We all sat around, very excited to watch the new Doctor Who last Saturday. Even my Mother (not a normal Who fan) had come along saying she wanted to see the new Doctor.
The first surprise was the music. It was a bit … different! And the graphics too. Although I quite liked the clouds, particularly the gold clouds. Not so sure about the theme, but I expect it will grow on me.
The episode however had quite a different feel to the old RTD programs. I loved Amabel, the garden, and the kitchen scene with fish custard was wonderful. One for the kids obviously but I bet all the grown ups loved it too.
Grown up Amy was good too. There was a nice community feel to the whole place, with most of the characters having known each other for years. For example the bloke whose car trapped the Doctors tie obviously knew her well and was more than a bit intimidated, going off meekly to have his coffee. The old lady too, what a lovely performance she gave! The casting in the Doctor is always superb!
The episode also was about many children’s dream – the dream of having the TARDIS land in your back garden, and the Doctor climb out. Quite mad of course, but very understanding and kind. He latched on to Amabel immediately – she wasn’t bothered by box falling out of sky sky and man falling out of box, so that crack in her wall must be really serious.
The episode had a lot to do. Introduce the new Doctor as a person, introduce Amy and her friends and family (although where *were* her family?), explain the new TARDIS and sonic screwdriver, introduce the series arc theme (crack in the universe), AND have an adventure. Blimey! But it did it. Brilliantly!
The family liked it too. My son thought it and Matt were great (and may be defecting to Amy from Mylene). My partner thought it was excellent. My Mother said she thought that Matt was better than David Tenant (shock, horror!) and had a greater range.
But what did I think of it? Well I wasn’t too sure at first. But since then I have watched it three times and I am coming to the view that it is brilliant. I have enjoyed previous series openers more (my personal favourite is Partners in Crime) but they (apart from Rose) had less to do. And Matt is marvelous.
In fact things are looking very good. David Tenant? What David Tenant? Matt Smith *is* the Doctor!
The Shakespeare Code is utterly, utterly perfect, an exquisite jewell set in the heart of Doctordom. The music, the costumes, the Globe (yes its filmed in THE GLOBE THEATRE), the acting are all superb. But it is the writing that is the heart of it. The words are the thing.
In fact it is an elegantly written, play on words.
The Carrionites (‘foul Carrionites’) use words for power. In the past, the Eternals had found the right word to banish them into deep darkness. But Shakespeare, the one true genius, grieving for the death of his son, had had sufficient madness to let them in, with words, new and glittering. Three Carrionites, who settled in All Hallows Street, to hatch their plans.
The plans were to bring the world back to the old ways of blood and magic, so the human race could could then be purged as pestilence. They found the architect, Peter Strete and got him to build the new Globe Theatre, with 14 sides, to their design, not his. When the work was done they snapped his wits.
The Carrionites are immensely powerful beings. They can take the form of humans, generally knarled witches, but also young and beautiful humans such as the form taken sometimes by Lileth, their leader. They can suck words and knowledge from you and kill with a touch. Men to them are as puppets, and using the doll as a DNA replication unit, they can take you over, make you speak words that are not your own or write words you have never seen before.
They were already ensconced and well advanced in their plans, when the Doctor brought Martha on her ‘one short jaunt’ in the Tardis, to watch a play at the Globe. Intrigued by the prospect of seeing the lost play, ‘Loves Labours Won’, he visited Shakespeare at the Elephant Inn, where he witnessed the strange death of Lynley, drowned on land and killed with a blow to the heart. The night had even stranger events, with ‘sweet Dolly Bailey’, killed by fright, and a cackling witch witch seen by Martha from the window, sailing off into the sky.
A visit to Bedlam the following day revealed not only the story of Peter Strete, but also the Carrionite Mother Doomfinger. But the Doctor knows the power of a name, and Doomfinger was banished to the House in All Hallows Street. Meanwhile the Doctor worked out the story, sent Shakespeare to stop the play, and went himself with Martha to visit the Carrionites in their lair.
A superb piece of acting then ensured from both Christina Cole (Lileth) and the Doctor, culminating in Lileth bursting backwards through the windows, and hovering in the air while she used her doll to deadly effect.
But she did not know that the Doctor has two hearts, and Martha was able to bring him back. Followed by the obligatory running scene, with the Doctor ‘going the wrong way’, before finding the Globe and the stage door.
The transformation scene at the Globe is superb. Heralded by the wonderful Murray Gold music, the theatre spouts pink flames, while the three witches laugh with joy, and Carrionites fly out of the smoke. Now is the time for Wil to show his genius, and reverse the spell. Which he does, along with a bit of help from JK (hopefully she won’t be suing).
One of my favourite scenes in the play however is the one that we never saw. The tragically cut scene where Shakespeare shows that he knows that the Doctor is from another world and Martha is from the future. He recognises himself in the Doctor and senses his loss, his grief and his madness. But unlike the Doctor, he is content where he is, he does not need to travel. “Give me my pen and ink, give me my minds eye and I can go wherever I want.”
It is the heart of the play, the heart of what Shakespeare is, and shows how a human can on occasion match and surpass the Time Lord. It is also actor Dean Lennox Kelly’s finest piece of acting. It should never have been cut. Shame on you!
So there you are. A fabulous piece of writing from Gareth Roberts, backed up with marvelous acting, effects, the whole caboodle. But the final comment on the piece must be the comment made by Jonathan Morris in the Doctor Who Magazine’s golden moments special edition:
“Although life was very different in the sixteenth century, people were just the same. Writers spend all their time in pubs and deliver their scripts having finished them the night before; actors don’t care if their lines make any sense so long as they get to do a big speech and take centre stage, and the only thing audiences ever notice are the special effects”.
The Shakespeare Code can be bought as part of Doctor Who – The Complete Series 3 Box Set [DVD] [2007]
It some time now since the End of Time broadcast on New Years day and I have watched it several times. What are my views?
Well its good. Sort of. Yes, quite good. David and Wilf are great, as always, Timothy Dalton is very strong as the Time Lord (I like Timothy Dalton) and the story nicely ties everything up.
And yet. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t really like big finales particularly. I often prefer the smaller more ‘ordinary’ Doctor Who stories such as Blink, The Shakespeare Code, and Gridlock. Maybe I am just being difficult. Somehow the last finale, the one with Davros, was much more powerful. After all when you have seen the earth dragged halfway across the Universe, with 27 planets in the sky, it is a bit ‘here we go again’ when Gallifrey pops up. God know what all this is doing to the tides. And whats Rassalon doing with Captain Jack’s glove?
John Sim had a good part! I hope they gave him a good fee after all that dressing up he had to do. Although come to think of it, it must have been quite fun. At first anyway. The thing about John Sim though, he *is* very good, very good indeed, but I keep thinking that he is too nice to be the Master. Roger Delgado (Ah Roger Delgado!) and the other chap were better in that respect. But it was nice to see him back.
I think what made the Stolen Earth/Journeys End feel better was that the Doctor has his companions helping him. I know he had Wilf in this episode, but none of the others, and those green spiky people, I wasn’t too keen on them. Were they just there to prove that special effects can cope with green things now?
And who was the mysterious woman? Some people say the Doctors Mother, my Son thought she was Romana, I don’t know. I quite like the fact that we do not know though, it gives us something to speculate on.
The rest of it is all wrapped up and tied with a bow. Mickey marries Martha. Donna marries her bloke. Nerys wears peach. Even Nurse Redfern, we learn, had a happy life, although I am not sure how her granddaughter recognised the Doctor. So thats all kind of satisfying.
Final verdict? Good, but not great. Looking forward to Number Eleven …
Doctor Who – Winter Specials 2009 – Waters of Mars and The End of Time [DVD]
I was more than a bit disappointed by the first part of the finale of David Tenants reign. It seemed very disjointed and hard for people who do not know Who, to follow. In fact as we all sat around watching it on Christmas Day I felt a bit embarrassed at making my Mother (not a Who fan) watch all this stuff. I am pretty sure that most of went straight past her, although she is a very polite person and did not complain.
It was nice to see Wilf back of course, and I liked the cafe scene. However who were this Naismith couple? We had no explanation of why they were millionaires, how they knew of the immortality gate, and where the daughter got the idea from that she could become immortal. It all added to the confusion.
In fact I rather felt as if Russell, the writer, knowing that this was the end of his Dr Who writing, had cast aside all restraint and piled in everything pel mel, with no particular order or cohesion between the various parts. Sorry Russell, but that is what it felt like watching it for the first time.
Although it was exciting to see the Time Lords at the end. I was not expecting that. It was a good moment.
I have watched the episode since of course and it does improve on a second viewing. I understand it a bit better. I think it will take a few more viewings though before I get it all, plus I expect parts of it will only be clear once we have seen the final part. Due in a few days.
I am looking forward to Part 2, but my enthusiasm has been dented a bit by the deficiencies of Part 1. Although I should make it clear that I thought all the *actors* was great, and I have no complaints at all about the quality of the acting. It was, as always, superb.
Doctor Who – Winter Specials 2009 – Waters of Mars and The End of Time [DVD]
So. I’ve seen the Waters of Mars twice and have had a bit of time to ponder on it. What do I think?
Well its good. Of course its good, they all are. And Lindsey Duncan is of course wonderful as Adelaide Brook, the commander. The make up is amazing, and the effects brilliant. But.
I didn’t really like the Doctor going off the rails at the end. I really didn’t like that. I quite understand that its great for David to act, and as always he did a fabulous job. But the Doctor doesn’t do that. Or shouldn’t. I don’t want him to go mental and upset time. I prefer him as he was.
Call me old fashioned but I prefer the Doctor to be right, the one who sorts things out, the one thing that is dependable I don’t want him going off the rails.
We will have to see what will happen over Christmas and the New Year. It looks pretty amazing so I am really looking forward to it.
Lets hope the Doctor has got over his delusions by then.
Doctor Who – Winter Specials 2009 – Waters of Mars and The End of Time [DVD]
Prior to watching Delta and the Bannerman I had not really understood why some Who fans were so negative about Sylvester McCoy, or indeed why Dr Who the program was held is such disdain at the end of the classic period. Then I watched Delta and the Bannerman.
I suppose it is not the worst thing I have ever seen, but there is no getting away from it It is dire.
Sylvester McCoy himself is more or less all right. I like Sylvester McCoy. But:
- Mel is truly awful (although she is quite good at screaming)
- The actress playing Delta is incredibly wooden
- Billy is pretty dire too
For example, I find it impossible to believe that he could accept a green baby coming out of an egg and growing up within 24 hours without a blink, even if he had fallen desperately in love with Delta. And whats all this about him changing his species just by sucking on a tube?
I think that the fault probably lies mainly with the dreadful script. However the whole thing is completely unbelievable, and the only way you can make sense of it is to treat it as nonsense, and just enjoy it as that. It is not completely unenjoyable, but it is not good Who.
Although, strange to say, Ken Dodd, compared to the rest of it, is really not that bad. At least he gets killed off early on. Would that the same fate could have befallen Mel.
Doctor Who – Delta And The Bannermen [DVD] [1987]
If you feel like a good book for Halloween, you could do a lot worse than read the 10th Doctor and Martha book, Forever Autumn by Mark Morris. Set in the “sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls” (to quote the blurb on Amazon) it is rather a fun little book, featuring tall lanky stick like monsters who can possess people and whose space ship is buried beneath the town. Needless to say they must be prevented from using it, as its lift off would kill most of the towns inhabitants.
The Hervoken have some similarities to the Carrionites (seen on screen in the Shakespeare Code), although the Hervoken do not take human form (other than by possession). Apparently they are the Carrionites were enemies until ‘the Eternals’ took steps against them both. I’d like to know more about the Eternals – Mr Moffatt??
The author cleverly brings the Doctor and Martha to life, very much as they are in the television series, all the catch phrases along with at lot of witty 10th Doctor banter. The other characters are quite pleasant too, the three boys, Etta Helligan, and poor old Doctor Clayton. The Hervoken however are not, with their long stick like bodies, high pitched giggly voices, and long vine like tentacles stretching beneath the town (slightly reminiscent of the citidel’s roots from Death to the Daleks). And they enjoy crunching up Mr Everson. Not nice.
The climax is even worse, but I won’t tell you as it will spoil the surprise for you. But the Doctor manages it in the end as he always does, and then wants to slope off without saying goodbye. I can’t help wondering if the Moffatt/Smith doctor will be quite so adverse to proper endings, hopefully not.
But the book is an enjoyable Halloween read. Doctor Who – Forever Autumn (New Series Adventure 16)
Do you remember when we all watched that first series of New Who back in 2005, there was a moment when we all realised that this was not just going to be good, it was BRILLIANT! That moment was when we watched Dalek. Somehow Dalek took the show to new heights. It re-introduced us all to the Daleks, told us a bit more about the ‘last great time war’ and the Doctors part in it. And it was great drama.
The story starts when the Tardis arrives in a strange ‘great big alien museum’ in Utah, USA, 2012. Exhibits include a stuffed slitheen claw, the mileometer from the Roswell spaceship, and a cyberman head. But thats not what called them there. That was something else, reaching out, calling for help … The Doctor touches the Cyberman case, and suddenly they are surrounded, and Rose points out that if its aliens the museum owners are after, he will be exhibit A.
After the credits we meet Henry Van Statten. He appears to be the owner of the compex, is obviously wealthy and powerful, and has a strong interest in the extra terrestrial. He has agents buy alien artifacts at auction for him, but has just has just the one living specimen. He named it ‘the metraltron’, although he would prefer to find out its real name. He invites the Doctor down to see it.
Van Stratten is obviously a nasty piece of work. People who do not agree with him have their memories removed and are slung out on the street, He shows no respect for an alien musical instrument, bought by his employee Adam at auction for $800,000, throwing it aside once he has worked out what it is, and he tells his staff that the Doctor is not to be let out of the ‘cage’ until he has a ‘result’.
The next few minutes are some of the most powerful in the series. The Doctor, coming face to face with a representative of the race that destroyed his, goes mad and tries to kill it. Christopher Eccleston’s acting is truly superb here, you feel his pain, and know just the moment when he decided to kill…
But Van Statten is not going to lose his living specimen so easily. ‘Get him out’ he orders, and hurries in to the cage. ‘And now I know your name’ he says gleefully, “Dalek’. However Van Statten may own the internet, but the Dalek refuses to speak. “My name is Henry Van Statten, now recognise me” he cries in frustration, but the blue eye just stares at him. ‘Make it talk’ he orders the torturer, Simmons, ‘Whatever it takes”.
Meanwhile, Rose is chatting to Adam, upstairs. This is a lovely scene beautifully played by both actors, and beautifully and artistically shot. Rose is obviously taken with Adam, even though he nearly started world war three, which she clearly does not think is funny. However he reminds her of the Doctor when he says “Fantastic”.
Adam confesses to being a genius who believes that the world is just teeming with life, but Rose is unimpressed. “What and you just sit here and catalogue it?” How can be be content to do this when Van Statten has a living creature downstairs? However when Adam patches them into the comms system to take a look at it, what they see is the creature being tortured. Rose demands to be taken down there, and so starts the whole tragic course of events.
In the meantime, with the Doctor and Van Statten we are learning a bit more about Daleks in general (genetically engineered to remove every emotion except hate) and this Dalek in particular. According to Diana Goddard it has been on earth for over 50 years, moving from one collection to another, having fallen to earth on the Ascension Islands like a meteorite, burning in its cradle for three days before anyone could get near it. Of course one thing that no-one ever mentions is what it ate and drank during all this time – Daleks being organic, presumably they need to consume something to keep them alive, But perhaps food is manufactured for them by their casing, from the air.
As predicted by Rose, once Van Statten realises that the Doctor too is an alien, he seeks information, and is not too choosy with his methods of obtaining it. Only the crisis started by Rose forces him to keep the Doctor free. For Rose, seduced by Nick Briggs dulcet tones, has touched the Dalek, allowing it to regenerate itself using her DNA, and free itself from its cage. Although the Dalek’s ‘suckering to death’ of Simmons is no great loss to the world, the fate of the rest of the base personnel is more worrying.
In view of what happened later, it is a pity that Rose and Adam did not make a bolt for it there and then. It is only when the Doctor shouts at her to get out and Di Maggio is given the job of getting them to safety that they leave. Meanwhile the Dalek is repairing itself by draining the power supply of western United States and absorbing the internet. Not that it does it much good. However it enjoys itself having an orgy of killing, while Van Statten orders his men not to put a scratch on its bodywork, until he realises that he is speaking to dead men.
One of the writer, Robert Shearman’s briefs for this story, was to deal once and for all with age old jokes about the Daleks, This scene makes it quite clear that Daleks are superb fighting machines. The next makes it equally clear that they can now climb stairs (and playgrounds the following day echoed to “Elevate!” the length and breadth of the country).
One question which I have not heard raised is the Doctors responsibility for the deaths of the men in the weapons testing area – the main battle ground of the program. It was he who suggested all personnel (including the technicians, the lawyers, everyone) be given guns to fight, as an alternative to sealing off the area and therefore trapping the Dalek with Rose. Was he also morally responsible for their deaths?
He was certainly given a good view of it all as the Dalek kindly put the power back on so he can view it all via video link. After watching so many being killed it is perhaps understandable that the Doctor would lose his cool and tell the Dalek to kill itself. Leading to the unanwearable “You would make a good Dalek” before it cut out the power and makes its way up the stairs. And then the Doctor tells them to seal the vault.
It is obvious watching Adam and Rose run upstairs and along the last corridor, that Rose is not going to make it. Adam manages to slide under the door at the last moment but Rose is left to face the Dalek alone.
But the Dalek has troubles of its own. Why has it not killed Rose? Why is she still alive? He can feel her fear, but Daleks do not fear, must not fear. She gave him life, but what else did she give him? He is contaminated. He opens communications with a delighted Doctor and orders him to open the bulkheads. For ‘what use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?” The Doctor opens the bulkheads.
So. The Dalek is moving steadily up the stairs with Rose. Van Statten is panicking in his office. While Adams takes the Doctor to his room (now lit quite differently) to find some weaponry which will work against the Dalek. After rummaging through broken guns and hair dryers, a big gun is found, while Rose accompanies the Dalek, still questioning itself, up in the lift.
And at last, on arrival in his office, the Dalek finally acknowledges Van Statten and speaks to him, However as the word used is ‘Exterminate’ he is less than happy about it. Only the intervention of Rose saves him. ‘You don’t have to do this any more, there must be something else, not just killing, what else do you want?” she asks him desperately, and the Dalek answers, probably to its own surprise ‘Freedom”,
So to the last scene with the Dalek, when the Doctor confronts it with the gun, Rose won’t let him kill it, and we see the Dalek revealed in all its slimy horror. The Dalek is changing, mutating into something new. But for a Dalek that is bad, so it orders Rose to order it to self destruct. Which reluctantly she does. Leading to some nice CGI effects as the Dalek blows itself up.
Right through the story, Diana Goddard has been there, respectful to Van Statten but obviously sympathetic to the Doctor. At the end however she takes over, how or why we are not told. Still “200 personnel dead and all because of you, sir”, is not a bad reason, for taking a man away, wiping his memory and leaving him by the road someplace, in San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, or someplace beginning with S”.
So all that is left is for Goddard to order the base be closed down and filled with cement, while Rose and the Doctor leave in their small blue box with a rather puzzled Adam, for us to meet again next week on on satellite 5.
As well as being a fantastic story and drama, this episode is also an artistic triumph. I particularly admire the lighting (from director of photography Ernie Vincze, who writes movingly about light in the 2nd series confidential here) which unerringly picks out Rose’s hair and creates beauty out of a rather utilitarian set. The music is also superb, and chilling in the way it creates a mood of menace, as the Dalek alternately plots and despairs – the last Dalek (for this episode anyway).
However it all stems from the superb script from writer Robert Shearman. We could do with some more from him. Mr Moffatt?
Dalek is sold as part of Doctor Who – The Complete BBC Series 1 Box Set [2005] [DVD]
With my new persona as a Dr Who Blogger, what I really need to do, I decided, is a bit of research. So I have had a very pleasant time over the past few days, re-reading one of my very favourite Doctor Who books, Doctor Who – The Inside Story: The Official Guide to Series 1 and 2
This nice thing about the whole Doctor Who experience, is that so much information is available about the making of the program and all the different people who make it what it is – one the of the best programs on British television. This book also takes us behind the scenes and introduces us to all sorts of people.
It starts with an introduction from David Tennant himself, a general introduction about the series, and then looks at the process of bringing back Doctor Who, from periodic pitches made by Russell T Davies in the 1990′s, through to Lorraine Heggessey and Jane Trantor making the decision to bring it back and then how the various key people were put in place.
First to be installed were the triumvirate of executive producers – Russell T Davies as showrunner, Julie Gardner in charge of sorting everything, and Phil Collinson, in charge of making it all run smoothly and to budget.
Then we look at the casting of the major characters, then the various key people involved in the production of the series. The two costumer designers, Lucinda Wright (series one) and Louise Page (series two), and the various makeup artists (including Sheelagh Wells (formerly of the classic series). The Mill in charge of CGI, Neil Gorton of Millennium FX in charge of prosthetic costumes, Mike Tucker (another of the few from the classic series) determined to do as much of the modelling as he can, and the wonderful art department headed by Edward Thomas.
Then there are the writers, and the scriptwriters (including a very interesting interview with Helen Raynor, now a regular writer who hopefully will also be writing for series 5), all very important. The wonderful music from Murray Gold, Paul McFadden doing the sound, and Tim Ricketts mixing it all up at the end. The book also touches on the various directors, although they are discussed more in the episode descriptions.
I would like to have heard a bit from the photography and lighting people (particuarly Ernie Vincze), and also from the other special effects people (i.e. those in charge of explosions), but all in all it is a fascinating insight into the making of a TV series.
The second part of the book is an episode by episode description of all the episodes in series one and two, plus a peek into the (then) future by looking at the Catherine Tate Christmas episode and the start of series three. Gary Russell tends to concentrate on the more technical aspects, but that is great as we would not be able to find that information out otherwise.
I really enjoyed reading this book again, and would like to see something similar for series three and four. And of course for series five, under the new administration …
Mawdryn Undead
I was given the Black Guardian Trilogy for my birthday recently, and tonight we watched the first one, Mawdryn Undead.
Sort of mixed views about it really. It was great to see the Brig again, I had heard about his teaching job so it was nice to see what that was all about. I also liked the way they had two of him (shades of Inferno), and used this in the plot. But on the other hand shouldn’t the Doctor have known what would happen when the two Brigadiers met and touched, and why didn’t he think of sorting the problem that way himself, rather than have it happen by accident?
It was also interesting to see how Turlough was introduced to the Tardis, having met him in later episodes, and also having heard about how he had been a secret assassin. I thought he overacted a bit when talking to the Black Guardian though. I also did not like the way he acted with the crystal particularly, although after listening to the commentary and hearing about how he had a wire up his arm and down his leg with a car battery at the end held by a man who had to keep out of shot, with the crystal burning hot after a few seconds, I realise they were not the ideal acting conditions!
I also found the Black Guardian a bit unbelievable somehow, not sure why (although it could have had something to do with the bird on his head). I think I would have preferred to see another actor in the part as he did not fit my mental image of the Black Guardian, although he had a great voice.
The spaceship was a rather fabulous set, although in reality apparently it was rather small. It was a shame it had to blow up in the end, although our son said he thought that was the best Doctor Who episode ending ever!
The original appearance of Mawdryn in the Tardis was a bit scary, and I must also confess to being a bit nervous when the undead were walking around the ship, before I knew who they were – the unknown is always more scary that the known. I quite liked the way they all glided along – was that a sort of echo of the Daleks, who always glide smoothly, do you think?
This episode is important, by the way, as being the one where it is confirmed that Timelords only regenerate twelve times. How are they going to get over that one, when the actor after the actor after Matt Smith decides to hang up his sonic screwdriver?
The commentary was great fun (Peter Davison – the Doctor, Mark Strickland – Turlough, Eric Saward – script editor, and Nicholas Courtney – the Brigadier), you really felt they were all enjoying themselves, as well as watching the show. Nicholas Courtney was right however, I didn’t notice his bald patch until he mentioned it.
Mawdryn Undead is sold as part of Doctor Who – The Black Guardian Trilogy [DVD] [1983]
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