Doctor Who 4/30.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp

[selenak]

In which Gareth Roberts fails at film history but wins at comedy fluff.



Okay, to get the thing that bugged me out of my system first: in 1926, the international film industry was thriving, big time. Yes, it's barely before the arrival of sound, but the possibility has been contemplated, and at any rate the idea her novels could end up on screen would have been nothing unusual for Agatha Christie, who would have recognized the term "talking pictures" as well. (As I said, even pre-Jazz Singer, people did wonder whether it would be possible.) Okay, end up nitpicking, since as with Roberts' Shakespeare episode last season, it's sort of pointless - you don't watch these eps for historical accuracy.

As a parody/pastiche of an Agatha Christie style mystery, it totally worked for me, with all the rules kept, down to the fake-out discoveries in the big library revelation scene until the real culprit is drawn out. And also, the giving of clues to the reader on the same level as the detective (the teddy bear in the room/nursery Donna discovers and "that poor child" all pointing to an illegitimate offspring), and a red herring (Lady Eddington). As a DW episode of comic relief between the emotional drama, it worked very well, too, with the Doctor and Donna continuing to be my favourite New Who double act. Lots of continuity references for a standalone episode, to the previous "writer" episodes, of course, The Unquiet Dead and The Shakespeare Code (C for Carrionites, indeed), but also to Tooth and Claw, with Agatha doing right at the start what Victoria did at the end of that episode, pointing out to the Doctor he's treating a real tragedy as an amusing adventure, and thus nipping that tendency at the bud, but also with the Doctor admiring the beauty of the monsters. (Which he did and does on a frequent basis, in both Old Who and New Who alike.) And to The Runaway Bride. Wilf mentioned Lance in Partners in Crime, but this is the first time Donna brings him up, and it figures it would be in the giant insect episode, commiserating with Agatha Christie about men who betray you, and consoling her that you do recover from that. Incidentally, as an explanation of Agatha Christie's famous disappearence, this is less likely but more fun than the film starring Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha and Dustin Hoffman as a detective finding her, and I approve of Ms. Christie and Donna jointly defeating our monster of the episode.

(Who of course is the Vicar, quoting Browning. Browning's famous "all's right with the world" quote from Pippa Dances which often serves as the incarnation of Victorian optimism has rarely been used better, because in the poem, while Pippa says this, there is a murder going on elsewhere.)

Lastly: the answer to Donna's "flapper or slapper" is of course that she is both! (Though it's been a while since she had to slap the Doctor...)

Comments

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

The Browning is a big ol' tip off. Only evil people ever quote that line. It quite ruined it a bit for me, since it's in the very first minute of the episode and I was all 'aw, the Vicar did it? Bugger.'

Anyway. It's really cute and awesome, we've watched it thrice. I was kind of hoping you might have more insight than I do as to what the 'this time it's Donna who drowns the bugs' ending means, since I think it is vaguely bad. It ties into a lot of other lines in the series thus far, like 'Being with you, I can't tell what's good and evil anymore', and thus Ten is generally becoming a bit better of a person by having her. So is this the otherside, that being with the Doctor always changes people and usually not for the better? It feels like a Theme.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

I thought that the biggest clue pointing to the Vicar as the villain was that he was the only one who wasn't lying about his alibi. That struck me as so odd I actually rewatched the scene: "And he's... actually unpacking. Huh." But of course, then I promptly forgot later. That's something very Christie - giving us the solution early on and then throwing so much other stuff at us that we forget. :-)

[butterflykiki.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that "talking pictures" reference with Agatha Christie *not* getting it threw me badly, wondering what was going on, but the rest was really fluffy fun. I liked Agatha quite a bit-- and I'm speaking as someone who adored her books for a good long time, until I got old enough to read and appreciate Sayers and Allingham. The constant title riffs kept throwing me out, but that was fun too, wondering what the next one would be-- did they manage to work in all 80 of them, I wonder?

Parts of this were so camp they were painful, with the long drawn-out revelation scene and the blurry flashbacks, but overall I still liked it, and I saw the ending coming a mile off, but still liked it. (I still wonder how the heck she got to Harrowgate without getting spotted earlier, though, in real life.) But overall, I was like Donna, appreciating this on an entertainment level while not expecting anything serious at all.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

There was also the ongoing "don't do that" joke--Rose's "Scottish" accent, Martha's attempt at Elizabethan English and Donna's awkward '20s slang all get the same treatment from the Doctor. This season, the references to past New Who seasons have been coming thick and fast. It's interesting.

*Loved* Donna's dress and hair.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

did they manage to work in all 80 of them, I wonder?

Here (http://pickwick.livejournal.com/513273.html#cutid1) are those that have been identified.

Parts of this were so camp they were painful, with the long drawn-out revelation scene and the blurry flashbacks

But these belonged to the genre.*g* As you say, this was just fun, a breather after the previous seriousness and before The Moffat strikes us with his scary stuff.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

One has to admit Donna having her own luggage with her pays off in terrific wardrobe choices this season.*g* And yes, I noticed the "don't do that" gag recurring again. Oddly enough, the Doctor didn't correct Mr. Copper when he did the reverse when talking about Earth customs in "Voyage of the Damned". *g*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Being with you, I can't tell what's good and evil anymore


Right and wrong, not good and evil, and I think that particular line needs to be quoted in context, because he then says "It's better that way, because people who do think they know all the time end up as Mr. Halpert" (i.e. the hair-obsessed evil capitalist of "Planet of the Ood"). Meaning the emphasis wasn't on "Donna's morals are getting ruined" but "you need to question your attitudes and convictions now and then, or you'll end up as an ideologue", which is as important for the Doctor himself as for Donna or any of his companions. (BTW, check out Neil Gaiman's newest blog entry, in which he writes Hamlet's monologue as the Tenth Doctor would express the same ideas!)

Donna drowning the bug: you're right, it could be thematically relevant, if you connect it to Fires of Pompeii where she puts her hand on the lever with him, but I'm not sure how much "Donna is now able to kill" will have a pay-off. I mean, Martha killed for the first time in "Evolution of the Daleks" to save the day (and a lot of creatures, too, and they did play out that moment, with her taking in she was now capable of doing this), but it didn't signify anything sinister for Martha later.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

True! I hadn't noticed that, but yes, he didn't lie during the alibi scene.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the line corrections. The context also plays into what I'm starting to scratch at, which is that I'm not sure Ten would have said that prior to current events. That was what actually struck me about seeing the line in context after it's prominent placement in all the trailers. It's a long way from 'The Christmas Invasion', at any rate.

I suppose it just feels like the two are too parallel to be non-significant. I'll wait and see how I feel based on the Moffat episodes. Presuming, of course, that the Moffat episodes have any tie in to the on-going arc, because the last two have basically been one-offs. Besides, I'm probably giving them too much credit for wanting to do the big moral lesson thing with Doctor Who.

(Re: Neil. It was hilarious! In my dreams, Neil wakes up tomorrow itching to write an episode of Doctor Who, sits down at the keyboard and slams one out just in time to be one of the gap year specials.)

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I wasn't as over the moon with this one as with the other episodes this season - a bit too slapsticky-hysterical in places for my taste - but the library scene was extremely well done, especially the whole thing with the Colonel in the beginning. And having the exotic lover actually be a gigantic wasp - what an idea!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Given Lance & the Empress of the Raccnoss, I have to ask: what IS it about giant insects that make them irresistable to Earthlings?

And now I think I must watch Black Orchid, which I haven't done so far and which is Old Who's take on the 20s golden age mystery genre.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

Given Lance & the Empress of the Raccnoss, I have to ask: what IS it about giant insects that make them irresistable to Earthlings?

I'm guessing the number of limbs... but yeah, DW does wonders for the genre of interspecies romance. Who wants a love tragedy with a giant ape if you can have arachnids and vespidae instead.

And now I think I must watch Black Orchid, which I haven't done so far and which is Old Who's take on the 20s golden age mystery genre.

Which Doctor?

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Yes, I said to my companion, "hang on, the vicar didn't lie about anything, did he?" Which big early clue is, as you say, rather typical of Christie. I always suspected that one reason for her success is that the reader can feel smug about having guessed it from the start, and the Doctor sort of said that when he admitted she'd only fooled him once.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Who wants a love tragedy with a giant ape if you can have arachnids and vespidae instead.

And cats who actually get a happy endings, don't forget those!

Which Doctor?

Fifth Doctor. In which Peter Davison gets to justify his costume by actually playing lots of cricket and there is fun Charleston dancing by Tegan and Nyssa, judging by what I've seen so far.

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Since I have neer read any Agatha Cristie I didn't get a lot of the in-jokes. But I still loved the episode. I watch tv to be entertained, not to be nit-picky about. There's enough in real like to be nit-picky about...

And since I've never read any of the books I totally missed how they hinted at it being the Vicar from the start.

I'm glad that NuWho is doing more historical figures. It was big in the Hartnell era but really faded out after that to a smathering of historical figres through the years...

[butterflykiki.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah, they did, which was also kind of fun, even if wince-inducing on some levels. And honestly, I grew up on those 80's Agatha Christie mysteries on PBS, with all *their* campiness, so this was just as much fun. Plus, the Unicorn was a woman, Agatha was fun, and the giant wasp was really entertaining.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Browning's famous "all's right with the world"

It's also a recurrent quote at the outset of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books, which are usually set in that idyllic country-house world (Edwardian in spirit, George Orwell called it), andI think the reference is intended, what with the butler being called "Breeves" and all that.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

The strange case of the dog in the night-time!