Doctor Who: the last four episodes
Jun. 11th, 2005 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenay*sigh* I didn't have time to review "Father's Day" before I left and then I was away for three weekend so I haven't been able to squee for a month. Thankfully the DVD recorder worked and recorded all of the episodes while I was away, so w00t! And I caught up with them over the last couple of days. It's kinda addictive to watch three episodes in three days...
Father's Day
I can't really say much beyond loving this. It was poignant, beautifully acted and sctipted, and managed to do a time paradox story that didn't make my head spin. The idea that this wonderful father that Rose had always believed in turning out to be a rather useless dreamer worked, particularly with what we know of Jackie. He turned out to be the hero that Rose wanted to believe in and that transition was perfectly done. It was fun to see characters like Mickie turn up twenty years younger, but the heart of the story was Rose, her father and the Doctor.
And I like the little bit of continuity with the old series when it came to Rose not touching her younger self. I think it was Mawdryn Undead that I remember that being mentioned and it shows that RTD and co. are paying attention to what was established in older episodes. Of course, that just made me more curious about what they've done to the Time Lords :-)
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
One word: scary.
I think that it was the subtlety here that worked. The child in a gas mask who could get anywhere and just kept asking for his Mummy was somehow more terrifying than the ugliest monster could have been. Maybe chilling is the right word for these episodes. Each time the child appeared, it sent shivers down my spine. For me, this was a scarier episode than The Unquiet Dead because there was such an inhumanity to the child.
I'm reluctantly admitting to liking Captain Jack. I'm not sure that he's entirely a good guy - um, executioners? blackmail? - but he's flamboyant, fun and smart. He's complimenting the TARDIS crew well. Hopefully he'll be around for a while, although having typed that he'll probably get written out in tonight's episode *g* Ambiguous characters are always fun to have around because you can never be sure of what they'll do. That's what made Turlough an interesting character in the original series - he was always looking out for himself first and wasn't afraid to occassionally work against the Doctor if he thought it would get him something.
There were some more shippery scenes between the Doctor and Rose and I still haven't got fed up with them. Aww. I loved the dancing, not noticing that they'd been teleported, and Captain Jack's reaction to them is always fun :-)
Boom Town
This was the episode where I expected Captain Jack to go the way of Adam and was pleasantly surprised when he didn't. It was a slightly soapy episode - a lot of the plot was devoted to the crumbling relationship between Mickey and Rose. It wasn't one of the best, but I still enjoyed it a lot and it was great to see the return of the female Slitheen. She almost had me convinced that she was out of options and I was quite ready to believe the Captain Jack had futzed up the TARDIS, but it all turned out the way it should. She was evil, Captain Jack wasn't, and the Doctor found a neat way to punish and rehabilitate her. I doubt very much that being raised by a different family will entirely reform her, but at least she won't be attempting to destroy the Earth any time soon.
Using the Rift from The Unquiet Dead to refuel the TARDS was an interesting idea, although I'm not sure how it ties in with the original series. OTOH, with the destruction of Gallifrey and the Time Lords it could mean that the Eye of Harmony is inaccessible and the TARDIS has to rely on other sources for its fuel. Doctor Who has never been a show renowned for its internal consistency when it comes to the science bits. Or the time-line. Or...uh...why doesn't this drive me crazy?
More Doctor/Rose stuff, and I still love it. This is officially my only het ship and I'm surprising myself by having no inclination to find fic. Huh.
Very short reviews because there were so many episodes to go back over *pout* And new DW in ten minutes :-) Plus Amazon sent me my rental of the first DVD so that I can go through making better screencaps.
Only bad thing about new DW tonight? There are only two episodes left. What will I do without my weekly Doctor Who fix? How will I make it through to next year for more? Ack!
Father's Day
I can't really say much beyond loving this. It was poignant, beautifully acted and sctipted, and managed to do a time paradox story that didn't make my head spin. The idea that this wonderful father that Rose had always believed in turning out to be a rather useless dreamer worked, particularly with what we know of Jackie. He turned out to be the hero that Rose wanted to believe in and that transition was perfectly done. It was fun to see characters like Mickie turn up twenty years younger, but the heart of the story was Rose, her father and the Doctor.
And I like the little bit of continuity with the old series when it came to Rose not touching her younger self. I think it was Mawdryn Undead that I remember that being mentioned and it shows that RTD and co. are paying attention to what was established in older episodes. Of course, that just made me more curious about what they've done to the Time Lords :-)
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
One word: scary.
I think that it was the subtlety here that worked. The child in a gas mask who could get anywhere and just kept asking for his Mummy was somehow more terrifying than the ugliest monster could have been. Maybe chilling is the right word for these episodes. Each time the child appeared, it sent shivers down my spine. For me, this was a scarier episode than The Unquiet Dead because there was such an inhumanity to the child.
I'm reluctantly admitting to liking Captain Jack. I'm not sure that he's entirely a good guy - um, executioners? blackmail? - but he's flamboyant, fun and smart. He's complimenting the TARDIS crew well. Hopefully he'll be around for a while, although having typed that he'll probably get written out in tonight's episode *g* Ambiguous characters are always fun to have around because you can never be sure of what they'll do. That's what made Turlough an interesting character in the original series - he was always looking out for himself first and wasn't afraid to occassionally work against the Doctor if he thought it would get him something.
There were some more shippery scenes between the Doctor and Rose and I still haven't got fed up with them. Aww. I loved the dancing, not noticing that they'd been teleported, and Captain Jack's reaction to them is always fun :-)
Boom Town
This was the episode where I expected Captain Jack to go the way of Adam and was pleasantly surprised when he didn't. It was a slightly soapy episode - a lot of the plot was devoted to the crumbling relationship between Mickey and Rose. It wasn't one of the best, but I still enjoyed it a lot and it was great to see the return of the female Slitheen. She almost had me convinced that she was out of options and I was quite ready to believe the Captain Jack had futzed up the TARDIS, but it all turned out the way it should. She was evil, Captain Jack wasn't, and the Doctor found a neat way to punish and rehabilitate her. I doubt very much that being raised by a different family will entirely reform her, but at least she won't be attempting to destroy the Earth any time soon.
Using the Rift from The Unquiet Dead to refuel the TARDS was an interesting idea, although I'm not sure how it ties in with the original series. OTOH, with the destruction of Gallifrey and the Time Lords it could mean that the Eye of Harmony is inaccessible and the TARDIS has to rely on other sources for its fuel. Doctor Who has never been a show renowned for its internal consistency when it comes to the science bits. Or the time-line. Or...uh...why doesn't this drive me crazy?
More Doctor/Rose stuff, and I still love it. This is officially my only het ship and I'm surprising myself by having no inclination to find fic. Huh.
Very short reviews because there were so many episodes to go back over *pout* And new DW in ten minutes :-) Plus Amazon sent me my rental of the first DVD so that I can go through making better screencaps.
Only bad thing about new DW tonight? There are only two episodes left. What will I do without my weekly Doctor Who fix? How will I make it through to next year for more? Ack!
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-11 08:40 pm (UTC)That's exactly how I feel. It's been a blast!
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Date: 2005-06-12 06:26 pm (UTC)