Doctor Who - The Doctor's Wife by Neil Gaiman

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Comic Book fans like myself have been waiting for over two years for this episode since Gaiman let it slip that he was commissioned to write an episode. The biggest question is was it worth the wait? The answer is a resounding YES!!!

Gaiman crafted a tale that showed how he's a natural fit for Doctor Who's particular brand of sci-fi especially under the reigns of The Moff's run. Its an exciting, sad, happy, fun romp that has tons of continuity references without being inaccessible to newer viewers. Gaiman also introduced some of his typical bizarre characters into the episode particularly with Auntie and Uncle who were brilliantly realized by Gaiman and played amazingly by Elizabeth Berrington and Adrian Schiller.

Which brings me to Idris played to absolute perfection by Suranne Jones. She was everything a female personification of the Doctor's TARDIS should be; funny, quirky, sexy (both in body and name) and having a few brief tiffs with the Doctor. Gaiman stated that he couldn't believe no one had done this story before and after you see it and how brilliant it is, its hard to believe no one has especially under the Davies reign. (In fact, at one point I did suspect Astrid from Voyage of the Damned was going to turn out to be the spirit of the TARDIS in that episode since her name was an anagram of TARDIS and she was turned into energy after dying to be sent off wnadering the universe. But now I'm glad that never happened because this episode was much better than that one.) And there are so many great lines and moments from this episode especially brought about by Idris being the TARDIS that you just know this is going to become one of the most quoted and rewatched episodes from The Moff's era. I loved two bits especially: Idris making the TARDIS whooshing sound to prove that she's the TARDIS to the Doctor and the line from Amy responding to the Doctor's excitement that Idris is the TARDIS and a woman; "Did you wish really, really hard?" I also loved the lines about her being called "Sexy" by the Doctor. They will probably never bring Idris back because it would feel contrived to do so but I know there will be a huge section of fandom wishing for her return someday.

Another thing I really enjoyed was even though the Doctor leaves Amy and Rory locked up in the TARDIS to get them out of the way from the interactions with the Doctor and Idris, they don't disappear from the action. In fact, there's quite a bit of potential character development from it as we get to see Amy's possible guilt projected by the telepathic House at how she's sometimes treated Rory. The projection of the abandoned Rory screaming at her and then writing DIE AMY, KILL AMY before he dies obviously comes from a deep seated knowledge that she has taken him for granted repeatedly even after he seemingly died in Amy's Choice and died for real in Cold Blood. I'm hoping that she will start trusting and appreciating him more and that he will grow to be more confident and secure in their relationship before they inevitably depart the TARDIS crew whenever that happens. I'm hoping that's the journey we're taking with these two characters because sometimes I just want to slap her for not treating him like a proper husband by trusting him and treating him with a little respect at least occasionally and I want to slap him for being so insecure all the time. On a side note, Rory has died so often that some members of fandom are calling him Kenny. If he continues to die in nearly every story I hope we get the following exchange;

Doctor: "You killed Rory!"

Amy: "You bastards!"

Its a bit of harsh language for family TV but it almost has to be said.

TARDIS corridors! Its about bloody time! I think the post-2005 series has not given the audience the full appreciation of just how big the TARDIS really is inside. There have been references and a wardrobe and an alcove with a trunk in it but nothing on this scale and I could see newer viewers not really getting the picture that its much bigger than just the console room. Now that they've spent the money and built a set of corridors, hopefully we will get to see them again on occasion and maybe even other rooms in future.

The title is a quite misleading (although its obvious where it comes from) which is slowly becoming a staple since the show's return in 2005 but unlike The Doctor's Daughter and The Next Doctor particularly The Doctor's Wife is a story that doesn't leave you disappointed after finding out the title is false. The problem with the former two titles being that what the characters actually turn out to be while interesting and good are still a big let down from your expectations which is a mistake on the writers' part. Your title shouldn't be better than your payoff and leave people disappointed. If you're going to do the deceptive title thing, the payoff should be equal or greater than what the title made you think it was,

The only downside for the episode that I can think of is that it was never fully explained what House was exactly. But perhaps there wasn't more to it than the explanation given and my brain is just looking for more details where there aren't any.

My list of favorite fourteenth stories in order from best to last:

1) The Five Doctors by Terrance Dicks

2) The Doctor's Wife by Neil Gaiman

3) The Deadly Assassin by Robert Holmes

4) The Crusade by David Whitaker

5) The Shakespeare Code by Gareth Roberts

6) The Time Monster by Robert Sloman and Barry Letts

7) The Wheel in Space by David Whitaker and Kit Pedler

This was a tough one! The Five Doctors wins because I do love me a bit of fanwank and its one of the most fun stories ever even if its not the best written or achieved story ever. Its just pure fun! A lot of fans hate fanwank because they feel they have to be above such things and they don't want to be thought of as fanboys but I'm a FANBOY and fiercely proud of it! They often cite how stories like this are inaccessible and how they alienate casual viewers. I honestly think that the general audience appreciates stories like this far more than anybody thinks. Imagine if The Moff had a story with the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors together for the 50th anniversary? I bet ratings and audience appreciation figures would be higher than normal even if the story was just ok in and of itself. I think that its mostly self-loathing fanboys who hate these sorts of stories rather than the general public. Partially because the general public doesn't analyze it to death and doesn't think about it beyond their watching experience and can appreciate a fun romp. That's my opinion anyway.

Doctor Who - The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker

This story is an oddity in Doctor Who. Unusually for science fiction, Doctor Who doesn't have "bubble" episodes like Star Trek or Stargate to save on budget. But this is the only Doctor Who story to take place entirely inside the TARDIS with the exception of last year's Amy's Choice but even that had location shooting in it.

This story was written by then script editor David Whitaker in a weekend at the last minute to fulfill the initial 13 episode order by the BBC. All the other scripts being worked on were longer and wouldn't be given the go-ahead until after the ratings success of The Daleks. So its amazing that this story is so good given all of that.

The surreal atmosphere and the mystery of what is going on is unlike anything else in Doctor Who and it entirely relies on the acting abilities of the main cast to see it through. The story is a bit uneven and the eventual resolution and the leaps of logic needed to get to the solution are a bit much but otherwise its a very solid story script-wise.

This story builds the conflict between the TARDIS crew to a crescendo leading them to suspicion and even suggesting throwing Ian and Barbara off the ship but it also leads to a peace of sorts at the end with Ian and Barbara being accepted as crew members and the Doctor mellowing quite a bit. It is here that he starts moving from anti-hero to the true hero he is later.

William Hartnell, William Russell and Jacqueline Hill are excellent throughout doing an excellent job of building tension and acting oddly in this somewhat surreal story. Carole Ann Ford goes a bit over-the-top at times but otherwise she's fine. This story is another that gives her the opportunity to be a bit more alien.

Definitely a very solid third story. I give it 6 out of 10 TARDISes.

Doctor Who - The Daleks by Terry Nation

In this second story, the series begins to improve greatly. A fairly blatant allegory on Nazis and Jews from WWII about racial superiority with the Daleks vs. the Thals, its still a very powerful message. Also included is an early warning about the dangers of nuclear war and its possible side effects.

The story tends to lag in the middle when you watch it all at once, but I found watching it an episode at a time to be consistently entertaining. Which, lets face it, is how these stories were intended to be watched. Still, there is quite a bit of padding. Enough so that the story would probably be stronger if it was cut to 6 episodes instead of 7.

Again, I found the story to work quite well on the limited budget. There's a few little glitches like pieces of the styrofoam cavern wall breaking away at one point but all in all it works.

The costumes of the Thals are unashamedly alien and even though they look a bit silly, I applaud them for it in this day and age where much of science fiction television has humans in the future and even alien races wearing suits and ties or t-shirts and jeans instead of alien or futuristic clothing. I know its supposed to help non sci-fi fans identify with the characters more, but I find it ridiculous that hundreds of years in the future that fashion won't have changed or that aliens wear the same clothes we do on their home planet.

The Daleks are thoroughly single-minded in their desire to exterminate all that is unlike making them truly monsters not only in form but even more so in intent. I never found them particularly scary but even so there's something about them that is just a wonderful design. Again, so many aliens are humanoid or downright human its cool to see aliens that are totally alien to us. (Even though we only get a glimpse of the creatures inside in this early adventure.)

Ian and Barbara continue to be just as important as the Doctor as leads and Susan although pushed a bit more into the background this time, gets a nice bit in the story where she is their only hope of salvation from dying of radiation poisoning.

The Doctor isn't as villainous in this story but he is very much still the anti-hero as he lies to his fellow travelers putting them in mortal danger just because he wants to investigate the Dalek city while they all insist on leaving. Viewers at this point must have been very unsure of whether this character of the Doctor was really a hero or a villain.

A very good start for the Daleks and a sign of even better stories to come. I give it 7 out of 10 TARDISes.

Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child by Anthony Coburn

The very first Doctor Who story. But certainly not the best. As with most television shows, the opening story is not the best one. The flaw mainly comes from the story setting chosen which was during prehistoric times with cavemen. Cavemen are difficult to portray in relation to modern man because they are so far removed from us that we really can't relate to one another. And it usually fails dramatically when its tried especially in a serious manner. That's really the main flaw in the story. Otherwise its fine. The performances are as good as could be expected under the circumstances given that cavemen are conversing and relating to modern man. We can make the apologists argument that the TARDIS was translating their language to make the TARDIS crew able to communicate with them but that's just what it is.

The pilot episode, "An Unearthly Child" however is top notch and as good as just about any other piece of Who. Very dramatic and very effective in setting up a mystery and dramatic tension and then ably explaining it all in easy-to-understand terms. I absolutely love that episode.

And watching the rest of it in episode format daily made me enjoy the rest of the story more than I usually do, especially once I get past the caveman limitations inherent in the story.

William Hartnell is fantastic as the Doctor. Far from the lovable grandfather figure he would later become, he is almost the antagonist and villain of the piece. Threatening Ian and Barbara often throughout the story and then kidnapping them. Forced to team up to survive the Doctor throughout the story, he seems only concerned with his own well being and that of his granddaughter Susan. He even goes so far as suggesting they commit murder to survive and it appears as if he is going to go through with the act before Ian stops him.

Carole Ann Ford is also very good as Susan making the most of playing a normal teenager at times and at other times seeming a bit otherworldly. An aspect of her character mostly played down in later stories unfortunately.

William Russell and Jacqueline Hill as Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are not only the audience identification characters but the real heroes of the story as well. Its them we wind up rooting for mostly and in these early episodes they are just as much the leads as William Hartnell is.

Not the best story even watching it in episode format but it has much going for it still mostly due to the interactions of the four main characters. I give it 5 out of 10 TARDISes.

Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space by Robert Holmes

I've started a quest to watch every episode of Doctor Who in order. Well, actually I started it back in 2009 but as I've just reached the Pertwee era, I've decided to write reviews of them all!

Spearhead From Space is one of the very best opening stories for any Doctor. Its the debut of the Autons, one of Doctor Who's most prominent monsters. They are great creations, utilizing the creepiness of animated dummies to great effect. The effect is enhanced by this being the first Doctor Who story to be shot entirely on film due to strike at the BBC and one wonders if the show wouldn't have been improved if all of it had been shot on film from that point on. Although the form that controls the Autons, the Nestene consciousness takes at the end is much less better realized, its pretty much the only effect in the story that's a bit shoddy. Other than that the effects, pacing and direction is top notch.

The story itself is a fairly straightforward alien invasion plot but that's part of what makes it so strong. Its familiarity allows for the story to breathe enough to also serve as an introduction to the new Doctor portrayed by Jon Pertwee and Caroline John's Liz Shaw as well. Not to mention the reintroduction of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and the concept of UNIT.

In contrast to Patrick Troughton who had to find his way to a consistent portrayal of the Doctor, Jon Pertwee is immediately giving the same performance he delivers throughout his era and is much more comfortable in the role initially. His portrayal is a bit more quirky than usual due to the regeneration crisis but it is still the least quirky of all the Doctors as Pertwee chose to play it as a man of action. Basically the James Bond of Doctor Who without the womanizing. The only flaw in his performance is his comical expression when the Nestene is trying to choke him. Its more like something out of a vaudeville comedy rather than the actual expression of someone with their life in jeopardy. Other than that though, he's brilliant!

Caroline John is also very good as Liz Shaw and its a shame that after this story her character was pushed back to being the mere lab assistant as opposed to the primary scientific advisor she was brought in to be. In this story more so than others she is portrayed as almost an equal to the Doctor which is a big change from most of his companions. Apparently Barry Letts, the producer and Terrance Dicks, the script editor felt the companion needed to be more of a damsel-in-distress type. But then, it was the 70's and the idea of strong females was still new in concept in television particularly.

Nicholas Courtney is absolutely brilliant as the Brigadier and the chemistry between him and Jon Pertwee is already apparent this early on.

Hugh Burden gives an excellent performance as Channing, the Auton leader, especially in his facial expressions and vacant stare. You immediately realize there's something not quite right about him based on that alone.

Derek Smee goes a bit over-the-top as Ransome, drooling in fear at the sight of Autons. But you have to admire him going for it all the way even if its a bit unintentionally funny.

But the only performance that really doesn't work is Hamilton Dyce as General Scobie. He gives such a bland performance that even when confronted with his own duplicate, he has absolutely no reaction whatsoever. The director edited in an off-camera scream when he his captured but its obvious that the actor must have been confused as to which version of him was supposed to be the Auton.

A great start to the Pertwee era and one of my favorite stories of his Doctor. I give it 10 out of 10 TARDISes.

On a side note, I realized that I have probably never watched this in episode format before due to it being on public television in the states and they usually played the stories in movie format. When released on VHS it was still movie format. I must say although I often enjoy watching a story all in one sitting, I prefer the episodic format better with cliffhangers intact.

Camelot - "Homecoming" and "The Sword and the Crown"

I am a huge fan of the Arthurian mythos and a bit uptight when it comes to altering it too much. I have enjoyed various re-tellings of the legend of the Knights of the Round Table. Some like the musical film "Camelot" and the 1953 film "Knights of the Round Table" offer fairly faithful versions of the main legend and are quite good. Others like "First Knight" and "King Arthur" (2004) I found disappointing due to their reinterpretations of the source material. The former due to its representation of Lancelot as a rogue rather than as in the traditional legend a deeply flawed man who tries so hard to be the perfect knight but comes up short. The latter due to its supposed presentation as a "realistic" version of the story which ends up neither being realistic nor being faithful to the possible inspirations for the legend. And still others like the TV movie "Merlin" I found to be taking such liberties with the legend that I found it distracting. And the most recent television version also entitled "Merlin" has taken broad liberties as well but its fun enough whilst occasionally throwing something from the tales into the plot to keep me entertained.

That brings me to Starz first two episodes of "Camelot". I have to say I haven't been this satisfied with a version of King Arthur since the magnificent film "Excalibur" (1981). So far this is the version of the tales I have wanted to see told in a serialized format for years. The problem with films is the shortness of the running time. When it was compiled by Sir Thomas Malory he incorporated as many legends as possible together so its an incredibly massive work. With a television show, however, they have the ability to take their time portraying more of the story than ever before.

Included in this version for example is King Lot who was Arthur's chief opponent when Merlin revealed him to be Uther's rightful heir. He is rarely included in films and yet he is one of the two main villains of the first two episodes. We also get Sir Kay (Arthur's foster brother) and Sir Ector (Arthur's foster father) in very prominent roles which is rare. There are are even references or cameos of other Arthurian knights like King Nentres, Sir Brastias, Sir Ulfius and King Pellinore.

Of course there are some liberties and/or combining of characters as in any retelling of Arthurian stories. Morgana is, as usual, combined with her sister Morgause into one character and one of Pellinore's chief deeds is actually done by another character. While it would have been nice to not have those changes, it is understandable as there are so many characters that even in a television series they are going to have to pick and choose whom to use.

There's also one major character named Leontes who is totally an invention of this series but who he turns out to be makes for an interesting unexpected plot twist.

As usual for a made-for-pay channel show there's plenty of sex and violence incorporated into the plot but with this legend that's certainly not forced into it as much of the original story's plot is driven by who slept with whom and a lot of killing so its a big plus in the win column that they have the liberty to portray those things without the hindrance of a censor.

I hope the rest of the season turns out to be as good as the premiere. I have hopes that they will be willing to show some of the other tales that are often skipped in the films. I would love to see some of the quests of Lancelot, Gawain and the quest for the Grail told in greater detail. Not to mention my favorite quest, the tale of Sir Gareth. In it he battles not only the famed Black Knight, but also Green, Blue and Red Knights as well whilst being harassed and berated by an ungrateful maiden he repeatedly saves on the way to rescue her sister from Sir Ironsides. Perhaps that's a bit much to hope for but if the series lasts for a while, who knows what they might do? Hopefully they remain faithful.

Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol

Here is my much-delayed review having watched it the day after Christmas initially.

Steven Moffat said that this was to be the most Christmasy Christmas Special ever. And he wasn't wrong on that count. Not only was it the most Christmasy Doctor Who special it was also the best of them yet.

Moffat weaves a virtually self-contained tale free of almost any references to last series and turns in a superb romp of a story. Full of timey-whimey plot and lots of jokes and some genuinely touching moments this story shows that the Moff has plenty of heart and emotion to go around despite what some of his critics say. Its perhaps a bit more natural and more restrained than RTD's way of doing things but the emotion is there nonetheless.

Matt Smith gives what is perhaps his best performance to date as the Doctor giving it plenty of energy and his expected off-the-wall manner but also delivering agreat performance of comedy and drama whenever the script requires.

Amy and Rory are largely absent from the action but they nonetheless have some great comedy bits in the special and its great to see Arthur Darvill's name in the opening credits as a full companion by any definition.

Michael Gambon gives a expected great performance as Kazran Sardick, the Scrooge character of the episode. and Katherine Jenkins does a fantastic job especially since this was her acting debut. And she really does have the most lovely voice.

The only real complaint I have is that I could see is that with the Moff allowing the Doctor to change history so frequently now that its going to start raising the question as to why he doesn't do it all the time. The Moff seems to be taking away all of the reasons to not do so such as the "Laws of Time" as enforced by the Time Lords or the "Blinovitch Limitation Effect" which is apparently no longer an issue. Although I suppose The Waters of Mars shows what happens when it goes wrong but there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason as to why its ok sometimes and not others. I suppose I'm over-thinking it and should just accept the Doctor knows best but it does start to raise questions.

As always here's my 11th story comparison list from favourite to least favourite:

1) The Ultimate Foe by Robert Holmes, Pip Baker and Jane Baker

2) Doomsday (Army of Ghosts) by Russell T. Davies

3) The Seeds of Doom by Robert Banks Stewart

4) A Christmas Carol by Steven Moffat

5) The Curse of Peladon by Brian Hayles

6) Terminus by Stephen Gallagher

7) The Curse of Fenric by Ian Briggs

8) The Enemy of the World by David Whitaker

9) The Rescue by David Whitaker