Tooth and Claw
And so the Who blogging continues at a pace not matched by last year's series, a phenomenon heightened by the fact that this series has given me more critical and individual thoughts than just 'squee', and in many ways connected to the increased amount of things I'm procrastinating about right now. Cut for spoilers.
Oh, go on then - a big return to form. A big old meaty return to form. Unlike last week's episode, which almost choked on the amount of nonsense it had to fit in, this week's had a ruthlessly simple and linear plot. In fact, maybe there weren't enough twists - I'd have liked to see someone infected by the Wolf (well, apart from Princess Anne!), but that's just a nitpick.
While we're on the subject of nitpicks, I was impressed by Queen Victoria for the most part, due in no small part to Pauline Collins' acting but also due to the pleasant surprise I felt when I realized Russell T Davies had written a conservative Christian character who didn't talk like she'd beamed down from Planet Spaz. Of course, they ruined it at the end with her "Teh Docter is a witches!11!!" speech, but for the most part they kept those plates spinning.
I was impressed that Rose knew what the Koh-i-Noor was, too. And of course I knew about the curse; what kind of shitty Fortean do you think I am?
Some nice nods to Alien, too. The arrogant hunting fellow was dragged up to the roof a la Harry Dean Stanton, and the Doctor's appraisal of the werewolf's beauty reminded me of Ash's admiration for the Alien. Nothing wrong with that - I'd distrust a sci-fi/horror writer who didn't love Alien.
Not much to say about it, really - it was a ruthlessly simple thriller runaround that had me fair beaming throughout. I liked that The Curse Of Rose didn't strike this time, and the servant girl she befriended remained alive to the end. In fact, as with last week, Rose and Billie impressed me greatly. There's such a chemistry between Rose and the Tenth Doctor that helps me cope with the fact that I'm still not sure I like him - he was fun this week, but it'll take a lot to erase 'New Earth' from his debit column. I've never actively disliked the Doctor before, and I did in 'New Earth'. It's not a feeling I want to repeat.
I think we should keep Russell writing the historical episodes. No-one says "chav" in these ones.
In other television news, Jimmy McGovern's The Street is shaping up nicely, with a second episode starring Jim Broadbent that should cause the same mass shift in public consciousness as Cathy Come Home, though it probably won't. Its ruthlessly angry attitude towards the current pension laws softened a bit at the end, but for the other fifty minutes it put you through a wringer like nothing you've seen since Nate and Brenda split up in Six Feet Under.
One thing that I did like about the preceding episode was that it felt pleasingly old-fashioned in the modern TV landscape - no camera tricks, no dream sequences, no funny incidental music. The second episode did have a little of each of those, but it was necessary and fully integrated into the storyline. The middle section, set in a lunatic asylum, showed that McGovern has a better grasp of structure and eye for experiments which pay off than any TV writer currently working.
A few light observations to finish off; I'd like to hear the unexpurgated version of what the wannabe suicide bomber in the asylum was saying. Some of his targets sounded delicious, like the one that ended with "...and now he's working with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the sellout bastard!" Gosh, who could that be? Also, Jane Horrocks got second billing in this episode despite only appearing in one scene. I would therefore like to have Jane Horrocks's agent. Ah, what the hell - you could cut that sentence before the apostrophe and it would still make sense.
Oh, go on then - a big return to form. A big old meaty return to form. Unlike last week's episode, which almost choked on the amount of nonsense it had to fit in, this week's had a ruthlessly simple and linear plot. In fact, maybe there weren't enough twists - I'd have liked to see someone infected by the Wolf (well, apart from Princess Anne!), but that's just a nitpick.
While we're on the subject of nitpicks, I was impressed by Queen Victoria for the most part, due in no small part to Pauline Collins' acting but also due to the pleasant surprise I felt when I realized Russell T Davies had written a conservative Christian character who didn't talk like she'd beamed down from Planet Spaz. Of course, they ruined it at the end with her "Teh Docter is a witches!11!!" speech, but for the most part they kept those plates spinning.
I was impressed that Rose knew what the Koh-i-Noor was, too. And of course I knew about the curse; what kind of shitty Fortean do you think I am?
Some nice nods to Alien, too. The arrogant hunting fellow was dragged up to the roof a la Harry Dean Stanton, and the Doctor's appraisal of the werewolf's beauty reminded me of Ash's admiration for the Alien. Nothing wrong with that - I'd distrust a sci-fi/horror writer who didn't love Alien.
Not much to say about it, really - it was a ruthlessly simple thriller runaround that had me fair beaming throughout. I liked that The Curse Of Rose didn't strike this time, and the servant girl she befriended remained alive to the end. In fact, as with last week, Rose and Billie impressed me greatly. There's such a chemistry between Rose and the Tenth Doctor that helps me cope with the fact that I'm still not sure I like him - he was fun this week, but it'll take a lot to erase 'New Earth' from his debit column. I've never actively disliked the Doctor before, and I did in 'New Earth'. It's not a feeling I want to repeat.
I think we should keep Russell writing the historical episodes. No-one says "chav" in these ones.
In other television news, Jimmy McGovern's The Street is shaping up nicely, with a second episode starring Jim Broadbent that should cause the same mass shift in public consciousness as Cathy Come Home, though it probably won't. Its ruthlessly angry attitude towards the current pension laws softened a bit at the end, but for the other fifty minutes it put you through a wringer like nothing you've seen since Nate and Brenda split up in Six Feet Under.
One thing that I did like about the preceding episode was that it felt pleasingly old-fashioned in the modern TV landscape - no camera tricks, no dream sequences, no funny incidental music. The second episode did have a little of each of those, but it was necessary and fully integrated into the storyline. The middle section, set in a lunatic asylum, showed that McGovern has a better grasp of structure and eye for experiments which pay off than any TV writer currently working.
A few light observations to finish off; I'd like to hear the unexpurgated version of what the wannabe suicide bomber in the asylum was saying. Some of his targets sounded delicious, like the one that ended with "...and now he's working with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the sellout bastard!" Gosh, who could that be? Also, Jane Horrocks got second billing in this episode despite only appearing in one scene. I would therefore like to have Jane Horrocks's agent. Ah, what the hell - you could cut that sentence before the apostrophe and it would still make sense.