It's the Macra incident all over again

10 June 2017

After the fairly ho-hum Monk trilogy, I had high hopes for Empress of Mars. Mark Gatiss is at his best when writing Victorians, and this was a typical Boys Own adventure tale of derring-do and serving the British Empire .... only on Mars, in a Tomb of the Cybermen sort of setting.

Of course in every regiment there is a bad apple or two. In this case there was the pilfering soldier (helpfully called 'Jackdaw') and a Captain who was a really nasty piece of work, probably because he rejoiced under the name of Neville Catchlove.

It was Catchlove, rather than the reanimated Ice Warriors, who was the real villain of the piece, though the Ice Warriors had a particularly unpleasant way of killing people.  The hero was a cowardly Colonel, brilliantly played by Anthony Calf, who redeemed himself with an act of selfless heroism that saved the day.  The Doctor didn't actually seem to do all that much, apart from attempting to negotiate between the species.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS, with Nardole on board, had decided to return to Earth. I'm not entirely sure whether this was simply a 'separate the Doctor from the TARDIS to stop it being too easy' device, or whether the point was to engineer a situation in which Missy would be released from the vault. 

However, the highlight of the episode was not Missy in the TARDIS, but the sound of the first friendly alien race with whom the 'e-mail' rigged up by the Doctor for the Empress made contact.  As soon as I heard it, I shrieked 'Alpha Centauri' before the interference on the viewscreen cleared to show everyone's favourite hermaphrodite alien, and definitely ahead of my husband (the 'proper' fan.) Just like in Gridlock where I identified Macra from a single waving claw.

The Pilot

Saturday 15 April 2017

After a long break from our screens, the Doctor has returned in an episode that is in many ways reminiscent of Rose. It was very much about introducing the new companion, Bill.  If first impressions are anything to go by, she will be good. Her initial reaction to the TARDIS ('like a posh kitchen') was hilarious. But it occurs to me that I need a new kitchen soon.  I wonder whether the other half would be more convinced if we went for a TARDIS look?*

The episode is called The Pilot.  It turns out that there is something lurking in the university that needs a pilot, and Bill inadvertently becomes involved.  But the title has a double meaning. The episode is a sort of reboot, and the focus is on Bill's initiation into the TARDIS rather than the wider peril.

It turns out that the Doctor has been hiding out in a university, rather like Professor Chronotis in Shada. As a university administrator, I'm glad he didn't choose mine.  I bet he never gets paperwork in on time and is really annoying in meetings (if he turns up at all.)  I wonder if he is research active for REF purposes? What sort of feedback does he get in the NSS? 

As a  Doctor Who fan, I am disappointed that he didn't choose my university.  After all we have a Cruciform, the inventor of the Panopticon and I could have loaned them a spare Dalek if they needed one...

*Edit: he has now seen this post and says he wouldn't.  But I bet he would really.