Doctor Who S05E02 The Beast Below Review
After my very very late review of Doctor Who episode 1, I now present you with a surprisingly early (for me) review of episode 2. See? I’m learning to prioritise (i.e. Doctor Who>Real Life)!
Beware! Here be Spoilers!
Firstly, if you've not read it, my review of Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour is here. Onto the Epi 2 review:
DOCTOR WHO
SEASON 5
EPISODE 2: The Beast Below
Written by Steven Moffat
This episode was delightful, I actually loved it more than I expected. Like Steven Moffat said on Doctor Who Confidential, it was truly a fairy tale. The beast below is obviously the beast in the depths of humanity. The people of the UK all choose to forget what they’ve done, they choose to live rather than to face up to the reality of what they’ve done. I loved this idea as its really evil; its just completely human (and rather realistic). The ending is pure wonderfulness; the monster is just the BFG or the dragon-puppy thingy from The Neverending Story, there to help and protect and generally be adorable. Is it too early to put a Star Whale on my Christmas List?
There was some lovely art direction in this one. I loved the textured feel to the Starship UK, it felt real and completely unlike anything we’ve seen on Doctor Who before; the inside was quirky but very very British, while the exterior was grimy but full of character (love the ‘Devon’ and ‘Surrey’ signs but why couldn’t we have a Northern city on there too?). That wonderful image that was in the trailers of the red cape, the mask and the marble floor, the glasses of water and the broken chandelier- this all just screams fairy tale, as well as being a classic image that I don’t think I’m going to forget in a while.
This past week there have been so many ‘fans’ (read: people who barely watched it and just want to find something to complain about) criticizing the show for making Amy ‘sexy’. Somehow I think the people who were already writing their complaints letter to the BBC about Amy getting soaked through while in her white and rather see-through nighty will be rather disappointed. Getting sicked up by the beast below is not so sexy now, is it?
CHARACTERS:
Sophie Okonedo as Liz Ten was brilliant. The idea of the queen sneaking off to investigate her kingdom could be a show in its own right, its such good fun. I loved the bit where she saved them, revealed she was the queen while flourishing her cape and pointing her guns. Also, what a great quote: “I’m the bloody queen, mate. Basically, I rule.”
Eleven is adorable- how excited he got while being on the tongue of that living creature was just lovely. What I really enjoy about Eleven so far is that he really does strike me as alien. While Ten I thought was one of the most human Doctors we’ve seen, Eleven is really bringing the ET back. He talks a lot, but its all quite disjointed and random, making it clear that his brain is working much faster than our tiny human brains can comprehend. Eleven, however, has shown some depth already. He’s not just an adorable buffoon wearing tweed; when he found out what the humans had done, there was a real fury in his eyes (actually, it rather reminded me of the beginning of Ten’s reign when he deposed Harriet Jones).
The ongoing Doctor/Amy relationship is quite interesting as they are still settling into the roles within their relationship. (Sidenote: I LOVE how he calls her ‘Pond’). While last week was an ode to the Doctor and Matt Smith’s chance to say “I’m here”, I felt like this week’s episode was Amy’s chance to show that she’s worthy of travelling with the Doctor, as well as revealing that Amy is not super perfect (unlike, and here is where I stress that this is just my opinion, I felt Rose was treated). She made the wrong decision but for good reason- to save the Doctor from The Impossible Choice. Amy actually tried to protect the Doctor, which I find incredibly interesting as it adds yet another dimension to their relationship; not only does he need a companion to save him from himself, but also to protect him. He doesn’t think he needs that sort of protection, but he does. If he had gone through with what he had decided was the best option (euthanize the Star Whale), he would never have been the same again (like he said, he wouldn’t have been ‘the Doctor’ anymore). This episode was about Amy saving the day, earning her place on the TARDIS and in fan’s hearts. I thought it was unbelievably beautiful that she saw in the Star Whale what she saw in the Doctor- that here was a creature, the last of its kind, who couldn’t bear to see children cry, was kind, very old, and very lonely (sidenote: anyone notice the resemblance between Amelia and Mandy? Both little girls wearing red with red hair; another thing linking the last Time Lord with the last Star Whale).
QUOTES:
Amy: Its a rubbish dump- and its minging (this amused me more than it should have)
Amy: You look human. Doctor: No, you look Time Lord. We came first.
Doctor: Nobody human has anything to say to me today!
Not as many out and out quotes in this one, but the dialogue overall was wonderful.
CRACK WATCH: The crack in the ship! Its a cracky ship! A ship of crack!
GERONIMO count: we’re 3 for 3 now.
Beware! Here be Spoilers!
Firstly, if you've not read it, my review of Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour is here. Onto the Epi 2 review:
DOCTOR WHO
SEASON 5
EPISODE 2: The Beast Below
Written by Steven Moffat
This episode was delightful, I actually loved it more than I expected. Like Steven Moffat said on Doctor Who Confidential, it was truly a fairy tale. The beast below is obviously the beast in the depths of humanity. The people of the UK all choose to forget what they’ve done, they choose to live rather than to face up to the reality of what they’ve done. I loved this idea as its really evil; its just completely human (and rather realistic). The ending is pure wonderfulness; the monster is just the BFG or the dragon-puppy thingy from The Neverending Story, there to help and protect and generally be adorable. Is it too early to put a Star Whale on my Christmas List?
There was some lovely art direction in this one. I loved the textured feel to the Starship UK, it felt real and completely unlike anything we’ve seen on Doctor Who before; the inside was quirky but very very British, while the exterior was grimy but full of character (love the ‘Devon’ and ‘Surrey’ signs but why couldn’t we have a Northern city on there too?). That wonderful image that was in the trailers of the red cape, the mask and the marble floor, the glasses of water and the broken chandelier- this all just screams fairy tale, as well as being a classic image that I don’t think I’m going to forget in a while.
This past week there have been so many ‘fans’ (read: people who barely watched it and just want to find something to complain about) criticizing the show for making Amy ‘sexy’. Somehow I think the people who were already writing their complaints letter to the BBC about Amy getting soaked through while in her white and rather see-through nighty will be rather disappointed. Getting sicked up by the beast below is not so sexy now, is it?
CHARACTERS:
Sophie Okonedo as Liz Ten was brilliant. The idea of the queen sneaking off to investigate her kingdom could be a show in its own right, its such good fun. I loved the bit where she saved them, revealed she was the queen while flourishing her cape and pointing her guns. Also, what a great quote: “I’m the bloody queen, mate. Basically, I rule.”
Eleven is adorable- how excited he got while being on the tongue of that living creature was just lovely. What I really enjoy about Eleven so far is that he really does strike me as alien. While Ten I thought was one of the most human Doctors we’ve seen, Eleven is really bringing the ET back. He talks a lot, but its all quite disjointed and random, making it clear that his brain is working much faster than our tiny human brains can comprehend. Eleven, however, has shown some depth already. He’s not just an adorable buffoon wearing tweed; when he found out what the humans had done, there was a real fury in his eyes (actually, it rather reminded me of the beginning of Ten’s reign when he deposed Harriet Jones).
The ongoing Doctor/Amy relationship is quite interesting as they are still settling into the roles within their relationship. (Sidenote: I LOVE how he calls her ‘Pond’). While last week was an ode to the Doctor and Matt Smith’s chance to say “I’m here”, I felt like this week’s episode was Amy’s chance to show that she’s worthy of travelling with the Doctor, as well as revealing that Amy is not super perfect (unlike, and here is where I stress that this is just my opinion, I felt Rose was treated). She made the wrong decision but for good reason- to save the Doctor from The Impossible Choice. Amy actually tried to protect the Doctor, which I find incredibly interesting as it adds yet another dimension to their relationship; not only does he need a companion to save him from himself, but also to protect him. He doesn’t think he needs that sort of protection, but he does. If he had gone through with what he had decided was the best option (euthanize the Star Whale), he would never have been the same again (like he said, he wouldn’t have been ‘the Doctor’ anymore). This episode was about Amy saving the day, earning her place on the TARDIS and in fan’s hearts. I thought it was unbelievably beautiful that she saw in the Star Whale what she saw in the Doctor- that here was a creature, the last of its kind, who couldn’t bear to see children cry, was kind, very old, and very lonely (sidenote: anyone notice the resemblance between Amelia and Mandy? Both little girls wearing red with red hair; another thing linking the last Time Lord with the last Star Whale).
QUOTES:
Amy: Its a rubbish dump- and its minging (this amused me more than it should have)
Amy: You look human. Doctor: No, you look Time Lord. We came first.
Doctor: Nobody human has anything to say to me today!
Not as many out and out quotes in this one, but the dialogue overall was wonderful.
CRACK WATCH: The crack in the ship! Its a cracky ship! A ship of crack!
GERONIMO count: we’re 3 for 3 now.