Ten Days to a Tenth Anniversary, 4: Favourite Series
Today's post in the countdown to the tenth anniversary of NuWho is brought to you by the New Who Anniversary Celebration Countdown Challenge posted to the comm by ibishtar:
March 20th: Favourite Series
To be honest, this isn't a question I have to think very hard about, because in spite of the wonderful stories that I do honestly believe are there in every single season of NuWho (well, maybe not Series 2... I kid, I kid. Mostly.), for me there is one that stands out as my firm favourite. And that is Eleven's 2010 debut, Series 5.
Funnily enough, I'm not sure whether any of its individual stories would necessarily make my personal top ten list (although The Eleventh Hour or the Angels two-parter might if you caught me in the right mood), and there's one story in particular that is among my most disliked of the whole post-2005 era (Silurians...I'm looking at you), but I think there's a basic level of consistency to it. I find other NuWho series to be hit-and-miss affairs, mixing stories I love with one's I, er, don't, but I really like pretty much all of Series 5. Apart from that Silurians two-parter. And Victory of the Daleks, possibly, but I've kind of warmed to that one a bit on subsequent re-watches. Once you know the iDaleks aren't really going to be sticking around as threatened at the time, it's easier to forgive them just the once.
A big part of it is Matt Smith's performance as Eleven. In spite of being a definite Capaldi convert (and also a huge admirer of what both Tennant and Eccleston brought to the show in case you get the wrong idea about me), I remain slightly mesmerised by just how damn good Matt Smith was, all of the time. Not bad for a more-or-less unknown of comparatively tender years who was visibly terrified during his first high-profile interview on the Jonathan Ross show. None of that came through when he was in front of the camera, knocking it out of the park with regularity from the very beginning. His performance evolved and developed over time, but he's pretty amazing right from the get-go. The Eleventh Hour is, for me, one of the most exhilarating, barnstorming, punch-the-air-brilliant approximate-hours of television I've ever encountered, it got the new Doctor's era off to the start it needed after the iconic Tennant era, and this sort of manic energy and supreme confidence continued throughout Series 5, from the fishfingers and custard opener to the superlative series finale. I'll probably come back to this in some detail when we get to best moments in a couple of days' time; all I will say for now is something borrowed, something blue.
Series 5 is the Eleven era as it meant to go on, but lean and trim, before it arguably became the victim of its own eccentricities. Mysterious, spooky story arcs that really did thrill and surprise (remember the shirt cuffs? Eleven's @#&%ing shirt cuffs??!); River before she outstayed her welcome, the Angels managing actually to survive the one-off success of Blink and to be even scarier in their second appearance. It's laugh out loud funny and genuinely dark and unsettling, often within minutes of each other. You've got stories like The Lodger and Amy's Choice, so different and yet near-perfect in their different ways. And you've got Amy herself and her relationship with Eleven, genuinely edgy and surprising in some ways, and I don't just mean in terms of somewhat uncomfortable UST. Amy too changed and evolved considerably during her run, but the Amy of Series 5 is an intriguing character who you find yourself wishing had stayed around for a bit longer. There's something not quite..."normal" about her, something a bit disturbing and heartbreaking as you realise just how much her youthful encounter with the Doctor has impacted the whole of her later life. And then there's Rory, Eleven's second best companion - there's possibly not quite enough Eleven+Amy+Rory in Series 5 for my taste, but what is there is golden. The two of them, together, are for me the definitive Eleven companion team.
And I haven't even mentioned Vincent, or just how amazingly good indeed Tony Curran, Toby Jones and a pre-Game of Thrones Iain Glen are in their respective one-off guest roles (although as discussed in the comments to the previous post in this series, who knows when the Dream Lord might be back?), or the sheer evilness of the cliffhanger at the end of The Pandorica Opens, or Rory's failing efforts at swordfighting in Venice, or the William Hartnell library card, or how fezzes really are cool for that matter. So much in this series, and so much of it wonderful.
Well, all apart from those bloody Silurians. ;)
All of that, though, is just my opinion. What say you? If any of you wanted to wax lyrical about your favourite series/season of New Who (as I hope you do), the comments below are the place to do it. :)
March 20th: Favourite Series
To be honest, this isn't a question I have to think very hard about, because in spite of the wonderful stories that I do honestly believe are there in every single season of NuWho (well, maybe not Series 2... I kid, I kid. Mostly.), for me there is one that stands out as my firm favourite. And that is Eleven's 2010 debut, Series 5.
Funnily enough, I'm not sure whether any of its individual stories would necessarily make my personal top ten list (although The Eleventh Hour or the Angels two-parter might if you caught me in the right mood), and there's one story in particular that is among my most disliked of the whole post-2005 era (Silurians...I'm looking at you), but I think there's a basic level of consistency to it. I find other NuWho series to be hit-and-miss affairs, mixing stories I love with one's I, er, don't, but I really like pretty much all of Series 5. Apart from that Silurians two-parter. And Victory of the Daleks, possibly, but I've kind of warmed to that one a bit on subsequent re-watches. Once you know the iDaleks aren't really going to be sticking around as threatened at the time, it's easier to forgive them just the once.
A big part of it is Matt Smith's performance as Eleven. In spite of being a definite Capaldi convert (and also a huge admirer of what both Tennant and Eccleston brought to the show in case you get the wrong idea about me), I remain slightly mesmerised by just how damn good Matt Smith was, all of the time. Not bad for a more-or-less unknown of comparatively tender years who was visibly terrified during his first high-profile interview on the Jonathan Ross show. None of that came through when he was in front of the camera, knocking it out of the park with regularity from the very beginning. His performance evolved and developed over time, but he's pretty amazing right from the get-go. The Eleventh Hour is, for me, one of the most exhilarating, barnstorming, punch-the-air-brilliant approximate-hours of television I've ever encountered, it got the new Doctor's era off to the start it needed after the iconic Tennant era, and this sort of manic energy and supreme confidence continued throughout Series 5, from the fishfingers and custard opener to the superlative series finale. I'll probably come back to this in some detail when we get to best moments in a couple of days' time; all I will say for now is something borrowed, something blue.
Series 5 is the Eleven era as it meant to go on, but lean and trim, before it arguably became the victim of its own eccentricities. Mysterious, spooky story arcs that really did thrill and surprise (remember the shirt cuffs? Eleven's @#&%ing shirt cuffs??!); River before she outstayed her welcome, the Angels managing actually to survive the one-off success of Blink and to be even scarier in their second appearance. It's laugh out loud funny and genuinely dark and unsettling, often within minutes of each other. You've got stories like The Lodger and Amy's Choice, so different and yet near-perfect in their different ways. And you've got Amy herself and her relationship with Eleven, genuinely edgy and surprising in some ways, and I don't just mean in terms of somewhat uncomfortable UST. Amy too changed and evolved considerably during her run, but the Amy of Series 5 is an intriguing character who you find yourself wishing had stayed around for a bit longer. There's something not quite..."normal" about her, something a bit disturbing and heartbreaking as you realise just how much her youthful encounter with the Doctor has impacted the whole of her later life. And then there's Rory, Eleven's second best companion - there's possibly not quite enough Eleven+Amy+Rory in Series 5 for my taste, but what is there is golden. The two of them, together, are for me the definitive Eleven companion team.
And I haven't even mentioned Vincent, or just how amazingly good indeed Tony Curran, Toby Jones and a pre-Game of Thrones Iain Glen are in their respective one-off guest roles (although as discussed in the comments to the previous post in this series, who knows when the Dream Lord might be back?), or the sheer evilness of the cliffhanger at the end of The Pandorica Opens, or Rory's failing efforts at swordfighting in Venice, or the William Hartnell library card, or how fezzes really are cool for that matter. So much in this series, and so much of it wonderful.
Well, all apart from those bloody Silurians. ;)
All of that, though, is just my opinion. What say you? If any of you wanted to wax lyrical about your favourite series/season of New Who (as I hope you do), the comments below are the place to do it. :)