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And not wanting to feel left out, I'm also continuing to post reviews of Series 6 and Who DVD releases over at http://www.cathoderaytube.blogspot.com You'll also find lots of television and film goodness there as well as competitions to win books and DVDs.
Series 6 Reviews
Just in case anyone pops over here after the new series of Doctor Who starts, will we will be posting reviews of Season 6 over at Tachyon TV. There will be a single review every week and many of them will be written by authors who should be familiar to you from Behind the Sofa. You may also wish...
Thought this was by far the strongest script of the series this year. A really decent plot, if half-nicked from 'The Key to Time', and some pretty good performances from Daniel and Anjli and the supporting cast. They demonstrate here and in the previous story that given a good script the series can continue, dare I say it, without the lead actor. Not that I'd want that, I hasten to add. But when required, Clyde and Rani are clearly capable of carrying the series.
The future is brighter and now is the hour.
Stuart Ian Burns gets Sarah Jane Adventures: Lost In Time. One of the story ideas for the new series of Doctor Who which I’ve coveted over years but is unlikely to happen is for a good old fashioned pure historical, one in which the only sci-fi element would be the Doctor and his plus one. I kn...
Loved your review, Neil. I think I'm in agreement that the 12 regenerations limit would have made a bloody epic story in itself and would probably have provided a suitably magnificent excuse to then provide the Doctor with an extra life-cycle. Whatever! The line could easily be construed as a throwaway joke and we might get that epic we yearn for. It's all still possible in the upside down world of Doctor Who.
The real pleasure here was the gorgeous interplay between Katy and Lis. So lovely to see Manning back in the Whoniverse proper and not making a completely arse of it. And as you say the story pretty much summarises everything that RTD ever brought to the series, including plots that evaporate on the air. Like you, I found some of it really quite moving. But then, I'm a soppy old so-and-so.
Fansex
SJA: Death of the Doctor Review by Neil Perryman Watching Death of the Doctor was bloody hard work, mainly because I had to spend large portions of it shovelling backstory to my long-suffering wife. This was entirely my own fault: I couldn't stop laughing out loud whenever RTD lobbed another con...
It'll only go well if you buy it Damon. But thank you for being pleased on my behalf. It fair warms the cockles.
270 Pages (Approx) of Over-Analysis
Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens - Exploring the Worlds of the Eleventh Doctor Gratuitous plug time. Just when you thought the world was momentarily safe from 'scholar-fans' cluttering up the bookshelves with even more long-winded essays about the meaning of Matt Smith's fez, I'm afraid I'm ab...
Paul, postmodernism is what you make it as far as I'm concerned!
Glad you're cheered by this. Just think of it as a bumper version of the reviews I did on here for the last series. I can't guarantee good jokes but there will be food for thought.
Thanks!
270 Pages (Approx) of Over-Analysis
Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens - Exploring the Worlds of the Eleventh Doctor Gratuitous plug time. Just when you thought the world was momentarily safe from 'scholar-fans' cluttering up the bookshelves with even more long-winded essays about the meaning of Matt Smith's fez, I'm afraid I'm ab...
Much as I would love to review The Sarah Jane Adventures, I simply don't have the time at the moment. I am completing the book. This entails a lot of work to get it done on time and on schedule.
Alas, SJA reviews will have to wait along with the tons of other reviews that were lined up. So, yes, it's disappointing for you but if you find a way of cloning me then do let me know. I have 25,000 words that one of me could do whilst the other me watches SJA. Them's the brakes, I'm afraid.
270 Pages (Approx) of Over-Analysis
Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens - Exploring the Worlds of the Eleventh Doctor Gratuitous plug time. Just when you thought the world was momentarily safe from 'scholar-fans' cluttering up the bookshelves with even more long-winded essays about the meaning of Matt Smith's fez, I'm afraid I'm ab...
I'll go with that.
For what it's worth, I think the series can be read in many different ways. Granted, my own reading is from a particular point of view, primarily that of a gay man watching an episode written by a gay man about how some men are scared of leading their own lives. And they're anxieties that both straight and gay men can understand because of the way it's written to appeal to them both.
Perhaps Moffat's going for a 'metrosexual' agenda...
Oooh! Monkeys, monkeys!
Doctor Who: The Lodger Review by Frank Collins Christ, you can smell the testosterone from here. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's that new Lynx fragrance 'Monkeys, Monkeys'. Or the smell of omelettes. Ah, I wondered when we were going to get to this point. Let's face it, when you've got Messrs Mof...
'Vastly' over-intellectualising? 'Vastly'? Nah. Prefer 'massively'. Or how about over-intellectualisng of 'Brobdingnagian' proportions? That's a belter. :D
Oooh! Monkeys, monkeys!
Doctor Who: The Lodger Review by Frank Collins Christ, you can smell the testosterone from here. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's that new Lynx fragrance 'Monkeys, Monkeys'. Or the smell of omelettes. Ah, I wondered when we were going to get to this point. Let's face it, when you've got Messrs Mof...
'Infra-red' homosexuality! That means he could turn it on and off by remote control. :D
Oooh! Monkeys, monkeys!
Doctor Who: The Lodger Review by Frank Collins Christ, you can smell the testosterone from here. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's that new Lynx fragrance 'Monkeys, Monkeys'. Or the smell of omelettes. Ah, I wondered when we were going to get to this point. Let's face it, when you've got Messrs Mof...
I'd have to disagree. I found that there was a whole lot more in that episode that interested me beyond the genre conventions of sci-fi rom-com. The casting of James Corden himself simply begs for the kind of reading I gave it.
Oooh! Monkeys, monkeys!
Doctor Who: The Lodger Review by Frank Collins Christ, you can smell the testosterone from here. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's that new Lynx fragrance 'Monkeys, Monkeys'. Or the smell of omelettes. Ah, I wondered when we were going to get to this point. Let's face it, when you've got Messrs Mof...
Oh, yes. *Now hitting head on table*
Still, it makes Curtis' over-indulgence even more extravagant. Allowing the Doctor to create an entire time stream so that Vincent can tell Amy how hawt she is over the centuries. Yuk.
Ways Of Seeing
Doctor Who: Vincent And The Doctor Review by Frank Collins When Richard Curtis was announced as one of the writers for the new series I couldn't help but have some reservations. At worst, Curtis is indulgently over-sentimental as a writer and I did wonder what exactly the writer of The Vicar O...
Quite right. He was her son. And I said he was her son right at the top of the review and then changed that to brother later in the review.
Senility is setting in. Nurse, where's me tablets!
Don't Make Waves
Doctor Who: The Vampires Of Venice Review by Frank Collins As Stuart Ian Burns has already pointed out, in this week of political insecurity it's a relief that we can rely on something like Doctor Who to provide a salve for our troubles. But as the pre-titles of The Vampires Of Venice get unde...
Matthew, glad it's not just me then. Now the fuss has died down since 'The Eleventh Hour' debuted, I've had the same thoughts about the way this season has been structured. It does rather uncannily mirror that first RTD season and in doing that I agree there has perhaps been a slight aversion to going out on a limb and more of a concentration on changing the cosmetic appearance of the show.
And as you say we've got a rather good Doctor at the centre of it all.
Is 'Amy's Choice' this year's 'Father's Day' then I wonder?
Don't Make Waves
Doctor Who: The Vampires Of Venice Review by Frank Collins As Stuart Ian Burns has already pointed out, in this week of political insecurity it's a relief that we can rely on something like Doctor Who to provide a salve for our troubles. But as the pre-titles of The Vampires Of Venice get unde...
Hello, Lee!
Lovely to see you over here. Thanks for the comments about the review. Interesting ideas there about the power of stories in the season. It'll be fascinating to see if your hypothesis is borne out by the rest of the season.
Whilst I might agree that 'Victory Of Daleks' has some lovely ideas in it the script that contained them was begging for two episodes to properly explore them. What we got was clunky and messy.
And don't get me started about the re-design of the Daleks. If your entire episode is going to revolve around such a major change then you'd better make sure a)it's a bloody good episode and b)you don't cock up the design.
And that's my last word on the bloody Daleks.
Cry Me A River
Doctor Who: The Time Of Angels Review by Frank Collins The breathtaking thing about The Time Of Angels is how adroitly it switches tone several times throughout the episode without bending the entire narrative out of shape. The pre-titles, simulating much of the frisson of similar sequences ...
Yes, that whole notion about Mark Gatiss' episode was thrown into sharp relief with this. Here, the pacing was supporting the plot development and characterisation precisely because there was room to develop it over two episodes.
The Dalek story really did need to be longer to avoid the disjointed quality we ended up with and would have been all the better for it.
Cry Me A River
Doctor Who: The Time Of Angels Review by Frank Collins The breathtaking thing about The Time Of Angels is how adroitly it switches tone several times throughout the episode without bending the entire narrative out of shape. The pre-titles, simulating much of the frisson of similar sequences ...
Thanks for comments.
I was not personally suggesting for one minute that Islam actually is "the most powerful, most malevolent life form that evolution ever produced" but I'm sure most of us would agree that the so called ideological 'war on terror' being conducted by the West is directed at Islam. Islam is being 'demonised' by the West and vice versa.
I found it interesting to view the episode from that perspective despite, what I agree, are the negative connotations suggested by a reading of such imagery and references.
I'm sure if this episode went out 30 years ago then the ideology of the Cold War would be used as a comparable analogy.
There are probably just as many Christians who would equally disagree with your own chain of thought over the suggestion that Moffat is discrediting that faith, as satirical as it may be, with the episode's suggestion that the Christian Church defend itself using a team of crack troops, explosives and guns.
Interesting stuff...
Cry Me A River
Doctor Who: The Time Of Angels Review by Frank Collins The breathtaking thing about The Time Of Angels is how adroitly it switches tone several times throughout the episode without bending the entire narrative out of shape. The pre-titles, simulating much of the frisson of similar sequences ...
You're perfectly correct and I shall adjust immediately! Bit rusty on my war films, y'see.
Keep Buggering On
Doctor Who: Victory Of The Daleks A review by Frank Collins As the Doctor and Amy stand in awe of the Blitzed London cityscape before them, the Doctor utters the word 'history'. It's often contentious how the series uses history and the well known historical figures within it. Victory Of The D...
Exactly. The class structure of the Daleks is another affectation too far for me. I don't care if they're an homage to TV 21 or whatever it is. And then naming one Eternal because it sounds cool?
Never mind. Character Options will have pound signs in their eyes.
Keep Buggering On
Doctor Who: Victory Of The Daleks A review by Frank Collins As the Doctor and Amy stand in awe of the Blitzed London cityscape before them, the Doctor utters the word 'history'. It's often contentious how the series uses history and the well known historical figures within it. Victory Of The D...
You see, I didn't think it was at all clear. I was left very confused by that sequence of Amy in the voting booth. It needed a bit more clarity for me and until I'd seen it for the third time I was quite ready to go on a wild goose chase involving time loops!
Kindness Of Strangers
Doctor Who: The Beast Below Review by Frank Collins On a creaking island in space a school bell rings. A queue of children await the results of their tests. One boy, the Blyton-esquely named Timmy gets a zero and is effectively sent to hell by a frowning automaton. Or should that be sent to Co...
What a cracking review. A really good summary. Yes, I did wonder what the poor old Hath and Ood had done to become the galaxy's most wanted.
I am hoping we've got a 70s super-computer agenda going in the TARDIS. One that complements the sex toy agenda. Is it just a lighting effect or is it like...some kind of scanner? Whatever, it's purdy.
Me, I just don't want any more of that 'I'm chirpy but inside I'm hurting crap' that became so very worn out by Tennant in the end. No more 'I'm the Last Of The Timelords...boo hoo...I'm sad' stuff. It's over and done with. Just give me a bonkers Doctor and a companion who really doesn't want to get into his pants. That'll do me.
Up to Eleven...
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Review by Neil Perryman The opening sequence didn't exactly bode well for this so-called "new era" of Doctor Who. As an exercise in managing my expectations they couldn't have released a better clip if they'd tried. Within seconds I had been traumatised by Murray G...
Great bit of analysis there. The weird scanner thing at the end hadn't passed me by and it obviously does have some sort of significance.
Whether it's a lie detector is debatable. It's obviously registering something that he wants to keep to himself - something to do with the crack in the universe that he already knows about perhaps - and doesn't want her to see. That scanner is just an indication of the bigger story that's going on and in which Amy is already a part.
With that in mind, the whole idea of him protecting her is key perhaps. She's important to the time-line and he is shifty about the reason for taking her with him. He knows she's important in some way and as Moffat has hinted in DWM - he has a time machine and therefore will know how crucial she is to later events - and that is I suspect what is at the centre of the timey-wimey Moffat structure to the season.
14 Years Since Fish Custard
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Let's get one thing out of the way first. I do not think much of those new titles and the changes to the theme music. There, I've said it. Much as I love Murray Gold, and his work on The Eleventh Hour has some gorgeous new themes for the Doctor and Amy all whizze...
As in 'nurse-boy' rather than 'Doctor-man' perhaps?
14 Years Since Fish Custard
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Let's get one thing out of the way first. I do not think much of those new titles and the changes to the theme music. There, I've said it. Much as I love Murray Gold, and his work on The Eleventh Hour has some gorgeous new themes for the Doctor and Amy all whizze...
I think quite a bit of it is, particularly the sub-plot with the alien threat. But I also think Matt, Karen and Moffat do offer something a bit more refreshing with the new Doctor and Amy. And Adam Smith really pushes the look of the series more towards the cinematic rather than the glossy version of CBBC we've been watching the last five years.
You could also say that the start of the season mirrors that first RTD series - the next story takes us to the far future and the next back into the past with Daleks too. How Moffat executes these will be of greater importance I feel. Let's wait and see.
14 Years Since Fish Custard
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Let's get one thing out of the way first. I do not think much of those new titles and the changes to the theme music. There, I've said it. Much as I love Murray Gold, and his work on The Eleventh Hour has some gorgeous new themes for the Doctor and Amy all whizze...
The 'Gaviscon' title sequence! Love that because it perfectly sums up how I feel about it too. That's going to stay with me for the rest of the season now...a bit like acid indigestion, in fact! :D
14 Years Since Fish Custard
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Let's get one thing out of the way first. I do not think much of those new titles and the changes to the theme music. There, I've said it. Much as I love Murray Gold, and his work on The Eleventh Hour has some gorgeous new themes for the Doctor and Amy all whizze...
Hello, Lisa
Well yes, horror stories about title sequences!
I still haven't recovered from the logo used in the Sylvester McCoy era and certainly the theme arrangements by Messrs Glynn and McCulloch still send the wrong kind of shiver down my spine. But like all fans, we live with it because we're only really interested in the episodes. And I think we're in for a treat for this year!
14 Years Since Fish Custard
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Let's get one thing out of the way first. I do not think much of those new titles and the changes to the theme music. There, I've said it. Much as I love Murray Gold, and his work on The Eleventh Hour has some gorgeous new themes for the Doctor and Amy all whizze...
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