Doctor Who: The Beast Below - Review
Doctor Who: The Beast Below
3.5 out of 5
This was an okay episode. Definitely had things that I liked. But definitely had too many things that reminded me of Doctor Who episodes passed.
Review:
Thought the opening shot of the space city floating by with the Union Jack flag on the hull of the ship was really cool. I thought that with the serious tone of the children and the fear in their faces you really got that chilling feeling about the Smilers and what they represented. The little poem that the girl sings on the monitor was cute in my opinion.
The opening credits and music are actually really growing on me. I like the new feel and its definitely a refreshing change. Forgive me for thinking this but in the opening shot of the Doctor, Amy, and the TARDIS I couldn’t help but think that the Doctor was looking up her nightgown. Ha! & how does she wind up hanging out of the TARDIS the second time?? Odd. I really appreciated that you could see the Doctor’s awe of the humans on that ship while he is talking about them looking for a home with hope. And I thought the ‘escaped fish’ comment was hilarious. The hooded figures in black (Winders) have a great look and you get that eerie sense from them although I couldn’t help but think about ‘Organization XXIII’ from Kingdom Hearts. A small detail I loved, when we first seen Queen ‘Liz 10’ her cloak is perfectly laid out and I loved how she stepped forward and stood up and the cloak if moved in and perfectly draped her ankles. I next found it odd that the Doctor was pick pocketing small children. But whatever. I can let this slide because its here that we get a sense that this regeneration of the Doctor has a thing for helping children. First Amelia and now Mandy. Another thing I noticed throughout the episode is that the new sonic screwdriver was used a lot. Just to show it off? Or is the screwdriver still going to be a strong staple of the show? I think it looks really cool though. “Help us, Doctor. You’re our only hope.” … Star Wars? Haha. That’s okay, I’m a SW fan. We’ve all seen the story device where a character’s memory is gone but they watch a video warning from themselves before, but I feel that Steven Moffat uses it well here.
Assuming that the Doctor first sees Amelia in 2005 when she is 7, we can figure out that this is the year 3304. We can assume this because we find out Amy’s age here is 1,306. I thought the ‘You look Timelord, we came first’ comment was a nice gentle nod to ‘Planet of the Dead’ but I thought the way in which Matt responds to the question of whether there are more Timelords was a bit awkward but only for a moment. He then slips into his explanation and it moves smoothly. “Say weeeeee” and “Geronimo” I could have done without. We’ve seen the 11th Doctor three times and have heard him say Geronimo each time. Though it was more subtle in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ it is there right as he hops into the TARDIS for the ‘5 minute’ trip. Its safe to say this is his phrase. Still don’t know how I feel about this. Not crazy about it just yet. And I got another Star Wars feel when the enter the Star Whales mouth (both A New Hope compactor scene and Empire Strikes Back meteor creature scene). And did they just NOT see the huge teeth in front of them when they landed? Ha. Moving along, I thought it was kind of exciting for find out who ‘Liz 10’ actually was and that she brought up references to previous Doctors and his experiences with her family. One thing that struck me as odd is that both the Doctor and ‘Liz 10’ introduced themselves in their first episode followed by saying “Basically….” Hmmm… Then we get a big brain and the line, “Normally its above the range of human hearing…the sound none of you wanted to hear.” A small nod to ‘The Planet of the Ood’. I cant help but feel like we keep getting reminders of ideas used in the past. It just feels weird to be seeing this many nods to old episodes whether intentional or not. I like the serious tones of the Doctor that you get throughout the episode. And then he explodes in seriousness at the end of the episode. The serious tones in which he speaks to Amy putting her (in his eyes) in her place really struck a chord for me.
For anyone who thinks that the Doctor’s companions are getting ‘dumber’ this episode proves that theory wrong in my opinion. Its here that you see the capacity that Amy truly holds as a companion. The bravery and courage as well as the intelligence needed to be a great companion. She was a kiss-a-gram but so what. She’s able to peace together the truth while making the connection between the Star Whale and the Doctor and saves the day. Give her credit and let her prove herself throughout the season. And I personally thought the warm embracing hug between the Doctor and Amy was a great moment. He’s been on his own for the past while and its here that I think he realizes that he can put trust in a companion again. And I like how the Doctor gently admits that he ran away a long time ago when he was scared. The phone ringing and the reactions to it again is another small nod. This time to Season 4 and the ‘Sontaran Stratagem’.
Winston Churchill phoning with the shadow of a dalek…. I like where this is going.
And I really like that we get to see the Star Whale at the end but ehn we see something else. The crack in space… So apparently this is what this season’s story arc is going to be about. Very much keeps in line of the RTD era and introducing the arc so early in the season.
I wont go into next weeks episode trailer but I’ll say that I am excited!
3.5 out of 5
This was an okay episode. Definitely had things that I liked. But definitely had too many things that reminded me of Doctor Who episodes passed.
Review:
Thought the opening shot of the space city floating by with the Union Jack flag on the hull of the ship was really cool. I thought that with the serious tone of the children and the fear in their faces you really got that chilling feeling about the Smilers and what they represented. The little poem that the girl sings on the monitor was cute in my opinion.
The opening credits and music are actually really growing on me. I like the new feel and its definitely a refreshing change. Forgive me for thinking this but in the opening shot of the Doctor, Amy, and the TARDIS I couldn’t help but think that the Doctor was looking up her nightgown. Ha! & how does she wind up hanging out of the TARDIS the second time?? Odd. I really appreciated that you could see the Doctor’s awe of the humans on that ship while he is talking about them looking for a home with hope. And I thought the ‘escaped fish’ comment was hilarious. The hooded figures in black (Winders) have a great look and you get that eerie sense from them although I couldn’t help but think about ‘Organization XXIII’ from Kingdom Hearts. A small detail I loved, when we first seen Queen ‘Liz 10’ her cloak is perfectly laid out and I loved how she stepped forward and stood up and the cloak if moved in and perfectly draped her ankles. I next found it odd that the Doctor was pick pocketing small children. But whatever. I can let this slide because its here that we get a sense that this regeneration of the Doctor has a thing for helping children. First Amelia and now Mandy. Another thing I noticed throughout the episode is that the new sonic screwdriver was used a lot. Just to show it off? Or is the screwdriver still going to be a strong staple of the show? I think it looks really cool though. “Help us, Doctor. You’re our only hope.” … Star Wars? Haha. That’s okay, I’m a SW fan. We’ve all seen the story device where a character’s memory is gone but they watch a video warning from themselves before, but I feel that Steven Moffat uses it well here.
Assuming that the Doctor first sees Amelia in 2005 when she is 7, we can figure out that this is the year 3304. We can assume this because we find out Amy’s age here is 1,306. I thought the ‘You look Timelord, we came first’ comment was a nice gentle nod to ‘Planet of the Dead’ but I thought the way in which Matt responds to the question of whether there are more Timelords was a bit awkward but only for a moment. He then slips into his explanation and it moves smoothly. “Say weeeeee” and “Geronimo” I could have done without. We’ve seen the 11th Doctor three times and have heard him say Geronimo each time. Though it was more subtle in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ it is there right as he hops into the TARDIS for the ‘5 minute’ trip. Its safe to say this is his phrase. Still don’t know how I feel about this. Not crazy about it just yet. And I got another Star Wars feel when the enter the Star Whales mouth (both A New Hope compactor scene and Empire Strikes Back meteor creature scene). And did they just NOT see the huge teeth in front of them when they landed? Ha. Moving along, I thought it was kind of exciting for find out who ‘Liz 10’ actually was and that she brought up references to previous Doctors and his experiences with her family. One thing that struck me as odd is that both the Doctor and ‘Liz 10’ introduced themselves in their first episode followed by saying “Basically….” Hmmm… Then we get a big brain and the line, “Normally its above the range of human hearing…the sound none of you wanted to hear.” A small nod to ‘The Planet of the Ood’. I cant help but feel like we keep getting reminders of ideas used in the past. It just feels weird to be seeing this many nods to old episodes whether intentional or not. I like the serious tones of the Doctor that you get throughout the episode. And then he explodes in seriousness at the end of the episode. The serious tones in which he speaks to Amy putting her (in his eyes) in her place really struck a chord for me.
For anyone who thinks that the Doctor’s companions are getting ‘dumber’ this episode proves that theory wrong in my opinion. Its here that you see the capacity that Amy truly holds as a companion. The bravery and courage as well as the intelligence needed to be a great companion. She was a kiss-a-gram but so what. She’s able to peace together the truth while making the connection between the Star Whale and the Doctor and saves the day. Give her credit and let her prove herself throughout the season. And I personally thought the warm embracing hug between the Doctor and Amy was a great moment. He’s been on his own for the past while and its here that I think he realizes that he can put trust in a companion again. And I like how the Doctor gently admits that he ran away a long time ago when he was scared. The phone ringing and the reactions to it again is another small nod. This time to Season 4 and the ‘Sontaran Stratagem’.
Winston Churchill phoning with the shadow of a dalek…. I like where this is going.
And I really like that we get to see the Star Whale at the end but ehn we see something else. The crack in space… So apparently this is what this season’s story arc is going to be about. Very much keeps in line of the RTD era and introducing the arc so early in the season.
I wont go into next weeks episode trailer but I’ll say that I am excited!