Category: Doctor Who

After the excellence of “Blink” and the superbity of the “Family of Blood” duo, “Utopia” is bound to disappoint — except insofar as it is nigh-on-classic Doctor Who, from running about in an open pit mine to generic underground complex 12-A.  This episode could have been done in practically any previous Doctor’s tenure (and, in some ways, was).

But … as much as seeing the return of yet another classic Doctor Who villain — one that I could have sworn Russell Davies once asserted would never return — allow me to say that seeing Derek Jacobi playing a starring role in the ep (and a fine job of it, too) was utter glee.

Oh, yeah, Captain Jack shows up again (and we learn more about him than in all three Torchwood eps to date) (and you were, right, Solonor, about the hand).  And Martha gets more reminders of how maybe she’s hitched her romantic wagon to the wrong star. 

And, oh, yeah — mobs of monsters and a giant rocket and the end of the universe (nearly) and a big gravel pit and Derek Jacobi and serious continuity fan service.  If it weren’t for the last three eps, I’d say this was the best of the season to date, for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.  Good stuff.

After I waxed lyrical on “Family of Blood” last week, Steve said:

I agree with you whole-heartedly. Terrific stuff.

Now, wait ‘till you see Blink…

Which we did last night.

This is another one of those “the Doctor effect” epsodes, where the titular protagonist and his Companion play indirect roles in the story,the narrative focusing instead on a person or persons being caught up in the Doctor’s wake, so to speak.  “Love and Monsters” was the similar ep last series.

In this case we have Sally Sparrow, who is receiving strange messages from 1969 and dealing with some rather eerie-looking garden statuary.

Great episode, overall.  It works excellently as a horror movie, really-truly (even the best Doctor Who attempts at horror tend to come off as being a bit silly, but this one, as set up, was able to overcome much of what weakens those others.  Just darned spooky).  It’s also also as a great time travel conceit and tale of causality.  I’m not sure all of it makes sense (which bears more offline discussion with folks, as I’m not going to spoil things here), but it comes across as extremely clever, on top of the scary, and, if nothing else, the Doctor Who folks have a wonderful Easter Egg to put on their Series 3 DVD collection, as well as another fine ep in the can.

To get back to the original quote, I still think “Family of Blood” was a better story, but that’s like saying a juicy barbecued steak is “better” than a bowl of hot apple crisp — it depends on what you’re looking for at the moment, and you’re a lot better off if you don’t have to choose between them.

And for those sans cable — the Series 3 DVD collection goes on sale here in the states on 3 November …

I cannot — will not — do any spoilers for “Family of Blood,” but, set up by the first part (“Human Nature”), it’s the best Doctor Who episode evah (or at least to-date).  Dramatic, humorous, creepy, gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, unearthly, bloody, thrilling, utterly kick-ass.

I’ve entertained doubts about David Tennant as the Doctor — fun fellow, but not bringing nearly the drama that Christopher Eccleston did — but this episode cleared them all up.  Bravo.

Great one-off (kinda) Doctor Who ep this week.  It has all the classic elements, including a crippled space ship, a stalking monster, a mystery to be unravelled, and a ton o’ red shirts (none of which are red).  It’s like any of the old school Doctor Who serials, in but a single episode (Tom Baker would have taken four or five to resolve it all).  But it also does some very nice arc stuff in progressing the “touching yet increasingly manipulative and thus slightly creepy” Doctor / Martha relationship, as well as the mystery of Harold Saxon. 

Both stars do an excellent job, the supporting cast is solid, the fx are well done (and appropriately and amusingly economical when need be), and the writing is taut, tense, and exciting.

By the way, I really like Martha’s mom.  She’s just as clingy and annoying as Jackie ever was for Rose, but she’s got a spine of iron and a serious ‘tude to match.

(In other SciFi news, Painkiller Jane managed to nicely rework Groundhog Day, and Flash Gordon‘s second outing was as goofy-in-a-non-amusing-way as the first.) 

Kicks.  Ass.

Yes, I’m a week behind (or more, in some quarters), but this is the best episode from Series 3 to date.  We got action.  We got humor.  We got menace.  We got drama. We got great makeup.  We got cat nuns (and more).  We got lots of backstory service.  We got the Doctor really angry.  We got the Doctor really sad.  We got the Doctor spilling his guts.  We got …

Very. Nice. Episode.

I watched it, but Margie hasn’t.  Noodge her to do so whilst I’m off on business, otherwise I’ll have to do so when I get back.  Though that would only mean I have to watch it again, and … well, that wouldn’t be that bad a thing.

Thanks, Doyce

Woot!  A ninety minute Christmas special and a bonus sixty minute episode!

The Runaway Bride:  Great alien, great menace, huge special effects, and a new Companion … maybe!  That and an all-action Gershwin soundtrack!  Triffic start.

Oh, and plenty of “Huh, you mean the loss of Rose Tyler actually had an effect on the Doctor’s psyche?” amusement.

Smith and Jones:  Great aliens, great menace, pretty decent special effects, and a new Companion … maybe!  Oh, and introducing the charming, brilliant, slightly-creepy-stalker Doctor!  Triffic second ep.

Glee!

Doctor Who, Series 3, premieres on SciFi tonight.  Set those DVRs!  Glee!

Doctor Who, Series 3, premieres (for the US) on SciFi on Friday, 6 July.  Woot!

The Runaway Bride debuts at 8pm and is immediately followed by Smith and Jones at 9.30pm. Both programmes are repeated starting at 11.30pm.

The premieres come after a day of Doctor Who on the channel, with Season Two episodes being shown from 6am until 4pm.

Time to check the DVR to make sure it’s still set to record it.

Those in the neighborhood who are behind — I have the Series 2 DVDs for perusal.

(via Les)

Glee!

New York, NY April 23, 2007 – SCI FI Channel and BBC Worldwide Americas today announced a major acquisition deal for the U.S. premiere of the third season of Doctor Who. The series will debut on SCI FI in July 2007, kicking off with the Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Runaway Bride, guest-starring award-winning comedy actress Catherine Tate.

In season three, David Tennant returns to his role as the mysterious, time-traveling Doctor. American audiences will meet the Doctor’s brand-new sidekick, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), in the first official episode of the season, “Smith and Jones.”

[…] Executive Producer and Lead Writer Russell T Davies says, “We were delighted and honored by the second series’ success, and we can promise new thrills, new laughs and some terrifying new aliens. The Doctor and Martha are destined to meet William Shakespeare, blood-sucking alien Plasmavores, The Judoon a clan of galactic stormtroopers and a sinister Dalek plot in 1930s New York.”

I’m slightly disappointed to see the Daleks return, if only because each time it weakens the impact of the previous “Final, Ultimate, Tragic, Blood-Soaked, Tear-Stained Defeat of the Daleks” episode.  Not that I’d dream of missing it for a moment!

(via Les)

Three Hugo nominations this year for short dramatic presentation (i.e., TV episodes).  The three eps are “School Reunion” (the return of Sarah Jane Smith), “The Girl in the Fireplace” (the Doctor meets Madame de Pompadour), and the series finale two-parter “Army of Ghosts” + “Doomsday.”

Not sure I can wholeheartedly root for any of the above.  The first ep is too backstory-driven, and while good is also nothing too spectacular aside from the nostalgia factor.  I really didn’t care for the Pompadour ep all that much, all things considered (it suffered from “Protagonist falls far too quickly in love with someone you know is going to die before it’s all over” Syndrome).  And while the season finale was spectacular and gut-wrenching at times, at other times it was … well, okay, maybe I can get behind that nomination.

(To my mind, though, the eps don’t hold up vs. last year’s nominations — “Fathers Day,” “Dalek,” and the Hugo winner two-parter “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances.”)

Others on the voting form are Battlestar Galactica (“Downloaded“) and Stargate SG-1 (“200”).

Spiffy little 8 minute documentary on the making of the Doctor Who theme song for the Fifth Doctor, with Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonics Workshop. 

This rendition is way too synthesized for my taste, but it’s kind of fun hi-tech-of-the-80s retro.  I grew up with the Fourth Doctor version (music also used, with very different graphics, for the Third Doctor), and, of course, I’ve fallen in love with the current rendition.

And it gets more complicated than that, since some of the doctors had multiple visual (and sometimes audio) openings.  That’s clear in a fun montage of the various Doctor Who themes found here (and another here).  Amazing what’s on YouTube …

Between the holidays, parties, visitors, and other brouhaha, we only this past weekend had a chance to watch the final two episodes of Series 2 of Doctor Who.

It was worth the wait.

The main plotline is a scosh goofy, albeit the sort of thing to make fanboys drool — “Who would win in a battle between X vs. Y?” Well, now we know. And it all gets wrapped up in a nice, neat, deus ex machina bit of technobabble that Star Trek: TNG would be proud of, albeit with some dandy twists and cliff-hangers.

But, then, that isn’t what the pair of episodes — “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” — is all about. Instead, it’s about wrapping up a half-dozen plot threads (and characters), twisting our heroes through an emotional wringer (one that’s been building all season, and the previous one), and letting David Tennant finally give a performance as the Tenth Doctor that he can be proud of. There are some faboo character pieces here, some huge, steaming gobs of poignancy, and just enough unexpected (yet fitting) humor
at the end to make the wait for Series 3 intolerable.

Nicely done. Not going to say much more — but the Series 2 DVD set is already available (and, cough, on order), so there’s no excuse for not seeing it pretty soon now …

(The soundtrack is also in pre-order — woot!)

Our TV watching sort of got knocked for a loop a month or so back. We went from staying caught up with Doctor Who, Heroes, and (for me) Battlestar Galactica to … well, not being caught up. I’ve managed to get relatively current on BG, and last night we completed watching the two Doctor Who eps we were finally behind on.

“The Satan Pit” is the second half of a two-parter (“The Impossible Planet” being the first — and I’m finding mildly irksome that DW’s two-parters aren’t called out that way by name, vs. having different titles), wherein the Doctor and Rose deal with Something Awful and Evil buried deep within a planet on the edge of a black hole. Both characters get lots to do (Tennant as the Doctor finally seems to find a voice), the action
is fast and epic, with bits of Aliens and Quartermass thrown in to keep things hopping. The FX are pretty spiffy, too. Classic Who, and one of the better eps this season, getting an A-.

“Fear Her” is, in comparison, lightweight fluff. In London 2012, as the Olympic Torch is being relayed through the city, one little street is suffering from children (and pets) vanishing. There are some nicely humorous bits in this ep, and a few scary ones, but for the most part, serious matters (stolen kids) are taken far too lightly, and the glurge at the end (including the Doctor’s involvement in the Olympics) is just too
darned goofy. C+

Note that, for some reason, there’s an episode (“Love & Monsters”) that seems to fit between the two that didn’t get recorded on the DVR. Rrg.

And next up … this Friday, in fact … a two-parter, “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday,” which are the season wrap for Series Two (and involve Something Big that I got spoiled for, but which I, in turn, will not spoil for anyone). Need to reverify the DVR is set up properly for it …

Series Two, by the by, will be out on DVD 16 January.