Doctor Who Project - "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways"

And here we go the first series finale in the new series era and the team find themselves waking up in futuristic versions of current TV programmes: The Doctor in Big Brother, Rose in The Weakest Link and Jack in What Not to Wear only something's different  (aside from the robot programme hosts), these are TV shows where the winner gets to live!

There's also something else that's familiar, the Gamestation itself. We've seen it before and The Doctor knows he's been there before it's Satellite 5.

The Doctor escapes the Big Brother House with his fellow housemate Lynda with a Y (aka Tanya with a Y from Eastenders) whereas Jack escapes his programme by using a well hidden mini gun - not going to guess exactly where it was hidden. Rose however isn't so lucky and gets shot by the Anne-droid after losing out in the final of The Weakest Link. However as we find out later Rose isn't dead, she's merely been transported (What confuses me about this is how the Anne-droid manages to clearly destroy the Daleks later on and not transport them?) to the Dalek mothership.

Saving Rose by landing the TARDIS around her he then sends her back to 2005 whilst he and Jack work on a bomb that will destroy everything living within the area. Not content with being left out of proceedings Rose tries her best to think of a way to return, figures out that Bad Wolf is a clue and decides that staring into the heart of the TARDIS would  be a good idea. Hang on a min didn't the last person to try this revert back to being an egg?! Far from turning Rose into a 5ft egg the TARDIS gives Rose super powers complete with glowing eyes kinda like how Jean Grey turns into the Phoenix in X-Men. Rose aka The Phoenix then goes onto destroy the Dalek empire and save the day but of course people shouldn't look into the heart of the TARDIS and it's killing her. The Doctor being the guy he is absorbs all the energy from Rose, being a Time Lord won't save him from death though but of course The Doctor has a little trick up his sleeve regeneration and it's the first regeneration of the new series. This also means the end of the 9th Doctor which is a shame because I love Eccleston's Doctor and I feel given another series or 2 he would be just as loved as Tennant, Baker, Davison et al. In his own words  he was 'fantastic'.

This series finale will mostly be remembered for the 9th-10th regeneration (as well as being the first series finale of the New Who era) but it can also be remembered for being a half decent series finale too. Unlike the series finales to come it's not a big sprawling epic that has to be bigger and better than the previous one (although to be fair there is no previous series finale in the new era) and that's why I like these 2 episodes. Fantastic!

Doctor Who Project - "Boom Town"

Continuing the hit and miss theme for this series we've had a great episode so therefore we must follow it with dross. And dross we get with the return of the Slitheen. Really RTD do we really need to see Slitheens again?! Ok we only get one survivor from 'World War Three' in the form of Blon but it's enough.

The TARDIS crew find themselves in Cardiff (again, this time in modern day) in need of a quick fuel stop using the rift (that we last saw in The 'Unquiet Dead') to charge the TARDIS. Hmm Cardiff, rift, Captain Jack I smell a spinoff. Whilst they're in town Rose invites Mickey to come join them and it's when they're all together that they spot a familiar face on the front of the Western Mail (also familiar to me having spent my university years in Wales), good old Blon Slitheen, the new mayor of Cardiff.

This episode is pretty much filler but does serve an important purpose in the overall series story arc. Firstly it flags up the words Bad Wolf for all that had missed them in earlier episodes with The Doctor saying he's heard those words before and that they've been following him. Secondly we see the heart of the TARDIS.

Long story short, not a fan of this episode but it is better than the last time we saw the Slitheen and best of all RTD kills them off as Blon reverts back to being an egg after staring into the heart of the TARDIS meaning that she'll get the chance to re-live her life and hopefully grow up to be a better person well a better Raxacoricofallapatorian at least.

And it's whilst dropping off the newly re-born egg at Raxacoricofallapatorius that The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack find themselves in a familiar place.....

Doctor Who Project - "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"

Been a few weeks since I last caught up with some Eccleston Who and then I watch 4 episodes at once. As such these reviews are going to come like buses ie 3 at a time!

Just like 'Dalek' these are one of the standout stories of the series and demonstrates just how good Doctor Who could be in the right hands. In fact re-watching the series like this series 1 could potentially be the best series since it's return, well in RTD's era anyway. It's funny I should mention RTD (Russell T Davies) as it's his successor as series runner Steven Moffat that is the writer of this cracking 2 parter. It's also the first 2 parter since the disappointing 'Aliens of London'World War Three' (featuring the God awful Slitheen), showing how it's supposed to be done.

The Empty Child starts off a frantic pace, latching onto a mauve (red is camp apparently) distress signal The Doctor and Rose find themselves in wartime London 1941 during an air raid. Rose immediately gets swept up by an air balloon whilst The Doctor asks if anyone has heard a big bang recently (to laughter) before the air raid sirens start to blare. Like I said frantic start!

The story then shifts pace with The Doctor stumbling across the heart of the story the 'empty child', a creepy little boy in a gas mask asking everyone he meets "are you my mummy?". The 'empty child' seems to be stalking a young lady named Nancy who seems to be World War 2's answer to Robin Hood, robbing food from those who have aplenty to feed the young homeless orphans of London. Why is it that she won't let the strange little gas masked in whilst other children (including a new member to the party as we're advised) are free to enjoy the food? Well the answer according to Nancy is that this isn't a normal little boy, he's empty.

In the meantime Rose bumps into an exciting new swashbuckling action hero Captain Jack Harkness. Wonder if we'll see him again? ;)

Captain Jack appears to be an antithesis of The Doctor, a character who is happy to solve problems with guns and flashy technology. Rose seems suitably impressed at least, then again he did save her life then flirted within an inch of his life with her. Jack also reveals that the ship they followed was sent by him to lure the Time Agency so he could blackmail them and that it is to be destroyed by a German bomb in several hours.

The Doctor in the meantime is introduced to the err Doctor. The Doctor in this case is Victor Meldrew/Merlin's mentor who shows The Doctor his patients who all have the same curious symptoms (the same as the eponymous 'Empty Child'). Victor Meldew then develops a gas mask for a face and asks The Doctor is he is mummy. Rose and Jack enter shortly before all the patients come to life and advance on our heroes. What a cliffhanger!

 The time travelling trio escape after The Doctor gives them all a stern telling off, telling them to go to their room! The rest of the episode follows on with more fast paced action with the team running from the 'Empty Child'. After escaping they are lead by Captain Jack to the crash site. The ship that Captain Jack used to lure The Doctor and Rose is an ambulance full of the nanogenes used earlier to heal Rose's rope burnt hands. Also at the crash site we find Nancy and it is revealed that the 'Empty Child' is her little brother Jamie (great name by the way). The Doctor knows this isn't quite true though, Jamie is Nancy's son. She is the mummy that he's searching for. Here lies the answer and solution to the story. The Doctor gets Nancy to reunite with Jamie and confirm that she is his mummy, the nanogenes reconfigure his DNA rewriting the gas masked DNA and replacing it with the accurate superior DNA saving Jamie and all his victims. As The Doctor says "just this once, everybody lives".

In fact everyone does live, as Captain Jack is saved from certain death trying to dispose of the bomb and welcomed aboard

This episode has everything you required of a classic Doctor Who episode: a creepy monster, action, running, plenty of running, a twist, references to previous stories (psychic paper was first seen in the 2nd Doctor's era) and of course great writing. Upon re-watching these episodes I think that they are better than 'Dalek' and the best in the series in fact one of the best stories since the return of Doctor Who in 2005. Steven Moffat will repeat this in other New Who classics 'The Girl in the Fire Place', 'Blink' and 'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead' before succeeding Russell T Davies as head writer. I just hope that when he relinquishes his control of the show that he still writes the occasional episode as most of the best New Who stories have come from his pen.

In Moffat we trust.

Doctor Who Project "Father's Day"

Episode 8 'Father's Day' sees Rose asking The Doctor if they can travel back to 1987 to see her Dad in his final moments. With a nod back to the 1st episode 'Rose' The Doctor suggests it's funny that she turned him down when he advised they can travel anywhere in the universe but the second he says he can travel in time she's onboard and to be careful what you wish for.

We arrive in 1987, witness Pete Tyler's death then Rose asks The Doctor if they can try again. Stupidly The Doctor agrees and this time Rose runs out to save her Dad's life changing time and creating a paradox.

Being a massive Back to the Future fan I couldn't help but draw parallels between this episode and the greatest film franchise known to man. Firstly a man who should have been run down by a car is saved, secondly time is changed OK in BTTF an alternative reality is created with Biff running Hill Valley as opposed to time eating bats.

This episode is all about families which is a bit of familiar theme with Russell T Davies' Doctor Who output. Once again it isn't The Doctor that saves the day but a regular person (OK someone who shouldn't be alive anyway) although The Doctor does sacrifice himself before Pete does. Following Pete's sacrifice order is restored including the return of The Doctor. Rose gets to say her goodbyes to the father she never knew (well not until a few hours earlier) and in doing so does subtly changes the past as Jackie tells a young Rose that Pete was run down by a young man who waited with them until the Police arrived (not a hit and run driver) along with an unknown girl who waited by Pete's side until he died.

This episode was OK, better than the last but not the best in the series. Next up the Stephen Moffat written 2 parter 'The Empty Child'/'The Doctor Dances'. Possibly the best 2 episodes of the series (and one of the few 2 parters in the RTD era that doesn't start off promising then fails to deliver in the 2nd half).

Doctor Who Project - "The Long Game"

Following on from the excellent 'Dalek', 'The Long Game' sees new 'Adam joining the TARDIS crew and travelling with The Doctor and Rose to the year 200,000. Here we find the happy time travellers aboard Satellite 5, a space station that broadcasts or more accurately manipulates the news (RTD's spin on manufacturing consent?) and The Doctor knows something's wrong. Turns out humanity is being shaped (via the news broadcasted) by The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (Yes I did Google it!) and The Editor from Floor 500 and has setback mankind's progress 90 years.

This episode is one of the hit and miss episodes in series 1 and is basically just a setup for the later episode 'Bad Wolf'. It's a bit of a filler, not the worst episode but far from the best. The one thing I love about it is how it demonstrates human greed and how a choice in companion can go so drastically wrong. Adam sees the wealth of information available to him in the future and decides it would be a great idea to send this information home via Rose's mobile and an answering machine in 2005. And of course he does this by getting an implant installed despite The Doctor advising him that it's outdated technology that doesn't exist in this time. Of course this comes back to bit him in the arse with information on The Doctor and Rose's identity being extracted from Adam's implant. What's interesting about this episode is the fact that it's not The Doctor who saves the day but a normal person. Even more interesting is that it's done via the same device that got them into the predicament (ie the implant).

With the day saved The Doctor drops off Adam back at his Mum's house (maybe the TARDIS isn't big enough for 2 Mancunians?) leaving him with a stern telling off and an embarrassing secret exposed with a click of the fingers.

Doctor Who Project "Dalek"

Here it is. They couldn't bring back Doctor Who without him running into his old nemesis at some point during the series. The funny thing is the good Doctor actually comes face to face with another adversary before being reunited with an evil pepper pot. No I don't mean the stuffed Slitheen arm. I'm  referring to the Cyberman head in Van Statten's space museum (Ooh we've been here before haven't we? William Hartnell anyone?).  Best of all it's a real Cyberman ala The Invasion onwards not one of these parallel universe, Trigger from Only Fools & Horses designed Cybermen (Oh wait those haven't happened yet - spoilers). A nice little nod to the classic series there.

It's not long before The Doctor and Rose are surrounded by security guards and after showing off his musical skills The Doctor is invited to have a look at Van Statten's prize exhibit (in order for him to coax it into speaking). And because The Doctor is such an expert it doesn't take him long to do so. Well actually because it's The Doctor he stumbles into the situation, announcing his name to his greatest enemy which of course arouses it, cue "exterminate, exterminate (squee)". However this Dalek is a bit FUBAR'd having fallen out of space and time, left to rot for at least 50 years then routinely tortured. Only fair that Rose should land a hand and in a fashion we will come to expect in the RTD era here comes some mumbo jumbo explanation although as far as that goes it's not too far fetched. I mean it's hardly magic potions to bring back dead characters!

And with a little help from a time traveller the Dalek comes back to life, regenerates itself (after suckering a guard to death! To be fair he did ask for it.) and then kicks arse. One Dalek verses the world and if the Doctor wasn't around you know it would win too. It's funny actually because The Doctor doesn't really do much to resolve the problem other than shout out stats and wave a big gun at the Dalek (so much for him showing mercy). It's really up to Rose to save the day and she does so in the best possible way by reasoning with the Dalek. Without the special connection made by her touching the Dalek though she would've been toast the second Todd from Coronation Street left her behind. No real Dalek would've let her try to talk her way out of it, they would've exterminated her on the spot but this is a touchy feeling 'modern' Dalek having been mutated by Rose's DNA.

I love how this episode demonstrates just how bad ass Daleks are (especially when they're not reliant on Davros!!), I mean just one Dalek takes down a whole military base. The whole electrocution scene just shows how intelligent and ruthless they are. I also love how parallels are drawn between The Doctor and his mortal enemy, last of their species, alone in the world and have no qualms in killing the other. After all the Dalek remarks that The Doctor 'would make an excellent Dalek'.

One last thing that I love about this episode is that it finally puts to rest all the jokes about Daleks being defeated by a flight of stairs (although Remembrance of the Daleks did the same thing 17 years earlier). Just a shame that RTD has a thing for spectacular series endings, oh well that's yet to come.

PS spotted the Bad Wolf (it's the helicopter coming in to land) in this episode.

Doctor Who Project - "Aliens of London/World War Three"

I've made no secret of the fact that I have not been looking forward to watching this two parter (mostly because of the awful Slitheen) and as such I've been putting off my review. I'm even procrastinating now by watching videos on YouTube instead of writing this! Ok gonna knuckle down and get through this even if I keep it short and sweet or it takes me hours to write it.

Like the other episodes I've seen so far this has fared better 2nd (or is it 3rd or 4th? Poss more?) time around. They're not a patch on the previous 3 episodes but I knew that coming into it and as such I guess my expectations were lowered because I honestly didn't think these episodes were as bad as I remembered. Ok the Slitheen are still crap. They look awful, the fart jokes are cringeworthy and their whole reason for being on Earth is just stupid. What saves this story however is the Doctor and Rose's performances as well as the introduction of Harriet Jones and of course RTD's exploration of how the human race would cope with an alien invasion (turn to weapons and then pass it off as a hoax afterwards appears to be the answer). Oh and then there's Rose's Mum Jackie grilling the Doctor over the phone, asking if Rose is safe travelling with the Doctor. The Doctor's expression and the fact that he never really answers the question speaks volumes especially for any viewers of the classic series (as well as possibly being foreboding?).

Overall the two episodes were very meh. The Slitheens are very forgettable and luckily they only really pop up once more before finding their home in The Sarah-Jane Adventures. Two things that I found myself thinking during this story were "save the clock tower" when Big Ben is hit during the crash landing and are Mickey and Jackie going to get it on? Honestly the sexual tension between those two in Mickey's flat is unbelievable, you know if this wasn't a family programme they would have got it on!

Doctor Who Project - "The Unquiet Dead"

After a great start to the series, Doctor Who shifts gears with a time travelling episode into the past. Of course older viewers will be familiar with The Doctor's inability to get the TARDIS to where he wanted to go  (or as the TARDIS says in Neil Gaiman's wonderful episode 'The Doctor's Wife, "I always took you where you needed to go. ") with The Doctor and Rose ending up 9 years and several thousand miles away from 1860 Naples, 1869 Cardiff to be precise where they encounter animated corpses, Charles Dickens and Gwen from Torchwood (ok Eve Myles has actually played that part yet and the show does make a cheeky comment about her likeness to this character in a later episode.

I love how this story delves into the past like so many classic Doctor Who stories of the past (eg The Talons of Weng Chiang). I also love how it plays with the idea of using famous people from history (in this case Charles Dickens) and how this episode could be consider one of those hide behind the sofa moments as the Gelth cross over and start to invade bodies which turn on Rose and The Doctor.

Speaking of The Gelth they kinda remind me of The Vardans from 'The Invasion of Time' only looking a million times better (although the CGI Vardans on the DVD release don't look too bad). They also provide another glimpse at the time war and how it effect other beings. Oh and there's also the mention of Bad Wolf. I have to admit I completely missed all the clues on first viewing and have still missed them in the first 2 episodes but definitely caught this one this time around.

So all in all a great episode. Not looking forward to the next two though, The Slitheen were awful on first viewing nevermind repeat viewings.

Doctor Who Project - "The End of the World"

So onto episode 2 and we jump to the year 5 billion and it's Earth's final hour before the sun expands and engulfs it. The Doctor and Rose find themselves onboard a space station orbiting the planet so that the great and the good (ie the rich) can witness the Earth's destruction. Of course because it's Doctor Who you know that something will go wrong, cue little robot spiders causing allsorts of chaos before The Doctor saves the day.

For me this episode goes from strength to strength. It builds upon the mystery of The Doctor with Jade a humanoid tree recognising him as a Time Lord (the first time it's mentioned in the series since it's return, yet no  mention of Gallifrey just yet, despite Rose grilling him on his origins) as well as an interesting conversation between The Doctor and Rose about him being the last of his kind due to a big war.

The Doctor saves the day, working out who's behind the robotic spiders, the 'last human' (A being nipped and tucked within an inch of her life, a satire on the cosmetic surgery industry) before saving the space station from destruction and returning the culprit (Lady Cassandra the 'last human being') but without her moisturiser she dries out and bursts (another comment on the reliance on beauty products?).

From what I remember I was never a fan of this episode but upon watching it again I realise just how strong it is (fair enough it's no 'Dalek', 'Blink' or 'Human Nature'/'Family of Blood') and appreciate it more now. For me it's a much better episode than 'Rose'.

Bring on 'The Unquiet Dead'.

Doctor Who Project - "Rose"

Kicking off my re-watch reviews is the very first episode of the new/comeback/New Who series "Rose".

I remember sitting down in my bedroom at home eager in anticipation to watch this episode. I know it was 2005 so I would've been in my final year at university. Pretty sure it aired around Easter time (will have to look up) although I was home from uni and for some reason I have the impression it was warm outside. Maybe it was screened during the summer (again I'll check the details in a mo) or maybe I'm just remembering it through rose tinted glasses? Rose tinted would be a good description of this episode (as well as being a bad pun!) as on re-watching I found it to be a bit silly and kinda crap in parts - maybe I've grown accustomed to Moffat's output. At the time I remember loving it and being hooked for the rest of the series.

I remember watching the Paul McGann TV movie in 1996 as well the cliffhanger in "Remembrance of the Daleks" (I always argued as a kid that I'd seen a Dalek fly and no-one believed me!) on an old 14" black and white tele with my Grandad in the late 80s so the return of Doctor Who was always going to get me excited.

On re-watching "Rose" it isn't too bad I suppose (I know there are worse episodes, particularly in that 1st series as well as later series) and it does serve as a good introduction to the Doctor. Russell T Davies being such a wonderful TV writer manages to effortless introduce who the Doctor is via Clive the conspiracy nut, lines like "Run!", trying to negotiate with the Nestine Consciousness (and of course messing it up!) and finally explaining that he travels in a big blue box that's bigger on the inside. In this big blue box he has the ability to travel anywhere and most importantly any place in time (certainly persuades Rose anyway). Having recently lost her job due to the shop she worked in exploding Rose has no ties to hold her back (at least her boyfriend Mickey doesn't seem to be a big enough attraction as the second The Doctor mentions he can travel in time she's off like a shot (saying that, that might have a lot to do with the action of "Father's Day").

Other than being a nice introduction to the main characters I like how "Rose" introduces the threat of mannequins coming to life. Of course classic Doctor Who viewers will recognise these villains as Autons. I have to admit it was all new to me. This however is just one of many examples of subtle little nod backs to the classic series. After all the new series was being written by fans of the classic series.

I also liked how The Doctor was Northern (Mancunian in fact, well Salfordian if you want to be pedantic) and there's a nice little exchange between him and Rose where he states matter of facts, all planets have a North.

What I wasn't too keen on in this episode was the cartoon element of it. Mickey getting his hands stuck to a wheelie bin which eventually swallowed him up then burped! Less cheesey was Rose going on about how she's an uneducated chav who was only ever good at gymnastics before swinging on a metal chain to save The Doctor (and inadvertedly saving the day by knocking the anti-plastic solution into the Nestine Consciousness.

As far as a first episode of a new series goes it was enjoyable. There was room for improvement but it set out its stall and definitely warranted further viewing (I should think so seeing as we're now on series 7!).

More to come. :)

Re-watching Who

The other day I was browsing my Facebook feed when I noticed a post from one of my American friends. He's never seen Doctor Who and is finally making an effort to starting from the 2005 comeback episode "Rose". Obviously I expressed my shock at this what with it only being 7 years old! Also he's a big Potter fan and I know loads of Potter fans that love Doctor Who and vice versa. I guess I just expected him to be a fan or to just not care (with him being American an all, it's not quite as big over there although from what I hear it's slowly starting to make an impact and of course The Big Bang Theory keep referencing it!) so I was a bit shocked to hear him express an interest and to start from the beginning (well the beginning of 'New Who' at least). Out of these comments was born the idea to discuss the episodes as he watches them. I also thought it might be good to watch them too if poss (after all some of the episodes I haven't seen in years).

I was initially looking at the prospect of buying the series 1-4 DVD boxset but then I found that I already owned episodes 1-6 as well as a few Tennant (wait til he finds out that Barty Crouch jnr is the Doctor! Or is that John Smith? I don't know, 'wibbly, wobbly, timey wimey') episodes. I also know of places I can watch them online. Or if needs must I can just read up on the synopsis and rely on my memory. That was until this afternoon when I visited a few shops in town (as well as eBay and Amazon!) and managed to purchase several Doctor Who DVDs very cheaply. I'm now only a few DVDs off the complete RTD (Russell T Davies, Show Runner from 2005-2010 and the guy who played a big part in the show's return) era.

So after watching "Rose" last night the idea is to go through the RTD era (and poss beyond into the newer Stephen Moffat headed episodes) and pen down my thoughts here, starting with the aforementioned "Rose".