Monthly Archives: October 2015

Profile photo of GuestBlogs by GuestBlogs

Doctor Who: Initial Reactions to The Woman Who Lived

October 27, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

drwhowomanwholived1

If you’ve been keeping up with these little review I’ve been doing you’ll know that this series has been rather up and down for me so far. I’m happy to say that this episode was on an up though. Not up as high as Mummy on the Orient Express or Flatline but a definite improve over the last two weeks. Which makes me wonder whether this one will be well remembered in the future or whether it’ll be one of those strong episodes that doesn’t quite stand out for being either really good or really bad so just ends up being forgotten about. Time will tell on that front I guess. But anyway, this Doctor Who story is written by a woman but that’s not the important part about Catherine Tregenna, the fact that she’s very good at writing characters is. And she really is good at it and adds a genuine sense of character to Ashildr (or Me as she goes by now) that wasn’t really there in any great abundance last week. She also does some great stuff with the Doctor and you can really see Peter Capaldi sinking his teeth into all that wonderful stuff. However, the intense focus on character does mean that the plot takes a back seat. Admittedly it is a simple plot and is nothing really new but nevertheless it would’ve been nice to have had a bit more build up and a slightly longer scene for the invasion and it really was far too quick. Me’s sudden change of heart was (as the word sudden would suggest) a bit too sudden and a bit too convenient. That might’ve been more down to directing rather than writing but I do feel that it shouldn’t have been as instantaneous as it ended up being. Just a couple of seconds extra would’ve been able to fix that I think but I guess you can’t have everything.

Speaking more in-depth about Me, she very much feels like a substitute companion in this episode and I am begging to wonder whether or not this was supposed to be a Doctor solo series before Jenna decided to stay as it does feel like most of the episodes would have been no different without her and here she’s just written out altogether excluding a short scene at the end. Did I dislike her absence? Not really as I feel that there was no other way to get her in the episode without detracting from it as a whole. It is very much a two hander between the Doctor and Me and it wouldn’t work any other way. Anyway, back to Me herself. Maisie Williams was great last week but here she take it to a whole other level, probably because the script really allows her to. I really loved the idea of her being an immortal but still having a human sized memory. I also liked that she wanted to explore beyond the confines of her world and join the Doctor. The way those scenes where played though implied there was some sinister reason as to why she knows about the Doctor’s travels but that’s never really followed through on. Maybe that’ll be explored in a future episode? It would be nice to have her back some time.

In terms of supporting character there are only two worthy of note, Sam Swift and Leandro. Sam Swift was wonderful and it’s a shame we didn’t get to spend more time with his character. Leandro however was more of a plot device than a character and was a rather poor villain if I’m honest. He, like the plot, was only really there to push the character drama between the Doctor and Me forward. You could argue that Sam Swift was there for that purpose too but he was a much more entertaining character and had such a style about him thanks to both Catherine Tregenna’s writing and Rufus Hound’s acting that it’s much less noticeable that he’s kind of a plot device. He even gets a bit of development himself and ends up being friends with the Doctor and Me in the end. The gallows humour was very nicely done and while it did feel a bit like padding at the time I appreciate it in hindsight. In terms of humour it fitted in much more with the story than the humour did last week in The Girl Who Died. Speaking of, I did bring up the topic of whether or not I classed it as a two-part story last week and I still stand by my statement that they are two separate episodes but with a small link between them. They each tell their own stories and only really have a single character in common. Or three characters if you count the Doctor and Clara. It’s nice to have that though as it’s great that they’re trying something different the format and also something different in the form of the character of Me.

drwhowomanwholived2 drwhowomanwholived3

Overall, Catherine Tregenna’s Doctor Who debut has a rather week plot but that’s mostly forgivable because it’s main purpose is to be a character piece and it does that spectacularly. I think eight-out-of-ten is a fair rating for this one and I hope I’ll get to give out more scores like this or higher as we enter the second half of the series. The Zygon Invasion is next up and it’s Kill the Moon writer Peter Harness back for another go. It looks to be very good but I said that last year about Kill the Moon and look how that turned out so I’m not counting on it being a classic just yet. However, we don’t have long to wait now so until next week be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags:
9 Comments »

Profile photo of GuestBlogs by GuestBlogs

Doctor Who: Initial Reaction to The Girl Who Died

October 20, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

drwhogirlwhodied1

Following two double-length stories with great first parts but disappointing seconds, it’s rather refreshing to have an episode which is kind of stand alone but not really. Now I personally am not counting The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived as a two-parter as the both appear to be telling their own stories but they are connected by the arc of Maisie Williams’ character Ashildr. Having not seen The Woman Who Lived yet though I’m not one-hundred percent on that. Now this episode seems to be a very dividing one. I know those who loved it and those who absolutely hated it with a passion. Some really liked the Mire part but hated the Doctor’s face part while others were vice-versa. I personally found it to be quite average overall. Some really amazing moments balanced out by some really bad ones. It got off to a fairly strong start (although I felt the Mire were introduced way too quickly) and it was all going fairly well until the resolution. It was far too comedic as were many of my least favourite parts of this episode. Also, the Mire could have easily just return and massacred them all in order to stop the video getting out there. Not very well thought through unfortunately.

So then, what were the moments I enjoyed? Well there were some wonderful conversations between the Doctor and Clara and during those scenes I found myself really liking Clara. I’ve been unsure about her for a while now and still feel that most episodes from series nine so far would’ve worked just as well without her and the plot of this one would’ve functioned just as well without her I don’t feel there would’ve been as much substance. Those wonderful scenes added substance to a story that would’ve otherwise have been rather bland. Now we come to Ashildr who is a wonderful character played by the amazing actress Maisie Williams. Her scene with Capaldi was great and while the script didn’t give her much to do beyond that (hopefully next week’s will) she still made the most of it. When I rewatched it she caught my eye in the background and if you focus on her in the background of these scenes you’ll see her doing some rather interesting things rather than just standing around. They’re nothing too incredible but they’re nice little incidental moments which add to her character as a whole. I’m excited to see what they do with this character next week as there’s a lot of potential there.

The Mire unfortunately went down the route which most new series monsters seem to go down unfortunately as they looked very impressive and I liked it when they had there helmets off as it showed that they weren’t bog standard robots but in terms of story they were very weak and very underdeveloped. But now we come to a moment which I am sure many of you are surprised that I have not bought up already and that is the explanation as to why the Doctor has the same face as Caecilius, a character who casual viewers have probably forgotten from an episode which casual viewers have probably forgotten. Meaning that this is simply for the fans and most of us didn’t really want this thing answered. Well I certainly wouldn’t have lost any sleep over it anyway. So that’s my stance on that well and truly made and it leads up nicely on to my next point which is the Doctor saving Ashildr and to be honest I felt that this would have worked much better if the Doctor had no idea that he was making her immortal and thought he was just saving. That could’ve added a nice bit extra to it I feel. It also could link back to the prophecy mentioned in The Witch’s Familiar about the hybrid. It certainly appeared that way to me.

drwhogirlwhodied2 drwhogirlwhodied3

Overall, I did expect a lot more from Jamie Mathieson given what he gave us last year but nevertheless this episode did have some great moments. It gets a six-out-of-ten from me which is still a fair rating but not as high as I gave Jamie Mathieson’s other two. Anyway, I’m excited to see where Ashildr’s story goes next week in The Woman Who Lived which is by Catherine Tregenna, the first woman to write for the show in a long time. The episode also looks to be very good from what we’ve seen so far and the setting is very exciting but anyway, until next week be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags:
10 Comments »

Profile photo of GuestBlogs by GuestBlogs

Doctor Who: Initial Reactions to Before the Flood

October 14, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

drwhobeforetheflood1

So then, Under the Lake was magnificent and I was looking forward to more fantastic stuff in this weeks episode, Before the Flood. Like the premiere, I was left sadly disappointed by the second part. Was it a bad episode? Definitely not. Did it live up to the previous episode though? Sadly not, that’s where this one let me down. Now to be honest, I was worried ever since the cliff-hanger as it was obvious that the Doctor wasn’t going to die and that we were going to get a copout solution but I was hoping for something at least a little bit more than the copout simply being a hologram. However, I did enjoy the scene between the Doctor and Clara that we got out of this when he was telling her that he had to die. It felt like Clara turned into Rose a bit towards the end there when she was acting all entitled but other than that I loved the scene. I also quite enjoyed the pre-credits sequence and how it linked into the episode at the end there. I also really enjoyed the rock theme we had over the titles and I’d actually quite for that to stick around for a bit.

Anyway, I absolutely praised the quality of the supporting characters last week so what about this week? Well let’s start with O’Donnell who was shot down by the Fisher King fairly early in the episode. It was a well done sequence but I find it odd that her ghost only shows up at that point in the story rather than being there the whole time since she had died at the same time as Prentis. Given that the whole draw of mixing time travel and ghosts was that you could meet your own ghost it is a bit disappointing that this didn’t happen and having O’Donnell’s ghost there all along through Under the Lake would have made things very interesting indeed. There’s also hints of a possible future story when she mentions a Minister of War, could even be the finale. Now we come to Bennett who didn’t get a whole lot to do last episode. This episode he really gets the chance to step up and even challenge the Doctor at times which made for some great scenes. It’s a shame that his love for O’Donnell never really had any build up to it and was suddenly chucked in there at the end. The love between Cass and Lunn did thankfully have some build up to it but the main thing I like about these two characters is that they (mainly Cass) stand up to Clara and ask her a very important question. Last and also least in terms of supporting characters is Prentis who’s comedy routine seems a bit out of place this far into the story. It was also a bit too in the audiences face causing me to prefer Gibbis from The God Complex.

Now for the Fisher King who thankfully brought an end to Prentis’ comedy routine fairly early in the episode. Other than that though he doesn’t have much going for him. I mean he sounded magnificent and the costume was incredible although shooting him in broad daylight probably wasn’t the best idea as it made the monster look a bit rubbery to me. When in the shadow’s though, he was great. In the end though he just turned out to be a generic Doctor Who monster which didn’t really do a whole lot. Also, the reveal of how he made the ghosts was very poorly done by simply having it be an off handed line. It’s the same problem I have with the reveal of who blew up the TARDIS back in The Time of the Doctor, there was too much mystery and build up there for it to have been simply glossed over as if it were trivial. Speaking of the ghosts though, how didn’t find that scene with Cass and Moran to be simply magnificent? The tension was there and it really made use of the fact that Cass was deaf. Shame there weren’t more moments like that to be honest. And other than that the ghosts didn’t really do anything besides roam the corridors of the base. They felt far too much like a left over spare part from Under the Lake that Toby Whithouse (spelt his name wrong last week so sorry about that) just didn’t know what to do with. Now we come to the whole timey-wimey aspect of the story which I’ve heard many saying that a second watch is required to understand it as it’s apparently quite confusing but to be honest I picked up on everything first time and understood it without requiring a second watch. Oh and before I go any further I’d just like to clarify that I don’t dislike Doctor Who being timey-wimey. I think it’s great when it works but the truth is that it doesn’t work that often. So then the big question is was it done right in this episode? Besides the whole thing about O’Donnell’s ghost I mentioned earlier, yes it was done right in this episode.

drwhobeforetheflood2 drwhobeforetheflood3

Overall, Under the Lake and Before the Flood were a better two-part story than Capaldi’s other two. Before the Flood on it’s own gets a seven-out-of-ten from me which isn’t a bad rating but it’s substantially less than what I gave last week sadly. So my favourite Capaldi story still remains to be Mummy on the Orient Express and the writer of that, Jamie Mathieson, is returning next week to co-write The Girl Who Died which Maisie Williams will also be guest-starring in. So I’m very much looking forward to that one but until we see it next week be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags:
1 Comment »

Profile photo of GuestBlogs by GuestBlogs

Doctor Who: Initial Reactions to Under the Lake

October 6, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

drwhounderthelake1

So despite a promising first episode I ended up being quite disappointed with the series nine premiere overall because of how The Witch’s Familiar failed to deliver. But now we’re back in the swing of things and Toby Whitehouse has now come along with his first two part story. I’ve enjoyed his previous efforts but am not sure how many of them I’d call classics. This episode however, well let’s just say that calling it a classic might be putting it mildly. Yes, I really enjoyed this episode. And if the next episode manages to keep this up then Under the Lake and Before the Flood will easily become my favourite Twelfth Doctor story (a spot currently held by Mummy on the Orient Express) but I won’t commit to that just yet as I have to see the second half. I probably mentioned before how difficult it is to review what is essentially half a story so please bear with me as I try my best to discuss Under the Lake. So let’s start off with the basic premise and that is that an underwater base is under attack by ghosts. Nothing confusing, just straight forward ghosts. We don’t have a full explanation as to what they are yet but I like that there are little hints here and there such as the fact that they can’t penetrate the Faraday cage (probably something to do with the fact that they are transmitters of some kind) and that they can only interact with objects that are metal. So the ghosts are great in this and I’m looking forward to seeing where they take the ghost idea when they introduce time travel into the story next week. Now then, as a base under siege story I was sort of reminded of The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit only underwater but thankfully the similarity doesn’t spread too far and this one does end up doing it’s own thing which is great. The sets are wonderful and I like the dirty look the corridors have to them but I don’t find them as claustrophobic as those in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit which is a shame but I guess you can’t have everything.

Just as a side note, I would definitely recommend watching this at least twice as I picked up quite a bit more on a second viewing and also ended up enjoying it more. For example, I was able to work out that Lunn was spared by the ghost because hadn’t seen the symbols whereas before I hadn’t picked up on that and no doubt that plot threat will play into the next episode. I also found that it flowed much better than I originally thought but I’m not quite sure why that ended up being the case. But anyway, let’s now talk about the crew of the base, one of whom was of course deaf. When I first heard this I thought her inclusion would just be a gimmick and feared that it would slow the story down but actually she ended up being very well utilised in the story and both Cass and her interpreter, Lunn, were very likeable characters. I’d also imagine that Cass was very much an inspiration to the children watching who were deaf. So well done to Toby Whitehouse and actor Sophie Stone for that. But as great as Cass was I can’t help but love O’Donnell just that little but more. I did initially fear she was going to be a copy of Osgood when she had that fangirl moment towards the start but she actually ended up being very different thankfully and I look forward to seeing what they’ll do with her next week. Bennett on the other hand was a bit dull as a character but at least the have time to fix that. Moran and Pritchard were the red shirts here but it’s nice that Toby Whitehouse made them fairly rounded characters before they died.

Now we come to the Doctor and Clara who were both great in this episode. Admittedly Clara didn’t have too much to do but since many episodes in series eight were dominated by her I’m fine with the Doctor taking the lead again. Plus, now that they’re split up she’ll probably have more to do next episode. I think they’re scene together in the TARDIS was quite nice but the main stand out was the flashcards and it’s great that you can go back and read the other ones despite them being only a minor detail in the story itself. There’s even a Sarah Jane Smith reference in one of them. Unfortunately I’m going to have to stop being positive for a moment as I will now discuss the only real negative about this episode, the cliffhanger. In isolation, it’s not too bad but given that Moffat’s done the whole idea of the Doctor dying to death (we had it in the previous story for crying out loud) I just felt a bit fed up with it at this point. Also, I don’t feel it was shot very well. Having the Doctor’s ghost slowly advance towards the camera would’ve been far more effective in my opinion.

drwhounderthelake2 drwhounderthelake3

Overall, of course I loved this one and although I was negative about the cliffhanger I have faith that Toby Whitehouse will be able to change my mind about this next week. So there’s not much else to say beyond me giving this one a well deserved ten-out-of-ten. Now I only hope that Before the Flood can live up to this story and that Toby Whitehouse will provide a satisfying conclusion, and given how well thought through this one was I don’t see why next week should be any different. Anyway, those are just my opinions so be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags:
3 Comments »

Skip to toolbar