New Doctor Who review (lots of spoilers)
Fairly solid start for the new Doctor Who series. A couple rocky places.
Didn't care much for the new theme mix. I hope thye drop it quickly. Don't really like the new logo either, but, what can you do?
The crash of the TARDIS was well done, as was the introduction of the Doctor. This seems to have been one of the more sane regenerations, except for the whole food routine.
Matt Smith: Perfectly servicable. Getting used to his Doctor after David Tennant will be an adjustment. He doesn't have the same sort of manic energy as Tennant, which is fine. There were times when I got tired of Tennant constantly talking. His Doctor is definately coming across as a more alien, less angsty Doctor. Ths is a GOOD thing. His rather casual admission to Amy that he was inviting her along because he was lonely was something that we would have never seen from either Eccleston or Tennant. It was almost completely drama free. This also seems, so far, to be a somewhat less arrogant Doctor, although he does still like to show off a bit. He is also a little grumpier, which makes a nice change.
Karen Gillan: Stunning. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Lovely. I could go on with the adjectives, but I won't. You get the point that I am completely in love. The character is fun, and I like her back story. The whole 'leaving the day before her wedding' is rather cliche though. But that is more the fault of the writers. I liked the fact that she would argue with the Doctor, which reminded me somewhat of Donna, but not as abrasive. She was confrontational but not brash (witness, holding the Doctor hostage by shoving his tie in the car door and locking it.)(Don't get me wrong, I *liked* Donna.) I thought the 'kiss-o-gram' thing was pretty funny actually, although the implication of it was that it was something 'less-than-innocent'. Or maybe I just have a dirty mind.
Mind you, I felt really sad for little Amelia Pond. I think it would have been great to have a little girl as the companion for a change, and I think she would have been great. I liked the dynamic between her and the Doctor. It was a great relationship and rapport between them. A real family feel and a lot of warmth.
Story: Pretty straighforward, and actually pretty simple for a Steven Moffat story. Clever way of defeating the multi-form, but I think the impact of it was lessened somewhat by the Doctor feeling the need to CALL the Atraxi BACK to Earth, in order to tell them to stay AWAY from Earth. Yeah, I see the reason for it... technically. But I thought it seemed a little forced, in order to show how 'cool' the Doctor is. Taken in and of itself, the scene was fine. It just seemed unnecessary. The flashback to the past attempts to invade the earth was nicely done... Everyone caught the classic Sea Devil in the flashback, right? And then the chronicle of all the past Doctors culminating in Matt Smith stepping through and introducing himself in full costume for the first time was also nicely done. The Multiform was suitably creepy... looking like a cross between a ghost, an eel, and a lantern fish. The Atraxi were weird, but fun. There were some great lines in the story, and some nice nods to the past. Some favorite lines:
"I'm the Doctor. I'm worse than everyone's aunt. And I'm not going to introduce myself that way."
and of course
"Just for the scorecard, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, alien imprisoned and the earth saved from destruction, 20 minutes!... Who da' MAN?? Ok, I'm never saying that again."
Also, what a great cameo from Sir Patrick Moore. :) That ranks up there with Stephen Hawking appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Some of the running jokes were good too. I particularly liked how, for a change, everyone he met already knew the Doctor and recognized him from Amy's stories.
And did I notice a red velvet jacket being held by the nurse at the end, when he was trying to gather all the clothes the Doctor was stealing and discarding? I think I did.
Also, why do I already see hints of a story arc for the whole season? The cracks in space for one, but what was with the subtle (and not so subtle) hints at mythology? (The laptop brand was Myth, and the multiform mentioned the Pandorica).
TARDIS: The new TARDIS looks lovely. I never really warmed to the one in the Eccleston and Tennant eras. It always seem to be dark, cold, and uninviting. It always gave me the feeling like thy were travelling in an algae covered fish tank. This one is warm and bright. Not quite as bright as the classic era TARDIS, but certainly much warmer and comfortable that the previous one. The console doesn't look like its been *entirely* cobbled together this time, though there are some obvious 'additions' I like that the central column resembles one of those Galileo barometers. Also, it looked a lot like they've put the view screen back in, if the curious, giant, round thing by the door seems to suggest.
Trailer: Looks like a busy season... we see daleks in World War 2, Cybermen coming back from the dead, vampires, Weeping Angels, possibly the silurians/sea devils, Winston Churchhill, Vincent Van Gogh, River Song, lots of soldiers, and SPitfires firing lasers in a pitched space battle? Wow. And it ends up with... the Doctor firing a pistol?? (I'm going to assume that he's not shooting at a living thing.)
So.. in all, we're off to a good start.
Didn't care much for the new theme mix. I hope thye drop it quickly. Don't really like the new logo either, but, what can you do?
The crash of the TARDIS was well done, as was the introduction of the Doctor. This seems to have been one of the more sane regenerations, except for the whole food routine.
Matt Smith: Perfectly servicable. Getting used to his Doctor after David Tennant will be an adjustment. He doesn't have the same sort of manic energy as Tennant, which is fine. There were times when I got tired of Tennant constantly talking. His Doctor is definately coming across as a more alien, less angsty Doctor. Ths is a GOOD thing. His rather casual admission to Amy that he was inviting her along because he was lonely was something that we would have never seen from either Eccleston or Tennant. It was almost completely drama free. This also seems, so far, to be a somewhat less arrogant Doctor, although he does still like to show off a bit. He is also a little grumpier, which makes a nice change.
Karen Gillan: Stunning. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Lovely. I could go on with the adjectives, but I won't. You get the point that I am completely in love. The character is fun, and I like her back story. The whole 'leaving the day before her wedding' is rather cliche though. But that is more the fault of the writers. I liked the fact that she would argue with the Doctor, which reminded me somewhat of Donna, but not as abrasive. She was confrontational but not brash (witness, holding the Doctor hostage by shoving his tie in the car door and locking it.)(Don't get me wrong, I *liked* Donna.) I thought the 'kiss-o-gram' thing was pretty funny actually, although the implication of it was that it was something 'less-than-innocent'. Or maybe I just have a dirty mind.
Mind you, I felt really sad for little Amelia Pond. I think it would have been great to have a little girl as the companion for a change, and I think she would have been great. I liked the dynamic between her and the Doctor. It was a great relationship and rapport between them. A real family feel and a lot of warmth.
Story: Pretty straighforward, and actually pretty simple for a Steven Moffat story. Clever way of defeating the multi-form, but I think the impact of it was lessened somewhat by the Doctor feeling the need to CALL the Atraxi BACK to Earth, in order to tell them to stay AWAY from Earth. Yeah, I see the reason for it... technically. But I thought it seemed a little forced, in order to show how 'cool' the Doctor is. Taken in and of itself, the scene was fine. It just seemed unnecessary. The flashback to the past attempts to invade the earth was nicely done... Everyone caught the classic Sea Devil in the flashback, right? And then the chronicle of all the past Doctors culminating in Matt Smith stepping through and introducing himself in full costume for the first time was also nicely done. The Multiform was suitably creepy... looking like a cross between a ghost, an eel, and a lantern fish. The Atraxi were weird, but fun. There were some great lines in the story, and some nice nods to the past. Some favorite lines:
"I'm the Doctor. I'm worse than everyone's aunt. And I'm not going to introduce myself that way."
and of course
"Just for the scorecard, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, alien imprisoned and the earth saved from destruction, 20 minutes!... Who da' MAN?? Ok, I'm never saying that again."
Also, what a great cameo from Sir Patrick Moore. :) That ranks up there with Stephen Hawking appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Some of the running jokes were good too. I particularly liked how, for a change, everyone he met already knew the Doctor and recognized him from Amy's stories.
And did I notice a red velvet jacket being held by the nurse at the end, when he was trying to gather all the clothes the Doctor was stealing and discarding? I think I did.
Also, why do I already see hints of a story arc for the whole season? The cracks in space for one, but what was with the subtle (and not so subtle) hints at mythology? (The laptop brand was Myth, and the multiform mentioned the Pandorica).
TARDIS: The new TARDIS looks lovely. I never really warmed to the one in the Eccleston and Tennant eras. It always seem to be dark, cold, and uninviting. It always gave me the feeling like thy were travelling in an algae covered fish tank. This one is warm and bright. Not quite as bright as the classic era TARDIS, but certainly much warmer and comfortable that the previous one. The console doesn't look like its been *entirely* cobbled together this time, though there are some obvious 'additions' I like that the central column resembles one of those Galileo barometers. Also, it looked a lot like they've put the view screen back in, if the curious, giant, round thing by the door seems to suggest.
Trailer: Looks like a busy season... we see daleks in World War 2, Cybermen coming back from the dead, vampires, Weeping Angels, possibly the silurians/sea devils, Winston Churchhill, Vincent Van Gogh, River Song, lots of soldiers, and SPitfires firing lasers in a pitched space battle? Wow. And it ends up with... the Doctor firing a pistol?? (I'm going to assume that he's not shooting at a living thing.)
So.. in all, we're off to a good start.