So, I’ll confess before I write this that I had actually seen this episode before. Though, now, with more Doctor Who history, knowledge, and love under my belt – it took on an entirely new context. I am really, truly amazed at what an incredible job Doctor Who does with making the ‘Doctor Lite’ episodes so enjoyable. It’s a mark of great storytelling that extends behind just developing a fandom for the actors involved.
It’s probably not going to surprise anyone that I love this episode. Most people do. It’s a pretty incredible episode and it introduces the Weeping Angels who I happen to think are one of the most amazing sets of villains ever. EVER. Plus, the show did a fantastic job with casting in this episode (as they did in the previous Doctor-lite show). The actress who played Sally Sparrow was great – engaging, clever, and likable. And, she was surrounded by some great supporting characters, as well.
I’m not going to go on much about ‘Blink’ because it’s such a talked about episode that I don’t want to be redundant with what has already been said out there. Great story. Fantastic villains. Incredible creepy-factor. And, very suspenseful. I could (and probably will) watch it time and time again.
This two-parter answered the question of what would The Doctor be like if he was human? And, I must say, it did so in a really incredible way. These episodes were exciting, full of interesting characters, and allowed David Tennant to really show that he can do some pretty great acting.
I seriously loved The Doctor as a human – I would never want to watch an entire show of him, of course – but it was really intriguing to see him in that context. And, I thought it was very touching to see him fall in love with Nurse Joan. It was fun to see him happy and flirting, but also very sad to have the understanding that such a relationship is something The Doctor probably wants most in the world and will never really be able to have. It was a very smart and revealing way to show what this side of The Doctor might be like.
Okay, let’s talk about Martha here, too. I really appreciated that the show did not shy away from the racism that would have so present at that point in time. And, I so loved the way Martha handled it all. She never got mean, but she did get feisty and still remained herself while playing the role of the John Smith’s attendant. Great work there in writing and acting, I think.
The villains – soooo creepy to me. I always see people commenting on the creepiness of the Weeping Angels and the Silence and what not (and those are all very creepy) but, this family was up there on the scary ick factor list in my opinion. The actor who played Baines was one of the creepiest people with the creepiest faces I have ever seen. I seriously hope that it was good acting and he doesn’t look like that all the time because if he does, I don’t understand how anyone would want to be his friend.
Also, I loved the young boy, Timothy Latimer (played by one of the actors from Love, Actually, I noted). He fit right into the Doctor Who world and did a great job with his role. I would have loved to see more of him.
I have to talk about the ending of this story, too. I have had several discussions with people about David Tennant’s Doctor versus Matt Smith’s Doctor and who is darker, more vengeful, more full of rage. My personal opinion is that Matt Smith’s Doctor definitely has a higher rage factor (he wears his anger more loudly and open for others to see), but this episode really showed me David Tennant’s dark, “I don’t give a damn attitude” (Two very different, albeit related personality points, I think). His treatment of the ‘family’ at the end of the episode showed this well. He just goes about it in a much more subdued way than Smith, I think. Tennant’s Doctor is almost quietly vindictive, somewhat selfish, definitely sinister. This isn’t to say that he’s not wonderful and heroic, too, but we all know that there are two sides to The Doctor, right?
Anyway, two really, really great episodes that I felt gave great insight into both The Doctor and Martha. And, I enjoyed the little epilogue-type bit where we got to see Latimer in the future. Nice touch.
Did anyone else flash forward to ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ when they saw David Tennant in this suit? I know it’s not quite the same - but I had a moment.
Anyway, there was some discussion in my household after we watched this episode as to its merit. My boyfriend seemed to think that it was not that important in the overall story arc and that it wasn’t that interesting/suspenseful. I, however, felt very differently.
I actually found the episode quite compelling and I found the scenes when The Doctor had been infected/possessed (whatever you want to call it) and Martha worked to save him quite touching. To me, this was REALLY a key point for The Doctor and Martha. The previous episode showed that he had begun to value and enjoy her companionship for what it was (not as a substitute for Rose), but in this episode, I feel that Martha really showed how far she was willing to go for him, creating an even stronger bond. And, I like the way that bond is developing. It is very different from the one between he and Rose - and I actually quite like that.
Also, I liked the guy that Martha was stuck in the pod with! I can’t remember his name right now, but how cute was he?! Loved when Martha kissed him good-bye. I kind of wished he would have jumped in the TARDIS with them and Martha could have worked out her crush on The Doctor with him!! Oh, well.
Hmmmm. Let’s see. This was not my favorite episode, I must say. I just didn’t really get into the plot of this one or the villain too much. Though, it was nice seeing a bit more of Martha Jones’ family and did serve to set up something which I suspect will play out in an important way – that Martha’s mom is getting information from Harold Saxon about The Doctor and how ‘dangerous’ he is.
I did like that there was a cementing of the relationship of The Doctor and Martha in this episode and I greatly appreciated her willingness to call The Doctor on his bullshit and decide to not join him further if he was going to continue. Showed moxie, that did. I’m really liking Martha more and more.
Oh, and it was nice to see The Doctor in a tux!
I’m behind. I had been doing so well with keeping my posts up to date with my Doctor Who watching. And, then I don’t know what happened. But, I am already about to watch E6 of series 3 and haven’t written anything about E1-5. So, they are all getting lumped together here. Sorry Doctor. Sorry Martha. This has nothing to do with my feelings about the episodes – but just my time management apparently. So, without further ado, here are my random, combined thoughts on the first 4 episodes of series 3: Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Gridlock, Daleks in Manhattan, and Evolution of the Daleks.
Since there’s a lot of material to cover, I revert to list form (with thoughts in random order):
· LOVE, LOVE Martha Jones. In the tumblr universe, I come across quite a bit of Martha hate and I don’t get it. I mean, she’s smart. She’s feisty. She’s brave. And, she’s even being treated a bit horribly by The Doctor when you think about it. He’s taking her around to places he visited with Rose. He’s lying to her at various points. He’s flirting and then turning cold. Really. This isn’t The Doctor at his most aware, delicate self when it comes to relationships with companions. She seems to be taking it all in stride, if you ask me. Go Martha! Love her.
· Daleks return. They didn’t amuse me quite as much this in this appearance – BUT, I have become quite smitten with the music from their episodes. There is a song, which I believe is called Evolution of the Daleks (from the episode of the same name) that has been in my head CONSTANTLY.
· Andrew Garfield was around! That was a good time. Love Andrew Garfield. I was afraid he was going to get turned into a pig person – so that was a big relief. Phew.
· Kittens! When a cat-person and a person-person have babies, they have kittens?! How incredibly adorable were they?!
· The Face of Boe’s death was sad. Even though I knew it was coming, it was very touching. And, of course, the final secret he shared with The Doctor is an indication of exciting things to come – so that was a pretty key moment in this series, I think.
· Harry Potter references abounded in The Shakespeare Code. I LOVED when Martha should Expelliarmus in attempt to suck all the witches back into their vortex. Great pop culture tie-in.
Ok. That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll try to stay more on top of things this week!
This is going to be pretty short. As Christmas specials most often are, it was a fun episode, but doesn’t offer much to an overall arc to discuss. It is more of a stand-alone episode and doesn’t offer a great deal of significant plot to discuss, though I do have some thoughts that really stand out to me.
First, (and most significantly to me) I LOVED the interactions between Tennant and Tate. I already feel that those two have way more chemistry as an onscreen duo than Tennant and Billie Piper (sorry Billie!). I was excited to watch them and enjoyed every minute of them together. I am anxious to get to season 4 now to see more of Donna Noble, but that will have to wait a bit, as Martha Jones makes her appearance next time.
Second, I appreciated the way that Tennant portrayed The Doctor in this episode. There were moments of great sadness from the loss of Rose, but it was also clear that The Doctor had things to do. He had to save Donna and the planet and those typical Doctor-like things. I personally liked the balance he struck between those conflicting emotions.
Third, the villain in this episode was particularly campy which I don’t always enjoy, but it seems fitting in a Christmas special. It was the right place for it.
And … that’s it, I guess. Fun. Entertaining. A bit silly. And, a good primer for things to come.
I’m not sure if these two episodes were originally billed as a two-partner or not, but I am choosing to combine my thoughts into one post, as they certainly were one connected story. So, as you all surely know, these two episodes are very significant in that they are the final of series 2. They are also the final episodes featuring Rose as The Doctor’s companion (though I understand she does pop up a couple of times down the road). I am a wee bit nervous about reviewing these two episodes, as I know that Doomsday and the exit of Rose are emotional soft spots in the hearts of many Who fans. Nonetheless, here I go. My apologies for any upset that some unpopular opinions expressed here may cause.
So, first off, I will say these episodes were very well done. I enjoyed them immensely and thought they were a grand end to the second series. Dramatic, emotional, fun, and tension building, they made for good television, for sure. As Doctor Who (as least the new series’ not sure about the classic Who) does so well, many of this season’s storylines came together to create one dramatic ending. Cybermen were back – as were Mickey (I was actually excited about this), Rose’s parents (from both universes), and Daleks. Torchwood was featured prominently and we even flashed back to some important notes from series 1 in order to provide background to this story (specifically a time traveler’s ability to bring Dalek’s ‘back to life’).
I loved the merging of all of these details and the roles that everyone (The Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Pete Tyler, even the woman from Torchwood – what was her name???) played in saving the two parallel universes and fighting off the Cybermen and the Daleks. Speaking of these two infamous sets of villains - one of my favorite scenes in these two episodes was when they met. The exchange between the Cybermen and Daleks was brilliant. And, by the way, I was totally rooting for the Daleks to take them out based on their witty arrogance alone.
So, let’s get to the big finale, then. Despite The Doctor’s wishes Rose makes the decision to leave her family and Mickey forever and stay with The Doctor in the original Universe, while the rest of the lot returns to the parallel universe. Only, that goes awry, Rose is soon in danger of being sucked into a metaphorical hell with the Daleks, only to be saved by Pete. Being saved, though, means being transported to the alt-universe, where she will (theoretically) never be able to see The Doctor again.
So, here are my feelings on this ending for Rose and The Doctor.
· It was the right way to end it. As I have shared before, I do not and have never bought into the belief that Rose and The Doctor could have a happily ever after. This was the right way to go. And, though I do believe The Doctor was truly grief stricken to lose the connection with her, I think he ultimately believed it to be the best outcome for Rose (and for himself, actually).
· It was acted very well. I really appreciated the performance by Tennant especially in this episode. I definitely felt him channeling the ‘old man’ part of The Doctor that is all too familiar with loss and grief. And, Rose’s grief felt real and guttural. Good job all around.
· I’m very glad The Doctor didn’t get to say “I love you.” (I know I’m in the minority on this.) It would have seemed trite to me and I felt actions that The Doctor took to be able to say a proper goodbye were much more meaningful than those words would have been.
Finally, I thought the very final scene with Donna Noble appearing in the TARDIS was extraordinary. I was pleased that the series ended on that exchange of amusing confusion between The Doctor and Donna rather than on the emotional hook of Rose’s goodbye. It seems a good way to illustrate the fact that The Doctor always has to move forward quickly and without hesitation, regardless of circumstances, as well as a way to lure in viewers for what’s to come. Simply, in my mind, that few seconds between Tennant and Tate showed so much chemistry between the two actors and characters that it definitely left me excited for what’s next.
Okay, let’s see, we’ve got The Doctor and Rose traveling to London 2012 to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games. Only, they get sidetracked by the sudden disappearance of several children all living on the same street. At first, I was full of promise for this episode, because I tend to really like creepy kid episodes (even though I dislike children in general). But, I felt a little let down. It never really got creepy and I was sort of annoyed by the bad acting of the child, Chloe. Now, before you shout at me, I know she’s just a kid, but come on, it was pretty bad.
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I was nervous about this episode for like the first 10 seconds. That was all the time it took for me to get over my trepidation and decide that I completely LOVED it. My first question straightaway is: How do I join LINDA??? I realize I don’t live in London. And that most of their members got absorbed away. But, come on, I’ve got be able to join the London Investigation ‘N Detective Agency somehow. If anyone out there has the in – please be sure to let me know.
Elton Pope, our protagonist in what I understand is the first of a few ‘Doctor-Lite’ episodes sprinkled throughout the recent years, is an ELO-loving fan of The Doctor who joins up with others to play music and adore The Doctor from afar. Of course, that goes a bit awry when the group is infiltrated by … . wait for it … an Abzorbaloff! Greatest villain name to date. So despite the fact that The Doctor was only in the episode for a few moments, I would venture to say that this episode still has some significance in the overall Doctor Who story. It would appear that this episode, for example, included references to not one or two, but three major story themes. We had, of course, our requisite series 2 mention of Torchwood. We also had a familiar phrase dropped when it was mentioned that the Torchwood files were corrupted by the Bad Wolf virus. Interesting. I suspect that will come up again. And, finally, did others catch the front page newspaper headline which noted that “Saxon leads polls with 64 per cent”? Now, I haven’t seen any of the Saxon episodes as of yet, but I have heard enough to know the significance of the name. I’m looking forward to more of that coming up.
Now, not only did I love this episode because it was just plain fun and because Elton Pope was a very likable character, but Moaning Myrtle was there!! How exciting was that?? With that said, I am going to try and ignore the little tidbit at the end where we learn that Elton and the newly transformed concrete block of Myrtle (okay her name is Ursula here) have a ‘love life.’ I’m pretty open-minded, but that is a little creepy even for me.
And, for my last random (and one of my favorite) comments on this episode: I learned after I watched it that the format was partly influenced by the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called ‘The Zeppo.’ I LOVE it when my Doctor Who and Joss Whedon worlds intersect. It makes for a very happy me.
There was a lot that I liked about this two-parter. Loved the Ood. Liked the secondary characters. Loved the somewhat creepy and mysterious element of the ‘beast’. Good stuff. I thought it had all the elements of a great Doctor Who episode and I felt the writing to be back up to par (after my disappointment with The Idiot’s Lantern). I also appreciated the ambiguous nature of the issue of the religion and that no direct answer was given as to what the ‘beast’ really was – leaving things open to interpretation for viewers and the characters in the story as well. Well done, Doctor, from your atheist friend over here.
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