Doctor Who: The Season So Far

“The Lodger” is another fun episode of Doctor Who. Matt Smith is rather deft at the comedy bits.

Also, the trailer for part one of the two-part season finale is awesome. Spoilers abound, of course.

With only two episodes left in the season, here are some of my thoughts so far. I shared some of this elsewhere, but I’ve also added a few bits.

I’ve enjoyed the season so far. Stories have ranged from amazing (“Vincent and the Doctor”) to very good (all of showrunner Steven Moffat’s) to average (Chris Chibnall’s two parter), but there haven’t been any below average or terrible ones.

Moffat’s a hell of a writer in his own right, but the other writers this season are nothing to sneeze at: The League of Gentlemen co-creator Mark Gatiss, Being Human creator Toby Whithouse, Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye, Blackadder and Mr. Bean co-creator Richard Curtis, former Torchwood showrunner Chris Chibnall, and frequent Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures contributor Gareth Roberts. That’s not even mentioning Neil Gaiman writing an episode for next season.

The season’s fairy tale tone immediately sets the Moffat era apart from the Russell T Davies era. I’m a huge RTD fan, but it’s nice to see Moffat putting his own spin on things. It would have been easy to simply repeat RTD’s formula for success, considering how much money the BBC’s made since 2005 based on that formula.

Matt Smith was right up there with Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston, and David Tennant in my esteem from the first episode of the season, and each subsequent episode only makes a stronger case. Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is the first in a long time where you’re very aware that he’s an alien with alien sensibilities, and Smith is right at home with playing up the humor inherent in that. Also, as Doctor Who Confidential reveals each week, Matt often seems to dress like a Time Lord even when out of costume.

I adore Amy, the new companion, as a character, and Doctor Who Confidential each week leaves me with a huge crush on actress Karen Gillan, too. Of course, I have a noted weakness for pretty redheads, and toss in a screwball personality and a Scottish accent, and I wish I had a companion like that.

My one complaint has been how small scale the season has felt so far. I must admit I’m kind of pining for one of RTD’s everything including the kitchen sink stories, or at least ending the season on a more epic note than we’ve had so far. From the trailer above, it looks like Steven Moffat may just deliver that.

In two more weeks, I’ll be in Doctor Who withdrawal (at least for new episodes) until the Eleventh Doctor appears in two episodes of the upcoming season of The Sarah Jane Adventures written by RTD and the usual Christmas special.

Review: Doctor Who, Episode 1.1, “The Eleventh Hour”

Doctor Who is back for its 31st season, although it’s being promoted as Series One. There has already been a Season 1 (1963-64) and a Series 1 (2005), so Series One is a confusing designation. However you refer to this season, it ushers in a new era with a new showrunner (Steven Moffat) and a new star (Matt Smith), among many other changes.

Minutes after regenerating, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) finds himself having to once again save the Earth from certain doom, gaining the assistance of new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) along the way.

Matt Smith is simply amazing. I’ve never disliked a Doctor yet, and knew that wouldn’t change with this incarnation. From Smith’s initial interviews, there was just something about him that screamed Time Lord. What surprised me is how quickly he vaulted to the level of Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston, and David Tennant in my esteem. He just flat out nails the character and makes this incarnation his own, with some nods to both the Second (Patrick Troughton) and Tenth (David Tennant) Doctors. I also love his costume even more after seeing it ‘live’. It reminds me of a more upscale version of the Second Doctor’s.

Karen Gillan is also well cast as Amy, bringing charm and feistiness to the character, and one feels an immediate sense of connection to her. There’s something very effortless about her performance, and I think she’ll be an excellent companion for Smith’s Doctor. The remainder of the cast is respectably solid, but to say more about individual roles would require spoilers, and I want to keep the review free of them.

Steven Moffat makes a statement with his first episode as showrunner. He wrote this episode himself, and it’s as good as we’ve come to expect from him, but there’s a different tone to it than the episodes he wrote for previous showrunner Russell T Davies. Moffat promised more of a fairy tale feel to the show under his watch, and it does indeed have that quality to it. Action, comedy, drama, this episode has it all. If the rest of the season is as strong, we’re in for one hell of a ride.

Director Adam Smith (who’s worked on Skins and Little Dorrit) bring across the fairy tale tone with his camera work and lighting, and this episode also marks a change in the look of the show, appearing more modern and polished than ever before. Despite being slightly more than an hour long, the director keeps things well paced, not moving either too slow or too fast.

I absolutely adore the new design for the TARDIS control room. In some ways it reminds me of the steampunk design in the 1996 telefilm while still recalling the 2005-09 version, but it’s more complex and detailed, befitting the fact that the show is now shot in high definition video. The accompanying episode of Doctor Who Confidential reveals some subtle touches to the control panel and column itself that speaks highly of how much work was put into the new design.

Murray Gold’s latest arrangement of Ron Grainer’s theme is both thoroughly modern and reflects the electronic arrangements used in Classic Who, and works quite well with the new title sequence.

Anyone fearing a letdown as Doctor Who transitions from one showrunner to another, and one actor to another, will quickly have those fears put to rest. This episode marks the beginning of the next great era in Doctor Who history.

Review: Doctor Who, Episode 4.17, “The End of Time, Part One”

This is it, the penultimate episode for David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Russell T Davies as showrunner, and it delivers the goods it promised. Oh, does it.

The Master (John Simm) is resurrected and it’s up to the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) to stop his latest nefarious plan with the assistance of Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), the grandfather of former companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). That’s all one really needs to know, because no one should be spoiled about how that bare bones description actually plays out.

Outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies delivers a story that’s big, bold, dark with moments of lightness, moving at times, and brings this incarnation of the Doctor ever closer to his fate. There’s nothing terribly complex about the story, but it allows the cast to shine, delves into the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, and delivers a cliffhanger ending that’s simply awesome to behold. It gave this Whovian fangirl of nearly 27 years a major case of the squees.

Love him or hate him, Davies is a master showman, the P.T. Barnum of Doctor Who. Some will always criticize Davies for the improbabilities of many of his stories, but improbable seems to be his forte. He took a canceled television show that had been off the air for over a decade and a half, with the exception of the 1996 telefilm, and brought it back better and more successful than ever. What could be more improbable than that? Take a bow, Mr. Davies. You deserve it.

Director Euros Lyn (Torchwood: Children of Earth) is more than up to the task of realizing Davies’ script on screen, and his strength of drawing strong performances out of his actors is one that’s important here, and no doubt even more so in the conclusion.

What can one say about David Tennant than hasn’t already been said? He ranks up there with Tom Baker on the iconic scale, and I will continue to argue that the range he’s shown since the 2005 Christmas special puts him at the top of the list of actors to have played the role. That range serves him well once again. Enough said.

John Simm returns as the Master, even more over the top than in his previous appearances. Some may disagree, but I don’t have a problem with how he plays the character. Because it works. At times, his performance here reminds me of Malcolm McDowell’s in A Clockwork Orange, in how completely he gives into his character’s madness and then spits it all back at the audience.

The Master’s full-blown raving lunacy actually makes sense within the show’s fictional history, between the pounding drums the Master has heard since looking into the time vortex as a child, and being sucked into the Eye of Harmony (or a gateway to it) and later resurrected by the Time Lords during the Time War, further compounded by use of a Chameleon Arch, the Master has become completely unhinged.

Bernard Cribbins is simply marvelous as Wilf, and I’ve never made any secret of thinking Wilf is made of win, so it’s nice to see him again and having a bigger role to play in a story. It’s also nice to see Catherine Tate as Donna again, who against all odds became one of my favorite companions because of the great character arc Davies gifted her with last season. We also get a fun cameo from June Whitfield, and former 007 Timothy Dalton has a very surprising role to play.

In summary, “The End of Time, Part One” is everything I hoped it would be, and oh my, that ending will leave me squeeing for the next week. It’s going to be hard to patiently wait for the conclusion. Bring it on!

Review: Doctor Who, Episode 4.16, “The Waters of Mars”

The Tenth Doctor’s time is growing short. As promised by outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies, things begin to get dark here. That’s an understatement.

2059. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) arrives on Mars at the first human outpost on the planet, Bowie Base One, under the command of the formidable Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan), just as terrible events begin to occur. Only he knows the truth of how it will end, and the laws of time forbid him from stopping it.

As written by Davies and Phil Ford (a previous contributor to spinoffs The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood), it’s a compelling hour of drama for Who fans. At its core, it’s a story about choices and their consequences, invested with a sense of inescapable tragedy that begins at a low level and slowly climbs to a wrenching climax. While it’s not quite in the same league as the brilliant Torchwood: Children of Earth, it does share a similar theme and tone, and Davies is a writer who always works best on an emotional level (something his critics so often misunderstand).

Veteran director Graeme Harper, whose involvement in the show dates back to 1966, confidently renders the story on screen with maximum suspense and some strong performances. In grand Who tradition, the exterior Mars scenes were shot in a quarry, but the CG effects render it believable. The monsters of the week are effective, and much like director Hideo Nakata did in the film Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara, Harper turns even a single drop of water into a source of dread. I’ve read complaints that some viewers wanted more explanation of what the monsters were and what they were after, but that’s really missing the point: the monsters are a classic MacGuffin, used to setup the Doctor’s later actions. It’s all about the Doctor’s emotional journey here.

What we’re left with at the end is the idea that there are some lines a Time Lord (not even the last of the Time Lords) shouldn’t cross, and doing so will have terrible consequences for the Doctor. The past three seasons have offered numerous stories of the Tenth Doctor operating as an almost messianic figure with great powers. Now we’re beginning to get the payoff…and, oh, is it a doozy. Davies has clearly planned this all along, with the Tenth Doctor increasingly abusing his Time Lord powers for good ends and slowly creeping toward a line that should have remained uncrossed.

Tom Baker will always be my favorite Doctor, but Tennant is a close second because he’s the best actor to have played the role, and he delivers a bravura performance in this special. His expressive face details every emotion the Doctor goes through, from joy to sadness to a frightening arrogance to horror at his own actions. We see aspects of the Doctor that we’ve never seen before, or at least have only been hinted at. After all the horror and death the Doctor has seen since the Time War, he finally cracks, if only for a few minutes, but that’s long enough to make a serious error.

Duncan is marvelous as Adelaide, displaying humanity, grace, and courage. Much like Lady Christina in the previous special, Adelaide would have made an amazing companion for the Doctor under other circumstances. Tennant and Duncan play especially well off each other, adding to the emotional depth of the story.

I enjoyed “The Waters of Mars” very much, even if I felt uncomfortable with where it was taking the Doctor, which is precisely the effect it needed to have. The stage is now set for the two-part “The End of Time,” which is sure to be a brilliant finish for David Tennant as the Doctor and Davies as showrunner.

(And I loved GADGET!)

Doctor Who: Welcome the Future

Little known 21-year-old Scottish actress/model Karen Gillan has been cast as the Eleventh Doctor’s companion for the 2010 season of Doctor Who. She previously had a small role as a soothsayer in the 2008 episode “The Fires of Pompeii”. New showrunner Steven Moffat stated that numerous actresses were auditioned, but as soon as she “walked through the door the game was up”.

The 2010 season of Doctor Who will have more changes than I can ever remember for a new season: a new Doctor (Matt Smith), a new companion (Gillan), a new showrunner (Moffat), new executive producers (Piers Wenger and Beth Willis), new producers (Tracie Simpson and Peter Bennett), and even a new TARDIS interior. I suspect the show will at first feel as different as it did when it was first revived in 2005 after sixteen years off the air.

Also, here’s the trailer for Torchwood: Children of Earth, the five-part miniseries set to air in July.

“Planet of the Dead,” the one hour Doctor Who Easter special, aired on Saturday. Then there are only three specials left until star David Tennant and showrunner Russell T Davies both take their leave of the show, making way for new star Matt Smith and new showrunner Steven Moffat to take over for the 2010 season.

The original plan was to air the next special (“The Waters of Mars”) at Christmas and the final two early in 2010, but now it looks like “The Waters of Mars” will air in November and the final two at Christmas instead.

“The Water of Mars” may feature the return of the Ice Warriors, who were first introduced in the 1967 Second Doctor serial, “The Ice Warriors,” and last seen in the 1974 Third Doctor serial, “The Monster of Peladon.” Their return in a special was rumored in the tabloids, and it fits with the Ice Warriors being from Mars and being some of Davies’ favorite monsters he hasn’t yet brought back.

As for the final special, which will end with a regeneration (not a spoiler in this case), Tennant said in a recent interview that he cried when he read his final scene, and Davies said there shouldn’t be a dry eye at the end.

Review: Doctor Who, Episode 4.15, “Planet of the Dead”

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and professional thief Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) are both passengers on a London double decker bus that gets re-routed to a barren alien world. Can they work together to get the bus and its other passengers safely back to Earth? Meanwhile, back on Earth, UNIT is called in to deal with the sudden disappearance of the bus.

As written by outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts (“The Shakespeare Code”, “The Unicorn and the Wasp”), this one hour Easter special is a lighthearted romp with action, comedy, and even some romantic sparks. Director James Strong, a Doctor Who and Torchwood veteran, brings all the elements together into a shiny package of fun. I greatly enjoyed watching it.

Some hints emerge toward the end that darker days are coming for the Doctor. Davies has stated that Tennant’s final three specials, set to air in November and December, will grow increasingly darker, leading to the death of the Tenth Doctor and his regeneration into the Eleventh.

Despite six months away acting on stage, Tennant effortlessly steps back into his most famous role. Ryan, most recently the star of the Bionic Woman remake and the sorceress Nimueh on Merlin, is perfect as a sophisticated and charming adrenaline junkie in the manner of Lara Croft. Lady Christina would make a great ongoing companion. Also good are Noma Dumezweni as UNIT Captain Erisa Magambo, Lee Evans as current UNIT scientific advisor Professor Malcolm Taylor (humorously played as the ultimate fanboy), and Adam James as a police officer pursuing Lady Christina.

Other notes: this episode was filmed on location in Dubai; the bus was damaged in transport to Dubai, but only minor script changes were needed to account for that; it’s the first episode of Doctor Who to be shot on high definition video; by some counting methods it’s the 200th complete story (spread out over 753 individual episodes since 1963); I loved the references to Quatermass and the 1974-75 Fourth Doctor serial, “Robot.”

Next up, “The Waters of Mars” in November.