Doctor Who Season Finale
It was quite a good episode, I was wondering what was going to be in the Genesis Ark the Daleks brought, especially when it was Time Lord technology. The confrontation between Cybusmen and Daleks is something I’ve longed for since, well since there were Cybermen to want it for.
I did like a few key points, more than anything :
- Cybusmen from beyond the rift may have been dealt with, but what about those built in the Who-niverse that actually belong in the mainstream? Though, they were probably the font line against the Daleks on-site
- I liked the time shift, it’s like a typical comic book villain finding some little loophole to make sure he remains around
- I love the naming Bad Wolf Bay in Norway. Not because of last seasons use of the Bad Wolf meme throughout the series, but the Wolves of Fenric were vikings from Norway, Fenric played with time, he was an ultimate evil
Looking forward to the Christmas episode now.
My view on the storylines:
NEW EARTH
I really like cat people, and it gave the Doctor a reason beyond Survival to go off cats. The episode was a humour piece mostly, which mks the same as the last Cassandra episode. The effects were really good, but it didn’t exactly sell Tennant or the season at first. He showed his quirkiness and bounce that gelled with early Eccleston. The backstory of medical testing was good, but it was kind of lost with the Cassandra angle.
My Score 06/10
TOOTH AND CLAW
Wushu fighting monks and werewolves, in a dark brooding castle. High action, suspense, but not much thinking involved. Thrilling, but not exactly chilling.
My Score 08/10
SCHOOL REUNION
Anthony Stewart Head as an evil Headmaster. Sarah-Jane Smith and K-9, bring in the effect of people being left by the Doctor. The episode feattured a few laughs, some very good thought-out drama, and some action, all based in a school to really bring in the ‘this could be local’ feel. This was a great episode.
My Score 09/10
THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE
Clockwork villains filled me with such unbridled passion in the trailers, and even during the episode they were so captivatingly beautiful and elegant, despite being so calmly murderous. The episode had a good style for story, going back and forth, and the plot itself was very well thought out. Unfortunately, it just seemed to be lacking a little something to give me the ‘Ooh’ factor. It was clever, but without proving itself.
My Score 07/10
RISE OF THE CYBERMEN and THE AGE OF STEEL
The two-parter was a fairly good story,that attempted to revive the Cybermen in the new Who. I don’t really consider them Cybermen though, because of the alternate universe origin, I prefer the differention of Cybusmen, and I use it respectively – they aren’t the original, but they are worthy to recognise. It was better than an emotional Dalek, as at least the Cybusmen seemed consistent in personality to their predecessors. I’ll say it again though, Zeppelins over London, there are so many better AU reasons for that!
My Score 07/10
THE IDIOT’S LANTERN
Finally, some suspense and even a tad of freakiness. It featured another of my favourite visual effects and recurring dream aspests – featureless faces – though, granted it’s a bit of a cliche image these days. Casting of The Wire was really well done with Maureen Lippman, who provided the right level of Auntie Beeb Queens English to set the period, and give an eerie edge. It did show that the series was going to deal with Rose being more central to working out problems. It was a shame they didn’t include the nod to Logopolis in the climbing scene.
My Score 09/10
THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET and THE SATAN PIT
A stronger two-parter story than the Cybusmen storyline. The overall backstory of a planet in a locked position before a black hole, that has an evil force contained within, and the ‘failsafe’ plan that the captors had worked out was very nice. The imagery of the Ood race and the comments of craziness from the surroundings was a nice, if unintended, segue to the Cthulhu mythos if one had wanted to take it.
The lore surrounding the demon was good, and his mortal vessel was so well put through make-up for the tattoos that it was a slightly chilling encounter – though I was reminded of Hakushi from WWF (1995).
Though the use of sick TARDIS syndrome and misplaced TARDIS as a means to strand the Doctor and Rose in danger was getting tired.
My Score 08/10
LOVE & MONSTERS
This episode just had me asking ‘Why?’ for so long. Granted, I liked the approach for storytelling and would have probably enjoyed reading it as far as the plot went, or watching it out of context of the series as some form of special – anybody remember Shakedown? – but itwas just filled with wrongness to actually be considered. I love Peter Kay as a comedien, but there was no way to suspend disbelief for the joke of a character being portrayed. The monster itself looked great and was amazingly threatening, if it was portrayed that way. The whole episode was inteded as a humour piece, but it was too much. In fact, the backstory of interaction with support and mainstream characters could have carried the episode otherwise. Referencing the planet of Raxacoricofallapatorian cheapened it too. The Scooby-Doo bit just got me doubting the episode from the start, knowing here would be an overshadow of silliness.
My Score 03/10
FEAR HER
Suspense filled episode, with the use of children as the scariest thing in the world, the aliens actually being at worst neutral and innocent, and, you can scare people by foreboding music and slow movement. It was a bit repetitive of The Idiot’s Lantern, with re-used plot points and even scenery, as I covered in my entry at the time, but it was a very well done episode.
My Score 09/10
ARMY OF GHOSTS and DOOMSDAY
With slight reservations of one character in the first half of the story, I have to say that overall I enjoyed the story and ending, as you can probably guess from above. Though, it does repeat last season, which ose actually referenced, in that he always seems to trick her away at the end of a series.
My Score 08/10
SERIES OVERALL
My overall impression of the season was that I liked it a lot, but not nearly as much as the previous incarnation with Eccleston.
The new characterisation was quite enjoyable, and Tennant has done a good job with the character, he seems to have captured a facet of the doctor from McCoy and Colin Baker, which could be considered deranged or genius, and his facial expressions and sudden changes of speech and thought do, at times, outshine Eccleston.
The story plots were good, and would have scored a lot higher from me, but for the lacking in the actual finished episode. Sometimes the story, effects and intentions, surpass what can be achieved.