Doctor Who Rosa Review

Well that was… Horrific. On many different levels.

Trying to review this episode is difficult because its a difficult topic. They try to address it in a ridiculously short amount of time. 50 minutes is not long enough to go into any real detail. Add in the pointless time criminal sub plot (seriously what was the point of that guy?) and we have even less.

The problem is I don’t feel like I’m qualified to comment on it. Being English, from the hills of Lancashire and born long after the events in question, it’s not something I have the context to address. Certainly not in a short written review of the Episode in question

Yes I know who Rosa Parks was and yes I know why she was famous. I have the morals to say the very concept of segregation appals me. It’s a vile practice from a time I hope has long since past, but unfortunately still effects people to this day. It is something I would hope to have the courage to have fought against, were I there at the time, and would stand up against today should I be in a position to do so. I didn’t need the episode to tell me this. I most importantly didn’t need this episode to make me feel guilty about it! 

But I wasn’t the audience for this episode of Doctor Who. The audience was the people who are only just learning about this stuff and that’s alright. There are people in this world that don’t know about Rosa Parks just yet that could have watched it. That needs to learn that one woman’s bravery, and her anger, was important.

The problem there is that, again, it was and remains a complex issue that 50 minutes can’t do justice.

Doctor Who The Ghost Monument Review

Can I talk about Enlightenment. I want to talk about Enlightenment. No, I’m not taking a sudden right turn into philosophy and using the tile as clickbait. Enlightenment is a Classic Doctor Who adventure from the Peter Davidson (5th) Doctor’s run and in all honesty is one of my favourites of his time in the TARDIS. 

In it the Doctor lands in the middle of the final stage of a vast intergalactic boat race. It’s goal? Enlightenment. Ultimate knowledge. It’s all part of the never ending conflict between two Guardians, the Guardian of Light and the Guardian of Dark. Paired forces of elemental creation so powerful they have developed their own wills and personality. 

Whoever wins the race would have the freedom to do what ever they chose. If they did “good” with it they would tilt the scales in favour of the Light Guardian. “Bad” well then the Darkness gains in power. That is how the Guardians work, though proxies. Choosing champions to represent them across time and space, sometimes without them even knowing they have been chosen. Other times…

Doctor Who The Woman Who Fell To Earth Review

Well that was... Not what I expected. I guess pretty much all of my predictions were wrong. I honestly don’t know what to make of that. Is it better than my idea… Not sure really.

Spoilers ahead.

The story goes as follows; an alien hunter arrives on Earth, looking for a randomly selected human to take as trophy back home. Proving themselves to be a capable hunter is the final act needed to become the leader of their people. The only rule, he’s not supposed to use technology. Meaning no advanced weapons, it’s supposed to be a test of skill. 

He breaks that rule, using an array of tech that is both illegal and highly unethical to track down this poor sod and kill anyone that happens to witness him. Only the Doctor happens to fall (quite literally) into the middle of it all and takes umbrage at the hunter, nicknamed Tim Shaw in a mispronunciation of his true name, and his people's right of passage.

Meeting up with an unusual group consisting of a warehouse worker, Ryan, a police officer he went to school with, Yas, as well as his Grandmother, Grace, and her second husband, Graham, the five of them race after Tim Shaw and try to stop him the hunts for good.

Situation normal, but The Doctor is still recovering from a particularly traumatic Regeneration. Can she pull herself together in time to face this casual evil or will she be too slow to stop more cruel, ultimately pointless, deaths? 

The Companions in “New” Doctor Who Part Two

The Companions in “New” Doctor Who

Part Two

Here, at long last, is the second half of my New Doctor Who Companions retrospective. With this one we enter the era of Moffat. It’s hard to remember today but when Moffat took over from Russell T. Davis the fandom was overwhelmingly positive. Moffat had a good track record behind him, with some of the best episodes of the new series so far being penned by him. Including Blink, which introduced us to the Weeping Angels, and the Girl in the Fireplace, as well as others. Lots of people were expecting good things. 

But before we jump into that just remember two things. The first is that a character is a Companion if I say they are and the other is that I’m addressing the Companion only. We’re not looking at the Actors and anything I say is about them, not the person performing them.

On with the review:-

The Ponds

11/10 (see what I did there, Eleventh Doctor… 11 out of 10…) 

No I’m not separating them. No I don’t care what you say. It’s Amy and Rory. It will always be Amy and Rory. Throughout time, space and however thousands of years either of them will have to wait for each other it is Amy and Rory. The idea of a young couple in the TARDIS has been done before, but not since the very early days of the classic seasons and never with this much passion. The two of them are inseparable and wonderfully individual at the same time.

I could take up this whole article with little moments between the two. From an otherwise pointless aside of playing darts in the TARDIS to the flashback where Amy points out Rory must be gay because all he ever does is hang around her all the time. The big moments though. The sacrifices, the way the pair were with each other, the way they grew and changed. It was a wonder to watch. Alone either one would be fantastic, together they are the best New Who has to offer. Amy’s fire was so welcome. As was Rory’s courage. The humour, the moments you cheered, those where you cried. Amy’s final goodbye and Rory’s constant deaths. It was the best of times. 

And it only gets better

River Song

10/10

This one won’t earn me many friends and you know what I don’t care! River Song was a creation of Steven Moffat and was both a warning of things to come and one of the best things he ever did with the show. A mysterious woman from the Doctor’s future, so not even he knows the full story until it’s too late. Jack Harkness was very much a dry run for some of the character traits here, but this time we got a whole lot more. The out of time relationship these two had really worked and while a lot of people felt there was too much of an emphasis put on her early on it was necessary in the long run. She was quick with a gun, flirtatious, just as quick witted and not even the Doctor knew where he stood with her. Even when you were certain you knew as the audience what was going on River was that wild card that changed the whole game.

Throw that card in with the Doctor and the Ponds you have one of the greatest sagas in the fifty plus years. 

The problem started here though when she started taking over. River was such an interesting, fascinating character that she started to eclipse the Doctor. A good number of fans couldn’t accept that, but we weren’t the only ones to notice. Moffat pulled things back form the brink. Showing time and again no matter how far you thought River was ahead The Doctor still had enough push at the end to regain his throne.

While controversial River was necessary. She was a risk, something new. For years Doctor Who has been too comfortable with the same format and this sort of risk needs to be taken.

The Companions in “New” Doctor Who:- Part One

Well we’re looking at a new season of Doctor Who on the horizon and I’m getting around to a project I’ve waned to do for a while. Look at the Companions in Doctor Who since it’s relaunch in 2005 and try and put them into some sort of perspective.

A lot of my opinions have actually evolved and changed over the 13 years since this restart began. Characters I saw as fairly inconsequential, or irritating, in retrospect either aren’t really, or are for a completely different reason. I want to look at those reasons. 

Before start there’s two things I have to address, first of all there’s going to be some vitriol. I’m not going to be nice on occasion here. The gloves are most defiantly off and because of that I need to make sure the blows are going to land in the right places. I’m only looking at the characters, not the actors themselves. I don’t know them. Do know the characters and I have to be fair to them and those that came before.

Now here’s the tricky one, what do I class as a companion? I could make up some arbitrary rules, but to be honest that would be me looking for excuses to include or not include certain characters. A companion is a Companion if I say so. It’s my list so that’s my reasoning!

Doctor Who Series 11:- Predictions

Well, with something of a trailer coming this weekend. Either a proper trailer, something shot special for it, or just footage from the first couple of episodes string together, we’re going to finally see something more than a brief snippet at the end of Twice upon a Time. So before we get to that I want to make a couple predictions

Now I know about the leaked footage and the behind the scenes photos and the rumours but I’ve kept clear of them. I’m trying not to have the show spoiled for me. At the same time I have so many ideas of what I want to see and what I think we’re going to see. So I’m putting this out there. This way I can crow if I’m right, or be surprised when I’m wrong and have some evidence one way or the other.

Prediction number One. At the beginning of the season the Doctor will have already been in the “present” (as it were) for a while. She will already have established herself and will be more or less stable (at least as stable as the Doctor gets…)

Prediction Two. She’s already going to have established her team, it will be through them that we are introduced to this version of the Doctor rather than the now traditional introduction to the characters through following the Doctor.

Now we get into specifics; Prediction Three. The Doctor will be practically homeless when we meet her. Without the TARDIS she will be living in the streets, or as close to it, as she is working on a way to summon her vessel. The difficulty being that she has not got access to any sort of technology to do it.

Prediction Four. It will be a failed attempt to bring the TARDIS to her that sparks off the adventure, with the Doctor being the only one that can stop whatever’s coming and the friends she has made during her time there helping out.

Prediction Five. The Doctor will have been seen as this relatively harmless mad woman… right up until whatever happens to kick start the plot. At which point the friends she has made will be in awe of just what she is capable of.

Prediction Six. The TARDIS will arrive in the last act, giving the Doctor everything she needs to defeat the enemy of the week.

FAQ about Time Travel (2009) Review

I’m going for a good film, bad film rhythm with these reviews. So we’re on the good film part of the cycle and I’m going to go somewhat obscure this time, with what I consider a quiet little gem.

FAQ About Time Travel (2009) is, unsurprisingly, a Science Fiction comedy, but unlike a lot of Science fiction comedies you’ll find out there it doesn’t make fun of science fiction. It makes fun with it. That’s an important difference. Taking the ideas and tropes built up around time travel over the years and having a laugh with them. Nerds, geeks and “Imagineers” are in on the joke not the butt of it.

This is anti-Big Bang theory. It doesn’t play to the lowest common denominator. Instead it’s clever, intelligent humour that pays off the viewer’s attention and their interest. Rather than bombard you with gags at a dozen a minute, hoping one will make you laugh, it builds up and earns it’s payoffs. Maybe that was it’s biggest flaw. It asks you to think. Perhaps that’s why it wasn’t as successful as it could have been. Instead, much like Clue (1985), it’s slowly building a cult fanbase. A slow burn rather than a quick flash. 

What’s the film about? It’s difficult to explain without giving spoilers, and that’s something I don’t want to be doing. I want you to go and watch it. It’s easily available to download and if you like speculative fiction I can’t recommend this enough. That doesn't mean I won’t try.