Day Of The Doctor!
I just finished watching the concluding chapter of a pretty darn fun Doctor Who two-parter and felt like quickly reminding the world at large why this is a show worth watching (other than nostalgia). Even though David Tennant and Billie Piper overact and chew the scenery like a pair of starving maniacs in this particular epic, their performances are highly entertaining taken in the context of the Doctor’s madcap approach to life, love and the universe. Moreover, it is exactly because of their outrageous glee throughout their space- and time-hopping that the quiet scenes where they are faced with potentially losing one another become so distinctly poignant. These scenes are immeasurably helped by the musical score, which trickles down from its bombastic barrage of sound and fury during the climactic moments to a subtle, contemplative, mournful violin piece when appropriate, without any jarring shifts at all.
In this particular tale, the Doctor and Rose become trapped on a small planet that could not possibly be where it is (on the event horizon of a black hole), harbouring a secret that could threaten the universe entire if uncovered. Naturally, the select group of humans settled here (working for Torchwood, this season’s returning motif à la last year’s “Bad Wolf”—watch for the spin-off soon, fandom!) are unwittingly close to freeing none other than the Beast (not Kelsey Grammer) from the pit he’s been chained in “since before time itself”. It’s a high-octane merger of sci-fi and dark fantasy, with some terrific special effects, smattered profusely with the Doctor’s musings about the nature of humanity and why he loves us all. I’m not kidding :p
The various characters inhabiting the so-called “impossible planet” may be a bunch of ciphers and caricatures, but they provide both the Doctor and Rose ample fodder to realise what they mean to one another, even if the words “I love you” are never uttered once. They come close several times and their grief is palpable when they think they (will) have lost the other, but each deals with said grief in their own way. The Doctor, after having lost so many, chooses for quiet acceptance of whatever fate awaits him, while Rose flips out, keeping her eye on the prize in the end though and saving the cosmos from damnation. I don’t know how they manage to make what technically is a stock, pedestrian plot so compelling, but they do, they really do.
Of course, I must admit that back in the day I found Buffy the Vampire Slayer a thrilling show, the first several seasons at least, and looking back on it I mainly get a bad taste in my mouth, so perhaps this current series of Doctor Who is destined to become just as reviled by me down the road. Right now though, I genuinely look forward to Saturday nights for a new adventure, anticipating the thrill of seeing a classic villain updated for the new millennium (bring back the Master, dammit!) or finding out in what period of history the Tardis has landed this time around. That’s one of the most appealing aspects of the Doctor Who series: virtually anything is possible, and any genre can be explored, giving it a leg up on most shows, which are usually stuck in the genre they started out with. In recent memory only Farscape has given me the same kind of unexpected thrills coupled with oddball yet strong acting as Doctor Who has.
Which makes me want to start rewatching Farscape again so very badly, but I shall have to wait until the love of my life makes her glorious return so we can watch the series together. And we’ve got Battlestar Galactica to watch as well, sheesh, lots of sci-fi awaiting us, we’ll have to cleanse the palate with some comedy, some medical drama, some spooky murder mysteries and some romantic movies as well then. Mmm, July, I cannot wait for thee!
And with that, I take my leave for the night, still not having fulfilled the promise of an X3 review. Don’t I suck? :)
In this particular tale, the Doctor and Rose become trapped on a small planet that could not possibly be where it is (on the event horizon of a black hole), harbouring a secret that could threaten the universe entire if uncovered. Naturally, the select group of humans settled here (working for Torchwood, this season’s returning motif à la last year’s “Bad Wolf”—watch for the spin-off soon, fandom!) are unwittingly close to freeing none other than the Beast (not Kelsey Grammer) from the pit he’s been chained in “since before time itself”. It’s a high-octane merger of sci-fi and dark fantasy, with some terrific special effects, smattered profusely with the Doctor’s musings about the nature of humanity and why he loves us all. I’m not kidding :p
The various characters inhabiting the so-called “impossible planet” may be a bunch of ciphers and caricatures, but they provide both the Doctor and Rose ample fodder to realise what they mean to one another, even if the words “I love you” are never uttered once. They come close several times and their grief is palpable when they think they (will) have lost the other, but each deals with said grief in their own way. The Doctor, after having lost so many, chooses for quiet acceptance of whatever fate awaits him, while Rose flips out, keeping her eye on the prize in the end though and saving the cosmos from damnation. I don’t know how they manage to make what technically is a stock, pedestrian plot so compelling, but they do, they really do.
Of course, I must admit that back in the day I found Buffy the Vampire Slayer a thrilling show, the first several seasons at least, and looking back on it I mainly get a bad taste in my mouth, so perhaps this current series of Doctor Who is destined to become just as reviled by me down the road. Right now though, I genuinely look forward to Saturday nights for a new adventure, anticipating the thrill of seeing a classic villain updated for the new millennium (bring back the Master, dammit!) or finding out in what period of history the Tardis has landed this time around. That’s one of the most appealing aspects of the Doctor Who series: virtually anything is possible, and any genre can be explored, giving it a leg up on most shows, which are usually stuck in the genre they started out with. In recent memory only Farscape has given me the same kind of unexpected thrills coupled with oddball yet strong acting as Doctor Who has.
Which makes me want to start rewatching Farscape again so very badly, but I shall have to wait until the love of my life makes her glorious return so we can watch the series together. And we’ve got Battlestar Galactica to watch as well, sheesh, lots of sci-fi awaiting us, we’ll have to cleanse the palate with some comedy, some medical drama, some spooky murder mysteries and some romantic movies as well then. Mmm, July, I cannot wait for thee!
And with that, I take my leave for the night, still not having fulfilled the promise of an X3 review. Don’t I suck? :)
posted by Peter at 9:48 PM
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