Don't blink - because if you do you will probably miss something in what has to be the most frenetic episode of Doctor Who since it's return. And that's saying something. I watched a couple of episodes of Heroes and found myself shouting "Get a bleeding move on" to the screen as they plodded through 45 minutes of filler to tell us about 45 seconds worth of story - I've really lost faith in that series.
Anyway, back to Who. After last weeks set-up and tension this was a straight forward action adventure - and a frantic one at that. This really showed up Matt Smith Doctor's habit of acting on the hoof and making it up as he goes along to the full - although some of the dialogue is lost in the rush (and overly loud score) but it still has memorable lines like the Doctor's answer to Amy when she asks about what happens if the gravity fails: "I've thought about that. We'll all plunge to our deaths. See, I've thought about it." Classic stuff.
We have also received some major details about the series' story arc - the crack in the wall and the fact that major events from past series have been lost. Using the reset key is usually a pretty naff plot device - think of Bobby Ewing emerging from the shower in Dallas - and it usually indicates that the writers have actually lost the plot themselves. Not in this case - Moffat is making the fact that time can unravel itself to be the main story for the series. Also, in a break with previous years, the story arc is obvious and playing a major role in the episodes rather than drip feeding plot points like American Sci-Fi series or leaving minute details to be poured over on fan forums and geeky internet blogs (errm... like this one, I suppose). That's not to say that there aren't mysteries to be guessed at and it looks like River Song will be a re-occurring character in the series but who did she kill? Not you-know-Who, surely?
Steven Moffat appears to be writing the show with his two children in mind. He is making it scary, fun and accessible in a way that children appreciate but still using a decent plot and script to appeal to the whole family. And that's great since I am also a middle aged bloke in Scotland watching the show with the kids. When I was 8 years old the highlight of the week was watching Doctor Who with my dad after the football and now I find myself doing the same thing. Mind you, the only bit that had Raymond hiding behind the couch was when Amy tried to kiss the Doctor. Of course, the Doctor wasn't having anything of it - rather like a scene from an old screwball comedy or one of the early Carry On... films.
Maybe they could do "Carry On Doctor". Ohhhh Matron!
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a very enjoyable episode where I fuly understood what the hell was going on - I couldn't always claim that with some RTD stories.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-grav bit was clever - introducing it at the start then bringing it back at the end to suck the angels away. Angel Bob was a useful trick to explain what they were up to.
The bit at the end with Amy coming on to the Doctor was very funny - and it shows that Doctor Who as moved into the 21st Century - she didn't want a relationship - she just wanted sex. His reaction was also very funny. His reaction to the news that River Song was "effectively" engaged was interesting too - he has obviously decided she should be saving herself for him.
I caught The Daily Mail at the Barbers todays - the complete saddos were complaining that the episode was too sexy and risque for the timeslot and family audience. Apparently the BBC received 43 complaints. I wonder if they reported the 5500 complaints last week.