Doctor Who -- Deep Breath Review

Review of Deep Breath – Doctor Who, Series 8, Episode 1


Ah, where to begin? I watched this episode three times in the last three days, because the first time I watch anything it's usually just to be entertained and I miss a lot.


Well, for starters, although Moffat seems to despise the Victorian era, he also seems to have a weird thing going for it. All I can say is, I was super disappointed when I realized that Madam Vastra and Jenny would be in the very first episode; I hate them, and I think Moffat's worldview is about as subtle as the Fireproof movie. Shut up with the acceptance junk and get on with the actual story.


The dinosaur was … corny. Also illogical. When was the last time that anything (except Captain Jack, which was also silly but at least made a tiny bit more sense) traveled with the Tardis while being on the outside? The Tardis is supposed to dematerialize. That's like the most basic piece of Who knowledge out there. If you materialize in a house, you dematerialize out of the house. The house doesn't travel with you.
Another reviewer said that the only reason the dinosaur is there is because Moffat's inner eight-year-old stamped its foot and refused to allow the script to go on without it.
The whole scene with Madam Vastra and Jenny talking to the Inspector while the dinosaur stamps around (and does surprisingly little damage, if any) is insipid. Jenny, especially, seems like a simple 'as you know, Bob' character. She likes to tell everyone on screen what we can (or should be able to) see with our own eyes, just in case we're stupid enough to miss it. Madam Vastra's disdain for humans (and especially men) is quite annoying and shouldn't win her any points with viewers of a show where humans are the ones the Doctor likes the most; why the Doctor is friends with Vastra at all is a puzzle to me.
Anyways, if you took out Vastra and Jenny, and just had Clara and the Doctor crashing in Victorian era London, the story would be pretty much intact because neither the lizard nor her lover (which gives me the creeps just writing it out) contribute anything except info dumps and generic 'don't judge cuz judging is bad' stuff. In fact, the whole story would have been much tighter without Vastra or Jenny. One example of this is, after the dinosaur spontaneously combusts, the Doctor asks if there have been any similar murders. Vastra says yes. Not too much later, the Doctor finds a newspaper where the spontaneous human combustions have been reported. In other words, there was absolutely no need for him to ask Vastra about it, because he would have found out anyways.
Another weird thing is, how does Vastra know about regeneration? She's only met Eleven, and the Doctor doesn't just go around handing out that kind of information. She also says, “Here we go again.” As if she's seen him regenerate before, which of course she hasn't.
Also, Vastra is just disturbing (eating people. OhhhhK); Jenny is disturbing because she thinks it's OK. This. is. Not. OK. It's especially not OK for the kids who are watching this show; isn't it supposed to be a family show?
I will say that, as always, I loved Strax. I wish we could have him without the PaterSnoozer gang.


Moving on to Clara, she was quite annoying from the minute she came out; but at least it's nice to see her actually get mad at the Doctor (though for less reason than she's had in the past), because she seemed incapable of anger (or any realistic emotions) with the Eleventh Doctor. But her annoying way of saying, “You need to Calm. Down.” is used three times in the episode (with slight variation in the wording) and made me think she was trying too hard at first.
I really think Clara could be a good companion in spite of the silliness of the Impossible Girl storyline; thankfully, she does seem to get better in the middle of the episode. She's quite obviously a very good actress whose talents haven't been used to the full for most of her time with the Doctor; but in the restaurant and underneath it she shows her talent, especially during her confrontation with the chief droid; it also shows a different Clara than the one we've seen before: quick thinking and smart, but also human.
Of course, her character takes a nosedive after all the excitement is over and she keeps on saying that she doesn't know who the Doctor is anymore (even to his face; how insensitive can you get?). Maybe Moffat is realizing that his silly Girl Who Saves the Doctor plot was, well, silly. And now he's trying to make us forget about it and make Clara just a regular girl who's never heard about regeneration and is afraid that a Doctor with a new face isn't the same as 'her' Doctor.
But, since she is scattered along his timestream, and since she knows more about him than any other single companion, she of all people should be able to accept him and stop the nonsense; let's hope that in future episodes, we don't hear a word breathed about it.
All in all, Clara was pretty good in this episode, better than I'd expected but not quite as good as I'd hoped.


And now, of course, for the Doctor himself.
I wasn't sure what to think at first. He rambles and panics and is very amnesiac from the moment he steps out of the Tardis, but it's kind of amusing while also making you feel some sympathy for him; he's obviously gone through a rough ride, is confused, and needs a nap.
After his nap, he gets up and starts drawing complicated mathematical equations all over the room with a bit of chalk (where he got more chalk, and why that first piece of chalk was there in the first place, I don't know), but I really liked that bit. I always like it when the Doctor is shown as having a remarkable mind; the Eleventh Doctor didn't really show it that much, usually stumbling upon the answer in a haphazard or slapstick way. This scene reminds me a bit of the scene in '42' where the Tenth Doctor explains the next number in the sequence at top speed, then asks whether recreational mathematics are even taught anymore.
It's quite a good scene where the Doctor tries to reassure the dinosaur; and also, when the dinosaur combusts, his, “Sorry. Sorry.” is very good; you really feel that the tragedy is hard on him, and it helps bring him to his senses.
The scene in the ally with the tramp is really good; possibly my favorite bit out of the whole episode. It's comedy lies in the fact that, while we know what the Doctor is talking about, we also can see it from the tramp's point of view and we understand the frustration of both of them. The tramp reminds me of Wilf, Donna Noble's grandfather, and I liked him tremendously. My favorite line of his: “They are mighty eyebrows indeed, sir!”
In this scene we get a good idea of the Doctor, finally, although he still seems a bit crazy. I got some Tenth Doctor vibes from him, just a bit, which was nice.
However, throughout the first and second times I watched the episode I was wondering who he really reminded me of. On the third time, I got it: this Doctor is very, very close in many ways to the Fourth Doctor. I can't really explain it, but it's something to do with the way he talks, and also the way he figures things out. Whether it was intentional or not, I like it.


The Doctor meets Clara in the restaurant, and here we have some fun banter between the two of them for just a moment. His way of finding out what is wrong in the room is very Doctor-y, and then we get to see them as a team briefly.
I think it's quite telling about the new Doctor that he leaves Clara (even if just for a moment) because it seems so … selfish, and so unlike what the other Doctors would have done. Of course, we realize now that he never actually went very far, and even brought Clara back to the droid, but it's so different that it's a bit shocking; he even goes so far as to refuse her the screwdriver because 'I might need it'.
His confrontation with the droid in the escape pod is interesting. Here is where he reminds me most of the Fourth Doctor. However, his speech was just so-so in my opinion, particularly the way he delivered it, but also because it doesn't make sense. The droid says, “It is beautiful.” And the Doctor counters that with, “No it's not. It's just small.” I think that the droid should have said something else, or else they should have put the speech in at a different place. To me it seems like Moffat thought up what was to him a great speech, so he just shoved it in there.
The resolution is … interesting, for lack of a better word. I think this is possibly the first time we've ever seen a villain defeated but not seen how it was defeated. Not sure if I like that.


When Clara and the Doctor are re-united on the Tardis, again, the Doctor has a speech which doesn't make sense in the immediate context. He says, “I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over two thousand years, not all of them good. It's about time I did something about that.” It's not like Clara asked him anything; the speech just came out of nowhere. Is this going to be part of the Twelfth Doctor? Him just saying random things with no connection to what was just said? But those are really minor complaints.
I'm still not sure whether I like the Doctor's new found uncertainty; Capaldi plays it well at least.


Now let's talk about the actual plot, and I'll try to be quick because this has gotten pretty long.
The villain is pretty good, fairly creepy, but the logic of some elements is missing. I'm sorry, but skin doesn't stretch like rubber, nor can an escape pod be made out of skin. That's just … weird. They live in an era where there are huge amounts of metals of all kinds, and they're using skin on their ship? Nope, doesn't work for me.
Then, Moffat does what he does best and decides to do self-references. He couldn't stand just having robots turning themselves human. Instead, he has to hark back to The Girl in the Fireplace, which by itself was a good episode, and link them together in a significant way. Why? Why? They are nothing alike, not really. Oh, and then we find out that it's happened in yet other ships! This really lacks imagination, and also confidence. He needs to let a story stand on its own, without having to be propped up by other stories, but I don't think Moffat has written one story like that since he took over the reins of the show. Every single episode has relied on an elaborate and overarching story (not just a theme); in some instances it worked, in others it didn't. I was hoping this series would be different, but apparently not. Even if the out-of-control-droids is over (which I seriously doubt) we then have the absolutely ridiculous ending. Hey! This is a droid. He fell onto a spike and was impaled. Why do we now have him, unimpaled, in a creepy, fake looking garden with a creepy lady who is going on about her 'boyfriend'? The episode should have ended with Clara and the Doctor leaving in the Tardis. Finis. At least if you're going to have interconnected stories, do it a bit more subtly! Seriously.
Ah, subtlety. That elusive thing for Moffat. There were quite a few instances of being banged over the head with a point instead of letting it play out naturally.
One last thing: Moffat's success with the 'Don't blink' has turned his head. Next it was 'Don't look away or you'll forget', and now it's 'Don't breathe'. Now, I can kind of see how it would trick the droids when Clara held her breath the first time. But when they're all fighting the droids, nope. Clara says, “Don't breathe! They're stupid!” My question is, who is stupid? The droids, or the people who think the droids could actually be that stupid? Enough with the silly, 'Don't do … whatever'. It's tired. Let it go. And don't ever, ever bring it back.



So, what would I rate this? I would give it 4 out of 5 stars, because it has some very good moments, and I think there is a lot of potential in this series, in spite of the silly overarching story we've already got going on. Clara and the Doctor look as if they have some chemistry, and if she's written right she could become a really good companion. I like the Doctor a lot; can't say I love him yet, but I like him enough to be eager to watch more.

DAY OF THE DOCTOR REVIEW

Well, I certainly wasn't thinking I'd be able to watch The Day of the Doctor today, but then I didn't know I'd be able to livestream it from BBC1. So, I watched it, and here are some preliminary thoughts. Definitely some spoilers. You have been warned!

1. David Tennant. Even though I was glad to hear that the Tenth Doctor would be making an appearance, I was also a bit leery because I wasn't sure if he would overplay his part. However, with just a few exceptions, he slid into the role very naturally and did an excellent job (although his last line about not wanting to go made me cringe; it was just way too awkward and stiff. Did. Not. Like.).

2. Rose Tyler/Bad Wolf. First of all, what's up with those horrible clothes? Well, no one ever said Rose had good fashion sense. But anyways, I hated the idea of her coming back from the moment I heard about it. My thoughts now? Well, I'm glad it wasn't actually Rose from the parallel universe. On the other hand, her acting was NOT GOOD and she annoyed the stew out of me. But I'm really happy that neither the Tenth nor Eleventh Doctors could see her, therefore they could not kiss her. Also, I still don't get how Bad Wolf shows up in Rose-form. To me it just seemed like a way to satisfy Rose fans.

3. John Hurt. Hmmm, not sure. I guess he wasn't given nearly enough time to actually become the Doctor, and he didn't seem like the Doctor to me. He was just a bit too cliche-old-wise-man for me.

4. Elizabeth the First. Horrible. I couldn't stand her. She also had an annoying, nasally voice. She had to be the worst part about this episode, and I hope to never see her in Doctor Who again.

5. The plot. There were definitely some fun timey-wimey parts to this, but overall there ... didn't seem to be a plot to speak of. The Zygons were shoehorned in, and I thought that they were surely going to be part of the actual plot, but no. Not really. There was nothing in this to actually grab me. Too many slo-mo shots of cute little kids in the middle of destruction. The dilemma of the Doctors wasn't really very engaging.

6. The Doctors together. The banter was fun, but not as witty as I was hoping. I think that a little more time should have been given to them in this regard.

So to sum up, while there were several lines that made me smile or chuckle, and some entertaining wibbly-wobbly, mostly it felt rushed and a bit flat. I think the Time War should either have been left untouched, or else a several-episode story should have been devoted to it, with a lot more thought put into it.
However, having the Fourth Doctor at the end (although inexplicable) was very nice, and I want to know how they kept the wraps on that?
Overall, I'd give the episode three stars.

Good Villains!

I promised that this would be the next topic, and so here it is: good (and I mean well done, not nice) villains.
These are in no sort of order. They're numbered just so that the post isn't one long unbroken paragraph :D

1. The Daleks. The Daleks can be really good villains. I've got to say that the first time I watched 'Army of Ghosts/Doomsday', my heart just sort of dropped in despair when I saw all. those. Daleks coming out of the Genesis Ark. I do think they can be overdone so that they're neither scary nor threatening anymore. And I think that they need to stop shooting random people immediately but jawing on for ages with anyone who's a main character. Although, they did shoot the Doctor on sight three times: first was when he had the shield around the Tardis so that when he stepped out, it didn't harm him. Second was in The Stolen Earth. Third was in The Big Bang. Anyways, they're not my favorite villains but I think that they've been written well on several occasions, probably my favorites being 'Dalek' and 'Asylum of the Daleks'. Also, their voices are hilarious.

2. The Clockword Droids in 'Girl in the Fireplace'. I know I said that the Cybermen were horrible villains, and it might seem like the Droids are about the same thing. But ... no. Just, no. The Droids are really creepy, and why? Because they're so mindless, and because of the way they disguise themselves, and also because they use human body parts to repair the ship. That's just ... scary. Really really scary. They probably would have gotten less scary if they'd been used in any other episodes, but as it is they are awfully creepy. "She is incomplete. She is incomplete."

3. The Midnight Monster. Best villain/monster/thing in the entire series. It doesn't really need explaining, does it? It repeats, then it synchronizes, then it takes over. Yipes! And you never find out what in the world it is. *shudder*

4. The Weeping Angels. I have to say, everyone was saying how scary 'Blink' was and everything, but I guess that by the time I'd actually gotten to the episode I'd heard it so much that it wasn't very scary anymore. Regardless, they are still really good villains. Very scary and threatening. I even liked 'Flesh and Stone/The Time of Angels', even if Moffat completely contradicted everything he'd said about them in 'Blink'. Such as, they are lonely assassins because if they see each other they'll be stone forever; so how in the world could all those angels be together like that and still be able to move? Another thing is how they send you back into the past if they touch you. Unless they don't, in which case they simply grab you around the neck or hold onto your coat. BUT Flesh and Stone was still enjoyable and creepy, even if the Angels were basically entirely new villains by that point. I have to say I didn't really like The Angels Take Manhattan. And what in the world is the BBC's obsession with New York? There are other states in the U.S., you know.

5. Living Mannequins. I can't say that the Nestene is all that great as a villain, but shop-window dummies coming to life? Scary!

6. Plasmavore. A sweet looking little old lady who actually drains your blood. That's a good villain if I ever saw one.

7. Carrionites. I love the Carrionites. 'Nuff said.

8. The Family of Blood. These people are really creepy. The actors who played all of them were really good at making them normal people at first, and then giving them that cold, empty look and voice when they were taken over by the Family. Excellent villains.

9. Sontarans. The Sontarans are hilarious. I love their obsession with fighting just so they can win. I love their way of looking at things from a fanatical warrior mindset.

10. The Silence. I have mixed feelings about these fellows. On the one hand, it's incredibly scary to have a villain that you can't remember once you've stopped looking at it. But I don't know what to think about them having manipulated the course of Earth's history for thousands of years. I mean, it does seem like a good idea at first, and it's very creepy. But also, doesn't it seem like the Doctor would have found out about them long, long ago? Oh, well. I loved the way that the Doctor was able to get rid of them :)

11. Solomon from 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship'. That is one nasty fellow. He's entirely villainous and yet at heart, he's a coward. That's how all human/humanoid villains should be in my opinion. That way, you can cheer wholeheartedly when they get their just deserts.

OH, and by the way, I have to say something about The Great Intelligence while I'm at it. What a horrible villain. Pathetic. Not scary, no real motivation, and now we're supposed to believe that he stepped into the Doctor's timestream and that ultimately he's behind all the villains and opposition the Doctor has faced? Give. me. a. break. We'll talk about him (and Clara) soon. But probably the next topic will be about the Doctor himself and some points where I think he did the right thing but everyone else thinks he did the wrong thing. Until next time!

Why the Cybermen Make Terrible Villains

OK, so lots of people seem to love the Cybermen; they're certainly popular villains, but I fail to see why. Here are my reasons for disliking the silver nemesis of the Doctor.

1. They're mindless. Yeah, I know, they've got human brains. But they don't have minds. They're like animals: they act on instinct/training/programming. It's like, when you get mad at your computer for not working, and you throw it or hit it. The computer doesn't have a mind, it doesn't care what you do to it, and it doesn't care whether it annoys you or not. The Cybermen are basically just computers; they're not scary and they might be threatening, but they are threatening like a mad wolf or a hungry lion, not like an evil mastermind or a power-hungry dictator.

2. They're actually kind of pointless. I mean, their only goal in life (oops) is to convert every other living human into a Cyberman. What would happen if they succeeded? They'd probably just stop and die/rust.

3. I've only seen the Classic Cybermen in The Five Doctors episode, in which they were kind of more human and also looked like guys in silver spacesuits. So I'm talking about the Alternate Universe Cybermen, created by Mr. Lumic. K, so, Lumic supposedly creates them so that the human brain will live forever. But this is a really, really weak reason. I mean, he obviously doesn't even want to rule the world. He just wants everyone converted into Cybermen, even the most ignorant people. If he wanted to preserve genius, or if he wanted to take over the world with an army of cybermen who didn't convert but just oppressed, then that would make a lot more sense.

4. Nightmare in Silver makes the Cybermen even stupider. OK, so they can upgrade in two seconds so that they are practically unbeatable except by blowing up the whole planet that they're on. That just makes them way too powerful, and an enemy without a weak point is very boring, just like a hero is. And then they say that they need the minds of children. But why? They can upgrade so quickly, what else do they need?

So, to conclude, the Cybermen are probably the stupidest villains/monsters in the whole New Series that I've seen. Matched only by the Hologram Baddies in The Power of Three and The Lodger. I mean, seriously, holograms as bad guys? You've got to be kidding me. You can't even fight a hologram. Also, almost as bad (perhaps worse) is when the bad guy turns out to not be a bad guy (a common problem starting with Series Five). You almost always need a bad guy of some kind for a story to work. So, those are my thoughts on villains that aren't any good. The next post will be about the villains and monsters that I do like. Stay tuned!

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my blog! As the introductory post, I thought I would do something fun. Namely, talk a bit about Doctor Who, since that's the whole point of this blog :)

My real name isn't Anita Howard, but you can call me that if you like. Anita is a character I made up for a fanfiction that I haven't gotten around to writing yet, but hopefully will some day. If I ever do, I'll certainly let whoever reads this blog know.

I've watched at least one episode of each of these Doctors: 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, & 11th. So let's talk about them, shall we?

The First Doctor
Obviously, this is where it all started. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch through the whole of the second episode (or the second part of An Unearthly Child) because the story was just way too ... corny. I'll state right here that I was brought up mostly on old movies and a bit of old television, so I'm one of those few kids born in the '90s who doesn't mind low budget special effects as much as most people. If the story is good, I can tolerate and even enjoy a movie with poor special effects or sets, and sometimes even bad acting. But I didn't like the First Doctor (I mean, for crying out loud, he kidnapped Barbara and Ian!), his granddaughter was incredibly annoying, and don't even get me started on the cavemen. Ugh. The very first episode was alright, but as soon as they landed the Tardis wherever it landed in the next episode, things went downhill.

The Fourth Doctor
I was first introduced to Tom Baker in the BBC adaptation of The Silver Chair, where he played, to perfection, a pessimistic Marshwiggle named Puddleglum. It was only years later that I learned he was part of some show called Doctor Who and was a very popular Doctor as well. I've only watched a few of his episodes, because Sarah Jane is really hard to watch. She's just annoying (not quite as much as Susan, though). But the Fourth Doctor is fun to watch. I love his scarf and coat, and the way he talks, and his enthusiasm. And I really like Romana II in the two episodes I've seen her in. The best of the Classic Who companions that I've watched so far. She isn't whiny, she's very smart, and she and the Doctor have wonderful chemistry.

The Fifth Doctor
I've watched quite of few of his, because at first I liked Tegan (but Adric, puh-leaze; he is horrible). I also enjoyed Nyssa a lot; she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. But as soon as Tegan came back in Mawdryn Undead, with that awful costume, the ugly haircut, and (after an episode or two) without Nyssa to kind of balance her out, I came to dislike her very much indeed. Turlough is OK. He seems to have a bit of depth to him, but he's not as good as some people say. The Fifth Doctor himself was fun at first, but after a while he got pretty annoying: he just seems too passive and weak.

The Eighth Doctor
I'd heard a lot about Doctor Who: the Movie and so I didn't watch it with very high expectations. Well, if you can believe it, it was far worse than I had thought it would be. If anyone ever tries to make another Doctor Who movie or show in America, I'll be the first to sign a petition against it. It. was. horrible. I don't just mean bad, but really really really bad. So bad I was cringing just about the whole way through. The only thing I liked about it was the way the console room was set up. That was pretty awesome. Also, the sonic screwdriver was brought back! Other than that, the story was too cliche for words, Grace Holloway was a bore, the Master was horrendous with his accent and his stupid dark glasses and leather coat. And his plan was stupid too. I guess the Master is just doomed to have the worst ever world-domination plans in history (see also: The End of Time parts 1 & 2). The Doctor was OK in this one, but I want to know how he got a Victorian set of clothes at the hospital. Is there some other time traveler there as well? I thought the chemistry between him and Grace was forced, and just about every line of dialogue awful. In fact, the dialogue of everyone in this movie was dreadful. It was basically just a tired American action film. Oh well.

The Ninth Doctor
Except for that first episode of the First Doctor, the Ninth Doctor was the one I watched first. He definitely took a little warming up to, but in the end I was hooked. He's a very good actor, both with facial expressions and voice, and Rose is a good companion, although she isn't my favorite. The Ninth Doctor had quite a few good stories. Not exceptional, but good enough to get me into the show. However, don't get me started on Jack Harkness (I'll reserve that topic for another day).

The Tenth Doctor
I guess I could go on and on about the Tenth Doctor. He's definitely my favorite. Not only did he have some amazing episodes, but he was just really good in almost all of them. Very good actor, and not hard on the eyes either :) But to me, it doesn't matter if an actor's handsome if he can't act. Anyways, he also got the best companion EVER: Donna Noble. I love Donna. At first, in The Runaway Bride, I thought she was incredibly annoying, but she came into her own with Partners in Crime, and re-watching 'Bride', I like it a lot more than I did at first. I'm very annoyed that Rose had to come in on Donna's last THREE episodes, when Rose had already gotten two whole seasons to herself, but thankfully Donna was definitely the star. I like Martha, too, pretty well. But her re-appearance in 'The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky' was a little silly. Also, marrying Mickey? Seriously? What about Tom Milligan? But Martha's season had 'Blink' and 'Human Nature/The Family of Blood', which were exceptional.

The Eleventh Doctor
When Ten regenerated into Eleven, I was very skeptical about whether he could pull off the Doctor. In the first few episodes, I kind of hated him, but I warmed up to him after a while and now I really like him. I think quite a few of his episode endings were weak (holograms don't make good enemies. Sorry) and River Song is another topic for another day, but I think he, himself, is great as the Doctor. And some of his episodes are brilliant. Amy is pretty fun to watch most of the time, and I adore Rory. And then, there's Clara... at first I liked her a lot, but then I realized she's a very flat character. About as dimensional as paper (possibly less so). The resolution of her mystery was also lame.

So, those are my opinions on the Doctors I've seen, their companions, and (in brief) their episodes. Stay tuned for more discussion, and chime in with your own opinions!