Fazzinchi

4×07: The Unicorn and the Wasp

Series four of Doctor Who reached is mid-point with last Saturday’s murder mystery featuring none other than Agatha Christie herself and, to be honest with you, I really didn’t know what to make of it. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had a busy week at work, I’d probably attempt to kid myself that the reason this blog post is so late is the very fact that I have had no idea of whether to fall in the pro- or anti- camp… or not bother with a (more…)

4×06: The Doctor’s Daughter

Last year, Stephen Greenhorn gave us the intriguing Lazarus Experiment.  It was a tale of genetic manipulation gone wrong that had a few unforseen links to and consequences in the season finale.  This year we get a genetic manipulation gone right story as a “progeny machine” was heavily featured, which created completely perfect people in a matter of seconds from a small cell sample.  So, after all the (more…)

4×04: The Sontaran Stratagem

It’s always nice to have a stratagem. According to dictionary.com its a plan, scheme or trick for deceiving an enemy, although what exactly the inhabitants of Earth had done to deserve the wrath of Staal The Undefeated and his Tenth Sontaran battle fleet wasn’t quite clear from episode one of this series’ first two-parter. Essentially, the plot involved the Sontarans surreptitiously distributing a new carbon eliminating device for all the world’s 800 million cars that was coupled (more…)

4×03: Planet of the Ood 

The previous Ood appearance in Doctor Who, back in Series 2’s Impossible Planet/Satan Pit double bill, essentially served as a plot device for a race of passive creatures who could easily be possessed by the Beast who was the ultimate villain of the piece.  In fact, I seem to recall that the early plans were to have the Slitheen appearing instead of the Ood… thank heavens for small mercies when we were spared that particular fate.  However, the inclusion of a passive, servile race of (more…)

4×02: The Fires of Pompeii

Just from the pre-credit sequence, you could determine that, if nothing else, we were in for a visual treat with The Fires of Pompeii as the sets at the Cinecitta Studios in Rome were sumptuous and gave a depth and richness to the exterior shots that was a cut above 95% of any other dramas you care to mention. The other hints of what was in store came from the dialogue between DT and CT (a useful shorthand that is gaining popularity on “teh internets”), here we (more…)

4×01: Partners In Crime

Season premieres from year’s past have all been thematically similar.  Russell T Davies pens a tale that introduces the audience to the new dynamic of Doctor/Companion that serves to set the scene for what’s to come over the next 12 weekends with the story generally seeming of secondary importance to character.  In 2005, Rose kicked off the new era as the very first story (re)introducing us to the mythology of the show through the wide eyes of the eponymous, (more…)