The Judoon platoon on the moon.
Smith and Jones was the first story since Rose that had to introduce a new companion and the first one overall in the new series that had to do it with an established Doctor. In that regard, it did it's job fairly well.
Plot Summary
Martha is going to work when she runs into the Doctor who takes off his tie in front of her. Martha continues, all on the phone with her family who are all freaking out about her father bringing his girlfriend to her brother's 21st birthday party. In the hospital, Martha goes around with a group of medical students under the supervision of a senior teaching Doctor. There she meets the Doctor again but he has no memory of meeting her earlier. In her examination, she discovers that he has two hearts but he winks at her to keep it a secret. A few hours later, Martha is on the phone with her sister again and discovers that the rain is localized around the hospital and falling upward. Suddenly the hospital is transported to the surface of the moon.
Martha and a colleague try to calm the patients when the Doctor shows up and the two of them investigate how they still have air to breathe. They discover a shield around the hospital that traps the air in but also realize that with no filtration, people will soon suffocate as the oxygen runs out. While investigating, three Judoon ships land and march their troops into the hospital. They have transported the hospital to the moon and are looking for an alien criminal. They begin to scan people and mark off anyone who registers as human. The Doctor realizes that if he is detected, the Judoon will simply mark him as non-human, proclaim him the criminal and execute him and possibly the entire hospital for harboring a fugitive.
Meanwhile, the real criminal, a plasmavore disguised as an elderly woman, attacks the teaching Doctor and drinks his blood to mask her own alien signature. She is discovered by the Doctor and Martha and she sends two robots after them to kill them. They elude one and the Doctor destroys the other by modifying an X-ray machine although his sonic screwdriver is destroyed in the process. Leaving the room, they run into the Judoon who realize the Doctor is non-human. They run away and hide on a floor the Judoon already have searched but realize they will be discovered soon. To buy time, the Doctor kisses Martha, leaving a trace of alien DNA on her skin while he runs to the MRI lab. There he discovers the plasmavore modifying the MRI machine to emit a pulse that will kill everything within a 250,000 mile radius except her in a shielded room.
The Doctor pretends to be human and tricks the plasmavore into thinking that she will need more blood to escape a second scan. She promptly starts to drink the Doctor's blood. The Judoon, having discovered Martha, pause to do a full scan on her due to the trace of alien DNA. Upon discovering that she is fully human, she leads them into the MRI room. The Judoon see the Doctor's nearly drained body and prepare to close the case. Martha grabs the Judoon scanner and points it at the plasmavore. The Doctor's alien blood counters the human blood previously consumed and the Judoon recognize her true nature and promptly execute her.
Realizing the danger of the MRI bomb, the Judoon evacuate. Martha manages to revive the Doctor and then passes out due to the lack of oxygen. The Doctor manages to disarm the bomb and as the Judoon leave, they transport the hospital back to Earth where everyone is revived. The Doctor leaves and Martha heads home and then to her brother's birthday party. A fight breaks out between her parents at the party and in the chaos, the Doctor motions Martha over to an alleyway. He shows her the TARDIS and invites her aboard for a trip as a thank you for what she did for him. She is skeptical but he then goes back in time briefly to show her him removing his tie before she went to work. Convinced, Martha enters the TARDIS and they take off.
Analysis
Smith and Jones is a fun little adventure that does it's job of introducing Martha as a companion. In that regard, it isn't so much a standard adventure but instead more of a character study. The down side of that is that while fun, things move a bit too quickly and simply and you are left with a feeling of That's it?
I did like the Judoon and their simplistic logical efficiency. They are similar to the Sontarians in many regards and an amusing send up of military and police bureaucracy. I also liked the villain in this story. It was rather nice to see an older actress play a sinister character with a bit of brain to manipulate their way out of a situation. I also liked the interaction between the Doctor and Martha. When they focus on the problems at hand, such as in the hospital situation, they have a nice chemistry and readily bounce ideas off each other. It is also nice to see the beginnings of a companion who doesn't take the Doctor's guff and is willing to put him on the spot.
What I didn't care for or just didn't sit right with me about this episode was how quickly everything wrapped up as far as the source of danger. It was both over too quickly and it made too much room for the inclusion of Martha's interactions with her relations. Not that there was anything bad about them, but it brought up an immediate feeling that like Rose, there would not be just the companion. The stories would involve her whole extended family as well and having done that dynamic with Jackie and Mickey, it had a touch of the shoehorn to fit an established style.
Rose also hangs heavy over this episode which is another slight knock against it. The Doctor is clearly still pining for Rose and that makes him mopey and mopey Tenth Doctor is annoying. There is also the beginnings of the unrequited love of Martha which has two negatives. One, it again forces us to constantly call back to Rose when we should be done with her. Two, Martha going into big eyes adoration mode destroys the natural chemistry she and the Doctor have. They function better as an investigative team, bouncing ideas off each other (Holmes and Watson so to speak) and whenever that is lost by Martha taking whatever the Doctor says because she is fond of him, it just seems to undo the natural order of things and takes you right out of the story.
Those drawbacks aside, it is a fun little story and easily watchable again. It would not be my first choice of the Series Three options but you'll get no complaints from me if someone suggested it.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
Silver Nemesis
Professor? Doctor? Who are you?
Having just reviewed the best anniversary special, why not follow it up with the worst that is an actual episode (Dimensions in Time must be treated as it's own beast)? Silver Nemesis wasn't the worst story I've ever seen but it wasn't good either.
Plot Summary
The story begins with a group of renegade Nazis in Argentina calculating the arrival of something in Windsor, England on November 23, 1988. The Nazis then gather a band of commandos to travel to England. Similarly, a woman in 1638 named Lady Peinforte has hired a learned man to calculate the arrival of a comet named Nemesis. He also calculates it's arrival in Windsor on November 23, 1988. Lady Peinforte and her companion Richard brew a potion that transports them forward in time 350 years.
The Doctor and Ace are at a jazz session when a reminder timer goes off. The Doctor can't remember why he set it and he and Ace head back to the TARDIS to figure out what it is for. On their way, they are attacked by two men with machine guns and are forced to dive into the river to escape. They arrive back at the TARDIS and the Doctor determines that the Earth is in danger. His memory triggered, the Doctor and Ace travel to the Windsor Castle armory to retrieve a silver bow. But the bow is in the hands of the Nazis. They then travel to Lady Peinforte's house in 1638 to look for a silver arrow, but find it missing along with Lady Peinforte.
The Doctor informs Ace that a comet is about to crash in Windsor containing a statue made of a living metal called Validium, developed by Rassilon and Omega for the defense of Gallifrey. Lady Peinforte found the metal and had it crafted into a statue of her with a bow and arrow. With the bow and arrow missing, the metal lacks the critical mass required to be sentient. If reunited, it will revive and serve whomever revives it to their purpose.
The Doctor and Ace travel back to Windsor to get help but are chased out of Windsor Castle after nearly meeting the Queen. The comet crashes in a field nearby and after the comet itself dispatches the police investigating it, the three searching parties approach it. The Nazis move in to kill Ace and the Doctor but are interrupted by the arrival of a Cyberman scout ship. The Cybermen also move to take possession of the statue and begin fighting the Nazis.
Lady Peinforte and Richard fire arrows with poison tipped gold heads at the Cybermen and the gold destroys a couple Cybermen while the Nazi bullets do nothing. The Cybermen destroy most of the Nazi commandos and the survivors are forced to retreat. In the confusion, the Doctor and Ace run off with the silver bow. The Cybermen take possession of the statue and move to a small castle Lady Peinforte had built as a tomb. She and Richard follow them while the Doctor and Ace set up an interference signal, jamming the communications between the Cybermen and the rest of their fleet. The Doctor then has Ace destroy the Cybermen's ship.
Knowing that she is coming with the silver arrow, the Cybermen leave the tomb castle and allow Lady Peinforte easy access. She reunites the arrow with the statue and they hold off the Cybermen temporarily with more gold tipped arrows. The Cybermen accept a proposal of alliance with the Nazis who storm the tomb, causing Richard to drag Lady Peinforte out a secret passage to escape. The Nazis, believing they still have the silver bow, prepare to betray the Cybermen but are in turn double crossed. They are shunted to the background to be converted while the Cybermen wait for the Doctor.
The Doctor and Ace arrive. They put the bow in the statue's hands before the Cybermen can take it, reviving the statue. The Doctor then takes the bow back and he and Ace flee back to the TARDIS. The statue follows of its own accord, seeking to be reunited with the bow. The Cybermen also pursue. After a quick stop at Lady Peinforte's house to clean up, the Doctor and Ace arrive back at the comet ship in Windsor. The statue arrives and acquiesces to the Doctor's wishes to return to the ship and destroy the Cybermen warships.
The Doctor works out the ship calculations while Ace holds off the Cybermen, slingshoting gold coins against them. She disables all of them, although the Cyberleader revives. The Nazis arrive to take the bow but they are shot down by the Cyberleader. Lady Peinforte and Richard arrive then as well with Lady Peinforte demanding the bow or she will reveal the secret of the Doctor's past. The Doctor ignores her and gives the bow to the Cyberleader. He places the bow in the statue's hand and prepares to launch it back to the Cyberfleet. Lady Peinforte, having descended into madness, throws herself into ship and is absorbed by the statue just before it launches.
The ship takes off and detonates in the midst of the fleet, destroying it per the Doctor's instructions. The Cyberleader moves to kill the Doctor but Richard kills him by stabbing him with a gold tipped arrow that had been lodged in the wall of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Ace then take Richard back to 1638 where they enjoy a lute session between him and a new lady friend.
Analysis
I've now watched three stories from the Seventh Doctor era and in each one, there is clear evidence that more information was filmed than was actually included in the as-aired story. I'm not including allusion to a larger story which I rather like, but instead to scenes that make reference to something that we should have seen before to understand the context. It is indicative of sloppy editing and poor story planning and it seems to be a recurring theme in the Seventh Doctor era.
That point aside, this is not a very good story. One of the few good things it has going for it is that all the actors do well. The Doctor and Ace are enjoyable and the Cyberleader especially is an enjoyable adversary. I've heard some fans dislike Lady Peinforte but I found nothing wrong with her portrayal and any problems that lay with her character for me were strictly with the writing.
So lets get to the writing. As an action story to appeal to seven to ten year old boys, this story would do alright. But there are number of things that are dreadful about this story. None of the characters are well fleshed out and much of their dialogue is somewhat crudely written. It's a credit to the actors that with a few exceptions here and there, the characters don't descend into complete over-the-top camp for most of the story.
Two particular bits of silliness that stood out were the use of Lady Peinforte's potion to travel through time and the Cybermen weakness against gold. Potions have been used on the show before in the form of the Elixir of Life, but those strictly affected body chemistry, for which a potion is aptly suited. How does the ingestion of a potion enable one to breach the time barrier and jump forward 350 years? Likewise, gold was introduced as a Cyberman weakness in Revenge of the Cybermen, but there it was in the form of gold dust which would clog the Cybermen's mechanisms. This is a reasonable weakness given the known properties of gold. To change that so that a small amount of gold will destroy a Cyberman if it pierces the chest plate makes absolutely no sense. It's a cheap and easy "magic bullet" that can take down an otherwise invincible enemy.
The actions of the characters started somewhat reasonable but they devolved into a Benny Hill style of silliness. Of particular note was the Doctor's putting the bow in the statue's hands at the beginning of Episode Three. He and Ace play an elaborate game of keep away with the Cybermen until the Doctor places it in the statue's hands. It makes the Cybermen look utterly incompetent and should have simply shot the Doctor down several times over. Similarly, Lady Peinforte's descent into madness is odd in both it's development and manifestation. There is no good reason for it to happen as there is no driving point where she is shown something that will tip her over the edge. Instead it is just madness for the sake of convenience. Her ride back to Windsor with the rich American woman is also something very strange. It serves no purpose except to give this other woman a few scenes to play around in. It's an odd bit of filler.
If you turn your brain back into what excited you as an eight-year old, Silver Nemesis has a certain level of enjoyment, although you wouldn't understand the plot in the least. From an adult perspective though, it's pretty bad and gets worse as the story goes forward. I will give it a little bit of slack in that I was never bored by it, nor did I ever groan at the acting, which are my two biggest peeves when watching television. For that, I'll rank it slightly higher than many others probably would. But it's still not something I'm going to pull off the shelf to watch again.
Overall personal score: 1.5 out of 5
Having just reviewed the best anniversary special, why not follow it up with the worst that is an actual episode (Dimensions in Time must be treated as it's own beast)? Silver Nemesis wasn't the worst story I've ever seen but it wasn't good either.
Plot Summary
The story begins with a group of renegade Nazis in Argentina calculating the arrival of something in Windsor, England on November 23, 1988. The Nazis then gather a band of commandos to travel to England. Similarly, a woman in 1638 named Lady Peinforte has hired a learned man to calculate the arrival of a comet named Nemesis. He also calculates it's arrival in Windsor on November 23, 1988. Lady Peinforte and her companion Richard brew a potion that transports them forward in time 350 years.
The Doctor and Ace are at a jazz session when a reminder timer goes off. The Doctor can't remember why he set it and he and Ace head back to the TARDIS to figure out what it is for. On their way, they are attacked by two men with machine guns and are forced to dive into the river to escape. They arrive back at the TARDIS and the Doctor determines that the Earth is in danger. His memory triggered, the Doctor and Ace travel to the Windsor Castle armory to retrieve a silver bow. But the bow is in the hands of the Nazis. They then travel to Lady Peinforte's house in 1638 to look for a silver arrow, but find it missing along with Lady Peinforte.
The Doctor informs Ace that a comet is about to crash in Windsor containing a statue made of a living metal called Validium, developed by Rassilon and Omega for the defense of Gallifrey. Lady Peinforte found the metal and had it crafted into a statue of her with a bow and arrow. With the bow and arrow missing, the metal lacks the critical mass required to be sentient. If reunited, it will revive and serve whomever revives it to their purpose.
The Doctor and Ace travel back to Windsor to get help but are chased out of Windsor Castle after nearly meeting the Queen. The comet crashes in a field nearby and after the comet itself dispatches the police investigating it, the three searching parties approach it. The Nazis move in to kill Ace and the Doctor but are interrupted by the arrival of a Cyberman scout ship. The Cybermen also move to take possession of the statue and begin fighting the Nazis.
Lady Peinforte and Richard fire arrows with poison tipped gold heads at the Cybermen and the gold destroys a couple Cybermen while the Nazi bullets do nothing. The Cybermen destroy most of the Nazi commandos and the survivors are forced to retreat. In the confusion, the Doctor and Ace run off with the silver bow. The Cybermen take possession of the statue and move to a small castle Lady Peinforte had built as a tomb. She and Richard follow them while the Doctor and Ace set up an interference signal, jamming the communications between the Cybermen and the rest of their fleet. The Doctor then has Ace destroy the Cybermen's ship.
Knowing that she is coming with the silver arrow, the Cybermen leave the tomb castle and allow Lady Peinforte easy access. She reunites the arrow with the statue and they hold off the Cybermen temporarily with more gold tipped arrows. The Cybermen accept a proposal of alliance with the Nazis who storm the tomb, causing Richard to drag Lady Peinforte out a secret passage to escape. The Nazis, believing they still have the silver bow, prepare to betray the Cybermen but are in turn double crossed. They are shunted to the background to be converted while the Cybermen wait for the Doctor.
The Doctor and Ace arrive. They put the bow in the statue's hands before the Cybermen can take it, reviving the statue. The Doctor then takes the bow back and he and Ace flee back to the TARDIS. The statue follows of its own accord, seeking to be reunited with the bow. The Cybermen also pursue. After a quick stop at Lady Peinforte's house to clean up, the Doctor and Ace arrive back at the comet ship in Windsor. The statue arrives and acquiesces to the Doctor's wishes to return to the ship and destroy the Cybermen warships.
The Doctor works out the ship calculations while Ace holds off the Cybermen, slingshoting gold coins against them. She disables all of them, although the Cyberleader revives. The Nazis arrive to take the bow but they are shot down by the Cyberleader. Lady Peinforte and Richard arrive then as well with Lady Peinforte demanding the bow or she will reveal the secret of the Doctor's past. The Doctor ignores her and gives the bow to the Cyberleader. He places the bow in the statue's hand and prepares to launch it back to the Cyberfleet. Lady Peinforte, having descended into madness, throws herself into ship and is absorbed by the statue just before it launches.
The ship takes off and detonates in the midst of the fleet, destroying it per the Doctor's instructions. The Cyberleader moves to kill the Doctor but Richard kills him by stabbing him with a gold tipped arrow that had been lodged in the wall of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Ace then take Richard back to 1638 where they enjoy a lute session between him and a new lady friend.
Analysis
I've now watched three stories from the Seventh Doctor era and in each one, there is clear evidence that more information was filmed than was actually included in the as-aired story. I'm not including allusion to a larger story which I rather like, but instead to scenes that make reference to something that we should have seen before to understand the context. It is indicative of sloppy editing and poor story planning and it seems to be a recurring theme in the Seventh Doctor era.
That point aside, this is not a very good story. One of the few good things it has going for it is that all the actors do well. The Doctor and Ace are enjoyable and the Cyberleader especially is an enjoyable adversary. I've heard some fans dislike Lady Peinforte but I found nothing wrong with her portrayal and any problems that lay with her character for me were strictly with the writing.
So lets get to the writing. As an action story to appeal to seven to ten year old boys, this story would do alright. But there are number of things that are dreadful about this story. None of the characters are well fleshed out and much of their dialogue is somewhat crudely written. It's a credit to the actors that with a few exceptions here and there, the characters don't descend into complete over-the-top camp for most of the story.
Two particular bits of silliness that stood out were the use of Lady Peinforte's potion to travel through time and the Cybermen weakness against gold. Potions have been used on the show before in the form of the Elixir of Life, but those strictly affected body chemistry, for which a potion is aptly suited. How does the ingestion of a potion enable one to breach the time barrier and jump forward 350 years? Likewise, gold was introduced as a Cyberman weakness in Revenge of the Cybermen, but there it was in the form of gold dust which would clog the Cybermen's mechanisms. This is a reasonable weakness given the known properties of gold. To change that so that a small amount of gold will destroy a Cyberman if it pierces the chest plate makes absolutely no sense. It's a cheap and easy "magic bullet" that can take down an otherwise invincible enemy.
The actions of the characters started somewhat reasonable but they devolved into a Benny Hill style of silliness. Of particular note was the Doctor's putting the bow in the statue's hands at the beginning of Episode Three. He and Ace play an elaborate game of keep away with the Cybermen until the Doctor places it in the statue's hands. It makes the Cybermen look utterly incompetent and should have simply shot the Doctor down several times over. Similarly, Lady Peinforte's descent into madness is odd in both it's development and manifestation. There is no good reason for it to happen as there is no driving point where she is shown something that will tip her over the edge. Instead it is just madness for the sake of convenience. Her ride back to Windsor with the rich American woman is also something very strange. It serves no purpose except to give this other woman a few scenes to play around in. It's an odd bit of filler.
If you turn your brain back into what excited you as an eight-year old, Silver Nemesis has a certain level of enjoyment, although you wouldn't understand the plot in the least. From an adult perspective though, it's pretty bad and gets worse as the story goes forward. I will give it a little bit of slack in that I was never bored by it, nor did I ever groan at the acting, which are my two biggest peeves when watching television. For that, I'll rank it slightly higher than many others probably would. But it's still not something I'm going to pull off the shelf to watch again.
Overall personal score: 1.5 out of 5
Thursday, March 3, 2016
The Day of the Doctor
Gallifrey falls no more!
It probably would have been more monumental to have this be the 100th story that I've reviewed, but since I screwed up my order by putting two new series stories back to back a few weeks ago, The Day of the Doctor got pushed into slot 101. But, it's still good no matter when you watch it.
Plot Summary
The Eleventh Doctor is called in by Kate Stewart to investigate a problem with a series of paintings hidden away in a deep archive. The Doctor was specifically called in per the instructions of Queen Elizabeth I, left in the form of a letter set aside during her reign.
The story then flashes back to the War Doctor, having stolen the Moment, a weapon so powerful it will destroy Gallifrey and the Dalek fleet but also has a conscious. The conscious manifests itself as Bad Wolf, Rose's identity upon absorbing the time vortex in Parting of the Ways. The Moment opens a time vortex to show the War Doctor the men he will become if he uses the Moment.
At this moment, the Tenth Doctor is wooing Queen Elizabeth and proposes to her thinking that she is a Zygon. She accepts and the Zygon reveals itself to be the horse instead. It chases them into the woods where it assumes the form of the Queen. A time vortex opens and the Eleventh Doctor arrives, having jumped in while investigating the paintings. The Tenth Doctor orders the two Queens to run opposite each other. The War Doctor arrives afterwards, initially mistaking the Tenth and Eleventh versions as companions. The trio are set upon by the Queens guard and then arrested by the Queen who confines them into the tower. Her actions suggest that she is the Zygon impersonating the Queen.
Overhearing the conversation, Clara is taken to the Black Archive by Kate Stewart to retrieve Captain Jack's vortex manipulator. Stewart has been replaced by a Zygon though. The Eleventh Doctor etches the coordinates into the tower where they are found four hundred years later. In the Black Archive, Clara is set upon by the Zygons but manages to use the vortex manipulator before they can reach her.
The three Doctors, having come up with a plan to escape the tower, are freed when Clara opens the door. They are grabbed by the Queen immediately and escorted down to the Zygon ship. The Zygons imbed themselves in paintings that are actually slices of time-space, using them as suspended animation to invade in the future. After the Zygons are imbedded, the Queen reveals herself to be the real Queen, having killed the Zygon commander in the woods with her dagger. Knowing the Zygon plan, the Doctor stores the paintings in the gallery and the Queen leaves instructions to the Doctor in a letter. The Queen and the Tenth Doctor wed and the three Doctors and Clara leave in the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS, promising the Queen to be right back.
Knowing the Zygons are in the Black Archive, the Eleventh Doctor calls one of the assistants before the Zygons move to the Black Archive, requesting the painting of the Fall of Arcadia be moved to the Black Archive. They then embed themselves in that painting and emerge into the Black Archive just as the real Kate Stewart and UNIT break in. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors activate the memory wipe system causing the whole party to forget who is human and who is Zygon. On equal terms, the two sides sit down to negotiate a peace deal.
Having seen the effects, the War Doctor returns to his own time, prepared to use the Moment. Realizing what he is going to do, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors follow with Clara to be with him. However, before they activate the Moment, they come with an idea to embed Gallifrey within a pocket universe much like the paintings. Gallifrey would be removed from time and space and the Daleks would destroy each other in the cross-fire. The calculations are so complex that they enlist all thirteen iterations of the Doctor to assist them. Gallifrey disappears and the Daleks are destroyed.
Afterwards, the three Doctors meet in the gallery to say goodbye. Because of the interruption to the time-stream, neither the War Doctor nor the Tenth Doctor will remember the change and will go on thinking that they destroyed Gallifrey. The War Doctor leaves and begins his regeneration into the Ninth Doctor. The Tenth Doctor also leaves with the Eleventh Doctor having just told him that they will die on the planet of Trenzalore.
Preparing to leave, Clara goes back into the TARDIS while the Eleventh Doctor waits for the curator, whom he was told was looking for him. The curator comes in and the Eleventh Doctor recognizes him as looking like the Fourth Doctor. The curator toys with him, suggesting that he might be a future version of the Doctor, but importantly tells him that their plan worked and that Gallifrey is out there. The Eleventh Doctor resolves to find it as he takes off in his TARDIS.
Plot Summary
There is very little more you could ask for in an anniversary story than what this delivers. It dips into the Time War, is filled with fun references for fans, is funny, sad, and epic all at the same time and tells a pretty good story while it's at it. One review I remember hearing remarked that the War Doctor is a perfect encapsulation of classic fan reaction to the new Doctors (or at least the more curmudgeonly ones).
I would agree that I think the War Doctor does a very good bridging between the slightly more serious tone of the classic Doctors and the slightly goofy tone of the new series Doctors. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors play themselves to a tee and the ego comparison between the two is quite amusing. At the same time, there is a nice balance as each Doctor plays the grown up at various times. The Tenth Doctor is clearly the one still the most haunted by the Time War and does not tolerate any flippancy towards it. Likewise the Eleventh Doctor rallies them for the way out and to prevent the disaster from happening.
Now, it is very easy to lose oneself in the moment (no pun intended) and give the story flying colors due to it's pull from the series as a whole and the emotional rollercoaster it takes you on. However, like The Five Doctors, if you look at the story as a whole, there are flaws that drag it down a bit.
Because of the complexities of the story, some of the fleshing out of other characters and things that might have otherwise been explained are not done. Queen Elizabeth is not given much and it is never explained how she can know all the particulars of the Zygon plan if it is the real Queen. In fact, the entire Zygon subplot has a tendency to drag a bit. Aside from storing themselves in the paintings, it's a near direct rip of Terror of the Zygons. That was a good story, but the second time around it gets a bit predictable.
I would also have to ding some of the Gallifrey scenes as well. They were going for emotional drama and it works fairly well, but some of it feels a bit over the top and some of the acting also suffers a bit. The whole opening scenes of the war seem very odd with Daleks preparing to slaughter a group of civilians and the Doctor is just taking his time blowing the words "No More" into a wall before he blast in and kills all the Daleks. If they hadn't sensed his presence, the Daleks might have killed all of people while he was tooling around. Dramatic yes, but also silly and over the top.
I think that because of the fan service that any producer feels he must include, it is probably impossible to get a perfect anniversary story. Little bits are going to suffer here and there due to the need and desire to include other things that will offer titillation to the fans. But this is by far the best of all the anniversary stories and easily enjoyable on repeat watchings.
Overall personal score: 4.5 out of 5
It probably would have been more monumental to have this be the 100th story that I've reviewed, but since I screwed up my order by putting two new series stories back to back a few weeks ago, The Day of the Doctor got pushed into slot 101. But, it's still good no matter when you watch it.
Plot Summary
The Eleventh Doctor is called in by Kate Stewart to investigate a problem with a series of paintings hidden away in a deep archive. The Doctor was specifically called in per the instructions of Queen Elizabeth I, left in the form of a letter set aside during her reign.
The story then flashes back to the War Doctor, having stolen the Moment, a weapon so powerful it will destroy Gallifrey and the Dalek fleet but also has a conscious. The conscious manifests itself as Bad Wolf, Rose's identity upon absorbing the time vortex in Parting of the Ways. The Moment opens a time vortex to show the War Doctor the men he will become if he uses the Moment.
At this moment, the Tenth Doctor is wooing Queen Elizabeth and proposes to her thinking that she is a Zygon. She accepts and the Zygon reveals itself to be the horse instead. It chases them into the woods where it assumes the form of the Queen. A time vortex opens and the Eleventh Doctor arrives, having jumped in while investigating the paintings. The Tenth Doctor orders the two Queens to run opposite each other. The War Doctor arrives afterwards, initially mistaking the Tenth and Eleventh versions as companions. The trio are set upon by the Queens guard and then arrested by the Queen who confines them into the tower. Her actions suggest that she is the Zygon impersonating the Queen.
Overhearing the conversation, Clara is taken to the Black Archive by Kate Stewart to retrieve Captain Jack's vortex manipulator. Stewart has been replaced by a Zygon though. The Eleventh Doctor etches the coordinates into the tower where they are found four hundred years later. In the Black Archive, Clara is set upon by the Zygons but manages to use the vortex manipulator before they can reach her.
The three Doctors, having come up with a plan to escape the tower, are freed when Clara opens the door. They are grabbed by the Queen immediately and escorted down to the Zygon ship. The Zygons imbed themselves in paintings that are actually slices of time-space, using them as suspended animation to invade in the future. After the Zygons are imbedded, the Queen reveals herself to be the real Queen, having killed the Zygon commander in the woods with her dagger. Knowing the Zygon plan, the Doctor stores the paintings in the gallery and the Queen leaves instructions to the Doctor in a letter. The Queen and the Tenth Doctor wed and the three Doctors and Clara leave in the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS, promising the Queen to be right back.
Knowing the Zygons are in the Black Archive, the Eleventh Doctor calls one of the assistants before the Zygons move to the Black Archive, requesting the painting of the Fall of Arcadia be moved to the Black Archive. They then embed themselves in that painting and emerge into the Black Archive just as the real Kate Stewart and UNIT break in. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors activate the memory wipe system causing the whole party to forget who is human and who is Zygon. On equal terms, the two sides sit down to negotiate a peace deal.
Having seen the effects, the War Doctor returns to his own time, prepared to use the Moment. Realizing what he is going to do, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors follow with Clara to be with him. However, before they activate the Moment, they come with an idea to embed Gallifrey within a pocket universe much like the paintings. Gallifrey would be removed from time and space and the Daleks would destroy each other in the cross-fire. The calculations are so complex that they enlist all thirteen iterations of the Doctor to assist them. Gallifrey disappears and the Daleks are destroyed.
Afterwards, the three Doctors meet in the gallery to say goodbye. Because of the interruption to the time-stream, neither the War Doctor nor the Tenth Doctor will remember the change and will go on thinking that they destroyed Gallifrey. The War Doctor leaves and begins his regeneration into the Ninth Doctor. The Tenth Doctor also leaves with the Eleventh Doctor having just told him that they will die on the planet of Trenzalore.
Preparing to leave, Clara goes back into the TARDIS while the Eleventh Doctor waits for the curator, whom he was told was looking for him. The curator comes in and the Eleventh Doctor recognizes him as looking like the Fourth Doctor. The curator toys with him, suggesting that he might be a future version of the Doctor, but importantly tells him that their plan worked and that Gallifrey is out there. The Eleventh Doctor resolves to find it as he takes off in his TARDIS.
Plot Summary
There is very little more you could ask for in an anniversary story than what this delivers. It dips into the Time War, is filled with fun references for fans, is funny, sad, and epic all at the same time and tells a pretty good story while it's at it. One review I remember hearing remarked that the War Doctor is a perfect encapsulation of classic fan reaction to the new Doctors (or at least the more curmudgeonly ones).
I would agree that I think the War Doctor does a very good bridging between the slightly more serious tone of the classic Doctors and the slightly goofy tone of the new series Doctors. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors play themselves to a tee and the ego comparison between the two is quite amusing. At the same time, there is a nice balance as each Doctor plays the grown up at various times. The Tenth Doctor is clearly the one still the most haunted by the Time War and does not tolerate any flippancy towards it. Likewise the Eleventh Doctor rallies them for the way out and to prevent the disaster from happening.
Now, it is very easy to lose oneself in the moment (no pun intended) and give the story flying colors due to it's pull from the series as a whole and the emotional rollercoaster it takes you on. However, like The Five Doctors, if you look at the story as a whole, there are flaws that drag it down a bit.
Because of the complexities of the story, some of the fleshing out of other characters and things that might have otherwise been explained are not done. Queen Elizabeth is not given much and it is never explained how she can know all the particulars of the Zygon plan if it is the real Queen. In fact, the entire Zygon subplot has a tendency to drag a bit. Aside from storing themselves in the paintings, it's a near direct rip of Terror of the Zygons. That was a good story, but the second time around it gets a bit predictable.
I would also have to ding some of the Gallifrey scenes as well. They were going for emotional drama and it works fairly well, but some of it feels a bit over the top and some of the acting also suffers a bit. The whole opening scenes of the war seem very odd with Daleks preparing to slaughter a group of civilians and the Doctor is just taking his time blowing the words "No More" into a wall before he blast in and kills all the Daleks. If they hadn't sensed his presence, the Daleks might have killed all of people while he was tooling around. Dramatic yes, but also silly and over the top.
I think that because of the fan service that any producer feels he must include, it is probably impossible to get a perfect anniversary story. Little bits are going to suffer here and there due to the need and desire to include other things that will offer titillation to the fans. But this is by far the best of all the anniversary stories and easily enjoyable on repeat watchings.
Overall personal score: 4.5 out of 5
Thursday, February 25, 2016
The Time Warrior
Actually, I'm not a magician at all
In many ways, the story that introduced the Sontaran race mirrors the race itself: it starts strong with a menacing monster, but slows down and ends in a more comedic fashion.
Plot Summary
A Sontaran named Lynx crashes to Earth in the Middle Ages and immediately forges an alliance with a rogue noble named Irongron. Lynx offers more advanced weapons in exchange for a workshop and materials to work with. As the Middle Ages lack circuitry and computers, Lynx uses parts of his ship to steal men and equipment he needs from as far forward as he can reach, which turns out to be the Twentieth Century. The disappearing scientists and equipment catch the attention of UNIT and the Doctor is brought in to investigate. Also sneaking in is Sarah Jane Smith, a reporter who masquerades as her aunt Livinia to get in. The Doctor quickly smokes her out but the disappearance of another scientist gets his attention. Using equipment set up, he figures that the scientists are being pulled back in time and he follows the signal in the TARDIS. Unbeknownst to him, Sarah has snuck aboard the TARDIS to see what is going on.
Upon arriving in the Middle Ages, each leaves the TARDIS separately, the Doctor unaware of Sarah. She is captured by Irongron's men along with an archer named Hal, who had been sent to assassinate Irongron. Sarah refuses to believe that she is actually in the past and manages to slip away when Lynx presents Irongron with a fighting robot. Irongron guides the robot to kill Hal but the Doctor destroys the remote and Irongron is forced to destroy the robot when it goes rogue. Hal and Sarah slip away back to the castle of Edward of Wessex, whom Hal serves. Believing the Doctor to be supplying weapons to Irongron, Sarah convinces Edward to send a few men to capture the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor confronts Lynx and tries to reason with him. However, he is subdued and forced to work on the ship. But he is soon freed when it turns out that one of the scientist, named Rubeish, was immune to Lynx's mind control due to his very poor eyesight. The Doctor escapes Lynx's shop and Irongron's castle when he is captured by Edward's raiding party.
Once at the castle, the Doctor convinces Sarah that he's trying to help the scientist and offers to help Edward. Using dummies and stink bombs, the Doctor and the small castle garrison unnerve Irongron's men and drive them back to his own castle. The Doctor and Sarah sneak back to Irongron's castle. Sarah disguises herself as a maid and slips a sleeping tonic into the garrison's food. The Doctor slips back down to Lynx's lab and begins to unhypnotize the scientists. He is caught by Lynx but Lynx is subdued when hit from behind by Rubeish. The Doctor instructs Rubeish on how to wake the others and to wait for his return. He then tries to distract Irongron by posing as a new fighting robot. He is discovered and Irongron's men attempt to kill him by using him as target practice. Sarah intervenes and the two escape back to Edward's castle.
Knowing that the sleeping agent will allow them access and knowing that Lynx will soon leave in his repaired ship, destroying everything in the castle, the Doctor and Sarah return, accompanied by Hal. As the men fall asleep at their posts, they walk in and head down to Lynx's lab. Lynx has activated his ship and has informed Irongron of his intention to leave, warning them to abandon the castle. While Lynx is away, the Doctor begins to send the scientist back to their own time. Lynx arrives in the middle but the Doctor holds him off while the rest depart. Irongron, alerted to trouble when Hal attempts to disarm him, waking him, runs down to Lynx's workshop thinking he has betrayed them. Lynx shoots Irongron and then retreats to his ship when it alerts him that it is ready for takeoff. The other men in the castle, wake from the drug and flee the castle. Hal also returns to the workshop and sees Lynx preparing to leave. He shoots him in the probic vent, causing him to collapse and accidentally trigger the ignition before the ship is ready. Hal, Sarah and the Doctor flee the castle and it and the Sontaran ship explode. The Doctor and Sarah say goodbye to Hal and leave in the TARDIS.
Analysis
This was an entertaining episode in the action-adventure mode that you expect from the Third Doctor. Lynx and the Sontarans in general make for good foes and with Robert Holmes writing, the banter is fairly witty throughout. The introduction of Sarah is also good as she comes in as a strong contrast to Jo with an independent, feminist streak that doesn't take it from the Doctor. Holmes even manages to pull a little double action with Sarah promoting feminism among the serving women of the kitchen, but also poking a little fun at it with the head server mocking her for being young and not knowing sense.
There are a few downsides to this story as well. The going back and forth between Edward's and Irongron's castles gets a bit tedious and you get a sense that if they didn't have these interludes, the story could have made tighter. Irongron himself was fine at first, but by Episode Four he was becoming a bit too one note. I would have liked a little more depth to him, a touch more cunning. If not that, I think more focus should have been put on Lynx. I understand why Lynx didn't get the primary focus since he was only interested in repairing his ship and didn't care about the fights of the "primitive" humans. But it still would have been nice to see a little more machination on his part.
The more significant problem was with how the story ended. The story began well with a bit of an edge and the humor coming more from the absurdity of an alien warrior landing in the Middle Ages. However, the more it progressed, the more given to silliness the story seemed to get. The fights were either of a Benny Hill running around style or they deliberately avoided killing in order to prolong the story. Early in Episode Three, Hal shoots an axe out of Irongron's hand to save the Doctor. However, it would have been an even easier shot to lodge the arrow in Irongron's head, killing him. But that would have ended the story too quickly. By the end, the fight between the Doctor and Lynx seemed rushed with some odd cuts. It gave the story a more farcical feel with a hasty ending to allow the good guys to win. It was a bit of a let down to a decent adventure.
As I was thinking about what to score this, I compared it in my mind to The Claws of Axos. Both stories had a threat that developed quickly, outside agents being involved, and a generally fast paced story that kept you from wondering how much time was left in each episode. Also like Axos, the ending felt slapdash and rushed with an odd resolution. So I think you can draw a fair comparison between the two. Good stories, no complaints if someone pulls it off the shelf to watch it, but not something I'm going to reach for every time.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
In many ways, the story that introduced the Sontaran race mirrors the race itself: it starts strong with a menacing monster, but slows down and ends in a more comedic fashion.
Plot Summary
A Sontaran named Lynx crashes to Earth in the Middle Ages and immediately forges an alliance with a rogue noble named Irongron. Lynx offers more advanced weapons in exchange for a workshop and materials to work with. As the Middle Ages lack circuitry and computers, Lynx uses parts of his ship to steal men and equipment he needs from as far forward as he can reach, which turns out to be the Twentieth Century. The disappearing scientists and equipment catch the attention of UNIT and the Doctor is brought in to investigate. Also sneaking in is Sarah Jane Smith, a reporter who masquerades as her aunt Livinia to get in. The Doctor quickly smokes her out but the disappearance of another scientist gets his attention. Using equipment set up, he figures that the scientists are being pulled back in time and he follows the signal in the TARDIS. Unbeknownst to him, Sarah has snuck aboard the TARDIS to see what is going on.
Upon arriving in the Middle Ages, each leaves the TARDIS separately, the Doctor unaware of Sarah. She is captured by Irongron's men along with an archer named Hal, who had been sent to assassinate Irongron. Sarah refuses to believe that she is actually in the past and manages to slip away when Lynx presents Irongron with a fighting robot. Irongron guides the robot to kill Hal but the Doctor destroys the remote and Irongron is forced to destroy the robot when it goes rogue. Hal and Sarah slip away back to the castle of Edward of Wessex, whom Hal serves. Believing the Doctor to be supplying weapons to Irongron, Sarah convinces Edward to send a few men to capture the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor confronts Lynx and tries to reason with him. However, he is subdued and forced to work on the ship. But he is soon freed when it turns out that one of the scientist, named Rubeish, was immune to Lynx's mind control due to his very poor eyesight. The Doctor escapes Lynx's shop and Irongron's castle when he is captured by Edward's raiding party.
Once at the castle, the Doctor convinces Sarah that he's trying to help the scientist and offers to help Edward. Using dummies and stink bombs, the Doctor and the small castle garrison unnerve Irongron's men and drive them back to his own castle. The Doctor and Sarah sneak back to Irongron's castle. Sarah disguises herself as a maid and slips a sleeping tonic into the garrison's food. The Doctor slips back down to Lynx's lab and begins to unhypnotize the scientists. He is caught by Lynx but Lynx is subdued when hit from behind by Rubeish. The Doctor instructs Rubeish on how to wake the others and to wait for his return. He then tries to distract Irongron by posing as a new fighting robot. He is discovered and Irongron's men attempt to kill him by using him as target practice. Sarah intervenes and the two escape back to Edward's castle.
Knowing that the sleeping agent will allow them access and knowing that Lynx will soon leave in his repaired ship, destroying everything in the castle, the Doctor and Sarah return, accompanied by Hal. As the men fall asleep at their posts, they walk in and head down to Lynx's lab. Lynx has activated his ship and has informed Irongron of his intention to leave, warning them to abandon the castle. While Lynx is away, the Doctor begins to send the scientist back to their own time. Lynx arrives in the middle but the Doctor holds him off while the rest depart. Irongron, alerted to trouble when Hal attempts to disarm him, waking him, runs down to Lynx's workshop thinking he has betrayed them. Lynx shoots Irongron and then retreats to his ship when it alerts him that it is ready for takeoff. The other men in the castle, wake from the drug and flee the castle. Hal also returns to the workshop and sees Lynx preparing to leave. He shoots him in the probic vent, causing him to collapse and accidentally trigger the ignition before the ship is ready. Hal, Sarah and the Doctor flee the castle and it and the Sontaran ship explode. The Doctor and Sarah say goodbye to Hal and leave in the TARDIS.
Analysis
This was an entertaining episode in the action-adventure mode that you expect from the Third Doctor. Lynx and the Sontarans in general make for good foes and with Robert Holmes writing, the banter is fairly witty throughout. The introduction of Sarah is also good as she comes in as a strong contrast to Jo with an independent, feminist streak that doesn't take it from the Doctor. Holmes even manages to pull a little double action with Sarah promoting feminism among the serving women of the kitchen, but also poking a little fun at it with the head server mocking her for being young and not knowing sense.
There are a few downsides to this story as well. The going back and forth between Edward's and Irongron's castles gets a bit tedious and you get a sense that if they didn't have these interludes, the story could have made tighter. Irongron himself was fine at first, but by Episode Four he was becoming a bit too one note. I would have liked a little more depth to him, a touch more cunning. If not that, I think more focus should have been put on Lynx. I understand why Lynx didn't get the primary focus since he was only interested in repairing his ship and didn't care about the fights of the "primitive" humans. But it still would have been nice to see a little more machination on his part.
The more significant problem was with how the story ended. The story began well with a bit of an edge and the humor coming more from the absurdity of an alien warrior landing in the Middle Ages. However, the more it progressed, the more given to silliness the story seemed to get. The fights were either of a Benny Hill running around style or they deliberately avoided killing in order to prolong the story. Early in Episode Three, Hal shoots an axe out of Irongron's hand to save the Doctor. However, it would have been an even easier shot to lodge the arrow in Irongron's head, killing him. But that would have ended the story too quickly. By the end, the fight between the Doctor and Lynx seemed rushed with some odd cuts. It gave the story a more farcical feel with a hasty ending to allow the good guys to win. It was a bit of a let down to a decent adventure.
As I was thinking about what to score this, I compared it in my mind to The Claws of Axos. Both stories had a threat that developed quickly, outside agents being involved, and a generally fast paced story that kept you from wondering how much time was left in each episode. Also like Axos, the ending felt slapdash and rushed with an odd resolution. So I think you can draw a fair comparison between the two. Good stories, no complaints if someone pulls it off the shelf to watch it, but not something I'm going to reach for every time.
Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
This isn't war. It's sport.
The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky are not bad episodes, despite fan indifference towards them. But they are a bit underwhelming, especially in the flow of The Poison Sky compared to the set up The Sontaran Stratagem.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Donna are summoned back to Earth by Martha Jones who is now working for UNIT. They are investigating a company that makes ATMOS, a car emissions control device and GPS system which is suspected of being behind several mysterious deaths. UNIT moves in on the factory under the guise of an immigration raid and discovers further irregularities. During the raid, two UNIT soldiers are brought under hypnotic control of the Sontarans. The two soldiers kidnap Martha and use a Sontaran clone tank to make a clone of her to use as an agent.
Donna leaves temporarily to warn her mother and grandfather of the potential danger while the Doctor heads to Rattigan Academy, a select school run by a wunderkind who developed ATMOS. There the Doctor discovers alien technology and discovers the Sontarans behind the devices. He flees both the Sontaran ship and Rattigan Academy, evading several Sontaran attempts to kill him. He heads to Donna's mother's place and discovers a secondary purpose to ATMOS in the form of a gas release. The early release alerts the Sontarans who activate all gas release systems on the planet.
With gas emerging from all over the world, the Doctor and Donna return to UNIT which has been driven back from the ATMOS factory by a squadron of Sontaran soldiers. The Doctor tells Donna to monitor things from the TARDIS as he plans to fly up to the Sontaran ship and stop things and the air is clean in the TARDIS. However, after Donna is inside, the Sontarans transport it into the their ship and move it into the hold. The Doctor realizes this and sends a message to Donna to wait for his phone call.
UNIT attempts to launch nuclear missiles at the Sontaran ship but clone Martha deactivates the system, which is what the Doctor actually wants. Using information the Doctor has given them to adapt their weapons, UNIT storms the ATMOS factory, driving the Sontarans back. The Doctor calls Donna and walks her through the means to reactive the transport system. He then takes clone Martha into the factory where he finds the real Martha hooked up to a machine that feeds the clone memories. The Doctor frees Martha from the machine, which kills clone Martha. However, before she dies, the real Martha convinces her to tell them the Sontaran plan, which is to turn Earth into a clone planet, providing the Sontarans with billions of extra soldiers. With the teleport reactivated, the Doctor pulls Donna and the TARDIS back to Earth. The three then transport over to Rattigan Academy.
Luke Rattigan had intended to bring his academy students back to the Sontaran ship and start a new colony planet. However, the students abandoned him as insane. When he informed the Sontarans of this, they informed him that they had no intention of following on that deal and would have simply killed them when they boarded. They attempted to kill Luke, but he transported back to Earth and is hiding at the Academy. When the Doctor, Donna and Martha arrive, he watches as the Doctor builds an atmospheric pulse weapon and then fires it into Earth's sky. The clone gas ignites and burns off the toxin choking the Earth. The plan having failed, the Sontarans move to invade Earth using conventional tactics. The Doctor then transports up to the Sontaran ship and prepares to ignite the Sontaran ship's atmosphere. Before he can, Luke rigs the teleport so that he switches places with the Doctor and Luke sets off the pulse, destroying the Sontaran ship.
Everything back to normal, Martha says goodbye in the TARDIS. The Doctor offers to let her ride along again, but she refuses. However, before she can leave, the TARDIS takes off on its own and the party hurdles through time and space without knowing where they are going.
Analysis
The set up for this episode is pretty good. The Sontarans are brought back and in contrast to their current portrayal, are actually menacing with just a pinch of unintentional levity. The mystery surrounding their plan and the deviousness employed pulls you in and invests you in the plot. Seeing Martha put in peril with the cloning also draws you in.
Where things seem to fall apart is in the second part. Although there is no point where it is obvious, The Poison Sky feels like padding. It's like the Doctor is deliberately being obtuse to the problem. He says after finding Martha that he knew she was a clone the whole time, but there were points where he could have taken her out and gotten the information he needed sooner. I'm not sure if it is the writing or the direction, but there was something, especially in the second episode that just felt flat. It was like there was no snap and it made the events which should have been engaging, feel a bit dull.
One other problem with the episode was the ending. It was another case of someone else stepping in and dying so that the Doctor might live. It's a bit of a trope but even that wasn't the worst part. The worst was actually when the Doctor first got on the Sontaran ship. He spent nearly twenty seconds yelling at the Sontarans to surrender or he would kill them. However, General Staal put it correctly that the threat was meaningless since the Sontarans gloried in death. The fact that the Doctor kept hesitating until Luke beamed him out made him look weak and afraid of death, like he wasn't going to follow on the threat. Worse, General Staal lined up troops and told them to prepare to fire. Why did they wait? Good soldiers may face death with honor, but if the enemy hesitates, they should have seized the initiative and shot him down, preserving their victory. There was too much talking to try and get an emotional response and to give Luke time to swap places. It just felt hollow.
I have to admit that Martha felt superfluous as well. I've heard that she was only brought back because Catherine Tate refused to be covered in the cloning tank goop. I don't know if that's true or not, but her whole detour to her mom and grandad's place didn't offer much except a little backstory on Donna and a way to flesh out previously introduced characters. But it was not necessary. Donna could have served as the clone and in doing so, the clone might have been discovered earlier since Donna still served a valuable purpose on the Sontaran ship. It would also have given Donna a better reason to be in the TARDIS. Imagine that the Doctor discovers Donna is a clone and frees her. He takes her back to the TARDIS to recover while he assists UNIT. The Sontarans discover their clone has been compromised and steal the TARDIS, not knowing they have also beamed aboard an operative. This allows the Doctor to deal with UNIT openly without the need for subterfuge for the clone's benefit. It might have made the story zip along quicker. The addition of Martha also felt like the story didn't quite trust Donna with heavy lifting and wanted an experienced companion to balance her out. I may be reading into that, but it was a thought that struck me.
Despite my giving it a bit of a rip, the Sontaran two-parter is better than average, just not much better. It'll keep you entertained while watching it, but it is lacking that little something that will make you want to pull it off the shelf and rewatch it. If you watch both episodes back to back, you might also find yourself checking your watch a little bit during the second episode as it drifts a bit.
Overall personal score: The Sontaran Stratagem - 3.5 out of 5; The Poison Sky - 3 out of 5
The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky are not bad episodes, despite fan indifference towards them. But they are a bit underwhelming, especially in the flow of The Poison Sky compared to the set up The Sontaran Stratagem.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Donna are summoned back to Earth by Martha Jones who is now working for UNIT. They are investigating a company that makes ATMOS, a car emissions control device and GPS system which is suspected of being behind several mysterious deaths. UNIT moves in on the factory under the guise of an immigration raid and discovers further irregularities. During the raid, two UNIT soldiers are brought under hypnotic control of the Sontarans. The two soldiers kidnap Martha and use a Sontaran clone tank to make a clone of her to use as an agent.
Donna leaves temporarily to warn her mother and grandfather of the potential danger while the Doctor heads to Rattigan Academy, a select school run by a wunderkind who developed ATMOS. There the Doctor discovers alien technology and discovers the Sontarans behind the devices. He flees both the Sontaran ship and Rattigan Academy, evading several Sontaran attempts to kill him. He heads to Donna's mother's place and discovers a secondary purpose to ATMOS in the form of a gas release. The early release alerts the Sontarans who activate all gas release systems on the planet.
With gas emerging from all over the world, the Doctor and Donna return to UNIT which has been driven back from the ATMOS factory by a squadron of Sontaran soldiers. The Doctor tells Donna to monitor things from the TARDIS as he plans to fly up to the Sontaran ship and stop things and the air is clean in the TARDIS. However, after Donna is inside, the Sontarans transport it into the their ship and move it into the hold. The Doctor realizes this and sends a message to Donna to wait for his phone call.
UNIT attempts to launch nuclear missiles at the Sontaran ship but clone Martha deactivates the system, which is what the Doctor actually wants. Using information the Doctor has given them to adapt their weapons, UNIT storms the ATMOS factory, driving the Sontarans back. The Doctor calls Donna and walks her through the means to reactive the transport system. He then takes clone Martha into the factory where he finds the real Martha hooked up to a machine that feeds the clone memories. The Doctor frees Martha from the machine, which kills clone Martha. However, before she dies, the real Martha convinces her to tell them the Sontaran plan, which is to turn Earth into a clone planet, providing the Sontarans with billions of extra soldiers. With the teleport reactivated, the Doctor pulls Donna and the TARDIS back to Earth. The three then transport over to Rattigan Academy.
Luke Rattigan had intended to bring his academy students back to the Sontaran ship and start a new colony planet. However, the students abandoned him as insane. When he informed the Sontarans of this, they informed him that they had no intention of following on that deal and would have simply killed them when they boarded. They attempted to kill Luke, but he transported back to Earth and is hiding at the Academy. When the Doctor, Donna and Martha arrive, he watches as the Doctor builds an atmospheric pulse weapon and then fires it into Earth's sky. The clone gas ignites and burns off the toxin choking the Earth. The plan having failed, the Sontarans move to invade Earth using conventional tactics. The Doctor then transports up to the Sontaran ship and prepares to ignite the Sontaran ship's atmosphere. Before he can, Luke rigs the teleport so that he switches places with the Doctor and Luke sets off the pulse, destroying the Sontaran ship.
Everything back to normal, Martha says goodbye in the TARDIS. The Doctor offers to let her ride along again, but she refuses. However, before she can leave, the TARDIS takes off on its own and the party hurdles through time and space without knowing where they are going.
Analysis
The set up for this episode is pretty good. The Sontarans are brought back and in contrast to their current portrayal, are actually menacing with just a pinch of unintentional levity. The mystery surrounding their plan and the deviousness employed pulls you in and invests you in the plot. Seeing Martha put in peril with the cloning also draws you in.
Where things seem to fall apart is in the second part. Although there is no point where it is obvious, The Poison Sky feels like padding. It's like the Doctor is deliberately being obtuse to the problem. He says after finding Martha that he knew she was a clone the whole time, but there were points where he could have taken her out and gotten the information he needed sooner. I'm not sure if it is the writing or the direction, but there was something, especially in the second episode that just felt flat. It was like there was no snap and it made the events which should have been engaging, feel a bit dull.
One other problem with the episode was the ending. It was another case of someone else stepping in and dying so that the Doctor might live. It's a bit of a trope but even that wasn't the worst part. The worst was actually when the Doctor first got on the Sontaran ship. He spent nearly twenty seconds yelling at the Sontarans to surrender or he would kill them. However, General Staal put it correctly that the threat was meaningless since the Sontarans gloried in death. The fact that the Doctor kept hesitating until Luke beamed him out made him look weak and afraid of death, like he wasn't going to follow on the threat. Worse, General Staal lined up troops and told them to prepare to fire. Why did they wait? Good soldiers may face death with honor, but if the enemy hesitates, they should have seized the initiative and shot him down, preserving their victory. There was too much talking to try and get an emotional response and to give Luke time to swap places. It just felt hollow.
I have to admit that Martha felt superfluous as well. I've heard that she was only brought back because Catherine Tate refused to be covered in the cloning tank goop. I don't know if that's true or not, but her whole detour to her mom and grandad's place didn't offer much except a little backstory on Donna and a way to flesh out previously introduced characters. But it was not necessary. Donna could have served as the clone and in doing so, the clone might have been discovered earlier since Donna still served a valuable purpose on the Sontaran ship. It would also have given Donna a better reason to be in the TARDIS. Imagine that the Doctor discovers Donna is a clone and frees her. He takes her back to the TARDIS to recover while he assists UNIT. The Sontarans discover their clone has been compromised and steal the TARDIS, not knowing they have also beamed aboard an operative. This allows the Doctor to deal with UNIT openly without the need for subterfuge for the clone's benefit. It might have made the story zip along quicker. The addition of Martha also felt like the story didn't quite trust Donna with heavy lifting and wanted an experienced companion to balance her out. I may be reading into that, but it was a thought that struck me.
Despite my giving it a bit of a rip, the Sontaran two-parter is better than average, just not much better. It'll keep you entertained while watching it, but it is lacking that little something that will make you want to pull it off the shelf and rewatch it. If you watch both episodes back to back, you might also find yourself checking your watch a little bit during the second episode as it drifts a bit.
Overall personal score: The Sontaran Stratagem - 3.5 out of 5; The Poison Sky - 3 out of 5
Monday, February 22, 2016
Black Orchid
Well, it just wouldn't be cricket.
I have gotten the impression that Black Orchid isn't very popular among Doctor Who fans and I'm not entirely sure why. I thought it moved rather well. There were a few loose ends and glossed over points, but nothing egregious.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and his party land in 1925 and he is mistaken for a friend of a school chum of Lord Cranleigh, the local nobleman. The Doctor is invited back to play cricket, which he does with relish. His companions discover that Nyssa is almost identical in appearance to Lord Cranleigh's fiancee Ann. After the match, the Doctor and his companions are invited to a costume party at the house. Ann get Nyssa a costume identical to hers to play guessing jokes on the guests. The Doctor, while preparing for a bath, discovers a passage leading from his room and is accidentally trapped in a secluded part of the house. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure steals the Doctor's costume.
While in the other part of the house, the Doctor discovers the dead body of a servant. The mysterious figure dances with Ann and takes her into the house. He grabs her and when one of the servants fights him after hearing her cries for help, he kill the servant. Ann faints and the man takes him up to his room. Lady Cranleigh and a South American native find the Doctor and the body. After taking the Doctor back to his room, they also discover Ann. Lady Cranleigh takes her down while the South American ties up the man who is shown to be horribly disfigured. Ann shows Lady Cranleigh the body of the servant, which has also been discovered by the other servants. She accuses the Doctor who had just come down in the costume worn by the mysterious man earlier.
Lady Cranleigh refuses to admit to the existence of the mysterious man and has had the South American native hide the body. The Doctor is arrested and his party taken from the house, the chief constable, Sir Robert Muir, being the love interest of Lady Cranleigh. At the station, a constable notes that they've taken possession of a police box but they can't open. The Doctor opens it and provides proof that he was telling the truth about himself. They return to the house to discover that the mysterious man has killed the Native South American and set fire to part of the house. He rushes in and kidnaps Nyssa, believing her to be Ann. As the Doctor and Lord Cranleigh rush to save her, Lady Cranleigh confesses to Sir Robert that the mysterious man is her older son George who was tortured by a tribe of South American natives. He was rescued by a different tribe and one of their members brought him back. They had been trying to rehabilitate him since his experience had ruined his mind. Lord Cranleigh tries to calm George down and the Doctor pleads with him to release Nyssa upon showing him that he had grabbed the wrong girl. He releases Nyssa to the Doctor but when Lord Cranleigh steps forward to embrace him in affection, he startles backwards, loses his balance and falls off the roof, dying on the pavement below. The Doctor and his party stay for the funeral and then depart.
Analysis
As this story was only a two-parter, it zipped along fairly quickly. What little padding there was was taken up by the cricket match and even if you don't understand cricket (as I don't) it was entertaining. The plot was fairly straightforward in that the only question was who the mysterious man was. It was also fairly easy to figure that it was Lord Cranleigh's elder brother so that eliminated the need for any false meandering in the plot.
Something else that helped this story along was that because of the costume party, Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan were all shuffled off to the side and only given minor roles, mostly in the form of comic relief. Nyssa had her by-play with Ann, Adric stuffed his face at the buffet and Tegan danced with Sir Robert. This lack of need to give the companions anything of substance to do, allowed the plot to stay tightly focused on George's actions and the Doctor's involvement with them. I also personally thought that the acting improved a little. Sarah Sutton seemed to breathe a little easier in the role of Ann and that seemed to add a touch more depth to Nyssa, although I think the character of Nyssa is simply meant to be wooden. Tegan also was actually enjoying herself and not complaining about getting back to Heathrow which made for a great improvement in her character. Adric is of course, still Adric.
I do have to criticize this story a little from a modern point of view in that the Native South American had some sort of wood protruding from his mouth. I'm not sure if that was meant to be a lip disk but it seemed rather silly and a little racially questionable. The South American could have been established without this bit of oddity.
Other than that and a few points where the quality of the acting slipped, I can't complain about this story. A little extra information wouldn't have hurt here and there, but there was nothing that seemed left out or cut because the story was running long like in several of the Seventh Doctor stories. I'd say this was quite entertaining and at only 48 minutes could serve as an easy exposure to the Fifth Doctor era.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
I have gotten the impression that Black Orchid isn't very popular among Doctor Who fans and I'm not entirely sure why. I thought it moved rather well. There were a few loose ends and glossed over points, but nothing egregious.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and his party land in 1925 and he is mistaken for a friend of a school chum of Lord Cranleigh, the local nobleman. The Doctor is invited back to play cricket, which he does with relish. His companions discover that Nyssa is almost identical in appearance to Lord Cranleigh's fiancee Ann. After the match, the Doctor and his companions are invited to a costume party at the house. Ann get Nyssa a costume identical to hers to play guessing jokes on the guests. The Doctor, while preparing for a bath, discovers a passage leading from his room and is accidentally trapped in a secluded part of the house. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure steals the Doctor's costume.
While in the other part of the house, the Doctor discovers the dead body of a servant. The mysterious figure dances with Ann and takes her into the house. He grabs her and when one of the servants fights him after hearing her cries for help, he kill the servant. Ann faints and the man takes him up to his room. Lady Cranleigh and a South American native find the Doctor and the body. After taking the Doctor back to his room, they also discover Ann. Lady Cranleigh takes her down while the South American ties up the man who is shown to be horribly disfigured. Ann shows Lady Cranleigh the body of the servant, which has also been discovered by the other servants. She accuses the Doctor who had just come down in the costume worn by the mysterious man earlier.
Lady Cranleigh refuses to admit to the existence of the mysterious man and has had the South American native hide the body. The Doctor is arrested and his party taken from the house, the chief constable, Sir Robert Muir, being the love interest of Lady Cranleigh. At the station, a constable notes that they've taken possession of a police box but they can't open. The Doctor opens it and provides proof that he was telling the truth about himself. They return to the house to discover that the mysterious man has killed the Native South American and set fire to part of the house. He rushes in and kidnaps Nyssa, believing her to be Ann. As the Doctor and Lord Cranleigh rush to save her, Lady Cranleigh confesses to Sir Robert that the mysterious man is her older son George who was tortured by a tribe of South American natives. He was rescued by a different tribe and one of their members brought him back. They had been trying to rehabilitate him since his experience had ruined his mind. Lord Cranleigh tries to calm George down and the Doctor pleads with him to release Nyssa upon showing him that he had grabbed the wrong girl. He releases Nyssa to the Doctor but when Lord Cranleigh steps forward to embrace him in affection, he startles backwards, loses his balance and falls off the roof, dying on the pavement below. The Doctor and his party stay for the funeral and then depart.
Analysis
As this story was only a two-parter, it zipped along fairly quickly. What little padding there was was taken up by the cricket match and even if you don't understand cricket (as I don't) it was entertaining. The plot was fairly straightforward in that the only question was who the mysterious man was. It was also fairly easy to figure that it was Lord Cranleigh's elder brother so that eliminated the need for any false meandering in the plot.
Something else that helped this story along was that because of the costume party, Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan were all shuffled off to the side and only given minor roles, mostly in the form of comic relief. Nyssa had her by-play with Ann, Adric stuffed his face at the buffet and Tegan danced with Sir Robert. This lack of need to give the companions anything of substance to do, allowed the plot to stay tightly focused on George's actions and the Doctor's involvement with them. I also personally thought that the acting improved a little. Sarah Sutton seemed to breathe a little easier in the role of Ann and that seemed to add a touch more depth to Nyssa, although I think the character of Nyssa is simply meant to be wooden. Tegan also was actually enjoying herself and not complaining about getting back to Heathrow which made for a great improvement in her character. Adric is of course, still Adric.
I do have to criticize this story a little from a modern point of view in that the Native South American had some sort of wood protruding from his mouth. I'm not sure if that was meant to be a lip disk but it seemed rather silly and a little racially questionable. The South American could have been established without this bit of oddity.
Other than that and a few points where the quality of the acting slipped, I can't complain about this story. A little extra information wouldn't have hurt here and there, but there was nothing that seemed left out or cut because the story was running long like in several of the Seventh Doctor stories. I'd say this was quite entertaining and at only 48 minutes could serve as an easy exposure to the Fifth Doctor era.
Overall personal score: 4 out of 5
Friday, February 19, 2016
Victory of the Daleks
I am the Doctor, you are the Daleks.
Victory of the Daleks is a good example of a story that is less than the sum of it's parts. When you take the story in ten minute chunks, it's not too bad. But when you put it all together, it is a big load of meh.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Amy arrive in London during the blitz, having received a call from Winston Churchill. He shows the Doctor a new weapon devised by their chief scientist, Dr. Bracewell, which are called Ironsides. In actuality, they are two Daleks. They repel a German attack and once back in the bunker, the Doctor loses his temper and confronts the Daleks. After he calls them Daleks, they confirm this and beam up to their ship.
The Doctor lands on the Dalek ship with the TARDIS, leaving Amy on Earth. He holds off the Daleks by pretending a cookie is the TARDIS self destruct device. He learns that after the Daleks were destroyed in the encounter with Davros, one ship survived along with a pod of pure Dalek DNA. However, since they were not pure Daleks, they could not activate the pod and needed a conformation, which they received through the Doctor's testimony about them. The pod matures and a new set of Daleks come out. They immediately destroy the old Daleks, seen as inferior. They immediately threaten the Doctor by activating all the lights in London, making it an easy target for German bombers.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Amy and Churchill go to Bracewell to see what they can do to knock out the mechanism that is lighting up London. Bracewell, it turns out, is an android built by the Daleks and has other Dalek technology at his disposal. He rigs up three fighters to fly in space. Two are shot down but with the Doctor's help, the remaining fighter destroys the generator and London goes dark again. The Daleks then activate a self destruct mechanism within Bracewell that will devastate the Earth. The Doctor returns to Earth and with Amy's help, triggers memories implanted within Bracewell. The memories of a human nature, override the self destruct code and the bomb is deactivated. The Daleks however, use the distraction of Bracewell to jump back into the future and regenerate the Dalek race.
The Doctor and Amy encourage Bracewell to run and find his lost love whose memory helped him override the self destruct order. The Doctor also takes and destroys all of Bracewell's plans and designs containing Dalek technology. The Doctor and Amy then leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor concerned over Amy's lack of memory of the Daleks from Stolen Earth/Journey's End. As they leave, a universe crack is observed in the wall of the bunker.
Analysis
I mentioned before that this episode is less than the sum of it's parts. What exacerbates the issue is that it starts off on such a good note. The Daleks posing as Bracewell's creation and repeatedly using the phrase "I am your soldier" are direct call backs to The Power of the Daleks, arguably one of the best, if not the best, Dalek story. To see the Daleks return to a cunning deviancy is refreshing and really made the first ten minutes of the episode stand out.
However, they give themselves up once the Doctor confronts them and then it just goes south after that. The Doctor holding the Daleks off with a Jammy Dodger is a little too cute and it takes all the believable menace and fear that the Doctor showed for the Daleks and throws it right out the window. He goes at it and is just playing around with them. That the Daleks believe him adds to the disillusionment of the first part of the episode.
Then you have the Skittle Daleks. I don't have as big a problem with them as other fans do, but they still seem less menacing and more silly than the conventional Daleks. I think the colors give them a very plastic look rather than the more metallic look they effect before. Of all the looks, I thought the olive green battle paint was the most impressive look. To go from that to an oversized and a bit too rounded form just didn't feel right. That they didn't convey any extra sense of menace or cunning didn't help them either. It was an appearance only change that that appearance was inferior in my opinion.
Also unlike a few other fans out there, I didn't have a problem with the Spitfires battling it out with the Dalek ship. The Daleks had left the technology and I saw no reason why the conversion couldn't happen. What I did have a problem with was the speed at which it happened. Amy, Bracewell, and Churchill did not move to act until after the lights of London came on. We were also told that German bombers were about approaching (at least in radar range). So they were able to rig up these fighters, fly up to the Dalek ship and knock out the dish before the Germans reached London? It doesn't make sense. It also doesn't make sense in that if the lone Spitfire was still able to attack, why didn't it swoop down and just destroy the entire German bomber group before landing, further reducing the threat? The poor timing just made it look like a action-y tack on to get the Doctor out of a silly situation rather than let him solve the problem himself.
Rounding out the descent is the drawn out ending. The Doctor defuses the bomb not through any technological savvy but by convincing Bracewell that he is truly human. It's mind over matter. It is also a second time in this episode where it is not the Doctor who solves the issue but Amy. In many ways the Doctor is rather useless other than supplying information. The episode then goes on for another five minutes after the Daleks jump forward in the future to tidy up lose ends that didn't really need to be tidied up. It just added to the uneven feel where the beginning felt so rushed and yet there is the slow bleed at the end with what feels like multiple endings.
One last thing that I would add to the weakness of the episode is that like The Beast Below, the Eleventh Doctor is still channeling the Tenth Doctor a bit too much. His erraticness and sudden mood shifts are evocative of the Tenth Doctor and it doesn't feel like the Eleventh Doctor really makes his full debut until The Time of Angels.
I'm probably making the episode sound worse than it actually was, but it just didn't have a lift to it after it started with some decent potential. It's watchable a few times around, but I can't imagine picking this off the shelf for a random watch.
Overall personal score: 2 out of 5
Victory of the Daleks is a good example of a story that is less than the sum of it's parts. When you take the story in ten minute chunks, it's not too bad. But when you put it all together, it is a big load of meh.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Amy arrive in London during the blitz, having received a call from Winston Churchill. He shows the Doctor a new weapon devised by their chief scientist, Dr. Bracewell, which are called Ironsides. In actuality, they are two Daleks. They repel a German attack and once back in the bunker, the Doctor loses his temper and confronts the Daleks. After he calls them Daleks, they confirm this and beam up to their ship.
The Doctor lands on the Dalek ship with the TARDIS, leaving Amy on Earth. He holds off the Daleks by pretending a cookie is the TARDIS self destruct device. He learns that after the Daleks were destroyed in the encounter with Davros, one ship survived along with a pod of pure Dalek DNA. However, since they were not pure Daleks, they could not activate the pod and needed a conformation, which they received through the Doctor's testimony about them. The pod matures and a new set of Daleks come out. They immediately destroy the old Daleks, seen as inferior. They immediately threaten the Doctor by activating all the lights in London, making it an easy target for German bombers.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Amy and Churchill go to Bracewell to see what they can do to knock out the mechanism that is lighting up London. Bracewell, it turns out, is an android built by the Daleks and has other Dalek technology at his disposal. He rigs up three fighters to fly in space. Two are shot down but with the Doctor's help, the remaining fighter destroys the generator and London goes dark again. The Daleks then activate a self destruct mechanism within Bracewell that will devastate the Earth. The Doctor returns to Earth and with Amy's help, triggers memories implanted within Bracewell. The memories of a human nature, override the self destruct code and the bomb is deactivated. The Daleks however, use the distraction of Bracewell to jump back into the future and regenerate the Dalek race.
The Doctor and Amy encourage Bracewell to run and find his lost love whose memory helped him override the self destruct order. The Doctor also takes and destroys all of Bracewell's plans and designs containing Dalek technology. The Doctor and Amy then leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor concerned over Amy's lack of memory of the Daleks from Stolen Earth/Journey's End. As they leave, a universe crack is observed in the wall of the bunker.
Analysis
I mentioned before that this episode is less than the sum of it's parts. What exacerbates the issue is that it starts off on such a good note. The Daleks posing as Bracewell's creation and repeatedly using the phrase "I am your soldier" are direct call backs to The Power of the Daleks, arguably one of the best, if not the best, Dalek story. To see the Daleks return to a cunning deviancy is refreshing and really made the first ten minutes of the episode stand out.
However, they give themselves up once the Doctor confronts them and then it just goes south after that. The Doctor holding the Daleks off with a Jammy Dodger is a little too cute and it takes all the believable menace and fear that the Doctor showed for the Daleks and throws it right out the window. He goes at it and is just playing around with them. That the Daleks believe him adds to the disillusionment of the first part of the episode.
Then you have the Skittle Daleks. I don't have as big a problem with them as other fans do, but they still seem less menacing and more silly than the conventional Daleks. I think the colors give them a very plastic look rather than the more metallic look they effect before. Of all the looks, I thought the olive green battle paint was the most impressive look. To go from that to an oversized and a bit too rounded form just didn't feel right. That they didn't convey any extra sense of menace or cunning didn't help them either. It was an appearance only change that that appearance was inferior in my opinion.
Also unlike a few other fans out there, I didn't have a problem with the Spitfires battling it out with the Dalek ship. The Daleks had left the technology and I saw no reason why the conversion couldn't happen. What I did have a problem with was the speed at which it happened. Amy, Bracewell, and Churchill did not move to act until after the lights of London came on. We were also told that German bombers were about approaching (at least in radar range). So they were able to rig up these fighters, fly up to the Dalek ship and knock out the dish before the Germans reached London? It doesn't make sense. It also doesn't make sense in that if the lone Spitfire was still able to attack, why didn't it swoop down and just destroy the entire German bomber group before landing, further reducing the threat? The poor timing just made it look like a action-y tack on to get the Doctor out of a silly situation rather than let him solve the problem himself.
Rounding out the descent is the drawn out ending. The Doctor defuses the bomb not through any technological savvy but by convincing Bracewell that he is truly human. It's mind over matter. It is also a second time in this episode where it is not the Doctor who solves the issue but Amy. In many ways the Doctor is rather useless other than supplying information. The episode then goes on for another five minutes after the Daleks jump forward in the future to tidy up lose ends that didn't really need to be tidied up. It just added to the uneven feel where the beginning felt so rushed and yet there is the slow bleed at the end with what feels like multiple endings.
One last thing that I would add to the weakness of the episode is that like The Beast Below, the Eleventh Doctor is still channeling the Tenth Doctor a bit too much. His erraticness and sudden mood shifts are evocative of the Tenth Doctor and it doesn't feel like the Eleventh Doctor really makes his full debut until The Time of Angels.
I'm probably making the episode sound worse than it actually was, but it just didn't have a lift to it after it started with some decent potential. It's watchable a few times around, but I can't imagine picking this off the shelf for a random watch.
Overall personal score: 2 out of 5
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