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Tag: Jack Harkness

The Most Important Woman in the Universe

Review of Turn Left / The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End

With this set of three episodes, we have reached the end of our Series Four journey (see what I did there?). While, if I’m being honest, I didn’t remember as many details from them as I thought I might, they are definitely, as a collective whole, the episodes that made the most lasting impression on me from this series.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2008 BBC

In particular, Turn Left, the nominal single episode that leads directly into two-part series finale, stands out to me as one of the best episodes of the entire RTD1 era. Although it still has some flaws, like some regrettable Asian stereotyping (and at least one Chinese character that I’m pretty sure was only half a character, but I had to stop myself from further research to confirm my suspicion after the first fifteen minutes), it is overall a brilliant piece of television.

The whole premise is another take on the butterfly effect, this time focusing on how extremely important Donna is to the universe—or, in fact, the multiverse—as a whole. By changing one tiny decision, Donna alters the fate of all reality.

Before I talk about that cascade of events, I want to mention that one of the things I’d forgotten was how much the fortuneteller got Donna to spill. Without Donna verbally guiding her to the specific inflection point that could prevent her from ever meeting the Doctor, the fortuneteller never could have implemented her plan. (And here we find another flaw: what was the fortuneteller’s motivation? Was she hired by someone? Who?)

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Revolutionary Departure

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

Maybe I’m just feeling traumatized by all that 2020 threw at us and am thereby in a headspace where I am only prepared to find joy and not fault, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 2021 New Year’s special held up upon a second viewing.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2021 BBC

Usually I can really enjoy a new Doctor Who episode on first viewing, but when I stop to reflect, particularly when I’m watching again and preparing a review, I find aspects that bother me on levels anywhere from mild annoyance to outright ruining the episode for me. (This is especially true of those written by Moffat, who specializes in pacing his stories so fast that you don’t have time to notice its flaws that first time.) This time, however, nothing killed the buzz.

Not to say I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I think I’m too numb these days to be that effusive. But since I didn’t go into the episode expecting great things—it was a holiday special; I wanted a romp, and that’s what I got—I didn’t come out disappointed. In fact, I came out feeling fairly impressed. Because the thing about Revolution of the Daleks is that its purpose, more than being a holiday special, was to be the farewell story for Ryan and Graham. And in that respect, it did a damn good job.

I think it’s fair to say at this point that the audience has become pretty inured to Daleks. (Terry Nation’s estate is doing no one any favors by insisting that Doctor Who use the damn things every calendar year in order to keep the usage rights.) Personally I kind of roll my eyes every time they show up again, so the entire Dalek storyline was very peripheral to my experience of this episode. What made the special special was the return of Captain Jack Harkness (as more than a teaser) and the ending of two Companions’ time in the TARDIS.

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Confession #141: I’m Psyched for the New Year’s Special

No matter what part of the world one lives in, 2020 has been rough. Many of us are simply fighting for survival, whether our struggles are medical, financial, psychological, of some combination thereof. It’s easy to push things like art (however one defines that) to the background—it’s not important now; how could I waste my time on that; I’ve got to save my energy…

At the same time, though, art is what keeps us alive. Streaming services have been doing booming business as lockdowns and quarantines continue to stretch into an unknown future. People turn to various forms of art to help keep us sane—to films and television, tabletop and video games, books and comics and fanfics.

That’s why I’ve made room in my heart to get psyched for the upcoming Doctor Who holiday special. Perhaps you are, like me, well and truly sick of Daleks already (thanks so much to Terry Nation’s estate for making them a “use them at least once a year or lose the license” entity), but they’re not the only returning characters. When the official trailer for Revolution of the Daleks was released about a week and a half ago, we all learned that Captain Jack Harkness would be returning to our screens, and for more than a single scene.

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Bombshell

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

In Jodie Whitaker’s first series, I often felt that showrunner Chris Chibnall was playing it safe, not going too far outside the fan comfort zone in his storytelling while fandom got used to a casting choice that definitely stretched some fans’ limits. Not so this series.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2020 BBC

If by some miracle you’ve neither seen the episode yourself nor been spoiled, then by all means stop reading now and go watch it. Immediately. As someone who managed to avoid spoilers, I can attest to the fact that Fugitive of the Judoon is worth watching cold.

I’ll admit that I was actually a little surprised by the magnitude of the reveal. Given the show’s history with teasing news (like the hype before they announced that Richard E. Grant would be playing a guest role), I was unimpressed with the publicity tweets leading up to this week. When they teased “Thought the Master returning was big? You won’t believe what happens this week!” I rolled my eyes.

But writer Vinay Patel (Demons of the Punjab), along with Chibnall, who also got billing as a writer for the episode, caught my attention and kept it the whole way through, ratcheting up the suspense until the key moment. And then I was kicking myself for not catching on sooner.

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