Doctor Who 2011 Christmas Special: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

Another year gone and another Doctor Who Christmas Special. We fans are so used to these Christmas Specials by now that it's easy to take them for granted, but it's very impressive that the show is still a key part of BBC scheduling during the busy Christmas period.

Steven Moffat has once again drawn inspiration from classic literature for the plot of his Christmas episode. This time around the source is C.S Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Moffat borrows the visual imagery of the wartime setting, a family visiting an old country house and a portal to a snow covered world, but uses it to tell a completely different tale.

The relationship between parent and child is a common theme in many of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who stories, but this was the first one to focus on motherhood. Madge Arwell is determined to look after her two children after their father died in the war. She may not be a River Song-style superheroine, or an important historical figure like Madame De Pompadour, but she is still strong enough to hold her own against Androzani soldiers and come to the aid of her children. After all the timey wimey antics of Series Six, it was nice to see a smaller, more personal tale, and to remember that Steven Moffat CAN do emotion. It only tripped up towards the end when the father survived. The death of the father was a chance for Doctor Who to engage with children whose parents had been lost in war and would not be able to spend time with them at Christmas. I know this is supposed to be an optimistic holiday adventure, but it felt as if allowing the father to come back to life through a time travel plot device trivialized the struggle of those fighting in real wars.

With the focus on the Arwell family, there was little time to develop other characters.  Bill Bailey and Arabella Weir were fun to watch as the  Androzani soldiers, Droxil and Billis, but had very little screen time. The Wooden King and Queen were less monsters more like strange guides. I like the idea of a Christmas Special telling us to be ecologically friendly to Christmas trees!

There's little to say about Matt Smith himself, as he continues to give a brilliant performance as The Doctor. We see the full range of the Doctor, from his zaniness to his friendliness. The scene where the Doctor reunites with Amy and Rory Pond was not quite as a good as it could have been, since Amy's grumpy attitude towards Carol singers made her seem like a Scrooge. Nevertheless, the Doctor accepting an invitation to have Christmas dinner with his old friends made me feel all warm inside. My friends will know that this is not an easy thing to achieve.

A story like this was never going to challenge the foundations of Doctor Who, but then, I never expected it to. It's a decent filler story, in common with The Next Doctor or Voyage of the Damned, that will hopefully keep fans sustained until Series Seven airs, whenever that may be.

Next: Who knows? Lets wait and see what 2012 brings

New Exhibition at The Lightbox

From the Realm of the Dragon has finished and the Woking Dance Festival Winter Shorts come to an end today at The Lightbox Museum and Gallery in Woking.

However, a new display has opened: Images of Surrey: Watercolours by John and Edward Hassell. If you're interested in either the history of surrey, watercolours, or the works of father and son John and Edward, then this exhibition is for you! Come to the Lightbox in Woking!

Goodbye Ponds

Its been announced  that Amy and Rory will leave "heartbreakingly" during the next series of Doctor Who. After that, a new companion will join the Doctor on his travels.

I'm not that surprised really. After Amy's faith in the Doctor was shattered in The God Complex and the River Song storyline concluded in The Wedding of River Song, there doesn't appear to be many directions left for these characters to go. I'm looking forward to finding out what, on top of losing their child and losing faith in the Doctor, could force the Ponds to leave the Tardis permanently.

Since reports state that the next series is split across 2012 and 2013, I'd guess that Amy and Rory will be leaving after the 2012 episodes. This will leave the Doctor solo for the 2012 Christmas special before picking up his new companion in the 2013 episodes.  Or I could be completely wrong.

Although the Ponds are not my favourite Who companions of all time, I'll miss the actors, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill who always performed well and were often fun to watch off screen.

Still, it's not over yet. We've still got a few more episodes left to enjoy the Ponds at least. Let's hope they're good ones!

Two Episodes of Doctor Who Recovered!

It's been announced that two previously missing episodes of Doctor Who have been recovered. One of them is "Air Lock", the third Episode of the William Hartnell story Galaxy Four. The other is Episode Two of the Patrick Troughton story The Underwater Menace.

This brings the total number of Missing Episodes down to 106! I bet some fans are annoyed that there weren't any episodes from more popular stories. Personally I think it's great if any Doctor Who episodes are recovered, especially after they've been missing this long!

We'll have to wait and see how and when these episodes are going to be released to the public. Perhaps they'll feature in a re-release of the Lost In Time set? Whatever the case, this is a great christmas present for Doctor Who fans!

December Time

It's that busy time of year again.

The From The Realm of the Dragon closes today at The Lightbox in Woking. Next saturday a new exhibit Images of Surrey: Watercolours by John and Edward Russell will be opening. Anyone who's interested in watercolours should take note.

I've also finished my first full week at my new job. Archiving may sound boring to some people, but reading through old files can lead to fascinating discoveries. Check out the Broadmoor website since they've released details about Broadmoor.

On Twitter there's a lot of strange hints from Who fans including Tom Spilsbury, Mark Gatiss and Benjamin Cook. Sounds like they might have found a missing episode.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, and I'll be posting more Who reviews

Reviewing Series Six of Doctor Who

Series Six has certainly divided the Doctor Who fan community. Some people loved it, others hated it, but it has certainly left quite an impression. Steven Moffat's decision to run a long story arc through a split series was a big risk to take, but also a necessary one. Doctor Who has now been running for more than six years in a row. In the meantime, a new bunch of successful shows like Misfits and Downton Abbey have sprung up to challenge Who for the title of best drama series on television. If Doctor Who is to stay successful, it must continue to change with the times and find new, innovative ways of telling stories. If Moffat did, as some fans might argue, fail, then at least he failed while trying something interesting.

Juggling the plots of Doctor's impending death and the origins of River Song proved to be tricky to execute well. There were answers to some questions, but many others were raised instead. Some parts were totally ignored, like "when did the Doctor find out he was supposed to die?" or "why were Amy and Rory not bothered about searching for their lost child?". The latter question could be answered by the fact that Amy and Rory are happy that Melody becomes River, a person they admire, but I wish that could have been acknowledged in the actual scripts.

One price to pay with story arcs is that they make standalone episodes look weak by comparison. Night Terrors and Curse of the Black Spot were never going to be the strongest stories of Doctor Who, but placed amidst more exciting event episodes, they seemed less interesting than ever. The best example of a standalone episode was The Doctor's Wife, which didn't really contribute anything to the overall plot of Series Six, but made up for it with a new take on the Doctor, his ship, and the show's mythology.

Where the series definitely succeeded was in visually engaging the audience. The Tardis has travelled to a variety of colourful new locations, from the lakes of Utah, to a pirate ship, to a clinical hospital and Area 52. Credit must go to Michael Pickwoad who has designed many brilliant sets. It makes up for some of the duller design of Series Five.

Series Six was fascinating to watch, but I am happy that the show will move on to something a bit different. I am curious to see where Steven Moffat will take the show in the next two years.
8/10

Doctor Who 6x04 The Doctor's Wife

Hello Sexy

Of all the episodes for Series Six this was the one I was most anticipating. Not only was it written by Neil Gaiman, but the title showed promise. But did the broadcast episode live up to expectations?

As far as I'm concerned, the answer is a definite yes! For those hoping we were going to meet Susan's mother, this must have been a dissapointment. But for those like the notion of exploring the Doctor/Tardis relationship, then this is made of win. A lot of 90s fan fiction including Toy Story by Lawrence Miles has explored similar ideas, but nothing quite like this has ever been shown on public television, unless you count the exploration of the environment in Castrovalva.

Some older, stuffy fans will groan about the continuity. They'll say that this is like exploring the wardrobe instead of Narnia. Personally I think this kind of story is great because it inspires children to invent their own worlds and mythologies. Stories like Logopolis and Castrovalva, whatever their viewing merit, inspired new generations of fans. If there is any kind of New Adventures range it'll be inspired by stories like this.

Neil Gaiman has written a love letter to Doctor Who. It's self indulgent, yes, but like a big sugary cake, it tastes delicious!

10/10

Doctor Who - Movie Rumours

People are once again talking about a Doctor Who Movie. At the moment there's no script, actors or anything, so it's still really just an idea. A Doctor Who Movie has been in discussion for ages, and could easily fall into development hell.

What would a Doctor Who film actually be like? At best it could be an exciting family adventure film, like The Adventures of Tintin or the Harry Potter series. At worst it could be a bloated cash cow like the Pokemon or Transformers movies. The nature of the Tardis means the film could be set anywhere in time and space, in any number of genres. Where would a scriptwriter even begin to plan a storyline?

There's also the question of whether a movie would actually benefit the TV series it came from. Tie in films like Pokemon or the 1995 Power Rangers film were both turning points for their respective franchises, as each became less popular after the film showed, possibly because of the overkill in popularity and merchandising.

I personally feel that a movie franchise would work better once the TV series has come to an end, like the Star Trek films of the 80s, which featured the original cast and crew, and were able to develop in their own way, without being constrained by what the TV show was doing, like the Next Generation 90s films were.

Still, I'm cautiously optimistic. If anything comes from this film, I hope it's at least halfway decent.

Pathetic Protesters

So let me get this straight... nine in ten of the so called "protesters" camping outside St Pauls Cathedral are sneaking away from their tents at night to go home for warm food and shelter!?

It's nice to know that these people will enjoy the luxuries of the capitalist system they claim to despise! Abandoning their cause whenever it suits them!

Any respect I might have had for these hypocrites has gone.

(sigh) there just isn't a facepalm big enough for those losers!

From the Realm of the Dragon

This Tuesday, The Lightbox Gallery and Museum in Woking will be opening a fascinating new exhibition.

From the Realm of the Dragon: The Ceramic Heritage of Zibo, China is a major exhibition which will showcase a range of Chinese ceramics not previously seen in the UK, from the Zibo Ceramics Museum.

To find out more about The Lightbox and its exhibitions, visit their website by clicking here.

Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon

Stetsons are cool!

Yes. I know. I've skipped over Series Five, but to be honest, I was VERY busy last year. Since I'm so far behind, I might as well push on to reviewing Series Six.

Moffat stated in DWM that he wanted this opening story to resemble a Season Finale, with a sense of epic scale. However, a Season finale usually answers questions whereas this two-parter poses them.

In the space of two episodes we get introduced to some shocking moments. The Doctor dies! Amy is pregnant! The Silence are revealled and there's a little girl who seems to be able to regenerate! All of these are fascinating but there's very little plot in between them. The Utah setting is simply a backdrop and really, the story could have been shot anywhere.

 

Matt Smith is now truly comfortable in the role of the Doctor, whether playing the tired and enigmatic future version, or the younger, more eccentric present version. His "don't take chances" speech was one of the best things he's ever said. It was like he was channelling William Hartnell or Colin Baker, a darker side to the Doctor.

 

Amy Pond seemed like a much more detailed character this time around. There were fewer quips and more moments of introspection. The moment where Amy made a promise on fish fingers and custard made it feel like there was a genuine bond between her and the Doctor. Rory Williams was perhaps less well utilized, since he spent most of the story being overcrowded by the more flamboyant Doctor, Amy and River.

 

I wasn't particularly looking forward to the return of River Song, but as with Amy, I found her much more interesting this time. She still says "spoilers" and flirts with the Doctor, but there are moments of genuine emotion when she tells Rory about the day she dreads.

 

Toby Haynes is back and continues to be a good director. The filming is excellant, I love the look of the Utah Lake with its strong orange deserts and clear blue waters. The scenes in the tunnels near the Silents' spaceship was suitably creepey.

In the end, what we have are a lot of good ideas, and a lot of good performances, but not much of a plot.

7/10