Book Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who Assimilation2 Vol. 1

Star Trek: The Next Geneartion/Doctor Who Assimilation² Vol. 1 is a crossover created by people who clearly love both Star Trek and Doctor Who. Scott Tipton, David Tipton, and Tony Lee catch everyone's voices; I could hear the characters speaking as Doctor McCoy grumbled, the Eleventh Doctor rattled through his speeches, Geordi commented on the technology, Guinan mused on the nature of time—all through the piece, through two Enterprises and two Doctors the pacing and word choice were right on track. J. K. Woodward's catches everyone, down to Riker's signature smirk₍₁₎.

Star Trek and Doctor Who are ripe for crossover work. Both feature explorers in space, and often time (there are always anomalies. Then, too, there is the undoubted₍₂₎ similarity between the Borg and the Cybermen. The two would think it was a good idea to put their cybernetic minds together to conquer the universe if they ever learned of each other. So, of course, in Assimilation², they do, and the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, and the crew of the Enterprise D have to work together to stop them, with a small detour to the past to see a time when the original Enterprise crew stopped a cyber-invasion with the help of the Fourth Doctor. This last puzzles the Doctor as, up until Geordi found the record in the ship's database, he didn't remember the event, and then he did: Time is changing, as Guinan confirms when the two meet. Guinan, by the way, puzzles the Doctor every bit as much as she should. It is a delightful conversation.

Other favorite moments of mine include Rory getting to use his Roman centurion skills while driving a chariot early in the book and the Doctor's delight in meeting Data for the first time. Here, he rattles on in characteristic fascinated-Doctor fashion until Amy reminds him he's being rude.

Woodward uses a painterly style in his art, providing small portraits of the familiar figures of all the crews. He's clearly spent some time looking at their varied expressions and gestures, so it is easy to transition from the television world to the comic book world. It's interesting that he chooses to use something of a 1960's comic book art style when he goes back to portray the first Enterprise's logs.

This is volume one of two, so of course it ends with a cliffhanger. I have volume 2 on hold at the library—so do a few other people. On the one hand, I always love it when other people use the library, on the other, I now have to wait to find out what happens next!
__
(1) Nothing against the character (not most of the time, anyway), but he does smirk.
(2) And probably not coincidental. I can't track down the interview(s) at the moment, but it's pretty clearly on record that the Borg were inspired by early Cybermen. I, for one, jumped up and down in great excitement and rewound multiple times to watch the Cybermen declare "To struggle is futile" in Tomb of the Cybermen when I watched it.

Hmm… I took the time to do a short search, and now I can only find people denying the similarity, which is weird. I thought it was known? And why would it be a problem to design one really creepy set of monsters that are rather like another? I thought it was homage (which is good) not mere copying (which is bad). Ok…that could be a real rabbit trail. Stopping now!

Who's Who
Writers: Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Tony Lee
Art: J. K. Woodward
Additional Art: The Sharp Bros. (Issue #3) and Gordon Purcell (Issue #4)
Cover: J. K. Woodward

Publication Details
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Published: October 9th 2012
ISBN 1613774036 (ISBN13: 9781613774038)

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Strax on Queen Elizabeth

Sometimes an outsider has the truest view.

At other times, he's Strax.

Doctor Who: The Night of the Doctor--A Mini Episode to watch while we wait

This is a tremendously sad little episode, and yet it makes me ridiculously happy. I hope The Day of the Doctor is as good! Oh, and it's a proper minisode, too! And, now, at last, the Eighth Doctor fits properly in with the rest of the series.

Doctor Who: Sections from The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear found

As any Doctor Who fan knows, rumors of missing episodes have been swirling for some time. Fans hopes have soared as estimates ranging from sixty to one hundred and six episodes found stashed in Ethiopia-or-maybe-it's-Zambia have been shared and as people have listed favorite missing episodes and hopes.

BBC has finally stepped up and confirmed the less-glamorous truth: Nine episodes from two stories have been found. The Web of Fear is now almost complete--it's still missing episode #3, and the company now has all the episodes from The Enemy of the World.

Two new full (or nearly full) episodes from the Second Doctor's era is quite a find; Troughton's era is sadly underrepresented in current collections.

However, I do have to admit that I wish BBC had gone ahead and announced it yesterday rather than announcing that they were going to announce and giving everyone an extra day plus of highly-caffeinated guesses and hopes.

No one has mentioned yet where the episodes were kept in hiding.

Here's to the half-filled glass, and to a few hours of happy black-and-white viewing in the future.

Episode names and numbers come from the BBC Doctor Who Blog

PS: Do go see the clips they've put up!

Edit: Just after I posted this, someone pointed me to This article from DoctorWho TV. The episodes were found in Nigeria.

Link List Addendum: Explore the TARDIS via Google Maps

The TARDIS image via GoogleMaps

No, really. Do! Hurray for Jalopink for telling us all about this!

Because I'm a curious sort, I had to go & figure out what the address to type in  really is. You can either follow the directions above, or you can go to maps.google.com and type in



Police Telephone Box
Earl's Court Rd, London, Greater London SW5 9RB, United Kingdom ‎

And then click on the image of the TARDIS that shows up below the address.

*Off to explore some more.

BBC One Introduces Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor

"It's so wonderful not to have to keep the secret any longer!" Peter Capaldi exclaims after being introduced as the twelfth Doctor.

It's wonderful not to have it kept. The speculation was fun for a while, but now we get to watch a specific actor, analyze his performance, and start discussing important things like "Will they let him keep his Scottish accent?" for the show.

Fans of Doctor Who may have spotted him earlier, playing Caecilius, the father in Fires of Pompeii (Hmm...Karen Gillan was first on Doctor Who there as well. Coincidence?). He also played John Frobisher inTorchwood's Children of Earth, and has a long and distinguished career outside of Doctor Who, with thirty years of acting to his credit.

What kind of a Doctor will he make? It's not clear yet. After all, as he himself says "I haven't really played the Doctor Who since I was nine, on the playground."

It's going to be fun finding out how he does as an adult. And, I must say, I'm glad he is an adult. It took me all of five minutes, if that, to decide that Matt Smith was the perfect Doctor₍₁₎, but I was rather hoping Moffat wasn't going to look for someone even younger to play this version.

Watch BBC's 6 minute introduction clip below:



By the way, I also hang out--lurk mostly--at Nitcentral.com/discus, the nitpicking site started by ** of the Nitpicker's Guides. Once I found out who the Doctor would be, I ran over to check the responses to the news. They are there are typical, enjoyable, and emphatic.

---
₁And I'm still going to sniffle when the Eleventh Doctor says his goodbye!

Matt Smith's Goodbye-and-Thank-You Message to the Fans & Producers & All (Doctor Who related, in case you were wondering)

All I can say is "awwwww."

Review: Doctor Who, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is 98% cheese with a serving of ham (and very good ham it is, too) and 2% unexpected darkness.

It gives us dinosaurs on a spaceship, Rory's father, Queen Nefertiti, a big game hunter whose name I may or may not be supposed to recognize, slapstick robots, a triceratops playing fetch... with a particularly nasty genocide in the background, the threat of rape, and the Doctor committing deliberate, cold-blooded murder.

A lot of it is pure fun. The Doctor, who has been saving Ancient Egypt while we weren't watching, is just saying a fond (on her part, at least) farewell to Queen Nefertiti when he gets an emergency call from Earth and runs off. Queen Nefertiti, following the time-honored tradition for Companions, follows him in uninvited. Once the Doctor learns of the situation--a spaceship is on a crash course for Earth, and if it isn't stopped, it will be shot down, the Doctor decides he needs more help and goes on a collecting expedition, picking up Amy, Rory, and (accidentally) Rory's dad by materializing around them and then nabbing a big game hunter to round out the "gang."

The "gang" splits up and runs around the spaceship, pressing buttons, running away from dinosaurs (the Doctor is almost as glad to see dinosaurs on a spaceship as he was to see a werewolf with Rose), flirting, and finding out what's up.

All of which is delightful fun. Every member of "the gang"-even, eventually, Rory's dad, are having the time of their lives. Amy has fun figuring out an alien computer and trading quips with Nefertiti. Nefertiti and the big game hunter flirt, and, in the end, Rory's dad has a picnic, sitting in the TARDIS doorway, watching earth (And I nominate that as one of the single most adorable, wonderful moments in the program. It's a moment of pure, innocent wonder, and I loved it.). The whole situation is completely over-the-top; in short, it's vintage Doctor Who, a lovely, unlikely mishmash of genres and characters that somehow holds together as it careens toward a conclusion.

But. There's that 2%. It also turns out that the villain who hijacked the ship is a nasty piece of goods who deliberately woke up the hibernating crew (Silurians) a few at a time so that he could space them while they were conscious. He claims Nefertiti as his prize, promising to break her (That's quite some database he's got, incidentally. Nefertiti is how long ago in his time? And it's not like we have perfect photos of her as she lived).

Then the Doctor comes up with a plan that saves everyone except for the villain. The villain, he deliberately sends to his death, not because he needs to die to save their lives, but just because he's disgusted. This, by the way, is the Doctor who wouldn't kill the Daleks when he had the chance, who refused more than once to kill Davros, who gave the invading Sontaron's a half dozen or more "last chances," and who went to infinite pains to reshape Kazran's past in A Christmas Carol. In short,the Doctor does not kill. He is not even in one of his rages when he does it; it's more a motion of weary disgust. What is more, the episode glosses over the Doctor's decision without beat or pause in its frenetic pace. It simply does not fit with the rest.

So: Is that 2% some sort of foreshadowing of things to come, an indication of past events, or simply a misstep on the part of Chibnall and Moffat?

I don't know what I think, and I'm not sure I like that. Oh, I still like Doctor Who, but Moffat's reign has involved a series of mostly-satisfying episodes with some very long term question marks, some running for more than a season, and I'm starting to think that my enjoyment of arcs isn't quite as strong as I thought it was.

Edit: Since I wrote this, I have remembered and have been reminded of a number of times when the Doctor did directly act to kill--including last episode when he used one Dalek to destroy a number of others. However, what troubles me about this is that the episodes I've seen him kill (I am not conversant with all the Old Who episodes people have cited, but can think of The Runaway Bride and Family of Blood, for example), he's been in a rage, and even so, has generally offered several options before killing. This was a cold, calculated killing. The Doctor took the time to explain to Solomon exactly what was going to happen, and he did so calmly. This is a change from any of the Doctors, and it is definitely a change from the more playful Eleventh Doctor we saw in The Eleventh Hour. It seems as though something happened between this season and last season to create the weary disgust present in both episodes (His response to the woman's request at the beginning of Asylum of the Daleks is to wish people wouldn't talk about his wonderful ability to save others).

Incidentally: Yes, I did notice Solomon's database not spitting out his name. Was everyone hacking into the Daleks' computer for information?

Review: Doctor Who, The Asylum of the Daleks

I finally watched this!

I sort of wish I hadn't read the mini-reviews different friends wrote calling it "brilliant" and "game changing." I found it a good, even a very good, episode, but not quite "brilliant," which is ok. I don't really expect "brilliant" every week, and I suspect I'd hate "game changing," especially if it happened once a week.

Anyway, the episode. Overall, it was a good episode and a promising start to the season. It had a good dose of Moffat-creepiness, a nice bit of snarking from everyone's favorite lone centurion, and some extremely silly tension between Amy and Rory.

So, tackling things in reverse order: The Amy and Rory subplot. What was it in aid of? If it was to put us in suspense, it's a total dud: It was (mercifully) scarcely a blip: Slightly over a minute in Pond Life: Episode 5, plus a tiny segment of the much more exciting Asylum. If it was to tell us that Amy loves Rory, no, really she does, we already know that. It came up a few times last season. So did the fact that he loves her. Or was the point that Amy is overly-dramatic and doesn't always think things through very clearly? We already knew that, too. Or maybe Moffat thinks love needs to be quantified and measured, that "giving up" someone can and should be weighted against a couple thousand years of guarding your beloved's not-quite-dead body?

Wait, why are we having this conversation? There are Daleks over there! Yes, let's talk about the Daleks. They're much more interesting, and creepy. There's a really good moment there when the Doctor tries to appeal to a human-form Dalek's emotions by reminding her that she had a daughter. "I know," she replies. "I read my file." Very, very nice, in a nasty monster kind of way(1). The human-puppets as a whole are a creepy new addition to the Dalek arsenal. It's going to be interesting wondering just who the bad guys are in future episodes (2). Anyone, anywhere, can be a Dalek, and they won't even know it until they're activated. It's not exactly a new idea, but that doesn't make it any less creepy.

Even better, the Daleks are scared. They've got an enemy they don't want to face, so they haul in the even scarier Doctor and his companions to do the job for them. That sets up the asylum itself as truly terrifying, and the Dalek's reason for maintaining it rather than simply eliminating their uncontrollable units adds a new, nasty twist to their natures: They have an aesthetic appreciation for hatred, which makes the asylum as much an art gallery as a prison.

And, for viewers, the asylum is an art gallery. There are Daleks from all the show's different eras in there. Most of them, I don't recognize, but I admire it as an undertaking and appreciate that other viewers can, and have, seen familiar figures down there in the shadow. Other aesthetic moments are scattered through the show: my favorites are the amphitheater of Daleks, ruined Skaro, and that opening shot of the petrified Daleks.

And then there's the surprising appearance of Oswin, who is either the Doctor's future companion, or her double, or her alternate, or her descendent. Meeting her this early was a surprise. I'm not sure what I think of her yet. At this first look, she seems rather like River, and one River is enough, thanks. Then again, we barely met her, and she may not be her, so it's back to wait-and-see.

In any case, it is good to have Doctor Who back again.

Edit: So my brother read this and asked "What about the ending?" I'm not sure about the ending. When I first watched it, I was too busy wondering if that meant that Oswin could actually have taken over the Daleks, and if so, would that have created a race of hyperactive, genius, souffle-making beings, and would that have been better or worse than the bubbling lumps of hate we have? I'm still wondering.

____

(1) Though quite why the Daleks feel the need to dress their human puppet in a cloak and ridiculously high heels is beyond me. Their newly discovered sense of aesthetics must be getting the better of them.
(2) At least, when I'm not wondering how and why they stash Dalek eyestalks in their skulls. Said skulls are also presumably still containing the original's brain if memory and emotion can be turned on and off at will (neat trick that). Also, unfortunately, the effect of the eyestalks popping out just isn't as effective as it should be. The gas masks in The Empty Child, those were creepy. These just look strange (No, I wouldn't want it happening to me, or anyone I loved, but that's an abstract thought rather than a visceral reaction).
(3) By the way, my reviews of the Pond Life episodes are up on The Geek Girl Project. Our very own Rebecca is reviewing the Doctor Who episodes themselves; her review of Asylum of the Daleks is up now. She's also been going back to the beginning and reviewing the First Doctor's episodes.

Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife, a short review with spoilers

Now this is more like it! The Doctor's Wife has all the insanity, fun, adventure, and character moments one could possibly ask in an episode. And it's by Neil Gaiman, and it's a nicely balanced stand-alone that probably has bits of arc in it without interfering with the story.

Best bit: We get to meet the TARDIS! She's every bit as crazy, tense mixed, up, and opinionated as we always knew she was.  The Doctor and the TARDIS get to talk, sort of, for a while, and that is both happy and sad, as it should be.

There are lots of good lines, by which I mean lines that are fun in themselves and lines that actually advance the plot, not something that always happens.

Rory: He’s a timelord. He’ll be fine!
Amy: Rory, that’s just what they’re called. It doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing.

TARDIS: "I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and ran away."

TARDIS: Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken.

And so on...

The setting, an alien junk yard, is effective and creepy. House is a great villain, and the jeopardy is nice and limitted: Amy, Rory, the Doctor, and the TARDIS are in danger--lots of danger--without any hyperbole about the whole universe being at stake or any such.

Specially liked: Rory as "The pretty one." And I loved the fact that Amy's mental image of "delight" is her wedding day.

Less effective: Amy and Rory's running around the interior of the blue box (not really the TARDIS at that point). True, we get to see more of the interior (mostly corridors), which is nice, but the silly pair kept separating from one another even when they knew that was a bad idea. And Rory died, again. Or maybe he didn't--maybe Amy only thought he did. It's a bit timey-wimey. Still, while this may all be adding up to something in the long term, it's getting a bit much in the short term.

And can people please stop kissing the Doctor? Idris had reason, more reason than anyone else, and it was both funny and, in retrospect, somewhat sad, but enough is enough.

Side note: Eleven certainly is more angry, pushy, and violent, than Ten, isn't he? "Go get her, Girl!" Not that he doesn't have cause, but it's certainly a change from Mr. "No Second Chances" Ten and his "Let me help you" offers to various and sundry villains.

*I was recently chastised for using the word "spoilers" about an episode that has already aired. It's not a habit I plan on stopping. Just so you know, my reasoning is that it is perfetctly acceptable to wait to watch an episode and to go looking for a non-spoilery review to help you out in deciding whether or not you want to view it.** This isn't that review.

**Though by now, this season of Doctor Who, watching should be a given.

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Does Doctor Who

Well, I was going to sit down and write reviews and things, but being rather tired, I ended up on YouTube watching the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre instead. I'd heard about them before, but people always posted links before I'd watched whatever Doctor Who episode they were doing, so I never ended up watching them.

Their take on The End of Time nails the difficulties far more clearly and hilariously than any other review I've seen. Here's Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.


The sock puppets do Shakespeare as well. I'm very much looking forward to watching thier King Lear.

What are they? They're, um, well, they're sock puppets. Scottish sock puppets. They do amazingly comic, killer reviews and retakes on all sorts of shows and songs and, it looks like sometimes they comment on current events as well.

I watched several during my supposed blogging time, and enjoyed them thoroughly. Mild complaint: A couple of the shows veered into cruder territory than I am comfortable with, but that's why there's YouTube--I could happily switch to something else, and no one was bothered. So, with that mild caveat: Go forth and enjoy!

Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot, Review with Spoilers

Ah yes, I almost forgot to review The Curse of the Black Spot, the episode in which we learn that wedding rings are universal and that Starfleet isn't the only organization to build Invader Friendly Operating Systems(1).

There really isn't a whole lot to say about The Curse of the Black Spot. I found it amusing enough, on the whole, but definitely could have done without Rory's prolonged and pointless "death" scene.

Mostly, it was a light and amusing show. The Doctor and the Captain played off each other well for the first half and a bit, sharing some sharp back and forth dialog as they out-captained one another. Amy's sword fight, while implausible, was fun, and I was ready to buy it.

So, yes, I was reasonably entertained.

Even though...

It never quite pulled through. The evil pirate captain suddenly developed a son and with him a conscience (sort of), and Rory was "killed." Again. He got to lie there unconscious to the strains of heart-rending music while Amy tried some of the least-convincing CPR ever. And, really, if the problem was water in his lungs, shouldn't he have done some gagging and throwing up on reaching consciousness?

The minor silver lining here was the Doctor's distress. He really does seem to care for Rory, which puts the ex-Roman in better shape than poor Mickey-the-idiot (Whom I liked but who never really got to belong on the TARDIS).

The siren was a reasonably creepy villain who turned out to be a holographic doctor, just doing her best for the new crew she'd found. On the one hand: I didn't see that coming, so it was a surprise twist (for me. I think everyone else had it figured out). On the other... Please explain to me just how she realized Amy was allowed to take Rory out of her medical care? Are wedding rings the new mauve? Universal symbols? And, if so, what did the pirate captain (whose name I'm afraid I never caught) show to get all of his men and his son out of sick bay? And was she really bored, grabbing everyone who had even a minor scratch? Or was the crew of the original ship a bunch of hypochondriacs who programmed her to treat the slightest sniffle?

Then again, the Doctor did say they died of a cold, so maybe they needd to be.

And then the ending. Are we supposed to believe that the pirates are reformed? Because I don't. This captain was willing to hold onto a shiny crown, just in case, after he'd been told to get rid of all shiny objects (though to be fair, muffling it in something dark was really quite sensible; it was forgetting where he'd put it that was stupid) lest they bring the siren in. Why would he have changed his ways simply because he'd had a bit of a scare? And even if he had become a reformed character, what about all the others? So: Now we have pirates in space.

On the other hand: The eleventh doctor, the one who just casually condemned the Silence to death, is the Doctor I'd vote most likely to hand a bunch of pirates a spaceship(2) without really thinking about it.

So, in summary, a slight show, not one of New Who's best, though far from its worst(3).

Signing off...and eagerly awaiting my chance to see The Doctor's Wife(4)


(1)Also known as IFOS. Thank you Nitcentral!
(2)The ship running the aforementioned IFOS, since it took the Captain no time at all to figure it out.
(3)That would be The Lazarus Experiment, in case you were wondering.
(4)Which is by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman and Doctor Who. Enough said.

Doctor Who: The Dayof the Moon, a Review with Spoilers

I have mixed feelings about Day of the Moon. On the one hand, I enjoyed it(1). It was face-paced, exciting, and featured one of the Doctor's more convoluted and clever plans for defeating the aliens.

On the other hand, the aliens as the Silence don't quite match the Silence we were hearing about all last season. Remember The Vampires of Venice, where the city literally fell silent for a while(2)? Remember the Evil Voice in The Big Bang? The Silence were scary, but they weren't Fifth-Season scary, not mind-bogglingly, universe-imperiling scary. Also, while I like lean storytelling that doesn't spell anything out, I'd have liked a little more explanation here and there.

The rest of this review is going to have spoilers, mostly for The Impossible Astronaut, by the way. You have been warned.

Why did I enjoy it? Like I said, it was fast-paced, really, really fast paced, and clever. It's not so much that fast-paced by itself is a virtue(3), but this story earned its pacing. It was always on the edge of tipping over into too much and almost always righting itself just at the last moment.

It was visually gorgeous. I mentioned in my review of The Impossible Astronaut how much I admired the film crew for treating Utah as an alien planet visually. They continued this with all the American scenes in Day of the Moon, and it effectively adds to the off-balance, off-kilter nature of the story.

The memory marks Amy, River, and Rory were making on their bodies were chilling. Reminiscent of The Satan Pit, true, but chilling all the same.

Rory is shaping up nicely as a member of the TARDIS crew.

It's not done yet.

We're not even close to finished with the astronaut (who is probably but not certainly) the little girl. The Doctor's death hasn't been addressed. The deep voice in The Big Bang hasn't shown up (I don't think Moffat has really forgotten it). We don't know why the machine in The Lodger was abandoned--and since the Doctor just reminded everyone of it again, it's probably not a loose end. The Silence may now be more-or-less neutralized, but they aren't finished, and they are furious. And there is Amy's maybe pregnancy to factor in.

On the other hand.

I mentioned that I'd like more explanation. I would dearly love to know how Rory and River got from being trapped by a mob of the Silence, not even knowing they were there, to being fugitives on the run. The Silence had every reason to stop them down in the corridors, and they had (to all appearances), every opportunity. So--why didn't they?

How did our heroes manage to remember the Silence long enough to start to put together a coherent plan? We never saw them look at Amy's phone, and even if they had, they'd have forgotten the minute they looked away. So--did they stare at it fixedly as they planned? Possible, but I'd have liked at least a few seconds of explanation.

The aliens themselves only work in the shadow. I think the heads are supposed to look somewhat skeleton like, and there were a couple of closeups where you could see deep-set eyes. Unfortunately, when they step into the light, it still looks like someone forgot to fill in the eye-holes on a rubber mask(4). They're eerie as half-seen shadows, but they should never step into the full light.

Minor note of happy: I love it that the TARDIS data base has Amy listed as "Amelia." It, and the Doctor, still think of her by her fairy-tale name, even if she doesn't, quite.

Minor note of unhappy: I'm trying to get my mom hooked on Doctor Who. Unfortunately, the very qualities that give Day of the Moon its brilliance make it nearly incomprehensible for a new Who viewer(5).

(1)Even though I ended up watching it in green-white and purple because, as it turns out, what I thought was the "bright" control on Amazon Unbox was the "color adjust" and moving it even a little bit does very, very strange things to the view.
(2)Though a friend tells me that if I am patient, and if the force behind the Silence is the being he thinks it is (Omega), it will all make sense. If it does, I will applaud wildly and praise Moffat's genius. I, however, only just heard the Omega rumor and have only the vaguest memories of the Classic Who story with Omega, so for the moment, I'm still on the vaguely dissatisfied side of things.
(3)See any number of mindless action films (Speed, for example), as a caution against fast-paced for its own sake.
(4)Even in full color. I rewatched The Impossible Astronaut right before Day of the Moon, and the color was fine for that.
(5)No, I didn't start her on Dayof the Moon; I'm not quite crazy.

Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut, Part One, a sort of review that is almost spoiler free

So I'm continuing my tradition of behind-the-times reviews with The Impossible Astronaut.

This one's tricky to review in all kinds of ways. It's tricky because it's the first part of a two-parter, tricky because it's a season opener, and tricky because it left me all off balance.

This is not to say I didn't like it. I was glad, glad, glad to see the Doctor back and was kept wondering "What's next?" the whole time, and the aliens, while not quite as creepy as everyone kept telling me they were (Sorry, but that honor still goes to the original Weeping Angels), were plenty unnerving.

In fact, so long as Day of the Moon delivers (and I expect it will), the whole "off balance" thing will be good. It's just hard to say yet...

Why off-balance? Plenty of unexpected events, for one thing, but this episode also is a complete change of tone from last season's end or from the Christmas special. The Impossible Astronaut is a far more somber story, weightier somehow, even (or perhaps especially?) without the universe at stake and with the minimum of running through corridors. Amy, Rory, and River are also much more serious than previously. Also, the pacing was different, though I have a feeling that relates to it being a genuine single story told in two parts.

A random list of elements I found notable:

The pairing that really shines this time is the unexpected one of Rory and River, especially as Rory demonstrates that he knows very well what it means for someone to imprint on the Doctor. He's been dealing with the results for most of his life, after all.

This aliens were a mixed bag. Moffat can do creepy when he wants to (which is often), but he's done it so often and so well now that I was expecting something, well, creepier. Their modus operandi is scary enough and their unknown goals might be even more so, but... but there is a close up, and in close-up, they just don't work.

The picnic. I loved the picnic. It was so relaxed and friendly and in such beautiful scenery and so wonderfully shot that it's only looking back on it now that I realize that it was also filmed as though it were on an alien planet. Kudos to the team; it was perfect.

The control room from The Lodger. Moffat remembers the unanswered questions from The Lodger. That was not a loose end! Mind, he hasn't answered said questions, yet, but he remembers them.

Theories? I don't have any theories. I'm too confused.

Well, ok, I do wonder about possible links between this and Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, but that has a lot more to do with name and image similarities than any real, concrete clues or clue-finding.

I think I'm going to watch the episode again while I wait for Day of the Moon.

*wanders off humming happily

*pops back in for a moment to say:
There. A review that is almost entirely spoiler free. That was hard. I don't know if I can do it again.

Doctor Who: The rest of the Fifth Season, reviews, kind of

"You do have a plan, don't you?" "No... It's a thing; it's like a plan, but with more greatness." Vincent and the Doctor

Spoilers abound.

Victory of the Daleks: M & M Daleks. Crunchy.

I have to say, this episode wasn't as bad as I feared. Sure, the Daleks "surprised" everyone by coming back from the dead again, and they threatened to destroy earth again, and the Doctor had to hesitate and look agonized again, but at least they served everyone tea first. Really, the metal beasts were beautiful running around with the tea things. Almost justified their existence.

Amy was good this episode--loved her asking the Doctor how waiting for him in the middle of the London Blitz was "safe." Churchill had some reason (from his perspective) for wanting to use them, no matter how terrible the Doctor claimed they were. Some good character moments, and I was agreeably entertained throughout the episode--not one of my favorites, but not going on my black list, either.

And, thank goodness, the Daleks have not been "obliterated." Not that I particularly want to see them show up again, but at least the next time won't be a "surprise." I might not mind them so much if they get downgraded to the status of ordinary monster.

Vincent and the Doctor I really loved this one. There's a real focus on the historical figure, a sense that he is a real person (unlike in, say Unicorn and the Wasp which was more about a caricature of Christie rather than about the woman herself (yes, I loved it, but that's not the point)).
Amy's much more in focus here, feels like a real person herself. And the invisible monster rampaging through the countryside was classic Doctor Who, though crying about its death is a bit much (It was randomly killing people for no particular reason, remember?). And the Doctor being both sympathetic with Vincent Van Gogh while simultaneously being impatient with the normal, boring passage of time and the unpunctual alien attack was fantastic.

Is it "Van Goff"?

The Lodger Very funny. I can believe the Doctor has never had to cope with being an "ordinary" person on earth. He does it so charmingly, though!

Pity the menace then had to threaten to blow up the planet. The danger was convincing enough before that. Who built this machine, anyway?

This ties with Vincent for my favorite "ordinary" episode this season.

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang Wow!

These two really tie the season together. All of the sudden, all sorts of odd things, including Amy's never-quite-in-focus character make sense. Really an amazing finale. Oh, and Amy and Rory are married now? Great!

Rory's return is beautifully managed and his two thousand year wait which, by some jiggery-pokery he remembers, has done wonders for his character. Can't really cite a favorite moment from this, I too busy being sucked into the story and admiring the way all of the season had led up to this, often in ways that were obvious only in retrospect.

And I am glad that not everything got tied up this season. There's still the matter of the silence, and the question of who is behind all of this to deal with next season.

Wrap up thoughts: Matt Smith may well become my favorite Doctor. He's got the same alien quality Eccleston had, and that I've missed.

Still not sure yet what I think of Amy and Rory; Amy's character wasn't very firmly established, for reasons that are now clear--she was, after all, living in a strange sort of overlap between two realities. Now that that's fixed, hopefully she'll be more definite. Rory, I like, but he's not been on enough to firmly be established.

I still miss Donna. She may well remain my favorite companion.

I'm looking forward to next season.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad that it doesn't mind you thinking it's a vampire." Vampires of Venice

Doctor Who, Fifth Season, Reviews, Kind of

""I'm the Doctor, and I'm worse than anybody's aunt!" from The Eleventh Hour

I finally saw some of the fifth season of Doctor Who. It's late in broadcasting, so I'll do some quick, sort of stream-of-consciousness, reviews before going to try to catch up to the end. I'm also pretty much assuming that readers of the blog have seen the shows, too.

I've skipped The End of Time for now. Having been thoroughly spoilered, I'm going to wait til I stop sulking about the Doctor holding to the Obi-Wan Kenobi school of truth-telling.

Right. Onward:

The Eleventh Hour: Matt Smith is the Doctor. I think he could be better at this than Tennant; like Eccleston, he does alien very well. The whole fish-custard sequence really works. I wouldn't have expected it to, but it does. I love the interaction between the Doctor and kid Amy. Am I wrong for liking Kid Amy more than Adult Amy?


The Beast Below: Not a bad episode, not the best. Why and how does Amy know the Doctor is very old and very kind? Sexy Doctor could get almost as annoying as Lonely God Doctor. "So much for the Virgin Queen" could also get very old.

I don't really believe in Amy's rebellious streak when she sits down to pick that lock. It feels very script-driven, not character-driven. Why does she get so hysterical about the ship's story when she's first shown it? It's not her history. I could, just, see the inhabitants of the ship being guilt-and-survival driven enough to keep hitting "forget," but why does she? She gets to save the day, using fairly plausible reasoning. You know, now that I think of it, I could see Rose in this episode. Not sure who Amy is, yet.

I liked Liz X, overall, but did she really think that a mask perfectly molded to her face constituted a disguise? Really? Still, she can come back, any time. She and Sally Sparrow. And the Doctor's Daughter. Will we see her again?

It has a space whale. I like space whales.

Victory of the Daleks: Skipped this one. I'm tired of Daleks. Probably will have to see it before the end, though, to find out why it matters that Amy doesn't remember Daleks.

The Time of the Angels and Flesh and Stone: Love River Song, love Amy's banter with River. River's method of escape at the beginning was very impractical, but thoroughly awesome.

I spent most of these episodes wishing the monsters were anything but the Weeping Angels, since I also spent most of them grumbling that these were not at all like the angels in Blink and somehow not nearly as scary. Suddenly, these are beings that don't eat people's stolen time, they munch radiation; they snap necks; they can stare at each other without turning to stone; and, they, yawn, want to devour the universe, just like every other monster out there. The funny thing is, Moffat knows that smaller scale scares work: Blink and Silence in the Library were seriously creepy, and not even a city was at risk. That said, I'll admit that the slowly emerging faces on the statues were pretty creepy, as was the moment when they realized "Those aren't statues."

Since when has closing your eyes turned off the vision center of the brain? I'd ask whether the Doctor had ever heard of dreaming, but I've seen Amy's Choice. "It would take all those angels to equal one Doctor" (paraphrasing). How convenient that... they did!

A borg forest? Beautiful. The Doctor's gravity solution at the end of The Time of the Angels? Very nice. Watching him work with River? Also good. I had my doubts about her return, now I'm glad it looks like she'll be a semi-regular.

Is the crack in the universe following Amy? Or is she following it?

Overall, held up better than previous two parters; there wasn't the feeling of sag or letdown they sometimes have, and the tension ratcheted up nicely.

The Vampires of Venice: Oooh, alien-fish-vampire people. Proper Doctor Who at last! And running down corridors and along alley ways--excellent.

Signora Rosanna Calvierri is one of those awesome evil queen types. Pity she gives up at the end ("One city to save an entire race?" Yeah, did she have to go pose as a victim? Oh well. She was magnificent until then). Why didn't the Doctor offer her & her babies a ride in the Tardis? He's always offering races trips to new planets. Why not this lot?

Hmm... she refers to "cracks in the universe," plural, but we've only seen the one. I wonder why?

Amy's Choice. Why are the two men in Amy's life fighting over her? Are they really?

I wouldn't mind seeing more of the Dream Lord.

Hm... who contributed what to the nightmare? I vote Amy contributed the "nothing happens" element, Rory the monsters, and the Doctor an immobilized Tardis.

Does Amy think the Doctor tells her everything? Why? Does she think she's the only one? She took River Song in stride, and surely the Doctor has learned to tell others about previous companions? OTOH, the Tardis has completely reconfigured itself. Who knows where the knickknacks and mementos from past lives are now?

Still not really sure about Amy's character. I like her well enough, but there is something missing. Smith's got the Doctor character down.

The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood. I'm not that up on my old Doctor Who, but--they already did this story, didn't they? The one where the Silurians oversleep and wake up to find the earth overrun by apes? And where the nice guy who wants to share is killed by the evil military types who don't?

Ok, so Moffat split the nice-guy role this time around. Our friendly vivisectionist gets shot, but the benign leader is spared.

Why does the female Silurian soldier look so very human? Do all old English churches have chains in the walls? Really?

Does Amy have to keep wearing really short, tight clothing?

Amy, honey, those places you're offering the Silurians as uninhabitable... are inhabited. The current residents just might object to you giving away their property.

Why isn't the Doctor offering the Silurians a trip to another planet? Granted, they have a bit more reason than most for wanting to stay on this one, but he could try.

The fixed point/not fixed point in time thing... I don't get it. I don't think the creators get it, either. Fixed points seem to be a dramatic convenience rather than anything believable in-story.

Rory and the Doctor using the Meals on Wheels van to capture a Silurian--fantastic. Liked Nasreen quite a bit; she's (wisely) scared, but also curious and determined not to miss a thing. She also has the sense to see that future human/Silurian relations might be helped by having a human or two on the inside the next time the alarm goes off.

Rory... Um. Didn't know him well enough to be all that shocked, unfortunately. Pity. Creepy bit at the end there, with the Doctor and the Tardis.

Verdict so far: Uneven, but, then Doctor Who always has been a bit uneven. Also definitely enjoyable, and I'm going to settle down now for Vincent and the Doctor, which I've been looking forward to.

"I am about to tell you something very important. Listen carefully, because your life may depend on it someday: I am definitely a madman with a box.” from The Eleventh Hour

More Fifth Season Goodies from Doctor Who

The first minute of the first episode (TheEleventh Hour):



And something from Vampires of Venice



I love the way they're playing out the teasers! Also love the Doctor's delighted response to meeting vampires. That's the Doctor I like!

Still haven't seen The End of Time. My copy finally came in at the library--during Holy Week. While my sister (not a Doctor Who fan) is visiting. So, I returned it & put it on hold again. We'll probably be well into Season Five, maybe Season Six by the time I get around to it.

Neil Gaiman 'Doctor Who' = Awesome! | Airlock Alpha

I don't seem to have posted this here yet, and I can't think why. Neil Gaiman is writing an episode for the Sixth Season. That I am looking forward to, no matter what else happens in the seasons (and the new trailers have me feeling pretty optimistic):

Neil Gaiman 'Doctor Who' = Awesome! | Airlock Alpha

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BBC America Trailer

Couple of friends sent me this link to another trailer for Season Five.

Looks fun, even if it is missing the manic grin from the other trailer I linked to.

BBC Renews 'Doctor Who' For Sixth Season, Report Says | Airlock Alpha

We don't even have Season Five yet!

BBC Renews 'Doctor Who' For Sixth Season, Report Says | Airlock Alpha

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