From looking around I think its pretty safe to say that 'The Girl Who Died' has been the most divisive story of series 9 so far. People seemed to have absolutely loved it or absolutely hated it. Personally, I absolutely loved it! After series 9's ambitious beginning and the following timey wimey adventure, this story is exactly what I love, a fun romp with a wonderful (though maybe not hugely original twist). It may have been a 'filler' story but it was still smart and interesting with some wonderful stand out scenes whether it be the comedy or the dialogue. On the other end of the spectrum I've seen a lot of disappointed fans, the episode wasn't very original in that some things had been done before, specifically Ashildr, who now being apparently immortal is a little too similar to Captain Jack, but I think with the circumstances being different and with the way they turn out (it seems Ashildr becomes a bit of a baddie from the trailers) this for me makes up for that. Fans have also complained that we should have got better material from Jamie Mathieson who wrote arguably the best episodes of series 8 as well as the hype of Maisie Williams character but hopefully we've learnt maybe we shouldn't go into an episode with high expectations. Ultimately, I felt the point of this adventure was to explain The Doctors face (Peter Capaldi played a marble trader in Pompeii in series 4's 'The Fires of Pompeii'). And so this allowed for a wonderful flashback to that story of The Doctor saving Peter Capaldi's character and his family from the volcano Vesuvius. It was great to see the Tenth Doctor and Donna in the flashback (oh Donna how I miss you) and the explanation of the Twelfth Doctors face does work, basically his way of reminding himself to save someone and in this story it was Ashildr (he's obviously never heard of post-it notes). So I liked that explanation. (also, Donna sort of created the Ashildr hybrid by making the Tenth Doctor save Peter Capaldi's character and making the Twelfth Doctor save Ashildr - a stretch, I know but anything to make Donna seem even more amazing!) Speaking of the Ashildr hybrid, the Twelfth Doctors actions reminded me of the 'Time Lord victorious' from the 10th Doctor story 'The Waters of Mars'. I didn't really understand why Ashildr deserved to be brought back to life when so many others have died. Or why The Doctor didn't get a whole load of those things to bring people back to life. As for the rest of the story, some great scenes and effects. The very first scene was great, giving us a glimpse at another adventure, it was wonderfully directed. The scenes with the Vikings on the spaceship were wonderfully done, some great characters, though a lot can only be described as 'Viking' but a lot of characters were only there for a bit of comedy. The Doctor speaking baby was put to better use than in 'Closing Time' and made for some interesting dialogue though maybe a little unrealistic. I loved the way they trapped Odin and The Mire, I felt this was quite original yet again a little unrealistic but paired with the Benny Hill theme it was hilarious. Odin was a good character with a decent reason to be there (collecting adrenaline) but he didn't pose much of a threat and wasn't really anything new. Similarly the Mire certainly weren't as terrifying as The Doctor led us to believe and were a basic 'Monster-of-the-week'. Finally I must talk about how stunning the final scene was, though slightly cheesy it was wonderfully done paired with great music (this episode was the best in a while for music). It reminded me of a scene in Men In Black 3 in which Will Smith's character jumps from a building and goes back in time. I felt the scene would have been better if buildings appeared as the camera circled her to show the passing of time this would have looked really cool but it looked fantastic nonetheless and I can't praise it enough. Next weeks episode looks just as exciting and hopefully it'll be just as good as this one. Next week I'm expecting Ashildr to be a bit of a baddie. In the next time trailer she says things like 'Kill or be killed' and as the camera swirls around her in this weeks final scene, her expression changes from a kind smile to sort of anger. I'm also wondering who she'll choose to live forever with her or if she really will live for ever... (at least The Face of Boe will have a friend).
0 Comments
With Peter Capaldi's first series as The Doctor in full swing, I will analyse his first Doctor Who outing from all the way back in 2008 'The Fires of Pompeii' before he was even the Doctor... or was he... (apparently his previous Doctor Who related outings (Fires of Pompeii and Children of Earth) are going to be mentioned in a small way). The setting of Pompeii is realised quite well, things like the market street and Soothsayers temple look brilliant but I think the actual volcano, Mount Vesuvius created with CGI or some wizardry looks a bit naff, it looks good in the fleeting scenes you see it in but if you actually pause it and look, you see it doesn't look particularly believable. Same goes for the monsters, alien molten rock creatures that can be beaten by a water pistol also created using CGI. These monsters are of course the Pyrovile who were turning people into them as well as giving them psychic powers. These people were the Soothsayers who wore red robes and practiced sacrificing, most notably on Donna. As I've said their temple looks fantastic creating an air of Mystery with the smoke and the ghostly chanting reminding me of the classic story 'The Brain of Morbius' with the Sisterhood of Karn. One of the Soothsayers was played by Karen Gillan who of course would go onto be the 11th Doctor's companion just two years later. In the end the Doctor basically faces a moral dilemma he must either let the Pyrovile carry on meaning the whole world would be turned into them, or set off Mount Vesuvius destroying Pompeii. This leads to some amazing acting by everyone particularly Donna who managed to get the Doctor to save someone, a scene where we see Donna change from a gobby annoying person to a caring, kind person. This brings us onto Peter Capaldi's character, Caecilius, a sculptor/merchant who buys the TARDIS leading the doctor to him. Caecilius is a nice man who obviously wants the best for his family, and his family is the only one that survives the eruption because of Donna. There is a nice scene at the end where they give thanks to the household Gods which are now The Doctor and Donna carved onto stone. Overall a nice story with a few flaws but the acting makes up for it, mainly from Catherine Tate (Donna) and Peter Capaldi (Caecilius). I don't like it. I've never liked it. Next to nothing in this story related or engaged me in any way. The only thing I liked really were the Hath who looked just magnificent, and I could feel myself welling up when that Hath got swallowed by the ground... The story just isn't particularly memorable and often I feel gets ignored and nobody really ever talks about it. The title is the first let down, I first watched this story before knowing titles or plots or anything like that as I didn't collect doctor who merchandise back then therefore to see the words 'The Doctors Daughter' gracing my screen made me almost gobsmacked. Then we get into the episode and it's basically just cloning (after a Sontaron two part, give me a break). So what I'm trying to say is the title is a tiny bit misleading. Secondly, the plot didn't really go anywhere. It was just two groups of people searching for this mysterious 'breath of life' and that's it. Sure the fact they've been fighting for only 7 days was a shock... for about 2 minutes. I also felt the setting didn't really offer anything to the story, I mean it didn't feel particularly scary or anything to fear really. Now as I've said my favourite and saddest scene is where a Hath and Martha go to the surface. I hate it when animals die even if it is a walking fish so I thought it was really emotional and well performed and Freema Agyeman needs a lot of credit for her acting here, it was fantastic. Jenny played by Georgia Moffett (now David Tennant's wife) was also brilliant, I like how she learns a lesson that fighting isn't everything. Now to my big moan about the episode; the resolution. I just felt it was unnecessary overreacting. Colonel Cobb didn't need to kill her, he had no reason and I felt like just a reason to make the doctor think she's dead. Then the fact she comes back to life (god knows how) to fly off saying she's going to save the world to be never heard of again?!? Overall an episode that has flaws but I feel the Hath and how beautiful they look makes up for this. In my opinion one of the best acted and thought out stories in all of new who. I also feel it is really underrated and doesn't get the attention it deserves sometimes and I am shocked that the writer, Robert Shearman has never returned to doctor who. The plot basically revolves around this one Dalek. This is a brilliant idea due to it lets us once again get to grips with Daleks, who at that point in time we hadn't seen on TV for over 10 years. It also allowed new viewers to get to know the Daleks. If the story had been about a whole army of Daleks we wouldn't have had the same impact I don't think, although it would have been scary, we would have only seen them murdering, which as this story shows, maybe isn't everything the Daleks are. The fact that during the first bits of the episode, the Dalek is helpless and is being tortured, really makes you feel sympathy for it. Nicholas Briggs' Dalek voice was I think the main contributor to this, he is just excellent, the thing I always think he does excellently in his voice work for doctor who, is emotion which is shown brilliantly here. Then we see it's transformation from this broken wreck to a shiny new model which is great as it shows this new design in all it's glory. The music in this story, much like all of series 1 is perfect and relays the terror of the Daleks by building tension. The setting in this story is another thing which shows the scariness of the Daleks. It is set in a place with a lot of weapons which in itself is a worry but the small corridors and lot's of doors are great for showing chase scenes and there is a particularly scary scene where Rose gets trapped with a Dalek when a door closes before she gets away, this couldn't have been done had it been set in an open space. Finally Christopher Ecclestone apart from the Dalek shines in this story. His fear and anger when he sees the Dalek is really powerful, this episode is also very important in his era as he wants to kill the Dalek, but Rose stops him saying he is no different from the Daleks, making him a better person and pulling him away from the terrors of the time war. The conclusion is excellent with (spoiler) the Dalek choosing to take his own life. Overall a action packed, powerful and emotional story with beautiful acting. An enjoyable episode with a simple yet interesting script. The story is basically the doctor meeting a thief (Michelle Ryan) who are transported through a worm hole to an alien planet (Dubai) on a bus. They then meet an alien called a Tritovore who also got there through a worm hole. It turns out it is the robotic stingrays who devour whole planets and create wormholes to got to another planet to destroy that one too. As I say it isn't overcomplicated or anything but it is really helped by the alien costumes as well as locations. Let's start with the companion (which the doctor should always have) in this one we have Lady Christina de Souza who is a thief which we discover (brilliantly) right at the beginning with her stealing a cup which comes in handy later on in the story (twice). She is a very strong character who works very well for this story, and I wouldn't have minded her staying on. Next the amazing locations. This story is one of those special rare ones that actually are filmed outside of UK (other notable stories are City of death, the angels take Manhattan and A town called Mercy.) The locations really add to the story creating a great atmosphere and it has been used well as an alien planet. Finally the costumes of the Tritovore are great same with the alien language. Also the CGI of the stingrays are really interesting with a super concept. Overall a great story with a great range of characters. To improve, the dialogue could have been written a little better but not a big problem. Also it could have had more Easter themes considering it is an Easter special but again, not a huge problem. Hmm... a bit of a mixed bag this one. One the one hand you have an excellent cast and pretty good set's then on the other you have a pretty dull and absurd script. Let's start with the good points, as I have said above the cast are simply amazing you have Hugh Bonneville as Henry Avery, Lilly Cole as the siren and other great actors playing pirates. All these great actors really add to the pirate effect that the episode has tried to give on the viewer. The next thing as I have mentioned above is the great locations used as they filmed it on a proper ship (it was moored to land at the time). They really used these locations to their full potential creating a vast ship full of pirates and quite homely I thought but they also managed to make it quite scary and creepy at times although the music and the eerie singing voice of the siren really help this effect. The directing and the music really went well together, particularly the directing, as I have said they used the ship well to make it look like they were out at sea as well as using the ship to it's full potential. Finally we come to the bad points. The script although it is quite ambitions and has some good ideas it is still a bit silly making the episode seem kind of childish and basically makes you think it's just filler after the amazing opening two part stories 'The impossible astronaut/The day of the moon' also it is slightly dull with too much time being spent of the fact there is pirates in a doctor who story. Basically you have an alien (the siren) who wants to take care of you even at the slightest cut, creating a black mark on your hand then the siren comes to get you from reflections and takes you to her hospital where she put's you on life support even though it's just a cut (told you it's a little silly but she has good intentions I guess). Basically the whole plot for about the first half an hour is everybody think the siren's evil but it's just a misunderstanding. In the end Rory dies (again) but Amy manages to resuscitate him (wrongly if I may say). Overall some good costumes for the pirates and the siren, good directing, good locations and a very ambitious story that fails in some aspects. Quite an emotional and deep story in series one. I always think this episode is where series 1 starts to get a little darker, you have this story with the scary dinosaur like creatures that are the reapers (wonder who they're hinting to). Then you have the doctor who classic that is the empty child/the doctor dances, then you have the return of the Slitheen in 'Boom town' which shows Cardiff nearly being destroyed and finally you have the Bad wolf arc finally being revealed, and all the ties of the series coming to a nice little end, with a massive attack from the Daleks featuring the emperor, a lot of death, Anne Robinson (AKA Annedroid) and a surprise regeneration in the amazing finale. Anyway, this story is very much about Rose, also the effects of time travel and what it can do if your not careful. I think it was quite a good decision to put this story here as you need to show the effects of time travel and that there are laws about what you can and can't do (featuring a mention of the time lords). It also show the effects of what can happen which come in the form of the horrifying reapers. The reapers are amazingly made with effects, the way they move is very well designed and the design is very much like something you would find In hell, they even have a tail shaped like the grim reapers stick. The script is very smart brimming with knowledge and wit. There is also an excellent conclusion with Pete (Rose's dad) having to kill himself in order to put time back on track (did I mention Rose's dad dies when she was a baby so she went back to see him when he died but saved him which caused the reapers). My favourite scene is probably when the doctor walks into the TARDIS and the bigger on the inside has gone leaving just a blue box (another effect on tampering with time) Overall a smart well thought out script with excellent effects and amazing acting from Billie Piper, you can really believe her character and she acted the emotional scenes excellently. (there are no spoilers in this review... I think) A little late so sorry for that but here goes. The big special, 50 years in the making something I've been looking forward to for ages was finally here. If only it could have lasted longer. I thought it was brilliant, brilliantly directed, brilliantly written and brilliantly acted. There are some wonderful scenes here, just some many, there's the scene in Trafalgar square, the scenes on Gallifrey and possibly the best bit of all (2 best bit's) the scene with all the doctors and the scene with Tom Baker which was excellent and made me feel so proud to be a whovian. There are few parts that I didn't like but I will tell you them: The amount of time spent on the Zygons. I felt that way too much focus was on the Zygons who appeared in one episode previously in the episode that celebrated 50 years. The second and final thing I didn't particularly like (and most people probably disagree) was the closing theme with all the doctors, although it included all the doctor's faces, the normal one was better I though and more time should have been spent on it. Anyway, away from the bad points, the opening scenes mirroring 'An Unearthly child' were magnificent. I could go on forever about the amazing things but I am running out of room. I hope that 'The time of the doctor' will be as amazing and I wonder what effects this story will have on future story's. Overall sadly not my favourite doctor who episode ever but still pretty darn brilliant! And I hope you liked it too. Amazing... simply amazing. That's all I can say to sum up this episode. I have been struggling what to write about this episode other than amazing. It included everything to make a gripping, funny, well made drama. It is also incredibly accurate showing the journey William Hartnell went on which included some very emotional scenes. There was also bucket loads of scenes that brought goose pimples, a big example of this is when they had the Daleks on the bridge, this scene really made me proud to be a whovian. The acting is the finest I have ever seen particularly David Bradley and Jessica Raine as William Hartnell and Verity Lambert, they really showed the struggle to keep doctor who on and I really liked scenes with these two together. Some excellent locations and set's like the TARDIS set and filming at BBC TV centre which they re-decorated to look like the 1960's. I honestly can't praise David Bradley enough for his performance and he really portrayed William Hartnell well. I cannot wait to get this on DVD and watch it over and over again. It would have been cool if they set the DVD cover out like the classic DVD format but you can't have everything. Overall an amazing piece of drama beautifully written by Mark Gatiss and beautifully acted by everyone really. A great tribute to William Hartnell and doctor who as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, I know some people have moaned about this episode but I just can't see what's bad about it. This episode is one of my favourite Christmas episodes because I just loved everything about it; the setting, the characters, the effects and of course the monsters. I loved the concept of the 'host' who I found REALLY scary when I first watched it, their blank faces remind me of the robots in 'robots of death', the way they look so beautiful but can turn so deadly and their body's all remind me slightly of the weeping angels but these seem more fragile. We get to see how they attack which is by pulling of their halo and throwing it which is pretty much genius because halo's are often thought as a good thing but here we see it as a bad thing. I would have loved to see the host again but I guess like the weeping angels it would ruin the effect they first had when we first met them. The setting was also genius, what other show can you set the episode on a spaceship that looks like the Titanic but from the future? I loved the characters; the tenth doctor was amazing as usual but I thought the real star was Astrid as played by Kylie Minogue. Everything about her character was amazing and she played some really emotional scenes perfectly and the way she died by sacrificing herself was sad but great writing. Overall a super episode with a super plot and super effects. |
About this areaThis area will be where I write reviews on Doctor Who DVD's classic and new. The area is split up into episodes of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and new who to make it easier for me and you to see them. Enjoy! Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|