Posts Tagged ‘Dr who’

Dr.Who-Review-S1ep0 – The Christmas Invasion (60 minute special)

Posted: December 8, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Deck the halls with red aliens!

 

Season two of Dr.Who starts off with a slightly strange episode, that doesn’t hesitate to revisit a lot of the previous episode’s ideas and characters. For example, we get another (very welcome) return of one of my favorite guest stars from season one, Harriet Jones. This time, her role is that of the Prime Minister who is very proactive and smart. This is fantastic, finally we get a character that isn’t either related or with Rose, and isn’t the villain… until the end.

At the end of the episode, the writers decide to make Harriet attack the leaving alien ship, and killing thousands… I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this. She’s now hated by the Doctor, and is having a mental breakdown. This was unfortunate because I would have loved to see her in future episodes.

But anyway, this entire episode was fairly solid, however had a few missteps. The pacing was slightly off, the aliens weren’t too intimidating, and there was a sorry lack of the ACTUAL Doctor, which was unfortunate. Let me take this moment to say that I’m not sure on Tennant right now, I’m aware the fans adore him, so I’m sure he gets better. But as of right now, he is decent at best.

The alien threat was assessed, and the plot thickened very quickly, but still felt somewhat disjointed and slow in areas. Everything about this episode felt just slightly off… from the not-so-threatening alien, to the odd final battle involving swords… I was just not too sure about the entire episode in general.

However, I must say that Tennant does a good job delivering his lines, as he seems to have quite a bit of energy to his words, just like Eccleston did. Although the Doctor may be different, their personalities are still somewhat the same. Using slapstick humor to lighten a dark situation, and have some really badass moments.

But overall, it was a fairly unremarkable episode, it didn’t do anything totally wrong, but it did have a few glaring issues that speckled the entirety of it. I do hope this show gets back into shape quicker than season 1 did, because it does finally seem like the writers know how to utilize all the characters in the episode without going overboard. Let’s see what the first proper episode of season 2 brings, let’s go!

P.S- Seems that the catchphrase is here to stay! Fantastic!

 

Grade: B-

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Dr.Who-Review-S1ep12 – Badwolf

Posted: December 7, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Who let the Dogs out? Wait no… WOLFS!

 

WHAT?! WHEN?! HOW?! Guess who’s ACTUALLY back?!

Oh boy was this episode fun! Oh boy was this episode interesting. OH BOY was this episode intense! And holy CRAP was it original!  I think I just summed up what this episode did to my brain, and how downright inexplicably intense it was.  

                So the Doctor, Rose, and Jack all get beamed up into the future, however, we recognize this place. It’s the satellite they visited in the previous episode “The long Game” and I’m ecstatic that, that title finally makes sense! It was all the Daleks, they are back to exterminate everything!

Now, I can obviously say that “how did they all survive?” or… “WHAT?!” But for the time being I’m willing to believe they will all explain this in the finale, and if they don’t I’ll have to change this grade! Because so far, this was an absurdly enjoyable episode. We get goofy humor that never goes all out bonkers (thankfully), pop culture references, and some cool ideas that played very well!

I remember writing my review for “The long Game” and mentioning that I’m not sure what will happen to the earth now that the Doctor destroyed the Satellite…. And low and behold, the earth is quite literally in ruins. It’s played as a puppet, taking any person at random and using them for their entertainment. This is a ballistic situation that I somehow was fully enveloped in. Seeing how the world was 100 years ago (when the satellite was still broadcasting news), made me think that this situation is somewhat plausible for a world filled with such mindless drones.

I also won’t forget at how many twists and turns this episode was able to pull off. Rose getting disintegrated was a brilliant touch as well. The Doctors reaction…. Bloody fantastic! I’m never endlessly intrigued by this earth that is 200,000 years in the future, and I’m eagerly anticipated the moment I’m done with this review so I can sit down and finish the season.

The Daleks are back, they have hundreds if not thousands of ships, and there are two thousands of them per ship. Judging at how difficult it was to kill one… this is going to be one tough and long ride. But that is all for the next episode, as for this one, we received some intriguing continuity. I knew, deep down, that the word “bad wolf” as mentioned in the previous episode had some bigger meaning… I just didn’t know it was THIS big!

This episode had blazing hot pacing, shooting through each act like a bullet, but never truly feeling as if it’s going too fast. Now I won’t claim that “Badwolfs” was a perfect episode, by no means. I still have lots of unanswered questions, and also, a few holes in the stories plot. However, it was very fun, and at the end of the day, that’s exactly what I like seeing from a show like this!

Dr.Who has proven to me that it can do fun, and it’s at its best when it can do fun! However, it can also do spooky and scary as in the second two parter, and it can do emotional like in “Fathers day”. Now it hasn’t mastered any of this so far, but it has proven to me that it can do it to varying extents. Lets hope the finale truly packs a wallop!

Grade: A-

Dr.Who-Review-S1ep11 – Boomtown

Posted: December 7, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Guess who’s back? Back again.

 

I suppose it’s almost logical that after a stellar two parter comes a somewhat mediocre episode revolving around aliens that are too stupid and silly to be taken seriously. At one point the alien has a conversation (while it’s in the bathroom) with one of the women it’s trying to kill. It’s supposed to be an emotionally resonant moment, but instead it’s some half-witted schlocky attempt at character development… but what exactly is the character here? Some decently acted plump women that’s supposed to be a farting alien? No thanks.

However, I will say that the chemistry between the three characters is better than ever, and I have to say that I adore Jack’s presence in the group. He’s witty, fun, and he’s a great fit. I was happy to see him back. Unfortunately, this chemistry only lasts for a short period of time because before we know it they are all being serious in the face of a surfboard-planning alien criminal.

The plan was silly, the story was silly, and the execution was silly. However, I will give credit where credit is due, and the dinner scene between the doctor and the alien was riveting. It was an exciting and well-acted scene that both delivered on the comedy aspect, and the emotionally one too, bringing up some half-decent points at least.

The moment a story takes place in London, present day, it automatically seems dull compared to the ones where they go on bonkers adventures. So, I must cut this episode SOME slack, at least it was all about farting bullshit.

                So yes, she lied to the Doctor, he believed her, and of course, she ended up betraying him. Apparently the TARDIS have a soul or something… and she looked into it, causing her to revert back to an egg. This really did confuse me because the only thing they had to base this on was a small line in the second episode of this show… so I guess it works?

I can’t say I was disappointed with this episode, but I can’t say I was excited by it either. It wasn’t some high-concept well-acted masterpiece, but it wasn’t as terribly bad as the first entry of farting aliens. Overall, a somewhat decent episode is what I watched tonight, now… onto the next one.

Grade: C+ 

Dr.Who-Review-S1ep8 – Father’s Day

Posted: December 7, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Fathers Day arrives with a blast

 

When this show focuses on something, it delivers its best episodes without a shred of a doubt. For the most part, this episode ditched the cliché and campy humor for a very human that was both emotionally powerful, and fascinating.

When Rose’s emotions overcome her, and she saves her Father from dying in the intended car crash, she literally screws up time, and these strange beasts (reapers) appear in London (and apparently the rest of the world) to quite literally kill everyone, to correct this malfunction. There were a few issues with this episode, firstly, why do these creatures not like “old” things? And it never quite felt like the end of the world.

But apart from these two things, this episode was mostly solid. We saw an emotional storyline involving Rose’s father, who was played brilliantly played by Shaun Dingwall. I will say right away that I loved her father’s personality, he was quirky and not in the least bit sardonic. Both of these traits are a pleasure to see, and he really did deviate from my expectations. We also found out how much of an absolute bitch Rose’s mother used to be, it may have been for a reason, but quite honestly, she did not gain any sympathy from me for the plain fact that her reason for her anger was not explained in full detail.

We also see the TARDIS stop functioning (for whatever reason) and we see a wedding get crashed. Everyone who attended were hiding in a church, and although this episode did not have some epic feel to it, it did have a personal one. I will easily admit that a few scenes in this episode were heartwarming and well-enough acted that I could overlook some of the clichés.

In the end, Rose’s father sacrifices himself for the sake of humanity. I was originally not enjoying this episode too much, it was slow paced for the first twenty or so minutes, however, it quickly began picking up to be one of the best ones of the show so far (if not the best). So I will freely applaud it’s deviation from the Dr.Who norm and hope that it’s not the only one that’s like this.

Although there were a few things that weren’t explained properly, the entirety of it was a solid forty minutes of emotional, and character developing goodness that I just had to re-watch. Rose, or Billie Piper, I should say. Has come a long way acting wise, she was much too stiff in the first few episodes, but now she has truly started to show her range as she conveyed true emotions through some of these scenes.

I am not sure if I like “Daleks” more than this episode, or if I enjoy this episode more than “Daleks”… all I do know is that it was an entertaining half hour of TV that I shall remember for the future seasons to come.

P.S- But really… what’sup with the TARDIS just randomly failing? Did I miss why?

 

Grade: B+

Dr.Who-Review-S1ep7 – The Long Game

Posted: December 6, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Fox news really advanced in 200,000 years…

 

In episode seven we see less character driven story, but an interesting setting that works for the most part. To my knowledge, this was a fully original episode, nothing was really bothered from previous doctor who’s or at least… nothing too important (correct me if I’m wrong). If you are wondering whether this episode was solid, in my opinion, I will definitely say yes. It was structurally sound, and some of the tech and ideas were cool.

Right off the bat I liked how the Doctor was somewhat wrong about where they landed, how the tech was ninety years behind. And why was this tech so behind? Because of corrupt news stations! I can’t help but feel that this episode was a small satire on how our world is being run now, how everyone doesn’t ask questions and just listens to the news. Which the Doctor pointed out (in a fantastic way).

In the end, they persevered after one of the workers began to disobey the news stations, and save them. Adding further satire to the already satirical situation, the head of the news station was some ugly fat bloated alien that expelled a lot of “hot air”… is this genius? Or am I just reading into things?

Where the episode faltered was in some of the storytelling aspects. The pacing was fine, but seemed to slow during the middle of the episode, following the insignificant third wheel of the Doctor and Rose. His blithering stupidity almost got himself and them killed, only to return back to present day with his strange brain-surgery-thing, and freak out his mother… I don’t know how I honestly felt about this story, all I know is that it was illogical. Especially for the Doctor to bring along some completely random stranger.

I can’t write this review without mentioning the elusive “floor 500”, where the “walls are made of gold”… This better be another satire, because if people are really stupid enough to believe that, then the media has their claws into society so much so, that after the Doctor killed the Alien-media leader, the world must have turned into complete chaos.

Also, Simon Pegg! He brought his great acting into Doctor Who, and it was a lot of fun to see him play the sarcastic lackey. It was obligatory to see Simon in at least ONE Doctor Who episode, and oh boy was I happy to see him here.

Overall, this episode wasn’t as intense and gripping as “Daleks” but it was more solid than the previous entries in the series, causing me to believe that this show can in fact be a weekly piece of solid entertainment rather than some rarely good show. Which is promising! Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I have become accustomed to the campiness of the show, but it seems to have significantly been dialed down, and this is nothing but good. The comedy and thrilling aspects of these episodes has been balanced very well, and I hope to see more episodes with this sort of structure.

P.S- So the Doctor allows anyone to really come with him? And what now? The mom knows her son implanted some messed up brain-chip thing that makes his brain visible with the snap of his fingers?

 

Grade: B

Dr.Who – Reviews – S1ep4&5 ‘Aliens of london’/’World war three’

Posted: December 5, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Today’s installment brings world war three and farting aliens, what a combination…

 

Ever since I began watching this show it has teetered on the edge of being too goofy and absurd, and too cliché and campy… the shows two parter takes it both ways. We see WWIII break out over London, and we also see a bunch of aliens farting like crazy and laughing. Was this a comedy? Or a tragedy? Was it both?

No, this was Dr.Who. The show that seemingly has no idea what demographic it is being pitched to. At one point, I saw humor that was more childish than what I see in the other TV-show I review “My little pony: Friendship is Magic”, and at another point, I saw a badly animated missile blow up a building.

Now I know this isn’t the first (and probably isn’t the last) time I’ve complained about this shows inability to lock itself in to a set demographic, but in this episode it is most prevalent. Now I’m not saying the show’s humor is bad by any means, when the show wants to be witty, it is witty without a doubt. However, these fart-jokes and gags are almost cringe-worthy in the sense that they just don’t fit, and aren’t funny.

The first episode of this two-parter had me fairly uninterested, after the solid two episodes before this, full of diverse environments and characters, we return back to London. This was a somewhat bland location, and generally stayed indoors (probably due to the budget). And then low and behold, we see our first alien, which looks like a fat green baby with bug-eyes… but this isn’t before we see a pig-man-thing running through the halls only to be gunned down by a soldier.

All of this had me laughing, and I’m not sure if it was due to the shows humor, or due to how badly it was executed. Needless to say, the first episode was thoroughly underwhelming, neglecting to show true progression until the second part, where things ramped up in a much more entertaining fashion.

The aliens take an unexplained interest in Rose, micky/ricky, and her mother, and the Doctor needs to pretty much save the day with their help. However, we actually get a guest star whom I enjoyed quite a bit, as she was actually a good actress with an entertaining array of dialogue.

My favorite sequence comes in at around the twenty minute mark of the second episode, where an alien is busting through a door (funny enough, they didn’t have trouble breaking down government doors), and Ricky and Roses mother (pardon, I simply do not know her name for the life of me!) were on the phone with the Doctor as Rose and Ms.Guest star lady were listing off the features of the aliens, I found myself thoroughly impressed by the intense situation that was laid out before me. In fact, I noticed this midway through and had to tell myself that it was Dr.Who, and I shouldn’t be so caught up in the action!

The Doctor figured out they are from some hard to pronounce planet and said that they need to have vinegar thrown at them… and then that alien exploded. What a stupid grin I had on my face during that scene!

After that, they fired a missile at themselves, Micky proved himself useful, and the aliens got blown up. The story of this episode was pretty hackneyed, it didn’t make much sense and was too silly for its own good.

In the end, I think this two parter was brought back from the boring mediocrity by a fast paced and interesting second half of the second episode, which swiftly exterminated the non-threatening threat. Then we had a slightly emotional sequence involving Rose and her mother, and in the end, they end up climbing back in the TARDIS (yay) and leaving to wherever they are going to next!

P.S – The news reported said that the aliens (disguised as the prime minister etc.) provided evidence of the threat to humanity… yet the Doctor pointed out they were lying about the threat. How exactly did they point it out then?

P.S #2 – I thought the whole “zipper” thing was both silly and charming, who DOESN’T want a zipper on their forehead? How the hell did the zipper even get there? Did they have to spend a few minutes embroidering it into the forehead once they somehow take out all the bodily fluids, and organs?

 

Grade:

Part 1: C

Part 2: B-

Overall: C+ 

Dr.Who-Reviews-S1ep3 – The Unquiet Dead

Posted: December 4, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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WHAT THE DICKENS?!

We get Dickens! Man, did I laugh till my gut hurt at almost anything he said. If the show plans to make a lot of these sorts of… cameos? Appearances? Of dead “famous people” then I’m all for it! Seeing him was a refreshing blast in the past, and being a fan of his work, the references they put in were a lot of fun. Particularly the Doctor telling Dickens how he’s a massive fan of all his novels, great stuff!

However, I wish I could say the same for the rest of the episode. For the most part, it was inconsistent, full of highs and lows that I couldn’t really grasp. This wasn’t a scary episode, yet it tried to be? Right? It TRIED to be scary? If not, then I don’t understand the point, if so, it failed. This show seems to be both for adults and for kids, but instead of balancing itself on a tightrope. It sometimes slips and falls into complete goofiness territory, or goes overboard with the shocking more adult oriented humor. It’s not like subtle hints or anything either, anyone above the age of eight could guess what is happening, and it’s not for children.

However… I digress. Although the two supporting characters (apart from Dickens) were mediocre actors at best, they still did what they were there to do. To provide the story of… no not ghosts (thankfully) but alien creatures that were thrown out of their bodies after the “time war”. Now, that is most definitely the war we heard the Doctor refer to in the season premier, so perhaps we will soon hear more about such an occurrence?

I do hope so, because that little bit seemed to be more interesting than the actual story itself, which surrounded these aliens inhabiting deceased bodies for a short while just to randomly walk about and scare the living crap out of people. Why? WE. DON’T. KNOW. They randomly just do that, even when they know they can’t inhabit a body for more than an hour.

I generally have no problem with the show holding this “mystery of the week” platform to set up for a little bit of exposition and a whole lot of cool settings. Because honestly, I really do enjoy the areas where they are going to (so far). If they know how to diversify and not keep things boring, then I could totally see myself being sucked into the show through a setting alone.

Anyway, there wasn’t much substance in this episode, we had a decent storyline that treaded on all the cliché markings, had a few twists and turns, and some cheesy effects. That seems to be good enough for Doctor Who, and although it’s nothing remarkable, it’s good enough for me.

Grade: B-

Dr.Who-Review- S1ep1

Posted: December 4, 2013 in Dr.Who-Reviews
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Let me just start off by saying that I have not seen the previous incarnations of the “Doctor Who” series, in fact, I haven’t heard much about it apart from the rabid fans and the crazy “blue box” that can be there one moment, and gone the next.

I will say this, this is the first episode I have ever seen, and I can already tell that this is inherently “Dr. Who”, no show that I’ve ever even heard of can get away with what this show did in this episode, and somehow receive some very good reviews. Now I know this show may get better (and I really hope it does), because right now, it appeals to the lowest common denominator.

This show is not, the following: Pretty, well directed, mind-boggling, intense, scary, fantastically acted, or even all too interesting. However, this is what the show is: Cliché, absurd, silly, campy, and pretty stupid. But hey, this is my opinion after I saw a trashcan eat a human.

Now I’m not too sure why exactly the writers chose to make the first episode have the most laughably silly threat I’ve ever seen in a, what is supposed to be, intense and mystifying TV-show. I mean… something that controls the plastic, too… take over the world? Out of all the ways this could have been done, let us rig slow-walking manikins with firearms and have them rampaging the streets.

Now wait, what am I doing? I’m reciting my thoughts after I first saw this, but upon second watch through it became abundantly clear that the show WANTED to do this. Its mission was to provide a healthy dollop of silliness. And I really hope I’m correct when I say that… because if not… then oh boy.

The laughably bad CGI and the not-so-intimidating monsters set the mood for a campy, cheesy, and corny TV-show that I think I gained some proper enjoyment out of, actually. Well… my enjoyment may have come from me laughing like a madman at all the silliness the show (hopefully intentionally) brings to the table. And I would be just a terribly cynical person if I didn’t enjoy a good amount of campiness.

Was this a riveting, exciting, thought-provoking, and engaging episode of TV? Of course not! This was absurdly silly, with the most intense moment occurring when Rose (apparently the new assistant of the Doctor?) knocked at the door of a stranger’s home.

Let me take a moment to talk about the characters. Rose, whom was established as the lead of the show in the beginning of the episode is… decent? She’s not interesting, deep, or too entertaining, but she does do her job to some extent (I guess). Her boyfriend? Yeah… I don’t even remember his name. Her mother, whom delivered some very cringe-worthy material is a two dimensional caricature. And finally, the Doctor, is a happy-go-lucky time traveling alien who is oddly charming in his own way. He’s clearly the most entertaining aspect of the show, making me giggle or laugh NOT at the shoddy CGI or mediocre acting, but at his well-delivered and way-to-happy-for-the-occasion lines.

There is not much to say plot wise, so I will say that I thought it was odd, the pacing was off-putting, and the badly animated alien was less intimidating than a wet cucumber. However, I have to say, I really did enjoy a few bits and pieces of this episode.

Whilst I’m alone, sitting on my couch, watching a tv-show, I very rarely laugh out loud. I will proudly say I cackled at this show more than once, and that alone provides a memorable and sort of fun experience, in a corky kind of way.

This is no masterpiece, hell, it’s not even high-class media… in fact, I’m not even too sure what it is. I do know one thing though, I’m eager to see on how this show improves, because despite all its glaring flaws, it’s an odd piece of entertaining ruckus.

P.S- So… I’m not too sure whether this show is rated PG-13… or… what’s up with that? Cause I’m pretty sure a father was brutally gunned down in front of his wife and children.

Grade: C