(788) The Power of Three

Todays episode sees Matt Smith become the fifth longest serving Doctor in terms of days as when this episode was transmitted on September 22^nd 2012, it was his 995^th day as the Doctor and now he is 336 days behind William Hartnell. In episode terms, Matt Smith is only 1 episode behind Colin Baker. This is the second story of the series from Chris Chibnall, having written Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. Whilst these two stories have a good portion of comedy, this story is his best effort even including stories such as 42 from 2007. I haven’t mentioned this even though this is the fourth episode of the series, but the title sequence has changed and now the Doctor Who logo has relation to the story and so todays is cubes. I like this idea as it brings a newness to each story.

The story centres at first around cubes which appear in vast quantities and people tpically take them home and have selfies. So much time passes that people just accept them and they are then treated as safe. Of course things start to pick up and the cubes become more active but even that isn’t quick and it continues to move at a rather slow place.

Brian Cox makes a cameo and this is the return of the celebrity cameo which hasn’t been a factor in episods for quite a while. Alan Sugar from The Apprentice also makes a cameo and I liked this one because I am a fan of the show. However the biggest name that appears in this story is Steven Berkoff who plays Shakri. It’s quite impressive that someone who has appeared in Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Octopussy and Beverly Hills Cop has appeared in Doctor Who. The Shakri was to stop humanity from going off into space.

This episode marks the return of UNIT and also the introduction of Kate Stewart who is the Brigadiers daughter. It’s never referred to until later on and she dropped the Lethbridge part because she didn’t want any special treatment. I like the character because it’s a nice tribute the Nicholas Courtney. Jemma Redgrave was perfect casting in the rle and its been done so well that she became the first character from the new series to be used by Big Finish which for most of its run has only been allowed to use classic series characters.

The fact that Amy and Rory seem to leave with the Doctor means that their lives on Earth keep on being put on pause and this builds up their exit because we are suppose to get use to the idea that they are going to leave the Doctor. There is still time during this episode for them to have several adventures with the Doctor.

The story is quite good and there is a bit at the end where Brian tells Amy and Rory to go travelling with the Doctor and Brian unknowingly sends them to their death but obviously at this time in 2012 we don’t know that. The NEXT TIME trailer fantastically shows the return of the Weeping Angels and sadly the return of River Song. This story has been a joy to watch. I like how the story has taken place over a year and the pacing of the story has been something that worked in the stories favour and by the end of the episode I actually thought that it was one of the strongest stories of the series so far.

(786) Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

The last time that Dinosaurs featured in Doctor Who, it wasn’t the greatest of experiences. Invasion of the Dinosaurs was a good story but was let down by the rather poor dinosaurs. So it was with great curiosity that Dinosaurs made a return to modern Who. There is a ship heading towards earth where the Doctor has six hours stopping a ship from being destroyed. That’s the whole point of the episode but there is a whole thing about Solomon taking Queen Nefertiti that seemed to get bolted on at the end which didn’t really make much sense.

Mark Williams joins the show as Brian Williams (Rory’s Dad) and is the best casting since Bernard Cribbins was cast as Wilfred Mott. Everytime he talks I find it funny and I love the bit where he is sitting on the edge of the TARDIS looking at the earth.

First thing to say about the story is that the Dinosaurs are much better than the 1974 version. That should go without saying. There is a mixture of CGI and physical props and its difficult to tell the difference. I suppose that computer graphics have improved enough in the intervening 38 years and I think that if Barry Letts had been arrived in 2012 then he would have liked these dinosaurs in his story because Invasion of the Dinosaurs would be rated differently by fans.

Robert Webb and David Mitchell are a comedy duo and voice the two Robots. At first I found the robots to be annoying but over the course of the episode, they seem to be quite funny and I wish that they were allowed to be more in the story because they are actually quite funny people and if you are going to have a comedy double act then you should at least let them show their talents.

David Bradley plays Solomon who is a rather unlikeable person but shortly after this he would play William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time. Solomon wanted refuge on the Silurians ship, killed the Silurians to get the cargo and then got outsmarted by the Silurians in death so he is stuck on the ship. The interation between Solomon and the Doctor is quite good and its easy (ish) to dislike Solomon because he really has no remorse for killing the Silurians.

I thought this was an ok story but the mixed tone meant that I couldn’t really get involved in the story and thought that after the great start to the series, this one was always going to struggle to match it. I didn’t have quite the same problem with Amy and Rory that I did in the previous story. The NEXT TIME trailer reminds me that a good story is coming up and this series so far does seem to be slightly better than the previous one. It is definelty more lighter in tone than the previous one.

(765) Cold Blood

The second part of this Silurian two parter is very much the one where the momentum starts to slow down and the story becomes one of morality and the things that people will do. The episode starts off with the Doctor and Nasreen walking around the Silurian City. The visual effects are rather good because there is a nice mixture of CGI and sets. There are a few occasions where the visual effects don’t quite work but they are few and far between.

There is a nice link to the 1970 Silurians story when the Doctor tells Restac (also played by Neve McIntosh) that the humans killed the Silurians. This puts Restac’s narky mood firmly into p****d off mode. Rory, Ambrose and Tony have to try and hide the fact that Alaya is dead from Restac. Neve McIntosh does a good job of making the two Silurians seem different. Alaya tries to goad Ambrose into killing her and she is angered into doing this. There is a sad inevitability about this happening and the fallout from it is what occupies the rest of the episode. I think that this is a slightly wasted opportunity because there is more about the Silurians that could have been done yet the story seems stuck of the potential war between the Silurians and the humans.

One of the few things that work in this episode is the conflict between the Silurians about what to do to the humans. Malohkeh and Eldane don’t want the warfare yet are somewhat overruled by Restac. Both Malohkeh and Eldane are likeable characters and it would have been nice if they had featured more in the story.

The only thing that this episode is memorable for is the death of Rory. He sacrifices himself to stop Restac from killing the Doctor. It’s quite a sad moment because Rory has just settled into the TARDIS and I was getting use to the line-up as it was. It just works and a strong line up. To make his death worse he is consumed by the light from the crack and so Amy forgets him. It’s a slow process of Amy forgetting him and the scene with the Doctor trying to get Amy to remember is quite a good dramatic moment. This moment is then followed by the dig blowing up and it’s like the death never happened.

The crack makes an appearance and the Doctor grabs something from inside it and it isn’t until the very end that we learn it’s a corner of the Police Notice sign. As we are three quarters of the way through the series, it’s time for things to start building up to something and this is a great part of the story arc. As a two parter, I found this to be a rather disappointing two-parter. I think that there was potential that was never explored very much. Sadly this is the last time that Silurians are used in a half decent way.

(764) The Hungry Earth

At the end of the Silurians’ last adventure, the smile was well and truly wiped off their happy looking faces which would explain why it’s taken 158 episodes (or 9,595 days) for them to return. This is the last story to feature the Silurians as a threatening menace because after this story the Silurians become friendlier which is one of the problems with Steven Moffat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to jump on the Anti-Moffat bandwagon but this is one thing that does frustrate me about new Who. Normally I can remember what episode is coming up next and whilst I knew that the first Silurian story was next, I just couldn’t remember what the episode was called. I think that it’s because it’s a rather average name for an episode. I can remember the name of the second part (Cold Blood) but this one always escapes me.

This episode features people drilling into the earth and if Doctor Who fans have learnt anything then its that drilling is never a good thing. The pre-title scene ends with the dad being sucked into the earth. It’s a good effect and works just as well when Amy in pulled into the hole.

There are somethings in the episode that occasionally don’t make sense. For example, Rory steps out of a Police Box and Ambrose and Elliot assume that he’s the police. I’m sorry but that is just a bit silly. Sadly with this being a two-parter it means that there is time to keep this going for longer than we would normally be on screen for. Another is what is achieved in the twelve minutes before the drilling upwards comes to an end. Elliot is able to draw a very detailed map in a short time and I also cant believe that even a gifted youngster would be able to draw a map like that as good as he did.

The introduction of the Silurian is slow and well done. It doesn’t appear when its daytime but waits until things have gone dark before it strikes. This would be the perfect time to talk about the new design because whilst I liked the 1970 version and thought that the 1984 version was terrible, there is something to really like about this version. It looks organic and the make up is truly superb. The Silurian we meet is played by Neve McIntosh who plays Alaya. I like how she tries to goad Rory, Ambrose and Tony. It is just frustrating when I remember what the character becomes.

It could be argued that this story slightly rehashes the idea from Doctor Who and the Silurians. The Doctor is trying to stop a war between humans and the Silurians. This is something that is started in this episode but its quite late when it does start so its clear that this is what the focus of the next episode is going to be.

The city that the Doctor and Nasreen discover looks really good and implies that we are dealing with more than just one Silurian. However I don’t know whether it was impactful enough to form a cliffhanger. It’s rather limp if I am being brutal because it isn’t really enough to make people come back the following week. After being away for over a quarter of a century, their return was something disappointing. It’s not terrible by any means but when it’s a classic series monster returning, anything other that superb is going to be a disappointing.

(731) 42

Two years ago today, I started An Unearthly Child. A year ago I was watching the first episode of Death to the Daleks. I started watching an episode a day and I didn’t think that I would last that long but here I am on the second anniversary and watching an episode that I had never rated that highly. The initial idea of the episode is rather good. The Doctor and Martha have 42 minutes before the ship they land on crashes into the sun. The story is effectively told in real time and there is a clock that appears ever so often to show us how long there is left. The thing is that it doesn’t seem to really stick to it and kind of gives up to it towards the end just as the tension is starting to get racked up.

I think that one of the reasons why I haven’t like this story in the past is the silly question system that Riley and Martha are trying to answer. Answering such questions as to who had the most sales isn’t something that really works. Also the fact that Martha rings her mother to answer the question. The second time that she rings her mom it’s done slightly better. There is a strange woman in the room with Francine. The actress is Elize Du Toit and she is honestly credited as Sinister Woman.

Graeme Harper directs a Doctor Who for the final time and he signs off in style. This episode has a claustrophobic and grubby feel to it. Watching it I felt hot and the episode does move along at a good pace. Ok I have found this episode to be better than I remember it. It’s not a classic by any means but there aren’t as many faults as I remember. The design of the ship is something that works in the favour of the story and it hides the fact that this is a studio bound story and that there aren’t any outside scenes.

The highlight of the episode comes when the Doctor is infected and he gets to say BURN WITH ME. This is one of the strongest performances that Tennant has given for quite sometime. I like that he gives a bit of vulnerability to these scenes and its not a side of the Doctor that we have seen before. Freema Agyeman continues to impress and manages to give a solid performance.

At the end of the day I think whilst this is a good episode, its one that sort of fills the gap in the running order. The rest of the season is something that I am really looking forward to especially tomorrows episode so this story is always one of those that is destined to be forgotten. Had this happened in the previous series then it would be one of the best but when the stories in a series are so strong then anything that isn’t as good wont stand out.