the whole episode which helps keep the viewer on edge.
The Satan Pit follows things up well despite my fear that the shift in tone would bring the episode down. If the episode had shifted too much into a chase scenario, it would have lessened the effect. Instead, the Ood are simply outside trying to get in providing a more soft pressure. The only chase sequence comes in a tunnel moving sequence that is very much an homage to Alien and shows just enough to keep the tension up without getting too cat and mouse. It also helps that the performances of the major players are very well done with their limited screen time given over to strong character building moments. When Mr. Jefferson is trapped and is about to die, you fell genuinely sad that this character is lost because he was someone you liked and had bought into. Likewise you understand the burdens the Captain is going through.
Probably the best aspect of either episode is that no character makes a decision that seems out of place. The crew act like real people with real backstories that affect their how they behave and react and it gives a genuine tone to everything. It also emphasizes the Doctor's alienness throughout especially as he reacts to their actions in the way a human does when their pet does something they love to see. It is both patronizing but also endearing. His optimism and bubbliness, even when confronting the Beast's body still set him apart from the grim realness the crew and Rose give off.
My favorite part of either episode was in the first few minutes of The Satan Pit where the Doctor is openly challenged by the Beast, both directly and philosophically. In most Doctor Who stories, the argument between science and religion pulls strongly to the science side. It was rather nice to see a strong challenge from the religion side, something the Doctor couldn't come up with a final answer to, leaving it up to the viewer to decide the Beast's origins and whether he was lying or not. There are many things that cannot be explained except in this manner and it is nice to see that question debated and left open to interpretation.
The only thing I didn't quite care for was the ending. Not the dilemma, I liked that; it was the miraculous reappearance of the TARDIS that bothered me. The removal of the TARDIS was important as it aided the sense of being trapped on the planet and it would of course be necessary to end the story with the Doctor and Rose escaping in it. However, I wish a little more set up had been made to the possibility of it being near there. To see the Doctor back out of the foreground simply fall on to it's side was the absolute definition of a Deus Ex Machina ending. I understand it's necessity, but I wish the ending could have been set up a little better because it just felt like cheating at the end.
In the end, this was a very enjoyable two-parter and quite possibly the best of Series Two.
Overall personal score: The Impossible Planet - 5 out of 5; The Satan Pit - 4.5 out of 5
The Ark in Space
We called him Noah as an amusement.
Although Season 12 and the introduction of the Fourth Doctor began with Robot, the true introduction of the Fourth Doctor begins with the inauguration of the Philip Hinchcliff era and The Ark in Space.
Plot Summary
The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry land on a space station many years into Earth's future. A solar flare was expected to devastate the Earth so a group of the best physical and mental specimens were placed in hibernation to repopulate the Earth. The station was sabotaged by an alien known as a Wirrn who infected one of the hibernating crew before dying. The hatched Wirrn begin to take over the station, infecting the leader of the group, Noah, and killing several others. The Doctor manages to stave off the Wirrn for a while using electricity. Eventually, they trick the swarm into climbing aboard the escape rocket and then launching it into space. Noah, with the last trace of his humanity, destroys the rocket and the swarm on board.
Analysis
There is a lot in this story that will be poached by Ridley Scott when he makes Alien four years later. If you like that film, odds are you will like this story and I enjoyed both. There is a moody dread that overhangs much of the story and it helps sell the dire nature of what is happening, despite limited effects. The acting is particularly good, both in the core cast and also with the supporting cast. Noah, once he has been infected, can be a bit over the top but not so bad that it detracts from his overall performance.
The one spot of this story that does suffer is the effects. The infection of Noah was done using green bubble wrap, which would have been a great novelty at the time, but is now very common and identifiable. The Wirrn themselves are also somewhat difficult to take seriously when seen in full as it is very difficult not to see them as foam puppets. This gets even worse when they are shown walking near the escape rocket. Instead of crawling with undulating movements as you would expect from insects, they bounce along, just as you would expect a puppet to do. I understand that it was the best they could do and it was probably still pretty scary to children at the time, but in view as an adult, seeing the Wirrn detracts a bit from the overall scary mood of the story.
Despite the effects downsides, the story and acting are excellent. The mood of stays creepy and intense nearly the whole way through, despite the addition of padding in a couple of places, mostly at the beginning of the story. It makes for an excellent start to the Fourth Doctor era.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Although Season 12 and the introduction of the Fourth Doctor began with Robot, the true introduction of the Fourth Doctor begins with the inauguration of the Philip Hinchcliff era and The Ark in Space.
Plot Summary
The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry land on a space station many years into Earth's future. A solar flare was expected to devastate the Earth so a group of the best physical and mental specimens were placed in hibernation to repopulate the Earth. The station was sabotaged by an alien known as a Wirrn who infected one of the hibernating crew before dying. The hatched Wirrn begin to take over the station, infecting the leader of the group, Noah, and killing several others. The Doctor manages to stave off the Wirrn for a while using electricity. Eventually, they trick the swarm into climbing aboard the escape rocket and then launching it into space. Noah, with the last trace of his humanity, destroys the rocket and the swarm on board.
Analysis
There is a lot in this story that will be poached by Ridley Scott when he makes Alien four years later. If you like that film, odds are you will like this story and I enjoyed both. There is a moody dread that overhangs much of the story and it helps sell the dire nature of what is happening, despite limited effects. The acting is particularly good, both in the core cast and also with the supporting cast. Noah, once he has been infected, can be a bit over the top but not so bad that it detracts from his overall performance.
The one spot of this story that does suffer is the effects. The infection of Noah was done using green bubble wrap, which would have been a great novelty at the time, but is now very common and identifiable. The Wirrn themselves are also somewhat difficult to take seriously when seen in full as it is very difficult not to see them as foam puppets. This gets even worse when they are shown walking near the escape rocket. Instead of crawling with undulating movements as you would expect from insects, they bounce along, just as you would expect a puppet to do. I understand that it was the best they could do and it was probably still pretty scary to children at the time, but in view as an adult, seeing the Wirrn detracts a bit from the overall scary mood of the story.
Despite the effects downsides, the story and acting are excellent. The mood of stays creepy and intense nearly the whole way through, despite the addition of padding in a couple of places, mostly at the beginning of the story. It makes for an excellent start to the Fourth Doctor era.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Thursday, December 31, 2015
The Husbands of River Song
Hello Sweetie
The Husbands of River Song was interesting in more how it ended up. We knew going into it that this was going to be a comedy romp and it delivered on that. It got so far that it became a bit silly at a few points, but that was okay given how dour Series Nine was. What was interesting was how the episode ended and how it seemed to be a bit of a swan song for Steven Moffat.
Plot Summary
The Doctor is taken by a servant who has confused him for a surgeon to a crashed space ship. Inside, River Song welcomes him, not recognizing him as the Doctor, and asks him to remove the head of the king she is married to. There is a valuable diamond lodged in his brain and it is going to kill him. River acts like she is wanting to save the king's life, but she just wants the diamond. The king gets wise to this and removes his head from his cyborg body, ordering it to kill River and the Doctor. They steal the head and run for the TARDIS. River has been looking for the Doctor but is only looking for his previous incarnations. The cyborg body takes the heads of her two accomplices and gets into the TARDIS. Before it can kill them, the TARDIS takes off and they land on a ship where River plans to sell the diamond. She makes the deal but the buyers intend to worship the head of the king they believe dead and will kill River and the Doctor on the orders of the king. Before they can, the cyborg body breaks in. It recognizes that the head of the king is beyond repair and destroys it, deciding to take a new head. It opts for the Doctor and that is when River realizes that he is the Doctor. Before the cyborg can take the Doctor's head, the ship is caught in a meteor storm and crashes on the planet Derilium. The Doctor and River are saved in the TARDIS, although River is briefly knocked out. The Doctor sets up things to see that a restaurant is built on the crash site in front of the singing towers. When River wakes up, he has reserved a table through the night. River senses what is coming, having dug ahead and found that the night on Derilium was to be their last. She is sad at that thought, but the Doctor reveals to her that night on Derilium lasts 24 years.
Analysis
I liked this one. It wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable. After a dark couple of series, it was nice to see a light-hearted tone being taken. In fact, I think that is the best way to play River: either very serious as in Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead or the last few minutes of The Angels Take Manhattan or in a heavy comedic role such as with Richard Nixon in The Impossible Astronaut. I thought the Doctor's comedy routine, especially with the little asides to River's comments were particularly funny. The rompy run-around was also enjoyable in the episode taking itself too seriously.
If there was one part I didn't care for in the rompy bits, it was the fact that I thought River's nonrecognition of the Doctor went on a little too long. It was funny for a while but when the Doctor did his funny and over-the-top reaction to the inside of the TARDIS, that should have been the clue to River that he was taking the Mickey a bit. At the very least, she should have recognized that he had actually been in the TARDIS before. It also would have lessened the suspension of disbelief that he could pull levers on the TARDIS console and seem to know what he was doing (the button to seventh floor not withstanding.
But we must mention the end. After a big romp, things settle down and we are granted a quiet moment where we say a form of goodbye to River. Since we saw that she didn't realize that the Doctor had been granted a new regeneration cycle until the singing towers, it will effectively be impossible to insert newer Doctors with River. If any future events are shown with the 12th Doctor and River, it will have be confined to that night (24 years in duration). So this is more or less goodbye to River (again). To me, this also seemed a little like Steven Moffat hinting that his own time on the show is coming to an end. I could be reading into it but there has been speculation that he will leave when Peter Capaldi leaves, making a clean break just like RTD did for him. I don't know if that is true, but it gave an extra layer of melancholy that I appreciated after the earlier comedy.
So, this was a good one. Not the absolute best, but a good bit of a fluff with just a sting in the tail at the end to balance out the saccharine.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
The Husbands of River Song was interesting in more how it ended up. We knew going into it that this was going to be a comedy romp and it delivered on that. It got so far that it became a bit silly at a few points, but that was okay given how dour Series Nine was. What was interesting was how the episode ended and how it seemed to be a bit of a swan song for Steven Moffat.
Plot Summary
The Doctor is taken by a servant who has confused him for a surgeon to a crashed space ship. Inside, River Song welcomes him, not recognizing him as the Doctor, and asks him to remove the head of the king she is married to. There is a valuable diamond lodged in his brain and it is going to kill him. River acts like she is wanting to save the king's life, but she just wants the diamond. The king gets wise to this and removes his head from his cyborg body, ordering it to kill River and the Doctor. They steal the head and run for the TARDIS. River has been looking for the Doctor but is only looking for his previous incarnations. The cyborg body takes the heads of her two accomplices and gets into the TARDIS. Before it can kill them, the TARDIS takes off and they land on a ship where River plans to sell the diamond. She makes the deal but the buyers intend to worship the head of the king they believe dead and will kill River and the Doctor on the orders of the king. Before they can, the cyborg body breaks in. It recognizes that the head of the king is beyond repair and destroys it, deciding to take a new head. It opts for the Doctor and that is when River realizes that he is the Doctor. Before the cyborg can take the Doctor's head, the ship is caught in a meteor storm and crashes on the planet Derilium. The Doctor and River are saved in the TARDIS, although River is briefly knocked out. The Doctor sets up things to see that a restaurant is built on the crash site in front of the singing towers. When River wakes up, he has reserved a table through the night. River senses what is coming, having dug ahead and found that the night on Derilium was to be their last. She is sad at that thought, but the Doctor reveals to her that night on Derilium lasts 24 years.
Analysis
I liked this one. It wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable. After a dark couple of series, it was nice to see a light-hearted tone being taken. In fact, I think that is the best way to play River: either very serious as in Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead or the last few minutes of The Angels Take Manhattan or in a heavy comedic role such as with Richard Nixon in The Impossible Astronaut. I thought the Doctor's comedy routine, especially with the little asides to River's comments were particularly funny. The rompy run-around was also enjoyable in the episode taking itself too seriously.
If there was one part I didn't care for in the rompy bits, it was the fact that I thought River's nonrecognition of the Doctor went on a little too long. It was funny for a while but when the Doctor did his funny and over-the-top reaction to the inside of the TARDIS, that should have been the clue to River that he was taking the Mickey a bit. At the very least, she should have recognized that he had actually been in the TARDIS before. It also would have lessened the suspension of disbelief that he could pull levers on the TARDIS console and seem to know what he was doing (the button to seventh floor not withstanding.
But we must mention the end. After a big romp, things settle down and we are granted a quiet moment where we say a form of goodbye to River. Since we saw that she didn't realize that the Doctor had been granted a new regeneration cycle until the singing towers, it will effectively be impossible to insert newer Doctors with River. If any future events are shown with the 12th Doctor and River, it will have be confined to that night (24 years in duration). So this is more or less goodbye to River (again). To me, this also seemed a little like Steven Moffat hinting that his own time on the show is coming to an end. I could be reading into it but there has been speculation that he will leave when Peter Capaldi leaves, making a clean break just like RTD did for him. I don't know if that is true, but it gave an extra layer of melancholy that I appreciated after the earlier comedy.
So, this was a good one. Not the absolute best, but a good bit of a fluff with just a sting in the tail at the end to balance out the saccharine.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)