DW Rewatch - 3x02, The Shakespeare Code
Feb. 13th, 2010 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963The Shakespeare Code is my favourite of the “Doctor meets famous a famous person from history” episodes. (The Unquiet Dead runs it a close second,) Interesting that of the four so far – Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare and Agatha Christie – three of them are writers.
It’s chock full of quotes, literary in-jokes and pop-culture references; the villains come straight from the pages of a Shakespearian drama, and it’s all set against the fabulous backdrop of the Globe Theatre and Elizabethan London. Shakespeare is portrayed as an ordinary bloke – apart from the being a genius thing – rather than some lofty being who speaks in elevated prose or rhyming couplets.
As befits an episode about one of the greatest writers in the English language, it’s all about the power of words and the importance of names.
The TARDIS is, as usual, giving her passengers a bumpy ride. Has any other Doctor got quite so … physical with the old girl?
(And was this the start of what is known, in some areas of fandom as the TARDIS humping?)
This is supposed to be Martha’s “one trip” to say thank you for her help with the Judoon.
She’s worried about butterflies and the grandfather paradox.
(Also – about the fact that she’s “not exactly white”, which the Doctor quickly shrugs off by pointing out that life in 1599 doesn’t have huge differences to life in 2007.)
The Doctor says that unless she’s planning on murdering anyone, they should be okay.
I love this CGI shot of Ye Olde London Towne
Our intrepid pair head off to the Globe to take in a play – which happens to be Love’s Labours Lost.
The man himself appears on stage and the Doctor, fanboy that he is, awaits some weighty pronouncement
Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all.
Back at the hostelry, Bill and his mates talk about his rash promise to put on Love’s Labour’s Won the next night.
But they’re interrupted by geek-boy
Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can’t have yourself sketched with me. And please don’t ask where I get my ideas from. Heh.
I think “hey, nonny, nonny!” must be the Elizabethan equivalent of “Ding, dong!”
The No, don’t do that. Don’t. moment as – gadzooks! - Martha attempts what she thinks must be the local lingo.
He can see through the psychic paper. Proves he’s a genius,
After a man mysteriously drowns on dry land
Witchcraft
Back at the inn -
And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?
I do a lot of reading.
Excuse me while I go and douse myself with a bucket of cold water. *melts*
SHAKESPEARE
A trite reply. Yeah, that’s what I’d do.
(to Martha) And you, you look at him like you’re surprised he exists. He’s as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me.
MARTHA
I think we should say good night.
SHAKESPEARE
I must work. I have a play to complete. But I’ll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I’ll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours.
THE DOCTOR
All the world’s a stage.
SHAKESPEARE
Hm, I might use that. Good night, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR
Nighty-night, Shakespeare.
For some reason, I love the way he says that.
Hubble, bubble, toil and – oh wait. He hasn’t written that yet.
Martha is hoping that maybe her luck’s changed.
Because, seriously – no wonder the girl has ideas! Wouldn’t you if he looked at you like that?
Rose would know. Oh, subtlety, thy middle name is Doctor. Not.
Meanwhile, someone else is pulling the scribe’s strings
Martha has a broomstick sighting
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
I might use that.
You can’t. It’s someone else’s.
And on to the Globe.
I have stood in that very spot :-)
Oh, but a theatre’s magic, isn’t it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time... Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people’s minds just with words in this place. And if you exaggerate that...
On the way to visit the mad architect in Bedlam
MARTHA
Whoa, Nelly! I know for a fact you’ve got a wife in the country.
SHAKESPEARE
But Martha, this is Town.
THE DOCTOR
Come on. We can all have a good flirt later.
SHAKESPEARE
Is that a promise, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR
Oh. 57 academics just punched the air. Now move!
That is quite possibly my favourite exchange in the entire episode.
I do find it rather strange that Martha hasn’t heard of Bedlam, and doesn’t know it was actually called Bethlehem Hospital.
To be or not to be. Bit pretentious?
You should write that down.
The Doctor is less than impressed with the facilites at the hospital. We should probably think about this next time we complain about the NHS!
Time for a bit of telepathy. Ten seems to do this more than any of the others, as far as I can recall - but correct me if I'm wrong.
What's in a name? Quite a lot, apparently.
Lightbulb moment!
The only specs-sighting this episode.
SHAKESPEARE
All these years I’ve been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing.
MARTHA
Oh, don’t complain.
SHAKESPEARE
I’m not. It’s marvellous. Good luck, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR
Good luck, Shakespeare.
Once more unto the breach!
SHAKESPEARE
I like that. Wait a minute... that’s one of mine.
THE DOCTOR
Oh, just shift!
The Back to the Future conversation.
Having used words and especially names in order to achieve their aims, the Carrionites come up against the one person they can't name.
Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?
Yep. Even his enemies want to shag him.
He ain’t bovvered
Oi! Don’t mess with the hair!
A touch of the voodoo
Martha to the rescue. Again.
Even the Doctor think's it's becoming a habit.
I’ve been listening to the soundtrack albums quite a lot lately, and The Carrionites Swarm, which underscores this section is one of my favourite tracks.
Time for the pep talk
Amazing what you can do with smoke and mirrors!
A ball-full of Carrionites
Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says "oi, mate, you’re bard.
I’m sorry – that joke amuses the hell outta me every time!
The neck brace. Cute :-)
Billy-boy's got 'em sussed. Oops.
Finally, the long-awaited visit from QEI. Except… it appears the Doctor has upset her, even though he hasn’t met her yet. (And despite all the babbling at the start of EoT, I don’t think that was it!
Screencaps from Sonic Biro, The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
It’s chock full of quotes, literary in-jokes and pop-culture references; the villains come straight from the pages of a Shakespearian drama, and it’s all set against the fabulous backdrop of the Globe Theatre and Elizabethan London. Shakespeare is portrayed as an ordinary bloke – apart from the being a genius thing – rather than some lofty being who speaks in elevated prose or rhyming couplets.
As befits an episode about one of the greatest writers in the English language, it’s all about the power of words and the importance of names.
The TARDIS is, as usual, giving her passengers a bumpy ride. Has any other Doctor got quite so … physical with the old girl?
(And was this the start of what is known, in some areas of fandom as the TARDIS humping?)
This is supposed to be Martha’s “one trip” to say thank you for her help with the Judoon.
She’s worried about butterflies and the grandfather paradox.
(Also – about the fact that she’s “not exactly white”, which the Doctor quickly shrugs off by pointing out that life in 1599 doesn’t have huge differences to life in 2007.)
The Doctor says that unless she’s planning on murdering anyone, they should be okay.
I love this CGI shot of Ye Olde London Towne
Our intrepid pair head off to the Globe to take in a play – which happens to be Love’s Labours Lost.
The man himself appears on stage and the Doctor, fanboy that he is, awaits some weighty pronouncement
Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all.
Back at the hostelry, Bill and his mates talk about his rash promise to put on Love’s Labour’s Won the next night.
But they’re interrupted by geek-boy
Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can’t have yourself sketched with me. And please don’t ask where I get my ideas from. Heh.
I think “hey, nonny, nonny!” must be the Elizabethan equivalent of “Ding, dong!”
The No, don’t do that. Don’t. moment as – gadzooks! - Martha attempts what she thinks must be the local lingo.
He can see through the psychic paper. Proves he’s a genius,
After a man mysteriously drowns on dry land
Witchcraft
Back at the inn -
And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?
I do a lot of reading.
Excuse me while I go and douse myself with a bucket of cold water. *melts*
SHAKESPEARE
A trite reply. Yeah, that’s what I’d do.
(to Martha) And you, you look at him like you’re surprised he exists. He’s as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me.
MARTHA
I think we should say good night.
SHAKESPEARE
I must work. I have a play to complete. But I’ll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I’ll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours.
THE DOCTOR
All the world’s a stage.
SHAKESPEARE
Hm, I might use that. Good night, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR
Nighty-night, Shakespeare.
For some reason, I love the way he says that.
Hubble, bubble, toil and – oh wait. He hasn’t written that yet.
Martha is hoping that maybe her luck’s changed.
Because, seriously – no wonder the girl has ideas! Wouldn’t you if he looked at you like that?
Rose would know. Oh, subtlety, thy middle name is Doctor. Not.
Meanwhile, someone else is pulling the scribe’s strings
Martha has a broomstick sighting
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
I might use that.
You can’t. It’s someone else’s.
And on to the Globe.
I have stood in that very spot :-)
Oh, but a theatre’s magic, isn’t it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time... Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people’s minds just with words in this place. And if you exaggerate that...
On the way to visit the mad architect in Bedlam
MARTHA
Whoa, Nelly! I know for a fact you’ve got a wife in the country.
SHAKESPEARE
But Martha, this is Town.
THE DOCTOR
Come on. We can all have a good flirt later.
SHAKESPEARE
Is that a promise, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR
Oh. 57 academics just punched the air. Now move!
That is quite possibly my favourite exchange in the entire episode.
I do find it rather strange that Martha hasn’t heard of Bedlam, and doesn’t know it was actually called Bethlehem Hospital.
To be or not to be. Bit pretentious?
You should write that down.
The Doctor is less than impressed with the facilites at the hospital. We should probably think about this next time we complain about the NHS!
Time for a bit of telepathy. Ten seems to do this more than any of the others, as far as I can recall - but correct me if I'm wrong.
What's in a name? Quite a lot, apparently.
Lightbulb moment!
The only specs-sighting this episode.
SHAKESPEARE
All these years I’ve been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing.
MARTHA
Oh, don’t complain.
SHAKESPEARE
I’m not. It’s marvellous. Good luck, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR
Good luck, Shakespeare.
Once more unto the breach!
SHAKESPEARE
I like that. Wait a minute... that’s one of mine.
THE DOCTOR
Oh, just shift!
The Back to the Future conversation.
Having used words and especially names in order to achieve their aims, the Carrionites come up against the one person they can't name.
Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?
Yep. Even his enemies want to shag him.
He ain’t bovvered
Oi! Don’t mess with the hair!
A touch of the voodoo
Martha to the rescue. Again.
Even the Doctor think's it's becoming a habit.
I’ve been listening to the soundtrack albums quite a lot lately, and The Carrionites Swarm, which underscores this section is one of my favourite tracks.
Time for the pep talk
Amazing what you can do with smoke and mirrors!
A ball-full of Carrionites
Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says "oi, mate, you’re bard.
I’m sorry – that joke amuses the hell outta me every time!
The neck brace. Cute :-)
Billy-boy's got 'em sussed. Oops.
Finally, the long-awaited visit from QEI. Except… it appears the Doctor has upset her, even though he hasn’t met her yet. (And despite all the babbling at the start of EoT, I don’t think that was it!
Screencaps from Sonic Biro, The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 07:49 pm (UTC)"Nighty-night, Shakespeare" always gets me too. :-)
I've noted before that Ten does seem to use more telepathy than previous incarnations put together. Either he's better at it, or we just got to see it more with him.
Thanks for another great spam!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 09:17 pm (UTC)Right. I've been watching these episodes one after the other and I didn't think I'd seen it before this episode. I don't think of it as TARDIS humping - I just love that he's so damn flexible! It's one of Ten''s endearaing quirks.
I confess I can't think of any instances of the Doctor using telepathy in Classic!Who, but that's probably just my memory going. Although again, perhaps it'll turn out to be a Ten thing. He's certainly more attuned to his feelings than the others and certainly shows them more.
As you're only too aware, doing picspams is a great excuse for looking at lots of pretty pictures!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 10:21 pm (UTC)Honestly, my theory is that the Doctor hasn't been able to get real TARDIS parts since Gallifrey's destruction -- hence all the weird additions to the console like the bicycle pump thingy, the bell, and having to hit things with a mallet -- and it's been getting more and more juryrigged to the point where he has to do these gymnastics to keep it going. (IOW, I know it's hard to believe for some people, but *gasp* not everything is about sex!)
Re telepathy: off the top of my head, Two used telepathy to call the Time Lords in The War Games, Two and Three used it with each other once (much like Ten and the Master in EOT1, but saying "contact" when they touched each other's heads), and Four did a sort of freaky mindmeld thingy with Sarah Jane once. I haven't counted all the times Ten did it, but I'm pretty sure it was more than three (though even he didn't do it lightly). I'm also thinking that the fact he was able to wipe/block Donna's memory without erasing her entire mind says a lot for his skill.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 10:54 pm (UTC)OFFS! It's a kid's show, for gawd's sake!
Ten's telepathic moments: Reinette... Peter the architect here... Donna twice in Planet of the Ood (once to enable her to hear the song, once to remove it)... The Master in EoT. I'm not quite half way though S3 yet, but I don't think there are any more to come this series.
I wonder if we'll see it again in future. I'm sort of hoping (and I know this must sound silly) that some of Ten's quirks remain specifically his. It's going to be hard enough getting used to a new Doctor; I don't (at this stage) want to be reminded too much of the recently departed one.
I am officially quite pathetic.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 11:46 pm (UTC)I'm with you on wanting Ten's quirks to stay his. Let Eleven come up with his own damn quirks. :-)
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 11:55 pm (UTC)The how does he not solve every mystery instantly question is something that occurred to me, too and is one of the reasons that I like the way the issue has been handled so far - it's not been made into A BIG THING - it's just something he does.
I was a big fan of Babylon 5 and IIRC, the characters who were telepaths were trained to be able to filter what they could "hear" because otherwise it would have driven them nuts. I tend to think this way with the Doctor, too - assuming all the Time Lords have this ability, they'd have been trained to block or filter it to the extent that it was just background noise.
The fact that Moffat has described Smith as being "like a drunk giraffe" and said that he'd broken the new sonic screwdriver within half an hour (have they redesigned everything??) leads me to believe that perhaps we'll see a clumsier character. Ten was lithe and quite graceful in his gawkiness, so that, at least, would be different!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-14 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-14 04:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-14 11:50 am (UTC)That's interesting. I have the audio book version of The Eyeless around here somewhere, so I'll listen out for that little tidbit!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 11:52 pm (UTC)I love The Shakespeare Code so much! Everything about it is just wonderful.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-13 11:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-14 10:29 pm (UTC)I recently read The Eyeless too, and the bad guys could read everyone else's mind except for the Doctor's, so presumably there was some kind of "firewall." And then there's New Earth where Cassandra takes over his body but can't access any of his mind.