Fazzinchi

Are We There Yet?

Thousands sat through the Man United v Watford FA Cup semi final waiting to see whether Watford could pull off a shock victory.  Not through any great sporting interest, or even for a love of football but because the BBC had announced that, if the match was to go to extra-time then the third episode of Doctor Who, “Gridlock” would be delayed by a week.  What outrage there would have been.  The season was already a week later than planned after being delayed by the England v (more…)

D’you Wanna Come With Me?

Well, that’s what I call a build-up.  There were (as far as I counted) seven different trailers, a series guest interviews on Richard and Judy, BBC Breakfast, Entertainment Today, The Charlotte Church Show, Graham Norton, Wales Today, This Morning, Newsround and Blue Peter, even more spots on almost every BBC radio station, column inches in the printed media wherever you cared to look and a glittering press launch that wouldn’t have been out of place for a Hollywood (more…)

“Get back, get back, get back to where you once came from”

And so, Billie Piper’s 27-episode run as Rose has come to an end: trapped in a parallel universe with her family but with no chance of escape. The “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” double-part series finale lived up to the expectations of a demanding audience, not only did we get to see the inseperable duo seperated but we got a Dalek/Cybermen war thrown in for good measure. I say “war”, more of a “battle”. I say “battle”, more of a “brief encounter”. There was a lot crammed into these two 45-minute segments and so many memorable moments, all of which were built in to the script to lead us in to that ending. Rose going head-to-head with the Cult of Skaro, Pete and Jackie being re-united, and the Daleks and the Cybermen in a war of words were all sequences that will stay with the viewer for quite some time. None of them however can hold a candle to the last 10 minutes.

In a brilliantly crafted scene, the Doctor and Rose were on either side of the corridor in front of the breach into the Void, holding on for dear life as all beings contaminated with “void stuff”, themselves included, were being dragged relentlessly back into the Hell. It all went wrong as Rose’s lever slipped, she risked everything to save the situation and very nearly paid the ultimate price but Pete came back to rescue her in the only way possible and jumped back into alt-Earth. With the breach closed and the heroes separated there was one last chance to say for the lonely angel to say “Goodbye” to his Rose. Even the coldest of hearts cannot fail to have been moved as the Doctor appeared in alt-Earth for a final farewell. Billie is gonna be a tough act to follow.

Ssshhhhhhh!

The penultimate story of Series Two, before the much anticipated two-part finale, was the enigmatically titled Fear Her (although I rather enjoyed the title proposed earlier in production: Chloe Webber Destroys The Earth). Coming off the back of the Abzorbaloff turkey/masterpiece* (* = delete as applicable) and suffering from a slightly disappointing “Next Time” trailer we find our dynamic duo arriving at the 2012 Olympics. However, rather than heading to the Beach Voleyball or Greco-Roman Wrestling, they wander into a suburban street and stumble upon a mystery surrounding some children that have been disappearing. Obviously, there is a suitably Who-ish twist to the events as it turns out that 8-year-old Chloe Webber has been drawing pictures of the children, which manage to pull them out of reality and into the images themselves.

The scary aspect to the story was the juxtaposition of the frightening (the possessed, monsters in cupboards, disappearing kids) against the mundane (suburbia). Everything looked utterly ordinary on the surface, and I think that this may be the reason why the story failed to entirely capture the imagination of this particular viewer. It was the visual impact of episodes such as Tooth and Claw and The Impossible Planet that gave me a certain satisfaction that I was watching something truly special. Here, it looked (whisper it) a little bit Hollyoaks. However, it has to be said that Abisola Agbaje did a sterling job as Chloe, in a role that demanded two personalities and lots of screen-time. All in all I’d have to say that this was a fair to middling story but it served well as an entree to the Army of Ghosts.

We love Jeff Lynne too

Love & Monsters was not your run-of-the-mill Who episode by anyone’s stretch of the imagination. The Doctor and Rose were sidelined for much of the episode (intense shooting schedules and double banked production being the cause), which gave Russell T the opportunity to stretch his creative wings. What he dreamt up was a natural extension to the character of Clive (as played by Mark Benton in Rose). Here we find a group of people who have become intrigued by the mysterious Doctor, they meet up on a regular basis, share their mutual interest and finally, this disparate collection of souls become friends. Any resemblence to the concept of Doctor Who fandom at large is purely intentional. At the heart of this collective is Elton Pope, a hugely likeable chap played on right of geekiness by Marc Warren, but it is the arrival of Peter Kay’s character, Victor Kennedy, that sees the story develop.

So far, so odd. Where then did it all go wrong? Well the monster, for that is what Victor turns out to be, looks like it was designed by an 8-year old (in actual fact it was designed by an 8-year old, but shouldn’t we get better from our favourite programme?), there is a decidely left-field ending regarding a living paving slab, and the viewer is probably left somewhat bewildered. It suffers, like James Blunt, from being easy to hate. You can see what it’s trying to achieve, it’s not without merit, but it’s a little… whiny. However, some of us like James Blunt because it’s catchy, easy to absorb (ha!), and requires little in the way of thought. This is the marmite of Doctor Who episodes…. you’ll either love it or hate.

What are you lookin’ at?

Since the relaunch of Doctor Who last year, some fans have been asking why the stories were so Earth-centric in their settings. The rationale was compelling, i.e. (i) an anchor for the new fans to relate to, (ii) a focus on the companion and how travelling with the Doctor affects her and her home life, and (iii) a simple structural format that limits exposition to a minumum thus allowing the 45-minute format to work. However, it was still getting a little frustrating. So, we arrive at “The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit” double parter with a even more anticipation than usual. The happy travellers arrive on a Sanctuary Base, built on a planet that is, impossibly, orbiting a black hole. They meet the crew and their Ood workforce and, of course, things start to go wrong pretty soon. The power source that’s keeping them in orbit is buried 10 miles beneath the surface, the crew are drilling down to find it, and they have awoken an ancient evil…. the devil himself.

Tattooed Man

Hands down, this has to be the best example of Doctor Who, in the world, ever. Not one but two fantastic monsters, a rollicking good adventure yarn, brilliantly realised supporting characters, an engaging storyline, genuine peril, super cliffhanger, and an opportunity for the main characters to question and think about some of the larger issues of faith without ever once patronising the family audience. I could, and no doubt will, watch this over and over again and keep on discovering more facets of this wonderful tale to enjoy each time.