Unofficial tv series review thread 2
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:16 pm
The original thread was last visited in 2010 so I thought posting in that might be pushing this board's lenient attitude to necromancy and other satanic practices.
So I am just posting to post a completely unnecessary opinion about the two most recent Dr Who specials, because I guess I think about Dr Who more than anyone really should if they aren't paid for it (but much less than many others who still aren't paid for it).
I am going to include few to no spoilers, so the reviews will be mercifully brief.
So first of all the 50th Anniversary special episode Day of the Doctor:
Was really very good, there is a nonsense subplot with a 'classic monster', which was nevertheless done pretty well, but the main action is on a reunion of three versions of the Doctor trying to save the world and make peace with him/themselves/self. Two of them are played by Matt Smith and David Tennant and one is not played by Christopher Ecclestone but is played by the legendary John Hurt, which is okay by me. The interaction between these three is magnificent and the whole thing has a great deal of human drama, humour and a triumphant finish that celebrates the 50 year legacy of the show while lighting a bright path for its future. Nice work all around!
The Time of the Doctor, the Christmas special and last appearance of Matt Smith, on the other hand, I am not so happy with. The word that springs to mind is 'incoherent'. Basically the Doctor has to protect a bunch of people from all the monsters in the universe on a planet where he is destined to die. The situation should be an epic, inescapable tragedy, but unfortunately there are a dozen ways it could be resolved without bloodshed and nobody really acts in a way that makes any sense. That doesn't bother me so much as the fact that this episode wraps up all the long plots from Matt Smith's run as the Doctor, and it does a really rushed and unsatisfying job of it. I won't go into detail, but 'Silence Will Fall' was the catchphrase for the Dark Plots throughout the Smith years, and here it is explained and finished in what I found to be a really dull way. There were huge, epic, inspired, creepy, chilling, awesome ideas all tied up into this, and they were just tidied up back in their box and put away in a corner somewhere to gather dust. Matt Smith does put in a good performance, but for me it was blunted by the fact that the whole situation was so contrived, there didn't seem to be a need for him or any of the other characters to do anything they did. It did its job and ended the Matt Smith years, but I think he deserved a better ending.
But in any case;
The Doctor is Dead, long live the Doctor!
So I am just posting to post a completely unnecessary opinion about the two most recent Dr Who specials, because I guess I think about Dr Who more than anyone really should if they aren't paid for it (but much less than many others who still aren't paid for it).
I am going to include few to no spoilers, so the reviews will be mercifully brief.
So first of all the 50th Anniversary special episode Day of the Doctor:
Was really very good, there is a nonsense subplot with a 'classic monster', which was nevertheless done pretty well, but the main action is on a reunion of three versions of the Doctor trying to save the world and make peace with him/themselves/self. Two of them are played by Matt Smith and David Tennant and one is not played by Christopher Ecclestone but is played by the legendary John Hurt, which is okay by me. The interaction between these three is magnificent and the whole thing has a great deal of human drama, humour and a triumphant finish that celebrates the 50 year legacy of the show while lighting a bright path for its future. Nice work all around!
The Time of the Doctor, the Christmas special and last appearance of Matt Smith, on the other hand, I am not so happy with. The word that springs to mind is 'incoherent'. Basically the Doctor has to protect a bunch of people from all the monsters in the universe on a planet where he is destined to die. The situation should be an epic, inescapable tragedy, but unfortunately there are a dozen ways it could be resolved without bloodshed and nobody really acts in a way that makes any sense. That doesn't bother me so much as the fact that this episode wraps up all the long plots from Matt Smith's run as the Doctor, and it does a really rushed and unsatisfying job of it. I won't go into detail, but 'Silence Will Fall' was the catchphrase for the Dark Plots throughout the Smith years, and here it is explained and finished in what I found to be a really dull way. There were huge, epic, inspired, creepy, chilling, awesome ideas all tied up into this, and they were just tidied up back in their box and put away in a corner somewhere to gather dust. Matt Smith does put in a good performance, but for me it was blunted by the fact that the whole situation was so contrived, there didn't seem to be a need for him or any of the other characters to do anything they did. It did its job and ended the Matt Smith years, but I think he deserved a better ending.
But in any case;
The Doctor is Dead, long live the Doctor!