Dr. Who 3/29.07: 42

[selenak]

Given his Life on Mars episodes and this one - which isn't spectacular, but miles better than his Torchwood efforts - it seems C. Chibnall should a) always have a script editor and b) never be the headwriter of a show; then he's okay.

Also, bonus points for the Elvis versus Beatles quiz, which was my favourite bit of the episode, together with the way Riley pronounced "Be-atles".



I had seen Sunshine recently, but given that they must have shot this episode a while ago, I'll grant this was one source C.C. didn't intentionally rip off. Otherwise, we had echoes left, right and center, but never in a dull way, so I didn't really mind - after all, there was some good character stuff interspersed.

You can tell the Doctor really did abandon the "just one more trip..." attitude after Martha told him to cut the crap last time. Getting the "roaming" mobile at the start and the TARDIS key at the end were both lovely moments, and emphasizing the same thing; Martha as a fellow traveller instead of a casual aquaintance. Also, as in The Lazarus Experiment, he continues to show trust in her competence, which I just love. The most amazing thing was the admittance he was scared, though. Not that we haven't seen him worried, concerned or even scared before, but he doesn't admit to his companions. (Though given the gaps in my Old School knowledge, this remark probably invites someone tell me Five did so admit to being scared to Tegan/Turlough/Peri in episode....) And even though it was Chibnall-scripted and we all knew they'd be reunited by the end of the episode, that moment where Martha and the Doctor looked at each other through the glass of the escape had a certain pathos that got to me.

Meanwhile, the seasonal plot continues back on Earth, and we have a date for the last three or so episodes, methinks: Election Day. (Talk about unplanned coincidences: naturally this makes me associate Heroes.) Francine Jones gets a series of bewildering phone calls from her daughter and cooperates with the Saxon-ites; we don't know yet what exactly the Saxon minions told her, but I still think it has to do with Aedeola and/or the Doctor's habit of recruiting nice young women and the occasional guy who then disappear. All the same, we get a hint Francine doesn't trust them completely - her "just don't ask me whom I voted for" remark. No matter whether Saxon is who 3/4 of fandom thinks he is, he's clearly Up To No Good and would not be in the position to get elected if the Doctor hadn't high-handedly ended Harriet Jones' career. I love that. (Not that that he did it, but that there are consequences.)

But as I said, my favourite moment was the Beatles versus Elvis. Also that neither the Doctor or Martha knew the answer. That's why Martha's intelligence isn't Sue-ish but real - she's great in her era of expertise, she can improvise and she has the education to come up with random facts like the 14 lines of a sonnet, but there is no reason why she should know such a random bit of trivia, and she doesn't. (Incidentally, I would have guessed and made the wrong guess, Beatles fan that I am.)

(After having been snippy about Chipnall as a writer earlier, I have to admit this bit reminded me of my favourite bit of his last Life on Mars episode, to wit, time-travelling Sam Tyler when undercover as a smarmy yuppie introducing himself as Tony Blair, with wife Cherie and partner Gordon Brown. He can be amusing that way.)

Now: bring on Paul Cornell!

Comments

[gaspodex.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this one hugely, to be honest i'd be generally disapointed by this season - but this episode ran just right for me ...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Hm, the Dalek two-parter aside, I loved the season so far, especially Gridlock which became one of my all time Who favourites...

[gaspodex.livejournal.com]

I liked the last 10 mins of gridlocked - Its one of those episodes people seemed to love or hate ... But i stand by saying I've not been gripped by this season till yesterday ...

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

First off I'm glad they left Earth for an adventure.

I was surprised when the Doctor admitted to be scared. It's a bit out of character. Always so smugly-assuring no matter what the situation. So it was a jolt.

Martha is definitely being written well. She knows what she knows and, hopefully, won't become omniscient as the season progresses.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I liked the episode, but I found it played a little like a paler version of Impossible Planet/The Satan's Pit. Far flatter characterization for the guest characters and a general lack of depth, but definitely entertaining (and good call on the Doctor being scared and admitting it being unusual. He seems a little more vulnerable this season, less of a "lonely god."). And lots of adoration for Martha here, as well. I really liked Rose, but I've never simply enjoyed her as much as I enjoy watching Martha. She is very well thought out.

Can't comment much about CC, other than that I am vaguely prejudiced since I really don't like Torchwood in general. Which episodes did he write?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He wrote: Day One, Cyberwoman, Countrycide and End of Days. 'Nuff said.

Granted, Impossible Planet/Satan's Pit was a two-parter and thus had more time for set up, but even taking that into account, I'd say CC simply doesn't have the same knack to give the guest characters the same kind of depth.

This being said: there is one advantage here - no. Satanic. Demon. Perhaps "End of Days" got it out of his system?

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

He wrote: Day One, Cyberwoman, Countrycide and End of Days. 'Nuff said.

Ugh. I have seen only the first and the last of these, but I heard really horrible things about Cyberwoman.

As for Abadon... yeah. I think I would have loved it had they ended the season on Captain Jack Harkness, which is my second favourite Torchwood episode - right after the one with the three accidental time travellers - but no, they needed a stompy Ersatz Godzilla.

And The Beast certainly became far less effective once we saw him. His disembodied voice, now, that was almost as creepy as "Are you my Mummy?" And vaguely creepier even than John Simm tapping while in an oxygen mask.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

The haste certainly didn't help on characterisation, though clearly there was no way they could have done that concept in a two-parter. There were a couple of crew who got virtually no screen time before dying - the medic had time to establish herself, but the other woman was left with nothing but her little whinge about sometimes being told to make the tea, which had me thinking "You're going to fall into a sun in less than 40 minutes, and you're grumbling about tea-making?" If they'd wanted to get that in, they could have had her muttering "If I survive this, I'll never grumble about being left to make the tea again."

It would have helped, though, if the two eventual survivors had been actors I could tell apart when they weren't standing next to each other.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Or even "If I survive this, I will learn to stand up for myself and tell them to make their own sodding tea."

[owl]

Can't agree more on the advantage of Lack of Bloody Demon.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

The thing that jolted me was that Martha rang her mother about the Beatles/Elvis thing. I know it was because the plot required her to keep ringing her mother for the rest of the episode, but unless Francine happened to be the sort of person who specialised in pop trivia (or a Beatles fan, which was possible) I just didn't buy her being the first port of call. In Martha's place, I would have rung either a pop specialist who'd have had the answer straight off (I wouldn't have had a problem with her brother turning up in this role) or someone who'd be likely to be sitting in front of the internet already (she must know some geeks). Actually, if it had been Rose, I'd have said Mickey.

(Admission, not admittance.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I vote for Francine as a Beatles fan. She's the right age to have been one when the boys were actually still together, too!

But yes, I know it was a plot contrivance.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I'd have bought it if she'd said "Elvis, of course. Now, Martha, we really need to talk about this Doctor..."

[owl]

I saw a strong similarity to Sunshine too. What did you think of the film?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

1) Gorgeous visuals.

2) Oh, Danny Boyle. You're really into killing off most/all of your cast, aren't you? *remembers Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, not, mind you, in a complaining way; also, this particular story demanded everyone's death*

3) Oh, Danny Boyle. Your female characters are still generic and your male characters differentiated.

4)I can't believe how long it took for me to recognize Cillian Murphy, but okay, I only saw him in Batman Begins otherwise, and he really plays a very different character here (and well).

5) This crew reminds me a bit of that in Impossible Planet/Satan's Pit, only they had non-generic women...

[owl]

1) Gorgeous visuals.

Oh, yes. And a rather nice spaceship, although it did seemed to have suspicious gravity that I couldn't work out.

You'd think with only 2 female crew that they needn't have been the same person with 2 different actresses...though I did like Rose Byrne's character's line: There's an outbreak of testosterone on the comm deck. Shame she didn't really continue with that.