Doctor Who review blog...

Post Reply New Topic

REVIEW: The Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat

SERIAL: PB2, 2.4, 1 X 45 minute episode

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


In my opinion, the quality of Steven Moffat's writing has gone down ever since he took over the reigns of being the showrunner for Doctor Who. He has written some good work for the series since then, but I assume due to the pressures of the job, some of them are rather lower quality. The Girl in the Fireplace is a case in point. It visited themes that would be revisited during his run, especially in his first episode as showrunner, The Eleventh Hour...

The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey land on a spaceship in the 51st century, seemingly deserted and damaged by an ion storm. But strangely, there is an 18th century fireplace in it, and through it, is a girl, Reinette, from 18th century France. Investigating further, the Doctor finds clockwork robots from the ship taking an interest in the girl. Thanks to the nature of the portals in time, the Doctor finds Reinette growing up in the mere minutes between his trips, and finds out something strange: Reinette is destined to become Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV of France, and for some reason, the robots want her brain. For the robots, trying to repair the damage to the spaceship, have cannibalised the human crew, literally, but for some reason, they need the brain of Madame de Pompadour. But why? As the mystery deepens, the Doctor finds himself falling for Madame de Pompadour, and she for him...

In all his stories up until he became showrunner, Moffat works on turning everyday things into scary things. In the previous series' story he wrote, it was a child asking for its mother. In this, it's the simple ticking of a clock, and he does so well enough. The psychological horror elements aren't as pronounced, though, and the robot's plan, even when the reason for it is all revealed, is somewhat silly. However, the romantic subplot between the Doctor and Madame de Pompadour is handled much better, and is rather sweet and touching. We even have hints of story elements revealed during Moffat's tenure as showrunner, such as the nature of the question 'Doctor who?', and about monsters having nightmares about the Doctor.

The Doctor, as played by David Tennant, and Madame de Pompadour, as played by Sophia Myles, is at the centre of this story, and they carry it so well. Their interaction on set was apparently mirrored by a brief romance off it, and it certainly doesn't hurt their performances. Myles also shows significant gravitas as de Pompadour, managing to remain defiant in the face of the Clockwork Robots. Billie Piper as Rose and Noel Clarke, newly promoted to proper companion status as Mickey, are put more on the backburner, character-wise, though they do well enough.

Production wise, this is once more, or partly at least, a sumptuous period drama, mixed with a decent spaceship. The only dodgy special effects in the whole episode is the eye-camera and the Doctor breaking through a mirror, though the latter, despite being slightly dodgy, is still an impressive image nonetheless. The Clockwork Robots are quite well designed, though one wonders how they see or sense anything.

The Girl in the Fireplace, then, is another triumph for Steven Moffat's earlier Doctor Who stories. Not quite at the heights of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, but pretty damn close in combining sentiment and horror.



SCORE: 9.5/10


And now, the trailer for the next episode, Rise of the Cybermen. (There's no next time trailer for The Age of Steel)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCe2-SNGvRQ[/youtube]

REVIEW: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel by Tom MacRae

SERIAL: PB3, 2.5/2.6, 2 X 45 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


It seems that with every new season of Doctor Who, at least one old enemy gets reintroduced. In the first season, it was both the Daleks, and the Nestene Intelligence (along with their animated shop dummy minions, the Autons). And with the second season, the logical choice was to bring back the Cybermen. But not content with bringing them back, Russell T Davies and Tom MacRae decided to do a new origin for the Cybermen, taking after Marc Platt's Big Finish audio story Spare Parts, which divulged the circumstances around the original Cybermen's creation on Mondas. A parallel version of the Cybermen. But would this new origin hold up?

The TARDIS falls through a crack in time, and the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey are very nearly stranded in a parallel universe. With the Doctor giving some of his life-force to recharge the TARDIS, they have time before it fully recharges to explore this world. But both Rose and Mickey are overwhelmed when they realise respective family members are still alive: Rose's father, and Mickey's grandmother. While Mickey ends up with the rebel group known as the Preachers, and with his own parallel double Ricky, the Doctor and Rose investigate Pete Tyler, and the corporation that recently bought his business out, Cybus Industries. Cybus' head, John Lumic, a terminally ill cripple, has just had a proposal for cybernetic immortality rejected by the President of the United Kingdom, and with the help of cybernetically converted homeless people he experimented on, Lumic intends to stage a coup. The Doctor realises too late that Lumic's plan involves the creation of the Cybermen in this universe, and that he intends to convert the entire human race into Cybermen. The age of Steel has begun, and the Doctor may be powerless to stop it...

As far as stories are concerned, this is a pretty good one. Not very stellar, as it seems to be more of a vehicle to reintroduce the Cybermen into the show and (temporarily) write out Mickey, but it's certainly above the norm that I expect for the series. The problems with a parallel universe and its inhabitants aren't as pronounced as they were in the classic series story Inferno (where it was more of an extreme divergence, in character at least), and we have hints of what life is like in this universe that aren't expanded upon as well as I would have liked. And the finale feels a little rushed. But despite this, it's a well entertaining yarn.

If this story could be said to be any character's, it would be Noel Clarke's Mickey. Throughout this story, he is growing to become far more braver than he was, and Noel Clarke's performance is great, greater even than (it has to be, albeit reluctantly, said) David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. His performance as Ricky also differs from Mickey enough to be a distinct character. Shaun Dingwell makes a welcome comeback as Pete Tyler, and Camille Coduri gives us a more obnoxious Jackie than usual. Of the guest stars, Don Warrington as the President, Colin Spaull as the slimy Mr Crane, and Helen Griffin's Mrs Moore are noteworthy, though I cannot confess to liking Andrew Hayden Smith's Jake, if only because he is not exactly distinguished in his acting, despite his prominent role. But particular praise should go to Roger Lloyd-Pack, playing the very Davros-like John Lumic, although unlike Davros, Lumic is a little more sympathetic in that he is trying to survive, as well as being megalomaniacal.

Graeme Harper makes a welcome return to the series after directing two of my favourite shows from the classic series (The Caves of Androzani and Revelation of the Daleks), and he does well with it. The Cybermen have an interesting redesign, but ultimately, it makes them feel more like loud stomping robots than sinister cyborgs. And Nicholas Briggs' voice for them, while appropriate, doesn't feel like the best voice possible for them, sounding more than a little reminiscent of the eerie but also rather silly voices of the Cybermen from The Invasion.

In the end, Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel is a good reintroduction for the Cybermen. It could have been better, much better. But still, it's good anyway.



SCORE: 9/10


And now, the trailer for the next episode, The Idiot's Lantern.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZZXKfOvG-c[/youtube]

I'd disagree with that. Moffat is still turning the mundane into something scary. A child looking for it's parent, clocks ticking, statues, shadows, cracks, memory loss.

The problem is he's only doing so once a year & now it's kinda stretching.

Yes, the quality of his episodes has dropped but that would be quantity & show dividing time. It can't really be helped though - if Doctor Who is to survive, it needs talented show runners. If it doesn't, the JNT era may repeat.

A good point about Moffat, and one I agree about. It's because he is now a showrunner that the quality has dropped of his episodes (and, sadly, of the series in general, though series 6 was better than series 5). I'm not convinced that Moffat has what it takes to be the showrunner of the series. He's good doing it elsewhere (Sherlock, Jekyll), but he's better off writing one or two episodes a year than writing six or seven, and maybe being script editor.

But I think you do JNT a great disservice. His flair for showmanship helped the show survive the Eighties, and while he made a number of questionable decisions, he also made some great ones too. He was the one who hired Andrew Cartmel, after all, and Sylvester McCoy. And you forget that the show got pretty bad pretty quickly towards the end of the Graham Williams era. The only really good story of that last year was City of Death. It was thanks to JNT that the show got a second chance.

I don't agree with Moffat not being showrunner material but he seriously needs more help with that writing. It's all well having these large integrated plans & then there's writing most of it yourself. Save bits for the editing.

That came out wrong, if I may clarify:
I'm not saying JNT wasn't a talented show runner. I've seen stories from the end seasons & we can't do much better now. I was in fact referring to the cancellation axe hanging over JNT. He had no one who wanted to replace him. Who needs this stream of new ideas & themes from new show runners. If people out stay the position, Who risks becoming stale & stale does not justify the budget, ultimately.

Mind you, your post contains a fairly similar line.

I see what you mean now. It reminded me of what Eric Saward (in a DVD documentary) said of the 18-month hiatus, when he said that nobody from higher up the BBC hierarchy offered any ideas to improve the show when it was brought back after the hiatus, they just told the production team to get on with it.

REVIEW: The Idiot's Lantern by Mark Gatiss

SERIAL: PB4, 2.7, 1 X 45 minute episode

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


Mark Gatiss seems to be a fan of history and horror. The Unquiet Dead is set in Victorian Cardiff, Victory of the Daleks during the Second World War, and even two of his novels, Nightshade and The Roundheads, are set in history both recent and not-so-recent. So what of the second story he would write for the series proper? He had 'ghosts' living in gas in The Unquiet Dead, capable of making zombies. Maybe he should try that most British of occasions, the Coronation, and that most ubiquitous device, the television, the titular idiot's lantern...

The Doctor and Rose land in 1953, London, while trying to get to Elvis Presley's performance on the Ed Sullivan show in the late 50s. It's the day before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second, but things are very wrong. People are being abducted, people who have been turned into faceless remnants by a mysterious force. And a wall of silence prevails, especially over the Connolly household, whose patriarch has bullied his wife and son into submission. The Doctor tracks the abductors to their lair, only to find out that they're the police, who are struggling to find answers, and have resorted to taking the people out of sight to prevent trouble at the Coronation. Meanwhile, Rose has realised that the true culprit are the televisions being sold cheaply by Mr Magpie, a formerly near-bankrupt TV seller. But is he the true culprit? What is the Wire, and why has it turned so many people into faceless shells? What does it want with the Coronation? And can young Tommy Connolly find it in himself to defy his bullying father and do the right thing?

The story concept is an excellent one. Televisions are ubiquitous nowadays, and the Coronation was the first major boom in TVs in the UK. However, the story itself is a little singular, and doesn't concentrate on the Wire as much as the Connollys. Normally, I wouldn't say that was so bad a thing, but in the circumstances, it doesn't help. However, we've got some pretty good dialogue, and the story does a good job of capturing the feel of 1950s Britain, especially when we see the transition into the 50s (through the conflict between Eddie and Tommy Connolly).

Characterisation is rather disappointing. I have nothing to complain about David Tennant's Doctor and Billie Piper's Rose, who are the best written characters in the show. Mr Magpie is a rather tortured but stereotypical accomplice in the Wire's plans, and I'm not sure Ron Cook did his best. However, the Wire, while not the best villain in the series (the concept is good, but the characterisation is a bit iffy), is portrayed with absolute aplomb by Maureen Lipmann, and is one of the more enjoyable parts of the show. However, I'm not so sure about Rory Jennings' portrayal of the otherwise decently written Tommy Connolly. And I have to say that I feel that Eddie Connolly is not the right character for the series. His emotionally abusive tendencies (acted out disturbingly realistically by the nonethless excellent Jamie Foreman) feels too abrasive, too dark for a series that is meant to be for children, especially for children who may actually have such an emotionally abusive father. But it is satisfying (though not immensely so) when Tommy points out that by acting the way he did, Eddie is acting like the very fascists he fought against in the Second World War.

Production wise, the feel of 1950s London is pretty good, and the story is directed with strong atmosphere and decent pace. Some special effects, while eerie, also don't quite make the things they are trying to do believable, like the faceless people (although at times, they look like makeup than CGI), and the Wire's electric tendrils (which move well, like a living thing, but look out of place).

All in all, The Idiot's Lantern was a good concept, brought down into an average story by a wrong turn. It makes uncomfortable viewing at times because of the domestic monster rather than the alien one, but it's still watchable and enjoyable.


SCORE: 7.5/10

And now, the next time trailers for The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhXkgC1Pxs8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZnFO7AYrtc[/youtube]

Okay, well, I'm about to watch The Satan Pit, the second part of the story begun in The Impossible Planet, but I thought I'd let y'all know that I just got today the classic series story The Sensorites, which means that I'll be doing a catch-up of the five classic series stories (plus a special edition of one of them) that I have in my collection that I haven't read or reviewed. Keep in mind that this won't be until after I finish series 2 of the new series, so probably not for another week or so.

In other words, I will be watching and reviewing the following stories (asterisks are next to those that I have watched before, on VHS):

The Sensorites

Colony in Space

Day of the Daleks*

Invasion of the Dinosaurs

The Android Invasion*

Day of the Daleks (special edition)

REVIEW: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit by Matt Jones

SERIAL: PB6, 2.8/2.9, 2 X 45 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


Doctor Who has never shied away from the supernatural, often bringing in different explanations for religion and myth. In Pyramids of Mars, we learn that the Ancient Egyptians worshipped the alien Osirans as gods, while images of the Devil and horned deities were explained as being influenced by the titular aliens in The Daemons. But Matt Jones, who had written at least one previous Doctor Who novel (Bad Therapy, under Matthew Jones), has undertaken a grander task: for the Doctor to meet the Devil himself...

Landing in the future, the Doctor and Rose find a Sanctuary Base, founded by humans who have investigated the impossible planet known as Krop Tor. This planet is in perpetual geostationary orbit around a black hole, not being drawn in, despite the black hole consuming many nearby planets and star systems. And the humans are drilling down to find the power source of whatever is keeping the planet out of the black hole. But many problems have plagued the expedition already. People have died, periodic tremors wreck the base, and one such tremor causes the TARDIS to fall into the depths of the planet. With no way to get back home, the Doctor and Rose help the expedition. But their telepathic servants, the Ood, are repeating strange messages. So too is the base's computer. And archaeologist Toby Zed is possessed by an evil power. It seems that Krop Tor is the prison of a mighty entity of purest evil, and not even the Doctor may be able to stop it...

This story is a study in psychological horror and the darkness both within and without. Certainly the first episode is heavy in psychological horror, with the Beast's initial dialogue being subtle and dark. And while it revisits themes already mentioned in The Daemons, the Doctor does mention the Daemons briefly as having horned devils. Dark and filled with tension, there is virtually no note of this story that doesn't hit true.

This episode is surely one of the finest hours of both the Doctor and Rose, especially during the first part of The Satan Pit, where Rose takes charge and helps the Sanctuary Base crew organise a resistance against the Beast and the possessed Ood. Of the guest cast, particular praise should go to Danny Webb as Mr Jefferson, Ronny Jhutti as Danny, and Will Thorp as Toby Zed. The latter deserves especial praise for being able to switch between his malevolence as the possessed Toby and the fear of the original Toby so fluidly. But the real star of the show is Gabriel Woolf, the voice of Sutekh from Pyramids of Mars, and now the voice of the Beast. While different in many respects from Sutekh, his performance as the Beast shows that despite his age, he is still an excellent voice actor who can ooze darkness and malevolence on cue, and yet at times be soft spoken, even subtle.

The story is directed atmospherically and well. The set design is excellent, evoking the functional, gritty feel of Alien and other similar works. The Ood are an interesting creation, and while their presence as a slave race to humans is disquieting plotwise, they are one of the better-realised aliens in the series. The Beast is one of the better-realised CG creatures in the series, evoking both power and darkness in its design, and the other special effects are quite good too, particularly the key effect of the black hole itself.

All in all, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is one of the best stories in the new series, and certainly during David Tennant's reign as the Doctor. A veritable triumph, there's no devil in the details save for that in the story itself...



SCORE: 10/10

And now, the next time trailer for Love & Monsters...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViQ9Tlk3bHE[/youtube]

REVIEW: Love & Monsters by Russell T Davies

SERIAL: PB5, 2.10, 1 X 45 minute episode

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No


I have to confess that I haven't watched all of the new series. On at least two occasions, I have watched only parts of the episodes, but not anywhere near the entire thing. One of these episodes was the Doctor-lite episode of series 2, Love & Monsters. The concept of a Doctor-lite episode isn't a new one, going back as far as 1965's Mission to the Unknown, but this is the first time that such a concept is used regularly. With its comic undertones and lack of the Doctor, I didn't feel like watching it all. But will my attitude change once I actually watch it?

Elton Pope is a man who is trying to track down the Doctor, and learn more about him, after meeting him briefly as a child, and seeing both the Auton and Sycorax invasions. Joining a group, LiNda, dedicated to learning about the Doctor, he finds himself amongst friends, and enjoys their company, especially that of Ursula Blake. At least until the enigmatic Victor Kennedy joins their group. Kennedy pushes them harder and harder, and when an attempt to confront the Doctor directly fails, Kennedy decides to have them track down the family and friends of Rose. As Elton, reluctantly, infiltrates into the company of Jackie Tyler, members of LiNda begin to disappear. Why is Kennedy so desperate to track down the Doctor? What will the consequences be for Elton when Jackie discovers his deception? And what will the Doctor's reaction be to his rather strange fan club?

Okay, I have to confess it. The concept itself isn't too bad. In fact, I've read somewhere that LiNda is meant to be a comment on Doctor Who fans in general, with Kennedy being the more obnoxious kind of fan (and believe me, I have been like Kennedy before, much to my shame). And the Doctor-lite episode, in theory, does give an interesting twist on things. But it doesn't quite work. In fact, many scenes are more like an unwelcome parody of Doctor Who with too many comedic elements that don't work. The plot is singular and, because we know who the Doctor is, fairly uninteresting, and one finds it hard enough to get involved in the mystery of who Victor Kennedy is.

The story is saved from the abyss by some decent characterisation. Elton Pope is a fairly average fellow, played with remarkable ability by Marc Warren (who I would later see play Jonathan Teatime from Hogfather), but while Shirley Henderson plays a decent Ursula for most of it, once she is part of the Azorbaloff, her acting skills don't work for me. The other LiNda characters are okay. Not so sure about Bliss, but Bridget and Skinner both work. Peter Kay as Kennedy is fine, though not particularly distinguished for a villain, and it goes downhill once he is revealed to be the Azorbaloff. Camille Coduri gets a chance to shine as Jackie, when she doesn't have Rose and the Doctor around, though I don't think much of the brief cameos of the regulars this time around, more with writing than performance.

Because of the nature of this episode, being a sort of video diary made by Elton, it feels a little choppy. At times, this works, and at other times, it is very jarring, making me find it difficult to like this episode much. And the Azorbaloff, while interesting for being a monster designed by a kid, in the end, is basically Fat Bastard turned into an alien and lacks a certain menace, not helped by Peter Kay dropping the menacing posh accent and going for a Northern accent that loses the menace and goes for comedy.

Love & Monsters could have been much better, and there are some good concepts and good characters. But overall, I find it hard to love. There are much better Doctor-lite episodes to come...


SCORE: 6.5/10

And now, the next time trailer for Fear Her...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZFQiybAQdc[/youtube]

REVIEW: Fear Her by Matthew Graham

SERIAL: PB4, 2.11, 1 X 45 minute episode

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


Even the new series of Doctor Who isn't free of production problems. Originally, one of the scripts for the second season was meant to be a script by Stephen Fry, the famed comedian. Set in the 1920s, the script had to be abandoned for budgetary reasons, and while a potential contender for series 3, never was made. Matthew Graham, the writer famous for co-creating Life on Mars (and later Ashes to Ashes), was brought in to write a lower budget replacement. Sometimes, Doctor Who can be at its best in adversity, but will this be the case for Fear Her?

The Doctor and Rose land in a London suburb in 2012, in time for the Olympics. But the street they land in is gripped with fear. Children are disappearing off the streets, and the Doctor has detected ionic residue. Whoever is doing that is wielding a surprising power, but the Doctor soon learns that it is down to young Chloe Webber, whose drawings are of the missing children, and whose mother is in fear of her. Chloe is the host for an Isolus, an immature empathic being that needs billions of siblings in order to survive, and not only has she trapped children in her drawings, but has even made one of her dead, abusive father, and that is coming to life. But can the Doctor persuade the immature Isolus that he is here to help? Or will the Isolus, in the body of a lonely child, cause the disappearance of all humanity?

The story has nice undertones of psychological horror, where all the events are caused by a child, or more correctly, two children, Chloe and the Isolus. A rather singular story, and one with a few (well written, admittedly) ass-pulls, but otherwise a good one the evokes fear from the abnormal, in the normal.

The Doctor and Rose are written well, although Rose seems to be more competent than usual. I have to give some praise to Chloe Webber, as played by Abisola Agbaje. Although her attitude when possessed by the Isolus could be mistaken for bad acting, when she changes back to normal at the end, it shows how good this young actress is. That being said, I find it highly disturbing, and a little implausible, that she would shut out her mother so badly, despite the events that occurred before. And the Isolus, despite supposedly being an extremely empathic creature, I consider to be an extremely selfish child. Its scheme would be doomed to failure because it cannot force people to like it, and one feels angry and irritated at it, while still feeling sympathy for both it and Chloe. Nina Sosanya does a good job as Chloe's mother, Trish.

The direction is fine enough, but doesn't give enough of that edge of psychological horror that this story sorely needs. It's not quite atmospheric enough, though the special effects (of the living scribble and the Isolus itself) are actually quite good, and the animated drawings sufficiently creepy and, in the case of Chloe's dead father, horrific.

Fear Her is a rather average entry by Doctor Who standards. I have heard of some fans considering it abysmal, but it's not bad. It just lacks that certain je ne sais quoi that makes it a really good story.


SCORE: 8.5/10

And now, the next time trailers for Army of Ghosts and Doomsday...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf2dcq4nf6E[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH8bQ0pfvsM[/youtube]

REVIEW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday by Russell T Davies

SERIAL: PB, 2.12/2.13, 2 X 45 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes


For the second season finale, Russell T Davies had to finally reveal the secret behind Torchwood, the arc word of the season. And he also had to write out Rose Tyler, comapnion since the beginning of the new series. But he also had something else up his sleeve: a battle between two Doctor Who monsters that fanboys have been waiting for for a very long time. So would the season finale be any good? Or would it be pulled into the Void?

Returning to Earth, the Doctor and Rose discover that it is regularly plagued by ghosts. The human race is used to these strange blurry outlines, but the Doctor soon realises that there is something else involved, especially as the ghosts come in 'shifts'. He tracks down the source of the ghosts to the Torchwood Institute, the institute founded by Queen Victoria to protect the British Empire against the alien. And while the Doctor is their enemy number one, as well as their prisoner, Torchwood director Yvonne Hartman wants his help. After all, he is more use alive and comfortable than dead or tortured. The Doctor, however, learns that the ghost shifts are caused by a rift Torchwood are trying to get energy from, and that the rifts threaten the fabric of the universe. But the rift was caused by a mysterious spherical object the Doctor claims is a Void Ship. But Torchwood has been infiltrated, and when the rift is fully opened, the ghosts are revealed to be Cybermen from the parallel world. But they weren't responsible for the Void Ship. A group of Daleks are within. It's doomsday for Earth, and this is the day that the Beast foretold. This is the day Rose Tyler dies...

The story is a spectacular one. Fairly straightforward, with more action in the second episode than story, but nonetheless a spectacular one. The Dalek vs Cybermen battle is every fanboy's fantasy, or would be in theory. A pity the Daleks outmatch the Cybermen in terms of capability. The resolution is a decent one, although I do wish that the production team had been somewhat braver and killed Rose off. That being said, her departure was fairly well handled, with plenty of emotion on both sides, and the ending is less of an ass-pull than the last finale. The concept of the Daleks being part of a new group that can reason independently is new, though it seems like Davies needs to find new ways to bring them back. The Cybermen are fine, but lack some of the menace of the originals.

The Doctor and Rose have a heartbreaking farewell, with David Tennant and Billie Piper giving it their utmost, although the effect is a little spoiled by what looks like Piper corpsing (laughing or suppressing a laugh during the take). The returning regulars are fine, with Mickey Smith clearly having really gone up in terms of bravery, and the chemistry between Jackie and Pete is done well enough. Tracy-Ann Oberman does a fine enough Yvonne Hartman, though I thought that she would be a little more antagonistic towards the Doctor.

Graeme Harper, as in the Cyberman story earlier, returns to direct, and there's no doubt he is good at action here. And the special effects are on the ball, with the Void Ship looking wonderfully sinister, and the CGI Daleks working well, along with the 'ghost' effects. The music is also good, although the 'farewell' music is a little overdone. Yes, it's a sad scene, but take it down a hair in the music. Make it understated, so it doesn't drown out the acting.

This finale is certainly better than the last one, and while not quite at the perfect level it should be, it is a fine ending to the second series. But not to the series in general, as the rather abrupt revelation of Donna Noble, clad in a bride's dress, standing in the TARDIS shows...



SCORE: 9/10

PROGRESS REPORT TEN: NEW SERIES TWO: THE NEW TENNANT

STORIES: Total for this era: 11

Cumulative total: 127. 15 William Hartnell, 6 Patrick Troughton. 17 Jon Pertwee. 37 Tom Baker. 20 Peter Davison. 11 Colin Baker. 9 Sylvester McCoy. 1 Paul McGann. 1 Spin-Off. 10 Christopher Eccleston. 11 David Tennant


TIME: Total for this era: 14 days

Cumulative total: 142 days

PERCENTAGE NEVER WATCHED BEFORE: 1/11, or 9%

Cumulative total: 42/138, or 30%


MILESTONES:


Establishment of Torchwood

First Christmas special

First revisit of companions to new series

First ethnic minority companion in the series (Mickey)

First appearance of the parallel Cybermen

First appearance of the Ood

First Doctor-lite episode


COMPANIONS: Rose, Mickey Smith


THOUGHTS:

After the re-establishment of the series, and the departure of Christopher Eccleston from the role of the Doctor, it was clear that the production team needed something new if the success was to continue. The casting of David Tennant in the role of the Doctor was an inspired one. While his debut in The Christmas Invasion wasn't the best of introductions for him, the Tenth Doctor very quickly showed himself to be an enjoyable Doctor, one whose current popularity rivals that of the usual favourite Doctor, the Fourth. Portrayed as a man who could switch from joyful to arrogant very swiftly, and who was already showing signs of a darker nature, he is one of the more nuanced Doctors to grace the screen.

While the series seems to have found its feet compared to the previous ones, with some higher quality scripts at times, there were some clangers dropped. Love & Monsters was, in my opinion, an experiment that didn't quite work, and there still seemed to be a propensity for deus ex machinas to intervene in the stories. But many ideas were wonderful. While not as good as many of the classic series versions, the parallel Cybermen was an inspired choice, allowing us to see the birth of the Cybermen without crapping all over established mythology. School Reunion managed to balance nostalgia (and definitively linking the new series to the classic series) with the needs of new Who, while The Girl in the Fireplace confirmed that the Doctor is not an asexual being in the sweetest of ways. The two-part story The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit brought back the 'base under siege' archetype from the classic series. Not for the first time in the new series (The Parting of the Ways, Father's Day, and Dalek could all be called this as well), but it brought it back, along with a favoured voice artist, in some style, along with a strong psychological horror element, and the Doctor being shown that even he can be wrong.

The Torchwood story arc, compared to the Bad Wolf one from last year, has a much better payoff, and is indeed seeded more substantially, with a story giving the origins of the Institute, as well as rightly commenting on the Doctor and Rose's rather casual attitude to the dangers of their lifestyle. While done to a degree to lay the groundwork for Russell T Davies' spinoff, Torchwood, it is still a decently done arc that feels right, although it does raise the question of what Torchwood did while the Doctor was in UNIT. Not to mention that Torchwood seems rather like the similar organisation of C19 from the spinoff books.

But the centre of this series wasn't Torchwood, despite the arc words. It was the Doctor's developing relationship with Rose Tyler, one of the most developed companions in the series. In this series, she is confronted with the fact that she wasn't the first companion, although she comes to terms with that. She is forced to re-evaluate her relationship with Mickey Smith, who not only becomes the first ethnic minority companion in the TV series, but also goes through substantial character development from 'tin dog' to competent time traveller. And finally, when Rose has made the decision to stay with the Doctor all her life, she is snatched from him into a parallel universe, and their last words leave us in little doubt that they have fallen in love. Perhaps, as noted above, this was the universe, punishing them for taking the dangers of their travels so lightly.

But even so, this new series shows that the showrunners weren't really complacent. With a new Doctor, they tried their best to keep the show going, and of high quality. And they succeeded, for the most part.


BEST STORIES: School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit

WORST STORIES: The Christmas Invasion, The Idiot's Lantern, Love & Monsters

Okay. Now that I've finished series 2 of the new series, I'm doing the catch-up I promised of the five classic series stories that I mentioned (plus a special edition of one of them). I have finished the first two episodes of The Sensorites, and should have the story finished tomorrow.

REVIEW: The Sensorites by Peter R Newman

SERIAL: G, 6X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No


Doctor Who's first season tended to alternate between historical stories and science fiction ones. After two stories by Terry Nation, for the third main science fiction story, the production team turned to writer Peter R Newman. The Sensorites is now one of the lesser known and unusual stories of the Hartnell era (although it gets an oblique mention in the new series episode Planet of the Ood), but should that mean that it be considered less in standing?

The TARDIS lands on a ship where the crew members appear to be dead. But they are merely in a trance, induced by the telepathic inhabitants of the world below. The Sensorites, inhabitants of the Sense-Sphere below, are paranoid about the humans in the ship, having driven their mineralogist completely mad. For the Sense-Sphere is rich in molybdenum, and this isn't the first time humans have visited the Sense-Sphere with mining on their mind. A previous expedition was lost, apparently killed while fighting amongst themselves, and ever since, the Sensorites have been afflicted with disease. With the lock of the TARDIS stolen by the Sensorites, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan must bargain with the Sensorites. With Susan attracting the attention of the Sensorites because of her latent telepathy, they may have a chance. But one Sensorite, disgusted with his leaders negotiating with humans, plots against them. And somewhere, in the aqueducts of the Sensorite city, a deadly secret awaits...

The Sensorites is an interesting and brave experiment for the series, in that they have presented a very alien, but also sympathetic race, despite the Sensorites' actions (which are part self-defence and part paranoia without any real malice for almost every part). It's almost reminiscent of some of Malcolm Hulke's works later in the series. But while tense and atmospheric, there is also a certain pantomime quality to the City Administrator's plotting that lets it down. And the storyline seems to be throwing one mystery or challenge after another in the paths of those within, rather than any real plot. But one can also see a link to Newman's earlier work in the film Yesterday's Enemy, as man's inhumanity to man in war, or the perception of war. There's even a nice sentimental moment where Susan reminisces about Gallifrey (although it isn't named then at that point) while discussing it with the First Elder. And the Sensorite culture is alien enough to be worthy of notice.

The regulars are good, with Carol Ann Ford's Susan getting a meatier role with Susan's latent telepathy developing, and it is rather disheartening to see the Doctor almost cruelly dismiss her opinions and attempts to help. The spaceship crew are fine enough, but with the exception of Stephen Dartnell's John, not distinguished, and of the crazed humans seen at the end of the story, only John Bailey's Commander stands out. The Sensorites are portrayed fairly well, but I wish that they had softer voices to further emphasise their inability to tolerate loud noise, and Peter Glaze, while playing the Administrator with a harsh voice to emphasise his malevolence, comes across, as noted before, as a bit panto.

The first two episodes are very atmospheric, as are the later scenes set in the aqueduct. Unfortunately, the set design, particularly of the spaceship, doesn't endear itself to me, although the Sense-Sphere sets are fine enough, if a little Spartan for a place that claims to enjoy leisure. And there is at least one very noticeably wobbly set. The design of the Sensorites themselves is actually a good one, with the circular pads for feet and the faces looking almost child-like and harmless, though the masks do look a little too much like masks and not like real heads.

The Sensorites, then, is a story that does not deserve to be ignored. While it is average by Doctor Who standards, there is certainly enough to commend a second look. An overlooked morality tale that states that humans and aliens are equally capable of great good and evil, it's worth a shot.


SCORE: 8.5/10


I'm not posting the DVD trailers, as I have already previously. But the next story will be Colony in Space.

REVIEW: Colony in Space by Malcolm Hulke

SERIAL: HHH, 6X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No


Season 8 was not just notable for introducing the Master. It was also particularly noteworthy for having the Master in every single story of the season. It was also the season where, for the first time since his exile, the Doctor was able to travel in time and space (with the exception of the parallel universe trip in Inferno), albeit with the Time Lords only allowing him time travel for this trip. So how would the Third Doctor's first offworld trip go?

The Doctor believes that he has the TARDIS working again, and takes Jo on a trip. However, it is really the Time Lords piloting the TARDIS, and they end up on the planet Uxarieus in the year 2472. There, a group of colonists have escaped an overcrowded and overpolluted Earth, but their crops are dying of some unknown affliction, giant lizards have been sighted, and a man claiming to be from another colony on the planet raves about both the lizards and the local alien primitives turning on them. But the primitives are generally peaceful, and the lizard attacks, culminating in two deaths, is the work of the newly arrived Interplanetary Mining Corporation, who have come to mine the planet's rich seams of duralinium. And the colonists are in the way. As events begin to escalate between the ruthless IMC and the desperate colonists, an Adjudicator arrives from Earth to assess the situation. And Jo is abducted by the primitives for sacrifice. But the Adjudicator is really the Master, and his concern is not with the colonists or the IMC, but an ancient secret of Uxarieus...

Elements of this story seem somewhat familiar. An alien planet with a strange telepathic race of primitives, and a ruthless mining corporation resorting to tricks...did I just describe elements of Avatar? Of course, the real inspiration is closer to the Wild West stories, with natives, farm holders, and mining companies, and it is given the typical Hulke touch of a complex, ambitious story that has nuanced characters. Only some elements of the alien race are dubious, being much improved in the novelisation (which I read a long time ago: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon), and the final argument between the Doctor, the Master, and the Guardian comes off as a bit false. However, it is to Hulke's credit that he refrains from introducing the Master until at least halfway through the story, though he is mentioned earlier.

Jon Pertwee as usual is a good Doctor, and Katy Manning's Jo shows how frightening it is to be suddenly whisked away to another world, and yet manages to do some decent things (and some mistakes). The colonists are decent enough, though most of the characterisation for them is given to John Ashe, who is determined, almost suicidally so, to stay on Uxarieus, and Winton, who challenges his leadership and makes more rash decisions against the IMC. Dent and Morgan are good villains as part of the IMC, more so than the Master, while Bernard Kay's Caldwell is probably the most complex character in the serial: working for the bad guys, and certainly willing to do illegal things, but not immoral ones, though he does come off at times as a little (understandably, given Dent's actions) ineffectual. The Master is a more straightforward villain here than before, with less subtlety and more direct malice, but it is a credit to both Hulke's writing and Roger Delgado's acting that this makes him seem even more dangerous than before. However, the character of the alien Guardian is a disappointment, and as noted above, the Doctor's arguments work better in the novelisation.

Production is where the story does tend to fall down. While it is disappointing to see a quarry being used once more as the surface of an alien world, it is nonetheless appropriate for Uxarieus, gluggy clay pools notwithstanding, and it has to be said that the IMC trucks are fine. Most of the models are functional, as is the IMC robot, though the latter also seems rather too slow and clunky to get between the IMC ship and the Leeson dome convincingly. I find myself more impressed by the design of both the Primitive City and the colonist's main dome than the IMC spacecraft, though, and Dudley Simpson's music grates on me (more than it usually does at this point in the show's history, anyway), the way it's electronically arranged. And some special effects are just done wrong (like the TARDIS appearing and disappearing).

To summarise, Colony in Space is let down by some writing that was needed in some places, and some dodgy production values, but it is otherwise a good example of Malcolm Hulke's work. Not bad for the Third Doctor's first real venture into space and time...


SCORE: 9/10