Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol
Dec. 27th, 2010 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963I've only been able to watch this once so far, so my thoughts aren't very organised, but here goes anyway.
My initial reactions are that I enjoyed it and that Matt-as-Eleven was charming, endearing and completely bonkers. After it had finished though, I found myself wondering whether, if it hadn't been for Matt Smith, the whole thing would have fallen rather flat.
My favourite bit was the little twist at the end, where it turns out that the Doctor is showing the young Kazran his future when of course we're expecting him to whisk off the older Karzan to show him the error of his ways.
Michael Gambon was great, Katherine Jenkins did well in a first acting role, it was funny and the whole thing looked fabulous.
But a few hours later I found it hard to remember a lot about what actually went on.
Other random thoughts :-
The insistance that time can be rewritten is really starting to bother me. Okay, so the Doctor can't be everywhere at once, but if that's true, then given there's nobody out there to stop him, he could zip around undoing anything he doesn't like. That's something he finally realised as Ten - and which ultimately led to his "death". So - I'm confused. In principle, a show in which the central character is a time traveller has to have some sort of self-imposed rules, otherwise, there's no drama. If anything bad can be undone, there's really no point in watching, is there? And RTD was very clear about what that sort of power could do to someone - If you could decide who lives or dies... it would make you a monster. So logically, if time can be rewritten, then the Doctor can go back to fix Donna, or stop the metacrisis happening in the first place... or find another way to end the Time War, or - well, the list is endless.
I was also astonished when old Kazran hugged his younger self. I remember thinking wtf? when Amy touched Amelia at the end of the last series, but this was more than just a touch. What happened to... can't remember the name it was given - whatever it was that Nine told Rose in Father's Day when she almost touched her baby self? I thought that contact between the same person at different stages in their lives would destroy the planet or something. Has that been rewritten as well?
And here's my biggest problem - and it's something that's just this minute occurred to me.
I didn't really care all that much about any of the characters involved. Of course, I wanted the Doctor to save the day, but other than that, I wasn't particularly invested in any of 'em.
And that makes me sound really curmudgeonly - and I don't mean to be. As I said, I did enjoy it and I'll be watching it again - maybe it'll grow on me.
It's just that I'm not sure that what I watched was Doctor Who - but then I suppose DW is whatever the bloke running the show says it is and that 'twas ever thus.
Is it me, or was the "coming soon" trailer a bit miserly this time round? I don't know how far into shooting they are because of the split series; normally at Christmas, they've got about three or four episodes to go, but perhaps it's different this year.
My initial reactions are that I enjoyed it and that Matt-as-Eleven was charming, endearing and completely bonkers. After it had finished though, I found myself wondering whether, if it hadn't been for Matt Smith, the whole thing would have fallen rather flat.
My favourite bit was the little twist at the end, where it turns out that the Doctor is showing the young Kazran his future when of course we're expecting him to whisk off the older Karzan to show him the error of his ways.
Michael Gambon was great, Katherine Jenkins did well in a first acting role, it was funny and the whole thing looked fabulous.
But a few hours later I found it hard to remember a lot about what actually went on.
Other random thoughts :-
- Not much Amy. :-)
- Amy and Rory dressing up. ;-)
- "Is that a ... threat-y... thing?" Hee!
- The psychic paper fails when the Doctor tries a lie that's waaaay too big. Like trying to pass himself off as a responsible adult.
- Does Moff have a fish-fetish? Fish custard, StarWhales and now Space Sharks?
- Did somebody actually die? (albeit off-screen)
- I think that the FX team were effecting a sort of hommage to the latest Star Trek movie with all the lens flare. Also - was it my imagination, or did the bridge of that ship have a look of the Enterprise about it? Also - O Hai Geordi!
- It's not just Rusty who appears to like the idea of the Doctor getting married to famous women from history!
The insistance that time can be rewritten is really starting to bother me. Okay, so the Doctor can't be everywhere at once, but if that's true, then given there's nobody out there to stop him, he could zip around undoing anything he doesn't like. That's something he finally realised as Ten - and which ultimately led to his "death". So - I'm confused. In principle, a show in which the central character is a time traveller has to have some sort of self-imposed rules, otherwise, there's no drama. If anything bad can be undone, there's really no point in watching, is there? And RTD was very clear about what that sort of power could do to someone - If you could decide who lives or dies... it would make you a monster. So logically, if time can be rewritten, then the Doctor can go back to fix Donna, or stop the metacrisis happening in the first place... or find another way to end the Time War, or - well, the list is endless.
I was also astonished when old Kazran hugged his younger self. I remember thinking wtf? when Amy touched Amelia at the end of the last series, but this was more than just a touch. What happened to... can't remember the name it was given - whatever it was that Nine told Rose in Father's Day when she almost touched her baby self? I thought that contact between the same person at different stages in their lives would destroy the planet or something. Has that been rewritten as well?
And here's my biggest problem - and it's something that's just this minute occurred to me.
I didn't really care all that much about any of the characters involved. Of course, I wanted the Doctor to save the day, but other than that, I wasn't particularly invested in any of 'em.
And that makes me sound really curmudgeonly - and I don't mean to be. As I said, I did enjoy it and I'll be watching it again - maybe it'll grow on me.
It's just that I'm not sure that what I watched was Doctor Who - but then I suppose DW is whatever the bloke running the show says it is and that 'twas ever thus.
Is it me, or was the "coming soon" trailer a bit miserly this time round? I don't know how far into shooting they are because of the split series; normally at Christmas, they've got about three or four episodes to go, but perhaps it's different this year.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 12:29 am (UTC)And no kidding abotu the ship looking like something out of Startrek:TNG right down to the black guy with the funky visor on his face, like Ben Vereen had in the 80s.
ITA re: charming, daffy Eleven in the episode. Kind of meh about the Coming Soon teasers for the spring, especially the shot of the (apparently) nude, winking River. (Is this a children's show that wishes it was a show for grown-ups or a show for grown-ups that is masquerading under the guise of a children's show?)
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Date: 2010-12-27 12:50 am (UTC)You know, I read an excellent post or comment - and I can't remember who by (so if you read this, please shout!) that said that what Rusty wanted to write was basically an adult show, but was constrained by the need to remember that a large portion of the viewers were kids - and that Moff is doing more or less the opposite.
I think it's a valid point - but there are also very grey areas within it. I think that there's room in kids' shows for emotion and tragedy (it happens in real life, so why not in TV?) and it's obvious that Moff has a very adult sense of humour (cf. Amy and Rory dressing up on honeymoon!) - so there are elements of overlap.
And it was a trailer - Ten's snogs were always in trailers and were presented in very different lights to the ways they actually occurred, so I have no doubt that it wasn't naked!River, or it if was, it was in a completely different context to what we'd expect!
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Date: 2010-12-27 01:02 am (UTC)After watching this episode, I've decided Moffat's Who is simply a children's show wrapped in tons of parent service now. (Warning: link goes to TV Tropes.) It's lost that sense of moral ambiguity RTD's Who had.
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Date: 2010-12-27 01:19 am (UTC)That said though, there was definitely less gratuitous female flesh around under Rusty (even though Billie and Catherine are well stacked and Freema has a great arse!)
But then he very cleverly cast David and got all the mums on board! *g*
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Date: 2010-12-27 12:36 am (UTC)Glad to see I wasn't the only one that bothered.
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Date: 2010-12-27 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 12:47 am (UTC)Moffat's increasing reliance on time-can-be-rewritten is really bugging me, too. Eleven is essentially a benevolent Time Lord Victorious now, changing timelines as he damn well pleases. It bothers me that Moffat's so blase about it. I can only hope it comes back to bite him in the ass in s6.
The only reason I can think of why the Blinovitch Limitation Effect doesn't hold now, is because the old universe was never completely restored when it rebooted in TBB. And maybe that's going to be a plot point in s6.
Nah, you're not curmudgeonly. I'm finding Moffat's writing is too self-conscious for my taste. It sucks the life out of the characters. It's a different kind of self-indulgence than RTD's was.
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Date: 2010-12-27 01:03 am (UTC)Ah - that's it! Thanks. It's late and I couldn't be arsed to look it up ;-)
A few days ago, someone (I think it might have been
Eleven is essentially a benevolent Time Lord Victorious now
Yes, that's it exactly - and it's completely arbitrary, so he's doing exactly what Mr Copper said, and deciding who wins and who loses. Is this meant to show us that Eleven is more well-adjusted than Ten, who had the same power but let it drive him over the edge? Or is it simply that Moff's plan requires it, so it doesn't matter what happened before?
You could be right and it's part of some overarching master plan - but that's another problem because I don't want to be watching a show that only makes sense after three years!
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Date: 2010-12-27 01:22 am (UTC)Now that's an interesting question. Nine rejected it outright. Ten fought that power all his incarnation too, until he hit that final no-win in WoM. He destroyed the Time Lords--twice--because they'd embraced that power wholeheartedly, and then sacrificed himself for Wilf because he was starting to embrace it again as well. Now Eleven has embraced it, seemingly with no regrets. Maybe that means he's come to terms with who he is post-Time War, or maybe there's something else, hinted at in "Amy's Choice," which hopefully will be explored. *crosses fingers*
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Date: 2010-12-27 10:37 pm (UTC)I just wanted to say that your reference at Amy's Choice in regards to Eleven sort of going down the No No Path made me make a face I've generally only seen in very excited emoticons. I am so committed to the idea of the "Dream Lord" or Valeyard or whatever you want to call him coming and wreaking havoc and if Moffat fails to bring us anything like that, I will probably...I don't know. Be really cross, or something. xD
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Date: 2010-12-27 10:45 pm (UTC)I like to think that Moffat must have something up his sleeve that will explain what so far just seems like a total disregard for something that's been part of the show since it's inception. But I'm not holding my breath.
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Date: 2010-12-27 10:39 am (UTC)WhalesWorld. I've been wishing she would go away already kthnksbye.Then again, I'm still in awe of seeing DW on the actual DAY, on an actual TELEVISION.
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Date: 2010-12-27 05:36 pm (UTC)sorry...cat on the keyboard!
Date: 2010-12-27 02:21 pm (UTC)Re: sorry...cat on the keyboard!
Date: 2010-12-27 05:40 pm (UTC)Oh, dear. I think I may have looked at my watch once as well :(
You know, I can't remember the last time I listened to Her Maj - I'm not a great fan of the royals and it's never been something we did. But this year, I had the radio on in the kitchen while I was washing up after dinner and I did hear it... and yeah wtf? The attention and money lavished on mainstreatm sport over here already pisses me off when I consider how little money is given to mainstream arts.
And I'll stop there or I'll be here all night!
Re: sorry...cat on the keyboard!
Date: 2010-12-28 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-27 06:16 pm (UTC)The Coming Soon trailer was a bit odd, since last year he showed bits from every episode of the series, and this time around it was the first half at best.
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Date: 2010-12-27 10:50 pm (UTC)Yes, that's exactly how I feel, too - like I said, I realised that I didn't actually care all that much about any of the characters involved, even Rory, who I like.
In the past, I don't think there was any collaboration between Moff and Rusty other than Rusty giving Moff a basic outline of what he wanted and then just waiting until the script turned up. He never touched or polished Moff's scripts - I've read that this was contractual - as he did with all the other writers, so what we see in S1-4 is pure Moff.
I imagine the trailer was for half a series because S6 is going to be shown in two halves.
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Date: 2010-12-28 10:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 11:40 am (UTC)I wrote a post way back in the spring (which I think I linked to in the above) in which I rambled on about what I think are the differences between the two writers. It all comes down to personal preference in the end of course, and I tend to respond more to Rusty's more punch-to-the-gut style because I like my drama to be character driven.
The thing is - Moffat is a very good writer and easily good enough to do both character and plots.
I've probably written more about S5 than I have about any of the previous series - but then I suppose the contrast has given me more cause for pontification than when I was able to relate more to where the stories and characters were coming from.