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Showing posts with label Steven Moffat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Moffat. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
A Town Called Mercy
A Town Called Mercy
Teasers
- There's one more - the Doctor!
- The man who fell from the stars.
- I see KEEP OUT signs as suggestions more than orders...
- You left your phone charger in Henry VIII's en suite.
- Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in.
- Is you an alien?
- The could build a spaceship out of tupperware and moths.
- A good point, Susan!
- Violence doesn't end violence.
- We carry out prisons with us.
Laters.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Sherlock - Series 2 - A Scandal In Belgravia
Hi Guys
And a Happy New Year to you!
We've been lucky to see the first episode of the new Sherlock series, A Scandal in Belgravia, but unfortunately we've been sworn to secrecy on a lot of the juicy spoilers therewithin, including the appearance of something very, very iconic! So, sorry, no list of quotes today, but for the review, please go to Outpost Skaro, and you can see what we think!
All the best for 2012
Ed
And a Happy New Year to you!
We've been lucky to see the first episode of the new Sherlock series, A Scandal in Belgravia, but unfortunately we've been sworn to secrecy on a lot of the juicy spoilers therewithin, including the appearance of something very, very iconic! So, sorry, no list of quotes today, but for the review, please go to Outpost Skaro, and you can see what we think!
All the best for 2012
Ed
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Spoilers From - The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe
Hi Guys
Here's a bunch of hints and quotes from the upcoming Christmas Special...
- Your planet will be destroyed. Nothing can save you now.
- I can't see! I'm blind!
- I got dressed in a hurry.
- It's the moon's fault.
- A lot of things get in my way! It's hardly my fault!
- Suddenly the last 900 years of time travel feel that bit less secure.
- Make a wish...
- The backdoor is still, broadly speaking, operational.
- That's the cooker, probably, and these are taps. Hot, cold and lemonade. I know!
- Beware of panthers.
- Sciencey wiencey
- Zen wall of tranquility.
- THE MAGNA CARTA!
- Who needs beds when you've got - HAMMOCKS! I KNOW!
- That man is quite ridiculous.
- It's not a police box... it's my wardrobe.
- FAIRY LAND? Grow up, Lily. Fairyland looks completely different.
- Major and Minor...
- There are sentences I should really just keep away from.
- Please tell me we can tell the difference between wool and sidearms?
- The good thing is, I look great in a hat!
- Mummy? Where's my mummy?
- Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it's a plan.
- Humany wumansy.
- Well, I'm not going to hug first!
The actual review for the episode is available here. But it's for forum members only, so please join!
Enjoy! And Happy Christmas!
Best
Ed
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Did He Just Eat Jim The Fish?
Hello faithful readers,
This week, I had a jolly conversation with Derek and Andy from Outpost Skaro about not only next week's Closing Time but also the season finale The Wedding of River Song. In a bold move, however, we've introduced a new feature - Five Rounds Rapid - where I am thrown five questions submitted by Skaro users about Closing Time and our knowledge (or lack of) things to come! So we have five very specifically answered spoilers just waiting for y'all to hear!
The Podcast is available here - Did He Just Eat Jim The Fish? and also, shinily, on iTunes. Like everything else we provide, it's free!
So check on the iTunes link here or download or just listen to the podcast here which will discuss brand new spoilers, questions from yourselves and also expand on the teasers here. All we ask is that you let us know what you think! It's all about your opinion, not ours!
Happy Times and Places
Ed
SPOILERS!
This week, I had a jolly conversation with Derek and Andy from Outpost Skaro about not only next week's Closing Time but also the season finale The Wedding of River Song. In a bold move, however, we've introduced a new feature - Five Rounds Rapid - where I am thrown five questions submitted by Skaro users about Closing Time and our knowledge (or lack of) things to come! So we have five very specifically answered spoilers just waiting for y'all to hear!
The Podcast is available here - Did He Just Eat Jim The Fish? and also, shinily, on iTunes. Like everything else we provide, it's free!
So check on the iTunes link here or download or just listen to the podcast here which will discuss brand new spoilers, questions from yourselves and also expand on the teasers here. All we ask is that you let us know what you think! It's all about your opinion, not ours!
Happy Times and Places
Ed
SPOILERS!
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Outpost Skaro Podcasts
Hello there, Faithful Readers!
So, I look forward to speaking to YOU tonight! Oh, what fun!
Happy Times and Places
Ed
Tonight we're recording a very special podcast - it's a podcast where we'll answer YOUR questions on the up and coming episode of Doctor Who - Closing Time. Anything you want to know about it, we'll answer candidly and honestly. So, wanna know who's in the Spacesuit? Wanna know what the Ponds do in this episode? Wanna know Amy's latest job? Anything at all, we'll answer.
Now, we only have a limited time, and the questions are flooding in, so get yours in early, make it interesting and we'll try to get around to it.
Also, do you want to take part in our podcast? Outpost Skaro likes to have guests occasionally join us for a chat, so if you would like to be the one, let us know. To be fair, you're very likely to be privvy to a VERY spoilery conversation, most of which won't be broadcast, so perhaps this is a good way to find out what the hell is going on here! Haha
This is how you submit your questions and apply to be a guest. You go to Outpost Skaro and Private Message either myself (Eddie) or Friendsofderek. We'll be taking part in the podcast - along with Andy - tonight, GMT 10pm! So hurry, get your questions, apply to join or whatever - if you don't want to register for Skaro (and why not? Everyone is welcome, we have a total amnesty on any ancient nasties!) - then email us at outpostskaro@gmail.com your request. As long as you provide a proper name, and not some crazy username/alias we'll try and answer your question and try and get you into the podcast. All you need is Skype and a set of headphones.
Happy Times and Places
Ed
Friday, 16 September 2011
Some Finale Teasers
Hello faithful readers! Am I annoying you yet? I know I'm annoying some people. Anyway, here are fourteen teasers for the finale, from both Closing Time and The Wedding of River Song. I know! Squee.
- I thought maybe he was a cowboy on his way to a gunfight.
- Silence will fall when the question is asked.
- We we always coming for you.
- It's a story - and this is where it begins.
- According to some accounts, it's the day the Doctor dies.
- Doctor Song, how clever you are.
- It's time.
- Tick tock, goes the clock, and what now shall we play...
- Hey, I'm the Doctor, I was here to help.
- He seemed so happy, but so sad at the same time.
- You never really escaped us, Melody Pond...
- Tick tock, and all too soon, your love will surely die
- Before I go, I'd like to know why I have to die?
- All those times I've heard those words, I never realised it was my silence...
Happy times and places
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
The God Complex - Teaser Quotes
Hello faithful readers - here are some juicy quotes, hints and paraphrases from The God Complex. Oooh, I wonder they mean? Exciting, isn't it?
- Resistance is... exhausting!
- Right, you're doing it in your pants!
- The Doctor, it seems, has a doctorate in medicine! And cheese.
- Have you just done it again?
- Amy Williams.
- I'm not a hero.
- Plonk themselves down on a planet and set themselves up as Gods.
- You don't want to do this. You want it to end.
- That's quite enough of that.
- Because you showed me a picture of it once and said "I'd love that..."
Happy times and places
Goodbye, The Ponds
Hello faithful readers,
When I was about six I remember watching an episode of Doctor Who called The Hand of Fear, and this was a pretty standard, although companion heavy episode about a malevolent alien who could control humans through the power of a special ring. In the end, it was a pretty easy fix for the Doctor, even though the whole of England was threatened with nuclear meltdown a couple of times and poor Sarah Jane was hypnotised and made to do a few pretty heinous things.
At the end of this episode though, my whole world turned upside down. Arbitrarily, and out of the blue, the Doctor made a decision on his companion, and, for one of the only times in the show's history, decided it was time for them to leave. Of course, he had a good reason (sort of), that he had been called to Gallifrey and that humans weren't allowed - but this really doesn't hold water, as before and since humans have been to Gallifrey, and it's never been mentioned since. Retro-fixing things, as us fans do, the new accepted "canon" is that the Doctor sort of knew what was in store for him on Gallifrey - a meeting with his best enemy - The Master - and that Sarah would not have been safe. With her own protests on how she had been treated recently still ringing in his ears, the Doctor sacrificed his relationship with his best friend and left her on Earth as he whizzed off, alone, in the TARDIS. The TARDIS appears in a suburban street, a normal road, and despatched Sarah Jane Smith, and her goodies, and the Doctor left.
More recently, the Doctor's need for a companion has seen him struggle with the dangerous he puts them in as opposed to the need to show off to someone. "Go home, Rose Tyler," he tells the love of his life, and he baulks against Donna and flatly refused to take Christina. In his knew regeneration he's been much more keen to show off again - his TARDIS has bulged more than ever before, whether it be Amy Pond, the Williams, River Song or even Canton III and he's not averse to going back looking for help from old friends.
But at what cost? The constant in his Eleventh Persona has been Amy Pond. Little Amelia, the girl who waited, sitting on a suitcase until she fell asleep in her garden, whisked away in her nighty the day before her wedding, and her whole life rewritten at least twice.And where do we start that as a mother Amy has had the most traumatic time of all companions - her whole self being a facsimile, her child stolen from her, her husband killed, more than once, wiped from her memory, and reinstated. All because of the Doctor, that raggedy man, and his need to show off.
During the encounter with Fenric, the seventh Doctor, Time's Champion, realised it was as dangerous to love him as it was to hate him - Fenric feared faith, feared the concept of unconditional love, and that love for the Doctor saw Ace, another companion who's life was so wrapped up in what and who the Doctor was it became a paradox of itself, actually having the ability to stop the Doctor saving everyone. Her very faith in him resolving the matter was the very thing stopping him.
Amy has that unconditional love for the Doctor. She has waited, more than once, for decades, for centuries for him. She knowns, without a doubt, he'll always come back. That he is a hero.
But at what cost? Is the Doctor being selfish? In Let's Kill Hitler he asks the TARDIS for an interface he can trust. It shows him Rose, Martha and Donna, all of whom the Doctor admits to having crushing guilt for - Rose, trapped with a half Doctor in another universe, Martha, her family tortured and enslaved, her own heart broken, now not a Doctor but a soldier and Donna, a shallow, mouthy wanderer when she is so, so much more. So the Doctor feels guilt for his past companions. But not for the Ponds?
The Ponds (Williams) time is coming. It surely must be. In The Girl Who Waited, Rory voices his concerns on how the Doctor changes people, how his seemingly charming and easy going nature gets people killed. Real people, in real situations. The fact Rory and Amy are still talking to the Doctor is a miracle. Death, rewritten histories, stolen children... and all for the TARDIS. "Offer a child a suitcase of sweets," the Doctor says... "Offer them the whole of Time and Space..." he then muses and the girl he's with, Rita, isn't daft - "Have you just done it again?" she asked.
The Ponds have been a great team for the Doctor. They have been patient, tolerant, brave and loyal. The Doctor, the hero, the man who always comes back, surely isn't that selfish? Surely the Ponds have been through enough? Perhaps for them to leave, it doesn't need alternate universes, temporal paradoxes or world destroying threats? Going with the themes of intimacy in series 6 - particularly 6b - perhaps all it needs for the Doctor and the Ponds to part company is for the Doctor to realise, like he did with Sarah, like he did with Christina, that, in the end, they're better without him?
The Doctor's middle name, he tells Amy, is Bad Penny - it gets some funny looks when he fills out forms - so he'll always turn up, so I don't think this is the end of the Ponds - indeed, now, with the Anniversary year approaching, it would be unrealistic to think we've seen the last of them - and, of course, Steven Moffat has been treating us with lots of loose ends being tied up, so the finale to Series 6 - including a Pond wedding again - would really suggest we haven't seen the end of them. But the Doctor, and the Ponds, in the TARDIS... those days aren't just numbered, but over.
I wonder who's next?
Happy Times and Places
Eddie
When I was about six I remember watching an episode of Doctor Who called The Hand of Fear, and this was a pretty standard, although companion heavy episode about a malevolent alien who could control humans through the power of a special ring. In the end, it was a pretty easy fix for the Doctor, even though the whole of England was threatened with nuclear meltdown a couple of times and poor Sarah Jane was hypnotised and made to do a few pretty heinous things.
At the end of this episode though, my whole world turned upside down. Arbitrarily, and out of the blue, the Doctor made a decision on his companion, and, for one of the only times in the show's history, decided it was time for them to leave. Of course, he had a good reason (sort of), that he had been called to Gallifrey and that humans weren't allowed - but this really doesn't hold water, as before and since humans have been to Gallifrey, and it's never been mentioned since. Retro-fixing things, as us fans do, the new accepted "canon" is that the Doctor sort of knew what was in store for him on Gallifrey - a meeting with his best enemy - The Master - and that Sarah would not have been safe. With her own protests on how she had been treated recently still ringing in his ears, the Doctor sacrificed his relationship with his best friend and left her on Earth as he whizzed off, alone, in the TARDIS. The TARDIS appears in a suburban street, a normal road, and despatched Sarah Jane Smith, and her goodies, and the Doctor left.
More recently, the Doctor's need for a companion has seen him struggle with the dangerous he puts them in as opposed to the need to show off to someone. "Go home, Rose Tyler," he tells the love of his life, and he baulks against Donna and flatly refused to take Christina. In his knew regeneration he's been much more keen to show off again - his TARDIS has bulged more than ever before, whether it be Amy Pond, the Williams, River Song or even Canton III and he's not averse to going back looking for help from old friends.
But at what cost? The constant in his Eleventh Persona has been Amy Pond. Little Amelia, the girl who waited, sitting on a suitcase until she fell asleep in her garden, whisked away in her nighty the day before her wedding, and her whole life rewritten at least twice.And where do we start that as a mother Amy has had the most traumatic time of all companions - her whole self being a facsimile, her child stolen from her, her husband killed, more than once, wiped from her memory, and reinstated. All because of the Doctor, that raggedy man, and his need to show off.
During the encounter with Fenric, the seventh Doctor, Time's Champion, realised it was as dangerous to love him as it was to hate him - Fenric feared faith, feared the concept of unconditional love, and that love for the Doctor saw Ace, another companion who's life was so wrapped up in what and who the Doctor was it became a paradox of itself, actually having the ability to stop the Doctor saving everyone. Her very faith in him resolving the matter was the very thing stopping him.
Amy has that unconditional love for the Doctor. She has waited, more than once, for decades, for centuries for him. She knowns, without a doubt, he'll always come back. That he is a hero.
But at what cost? Is the Doctor being selfish? In Let's Kill Hitler he asks the TARDIS for an interface he can trust. It shows him Rose, Martha and Donna, all of whom the Doctor admits to having crushing guilt for - Rose, trapped with a half Doctor in another universe, Martha, her family tortured and enslaved, her own heart broken, now not a Doctor but a soldier and Donna, a shallow, mouthy wanderer when she is so, so much more. So the Doctor feels guilt for his past companions. But not for the Ponds?
The Ponds (Williams) time is coming. It surely must be. In The Girl Who Waited, Rory voices his concerns on how the Doctor changes people, how his seemingly charming and easy going nature gets people killed. Real people, in real situations. The fact Rory and Amy are still talking to the Doctor is a miracle. Death, rewritten histories, stolen children... and all for the TARDIS. "Offer a child a suitcase of sweets," the Doctor says... "Offer them the whole of Time and Space..." he then muses and the girl he's with, Rita, isn't daft - "Have you just done it again?" she asked.
The Ponds have been a great team for the Doctor. They have been patient, tolerant, brave and loyal. The Doctor, the hero, the man who always comes back, surely isn't that selfish? Surely the Ponds have been through enough? Perhaps for them to leave, it doesn't need alternate universes, temporal paradoxes or world destroying threats? Going with the themes of intimacy in series 6 - particularly 6b - perhaps all it needs for the Doctor and the Ponds to part company is for the Doctor to realise, like he did with Sarah, like he did with Christina, that, in the end, they're better without him?
The Doctor's middle name, he tells Amy, is Bad Penny - it gets some funny looks when he fills out forms - so he'll always turn up, so I don't think this is the end of the Ponds - indeed, now, with the Anniversary year approaching, it would be unrealistic to think we've seen the last of them - and, of course, Steven Moffat has been treating us with lots of loose ends being tied up, so the finale to Series 6 - including a Pond wedding again - would really suggest we haven't seen the end of them. But the Doctor, and the Ponds, in the TARDIS... those days aren't just numbered, but over.
I wonder who's next?
Happy Times and Places
Eddie
Monday, 12 September 2011
The God Complex - Teasers
Hello there, faithful readers!
Here are some The God Complex teasers...
Here are some The God Complex teasers...
- The Doctor's room is number 11.. when he sees what's in it he says "Of course..."
- There are many old monsters, check the walls!
- Rory doesn't have a room.
- Amy's room number is number 7...
- Rory gets a present from the Doctor
- The Doctor repeats a line from Tooth and Claw
- He repeats a strategy from The Curse of Fenric
- Oh, trailer for next week - "I work in a shop now.."
- The Doctor really admires a cheese plant. And an apple.
- The Weeping Angels are not for who you think they're for.
Happy Times and Places
Monday, 5 September 2011
The Girl Who Waited - Spoilers
Hello there Faithful Readers!
Here's some spoilers from The Girl Who Waited.
Here's some spoilers from The Girl Who Waited.
- I take you to a paradise planet and you want to update Twitter?
- Time goes wibbly wobbly - I hate it when it does that!
- What's the answer to not get us killed?
- Ah. That'll be the small act of vandalism alarm.
- Cage dancing Amy? Oh my.
- Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Third time.
- Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?
- This isn't fair, you're turning me into you.
- Glasses are cool.
- I'm going to pull Time apart for you.
You'll enjoy this one, it's bloody brilliant - we review it HERE
Happy Times and Places
Ed
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Night Terrors! Teaser Spoilers
Hello there, faithful reader!
Here are some Night Terror Spoilers for you to mull over! Enjoy!
Ed
Here are some Night Terror Spoilers for you to mull over! Enjoy!
- Sontarans get a name check
- Rory contemplates always getting killed
- The Doctor, perhaps, gives a clue about the finale
- Just this once, everybody lives. Well just this third time, I suppose
- Vampires of Venice is referenced - second week on the trot
- The self referencing hits overdrive with The Seven Keys of Doomsday. I know!
- Do Daleks wear clothes? Or do they just all agree that the Emperor's are nice?
- From raggedy Doctor to raggedy Amy. Brush your hair woman!
- The psychic paper HURTS!
- Spot the re-used locations from, amongst other places, The End of Time Part One (finale), The End of Time Part Two (Rose sequence) and The Christmas Invasion
Not the best episode of the year so far, but probably not the worst either. Although, if I'm honest, there hasn't really been a BAD one, just some bad acts... Act III of Curse of the Black Spot, for instance. Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Twice that's been used now. The Moff must like Star Trek Voyager. Aahhh... so he's the one!
See you on Monday for some big Torchwood: Miracle Day revelations, including the Survivors Roll. And I mean, "roll"!
Happy Times and Places
Ed
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Sshh - Spoilers
The hunger for spoilers is greater than ever, it has to be said, and luckily I am in the Spoiler Business. Sort of. I think that I'm quite lucky to be able to see episodes of Dr Who and Torchwood before transmission, and when I see them, on the whole, I see them as "live", that is I don't know much about them before hand. As Chief Reviewer for Outpost Skaro it's only right, I feel, that I don't have any preconceptions of what's to come.
Take this weeks episode, for example, Night Terrors, by Mark Gatiss. Now, I'm a huge fan of Mark's in almost everything he does, and I absolutely think he deserves a place in the annuls of Whovian lore, not least of all for Nightshade, which is a stonking book and well worth digging out if you haven't read it already. In fact, I'm pretty sure the BBC Website was doing a free eBook version. Go get it. Now. I'll wait.
Anyway, my review of this episode prompted a couple of odd comments, so I thought I might as well address them. They seemed to think I didn't like the episode, which, in all fairness, isn't the case. As it is, though, I'm a little concerned by the lack of punch delivered by a writer of Gatiss's calibre - a huge talent such as his should be able to deliver a much more emphatic episode, and it seems he's been badly served by a lot of things in the past - perhaps it could be argued that Unquiet Dead was diluted by RTD's need for a less proactive Doctor, or that The Idiot's Lantern was let down by silly 50s haircuts and some really bad acting, or that Victory of the Daleks deserved two episodes, and that the final act was a bit limp and rushed, but definitely not his fault. But Mark has had four bites at this now, so we really are running out of excuses. Like Paul Cornell before him, I think he deserves a shot at adapting his own book, Nightshade, which would make a brilliant two parter and showcase his not inconsiderable talents brilliantly, but, unfortunately, Night Terrors is, as I said in my review, more filler than killer. And it's a shame. It clearly pastiches a number of horror movies - and we know from Mark's flawless series The History of Horror (which deserves a second outing to plug all the gaps for the films he had to miss out) that Mark knows his horror, but it also echoes one of the worst episodes since the series returned - Fear Her. There are many similarities to that Matthew Graham episode (and he himself was vindicated recently with the excellent Also People/Rebel Flesh) and Gatiss just a fine job at remoulding that premise in a much more palatable way. Perhaps director Richard Clark had a lot to do with this, because he set it at night, as opposed to day, and in a grubby council estate as opposed to some Wimpy Homes, but nonetheless it is a much better attempt - with a much less gringe-worthy ending - than Graham's offering. Of course, Matthew Graham didn't offer Fear Her, he offered a Dorian Grey homage which was horribly rewritten in a rush when it turned out there was something Stephen Fry couldn't do - write for Doctor Who - and ended up with that, but besides that, Mark has done a much better job. As a result, it's a watchable episode with a fine, fine heart, and everyone does a stonking job of pulling it off. But it's all a bit derivative, misses some key beats it could easily have covered and is a frustrating affair. Cries of "another stinker by Gatiss" are unfair in the extreme - it's anything but - but I really wish Steven Moffat would allow him to just adapt Nightshade. Alas, with Series 7 being the Anniversary season, I can't see that happening anytime soon, unless, of course, it becomes as self referential as Night Terrors threatens to be at points. There is a train of thought that the NA writers - themselves a little gang of superfans - are untouchable by critics and are defended in the forums tooth and nail by their satellite of groupies - and to an extent this is fair enough. For me though, only Paul Cornell has delivered as high a quality as his books, with Gatiss and Gareth Roberts missing the mark, sometimes spectacularly. Although, having said that, Closing Time is brilliant, if a little smug.
On to Torchwood now, and I must confess I've lost where we are in actual transmission. As a reviewer, I see things in a different order, and sometimes feel like River Song, hurriedly checking notes and diaries in case I inadvertently give away spoilers.
I think it's fair to say though, that this series of Torchwood isn't going to win the plaudits of Children of Earth, because, for one thing, it's just not as grim. Whether that's the affect US TV execs have on it, or the not inconsiderable telly talents of John Shiban and of course Jane Espenson, I don't know, but by Episode Ten we are very much in the land of "What about Series 5?" and the last episode absolutely sets up that with no problem. This series of Torchwood took its time getting going, I have to say, and if I was to criticise it I'd say it has two big problems - two many plot points and to many gear changes. Interesting characters like C Thomas Howell's Tracker, Ernie Hudson's Owen or the fleeting glimpse of Nana Visitor were disposed of pointlessly, others like John de Lancie are very unlikely - although not for certain - to appear in any recommissioned series. Bill Pullman, a revelation in earlier episodes, loses his way as Oswald Danes and despite everyone reminding us he's a Bad Man who did Bad Things and that everyone hates him, he is written with some sort of redemption which seems out of character. It takes too long, too, for Jack to get involved properly in the action, even though, in the end, it IS all about him, and it reminds me of those overly long seasons of 24 where just as we think we know what's happening to Jack Bauer and who the bad guys are, it all veers left and people are killed and it turns out we're wrong all along.
By Episode Ten, though, we have an established team - nonsense about Jack and Gwen, of course, is just that - Torchwood IS them, and those guys are needed - Jack particularly as he is such a part of Doctor Who, and will be appearing in the Anniversary Season, so by then we have everyone where we want them to be for the next series of Torchwood - and cleverly RTD has it set up so that even if Starz don't take it, the BBC can. "Are you staying here?" Jack asks Gwen... "Please say no," Rhys begs her, so, without too much fuss there's a degree of cliff hangery without the angst. It's interesting to see, though, what happens to the other characters in Miracle Day - others, like Danes, will probably not be returning, it's fair to say, but Kitzinger just might, if Starz pick it up, and could be a lot more important next time round. But of course, it's Rex and Esther, the Mulder and Scully of Series 4 who are the important newbies, and both are left critical and dying by the end of the episode, but with a very clear demarcation as to what happens to both by the last scene. It's nice too, that Doctor Who is referenced properly. We get Silurians, the Trickster and the Racnoss, all mentioned - two of whom make perfect sense, considering what The Blessing actually is.
So back to Who, and this "death in Silencio" stuff the Moff is using as one of this years arc, along with the whole Who Is River stuff. Now that that is mostly out of the way, we can concentrate on the Doctor knowing fine well that his death is a fixed point in time and space - and he'll absolutely be out to stop that. He makes an interesting comment at the end of Night Terrors, though, about the Flesh (incidentally, the Flesh first appeared in Silence in the Library - spot the reference!), although, to be fair, it may just be a slip of the tongue. If such a thing exists. By the end of Let's Kill Hitler he knows what's going on, so one would imagine he's working vociferously to stop that happening. Of course, there are no such thing as standalone episodes in an arc so wibbly wobbly as Series Six, but the next three are much more like this than you'd expect, a little like the beginning of Series 5, with individual episodes... but not. Even Episode 12 seems to have little to do with the finale, but, of course, that won't be the case, because we always get a big Two Parter.
Don't we?
Happy times and places
Ed
Take this weeks episode, for example, Night Terrors, by Mark Gatiss. Now, I'm a huge fan of Mark's in almost everything he does, and I absolutely think he deserves a place in the annuls of Whovian lore, not least of all for Nightshade, which is a stonking book and well worth digging out if you haven't read it already. In fact, I'm pretty sure the BBC Website was doing a free eBook version. Go get it. Now. I'll wait.
Anyway, my review of this episode prompted a couple of odd comments, so I thought I might as well address them. They seemed to think I didn't like the episode, which, in all fairness, isn't the case. As it is, though, I'm a little concerned by the lack of punch delivered by a writer of Gatiss's calibre - a huge talent such as his should be able to deliver a much more emphatic episode, and it seems he's been badly served by a lot of things in the past - perhaps it could be argued that Unquiet Dead was diluted by RTD's need for a less proactive Doctor, or that The Idiot's Lantern was let down by silly 50s haircuts and some really bad acting, or that Victory of the Daleks deserved two episodes, and that the final act was a bit limp and rushed, but definitely not his fault. But Mark has had four bites at this now, so we really are running out of excuses. Like Paul Cornell before him, I think he deserves a shot at adapting his own book, Nightshade, which would make a brilliant two parter and showcase his not inconsiderable talents brilliantly, but, unfortunately, Night Terrors is, as I said in my review, more filler than killer. And it's a shame. It clearly pastiches a number of horror movies - and we know from Mark's flawless series The History of Horror (which deserves a second outing to plug all the gaps for the films he had to miss out) that Mark knows his horror, but it also echoes one of the worst episodes since the series returned - Fear Her. There are many similarities to that Matthew Graham episode (and he himself was vindicated recently with the excellent Also People/Rebel Flesh) and Gatiss just a fine job at remoulding that premise in a much more palatable way. Perhaps director Richard Clark had a lot to do with this, because he set it at night, as opposed to day, and in a grubby council estate as opposed to some Wimpy Homes, but nonetheless it is a much better attempt - with a much less gringe-worthy ending - than Graham's offering. Of course, Matthew Graham didn't offer Fear Her, he offered a Dorian Grey homage which was horribly rewritten in a rush when it turned out there was something Stephen Fry couldn't do - write for Doctor Who - and ended up with that, but besides that, Mark has done a much better job. As a result, it's a watchable episode with a fine, fine heart, and everyone does a stonking job of pulling it off. But it's all a bit derivative, misses some key beats it could easily have covered and is a frustrating affair. Cries of "another stinker by Gatiss" are unfair in the extreme - it's anything but - but I really wish Steven Moffat would allow him to just adapt Nightshade. Alas, with Series 7 being the Anniversary season, I can't see that happening anytime soon, unless, of course, it becomes as self referential as Night Terrors threatens to be at points. There is a train of thought that the NA writers - themselves a little gang of superfans - are untouchable by critics and are defended in the forums tooth and nail by their satellite of groupies - and to an extent this is fair enough. For me though, only Paul Cornell has delivered as high a quality as his books, with Gatiss and Gareth Roberts missing the mark, sometimes spectacularly. Although, having said that, Closing Time is brilliant, if a little smug.
On to Torchwood now, and I must confess I've lost where we are in actual transmission. As a reviewer, I see things in a different order, and sometimes feel like River Song, hurriedly checking notes and diaries in case I inadvertently give away spoilers.
I think it's fair to say though, that this series of Torchwood isn't going to win the plaudits of Children of Earth, because, for one thing, it's just not as grim. Whether that's the affect US TV execs have on it, or the not inconsiderable telly talents of John Shiban and of course Jane Espenson, I don't know, but by Episode Ten we are very much in the land of "What about Series 5?" and the last episode absolutely sets up that with no problem. This series of Torchwood took its time getting going, I have to say, and if I was to criticise it I'd say it has two big problems - two many plot points and to many gear changes. Interesting characters like C Thomas Howell's Tracker, Ernie Hudson's Owen or the fleeting glimpse of Nana Visitor were disposed of pointlessly, others like John de Lancie are very unlikely - although not for certain - to appear in any recommissioned series. Bill Pullman, a revelation in earlier episodes, loses his way as Oswald Danes and despite everyone reminding us he's a Bad Man who did Bad Things and that everyone hates him, he is written with some sort of redemption which seems out of character. It takes too long, too, for Jack to get involved properly in the action, even though, in the end, it IS all about him, and it reminds me of those overly long seasons of 24 where just as we think we know what's happening to Jack Bauer and who the bad guys are, it all veers left and people are killed and it turns out we're wrong all along.
By Episode Ten, though, we have an established team - nonsense about Jack and Gwen, of course, is just that - Torchwood IS them, and those guys are needed - Jack particularly as he is such a part of Doctor Who, and will be appearing in the Anniversary Season, so by then we have everyone where we want them to be for the next series of Torchwood - and cleverly RTD has it set up so that even if Starz don't take it, the BBC can. "Are you staying here?" Jack asks Gwen... "Please say no," Rhys begs her, so, without too much fuss there's a degree of cliff hangery without the angst. It's interesting to see, though, what happens to the other characters in Miracle Day - others, like Danes, will probably not be returning, it's fair to say, but Kitzinger just might, if Starz pick it up, and could be a lot more important next time round. But of course, it's Rex and Esther, the Mulder and Scully of Series 4 who are the important newbies, and both are left critical and dying by the end of the episode, but with a very clear demarcation as to what happens to both by the last scene. It's nice too, that Doctor Who is referenced properly. We get Silurians, the Trickster and the Racnoss, all mentioned - two of whom make perfect sense, considering what The Blessing actually is.
So back to Who, and this "death in Silencio" stuff the Moff is using as one of this years arc, along with the whole Who Is River stuff. Now that that is mostly out of the way, we can concentrate on the Doctor knowing fine well that his death is a fixed point in time and space - and he'll absolutely be out to stop that. He makes an interesting comment at the end of Night Terrors, though, about the Flesh (incidentally, the Flesh first appeared in Silence in the Library - spot the reference!), although, to be fair, it may just be a slip of the tongue. If such a thing exists. By the end of Let's Kill Hitler he knows what's going on, so one would imagine he's working vociferously to stop that happening. Of course, there are no such thing as standalone episodes in an arc so wibbly wobbly as Series Six, but the next three are much more like this than you'd expect, a little like the beginning of Series 5, with individual episodes... but not. Even Episode 12 seems to have little to do with the finale, but, of course, that won't be the case, because we always get a big Two Parter.
Don't we?
Happy times and places
Ed
Monday, 29 August 2011
The Skaro Review
Hello there, Faithful Readers
I'm a lucky boy. I know this. In fact, I have a wee chuckle to myself almost every day about it. I get to see Doctor Who before it's transmitted, and I get to tell you guys what I think of it.
Outpost Skaro is, in my opinion, the best site on the planet for this. Of course, there are other great ones. Kasterborous is brilliant, for instance, and there are lots of others, but I love ours before we have a really great gang of guys and girls, from all over the world, in the forum, who chat, in a friendly and passionate manner, about all things, not just Who.
So I thought I'd start a blog and let you all know what's happening. Follow me, and you'll see here, first, spoilers on the new series, links for reviews and podcasts and all sorts of treats, not just from Doctor Who, but from things like Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Spooks, Hustle... and just about every major British Genre programme going.
So, the first link you really, really need is this one:
Outpost Skaro
This will take you to our shiny Portal, but, beware, faithful readers, that it's not all Portal based - a free and quick registration will take you to our forum where you'll find interviews, reviews and exclusive competitions.
I know. We're great!
Look forward to seeing you there.
Happy Times and Places
Ed
I'm a lucky boy. I know this. In fact, I have a wee chuckle to myself almost every day about it. I get to see Doctor Who before it's transmitted, and I get to tell you guys what I think of it.
Outpost Skaro is, in my opinion, the best site on the planet for this. Of course, there are other great ones. Kasterborous is brilliant, for instance, and there are lots of others, but I love ours before we have a really great gang of guys and girls, from all over the world, in the forum, who chat, in a friendly and passionate manner, about all things, not just Who.
So I thought I'd start a blog and let you all know what's happening. Follow me, and you'll see here, first, spoilers on the new series, links for reviews and podcasts and all sorts of treats, not just from Doctor Who, but from things like Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Spooks, Hustle... and just about every major British Genre programme going.
So, the first link you really, really need is this one:
Outpost Skaro
This will take you to our shiny Portal, but, beware, faithful readers, that it's not all Portal based - a free and quick registration will take you to our forum where you'll find interviews, reviews and exclusive competitions.
I know. We're great!
Look forward to seeing you there.
Happy Times and Places
Ed
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