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

Doctor Who 2010 Christmas Special: A Christmas Carol

A spaceship is hurtling towards the surface of an alien planet! Amy and Rory are among the many passengers trapped on board! The only person who can save the ship is a bitter old man called Kazran Sardick, ruler of Sardicktown, and he just doesn't care.  Looks like he needs the Doctor!

Last year's Christmas Special, The End of Time was pretty doomy and gloomy so it's good to have a Christmas Special that is fun, frothy and simple. Steven Moffat promised us the most "christmassy christmas episode" and he certainly did his best. We get a vast planet of snow, and the Doctor building a snowman at the end. The actual story is a retelling of A Christmas Carol, with the Doctor showing Kazran his past in order to change his present. The Doctor and Kazran get to share Christmas dinner with a family and there's even a snowman at the end.

In spite of all the wonder and visuals, the story focuses on the life of Kazran Sardick, and the Doctor's timey wimey attempts in redeeming him. The Sci-Fi plotting was simple window dressing.  Like many Moffat episodes,  the story had fun with time paradoxes, but as they are focused on Kazran's life, they are character driven, unlike The Big Bang, which was concept driven. Some might complain that Moffat is reusing his time paradox trick too often. But then again, RTD repeated his invasion of earth trick, so what do you expect? All writers have their quirks and repetitions.

I've said it before, but Matt Smith continues to be brilliant in the role of the Doctor. Amy Pond wasn't in the episode much, but what I saw of her seemed okay. Her reaction to Kazran is nice, and one of the few occasions we see her empathise with a being on another world. Rory gets even less to say or do than Amy, so I can't really say anything about him at all.

The episode revolves around Michael Gambon's character Kazran Sardick. He is as you would expect from an actor of his calibre, very good indeed. Unfortunately, Katherine Jenkins had very little to do as The Abigail character was sadly lacking in personality, and seemed to exist as a mere love interest for Kazran, and a plot device to save the spaceship.

The design of this episode was great. Sardicktown looked like a wonderful city of steampunk. The only downside was the spaceship set, which looked like the kind of tacky rubbish you'd find in a 70s episode.

This was a fun little episode you can really enjoy while gorged on turkey and wine!

8/10

Next: America! A green eyed Ood! The Lodger Tardis! River Song naked! I want to see Series Six right now!!!