Doctor Who: New Series

Deep Breath – Some Quick Thoughts

Deep Breath is, at its core, a fairly typical regeneration debut story. The story itself wasn\’t bad, but wasn\’t exactly anything special either. But a regeneration story has the primary function of successfully introducing the new Doctor to the audience. This is the single most important thing we needed from Deep Breath, to break in Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor, and, as such, the episode did an excellent job of it. Everything else is secondary, in my opinion, although there were definitely both plus and minus points.

As I\’ve said, the story was nothing exceptional, not exactly setting the world on fire for me. However, there were some nice scenes in it. The character set-pieces and interaction were generally excellent (with the exception of one thing). There were also quite a few nice bits of humour in among all the sad bits, and I also really liked seeing Lady Vastra, Jenny and Strax again. I enjoy these characters a lot, and I think that Strax is absolutely hilarious.

On the negative side, the plot itself was definitely a bit thin, there were at least a couple of glaring plot and character inconsistencies, particularly Clara\’s aggressively negative overreaction to the new, older Doctor, which was TOTALLY out of character. Any other companion, yes, it might\’ve actually been more realistic, but not the Impossible Girl. She\’s met them all. And even if, as some people argue, she has no memories of her other lives (which I disagree with), her reaction was STILL over-the-top and totally out of character.

Hey, she\’s already pretty familiar with regeneration and different Doctors, she\’s even been in an adventure with three different Doctors (Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt), in The Day of the Doctor 50th Anniversary Special, and having already met (and liked) an older Doctor (Hurt), her overly-negative reaction to Capaldi because he is \”old\” is totally unrealistic and out-of-character.

The shame is that Jenna Coleman is a pretty good actress, and Clara, as a companion, is quite likeable. But Steven Moffat didn\’t come up with the writing goods for her on this occasion, writing her not as herself, but reducing her to some kind of a one-dimensional cypher, a dig at and representation of fans who can\’t handle regeneration and the replacing of \”their\” Doctor with a new one. In her defense, I have to say that this is NOT Jenna Coleman\’s fault, and the young lady can only deal with the scripts she\’s been given.

Another major plot flaw was actually one of the nicest scenes in the entire episode, the phone call from the Matt Smith Doctor on Trenzalore to Clara, said call obviously being made before or during the events of The Time of the Doctor. It\’s all very poignant, heart-tugging and well-acted, until you actually stop and think about it, and you realize that it simply couldn\’t have happened. It was was a major continuity flub and sloppy writing by Moffat. Nice, emotional, tear-jerking writing, but sloppy and wrong, wrong, WRONG.

MattDoc says to Clara that \”the time is getting close\”, and \”it\’s going to be a real whopper\” (he\’s obviously referring to an \”upcoming regeneration\”). But remember back to what happened at the end of The Time of the Doctor. The whole crux of the story was that the Doctor was coming to the end of his final incarnation. There weren\’t going to BE any more regenerations. As far as MattDoc was concerned, for pretty much the ENTIRE episode, he\’d run out of regenerations, and he was going to die. That was the whole point of the story. Which is what would\’ve happened if Clara hadn\’t begged the Time Lords to save him, as they did right at the end, by popping up at the last minute and giving the Doctor a new cycle of regenerations. So Matt Smith\’s Doctor couldn\’t have made that phone call. He didn\’t know he was going to regenerate before it actually happened. Very sloppy continuity mess-up on Moffat\’s part.

Those were my two main gripes, and the rest I can live with. However, one thing I couldn\’t complain about was Peter Capaldi\’s performance as the new Doctor, which was excellent, top notch. I think he\’s going to be an excellent Doctor. For that reason alone, I\’ll give Deep Breath a B instead of the C that I thought the fairly average story by itself actually deserved.

Doctor Who is Back! Season 8 Starts TODAY!

Later this evening, in slightly over two hours to be exact, the big event that every Doctor Who fan on the planet has been waiting for happens, when the first episode of Season 8 debuts on BBC1 at 7.50pm.

This first episode, Deep Breath, is a 75-minute feature-length debut to the new season, and is the first of the twelve episodes comprising Season 8 (or Season 34, if you prefer to include the Classic Series along with the New Series, as I do). I know absolutely nothing about this episode or any of the others, as I\’ve been taking extreme measures to avoid ANY spoilers on the new season. I know nothing other than the titles of the episodes, and that the last two episodes of the season comprise the two-part Season Finale.

I\’ve become totally pissed off in recent years, having each new season ruined by spoilers all over the internet, on TV and in the magazines, so this year it\’s been me dodging any kind of spoilers as nimbly as I can. Fingers crossed I can make through today, and indeed all twelve episodes, without having anyone ruin things for me by spilling the beans about upcoming stories before I get to watch them first. God help anyone who does. 🙂

The Season 8 Episode Listing is as follows:

Deep Breath
Into the Dalek
Robot of Sherwood
Listen
Time Heist
The Caretaker
Kill the Moon
Mummy on the Orient Express
Flatline
In the Forest of the Night
Dark Water
Death in Heaven

I\’ve been eagerly awaiting the first full appearance of the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, as he steps into the role he has inherited from the absolutely amazing Matt Smith. I\’ve always been a huge fan of Matt Smith as the Doctor. He\’s been a huge success, and gave us an hilariously funny, zany, eccentric, manic, and sometimes truly alien Doctor persona that reminded me most of Tom Baker (on speed), mixed with a lot of Patrick Troughton, and with some of the best elements of the other Doctors thrown in for good measure.

When you combine all of that with Smith\’s own natural hi-energy fun and crazy personality (apparently he\’s like that in real life, honest), he created a brilliant new Doctor, one who really convinced me that \”he was born for the role\”. I absolutely loved him, despite being very apprehensive back when he first took over from David Tennant (whom I also loved). Matt Smith made even the lamest episodes (and there have been a few) FUN to watch, keeping me as a viewer even at times when I thought the series was going a bit stale.

So Peter Capaldi has a lot to live up to, some pretty big shoes to fill there, but I reckon he\’ll make a darned good Doctor once he settles in. He\’s a very experienced actor, who has been around the acting business for many, many years, and the BBC have never failed yet to pick a good one to fill the new Doctor\’s role.

Another thing that I consider a major plus is that Capaldi was also a big fan of the classic series when he was a kid. This love and respect for the classic series might serve him well as he slips into the role of the new Doctor. He was a big fan of the first four Doctors, and watched the show avidly right from the William Hartnell era, right on through to the the middle of Tom Baker\’s run on the show. Eerily enough, this mirrors almost exactly my own childhood history with Doctor Who.

Anyway, back to the new season opener tonight. I\’m actually really looking forward to this new, older, grumpier, darker Doctor, and to seeing how Peter Capaldi works with the current companion, Clara (played by Jenna Coleman). Roll on this evening, 7.50pm!

Doctor Who – Season 8 Starts Today!

We\’re into the early hours of Saturday morning right now, and the big event that every Doctor Who fan on the planet has been waiting for happens later this evening, when the first episode of Season 8 debuts on BBC1 at 7.50pm.

This first episode is the first of twelve, and is a 75-minute feature-length episode titled Deep Breath. I know absolutely nothing about it, as I\’ve been very stringent about avoiding spoilers on the new season, other than the titles of the episodes, and that the last two episodes of the season are the two-part Season Finale.

The Season 8 Episode Listing is as follows:

Deep Breath
Into the Dalek
Robot of Sherwood
Listen
Time Heist
The Caretaker
Kill the Moon
Mummy on the Orient Express
Flatline
In the Forest of the Night
Dark Water
Death in Heaven

I\’ve been eagerly awaiting the first full appearance of the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, as he steps into the role he has inherited from the absolutely amazing Matt Smith. Peter Capaldi has some pretty big shoes to fill there, but I reckon he\’ll make a darned good Doctor. He\’s a very experienced actor, who has been around the acting business for many, many years. And the BBC have never failed yet to pick a good one to fill the new Doctor\’s role.

Something which I think bodes well for the show, in my opinion, is that he was also a big fan of the classic series when he was a kid, in particular the first four Doctors, up until the middle of Tom Baker\’s run on the show. All of which pretty much mirrors exactly my own childhood journey with Doctor Who. This love and respect of the classic series might serve him well as he slips into the role of the new Doctor.

Anyway, I\’m actually really looking forward to this new, older, grumpier, darker Doctor, and to seeing how Peter Capaldi works with the current companion, Clara (played by Jenna Coleman). Roll on this evening, 7.50pm!

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 12)

Here\’s the final part of my look back at Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary, with the final two of my list of favourite dozen best 50th Anniversary items:

Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited

13. Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend

The three-part Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend, which aired on BBC3 over three nights from the Friday-Sunday, 15th-17th November, was a celebration of the various monsters and adversaries that the Doctor has met in the new series. It starts in reverse order, from the Judoon in tenth place, down through the Silurians, the Ood, Clockwork Droids, the Ice Warriors, the Cybermen, the Silence, to the final big 3-2-1 of the Master, the Weeping Angels, and the Daleks. Lots of monsters, and LOTS of fun.

14. Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited

The Doctors Revisited originally aired as individual episodes between January and November, and was reshown in omnibus format on Watch on Saturday 16th November. It is an 11-part series featuring each of the previous incarnations of the Doctor from the first to the eleventh. Some classic clips featuring the Doctor and his adversaries, and interviews with creators, cast and behind-the-scenes contributors and crew, make this a worthwhile viewing experience for all Doctor Who fans.

All in all, a great 50th Anniversary. Not a bad item on the list, although the first four or five were undoubtedly, for me at least, the best of the bunch.

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 11)

Here\’s the penultimate part of my look back at Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary:

The Radio Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special
The TV Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special

11. Radio Times 50th Anniversay Special

The Radio Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special is a real doozy, with no less than TWELVE variant covers featuring all of the Doctors, including \”War Doctor\” John Hurt.

There\’s also a Steven Moffat article, on set with Tennant, Smith and Hurt, a celebration of 50 Years of Radio Times Doctor Who covers, a detailed overview of all eleven Doctors, and even a competition to win the Doctor\’s bow tie. What\’s not to like about this? Another nice one.

12. TV Times 50th Anniversay Special

The TV Times had their own 50 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary edition, which was also pretty good, although they didn\’t go quite as overboard as the Radio Times, with only four variant Doctor Who covers.

There is a nice Classic Companions piece, interviewing Peter Purves (Steven) and Frazer Hines (Jamie), plus a mini-review of The Day of the Doctor. But the main piece of the Doctor Who anniversary is the five-page 50 Years of Doctor Who Special celebration, which includes interviews with not only David Tennant and Matt Smith, but also Tom Baker and Peter Davison.

However, my absolute favourite was the A Brief History of Time (Lords) timeline, which runs along the bottom of the entire five pages of the main 50 Years of Doctor Who Special section. Anyone who knows me knows how much I like my timelines. Lovely.

To Be Continued…

Sci-Fi on Television (Part 3)

The 2000s have provided a relative scarcity of good new telefantasy that I\’ve actually liked (in comparison to, say, the 1960s, 1970s or 1990s), and the unnerving policy of cancelling potentially good series (both UK and US) before they even get off the ground still continues to hang over every new television sci-fi creation.

In the UK (and, indeed, worldwide), the modern incarnation of Doctor Who has been a runaway success, and is still going strong after seven seasons. Although not as big a fan of NuWho as I am of the classic series, in my opinion, it still ranks among the very best of recent telefantasy. I was also quite fond of spin-off series Torchwood, although it seems to have petered out after a run of four seasons (I hope I\’m wrong and it returns at some point in the future). Another of my favourite UK series was Primeval, which had a decent run lasting for five seasons, but it also seems to have disappeared. The 2011 series Outcasts, was cancelled after only eight episodes, due to poor viewing figures, just when it was getting really interesting and I was starting to really get into it. I was well pissed off about that.

As for US telefantasy series, I quite liked Andromeda (2000-2005), although what seems like a change in tone and general direction in the middle of the run took it down a path that I didn\’t like quite as much as I did the earlier seasons. One of my favourite series of the past decade was the remake of Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009). Four seasons of the main series, plus the initial 2003 mini-series and the two TV movies Razor and The Plan, provided a rivetting storyline, which actually managed to wrap up everything neatly by the end. It\’s a great pity that the two very interesting BSG prequel series, Caprica and Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome barely made it out of the starting blocks, as they both had a lot of potential.

Star Trek: Enterprise was one that I wasn\’t fussed on first time around, but I got to like it when I watched it a few years later on DVD. Sadly it was cancelled after four seasons, the first Trek series since the original 1960s show to be canned prematurely. Stargate SG1, another one that I didn\’t get into until a few years afterwards, lasted an incredible ten seasons, ending in 2002, and spawning a couple of spin-off series that I liked quite a lot.

I quite liked Stargate Atlantis, which was sadly cancelled after only five years to make way for its much more serious and BSG-influenced follow-up series, Stargate Universe, which ironically and sadly was also canned, after only two seasons. This one never managed to pick up the big audiences of its predecessors, who were most likely put off by the bleak grimness of the series. Both these series had interesting characters and scripts, and deserved to last longer (particularly Stargate Universe).

The fun Warehouse 13 and its sister series Eureka both made it to a respectable five years, while Sanctuary made it to four seasons. However, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, an interesting Terminator spin-off, only made it to two seasons, as did Alphas. I really, really wish the damned networks would give these series a bit more time to grow before nixing them.

Taking this into consideration, I was delighted that one of my favourite series, Fringe, actually got to finish off its storyline in a fifth season finale. I really, REALLY hate it when a good series is cancelled on a cliffhanger, without the overall story being resolved, as happened with Farscape, another favourite of mine. At least The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series gave some closure to that one, but still left a hugely unsatisfying taste in my mouth.

Worst of all, the excellent Firefly only made it to fourteen episodes before being canned by moronic network execs. The follow-up movie Serenity, as good as it was, was no compensation for that extremely short-sighted and tragically premature axing of the main series. Firefly was, in my opinion, Joss Whedon\’s best television series, and it\’s really sad that the suits wouldn\’t give it more of a chance to spread its wings, as it would\’ve been really big. The television network suits only understand viewing figures. They wouldn\’t know good TV if it kicked them up the arse and screamed \”WATCH ME!\”

As for current telefantasy series, There isn\’t much out there right now. Two of my favourite series finished recently, Fringe in January 2013, and the adult comedy sci-fi drama Misfits in December 2013. With those two gone, I don\’t see any current sci-fi television worth getting too worked up about. Well, maybe Defiance, which isn\’t too bad (and it seems has been given the green light for a second season), and Marvel\’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is okay for an hour\’s viewing, but nothing special overall.

And then there\’s the current US remake of classic 1970\’s UK kid\’s sci-fi series The Tomorrow People. I wouldn\’t really describe this one as \”good\”. It\’s a bit \”Meh\” to be honest, bland and Americanised, in many ways yet another teenage soap opera, chock-full of pretty boys and girls and mindless fight scenes. It\’s lost pretty much everything which made the original 1970s series such fun (despite it being so cheap and cheesy), and falls strictly into the \”watch if there\’s nothing else good on another channel\” category. I do keep watching in the hope that the series comes up with something interesting, but I doubt that it will. I don\’t think the scriptwriters have the balls or the talent. But I really do hope that they prove me wrong.

Maybe there have been other recent telefantasy series aside from these, but they certainly weren\’t a big enough hit for me to even notice them. Good new telefantasy series in the second decade of the twenty-first century seem to be as rare as hen\’s teeth, and, at almost half-way through the decade, this trend shows no signs of improving. It seems like it\’s left to good old Doctor Who to carry the lone banner for decent telefantasy right now, and if IT finishes up, God help us all. If it wasn\’t for my big collection of classic telefantasy DVDs, I\’d go off my head. 🙁

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 9)

Here\’s the next part of my look back at the Best of the Bunch from Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary:

The Night of the Doctor – mini-episode prequel
The Last Day – mini-episode prequel

8. The Night of the Doctor

Commemorating Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary, and the first of two very good mini-episode prequels to The Day of the Doctor is The Night of the Doctor, which was released on Youtube and BBC iPlayer on 14th November. At less than seven minutes long, it is an excellent swansong for the Paul McGann Doctor and as an introduction to the War Doctor. It was also nice to see the Sisterhood of Karn make a reappearance again, as we hadn\’t seen them since the Tom Baker era. Both McGann and the Sisterhood should have been given more airtime in past Doctor Who series, so it was nice to see them again, and particularly in McGann\’s case, to see him have a nice, much-deserved regeneration scene at last.

9. The Last Day

The second of the two mini-episode prequels to The Day of the Doctor, and, at under four minutes, even shorter than The Night of the Doctor, is The Last Day, which first appeared on YouTube and BBC iPlayer on 21st November. Seen from the point of view of a Time Lord soldier wearing a headcam, this one elaborates on the \”fall of Arcadia\” during the Time War. The sequence with the commander bragging about the supposedly impenetrable \”sky trenches\” and Arcadia being \”the safest place on Gallifrey\” illustrates the overconfidence and complacency of the Time Lords. When the Daleks burst through in large numbers, I was almost cheering them on. 🙂

To Be Continued…

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 8)

Here\’s the next part of my look back at the Best of the Bunch from Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary:

The reshowing of An Unearthly Child
The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who
The Science of Doctor Who Special

5. An Unearthly Child

In fifth place was the reshowing of all four episodes of An Unearthly Child on BBC4 at 10.30pm on Thursday 21st November, right after An Adventure in Space and Time ended on BBC2, was also one of the highlights. These two together on the same evening provided a great night\’s viewing, a comprehensive overview of the beginning of Doctor Who.

6. The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who

In sixth place was the two-hour The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who, which aired on BBC3 from 8pm-10pm, on the night of Monday 18th November, was a fun, all-encompassing retrospective of all eleven Doctors, the companions, and the most popular monsters. I missed this one first time out, but was fortunate enough to catch it again on re-runs, when Part 1 of this was reshown on BBC3, on Sunday 15th December at 7pm, and Part 2 on BBC3, on Saturday 4th January 2014, at 7pm. I enjoyed it immensely.

7. Science of Doctor Who Special

In seventh place was the Science of Doctor Who Special, which aired on BBC2 on Thursday 14th November, at 9pm, and was hosted by Professor Brian Cox (with a guest appearance by none other than the Doctor himself, Matt Smith), was another excellent programming choice. It was a fun look at the science of time travel, through the lens of Doctor Who, in front of a studio audience made up of celebrities from science and many other areas of life.

To Be Continued…

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 7)

Here\’s the next part of my look back at the Best of the Bunch from Doctor Who\’s 50th Anniversary:

The November DVD release of The Tenth Planet
The November 50th Anniversary edition of Doctor Who Magazine

3. The Tenth Planet

In third place, it\’s the November DVD release of The Tenth Planet. I\’ve been waiting to see this one for a long, long time, and it didn\’t disappoint. I\’d never actually been lucky enough to own the VHS video release, and had only seen the few surviving clips on the Lost in Time DVD box set. So, finally being able to watch the whole story after all these years, featuring the very first appearance of the Cybermen, was really exciting.

The missing Episode 4 is expertly recreated here in animated form by the same people who did such sterling work animating the missing episodes on the recent Reign of Terror, The Ice Warriors and The Invasion DVD releases. And the excellent Telesnaps reconstruction of Episode 4 which had featured on the VHS video release is also here, in among the plentiful features on this top-notch and long-awaited double-DVD release.

4. Doctor Who Magazine 50th Anniversary Edition

In fourth place, it\’s the November 50th Anniversary edition of Doctor Who Magazine, the biggest and one of the best ever editions of the magazine. There was so much good stuff in this one, simply choc a bloc with 50th Anniversary goodness, that it\’s difficult to know where to start. But if I had my arm twisted up my back and was forced to choose, my two favourites would have to be Ghosts in the Machine, a behind the scenes feature on the excellent An Adventure in Space and Time, and An Unearthly Beginning, which features never-before-seen drafts of An Unearthly Child. Great stuff!

To Be Continued…

Doctor Who: 50 Years in Space & Time (Part 6)

November was, overall, an eventful 50th Anniversary for Doctor Who. Lots and lots of great things were happening, on television, on DVD and in the magazines. I can now look back upon the entire 50th Anniversary and list my favourite items. Here, starting with the best, and working my way back, is what I consider to be the Best of the Bunch, in order of preference:

An Adventure in Space and Time
The Day of the Doctor

1. An Adventure in Space and Time

In first place, and deservedly so, is the sublime An Adventure in Space and Time, which aired on BBC2 from 9-10.30pm on the night of Thursday 21st November. This was simply the best Doctor Who production that I\’ve seen in many years. The performances of all of the actors were exemplary, particularly David Bradley in the role of William Hartnell.

Indeed, I must say that the ONLY real criticism that I could express is that An Adventure in Space and Time, at under ninety minutes, was much too short. Because of this, there was the unfortunate need to skip over a number of extremely important figures and details in early Doctor Who history (for example, the vital roles played by Ray Cusick, Terry Nation, David Whitaker and a number of others) because of time and space constraints, if you\’ll pardon the obvious and corny pun. This excellent drama would have benefited greatly if it had been at least half an hour longer, or preferably even forty-five minutes.

Many, many thanks to the irrepressible Mark Gatiss for having the dedication and perseverance to stick with this project over so many years, until the time was right and The Powers That Be at the BBC finally gave the go ahead to put it into production.

2. The Day of the Doctor

In second place, and, in my opinion, not very far behind An Adventure in Space and Time, was the 50th Anniversary Special itself, The Day of the Doctor, which aired on BBC1 on the evening of Saturday 23rd November, from 7.50pm-8.05pm.

As I\’ve often said, I usually find most modern Doctor Who specials to be a bit hit and miss compared to the series proper. Often they\’re a bit of lighter fare to entertain the family after they\’ve gorged on the Christmas dinner and chocolate treats (and possibly a few drinkies for the mums and dads, yes siree!). And sometimes they seem to be just a bit of lightweight fluff filler thrown out to keep us hanging on in between seasons, or during the internal breaks within the seasons themselves.

But, that said, The Day of the Doctor was excellent. Not perfect mind you, but definitely excellent, and I consider it to be, despite a few minor niggles, without a doubt my favourite Doctor Who special of the modern era.

To Be Continued…