Doctor Who: The End of the World
Apr. 3rd, 2005 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenaySqueee!
I am writing this before seeing any other fan speculation simply because I don't want anyone to spoil my happy, glowy, yayness yet. 'Cos I really enjoyed this episode :-)
Where should I start? Hmmm...
Well, the plot had a little more substance than last week, which is always of the good. There wasn't any 'and here is Rose, so here is her backstory' stuff to do, allowing the show to get straight into the plot. It paid off. Yes, I knew that the plumber girl that Rose befriended was going to die. They always do. And yes, Rose had to get into trouble and require a bit of rescuing. Companions usually do. It's part of being Doctor Who. But the plot and the motivations worked. And I was really quite, er, tense during certain parts even though I knew that the Doctor had to save the day.
Although I didn't expect the Doctor to engineer Lady Cassandra's fate. No-siree. This Doctor can be rather ruthless, which is good. It makes him a little less predictable. Yes, he'll save the day but will he try to save the bad guys and the morally dubious guys? Or will he stand back and watch?
I am definitely going to have to mention the special effects. Because British sci-fi doesn't usually have effects this good. They were good enough that I often didn't sit there thinking "great effect!" - a sign that the effect convinced me. And the external space shots were very good. The effects were the kind of thing that I'd expect to see on an American sci-fi show. We haven't done decent sci-fi for so long and we were never up to our Atlantic neighbours in effects terms even when we were doing sci-fi, so often the effects weren't convincing. It's good to see that real work has been put into giving Doctor Who a look and a level of effects that can compete with the stuff coming over from the States. There's no need to make our sci-fi look like a poor cousin, leaving everyone focusing on the woeful effects rather than the important story-telling and characterisation.
One of the points that really worked for me was Rose's feeling of alienation and homesickness during the episode. As the aliens were introduced and talked about 'ancient Earth', it was a bit surreal and rather dizzying. Overwhelming. And Billie Piper did a great job of conveying how out of place and unhappy Rose felt - wouldn't you feel the same way?
I'd been reading in a couple of places about the Doctor flirting with Jabe, the Tree Queen, and hadn't been sure how I felt about that. The Doctor that I grew up with was asexual - the concept of flirting or anything else has never felt like something he could do. Even the 1996 movie didn't really convince me that the Doctor had any of those inclinations. And so the Doctor's interaction with Jabe was slightly unsettling at first, but I adjusted faster than I thought that I would. Huh.
Maybe that was Christopher Eccleston. Or maybe my ideas about Doctor Who are finally catching up with my age. Whatever.
The only thing that I'm still uncertain about is the idea that Gallifrey and the Timelords have been destroyed and the Doctor is the last of his kind. Er. Russel T. Davies et al will have to work hard to convince me that this works and fits in with the canon from classic Doctor Who. Admittedly Doctor Who has never been particularly good at continuity (three different explanations for the Big Bang?), but this is a radical departure from the canon background and it's going to need a really big sell to make it work. It did contain some more hints about a war, presumably the same war mentioned last week, and I'm assuming that this is going to be one of the story-arcs that will be gradually revealed during the run. So I'm reserving judgement on this until the end of the season.
There were, again, some laugh out loud funnies and the humour seemed a little better balanced than last week - less slapstick and more humour out of the situation. I'm loving CE's Doctor - funny, but beautiful and sad at times, too. The quiet, sad moments keep his Doctor from being over the top manic. Balancing humour and serious moments is often something that British drama struggles with, so it's refreshing to see it handled well here.
One of my concerns about Doctor Who was that they'd do one of these "affectionate parody" jobs that have been done to so many older shows over the past few years. Although it's funnier than many Doctor Who stories used to be, there is no hint of parody. Just a good understanding of how to use humour well and when to have a more serious moment. And when to break out of the serious moment.
So, in all, I enjoyed this episode a lot (squee!) and was completely drawn in and hooked for the entire forty-five minutes. Plus next week's trailer looks very intriguing. Doctor Who is a hit for me so far :-)
And I really need a DW icon or two.
I am writing this before seeing any other fan speculation simply because I don't want anyone to spoil my happy, glowy, yayness yet. 'Cos I really enjoyed this episode :-)
Where should I start? Hmmm...
Well, the plot had a little more substance than last week, which is always of the good. There wasn't any 'and here is Rose, so here is her backstory' stuff to do, allowing the show to get straight into the plot. It paid off. Yes, I knew that the plumber girl that Rose befriended was going to die. They always do. And yes, Rose had to get into trouble and require a bit of rescuing. Companions usually do. It's part of being Doctor Who. But the plot and the motivations worked. And I was really quite, er, tense during certain parts even though I knew that the Doctor had to save the day.
Although I didn't expect the Doctor to engineer Lady Cassandra's fate. No-siree. This Doctor can be rather ruthless, which is good. It makes him a little less predictable. Yes, he'll save the day but will he try to save the bad guys and the morally dubious guys? Or will he stand back and watch?
I am definitely going to have to mention the special effects. Because British sci-fi doesn't usually have effects this good. They were good enough that I often didn't sit there thinking "great effect!" - a sign that the effect convinced me. And the external space shots were very good. The effects were the kind of thing that I'd expect to see on an American sci-fi show. We haven't done decent sci-fi for so long and we were never up to our Atlantic neighbours in effects terms even when we were doing sci-fi, so often the effects weren't convincing. It's good to see that real work has been put into giving Doctor Who a look and a level of effects that can compete with the stuff coming over from the States. There's no need to make our sci-fi look like a poor cousin, leaving everyone focusing on the woeful effects rather than the important story-telling and characterisation.
One of the points that really worked for me was Rose's feeling of alienation and homesickness during the episode. As the aliens were introduced and talked about 'ancient Earth', it was a bit surreal and rather dizzying. Overwhelming. And Billie Piper did a great job of conveying how out of place and unhappy Rose felt - wouldn't you feel the same way?
I'd been reading in a couple of places about the Doctor flirting with Jabe, the Tree Queen, and hadn't been sure how I felt about that. The Doctor that I grew up with was asexual - the concept of flirting or anything else has never felt like something he could do. Even the 1996 movie didn't really convince me that the Doctor had any of those inclinations. And so the Doctor's interaction with Jabe was slightly unsettling at first, but I adjusted faster than I thought that I would. Huh.
Maybe that was Christopher Eccleston. Or maybe my ideas about Doctor Who are finally catching up with my age. Whatever.
The only thing that I'm still uncertain about is the idea that Gallifrey and the Timelords have been destroyed and the Doctor is the last of his kind. Er. Russel T. Davies et al will have to work hard to convince me that this works and fits in with the canon from classic Doctor Who. Admittedly Doctor Who has never been particularly good at continuity (three different explanations for the Big Bang?), but this is a radical departure from the canon background and it's going to need a really big sell to make it work. It did contain some more hints about a war, presumably the same war mentioned last week, and I'm assuming that this is going to be one of the story-arcs that will be gradually revealed during the run. So I'm reserving judgement on this until the end of the season.
There were, again, some laugh out loud funnies and the humour seemed a little better balanced than last week - less slapstick and more humour out of the situation. I'm loving CE's Doctor - funny, but beautiful and sad at times, too. The quiet, sad moments keep his Doctor from being over the top manic. Balancing humour and serious moments is often something that British drama struggles with, so it's refreshing to see it handled well here.
One of my concerns about Doctor Who was that they'd do one of these "affectionate parody" jobs that have been done to so many older shows over the past few years. Although it's funnier than many Doctor Who stories used to be, there is no hint of parody. Just a good understanding of how to use humour well and when to have a more serious moment. And when to break out of the serious moment.
So, in all, I enjoyed this episode a lot (squee!) and was completely drawn in and hooked for the entire forty-five minutes. Plus next week's trailer looks very intriguing. Doctor Who is a hit for me so far :-)
And I really need a DW icon or two.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-03 04:14 pm (UTC)And me. *g*
no subject
Date: 2005-04-04 05:00 pm (UTC)*g*
no subject
Date: 2005-04-04 05:41 am (UTC)I'll be capping Rose later in the week. I'll let you know when I I've done and where they are living.
I'm not 100% on this ep, thought I did enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-04 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-04 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 03:14 pm (UTC)If I had a brain, I'd be writing up comments and stuff on individual episodes. No brain here. But plans to acquire one and begin writing up my reactions imminently :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 07:14 pm (UTC)Not sold on this one
Date: 2005-04-06 11:54 am (UTC)Nice that the special effects were okay, but that's so much easier now the software's affordable and accessible. Personally, I wouldn't expect anything less, especially on prime time television, and in one of BBC's sure-fire money-spinners. Unfortunately, we were kind of let down on that front by the silly blue face paint aliens.
I expect Dr Who to be a bit sinister, along with surreal, and I'm not getting that. I'm not sure they know who their target audience is, and that's not helping. The only bit of the show I liked was when the last human exploded, which was about 35 minutes too late, IMHO. Sorry!
I'd just like to say that I really am a Doctor Who fan, but obviously more old school than some. I can put up with any amount of bad set design if the storyline's there. I'm getting more and more disappointed with the whole thing.
I will be watching next Saturday's though, as it was written by Mark Gatkiss. Still willing to be pleasantly surprised, but if this Saturday's no good, then they've lost me.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-21 04:28 pm (UTC)Also, if the Doctor fiddled with Rose's mobile, why couldn't her mother ring her sometime before episode 4? Or indeed, once the Doctor realised Rose had been away 12 months, why didn't he just get her back in the tardis and take her back 12 months minus 1 day?
On the other hand, I did like the Doctor's concern for Rose, at least at times. And he and Jade flirting was nicely understated. I got the impression that if Rose had said something about his home he'd have got annoyed, but Jade could get away with it.
I was wondering if the Gallifrey being gone thing was new. I was convinced that tree-girl's name was Jade though. How can you tell it was Jabe? I was so excited that I'd remembered the name of one of the characters (apart from Cassandra, who was annoying, but in a good way).
no subject
Date: 2005-04-23 03:22 pm (UTC)That's one of the things that a lot of other people have picked up on - both the Galaxy Quest reminder and the Doctor's slowness at getting through the giant whirly blades. There seems to be an opinion developing that the Galaxy Quest thing was deliberate :-)
Except that then he wouldn't have saved the day in the last second, which frankly isn't a good enough reason for me.
Why put the reset button behind the big whirly fans in the first place? I like this episode for the character stuff and the comments on present-day Earth - the logic leaves a bit to be desired.
Or indeed, once the Doctor realised Rose had been away 12 months, why didn't he just get her back in the tardis and take her back 12 months minus 1 day?
There's no guarantee that he could have - the TARDIS is notorious for getting times and destinations a little (or a lot) wrong. Plus it would have changed time-lines and, even though the interferance with history that other episodes contains makes my head ache, the Doctor has always been very firm about not changing your own time-line. Or something. The amount of fiddling with time that the Doctor will allow varies depending on the situation and the people involved, but he's always been incredibly 'dire warnings abound' when companions suggest changing their own history.
As for the mobile phone, within the episode logic he wouldn't have wanted Rose possibly calling her mother after he was planning to return her. After all, they weren't planning to be gone for twelve months. Or at least, that's my interpretation.
Time travel makes my head hurt :-)
How can you tell it was Jabe?
The BBC Official site has an episode guide complete with cast names. Not that I'm obssessive about details or anything...
apart from Cassandra, who was annoying, but in a good way
*g* Cassandra was one of the elements that really worked for me, both as a villian and as a comment on humanity's future and current obssessions. Just loved it :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 02:25 pm (UTC)I was actually thinking that, especially given that the end of the world was a Hitchhikers thing.
the TARDIS is notorious for getting times and destinations a little (or a lot) wrong
Ah, so gelting the wrong date and time in the second episode is a normal thing, not a one-off then?
within the episode logic he wouldn't have wanted Rose possibly calling her mother after he was planning to return her
I see your point.
The BBC Official site has an episode guide complete with cast names
Yes, I spotted that yesterday. And also that it's actually gelph, not gelf.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 03:57 pm (UTC)*g* Oh, boy, yes. The times when the TARDIS actually gets to the right place/time are very rare. Half the classic adventures happened because the Doctor had arrived in the wrong place. Sometimes the wrong planet. Ocassionally wrong by a few centuries.
The TARDIS has a few...issues :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 05:46 pm (UTC)You really must :-) Russel T Davies has brought the funny a bit better than many of the old adventures, but there were some great stories and some things, like the TARDIS's sense of direction, that you understand better when you've seen the older episodes. RTD has done a great job of making the show accessible to new fans, but he's also put in lots of lovely stuff for the older fans to recognise and grin about, too. Such a considerate writer :-)