Seven long months have gone by since I have seen a new Doctor Who episode. This is unacceptable. Finally the new episode comes, and I know nothing about it. I avoid Doctor Who spoilers like the plague, because I want to feel the excitement of watching the story unfold without any expectations or knowledge of where the story is going, save for what they show in the "Next time..." trailers at the end of the episodes. I waited and waited, as did others, but I believe I may be the first among my group of friends to see what has been the third episode of Doctor Who since Christmas of 2008.
The Waters of Mars brought a lot to the table for The Doctor as a character, and the writers of the program. It being the first thing Russell T Davies has done since the Torchwood miniseries over the summer, which showed a lot of talent in its own right. I was looking forward to something tense and gripping just like Children of Earth was. The Waters of Mars delivered what I wanted from it--mostly.
The story goes as The Doctor lands on Mars, he comes to arrive at the knowledge that he landed on a very important date--like Volcano Day. He's forced to walk away, in one of the best directed Doctor Who scenes I have ever seen by the way of Graeme Harper, the longest serving member of the Doctor Who crew, having started directing for the series in 1963. He is overcome by a wave of what can only be called arrogance, and becomes a Doctor I'm not quite comfortable with, at least not as played by David Tennant. The episode ends and the Time Lord has returned to his original philosophy, but he goes through a amazing build to this point of view that really doesn't feel right to the character at all. Usually, when the series does something that doesn't quite make sense it all comes together in an amazing crescendo at the end, which I am definitely looking forward to.
The directing, as already said, is some of the best I have seen of any of the series. Russell T. Davies' writing also lived up to my expectations. The story was well-done, especially bringing up what's happened in previous specials, the growth of the character, and leading into David Tennant's last episodes as The Doctor with fervor. It may have been one of Tennant's best performances in the series, and the ensemble of Lindsay Duncan and company matches the best of any of his companions, especially with the part of Adelaide Brooke.
Luckily, the next two episodes are airing within a month and a half. Doctor Who is an amazing accomplishment in television, and the new series continues to live up to its traditions. The special episodes, tracking The Doctor's final journey's without companions are still lacking in the way that they are not a proper season, only airing five stories with anywhere from one to seven months between them. Once the specials are done, I'll stop reviewing each Doctor Who episode.
-Evan "Dez" O'Connor
Showing posts with label Doctor Who. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctor Who. Show all posts
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Desert of the Formerly Living
Happy Easter, review-readers. I don't know about you, but I have been eagerly awaiting the latest Doctor Who Easter Special, and today I got my hands on it. I have recently been buying the seasons of DVDs for the series, opting to not have to rely on the internet and often-failing hard drive space I find myself owning as of late. It seems to be a good investment, despite the fact that British-import DVDs are about as cheap as you would expect Christ's frozen saliva to be: too goddamn much.
The Planet of the Dead is the latest of the specials to air in between season four and five of the relaunched Doctor Who series. Personally, I'm really hating the plan of having five specials as opposed to a full season, but I'm just complaining because I want more Doctor Who, goddamnit. This particular special, being on Easter, does make mention, but not nearly as much as the Christmas episodes tend to. It involves an antiquity thief, a London bus, a wormhole, and creatures that kind of look like the things from Pitch Black, but they're mostly in the light. Lots of sand, too. And dead things, apparently.
As with every special, it was written by Russell T Davies, this time with the help of Gareth Roberts--great for his episodes with Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. It was directed by James Strong, who also directed "The Impossible Planet"/"Satan Pit" arch as well as the balls-tight 2007 Christmas episode, "Voyage of the Damned". All in all, a fantastic team Davies had put together--only missing Steven Moffat as the undeniably best writer for the series so far. The team did a good job, especially the creepy piece of foreshadowing at the end (seriously, watch it only for that if you're a fan of the series), and the fact that it was shot in Dubai instead of on a sound stage definitely adds something to the episode.
New characters, such as Lee Evans' Dr. Malcolm Taylor and Michelle Ryan's Lady Christina de Souza add a lot to the episode and hopefully the series in the long run. I'm still pissed at the lack of River Song; how the hell did she recognize David Tennant as the Doctor in the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" arch? Tennant only has three or four episodes left, so what the hell? The series has been pretty good with continuity, don't mess it up now. Tennant's acting in this episode, oddly enough, did not seem up to par as to how he has been for the past three years. This may be from over-stretching his acting on the Shakespearean stage and his life-long love for the role of The Doctor, so I'm not jumping to hang him quite yet for it.
As with last time, all I want to do now is wait until the next episode comes out so I can rant about Doctor Who some more. These specials are far too spread out to give any semblance or meaning--or so I thought, until the eerie foreshadowing at the end of "Planet of the Dead". As a hint, it is (partly) a repeat of something one of the Ood said in "Planet of the Ood", and someone who has been reported to be coming back in the next special, "The Waters of Mars." In short: Give me more Doctor Who!
-Evan "Dez" O'Connor
The Planet of the Dead is the latest of the specials to air in between season four and five of the relaunched Doctor Who series. Personally, I'm really hating the plan of having five specials as opposed to a full season, but I'm just complaining because I want more Doctor Who, goddamnit. This particular special, being on Easter, does make mention, but not nearly as much as the Christmas episodes tend to. It involves an antiquity thief, a London bus, a wormhole, and creatures that kind of look like the things from Pitch Black, but they're mostly in the light. Lots of sand, too. And dead things, apparently.
As with every special, it was written by Russell T Davies, this time with the help of Gareth Roberts--great for his episodes with Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. It was directed by James Strong, who also directed "The Impossible Planet"/"Satan Pit" arch as well as the balls-tight 2007 Christmas episode, "Voyage of the Damned". All in all, a fantastic team Davies had put together--only missing Steven Moffat as the undeniably best writer for the series so far. The team did a good job, especially the creepy piece of foreshadowing at the end (seriously, watch it only for that if you're a fan of the series), and the fact that it was shot in Dubai instead of on a sound stage definitely adds something to the episode.
New characters, such as Lee Evans' Dr. Malcolm Taylor and Michelle Ryan's Lady Christina de Souza add a lot to the episode and hopefully the series in the long run. I'm still pissed at the lack of River Song; how the hell did she recognize David Tennant as the Doctor in the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" arch? Tennant only has three or four episodes left, so what the hell? The series has been pretty good with continuity, don't mess it up now. Tennant's acting in this episode, oddly enough, did not seem up to par as to how he has been for the past three years. This may be from over-stretching his acting on the Shakespearean stage and his life-long love for the role of The Doctor, so I'm not jumping to hang him quite yet for it.
As with last time, all I want to do now is wait until the next episode comes out so I can rant about Doctor Who some more. These specials are far too spread out to give any semblance or meaning--or so I thought, until the eerie foreshadowing at the end of "Planet of the Dead". As a hint, it is (partly) a repeat of something one of the Ood said in "Planet of the Ood", and someone who has been reported to be coming back in the next special, "The Waters of Mars." In short: Give me more Doctor Who!
-Evan "Dez" O'Connor
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Faux Doctor
Back to real reviews, where I'm not spewing fire or demons or curse words to try to illustrate my anger with a given title or situation. And a first! An episode of a television show!
The show is none other than the insanely long-running Doctor Who series which I have grown a love for. The first episode I ever saw was "The Doctor Dances" and I did not care for it. About a year later, I started from the beginning and "Doctor Dances" ended up being one of my favorites. Then I got to season two and I was angry that David Tennant wasn't Christopher Eccleston, so I stopped watching again. I got back into the series from random episodes being shown on Sci-Fi Channel and started my endeavor to watch them all in order. This morning, I finished, ending with what was the first of five special episodes for 2009-2010 because David Tennant is busy doing Shakespeare.
The Next Doctor was written by writer Russell T Davies, who has written some episodes such as the revived pilot episode "Rose", the Christmas Specials (which "The Next Doctor" technically is one of), season premiers, season finales, and some other sadly unremarkable episodes. A competent writer, but he's no Steven Moffat to be sure. The episode was directed by Andy Goddard, who was sporting his name on Doctor Who for the first time, having just finished a stint directing a spin-off series, Torchwood. I have no real complaints about either the directing or writing, as it is all done very differently for television and was done in usual Doctor Who style and magnificence. The acting was, as always with the series, fantastic with David Tennant and his long coat, brainy specs, sonic screwdriver and high pitched exacerbated voice. The supporting cast too, was stylish and British and everything it needs to be to work in The Doctor's world.
For those who don't know and are still reading for some reason, a history lesson: The Doctor is a Time Lord--the last one, in fact--and in this particular story he is the tenth incarnation of the The Doctor. When a Time Lord dies, he/she regenerates into a different form, having all the same memories and abilities but having a different personality quirk each time and being played by a different actor. Having just been left by everyone he loved, The Doctor finds himself in London 1851 on Christmas Eve and finds the titular Next Doctor as played by David Morrissey. The Cybermen are back and are trying to convert the human race again. David Morrissey's Doctor is trying to figure out a murder mystery surrounding them with his own sonic screwdriver (a screwdriver that makes noise) and his own TARDIS (a hot air balloon).
Now, I had the plot figured out relatively quickly, save for the initial confusion, and that was kind of disappointing to me. I like being surprised by a twist ending, not seeing it coming from miles away. Plus, the Cybermen were really badass when they came back in the revived series, but after the Daleks ripped them apart in the season two finale they kind of lost their appeal as a big baddy. Now they're just kind of lame, and all I can think of is Dalek Sec saying "We can destroy eight million Cybermen with one Dalek." And he was right. Therefore, Cybermen=lame.
The episode as a whole wasn't bad. Had all the things that make Doctor Who so great: humor, drama, running. But as with other Christmas episodes, he didn't have a proper companion with which to directly relate to. I still think Billie Piper as Rose Tyler was a high point in the series, whether she was with Tennant or Eccleston, and Martha Jones grew on you quickly; less so for Donna Noble, but in the end she's the savior of the universe. And now, right after they're all gone, here's The Doctor alone again--which isn't to say that he's bad alone. It just makes it harder to identify with.
I am interested where the next four specials are going to go. It has been announced that Matthew Smith will be taking over the role of The Doctor in season five, and I can't help but want to see how The Doctor is going to kick off and need to regenerate. I also wonder if River Song from the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" serial comes back in any of these specials, as she was obviously very close to The Doctor in his tenth incarnation to recognize him so readily. The next special will air in England on Easter, and in the states some time afterward. But fear not! I will find a way to review that son of a bitch as soon as I can.
-Evan "Dez" O'Connor
The show is none other than the insanely long-running Doctor Who series which I have grown a love for. The first episode I ever saw was "The Doctor Dances" and I did not care for it. About a year later, I started from the beginning and "Doctor Dances" ended up being one of my favorites. Then I got to season two and I was angry that David Tennant wasn't Christopher Eccleston, so I stopped watching again. I got back into the series from random episodes being shown on Sci-Fi Channel and started my endeavor to watch them all in order. This morning, I finished, ending with what was the first of five special episodes for 2009-2010 because David Tennant is busy doing Shakespeare.
The Next Doctor was written by writer Russell T Davies, who has written some episodes such as the revived pilot episode "Rose", the Christmas Specials (which "The Next Doctor" technically is one of), season premiers, season finales, and some other sadly unremarkable episodes. A competent writer, but he's no Steven Moffat to be sure. The episode was directed by Andy Goddard, who was sporting his name on Doctor Who for the first time, having just finished a stint directing a spin-off series, Torchwood. I have no real complaints about either the directing or writing, as it is all done very differently for television and was done in usual Doctor Who style and magnificence. The acting was, as always with the series, fantastic with David Tennant and his long coat, brainy specs, sonic screwdriver and high pitched exacerbated voice. The supporting cast too, was stylish and British and everything it needs to be to work in The Doctor's world.For those who don't know and are still reading for some reason, a history lesson: The Doctor is a Time Lord--the last one, in fact--and in this particular story he is the tenth incarnation of the The Doctor. When a Time Lord dies, he/she regenerates into a different form, having all the same memories and abilities but having a different personality quirk each time and being played by a different actor. Having just been left by everyone he loved, The Doctor finds himself in London 1851 on Christmas Eve and finds the titular Next Doctor as played by David Morrissey. The Cybermen are back and are trying to convert the human race again. David Morrissey's Doctor is trying to figure out a murder mystery surrounding them with his own sonic screwdriver (a screwdriver that makes noise) and his own TARDIS (a hot air balloon).
Now, I had the plot figured out relatively quickly, save for the initial confusion, and that was kind of disappointing to me. I like being surprised by a twist ending, not seeing it coming from miles away. Plus, the Cybermen were really badass when they came back in the revived series, but after the Daleks ripped them apart in the season two finale they kind of lost their appeal as a big baddy. Now they're just kind of lame, and all I can think of is Dalek Sec saying "We can destroy eight million Cybermen with one Dalek." And he was right. Therefore, Cybermen=lame.
The episode as a whole wasn't bad. Had all the things that make Doctor Who so great: humor, drama, running. But as with other Christmas episodes, he didn't have a proper companion with which to directly relate to. I still think Billie Piper as Rose Tyler was a high point in the series, whether she was with Tennant or Eccleston, and Martha Jones grew on you quickly; less so for Donna Noble, but in the end she's the savior of the universe. And now, right after they're all gone, here's The Doctor alone again--which isn't to say that he's bad alone. It just makes it harder to identify with.
I am interested where the next four specials are going to go. It has been announced that Matthew Smith will be taking over the role of The Doctor in season five, and I can't help but want to see how The Doctor is going to kick off and need to regenerate. I also wonder if River Song from the "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" serial comes back in any of these specials, as she was obviously very close to The Doctor in his tenth incarnation to recognize him so readily. The next special will air in England on Easter, and in the states some time afterward. But fear not! I will find a way to review that son of a bitch as soon as I can.
-Evan "Dez" O'Connor
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