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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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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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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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Apathy to the Viewer

Review of Death to the Daleks (#72)
DVD Release Date: 10 Jul 12
Original Air Date: 23 Feb – 16 Mar 1974
Doctor/Companion: Three, Sarah Jane Smith
Stars: Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen
Preceding Story: Invasion of the Dinosaurs (Three, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story: The Monster of Peladon (Three, Sarah Jane)

Although based on some of the comments from the extras, Death to the Daleks has a rather special place in some fans’ hearts, I’m afraid it hasn’t acquired such a position for me. And reviews I’ve read elsewhere suggest I’m not alone.

It’s not that it’s a bad story – it certainly doesn’t rate a Stinker status – but it’s just kind of pedestrian. I simply couldn’t get excited about watching it. (Granted, the fact that Real Life has been rather stressing me out lately may have had something to do with it, but still – a good Who story can snap me out of most any funk.) Maybe there were too many bits I’d seen elsewhere before (like an electrified floor, which put me in mind of the yet-to-come Five Doctors; and how many times has poor Sarah Jane been sent up as a potential sacrifice?!), or maybe I couldn’t stand the “look out: Daleks” theme music.

On the other hand, I have to think the opening episode would’ve freaked out the kids at the time. It’s always ominous when the TARDIS goes dark, and the fact that every attempt at backup power failed would probably have seemed quite alarming. Better yet, we get to hear Sarah Jane refer to the Daleks as “those robot things”! I’ve been following her in random sequence for so long, having started from the other end of her timeline, that I was a bit stunned to realize that this is her first Dalek encounter: “wait, since when does Sarah Jane not know about Daleks?!”

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Add Crunch to Your Salad

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Review of The Krotons (#47)
DVD Release Date: 10 Jul 12
Original Air Date: 28 Dec 1968 – 18 Jan 1969
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoë Heriot
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story: The Invasion (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: The Seeds of Death (Two, Jamie, Zoë)

It’s amazing how different a Doctor Who story looks when comparing the picture in your head whilst reading a synopsis to the picture on the screen as broadcast. The Krotons certainly looks nothing like I envisioned it, but I don’t think that’s altogether bad.

When I first read that synopsis, I was also unfamiliar with several parts of the Whovian mythos that make them items of interest here. First, I really didn’t know beans about Robert Holmes. The Krotons is Holmes’ first stint as a writer for Who, but certainly not his last. He penned more than a dozen stories before he was done, was script editor for a goodly chunk of the show’s “heyday” (depending on which fan you ask about the definition of heyday), and introduced a vast number of important characters and concepts to the Whoniverse. In retrospect, then, it’s interesting to see how he makes his start.

Similarly, Krotons is the first story in which eventually-iconic Who villain Philip Madoc made an appearance. Madoc (who passed away this past March) is perhaps best known for his role as Solon in The Brain of Morbius, but his Eelek here is just as oily and commanding. He is perhaps the strongest of a fair-to-middlin’ batch of supporting cast here (though the Vana character is utterly useless, and in my opinion not well portrayed).

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The Beginning of the End

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Review of Resurrection of the Daleks: SE (#133)
DVD Release Date: 12 Jun 12
Original Air Date: 08-15 Feb 1984
Doctor/Companion: Five, Tegan Jovanka, Vislor Turlough
Stars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson
Preceding Story: Frontios (Five, Tegan, Turlough)
Succeeding Story: Planet of Fire (Five, Turlough, Peri)

The TARDIS crew unravelled pretty quickly at the end of Five’s tenure. First – here – Tegan bows out, then Turlough immediately thereafter. Having picked up Peri during Turlough’s swan song, Five then completes his last adventure with her. Bam, bam, bam! In quick succession, two Companions and a Doctor were all out; everything was completely changed up by the end of the series.

So in a sense, Resurrection marks the end of an era. Tegan’s been with Five since the beginning, and with this, she’s gone. Change is on the wind (“and not a moment too soon,” if you believe some folks). Of course, as some things change, others stay the same.

First, the Daleks are back. They (and their minions) are more effectively brutal than before – the body count in this story is insanely high; just about everyone dies (including some innocent bystanders), excepting about three baddies and our heroes – but they’re still Daleks, and as such are somewhat predictable. I have to say the new helmets they’ve forced their troopers to wear are good for a laugh, though.

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Sssuccesssful Ssstory

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Review of The Seeds of Death: SE (#48)
DVD Release Date: 12 Jun 12
Original Air Date: 25 Jan – 01 Mar 1969
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoë Heriot
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story: The Krotons (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: The Space Pirates (Two, Jamie, Zoë)

Although it is the franchise’s second encounter with them, Seeds of Death is our first real chance to see the Ice Warriors in action, since two episodes of The Ice Warriors are no longer extant. It’s a great intro, too, because the POV shots give it an interesting sense of mystery at the beginning – “who has invaded Moonbase?”, the (original) audience is left to wonder. And we don’t find out until the end of Episode 1, which works quite well.

They’re suitably creepy and threatening, too. What are they up to? Their plan appears so complex, and has so many pieces, that it takes even the Doctor five or six episodes to suss it out completely. And I just love their weaponry. It’s unique and interesting, especially for 1969. I can’t help but wonder how that would (or “will,” if rumor can be trusted) be adapted today. OK, so some of the effects are dodgy (in what story weren’t they, really?) – those rubber suits are just unwieldy, and the “fungal spores” are absolutely laughable (though at least imaginative) – but the overall timbre is nice.

I also really like the timely commentary on the space age. Humanity has become too dependent on one particular technology (T-Mat), and needs to go back to a more “primitive” technology (rocketry) to get itself out of a pickle. It’s totally a cautionary tale.

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The Kandy Man Can’t

Review of The Happiness Patrol (#153)
DVD Release Date: 08 May 12
Original Air Date: 02-16 Nov 1988
Doctor/Companion: Seven, Dorothy “Ace” McShane
Stars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Preceding Story: Remembrance of the Daleks (Seven, Ace)
Succeeding Story: Silver Nemesis (Seven, Ace)

On the one hand, Seven and Ace always make me happy. On the other, Happiness Patrol is, umm… not the best executed story of all time. I’ll admit the premise is interesting enough (a planet where it’s illegal to be unhappy), but wow…

It’s disappointing not least because it actually starts out quite well, with a scene that completely creeped me out, as someone who has herself struggled with clinical depression. There’s enough of a stigma associated with mental illness in our society as it is, but to have even the slightest hints at one of the most common of them (depression) lead to one’s “disappearance”… It’s truly chilling.

Even the poor TARDIS isn’t immune. She ends up painted a “cheerful” shade of pink which actually prevented me from noticing her presence in the background of any of the scenes until I was watching the extras. It’s a nice little touch, though, reminding us that the TARDIS somehow does blend in, even when she doesn’t.

Sadly, the rest of the execution on this one, like so many before, is fettered by its budget. The effects are all-around rather poor, including the bizarre form of the Kandy Man and the pathetic excuse for a go-cart (even a child could have outpaced that thing on foot). And the lighting was atrocious. It’s like they decided that if it wasn’t going to be film noir (reputedly once the intention, or at least hope), then at least they could light it like crap to make it “dark.”

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