Category: Doctor Who
Doctor Who episode 805: The Angels Take Manhattan (29/9/2012)
‘I hate endings.’ This begins where Blink ended, with ominous, Dutch tilt close ups of looming statues implying that the Weeping Angels can take many different forms – including the Statue of Liberty. It sets the scene for an episode that’s a much more authentic sequel to Blink than The Time of Angels, with the same sense of creeping dread and the noose of Time closing around the characters. It even replays the scene of Sally meeting an aged Billy as private eye Sam Garner meets his older self.
Continue readingDoctor Who episode 804: The Power of Three (22/9/2012)
‘So that was the year of the slow invasion, when the Earth got cubed, and the Doctor came to stay.’ In a surprise twist, this year’s Gareth Roberts script is written by Chris Chibnall. As Craig is otherwise engaged as a contestant on The Apprentice, it falls to Amy and Rory to play hosts as the Doctor crashes their ‘beautiful, messy lives’ to investigate the mysterious cubes that have appeared from nowhere, all the way round the world. And there’s another surprise – the Brigadier might have died, but his daughter Kate from the Ian Levine spin-off Downtime has taken charge of UNIT.
Continue readingDoctor Who episode 803: A Town Called Mercy (15/9/2012)
‘This is what happens when you travel alone for too long.’ There’s a general rule (with a couple of notable exceptions: I’m looking at you Season 15) that each series of Doctor Who looks better than the previous one. This looks incredible, with some truly filmic moments and the kind of huge desert vistas that can only come from authentic Western filming in Spain. These are matched by some great character design – the cyborg gunslinger looks only very faintly rubbery, with puckered flesh and grafted metal seeming authentically nasty.
Continue readingDoctor Who episode 802: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (8/9/2012)
‘Lizard people herding dinosaurs onto a space ark? Absolute tommyrot.’ There are many hints of Chris Chibnall’s future approach to the series in this, from the extended TARDIS fam (sorry, ‘gang’), the location-hopping storyline that throws things at the screen (dinosaurs, Queen Nefertiti, comedy robots, Silurians) rather than taking one idea and running with it, and the straightforwardly evil corporate villain. The good news is, it works here as a neat contrast to Moffat’s more elaborate puzzles, and it’s much better than Chibnall’s previous Silurian episode.
Continue readingDoctor Who episode 801: Asylum of the Daleks (1/9/2012)
‘Run, you clever boy. And remember.’ This is much more of a soft launch for Clara “Oswin” Oswald than it is a Dalek story. They don’t have a masterplan, they’re mostly relegated to annoying obstacles between the Doctor and Oswin, and, by the end, they’ve forgotten their archenemy entirely thanks to some Clara-style editing of their PathWeb. Hearing the massed Parliament of Daleks chanting, ‘Doctor who?’ is very funny (although I could have done without Matt Smith having to spin about repeating it), and, in combination with the climax to The Wedding of River Song, suggests Moffat was flirting with the idea of returning the Doctor to “a mysterious traveller in time and space” and making a fresh start.
Continue readingDoctor Who: Pond Life (1/9/2012)
‘The future is really…’ A series of five online mini-episodes leading up to the launch of Series Seven (subsequently broadcast on the BBC Red Button service). Written by Chris Chibnall, they focus on the Doctor briefly intersecting the Ponds’ otherwise fairly humdrum-looking lives with stories of Mata Hari, the Battle of Hastings, and the Androvax conflict – and an Ood accidentally left on their loo.
Continue readingDoctor Who episode 800: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (25/12/2011)
‘Look what you can do, Mother Christmas.’ Coming off the back of an unloved Series Six, I think I was sniffy about this at the time. Seen again, a lot of it is perfect Christmas Special material: a refreshingly straightforward plot, filled with magic and with a happy ending that rounds off the year’s story arc on a positive note.
Continue readingThe Sarah Jane Adventures episode 53: The Man Who Never Was – Part Two (18/10/2011)
‘I expected high class industrial spies, not Mumsnet.’ With this episode, The Sarah Jane Adventures overtakes Blake’s 7 to be the third-longest-running UK science fiction TV show. This wasn’t designed as the final episode, but its messages – that teamwork, tolerance and equality will triumph over greed, oppression and self-orientation – are as good as any final statements. Stopping a people-smuggling operation, freeing enslaved aliens and bringing down an evil corporation are all in a day’s work.
The Sarah Jane Adventures episode 52: The Man Who Never Was – Part One (17/10/2011)
‘Finally, face to face. It’s the clash of the nerds.’ Luke returns to Bannerman Road in time to meet his new “sister” and join his mum investigating the mysterious Joseph Serf, a Steve Jobs type responsible for the new wonder-computer the ‘SerfBoard’. In her final story, Sarah Jane’s journalist credentials are reforged – she’s one of the country’s best, and, as she reminds Clyde and Rani, it’s this that pays for her lavish lifestyle. We even get to meet her first editor, the lascivious Lionel Carson (Peter Bowles, bringing more “gentleman of a certain age” stylishness to the show in the wake of Nigel Havers).
The Sarah Jane Adventures episode 51: The Curse of Clyde Langer – Part Two (11/10/2011)
‘The most alien world of all is right here. And no-one knows. Because they don’t want to.’ After bumping my gums about a perceived infantilisation of the show in Sky, I’m eating my words. This is as pointed as anything in Series Four, with a clear message about attitudes towards the homeless and an ending that shrugs off the Native American curse plot to focus on the fate of Ellie. It’s downbeat, suggesting that Sarah Jane’s magic computer and sonic lipstick aren’t enough to fix all injustices or social problems. And, although it’s pitched as a second chance for Ellie, I’m not sure how much Phil Ford intended the idea of a young woman being taken by a mystery man in a lorry to be a comforting fate.
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