Posts Tagged ‘doctor who’

Doctor Who The Giggle Review (Spoilers near the end)

Posted: December 10, 2023 by datechguy in doctor who, entertainment
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Plot: Earth is going crazy the people are completely polarized can the Doctor, Donna and Unit save the day from one of the Doctor’s oldest foes? Or will he need some help.

Writing: Given Davies statement about pissing off fans I expected the absolute worst from this episode. I’ve never been so pleasantly surprised in my life. This had just about everything. A solid villain, old friends and a bunch of twists and turns to keep you guessing. It seemed both longer than it was and shorter than it should have been and while some of the things seemed recycled it still worked. The penultimate twists I’ll deal with at the end to try to minimize spoilers but put simply, everything worked. If h

Acting: I will be very disappointed if we don’t see Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker again, he did his best to steal every scene he was in. Jemima Redgrave’s Kate Stewart was excellent and her performance invoked memories of Nick Courtney (more on that later) Bonnie Lankford was a pleasant surprise and the potential of her Mel as a reoccurring character bodes well. Tennant and Tate continued to shine as for the newest member of the cast, well to steal a line from the 1st Doctor he did well, quite well, perhaps the future is in safe hands.

Best Moment: Lot’s to choose from here but being an old Doctor Who guy I’ll say the reuniting of the Doctor and Mel and her giving the story of coming back to earth.

Worst Moment: The Doctor’s speech inviting the Toymaker to travel with him seemed completely recycled from his offer to the Master back in Davies first run.

Annoying moment: This is going to sound odd but unless I missed something there was no apparent reason for the Doctor to realize where the Toymaker’s shop was or where the doll came from.

That’s a shame moment: The realization that Bernard Cribbins didn’t live enough to finish the scenes for this one.

Fun Moment: Donna’s job offer and the negotiation

Nostalgia Moment(s): Return of Mel, Kate Stewart blazing away, the toy store invoked the 8th Doctor Big Finish story Solitaire when the Toymaker fights Charlie in a toyshop. The tooth being picked up like the ring and the list of adventures.

The What’s the Hell’s going on? Moment: That line was seen an awful lot in the last year we finally saw it in action

The “I’ll tell you when Big Finish is canon or not” Moment: There have been at least 3 toymaker stories in Big Finish, one with the 6th that I’ve not heard, one with the 7th with Ace & Hex that was Ok and a companion chronicles with the 8th and Charlie Pollard that was first rate. This episode suggests none of those take place, in fact the very plot of this episode is dependent on them not taking place, although technically on the 8th doctor adventure it’s Charlie not the Doctor who wins the game. So maybe that cancels out the 7th doctor’s win to keep the score even.

The “Where’s Osgood?” moment: Osgood missing from Unit at that moment would seem odd, but then again the resolution might have been too much for her inhaler.

Don’t think for a moment that I didn’t notice: While the Toymaker was going through Smith & Capaldi’s companions none of the companions from the Whitaker era got a mention. Remember Davies was brought on for the 60th anniversary to stop the bleeding of the Whitaker era I suspect that while he’s going to embrace the new canon to show whose boss 13th Doctor instead of being lovingly called “Doctor Karen” is now going to be “She who must not be named.”

The Elephant in the Room Part 3: Are we expected to believe that the Doctor made a trip with Mel to the gilded age and with Donna’s kid to the moon and there was absolutely no alien invasion or deadly menace that happened to show up. Mathematically I guess that’s possible but just sayin…

The (Spock Must Die) Spoiler moment(s): At first I like everyone else assumed Davies had decided to be bold by having the regeneration 3/4 in but instead we got the whole “bi-generation” business. Very original, completely unexpected and it worked. Of course it leaves a lot of questions.

  1. When the Tennant Doctor Finally dies does he
    • Regenerate into The Current 15th doctor?
    • Regeneration into someone else?
    • Just die?
    • Depending on how it happens cause 15 to cease to Exist?
  2. Does Doctor 15 at this moment have all the memories of Doctor 14
    • Up to the moment the bi-generation?
    • To the moment of Doctor 14’s death?
    • Or does he remember them as they happen (See Out of Time Tennant 10 meets Baker’s 4th)
  3. Does this mean that Tennant’s 14th doctor will be a reoccurring character?

And that’s just the start of it. With the Doctor living with Donna’s family doesn’t that make them a sitting target for every enemy looking for revenge? But hey, the War Doctor business brought complications too. We don’t know it all, but that’s OK. We don’t need to.

The a Tad too far moment: The splitting the TARDIS into two, that’s kinda weak, I submit and suggest it didn’t split I think it means that it’s just one TARDIS at different points in it’s timeline.

The Doctor No Pants Moment: What’s with the no-pants stuff? The new doctor is going to get damn cold if he meets the Ice warriors.

Bottom Line: This story is a solid winner and frankly the only one of the three that is worthy as a 60th anniversary special in the sense that it’s more than a regular episode. I think 10 minutes more mixed in here and there might have worked better, but this is a really first class episode and 5 minutes of “Rose” at the dinner table and passing references to things I don’t like doesn’t mess it up.

5 stars.

Ranking in the current season (counting the children in need special) 1st of Four and by an awful lot. Perhaps the idea was to push the agenda heavy in the Star Beast then put it in the background so the increasing quality would sell it but if the Star Beast had been anything near as good as this one there would have been a lot less fuss. But regardless of the reason this one is a class act.

  1. The Giggle
  2. Destination Skaro
  3. The Wild Blue Yonder
  4. The Star Beast

Since we were comparing to the Capaldi years let’s do the same here. Unlike Wild Blue Yonder. This one definitely makes the list but in fifth place. Not because it is bad, but because those four episodes ahead of it were so damn good. I must confess I was close to putting it above the caretaker but that episode was just so damn fun.

1st The Husbands of River Song
2nd World Enough and Time
3rd. Last Christmas 
4th. The Caretaker
5th  The Giggle
6th. Extremis
7th. The Return of Doctor Mysterio
8th. The Girl who Died
9th.  The Witch’s Familiar
10th. Hell Bent

But as it’s a special episode let’s compare Apples to Apples, Specials to specials that I’ve reviewed which are from the Matt Smith and Capaldi Era 4th of 10 although it was a close thing between A Christmas Carol and this one.

1st The Husbands of River Song
2nd The Day of the Doctor
3rd. Last Christmas 
4th. The Giggle
5th  A Christmas Carol
6th.  The Time of the Doctor
7th.  The Return of Doctor Mysterio
8th.  The Snowmen
9th.  The Doctor, the Widow & the Wardrobe
10th. Twice Upon a Time

The BBC Chibnall / Davies BBC Doctor Who Completely Explained In Under A Minute Update: A Pleasant Surprise

Posted: December 9, 2023 by datechguy in doctor who, entertainment
Tags: ,

You had better sign those, they’re the ones paying your salary.

Jimmy Stewart 1968 on the set of Bandalero to Raquel Welsh when he heard her complain about signing autographs.

In an interview released this week Russell T Davies, who was briefly the great fan hope for the return of the Doctor Who franchise to what the fans loved for decades made it clear to all that this is not the case.

Russell T Davies has said that new Doctor Who episodes will upset die-hard fans of the science fiction franchise.

The Welsh screenwriter and television producer, 60, discussed the new release, which will be the centrepiece of the BBC’s Christmas Day line-up.

It would seem rather odd that Davies who was instrumental in the revival of the series that I’ve enjoyed for four decades and, like many other fans passed on that enjoyment to our children to be something in common as a family even as we’ve grown older, would be so callus as to spit in our faces and throw us away. But last night as I slept the explanation finally came to me, the truth of what Doctor Who is. It’s a rather ironic explanation that can be summed up in a just a few seconds below the fold:

(more…)

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder Review UPDATE Cue Amy Farah Fowler

Posted: December 4, 2023 by datechguy in culture, doctor who, entertainment
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Plot: The Doctor and Donna are lost at a spaceship at the end of the universe. The Tardis has skedaddled and they are only left with each other a robot and each other and each other but who is who?

Writing: It’s a tough call because it’s such a different type of episode. It’s both deep and loose with various clues all over the place. Also given the nature of the episode we don’t know how much is necessary to set up the final special, how much is just for the sake of now and how much is just for fun. I think it’s the type of episode you need to watch 2 or 3 times to really judge and thanks to the nature of the specials you might not be able to judge it standing alone till you see number three but one thing is certain, it’s head and shoulders above the last one and more in keeping with the hopes of fans. Too bad they couldn’t have led with this one but I guess you needed Donna on board and functional to do so.

Acting: With the exception of the very start and the very end it’s pretty much Tate and Tennant and they carry it very well. I’m likely biased because I’m fond of him but Bernard Cribbins appearance at the end is the icing on the cake.

Best Moment: The penultimate appearance of Wilfred Mott (like it could be anything else)

Worst Moment: The whole “War Song” Debate and why would British Choir students be singing the US Airforce Hymn anyways?

Oh Brother Moment: The “why is Mrs. Bean funny?” business. The answer should be obvious to a brit: “because it reminds you of Mr. Bean which is hilarious.” How do you not get that?

The What’s going on? Moment(s): Why is Tennant 2.0 constantly crashing the TARDIS into things. Is that basically what the revised Tennant does when flying the TARDIS these days, just crash?

The Ah HA moment: The HADS. You see a lot of it in Big Finish Doctor Who but not so much of it on TV.

The “I Don’t Give a Fig about Newton” moment: Again the Newton stuff might all be a one off gag although the “Mavity” stuff suggests otherwise. Newton is mentioned a bit in the original series and a bit in Big Finish. (For the best of the batch see David Warner as Sir Isaac in the 30 min 5th Doctor and Nyssa story “Summer” in the Circular Time CD. You can buy it here for under $4 )

The Elephant in the Room Part 2: Is it just me or was there a solid attempt to cement the new canon during one of those exchanges?

Bottom Line: Again this isn’t the type of story I’m generally into and to some degree is was CGI driven, possibly to make the writing easier but it generally works as straight Sci-fi, as a psychological thriller and as a deep dive into the characters. It has an unfair advantage as it not only so much better than the one before it and by default so much better than anything of the last few years and it’s slightly hurt by references to said episode but that’s just talking about established events and thus not something that should effect this as it’s own story which it is. But even if The Star Beast and the Jodi Whitaker era didn’t exist this story would stand as a solid if not spectacular Tennant Era story.

4 1/2 stars, but I reserve the right to go as high as 4 3/4 or down to 4 1/4 after watching it a few more times and that’s the thing that gives this a real advantage. Jacqueline King‘s performance not withstand I have absolutely no interest in watching The Star Beast a 2nd time. This story however is very re-watchable in fact it almost demands it.

Ranking in the current season (counting the children in need special)

  1. Destination Skaro
  2. The Wild Blue Yonder
  3. The Star Beast

I wasn’t ranking my top 10 of an era during the Tennant Years as quite a few of them predated the blog but if you take my top 10 of the Capaldi era which is the last list I made from 2017 (via the wayback machine)

1st The Husbands of River Song
2nd World Enough and Time
3rd. Last Christmas 
4th. The Caretaker
5th  Extremis
6th. The Return of Doctor Mysterio
7th. The Girl who Died
8th. The Witch’s Familiar
9th. Hell Bent
10th. Mummy on the Orient Express

And consider the bottom episode on the list: (reviewed via wayback here) it doesn’t make this list, although in fairness it’s again not the type of episode I usually go for.

Update: It just hit me after I published that The other than corrupting the English language the Doctor doesn’t actually save anyone or have any real effect on events except to almost screw things up. If he never lands there the ship explodes and the bad guys are defeated, it just happens without Donna & he almost dying in the process.

Cue Amy Farah Fowler:

Doctor Who The Star Beast Review (Plus Bonus Children in Need Destination: Skaro Review) UPDATE: Oh Please

Posted: November 27, 2023 by datechguy in culture, doctor who, entertainment
Tags: , , , ,

It’s been a long time since I reviewed a Doctor Who Episode and most of those reviews are only found on the wayback machine as I’ve not bothered to retrieve them from the old blog so we’ll make this short and to the point:

Plot: The cute and cuddly Meep fleeing pursuit has fallen right into the hands of the Temple/Noble family. What danger does he bring, besides the Doctor?

Writing: Russell T Davies adapts this story from a 4th Doctor Comic Book story (You can read that here). It had actually been already adapted into a Big Finish audio four years ago by Allen Barnes staring Tom Baker (you can buy that here). Being familiar with both my take might be different than others without that familiarity. Given the limitations of squeezing’s the story down to 60 minutes of TV rather than the much less expensive visuals from the comics or from the imagination generated by the audio AND given the complexities of fitting this into a newly returned David Tennant he does an admirable job. There are a lot of balls in the air and he pretty much keeps them in said air. There is one elephant in the room that needs to be discussed but we’ll deal with that in a bit.

Acting: After four years of limbo David Tennant shows how it’s done again and Catherine Tate has not lost either a comic or a dramatic step. Nor has either lost a tiny bit of the chemistry they exhibited from day 1. The supporting cast does a good job as a whole but Jacqueline King REALLY shines and threatens to steal every scene she is in. I think Miriam Margoles overdid it as Beep but again you have the limits of squeezing a long story into a shorter time frame so the character couldn’t develop so it might not have been a reflection on her.

Best moment: The Trial great stuff very doctory.

Worst moment: The coffee business, seriously he couldn’t come up with better than that? Lame.

Funniest Moment: Donna’s blaming the Doctor for giving the money way

Ah HA Moment: Donna’s realization that she gave away the fortune to be like the Doctor harkened to Rory’s moment in Vampires of Venice where he notes people take stupid risks to impress him.

Oh Brother moment: The Meep pronouns business, was tempted to shut it off right there.

The elephant in the room: I didn’t mind the transgender child nor even how it was handled in the dynamics of the family. It seemed for a moment like Davies was reverting to his 2005-2012 form keeping making his “social agenda” points in the background while concentrating on story but alas no this is 2023 and not 2005 and like the Jew hating anti-Semitic Muslims of England who would not have dreamed of being so open about their “death to Israel, death to Jews” back then Russell Davies apparently feels freed from having to hide is social agenda and thus makes not just Donna having a child the basis for saving day but having a “non-binary” child being it. In fact the whole “you would have gotten this if you were a woman speech” was the type of in your face preaching that Davies would never have tried decades ago. Alas that means no change from the last three years except we get to be preached to with a higher quality writing and a better cast

I strongly suspected this would be the case and thus was not so much disgusted as disappointed.

Bottom line: I really thing The Star Beast suffered from the format. If this has been made as a two part story from the Tennant Era I think Davies would have done a better job with it and given more time to develop characters from the Noble family to Beep itself that would have at least diluted the preaching. An original story would have been a better choice for the reboot but taking it as it was my judgement is this:

If you grade the episode based on the last five years of the series it’s clearly better than anything fans have seen since the last episode of the Capaldi years and many will react accordingly but alas I’ve been following the series for since the I was in high school (graduated in 1981) so I’m grading it on based on actual Doctor Who. It’s pretty much a lower mid range Tennant episode say Unicorn and the Wasp or 42.

You know type you watch once or grab a scene to repeat online but not the one you’re dying to repeat or seek out. Only the return of Tennant & Tate make it memorable.

3 3/4 stars of five but I’d bet real money if Davies had another 30-40 minutes to play with it would have reached 4 or maybe even 4 1/2.

Bonus review Children in Need Doctor Who special Destination: Skaro: (takes place before the Star Beast) As it’s only 5 minutes long I’ll include it in its entirety at the end:

Plot: You all know that the Daleks were the Mark 4 Travel Machines, but what ever happened to the Mark 3?:

Writing: Davies mini episode is as close as a primer to how to write a Doctor Who episode as it gets. If there is a flaw in this mini episode I don’t see it.

Acting: Julian Bleach hits it out of the Park as Davros and plays the straight man to perfection. Mawaan Rizwan was hilarious and David Tennant brings back his Doctor in style. Again as good as it gets.

Best Moment: The look on Mr Castavillian (Rizwan’s) face when Davros re-enters the room and sees the Dalek.

Worst Moment: I really don’t get the liking of “exterminate” as a phrase

Ah HA moment: The “Canons are rupturing” is a playful homage to the fans pissed of at Chibnall redoing the entire canon of the show.

WTF moment: The tip of the multi claw adaptable thing should not pierce the “wood” of the TARDIS shell

Hmmm moment: It’s plain that the Tardis interior redesign revealed in the new show (kind of meh) has not taken place yet from the glimpses we see.

Bottom line: Five Stars, Worth watching again and again and it doesn’t get any less entertaining the 17th time around.

UPDATE: Being a sane and rational man that this episode was set before Davros’ accident that made him into the character we know to cut down on the costs involved in the makeup etc for the Children in need special.

And then I saw this video from the Critical Drinker which had a clip from Russell T Davies saying that this was in fact a Davros redesign:

“There is a problem with the Davros of old in that he’s a wheelchair users who is evil and I had problems with that. “

Seriously?

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