Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

I don't collect Legos but if I saw the Angel I might make an exception..

 

Happy Birthday to 5th Doctor Peter Davison!

 

Guys it's always LEGO. Always singular. Not Legos.

(Sorry, pet peeve... )

 

And certainly not LEGO'S*. Blimmin grocer's apostrophes....

 

Happy 56th birthday to the newest Doctor, Peter Capaldi!

Edit: Bonus Tom Baker interview from Radio Times.

 

Very beginning. Bite the bullet and learn to appreciate it when it moves.

 

Actually if you hold off a bit you might actually be able to watch the series from the beginning with increased completeness as the BBC are likely to do home releases for the missing episodes that were recently discovered.

 

3.14: The Last Of The Timelords [Part 3]


"Weapon after weapon after weapon. All you do is talk and talk and talk. But over all these years... and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all. I know you. Explode those ships, you kill yourself. And that's the one thing you could never do."

So here is the conclusion to RTD's epic that was Series 3. This episode gets a little too much criticism for my liking. While it's definitely not beyond recrimination, I thought it was a satisfying conclusion to the story both for the characters and the overall season. The episode establishes itself brilliantly with the year of hell that we never get to see. Interestingly enough, this is covered in the novel The Story Of Martha which I actually have a copy of but still haven't read it. But the intention of the novel, a collection of short stories spanning the events between The Sound of Drums and The Last Of the Timelords, supposedly covers the events that referenced in the episode. Already the world in The Last Of The Timelords is more convincing and shocking than the world we saw in the Series 2 finale because we get a sense of the social and political decay on Earth. Humans are at their lowest, in extreme mercy from The Master. This is why I could forgive there being millions of 'Toclafane' because we got a sense of the damage they caused and there weren't easily defeated.

As much as i've loved John Simm up until this point, I have to admit that there are times where he chews a little too much scenery for his own good. The highlights for him are definitely his quieter moments when he is having his heart to heart with the Doctor. That said, this isn't hard to accomplish since David Tennant is hardly present in the episode, apart from his voice. We're robbed of seeing David's outstanding performance in The Sound of Drums resonating even further because The Last of the Timelords spends too much time showing off its CGI prowess with the Lords of the Rings inspired rendition of the Doctor.

As good as Martha was in this, despite how effectively the Master-tarnished Earth was portrayed, I didn't quite buy that Martha had spent a year of her life on the run as Martha was simply Martha. She was still idealistic, still with her compassion, still with her soft side. For all of her running and (impliedly) gunning, the writing could have done more to to have her a bit more weathered as the lone liberator. But I did like her interactions with the characters and the fact that she did take charge of the situation jn a way that was still Martha, despite feeling a bit familiar. You would have recalled me back in series 2 complaining that Rose was actually getting to a point where you didn't see Rose anymore but more Rose impersonating the Doctor (such as taunting the Daleks, laughing in their face etc...). Martha didn't go there. Although we didn't quite see the pain she had endured over those years, we still saw Martha which his what made this episode so watchable. I particularly enjoyed watching her family and Captain Jack conspire against The Master in an attempt to escape and free the world.

It wasn't without its ludicrous moments though. The classic moment, no not that one, has to be the line:

"See, just after the President was killed but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it ever happened. The rockets, the terror, it never was."

Hmmm...so to the world, without rhyme or reason, the American President is dead but other than that everything is honky dory? If you haven't already guessed, the show is British.

Ok, onto the big one - "DOCTOR DOCTOR DOCTOR". This is where the majority of the loathing is directed at. I completely understand why. Martha travels the world, spreads the good name of the Doctor, persuades them all to believe in him at the same moment, same time, same day, world wide irrespective of time zones, religious beliefs, the fact that people will probably forget blah blah blah. I get it and it definitely is a flaw. In fact, it adds weight to the argument that there are times where Doctor Who could be a bit rawer. I personally saw nothing wrong with Martha traveling the world to kill The Master. Let's face it; the Master has taken an entire planet hostage and has tortured the Doctor in the process.

I really do understand the criticism. But I can forgive it. Here's why - it comes at a cost. Let's not forget, this is a family show so we can't always have endings that are like Arlington Road, Batman Returns or Battlestar Galactica. There needs to be a middle ground. Frankly, The Last of the Timelords achieved it because following that illness-inspiring resurrection, not everybody wins. For now, The Doctor has lost the person whom he perceives to be the final echo of Gallifrey. Worst of all, he loses this final hope in the most tragic of circumstances in that The Master is so set in his ways that he would die to uphold them, even to the anguish of a fellow countryman.

So, as miraculous as the ending was, the two truly couldn't co-exist because they were so diametrically the opposite. Let's not forget too that everyone on that ship, Martha's family, is traumatised for life where not only have they experienced a year of hell and lost a year of their lives, they are the only ones who will remember it which means they can't discuss it with anybody. Although it's not intentional commentary, I think it's a really good way to think about soldiers in war who have been lucky enough to survive because it does beg the question; just how lucky are they if they can't convey just how much pain they are in? All of this goes straight to the heart and mind which is why it is so easy to overlook that flaw in the final parts of the story. It will also explain why I had such loathing for The Big Bang despite how amazing The Pandorica Opens was as a setup. Then, just to finish, Martha realises she is not going to have the friendship or relationship with The Doctor that she was hoping for. Unlike Rose, she actually develops an awareness for her situation and comes to terms with the fact that no matter how amazing her time with the Doctor has been, it ultimately is a fantasy because the laws of space and time do not stand still for humans in the way it does for a Timelord. Meanwhile, the final memories we have of Rose are a whiny little blonde who, despite having the family she has always wanted, whinges that she STILL can't have the Doctor.

To me, series 3 is amongst the finest for this reason because it accomplishes arcs the right way. It portrays the humanity of the situation, it's gritty and relatable but also imaginative and intelligent. Frankly, Doctor has, especially with the latter half of the Season, hasn't matched the juggernaut that was Series 3. RTD outdid himself as you'll see in Series 4. Though there are some absolute classics there too, some of which establish arcs for the Moffat era. I'm proud of this season. Along with Series 1, a sadly overlooked season where perhaps Blink spoils it to the point that fans overlook some of the other episodes that surrounded it.

4 out of 5

 

Definitely start with An Unearthly Child. Possibly skim the rest of that story if it's a bit tedious. Definitely watch The Daleks in full - and I can't recommend The Edge of Destruction highly enough - it's only two episodes long, set completely in the TARDIS and is creepy as hell.

If you want an essential must see list of episodes per Doctor, then in addition to the three 1st Doctor stories above I'd recommend:
The Aztecs (probably the best surviving historical)
The Web Planet (amazing b-movie avant garde high camp)
The Tenth Planet (first time we meet the Cybermen, Hartnell's last story)

2nd Doctor: There's so much missing, but of the ones that (mostly) move,
Tomb of the Cybermen (great story)
The Mind Robber (so many good reasons)
The Invasion (arguably the last great Cybermen story)
The War Games (it's 10 episodes but so worth it - there are so many continuity points established, if you like that sort of thing)

3rd: Quite a lot to choose from.
Spearhead From Space (1st Autons)
The Silurians (the music!)
Inferno (Doctor Who does Star Trek mirror universe)
The Sea Devils (...)
The Three Doctors (Troughton and Pertwee's chemistry!)
The Green Death (giant maggots, rude Welsh misheard dialogue)
Planet of the Spiders (3's final story)

4th: Spoilt for choice!
The Ark in Space (bubble wrap monster)
The Sontaran Experiment (short and sweet)
Genesis of the Daleks (often voted the best DW story ever)
Terror of the Zygons (goodbye Harry, see you later Brig').
Pyramids of Mars (kneel before Sutehk)
The Brain of Morbius (high camp horror classic, 1st Sisterhood of Karn)
The Seeds of Doom (DW does The Thing)
The Deadly Assassin (lotsa continuity, no companion!)
The Robots of Death (DW does Asimov)
The Talons of Weng Chiang (the racism has dated, but such good characters there's even a spinoff)

...**** I just realised how long this is going to take to write this post. Time to get more selective...

Season 16 (the Key to Time box set). Really good stuff, especially Douglas Adams's 'efforts'.
City of Death (Adams at his best)
Logopolis (4's painfully drawn out iconic exit)

5th Doctor:
Kinda (SILENCE! (not that one))
Earthshock (fairly decent Cybermen story, no spoilers but see you later Adric)
Arc of Infinity (Omega!)
Enlightenment (check out the rekajiggered version)
The Five Doctors (superduper essential)
The Caves of Androzani (Davison decides to start acting for his final story)

6th Doctor: Slim pickings due to short tenure and the budget vanishing so his 2nd (and final) season is reduced length
Vengeance on Varos (Sil!)
The Mark of the Rani (because)
The Two Doctors (fantastic story, super essential)
All of season 23: the Trial of a Time Lord box set. Crazy idea for a season long story - for all its faults it's worth a watch. Peri!

7th Doctor: Very slim pickings due to script editor mental breakdown, reduced budget, reduced season lengths and Bonnie Langford
Time and The Rani (7's first story, Rani's last (that business on Albert Square doesn't, doesn't count))
All of season 25. It's Ace.
Ghost Light (maybe my favourite DW story)
The Curse of Fenric (communism kills vampires!)
Survival (the last of the original run)

8th Doctor: short list
The TV Movie (because it's there)
Shada (barely animated story that cleverly salvages Douglas Adams's cancelled 4th Doctor story of the same name)
Night of the Doctor minisode, but you've probably seen it.

 

The Angels Take Manhattan up next for whenever I watch it.
Amy and Rory have grown on me majorly since their run started. Going to miss them.

 

Thanks for that, I'd forgotten that horror channel were going to air episodes.

 

4.01(a): Timecrash

"You know, I loved being you. Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young. And then I was you. I was all bashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted, I still do that! The voice thing, I got that from you!"

It's extremely rare, and perhaps the first of two occasions, where I will review the mini-sode. I chose this one in particular because it is significant for a number of reasons. It was the first episode in the revived episode to not only feature two Doctors in the console room, but so far the only episode to feature a classic Doctor back in full character. Tom Baker's cameo in Day Of The Doctor is debatable and open to interpretation. Since it's never expressly stated as to whether "The Curator" is just a disguise for the Doctor or a Gallifreyan quirk of nature, I dismiss Baker's cameo as being one of The Doctor and more of a nod and a brief treat to those that grew up with Doctor Who in that generation. That was well before when I was born.

At the time, seeing Peter Davison on screen in the Fifth Doctor outfit was a big deal because up until that point, apart from The Journal of Impossible Things, the show did little to nothing to acknowledge its past. But here we actually have an original actor on screen interacting with the Doctor of now. So, at the time that this went to air, my fan shaded spectacles were really doing the thinking about this episode. In hindsight, it's pure filler. It does nothing to add to the mythos of the show, it's just there for fun and that's all it needs to be. A shame that they had to explain Davison's comparatively aged appearance. With things like that, I just accept that's who the character now is. Plus, this type of episode has been done better since and I will review that when the time comes.

So, in memory, it's a nice sweet treat for Christmas. Nothing more, nothing less.

3 out of 5





4.01: Voyage Of The Damned


"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old. And I'm the man that's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?"

AHOY YE DIP*****S!

As indicated by the above quote, from the sheer quality of Series 3, we've started off with crass and obnoxious for Series 4. Although it is a Christmas Special, given that the previous two have been quite good, this one falls below the standard that had been set for the Christmas Specials. We're in for a rough ride so get your flasks of whisky ready and join me on the bridge to take the cold, hard, painful facts of this episode.

The worst thing is that the running length for this is almostidentical to Day Of The Doctor. Yeah, they devoted as much screen time to this as they did the 50th Anniversary telemovie. Out of all of the Christmas Specials this one has got to be the most over bloated, overly prolonged and possibly the most inconsistent of the bunch. We of course leave off directly whereThe Last Of The Timelords or TImecrash leaves off (depending if you perceive the latter as canon - I do). The Doctor is still despondent over the loss of a fallen colleague plus the departure of yet another companion. Then suddenly, the Titanic makes its literal crash entrance. In previous reviews i've said that with The Christmas Specials you do need to let certain things pass because it is a Christmas Special. The exception being is that if the moment or dialogue is so distracting and so jarring that it takes away from the story and spirit of the episode, then it need to be criticised. This is NOT one of those moments...but there will be

Right from the beginning, just as The Titanic punched a hole in the side of the TARDIS, we're punched in the face with Social Commentary where, presumably, The Aristocracy are mocking the lottery winners. Who just happen to be a morbidly obese, inter-racial couple who have their own quirks and eccentricities and are not afraid to show it but despite this are the laughing stock of the room whereby underpinning the importance of individuality to children while showing that money, class, career success or glamour is not the most important thing *sigh*



Yes, already we're at the jarring, distracting moment. See, unlike the crash entrance of the Titanic which was intended as a fun and jovial teaser for the adventure ahead, this trying too hard to draw the audience into caring about the characters. We have no reason to care for these characters yet because all we know about them are that they are fat and impliedly from less than a middle class background. There's a lot of these people on Earth too, RTD. Just when you haven't been slapped across the cheeks with a political trout we're then introduced to Rickston Slade - an entrepreneur who cares about nothing more than his profits and working his staff into the ground, even on holiday.


People, we're not even past the ten minute mark and already we're being spoon...shovel fed reasons to like and dislike characters that have had barely any screen time. Having the Doctor stand up for one and show contempt for another is not a motivation to do this. This is why the character development in this episode is so poor because it relies too heavily on the fact that just because the Doctor will stand up for them or stand up to them, so will the audience. It doesn't work because I am not given a reason to hate the Aristocracy nor am I given a reason to share a table with the raffle winners. I know whose deck i'd rather be on:

Spoiler

As an Australian, I have a positive bias toward Kylie Minogue's role who I considered to be a charming addition in this episode albeit a slight miscast. She generally delivered her lines well and gave us just enough innocence to find her appealing. But again, just as with the raffle ticket winners, RTD (especially for a Christmas Special) plays down to the audience when it comes to giving her character a heart and a soul. In fact, out of all the characters in this episode (better than The Doctor himself), Astrid is probably the best developed character in Voyage Of The Damned and the most likeable because we get a sense of her motivation and adventure because the script tells us why she is there. For Astrid, working on that ship is a means towards an end. Like Neighbours. If you want to stop reading the review, now is a good time to do it. Know why? Because the episode just constantly repeats these same flaws in an almost perfect series of loops. Let's see, during the escape Rickson makes multiple jokes poking fun at the lottery winners. And complains...again...and again...and again...and again. and ******G AGAIN! This belittling and bitching on Rickson's part would of course not be complete without giving a vulnerable character...or two...for him to target. You guessed it, the lottery winners. RTD, once again, forcefully shoves us through the gates of compassion by killing them off one by one. Most offensively, one of them uses her obesity to help save the day.




Why couldn't she just bend forward while the Doctor held a sonic screwdriver near her arse during a moment of her flatulence so when Bannakaffalatta activated his EMP field it could create an epic fireball that would be amplified and made possible by the sonic? Offended? That is how lacking in subtlety, good taste and intellect this episode is. Yes, it's important to show that body type and image isn't everything and obviously people who do suffer from various diseases, physical conditions blah blah blah can and do succeed in the world. But even RTD himself has given us characters to care about better than this. Then, just to add insult to injury, we have the Doctor portrayed at his most messianic and sanctimonious with the angels ascending him through the ship.

The villain, Max, is an uninspired hybrid of Dr. Evil, Goldfinger, and one of the bosses from the arcade game classic, Smash TV. As with Rickson, the writing is just so oversimplified because Max is a wealthy, profit driven tycoon that is more machine than man. We hardly see any of him on screen which is strange. In fact, the whole episode is quite strange because despite its 75 minute running time, the characters are given no definition. This is even before mentioning the waste of talent - GEOFFREY PALMER. If ever there was a British actor worthy of a role on Doctor Who, its Geoffrey Palmer. His talent is reduced to a mindless, droning, ageing henchman who is apparently doing what is right for his family. Admittedly, Clive Swift's presence is well used and he gives us a very likeable character because his character has meaningful dialogue and is warmly portrayed.

Plus, it was a fitting enough introduction for Wilfred too who goes onto being one of the best characters of 10's tenure. I really liked the inside of the ship too despite there being some pretty obvious borrowing from sets previously used in the show, but that's budget. I'm sure if the BBC gave them more to throw around it would have been even better. There is a good story in there, especially since this does have the necessary foundations for a a survival type of episode with slight nods to Die Hard or Under Siege. The more I think of The Voyage Of The Damned the more I think that maybe they were just trying too much with it. Too many characters, too much spectacle, too many guest spots and just way too long. This episode felt old after 35 minutes and we were barely at the halfway point.

Also, as a fun fact; did you know RTD actually thought Russell Tovey would make a great Doctor?



Overall, the episode spent way too much time instructing us why we should be invested in the characters and situations rather than portraying a group of people in a scenario. I had to keep referring to old reviews, but RTD did this outstandingly in the previous three-parter when Earth was held hostage by The Master. We saw innocent people in slavery, entire families needing to bunk up into houses and sleep on the stairs, hardly any people in the streets because of curfew. It was these details that were just subtle enough to inform us why Earth was in such crisis.

It's so disappointing because creatively he was really at his peak by the end of series 3, only to give us this which is such an exceptional fall from grace. It being a Christmas episode isn't a good enough excuse either because RTD himself has written far better episodes than this. Think of it as Glee. Like Glee, we have the obvious minority groups wanting to stand up in society and overcome their hardship. I agree that this is a positive and valid message to put out there, but do it without lecturing the audience as though they're morons and are failing to look past the obvious flaws that hold them back. I can see that the couple are fat and suffer financial hardship. So what? What else there besides that that gives me motivation to like them? This is why I find Glee to be in such bad taste because you have the gay student, the black student, the student in the wheelchair, the student with identity issues, the student with confidence issues, the student who is coming of age, the student who will bring balance to the force etc...

This is what RTD has attempted to give us. Think of Voyage Of The Damed as Glee just without the exploiting, rear-ending, gutting, shaming, framing, masking, appropriating, displacing, misplacing, miscasting or needlessly shoehorning a respected pop musical icon - oh.....




2 out of 5


Or more succinctly...

Spoiler

Ramza Edit: Gotta star that out.

 

Start with the Golden Age of the Tom Baker era: Part 1 of "Robot" to Part 4 of "Horror of Fang Rock". There are a few missteps, like "Android Invasion", but it's mostly great stuff.

 

I've searched the interwebs to no avail. Anyone have suggestions as to where I can find classic Who episodes?? I'm still fairly new to the fandom even though I watched my first episode around a year ago. I've seen every single episode of NuWho (Loved every bit of it best tv I've seen in a long time) and really interested in the old stuff so I can get the full view of the entire fandom.

 

DVD, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video.

 

DailyMotion.com had some Classic Who eps, or at least they did last time I checked.

 

Yeah, it's true. In his book, The Writer's Tale, RTD considered him a very strong candidate for the role of 11.

 

I only liked that out of shock.

I've gotta read that book I think. It would be worth it to get into RTD's head for some of his decision making. And the other writers.

 

Want more Voyage of The Damned? Check out Nash's review, it's quite good:

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/vi...0-not-doctor-who-classic-voyage-of-the-damned

 

Finished The Angels Take Manhattan. Man....................
Amy and Rory have grown on me since they first appeared. Going to miss them. Amy's goodbye was perfect. (Not looking forward to her appearance in the Time of the Doctor).
Wish we could have seen the Doctor attack the Angel at the end.
On to Clara!

 

While we're going into RTD's head, apparently he also wanted Helen Mirren to play the doomed Adelaine Brooke in The Waters of Mars.

I spent way too much time in TV Tropes for my benefit.

 

Just a reminder for UK folks - Friday the Watch Channel (Sky 109) is showing a new tribute to Matt Smith from 5-6 PM. It's preceded by showings of Doctor Who starting at 6 AM.

 

Same here. That was a major Karma Houdini moment for that Angel. The Doctor should've at least trapped it in an alternate dimension or River obliterated it with a blaster or something.

I do love Clara, though.