The Day of The Doctor and Richard II
My long overdue comments about the 50th Anniversary and Richard II. Better late than never? :)
The Day of the Doctor
I woke up around 3.15 am to make sure I was awake enough when it started at 3.50. Later in the day I saw it at the cinema, which was packed with Whovians, who all laughed, gasped and applauded at the appropriate places. Nothing will beat that shared experience. Finally, I watched it again that evening on TV, along with the general public who wouldn't have even considered the early-morning start!
I loved the Day of the Doctor. It was worth all the anticipation in the weeks prior. I loved the interaction between Ten and Eleven. They really sparked off each other well. Billie Piper as the Moment was a wonderful way of bringing her into the story. Still, it was rather heartbreaking that she and Ten were so near, yet so far from each other. I wonder what he was really thinking when the War Doctor exclaimed, "Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!" With so much going on at the time, he'd just have get on with what had to be done. I'd like to think after everything was over and they were relaxing with their cup of tea in the gallery, that he would have asked the War Doctor what he meant by those words. Probably didn't happen, and he wouldn't have remembered it anyway...
It was wonderful to see a glimpse of Twelve (Fourteenth incarnation?) in the final bid to save Gallifrey! And I most certainly wasn't expecting to see Tom Baker. I was so glad at least one of the Classic Doctors made it to the 50th! The final scene with all the Doctors was a fitting end to the episode.
I understand the need to set the series on a new trajectory once Eleven is gone, and searching for Gallifrey is going to be an interesting journey. I still feel it's a shame that Nine, Ten (and most of Eleven's) lives had to undergo the pain of loss, horror and shame of what they thought they had done. However, it was these things that gave them their character and allowed them do all of the heroic and necessary things to keep the Universe in one piece.
Richard II
Before I start, I have to admit that I've never read or seen a Shakespeare play on stage before. It just wasn't a part of my school curriculum. The only Shakespeare I've ever seen were the movie adaptations of Romeo and Juliet in 1968 and Othello in 1995 with Laurence Fishburne. This was an entirely different kettle of fish.
I loved the staging - minimalist is an understatement, but the backgrounds were extraordinary. The cathedral-like backdrop was gorgeous. Discussions from technical people in the intermission included explaining how this was achieved - many, many layers of hanging steel balls (a bit like those ball-linked key chains) had the images projected onto them. It gave the background great depth.
Not having studied Shakespeare, I found the language a little hard to follow. This was no doubt due to the era in which it was written. Also, the play was spoken entirely in rhyme, yet unless I specifically listened for it, I didn't really notice.
The cast was very strong, with very experienced older actors through to younger newcomers. All of the actors were excellent, but David was just extraordinary! You can't take your eyes off him! His stage presence is riveting and you can see that he's obviously in his element on stage. To put it mildly, I was blown away by David Tennant's performance. He really is an amazing actor. He took you from the pampered, flippant and immature-acting King all the way through to the realisation of his fate; deposition, imprisonment and then his death. In the final scene he stands above the new king and his men, a ghost looking grimly down from on high.
At the end of the show, the cinema audience applauded, along with the audience at the theatre.
I know it's a rather obvious, but one thing I noticed, was that while David was on stage he was completely in character, yet the moment everyone came out to take their bows, you could see that David had transformed back into "himself".
I'm so glad I saw it!
The Day of the Doctor
I woke up around 3.15 am to make sure I was awake enough when it started at 3.50. Later in the day I saw it at the cinema, which was packed with Whovians, who all laughed, gasped and applauded at the appropriate places. Nothing will beat that shared experience. Finally, I watched it again that evening on TV, along with the general public who wouldn't have even considered the early-morning start!
I loved the Day of the Doctor. It was worth all the anticipation in the weeks prior. I loved the interaction between Ten and Eleven. They really sparked off each other well. Billie Piper as the Moment was a wonderful way of bringing her into the story. Still, it was rather heartbreaking that she and Ten were so near, yet so far from each other. I wonder what he was really thinking when the War Doctor exclaimed, "Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!" With so much going on at the time, he'd just have get on with what had to be done. I'd like to think after everything was over and they were relaxing with their cup of tea in the gallery, that he would have asked the War Doctor what he meant by those words. Probably didn't happen, and he wouldn't have remembered it anyway...
It was wonderful to see a glimpse of Twelve (Fourteenth incarnation?) in the final bid to save Gallifrey! And I most certainly wasn't expecting to see Tom Baker. I was so glad at least one of the Classic Doctors made it to the 50th! The final scene with all the Doctors was a fitting end to the episode.
I understand the need to set the series on a new trajectory once Eleven is gone, and searching for Gallifrey is going to be an interesting journey. I still feel it's a shame that Nine, Ten (and most of Eleven's) lives had to undergo the pain of loss, horror and shame of what they thought they had done. However, it was these things that gave them their character and allowed them do all of the heroic and necessary things to keep the Universe in one piece.
Richard II
Before I start, I have to admit that I've never read or seen a Shakespeare play on stage before. It just wasn't a part of my school curriculum. The only Shakespeare I've ever seen were the movie adaptations of Romeo and Juliet in 1968 and Othello in 1995 with Laurence Fishburne. This was an entirely different kettle of fish.
I loved the staging - minimalist is an understatement, but the backgrounds were extraordinary. The cathedral-like backdrop was gorgeous. Discussions from technical people in the intermission included explaining how this was achieved - many, many layers of hanging steel balls (a bit like those ball-linked key chains) had the images projected onto them. It gave the background great depth.
Not having studied Shakespeare, I found the language a little hard to follow. This was no doubt due to the era in which it was written. Also, the play was spoken entirely in rhyme, yet unless I specifically listened for it, I didn't really notice.
The cast was very strong, with very experienced older actors through to younger newcomers. All of the actors were excellent, but David was just extraordinary! You can't take your eyes off him! His stage presence is riveting and you can see that he's obviously in his element on stage. To put it mildly, I was blown away by David Tennant's performance. He really is an amazing actor. He took you from the pampered, flippant and immature-acting King all the way through to the realisation of his fate; deposition, imprisonment and then his death. In the final scene he stands above the new king and his men, a ghost looking grimly down from on high.
At the end of the show, the cinema audience applauded, along with the audience at the theatre.
I know it's a rather obvious, but one thing I noticed, was that while David was on stage he was completely in character, yet the moment everyone came out to take their bows, you could see that David had transformed back into "himself".
I'm so glad I saw it!