Dr. Who - a show for the truly decrepit

[Nuala]

Late due to not getting back from same convention as Warnersister until Monday, and being out for a job interview all day today:

Begin:

The first two-parter of the series - and the difference in pacing was immediately obvious. Although still character-heavy, the plot was stronger and coming out at a steadier rate, allowing for more of a build-up of tension until the cliffhanger.

As far as the villains go, Roger Lloyd Pack seems to be firmly intent on a Davros impression. It's a pity, really, since we know from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that he can be more menacing than that (although I'm still going to be interested in seeing him and David Tennant on the same screen again smile ).

The Cybermen themselves did their job: they strike a fine enough balance between human and inhuman to come across as unsettling (especially after their creation sequence). But I can't help agreeing with everyone who's said that the constant "Delete! Delete!" seems to be turning them into Dalek clones. Surely the writers on a show this successful're paid enough to be motivated into some more original dialogue?

I have to say that after Father's Day, I was somewhat surprised to see Rose determined to chase after Peter again.

It only served to highlight the contrast between Rose and Mickey and the basic unfairness of the way that the Doctor deals with them both. Mickey has a degree of tech-savvy, seems level-headed and - as long as he doesn't listen to Rose - seems capable of learning from his mistakes.

Rose, on the other hand - for all RTD and even Father's Day writer Paul Cornell claimed that the aforementioned episode was "Rose's journey" and a form of resolution - seems incapable of learning from any of her mistakes, be it trying to alter reality or just refusing to stay where she's put.

And Mickey's right: it doesn't matter what he does, because apparently unless he's willing to make a Captain Jack of himself and make a pass at the Doctor, he's not even half as interesting as a Rose who'll hang off the Doctor's every word like a fourteen year old chasing a boyband (even though she's apparently as interesting as a old pair of slippers, until something newer and shinier shows up).

(I'm assuming that some considerable time's passed since the events of The Girl in the Fireplace, if only from the lack of tension between everyone - although Rose throwing a minor hissy fit over the Doctor and "Laura" proves that she hasn't forgotten.)

From the moment that we saw the Doctor and Rose giggling away to themselves like school "cool kids" cliques in the corners of playgrounds everywhere, it was obvious that Mickey was getting a rougher ride than his usual role as on-off security blanket until Rose meets yet another bloke with his own transport and a bigger screwdriver. I'd quite like the poetic justice idea of the whole mess being caused by the Doctor forgeting that Mickey was there.

As with last week, once Rose was out of the picture, the Doctor and Mickey seemed to be having reasonable conversations. But only when he had no other options.

The scenes at the Tyler mansion were emotional in the sense of watching Rose realise that somewhere her parents were - if not happy - literally "better off" without her around; but she's such a spoilt brat at the moment that it felt more like a case of just desserts to see her reduced to (no catty comments, please) a dog.

(As in their previous out-of-time meeting, Peter feels an instant connection with her, whilst Jackie shows exactly where Rose gets her charming character flaws from. Nice touch - almost makes you wonder how well Jackie and Rose'd get on if she'd had the option of turning to Peter when she was growing up, doesn't it?)

Maybe Rose suddenly realising how much Mickey's been pushed into the background will be some sort of epiphany. The series seems to be taking what I'd say is a real risk for its timeslot and target demographic - namely, for all their depth of character, regularly making its two leads distinctly unsympathetic.

Mickey's finally getting backstory - which we all know is the Doctor Who equivalent of buying a farm, getting engaged and being two weeks away from retiring (all at once). What's more, it's a highly sympathetic one, which shows Rose in an even worse light than before for stoking insecurities that she's well aware of.

(I suppose that her mention of his mother having taken off years ago could mean that her "I'll have to tell his mother he's dead!" in Rose was trepidation at realising that she'd have to track Mrs. Smith down - but who knows?)

It seems that Mickey could easily meet one of two fates: getting turned into spare parts, or else having found a vision of the "something better" he could be and a second chance with his grandmother, replacing Ricky in the event of his double's disappearance.

If the talk of Noel Clarke leaving the series really is true (and the flashes of next week's episode during Confidential are as ominous as they look), then the series is going to lose possibly the most down-to-earth character it's got - the bridge between the Sex and the TARDIS (RTD said it, not me!) leads and the burlesque bathos of Jackie Tyler.

I know that it probably looks from the amount of nit-picking I'm doing as though I'm not enjoying the series, which isn't exactly true. It's generally fun to watch, and even episodes with downsides're fun to dissect.

It's obviously building up to something, and with the amount of reference to previous events, there's a jigsaw element there that I can't resist trying to put together at times.

I only hope, with all of the OOC oddness and strange directions flying about, that the pay-off is going to be worth it.

But I have to be honest: as much as I respect the quality of the writing for what it is and I don't mind character development, I wish that we could give the whole Doctor/Rose star-crossed adolescent angst a rest, cut out the sexual tension and get back to the sci-fi action taking centre stage for a while.

(And two Torchwood references for the price of one! Whee! stare )

End  

[Warnersister]

VelouriaDS

This week's episode was definately a bit more dark than I've ever seen Dr Who become before. I mean wow. And yeah, that song has a very different effect on me these days also.

I guess occasionally there can be a traditional Dr Who cliff hanger ending after all. smile Waiting for the rest...

At a panel I was at last week, someone asked one of the Who writers, Paul Cornell, whether he thought the new format of packing everything into one episode made it rushed. Mr Cornell said he thought not, thought that the four episode arc format had a lot of filler in it; and that the new stuff was just leaner, but not rushed.

I think most of the room agreed with the questioner, rather than Mr Cornell. There probably was *some* padding in the old episodes, but there have been so many cases when one episode could have done with being split into at least two. I think it's no coincidence that some of my favourite episodes have been two-parters.

Right, I'm off to see if the local shop has any jelly babies before the Doctor begins...

DW  

[jellysundae]

as i mentioned before i missed the first part of this episode, but i thoroughly enjoyed the second half, dark indeed and quite soul tearing at times and with a definite twist in the tail involving Mickey! that certainly suprised me anyway 3nodding  

[Alleira]

I missed the Doctor this weekend, but it's OK, I can still see the second half of Cybermen on Friday... In the meantime, here's a cute thing I found -

 

[Velouria Dragoon]

alleira

I missed the Doctor this weekend, but it's OK, I can still see the second half of Cybermen on Friday... In the meantime, here's a cute thing I found -

OOOH, Oh oh oh oh ooooooh!!! Where did you get that cute little guy? I want one too. (wow, I just called a dalek cute... something's wrong... But I still want one. xd )  

[Alleira]

I know - I called him cute as well... lol He's a freebie from Feebleminds - they just ask that you upload their images to your own Photobucket, etc., account. Have fun! xd  

[CosmicHedgehog]

omg! he is the cutest little thing! heart Thanks for posting where to get him. biggrin  

[Nuala]

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[Alleira]

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[Montana Nixx]

Your bringing back memories LOL Id as soon forget, do you KNOW how cheesy the stuff we HAD to watch was compared to what we watch today?? LOl  

[Poppetta]

another highly enjoyable episode this week, i'm glad that i'm getting to see more of this series than the last, they've all been very good, interesting story lines, great effects, nice touch of humour, can't complain about any of them really 3nodding  

[Alleira]

[spoilers]This week's episode again was very satisfying - not as sinister as the two-parter Cybermen, but I don't think I could have taken that level of darkness for a third week in a row, anyway! This was the the kind of episode that bases its unsettling factor in a world we are familiar with, in this case, a cosy 1950s British backstreet where preparations for the coronation are taking place, then the "but what if" element comes along and shakes it all up good style! Good characterisations by the actors playing the mother and father (can't remember his name and too lazy to look it up - but he usually plays an East End gangster...), and Maureen Lipman was a great evil alien inside the telly-box! Some nice, fun touches, throwaway lines - the Doc and Rose looked cool in their 50s gear, racing around on a scooter (she asked if he'd passed his test!), and I loved that the families lived on Florizel Street, which was the original name for Coronation Street. There was also a moving re-affirmation of the strong bond between the Doctor and Rose. Great stuff![/spoilers]  

[Nuala]

I'm hopefully going to be watching The Idiot's Lantern on Friday, if I'm back from London in time. With a bit of luck, I can get some comments in before the next episode airs. smile  

[Velouria Dragoon]

Idiots lantern was good. I think this was an episode that coud benefit from being turned into two parts. It would have been nice to learn a bit more about who and what the Wire was, as well as building up some of the suspense as to what was happening. It all happened rather neatly and quickly for me. Being crammed into one episode ruined some of the suspense.  

[Nuala]

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