Timey Wimey, Wibbly Wobbly

I ended up watching the new release of The Day Of The Daleks with the kids two weeks ago. This came from LoveFilm and, for once, they sent a disk on the first week of release. Everyone enjoyed it and I can highly recommend the second "enhanced" disk in which the special effects have been smarted up in the fashion of the Star Trek re-releases (no George Lucas type monstrosity here). They claim this was so it looked like how you remembered it when watching in the early 70s rather than how it would appear now with older, more cynical eyes. I have to say it worked as it looked magnificent and exactly as I remembered it.  Interestingly, for one of the early 70s episodes, the plot actually revolves around the implications of time travel: it's a proper Science Fiction story rather than just chasing around after the monster-of-the-week. It's surprising for a time travel show that has been around for nearly 50 years (off and on) how few of the stories actually involve the possibilities and paradoxes of this concept. What's more is that all three kids loved it and the oldest really got the concept of the plot. I say that the kids got it because I've become rather bored with numbskulls in the press (and numerous internet bulletin boards) saying that Doctor Who is too complicated and that they have to try to explain it all the time. Kids do get it - and I think they can understand very complex plots very easily. The ones who do lose the plot probably aren't paying attention or, at least, are casual viewers - which is a little more forgivable.

The second half of this year's Doctor Who series has, in my opinion, been better than the first - apart from the dog's dinner that was Let's Kill Hitler. I'll forgive that a little as I think there was a lot of backstory to fill in but subsequent episodes have really been hitting the bull's-eye every week. I've commented before how much I enjoyed Night Terrors - and I still think that is my favourite of the series - but the others have been as varied as could have been hoped for. The Girl Who Waited gave Karen Gillan a real chance to shine as an actress - although my eldest thought it was "a bit boring". Maybe it was a little more adult orientated but I still think it was beautifully written and acted and made the most of a "Doctor-Lite" episode. The God Complex was the "scary one". In fact this was a great one for horror film buffs to spot all the references. There were lots of bases touched with The Shining and several other Stephen King adaptations were hinted at (the clown in IT, anyone?) Penultimately, we had Closing Time - the inevitable funny one. Here it was the chance of Matt Smith to have an episode to himself and he really does get the whole "Doctor is an alien" thing - possibly more than any other actor in the role. I also enjoyed the way he hit it off with James Corden as the everyman caught in the middle.

So to the finale, The Wedding of River Song, and suddenly all the Steven Moffat penned episodes start to make make sense. In fact, it does show the real difference in style between him and previous show-runner Russell T Davies. Whereas Davies would have an overreaching story arc in the background which was touched on single episodes, Moffat's arc is the story and his five episodes actually make up one continuing series of episodes. If people have been confused by these is a very simple reason for it - they hadn't seen the full story yet. I'm not quite sure which approach I prefer. Whilst Davies self-contained episodes are easier to follow for the casual viewer, I think Moffat's stories are much richer and more fulfilling when seen all the way through. However, splitting the episodes up over a period of several months doesn't exactly make for an easy viewing experience. I suppose I was brought up on the classic Doctor Who series where the single stories played out over successive weeks and all that was really required to get into the series was a basic understanding that there was a mad man flying around time and space in a blue box. Whilst there were occasional nods to the committed fan there was no particular reason to know what had happened in earlier stories or, for that matter, whole different series. Having said that, Doctor Who was such a cultural phenomenon that it didn't really matter.

I'm probably going to have to watch the Moffat episoeds again to fully appreciate it but as far as the resolution went it was, more or less, what I was expecting - I had suspected that the Doctor that was killed would be a substitute although I was actually expecting it to be a "Flesh" Doctor. In fact, it's quite a clever move as now The Doctor is suspected to be dead he can go back to being the mystery man rather than some sort of inter-galactic superhero. I have also found out that the next series will not be shown until Autumn next year. It's always been an Autumn series for me - it was one of the things I always looked forward to after the school holidays ended. Maybe it is becoming the show I always remembered as a child?