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Tag: Regeneration

Confession #112: I’m Psyched for Thirteen

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As I scrolled through my news digest from The Washington Post on Sunday around noon, I came across a headline saying that Roger Federer had won an unprecedented eighth time at Wimbledon. “What?” I screeched. “The men’s final is over?”

I scrambled for a new browser tab so I could search for the announcement. If I’d been clever, I’d have gone right to the BBC’s Doctor Who page so I could watch the announcement trailer myself, but I was in too much of a rush. And then—there it was, in picture after picture splashed across my Google results page: the Thirteenth Doctor will be played by a woman. Chibnall actually had the ovaries to break with tradition and cast a woman.

I’m not even sure what sort of noise I emitted; it was enough to make my 11-year-old daughters ask what was up. When I told them they’d announced who would play the next Doctor, they scrambled to look over my shoulder—and started screaming. They jumped up and down. They made their own set of incoherent excitement noises (driving their poor father from the room in a desperate act of self-preservation). I had almost managed to calm them enough to save my own ears when it dawned on them that she’d be number Thirteen—their favorite number(!)—and they went hypersonic again.

Needless to say, our household is on the pro-change side of the equation.

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Feel the Power

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Review of Power of the Daleks (#30)
DVD Release Date: 24 Jan 17 [Region 1]
Original Air Date: 05 Nov – 10 Dec 1966
Doctor/Companion: Two, Ben Jackson, and Polly Wright
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills
Preceding Story: The Tenth Planet (Two, Ben, Polly)
Succeeding Story: The Highlanders (Two, Ben, Polly, Jamie)

Although we’ve had some brilliant windfalls in recent years in terms of recovered “lost” episodes of Doctor Who, there are plenty that are still missing in their entirety. Perhaps the most famous/famously sought-after is Marco Polo, but Patrick Troughton’s first serial Power of the Daleks is also high on many peoples’ lists.

Perhaps that is the reason that BBC Worldwide took the unusual step of animating all six episodes of Power. While they have previously commissioned animations for missing episodes of stories that are incomplete in the archives, this is (correct me if I’m wrong) the first story to be reconstructed in its entirety with no surviving visual material but a few minutes of clips and stills.

Although the animated reconstruction was released on the BBC Store last November (fifty years to the minute from the original broadcast of its opening episode), a physical version (DVD, rather than digital download or BBC America broadcast) was not made available in the US until late January. Being the obsessive collector I am (and refusing to pay for it twice), I therefore didn’t get to see it until just recently.

The story begins with the first-ever regeneration. As a fan fifty years out, it feels oddly portentous watching that moment, even animated (though I still find the original surviving footage more moving). Troughton’s skill and the lampshading of the wildly radical concept of the lead character’s complete change of not only body but personality through the Companions’ reactions to him paved the way for everything that followed.

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Confession #109: I’m Bummed Capaldi’s Leaving

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About a week ago, the news officially broke that Series Ten will be Peter Capaldi’s last as the Doctor. Although I’m terribly disappointed, I cannot honestly say that the news surprises me. After all, three seasons is pretty much the standard tenure for a Doctor, and there will often be a casting change with the changing of the production team guard.

While I have enjoyed the vast majority of Capaldi’s adventures—almost entirely due to the man himself, in some cases—I must also admit that there were scripts that left him high and dry. I suspect much of what I didn’t care for boiled down to having Moffat’s hand on the tiller (except for that one episode that was just plain dreadful IMO—now let us never speak of it again). After all, the things that troubled me most about Matt Smith’s tenure as the Doctor were certain characterizations from Moffat’s pen; I’d really hoped that Capaldi would escape his influence for at least a single series. Alas.

In contrast, some will be happy to see him go. Many of the objections to Capaldi’s Doctor that I’ve seen over the last couple of years have centered on his prickly personality. I suppose I can see why some fans would find that archetype alienating. Perhaps that reaction to Capaldi is as natural for those who most adored Smith’s Eleventh Doctor as the immediate, opposing reaction was for me. As my fandom was formed upon the fairly dour Ninth Doctor, I have found a somewhat more staid (though never completely sane) incarnation comfortable and refreshing.

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Changing of the Guard

Review of Robot (#75)
DVD Release Date: 14 Aug 07 (Out of Print)
Original Air Date: 28 Dec 1974 – 18 Jan 1975
Doctor/Companion: Four, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan
Stars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter
Preceding Story: Planet of the Spiders (Three, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story: The Ark in Space (Four, Sarah Jane, Harry)

Having completed an overview of Cybermen stories in the last few months, I felt it was time to switch to another theme. The question, of course, was what theme to pursue? By percentage of (extant) stories, the Fourth Doctor is still my least-reviewed incarnation. Therefore I thought something focusing on his tenure would be appropriate.

I had two ideas of how to cover Four’s time in the TARDIS: deep or broad. I could delve into one particular season (The Key to Time, which was the first season-long story arc) or I could find a way to choose stories distributed across the entire seven-year run.

Eventually I settled on the latter, with the idea that the first story of each season would provide a simple selection criterion. Four of those seven season openers have never been reviewed either directly or with Nu-/Retro-Views. Two (Robot and The Ribos Operation) were the subject of a Retro-View several years ago (Nov 2012 and Apr 2013, respectively), so are due another look-in. The final story in question (Terror of the Zygons) has already been reviewed in full when the DVD came out in Oct 2013. Further, the story that immediately preceded it, Revenge of the Cybermen, was reviewed just three months ago as part of my Cyber-series. Therefore, I’ve decided to skip that period (end of Season 12/beginning of Season 13) in my retrospective.

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Exhale

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Review of Deep Breath
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

The new Doctor has officially arrived, and I can release the anticipatory breath. My biggest fear was that Capaldi would not live up to all my expectations. That one, at least, I can put to rest.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2014 BBC

As for the remainder of the episode… Well, let’s just say the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It’s a series opener, so we all knew before the list of titles, writers, and directors was released that this was going to be a Moffat story. I had my fingers crossed, but it came out true to form. On my first viewing, I really enjoyed it; certain details niggled at me, but I was able to ignore them and enjoy the ride. On second and later viewings, the flaws started to do more than niggle, and it became ever more difficult to enjoy certain scenes. That, for me, is the classic Moffat signature.

Before I go any further, let me be clear: I thought Capaldi’s Twelve was bloody brilliant. I love him already. He was everything I hoped for (with the possible exception of some overly friendly chatting up of a lonely female T. rex), and I can’t wait to see more of him.

Clara, however, was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, she really stepped up her game, executing a very Doctor-ly bluff-calling when set against the Half-Face Man (more on that later) and standing up to Vastra. On the other, she—the Impossible Girl, who had saved the Doctor time and again in his many incarnations—couldn’t get over the fact that he wasn’t the same man anymore. On the whole, I think she came out net positive for me (her improvements outweighing the backsliding), and I’m hoping she continues to grow into a character I could miss.

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Nu-View #17: The End of Our Beginning

Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways (Series One, Eps. 12-13; 2005)
Viewed 20 Mar 2014

Doctor/Companion: Nine, Rose Tyler
Stars: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper
Preceding Story: Boom Town (Nine, Rose)
Succeeding Story: The Christmas Invasion (Ten, Rose)

The Doctor plops himself down into a big, red comfy chair in the Diary Room, looks straight at the camera, and declares in disbelief, “You have got to be kidding!” Oh, Doctor… How could you predict my reaction to this past weekend so perfectly?


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2005 BBC

As the Ladies sit down together to watch the final two episodes of Nine’s all-too-short tenure, I’m finally happy and relaxed. I’ve spent a frantic week preparing to put our house back on the market, and it’s finally wrapped up; the listing will go live the next day. The only downer is knowing we’re saying goodbye (again) to the Doctor who started my love affair with this whole crazy show.

We’re all ready for a good time. As the TARDIS crew each settle into the games in which they’ve been inserted, the quips fly around the room. Trin-E and Zu-Zana use the defabricator on Jack, who then assures them, “Ladies, your viewing figures just went up.”

jA’s eyes sparkle. “I’d like to be watching that channel!”

Over with the Anne Droid, Rose’s competitor Rodrick (played by Paterson Joseph, an actor whose name has popped up now and again in “who could be the next Doctor” lists) explains the most basic rules of the Game Station to her. “It’s play—or die.”

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Retro-View #15: A Gentle Passing

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The Caves of Androzani (Story #136, 1984)
Viewed 29 Jan 2014

Doctor/Companion: Five, Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown
Stars: Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant
Preceding Story: Planet of Fire (Five, Peri, Turlough)
Succeeding Story: The Twin Dilemma (Six, Peri)

Given that Caves is generally viewed as one of the (if not “the”) best stories in Doctor Who‘s entire fifty year history, I had really been looking forward to sharing it with G. That pesky “Real Life” (RL) thing keeps getting in the way of our viewing, though. Not only has it been three months since we last got together, but this may well be our last session for a good long time, due to other RL obligations. Good thing we had something meaty to tide us over.

As usual, I spent a few minutes updating G on the various changes in the TARDIS crew since she last tuned in. Tegan and Nyssa have moved on, as has a completely different Companion whose entire tenure was between these episodes (that’d be Turlough; I didn’t even bother with Kamelion). And when it came along, I mentioned how Davison himself had wanted an explanation for the dratted celery he’d been wearing these past few years, and that’s why we got the whole bit about if it turns purple.

Mostly, though, the first episode of the serial was spent getting back into the groove and noticing all the stereotypical details. There was an “Eew!” at the cave bat/magma creature/whatever-we’re-calling-it and a laugh out loud at the ensuing panicky gunfire from the humans. There was an “Ooh, that was weird” at our first sight of Sharaz Jek and a “Boy, those are some hairy fingers. … Got the wolfman going here” at a subsequent one. And there was the observation of the obligatory set up: “Every show starts out with a misunderstanding of who he is…” By the time we’d made it to the first cliffhanger, we were back in the swing of things.

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The First Finale

Review of The Tenth Planet (#29)
DVD Release Date: 19 Nov 13
Original Air Date: 08 – 29 Oct 1966
Doctor/Companion: One, Ben Jackson, Polly Wright
Stars: William Hartnell, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills
Preceding Story: The Smugglers (One, Ben, Polly)
Succeeding Story: The Power of the Daleks (Two, Ben, Polly)

With all the focus on regenerations and the history of the show lately, it seems fitting that the DVD releases for the anniversary year should draw to a close with The Tenth Planet. Not only does it bring Hartnell’s era to a close with a radical new idea, but it also introduces the “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” baddie from every fan favorite list ever (in case it’s not clear, I’m referring here to the Cybermen, who always come second (or worse) to the Daleks).

Tenth Planet is one of the last (mostly) complete stories to be released on DVD. Although I had read the synopsis a few times, and read a photonovelization at least once, then, I’d never had the opportunity to watch it. As a result, it still felt new and unfamiliar. And I’ll admit I was taken off guard by these Cybermen.

Forty-seven years down the road, it’s difficult to put oneself in the mindset of the audience of the time. They must have found this new threat truly horrific, these once-human, but distinctly alien, robot invaders. On the brink of the Space Age, they must also have recognized many of their own fears about the dangers of space exploration as the plight of the Zeus IV crew unfolded. (I’ll admit that I didn’t much care to watch their fate, either, despite how cheaply inaccurate the portrayal looked to those of us who have watched actual astronauts at work on the International Space Station.)

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Retcon of the Doctor

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

I said recently that I could forgive Moffat almost anything about this anniversary special; I knew not everything on my personal wishlist would make the cut. And as it turned out, plenty I’d have liked to see happen didn’t. Overall, though, there wasn’t much to forgive.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2013 BBC

From the get-go, there were plenty of nods to the past. Starting with the original opening credits—down to the policeman strolling by Totter’s Lane—certainly set the right tone. I could go on for pages listing all those little moments, but I’m sure someone else will write up a definitive list you can find, if that’s your cup of tea. I’ll just say that I personally loved the reference to the UNIT dating controversy and one of the Brigadier’s reactions to the events of The Three Doctors (“Codename: Cromer”—and I really do recommend watching that tenth anniversary special if you’ve not seen it.)

So much happened in these seventy-five minutes that it could be a little difficult to wrap one’s brain around it all on a single viewing; I agree with others who have commented that it’s all clearer the second time around. The things I liked the first time, I still liked, and the things I didn’t… well, they didn’t irritate me quite so much when I knew they were coming.

The entire Zygon gambit felt secondary—and honestly, I quite think it was there simply as a way for the meeting of these three Doctors not to be boring as all get-out—but made surprising sense by the end. It was at least self-consistent, which is more than I can say for some episodes. The entire idea of the Zygons is great, too; they’re a well-loved adversary that was long overdue a return. As executed, they were proper scary, even if the change from human back to Zygon form was too CGI to be believable. At least it was gross.

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Best “Night” of My Life

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It may be an exaggeration, but saying that “Night of the Doctor” is the best thing Doctor Who has produced in years isn’t far off the truth. This seven-minute minisode has the online world of Who fandom in a tizzy, and rightly so. Before I go on, just watch it yourself:

 

There was only one thing I really wanted out of the 50th anniversary episode, and while I now know I won’t get it in the actual special, I’ve received it here. I couldn’t be happier. Well, I could, but not bloody much! They even managed to work in an explanation for the awful new glow-y regeneration mechanism. Now that’s good ret-con.

Thank you, Mr. Moffat!

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