Doctor Who
Dec. 30th, 2009 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshI finally watched The End of Time, Pt. 1 today.
Hm, I have a really hard time articulating my thoughts on shows these days. I'll give it a try though.
I have loved David Tennant as the Doctor, since the beginning, although there have been plenty of episodes along the way that I didn't much like. I'm really going to miss him when he's gone. That conversation in the cafe with Wilf was just beautifully done by both men.
I've been making my way through the Fourth Doctor, and I'm beginning to see more the influence that Tom Baker has had on David Tennant's interpretation of the role. I watched The Keeper of Trakken yesterday, which is the episode in which Anthony Ainley takes on the role of the Master, yet another example of the Master being batshit crazy, although not nearly as insane as the current rendition is. All these years later, he's still trying to cheat death, find some viable way to overcome the fact that he's had his twelve regenerations and it's time to let go. (I wonder if the PTB have thought ahead that far in respect to the Doctor - will they end the show or find some way to give him extra regenerations?) Hm, it's a bit like Voldemort, isn't it? Doing all sorts of horrible evil deeds in the name of immortality.
Some of it I thought was a bit silly. They don't like to do anything small, do they? All these grand, end of the universe sort of storylines lose their effectiveness after a while. Oh, dear. It's the end of all humanity, is it? What a pity, better make a cup of tea and have a lie down. They'll fix it all in the next episode. It's all full of prophecy and end times, but somehow or other, they're going to have to find a way to reset things, because we all know the show is continuing after this. Hm, yeah, I guess I find the grandiosity of it all a little annoying.
But I'm excited to see the return of the Time Lords in their very silly costumes. That's a plot point I was not expecting (I do a good job of being spoiler free in Doctor Who) and it opens up so many different opportunities for next season (unless they kill them all off again, which would be a shame and a cheat). I did not recognize Timothy Dalton as the Narrator/Pompous Time Lord, but having just watched the first season of Being Human last week, I immediately recognized the Cactus Girl as George's girlfriend, Nina (Sinead Keenan). I kind of loved the Cactus People. They're really just there in the background, minding their own business, trying to get their med-machine back in working order so they can go home, and then the Master comes along and subverts the whole thing to clone himself world-wide. So not part of their plan.
Which brings me to John Simms. I really, really loved him in this. His Master is so far past the point of sanity, completely megalomaniacal, absolutely willing to destroy an entire species in order to save himself, but so sad and desperate at the same time. The scenes between him and the Doctor were wrenching at times. They're both so completely effed up and they have this whole arch-nemesis thing going on, but at the same time and in a twisted way, they're so bound together, so necessary for the other. They are, in some truly horrifying ways, much the same. Which David Tennant, I think, did an excellent job of portraying in The Waters of Mars.
And we just won't talk about the whole Obama thing because it was just stupid. Not because I protest TPTB making fun of our president (hey, it's practically a national pass-time to make fun of the president) but because it just wasn't carried out very well.
Hopefully I won't have to wait quite so long for the second part, and can participate in the squeeing/groaning (whatever comes) at the same time as everyone else.
Hm, I have a really hard time articulating my thoughts on shows these days. I'll give it a try though.
I have loved David Tennant as the Doctor, since the beginning, although there have been plenty of episodes along the way that I didn't much like. I'm really going to miss him when he's gone. That conversation in the cafe with Wilf was just beautifully done by both men.
I've been making my way through the Fourth Doctor, and I'm beginning to see more the influence that Tom Baker has had on David Tennant's interpretation of the role. I watched The Keeper of Trakken yesterday, which is the episode in which Anthony Ainley takes on the role of the Master, yet another example of the Master being batshit crazy, although not nearly as insane as the current rendition is. All these years later, he's still trying to cheat death, find some viable way to overcome the fact that he's had his twelve regenerations and it's time to let go. (I wonder if the PTB have thought ahead that far in respect to the Doctor - will they end the show or find some way to give him extra regenerations?) Hm, it's a bit like Voldemort, isn't it? Doing all sorts of horrible evil deeds in the name of immortality.
Some of it I thought was a bit silly. They don't like to do anything small, do they? All these grand, end of the universe sort of storylines lose their effectiveness after a while. Oh, dear. It's the end of all humanity, is it? What a pity, better make a cup of tea and have a lie down. They'll fix it all in the next episode. It's all full of prophecy and end times, but somehow or other, they're going to have to find a way to reset things, because we all know the show is continuing after this. Hm, yeah, I guess I find the grandiosity of it all a little annoying.
But I'm excited to see the return of the Time Lords in their very silly costumes. That's a plot point I was not expecting (I do a good job of being spoiler free in Doctor Who) and it opens up so many different opportunities for next season (unless they kill them all off again, which would be a shame and a cheat). I did not recognize Timothy Dalton as the Narrator/Pompous Time Lord, but having just watched the first season of Being Human last week, I immediately recognized the Cactus Girl as George's girlfriend, Nina (Sinead Keenan). I kind of loved the Cactus People. They're really just there in the background, minding their own business, trying to get their med-machine back in working order so they can go home, and then the Master comes along and subverts the whole thing to clone himself world-wide. So not part of their plan.
Which brings me to John Simms. I really, really loved him in this. His Master is so far past the point of sanity, completely megalomaniacal, absolutely willing to destroy an entire species in order to save himself, but so sad and desperate at the same time. The scenes between him and the Doctor were wrenching at times. They're both so completely effed up and they have this whole arch-nemesis thing going on, but at the same time and in a twisted way, they're so bound together, so necessary for the other. They are, in some truly horrifying ways, much the same. Which David Tennant, I think, did an excellent job of portraying in The Waters of Mars.
And we just won't talk about the whole Obama thing because it was just stupid. Not because I protest TPTB making fun of our president (hey, it's practically a national pass-time to make fun of the president) but because it just wasn't carried out very well.
Hopefully I won't have to wait quite so long for the second part, and can participate in the squeeing/groaning (whatever comes) at the same time as everyone else.
