Doctor Who is a very flexible format. From the outset it was intended that successive stories could take on the form of a science fiction story, a historical adventure or contain elements of fantasy or social comment. Despite the flexibility of the format it has on occasion become dogged down into a particular fixed format whereby there is a threat provided by the “monster-of-the-week”, lots of running about corridors or quarries and a resolution that relies upon some non-specific, pseudo-scientific, mumbo-jumbo and a wave of the magic sonic screwdriver. On occasion it drifts away from this format and on those occasions it can really split the audience. I rather suspect that In The Forest Of The Night will be one of those episodes.
Frank Cottrell Boyce chose to tell this particular story as science-fiction fairy-tale: in this case taking a rather literal interpretation of James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis (whereby the Earth is seen as a self-regulating organism) and marrying this to a Brothers Grimm tale of children lost in the forest. The realisation of this on screen was glorious and the pre-title sequence in which the fate of London was revealed was one of the best of the series so far – effectively condensing an “Episode 1” from the classic series into a 90 second scene. From there we see the Doctor not so much as the battling hero but more as an investigator and detective, very much in the mould of William Hartnell: narrating much of what was happening without being actively involved in it. Overall the look and feel of the episode worked well, making it a tale told for adults from a child’s perspective.
The children of Coal Hill school have appeared in several of the episodes this year and they were a major feature of this episode. There is an old theatrical saying that one should never work with children or animals and Doctor Who has a chequered history on this . Matt Smith worked wonderfully in his first episode with the young Amelia Pond and it remains amongst his most fondly remembered scenes. However, he also appeared alongside Angie and Artie in Nightmare in Silver where the children were cringe-worthy brats. The children in Forest ranged from the tolerable to the rather good – particularly the otherworldly Maebh who worked well with Capaldi and gave a good Red Riding Hood feel to the episode. Of the other children there were a few nice one-liners but their performances were generally naturalistic rather than the smart-alecky, self-aware parodies they could have been.
As for the bugbear of the “monster-of-the-week”, there wasn’t one. Aside from a couple of escaped zoo animals there were no aliens, monsters or other external threat to deal with. Seemingly the main threat was nature itself which rather derives from Blake’s The Tyger which gave the episode’s title and indicates that Nature, red in tooth and claw is as much a part of the ecosystem as the All Things Bright and Beautiful description of creation. Of course the resolution was that the seemingly threatening nature of the forest protects us as much as it frightens us. I’m not sure whether that particularly comes over that well but the idea is an interesting one.
So, overall an enjoyable episode and whilst it was possibly not quite up to the standards of the preceding two Jamie Mathieson stories it still provided a satisfying conclusion to the mini-arc of stories that began with Kill The Moon. I suppose if I have any criticism it is that I could see where the story was heading from the outset so any enjoyment was from the journey itself rather than seeing where the destination was. Next week is the first part of the series finale. As ever its worth waiting until the end before drawing conclusions but I’m hoping that it can maintain the standards of the rest of the series. Of course, with Steven Moffat, not everything is as it first appears.
Sunday, 26 October 2014
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Flatline
The “D” in TARDIS stands for “Dimension” so it is surprising that Doctor Who has not used this as the basis for adventures more often: other than the bigger-on-the-inside running gag, of course. In fact, in all of the 250 stories that have been produced since 1963, it was only really used as a main plot device in the 1964 3-parter, Planet Of Giants, where the TARDIS goes wrong and causes both the police box and crew to be shrunk down to matchbox size. Whilst it wasn’t the best of stories it’s worth digging out just to see how effective the primitive production of 50 years ago could be. Other than that it has popped up occasionally but never as the overarching concept.
The concept of Flatline initially reminded me of Edwin Abbott’s Victorian satirical novel Flatland which satirised the 19th Century class system through a world of geometric shapes. It’s one of those books that, whilst known, is hardly a household name and mainly appears to Sci-Fi and mathematics geeks (like me, I suppose). However, where Flatland was very much in the style of satirists like Jonathan Swift, Flatline is far more concerned with horror – even if it is often comic horror. Initially I thought that the way the outside of the TARDIS shank was partly a cheap gag and partly an excuse to use a TARDIS money-box as a prop but as I thought about it, that is actually how the TARDIS operates: the portal can be any size and shape it wants to be but the innards remain constant. The effect was used in reverse in another 1960’s episode, The Time Meddler, in which the Doctor sabotages a fellow Time Lords TARDIS by making it much smaller on the inside.
For what was meant to be a Doctor-lite episode it was surprising at how much screen time Peter Capaldi had in this episode – even if it was nearly all on the set of the TARDIS. In fact much of this was down to clever direction as many of his appearances were either audio only or merely showing disembodied images of his hand – the scene in which his hand “walked” the TARDIS out of harm’s way had me in fits of laughter: very much like the “Thing” in The Addams Family. Aside from the regulars, the supporting cast were largely extras in this episode with the exception of Rigsy who acted as a surrogate assistant to Clara’s “Doctor”. We were also treated to a snippet from “Missy” again who is now indicating that she was responsible for bringing Clara and the Doctor together – presumably harking back to the middle of last year’s series.
If I was to have one criticism of the episode, it would be that the realisation of the 3D characters being made 2D could have been done better. I suppose what I would have imagined is something similar to an MRI scan whereby the victim is seen slice by slice disappearing into the wall. What we did see was more of a straight flattening of the images which is probably not what the 2D beings would have perceived. In fairness, it is such a mind-bending concept to imagine what higher or lower dimensional images would be perceived like that anything would have worked. I wonder if the whole concept for this episode could be altered so we see a being in 4-spacial dimensions trying to make sense of our 3D world?
Purely for the originality of the concept I think this has been my favourite episode of what has already been a very strong series. In fact this was Jamie Mathieson’s second story after last week’s equally enjoyable Mummy episode. Hopefully we will be seeing his name again (is the speed dial set up Mr Moffat?) Next week’s episode looks intriguing – partly as it is scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce who has written everything from children’s stories, through the gritty war film of Welcome to Sarajevo, and even the Olympics opening ceremony. From the trailer, In the Forest of the Night appears to be what happens when I leave the garden alone for a week…
The concept of Flatline initially reminded me of Edwin Abbott’s Victorian satirical novel Flatland which satirised the 19th Century class system through a world of geometric shapes. It’s one of those books that, whilst known, is hardly a household name and mainly appears to Sci-Fi and mathematics geeks (like me, I suppose). However, where Flatland was very much in the style of satirists like Jonathan Swift, Flatline is far more concerned with horror – even if it is often comic horror. Initially I thought that the way the outside of the TARDIS shank was partly a cheap gag and partly an excuse to use a TARDIS money-box as a prop but as I thought about it, that is actually how the TARDIS operates: the portal can be any size and shape it wants to be but the innards remain constant. The effect was used in reverse in another 1960’s episode, The Time Meddler, in which the Doctor sabotages a fellow Time Lords TARDIS by making it much smaller on the inside.
For what was meant to be a Doctor-lite episode it was surprising at how much screen time Peter Capaldi had in this episode – even if it was nearly all on the set of the TARDIS. In fact much of this was down to clever direction as many of his appearances were either audio only or merely showing disembodied images of his hand – the scene in which his hand “walked” the TARDIS out of harm’s way had me in fits of laughter: very much like the “Thing” in The Addams Family. Aside from the regulars, the supporting cast were largely extras in this episode with the exception of Rigsy who acted as a surrogate assistant to Clara’s “Doctor”. We were also treated to a snippet from “Missy” again who is now indicating that she was responsible for bringing Clara and the Doctor together – presumably harking back to the middle of last year’s series.
If I was to have one criticism of the episode, it would be that the realisation of the 3D characters being made 2D could have been done better. I suppose what I would have imagined is something similar to an MRI scan whereby the victim is seen slice by slice disappearing into the wall. What we did see was more of a straight flattening of the images which is probably not what the 2D beings would have perceived. In fairness, it is such a mind-bending concept to imagine what higher or lower dimensional images would be perceived like that anything would have worked. I wonder if the whole concept for this episode could be altered so we see a being in 4-spacial dimensions trying to make sense of our 3D world?
Purely for the originality of the concept I think this has been my favourite episode of what has already been a very strong series. In fact this was Jamie Mathieson’s second story after last week’s equally enjoyable Mummy episode. Hopefully we will be seeing his name again (is the speed dial set up Mr Moffat?) Next week’s episode looks intriguing – partly as it is scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce who has written everything from children’s stories, through the gritty war film of Welcome to Sarajevo, and even the Olympics opening ceremony. From the trailer, In the Forest of the Night appears to be what happens when I leave the garden alone for a week…
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Smart Heating
I posted back in July about the idiocy of the governments Green Deal scheme. I vowed to have nothing to do with it (at least in its current form) but I have been making a few changes in the last few weeks to try and reduce my energy bills.
The first of these was a replacement tumble dryer. Tumble dryers are notorious electricity hogs and the best way of reducing their cost is to dry clothes outside. This is not always possible and, given the climate we live in, the tumble dryer is still the least worse solution to a house full of damp clothing for 8 or 9 months of the year. Our existing tumble dryer was actually an emergency purchase (it was a Christmas Eve dash to a branch of Comet on the other side of Edinburgh several years ago) but it had become increasingly noisy over the last few years and I suspected that it wouldn’t stand up to our heavy use for too much longer. I measured it’s energy consumption on a full cotton load at 2.49kWh. Given that I wasn’t going to waste any money on a Green Deal assessment I spent the difference of an AA rated “heat-pump” dryer which uses a refrigeration style closed loop to heat the clothes rather than a separate electric element. I measured a similar load on this and the full cycle took 0.97kWh – a massive 61% saving over the old dryer although still 0.97kWh higher than drying it on the line.
The second item I went for was a replacement duvet. I bought our last Winter duvet 12 years ago when I first bought the larger size of bed. I had the feeling that this wasn’t as warm as it could be and I read on a website that a synthetic duvet has a life of 3-4 years. This may have been exaggerated as the website was selling new duvets but I decided to invest in a down duvet. The difference is remarkable and it really makes having a heating free bedroom at night a possibility – no more cold feet for me. This also got me to research one other area: Is it possible to heat a home in a more controlled manner?
Our central heating system has three main control systems: a timer on the boiler which determines whether the whole system switches on or not, a thermostat located in the hallway which (theoretically) allows the temperature for the whole house to be set and individual thermostatic radiator valves (TRV pictured) which switch off the hot water supply to their attached radiator when the temperature reaches a particular point. This is a fairly typical set-up and it should help to limit the amount of heat that is wasted by heating excessively or at inappropriate times. However, I have found that this works better in a more modern house or, at least, one which is built in a consistent manner with similar use of the rooms. Our house just isn’t like that.
I had a look around to see what was available and one system (and there are other similar ones) was British Gas’s Hive system. On the face of it this sounded like a great idea: a central heating system that could be programmed and controlled remotely. The system costs £200 to install and is one that comes under the banner of the internet of things: essentially domestic appliances that are connected to the internet and can be controlled remotely and integrated with other devices. In the case of Hive it is connected to a mobile phone and could, in theory, allow for heating to be switched on or off depending on the location of the phone. The problem with this is that it rather assumes single person occupancy and it only really takes control of the central timer and thermostat: one of which I am quite capable of switching on and off myself (if no-one is in, the heating goes off) and the other is about as effective as a chocolate teapot.
What I have actually chosen is a bit less connected (at least at the moment) but should be a lot more effective. I’ve bought several programmable radiator valves – in my case the Pegler Terrier i30. These devices replace the existing TRVs (this should be a simple DIY job as the old on is unscrewed and the new one replaces it) and they take over the role of the timer, thermostat and TRV for each individual room. This allows different temperatures to be set for each room depending on usage and time of day. If the room needs to be warmer (or cooler) at a particular point the temperature can be changed up or down using a slide wheel or remote control and the valve will return to the pre-determined temperature at the next programmed timer event.
So far, I have fitted these to two of the bedrooms, the living room and the dining room. I had intended to fit them to all of the bedrooms but as the design of the valves vary some of the older ones do not have an appropriate fitting – which is annoying. As it is, I intend to replace the other valve bodies with a standard ones although I think I will get our local neighbourhood plumber to do that as it will become wet and messy if I fit them. The other slight annoyance I’ve found with them is that he motors in the valves are slightly noisy, so in the bedrooms it is advisable to set them to come on roughly at the time one would be waking up anyway: given that my new duvet is like sleeping in a furnace, that shouldn’t be such a problem.
In terms of cost savings, Pegler have done a case study in which they estimate that a house will save 30% of their heating costs by using these valves. I suspect that is rather high but I would estimate that I would only need a 10% saving to cover the cost of the valves. However, much like loft insulation, the real benefit of energy saving devises like these is not so much in the cost saving as in the improvement in comfort. I’ll probably get a much better idea of how effective they are in the Winter.
The first of these was a replacement tumble dryer. Tumble dryers are notorious electricity hogs and the best way of reducing their cost is to dry clothes outside. This is not always possible and, given the climate we live in, the tumble dryer is still the least worse solution to a house full of damp clothing for 8 or 9 months of the year. Our existing tumble dryer was actually an emergency purchase (it was a Christmas Eve dash to a branch of Comet on the other side of Edinburgh several years ago) but it had become increasingly noisy over the last few years and I suspected that it wouldn’t stand up to our heavy use for too much longer. I measured it’s energy consumption on a full cotton load at 2.49kWh. Given that I wasn’t going to waste any money on a Green Deal assessment I spent the difference of an AA rated “heat-pump” dryer which uses a refrigeration style closed loop to heat the clothes rather than a separate electric element. I measured a similar load on this and the full cycle took 0.97kWh – a massive 61% saving over the old dryer although still 0.97kWh higher than drying it on the line.
The second item I went for was a replacement duvet. I bought our last Winter duvet 12 years ago when I first bought the larger size of bed. I had the feeling that this wasn’t as warm as it could be and I read on a website that a synthetic duvet has a life of 3-4 years. This may have been exaggerated as the website was selling new duvets but I decided to invest in a down duvet. The difference is remarkable and it really makes having a heating free bedroom at night a possibility – no more cold feet for me. This also got me to research one other area: Is it possible to heat a home in a more controlled manner?
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| Manual TRV |
I had a look around to see what was available and one system (and there are other similar ones) was British Gas’s Hive system. On the face of it this sounded like a great idea: a central heating system that could be programmed and controlled remotely. The system costs £200 to install and is one that comes under the banner of the internet of things: essentially domestic appliances that are connected to the internet and can be controlled remotely and integrated with other devices. In the case of Hive it is connected to a mobile phone and could, in theory, allow for heating to be switched on or off depending on the location of the phone. The problem with this is that it rather assumes single person occupancy and it only really takes control of the central timer and thermostat: one of which I am quite capable of switching on and off myself (if no-one is in, the heating goes off) and the other is about as effective as a chocolate teapot.
 |
| Programmable TRV |
So far, I have fitted these to two of the bedrooms, the living room and the dining room. I had intended to fit them to all of the bedrooms but as the design of the valves vary some of the older ones do not have an appropriate fitting – which is annoying. As it is, I intend to replace the other valve bodies with a standard ones although I think I will get our local neighbourhood plumber to do that as it will become wet and messy if I fit them. The other slight annoyance I’ve found with them is that he motors in the valves are slightly noisy, so in the bedrooms it is advisable to set them to come on roughly at the time one would be waking up anyway: given that my new duvet is like sleeping in a furnace, that shouldn’t be such a problem.
In terms of cost savings, Pegler have done a case study in which they estimate that a house will save 30% of their heating costs by using these valves. I suspect that is rather high but I would estimate that I would only need a 10% saving to cover the cost of the valves. However, much like loft insulation, the real benefit of energy saving devises like these is not so much in the cost saving as in the improvement in comfort. I’ll probably get a much better idea of how effective they are in the Winter.
Monday, 13 October 2014
Mummy on the Orient Express
After last week’s episode of Doctor Who I thought we would be seeing the aftermath of Clara’s stooshie on the TARDIS as well as a group of now homeless Clanger asylum seekers. As it was, several weeks had passed and Clara had agreed to go with the Doctor for a final “date” on an extra-terrestrial Orient Express. Needless to say this did not go to plan and a Mummy was running amok killing the passengers with the Doctor acting as Hercule Poirot whilst seemingly channelling the ghost of the Forth Doctor: jelly beans and all. (I was about to write “channelling the ghost of Tom Baker” but thankfully Tom is still with us.) This week was meant to be more Doctor orientated with Clara taking a back-seat role (it was double banked with next week’s episode Flatline) so it gave us more chance to see how the Twelfth Doctor performs without his “carer”.
I had expected this episode to be a standard “Doctor fights monster of the week” type adventure but I found that I enjoyed it far more and for a variety of reasons. First of all was the script – wonderfully written and not a word wasted from first time Who writer Jamie Mathieson. This was combined with Paul Wilmshurst’s direction – picking up from last week and giving the show a feel of the classic series again. The guest cast were also top notch. The singer Foxes had been widely promoted beforehand. I’m not that familiar with her work (probably as she hasn’t been on Top Of The Pops) but I gather that she is normally an electro-pop singer. As it was, she did a rendition of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now – a song I have cared little for from band I love. Who would have thought it would work so well in a lounge Jazz style?
Daisy Beaumont as the distraught Maisie and David Bamber as the war traumatised Captain Quell were excellent in their respective roles but I loved Frank Skinner as chief engineer Perkins in what was a very nuanced and restrained performance. There have been a few guest performances over the years that haven’t lived up to their hype but as well as being known as a stand-up comedian and chat show presenter, Frank Skinner can also act. He is also a massive Doctor Who fan so the temptation to ham it up must have been huge. As it was he delivered a perfectly balanced restraint to the Doctor’s ruthless detective work. However, the final scene when he turns down the chance to join the TARDIS crew must have been a tough one for him – I’d love to see the outtakes!
Where this episode rose above the simple monster-of-the-week formula and where this series has been excelling itself so far is its philosophical pondering: particularly its dealing of ethical issues. Throughout Doctor Who’s history, the Doctor has always been a utilitarian character – essentially a good man but one that acts in the greater good. Whilst he would ideally like everyone to live, on occasion he has to allow sacrifices to ensure the survival of the many. The Tenth Doctor used to show some sort of (possibly false) remorse with his “I’m so sorry” line but Capaldi’s Doctor has a certain alien removal from such human concerns. The way he acts is in line with the more profound versions of the “trolley problem” thought experiment: in essence he has no qualms about throwing the fat man in the way of the speeding train if it will save the majority. This is quite unsettling for most people and I thought his speech to Clara at the end when he explains that sometimes there are no good choices was a moment of clarity.
The other dark theme this week was the subject of addiction and it is clear that Clara is becoming as addicted to the adrenaline lifestyle as the Doctor himself. Next week is meant to more Clara orientated so I expect we will see what effect this is having on her.
I had expected this episode to be a standard “Doctor fights monster of the week” type adventure but I found that I enjoyed it far more and for a variety of reasons. First of all was the script – wonderfully written and not a word wasted from first time Who writer Jamie Mathieson. This was combined with Paul Wilmshurst’s direction – picking up from last week and giving the show a feel of the classic series again. The guest cast were also top notch. The singer Foxes had been widely promoted beforehand. I’m not that familiar with her work (probably as she hasn’t been on Top Of The Pops) but I gather that she is normally an electro-pop singer. As it was, she did a rendition of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now – a song I have cared little for from band I love. Who would have thought it would work so well in a lounge Jazz style?
Daisy Beaumont as the distraught Maisie and David Bamber as the war traumatised Captain Quell were excellent in their respective roles but I loved Frank Skinner as chief engineer Perkins in what was a very nuanced and restrained performance. There have been a few guest performances over the years that haven’t lived up to their hype but as well as being known as a stand-up comedian and chat show presenter, Frank Skinner can also act. He is also a massive Doctor Who fan so the temptation to ham it up must have been huge. As it was he delivered a perfectly balanced restraint to the Doctor’s ruthless detective work. However, the final scene when he turns down the chance to join the TARDIS crew must have been a tough one for him – I’d love to see the outtakes!
Where this episode rose above the simple monster-of-the-week formula and where this series has been excelling itself so far is its philosophical pondering: particularly its dealing of ethical issues. Throughout Doctor Who’s history, the Doctor has always been a utilitarian character – essentially a good man but one that acts in the greater good. Whilst he would ideally like everyone to live, on occasion he has to allow sacrifices to ensure the survival of the many. The Tenth Doctor used to show some sort of (possibly false) remorse with his “I’m so sorry” line but Capaldi’s Doctor has a certain alien removal from such human concerns. The way he acts is in line with the more profound versions of the “trolley problem” thought experiment: in essence he has no qualms about throwing the fat man in the way of the speeding train if it will save the majority. This is quite unsettling for most people and I thought his speech to Clara at the end when he explains that sometimes there are no good choices was a moment of clarity.
The other dark theme this week was the subject of addiction and it is clear that Clara is becoming as addicted to the adrenaline lifestyle as the Doctor himself. Next week is meant to more Clara orientated so I expect we will see what effect this is having on her.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Kill The Moon
Another week and another Who and another superb piece of everyone’s favourite family Science Fiction show – or at least the fiction bit. As much as I loved Kill The Moon I have to say it just stepped over the edge as far as the science/fantasy bridge was concerned. I may as well get that out of the way: I have no problem at all with a human looking alien flying around time and space in a Police box. I’m fine with bigger-on-the-inside and sonic screwdriver magic wands. I even don’t particularly have a problem with the soup dragon hatching out of a rather large planetoid. It’s just when things like the theory of evolution, laws of thermodynamics and general relativity are brushed aside I do have a great difficulty in suspending disbelief. However, I can forgive most of this simply because the strong moral and philosophical tone of Kill The Moon pays off so well it’s almost worth the Bad Science award.
I was musing last week as to what the next few episodes would look like as neither writer Peter Harness or director Paul Wilmshurst had worked on Doctor Who before. The result is quite unexpected as it reminded me strongly of mid-1970s Who, particularly the early Tom Baker story Ark In Space (which was the only episode of the original Who to have really scared me – and anyone else that watched it on a back and white TV). I think this was partly down to the shadowy, claustrophobic framing of the first half of the show. Filming in the Canary Islands was absolute genius as well. I went on holiday there around 20 years ago and ended picking that grey dust out of my clothes for weeks afterwards: as a lunar surface it added tremendously to the effect.
The two leads in this episode were tremendous. The Doctor’s behaviour has been increasingly weighing on Clara throughout this series and this week it reached breaking point. At times I felt Capaldi was drawing heavily on Tom Baker’s Doctor (particularly his early series) and at others he seemed to be channelling the First Doctor’s disinterest and manipulation of those around him. Whilst he is still ultimately the hero of the piece his alien offhandishness has actually started to become plain cruel. I think this is paying off massively on the dramatic stakes because whilst a typical Doctor Who story will always carry some kind of threat we always know that the Doctor will come up with a solution at the end of the episode and save the day. With this incarnation we are just not entirely sure that is going to happen and even though this story did have the happy ending it is not entirely clear that the Doctor could be trusted to make sure that happened.
The absolute star of the piece for me was Jenna Coleman’s Clara. “Tell me what you knew, Doctor, or I'll smack you so hard you'll regenerate.” I think she would have done as well but that whole end of episode explosion was like a cork flying out of a bottle of Champaign that had been shaken for far, far too long. The character of Clara showed promise in the last series but never really took off but this series has been a revelation. Brave, frightened, intuitive, angry but ultimately articulate – I think that her all-too-human performance has acted as the perfect foil for the Doctor’s increasing other-worldliness. It actually reminded me of the Fourth Doctor’s relationship with Sarah-Jane Smith: in fact I could really imagine Liz Sladen being perfect in that scene.
No mention of Missy or the series arc this week. I re-watched the Nightmare in Silver episode last week and the Missy character was a completely different actress. The last we see of her is being grabbed by a disembodied cyberman’s hand. I think she is presumed dead but we don’t exactly see what happened to her – possibly some diabolical cyber-plot? It’s mummies next week – I wonder if the new guys have ever seen Pyramids Of Mars?
I was musing last week as to what the next few episodes would look like as neither writer Peter Harness or director Paul Wilmshurst had worked on Doctor Who before. The result is quite unexpected as it reminded me strongly of mid-1970s Who, particularly the early Tom Baker story Ark In Space (which was the only episode of the original Who to have really scared me – and anyone else that watched it on a back and white TV). I think this was partly down to the shadowy, claustrophobic framing of the first half of the show. Filming in the Canary Islands was absolute genius as well. I went on holiday there around 20 years ago and ended picking that grey dust out of my clothes for weeks afterwards: as a lunar surface it added tremendously to the effect.
The two leads in this episode were tremendous. The Doctor’s behaviour has been increasingly weighing on Clara throughout this series and this week it reached breaking point. At times I felt Capaldi was drawing heavily on Tom Baker’s Doctor (particularly his early series) and at others he seemed to be channelling the First Doctor’s disinterest and manipulation of those around him. Whilst he is still ultimately the hero of the piece his alien offhandishness has actually started to become plain cruel. I think this is paying off massively on the dramatic stakes because whilst a typical Doctor Who story will always carry some kind of threat we always know that the Doctor will come up with a solution at the end of the episode and save the day. With this incarnation we are just not entirely sure that is going to happen and even though this story did have the happy ending it is not entirely clear that the Doctor could be trusted to make sure that happened.
The absolute star of the piece for me was Jenna Coleman’s Clara. “Tell me what you knew, Doctor, or I'll smack you so hard you'll regenerate.” I think she would have done as well but that whole end of episode explosion was like a cork flying out of a bottle of Champaign that had been shaken for far, far too long. The character of Clara showed promise in the last series but never really took off but this series has been a revelation. Brave, frightened, intuitive, angry but ultimately articulate – I think that her all-too-human performance has acted as the perfect foil for the Doctor’s increasing other-worldliness. It actually reminded me of the Fourth Doctor’s relationship with Sarah-Jane Smith: in fact I could really imagine Liz Sladen being perfect in that scene.
No mention of Missy or the series arc this week. I re-watched the Nightmare in Silver episode last week and the Missy character was a completely different actress. The last we see of her is being grabbed by a disembodied cyberman’s hand. I think she is presumed dead but we don’t exactly see what happened to her – possibly some diabolical cyber-plot? It’s mummies next week – I wonder if the new guys have ever seen Pyramids Of Mars?
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Meikle Bin
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| Meikle Bin - approaching from the East |
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| Carron Valley Dam |
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| Carron Valley Dam from the other side. |
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| The paths are well signposted |
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| Meikle Bin trig point |
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| Carron Valley from Meikle Bin trig point |
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