Just thought I'll share what I think of the episodes so far:-
Episode One (Rose) - funny and a great start to the relaunched series. And nice to have the Autons and Nestence back.
Episode Two (The End of the World) - emotional
Episode Three (The Unquiet Dead) - scarey
Episodes Four & Five (Aliens of London & World War Three) - Exciting stuff and exciting two-parter, though not the best one ever made
Episode Six (Dalek) - Extermi-great
Episode Seven (The Long Game) - Not great
Episode Eight (Father's Day) - more emotional than episode two
Episodes Nine & Ten (The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances) - mysterious.
Episode Eleven (Boom Town) - not the best episode of the series, but at least it's better than the other Slitheen story
Episode Twelve (Bad Wolf) - Extermi-great. And the robot version of Anne Robinson looks more convincing than the real one.
Episode Thirteen (The Parting of the Ways) - Fantastic climax. Loved the regeneration scene. I think I'm going to like the new Doctor (I've got that feeling I'm going to like him).
What does everyone think of the series so far. It's a shame Christpher Eccleston is leaving :(
Thread
Posts in chronological order
1) Rose - Superb re-start.
2) The End of the World - Style over content, but a hugely engaging and entertaining style.
3) The Unquiet Dead - 'Now That's What I Call Doctor Who'
4) Aliens of London - Embarrassing.
5) World War Three - Better, but still distinctly average.
6) Dalek - Well-made, well-written, well-performed, not sure about the ending though.
7) The Long Game - Nice turn from Simon Pegg, enjoyable overall.
8) Father's Day - I once bought that Paul Cornell a cup of tea, so the greatness of this episode is clearly all down to me.
9) The Empty Child - Quite possibly the best episode of Doctor Who for over 25 years.
2) The End of the World - Style over content, but a hugely engaging and entertaining style.
3) The Unquiet Dead - 'Now That's What I Call Doctor Who'
4) Aliens of London - Embarrassing.
5) World War Three - Better, but still distinctly average.
6) Dalek - Well-made, well-written, well-performed, not sure about the ending though.
7) The Long Game - Nice turn from Simon Pegg, enjoyable overall.
8) Father's Day - I once bought that Paul Cornell a cup of tea, so the greatness of this episode is clearly all down to me.
9) The Empty Child - Quite possibly the best episode of Doctor Who for over 25 years.
Best. Thing. Ever.
Or, more composedly...
(warning: dull fan-type review ahead)
There’s a select band of Doctor Who stories often mentioned by fans as being the ones they do or would use to convince sceptical friends and family of just how good this silly little series we know and love so well can really be. The likes of City of Death, The Caves of Androzani and so on and so forth. Now the new series has produced such a story, one that makes you really proud of the programme and must surely remind even the most jaded of fans of what they love about it. Yes, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances looks set to become that most wonderful of things, a bona fide Doctor Who ‘classic’.
With so much so good about this story, the real question when writing a review is where to start? Well, the thinking has long been that a Doctor Who story can only ever be as good as its script, and there’s no doubting that Steven Moffat has produced what must be one of the most accomplished efforts of the new series to date, and the series as a whole of all time. Anybody familiar with his work on the sitcom Coupling – particularly episodes such as the season two finale The End of the Line – will know just how adept Moffat is at plotting, threading together all the strands of a complex story. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances is not an overly complex affair, but it is superbly structured.
From the explanation of why the three disparate alien elements – the TARDIS crew, Jack and the Tular ambulance – have all descended upon Blitz-torn 1941 London, to the explanation of what has happened to the eponymous child and its fellow gas mask-laden victims, to the child’s connection with Nancy and the ultimate resolution of the plot, it all works perfectly. Nothing it made too obvious or too subtle, and nothing is left dangling – it’s all wonderfully controlled and laid out at a well-pitched pace, it’s almost like a model of how to construct good television drama and superb Doctor Who.
Plotting is not the only string to Moffat’s bow, however, not by a long shot. The Ninth Doctor has probably never been better than he is here uttering Moffat’s lines – of particular note is the beginning of the second episode, as the Doctor and Jack converse about guns and bananas. “A good source of potassium!” indeed! At times it feels like classic Tom Baker era-stuff, although Eccleston also does things it’s hard to imagine the Fourth Doctor doing, such as his sheer joy at the end when he realises the problem has been solved and “everybody lives!” This Doctor has been through so much that his delight at the way everything has come together is particularly infectious, and once again he’s the brave, happy, heroic adventurer we’d all love to travel with, which it has to be said he hasn’t always been at times this season. Moffat also gives a knowing wink to the suddenly all-purpose sonic screwdriver – “Setting 2428!” – and creates possibly the first instance in the entire history of the series of the time honoured “Doctor who?” gag being used and not being embarrassing or annoying.
Interestingly, this handling of the Doctor leaves Rose at times, particularly in the first episode, slipping back more into the traditional companion role than ever before, although this isn’t a complaint. It’s nice to see her taken down a peg or two, namely by being left dangling from a barrage balloon hanging over London! She does get more into her typical Rose style as the story progresses, however, and her teasing of the Doctor over his dancing abilities. Of course, she also manages to swoon into the arms of the story’s leading guest star, and new companion, Captain Jack Harkness, excellently played by John Barrowman. Having only ever experienced Barrowman before as a presenter of Live & Kicking on Saturday mornings a decade ago I wasn’t really sure quite what to expect from Captain Jack, but I absolutely loved him – charismatic and confident without ever seeming too irritatin
Or, more composedly...
(warning: dull fan-type review ahead)
There’s a select band of Doctor Who stories often mentioned by fans as being the ones they do or would use to convince sceptical friends and family of just how good this silly little series we know and love so well can really be. The likes of City of Death, The Caves of Androzani and so on and so forth. Now the new series has produced such a story, one that makes you really proud of the programme and must surely remind even the most jaded of fans of what they love about it. Yes, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances looks set to become that most wonderful of things, a bona fide Doctor Who ‘classic’.
With so much so good about this story, the real question when writing a review is where to start? Well, the thinking has long been that a Doctor Who story can only ever be as good as its script, and there’s no doubting that Steven Moffat has produced what must be one of the most accomplished efforts of the new series to date, and the series as a whole of all time. Anybody familiar with his work on the sitcom Coupling – particularly episodes such as the season two finale The End of the Line – will know just how adept Moffat is at plotting, threading together all the strands of a complex story. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances is not an overly complex affair, but it is superbly structured.
From the explanation of why the three disparate alien elements – the TARDIS crew, Jack and the Tular ambulance – have all descended upon Blitz-torn 1941 London, to the explanation of what has happened to the eponymous child and its fellow gas mask-laden victims, to the child’s connection with Nancy and the ultimate resolution of the plot, it all works perfectly. Nothing it made too obvious or too subtle, and nothing is left dangling – it’s all wonderfully controlled and laid out at a well-pitched pace, it’s almost like a model of how to construct good television drama and superb Doctor Who.
Plotting is not the only string to Moffat’s bow, however, not by a long shot. The Ninth Doctor has probably never been better than he is here uttering Moffat’s lines – of particular note is the beginning of the second episode, as the Doctor and Jack converse about guns and bananas. “A good source of potassium!” indeed! At times it feels like classic Tom Baker era-stuff, although Eccleston also does things it’s hard to imagine the Fourth Doctor doing, such as his sheer joy at the end when he realises the problem has been solved and “everybody lives!” This Doctor has been through so much that his delight at the way everything has come together is particularly infectious, and once again he’s the brave, happy, heroic adventurer we’d all love to travel with, which it has to be said he hasn’t always been at times this season. Moffat also gives a knowing wink to the suddenly all-purpose sonic screwdriver – “Setting 2428!” – and creates possibly the first instance in the entire history of the series of the time honoured “Doctor who?” gag being used and not being embarrassing or annoying.
Interestingly, this handling of the Doctor leaves Rose at times, particularly in the first episode, slipping back more into the traditional companion role than ever before, although this isn’t a complaint. It’s nice to see her taken down a peg or two, namely by being left dangling from a barrage balloon hanging over London! She does get more into her typical Rose style as the story progresses, however, and her teasing of the Doctor over his dancing abilities. Of course, she also manages to swoon into the arms of the story’s leading guest star, and new companion, Captain Jack Harkness, excellently played by John Barrowman. Having only ever experienced Barrowman before as a presenter of Live & Kicking on Saturday mornings a decade ago I wasn’t really sure quite what to expect from Captain Jack, but I absolutely loved him – charismatic and confident without ever seeming too irritatin
Barrowman may have made an impact as Jack, but if awards were to be handed out for this episode then he’d have a hard fight for ‘best supporting character’ from Nancy, as wonderfully played by Florence Hoath. She’s a real discovery, and I hope that on the strength of her performance here Hoath goes a long way in the future. Nancy is part lovable cockney sparrow braving the Blitz, but there’s a lot more beneath the surface, shades of darkness as well as a world-weary kind of knowledge she seems too young for, and of course the secret eventually revealed by the Doctor at the end of the story. In fact, all of the child actors in the story deserve credit – Doctor Who doesn’t have a fantastic record with the performances of youngsters, but all of Nancy’s urchins were superb, and they never felt false or awkward, as is often the danger with putting young children on screen.
Mention too should go to Richard Wilson as the only other really notable turn in the story – he has a surprisingly small role, but he plays it excellently and gets to deliver one of the laugh-out-loud comedy lines at the end of the second episode, having had one of the most horrific moments in the first.
That blend of humour and darkness is this story in microcosm, really. Moffat’s background in television comedy means that some humour was probably to have been expected, but none of it is overly obvious or ever seems out of place. Indeed, the humour works well to contrast with the darkness present in much of the story. So for every scene of the Doctor becoming an unwitting stand-up comic, Jack wielding a banana or Constantine asking a patient if she’s sure she counted her legs properly, we have the oddness of the TARDIS phone ringing, the blank-faced ranks of the gas-masked zombies, and of course the haunting cries of ‘are you my mummy?’ There’s also a definite Quatermass tinge to proceedings with the influence being caused by a crashed spaceship in the heart of London, although the influence of Nigel Kneale’s serials over British television science-fiction is so great that it’s perhaps hard to tell whether such referencing is conscious or whether its simply bred into the psyche of enthusiasts of the genre in this country.
Yes, this story has the spookiest imagery we’ve seen so far in this series, and just as a generation of 1970s children seems to remember The Green Death as “the one with the giant maggots”, so the children of 2005 will probably grow up to speak nostalgically of “the one with the gas masks”. As well as being scripted as such, a lot of the literal darkness of the episode has to do with the highly accomplished direction of James Hawes, who shoots the thing like a feature film and has some delightfully noir-ish touches. My particular favourite shot was the pull-back from Jack’s cockpit through the open doors of the TARDIS into the console room to reveal that the Doctor and Rose had arrived to save him – a bit of a cheat in having the TARDIS land without the usual sound effect, but I’m more than willing to excuse that for the sake of such a nice piece of camerawork. Certainly, it’s good to know that Hawes will be returning to the series to helm the forthcoming Christmas special, at least.
The only instance where I felt Hawes did mis-step slightly was with the cliffhanger ending to episode one. While it was certainly much tighter and more effective that the conclusion to Aliens of London, it did still linger a little too long on the approaching menace. Similarly, Murray Gold’s incidentals – which fitted the action very well on the whole throughout the story, with some nicely atmospheric, suitably creepy moments – went all Rose on us during the cliffhanger recap in the second episode, for no apparent reason and completely against the mood of the story.
Aside from these very negligible points, however, the entire production team seems to have really pulled together to turn this story into something special. Set design, costume, light
Mention too should go to Richard Wilson as the only other really notable turn in the story – he has a surprisingly small role, but he plays it excellently and gets to deliver one of the laugh-out-loud comedy lines at the end of the second episode, having had one of the most horrific moments in the first.
That blend of humour and darkness is this story in microcosm, really. Moffat’s background in television comedy means that some humour was probably to have been expected, but none of it is overly obvious or ever seems out of place. Indeed, the humour works well to contrast with the darkness present in much of the story. So for every scene of the Doctor becoming an unwitting stand-up comic, Jack wielding a banana or Constantine asking a patient if she’s sure she counted her legs properly, we have the oddness of the TARDIS phone ringing, the blank-faced ranks of the gas-masked zombies, and of course the haunting cries of ‘are you my mummy?’ There’s also a definite Quatermass tinge to proceedings with the influence being caused by a crashed spaceship in the heart of London, although the influence of Nigel Kneale’s serials over British television science-fiction is so great that it’s perhaps hard to tell whether such referencing is conscious or whether its simply bred into the psyche of enthusiasts of the genre in this country.
Yes, this story has the spookiest imagery we’ve seen so far in this series, and just as a generation of 1970s children seems to remember The Green Death as “the one with the giant maggots”, so the children of 2005 will probably grow up to speak nostalgically of “the one with the gas masks”. As well as being scripted as such, a lot of the literal darkness of the episode has to do with the highly accomplished direction of James Hawes, who shoots the thing like a feature film and has some delightfully noir-ish touches. My particular favourite shot was the pull-back from Jack’s cockpit through the open doors of the TARDIS into the console room to reveal that the Doctor and Rose had arrived to save him – a bit of a cheat in having the TARDIS land without the usual sound effect, but I’m more than willing to excuse that for the sake of such a nice piece of camerawork. Certainly, it’s good to know that Hawes will be returning to the series to helm the forthcoming Christmas special, at least.
The only instance where I felt Hawes did mis-step slightly was with the cliffhanger ending to episode one. While it was certainly much tighter and more effective that the conclusion to Aliens of London, it did still linger a little too long on the approaching menace. Similarly, Murray Gold’s incidentals – which fitted the action very well on the whole throughout the story, with some nicely atmospheric, suitably creepy moments – went all Rose on us during the cliffhanger recap in the second episode, for no apparent reason and completely against the mood of the story.
Aside from these very negligible points, however, the entire production team seems to have really pulled together to turn this story into something special. Set design, costume, light
I watched 10 mins of one episode and turned over.
I used to watch it as a kid but I can't remember specific episodes or characters - except for the obvious like the daleks & cybermen.
The Empty Child: Superb episode. Genuinely scaring. My nephew (9 years)thought it was easily the best episode of the series.
Here's my tuppance worth.....
Episode One (Rose) - A good strong start
Episode Two (The End of the World) - Great special effects shows British TV is just as good with CGI as Stargate, Enterprise et al.
Episode Three (The Unquiet Dead) - Brilliant, very eerie and a great moment when when Dickens spots the old woman in the audience. DOn't why that sticks out but it does.
Episode Four (Aliens of London) - Not great, not bad. The farting aliens WAS a nice touch.
Episode Fice (World War Three) - Ditto.
Episode Six (Dalek) - Awesome reminds me of the Next Generation episode 'I, Borg' taking a vicious enemy of the Doctor's past and seeing it vunerable. Rose's best episode as well.
Episode Seven (The Long Game) - Hmm doesn't stick out
Episode Eight (Father's Day) - Time-meddling = trouble and a good story.
Episode Nine (The Empty Child) - Another good start and way better than the last two parter. Using a classic premise evil kids with their innocent voices 'Are you my mummy' neversounded so scary.
Episode Ten (The Doctor Dances) - Terrific ending the Doctor ecstatic and dancing. Captain Jack looks a strong contender for second assistant.
Episode One (Rose) - A good strong start
Episode Two (The End of the World) - Great special effects shows British TV is just as good with CGI as Stargate, Enterprise et al.
Episode Three (The Unquiet Dead) - Brilliant, very eerie and a great moment when when Dickens spots the old woman in the audience. DOn't why that sticks out but it does.
Episode Four (Aliens of London) - Not great, not bad. The farting aliens WAS a nice touch.
Episode Fice (World War Three) - Ditto.
Episode Six (Dalek) - Awesome reminds me of the Next Generation episode 'I, Borg' taking a vicious enemy of the Doctor's past and seeing it vunerable. Rose's best episode as well.
Episode Seven (The Long Game) - Hmm doesn't stick out
Episode Eight (Father's Day) - Time-meddling = trouble and a good story.
Episode Nine (The Empty Child) - Another good start and way better than the last two parter. Using a classic premise evil kids with their innocent voices 'Are you my mummy' neversounded so scary.
Episode Ten (The Doctor Dances) - Terrific ending the Doctor ecstatic and dancing. Captain Jack looks a strong contender for second assistant.
Don't forget - BBC One, 7pm tonight, "The Parting of the Ways".
It's going to be a corker of an episode!
It's going to be a corker of an episode!
I'm really looking forward to tonight's finale episode and wondering what the Daleks are up to and resolve the mystery of the mysterious 'Bad Wolf'. And to find out if there is going to be a regeneration. And from what I've seen, it looks like an episode NOT TO BE MISSED. So if you've got anything planned tonight, CANCEL THEM.
Don't forget - BBC One, 7pm tonight, "The Parting of the Ways".
It's going to be a corker of an episode!
I cannot wait to see this episode!!
What a season. i had my doubts at first. I knew Christopher Ecclestone was a great actor but Dr Who? Hmmm. Well let's put that to bed straight away he was a fantastic Doctor funny, plaintive, masterful and plain brilliant. Just look at 'Dalek' and 'The Empty Child' to see what a great Doctor he was.
Again I had doubts with Billie Piper but she has put in a superlative performance as Rose 'Father's Day' should win her some sort of award alone.
*SPOILER*
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Now to Parting of the Ways a good ending I did figure out that the Tardis was leaving the Bad Wolf stuff last week in the pub. The Daleks were chilling just killing people because they can, Captain Jack's recruitment speech (he just gets better and better), Rose as dalek-killing machine and the money shot at the end. A complete surprise they must have filmed multiple endings as I had thought that David Tennant was only confirmed as the new Doctor halfway through? The Doctor sending Rose home was brilliantly done. Christ I even liked the Mickey scenes.
In the words of the ninth doctor 'Fantastic'
Again I had doubts with Billie Piper but she has put in a superlative performance as Rose 'Father's Day' should win her some sort of award alone.
*SPOILER*
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Now to Parting of the Ways a good ending I did figure out that the Tardis was leaving the Bad Wolf stuff last week in the pub. The Daleks were chilling just killing people because they can, Captain Jack's recruitment speech (he just gets better and better), Rose as dalek-killing machine and the money shot at the end. A complete surprise they must have filmed multiple endings as I had thought that David Tennant was only confirmed as the new Doctor halfway through? The Doctor sending Rose home was brilliantly done. Christ I even liked the Mickey scenes.
In the words of the ninth doctor 'Fantastic'
Tennant was probably the Ninth Doctor since at least January, I would have thought. Certainly, he was definitely contracted by late March - he told Gatiss so while they were rehearsing "The Quatermass Experiment." The shoot for the season wrapped in the middle of March, but the TARDIS interior is a standing set down at Newport, there's no-one else in frame for his shot so there's no reason why they couldn't have shot him on it anytime between March and last week.
Loved the episode as a whole, not sure about the kiss - the Rose one I mean, the Jack one was funny and worked well, but the latter one was just mawkish and vomit-inducing. It was a crap idea in 1996 and it's still a crap idea now, but when the rest of the episode's so good I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
I was rather upset when they killed off Lynda, and it was a bit bitchy of Bad Wolf Rose not to bring her back as she did Jack just because she was jealous!
Overall though a fine end to a fine season.
Nice little James Bond gag in the end credits, too...
Loved the episode as a whole, not sure about the kiss - the Rose one I mean, the Jack one was funny and worked well, but the latter one was just mawkish and vomit-inducing. It was a crap idea in 1996 and it's still a crap idea now, but when the rest of the episode's so good I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
I was rather upset when they killed off Lynda, and it was a bit bitchy of Bad Wolf Rose not to bring her back as she did Jack just because she was jealous!
Overall though a fine end to a fine season.
Nice little James Bond gag in the end credits, too...
Enjoyed the episode... didn't think i'll ever say this but I will miss Chris Eccleston.
Great moments leading upto the regneration. also loved the scene where the Doctor tricks Rose and sends her home.
Taylor-mayed: when can we read your full review this episode?
Great moments leading upto the regneration. also loved the scene where the Doctor tricks Rose and sends her home.
Taylor-mayed: when can we read your full review this episode?
I might well write one later on today. :-)