Caught up on Doctor Who...
About a week ago today I caught up with Doctor Who (it took me about 2 months or so in all), and I've been meaning to post here since about my thoughts on the specials and season 5...
The Specials:
I wasn't too impressed with the specials on the whole--once it was clear that the Next Doctor wasn't actually the Doctor I found the Christmas one to be pretty boring (and the Cyberking thing was so cheesy!), and I'd say it was my least favorite Christmas special, but then "The End of Time Part 1" was really awful, the whole time I sat there going, "WTF?" as I watched. I didn't like "The Waters of Mars" so much either, as I've said before, I really hate the "humans in the future stuck on a space station or spaceship with something horrible coming after them one by one" scenarios, there's a reason I didn't enjoy "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" and "42" either...plus the end didn't make so much sense to me. In all, I think "Planet of the Dead" was actually my favorite special that year, I just found it to be SO much fun to watch, loved Michelle Ryan (I miss her from Merlin!), loved the "sunglasses" (lol), loved UNIT and the geeky fanboy who "loved" the Doctor (that scene at the end where he's all "I LOVE YOU!" was just comic gold!)...a great little romp! And the other people on the bus were all likeable.
As for "The End of Time Part 2," I definitely liked it better than the first part, though I'm still not sure how I like it on the whole. Like the Donna cop-out, he's all "Oh no she'll burst into flames if she remembers! But oh wait, actually she'll just get knocked unconscious and still forget..."? But it certainly had some brilliant moments, like
""Worst rescue ever!"
"There's an old earth saying, Captain, a phrase of great power and wisdom a consolation to the soul in great times of need."
"Whats that then?"
"ALLONS-Y!" (so happy to get one last epic "Allons-y!", "Geronimo!" just isn't the same)
And then the thing with Wilfred at the end (Oh Wilfred! Love him), and the Doctor going back and visiting all of his old companions again...maybe it was a little too drawn out (they probably could have cut Verity Newman, though it was interesting, and perhaps Sarah Jane), but whatever I'm sentimental, I liked it! I loved seeing Donna finally get to walk down the aisle to a man she loves (the trip she was interrupted from making the first time we meet her--coming full circle!), I liked seeing Martha with Mickey (it's kind of random and strange, but also so intriguing to me! I just love thinking about the conversations they'd have, these two "left behind," victims of D/R's epic romance...and I'm glad they could find happiness and fulfillment), I loved the scene with Jack and Alonso (hello George, again!), and most of all, I adored this beautiful scene:
"What year is this?"
"Blimey, how much have you had? 2005, January the 1st."
"2005? Tell you what...I bet you're going to have a really great year!"
"Yeah? See ya!"
This was definitely my favorite scene of the special, it's just so fitting, the way it all comes round full circle, him seeing her before they first met, the "you're going to have a really great year" followed by her very true "see ya!", and the way the lovely music swells right then, with the snow...he did indeed save the best for last! :) Yes, she looks much older, but still...I wasn't sure how they were going to include her, what with her being in the parallel universe, but I thought this was the perfect way to do it. I'm going to miss Rose and all the other old companions....
Season 5:
I was very curious to see season 5, with the new Doctor and companion and show runner and everything. It took me a little while to get into it, and I still am not loving it as much as the RTD era, but in the end I liked it well enough! :) I really didn't like Amy much (I felt like she didn't have much of a personality, and hated her treatment of Rory) until "Amy's Choice", but I feel this is the episode where everything began to really click for me at last (though I did enjoy the premiere too, loved the encounter when Amy was a kid). My favorite episode of the season was definitely "The Lodger," this is the one that made me really love Eleven, he was just brilliant in this one! :p Other favorites are "The Beast Below" and "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" (though as always I found the finale a little confusing!). My least favorite episodes were "The Victory of the Daleks" (though I did squee at seeing the Cabinet War Rooms I had visited, and amused myself imagining 11/Amy encountering 9/Rose/Jack while in Blitz-era London!) and "The Time of the Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" (I found it really boring and I felt like it ruined the WA mythology with all the retcons about looking them in the eyes, and the image thing, and them suddenly snapping necks instead of being "the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely", and I didn't like River in it, though more on that below).
I don't quite like his doctor as much as DT's and CE's past ones, but I do think Matt Smith does a great job of seeming older than he really is, and I love his whole "Bow ties are cool" shtick (and the fez thing, how dare they take the fez away from him!). :) He can be very adorable...Rory is perhaps my favorite of the new TARDIS team, he is just so sweet and cute and amazing...I'm not sure Amy deserves him (I still can't believe the way she was kissing the Doctor and stuff and trying to jump his bones the night before her wedding to this amazing man who loves her so much! Though then again I suppose she kisses other man all the time, with a job like being a "kissogram"...:s), but they are lovely together, and I'm glad that I still have a pairing to focus my shipping energies on (lol) that doesn't involve the Doctor. I like his bond with Amy, but it feels a little IDK, paternalistic to me, like he's a dad to her, maybe because they met when she was a child. And I'm just not feeling the Doctor/River Song thing...I found her okay in season 4, then really smug and annoying in the Weeping Angel two-parter, though better in the finale two-parter. I still hope she doesn't turn out to be his future wife or something...
Speaking of companions, I do wish though that SOMEONE from the RTD era (besides River) could come back...like what about Jack, he was also a Moffat creation initially, and it'd be so fun to see him interacting with this new incarnation! (Especially since he had seen 9 as well as 10). Hell, it'd be neat to see Sally again, even...Though I know she won't be coming back, obviously, I did love this little snippet of Rose with 10 during the mind meld in "The Lodger"! ;)
So she has technically been seen in all 5 seasons (counting the flashback clip in "Utopia" in season 3)...:p
So in short, I liked season 5 by the end (I'm very intrigued about the creepy "Silence will fall" voice, it's interesting to have a multi-season arc now), and I look forward to the Christmas special and season 6 (I wonder what the cliffhanger midseason will be!), and hope I will come to love the new team and all even more. I do wish though that they hadn't changed EVERYTHING this season--I mean, I know there's a new showrunner, but in addition to did there have to be a new (horrible) opening theme song, credits, logo, TARDIS exterior and interior, AND a new sonic screwdriver? O_o Oh well...
Oh and I'd love to see some kind of "Five Doctors" special again (or 2 or 3 or however many have you! Could be a CIN special like "Time Crash") in which perhaps 10 or 9 (if he were willing) could come back and interact with 11...
I'm very glad I was able to catch up before I left...I only wish I had started watching this sooner! :) And I still need to free up some space for an icon with 10 in it....
The Specials:
I wasn't too impressed with the specials on the whole--once it was clear that the Next Doctor wasn't actually the Doctor I found the Christmas one to be pretty boring (and the Cyberking thing was so cheesy!), and I'd say it was my least favorite Christmas special, but then "The End of Time Part 1" was really awful, the whole time I sat there going, "WTF?" as I watched. I didn't like "The Waters of Mars" so much either, as I've said before, I really hate the "humans in the future stuck on a space station or spaceship with something horrible coming after them one by one" scenarios, there's a reason I didn't enjoy "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" and "42" either...plus the end didn't make so much sense to me. In all, I think "Planet of the Dead" was actually my favorite special that year, I just found it to be SO much fun to watch, loved Michelle Ryan (I miss her from Merlin!), loved the "sunglasses" (lol), loved UNIT and the geeky fanboy who "loved" the Doctor (that scene at the end where he's all "I LOVE YOU!" was just comic gold!)...a great little romp! And the other people on the bus were all likeable.
As for "The End of Time Part 2," I definitely liked it better than the first part, though I'm still not sure how I like it on the whole. Like the Donna cop-out, he's all "Oh no she'll burst into flames if she remembers! But oh wait, actually she'll just get knocked unconscious and still forget..."? But it certainly had some brilliant moments, like
""Worst rescue ever!"
"There's an old earth saying, Captain, a phrase of great power and wisdom a consolation to the soul in great times of need."
"Whats that then?"
"ALLONS-Y!" (so happy to get one last epic "Allons-y!", "Geronimo!" just isn't the same)
And then the thing with Wilfred at the end (Oh Wilfred! Love him), and the Doctor going back and visiting all of his old companions again...maybe it was a little too drawn out (they probably could have cut Verity Newman, though it was interesting, and perhaps Sarah Jane), but whatever I'm sentimental, I liked it! I loved seeing Donna finally get to walk down the aisle to a man she loves (the trip she was interrupted from making the first time we meet her--coming full circle!), I liked seeing Martha with Mickey (it's kind of random and strange, but also so intriguing to me! I just love thinking about the conversations they'd have, these two "left behind," victims of D/R's epic romance...and I'm glad they could find happiness and fulfillment), I loved the scene with Jack and Alonso (hello George, again!), and most of all, I adored this beautiful scene:
"What year is this?"
"Blimey, how much have you had? 2005, January the 1st."
"2005? Tell you what...I bet you're going to have a really great year!"
"Yeah? See ya!"
This was definitely my favorite scene of the special, it's just so fitting, the way it all comes round full circle, him seeing her before they first met, the "you're going to have a really great year" followed by her very true "see ya!", and the way the lovely music swells right then, with the snow...he did indeed save the best for last! :) Yes, she looks much older, but still...I wasn't sure how they were going to include her, what with her being in the parallel universe, but I thought this was the perfect way to do it. I'm going to miss Rose and all the other old companions....
Season 5:
I was very curious to see season 5, with the new Doctor and companion and show runner and everything. It took me a little while to get into it, and I still am not loving it as much as the RTD era, but in the end I liked it well enough! :) I really didn't like Amy much (I felt like she didn't have much of a personality, and hated her treatment of Rory) until "Amy's Choice", but I feel this is the episode where everything began to really click for me at last (though I did enjoy the premiere too, loved the encounter when Amy was a kid). My favorite episode of the season was definitely "The Lodger," this is the one that made me really love Eleven, he was just brilliant in this one! :p Other favorites are "The Beast Below" and "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" (though as always I found the finale a little confusing!). My least favorite episodes were "The Victory of the Daleks" (though I did squee at seeing the Cabinet War Rooms I had visited, and amused myself imagining 11/Amy encountering 9/Rose/Jack while in Blitz-era London!) and "The Time of the Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" (I found it really boring and I felt like it ruined the WA mythology with all the retcons about looking them in the eyes, and the image thing, and them suddenly snapping necks instead of being "the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely", and I didn't like River in it, though more on that below).
I don't quite like his doctor as much as DT's and CE's past ones, but I do think Matt Smith does a great job of seeming older than he really is, and I love his whole "Bow ties are cool" shtick (and the fez thing, how dare they take the fez away from him!). :) He can be very adorable...Rory is perhaps my favorite of the new TARDIS team, he is just so sweet and cute and amazing...I'm not sure Amy deserves him (I still can't believe the way she was kissing the Doctor and stuff and trying to jump his bones the night before her wedding to this amazing man who loves her so much! Though then again I suppose she kisses other man all the time, with a job like being a "kissogram"...:s), but they are lovely together, and I'm glad that I still have a pairing to focus my shipping energies on (lol) that doesn't involve the Doctor. I like his bond with Amy, but it feels a little IDK, paternalistic to me, like he's a dad to her, maybe because they met when she was a child. And I'm just not feeling the Doctor/River Song thing...I found her okay in season 4, then really smug and annoying in the Weeping Angel two-parter, though better in the finale two-parter. I still hope she doesn't turn out to be his future wife or something...
Speaking of companions, I do wish though that SOMEONE from the RTD era (besides River) could come back...like what about Jack, he was also a Moffat creation initially, and it'd be so fun to see him interacting with this new incarnation! (Especially since he had seen 9 as well as 10). Hell, it'd be neat to see Sally again, even...Though I know she won't be coming back, obviously, I did love this little snippet of Rose with 10 during the mind meld in "The Lodger"! ;)
So she has technically been seen in all 5 seasons (counting the flashback clip in "Utopia" in season 3)...:p
So in short, I liked season 5 by the end (I'm very intrigued about the creepy "Silence will fall" voice, it's interesting to have a multi-season arc now), and I look forward to the Christmas special and season 6 (I wonder what the cliffhanger midseason will be!), and hope I will come to love the new team and all even more. I do wish though that they hadn't changed EVERYTHING this season--I mean, I know there's a new showrunner, but in addition to did there have to be a new (horrible) opening theme song, credits, logo, TARDIS exterior and interior, AND a new sonic screwdriver? O_o Oh well...
Oh and I'd love to see some kind of "Five Doctors" special again (or 2 or 3 or however many have you! Could be a CIN special like "Time Crash") in which perhaps 10 or 9 (if he were willing) could come back and interact with 11...
I'm very glad I was able to catch up before I left...I only wish I had started watching this sooner! :) And I still need to free up some space for an icon with 10 in it....