Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special – The Day of the Doctor

Well where to begin. That’s a conundrum. This was good. It was a good solid episode that worked well with many brilliant nods to the previous half a decade of Who. I went in with very low expectations and so I did enjoy it. But it was by no means amazing. This is of course what all of Who fandom has been waiting for all year: It is fifty years since the episode first aired on television and this ‘extravagansa’ shows the current Doctor teamed with his predecessor and a newly discovered earlier incarnation known as the War Doctor, who together must decide how to end the raging Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks. And so, on with the review…

There were very many things I loved about The Day of the Doctor. First and possibly foremost, the opening. The original 1963 titles were a spectacular surprise, and the beautiful blending of the same first shot of a policeman into a colourful re-imagining of Coal Hill, with of course an excellent reference to Ian Chesterton as Head of Governers, and who better to be working there than Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) herself? After this, the opening was relatively mundane but that worked well; it was nice to have an opening to such a landmark episode without any Russell T Davies-esque explosions or dramatic music, to the extent that I had a great big grin over my face throughout the cinematic opening credits. In fact the same applies to the whole episode, it had a reasonably steady pace that wasn’t especially fast but worked well and allowed the episode not to confuse too much. This is clearly something writer Steven Moffat worked hard on, acknowledging the common criticism that his episodes are too complicated and so producing a good, intriguing and gripping but easily understandable storyline, making the whole thing very accessible for anyone.

Thankfully Moffat dives straight in with references to all of Who‘s history, with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)’s scarf appearing mere minutes after Coal Hill school. This was followed by the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)’s reference to his distaste of saluting, and of course mention of the Brigadier thanks to his daughter, Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave). Smith’s and Coleman’s interaction is also, as always, top notch as they’ve clearly grown closer over the intervening time we haven’t witnessed as an audience. I particularly liked Smith’s “I’ve had many faces, many lives” speech that was delivered with excellence.

On the subject of acting, I am slightly ashamed to say that I thought Billie Piper (The Moment) was excellent, and it was a relief that she wasn’t playing Rose Tyler in this episode, though it did seem bizarre that the Moment took her form in terms of plot. Joanna Page (Elisabeth I) was good, though perhaps a little annoying and over-the-top. Jenna Coleman was similarly brilliant and David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) was of course very good, though there did seem to me to be something slightly off about his characterisation and I couldn’t help but guiltily wonder if really he might be slightly past it. All the same, his exchanges with Smith, both comic and intense, were possibly my highlight of the episode and really carried it on so well that the intervening U.N.I.T scenes seemed to be dull and long. On the other hand, the Time Lords (Peter de Jersey, Ken Bones, Philip Buck & Sophie Morgan-Price) seemed unfortunately rather robotic and wooden.

It did amuse me that for the 50th anniversary, Moffat has completely reversed everything Davies set in place, but nonetheless it was brilliant to finally experience the Time War but not to a great extent, as well as keeping the Daleks as a minor element (as of course they would have to be present to some extent in such an iconic event), and wasting no time in introducing them. Moffat generally got a good mix of comedy and drama blending well in his script, though it frustrates me how Sherlock-esque the Doctor is becoming, being able to see that the paintings were broken from the inside just from the shape of the shards etc. It would be a great shame if the two roles became virtually interchangeable in Moffat’s eyes. On the other hand, a big highlight was the blending of pieces of Murray Gold’s music from Davies’ era with each other as well as new ones, and as ever his score really added to the whole feel of the episode.

The brilliant lines and references to older Who just kept on coming and awakening the fan’s excitement in each of us. The famous “reverse the polarity [presumably of the neutron flow]”, Hurt’s “This has all the makings of your lucky day”, the mention of Captain Jack Harkness, the line, “He’s a madman”, the photographs of old companions, UNIT members and even Kamelion(!), the Doctors’ questioning of the “round things” in the T.A.R.D.I.S, the predictable reused line, “Oh, you’ve redecorated! I don’t like it.”, the use of a space-time telegraph, the Cyberman head (again, they had to be in there somewhere), the War Doctor telling the Tenth and Eleventh that his “future is in good hands”, as the First did the Fifth (Peter Davison) twenty-five years before, as well as the possible reference to Malcolm from Planet of the Dead, the War Doctor’s reluctance to adopt a catchphrase with his words, “For God’s sake, Gallifrey stands!”, his longing for “less conspicuous” ears and naturally the idea that he can regenerate just because his body is “wearing thin” as the First (William Hartnell) did. Unfortunately though the line, “I don’t want to go” seemed a step too far for me, appearing forced and unnecessary.

Yet no Doctor Who episode is without flaws: Did the War Doctor (John Hurt) really need to see windows to the future to see his future incarnations? Why was Clara miraculously allowed into the Undergallery with the Doctor without any questions being asked? How did the 10th Doctor immediately figure out who the Eleventh was, when before it has taken earlier incarnations so long to figure out? Why didn’t the Zygons in the gallery shapeshift rather than hide under sheets, especially since the shot where the false Kate does transform into her Zygon form looks so great? Why did The Moment look so longingly at the Tenth Doctor if it was only the physicality that was the same as Rose? Why aren’t space-time telegraphs used more often?

But these are small niggles. The main problem I had was the complete removal of the depth that had been added to the character of the Doctor throughout the last eight years, by which I mean his survivor’s guilt and the weight on his shoulders, as well as the idea of an evil side or incarnation of the Doctor, that had only been established in the previous episode, making the character far more intriguing, only to be completely scrapped in this episode. That, and the fact that it wasn’t quite as exciting and indeed commemorative as it could have been, meant that I was not exceedingly impressed with the episode, but it was still very good.

It did however make me very happy that show actually made fun of itself for one of the things that annoys me most about it, with the line “They’re scientific instruments, not water pistols!” Finally, acknowledgment that the sonic screwdriver is in fact just that and not a weapon or a magic wand! I also loved the little touch that the three Doctors drink tea together after the events are over, and that the museum interior looks remarkably like an old T.A.R.D.I.S interior, fitting for the fact that Tom Baker’s Curator character plays host to it. Speaking of whom, his appearance was a beautifully kept secret that was very exciting, but will admittedly present some great problems in the future for Doctor Who as he will presumably have to be noted as a future (as well as past) incarnation, despite probably being dead by the time a potential return to the show occurs. Nevertheless it was ideal that he was chosen to participate because, not only is he the oldest Doctor alive or arguably the most popular, but also because he had so adamantly abandoned the franchise until this year, making him the only Doctor never to return to the role on television until the fiftieth – how fitting! At the other end of the scale, it was a predictable shame that Christopher Eccleston was not involved, but one might think the BBC could find a more realistic look-alike for the powerful final shot.

Overall, the Zygons worked well despite being largely (but subtly) unnecessary, it was nice that the Tennant didn’t interact with Piper at all on screen, and the three main different time periods and settings blended surprisingly well without really jarring at all. I was glad that Amy and Rory Pond weren’t involved and thankfully thrilled by Tennant’s and Piper’s appearances, although I did think Hurt would struggle to keep the role of the Doctor for longer than one episode, struggling to find a comfortable compromise between adorable old man and fierce warrior. Nick Hurran’s direction is of course great, and the general (rather complex) philosophy explored was very thought-provoking. I am not perhaps as excited about the probable return of Gallifrey as some might be, but it is nice to have an altogether different story arc and I shall give Moffat a chance with it.
And finally a friendly reminder that next time the country sees any new Doctor Who, the Thirteenth Doctor, none other than Peter Capaldi, will be present. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to that!

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode 13 – The Name of the Doctor

That. Was. Insane.
And this review will be a mismatched compilation of vague observations before I depart to watch the episode again on iPlayer.

 

From the off I was saying ‘wow’. William Hartnell (the First Doctor) interacting with Jenna Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald). I could write a whole essay purely on the pre-credits sequence. Which may just be the best the show has ever seen. It disappointed me that (as far as I recall) we still don’t know how Strax (Dan Starkey) survived A Good Man Goes to War and that Angie (Eve de Leon Allen) and Artie (Kassius Carey Johnson) Maitland made a brief appearance. But Coleman was brilliant. Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) was absolutely spectacular. The emotional Doctor seen as Clara speaks to him in the living room is a very rare occurrence and Smith does it absolutely phenomenally. Steven Moffat’s script was brilliant and the whole idea was superbly original and well constructed, whilst still making sense. That is becoming a very rare treat. The ‘conference call’ scene was a very good idea and looked brilliant, though it struck me as odd that if that technology exists the Doctor would have used it many times before. The whispering man at the beginning (Paul Kasey) was very odd and it did not sit comfortably with me at all that he knew so much about the Doctor, though admittedly he was a decent actor. The explosions within the T.A.R.D.I.S were unnecessary and unoriginal but did look good and the idea of bigger-on-the-inside technology leaking out on point of a T.A.R.D.I.S’ death appealed greatly to me. Moffat is excellent at installing emotion into characters and thus his audience but did toe the line of putting in too much humour. The paternoster gang are decent though did get distracting at times and I do hope that is the last we will see of them in this show. Though I would not complain about a spin-off to replace The Sarah Jane Adventures. Catrin Stewart (Jenny Flint) was brilliant though it irritated me that she was so easily resurrected. Trenzalore looked excellent and the mention of the Valeyard excited me greatly. I was also flooded with genuine fear and more importantly intrigue about the inside of the tomb. I was glad Moffat avoided giving the Doctor a corpse, though he seemed to spoil it by inserting Clara’s line “I’ve seen all eleven versions of you” when she has supposedly helped all past and future incarnations, suggesting after all Moffat’s efforts to suggest otherwise, that Smith is the last. It was very predictable that River Song (Alex Kingston) would open the tomb and that Clara would enter the ‘corpse’ of the Doctor, but her use of ‘Run you clever boy, and remember me’ almost made me as nostalgic as the Valeyard reference oddly. It was irritating that, as ever, the Doctor went to extreme lengths to save one person but I let that pass. I was also finally convinced of the romance between the Doctor and River, and I do eventually accept their relationship, though as soon as he begins flirting with somebody else I shall be furious. If this was indeed Kingston’s eventual exeunt it was brilliantly executed, especially with the line “Goodbye, sweetie”, which Moffat has no doubt had planned for years. The vague passing of each incarnation of the Doctor was also nice, particularly with how much the Ninth looked like Christopher Eccleston, though it was clear the first was not Hartnell. The insertion of the leaf at the end was irritating and unnecessary but the ending of the entire episode made up for it. Purely his one line showed off John Hurt (the Doctor)’s insane talent, and I was not expecting to see his face at all. This could take the 50th Anniversary special either way. It could ruin the whole show, or it could enhance it a million times. Either way, what with Hurt and David Tennant, the episode itself is sure to be brilliant.

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode 12 – Nightmare in Silver

Hmm. Neil Gaiman. One of the best writers Doctor Who has ever had. And yet Cybermen. One of the most boring and consistently disappointing enemies of the show. This episode could have either ruined Gaiman or saved the Cybermen. The plan was for the latter. The effect definitely wasn’t. Okay so it didn’t ruin Gaiman, the scripting itself was of course far above and beyond most Who scripts. But the episode itself. Well most people’s first comment seems to be how dire the children were. There is no denying the fact that, despite the BBC generally finding very good child actors, Angie (Eve De Leon Allen) and Artie (Kassius Carey Johnson) were really not the best. Though the former is a whovian so we could let her off. Beyond the stage where you let them off for being kids, they really let the episode down. Following the trend Jenna Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald) didn’t seem quite as on form in the episode and Webley (Jason Watkins) wasn’t brilliant either. Thankfully two saving graces came in the forms of Warwick Davis (Porridge), who while decent perhaps would spoil his character if he returned… and of course Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) who was absolutely amazing. His split personality was superbly portrayed, getting more subtle as it went on, and he was a joy to watch. Unfortunately the direction was distracting, and the new ability of the Cybermen to rush at high speeds was clearly pointless or at least underused. The idea of the disused Theme Park was an odd one that made me wonder what they were actually trying to do with the episode, but did work well nonetheless. Of course, as with most Cybermen stories, much of continuity was ignored. The children wouldn’t be able to ask for help once partially upgraded and the need for new ‘Cybermites’ was not there when Cybermats have already been remodeled for the new series… The Cybermen weren’t any scarier aside from perhaps the blanker faces, perfectly harking back to the classic era. Their constant spontaneous upgrades were silly and annoying, and it seems to me fairly obvious that they survived the end of this episode against the Doctor’s knowledge and thus will (unfortunately) return in (thankfully) this form soon enough. I would also suggest that Angie will at some point gain a position of power in some form or another, though that is largely irrelevant. I hope this episode will be more to my liking on second viewing, I have a feeling it might be, particularly as I was half asleep when watching it the first time. Nonetheless I have very high expectations for the finale of the series…

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode Ten – Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Well. Finally a TARDIS-based episode. The first in years, or even decades depending on how you look at it. And of course Jenna Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald) is still her impeccable self, blending excellently with Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor). The remaining small cast of this episode (Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver & Jahvel Hall.) were decent though admittedly nothing particularly special. It almost seems as if this is whither show-runner, Steven Moffat has been leading us with his references to swimming pools and libraries. It seems as if we may indeed be getting close to what he’s been hinting – answers to questions, asking of THE question, Fields of Trenzalore etc…
Despite this it would of course not be a Doctor Who episode without inconsistencies. Such as the ease with which the panel on the main console was removed, when it took a whole truck in Series One of the new series, and indeed changed lives with its power. That was a fairly large issue and won’t have been forgotten by any fans from 2005. What’s more, the TARDIS has a machine-making machine that can virtually do anything and surely could have solved more than half of the Doctor’s problems from his remarkably long life? The use of previous Doctors’ voices was nice and the encyclopedia of Gallifrey stirred the fangirl inside me, while it seems the book about the Time War could well lead us to Moffat’s plans for the 50th anniversary… this isn’t the last we’ll see of that book I’m sure. The time zombies or whatever they are called were made far scarier by barely being seen through the blurring and quick glances, and so annoyed me far less than I expected.
Smith was at his peak in this episode, he was really exceptional and I had genuine emotional investment in his character for the first time in a while. That’s not to say I didn’t feel bad for Clara when she was terrified by the idea of what she could become. Speaking of which, it seems that Moffat’s entering into the theme of memory again, and it is presumably through memory loss, or ‘leaking’ of the past and future that Clara appears so many times with no recollection of the Doctor. On the other hand, Clara learrned the Doctor’s name. She forgot it, but the Doctor has before said “nothing is truly forgotten.” Is it possible that River regenerated another time between ‘the girl in the spacesuit’ and Mels? Over all this was a good episode, well-scripted to the point that I held genuine (unusual) intrigue as to what the monsters were and such like. And of course there’s Jenna. Enough said.

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode Nine – Hide

Thank goodness. This series hasn’t entirely gone to the dogs. Finally a proper good quality episode. It begins as with all the others of this series, with an excellently directed and gripping pre-titles sequence, although it was clear right from the off that the two scientists (Dougray Scott & Jessica Raine) would have one of these typical, pointless sub-plot romance, though it turned out not to get on my nerves as much as they tend to. The pair were decent actors, and it struck me how excellently Scott appeared immediately more sinister having removed his glasses. Raine was more impressive however, with a good contrast between the sheepishness with Clara (Jenna Louise Coleman) and Alec (Scott), and the mayhem within her mind when wired up to the machinery. It did seem that Neil Cross forgot at times that empathics ‘hear’ feelings and not thoughts, but that can be allowed to slide since most of the episode was so flawless. Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) and Coleman are really finding their feet and work superbly together. What really made this episode though, was its sheer originality. It took the haunted hause genre and made it its own excellently, blending with the sci-fi elements of the show better than any of the ‘cinematic’ episodes this series. It also looked phenomenal. No episode is without its flaws and it seemed odd that nobody explained to Hila (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) what was going on once she ended up in the house, and what’s more, Jack Harkness died (albeit was resurrected) when traveling through the vortex on the outside of the TARDIS, a feat that the Doctor apparently completed without the slightest dizziness. Nonetheless this was an excellent story and by far the best of the series thus far.

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode Eight – The Rings of Akhaten

So it seems Steven Moffat’s got a little theme going. Opening sequences that do nothing for the show whatsoever but look amazing. The montage with the leaf and returning to different points in Clara (Jenna Louise Coleman)’s life was fun and cute but appears to be the only reason she waited another day to join the Doctor (Matt Smith), which is a little odd. Also, in what way does seeing Clara as a toddler aid either of them in any way? On a more positive note, it may have just been me but I was struck by how sharp the image looked in this episode, really high quality. What’s more, it’s nice to have a smooth TARDIS ride once in a while, without the hurtling and jerking though no doubt that will make a return soon enough.
In terms of acting. I have a feeling these two will never cease to amaze. The way Smith has subtly altered his character is superb. I even got the impression he was older or more weary, perhaps just wiser. But this he did excellently. Of course the ‘gold star’ goes to Coleman. This may just be the first time the companion has been a better actor than the Doctor, and that is really saying something when the Doctor is also such an excellent actor. In this episode, Emilia Jones (Merry Galel) is also very impressive considering her age and the fact that she was probably largely cast for her beautiful singing voice.
The episode itself – your typical second-of-the-series episode for Nu-Who, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The feel was almost identical to that of The End of the World as well as hints of The Beast Below, Gridlock and New Earth. The huge assortments of brilliantly looking aliens, the way Who aliens ‘should’ look, though it does seem odd that the TARDIS translation circuits fail to work on the majority of them. Speaking of things that didn’t quite make sense, I don’t see why the weight of the door should have any bearing on how difficult it is to hold up using sonic waves, nor indeed how sonic waves can keep a door up, though I have a feeling that may have been vaguely explained with some classic Nu-Who techno-babble. The short space-chase sequence seemed unnecessary and the Doctor’s claim that they “never walk away” is clearly a huge lie. But now I’m getting picky. In general the direction was o a good quality and Murray Gold’s score was as beautifully appropriate as ever. There didn’t seem much need for both the Vigil and the Grinch-like guardian, one would have done, if that, but still both looked good. All in all the episode seemed to go very quickly, so while it wasn’t especially enthralling, it was nowhere near ‘bad’, particularly on second viewing.

Doctor Who Series Seven Episode Seven – The Bells of Saint John

And so we’re plunged back into the world of Doctor Who. Or is it Sherlock? The classic apparition of text from a computer or mobile phone screen in front of the viewers eyes personally reminds me of nothing other than Sherlock and specifically its first episode, A Study in Pink. However this time, seeing as there are no intelligible words, it seems utterly pointless and adds nothing to the generally clichéd opening. The pointlessness continues with the scene of ‘the bells of Saint John’ after which the episode is named. The setting and the monks themselves look excellent and the scene screams quality direction and acting at you, but overall is entirely useless and distracting from the episode, much like the unneeded scene on the plane, which one gets the impression was only inserted for the sake of the trailers. Yet the episode is not all doom and gloom. The rays of light break through in the form of superb acting skill, namely from the incredible Jenna Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald). There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best actor the show has ever seen play a companion. She played a computer-freak Dalek from the future, a Victorian governess and now a gorgeous but bored young lady in our beloved 21st Century. And she doesn’t half play it brilliantly. Her versatility will be able to do so much for the show, and I shall not be surprised if it is her that keeps me watching this series.
Not all the acting was top notch, proven by the presence of Dan Li (Alexei), though this may be because he is so outshone by the famous Celia Imrie (Miss Kizlet), who seems good enough and then reaches into the superb category when granted the mind of a baby. Possibly my favourite scene of the episode was the touching moment with the jammie dodgers and the book, which brings forward not only Coleman’s adorableness but also the Doctor (Matt Smith)’s buoyant eagerness to help in any way he can. One more thing is that the Great Intelligence (Richard E. Grant) definitely seems likely to be taking a big role in this series and potentially pose is the main villain, if not in the series finale, in the 50th anniversary special. This could, I think, work quite well though it is a shame they could not gain Ian McKellan for longer.
Regular followers of this blog, though few and far between, will know how much I love to complain about insignificant ‘niggles’ that irritate me through an art form, but usually television. This episode was full of them. Back in Russell T. Davies’ days of running the show there would have been heaps of nonsensical jargon to explain why the TARDIS phone was ringing when disconnected, and that would satisfy me, but instead it is left to guesswork. Also, why the television cliché that typing extraordinarily fast and never touching the mouse means intelligence and knowledge of computers? It also strikes me odd that a 24 yr old woman in 2013 would know so very little about computers. That doesn’t sit well with me, she would surely know the basics of what twitter was and how to click the wifi button… or maybe that’s just me being naiive. The Doctor’s statement “I don’t take the TARDIS into battle” is quite clearly a huge lie, and not one of the Doctor’s deliberate ones, while his throwaway line “you know what I always say” is entirely out of place as, quite clearly, she doesn’t. What’s more, when Clara states that the fact the “security’s absolute” “doesn’t matter”, why does she then proceed to break through it with relative ease and access the webcams in the Shard? Though it must be said that despite the flaws in the actual scripting, Steven Moffat’s style of writing is truly unique and skilled. But back to the niggles. Why did Clara’s second upload take so much less time than her first? How did the Doctor gain control of the spoonhead? How did he know, all the way from the cafe, to increase the obedience setting?
As you have probably gathered, this was not my favourite of episodes, but it can’t be denied that it did have a good ‘feel’ about it and was relatively enjoyable to watch, largely due to how brilliantly Smith and Coleman work together and bounce off each other. We shall have to wait and see how long this dynamic will last…