// Film and Television
Doctor Who - Utopia
Well, it’s got to be said (and has been by many), the first half of the episode was… well… average. Fun, but not terribly satisfying. Our visit to an alien planet turned out (in classic Who tradition) to be largely based in a quarry, the bad guys had piercings and tattoos (pah!) and frankly it all seemed a bit throwaway really.
If it hadn’t been for strong performances from the leads and an amazing turn from Derek Jacobi then it would all have been a bit “yeah, okay, fine”.
But by golly it picked up at the end didn’t it?
All those themes from various parts of the series suddenly starting to tie up. The heartbreaking poignancy of Professor Yana’s speech with us knowing that soon he’d be transformed into another Time Lord. The way Jacobi completely changed his performance when he became the Master. All of it was sublime (especially when the Master locked the Doctor out of the TARDIS just by slipping the latch - genius).
And then a cliff-hanger? What? A three-parter? Really? Bloody hell!
I can barely contain myself with excitement. All my thoughts are on tomorrow night.
Posted on June 22, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 2 Comments
Doctor Who - Blink
Doctor: “Don’t blink. Don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast, faster than you could believe. DON’T turn your back, DON’T look away, and DON’T BLINK. Good luck…”
Well, this year’s Doctor Lite episode was proof, if any were needed, of why Stephen Moffat is one of the best writers in television today.
Doctor: “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect… but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly…timey-wimey…stuff.”
Taut, funny, densely plotted with twists and turns of time, plus nervousness galore and the occasional pull at the heartstrings too. Frankly there is no justice if if Moffat doesn’t get nominated for another Hugo his year.
Sally: “I love old things. They make me feel sad.”
Cathy: “What’s good about sad?”
Sally: “It’s happy for deep people.”
There were some things which made me go “eh?” like why the Weeping Angel threw a stone at Sally in the first place (it seemed to be implied that it did) and what happens next to the Angels in the cellar once they were defeated, but I’m guessing there’s a nice cleanup job done by the Doctor once he gets his TARDIS back. And frankly they were such minor details in an otherwise sparkling episode I don’t much care.
The flatmate’s reaction to the Angel statues was one of “oh no, they’re as bad as the scarecrows!” so another classic monster there. Well done them!
Plus, as is evidenced in this very posting, it’s just so damn quotable.
Doctor: “This is my timey-wimey detector. Goes ding when there’s stuff. Also it can boil an egg at thirty paces - whether you want it to or not, actually, so I’ve learned to stay away from hens: it’s not pretty when they blow…”
Posted on June 17, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 4 Comments
Doctor Who - Human Nature / The Family of Blood
Blimey.
And that is all I feel I can really say on the matter.
Television simply doesn’t get any better than these two rich, ominous, densely-packed, scary, surprising and heart-warming (not to mention breaking) episodes.
Wonderful. Simply wonderful.
I will of course be watching it again later.
With a box of tissues handy.
Posted on June 3, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 6 Comments
Doctor Who - 42
Given that I have regarded Torchwood as desperately uneven, I had a nasty feeling that its head writer, Chris Chibnall, would provide us with a similarly lacklustre episode for Doctor Who last Saturday. Thankfully my fears turned out to be thoroughly unfounded as the real-time drama of 24 was brought to the series to excellent effect, with the Doc and Martha having 42 minutes to save the day.
But by golly it was red wasn’t it? I suppose unsurprisingly so given they were hurtling towards the sun, but my word I’ve never seen such a red episode of anything before. And frankly it was a bit daft of whoever designed the spaceship to put the backup escape capsule controls in a such an inacessible place. You’d almost think they’d done it for dramatic purposes.
So far the main repeated complaints I’ve heard are that the charring of the bodies on metal wasn’t accurate enough and that the supporting cast never got enough development or back-story for you to really care what happened to most of them.
In the case of the latter it’s a fair point. Only Riley really got much of a chance for you to sympathise and Michelle Collins’ captain only had a last minute “aw” moment, the others were just speaking extras, there to be bumped off within minutes (which they were). But, as ever, it’s a limitation of the format really. I could either get frustrated that it will ever be thus or just accept it and I think I’ll take the path of least resistance here.
As for the charring - yeah. But what did we honestly expect given the target audience and time of transmission? Again, given the high standard of the episode generally it seems churlish to get hung up on it really.
Otherwise I thought it was excellent. It was taut, scary, well-paced, playful and generally well-executed. Also the possession of the Doctor was one that genuinely surprised me - especially his admission of his own fear which I think will have surprised younger viewers who are probably now expecting him to be invulnerable. Frankly it did need to be re-asserted that he can actually suffer and actually die if he doesn’t get a chance to regenerate, so I was glad of that.
As far as I can see the generally high standard of this series is definitely continuing. Series two is beginning to look horribly limp by comparison.
And from the trailers tonight’s episode looks like it would seriously have to drop the ball not to deliver… it almost looks like it can’t not be bloody good.
Posted on May 26, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 2 Comments
Doctor Who - The Lazarus Experiment
So, I suppose the good thing about Doctor Who being delayed is the fact that it gives me a week to catch up.
The Lazarus Experiment was, to be fair, a pretty slender misguided scientist plot, but it’s the little touches here and there which give it the extra shine. The interplay between Martha’s family and in particular her mother’s instant dislike of the Doctor sparkled, the return of a “reverse the polarity” line made me whoop, and in a script drowning in sparky dialogue there was even room for Spinal Tap and Quatermass references.
Okay, the CGI monster wasn’t really very good. It was a brave attempt but it didn’t quite convince, although it was canny the way they always had Lazarus change out of shot to save time and make sure the money was spent on the final creature.
So yeah… it was a thoroughly enjoyable runaround all told.
Somehow I find I’m enjoying this series rather more than the last. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but series two always seemed “good” but with qualifications. This series in comparison, however, is proving “very good” (albeit still with qualifications, but fewer of them it seems).
Probably the highlight though was the teaser they’d knocked up at the end to trail the remainder of the series. If the series turns out to be half as good as what is promised then it’ll be stunning. My aunt was suitably “oooh, Jack’s back - he’s lovely!” about it, and the flatmate’s reaction to the monsters from the two-part Human Nature and Family of Blood due in two weeks was to squirm and go “oh… I may not watch that one. I don’t like scarecrows”.
I’m a bit excited about the next few weeks, if truth be told.
Posted on May 13, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 0 Comments
Eurovision
Well, no of course I didn’t watch it. Bad enough was the fact I am no great lover of the contest anyway (although the flatmate kept me updated with various Woganisms which were entertaining enough) but also the fact that Doctor Who got delayed for a week because of it.
Bastards.
I did, however, tune in for Scooch’s performance once I heard the strains of it emanating from the flatmate’s room just to see what the big twist for the performance on the night would be.
Oh yes: two extra dancers and all the eurovision flags over the trollies instead of just the Union Jack - inspired!
To be fair I don’t think it deserved the place it did. As a song our entry has rather grown on me and it is everything a traditional eurovision song should be: simple, infectious, meaningless and chirpy, but given our standing on the world stage at the moment I’m not sure a song about British nationalism was ever going to do wonders.
I honestly think we should give up.
Posted on May 13, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television, Pop Music, The World we Live In | 3 Comments
Doctor Who - Daleks: Manhattan / Evolution
Eeep. A week behind now… gosh I’m losing my touch!
Anyway… the big Dalek two-parter for this series has been and gone. And what an unusual two-parter it was.
It has to be said, my first reaction to Daleks in Manhattan was that it was a bit ploddy. My first reaction to Evolution of the Daleks, by contrast, was that it was a jumbled mess.
All told, following the inevitable repeated viewings, I have to revise my opinion of this and all told I think that it does actually all work rather well. Yes, episode one does stillo feel a bit slow but I had the same feelings about last year’s Impossible Planet and (as with last year’s follow up The Satan Pit) watched together they work amazingly well.
Plus with a certain amount of running around corridors (well, okay… sewers) and “oh my God, I’ve been captured” it all felt more like a traditional Doctor Who story than most of the series has managed so far.
And it has to be said there’s quite a lot packed in the overall story. The depression - against which the building of the Empire State must have been a big “f*** you” to those in Hooverville - Tallulah and Lazslo’s story, the gradual unveiling of Dalek Sec’s grand plan and the inevitable problem that causes with the other Daleks whose determination to remain “pure” is strong even in the face of exctinction.
For me this time round the Daleks were at their most malicious, instinctive, gloaty, nazi-esque best - a far cry from their basic “Villain of the Week” status in the last couple of appearances - and they actually came across as characters too. The “watercooler moment “with Jast and Caan was genius, and their various looks at each other as the episode progressed showed that they can be quite expressive if directed well. Couple this with more examples of them bitching - a trait lifted from Doomsday last year - and it was probably their most enjoyable appearance yet.
Aside from that watercooler moment, Evolution of the Daleks featured two more of my favourite moments of the series so far. One was the expression on the pig-slaves as they wait for the lift to get to the top floor, the boredom and “come on, come on” being a feeling I know well.
The other was the moment Martha and Tallulah went to find Frank, played by the rather delectable Andrew Garfield (who, worryingly, rather reminds me of an ex). The bit that particularly got me was just the brief glimpse of him having a cry over Soloman’s death - it wasn’t dwelt on, it was just a shot and I felt that it was beautifully and lightly done.
So yeah, I really rather liked it. Yes the science was absolute bollocks, but never mind eh? It was still a damned enjoyable piece of telly.
Posted on May 7, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 0 Comments
Doctor Who - Gridlock
Hmm. Well… worst so far I think. But thankfully it was still quite good.
My main problems were that Ardal O’Hanlon was so Dougal the whole time that I kept expecting him to go “oh, c’mon Ted” the whole way through. And again, RTD managed to stretch my credibility a bit too far with the whole “they’ve been stuck down there for twelve to twenty years” thing - if it had been months I may have been more forgiving, but years?
But even so, there were some very nice ideas. The whole underclass being saved because they were an underclass, the fact that in this dystopian world people were able to bond and create a feeling of hope and optimism and avoid being victims, and the other fact that precisely because of this bond they had effectively paralysed themselves, preventing them from changing the situation.
I get the feeling all told, that there could have been a rather good two-parter in this, rather than a fairly rushed blam-blam-blam single-part we got.
That said, David Tennant continues to astound. I fair welled up I did, during his reminiscing about Gallifrey.
I don’t understand why people keep going on about these “Macra” creatures, though. The Macra don’t exist.
I am, of course, now gagging for Daleks in Manhattan. In fact I won’t be turning up at my own birthday party until it’s finished.
(Well, you’ve got to have priorities.)
Posted on April 20, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 0 Comments
Doctor Who - The Shakespeare Code
There’s a worry, isn’t there, when someone you know writes something? That fear that they’ll go “oh, give it a read and tell me what you think”, the fear that you will give it a bash and not like it and then have to be nice about it, and get so sincere about the whole thing that they can tell you want them dead and thus start to harbour similar feelings towards you.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I’m a bosom buddy of Gareth Roberts. Yes we’ve met a fair few times, I’ve been to a party at his, we’ve shared conversations on the increasing “WFT?” choices and views of Popjustice, and had lengthy conversations about the relative merits of Stock Aitken Waterman songs (in particular a shared view that Lonnie Gordon’s “Happenin’ All Over Again” is a work of sublime genius).
But even then we aren’t exactly close.
But that doesn’t stop you worrying. What if a passing acquaintance should suddenly sour? Eggshells all round.
So I was a bit nervous about the Shakespeare Code. I worried I’d hate it. I worried it wouldn’t just be me who hated it. I worried it would be just me who hated it. In short… I was a right old barrel of fret, me.
Thankfully, I thought it was great fun. Yes, there was a certain pantomime element to it all - from the very first moment with the cute guy and the three witches (always there have to three - Shakespeare’s definitely got a lot to answer for) and there were moments when I first watched when the whole “Doctor giving Shakespeare quotes” thing occasionally made me think “hmm”, but it has to be said… how enjoyable was that episode?
For me it attained a level of sheer joie de vive that was quite simply breathtaking. I think you could even call it rumbunctious. Colourful, noisy, brash, pun-laden, gorgeous (I mean… how much did they spend?) and playful. It was an episode that I actually cheered during - and not just at the line about the 57 academics.
This - mark my words BBC - is the sort of telly I pay my licence fee for. Not Castaway, not dreary doom-laden soaps, up-itself twisty gritty drama, or reality shows fronted by some old git who made the worst, most plasticy Hi-Fi’s I’ve ever seen, but something which is actually simple, honest-to-goodness, glorious fun.
Fun, I find, is hugely underrated as an art-form. And this should change. Now.
So… if Gareth doesn’t get invited back next year I swear I will camp outside BBC Wales and belabour Julie Gardner around the knees with a pick-axe handle (and manifest meself over Russell T. Davies’ keyboard) until the producers relent.
I was worried about Series Three, I’ll admit. But two episodes in and I’m really fired up again.
Posted on April 12, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 1 Comment
Agatha Christie’s Marple
Hmm.
Now, I love Geraldine McEwan normally but it’s not just me who thinks that she’s hopelessly miscast in the role of Miss Marple is it?
That said, she’s also adrift in a fairly apalling set of productions anyway. Somehow the BBC adaptations I grew up with keep on shining by comparison. I caught the new “Sleeping Murder” the other day and - whilst Sophia Miles was predictably brilliant - somehow something didn’t feel at all right about the whole thing.
Joan Hickson, we miss you.
Posted on April 9, 2007 | Filed Under Film and Television | 2 Comments