(803) Robot of Sherwood

I have just realised that this season has followed previous seasons by the first three episodes featuring a modern day story, a futuristic story and a historical story. The Doctor decides to let Clara decide where they go next and that is never a good idea really because its never really interesting. Clara wants to meet Robin Hood despite the Doctor pointing out he doesn’t exist. This is addressed during the course of the episode where he is real but ends up as fiction. This is a nice twist and Mark Gatiss manages to weave enough interesting things into the story to make it watchable. There is a good bit where a bow hits the TARDIS with the Doctor standing right next to it.

It’s quite funny how the Doctor seems to be jealous of Robin Hood. This shows a different side to Capaldi’s Doctor and a more comedic side which wasn’t going to show itself in the previous story. This being a Mark Gatiss story, there are going to be some moments that you wouldn’t get with any other writer and most notably comes when The Doctor is having a sword/spoon fight with Robin Hood.

Ben Miller is the big name star and plays the Sheriff of Nottingham. To be honest I think that Miller is wasted in this role because it doesn’t come across as a convincing villain. It’s like he is trying to channel Alan Rickman’s version of the Sheriff in Prince of Thieves.

The story takes quite a long time to get interesting. It takes about a quarter of an hour before the episode settles down and that’s a strange thing for a Mark Gatiss script because his stories normally get going from the very beginning. It doesn’t get interesting until the Sheriff’s army are revealed to be robots and when their helmets are pulled back their faces are quite good.

There was supposed to be a beheading scene where Robin beheads the Sheriff revealing that he is a robot but due to real life events where people had been beheaded by ISIS meant that the BBC decided to cut this scene which I sort of agree with because it shows good judgement from the BBC and that was one less thing for the Daily Mail to have a go at the BBC. The death of the Sheriff happens when he falls into the vat of gold and all is left is a shot of his gold coloured hand.

There is a picture of Patrick Troughton when he played Robin Hood back in 1953. It was a nice blink and you’ll miss moment.

I cant quite put my finger on the reason why this story didn’t work but it is definelty the weakest story so far. What makes the situation slightly worrying is that Listen is coming up next and that is a story that I haven’t rated too highly on previous watches. Maybe things might change but I doubt it. The end is starting to get closer and closer and part of me feels like the remaining 10 episodes/days will feel like 10 months.  

(796) The Crimson Horror

Yorkshire 1893. Not somewhere that the show has visited often and the pre-title scene ends with an image of the Doctor appearing in someone’s eye. If I am being honest, I thought that this story didn’t quite fit into the range of stories that there have been in this half of the series. This is probably the weakest story of this half of the series and the weakest since A Town Called Mercy in terms of ratings.

This story sees the return of Jenn, Madame Vasta and Strax which in the past is something that wouldn’t have been a good thing just two years ago but since I have been watching these episodes a day at a time, I have grown to like this group. They start the episode and its 14 minutes before the Doctor makes an appearance and a further 3 minutes before Clara appears. The Doctor’s first appearance is rather strange because he is covered in some weird red make up.  Clara first appears via a flashback and a gobby Australian is mentioned and I thought that was a nice nod to Tegan if somewhat unexpected.

Dame Diana Rigg guest stars in this episode and her daughter is also in the episode and actually plays her daughter in the episode as Ada. Rachael Sterling plays Ada as a poor downtrodden young woman and Diana Rigg plays the character of Mrs Gillyflower as a rather unpleasant and at times vile old woman. Gillyflower’s secret has a bloodsucking leech attached to her. The actual leech thing is a bit silly looking and its one of those things that are better left to the imagination.

It’s a story that was ok but I don’t think that it is the best Mark Gatiss script. There are some good moments and I thought that the performances from Diana Rigg and Matt Smith were fun to watch but there was something that didn’t quite work for me. Another that I did like was the directing because it looked very grim and dark and helped added to the style of the episode.

I found the most interesting part when Clara returns home and sees a picture of her from 1974 (Hide) and 1983 (Cold War). It’s good that people who travel with the Doctor and there being physical evidence of their travels. What slightly ruins it is that those annoying kids are blackmailing her into travelling with the Doctor which leads into the penultimate episode of the series. The NEXT TIME trailer is one to get excited about because it features running Cybermen and what I think is the best Cyberman story of the new series.

(793) Cold War

Todays episode is one that I have been waiting for for quite some time. Amazingly its been 417 episodes since the Ice Warriors last appeared. They last graced the TV screen was on 39 years before todays episode aired or 14,231 days. Steven Moffat was reluctant to bring the Ice Warriors back because he thought that it would give people ammunition when they argue about the rubbish monsters. If anyone could reinvent the Ice Warriors then it would be Mark Gatiss. I’ll save any tension by saying that this is the best story that Mark Gatiss has written.

The Ice Warrior makes his first appearance (of sorts) in the pre-title scene and it happens to a little oink who quite frankly deserved to be throttled by the Ice Warrior. When the titles have finished you start seeing a little bit more of it and I quite liked that because normally we wouldn’t see much of anything. Skaldak is the lone Ice Warrior and the advantage of the Ice Warriors not being around for quite a long time is that it means that Mark Gatiss can do what he likes really and this leads to a great scene where Clara is standing in front of the Skaldak and its revealed that he has left its suit. The way that is moves around the submarine in the darkness picking people off one by one is a great dramatic moment.

There is a nice base under siege feel to the story because it is set on a submarine. Also the fact that the TARDIS disappears means that the Doctor cant do anything quick and clever but has to deal with things there and then. This is quite a refreshing thing as the show tends to have the Doctor jump into the TARDIS to make a quick location jump so here there wasn’t any of that here. In fact after the TARDIS leaves then we don’t see it again. For some reason its relocated to the North Pole.

Casting David Warner in this story was fantastic because he has appeared in numerous Big Finish stories over the years and it felt like he got the thing that he was deserving and that was a part in a TV Doctor Who. Every time he talks it is very entertaining. I was glad that they didn’t go for an overly emotional moment by killing his character off and as a result he was able to be marvellous from start to finish.

A key moment comes when we see what is under the Ice Warrior helmet and it’s a great visual effect. I know that some weren’t so keen on it but I actually thought that it looked quite good and one of the many good things about this story. The Ice Warriors (or just Warrior in this case) was well used and I think that the story could only have worked with just one because it means that we get to see a desperate Ice Warrior.

The performances from Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were very good but I don’t think that Coleman was a strong as she has been in previous episodes. The relationship between the two is really strong and I am almost forgetting how strong Smith and Gillan were even with Darvill thrown into the mix. This is the third good story in a row and this second half of the season is shaping up to be stronger than the first which I was sort of expecting but still sort of surprised by it. It’s weird to think now that there are just seven episodes left in the Matt Smith era.  

(779) Night Terrors

Night Terrors is another story written by Mark Gatiss who has a good track record in the series. To date I think he is the only person that has appeared and written an episode of Doctor Who. The story takes place on a housing estate which is enough to give anyone night terrors. The thing about this episode is that it feels very claustrophobic. The whole vibe of the episode is creepy and whilst it might seem like a cheap episode, the effectiveness of the episode is down largely to the low lighting.

The dolls are very good and one of the things that works for this story is how they manage to come across as so dangerous even though they don’t have facial expressions but it’s the giggling that makes it seem more crazy than it could have been.

If you think about it the story has a small number of characters. Apart from the regulars the story features just five characters and one appears at the beginning and the end and the old lady spends slightly more time in the story. Really its just the boy and the dad feature in the story and I thought that the boy was actually quite good and its not often that young kids in Doctor Who are anything other than annoying but Jamie Oram did very well as George. Daniel Mays is an actor that I have never really rated highly however in this I thought he was really good and believable as the dad.

When Purcell is turned into a Doll right on screen I thought that this was a great moment and was quite a grim moment to air on BBC One on a Saturday night. Purcell is such an unlikeable character that when he does meet his unfortunate ending then it’s hard to feel sorry for him and instead you end up thinking that it could happen to a nicer bloke. When the change happens to Amy then it’s different because she has been good in this episode.

I really liked this episode but to be honest I haven’t written much because I spent so long enjoying what I was watching. This was a very good episode that had good writing and good directing. This might be Mark Gatiss’ best story that he has come up with and I do love The Unquiet Dead. The next episode looks like they its going to be another corker. There were questions about whether this episode was right to be shown at this stage of the season but I think that it was perfect.

(759) Victory of the Daleks

It’s fair to say that the Daleks haven’t been exactly original since they came back. Dalek was quite good for being different but it seemed like Dalek stories afterwards have tended to rather middle of the road in terms of plot. It’s no secret that the Daleks are in this as Daleks is in the title and they were hinted at in the previous episode but the pre-title scene ends with the Dalek being revealed as the secret weapon that Winston Churchil uses and this is a good introduction for them.

This episode is rather controversial because Steven Moffat does the first thing that annoys certain Doctor Who fans. He tries to reinvent the wheel and redesign the Daleks. Not just a nip and tuck here and there but pretty much redesigns them by colour coding them. They look like a group of Teletubbies. Things start off so well when the Dalek makes its first appearance in army colours. It’s not just the colours but also the shape of them. They look completely odd looking from the back.

“I am your soldier” is Mark Gatiss’ nod to the Power of the Daleks when the Daleks say “I am your servant!”. The Doctor spends a while trying to convince Winston Churchill and Amy that the Daleks are bad and it doesn’t take too long for their true colours to show (forgive the pun). When the new Daleks are created the first thing that they do is to exterminate the old Daleks because they are not pure and are willing to be killed.

Ian McNeice plays Winston Churchill and does a great job. Not only does he look like Churchill but when he talks and the way he holds himself I believe that he is the former Prime Minister. It’s good how Churchill wants to use the TARDIS to help win the war. There is a nice bit of cheeky banter between Churchill and the Doctor. Bill Paterson plays Bracewell who seems like a nice scientist who ‘created’ the Ironsides but its soon revealed that they created him. He is used as a weapon by the Daleks and at the end the right thing happened when he survives and is pretty much given a new life. I thought that it was a nice bit of casting and worked in the episode’s favour.

Spitfires in Space is the sort of thing that TD would have come up with and I just think that it’s a step too far and doesn’t really work. That said it’s the only time that I got slightly frustrated with the story. The Doctor has to make a choice of saving humans or letting the Daleks go free. I think that this is a nice dilemma for the new Doctor and one that is handled well.

After being slightly disappointed with The Beast Below, I am happy that to report that things are back on track. Apart from the dodgy new Dalek design, this story is rather interesting and has some interesting moments. The performances are good from Matt Smith and Karen Gillan and the writing from Mark Gatiss is of the same calibre that we have had from his previous episodes. The NEXT TIME trailer reminds me that the Weeping Angels are set to make a return and that’s something to look forward to.

(717) The Idiots Lantern

The Idiots Lantern is the second story from Mark Gatiss and having been impressed with The Unquiet Dead, I watched this in 2006 wanting this story to be just as good. The story sees the Doctor and Rose arrive in 1953 just in time for the Queen’s coronation. At first they think they are in New York to see Elvis but it wouldn’t be Doctor Who if things went smoothly and I’m sure even in 2006, the budget wouldn’t stretch to filming in New York. Despite just being a face on a TV screen, Maureen Lipman is a fantastic villain. She performs in a way which is quite chilling and disturbing. Not many people would be able to pull this off but credit to Maureen Lipman for being one of the best villains in the series (behind the Cybermen and John Lumic) so far.

I love how the Doctor has fun at Eddie Connolly when Eddie thinks that his wife should be putting up the bunting and the Doctor replies by asking him if he thinks the Queen should be putting up the bunting. The Connolly family is quite interesting and Mark Gatiss deserves credit for this. Eddie is the breadwinner of the family yet treats his family in a less than ideal way and by the end of the episode he has been chucked out of the house.

I am quite impressed that they have managed to make the streets look like 1950’s London instead of 2006 Cardiff. They pulled this off in The Talons of Weng-Chiang but most of that was at night whereas in this story it’s mostly in the daytime. Another that is impressive is the effects of creating faces without any features.

There’s a bit towards the end where the Doctor is trying to stop Magpie and the Wire from finishing their plan and he has to climb the TV antennae and you would have thought that he would have known better considering how his fourth incarnation ended. That said having watched Doctor Who Confidential, I saw how this scene was filmed and it does mean that some shots look less impressive as a result.

This doesn’t quite have the same quality as The Unquiet Dead but there are things in this story that I liked. I thought that the fun factor returned between the Doctor and Rose and the idea of the TV taking people’s faces is one that works brilliantly. After the dark tone of the previous story, this episode brought a lot more humour and brightness that was needed. Gatiss has written a story that uses a historical event and manages to make a story fit around it. Euros Lyn does a lovely job in directing. There are a lot of shots filmed at an angle and I quite like this.

Now that I am around the halfway mark of David Tennant’s first series, I can say with confidence that I like David Tennant’s performance as the Doctor. It’s confident and Tennant has the ability to switch between funny and serious easily and is believable in both. Billie Piper has gone down in my estimation as she has become far too indulgent. The character of Rose wants the Doctor to herself but wants to have Mickey at her beck and call. The issue with the series has been that there haven’t been many standout episodes. The Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel two parter is the best story of this series with Tooth and Claw being the best single episode of this series. The rest of the series has been good to watch but lacks that spark that the previous series had.

(699) The Unquiet Dead

So after going into the future in the previous episode, its times to go into the past. I think that there is one thing that the BBC do well and that is period drama and they showed in The Talons of Weng Chiang that they can do it well and in 2005 this was still very much the case. The pre-title sequence is a rather scary and amusing scene. An old woman is dead but comes to life and there is a little bit of comedy from the undertaker who is trying to close the coffin but is being stopped by the newly resurrected woman. The old woman coming towards the camera is something that is still impressive no matter how many times I have seen it in the last 10 years.

Mr Sneed (Alan David) is a rather amusing character and with the subject of death being at the heart of the episode, the humour is needed. David plays the character really well and its hard to dislike him even he has put chloroform over Rose. Eve Myles appears in this episode as Gwyeth and watching back then no one could have known just how much of a part of the Doctor Who world Eve Myles would become. I like the character of Gwyenth and think that she was the best of the supporting characters.

Charles Dickens is the first historical character to feature in Doctor Who. Dickens is played by Simon Callow and it’s incredible to think that someone of Callow’s calibre being in the show. Especially when there was no guarantee that the show would be welcomed back. It’s a great performance from Callow from start to finish. He brings a new side of the writer that I don’t think I had seen before. He is rather sorry for himself and by the end of it he has become a new man. When the Doctor tells him how his books will be received it’s almost too much for him. The fact he gets to end the episode is a nice touch as far I was concerned.

I love the scene where the Doctor realises that he is riding in Charles Dickens’ carriage. He is pretty much tripping over his words. Things get a bit awkward when the Doctor tells him to shut up. They make up a few moments later where the Doctor seems to try and make Dickens feel a bit better about himself.

Rose and Gwyneth form a nice friendship. It’s Gwyneth who uses her ‘special gift’ to bring the first significant mention of Bad Wolf. It’s fun when Gwyneth is describing what she can see in Rose’s head about modern day London and it’s her reaction to how people are dressed really shocks her. The Bad Wolf mention is what really effects Gwyneth and it’s from this moment that her part of the story really becomes relevant.

A monster/creature living in gas form is something that could have only worked in the new series. It would have been a rather poor CSO had it been done before 2005. The effect of the girl that appears in the séance is one of the highlights of this visual effect. The Gelth come across as first as a race that have fallen on hard times and want to use the dead bodies as vehicles which causes some conflict between Rose and the Doctor. Although as was inevitable, they start to turn of the Doctor and the other when they get into the human bodies. There’s a bit where all the dead are trying to get through the cage door in a way that reminds me of countless scenes in The Walking Dead. I like how its Charles Dickens and Gwyneth are the ones that save the day. Gwyneth gives her life to stop the Gelth.

I did like this episode although I must confess that I haven’t enjoyed it’s as much as I have done in the past. Three episodes in and the reboot still feels like it’s in a honeymoon period. It’s a story that is written with a nice mixture of humour and gothic and there will be more Gatiss scripts but I don’t think that it will have the visual loveliness that this one has. I am looking forward to the next episode because it’s the first two parter of the new era.