3 weeks till new Who!

[JustinAlexander]

The Girl Who Waited, The Doctor's Wife, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon,

I'd agree with these three being high points from the last two seasons.

The Snowmen - indeed, if you consider them "atrocious"

But, yes, I would qualify "The Snowmen" as being fairly atrocious. Here's a critique I wrote on a different forum:

From a purely structural POV, the script was terrible. Moffat has gotten incredibly lazy as a writer. Not only was this episode filled with telling instead of showing, it doubled down on that dubious inadequacy by (a) simply repeating over and over again just in case the viewer had accidentally fallen asleep and (b) having the actual events of the episode directly contradict the telling.

For example, Vastra the Great Detective who is never actually seen doing any detective work (although we're told repeatedly how awesome she is at it) is a fairly bad bit of writing. Vastra the Great Detective who spends large parts of the episode saying, "I don't understand!" (showing her to actually be a fairly terrible detective) is simply incompetent writing.

(Oh, man. Reviewing a couple scenes just to make sure my memory wasn't betraying me just keeps turning up the stupid. "Take her back where we found her." Really? Didn't you just establish that he's lost the memory of the last hour and has no idea who she is? Moffat needs an editor.)

Laying aside the really poor execution of the script, however, we're forced to actually focus on the story being told: The Doctor, having suffered a great personal loss, turns into an aloof and lonely god. But he meets a young girl in England who reinvigorates him by being perky and clever and helping him save the world from the Nestene Consciousness--

Oh. Wait. Sorry. Wrong episode.

What I mean is that the Doctor, having suffered a great personal loss, turns into an aloof and lonely god. But he meets a young girl in England who reinvigorates him by being perky and clever and helping him save the world from the Atraxi--

Oh. Wait. Sorry. Wrong episode.

One of the things that wore thin at the end of RTD's run was the fact he just kept recycling the same six stories over and over and over again. It looks as if Moffat is falling into the same trap.

But there's also the really questionable way in which this particular retread is being carried out. Even if we assume that clumsy elements like "Clara randomly knows that this fellow walking down the street can solve her currently nonexistent snowman problem" are really just hinting at the mystery of Clara (although I've used that excuse to justify the spottier parts of Moffat's last two seasons only to discover that there was not, in fact, any grand design -- just lazy writing), we're still left with the really ugly gorilla in the room:

Doctor, aren't you married?


If you want to tell the story of how the Doctor has pushed everyone away from him, including River, and retired in a cloud of bitterness and despair, there are a lot of interesting stories you could tell about that.


But, personally, I wouldn't rank "all the Doctor really needs is a hot piece of young girl flesh and he'll follow his erection all the way back to social responsibility" as one of those stories.

Asylum of the Daleks

"Asylum of the Daleks" is probably the best episode this season , but suffers from similar problems particularly when viewed in the larger context of the series as a whole.

For example, the episode immediately previous to "Asylum of the Daleks" tells the story of how the Doctor is going to go into hiding and "let the universe forget him" for awhile in response to the threat of the Silence. Why is this story immediately undermined in the very next episode, retold in miniature featuring the Daleks, and then completely forgotten about for the rest of the current season? It's just not good show management.

(And why does the entire episode look as if somebody scratched out the word "Cyberman" in the script and replaced it with the word "Dalek"?)

The biggest problem with "Asylum of the Daleks", however, is the completely sloppy storytelling surrounding the Amy-Rory relationship. (This should be self-evident, but I can go into details if you'd like.)

If I'm being honest in my assessment of the show right now, I'm forced to conclude that the current series has yet to deliver an episode that wasn't mediocre (and most of them were worse than that). And it's been 10 episodes since "The Girl Who Waited" (which is the last episode I would actually qualify as "good"). 10 episodes in a row is a lot of bad TV. It's a testament to how much I've enjoyed the show in the past that I'm giving it additional opportunities to get back on track.

Looking at the positive during the past few seasons: The most consistent stretch in Moffat's tenure as show runner has been "The Impossible Astronaut" through "Let's Kill Hitler" (in which I would only describe "The Curse of the Black Spot" as being truly bad). Series 5 was considerably less consistent (with "Victory of the Daleks", "Vampires of Venice", "The Hungry Earth", and "Cold Blood" all being dreadful), but also had some of the best episodes of Moffat's tenure (including "The Eleventh Hour").

And the public agrees - millions of people watch this thing. The Snowmen was watched by just under 10 million people. That's 1-in-6 people.

Yes, yes. And Transformers: Dark of the Moon was one of the best movies of 2011.

 

[Morrus]

Yikes, essay. I get that you don't like the current iteration all that much; you don't need to prove it. A mere statement is enough. I think, based on your conclusion that "the current series has yet to deliver an episode that wasn't mediocre", I stand by my opinion that our tastes utterly differ. No essay is going to change that.

I feel that your issue is with humour and whimsy. Madame Vastra? Whimsy. She's not a weak point because she doesn't do what *you* want her to do; she's a slightly whimsical nod to Holmes, with a double whimsical "she's a reptile" angle. That's it.

Yes, yes. And Transformers: Dark of the Moon was one of the best movies of 2011.

Don't be silly. If you're going to start comparing Who to that movie, why in god's name are you watching it?

all the Doctor really needs is a hot piece of young girl flesh and he'll follow his erection all the way back to social responsibility

And that is not only ridiculous, it's also inappropriate on this forum. Please watch your tone.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Series five started well. The first 2 stories were good, or at least serviceable. The other 11 were awful. Let's jump over horrible stories like The Lodger (the Doctor, who lived on Earth for most of 5 years, was familiar with obscure Tibetan customs, proper modern Chinese customs, and more doesn't understand basic social conventions of the early 21st century, even though he has had 4 companions from that era?) and the Spitfires in Space, and go straight to the series finale. The cybermen used to require full processing chambers, but now just a loose head can grapple onto someone to begin conversion? All the races have ships in orbit, including the revised Silurians. So, if the Silurians had space travel, why didn't some of them evacuate the planet rather than going into hibernation? Amy rubs the hair of her younger self. AMY. RUBS. THE HAIR. OF HER YOUNGER SELF. WTF? Never mind Mawndren Undead, that no-no was a major plot point in Father's Day just a couple years ago. Glossed over. In order for the universe to return, Amy has to remember it. So the Doctor cannot return until she remembers him? Um, that means the only parts of the universe that can return are the places Amy has seen. Or, if she doesn't have to remember them for them to return, than what was the big deal that River Song had to prompt her? ??? And then there's the whole crack in time, which is not resolved, and not even mentioned at all in series 6, leaving us to believe it has been abandoned entirely. Series 6, aka The River Song Show, seemed to be more about trying to make River the main character. And in the end, River doesn't marry The Doctor--She marries the robot. And how does this marriage end this phantom universe bit? That made no sense to me. "____ is/are cool" isn't much of a personality, and neither is spitting up food.

As for story recycling--that has long been a part of Doctor Who. In fact, during Pertwee's era it was a standing joke that the plots were reduced to mad scientists and alien invasions, and The Master was behind almost every plot. To a certain extent, this is true with the Big Finish Audio stories too--"Shadow of the Scourge" has a pretty similar framework to "Winter for the Adept", and 4 other stories. If the episodes are well written and acted, it doesn't bother me much.
That NuWho has so taken to copying Big Finish wouldn't bother me as much either, if NuWho in some way did a better job with their new interpretation. But it is much like filling half a glass with root beer, and the rest with water. Yuck.
Just finished watching series 2, as it happens. There are great episodes, and weak episodes. For series 5 and 6, there are good lines and moments, and there's the rest of the show.

 

[Herschel]

What do you expect from someone with disassociated taste? The fact that the Doctor turns lonely and withdrawn is a recurring theme gives the character/show depth. He's the dichotomy of ultimate optimist/pessimist. It hurts too see loved ones die/leave and he swears he won't face that pain again but eventually he realizes the good times are worth the bad and you have to accept both. People often say they'll never do _____ again, be it get attached to another pet, married or whatever after being hurt but often they do because they long for the companionship offered.

The show also has different writers and fans of different offerings. I find "Midnight" to be one of the weakest of Series 4 yet many hail it as brilliant. My nephew is a staunch convert now but we like different aspects of/and different episodes best also. What the show does so well is blend entertainment for the entire family without leaving any group in the cold. It tugs at your heartstrings while still containing the whimsy to avoid becoming too dark for the younger audience.

 

[Aeolius]

On a side note, I just read an article about Rutger Hauer joining the cast of True Blood. He looks like Jon Pertwee! link

(okay, okay... he looks like the illegitimate lovechild of Jon Pertwee and Rod Stewart)

 

[Mallus]

Madame Vastra got to utter one of the best lines in of all contemporary science fiction: "I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time, and this is my wife". This alone justifies her inclusion in the story, and Moffat's continued employment at the BBC.

Moffat also titled an episode of Dr. Who, "Let's Kill Hitler", in the which the line, "You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the Hell, let's kill Hitler." The amount of good will the man earns from me for stuff like this is best measured using exponents.

Yes, there have been mediocre and bad episodes under his tenure. No one is perfect. Morrus is right, no one mixes science fiction and whimsy like Moffat. And I'd wager a chunk of the SF audience simply has a problem with whimsy, with the risk of implication that all this sci-fi stuff is childish, not fit for adults. God forbid someone writing sci-fi gets playful. This is serious business about ancient alien time travelers, angry robotic pepper-pots, and blue boxes bigger inside than out.

edit: as to the point about Moffat repeating himself... what artist doesn't? Pointing out a writer revisits a certain set of themes/plots is hardly insightful criticism. Then again, AFAIC, most nerd criticism stays far, far away from insightful, choosing instead to dwell in the vast, shallow sea of exhaustive quotation and canon-dredging.

All I can say is I'm not tired of Moffat's shtick just yet. I can't wait until the end of the month. Even though it being with it the specter of my 44th birthday!

 

[Mallus]

For example, Vastra the Great Detective who is never actually seen doing any detective work (although we're told repeatedly how awesome she is at it) is a fairly bad bit of writing. Vastra the Great Detective who spends large parts of the episode saying, "I don't understand!" (showing her to actually be a fairly terrible detective) is simply incompetent writing.

This is because the story isn't about Vastra solving a crime -- she's basically a metafictional joke, ie Sherlock Holmes was inspired by a Silurian in a same-sex marriage, which then sort of doubles back into another metafictional joke suggesting Holmes and Watson were actually married.

She (and her entourage) are also around to show the Doctor, no matter what, has devoted friends. Oh, and to deliver that killer line about being a lizard woman from the dawn of time.

You're misidentifying Vastra's role in the story and asking the character to do something she's clearly not intended to do. That's not bad writing on Moffat's part. Would a story centered on Vastra as the Great Detective be interesting? I think so. But's that not The Snowmen.

 

[Morrus]

This is because the story isn't about Vastra solving a crime -- she's basically a metafictional joke, ie Sherlock Holmes was inspired by a Silurian in a same-sex marriage, which then sort of doubles back into another metafictional joke suggesting Holmes and Watson were actually married.

She's also, I'd wager, a test-bed for a replacement for The Sarah Jane Adventures now that Liz Sladen has sadly passed. Something for CBBC in the afternoons.

 

[Roland55]

Dude, if you couldn't enjoy, as a few which jump to mind immediately, The Girl Who Waited, The Doctor's Wife, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, Asylum of the Daleks, or The Snowmen - indeed, if you consider them "atrocious" - I can only say that your taste utterly, utterly, utterly differs to mine. Those are good writing. There's been one or two turkeys - as there always have been (Night Terrors) but overall the show is doing just fine. And the public agrees - millions of people watch this thing. The Snowmen was watched by just under 10 million people. That's 1-in-6 people.

Worry not.

There are plenty of Americans who enjoy the modern incarnation of Dr. Who.

Perhaps we just aren't as vocal.

 

[Mallus]

She's also, I'd wager, a test-bed for a replacement for The Sarah Jane Adventures now that Liz Sladen has sadly passed.

That would be great!

There are plenty of Americans who enjoy the modern incarnation of Dr. Who.

Perhaps we just aren't as vocal.

A few months ago at the dentist's office, I spied an issue of Entertainment Weekly with Matt Smith as the Doctor on the cover. I think's it's safe to say the new Who is a hit in the Colonies.