Doctor Who Project - Catching up

Wow I'm rubbish at this. I did honestly watch the remaining episodes and I watched them several months back too, just didn't get round to writing about them. I'm so bad with this blogging lark that we've had a 50th anniversary special which introduced a new Doctor, Captain Grumpy aka "The War Doctor" and Matt Smith's Doctor has aged several hundred years and regenerated into Peter Capaldi. Which reminds me... KIDNEYS!! Sorry, it's like tourettes, love that opening line especially as it was delivered in Capaldi's native Scottish accent and with a manic frenzy. Really can't wait to see more of the "13th" Doctor. Hmm not sure I agree with that title, he will always be the 12th in my eyes as John Hurt's Doctor was explicitly referred to as the "War Doctor". Anyhoo I digress.

Series 4

By far Tennant's best series in the role (before RTD ruined it all with the overdrawn farewell tour of the specials especially "End of Time"). As I have so many episodes to get through I think I'd best do a quick review for each one:

• Partners in Crime - Great fun little opener and Donna's back this time full time! Wish Adipose existed, I'd happily take it. RTD's time on Doctor Who is littered with social comments from the over reliance on Sat Navs, cosmetic surgery (the Lady Cassandra) etc and this is no different with Davies mocking the diet industry and get slim quick schemes. Reminds me of Peter Kay's sketch "14 stone in a day!".
• The Fires of Pompei - Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi in the same episode! Ok episode mostly memorable for the mention of specific events like Pompei being "time locked" as well as The Doctor playing God and saving Capaldi's family. Bit of foreshadowing for the "Time Lord Victorious"? More of that to come. Good Donna story.
•  Planet of the Ood - The Ood make a welcome return (as if the title didn't give it away!) although we may have grown tired of seeing them before series 5. Plenty of character development for the Ood here although they're a race rather than just one singular character (then again they are very interchangeable). Quite a good story with a serious point to make but not one of my favourite Tennant stories.
• The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky - The return of the spudlike warmongering minute clone race. The first time I saw this episode was the first time I'd come across the Sontarans. I've since seen a few 'Classic Who' Sontaran stories and this is quite a weak one in comparison especially compared to their debut in 'The Time Warrior'. Martha's back too and now she works for UNIT who again pale in comparison to their 'Classic Who' counterparts. Boy genius Luke Rattigan is annoying and the point of us all being over reliant on sat navs (including a scene where it drives itself into a pond which in itself seems to have become just as associated with sat navs) and pollution is a bit heavy handed. The Sontarans come off as stupid and comedy villains although unlike the Cybermen it kind of suits them given their diminutive stature. Moffat however has proven with his use of the recurring Sontaran character Strax that the Sontarans work better as single characters played for laughs rather than some evil race intent on taking over the planet.
• The Doctor's Daughter - Featuring an actual Doctor's (Peter Davison) daughter Georgia Moffat (no relation to Steven Moffat) and now mother to another Doctor's (David Tennant) child, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Interesting concept exploring the possibility of The Doctor being a Father (although his first ever companion Susan was his Grandaughter!) even if she was produced from his DNA rather than the traditional method of err being produced from his DNA. You know what I mean! Just a shame we never get to see the eponymous daughter "Jenny" again. Oh and Martha's in this episode too.
• The Unicorn and the Wasp - Continuing the theme of The Doctor meeting celeb history figures (Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, Charles Dickens et al) this story sees The Doctor and Donna in the middle of an Agatha Christie style 'whodunnit' plot with wait for it Agatha Christie, cue references and gags centered around Agatha Christie's work. The story is supposedly a straight out comedic episode but mostly fails to deliver on that part. Additionally the story and the monster are also quite weak it's no wonder Agatha Christie forgets the events (although The Doctor shows Donna that she subconsciously remembers parts of it by brandishing a copy of one of her books with a wasp on the cover).
• Silence in the Library/Planet of the Dead - RIVER SONG! I should end the review of this story right there but that would be an injustice. One of the all time greatest 'New Who' stories ever. This story introduces the character of River Song, a character like no other as she knows The Doctor (quite intimately it's implied) but he's never met her before. She has her own sonic device that The Doctor gave her and she even knows his name. Just as well Moffat took over as showrunner because with a build up like this we needed to know more about her. The story also features the creepy spacesuit villians in the form of the Vashta Nerada as well as an alternative (digital) world where people are "saved" once they've been bumped off by the Vashta Nerada. This is a brilliant story that allows Donna to explore her own story whilst The Doctor is introduced to River and ultimately the two come together when he saves her in this digital world.
• Midnight - Another great story that is atmospheric and creepy yet so simple. The Doctor decides to go on a little space tour which of course breaks down before some being gets onboard and possesses  one of his fellow travellers. The idea of the "monster" repeating what everyone is saying before saying it simultaneously then speaking before them is so simple yet so brilliant. It evokes childhood memories of repeating what people say to wind them up then takes it to another level. It very quickly moves from annoying to scary. Oh look out for another Doctor's (the 2nd Doctor) offspring in this episode ie David Troughton as well as Merlin (Colin Morgan).
• Turn Left - A 'what if?' story. Another simple idea and suprisingly a Doctor light episode (this along with Blink actually works) exploring the idea of Donna never meeting The Doctor. The Doctor dies and subsequently Earth is attacked several times with no one to defend it. The story proves to Donna what The Doctor keeps on telling her that she isn't just some temp from Chiswick, she is incredibly important. Of course all this building up can only mean one thing and with a series finale on the way you can guess what it will be! Rose also makes a return in this episode which I'm sure they could've gotten around, why keep bringing her back. Her story is finished, just let it rest.
• The Stolen Earth/Journey's End - Yet another example of RTD going for the epic finish to a series then cocking it up with the concluding part. Why does every series under Russell T Davies have to go for the bigger is better spectacular ending? Why always the Daleks too?! Hated seeing all the companions and hanger ons (Torchwood, Harriet Jones etc) all coming together like the bloody Scooby gang. This story is also the reason why Matt Smith is supposedly the 13th incarnation of The Doctor (because 10 had vanity issues! LOL). The Doctor/Donna idea is a bit silly as well as the extra "handy" Doctor grown from the hand of the 10th Doctor lost whilst battling the Sycrorax in the 'Christmas Invasion'. Of course the extra Doctor means that Rose can go and have her happy ending in a parallel universe. Pass me a sick bucket! To add to the misery The Doctor then has to wipe Donna's mind so she no longer remembers him or their adventures. FFS RTD! Worst series finale since the reboot.

As I said earlier Donna is a great companion, ok I've not exactly sold her very well above but she's awesome. Firstly she's not pining over The Doctor unlike Rose and Martha, she's not even remotely interested in him (get the impression she prefers guys with a bit more meat on them! LOL). She's intelligent, funny and definitely more than a match for him. There's something about the older companion that definitely works in this case. There just best mates seeing the universe together and she helps him get over Rose (something Martha could never really do), just a shame they bring her back again at the end of the series to spoil it all!

Ok now that's done, let's have a look at the specials.

The "Specials"

After 4 years in the role David Tennant decided to take on a new challenge in the form of Hamlet amongst other roles. As a result he couldn't commit to the role full time and filmed several 'specials' throughout 2009 before regenerating into the excellent Matt Smith.

• The Next Doctor - Playing with the idea that we don't yet know who the next Doctor will be David Morrissey's "Doctor" even has Tennant's Doctor going for a bit before he works out what has happened. This is a fun episode ruined only by the crap (yet again) Cybermen.
• Planet of the Dead - What a great companion The Lady De Souza would have made. Also Lee Evans as Bernard, brilliant. The story and the villains are a bit crap which is a shame. Oh and he will knock 4 times.
• The Waters of Mars - Now this is more like it! Another 'time locked' event where the Doctor intervenes this time it goes wrong and still results in the death of Adelaide (after she gives him an ear bending. The monsters are great too although the Ood make another appearance at the end.
• The End of Time - Oh dear God, why? This could've been so much more better though to be fair RTD didn't have a great track record with finales. Yet again he goes for the epic spectacular and then overdoes it with sentiment. The Master is awful in this story. Firstly they bring him back with magic potions then he develops super powers and a flashing skull face. The Naismiths are bumbling idiots as are the cactus aliens. There's a massive fall from a spaceship that doesn't even affect Tennant's Doctor yet a fall from a much smaller height killed off Tom Baker's Doctor! Just as things couldn't get any worse RTD throws in the kitchen sink and brings back the Time Lords with some mystery woman who may or may not be The Doctor's Mum (it's never explained) however it's not The Doctor that saves the day but The Master by taking out the Time Lords. This story isn't all bad, The Doctor sacrifices himself to save Wilf (Donna's Grandad) and there's a great scene with them chatting in the cafe as well as on the spaceship however all this is undone with the ending. As I said above RTD overdoes the sentiment as Tennant goes on a farewell tour, saying goodbye to all his former companions before uttering "I don't want to go", get over yourself! Four years on and this line still irks me! Tennant's farewell could've been handled so much more better but instead we get this crapfest. Kind of sums up Tennant's era all over, some moments of brilliance ruined with some cringeworthy scenes and awful series finales.

So there it is the whole RTD era covered. Of course Matt Smith's run has come to an end so I have the option of covering that too, maybe later. Re-watching these episodes has made me realise just how "fantastic" Christopher Eccleston was and that David Tennant wasn't as great as I once thought (ok Matt Smith's awesome portrayal may have slightly influenced this!) not that he was bad in the role. I think a lot of  the downsides with Tennant's Doctor were the quality of the stories (particularly series finales) and the relationship with Rose especially as this should've been tied up at the end of series 2 instead of bringing her character back time and time again. There's also the whiney emo side to Tennant's Doctor too that's perfectly encapsulated in the line "I don't want to go". Yeah because you really were the centre of the universe, so much so that your regeneration almost destroyed the TARDIS. FFS. The minute or so of Matt Smith at the end of 'End of Time' was such a welcome relief. It really shouldn't be like that, I should be sad to see a Doctor go not happy (although  it's always great to see a new Doctor). In my eyes Tennant isn't the worst Doctor (he's still above McCoy and Colin Baker as well as poor McGann due to limited TV stories - thank you so much Moffat for the Night of the Doctor) but he's far from my favourite. I'm sure that last line will upset a few fan girls and boys. Oh well.

Doctor Who Project - 'Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks'

Ok time for another live review I think. This time I'm going to take on a 2 parter! Think I might have to take a break inbetween. lol

Ok here goes:

Daleks in Manhatten

• Lights, music, showtime oh and a bit of love interest.
• Oh what was that rushing past the screen? ;)
• Oh look a great big man pig. This Lazlo guy's lucky it's just a pig slave and not a weeping angel as we now know they were in New York around this time.
• Martha "where are we?" Nope it's not New York, it's actually Cardiff (the team cheated by filming against a wall that looked like the wall underneath the statue of liberty.
• Oh Martha just made a valid point, New New York to (old) New York.
• What's Hooverville? A Doctor Who convention in Derby isn't it? ;)
• People living in poverty due to the recession, would be interesting if they made another episode like this now!
• 'How can they build the world's tallest building yet people are starving?' Exactly!!
• Ooh love that art deco light that lining up perfectly with the Dalek stalk. Brilliant.
• Yay Dalek. Daleks are always best when they're being sneaky.
• Missing people, the plot thickens.
• Dalek panels on top of the Empire State Building?
• This Mr Diagonal or whatever his name is is a bit of an arse.
• Yeah more Daleks. His loyalty will be rewarded by Daleks? Hmm don't like the sound of that.
• Nice close up of the black Dalek there.
• Dalek Sec, yay the Cult of Skaro are back.
• Basically RUN!! lol love it.
• Hauuns in the air and no funnny bizzniss. Dodgy accent.
• lol Lazlo's not a pig. You sure about that Tullulah?
• Oh dear Martha's pining over the Doctor. Why did they have to go down this route again?
• Liking all this Dalek experiment business.
• This whole musical performance is a bit unnecessary.
• Skaro! The Doctor's worked it out.
• Why is it she doesn't recognise his voice but she recognise him with a pig's snout?
• Like how Martha doesn't know what a Dalek is.
• lol Dalek Sec looks like a washing machine on full spin!
• Human Dalek - Interesting.

Time for a quick break before the next episode. So far so good. Not quite 'Dalek' or 'Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways' but so far one of the better Dalek stories in New Who.

Evolution of the Daleks

• Ok here we go again. No pre title action just a catch up on the last episode.
• Emergency temporal shift? What all 4 of them? To the exact same point and place in time?
• Oh oh the Dalek's feeling humanity.
• Now that Dalek Sec is no longer in his Dalek case does that mean he's no longer connected to the hive (see Asylum of the Daleks)? Bit of a weakness for a Dalek don't you think? As well as losing the protective shell which Davros designed for them to survive the Kaled/Thal war. Not much of an evolution. The only positive things I can think of for a Dalek would be that they now have little Dalek bits and could reproduce.
• Putting his gun down and trying to reason with a Dalek, big mistake.
• EXTERMINATE! lol That was pretty funny after that moving speech.
• Daleks never change their minds. They never seem to be able to kill The Doctor when they get the chance to either. They're a bit like Bond  villains in that sense.
• Ooh this looks like a scene out of The Matrix or the blood bank in Blade.
• So the final experiment is to wipe the minds of humans and fill it with Dalek ideas. So what was the point in the Human/Dalek hybrid?
• Ah right, so they need a Human/Dalek hybrid's DNA to re-write the DNA of the human captives.
• Davros was wrong? Why do they go back to him at the end of series 4 then? Saying that the other Daleks just disagreed with him, maybe he inspired Dalek Khan to pop back into the Time War and get Davros.
• So now this Human/Dalek hybrid is redundant as they're changing the DNA structure now Dalek SEC has decided they need to be more human.
• Surely if the DNA feed is now 100% Dalek it will change how the humans will look?
• Looks like the Daleks have finally cottoned onto the fact that Sec is now redundant. Could've told them that 10 min ago.
• Why is Dalek Sec all chained up? The Daleks gone soft in their old age? Exterminate him FFS.
• Bit confused, how does a solar flare affect lightening? Also lightening hitting a rod to generate enough power to feed advanced technology, deliberate nod to Back to the Future? Probably not.
• So how many sonic screwdrivers is that now? He bust one in 'Smith and Jones' and has just dropped another.
• Ok so The Doctor can survive a bolt of lightening (strengthened by solar flares) but he can't survive a fall from a satelite dish or a little bit of radiation (although he can shake it into his left shoe?).
• "I am a Dalek", you sure about that?
• This whole Daleks as masters and Dalek Sec in chains is a bit BDSM. Kinky Daleks!
• I like how the Daleks only move they're heads and eye stalks rather than wobbling around all over the place like they're on speed.
• Oh you're not a Dalek now. Make your mind up!
• Why didn't the Dalek just exterminate The Doctor just then instead of shooting at the Dalek-Human who stood up to them.
• Especially when they can just kill on mass like that.
• Nice parallel with the Dalek and The Doctor there, just 1 in the universe.
• Just thought is the guy playing Frank, Andrew Garfield from The Amazing Spiderman?
• Just IMDB'd him, yes it is.
• Yep The Doctor will see that Dalek again.

Well that wasn't too bad. It had it's flaws, the whole thing with the DNA was a bit silly and confusing as well as pointless but it wasn't the worst episode. It's not even the worst Dalek episode (That's probably Victory of the Daleks). Not a big fan of the next episode, should be interesting to see how I interpret/enjoy it this time around.

Doctor Who Project "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"

Several episodes and a series after we first see a Cyberman referenced in "Dalek" we finally get a Cyberman story and on top of that we get a whole new Cyberman design. It's this new design that has come into all sorts of  criticism amongst fandom. The Cybermen are now 'robot-like', 'slow', the way they move is 'stompy' and 'deafening'. I however quite like the way they look.

I like the art deco styling and the way they move reflects their new bodies ie all heavy metal and moving parts. Ok there's less human parts on show. In the classic series you could see the jaw moving behind the mouthpiece which was cool as it showed that there was a human body that formed part of the Cyberman skeleton. There was also the suit they wore, in the Troughton story "The Invasion" which was basically a scuba diving suit with bits and bobs glued on. OK costume design and budgets have improved in the years to come but this scuba outfit design was kinda endearing and worked as it allowed the Cybermen to move quite easily as well as covering up the delicate human flesh. In fact you could argue that this material could be a more sophisticated soft metal that allows the Cybermen to move more freely. Anyhoo this new Cyberman has 2 handy get out clauses. Firstly The Doctor points out to Mrs Moore that the Cyberman body has an organic as well as a human brain and mostly importantly an emotion inhibitor which prohibits the Cybermen from feelings (not sure how that also stops them thinking freely?). Secondly these Cybermen were created in a parallel universe.

This last point is quite interesting as the new look Cybermen have cropped up again in the Steven Moffat era minus the Cybus Industries chest logo. Can't really get around that unless you were to say they sneaked through the cracks in the universe and fancied a re-brand. Should be interesting when the next design arrives in the Neil Gaiman penned episode sometime this year. I'm also really looking forward to seeing this episode as Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors although I would like to see Moffat tackle a Cyberman story. I want them to become scary villains again not comedy villains that they've been since the 70s/80s. Try as he might and to be fair this isn't a bad stab at trying to rectify that RTD fails in trying to make them a serious threat. This isn't a bad story and for the majority of it they are a credible threat, it's the series finale that dooms them to the fate of being comedy villains. An army of Cybermen put to waste by just 4 Daleks, it's not hard to see which bad guy Davies prefers. I'm surprised the Cyber Leader doesn't fist pump and say "Excellent!". Speaking of Cyber Leaders, what's the point in them? Cybermen are supposed to be uniform, why would they need someone commanding them if they all think the same? Oh well cyber rant over.

Anyway back to the story. I like how this story is set in an alternate universe. It reminds me so much of the Pertwee story "Inferno" although in this story there isn't a parallel threat to our world. It does however play with the idea of a parallel world via the support cast: Mickey/Ricky, Pete Tyler still being alive, Rose never being born and Mickey's gran (who hasn't even been mentioned until now) is still alive. The story also has a (not so) subtle sub-plot of how media communications controls our life. On top of that there's the point of clinging onto life via surgery or upgrades in this case.

I also like how this story gives Mickey something to do, he outgrows the 'Mickey the idiot' and becomes an integral part of the story, effectively saving The Doctor and Rose as well as destroying the Cyberman threat. This sudden character development seems a bit out of the blue but it allows Mickey to leave the TARDIS crew and have a happily ever after, fighting Cybermen and being able to see his beloved old gran.

Mickey drives off to Paris in a white van with his new best mate (RTD's gay agenda?) never to be seen again. Or is he? I'm sure that's not the last we'll see of Mickey the Idiot.

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 "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.