Doctor Who - Closing Time

Here's my list of favorite twenty-first stories:

1) The War Games by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks

2) Last of the Time Lords (Utopia, The Sound of Drums) by Russell T. Davies

3) The Daleks' Master Plan by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner

4) Invasion of the Dinosaurs by Malcolm Hulke

5) The Sun Makers by Robert Holmes

6) Closing Time by Gareth Roberts

Doctor Who - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

SPOILERS

I really like the Narnia stories and was very excited when I heard the Moff was taking inspiration from them for his latest Christmas special.

It turned out that the beginning was where most of the similarities lie with the Doctor being the caretaker of a house taking in war refugees from London and them walking through a doorway into another world. Other than some other faint similarities, it was mostly a different tale with a different moral and different concepts.

I really liked the family Madge, Lily and Cyril as played by Claire Skinner, Holly Earl and Maurice Cole. The children were well done acting like children but not being annoying which is so easy to stumble into when using kids in drama. Lily in particular seemed like good companion material.

The story was a nice enough Christmas story but it wasn't especially exciting or thrilling. I thought last year's A Christmas Carol was much better.

The scenes touring the house were fun and great Matt Smith moments. The scenes with the bumbling Androzani soldiers were less so. Obviously comedy relief but hard to believe that any soldier would disarm simply because a woman was crying. And I'm not sure how acid rain is used for harvesting a living forest anyway. Wouldn't chopping them down be more practical?

I didn't much care for the scenes of the Doctor exiting the spaceship and crashing on Earth. Again done for comedic effect, but only achievable by throwing science and logic out the window to have a gag. He did have a special crash suit on, but this part really stretched credibility for me.

I also thought it was weird that the children didn't age between the three years from when their mother first met the Doctor to when he shows up as caretaker to their refugee home. They seemed exactly the same which is odd because a three year age difference should have been more noticeable.

With the Doctor being referred to as the caretaker throughout I have to wonder if he's using this or other aliases next series to perpetuate the myth that he's dead.

The scene with the Ponds at the end was quite nice and touching. It worked very well and set things up for their comeback next series.

Not a terrible story but one I found to be just very average with nothing particularly special about it. Disappointing fare as it was coming from the Moff himself.

Here's my customary list of favorite 23rd stories:

1) The Invasion of Time by David Agnew (pseudonym for Graham Williams and Anthony Read)

2) The Monster of Peladon by Brian Hayles

3) Partners in Crime by Russell T. Davies

4) The Ark by Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott

5) The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe by Steven Moffat

Doctor Who - The God Complex

SPOILERS

This was another of the top stories of the series. Great performances from Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as well as all of the supporting cast especially David Walliams as the Gibbis.

A simple enough story with the TARDIS crew trapped with four other characters in a hotel that is not really a hotel. Each character has their own room wherein their greatest fear lies. When they see that fear, they fall back on their faith to support them, which is their inevitable undoing as that faith is what the creature in the hotel feeds upon.

A simple concept but what makes it great is how Toby Whithouse explores those fears which allows for great character development. We learn that Rory has no faith and as such is the only character the creature is not interested in. We learn that Amy's greatest fear is abandonment which makes total sense given her character background. And her faith is in the Doctor of course although to save her, he must break that faith.

The other characters in the episode are also explored quite well given the 45 minute running time. In just a few brief scenes, we get to know the psyche of the Gibbis, Rita, Howie and Joe surprisingly well. Part of this is due to Whithouse's script, part is the fine performances and part is the fantastic direction from Nick Hurran. Hurran utilizes the current choppy editing technique of Michael Bay and his ilk to great effect to show us the gamut of emotions the characters experience upon seeing their greatest fear from terror to giddiness as their faith overwhelms them.

Matt Smith gives a great performance as we truly see the frustration and agony he feels as he's utterly helpless to prevent the deaths of his new found friends. One of his best as the Doctor so far.

We do not get to see the Doctor's greatest fear which may be for the best as fans would probably argue about it relentlessly but it involves the cloister bell. (My guess would be him succumbing to his darker side ala the Dream Lord/Valeyard).

The Gibbis is a fascinating idea for a species that at first glance seems to be typical cowardice and willingness to be subjugated which leads to some great comedy but as the Doctor later points out, his species' cowardice hides a far more aggressive characteristic than is expected as they are willing to sacrifice any one and any thing to survive making them one of the most ruthless species out there. David Walliams is perfect as the Gibbis combining comedy, a sinister undertone and a hidden smugness as well.

Amara Karan is great as Rita portraying a legitimate potential companion which makes her ultimate fate even more tragic.

There's a great classic series nod of linking the creature to the Nimons which of course makes my inner geek smile.

The seeming departure of Amy and Rory and the reasons behind it make total sense. It was a great moment both story-wise and emotionally. At this juncture I would say its best to leave them there at this point, but as we now know, they are rejoining the Doctor for part of next series again. This departure was merely a story reason to get them off the TARDIS so that the Doctor can confront his fate at Lake Silencio. I really have to wonder if their real departure will be as satisfying and appropriate as this false one was. I hope so. And I hope it doesn't end with their death(s).

Here is my list comparing the twentieth stories for each Doctor from most to least favorite:

1) Blink by Steven Moffat

2) The Time Warrior by Robert Holmes

3) The Caves of Androzani by Robert Holmes

4) The God Complex by Toby Whithouse

5) The Myth Makers by Donald Cotton

6) Image of the Fendahl by Chris Boucher

7) The Space Pirates by Robert Holmes

Doctor Who - The Curse of the Black Spot

SPOILERS

I was really looking forward to this one as there has been only one brush with historical pirates in Doctor Who in the past (The Smugglers). There have been plenty of space pirates (The Space Pirates, The Pirate Planet, Terminus, The Infinite Quest, etc.) but only the one historical. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some modern pirate style swashbuckling ala The Pirates of the Caribbean. But alas, I was a bit disappointed.

The pirates wound up being a bit castrated as they were unable to shed blood for fear of going to their deaths. It made sense in the context of the story, but didn't satisfy that pirate aggression I was looking forward to.

I was also disappointed to learn the siren wasn't really a menace but rather a medical ships' emergency holodeck hologram. It all seemed a bit odd and contrived to get all these circumstances together so that she appeared to be the siren of legend including her ability to pass through reflections/water, the singing, her beauty, etc.

And the other thing I didn't like was the fact that during the scripting or editing process, one of the pirates vanished without anything happening to him. He was taken by the siren because he's there at the end, but at no point do we see him get taken and that's a bit sloppy in the storytelling department.

On the plus side, we got to see more of Amy and Rory actually being in love and no sign of the love triangle of the previous series. We also got another instance of Rory being Doctor Who's Kenny from South Park. And we got to see Amy kick some ass for a few minutes anyway which has been lacking as of late.

I also liked how the Doctor had to keep modifying his theories as to what was going on as the story progressed. It showed that even though he seems to know what's going on most of the time, he may just be guessing a lot of the time and was good for some comedy spots.

Not a bad story, per se, but one I was disappointed with and my least favorite from the Moff era so far.

List of thirteenth stories for each Doctor from my favorite to least favorite:

1) The Hand of Fear by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

2) Smith and Jones by Russell T. Davies

3) The Mutants by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

4) Fury from the Deep by Victor Pemberton

5) The Curse of the Black Spot by Steve Thompson

6) The King's Demons by Terence Dudley

7) The Web Planet by Bill Strutton

Doctor Who - The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People

BIG SPOILERS

At last I've gotten the chance to write this review.

Matthew Graham redeemed himself quite a bit with this two-parter. Although one of the weaker stories this series, it was still rather good. MUCH better than his previous story Fear Her which was the first story I really haven't liked since Ghost Light in 1989.

A big improvement on that was The Rebel Flesh. I've decided that to be the overall title as far as I'm concerned. I really like both titles but I feel that title fits best especially since The Almost People had the rather bland original title of Gangers. That makes The Rebel Flesh the title that stuck around so I'll give that precedence.

Arthur Darvill is again in fine form as Rory and it was very cool to see him have another girl pining after him after Amy's pre-marriage shenanigans last year. I don't think she liked that another girl was interested in her man. The good news is though that with every episode its more and more apparent that Amy has learned to appreciate her husband after taking him for granted for so long. Aside from that and the rather shocking reveal that Amy herself was a Ganger, she really doesn't get that much to do in this two-parter.

Matt Smith, however, gets twice as much to do as both "real" and ganger Doctor. As I've recently begun to realize, I prefer Smith in stories like this that are largely removed from the arc. I think these are the stories where his performance shines because he can mostly be the goofy hero which is so much fun to watch. I love the arc stories but Smith seems less confortable to me in those episodes.

The supporting cast is all really good with Sarah Smart and Raquel Cassidy in particular standing out. The only character that was a bit underdeveloped was Leon Vickers' Dicken. Other than that this two-parter really gave the story room to breathe and allow us time to get to know the characters better which for me personally makes me care just a little more when the body count starts to mount up.

I loved the idea and presentation of the Gangers. They were very creepy but you could also identify with their predicament. Great CGI. Especially the part where Jennifer's Ganger kills human Buzzer with her gaping maw was really well done and creepy.

There were quite a few issues I had with the story however:

1) For one thing, it became really confusing very quickly which Doctor we were supposed to think was real and which the Ganger was so the reveal that they actually switched places was a bit muddled. I think choosing different shoes to tell them apart was a mistake since we rarely see the characters' feet. Changing the bow tie or jacket would have worked much better.

2) I found it a bit odd they never told us why the heck they were mining acid in the first place. Is it used to make Ganger soup? What the hell was it for?

3) The Doctor pretty callously destroyed Amy's Ganger after spending two episodes fighting for Ganger rights. I realize she wasn't imbued with sentience like the others were but there were indications in the episodes that the Gangers on some level were always aware of the multiple deaths they experienced. Hypocritical much Doc?

4) The cliffhanger ending of the first part was way too telegraphed to be effective. Hearing the goop say "trust me", one of the Eleventh Doctor's catchphrases, totally eliminated any shock value. It could have been handled much better.

5) Why did Cleaves' Ganger and the Ganger Doc have to sacrifice themselves? Couldn't they have escaped in the TARDIS with the others? Or couldn't the real Doc have used his screwdriver on the crazed Jennifer Ganger while the rest were safely in the TARDIS? It seems like they sacrificed themselves only because it was in the script to do so.

Other than those complaints though I thought overall it was a very good story and I liked it. Its been a very strong series overall so even though most of the episodes were better than this, that's not really knocking it very much.

List of fifteenth stories from each Doctor from most to least favorite:

1) The Three Doctors by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

2) Warriors of the Deep by Johnny Byrne

3) The Face of Evil by Chris Boucher

4) The Rebel Flesh (The Almost People) by Matthew Graham

5) Gridlock by Russell T. Davies

6) The Dominators by Norman Ashby (pseudonym of Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)

7) The Space Museum by Glyn Jones

Doctor Who - The Girl Who Waited

This has to be a contender for one of the best episodes of this year.

SPOILERS:

Tom MacRae has crafted a truly emotional romp that features the relationship between Amy and Rory better than any other episode. I thought Amy's Choice was their definitive story but no, its this one. With really only the three regulars as characters in the story it gives it room to breathe and fully immerse itself in their relationship to its fullest.

I really liked MacRae after Rise of the Cybermen but for some reason, that story has not proven popular with fandom. (Probably because the Cybermen in it aren't the originals, but that seems petty to me.) I think that story was underrated and hopefully this episode has redeemed him in the eyes of his critics.

Performances from both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill have never been stronger. Gillan truly manages to capture her character at two different stages of her life with great ability. And Darvill does a fantastic job showing both love and compassion towards Amy and resentment towards the Doctor.

Speaking of which, I can't help but feel this is the beginning of the end for the Ponds as companions. After the repeated dangers the Doctor has put both Amy and Rory in such as not bothering to check if their ever was a plague on the planet as Rory points out; and the clear resentment and horror Rory shows when he realizes the Doctor is making Rory more like him by making him choose between the two Amys, I can't see him wanting to stick around much longer. Oh, and them loosing their daughter to the Doctor's enemies of course.

Which brings up one the few flaws of the episode; the lack of a mention of River/Melody. It really stretches credibility that in such an emotional episode about the couple that there would be no mention of their daughter at all no matter how much they realize she's stuck in the machinations of the flow of time.

There are some other logistical problems with the episode like the nature of the disease conveniently not affecting Amy and Rory even as carriers. Why a resort planet wouldn't program its Handbots to recognize aliens. The unlikely scenario that they would be able to set up 10,000 different time streams for people and the immense energy that would probably take are things really best not thought about.

The story was about Amy and Rory and in that it accomplished its goals with flying colors.

Here's the list of nineteenth stories for each doctor from most to least favorite:

1. Human Nature (The Family of Blood) by Paul Cornell

2. The Girl Who Waited by Tom MacRae

3. The Green Death by Robert Sloman and Barry Letts

4. Planet of Fire by Peter Grimwade

5. The Seeds of Death by Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks

6. Mission to the Unknown by Terry Nation

7. The Invisible Enemy by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

Doctor Who - Night Terrors

Time for a break from the big story arc which was a nice change of pace from the last two stories. I love the arc episodes but I still enjoy a nice self-contained romp as well.

SPOILERS

Night Terrors was not an exceptional story but it was a good one. Kind of like Fear Her with the child who can change the world around them but done much better and not dumbed down for kids. The atmosphere was very creepy and the Peg Dolls were great ideas and great creations by Gatiss. In fact I would have liked to have seen more of them but I don't think there was enough story to sustain it over two episodes so its probably best they kept it to one. The transformation scene to a Peg Doll was very like the "empty child" style ones in the story of the same name but that didn't make it any less creepy. This is obviously a man who was frightened by creepy dolls as a child. The nursery rhyme Gatiss used makes the Dolls even creepier but unfortunately the director did not make certain it was actually audible during the episode except for the last line. Here it is in full:

Tick tock goes the clock
And what now shall we play?
Tick tock goes the clock
Now summer’s gone away?

Tick tock goes the clock
And what then shall we see?
Tick tock until the day
That thou shalt marry me

Tick tock goes the clock
And all the years they fly
Tick tock and all too soon
You and I must die

Tick tock goes the clock
He cradled her and he rocked her
Tick tock goes the clock
Even for the Doctor...

Obviously some great foreshadowing by Mark Gatiss here for the rest of the series and really the only arc element in it so its a great shame we couldn't actually hear it in the episode itself.

Speaking of the arc, it seemed a bit odd that there was no mention of River considering the events of the previous episode in a series that has had such tight continuity but this episode was switched with The Curse of the Black Spot after filming was completed on it so it does make sense why nothing was in there and I can forgive it for that.

I find that these are the stories where Matt Smith shines the most. The ones where he can just be the goofy hero saving people and worlds. I loved him in this episode. And his interactions with Daniel Mays were hilarious.

The landlord side plot seemed a bit pointless as Alex was still as far as I could tell in trouble of not being able to make his rent but perhaps his landlord will be kinder now or with George "cured" perhaps Alex will have more luck finding a job.

In doing research for this review I learned the title does actually refer to a condition children can suffer from which makes it more appropriate and less generic than I thought at first, but I still think I prefer the working title What Are Little Boys Made of?.

Here's the list comparing each Doctor's eighteenth stories:

1) Resurrection of the Daleks by Eric Saward

2) The Horror of Fang Rock by Terrance Dicks

3) Planet of the Daleks by Terry Nation

4) 42 by Chris Chibnall

5) Night Terrors by Mark Gatiss

6) Galaxy 4 by William Emms

7) The Krotons by Robert Holmes