Going Through Doctor Who (Spoilers all Eps aired on BBC/BBCA)

[cosmichobo]

One of the few recons I've managed to sit through... and I'm glad I did. Amazing stuff; I see why it tops the recovery hit list.

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The Highlanders is the worst serial I've had to endure so far. Besides being a weak story already that barely utilizes the cast, the reconstruction I watched was barely tolerable. Four episodes of mumbling and tumbling about in Scotland. Oh yeah, and they botched Jamie's introduction.

The TARDIS crew shows up right after a battle in the Highlands and comes across four Scot survivors whom they decide to help out. Polly and a Scottish girl get separated and spend most of their time hiking whilst Doktor Von Wer and Ben get embroiled in a plot to smuggle Scottish slaves to the plantations.
And Jamie's in it too.

Patrick Troughton is still in his unstable period and it's hard to get a grip on the character. Currently, all we have is "goofball who refuses to talk about anything". And the fact that he only talks in comedic sentences means there's absolutely no involvement with his character(okay, Dr. Von Wer was hilarious).

Frazer Hines debuts as Jamie McCrimmon, a piper guy who joins the TARDIS crew at the end. I am disappointed.

Polly has a surprisingly great role here, seducing a Redcoat to help the crew out a few times. It's quite different from what you usually see DW companions do. She's like the 1960s Rose or Amy.

Ben... well, we have Jamie now, don't we? Sorry Ben.

NOTES

*Killer line of the week: "Why do you wear the short skirts of a bairn? You're a grown woman." from the Scot girl to Polly.

*Some of the characters here are far too silly. Both Perkins and Algernon follow what they're told with no real need. They HAVE the chance and the motive to arrest the heroes, but no...

*I love how the Doctor takes a nap in the middle of the story.

*More recorder antics!

*That's the second time that the Doctor has canonically been called "Doctor Who" in-show, even though it's in German this time around.

*Rather than a smuggling story overtaken by a pirate story, this is a highlander story overtaken by a smuggling story overtaken by a pirate story. Shouldn't this be called "The Pirates II"?

*I only know 2/3 of what the characters said because I read the transcript afterwards. It was that bad quality.

*Doctor to Polly: "Oh, you saucy girl." LOL

*Why does Grey complain about the corked wine? Isn't wine supposed to be corked?

*This is the second time the Doctor deliberately goes to rescue the guest stars after saving reuniting with his companions. I guess I should stop counting at this point.

CONCLUSION

It was a dull affair with possibly-good production values I couldn't even see, characters who were, for the most part just plain "evil"(Perkins excluded - he was actually a rather decent chap) and absolutely nothing to latch onto. Hartnell was always attention-grabbing whereas Troughton usually does his stuff in the background. Only one made his recons worth watching as a result(not a criticism, just a fact).

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Top 10 William Hartnell Stories

10. The Celestial Toymaker - Although let down by some poor choices in set design and casting, it's one of the more imaginative of the Hartnell stories and sends the TARDIS crew into the proper unknown. I loved the games.

9. The Daleks' Master Plan - A Dalek story of the ages, where the Doctor is hunted from planet to planet, from galaxy to galaxy by the relentless exterminators for the core of the Time Destructor. Marks the return of an old enemy, the introduction of the Whoniverse. It's all-out war which burns up more than two companions. Heck, even the Brigadier kicks the bucket. Did I mention Charlie Chaplin, Egypt and Mavic Chen?

8. The Gunfighters - It's just so much fun. The comedy is excellent, the setting is beyond cool, the actors are all having a great time and it shows, the song is haunting in a good way and very atmospheric and there's a gunfight! A real, proper one! Yeah, the sort where shrubbery flies by.

7. Planet Of Giants - A perfectly solid sci-fi story with an environmental message and clever double action. Way ahead of its time, short and exciting. I just like it.

6. The Tenth Planet - Despite focusing too much on Snowcap's internal issues, the introduction of the Cybermen is handled with great care, as is William Hartnell's departure. The story is mature, the characters memorable, the resolution awesome and even the music is remarkable. Oh yeah, and the costuming is unforgettable too. Almost forgot that.

5. The War Machines - A unique treat for Jon Pertwee fans who get to see William Hartnell in a very early 70s style story. Other than that, it's intriguing villain, cool new companions, brilliant direction and just the uncanny look of it all makes it a story to be reckoned with. Shame about the Machines themselves(I do like the wheels on the sides, though. Makes them look like tank-computer hybrids).

4. An Unearthly Child - How can you forget the first TARDIS take-off? The haunting music, the sound, the image of a frozen London floating away... besides building the groundwork of the series, the resulting three episodes provides a sharp lesson about just how dangerous time travel can be, especially when traveling with a Time Lord.

3. Marco Polo - A memorable story for its scope and for simplicity, here we see the Doctor being forced to join Marco Polo in a several-months-long tour around China with the villanous Tegana. As time goes by, the crew get in and out of countless troubles, their relationships with the guest stars develops and they themselves are allowed to evolve as characters. It's almost a mini-show in its own right.

2. The Romans - The best comedy Doctor Who ever did, this story features the Doctor and co taking a vacation and ending up burning Rome to the ground! There's genius like the Doctor playing the lyre, Vicki non-chalantly poisoning the Emperor, Sir Ian getting an ego and wonderfully playing off Barbara... it really has no faults.

1. The Dalek Invasion Of Earth - Whilst dated in several aspects, it remains Hartnell's most epic story and a damn good one. Hartnell himself gets one of his best scenes as he figures his way out of a Dalek cell. The Doctor fights for humanity's survival for the first time(though he was naturally separated from the TARDIS) and then there are all the iconic Daleks in London moments. The story is well structured with each companion getting to do something vital that lead to the downfall of the Daleks. And a volcanic explosion in England... how's that for a finish?

[cosmichobo]

The Highlanders is the worst serial I've had to endure so far.

NOTES

*Why does Grey complain about the corked wine? Isn't wine supposed to be corked?

I've not watched the recon/s... nor listened to the audios... I read the book circa 1990, and... well... what I do remember was Bonnie Prince Charlie wandering about the moors whinging about someone stealing his shoes! Oh no wait... that was a Billy Connolly joke...

"Corked" wine refers to a bottle of wine in which the cork contains a fungus that reacts to traces of chlorine used to clean the wine bottles, and basically makes the wine taste bad... (Just looked up what it actually "is", though I knew that "corked wine" was a bad thing...)

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The Underwater Menace is brilliant. It's so wonderfully zany, especially when compared to the usual "keeping it plausible in a sci-fi way" that the series has thus far kept to. Nothing makes sense, it's all for laughs and nobody cares, in a good way. Plus, we finally get to see people move!

Patrick Troughton immediately won me over. He is perfect in visual gags(look at him hitting his head when claiming that Zaroff is mad as a hatter) and what I call "background humour" i.e. gags that don't take the centre of the scene.

Jamie's really nice. He's far from achieving his full potential, but he's sure on the way there. The suits he and Ben wear here kinda look like the stillsuits from Dune.

Ben and Polly continue to be a perfect little couple(if there's one thing Doctor Who sadly failed to take advantage of in the 20th century, it's romance).

I'm rather fond of the miners our companions team up with. They're very likeable and it's really nice having them around here. There's no performance or event that grates here.

But the Fish People... I'm sorry, but I just don't see the point of saving this episode for their Ballet. I mean, sure, we can chuck away Patrick Troughton's introduction and try to get rid of the first appearance of the Daleks, but a scene with people in freaky costumes just floating around is of utmost importance!

Now that we've dealt with the important characters, let's get to the story.
The TARDIS crew are kidnapped and taken to the undersea city of Atlantis(the setting is contemporary) where a mad Austrian scientist plots to blow up the planet because it's just such an awesome thing to do.

Ah, yes... professor Zaroff. From his name to his actor to his accent, he's just priceless all the way through. The energy and sheer enthusiasm Joseph Furst gives the role is simply irreplaceable. He's a walking old cliche and everyone(including him) loves him for it. Besides, it throws his similar, but more subdued character from James Bond out of the window(Furst was practically born to be a nut... rather like Jack Nicholson, but more hammy)

NOTES

*Radiation glows now? And it can be recognised by sight? And it affects no one?

*I love the scene where Ben cuts up the power lines connecting the generator and Zaroff's lab for the wrong reason. In New Who, there are far too many instances of circuits exploding and sparks flying around everywhere, but this is the one time where it's actually warranted and all we get is a "click!".

*Even more recorder antics! This time, the Doctor not only plays it, he also uses it to stun Zaroff by puffing gas into his face.

*Why did it take the Doctor so long to figure out the point of turning the Fish People against Atlantis. Took me a few seconds after they mentioned it, but I'm a human and he's a Time Lord.

*I've started to pick up Troughton's mannerisms and facial expressions, just like I did with Hartnell. Now I do hope someone's redecorated something!!

*This is the third story where the Doctor is canonically referred to as "Doctor Who" although only in initials.

*How does the Doctor know about Zaroff's work and is able to deduce that he's the one responsible for food-management in Atlantis?

*Number one line of the story goes to Troughton: "Professor, why are you trying to blow up the world?"

*The one time the Doctor actually tries to do more than dematerialize(i.e. actually drive) and it all goes wrong. I liked the way he immediately tried to prove to his companions that he does know how to do it though, it reminded me of Hartnell.

*And speaking of which, let's not forget The Rescue where we clearly see the Doctor doesn't really do anything other than push the Take Off button. It's all for the viewers.

*One Zaroff fail(or another success) is that at the start of Episode 4, his boisterous cliffhanger is delivered with speed and apathy, as if he just wants to get it done. I bet Furst wasn't used to recaps.

*Why does Zaroff drown? Only half the room is filled with water! Did he really care about his planet-buster button so much he couldn't bear to be above eye level of it?

CONCLUSION

It's annoying that this story is partially gone as it is one rollercoaster of awesome. A shining example of how to get camp right.

Coming soon: well, judging from reviews and the titles, all the awesome ones.

And now for love's sake, let's have it.

Spoiler:

NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP ME NOW!!!!

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Top 10 Christopher Eccleston Stories

This list incorporates practically every 9th Doctor story ever, but fortunately, he never had a truly horrible one. I bet the writers were too scared of him to write the way they wrote some of Tennant's stuff.

10. The End Of the World - While the platform is a suitably alien location, the story, besides Earth's destruction, just isn't that memorable.

9. Aliens In London/World War Three - A decent invasion story with lots of fun elements(one of my favourite Series 1 moments is when the Doctor locks himself, Harriet and Rose in the cabinet office and they rely on their wits and Mickey to stop the Slitheen). Shame about the pig stuff and Jackie not listening to reason, though(why didn't the Doctor just call UNIT in the first place?).

8. Dalek - Even I'm surprised it's this low, especially since this is my favourite season of the pepperpots, ever, but other than the stunningly good interactions between the Doctor and his foe, there really isn't much in this story besides slimy Van Statten and lots of fleeing and exterminating. The end with the Doctor realising he shouldn't kill the Dalek was genius(though at the time I first saw it, I really itched for Rose to get out of the way).

7. The Long Game - Although much of the focus is on boring Adam, I genuinely liked the mystery of Satellite Five and the design of the setting. Simon Pegg was wonderful(and reminiscent of John Simm) as the Editor. Time being altered seemed very big after Father's Day. Ah, the good old' days, when the Doctor cared

6. The Unquiet Dead - A dark, Victorian tale(without Christmas! Oh wait...) about a wonderfully realized ghost race trying to possess the dead. We get the first mentions of just how horrid the Time War was and its' effect on the universe. Nice guest characters. I loved Charles Dickens and the Doctor being his number one fan.

5. Boom Town - What a nice, quiet story. Most of it is spent on analysing the series thus far, on character development between the leads and of course, the resolution of the Slitheen storyline(how come they're still referred to in future episodes, most notably The Time Of The Doctor?). I also like the heart of the TARDIS. Very alien and unique.

4. Father's Day - What better way to tell you that changing history is bad than by having alien raptors invade Earth? It's very annoying that this episode was never followed up on(even a line like "the Reapers were all wiped from the universe" would've been good). Pete is very good, being able to guess that he wasn't a perfect dad and understanding the necessity of his sacrifice. The Doctor's absence served to heighten the tension. It all clicked. Except Jackie the whiner.

3. Rose - With a few missteps(I'm looking at you, burping trashcan), this is the best first new episode DW could've asked for. It wonderfully sets up the leads, establishes the mysteries of the Doctor and of course, the universe and the Autons are cool villains. I loved the research that the characters do of the Doctor before actually properly interacting again with him. We're always kept on the edge. Did I mention the breathtaking look of the TARDIS(it's a great shame they toned down the green light, I loved it).

2. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances - While I'm not Moffat's biggest fan, this is one of his better accomplishments as it's truly a great story through and through. I love the setting, the spooky monster and the introduction of Jack Harkness. The dark look of it altogether(it takes place during the night) has always been a trademark of the Eccleston era and for good reason. Atmosphere. This story gives all the leads stuff to. And heck, even the ending was lovely.

1. Bad Wolf/Parting of The Ways - A dark, action/horror story where the Doctor finds out that his influence on Earth has only been bad, the Daleks reappear to torment him and invade the Earth and only a few desk job guys, Jack Harkness and the Doctor stand in their way. In the end, it's a metaphor of the original decision the Doctor thought he did at the end of the Time War and we finally see his entire self, stripped bare(figuratively). At the end of the story, all the plot threads come together and the Doctor regenerates for new, happier times. Not just the best Eccleston or Dalek or regeneration story, it's the best Doctor Who story as far as I'm concerned. Even the music was priceless, a space opera theme that made me tingle actually. And Christopher Eccleston's peak came(along with DW's) at the cliffhanger of the first episode and its resolution. And the rest of it too, for that matter. The direction was so good when we thought Rose kicked the bucket.... I'll stop now.

NOTE: Despite being a very alien season compared to Tennant's three, there's not one story set away from Earth. We have contemporary London, future Earth orbit, past Cardiff, contemporary London(two eps), slightly future Utah, past London, future Earth orbit, past London(two eps), contemporary Cardiff and future Earth orbit/contemporary London(two eps).

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The Moonbase is a menacing, claustrophobic story. It's certainly an improvement over The Tenth Planet in that while the plot is similar(Cybermen invade a base and try to use some of their equipment to attack Earth), the isolation is far greater(the guy on the other side of the phone is given no screentime) and there's no overacting involved. The costumes excluded, everyone here are just normal people. The moon itself looked beautiful and the base reminded me of Bowie Base One(then again, all interplanetary bases have those giant domes).

CHARACTERS

Patrick Troughton completely established his character and the way things are gonna go from now on with his magnificent speech about fighting evil. I still wish I could see more than the occasional real episode of him(next one's gonna be another full-on recon *sigh*).

Polly has completely devolved into the screamer girl. I bet this story is where most of her infamy comes from. And for good reason. And as Jamie's character grows, Ben's is phasing out. Although, I'm still not sure I'm ready for the pair to go, cause Anneke Wills, even at her weakest, maintains great likability.

As I said earlier, the characters in this story are quite normal. Hobson is very natural and immediately proves himself to be a trustworthy, if slightly too trustful guy. The French guy(Benoit. Lol, send Ben to save Benoit) shook things up a bit and added something new to the typically BBC English.

The Cyberman redesign is 50-50. While their horror has smoothly gone from "humanity screaming out from the technology" to "the cold dead coming to take us with them", their new voices are very hard to understand in recon. It's almost as bad as the Mechanoids. For some reason, though, I can understand them fine when it's a moving episode. I guess the brain works better if it can focus on something.
The highlight of the Cybermen here was their march across the moon. So intimidating!

PLOT

The TARDIS lands on the moon, in the year 2070 and the crew come across a moonbase, that for no real reason, just takes them in. A disease has struck the base and it turns out to be the work of the Cybermen, some of who somehow survived the destruction of Mondas(if it was explained, I missed it). In Episodes 1-2, the Doctor works on discovering the cause of the disease(the Cybers don't even talk). In Episodes 3-4, it's finally war which is ultimately resolved by using the giant Gravitron(LOLOLOL) to send the Cybermen into space(presumably into the sun).

Much of what happens is hokey and hard to believe(sugarbags blocking a hole into vacuum?), especially the details. Steven Moffat and Kit Pedler would've been great chums.

NOTES

*The fourth "Polly, go make some coffee" so far I believe. She also does it at the end herself. I loved Ben going to fight the Cybermen and telling her: "This is a man's job!".

*The first two instances of Polly running into a Cyberman look identical.

*I'm guessing the Cybermen want to form a new base on Earth, but what have they been doing between the 1980s and the 2070s?

*How come the TARDIS crew's spacesuits look less advanced than the Moonbase's?

*I'm pretty sure that the existence of the Time Scanner breaks a few Time Lord laws.

*It does explain the previous plot hole as to how the crew is able to see the moon's surface on the scanner before they actually land.

*Why does the Doctor use the Time Scanner anyway? Did they really waste that much of the budget that even a miniature shot of the TARDIS landing was a no-go?

*When are the crew gonna take a break? This is still Jamie's first day.

*The line "Clever, clever, clever." is totally out of character for even 1980s Cybermen.

*Why does the French guy have a small tie around his neck? When he's wearing a T-shirt!

*I'm not sure why they didn't just reuse the old one, but the new Cyber theme is the best piece of music so far in the series.

*And speaking of music, it ranges from very good(the moon stuff) to very bad(there's a part in the control room that sounds like something out of the Cushing movies).

BEST LINE

"There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things, that act against everything we believe in. They must be fought."

CONCLUSION

My first Patrick Troughton Cyber-story. I am impressed. I hope they stop it with the hokey science, though.

Next time: The Macra Terror.
That claw looked nothing like the ones from Gridlock.

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I am now re-posting my Deep Breath review from when I first watched it during the leak.
NOTE: I won't be reviewing new episodes as they come out, I'll review them as a whole series. But I thought this should be here. It is, after all, the 12th Doctor's first birthday of sorts.

"I'm the Doctor. I'm over 2000 years old and not one of them good. I've made mistakes. It's about time I do something about that."

I thought it was suitably grand as Capaldi's premiere, but suffered somewhat from unnecessarily using Madame Vastra and co(whose origins are still unknown btw). There was a definite Matt Smith feel to it, even in the writing.

Peter Capaldi is hard to define as the Twelfth Doctor. He retains Eleventh's non-sense of comedic timing, but other than that, is mainly characterised by being an enigma. Then again, it IS only his first story. All I can say is that he's slightly grouchy and definitely Scottish(screw London, we got Glasgow!)

Fortunately, my fears of this being a Christmas Invasion rip-off did not come true. The Doctor quickly gets out of bed and on to business, even if he's more delusional than ever. Nor was Clara's "he's someone else" thing badly written. She had a genuine reason for being confused.

The story is this: the TARDIS crashes in Victorian London and brings along a giant dinosaur somehow. Vastra and co find a pissed off Clara and a crazed Doctor tumbling out of the ship and give them a place to stay. Soon however, the Doctor's interest is piqued by the giant dinosaur and he goes wandering off. He and Clara find a newspaper add that leads them together in a restaurant which is controlled by the clockwork robots from Pompadour's sister ship(how convenient) and stop them.
And there's a fourth River Song in it at the end.

It's clunky and doesn't make a lot of sense, but the continuity is at least nice, I guess. Still, it's probably the worst New Who introduction ep. The story's just so lightweight. And yes, I said grand. It feels grand, but it's a wee bit hollow inside. Plus, there's no oomph! moment where the actor establishes himself as the character, which is probably the worst crime.

My favorite(and in true Moffat fashion, continuity bending) scene of the episode was Matt Smith's cameo. What a brilliant idea executed brilliantly. More of that, please(the ideas, not phone calls from Smith).
So overall, grand-ish, but simplistic. Looking forward to seeing it for real.

They mopped up the dinosaur story real fast, didn't they? How come it was never recorded in history? It's like The Next Doctor all over again.

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Top 10 David Tennant Stories(minus Dreamland)

10. Voyage Of The Damned - It was something new and creative and there are some hands-down gorgeous moments in this(the angels carrying the Doctor). The only real criticism I have is that the alien race look and act and have customs just like us, but they also clarify that they aren't future humans. So who are they?

9. The Christmas Invasion - The build-up to the Doctor's takeover really works, it's a decent, quiet alien invasion and Rose and co get good character development. Also represents the Tennant era as a whole very well.

8. Gridlock - The idea of living in small quarters has always appealed to me for some reason so this story really works with me, getting to see all those families who've never gotten out of the car. What a sweet, comfy lifestyle. All the guest stars do a great work, the ending is good, and there's something to fight for. Just a personal favourite.

7. The End Of Time - A bit clunky, but a lovely send-off to the Tenth Doctor with every highlight of his era thrown in. Super ending, superb regeneration. And of course, Tennant's finest companion by a light year.

6. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End - Unbelievably self-indulgent, but there's great dramatic moments and by far the best appearance of the Daleks since Series 1. Everyone gets a moment to shine, Davros is beyond awesome and the whole scale of it is staggering. Shame about the ending.

5. The Next Doctor - Very atmospheric and fun, with some proper Cyber action and a fantastic guest star. A great Christmas viewing.

4. Time Crash - Short, but a stunningly well written meeting between two Doctors. Besides a bit OOC Fifth, there's nothing wrong whatsoever and for a multi-Doctor story, that's certainly news. Loved every joke.

3. Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords - The best appearance of the best character. The Master's villainy has perhaps never been as cool and smooth as here. I even loved the crazy ending with the Super Doctor being magnificient (though it was set up poorly). And who can forget the death scene?

2. The Girl In The Fireplace - A perfectly constructed story, with twists and turns supplementing each other. Steven Moffat's finest work by far. The romance, the characters, the double setting... I love this.

1. The Waters Of Mars - It just doesn't get better than this. A story set on an exotic planet that explores the rights of a time traveler, with a creepy monster, funny robot and a Base Under Siege thrown in. This is just brilliant stuff, from beginning to end. The ending is one of DW's finest moments. It's a shame the whole "running from regeneration" thing never became a proper story arc.

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Top 10 Matt Smith Stories

10. The Time Of The Doctor - Though clunky in its story, it says goodbye to the Eleventh Doctor in the strong, emotional fashion that he deserves. The regeneration was epic, the Daleks had a surprisingly powerful cameo and Handles was a great touch. I loved the Doctor defending the village of *sigh*... Christmas and growing old with enemies around him.

9. Dinosaurs On A Spaceship - It's a Matt Smith adventure. There's nothing bad, there's nothing OMG, it's just jolly good. Above-par jokes, Brian, dinosaurs, Brian, Solomon, Brian, the robots, Brian, the sea and of course, Brian.

8. The Name Of The Doctor - Richard E. Grant is finally allowed to properly tackle the Great Intelligence, Classic Who is pretty much what the story is about(it's almost a better anniversary special than the anniversary special) and the Clara storyline gets an awesome explanation. Points down for using the same-old "stars are going out" thing(if the Doctor never existed, why would the universe collapse? Never happened in the Series 5 finale).

7. The Day Of The Doctor - The 50th anniversary might not be everything you hoped, but that's probably what many fans said in 1983(and what they did say in 1993). Despite its' rather morbid subject(the Time War), the story is surprisingly lightweight and genuine fun and messing about. Tennant and Smith become partners in crime from the word go, the show retcons its biggest story arc in 50 years and says Geronimo to the future! It's pure Moffat, just making it up as he goes along. It's cool.

6. A Christmas Carol - This story celebrates Christmas with every fiber of its being, every sentence, every set, every part of the story... the singing(*tear*). The jokes were great, the characters relatable and fun. The rewriting of Kazran doesn't make sense, but it doesn't have to. It's Christmas. Even I can give Moffat a break this time.

5. Amy's Choice - Toby Jones. Malevolent, witty, poking Toby Jones. The Dream Lord is such a good villain that it's criminal he never showed up again. There are dozens of situations where he could've re-emerged. The whole two worlds scenario is a bit hokey(since the Leadworth one had no chance of being real), but otherwise, a great mental adventure for the heroes.

4. The Doctor's Wife is just... beautiful. It took me a while to accept crazy Idris as the TARDIS, but she does do a great job. House was a great villain(he was intended to be the Great Intelligence!) and seeing more of the TARDIS is never bad. Rory and Amy get character development and the Doctor gets to build a new TARDIS console(great design, whoever made it).

3. God knows I've never been a fan of the Weeping Angels(ooooh, that statue is coming closer when I'm not looking. Now excuse me while I look at it and get rid of it), but The Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone is absolutely gorgeous. The claustrophobia of being underground, the Angels' brilliant new inventions and the tie-in to the season arc are all expertly woven into the story. If only Amy didn't have to walk through the Angels blind. That made no sense.

2. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - A fantastic tale of whizzing and wibbling about in time as the universe is about to collapse. Seeing all the Doctor's enemies come together in an alliance is mindblowing. The Pandorica is suitably menacing, the Doctor going back through his own timestream is brilliantly sad. I only hated the "remember and he comes back" ending. How did River Song even exist if he didn't? Still, doesn't ruin the experience.

1. Nightmare In Silver - A chess game and a doppelganger situation with good humor, upgraded Cybermen, Warwick Davis and a comical castle an unforgettable viewing makes.

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Most of The Macra Terror isn't terribly exciting. The monster is suitably creepy(and ironically everything that Doctor Who swore not to stand for in its early days) and the hypnosis angle is still new at this point, but basically, all that happens for 4 episodes is: "The Doctor and co find suspicious stuff, go to see suspicious stuff, find Macra. Cliffhanger." rinse and repeat with the Doctor's exploration of the colony's pipework thrown in. Ooh, exciting. Things do perk up in Episode 4 as I'll explain in a moment.

CHARACTERS

Patrick Troughton continues the new, strong Second Doctor performance that he started in the last story. His easygoing jokes are still here(I loved it when he gave himself 11/10 for solving an equation) and so is his oddness(oh sure Ben, I'll tell you all about my anti-colony plans), but like all good Doctors, his will is unquestionable.

Ben gets something to do, at last. He is hypnotised by the Macra and tries to actually stop his friends from doing whatever it is they're doing(the pipework drama is hard to follow).

Polly has a really awful haircut(hey, I'm all for pixie hair, but it just doesn't suit her at all) and spends most of her time going "oh, Doctor, it was awful". She too, continues her performance from last time unfortunately. Oh well.

Jamie has this really hilarious scene where he introduces the Highland flip dance or whatever. He also likes taking care of Polly, which really adds to the character. He's a very good companion. I wish he came back for a cameo or a tribute story.

The guest stars are all relatively decent. The idea of talking to a photograph comes across really well(the Controller's face gains a lot of spirit during the course of 4 episodes). The Pilot is a nice person, but like Ben, he's hypnotised. Ola is the evil fat guy(no offense) who goes along with whomever gives him powahh.

PLOT

The TARDIS lands on a human colony that's been hypnotised by the Macra to serve them, complete with cheerleaders(love the cheerleaders). They try to hypnotise the Doctor and co as well, but only succeed with indoctrinating Ben. For no real reason, after the Doctor and co prove that they want to take down the Controller, they're allowed to walk about freely and end up discovering a complex piping system that provides gas for the Macra and air for the rest of the colony. They take away the Macra's air I think and somehow... blow them up. I don't know, I'm just guessing.
As the story ends, the Doctor is forced to escape from the colony before he gets promoted leader(haha, it happens even in the 60s). He does this by singing and dancing his friends away with him Pied Piper style. If any episode of this story should be there, it's this one.

NOTES

*Seriously, even Ola complains about the Doctor and co being free all the time. Why? They're prisoners! Why doesn't anyone lock them up?!

*Much of the music in this story's a racket.

*The Macra are the most boring villains since the Voord. We learn nothing about them. They're just "evil bacteria" things.

*I love the scene where the Macra force the old Controller(wait, if they can use the console and speak on their own, why even keep him alive?) to talk. You can hear them off-screen being like: "c'mon, you idiot, tell them we're not here!"

*Why are some of the Macra in the mines? Heck, what are they even doing?!

*The moment a character gets outside of the main building, they end up in the old house. Cheap, huh. I shouldn't be surprised, given that they've moved back to the crappy Lime Grove Studios from Season 1.

*So the Doctor is given the chance to administrate his friends down in the mine. Does he leap at the chance to figure something out and take it? Noooo, he gives the job to Polly. Polly actually has to convince him to think!

*Ben and Polly are leaving just in time. I've gotten tired of both characters. Ben's just... aimless and Polly's become a whiner. So here's to the next story. With... *sigh* one remaining episode and five recons. GOD... damn these recons are making me mad! And you know what? The story after that has one remaining episode and SIX recons! And unlike the recons of the past, these show actors barely being able to move in their cupboard-sized sets instead of evoking that "oh, what am I missing!" feel.
This should be known amongst Doctor Who circles as the Season Of Hell.

BEST LINE

"Old? What do you mean, old, Jamie? I'm not old!"

CONCLUSION

Besides the funny conclusion, there's really nothing memorable about this story. It certainly didn't warrant a new series sequel. But there's nothing awful about it either. It's just forgettable.

Next time: The Faceless Ones.
I've heard it's a good one, but I'm running low on optimism. One day my Pertwee will come...

[cosmichobo]

Good News, Rushy!

Faceless Ones has TWO existent episodes! Not one.

[rushy]

Good News, Rushy!

Faceless Ones has TWO existent episodes! Not one.

I'm aware of that now :-) .
Still, I have to deal with the recon-only side of the six-parter. Shame. I just got used to seeing what was going on.

[rushy]

And so there I was, thinking I could avoid reviewing New Who til Series 8 was over. But I thought: "Hey, I can still do a sum-up review after these." I need to talk about this!

Into The Dalek has given me a grip on the Twelfth Doctor, finally. It's also proven to me that Steven Moffat still knows what he's doing. Or maybe that's Phil Ford. Maybe.

PLOT

The Doctor discovers an injured Dalek who has become "good" due to a malfunction and is ordered to cure it(for not a well explained reason). He ends up making it evil again. And then kinda good. Ah, Doctor Who... where button pushes determine your soul.

CHARACTERS

The Twelfth Doctor is very much like the Third in the sense that it's really the actor being himself. There's a natural oddness about him and certainly an edge. He is, in many ways, the Doctor's soul stripped bare, which makes Deep Breath a bit more palatable.

But oh, Clara Oswald... gone are the days of her likability. Smug, arrogant, bossy.. it's like Colin Baker, but as a companion.

I like Danny. I see potential with him. He's certainly a more unique character for the show, a proper soldier who's fought humans and really killed. I like where they're going with this.

Rusty was also very well written, as was the Doctor's relationship with him. I still miss the New Paradigm Daleks, but what the heck. It was great. I absolutely adored the way his final moments with the Doctor harked back to Dalek.

NOTES

*I've finally figured out what I hate about Moffat's writing. 1) Lack of attention to detail. 2) The self-awareness of his characters and 3) A lot of the first two.

*This episode was really complicated in a good way. It was an experience.

*I loved how the Dalek's weapon lit up when it was killing people. Such a nice reference to their classic guns.

*Why would the Daleks even bother mentioning that "Surrendering is not an option"? Do they get fed up with all the whining?

*So... Daleks blow up stars in their free time?

*The Dalek's memory core reminded me of HAL 9000's.

*The Dalek mother ship looked like the one from Remembrance Of The Daleks on the inside. Again, good reference, even though I'm not very fond of that story.

*The miniaturisation scene reminded me of a sci-fi B-movie.

*Why does Rusty have to rejoin his pals? Just get the ship out of there and be a bad Dalek!

*I loved the way Rusty just quietly rolls out of the scene. "I AM GOING TO GET SOME TE-A!!"

*Basically, the Dalek here is a combination from the one in Dalek and Dalek Caan.

*How did the Doctor know to save the soldier? Why was he even there?

*Clara got miffed because the Doctor was satisfied proving to the others that the Daleks are indeed, irreversibly evil? Yeah, I think we just proved that the Doctor is a normal person. He is utterly convinced you can't change the Daleks and you'd be ridiculously dumb to try, of course he's going to be happy when the nutjobs realise it!!!

*"Am I a good man?" You've spent about 1500 years saving the universe for no selfish cause. Idiot.

*Why is the Doctor so filled with anger? You'd think that confirmation of Gallifrey's survival would've toned that down a little.

*Who wants to find a creepy Mary Poppins-wannabe on the other side? And who's she supposed to be, God's secretary?

BEST LINE

"You are a good Dalek."

CONCLUSION

A decent Dalek episode that really sucked me into the Peter Capaldi era. Good job. I am a bit terrified of the next episode.

NEXT TIME: The Faceless Ones.

[rushy]

The Faceless Ones is a mixed bag. While I can't deny the uniqueness of the story and the awesome location filming, it's very confusing and not terribly interesting.

PLOT

An alien race is kidnapping people from planes(kind of like the Langoliers). Meanwhile, the TARDIS lands near an airport and the Doctor and co wander around until they, almost by coincidence, get the people to trust them. Seriously, this Doctor constantly sucks at and is great at, lying. And since it's magically the 20th July(as we've seen before in The Ark, the TARDIS just does whatever it feels appropriate), 1966, Ben and Polly manage to return home. I kinda miss William Hartnell and I honestly can't tell why.

CHARACTERS

The Faceless Ones marks the birth of the famous Doctor/Jamie double-act. The two really do have just a fantastic chemistry together. In addition, Jamie gets a love interest who did nothing besides be a plausible new companion.

The Commandant was a pretty funny, stubborn character who couldn't cope outside his comfort zone until he, y'know, did.

The Chameleons were a great alien race. Very memorable. I also loved the miniaturisation(one wonders whether or not the Master had anything to do with that explosion. Hell yeah.)

NOTES

*The Doctor says "I'll be back in a moment" and later Jamie says he promised to be back in half an hour?

*The scene where Sam accuses Jamie of always following the Doctor is eerily similar to a scene from The Lion King 2, one of my all time favorites.

*I liked the reference to the Doctor's inability to return home.

*Why does one of the Chameleons say his original's full name, while the other just says "Jamie"?

*This is the first time three stories take place over one day for the Doctor. Another instance is The End Of Time - The Beast Below(possibly also including The Day Of The Doctor and Victory Of The Daleks)

BEST LINE

"Oh, my back! Jamie, my back!"

CONCLUSION

An ambitious story, but unlike The Web Planet, not very interesting at all in its execution.

Next New Story: Robots Of Sherwood
Next Classic Story: The Evil Of The Daleks

Our second seven-parter!!