So, it's been nearly six months since I last posted but I felt I should return for a bad pun. In the second to latest Doctor Who episode, The Eaters of Light, we get the following dialogue:
Doctor Who: You'll be safe. Tomorrow you'll be farming. Hey you can name a cow after me.
So that would be Doctor Moo then. Badum-bum-tish.
Showing posts with label Dr Who. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr Who. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 June 2017
Sunday, 14 April 2013
War within a war (within a submarine)
So 'The Cold War' is the first Doctor Who episode of the new series that I have unequivocally enjoyed. Kalashnikovs, a ruthless and implacable villain and (excuse the misogyny) Oswin on a flooded submarine in a fairly skimpy dress made for great viewing.
It was tightly scripted and there were no jarring deus ex machines or especially noticeable logic errors. The lack of Russian accents was a shame but was suitably lampshaded by the usual appeal to Tardis translation. If only they could have resisted the temptation to give a covert Western agent on a Russian submarine an obviously American revolver (exposure risk anyone?) it would have been perfect.
Having not watched old Doctor Who I had no nostalgia for the Ice Warrior concept but it fitted well into the wider view of how war and the potential for mutually assured destruction fits into our ethical philosophies and can end up determining our behaviour. It was also interesting to see the series return to a perhaps less well known period of history even if it did require a bit more exposition than usual.
All in all, a definite return to form after the disappointing 'Rings of Akhaten' and the unremarkable 'Bells of Saint John'.
It was tightly scripted and there were no jarring deus ex machines or especially noticeable logic errors. The lack of Russian accents was a shame but was suitably lampshaded by the usual appeal to Tardis translation. If only they could have resisted the temptation to give a covert Western agent on a Russian submarine an obviously American revolver (exposure risk anyone?) it would have been perfect.
Having not watched old Doctor Who I had no nostalgia for the Ice Warrior concept but it fitted well into the wider view of how war and the potential for mutually assured destruction fits into our ethical philosophies and can end up determining our behaviour. It was also interesting to see the series return to a perhaps less well known period of history even if it did require a bit more exposition than usual.
All in all, a definite return to form after the disappointing 'Rings of Akhaten' and the unremarkable 'Bells of Saint John'.
Friday, 28 December 2012
Death in the Pond
No Christmas is complete without the seasonal Dr Who Christmas special. Actually I tell a lie since many of them have been eminently forgettable. Ever since the brilliant sword-fighting excitement of 'A Christmas Invasion' and the surreal flying shark of 'A Christmas Carol'. our eyeballs have been assaulted by a never ending stream of plastic santas and C.S. Lewis-esque winter wonderlands.
On first viewing this one was similarly unimpressive. In true Christmas style I had had a few glasses of wine already and was surrounded by my extended family. This naturally meant I missed certain bits (where the hell did the memory worm appear from?) as I fielded questions about whether the lizard woman was a goody or a baddy.
From this distracted perspective the story was a bit of a mess. The plot zoomed along without much rhythm or rhyme and it seemed as though the producers were trying too hard to introduce the new assistant while making the usual family friendly jokes.
However, a second solitary viewing with a lower blood-alcohol level persuaded me that the episode was not without its merits. Jenna-Louise Coleman is shaping up to be a brilliant new companion and they have set up an interesting mystery with her seeming ability to reincarnate. The Doctor's impression of Sherlock Holmes was absolutely hilarious and I loved the idea of him being dragged out of his self-imposed retirement by a new whip-smart acquaintance.
Of course the show still had weaknesses. The ice lady, after a huge build up, got a grand total of thirty seconds screen time before being blown up by the Doctor. Admittedly she came back but then spent the next ten minutes trapped by a grenade force field. As for my final bit of nit-picking, I know the Doctor is meant to be adorably absent minded but I think that he might have remembered to close the doors of his floating police box rather than wading through some soppy dialogue before watching Clara be dragged to her (possibly second) death.
So all in all a mixed effort. I still can't wait for this series to restart. Here's hoping that they can get it together to show entire series consecutively again rather than messing around with all this mid-season hiatus business ad nauseam.
On first viewing this one was similarly unimpressive. In true Christmas style I had had a few glasses of wine already and was surrounded by my extended family. This naturally meant I missed certain bits (where the hell did the memory worm appear from?) as I fielded questions about whether the lizard woman was a goody or a baddy.
From this distracted perspective the story was a bit of a mess. The plot zoomed along without much rhythm or rhyme and it seemed as though the producers were trying too hard to introduce the new assistant while making the usual family friendly jokes.
However, a second solitary viewing with a lower blood-alcohol level persuaded me that the episode was not without its merits. Jenna-Louise Coleman is shaping up to be a brilliant new companion and they have set up an interesting mystery with her seeming ability to reincarnate. The Doctor's impression of Sherlock Holmes was absolutely hilarious and I loved the idea of him being dragged out of his self-imposed retirement by a new whip-smart acquaintance.
Of course the show still had weaknesses. The ice lady, after a huge build up, got a grand total of thirty seconds screen time before being blown up by the Doctor. Admittedly she came back but then spent the next ten minutes trapped by a grenade force field. As for my final bit of nit-picking, I know the Doctor is meant to be adorably absent minded but I think that he might have remembered to close the doors of his floating police box rather than wading through some soppy dialogue before watching Clara be dragged to her (possibly second) death.
So all in all a mixed effort. I still can't wait for this series to restart. Here's hoping that they can get it together to show entire series consecutively again rather than messing around with all this mid-season hiatus business ad nauseam.
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Dr Who and the Phase-shifting Cyborg
So I'm enjoying how the new Dr Who series is shaping up:
Episode 1: Good twist and nice to see a take on the Daleks that isn't the usual Earth invasion or covert operation. However, Dalek asylum could have been so much more awesome. I was expecting an entertaining smorgasbord of gibbering sadists and nutty prophets rather than slightly beat up derelicts with an egg obsession and crackly voices.
Episode 2: Dinosaurs in space! Good although the talking robots were about as (un)funny as the Transformers characters they were ripping off. Mitchell and Webb surely could have been used to better effect.
Episode 3: A little underwhelming considering the awesome potential of a half-machine, alien bounty hunter taking on Eichmann II (I knew I recognised the metal-framed glasses from somewhere). The horse named Susan was pretty funny although the Doctor knowing horse (or baby or whale) is a joke that'd been done a million times. My main problem with this one was the stale underlying moral question. The 'Is it worth killing a few to save the many' question is a staple of science fiction and I like a bit more novelty in my Dr Who episodes. Intriguing that they didn't mention who the 'enemy' that the androids were created to destroy was though!
However, if it did tickle your fancy and you want to see similar themes handled better try 'A Dry Quiet War' by Tony Daniels. One of the best short science fiction stories I've read and, with the honourable exception of Firefly, the best blend of time travel, science fiction and western themes.
Episode 1: Good twist and nice to see a take on the Daleks that isn't the usual Earth invasion or covert operation. However, Dalek asylum could have been so much more awesome. I was expecting an entertaining smorgasbord of gibbering sadists and nutty prophets rather than slightly beat up derelicts with an egg obsession and crackly voices.
Episode 2: Dinosaurs in space! Good although the talking robots were about as (un)funny as the Transformers characters they were ripping off. Mitchell and Webb surely could have been used to better effect.
Episode 3: A little underwhelming considering the awesome potential of a half-machine, alien bounty hunter taking on Eichmann II (I knew I recognised the metal-framed glasses from somewhere). The horse named Susan was pretty funny although the Doctor knowing horse (or baby or whale) is a joke that'd been done a million times. My main problem with this one was the stale underlying moral question. The 'Is it worth killing a few to save the many' question is a staple of science fiction and I like a bit more novelty in my Dr Who episodes. Intriguing that they didn't mention who the 'enemy' that the androids were created to destroy was though!
However, if it did tickle your fancy and you want to see similar themes handled better try 'A Dry Quiet War' by Tony Daniels. One of the best short science fiction stories I've read and, with the honourable exception of Firefly, the best blend of time travel, science fiction and western themes.
Friday, 23 September 2011
Dr Who and the Minotaur
Finally got around to watching the latest Dr Who and it was pretty damn good. I really liked the glancing, perspective shots to make the Minotaur monster seem more terrifying at the start of the episode and then the more revealing shots later on when we began to feel a bit more sorry for it.
Some of the insanity clips (as people went mad and began to giggle or PRAISE HIM) were genuinely scary, especially the sudden one where you realize Rita is the next target.
I also enjoyed how they hinted at the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur without ever actually making it explicit. The Dr referred to the space Minotaur as an alien race that descends on more primitive civilizations and feeds off their faith. The alluded to victims managed to trap their 'God' in a virtual prison on a satellite, fed by kidnapped natives of other planets. Surely a more advanced form of the tactic adopted by the Cretans, who locked their Minotaur in a labyrinth and fed it with captured enemies?
So, a scary and surprisingly clever episode that nevertheless had some good moments of humour. Every line from Gibbis about the extreme cowardice of his race was hilarious but I felt sorry enough for him and interested enough in his rat-like desire to survive that he wasn't just a character played for laughs. Similarly the Dr's joke about abandoning Amy when he met Rita was very funny and presaged things to come.*
Great stuff, although after all these psychological episodes I'm looking forward to a more sci-fi finale and the explanation of the Dr's death.
* Now if only they'd explained the room with the sad clown and his balloon!
Some of the insanity clips (as people went mad and began to giggle or PRAISE HIM) were genuinely scary, especially the sudden one where you realize Rita is the next target.
I also enjoyed how they hinted at the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur without ever actually making it explicit. The Dr referred to the space Minotaur as an alien race that descends on more primitive civilizations and feeds off their faith. The alluded to victims managed to trap their 'God' in a virtual prison on a satellite, fed by kidnapped natives of other planets. Surely a more advanced form of the tactic adopted by the Cretans, who locked their Minotaur in a labyrinth and fed it with captured enemies?
So, a scary and surprisingly clever episode that nevertheless had some good moments of humour. Every line from Gibbis about the extreme cowardice of his race was hilarious but I felt sorry enough for him and interested enough in his rat-like desire to survive that he wasn't just a character played for laughs. Similarly the Dr's joke about abandoning Amy when he met Rita was very funny and presaged things to come.*
Great stuff, although after all these psychological episodes I'm looking forward to a more sci-fi finale and the explanation of the Dr's death.
* Now if only they'd explained the room with the sad clown and his balloon!
Monday, 29 August 2011
Righteously Indignant
So Dr Who is back after that unusual and unwelcome tactic of having a break in the middle of the series.
When I saw that the opening episode was called 'Let's kill Hitler' I think I was fairly justified in assuming that they'd try and put a new spin on the age old 'If you had a time machine why wouldn't you stop the Holocaust/WW2? question'. However, they neatly sidestepped this assumption by using it as an introductory spiel (They accidently save Hitler's life but are then very rude to him and lock him in a broom cupboard) to what they really wanted to focus on.
Hence righteously indignant, I was loooking forward to seeing what they'd do with it and spotting historical inaccuracies. Whatever criticisms of the series you may have you cannot say it is unoriginal and I'm sure they could have rehashed the familiar premise in a convincing manner.
However, maybe it is a blessing in disguise. Even if they had handled it in a new way, the 'killing Hitler' story has been gone over so many times that I think everyone is sick to death with the scenario (See also: JFK assassination). In the end we got an interesting episode that had a few nice twists and got rid of some inconvenient hanging plot lines - namely was young River Song going to stay regenerate-y forever and how does she eventually turn from evil, assassin Song to friendly, flirty Song).*
* Minor gripe- introducing a new character that is shown to have played a monumental role in the main character's lives but has never been referenced before is not big and it isn't clever. Dr Who is usually good at foreshadowing plot events so especially galling in this case!
When I saw that the opening episode was called 'Let's kill Hitler' I think I was fairly justified in assuming that they'd try and put a new spin on the age old 'If you had a time machine why wouldn't you stop the Holocaust/WW2? question'. However, they neatly sidestepped this assumption by using it as an introductory spiel (They accidently save Hitler's life but are then very rude to him and lock him in a broom cupboard) to what they really wanted to focus on.
Hence righteously indignant, I was loooking forward to seeing what they'd do with it and spotting historical inaccuracies. Whatever criticisms of the series you may have you cannot say it is unoriginal and I'm sure they could have rehashed the familiar premise in a convincing manner.
However, maybe it is a blessing in disguise. Even if they had handled it in a new way, the 'killing Hitler' story has been gone over so many times that I think everyone is sick to death with the scenario (See also: JFK assassination). In the end we got an interesting episode that had a few nice twists and got rid of some inconvenient hanging plot lines - namely was young River Song going to stay regenerate-y forever and how does she eventually turn from evil, assassin Song to friendly, flirty Song).*
* Minor gripe- introducing a new character that is shown to have played a monumental role in the main character's lives but has never been referenced before is not big and it isn't clever. Dr Who is usually good at foreshadowing plot events so especially galling in this case!
Monday, 6 June 2011
Dr Who finale (for now...)
I had not realised that this series of Dr Who is going to have a break in the middle so it was a bit of a shock when after a rip-roaring finale, complete with exploding Cybermen fleets, headless monks and a comic Sontaran nurse, they announced that it was on hiatus until September. I'm not sure I approve. Sure it allowed them to set up an excellent cliffhanger but I was just getting into this series and now it's off again. Reversing the usual pattern I've enjoyed the main plotline far more than the one off 'fun' episodes in the series so far, partly because they've hardly done any historical or 'famous person' ones which I generally enjoy.
Anyway, my favourite bit in this episode was when the Cleric's commander announced that he had permission from the Papal Mainframe, herself, to remove the monk's hoods. Naughty Dr Who producers - not only signalling a Catholic reversal on the contemporary debate on women priests (or even pontiffs) but also alluding to a surprising outcome in an imagined discourse, common in near future sci-fi. Namely whether machine intelligence should be accorded the same rights and respect as human intelligence. It is standard for sceptical authors to present religion characters blindly asserting that machines have no souls and thus rejecting functionalist views on machine rights. Obviously in the future of the Cleric armies this debate has been resolved in a manner very favourable to AI by a strongly religious political regime.
Another interesting detail was the presence of the gay, Anglican couple in what I'd previously imagined was meant to be a futuristic Roman Catholic organisation (Mostly due to names such as Octavian and Angelo in their previous appearance). Like the reference to the female pope, the presence of gay soldiers obviously ties directly into present day debates in the Catholic church and beyond. However, I'm more interested in the presence of other denominations in the Cleric armies and what this means about their entry requirements. Does one have to be Christian? Are the headless monks themselves a Christian sect or did the directors just want to up the creepiness factor by giving the Clerics some unsavoury allies from another religion? If other denominations are allowed to join the Clerics is there a hierarchy that puts Catholics in command (as suggested by the presence of a papal mainframe as ultimate commander) or is promotion by merit (as suggested by the fact that the Clerics actually seem fairly competent soldiers)? Needless to say I'm loving the way they are drip feeding us with information about this future time period in the Whoniverse rather than just answering all the awkward questions outright.
Anyway, my favourite bit in this episode was when the Cleric's commander announced that he had permission from the Papal Mainframe, herself, to remove the monk's hoods. Naughty Dr Who producers - not only signalling a Catholic reversal on the contemporary debate on women priests (or even pontiffs) but also alluding to a surprising outcome in an imagined discourse, common in near future sci-fi. Namely whether machine intelligence should be accorded the same rights and respect as human intelligence. It is standard for sceptical authors to present religion characters blindly asserting that machines have no souls and thus rejecting functionalist views on machine rights. Obviously in the future of the Cleric armies this debate has been resolved in a manner very favourable to AI by a strongly religious political regime.
Another interesting detail was the presence of the gay, Anglican couple in what I'd previously imagined was meant to be a futuristic Roman Catholic organisation (Mostly due to names such as Octavian and Angelo in their previous appearance). Like the reference to the female pope, the presence of gay soldiers obviously ties directly into present day debates in the Catholic church and beyond. However, I'm more interested in the presence of other denominations in the Cleric armies and what this means about their entry requirements. Does one have to be Christian? Are the headless monks themselves a Christian sect or did the directors just want to up the creepiness factor by giving the Clerics some unsavoury allies from another religion? If other denominations are allowed to join the Clerics is there a hierarchy that puts Catholics in command (as suggested by the presence of a papal mainframe as ultimate commander) or is promotion by merit (as suggested by the fact that the Clerics actually seem fairly competent soldiers)? Needless to say I'm loving the way they are drip feeding us with information about this future time period in the Whoniverse rather than just answering all the awkward questions outright.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Creepy Coincidences
I'm rereading my last (jokey) post in a different light after seeing the news this morning. Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American troops in Pakistan (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676). I don't think many people are going to miss him. However, there are a few hanging questions about the operation, carried out by US special forces.
1) Why were there so many deaths among the targets in such a well planned operation? Apparently the Americans had a facsimile of the compound to train in and Obama could see what was going on in real time so as to better direct events. Osama Bin Laden wasn't even armed yet still him and his wife were deemed to be 'resisting' and he was killed while she was shot in the leg.
2) Does the USA even have any respect for jurisdiction any more? Apparently the Pakistanis weren't even told until the operation was over. BBC News 24 raised the interesting question of how big a fuck up might have occurred if the Pakistani army had heard the shooting and decided to get involved. Mutual recriminations ahead I suspect.
3) That burial at sea business sounds distinctly dodgy and seems to have attracted a lot of censure from the Arabic community. Maybe the Americans don't want to make a new pilgrimage site for Al-Qaeda members but that sort of unilateral, underhand solution might be part of the reason they are so unpopular in large swathes of Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the first place. It seems like a throw back to the CIA's dirty tricks in the assassination of Lumumba or the killing of Che Guevara during the disastrous Bolivian insurgency.
However, I bet Obama is still ecstatic to have such a foreign policy coup before the 2012 election and is probably hoping that Bin Laden's death might just decrease the frequency of mujahideen references in the newspaper (avoiding awkward questions about where they came from and who gave them all that training and those stinger missiles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA-Osama_bin_Laden_controversy)).
In other news, the release of this book (http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/spacesuit-interview-with-nicholas-de.html) has been exceptionally well timed in view of the development of the latest Dr Who plot line. It looks interesting and I'm seriously considering purchasing it.
1) Why were there so many deaths among the targets in such a well planned operation? Apparently the Americans had a facsimile of the compound to train in and Obama could see what was going on in real time so as to better direct events. Osama Bin Laden wasn't even armed yet still him and his wife were deemed to be 'resisting' and he was killed while she was shot in the leg.
2) Does the USA even have any respect for jurisdiction any more? Apparently the Pakistanis weren't even told until the operation was over. BBC News 24 raised the interesting question of how big a fuck up might have occurred if the Pakistani army had heard the shooting and decided to get involved. Mutual recriminations ahead I suspect.
3) That burial at sea business sounds distinctly dodgy and seems to have attracted a lot of censure from the Arabic community. Maybe the Americans don't want to make a new pilgrimage site for Al-Qaeda members but that sort of unilateral, underhand solution might be part of the reason they are so unpopular in large swathes of Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the first place. It seems like a throw back to the CIA's dirty tricks in the assassination of Lumumba or the killing of Che Guevara during the disastrous Bolivian insurgency.
However, I bet Obama is still ecstatic to have such a foreign policy coup before the 2012 election and is probably hoping that Bin Laden's death might just decrease the frequency of mujahideen references in the newspaper (avoiding awkward questions about where they came from and who gave them all that training and those stinger missiles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA-Osama_bin_Laden_controversy)).
In other news, the release of this book (http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/spacesuit-interview-with-nicholas-de.html) has been exceptionally well timed in view of the development of the latest Dr Who plot line. It looks interesting and I'm seriously considering purchasing it.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Doctor Who!
First episode of the new series is up on iPlayer tonight and I've got a few comments to make. I went into it without having read too many spoilers and so only knew that it was set in the Wild West (which actually turned out to be false. 1968 America was the scene of the show) and Nixon was involved. I was quite sad to learn of my mistake. Nixon vs Cowboys would have been almost as good as Spitfires in space.
For the first half of the programme I didn't like it at all. Too many in jokes and cheesy bits. The opening sequence was bizarre and the 'I wear a Stetson' line was too obvious, especially when followed by River Song's display of sharpshooting.* The only one that made me laugh was the Doctor's request for '12 Jammy Dodgers and a fez' while trying to work out the location of a mysterious phone call.
Also they pulled that bloody Doctor dies in the first five minutes thing again. We know he doesn't. You don't have to be much of a Dr Who obsessive to know that Matt Smith is here for the duration of the series. Even as a framer for the series it is a bit tired and old. I much preferred the cracks in time from last series that only later on were revealed to be caused by the exploding Tardis. Still we'll have to wait and see how it develops. We aren't usually hit with something so monumental so early in the series.
Luckily the episode got better as it went on. I really like the Canton character. The repetition of the name, Canton Everett Delaware the Third, made me think he must be a character from history. I was thinking involvement in Watergate or inventor of the many worlds theory throughout the episode but neither fit with the facts and a quick internet search didn't find anything so I guess he's probably fictional.
The aliens also have a lot of potential. The Men in Black/Grey-alikes are terrifying and have a bit of a mutant human vibe to them that may or may not be going anywhere. I won't ruin the ending but the reveal about the 'Spaceman' and subsequent cliffhanger ending were both high points.
* Interesting that she later managed to miss multiple shots at close range when firing at the slow moving, semi-submerged 'Spaceman'. Hmmm.
For the first half of the programme I didn't like it at all. Too many in jokes and cheesy bits. The opening sequence was bizarre and the 'I wear a Stetson' line was too obvious, especially when followed by River Song's display of sharpshooting.* The only one that made me laugh was the Doctor's request for '12 Jammy Dodgers and a fez' while trying to work out the location of a mysterious phone call.
Also they pulled that bloody Doctor dies in the first five minutes thing again. We know he doesn't. You don't have to be much of a Dr Who obsessive to know that Matt Smith is here for the duration of the series. Even as a framer for the series it is a bit tired and old. I much preferred the cracks in time from last series that only later on were revealed to be caused by the exploding Tardis. Still we'll have to wait and see how it develops. We aren't usually hit with something so monumental so early in the series.
Luckily the episode got better as it went on. I really like the Canton character. The repetition of the name, Canton Everett Delaware the Third, made me think he must be a character from history. I was thinking involvement in Watergate or inventor of the many worlds theory throughout the episode but neither fit with the facts and a quick internet search didn't find anything so I guess he's probably fictional.
The aliens also have a lot of potential. The Men in Black/Grey-alikes are terrifying and have a bit of a mutant human vibe to them that may or may not be going anywhere. I won't ruin the ending but the reveal about the 'Spaceman' and subsequent cliffhanger ending were both high points.
* Interesting that she later managed to miss multiple shots at close range when firing at the slow moving, semi-submerged 'Spaceman'. Hmmm.
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