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A Dimensional Analysis

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Review of Planet of Giants (#9)
DVD Release Date: 11 Sep 12
Original Air Date: 31 Oct – 14 Nov 1964
Doctor/Companion: One, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Susan Foreman
Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Preceding Story: The Reign of Terror (One, Ian, Barbara, Susan)
Succeeding Story: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (One, Ian, Barbara, Susan)

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this story. It’s not one that shows up on the common Best Of or Worst Of lists, so I didn’t really have much in the way of preconceived notions, but I guess I was prepared to be underwhelmed. It was quite a nice surprise, then, that I found it so engaging.

Let me start with a bit of history. Apparently, the idea that eventually became Planet of Giants – that is, that the crew would be miniaturized, but on present-day Earth – was at one point intended to be the series pilot, rather than An Unearthly Child. Further, it was scripted – and shot – in four parts, but the Head of Serials didn’t like it as a four-parter, and so the final two episodes were edited together into one, which is how it was transmitted (this all becomes particularly relevant when we come to the extras).

As a result, there are pieces that don’t quite make perfect sense, but overall it hangs together quite well, and manages to combine early environmentalism with murder/intrigue and a science fiction twist (since our heroes are roughly the size of “an inch”). I suspect that when it first went out, the audiences would have been pleasantly surprised by the revelation that a mishap on landing had shrunk the TARDIS and all its occupants that way. It plays pretty well, even when you know what’s coming. In retrospect, though, I think it’s better that it got shunted to the second season, so the audience was familiar with the TARDIS’s usual workings before throwing in this new dimension.

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Respect, If Not Affection

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Review of A Town Called Mercy
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

I don’t know what it is about S7/S33, but I’m just not feeling it. Each episode has been beautifully rendered – good acting, good effects, and in this case a gorgeous location – but I have yet to feel a visceral connection with anything going on in the lives of the Doctor, Amy and Rory. Maybe it’s because we’re not really following their collective lives anymore.

Respect Susan's life choices.
Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2012 BBC

Whatever is going on, I still liked this episode better than the last one. In Dinos, everything from the title on down was designed for the kiddies, with a few incongruous bits of very adult themes thrown in for good measure. Here’s its rather the opposite. We’ve got a cool-looking cyborg, but that’s the backdrop for a huge ethical exploration of what it means to be a war criminal. As Sue of Adventures with the Wife in Space would say: Not. For. Kids.

Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Mercy more than Dinos, though. Westerns aren’t my favorite; I vastly prefer The Seven Samurai to The Magnificent Seven. Despite that, I really felt like this was a story I could sink my teeth into – the spaghetti Western bit was just set dressing (as opposed to the first time the Doctor was coerced into becoming a lawman in America’s Old West). Really, it could have been set anywhere, anywhen – they just happened to decide to put it in the 1870 U.S. frontier.

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Some Treasures Among the Coprolites

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Review of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.
Further warning: Profanity ahead.

I’m going to be up front about this: I didn’t really care for this episode. To start, I’ve never been much of a Chris Chibnall fan. No disrespect meant, but I’ve just never particularly enjoyed his episodes. Mix that with the fact that I thought the whole dinosaurs-on-a-spaceship concept was less than fabulous (not to mention a ridiculously stupid title – I find the Snakes on a Plane reference juvenile and tawdry), and you have a recipe for … well, for a bit of a letdown.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2012 BBC

Before those of you who adored the episode crucify me, let me say I did not hate it unconditionally. There were parts I liked, and I’ll get to those. But having come in with low expectations because of the title and then having my heart sink when I saw Chibnall’s name on the screen, it was bound to be a bumpy ride. And while I could have fun with it from time to time, overall I came away with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Let’s start at the beginning. Surely I can’t be the only one who’s noticed with chagrin how strongly it’s implied lately that the Doctor is not only sexually irresistible to every (usually historically famous) woman he comes across, but that he is sexually attracted to them in turn. I mean, I thought the whole thing with Ten and Queen Elizabeth I was bad – Queen Nefertiti in the opening moments here (and Mata Hari last week) is just over the top. Now in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit I totally ship Ten/Rose (that’s effectively canon), but that happened gradually over many many episodes. It started as a friendship, and built from there, rather than coming sheerly from a basal place of horndoggery like this. So I was irritated right off the top.

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Nu-View #10: Mastering the Situation

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Terror of the Autons (Story #55, 1971)
Viewed 28 Aug 2012

Doctor/Companion: Three, Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Stars: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney
Preceding Story: Inferno (Three, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier)
Succeeding Story: The Mind of Evil (Three, Jo, the Brigadier)

Summer has really wreaked havoc with our quasi-regular WhoFest schedule. We even watched the first episode of this story once already, at the end of our last WhoFest. Of course, that was so long ago that I didn’t expect anyone actually to remember it, so we watched it again anyway. (Also, I’d managed to lose my notes.) And it’s good that we did, because it had pretty much completely escaped everyone’s memory (except mine, of course; I’ve seen it more times in the last year and a half since its release on DVD than is perhaps entirely healthy).

In terms of pre-Hiatus Who, it’s an Auton-rich environment around here lately, what with the Special Edition of Spearhead from Space coming out on DVD earlier in August, too. However, the Autons were just a bonus; my main reason for screening this particular story was to give the Ladies a proper introduction to the Master.

Before that could happen, though, we’re introduced to another new, and in her own way iconic, character: Jo. “What terrible clothes!” Clearly jA is not hip to the 1971 fashion scene. Putting things in perspective, jE chastised, “think of the year – that’s not a terrible outfit!”

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A Trick with the Memory

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Review of Asylum of the Daleks
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Well. It looks like it’s time to revise Confession #23. In truth, though, there’s still much to be seen about where that particular plot twist takes us as we head into the second half of the series. More on that later, though.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2012 BBC

My initial reaction was generally positive. Having managed to avoid any spoilers, I was suitably surprised by all the key revelations, and had no qualms allowing myself to be swept up in the narrative as it galumphed rapidly toward its conclusion. (Can galumphing ever be rapid? I’m going with “yes.”) The Doctor’s questions niggled at the back of my mind, too, but I was content to let them percolate until the denouement made it all clear. I might have been able to puzzle it out on my own given time, but of course the script never gives you that luxury.

One thing that the pacing made unpleasant for me was that the mass of Daleks wasn’t… errr… massive enough. I know it’s weird to say I didn’t think there were enough Daleks (especially given my recent Confession about my feelings towards Daleks), but all the pre-show hype about “every Dalek ever” made it seem like it would be more obvious to non-experts like myself. I did love the list of survivors of various wars in the Intensive Care ward of the asylum, though (and even recognized many of them before looking them up): Spiridon, Kembel, Aridius, Vulcan, Exxilon… So there was at least some verbal mention of diversity. I’ll still have to go back to the cover of my Doctor Who Magazine #447 and review the physical differences so I know for whom to look. Even with my eyes peeled, I was barely able to find the Special Weapons Dalek.

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New Episode Reviews – Coming Soon!

Welcome to readers old and new!

If you're looking for a review of Asylum of the Daleks, never fear – it's on the way!

My regular posting schedule is every Wednesday. That gives me enough time to watch a new episode a couple of times and write (at least what I try to make) a thoughtful review. In the meantime, I'll post a reader poll for each new episode on Saturdays. Vote to share your opinion, and see what others are saying. And when those reviews roll around, please share your thoughts in the comments. I love conversing with readers!

Thanks for reading!

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Necessity Is the Mother of Reinvention

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Review of Spearhead from Space: SE (#51)
DVD Release Date: 14 Aug 12
Original Air Date: 03 – 24 Jan 1970
Doctor/Companion: Three, Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw
Stars: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John
Preceding Story: The War Games (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: Doctor Who and the Silurians (Three, Liz)

When Pat Troughton left Doctor Who, the show was kind of in trouble. Ratings had fallen, and the BBC wasn’t sure it wanted to put any more into something that had such a lackluster performance. For various reasons, it continued nonetheless, but by necessity – both due to casting changes and other production pressures – it did so as quite a different program.

As a result, there are a lot of amazing firsts in this story. We get our first taste of a new Doctor, a new Companion, a new credits sequence, a new “monster” and a new era of television: color. Sitting through it again, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to multiple later stories, primarily Terror of the Autons and Rose, thanks to those pesky Nestene-controlled Autons, though the dual-hearted x-ray (another first – the mention of a Time Lord’s now-famous binary vascular system) had me flashing to The Movie for a moment.

Its opening episode is a lovely way to bring UNIT back into the mix – where it would stay, to one degree or another, throughout Three’s time in the TARDIS and beyond. I can’t help but smile at the Brigadier’s reaction to the news that an abandoned police box has been found in the middle of a field, or at the exchange between the Brigadier and the Doctor as both realize how much his face has changed.

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The Only Show in Town

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Review of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (#155)
DVD Release Date: 14 Aug 12
Original Air Date: 14 Dec 1988 – 04 Jan 1989
Doctor/Companion: Seven, Dorothy “Ace” McShane
Stars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Preceding Story: Silver Nemesis (Seven, Ace)
Succeeding Story: Battlefield (Seven, Ace, the Brigadier)

Having just come from a killer performance by Circus Juventas, watching Greatest Show was … a tad jarring. I’ve really come to love seeing all the ridiculously amazing things skilled folks can do with flexibility, balance, and trust in their partners, and having that utterly backgrounded for sleight of hand and (oh, dear god) the 1989 version of “rap” patter from the Ringmaster (what does it say about the British view of my country that this particular character had an “American” accent?) threw me off a bit. Once I got past wanting to see a circus and got back to seeing Doctor Who, it went a little better.

Sadly, I wanted to like it more than I did. Perhaps it will grow on me with further viewings (one can hope). Aside from the aforementioned circus angle, I’m not entirely sure why that’s the case, either. I mean it’s got plenty of mystery and suspense – “The Plot Thickens” was practically written across the screen every other scene – and anyone who follows the blog regularly will know I’m a sucker for Seven and Ace.

Ace, of course, is – as always – pitch perfect for me. Her bravado in the face of clowns that clearly creep her out (honestly can’t blame her – ick!) is an endearing part of her character. We know she’s really a tender, mixed-up teen under it all (which is, I believe, a great deal of what the Doctor loves about her), and trying her damnedest to put a brave tough face on it all. Throughout, she’s more obviously attuned to the bad vibes than the Doctor, but that’s part of his schtick at this point, too (as evidenced by one of the closing lines) – Intergalactic Man of Mystery, if you will. His personality in this Regeneration feels quite solid here, as if McCoy really knew by now where he wanted to take the character, and was ready to sink his teeth into that darker persona. Heaven knows I’ve got no complaints about these two leads.

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Confession #27: I Get Crabby About the 50th

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As we ramp up toward the festivities for the show’s 50th anniversary, I have often found myself getting (unreasonably?) crabby about the whole affair. Yes, I’m looking forward to a celebration of our favorite show. Yes, I’m sure there will be a ton of lovely specials (e.g., the recently announced An Adventure in Space and Time by Mark Gatiss). Yes, I know Moffat’s got loads of “exciting” things up his sleeve. It’s been said he approached the whole thing as a life-long fan himself: what would I want to see?

But that’s just the problem. Whatever it is we get – and I’m not denying that it will, at least in part, be brilliant (how can it help but?) – it will be what Moffat would want to see. And I’m not Moffat. None of us is.

Just look at the fan reaction to any given story to see why this is a problem. In pre-Hiatus Who, there are certain “sacred cows” that are seen as untouchable classics (witness some of the vitriol spit at the Wife in Space for daring to voice (or her blogger husband to post) her own, extremely valid opinions to the contrary), and I dare say there are some post-Hiatus stories that would garner the same reaction to criticism from their fans.

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Confession #26: I Wish We’d Seen More of the Shalka Doctor

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Now I can by no means claim to be an aficionado when it comes to BBC webcasts, but I have to say I am rather inordinately fond of Scream of the Shalka. I say “inordinately” because I’ve only seen it the once.

Shalka holds a rather unusual place in Who history. It was first intended as an “official” extension of the televised series, released in six 15-minute parts over the 40th anniversary from 13 Nov – 18 Dec 2003. When it was announced in July of that year, it was assumed this would be the new direction for the franchise – continuing televised stories seemed like a pipe dream – so this Doctor, voiced by Richard E. Grant (known to some as the “lick the mirror handsome” Doctor from the 1999 Comic Relief special “The Curse of Fatal Death” – not to mention Withnail from the 1987 cult classic Withnail and I costarring Eighth Doctor Paul McGann), was billed as the Ninth Doctor.

Before this first new story even saw the light of day, though, it was doomed to become some sort of obscure footnote. By the end of September 2003, the return of Doctor Who to our screens had been announced. For a brief time, there was question whether or not the Shalka Doctor (as this “alternative Nine” has come to be known) would remain the Ninth Doctor (making Eccleston’s on-screen Doctor the Tenth) or not. I guess we all know how that turned out.

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