Doctor Who!

[arcadia]

Gridlock

I enjoyed this one. Much better than last week.

Some nice character development, even if the plot maybe doesn't stand up to close analysis (bit easy at the end there - the Doctor just opens the roof. Why didn't the Face of Boe do that years ago? Though that didn't really bother me while watching the episode, just occurred while thinking about it afterwards). A few bits borrowed from Serenity, Red Dwarf, the Matrix (or probably other places too) as well, but I didn't really mind.

I'd guessed what the message from Boe would be, but nice to have it confirmed and it sets up the later episodes (I assume) without being too unsubtle.

I hadn't heard of the Macra before, but I like that previous villains are being brought back and not just the more famous ones.

Did the Macra just get left down there to starve to death? I'd have liked some resolution.

Overall an improvement and a B grade. Plus the kittens were cute.

[Storm]

Hmm, I dunno. I've decided I'm not going to review Gridlock properly. This is because it seemed kind of fun while I was watching it, but I daren't think too hard about it, 'cos otherwise I just know I'm going to start hating it.

What I can say is, it seemed terribly padded, especially the scene with the Doc jumping from car to car, the guest characters were all far too thick and one-dimensional to be credible, the resolution was again far too quick and simple, and the revelation at the end would've been more exciting if they hadn't already let slip ages ago who the returning villain at the end of the season is going to be.

The return of the Macra was good in a way, especially as they decided to keep it quiet this time, so it actually came as a surprise, but at the same time it didn't really interest me as they ended up not doing anything except try to bite things.

Oh and can someone please tell the writers to get rid of those 'enemy-revealed' moments where the Doctor cries out the name of the monster with a scowl on his face? He's beginning to look and sound like a character from an 80's adventure cartoon.

Um, 6/10 but only because I haven't really tried to think about it.

[Mirela]

Brilliant! 10 out of 10

Few-words reviews are my speciality, lol!

[Seren y Gogledd]

The Saxon references have been going on for WAY too long - the first one was actually in the previous series! ("Love and Monsters", a newspaper headline) And not forgetting the huge VOTE SAXON poster on the door of the dance hall in the penultimate Torchwood episode.

Mind you, the same thing was done with the Torchwood references in the previous series. One of the questions in Rose's Weakest Link game in "Bad Wolf" mentioned it.

Glad to see some of you have the same favourite moments as me, like Anne Reid's straw (Leonie has already quoted that line several times, whenever she has a drink with a straw!) and the academics punching the air. I like that I got the Harry Potter references even though I've never read any of the books. (But apparently the Doctor HAS met Elizabeth I in a very old episode - can anyone confirm?)

Did anyone else cry when Face Of Boe died? I think he waited for the Doctor because he knew restoring the power could kill him, and he had The Secret to pass on before he, um, passed on.

All in all though, loving it so far - roll on ep 11 though!

[arcadia]

Daleks In Manhattan

Not bad. Mainly set up for next week, but nothing I really disliked about it. They seem to be running out of things to do with the Daleks a bit though, maybe they should rest them for a while.

Not much else to say about it really. Grade B.

[Storm]

It's not got anything outstanding in it sadly, and you get the strong feeling that this story needs to be watched in full before you can get a clear idea of how good it is.

But even so, I found this episode most refreshing. Apart from Hugh Quarshie's early speech about "we-all-stick-together", it was mercifully devoid of sanctimonious preaching, there was very little of the tiresome, laid-on-with-a-trowel mushiness that New Who usually can't get enough of, and best of all, the mindless whackiness that seems to pervade most episodes was toned down enormously. In fact, apart from the scene with Martha sneaking across the stage, there was hardly any of it for once - plenty of irony, but very little zaniness - and this gave the episode an atmosphere far more reminiscent of the classic series than most. For once it was a drama rather than a self-parody.

Some of the guest acting, especially from Quarshie, is excellent. Some of the others less so, especially those actors struggling to hold down a US accent. I quite liked Teleulah. I feared she'd be a rehash of Jodie Foster's character in Bugsy Malone, but she proved a lot more likeable than I expected. Meanwhile, DT is back on form after a sloppy display last week as well, keeping the performance measured and tidy. On that note, it'd help if Murray Gold's music was toned down too; with DT now realising he doesn't need to bellow every single line, the overcooked incidental music is starting to drown him out! Meanwhile, Martha has another good, authoritative outing, once again proving that getting shot of Rose was exactly what the series needed.

There are problems. The most important one is that the tension of the episode doesn't work properly. Partly, it's because it's a bit slow, but mainly it's because we see the Daleks straight away, and then have to spend the rest of the episode waiting for the Doctor to find out it's them. It's a bit like the Peter Davison story Earthshock, when we learn in the first episode that the villains of the piece are the Cybermen, but the Doctor doesn't find out 'till midway through episode 3. (Whereupon he proclaims "Cybermen!" like it's some massive revelation, when to the audience it's last week's news.)

One or two of the Dalek voices sound a bit 'off' here, especially Dalek Fey. Also, the Daleks don't seem all that scary for some reason; somehow the pig-slaves seem more frightening because at least they can move fast.

The Human Dalek doesn't exactly have me shaking in my boots. Its voice is rubbish, and it looks, well, like a man wearing a silly mask and a pinstripe suit, reminiscent of the monster in City Of Death in some ways. At least back then they had the excuse that they were using 1970's special effects budgets.

DT has a strange way of pronouncing 'Dalek' doesn't he? Most people say "DAR-LICK", but when he says it, it sounds like "DARRR-LEHK". And what was with the Doc's hair in this? Not for the first time he looks like he's had an electric shock!

To the plot itself; it's a neat expansion on two plot threads left untied from the previous couple of years. The first is the idea of Daleks 'extrapolating' human DNA, as when Rose touched the captive in the Eccleston episode Dalek. Actually merging with a human form is an enormous leap for a Dalek, and although, as I say, the monster that emerges doesn't exactly have me rushing for the loo in terror, it was startling enough that Sek was prepared to attempt it in the first place. That is the second plot thread that was given much-needed development. When the Cult Of Skaro were introduced in Doomsday, they were described as Daleks invented with the power of imagination... and then absolutely nothing came of it. It just seemed to be a label pasted to them just to sound kewl. Here, the concept is made use of rather well, with Sek gambling away his own 'purity'. For any Dalek even to consider the notion that the race it comes from might not be superior after all is most unusual, and for it to accept that evolution is a strength is extraordinary. (How refreshing it is that we hear a Dalek, of all things, speaking out against the absurdity of the theories of 'pure racial stock'.) Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, a lazy, throwaway concept introduced by Russell T. Davies in a past episode for the sake of sounding cool is picked up by a guest writer and made far more thought-provoking.

Definitely waiting for this story to hit top gear, but it's set up far better than last year's two-parter with the Cybermen. And I was tempted to give a bonus point for not being whacky. As it is, I give it 8/10.

[Seren y Gogledd]

Captain Jack said "DAR-LECK" too.

Also, Solomon's call to arms in Hooverville was very similar to Jack's in "Parting of the Ways", although Solomon got a much more positive response (People in the '30s are evidently a lot less whiney than the ones in the 201st Century!).

I'll reserve judgement on the Human Dalek until part 2, when we've seen what they do that makes them different from Daleks. (Presumably they can run faster, but can't fly - and arms will be useful too!). Radio Times kind of ruined it by putting one on the cover though!

EDIT: Did anyone else spot the guy playing Frank? He was Tom in Sugar Rush. And was the Doctor flirting with him?

[Mirela]

I thought it was fab, Series 3 so far has been fantastic! That thing Dalek Sec turned into is hideous, but I wonder how dangerous it'll be compared to an ordinary Dalek? Can't wait to find out

[arcadia]

huggybird said:

Did anyone else spot the guy playing Frank? He was Tom in Sugar Rush. And was the Doctor flirting with him?

Heheh. The Doctor is flirting with everyone this year (well, except for poor Martha). *loves the flirty Doctor*

[Seren y Gogledd]

Whoops, I of course meant 2001st Century.

Typical blooming Daleks ruining the next phase with their mutiny. I'd love to have seen a bunch of Human Daleks becoming the good guys. Maybe even as another Companion (I'm exaggerating here, but really - the Doctor can travel through all of time and space but his assistant has to be young, female and from 21st Century Earth!)

Thought the ending was a bit busy, and a bit too much death for my liking - though it was good to see Martha doing something clever, up until now she's done a lot of running around looking confused.

And again with the Solomon/Jack stuff! The call to arms I mentioned in the previous episode, then he threw down his gun and was exterminated with his arms wide open.

I almost cried when Laszlo was rescued, and he went to live in Hooverville, and wasn't dumped by Tallulah - just showed how much she really loved him, it didn't matter that he had a few piggy features.

We now return you to the 21st Century in time for the next episode...

[arcadia]

I liked it - better than the first half and the 2-part story worked overall for me. Most reviews I've seen didn't like it though...

I thought Sec wanting to evolve and the other Daleks turning on him was interesting. For a moment I thought that when they were creating Dalek-Human hybrids it might end up with a few of them escaping and mingling with the Earth population, so that then some of us might be descended from Daleks, hee! But they didn't do that.

I enjoyed "You told us to imagine and we imagined your irrelevance", and the Dalek swivelling it's eyestalk around to look behind it before conspiring with the other mutineer. Actually, I think there was more humour in the second episode than the first, which is probably why I enjoyed it more.

Glad that Dalek Caan escaped - I hope he's plotting his revenge somewhere. Doctor Who wouldn't be the same without the Daleks.

Overall, B+ for this episode.

[jenjen]

I missed it on saturday , DAMN !

[Mirela]

That monster in yesterday's episode really freaked me out, it was the human face being part of it that was the worst, I think...especially when it opened its jaws Mark Gatiss was great though

(David for the next James Bond!)

[Storm]

Apologies for the long wait for reviews, had a lot of other stuff on my mind. Not full length reviews, but here are my thoughts on the last two eps. First up...

Evolution Of The Daleks
Afraid this one reaffirms one bad pattern of new Who, while leaping to an opposite extreme of another pattern, with more bad results. The episode isn't nearly as awful as some have made it out to be, but it's still yet another second-half-of-a-two-parter that doesn't live up to the promise of the first half.

I'm often critical of new Who's zany and puerile 'sense of humour', but that doesn't mean I don't want the series to have a sense of humour at all. I like the classic series' wit and clever irony, and I wish the new series would emulate that more often. Here, mercifully, the screwball attitude is abandoned, but the story goes to the opposite extreme, which is just as bad; it takes itself far, far too seriously, and that's a shame, because it doesn't recognise the increasing silliness of its own plot.

The Human Dalek, still looking about as scary as Elvis Costello in 3D specs, goes on an emotional journey recycled straight from the Eccleston season, while two Daleks stand around in a tunnel gossiping to each other behind the other Daleks' backs .(That bit when the Dalek furtively glances over its shoulder to make sure no one's listening automatically loses the episode a point. We said it last year after Love And Monsters and I say it again now, this is not an episode of Scooby friggin' Doo.)

The story's a mix of missed opportunities, with idea-development sacrificed to make room for a lot of frantic running around. There's some atrociously overcooked dialogue - Hugh Quarshie's speech appealing to the Daleks in particular had me biting my fingers - and some very predictable 'twists'. With Quarshie again, getting exterminated was so obviously going to happen they might as well have had him wink at the camera and do a countdown. Sek's betrayal by his underlings was also a certainty long before the event, and in any case, I thought the handling of Sek's story would have been far more interesting if things had panned out the other way; if, for instance, it turned that he had tricked the Doctor all along and secretly planned to use his new hybrid army for conquest. Are lying and manipulation really not human traits? Given the nasty, bullying nature of the foreman Sek merged with, wouldn't those traits have become more prevalent in the hybrid, and not less?

The solution with the gamma-powered lightning bolt and Time Lord DNA was shameless pseudo-science - slightly preferable to another magic button on the side of the sonic screwdriver I suppose, but only just - while the Doctor's survival of it is utterly unbelievable. Given that a fairly long drop was enough to kill off a couple of his generations in the past, I find it impossible to accept that a bolt from a sunspot didn't blast the skin from his bones.

David Tennant's performance here was another one to hide behind dark glasses from, far too much shouting and flashing-the-ivories. Again, it's the weaker episodes that bring out the worst in DT, I'm starting to think he does it deliberately just to make clear to people that he knows when a script is a pile of poo.

Not much good news I'm afraid. Another good setup in part one messed up royally in part two. 4/10.

[Storm]

The Lazarus Experiment
I shouldn't like this episode at all. It has every lazy sci-fi cliche known to man in it; a hunt for eternal youth, a mad scientist who turns himself into a monster etc. It also has plenty of soap opera cliches in it; a dysfunctional big city family, a devoted woman scorned and cast aside by the man she loves once he's achieved his life's ambition, and so on.

But I do like it, a bit at least. Maybe it's just the well-worked gloom of the visuals, and the funereal atmosphere. Or perhaps it's the return of DT to a pleasingly toned-down performance. Maybe it's because Martha again gets to show us what we were missing while putting up with Rose a full season after her sell-by date. I can't say. But the episode rather succeeds in spite of itself. It's still not one I plan to rewatch every week for the rest of my days, but it's not too bad, and seeing that, after a promising start, season 3 is really teetering on the brink of coming off the rails completely, just being able to say that an episode isn't too bad is something of a relief. 6/10.