Dr. Who: The Runaway Bride
Dec. 26th, 2006 03:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn a word: Squeeeeee!
GALLIFREY! He said "Gallifrey". Out loud. On screeen. It does my Old School heart a world or two of good.
On to other matters: I think it was a great idea to have this transitional piece NOT introduce the new Companion, but to make it an adventure with a guest star/character who doesn't join the Doctor instead. I take it there were some worries about the actress, but since Teutonic me doesn't know her, I had no expectations one way or the other. Donna ended up as a fun character, and one I cared about; I appreciated that both actress and script made a point of her emotions being real, not cartoonish. She had a good rapport with the Doctor as well, both in the comedy scenes and the quiet, serious ones: you could feel the impact the killing-all-the-Rachna scene had on her - and watching the Doctor do this - before it got verbalized in the final scene. In which she was fabulous as well, and her decision not to take up the life of daily danger with a man who can and does what the Doctor did was all too understandable.
Sidenote: as I recall the most popular complaint re: the episode Tooth & Claw was that the Doctor and Rose were too lighthearted in front of people who had gone through terrible losses. I'm tempted to see Donna's earlier slapping the Doctor after asking him whether he's enjoying this as a repentant homage to this, especially since postTooth & Claw episodes of season 2 never made light of the guest star losses again (from Mrs. Moore to the Ood, they were all grieved for by one or both of our regular duo).
In terms of the overall story of the Doctor, I liked that the impact of the recent loss of Rose was there, but understated enough to be touching instead of anvilly, and not overweighing the overall adventure. David Tennant was in fine form, and I loved both his moments of Doctorish obliviousness ("nothing special about you") and compassion (when he tells Donna what Lance did to her). The showdown with the Empress of the Rachna (thinking of Arachne, I'm assuming that's how they are spelled) was a far cry from the hubristic one in The Christmas Invasion; I really appreciated that he did offer her genuine help first, and also that the script gave him several parallels (last of their kind, the Empress hooking Lance by offering him just what the Doctor offers each Companion) with the villain. And at the risk of repeating myself, the Gallifrey moment was just awesome.
Favourite scene overall, though: the Doctor and Donna watching the creation of Earth. There was a sense of wonder in this Christmas special which I found immensely appealing, and this scene encapsulated it.
GALLIFREY! He said "Gallifrey". Out loud. On screeen. It does my Old School heart a world or two of good.
On to other matters: I think it was a great idea to have this transitional piece NOT introduce the new Companion, but to make it an adventure with a guest star/character who doesn't join the Doctor instead. I take it there were some worries about the actress, but since Teutonic me doesn't know her, I had no expectations one way or the other. Donna ended up as a fun character, and one I cared about; I appreciated that both actress and script made a point of her emotions being real, not cartoonish. She had a good rapport with the Doctor as well, both in the comedy scenes and the quiet, serious ones: you could feel the impact the killing-all-the-Rachna scene had on her - and watching the Doctor do this - before it got verbalized in the final scene. In which she was fabulous as well, and her decision not to take up the life of daily danger with a man who can and does what the Doctor did was all too understandable.
Sidenote: as I recall the most popular complaint re: the episode Tooth & Claw was that the Doctor and Rose were too lighthearted in front of people who had gone through terrible losses. I'm tempted to see Donna's earlier slapping the Doctor after asking him whether he's enjoying this as a repentant homage to this, especially since postTooth & Claw episodes of season 2 never made light of the guest star losses again (from Mrs. Moore to the Ood, they were all grieved for by one or both of our regular duo).
In terms of the overall story of the Doctor, I liked that the impact of the recent loss of Rose was there, but understated enough to be touching instead of anvilly, and not overweighing the overall adventure. David Tennant was in fine form, and I loved both his moments of Doctorish obliviousness ("nothing special about you") and compassion (when he tells Donna what Lance did to her). The showdown with the Empress of the Rachna (thinking of Arachne, I'm assuming that's how they are spelled) was a far cry from the hubristic one in The Christmas Invasion; I really appreciated that he did offer her genuine help first, and also that the script gave him several parallels (last of their kind, the Empress hooking Lance by offering him just what the Doctor offers each Companion) with the villain. And at the risk of repeating myself, the Gallifrey moment was just awesome.
Favourite scene overall, though: the Doctor and Donna watching the creation of Earth. There was a sense of wonder in this Christmas special which I found immensely appealing, and this scene encapsulated it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-26 11:16 pm (UTC)Glad the new companion was not introduced here.
We got to see both light-hearted Doctor and serious-Doctor. We need both of them for a complete Doctor.
I was wondering how long it would take to mention Gallifrey. I was wondering if there was some kind of copyright problem there that he couldn't mention it.
So Rose got to see the end of the Earth and Donna got to see the beginning of the Earth.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 05:46 am (UTC)Yes, we do.
So Rose got to see the end of the Earth and Donna got to see the beginning of the Earth.
That was a neat symmetry, wasn't it?
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 05:49 am (UTC)How on earth did you sort the preview into eps?
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 05:58 am (UTC)What do the Sarah Jane Adventures look like? I rather like the idea of those.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 09:33 am (UTC)According to the subtitles, the Empress's race are known as the Racnoss.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 02:52 pm (UTC)I also thought of Tooth and Claw and how it was too bad that Donna wasn't there to give them both a good slap.
And yes, SQUEEEE, that the Doctor is back. A more serious Doctor. I liked Donna's observation that he needs someone to make him stop.
Its funny, at one point I began to wonder who the actress was that played the Empress. All that yelling she had to do. Well, it was none other than Sarah Parish, who played David Tennant's love interest in Blackpool. What a funny role for her.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 06:28 pm (UTC)