*WARNING SPOILERS*
When the most famous Doctor Who enemy has been around for more than 5 decades and has been featured in over 100 episodes, it must be hard to come up with new, original and fresh ideas. So writers Phil Ford and executive producer and writer Steven Moffat can be forgiven if series 8's first 'proper' episode, 'Into the Dalek' might be sort of very similar to previous Dalek stories. Yes, 2005's, series 1 'Dalek' I'm looking at you. So, the best position to put yourself in here is to completely forget about other Dalek stories, and just enjoy it for what it is.As an episode within itself, 'Into the Dalek' was a much needed episode to show what this 'new' Doctor was really life as a man, was he compassionate , sensitive moral? The theme of morality was a huge player in this episode and highlighted in great detail and was a perfect theme to introduce this new Doctor, in order to fully decide for ourselves if this he "is a good man" as The Doctor asks companion Clara himself. Companions are supposed to be the audiences eyes and ears and when Clara replied "I don't know" this was exactly what the audience was thinking. Of course, we thought we had fully figured out who the Doctor was, in the guise of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, but now with Capaldi at the front, we are back to square one.
Of course, the only 'thing' possible of telling The Doctor what kind of man he was is a Dalek. And in true Doctor Who style, we delve even deeper inside a Dalek than ever before, quite literally. And while the episode wasn't quite as good as writer Phil Ford's previous, in the shape of 'The Waters of Mars' in the Tenth Doctor special in 2009, it certainly was a very clever idea, shrinking the principal characters to be able to go inside a Dalek, or as The Doctor affectionately called it 'Rusty'. The idea behind this episode is, can a Dalek ever be good? Well it turns out, it was actually due to a radiation leak, but can a Dalek actually stay good? In this sense, it was companion Clara who saved the day in this episode and not The Doctor as we might have expected, this makes such a refreshing change to allow Clara the chance to make intelligent decisions that will determine if they live or die. She succeeded, and they lived, hooray! But, as is always in Doctor Who, at a massive cost, 2 lives lost, but 'Into the Dalek' didn't linger on these sad parts as it was quickly brought back by a snappy and quirky comment from the Doctor. "Is Ross in here? [dead soldier-pile of gunge]" "Top layer if you want to say a few words." This is what cemented a big love of the Twelfth Doctor already to many, the one liners are fast and funny, even if this Doctor may be a bit darker, there is that humour that has always been present in Doctor Who.
But what of the rest of the episode I hear you cry! Although new character, Danny Pink's character played by Samuel Anderson introduction may have seemed a little out of place in a Dalek-out-of-space episode, especially in a normal surrounding of Clara and Danny's workplace Coal Hill School (uber fans control yourselves), yet his introduction was superb. Something Doctor Who fans crave in could-be companions is a backstory, and here we already had one carved out in barely 20 minutes of screen time. We learned that he was a soldier and that he possible killed someone in the past, I hope that this will be revealed in the coming episodes. At present he seems to be a genuinely nice character and his relationship with Clara is already looking to be one of a very lovely and blossoming. But... as always in Doctor Who relationships, this presents problems. Danny Pink is/was a solider... and the Twelfth Doctor hates soldiers,I mean he's always hated guns, but here, so much so that the Twelfth Doctor actually rejected soldier Journey Blue (played by a fabulous Zawe Ashton) request to travel in the TARDIS with him. It will definitely be interesting to see how this relationship between The Doctor and Danny Pink develops.
All in all, although this episode may not be considered of the greats and a classic any time soon, it was a great follow up episode to the series opener, and I'm sure it will continue to get better from here. I suppose this great new episode and the new man the Doctor is can be best summed up by the lone Dalek to the Doctor - "I am not a good Dalek, you are a good Dalek". Here's to episode 3!
P.S - just who the hell is this Missy?!
Monday, 1 September 2014
Sunday, 31 August 2014
In the Club - Episode 4 - BBC1 - 26/8/14
*WARNING SPOILERS*
Writer and Director of 'In the Club', Kay Mellor manages to hit the note just right, how on earth does she manage to create a comedy, yet also a serious drama about 6 women giving birth? It must also be taken into consideration that this is shown on prime time BBC, and must appeal to all audiences, again about 6 pregnant women?! Yet it does, people of all ages can watch this show, regardless of whether they have experience with babies or not! The 6 principal characters are from all walks of life to which most viewers can relate to, we're 4 episodes in at this point and the drama and comedy pace hasn't slowed down a bit and with 6 people's lives to fit in to a 1 hour episode, lines have to be quick and snappy, the comedy delivered and the drama real, to which 'In the Club' definitely achieves.
So, what about this episode, episode 4 of the current series? Well, it certainly can't be accused of lacking in drama. Jude is the father of Rosie's baby Kim and Neil kiss at the birth of her child with girlfriend Susie watching hospital Doctor turns out the be the father of midwife Vicky's child Roanna suffering from the baby blues a punch up in Dev's restaurant with couldhebethefather Jack Dianne and Rick's baby girl Hope fighting for her life in hospital. Phew, all that in just a 1 hour episode. There were certainly moments of gasping in shock at what just happened, but also the laugh-out-loud moments - "How's Jaz?" "She's bored!"
This is what makes the perfect BBC 1 drama, the shocks and the laughs all in one series. 'In the Club' has never faltered in the past 4 episodes, and I honestly don't think it will let us down in the next 2 episodes. This keeps us looking forward to the BBC every Tuesday night, and if they keep producing shows like this and if Kay Mellor keeps writing them, then we are certainly very lucky indeed.
Writer and Director of 'In the Club', Kay Mellor manages to hit the note just right, how on earth does she manage to create a comedy, yet also a serious drama about 6 women giving birth? It must also be taken into consideration that this is shown on prime time BBC, and must appeal to all audiences, again about 6 pregnant women?! Yet it does, people of all ages can watch this show, regardless of whether they have experience with babies or not! The 6 principal characters are from all walks of life to which most viewers can relate to, we're 4 episodes in at this point and the drama and comedy pace hasn't slowed down a bit and with 6 people's lives to fit in to a 1 hour episode, lines have to be quick and snappy, the comedy delivered and the drama real, to which 'In the Club' definitely achieves.
So, what about this episode, episode 4 of the current series? Well, it certainly can't be accused of lacking in drama. Jude is the father of Rosie's baby Kim and Neil kiss at the birth of her child with girlfriend Susie watching hospital Doctor turns out the be the father of midwife Vicky's child Roanna suffering from the baby blues a punch up in Dev's restaurant with couldhebethefather Jack Dianne and Rick's baby girl Hope fighting for her life in hospital. Phew, all that in just a 1 hour episode. There were certainly moments of gasping in shock at what just happened, but also the laugh-out-loud moments - "How's Jaz?" "She's bored!"
This is what makes the perfect BBC 1 drama, the shocks and the laughs all in one series. 'In the Club' has never faltered in the past 4 episodes, and I honestly don't think it will let us down in the next 2 episodes. This keeps us looking forward to the BBC every Tuesday night, and if they keep producing shows like this and if Kay Mellor keeps writing them, then we are certainly very lucky indeed.
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Doctor Who - Series 8 Episode 1 - Deep Breath - BBC One - 23/8/14
*WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
So how do you manage to write a Doctor Who episode that is both big and grand enough for a series opener and to introduce a new Doctor? Well, by writing 'Deep Breath' it seems. This seemed a hugely difficult task for head writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, but in his 4th year as 'boss' he seems to have hit his stride. 'Deep Breath' in its outset looked like a simplistic episode in its plot, which in its 80 minute running time sounds totally mad, but with a plot that can easily be described as a half man/half robot taking human body parts for its own gain. But thankfully, this episode wasn't about what was happening, it was about The Doctor, or rather, the 'new' Doctor in the form of the fabulous Peter Capaldi. In a change to previous episodes, where it has been action-non -stop for 45 minutes, 'Deep Breath' brought about a calmness with longer dialogue scenes between characters, mainly between The Doctor and still companion Clara. This allowed the audience, both old and new to re-connect with The Doctor again, learning more about this new personality and in turn, more about companion Clara Oswald, exceptionally played by Jenna Coleman. I believe that her acting has excelled in this episode alone, just from one shot of her eyes, it displayed such emotion and story that I'm sure will continue in the coming series. However, in the past series, many viewers and fans have complained about Clara's lack of personality and character development and that something was missing in comparison to the development of previous companions, Amy Pond and even Rose Tyler to an extent. In all honestly, I believe we learned more about Clara in that one 80 minute opening episode than we did in the entirety of Series 7. This is no fault of Jenna Coleman or even the writers, it is maybe now that this series brings extended scenes in which principal characters can actually sit down and talk, instead of running with the only occasional reference to her personality. I hope that this theme continues throughout Series 8 and that we learn even more about Clara and we reach that desired character development.
But the real star of the show was Peter Capaldi, for me he cast away any doubt that may have been there as The Doctor, he really made the role his own. This was helped by the brilliant script and direction by Steven Moffat and Ben Wheately respectively, the lines were funny - "These are attack eyebrows, you could take bottle tops off with these!". Also, while this episode may have been for new viewers and fans to which the Twelfth Doctor will by "their" Doctor, it also played to the dedicated fans with many quips to previous episodes. For example, mentioning SS Madame de Pompadour from the Series 2, Moffat penned episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", "I'm sure I've seen this before" says the Twelfth Doctor. Also references to Tom Baker's scarf among others for the truly dedicated fandom.
In many of the pre-episode build up interviews, Capaldi promised a 'darker' Doctor, yet, this wasn't really seen in 'Deep Breath', instead to me, he seemed a more funny, confused, almost sarcastic Doctor. Perhaps we'll see this more 'mysterious' Doctor in the coming weeks and episodes, but for this opening episode this wasn't shown. But that's not to say that was shown in this Doctor's personality wasn't good, because it was, and will certainly make people love this Doctor. 'Deep Breath' wasn't just made up of Clara and The Doctor though, it also featured the fan-favourite, the Paternoster gang, made up of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, many fans have called for a spin off show featuring these 3 characters, and in my opinion it certainly would be supported. These characters have the ability to bring a comedic element to the show - Strax hitting Clara in the face with a newspaper anyone? - and the chance to save the day is always welcomed.
Although this episode may be called 'simplistic' in its plot line which could be seen to have been stretched thin across the 80 minutes, this does not mean that the classic Doctor Who cliffhangers were not present, when we thought the baddie was dead, in Doctor Who style, alas he was not, and with this brought a new character, seemingly the Doctor's 'girlfriend'. This has brought mixed reactions from fans to who and what this could mean, but time will surely tell. Also, a mystery from the opener to Series 7 part 2 was brought up again, who was the woman in the shop and who placed the ad in the newspaper? I suppose this was put in to keep fans watching week after week to find out.
But what of Matt Smith I hear you cry, the man who introduced more people to Doctor Who when he became the youngest ever actor to play the Doctor (incidentally, Peter Capladi becomes the joint oldest actor to play the role) in 2010. We thought we'd said goodbye to him in the Christmas 2013 episode 'The Time of the Doctor', but for fans we got to say a final goodbye, to where the 11th Doctor made an emotional final phone call to companion Clara, allowing her to say goodbye to the face she once knew and allow this new man into her life.
This series opener also brought a new introduction, this was apparently inspired by a fan, the original fanmade intro, which you can see here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXOBHnWiinY. 'Deep Breath''s' 80 minute running time seemed to fly by, and i'm sure when we get back to the original 45 minute slot, it will seem to go by very fast. But, if the rest of the series can be judged by this series opener, we are in for a very special treat indeed.
So how do you manage to write a Doctor Who episode that is both big and grand enough for a series opener and to introduce a new Doctor? Well, by writing 'Deep Breath' it seems. This seemed a hugely difficult task for head writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, but in his 4th year as 'boss' he seems to have hit his stride. 'Deep Breath' in its outset looked like a simplistic episode in its plot, which in its 80 minute running time sounds totally mad, but with a plot that can easily be described as a half man/half robot taking human body parts for its own gain. But thankfully, this episode wasn't about what was happening, it was about The Doctor, or rather, the 'new' Doctor in the form of the fabulous Peter Capaldi. In a change to previous episodes, where it has been action-non -stop for 45 minutes, 'Deep Breath' brought about a calmness with longer dialogue scenes between characters, mainly between The Doctor and still companion Clara. This allowed the audience, both old and new to re-connect with The Doctor again, learning more about this new personality and in turn, more about companion Clara Oswald, exceptionally played by Jenna Coleman. I believe that her acting has excelled in this episode alone, just from one shot of her eyes, it displayed such emotion and story that I'm sure will continue in the coming series. However, in the past series, many viewers and fans have complained about Clara's lack of personality and character development and that something was missing in comparison to the development of previous companions, Amy Pond and even Rose Tyler to an extent. In all honestly, I believe we learned more about Clara in that one 80 minute opening episode than we did in the entirety of Series 7. This is no fault of Jenna Coleman or even the writers, it is maybe now that this series brings extended scenes in which principal characters can actually sit down and talk, instead of running with the only occasional reference to her personality. I hope that this theme continues throughout Series 8 and that we learn even more about Clara and we reach that desired character development.
But the real star of the show was Peter Capaldi, for me he cast away any doubt that may have been there as The Doctor, he really made the role his own. This was helped by the brilliant script and direction by Steven Moffat and Ben Wheately respectively, the lines were funny - "These are attack eyebrows, you could take bottle tops off with these!". Also, while this episode may have been for new viewers and fans to which the Twelfth Doctor will by "their" Doctor, it also played to the dedicated fans with many quips to previous episodes. For example, mentioning SS Madame de Pompadour from the Series 2, Moffat penned episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", "I'm sure I've seen this before" says the Twelfth Doctor. Also references to Tom Baker's scarf among others for the truly dedicated fandom.
In many of the pre-episode build up interviews, Capaldi promised a 'darker' Doctor, yet, this wasn't really seen in 'Deep Breath', instead to me, he seemed a more funny, confused, almost sarcastic Doctor. Perhaps we'll see this more 'mysterious' Doctor in the coming weeks and episodes, but for this opening episode this wasn't shown. But that's not to say that was shown in this Doctor's personality wasn't good, because it was, and will certainly make people love this Doctor. 'Deep Breath' wasn't just made up of Clara and The Doctor though, it also featured the fan-favourite, the Paternoster gang, made up of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, many fans have called for a spin off show featuring these 3 characters, and in my opinion it certainly would be supported. These characters have the ability to bring a comedic element to the show - Strax hitting Clara in the face with a newspaper anyone? - and the chance to save the day is always welcomed.
Although this episode may be called 'simplistic' in its plot line which could be seen to have been stretched thin across the 80 minutes, this does not mean that the classic Doctor Who cliffhangers were not present, when we thought the baddie was dead, in Doctor Who style, alas he was not, and with this brought a new character, seemingly the Doctor's 'girlfriend'. This has brought mixed reactions from fans to who and what this could mean, but time will surely tell. Also, a mystery from the opener to Series 7 part 2 was brought up again, who was the woman in the shop and who placed the ad in the newspaper? I suppose this was put in to keep fans watching week after week to find out.
But what of Matt Smith I hear you cry, the man who introduced more people to Doctor Who when he became the youngest ever actor to play the Doctor (incidentally, Peter Capladi becomes the joint oldest actor to play the role) in 2010. We thought we'd said goodbye to him in the Christmas 2013 episode 'The Time of the Doctor', but for fans we got to say a final goodbye, to where the 11th Doctor made an emotional final phone call to companion Clara, allowing her to say goodbye to the face she once knew and allow this new man into her life.
This series opener also brought a new introduction, this was apparently inspired by a fan, the original fanmade intro, which you can see here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXOBHnWiinY. 'Deep Breath''s' 80 minute running time seemed to fly by, and i'm sure when we get back to the original 45 minute slot, it will seem to go by very fast. But, if the rest of the series can be judged by this series opener, we are in for a very special treat indeed.
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