Doctor Who 3.3: Gridlock
Apr. 15th, 2007 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayYet another thoroughly enjoyable episode :-) And thankfully the football didn't interfere. Yay!
The first thing to note: suddenly, the motorways that I use every day don't look so bad! At least I only measure the traffic jams in hours rather than years ;-)
I genuinely enjoyed this episode. It was a fun episode, but had a little more of a meaning than last week's romp. I'm suspecting that the Face of Bo plot is going to be the clues to what's happening later in the season (yes, I'm still working at staying completely spoiler free this season).
I noted last week that the Doctor needed something to happen to force him to really see Martha, rather than only comparing her to Rose. That's what this episode did, I think, and I'm glad that they did that.
It was interesting that the Doctor needed to lie to Martha and pretend that Gallifrey still exists. Although on the surface he seems less focused on the destruction of the Time Lords than the Ninth Doctor, deep down I don't think he's healed much at all. The wounds are still raw and easily re-opened. He effectively used Martha as a means to pretend nothing had changed, ignore all of that for a while, and he realised it by the end of the episode but it's still an interesting reaction.
One of the most beautiful moments for me of the entire episode wasn't the hymn singing (although that was surprisingly moving) but those moments at the end when the Doctor tells Martha what happened and starts describing Gallifrey. The description of the planet and the quiet, reverent tone he used painted a picture that I've never seen before. He may have left and gone wandering to see what was out there, but he never stopped loving his home world.
It's an interesting thought that perhaps he left because he loved the planet, but couldn't live with the people inhabiting it. Certainly in the original series he never stayed long when they called him back but wouldn't actively work against them either. He even tried to save them from themselves a time or two.
As for Martha...this was the first time she really started to grasp the dangers of what she's doing. Rose's first encounter with the Doctor prevented the destruction of the world and her mother was very much involved with what happened. Martha's first adventure was at a distance from her family and it was such a public adventure that they would have known what had happened to her. There was never the sense that Martha could die in last week's episode so this was the first time that it really set in that Martha could die and her family wouldn't know where she was or what she was doing. I'm wondering how long it's going to be before she has to go home just to check on them.
The Doctor finally opening up to Martha about where he comes from and what happened seems to me to be a sign that he's accepting her and is going to be keeping her around for a while.
As to the main plot...I really enjoyed it. The first couple of minutes were a little awkward, but it picked up as soon as Martha was kidnapped and didn't let up. I loved the detail in the different cars: you really had a sense that people had lived in them for a long time. The cheerful hopefulness of everyone on the motorway, despite the apparent hopelessness of their situation, was quite a contrast to the usual dystopian future in sci-fi. They hadn't lost their sense of community and that was what kept them going.
I did wonder whether Brannigan's comment about friends-lists was a poke at social networks like LJ :-)
The cat make-up was as superb as last year. Ardal O'Hanlon's voice is impossible to disguise, but I quickly forgot who was under the make-up and just really enjoyed Brannigan. Novice Haim, though, was the cat star. She had changed a lot from the character we saw in New Earth, but this was unmistakably the older version of that character as well.
I loved the idea of the only people who could be saved being the under city residents. It ties in beautifully with some of the ideas in last year's episode.
In last week's episode, the Doctor was rather manic and eager to show off to Martha, while at the same time wishing for Rose as soon as trouble starts. It was something that David Tennant was able show very well - manic is definitely not an emotion that he has trouble with ;-) In this week's episode, the Doctor was more troubled and there were some beautiful, sad moments. DT did an excellent job with those, too. His ability to go from manic, energetic to tired and sad is a big part of what makes his Doctor so interesting to watch.
As for Freema, she's doing a lovely job with Martha and she's gradually being able to give her shades and subtleties. I'm enjoying watching Martha a lot and I can't wait to see where she takes the character.
In all, I loved this episode and I can't see anything to niggle about :-) I haven't spotted this season's Bad Wolf, which means that it's slightly better disguised than Torchwood last season (yay!) and I have no idea where the season is going. I'm actually really pleased about that because I felt that Torchwood was too heavily signposted last year. Yes, we all knew it was going in that direction to set up the new show, but I felt that Bad Wolf was a much more interesting season arc and really gave me some surprises at the end. The only thing that I can grasp so far is that there is something out there for the Doctor, something related to the Time Lords. The comment in Smith and Jones about not having a brother any more ties in with that and I'm thinking that this season's theme could be the fate of the Time Lords. But I'm quite happy to wait and see because I like the tension and excitement of not knowing :-)
Is it next Saturday yet?
The first thing to note: suddenly, the motorways that I use every day don't look so bad! At least I only measure the traffic jams in hours rather than years ;-)
I genuinely enjoyed this episode. It was a fun episode, but had a little more of a meaning than last week's romp. I'm suspecting that the Face of Bo plot is going to be the clues to what's happening later in the season (yes, I'm still working at staying completely spoiler free this season).
I noted last week that the Doctor needed something to happen to force him to really see Martha, rather than only comparing her to Rose. That's what this episode did, I think, and I'm glad that they did that.
It was interesting that the Doctor needed to lie to Martha and pretend that Gallifrey still exists. Although on the surface he seems less focused on the destruction of the Time Lords than the Ninth Doctor, deep down I don't think he's healed much at all. The wounds are still raw and easily re-opened. He effectively used Martha as a means to pretend nothing had changed, ignore all of that for a while, and he realised it by the end of the episode but it's still an interesting reaction.
One of the most beautiful moments for me of the entire episode wasn't the hymn singing (although that was surprisingly moving) but those moments at the end when the Doctor tells Martha what happened and starts describing Gallifrey. The description of the planet and the quiet, reverent tone he used painted a picture that I've never seen before. He may have left and gone wandering to see what was out there, but he never stopped loving his home world.
It's an interesting thought that perhaps he left because he loved the planet, but couldn't live with the people inhabiting it. Certainly in the original series he never stayed long when they called him back but wouldn't actively work against them either. He even tried to save them from themselves a time or two.
As for Martha...this was the first time she really started to grasp the dangers of what she's doing. Rose's first encounter with the Doctor prevented the destruction of the world and her mother was very much involved with what happened. Martha's first adventure was at a distance from her family and it was such a public adventure that they would have known what had happened to her. There was never the sense that Martha could die in last week's episode so this was the first time that it really set in that Martha could die and her family wouldn't know where she was or what she was doing. I'm wondering how long it's going to be before she has to go home just to check on them.
The Doctor finally opening up to Martha about where he comes from and what happened seems to me to be a sign that he's accepting her and is going to be keeping her around for a while.
As to the main plot...I really enjoyed it. The first couple of minutes were a little awkward, but it picked up as soon as Martha was kidnapped and didn't let up. I loved the detail in the different cars: you really had a sense that people had lived in them for a long time. The cheerful hopefulness of everyone on the motorway, despite the apparent hopelessness of their situation, was quite a contrast to the usual dystopian future in sci-fi. They hadn't lost their sense of community and that was what kept them going.
I did wonder whether Brannigan's comment about friends-lists was a poke at social networks like LJ :-)
The cat make-up was as superb as last year. Ardal O'Hanlon's voice is impossible to disguise, but I quickly forgot who was under the make-up and just really enjoyed Brannigan. Novice Haim, though, was the cat star. She had changed a lot from the character we saw in New Earth, but this was unmistakably the older version of that character as well.
I loved the idea of the only people who could be saved being the under city residents. It ties in beautifully with some of the ideas in last year's episode.
In last week's episode, the Doctor was rather manic and eager to show off to Martha, while at the same time wishing for Rose as soon as trouble starts. It was something that David Tennant was able show very well - manic is definitely not an emotion that he has trouble with ;-) In this week's episode, the Doctor was more troubled and there were some beautiful, sad moments. DT did an excellent job with those, too. His ability to go from manic, energetic to tired and sad is a big part of what makes his Doctor so interesting to watch.
As for Freema, she's doing a lovely job with Martha and she's gradually being able to give her shades and subtleties. I'm enjoying watching Martha a lot and I can't wait to see where she takes the character.
In all, I loved this episode and I can't see anything to niggle about :-) I haven't spotted this season's Bad Wolf, which means that it's slightly better disguised than Torchwood last season (yay!) and I have no idea where the season is going. I'm actually really pleased about that because I felt that Torchwood was too heavily signposted last year. Yes, we all knew it was going in that direction to set up the new show, but I felt that Bad Wolf was a much more interesting season arc and really gave me some surprises at the end. The only thing that I can grasp so far is that there is something out there for the Doctor, something related to the Time Lords. The comment in Smith and Jones about not having a brother any more ties in with that and I'm thinking that this season's theme could be the fate of the Time Lords. But I'm quite happy to wait and see because I like the tension and excitement of not knowing :-)
Is it next Saturday yet?
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 11:22 pm (UTC)Yes.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 08:21 am (UTC)