Doctor Who!!! (New Earth)
Oh my goodness!
This week has slipped by so quickly, as indeed has this month, and this year, and before I knew it it was time for new Doctor Who. *g* The world is good today. I've only just finished watching it, as I had a church service to sing at - more on that later - but oh, it was worth the wait. Because Doctor! And, and, Doctor-y-ness! *passes out from the squee*
The first thing that struck me about it was the music. It jarred. Rather sad, as up until now I've loved the new series music. Particularly in Dalek (and PoTW, Father's Day ... I could go on, probably, but those are the ones which spring to mind), there has been some beautiful music in recent Doctor Who. But tonight, just for the start of the episode, the music was too obvious; too loud, too obtrusive, and it really distracted from the acting instead of adding to it. Also, they re-used the theme from the end of The Christmas Invasion; a theme which I loved in that context, but which didn't fit so well here, I thought. (And no, I don't have that good a memory, but I ended up watching the end of TCI because I had to faff around rewinding the tape to find New Earth.)
But after the credits, I didn't particularly notice the music, which is good.
And all was good. Things I particularly loved: the Doctor, saying 'New New New ... New York'. It was adorable, his air of distracted concentration while he blundered through 15 repetitions of the word new. (Or 14, I can't work it out...) And hospitals give him the creeps! *pets* (Although after the TVM, I'm not surprised.)
Also, Cassandra: oh so amusing. 'I'm a chav!' Heh. (Though to be fair, Rose has more taste than that!) And 'it's like living inside a bouncy castle! Oh, I just loved the whole sequence with her appreciation of Rose's, um, assets; and then the whole repetition with the Doctor's body. 'So many parts ... and so unused...' or something like that. *g* David Tennant's acting of Cassandra was brilliant, and that whole sequence had me giggling.
In fact, everyone who played Cassandra was great. It was so clear to see the character despite all the different bodies and actors, even for the few seconds in the flesh-person it was so very her. And also great was seeing Cassandra developed a bit more. For a moment I did wonder why on Earth (or should that be New Earth?) she was helping the Doctor, but it all cleared up when it turned out it was for money. I should have guessed, shouldn't I?
I loved the fact that the Doctor did sort of try to help Cassandra, even in a small way. Even after his non-negotiable and somewhat ruthless eviction of her from Rose's body - don't get me wrong, it was good, but undeniably ruthless - 'not my problem' - he makes everything his problem, he just can't not help people, can he? And Cassandra's death, finally. I liked the fact that she finally died. Everything has its time, and everything dies. A sort of nice referral to Nine, in a way, too. It was good to see Cassandra's final acceptance of death, and also to see her earlier self's reaction to "Chip"'s death. Really well done, and does anyone else now want to see Cassandra/Cassandra-in-Chip fic written? I did not just say that...
Other things: I didn't particularly like the Face of Boe (sp.?). It just seemed a little gratuitous and had no relevance to the episode; an appearance for the sake of throwing in a previously seen character, and to inject an air of mystery. But frankly, the air of mystery was a little too obvious, and perhaps a little too early in the series, I think. Personally, I'd prefer to see the Doctor and Rose getting used to the new regeneration a little more before we leap into season arcing storylines. But ah well, it will be interesting to see where it leads.
I noticed the Doctor's accent again, and am still filled with sadness that he's not using his native Scottish accent, because it is beautiful. And on that note, I cannot wait for next week! But still, after reading an interview with RTD, apparently his accent is supposed to be similar to Rose's because of the effect she's had on him. And I could see that a little more this episode; there was one moment in particular, somewhere near the beginning, where he really did sound a lot like her, and it was interesting.
And finally, how could I forget: the Kiss. Not shippy, really, and I cannot make up my mind whether I'm relived or disappointed. Hm. It was interesting though, and could lead to interesting places. That's twice now that the Doctor and Rose have kissed while she hasn't been quite all there, rather unfair for poor Rose. I did love the Doctor's rather stunned reaction; his dazed expression and squeaky voice. *g*
And now I'm going to have to go and re-watch the whole thing (though probably not straight away), looking out in particular for allusions to or view of The Doctor, Rose, or Cassandra in Chip's body in the first scene with Cassandra. 'Cos I'm geeky like that. *g*
I have probably missed mentioning something, so don't be surprised if it turns up again.
Other than that, yes, I have been to church today, again. It goes rather crazy around important times of year, what with choir practice, and singing in extra services, and going to some extra services even when not singing in them, I end up feeling like I live in church. Yesterday of course was Good Friday, which meant an hour long rehearsal (the anthem for tomorrow is wacked out crazy and needs practice! not to mention yesterday's two anthems) plus an hour's service. I am only glad that as part of the choir I only had to go to the last hour of the service - the Good Friday service is 3 hours long, for obvious reasons, but I just cannot concentrate that long unless it's a really good service. And yesterday's, sadly, wasn't. Ah well.
This morning we had another rehearsal, and this evening the Easter Vigil service. Rather odd, I've never been to Easter Vigil before, but it was pretty good. More thought provoking than yesterday's, despite its length - it started at 7:30pm in the North Transept, where we sat in dark for 3/4 of an hour listening to the clergy taking it in turns to do readings ("Who told thou that thou wast naked?!" except sadly not the King James version), then we all processed out through the side door, and lit the Easter candle from a big burning goodness-knows-what outside. We precessed processed (Da? atoms precess, people process?) into the church, where the acolytes candles were lit (exciting, we don't normally have acolytes, but someone has to carry the extra candles), and then finally our candles were lit once we reached the centre of the church. I stood on my robe trying to get back into the choir stalls, which is not good when carrying a lit candle. Oh no. Anyway, nothing was burnt, and the rest of the service was fairly normal Communion.
Tomorrow, my mother has decided she would like to go to the sunrise service. *quakes in fear* While I love the idea, the service is at 6am at the top of the Worcestershire Beacon. This means getting up at around 4am to be there in time. Oh my goodness. *fear* Actually, I'm considering getting up even earlier so I can wash my hair, nutter that I am.
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow evening's service, as long as my voice reappears a little. As well as the anthem, which is nifty enough, the canticles we're doing as Dyson in D, which are fab, and Radcliffe responses, which are one of my favourites. So all in all, all is well with the world, with one obvious exception, and that will be somewhat rectified in just a little over a week. *g*
ETA: And you know what, in all that squee I totally failed to address the actual storyline. Which, um, kind of says a bit about it really. To be honest, in the episode it was the characterisation and the interaction betweed said characters which really made it for me. The general idea was good, but I have a few quibbles in that it seemed to be whizzed through rather fast, and also, the curing of the flesh-people was ... dubious. But. I still like the ep. *g*
This week has slipped by so quickly, as indeed has this month, and this year, and before I knew it it was time for new Doctor Who. *g* The world is good today. I've only just finished watching it, as I had a church service to sing at - more on that later - but oh, it was worth the wait. Because Doctor! And, and, Doctor-y-ness! *passes out from the squee*
The first thing that struck me about it was the music. It jarred. Rather sad, as up until now I've loved the new series music. Particularly in Dalek (and PoTW, Father's Day ... I could go on, probably, but those are the ones which spring to mind), there has been some beautiful music in recent Doctor Who. But tonight, just for the start of the episode, the music was too obvious; too loud, too obtrusive, and it really distracted from the acting instead of adding to it. Also, they re-used the theme from the end of The Christmas Invasion; a theme which I loved in that context, but which didn't fit so well here, I thought. (And no, I don't have that good a memory, but I ended up watching the end of TCI because I had to faff around rewinding the tape to find New Earth.)
But after the credits, I didn't particularly notice the music, which is good.
And all was good. Things I particularly loved: the Doctor, saying 'New New New ... New York'. It was adorable, his air of distracted concentration while he blundered through 15 repetitions of the word new. (Or 14, I can't work it out...) And hospitals give him the creeps! *pets* (Although after the TVM, I'm not surprised.)
Also, Cassandra: oh so amusing. 'I'm a chav!' Heh. (Though to be fair, Rose has more taste than that!) And 'it's like living inside a bouncy castle! Oh, I just loved the whole sequence with her appreciation of Rose's, um, assets; and then the whole repetition with the Doctor's body. 'So many parts ... and so unused...' or something like that. *g* David Tennant's acting of Cassandra was brilliant, and that whole sequence had me giggling.
In fact, everyone who played Cassandra was great. It was so clear to see the character despite all the different bodies and actors, even for the few seconds in the flesh-person it was so very her. And also great was seeing Cassandra developed a bit more. For a moment I did wonder why on Earth (or should that be New Earth?) she was helping the Doctor, but it all cleared up when it turned out it was for money. I should have guessed, shouldn't I?
I loved the fact that the Doctor did sort of try to help Cassandra, even in a small way. Even after his non-negotiable and somewhat ruthless eviction of her from Rose's body - don't get me wrong, it was good, but undeniably ruthless - 'not my problem' - he makes everything his problem, he just can't not help people, can he? And Cassandra's death, finally. I liked the fact that she finally died. Everything has its time, and everything dies. A sort of nice referral to Nine, in a way, too. It was good to see Cassandra's final acceptance of death, and also to see her earlier self's reaction to "Chip"'s death. Really well done, and does anyone else now want to see Cassandra/Cassandra-in-Chip fic written? I did not just say that...
Other things: I didn't particularly like the Face of Boe (sp.?). It just seemed a little gratuitous and had no relevance to the episode; an appearance for the sake of throwing in a previously seen character, and to inject an air of mystery. But frankly, the air of mystery was a little too obvious, and perhaps a little too early in the series, I think. Personally, I'd prefer to see the Doctor and Rose getting used to the new regeneration a little more before we leap into season arcing storylines. But ah well, it will be interesting to see where it leads.
I noticed the Doctor's accent again, and am still filled with sadness that he's not using his native Scottish accent, because it is beautiful. And on that note, I cannot wait for next week! But still, after reading an interview with RTD, apparently his accent is supposed to be similar to Rose's because of the effect she's had on him. And I could see that a little more this episode; there was one moment in particular, somewhere near the beginning, where he really did sound a lot like her, and it was interesting.
And finally, how could I forget: the Kiss. Not shippy, really, and I cannot make up my mind whether I'm relived or disappointed. Hm. It was interesting though, and could lead to interesting places. That's twice now that the Doctor and Rose have kissed while she hasn't been quite all there, rather unfair for poor Rose. I did love the Doctor's rather stunned reaction; his dazed expression and squeaky voice. *g*
And now I'm going to have to go and re-watch the whole thing (though probably not straight away), looking out in particular for allusions to or view of The Doctor, Rose, or Cassandra in Chip's body in the first scene with Cassandra. 'Cos I'm geeky like that. *g*
I have probably missed mentioning something, so don't be surprised if it turns up again.
Other than that, yes, I have been to church today, again. It goes rather crazy around important times of year, what with choir practice, and singing in extra services, and going to some extra services even when not singing in them, I end up feeling like I live in church. Yesterday of course was Good Friday, which meant an hour long rehearsal (the anthem for tomorrow is wacked out crazy and needs practice! not to mention yesterday's two anthems) plus an hour's service. I am only glad that as part of the choir I only had to go to the last hour of the service - the Good Friday service is 3 hours long, for obvious reasons, but I just cannot concentrate that long unless it's a really good service. And yesterday's, sadly, wasn't. Ah well.
This morning we had another rehearsal, and this evening the Easter Vigil service. Rather odd, I've never been to Easter Vigil before, but it was pretty good. More thought provoking than yesterday's, despite its length - it started at 7:30pm in the North Transept, where we sat in dark for 3/4 of an hour listening to the clergy taking it in turns to do readings ("Who told thou that thou wast naked?!" except sadly not the King James version), then we all processed out through the side door, and lit the Easter candle from a big burning goodness-knows-what outside. We precessed processed (Da? atoms precess, people process?) into the church, where the acolytes candles were lit (exciting, we don't normally have acolytes, but someone has to carry the extra candles), and then finally our candles were lit once we reached the centre of the church. I stood on my robe trying to get back into the choir stalls, which is not good when carrying a lit candle. Oh no. Anyway, nothing was burnt, and the rest of the service was fairly normal Communion.
Tomorrow, my mother has decided she would like to go to the sunrise service. *quakes in fear* While I love the idea, the service is at 6am at the top of the Worcestershire Beacon. This means getting up at around 4am to be there in time. Oh my goodness. *fear* Actually, I'm considering getting up even earlier so I can wash my hair, nutter that I am.
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow evening's service, as long as my voice reappears a little. As well as the anthem, which is nifty enough, the canticles we're doing as Dyson in D, which are fab, and Radcliffe responses, which are one of my favourites. So all in all, all is well with the world, with one obvious exception, and that will be somewhat rectified in just a little over a week. *g*
ETA: And you know what, in all that squee I totally failed to address the actual storyline. Which, um, kind of says a bit about it really. To be honest, in the episode it was the characterisation and the interaction betweed said characters which really made it for me. The general idea was good, but I have a few quibbles in that it seemed to be whizzed through rather fast, and also, the curing of the flesh-people was ... dubious. But. I still like the ep. *g*