Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

I think with Smith I never got the vibe that he was The Oncoming Storm. He had some good moments, yes, but I never saw the darkness that both Eccelston and Tennant could reach.

 

Here's hoping Capaldi can.

 

I have no doubt that he can. It's going to be amazing.

 

TheFishDr‏@dayoftheFishDr1h
So proud of the team effort that helped us make 'The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot'. We are now a Hugo nominated production. Wow! #FDR

 

I don't feel the same... but, given that The Day of the Doctor establishes Eleven as the guy who says "No, we CAN change this!" that works quite well.

 

4.02: Partners In Crime


"The last time, with Martha—like I said, it got, it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I just want a mate."

You would have recalled me adding this episode the list amongst those that I would be dreading through this re-watch. Actually, this episode wasn't so bad. In fact, it's even grown on me a little. I don't mind it too much. The thing that still doesn't sit with me so well are the Adipose fat offspring because they take me right out of the episode. Adding to that is Murray Gold's most obnoxious score he's contributed toward an episode of Doctor Who in all of its loud, vivacious and booming glory. But the Adipose babies do annoy me more than anything. Too cute, too great in number and even the way they are produced annoys me. Even for a light hearted episode, it was too comical.

The saving grace of this episode is of course Catherine Tate who slips right back into the character as though she had only been playing Donna a month ago. Of course, the mime scene where she sees the Doctor again for the first time since their last encounter is by far one of the funniest scenes in the history of the show and only made possible with the chemistry and panache of Tate and Tennant. But there's a lot in this episode I have picked up on that I didn't see in previous viewings. This episode does a hell of a lot of foreshadowing for what is to come. There's firstly the very obvious one; Rose's appearance. But the cars even have the Atmos Stickers on them plus there's also the multiple references to missing planets and bees. I finally also noticed that the Doctor did actually realise Martha had a thing for him, "she fancied me" he muses. Up until now I honestly thought he was ignorant. Clearly he wasn't.

Despite not caring about the villain or the overall scenario, Partners In Crime is watchable and admittedly has grown on me just that little bit. I hereby abdicate this from the list of dread.

3 out of 5

 

I always thought the "She fancied me," line wasn't necessarily because he knew all along (which could arguably be debated and will be fine with either way), but more that is in reference to Martha outright admitting her feelings in both The Family of Blood and in her goodbye scene in The Last of the Time Lords when she tells him why she feels she needs to walk away from the Doctor. But again, I could be wrong.

 

Don't diss the Adipose!!

 

The adipose are dumb!

 

I never understood why some people considered the Adipose to be villains. They're just babies! They were innocent in all that plotting! It was Miss Foster who was the real villain.

 

I love that the Adipose aren't really villains. And I love Partners in Crime. So there.

I of course completely agree about Smith lacking intimidation and gravitas. Which is fine, I just prefer gravitas.

I think with Capaldi we know for sure he'll do just fine with those aspects. I'm actually more curious about whether there will be more tender moments that might not feel right.

 

As with Series 3, looking forward to the last three or four episodes of Series 4. I haven't seen them in a while nor have I seen them anywhere nearly as many times as Series 3.

 

This was a pretty good review I thought.

 

4.03: The Fires of Pompeii

"Every waking second I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left."

Well if Partners In Crime served as a foreshadowing for things to come in Series 4, then unintentionally The Fires of Pompeii was a foreshadowing for the years before it. In this episode not only does it feature an actress who will go on to be a long term, and one of the best, companions to the Doctor but we also get a very respected actor who is soon to play the Doctor. I paid particular attention to Peter Capaldi on this viewing because if you recall earlier I had found a quote by Moffat where he had spoken to RTD regarding Capaldi's appearances in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Apparently the pair had devised a plot device that explains why the Capaldi doppelgänger appears in both shows. A recently quote by Moffat reveals that he intends to run with it. So I watched out for some clues as to what they may do with it. Keep in mind that at no point, as far as i'm aware, had they decided on Capaldi as a Doctor. In fact, this was filmed before Matt Smith auditioned for the role he would go onto achieve. But it's fun to pick things out.

Let's consider some of the things that Capaldi's character did during this episode that may amount to the plot device. Firstly, his character purchases the TARDIS and out of anyone in his family seems to be the most fascinated by it. It's also worth noting that during the scene with David Tennant when they're both sitting over the vent, the Doctor (Tennant obviously) mentions San Francisco. Strangely, Capaldi's character stops to think about it and starts to talk about San Francisco as though it is matter of fact in his timeline, only to be cut off by the Doctor. Don't forget also that when the Doctor returns to save the family, Capaldi is the first to reach out to the Doctor and take his hand. Then of course, his son is studying to be a Doctor and kneels before the stone tablet which features an image of the Doctor, Donna and the TARDIS. So there's plenty for Moffat to work with there. How will they tie it all in? Absolutely no idea! But there are clues that could be retconned for the sake of Capaldi's Doctor.

As for the episode itself, I quite enjoyed it. This one was Catherine Tate's moment to shine as we see a more emotive, passionate and driven side to her character. By far one of her best moments has got to be in the TARDIS toward the end when confronting the Doctor while in tears where her pain is agonisingly convincing. As far as Tennant's Doctor goes, Donna is his best companion because they eschewed the romantic aspects and gave him precisely what he needed; a friend to keep him in check. It's a terrific partnership and I look forward to rediscovering it.

The Fires of Pompeii is also the beginning of a theme where we start to see the more meddling, omnipotent side to the Doctor where he truly has to make the big decisions. 20,000 innocent people or the world? The themes in this episode, perhaps even the title itself, run parallel to that of the much darker Waters of Mars. To me this is a very welcome theme because you cannot truly appreciate a character unless you question their morality and feel a bit challenged by their reasoning. Tennant achieved that here really well and will go on to do it in an even deeper capacity in his remaining time in the role.

As a bit of nitpicking, sometimes the CGI seemed a bit patchy but that's probably because the budget clearly went to the sublime volcano eruption scenes. Although I enjoy the Timelord Victorious plot line, I don't think it works particularly well with real life historical events, Pompeii being one of them. Especially since the Doctor is placed dead centre at the cause of it for the most part. I can't put it into words but...it almost feels a bit insensitive, especially since this event still does haunt Pompeii to a certain extent. At school most of my friends were Italian and when they went back to Italy to visit family, out of respect they'd visit the Mount Vesuvius site because how devastating it was on their history. Please note that i'm not trying to make them sound like martyrs either because they definitely weren't that. But in having that connection to their home there's definitely an added sentimental attachment they would understandably have to that.

Despite that, I did enjoy the episode. Again, the above paragraph is just a nitpick and is an example of where perhaps the historical episodes try a bit too hard to shoehorn an alien plot line into an episode where it doesn't need to be. Vincent and the Doctor is another of these which we will get to in due course. Overall, a satisfying episodes with some great guest spots, effects and one of Catherine Tate's best performances.

4 out of 5

 

Interesting that this episode suddenly may have a larger significance because of Capaldi and 12.
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On another note, they recently revealed that, in the Titans comics, 10 and 11 will get a new companion each.

http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/a...e-obiefune-the-eleventh-doctors-new-companion

 

Don't forget Karen Gilian was also in that episode before she became Amy Pond.

 

Oh yeah, regarding Karen Gillan - her English accent is terrible. Glad she stuck with Scottish.

 

Scots can't do good English accents in Doctor Who, it's tradition.

 

I thought David Tennant did alright. Sure, it was a tribute to Frank Spencer, but it worked.

 

Interview with S8 guest star (spoilers)

In non spoilery news, Tom Baker praises incoming Doctor Peter Capaldi.

 

Eh, at least it's better than what they did with with Tegan and Perri. Don't get me wrong I don't have any problems with their characters, but from what vids I've seen of the two, they REALLY dropped the ball with the Australian and American accents.

 

You thought Australian actress Janet Fielding's Australian accent was off, eh?

At the time I swear I didn't notice Peri's accent wasn't genuine American (though I was only around 5 or 6). It didn't occur to me she was English until about 15 years later when I watched them all again and yeah, it's pretty bad. Not as bad as some examples in The Gunfighters, The Chase or Space Pirates. If you listen to some BFAs she's much better at it now.

 

Pop quiz - Who was the first person to die in a Moffat scripted episode?