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FishyFish

By FishyFish
in Film, TV & Radio

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scottcr

scottcr

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I watched the finale there.. Was better but, overall this last series had been really poor. There's something about the scripts that really annoy me - everything seems so over done. Everything is major disaster that will lead to the collapse of the holes between the holes in space... Or some nonsense like that. Maybe it's just that I find Clara almost unwatchably bad. Maybe I'm just getting tired of Matt Smith's doctor, or at least the stories he's given.

I loved the fairy tale like whimsy of the first Matt Smith episode. I want more like that.

And I definitely do NOT want any more bloody River Song.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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I'll probably have finished my marathon by then! :P

Time-Flight

(Blog has pictures)

The Tardis finally lands at Heathrow airport, but it's entirely by accident, as a timewarp from millions of years in the past has snagged a passing concorde, causing it to vanish. It isn't long before the Doctor is involved in solving the mystery (with a nice reference to UNIT confirming his credentials), with a second concorde flight plotted along the same course sending them all back through time.

[Picture: A group illusion makes our heroes think they haven't left Heathrow airport. In fact, they are 140 million years in the past. And standing in front of a blue screen.]

Intriguing as this setup is (and lovely as it is to see concorde in flight!), the plot takes a turn into the convoluted. Admittedly, I liked that they kept the identity of the Master a secret - Kalid is a strange and unusual villain, and his 'death' brilliantly grotesque - but for a lot of this story, I was was just left thinking... "what?". Essentially, the Master is after another Great Power, needing to fix his Tardis and escape the past, but the details go by in a blur.

[Picture: A master of pointless disguises, The Master as 'Kalid'.]

An ancient race fleeing their world, crashing on Earth and forming an amalgamous consciousness, is a big idea that needs a bit more time to settle in. But we don't get that much time to dwell on it, because there's also psychic hallucinations, creatures made from psychokinetic soapsuds, a dead man that comes back to life, a Tardis in a plane, a plane in a Tardis, and a power struggle between the Doctor and Master involving various bits of equipment that block this, inhibit that, redirect this, counteract that. Frankly, it's a mess. They might as well have just said "a wizard did it", stuff the dramatic tension.

[Picture: Although many of the visual effects are ambitious, the concorde take-off sequence is decidely shonky. Bluergh.]

Peter Davison has to carry all of this burden, and to his credit, he does so very entertainingly, even while the plot is whooshing past at the speed of light. The supporting cast of concorde crew and passengers are unfortunately quite poor. Even Tegan, who should be in her element here, is underwritten and blandly performed. I wasn't surprised to see her left behind at the end, but if this is her actual departure, it's incredibly low-key! Even that brat Adric can't stay away for long, appearing briefly as a hallucination (along with some previous monsters). It all comes down to the Master and Doctor facing off, and this forms the only really solid bit of drama in the story. What a shame. There could have been something good here, but it didn't work for me.

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Darren

Darren

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It does seem perverse that they're "celebrating" the 50th anniversary by having a massive Who-less gap either side of it.

By the time Capaldi starts most of the kids who loved it a few years ago will probably have decided they've grown out of it.

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Teabag

Teabag

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Regarding Time Flight, the first cut from the airport to Kalid freestyling his weird chanting over his cauldron is one of the most unintentionally funny scenes in the whole series. I can suspend my disbelief over pretty much anything but when that came on I completely lost my shit. I think I rebound it about five times.

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Ork1927

Ork1927

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Has the Christmas special been filmed yet? Any chance we'll get the regeneration early in the episode do we can see Capaldi in action.

If its at the very end then we'll have 2 minutes of him and a Doctor Who will be back caption with no trailer as they won't have shot anything for the next series.

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NEG

NEG

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It'll be odd to have one of the modern doctors just unexpectedly regenerate. After all the build up of tennents regeneration, and Eccelstons felt coming as well, Matt Smiths had...well...nothing, in my opinion. Besides the blue head guy and the 'end of the eleventh!1one'.

I suppose that also makes it a more retro regeneration, no? Cybermen appear. Stuff happens. Regeneration.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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Arc of Infinity

(Blog has pictures)

Whenever the Doctor returns to Gallifrey, there's always some sort of political problem going on. For a society that has so much power, you'd think their security would be a lot better. This time, the Doctor is caught up in a conspiracy to free the ancient ex-Time Lord Omega from his antimatter prison. It's been ten years since Omega last appeared, in the anniversary special 'The Three Doctors', so it's an appropriate year to bring him back (from the dead?).

[Picture: Welcome back to Gallifrey, Doctor. You're nicked. Sorry.]

While the Doctor and Nyssa are gallivanting around Gallifrey, another story runs parallel, following a couple of backpackers in Amsterdam, who we later learn are the cousin and friend of Tegan, who rejoins the adventure by sheer coincidence. Amsterdam just happens to be Omega's base of operations on Earth, while he communicates with his accomplices on Gallifrey from afar.

[Picture: Omega has changed his appearance since last time. And built a Tardis. And a chicken?]

The backpackers are almost unwatchably awful, but nevertheless, it's an interesting way to split up the story into two parallel threads that come together near the end. The final chase through the Amsterdam streets is perhaps longer than it needs to be, and I would have liked to see the duplicate Doctor idea expanded upon.

[Picture: This guy. Why? Just why?]

Speaking of duplicate Doctors, this story casts Colin Baker as the security commander Maxil. At the time, this would have been a non-issue, but I found his presence distracting because I know that he will be cast as the next Doctor in a couple of seasons' time (even having never seen any of Colin Baker's episodes myself). He plays a ruthless by-the-book hardnose, so it's difficult to get a feel for how he'll be later on.

[Picture: Floating around in the Matrix, Omega lets Tegan tell the Doctor where she can be found. Great plan, Doc!]

Arc of Infinity is mixed, then. The Amsterdam half of it is weak, but the mystery stuff with the Time Lords is pretty watchable, even if it doesn't make much sense, and the plot introduces ideas that it doesn't develop or conclude very well. One thing I will say, Nyssa was a lot better in this than she has been before, and that's probably because she had more to do. Keeping the roster of Tardis crew down to a minimum is a good idea. I also liked the execution scene; even though it was obvious that he wouldn't really die, it was a cool-looking contraption.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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Snakedance

(Blog has pictures)

Continuing the theme of bringing back old villains (well, it is the anniversary year), Snakedance features the return of the Mara, the snake-demon from 'Kinda'. Hardly an iconic villain to bring back, since it only first appeared in the previous season, but the writer obviously wanted to explore his creation a little more, now from the perspective of an ancient legend, a creature that will return from our minds and become real once again.

[Picture: A brainwashed Lon convinces Ambril to give him the great crystal.]

There's an attempt to explore the nature of legends and truths that are inferred from mangled facts over generations, but since the legend turns out to be literally true, this doesn't really work. Nevertheless, this story is creepy and well-made. I would not have been old enough to see this at the time, but children of the eighties would no doubt have found much of the imagery to be very frightening. It's bad enough that Tegan is possessed and starts talking with a strange deep voice, but everything is punctuated by images of snakes, skulls, glowing eyes and the sounds of screams. It's not quite as creepy as the dream sequences from 'Kinda', but it's close. Sensibly, the Mara isn't seen until the end, and it's a far more convincing effect than the paper snake from 'Kinda'.

[Picture: Did anybody order a nightmare?]

I enjoyed all the performances in Snakedance. Martin Clunes plays a great "bored prince" who is then brainwashed by the Mara. Tegan convincingly plays the villain role most of the way through, which gives Nyssa more to do again - although she does resort to screaming, unfortunately. The extended cast of carnies and servants are also nicely watchable. The Doctor continues to be the Doctor, digging and probing, seeing what others do not see.

[Picture: The Doctor seeks the advice of the wise old man, Dojjen. Did somebody order a cliché too?]

I suppose the resolution is a bit of a cliché (believe that it doesn't exist and it can't exist is a well-worn trope), but it makes more sense than a sudden realisation that the Mara hates mirrors, so it's fair enough. An improvement, then, but probably the end of the Mara for good this time.

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