(809) Flatline

Flatline is the second episode to come from Jamie Mathieson who wrote the previous episode and this is another story that has some good ideas and some good characters. The pre-title scene is of a man on a phone who then disappears and then reappears but stretched out on a wall.

When fan taken photos of this episode were put on the net, this episode took on a new level of interest. The idea of the TARDIS shrinking is one that has never been explored in Doctor Who since Logopolis and even that wasn’t very interesting. The effect of the Doctor handing Clara the Psychic Paper and the Sonic Screwdriver.

The effect of things being flattened is quite good and the effect of the people taken walking is even more impressive and one that I think is a huge success for the show.  The Doctor names the monster as the Boneless which is an average name really but serves the purpose which is all you can really ask for with a name. I just wish that they had come with the name earlier on in the episode

With the Doctor stuck in the TARDIS, it means that Clara is on her own except that she is partnered with Rigsy (who is due to return in the 2015 series). I don’t know why but I quite liked the character of Rigsy. He wasn’t annoying and whilst I don’t think his character that big enough to warrant a return, I don’t hate the idea and that might be down to Joivan Wade who comes across as a likeable person who gets the world he finds himself in really quickly.

The Doctor using his hand to move the TARDIS out of the way of an incoming train is such a fantastically ludicrous thing. It’s amusing to me that Clara comes up with the Adams Family reference and the Doctor instantly knows what to do. The Doctor being stuck in the TARDIS is a brave thing to do really because it means that Clara has drive the story outside of the TARDIS. Clara comes up with the idea to save the Doctor without any help from the Doctor. This has been the strongest episode for Jenna Coleman.

Captain Grumpy makes another appearance and this is another appearance where he isn’t quite as grumpy as he was. I don’t know if he will lose the grumpy title because he becomes quite involved in the next episode but the last couple of appearances have shown Captain Grumpy to be less grumpy than I have implied but I have a suspicion that this will change and he will show me the reason why he deserved to be called Captain Grumpy.

Missy makes an appearance at the end where she is holding a tablet showing Clara and Missy saying that she chose wisely. This is the most that we have got from the Missy story arc for quite sometime. I remember thinking in 2014 (seems like a lifetime ago) that there were a million theories about who Missy was and this was a time when the end was being built up to and there is just one more episode before the series finale starts.

Flatline was another solid episode that flipped the dynamic of the Doctor/Companion relationship and seemed like a relatively cheap episode yet managed to maintain the drama and tension. I now have just four episodes left in the marathon and have to seriously start to think what I will do with my evenings. Maybe a Torchwood or a Sarah Jane Adventures marathon. I don’t know what I will do but the end is almost prepared for.

(805) Time Heist

After being really let down with Listen, I was hoping that todays episode would be a return to form. My memories of this story is that it would be and it definelty proved to be. It felt more like a Doctor Who story than Listen. One thing that doesn’t quite come out of this story is why it took two people to write this story. Stephen Thompson who had previously written the weak The Curse of the Black Spot and the highly enjoyable Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. He co-wrote this story with Steven Moffat and to be honest its not clear why it took two people or who wrote what. The pre-title scene is where things start to pick up for me. Things look rather normal at first for the Doctor and Clara but by the end of the scene they find themselves with memory worms and two other people.

The set up for the episode is that the Doctor and Clara (along with Psi and Saibra) have to break into a bank. The thing that they are breaking into to get is the thing that they all want. Psi wanted to get his memories back. Saibra came for gene suppressant so she stops morphing into other people. That aspect did seem like it was borrowed from X-Men but it doesn’t bother me too much.

They are left aids by the Architect and it’s someone that the Doctor hates and the revelation that he is the Architect which turns out to be him. There’s nothing like a bit of self-loathing to sooth the soul is there? The teller is a good idea and it works because its an idea that forces people to actually empty their minds. The teller is being mistreated and its not until the end that it finds it’s partner and they are left to roam free. There is something quite obvious about the fact that the Architect but I didn’t mind it.

Keeley Hawes is the big name of the episode as plays Ms Delphox. She runs the bank and she looks very similar in style to Sarah Lancashire in Partners in Crime. Ms Delphox turns out to be a clone of Madame Karabraxos that is there to help with the administrative running of the bank. The bit where an old and dying Madame Karabraxos ringing the Doctor is a bit of an unnecessary part of the story. That was the only thing that really didn’t do the story any benefits. One of the reasons why this story works so well is that the direction is really good. Douglas Mackinnon has done a great job in making it feel at times like an Oceans Eleven movie. The way we learn what happens between being a Clara’s home and finding themselves on with Psi and Saibra seems a bit like the show Hustle.

There was one line that the Doctor said which back in 2014 went unnoticed and was like a beacon today. I went for minimalism but came out with magician is a line which at the time didn’t seem to have much relevance but bearing in mind that the first episode of series 35 is called The Magicians Apprentice, it seems that this line has more relevance now.

This was a much better episode than Listen but that’s not much of a compliment. What is a compliment is that it’s a story that is well written and well directed and also the performances are fun to watch and this episode shows that Listen was just a blip. With there just twelve episodes in the series it means that we are near the half way point of the series and so far it has been a good opening series for Capaldi.

(804) Listen

Listen is a story that I felt in 2014 was the weakest of the series. This could be another example of poor episodes changing and watching it in this marathon would make me appreciate it and think that I was wrong when the episode first aired but I am sad to say that this didn’t happen for todays episode and its one of those rare instances where a story has actually gone down in my previous estimation.

Apparently other people seem to rate it quite highly. They talk about how clever it is and this is the scariest Steven Moffat script and the best episode in years. To be honest, that is all hogwash as I would go so far to say that it’s one of the worst stories of the new series.

I was prepared to give it a try but after about eight minutes I found myself giving up. From this moment on I was just waiting for the end of the episode to come because then it would be over. The pre-title scene is just the Doctor and it’s a very talkie scene which is unusual for most new series stories. That is the most entertaining part of the episode. I think this is the episode where my dislike for Danny Pink starts. Clara and Danny go on a date and it goes wrong quite quickly and to be honest this is all quite boring.

The Doctor and Clara end up in a children’s home in the 1990’s where Clara meets a young Danny and then goes into the future and meets a distance relative of Danny. The young Danny was quite entertaining but sadly that portion of the story didn’t last too long and then we were back to all the less interesting stuff. There are moments which are clearly designed to be the big scary moments but I am so disconnected from this story that they just looked like mildly entertaining scraps of drama.

I honestly thought that things would change watching this episode but nothing has. It might be too clever for me but I found the story to be a bit boring and there is very little chance of me deciding to watch this again outside of a marathon like this one. It’s not a bad story because of Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi but it’s the story in general that didn’t connect with me and I can accept that I am not smart enough to appreciate it but that’s just the way it is.

(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.  

(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.

(743) The Poison Sky

Today’s episode is the 34^th for David Tennant as Doctor and that ties him with Colin Baker. Tennant is now just three episodes away from matching Sylvester McCoy. I got the most recent edition of Doctor Who Magazine and on the cover it has the line about how Earth survived 92 invasions which is an incredible stat. A couple of things have changed in my mind since watching the previous episode. Firstly there is the introduction of Martha. I mentioned that Martha’s introduction seemed to be solely so that she could be cloned. I have to admit that it is quite fun having an evil Martha in the story. When Martha meets her cloned self it is quite a nice moment and

Another thing that has changed since watching The Sontaran Stratagem. Rattigan doesn’t seem quite so annoying in this episode. I think it’s because the inevitability of his demise that makes him seem more normal than he was in the previous episode. He is abandoned by his followers at the academy and after his hissy fit he is belittled a bit before redeeming himself and killing himself and blowing up the Sontaran ship.

The Sontarans plan to turn earth into great big breading ground is quite a good one. I think that it might have been nicer if the plan have been made clearer and revealed earlier in this two parter. The idea is the sort of idea that would have worked quite well as a series finale.

There is a blink and you’ll miss it appearance of Rose. As the series approaches the half way mark her involvement is going to be more noticeable. In fact I think it’s the first time since Partners in Crime that Rose has been on our screens.

Helen Raynor’s previous story was the Daleks two parter in the previous series which had its moments but I think that this is a stronger two parter. I thought that Christopher Ryan was a good Sontaran and he was a good leader. I know this is a strange thing to say but I thought that the lighting gave the Sontarans a different look which I quite liked. I think that Robert Holmes would have liked this story because it uses the Sontarans in a way that compliments his characters.

What is a surprise (still) is the rather cliffhanger style ending to the episode. Martha has become a companion again although this time not quite as willing as he was before. I think that the Sontarans have been bought back and used in a good way. I have appreciated this story much more than when I watched it in 2008. The design of the Sontarans has been one of the successes of the story but it’s a story that has managed to bring in a lot of elements and make it all work. It was quite a shopping list that Helen Raynor had to deal with and this episode continues the good trend that the series is going on.

Tomorrows episode is going to be another interesting one.

(742) The Sontaran Stratagem

The Sontarans are the first of two classic monsters to return in this series. This is the first appearance of the Sontarans since The Two Doctors which was remarkable 107 episodes ago or another way to look at it 8,463 days ago. This episode sees UNIT make a return to the show and also Martha returns after an absence of five episodes.

The humanising that Donna has been putting the Doctor through has been good so far but in this episode it gets rather annoying. It happens when she asks the Doctor if that is what he does and turns his companions into soldiers.  There is a funny moment where the Doctor thinks that Donna is leaving and gives a lovely speech before realising that Donna is just visiting her family. The best thing about Donna visiting her family is that it means Bernard Cribbins get to be in an episode.

There’s a nice joke about the Doctor working for UNIT in the 1970’s and then questions whether it was the 80’s. This is because the date of UNIT stories is always something of a mystery because it was said that they took place about five years ahead of when they were transmitted but its never made clear on screen.

The pool where a faceless body is growing is quite grim and when it jumps out at the UNIT soldiers is a great little moment. Doctor Who Confidential highlighted the fact that the pool is the same prop that featured in The Fires of Pompeii.

The Sontarans costume started really good in The Time Warrior was really good and over the years it has got worse and this is the best ever. The Sontarans weren’t allowed to take part in the Time War and its quite funny to think that they must have been the only race in history to moan about not taking part in a war. Also we see more Sontarans in this episode than we have ever seen in all the stories combined. The little chant that they give at the end of the episode is superb because it just goes with the way the Sontarans are. Stahl the Undefeated is played by Christopher Ryan who played Kiv in The Trial of a Timelord: Mindwarp and to be honest the voices sound quite similar. I didn’t think about it at the time but watching it a day at a time means that its more noticeable. In fact its only been three months since that story. Dan Starkey makes his first appearance as a Sontaran and little did anyone know that he would still be playing a Sontaran. He is rather good and these two are the only two that don’t always wear their helmet.

Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson) is a young genius but the problem really is that he is quite annoying. It’s quite funny when the Doctor is trying to outsmart Rattigan. It’s clear that he isn’t in control and it’s a little bit clichéd.

There is a nice moment between Martha and Donna where Martha pretty much tries to scare Donna off. This clearly doesn’t work as Donna is prepared to carry on travelling with the Doctor. There is a question that needs to be asked as to why Martha is in the story. It seems too soon since she left to bring her back and its seems that the only reason is to get her in the situation where she is cloned. It’s a shame really but

The final shot is of the Doctor standing in a smoke screen and that ends what was a rather good episode. It’s another episode which has shown a gradual improvement after the surprisingly disappointing start to the series. The Sontarans’ return is better than I thought and it will be interesting to see whether things continue on an upward trend or not.