Musings on Doctor Who, with a Digression to Musings on Early-70s Bowie
Okay, caught up on Doctor Who now; we got the Blu-Ray box set of all four specials yesterday* and watched them all last night. I'm guessing there's no need for a cut, as I was the Last of the Spoilable.
Waters of Mars was a good story, weakened by at-times ridiculous tone. I liked the idea of the Last Time Lord thing (and lack of companion) bringing about a degree of megalomania that was a danger--I hoped, once I saw the Time Lords, that they'd NOT be evil and stay around, so he'd get over the I am the God of Time thing through being policed, through NOT being that thing. Good story, great heroine, silliness, set up for finale.
I think they wrote a Doctor who (heh) needed to go--he almost *should* have died, dare I say. He was becoming arrogant--cf. Waters of Mars, ignoring the Ood summons--and needed a check, and hopefully there is enough of a change with the new self (plus enough of a break with the past life by going around and saying goodbye) that that *has* been checked, but he was verging on Bad Rogue Time Lord, not trying to save the world/universe/whatever, but trying to get what he wants. So, I liked the developmental (degenerative?) arc between Waters of Mars and End of Time (that was hinted at, as I recall, even in The Next Doctor and The Jewel Thief on the Bus, but I'd have to go back to be sure).
I forgot all about Sam Tyler (we're between series one and two of Life on Mars) within a few minutes of The Matster, whom I adore as a villain, but I didn't like his bit of redemption at the end. I thought the number of plans for what turned out to be the correctly chosen random future possibility was a bit far-fetched, but hell, I don't watch Doctor Who for realism.
They were fun, and as always, better than anything on American TV, and I enjoyed them immensely, but I look forward to a regular season, not disparate and over-anticipated "specials" that aren't necessarily special topics or very special episodes or special occasions.
What does it say about me that my immediate thought with Bowie as the name of the Mars base wasn't Life on Mars but Space Oddity? ("your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, can you hear me Major Tom") Of course, I dislike the heavy-handedness of "it's like I'm on a different planet" as an explanation for LoM and instead immediately think of the "take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy" as the reason for the title, for *that* being The Song. I guess I never think of "Life on Mars" as being part of the Bowie outer space arc, and think of it as being a song as well as an album-- I <3 Hunky Dory, it's actually my favorite Bowie album, even more than Ziggy Stardust, and has been for over 25 years--that explains the early 1970s.
*Borders coupon, plus small discount already in place, so $43 and something including tax**
**better deal than just the two new ones on Blu-Ray, as coupon was good for one item***
***plus the box set is the size of two eps in boxes, and DVD space is somewhat of a premium****
****plus now I can sell the two specials we had and use proceeds to buy Classic Who, which we've been watching a lot of lately.
Waters of Mars was a good story, weakened by at-times ridiculous tone. I liked the idea of the Last Time Lord thing (and lack of companion) bringing about a degree of megalomania that was a danger--I hoped, once I saw the Time Lords, that they'd NOT be evil and stay around, so he'd get over the I am the God of Time thing through being policed, through NOT being that thing. Good story, great heroine, silliness, set up for finale.
I think they wrote a Doctor who (heh) needed to go--he almost *should* have died, dare I say. He was becoming arrogant--cf. Waters of Mars, ignoring the Ood summons--and needed a check, and hopefully there is enough of a change with the new self (plus enough of a break with the past life by going around and saying goodbye) that that *has* been checked, but he was verging on Bad Rogue Time Lord, not trying to save the world/universe/whatever, but trying to get what he wants. So, I liked the developmental (degenerative?) arc between Waters of Mars and End of Time (that was hinted at, as I recall, even in The Next Doctor and The Jewel Thief on the Bus, but I'd have to go back to be sure).
I forgot all about Sam Tyler (we're between series one and two of Life on Mars) within a few minutes of The Matster, whom I adore as a villain, but I didn't like his bit of redemption at the end. I thought the number of plans for what turned out to be the correctly chosen random future possibility was a bit far-fetched, but hell, I don't watch Doctor Who for realism.
They were fun, and as always, better than anything on American TV, and I enjoyed them immensely, but I look forward to a regular season, not disparate and over-anticipated "specials" that aren't necessarily special topics or very special episodes or special occasions.
What does it say about me that my immediate thought with Bowie as the name of the Mars base wasn't Life on Mars but Space Oddity? ("your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, can you hear me Major Tom") Of course, I dislike the heavy-handedness of "it's like I'm on a different planet" as an explanation for LoM and instead immediately think of the "take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy" as the reason for the title, for *that* being The Song. I guess I never think of "Life on Mars" as being part of the Bowie outer space arc, and think of it as being a song as well as an album-- I <3 Hunky Dory, it's actually my favorite Bowie album, even more than Ziggy Stardust, and has been for over 25 years--that explains the early 1970s.
*Borders coupon, plus small discount already in place, so $43 and something including tax**
**better deal than just the two new ones on Blu-Ray, as coupon was good for one item***
***plus the box set is the size of two eps in boxes, and DVD space is somewhat of a premium****
****plus now I can sell the two specials we had and use proceeds to buy Classic Who, which we've been watching a lot of lately.