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The Almost Plot

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Review of The Almost People
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

OK, I’ll be honest:  the specifics of the ending surprised me.  As for the general shape of it, though, I totally called it (see my previous speculation regarding the Creepy Eyepatch Lady). That part wasn’t as heavily telegraphed as the events of either the previous episode or this one, but it’s all there if you go look for it (“breathe, Pond”).

What was just as obvious as in The Rebel Flesh was the “mistaken” identities. I already pointed out last time that there were almost certainly two Ganger Jennifers (poor Rory – finally grew a pair, only to discover he’d been led around by them). The further hints laid out here were again copious (e.g., the machinery won’t recognize her as a valid operator), but hardly more so than the hints that Amy was saving her affection for the “wrong” Doctor. I’m not even sure how we were supposed to get fooled by that, since just about the only time we see the “distinguishing” shoes is the initial close-up on them; all we have to go on is the other characters’ reactions to the supposed DoppelDoctor. The only surprise would have been if they hadn’t mixed them up. After all, what’s more cliché than the Beast really being a Prince (unless it’s the inverse)?

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End of an Era

Review of Planet of the Spiders (#74)

DVD Release Date: 10 May 11
Original Air Date: 04 May – 08 Jun 1974
Doctor/Companion:   Three, Sarah Jane Smith, with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Stars:  Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, with Nicholas Courtney
Preceding Story:  The Monster of Peladon (Three, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story:  Robot (Four, Sarah Jane, the Brigadier)

The last story I reviewed was all about firsts.  This one’s rather the opposite, as Three’s swan song. I’d heard lots about it for that reason, and even seen the final regeneration scene a couple of times on YouTube (it’s so much better in context). I’m really pleased finally to have the opportunity to see the whole thing. I suspect that if I’d been soaking in it at the time (you know… if I’d been a Brit, and old enough to watch tellie), it would’ve been even more of a thrill to watch.

As it is, I can kind of watch it from two perspectives:  Historic Story (HS) and Standard Fare (SF). As HS, it’s got lots of portent, what with the whole Cho-je/K’anpo/Doctor dynamic that only comes to a head in the last episode or two; it’s nice seeing a little more of the Doctor’s personal history. There are also little nods all over the place to the entire Pertwee era – from the Metebelius crystal coming back to UNIT from Jo (who’s off galavanting in the jungle) to the redemption of Mike Yates (former Capt. with UNIT, who turned traitor in a previous story) to the fabulous Sgt. Benton almost blithely offering to risk his life in the Doctor’s stead (“Wouldn’t it be better for me to have a go first? I mean, I’m expendable and you’re not.”).

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A Beautiful, Um, Friendship?

Review of Terror of the Autons (#55)

DVD Release Date: 10 May 11
Original Air Date: 02 – 23 Jan 1971
Doctor/Companion:   Three, Jo Grant, with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Stars:  Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, with Nicholas Courtney
Preceding Story:  Inferno (Three, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier)
Succeeding Story:  The Mind of Evil (Three, Jo, the Brigadier)

How can you not love stories that you know in retrospect to be The Start of Something?  At the beginning of Three’s second season, having been stranded on Earth sidekicking for UNIT for a year now, the Doctor needs a new “assistant” – and a new challenge.  Enter three new regulars:  Jo Grant, Capt. Mike Yates, and the Master.  I wonder if anyone at the time had any idea how big an impact their new villain would have…

This story is full of win. Not only do we get the aforementioned introductions (including the Master’s hypnotic control of others, and his Tissue Compression Eliminator), but we get some key “rare appearances,” too. For example, we have only seen another Time Lord or another TARDIS a couple of times before (in The Time Meddler and The War Games), and the Autons last appeared in Three’s first adventure (Spearhead from Space). There’s also lots more of the same things we’ve already come to love (e.g., the Brigadier and the Doctor snarking at each other with some glee).Aside from all these classic, eminently Whosome moments (running up and down exterior stairs! a twisted ankle!), there are also a few lovely flash-forwards to modern episodes. The fact that the Autons are controlled by a large, round radio telescope (“Danger: Keep Clear of Radio Telescopes,” reads one sign; Four obviously had forgotten that advice) immediately makes Nine’s search for a transmitter in Rose a more obvious task. Later, when Three and Jo discover their driver is actually an Auton, I couldn’t help but think of Runaway Bride.

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It’s Just Gunge

Review of The Rebel Flesh
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

Derivative much?  It’s been a long time since I saw a story so predictable; I knew the major plot points by the time last week’s trailer was over.  Great:  some sort of it-could-be-human-except-it’s-not-alive technology becomes self-aware and gets in a fight for its life with “real” humans.  ~yawn~

Not only does this echo countless science fiction/horror classics from Frankenstein to Blade Runner to Who‘s own Robots of Death (fear of the nearly-us-but-clearly-Other is deep-seated), the story is a ripoff of other, newer Who stories.  There are obvious parallels with stories as recent as The Waters of Mars and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, not to mention smatterings of The Doctor’s Daughter, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit and just about every Auton or base-under-siege story ever made. And did anyone not see the “cliffhanger” coming from the instant the Doctor first touched the Flesh?  If that had been any more heavily telegraphed, viewers would’ve had to set up little cable offices in their living rooms (or wherever they watch their Who) to take the messages down.So let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. When our heroes first walk into the monastery, the camera POV from behind the stones is suggestive of someone watching them – like a Ganger already going walkabout. Later, it’s only Jennifer who’s not hooked up. Why? Is she already a stabilized, independent Ganger? Could be. Wouldn’t surprise me if that crops up next time (like the one Operator who keeps sneezing; Chekov’s gun much?). And does Ganger-Jennifer mean anything more than that she plans to disable her Operator-self when she says she’s going to “take care of the spare one running around out there”? Or is there a spare Ganger? Truth be told, I don’t really care. I just feel I need to speculate to stay awake…

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Sexy Is As Sexy Does

Review of The Doctor’s Wife
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Oh, me of little faith.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

Even knowing Neil Gaiman’s work both by reputation and by example (e.g., the rather dark novel American Gods), I still doubted the likely quality of the episode he had written once I learned some of the details.   Specifically, when the news of Episode 4’s title came out, I groaned inwardly.  OK, sure, I was 99.9999% certain it was a red herring – nothing “new” and “notable” would be learned about the Doctor’s personal history, and there was going to be some tricky way in which there was and yet wasn’t an actual wife (spot on there) – but just the suggestion was enough to turn my stomach, especially since I knew there were going to be fans out there somewhere saying, “I knew it! Here’s where we learn about River!”

And then there was the Ood.  Now don’t get me wrong – the Ood are an interesting enough race, and they certainly have their place (I happen to believe that place is firmly in the RTD era…).  Regardless, the sight of an Ood at the end of last week’s trailer was enough to reduce my appetite for this episode by about an order of magnitude.  Thank goodness all of that was totally irrelevant.

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In the Manner of a Sorbet…

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Review of The Curse of the Black Spot
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

I have to admit, I like a good pirate story as much as the next Deppophile, and what genre doesn’t get better when you add Doctor Who?  Well, maybe a pirate story…


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2011 BBC

I’m not saying there was anything wrong with Black Spot, but it was a rather run-of-the-mill, overall unremarkable kind of episode.  It was a classic romp – nice and fluffy – something to cleanse the palate between that meaty season-opener and the much-anticipated Gaiman-penned episode coming up next.  I’ve read that it was originally intended to be aired in the episode 10 slot, and I can see that working; there’s clearly no major story arc here.  There are, of course, a few nods at what has come before (e.g., a flashback to the Doctor’s death) and a few hints at things yet to come, like another appearance of Creepy Eyepatch Lady (CEL).

You have to wonder what the CEL signifies.  I think her lines are our biggest clue.  When we first saw her in Day of the Moon, she said something about someone “just dreaming.”  We can interpret that as we may, meaning The Little Girl, Amy, or someone completely different.  My latest hypothesis, based on her comments in Black Spot (“It’s done. You’re doing fine. Just stay calm.”), is that she’s speaking of (and to) Amy.  Might Amy not be undergoing some medical procedure (e.g., insemination with Time Lord DNA), and her current adventures are her subconscious or other-dimensional experiences during said procedure?  I admit that’s pretty out there, but it could fit the (admittedly sparse) data.

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A Pregnant Silence

Review of Day of the Moon
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.  It also contains profanity.  Proceed at your own risk.

This being the first story of the series, I wasn’t expecting resolution for many of the dangling plot threads in the second half of the two-parter. However, I don’t think I expected as many new ones to be woven in, either. And frankly, I’m not convinced that the threads that seemed to get tied up really are. Oh, what a tangled web Moff weaves…

Starting things off in style with a beautifully wrought mind-fuck allows the production team to squeeze in a few more shots of the good ol’ US of A (I have to say, it’s slightly amusing in Confidential to watch the Brits wax poetic about the American landscape; I suppose it’s a grass-is-always-greener situation, since I find the backdrops here beautiful but almost blasé in their familiarity, while I’d be walking around London and surrounds like a slack-jawed yokel, myself), and puts the viewer off-kilter for a beat.

But soon we’re back to the more familiar, with the Doctor having done something incredibly clever (watch him *snap* the TARDIS open), and River having trusted him with her life yet again. A little bit of exposition later, and it’s on to a truly hide-behind-the-sofa-worthy haunted house. I have to say this is one of the creepiest (darkest, if you will – that seems to be the adjective the production team is using) episodes I’ve ever seen, from any era.

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Something That Matters

Review of The Impossible Astronaut
Warning:  This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Wow.  Where do I start?
Maybe it’s best to back up and explain that in the lead-up to Series Six, especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been doing my desperate best to avoid seeing any spoilers for the series – I’ve even avoided some of the official BBC news items.  Hopefully this attempt at isolationism will allow me to come to the series with a suitable sense of surprise as new plot points are revealed to the Doctor and his Companions. (If you’ve already read all the spoilers, you’ll probably be able to tell me exactly where I’m going wrong in my analysis and speculations, but please don’t.  I really want to find out in my own time, by watching the episodes.)  I have to say, I found plenty of surprises, but even more tantalizing tidbits that could be either clues or red herrings (with Moffat you never know).
From the moment in the prequel when Nixon assures his caller that “there are no monsters in the Oval Office” (a beautiful political double entendre that you can apply to your administration of choice), it’s clear that we’re in for a doozy.  And the action really is pretty much non-stop from the rapid strides of an irate monarch right through to the moment we hear the sting into the credits.
As I understand it, one of Moffat’s goals was to make the season opener feel more like the finale in scope and drama.  For my money, he’s done it.  Surely there has never yet been a single episode so crammed full of quotable (and quite possibly notable, in terms of story arc) quotes.  Some are just plain hilarious (like the exchange when the Doctor’s asserts that River’s wearing her “‘he’s hot when he’s clever’ face”), some are poignant (“We do what the Doctor’s friends always do:  what we’re told.”), and some set off little alarm bells (“You lot.  Thought I’d never get done saving you…”).
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When Religion Meets Who

Review of Kinda (#119) – Mara Tales, Part 1

DVD Release Date: 12 Apr 11
Original Air Date: 01 – 09 Feb 1982
Doctor/Companion:   Five, Adric, Tegan Jovanka
Stars:  Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Janet Fielding
Preceding Story:  Four to Doomsday (Five, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan)
Succeeding Story:  The Visitation (Five, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan)

In the UK, Kinda and Snakedance were released together (in March 2011) as a boxed set called Mara Tales.  Due to that fact, not to mention the fast-approaching premiere of Series Six, I’ve decided to post my reviews of both DVDs together.  It’s my hope that that will also allow me to provide a sense of continuity between the two, which comprise the only appearances of the antagonist/creature known as the Mara.

Kinda is all about Story.  There are grand ideas and deeper themes that actually kind of obscure the regular characters.  More than in most cases, the Doctor is swept up in events around him, and things just happen to, rather than because of, him; his presence (unlike Tegan’s) is really inconsequential.  That fact alone makes it a rather atypical story, even before considering the aforementioned themes.

Further, the Companion dynamics are a bit odd.  Although this is smack in the middle of Nyssa’s time in the TARDIS, she appears for a total of about 3 minutes in the entire story, at the very beginning and end.  The others get separated early in the first episode, leaving Tegan to play her key role in the unfolding drama, while Adric tags along with the Doctor.  When Tegan and Adric finally are reunited, they snark at each other so much you wonder how no blood has yet been shed in the TARDIS.  In fact, it was this exchange – which painted Adric in a particularly poor light, as a self-absorbed ass – that finally gave me a better sense of why so many fans dislike him so thoroughly.

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Mutiny of the Botany

Review of The Seeds of Doom (#85)

DVD Release Date: 08 Mar 11
Original Air Date: 31 Jan – 06 Mar 1976
Doctor/Companion:   Four, Sarah Jane Smith
Stars:  Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Preceding Story:  The Brain of Morbius (Four, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story:  The Masque of Mandragora (Four, Sarah Jane)

As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes Tom Baker’s performances as Four leave me a bit cold.  Not this time.  I can’t exactly put my finger on why, but The Seeds of Doom really worked for me.  From the opening moment in the Antarctic (is that Hoth?) to the closing moments where the Doctor and Sarah Jane have a timey-wimey moment, this is a classic, full-on romp.

Obviously, there’s personal danger and a threat to the entire planet, but the baddie is amusing (you know he’s bad, because he wears his black leather gloves inside, and all the time) and the alien menace is suitably absurd.  Most of the effects used to realize said menace are also pretty good, as Who goes, though the spanner one character uses to bludgeon another was very obviously rubber (spanners aren’t generally so wobbly), and I have to admit that the camera-flash-on-a-stick “laser guns” literally made me laugh out loud.

One thing I really enjoyed about this story was the “flash-forward” meta-references, only noticeable from this future perspective.  Several times I was put in mind of other Who episodes (like Midnight, while the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and some of the baddies are holed up, hiding from the Krynoid), and one can’t help but draw the parallel with Fargo when the composter is introduced.

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