A girl can dream...

30 January 2016

So Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who. He must really need a holiday by now.  Interestingly, when I just went to google this story, Google suggested 'Steven Moffat has ruined Doctor Who' as a search term.  Everyone's a critic! 

Seriously, I cannot agree with that sentiment, though I do think that Moffat produced better Doctor Who episodes as a writer than as a showrunner.  The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink are among my all-time favourites. I'm less keen on the convoluted story arcs that take a couple of years to pay off ('silence will fall') or personal relationships that 'need a flowchart', as I think they tend to alienate the casual viewer.  I had the same problem with The X-Files.

It will be interesting to see the direction that Chris Chibnall will go in when he finally takes over.  Until then, I'm secretly hoping for a 'Tenth Doctor wakes up in the shower/TARDIS and it was all a dream' plot. After all, Chibnall is working with David Tennant on Broadchurch and there does seem to be a tendency for producers to work with the same people over and again. 

A girl can dream, can't she?

It's totally sonic

Saturday 9 January 2016

Last night we watched a repeat of City of Death on the Horror Channel. It's an episode that still stands up well as one of the all time greats, in my opinion.

But observing the sonic knife in the rehearsal of the Mona Lisa heist got me thinking about all the different sonic devices that have appeared in the series:

• Sonic screwdriver
• Sonic shades
• Sonic cane
• Sonic lipstick (in the Sarah Jane Adventures)
• Sonic pen (Miss Foster in Partners in Crime)
• Sonic trowel (River, in The Husbands of River Song)

What next, I wonder?  A sonic toothbrush?  Come to think of it, they have sonic showers in Star Trek.

It was a funny old Christmas...

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Owing to a lack of forethought on my part, we spent Christmas abroad in a place with no Doctor Who, but fortunately no internet access either, so at least we avoided spoilers.

As a result, we didn't see The Husbands of River Song until a couple of days ago.  I need to watch it again, but on first viewing, it seemed rather a strange choice for an episode that is likely to be watched by a family audience including people who are not regular viewers.  There were a lot of continuity references, some of which go back to River's first appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead back in 2008*.

And there were some bits that were rather revolting for a post-Christmas lunch viewing.

Still, I might pinch the idea of a 'Carol Singers will be Criticised' notice.

*Update: I have just read the review in the excellent Doctor Who Magazine. If their reviewer missed the significant of the visit to the Singing Towers, what hope is there for the casual viewer?

Hell Bent...

Saturday 5 December

It is definitely one of those days.

 Last night the husband took delivery of a Fourth Doctor coat, which he thinks is fine to wear in public.

I disagree, but I have to keep on his good side as I need his help with removing a massive  old sofa from my Mum's house.

***

Later: the sofa won't go out in one piece.  It looks as if it is possible to take it apart, but the screws are a different kind, and Mum's screwdrivers won't work.  I take a photo of one and call round to my local hardware shop. (The one whose staff were bemused by my request for TARDIS screws.) Fortunately, this time they understood what I was looking for and sold me a gadget.  Armed with this, I am able to remove about half the screws holding the three parts of the sofa together, but the rest won't budge.  The end section is only held in place by one screw, so we try brute force to pull it apart, but with only partial success.  -

Eventually, I go home, fetch a hacksaw, and manage to get the thing into manageable chunks for disposal. (Some use of a hammer and jumping up and down on the bits was involved, but we did it).

All I have to do now is arrange for someone to remove the carcass, shortlist candidates for a management job (no time to do this while in the office), watch our village Christmas lights switch-on and cook dinner.

Only then will I be ready for Hell Bent.  I'm a bit worried about it, to be honest.  I can't think of a story set on Gallifrey that I have actually liked, much.

The end is approaching...

Saturday 28 November 2015

Only two more episodes, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, left to go this season, and we are actually at home for both of them. [Unlike the Christmas Special - anyone know if and when Doctor Who is broadcast in Beijing?]

From what I have gleaned about tonight's episode, it is going to be an odd one.  The Matrix scenes from The Deadly Assassin spring to mind, but I don't suppose it is really going to be anything like that at all.  Only a couple more hours to wait and all will be revealed...

Later...

I'll need to watch that again to make sense of it, but it looks like I was closer than I thought with The Deadly Assassin. In the meantime, and more importantly, since when are companions, even deceased ones, allowed to tell the Doctor to get off his arse?'

Quoth the Raven...

22 November 2015

"Nevermore!"

Anyone vaguely familiar with Poe's poem The Raven (1845) might have guessed that this would be Clara's final episode, though knowing how Doctor Who works, it remains to be seen whether this is the last we see of Jenna Coleman. I suspect not - isn't Clara still splintered in the Doctor's timeline, 'saving the Doctor?'

I found this episode far more watchable than Sleep No More. I suspect though that over time and repeated watching the latter episode may become regarded as a classic, whereas Face the Raven may not have longevity.

I liked the fact that this was a smaller, ostensibly low stakes episode, where the threat at least appears to be only to a single person, rather than the whole fabric of space and time. Though the true explanation of what is going on will only be revealed in the season finale.

I'm not sure I understood how the shade/raven thing worked, and how and why Ashildr acquired control of it. Or why the 'refugees' needed to disguise themselves as human in a street that was hidden anyway (other than costume budget reasons).

No doubt all will be revealed (probably in about two years' time).

Doctor Who Festival 3

After lunch, we were back in the main theatre for the Writers’ Panel with Steven Moffat, Toby Whithouse and Jamie Mathieson, introduced by Matthew Sweet.  Someone beat me to it and asked about the sonic screwdriver. Steven Moffat replied that it would definitely be coming back at some point. (Though Moffat, like the Doctor, often lies, I think this is a pretty safe bet. The question is how soon.)

The shades were specifically for the Magician’s Apprentice, where the Doctor needed to have a device in Davros’ sick room, which couldn’t be the screwdriver, because Davros would recognise it. He kept them for a while to annoy Clara. Apparently.

A writing tip from Jamie Mathieson is to just keep writing things down.  Eight out of nine times it will be rubbish, but the ninth time makes up for it.  (Readers of this blog may feel that he has underestimated the amount of rubbish that can be generated.)  As with the 50^th , there was a signer on stage, though fortunately no one had cause to mention Nicola Bryant’s cleavage this time.

A deaf member of the audience made a point of thanking Toby Whithouse for including a deaf character in Under the Lake/Before the Flood.  I think the great thing about this was that it wasn't just tokenism - the scene where Cass was being followed up the corridor by a ghost dragging an axe was the creepiest part of an otherwise creepy story.

The final panel was the highlight of the event: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez in a brilliant Doctor Who Fair Isle sweater, Ingrid Oliver and Steven Moffat (presumably to keep an eye on them), introduced by Toby Hadoke.  

Peter Capaldi was asked about the question mark underpants (as I believe he had been asked at previous sessions). He claimed that the costume department provided question mark boxer shorts for him that day, but wouldn’t say whether he wore them.  I didn’t believe a word of it.  Michelle Gomez was just as mad in real life as the roles she plays in Green Wing and Doctor Who.

Some of the questioners from the audience took the opportunity to deliver a speech rather than ask a question. I have noticed this 'ego trip' type of question at academic conferences as well.  I find it annoying.

At the end, Peter Capaldi presented Jenna with a huge bouquet.