DW: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Well, I confess I wasn't expecting much, so I wasn't all that disappointed.
Oh, who am I kidding - I was disappointed anyway :(
DWW was a bit like a big candy-floss, wasn't it? All frothy and sugary but with no nutritional value whatsoever! Now, I know that froth and sugar and empty calories are the stuff from which Christmas is made, and I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there arguing that it was exactly the sort of thing the family should be sitting down to watch on Christmas Day, lots of feelgood factor, fun and frolics - especially to contrast with the misery and depression that is sure to follow at 8pm when Eastenders starts. (Which is, incidentally, when the TV goes off in my house.)
So yes, on the one hand - it was whimsical and light and fluffy and even as I was biting my tongue to stop myself saying - "This is Moffat's Who - of COURSE the Dad's not going to die!" , I was reminding myself that it's Christmas and of course, it was completely right that he didn't. But still. I'm getting fed up with SM's MO of "oh, no - they're going to die!" because we all know by now that it's not gonna happen. Not that I wanted a high bodycount or anything like that - I'd just like some dramatic tension back.
As I was watching, I was reminded of how, way back at the start of S5 - or more precisely, in the second episode The Beast Below - for the first time, I looked at my watch during an episode of DW and wondered "when will this end?" Not because I did the same thing here. No, during DWW, I looked at my watch and wondered - "how is it seven-thirty and nothing's really happened yet?" Because that's how it felt. Hence the candy-floss analogy. And I should perhaps, state here that I don't like candy-floss; it's far too sweet and sticky for my taste.
On the plus side, it was a straightforward story with none of the timey-wimeness of S6, or even of last year's Christmas episode; Matt Smith was as engaging as ever, Claire Skinner and the kids were good and the moving trees were effectively realised. Oh, and bonus points for Androzani and the Jabe reference!
On the negative - what a waste of the talents of Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Alexander Armstrong. I know that DW is one of those shows that everyone wants to be in, but these were cameos, not guest appearances. Each of them is a very talented individual, but really, those parts could have been played by anybody. The walking trees as the baddies didn't really work for me either. I have no problem with the idea that the baddies aren't really bad, but are just trying to save their species - I just think that for a one-off, special episode, something with a bit more... "oomph!" is required. And what on earth was all that stuff at the beginning about? Was it to mislead us, to make us think that we were going to get an exciting adventure with explosions and running aboard a space ship (oh - another point for the Star Wars ref.)? Or was it - "hey, look everyone! It's Doctor Who! No - really, it is! Honest! Look, we're doing explosions and stuff!"
And really - the Doctor falling through space without a spacesuit? I didn't mind River and her "air-corridor", but this? I'm not a devotee of hard sci-fi; I don't sit there and point outthat there can be no sound in a vacuum and stuff like that, but that really bugs me. I know DW isn't about hard science; I know it makes things up and it's a fantasy and all of that. But I found that sequence to be just about the silliest thing I've seen on DW (I know, I know!) for several years.
The best bit was, of course, the fact that Amy and Rory "always" set a place for the Doctor at their Christmas table, and his humany-woomamy "happy crying" at the end. Anyone who says that Steven Moffat isn't as emotionally manipulative as RTD can stick that in their pipe and smoke it.
Has it been officially announced that DW is being moved to the Autumn from next year? I take it that the absence of any trailer for S7 confirms that, I'm just wondering if I missed the announcement.
Oh, who am I kidding - I was disappointed anyway :(
DWW was a bit like a big candy-floss, wasn't it? All frothy and sugary but with no nutritional value whatsoever! Now, I know that froth and sugar and empty calories are the stuff from which Christmas is made, and I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there arguing that it was exactly the sort of thing the family should be sitting down to watch on Christmas Day, lots of feelgood factor, fun and frolics - especially to contrast with the misery and depression that is sure to follow at 8pm when Eastenders starts. (Which is, incidentally, when the TV goes off in my house.)
So yes, on the one hand - it was whimsical and light and fluffy and even as I was biting my tongue to stop myself saying - "This is Moffat's Who - of COURSE the Dad's not going to die!" , I was reminding myself that it's Christmas and of course, it was completely right that he didn't. But still. I'm getting fed up with SM's MO of "oh, no - they're going to die!" because we all know by now that it's not gonna happen. Not that I wanted a high bodycount or anything like that - I'd just like some dramatic tension back.
As I was watching, I was reminded of how, way back at the start of S5 - or more precisely, in the second episode The Beast Below - for the first time, I looked at my watch during an episode of DW and wondered "when will this end?" Not because I did the same thing here. No, during DWW, I looked at my watch and wondered - "how is it seven-thirty and nothing's really happened yet?" Because that's how it felt. Hence the candy-floss analogy. And I should perhaps, state here that I don't like candy-floss; it's far too sweet and sticky for my taste.
On the plus side, it was a straightforward story with none of the timey-wimeness of S6, or even of last year's Christmas episode; Matt Smith was as engaging as ever, Claire Skinner and the kids were good and the moving trees were effectively realised. Oh, and bonus points for Androzani and the Jabe reference!
On the negative - what a waste of the talents of Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Alexander Armstrong. I know that DW is one of those shows that everyone wants to be in, but these were cameos, not guest appearances. Each of them is a very talented individual, but really, those parts could have been played by anybody. The walking trees as the baddies didn't really work for me either. I have no problem with the idea that the baddies aren't really bad, but are just trying to save their species - I just think that for a one-off, special episode, something with a bit more... "oomph!" is required. And what on earth was all that stuff at the beginning about? Was it to mislead us, to make us think that we were going to get an exciting adventure with explosions and running aboard a space ship (oh - another point for the Star Wars ref.)? Or was it - "hey, look everyone! It's Doctor Who! No - really, it is! Honest! Look, we're doing explosions and stuff!"
And really - the Doctor falling through space without a spacesuit? I didn't mind River and her "air-corridor", but this? I'm not a devotee of hard sci-fi; I don't sit there and point outthat there can be no sound in a vacuum and stuff like that, but that really bugs me. I know DW isn't about hard science; I know it makes things up and it's a fantasy and all of that. But I found that sequence to be just about the silliest thing I've seen on DW (I know, I know!) for several years.
The best bit was, of course, the fact that Amy and Rory "always" set a place for the Doctor at their Christmas table, and his humany-woomamy "happy crying" at the end. Anyone who says that Steven Moffat isn't as emotionally manipulative as RTD can stick that in their pipe and smoke it.
Has it been officially announced that DW is being moved to the Autumn from next year? I take it that the absence of any trailer for S7 confirms that, I'm just wondering if I missed the announcement.