Showing posts with label William Hartnell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William Hartnell. Show all posts

Sunday 9 April 2017

Doctor Who Series 8 Re-Watch Snippets

In the lead up to Series 10 of modern Doctor Who, I've decided to re-watch all of Peter Capaldi's era as the Twelfth Doctor. For those who don't know, Series 10 will be Capaldi's last full series, with only a Christmas Special before he steps down as the current Doctor. This will be in parts, so stay tuned.



'Deep Breath' gets better and better the more I revisit it. Capaldi is more nuanced and subtly vulnerable than the Doctor's ever been. He's a real actors actor. I think if you first watched this an weren't sure Capaldi was right for the role, watch it again. You'll be pleasantly surprised. Also, the sheer terror Coleman portrays when she's seemingly abandoned is a thing to behold. 5 foot 1 and crying, you never stood a chance!

'Into the Dalek' is the kind of episode you really need for every Doctor. Capaldi's tweaked his performance slightly, or at least watching it immediately after his first story makes it appear different, because he's almost charming in his stern demeanor. Love his look, too. Danny Pink's former-soldier past is obviously a theme that runs throughout the series, as is death and the after life and the Doctor's questioning of whether or not he is a 'good man'. When the Doctor turns down Journey Blue despite thinking shes a good person because she's a soldier is absolutely part of Modern-Who's ongoing anti-war and violence message. While I think I appreciated the sentiment back when Eccelston and Tennant were denouncing it, I much rather the more moderate, measured and fair assessment we get throughout Capaldi's run to date. You can stand against things like war while still respecting the soldiers who fight them. I actually think the least interesting thing about this episode is the Daleks themselves. I love 'em but they don't really provide any new insight, despite the fun the sci-fi shrinking gimmick and exploring inside a Dalek casing provides. 'You are a good Dalek' too closely echoes the sentiment from the phenomenal 2005 episode 'Dalek'.

'Robot of Sherwood' is a fun little story that really let's Capaldi play up his Doctor's humorously humorous side by putting him in a story against an actual hero of legend....who he can't stand. Its not groundbreaking stuff, but it's solidly entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable. A sword fight with a spoon, a silly archery contest, being chained in a dungeon and lots of banter: just the kind of early installment you need in a new Doctor's era to prove you can have fun with him, no matter what kind of man he is. Capaldi clearly loves playing the comedy up but never over eggs it. Clara fangirling is lovely to see as well.

'Listen' is a perfect episode. What's hiding under your bed? I don't think I need to say much that hasn't already been said. The best thing for me is watching a William Hartnell who's just a scared little boy hiding in a barn and knowing that Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor is still a scared little boy who runs and hides.

Side-note: so far Series 8 has mentioned Clara's imminent demise repeatedly. Foreshadowing?

'Time Heist' is a plot over character kind of episode that doesn't satisfactorily deliver on it's concept but it is still fairly entertaining. A lot of nice ideas in there but the supporting characters aren't fleshed out quite enough. I do like it, I just don't love it. Capaldi gets to play another aspect of his Doctor; manipulator. Nice. I realize I haven't talked about the Clara/Danny subplot but that's because it's cute and in offensive, despite the implications of the previous episode suggesting they have a future. Obviously it gets ramped up next episode...

'The Caretaker'. The mundane, sweet little romantic subplot meets bonkers space and time hijinx at Coal Hill School. This one is the opposite of the previous episode, focusing more on character than plot. Its a great watch. Capaldi is willfully ignorant and somehow hilarious as the titular caretaker. Danny seems like a really decent guy who is clearly trying to move away from the shadow of his past. Clara is very flawed but relatable trying to juggle this life and lie. The best scenes are Danny and Twelve clashing: the soldier and the officer. The utter disdain both hold for what the other represents is superb. This is a running theme. A great midpoint for the series.

That's where I'll leave off for now. Until I stop reveling in nostalgia, I remain

frogoat 

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Tales of Who's Past: Barbara

I wonder if anyone outside of classic series Doctor Who fans really cares about dusty old black-and-white companions. But Barbara was the first (along with Ian) the very first, and that makes her-to my mind at least-the archetype, the blueprint, the sounding board for all the companions since. And what a fine example of a companion she is.


In the beginning, before we had a codifier for what the series should be, we had a primordial soup of ideas and roles to fill. But the characters, the actors, grew and changed. Barbara is iconic. Barbara was strong and feisty before it was a thing. Barbara is the first person to ever put the Doctor in his place ( The Edge of Destruction, fact fans). That's right, Barbara, the humble history teacher of Coal Hill School, gave the First Doctor a stern talking to, arguably changing the Doctor's character forever, more so than any other companion has ever managed.

Barbara Wright didn't have it easy through the shows first two years. Surviving savage cavemen, the first person in the series ever to encounter a Dalek, meeting Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, questing for the Keys of Marinus (including being...erm...menaced by a mountain man), then arriving in an Aztec temple in Mexico....

Barbara's stand out performance comes in The Aztecs, where she takes center stage, being mistaken for Yetaxa, a god in human form. Attempting to change the course of history for the better (another first), only for things to turn out as written leaves Barbara shaken.



And on and on, Barbara stands out as not just a cypher, but as a well rounded character, with a shining performance from Jacqueline Hill, falling in love across time and space, lost and scared, but always so brave and so determined. Barbara isn't just one kind of companion, she represents all kinds of companions, she showed us what a companion could be and for that, I'll always be grateful.

Until all of history is changed ('Not one line'), I remain

frogoat


Sunday 24 February 2013

Degrees of Doctor Who

Ever sat down to watch a movie or perhaps your favorite new show only to do a comical spit take when you realize you know that characters face?

Just the other day, for instance, I happened to catch a few minutes of  a 1959 film; The Mouse That Roared in time to catch a glimpse of the legendary William Hartnell as Will Buckley. It's such good fun, but let's not make it so hard to play the game. Let's start with the big targets of genre film, shall we?

I've mentioned Tolkien's world previous in The Hobbit review. Sylvester McCoy- best known for playing The Seventh Doctor- here plays Radagast the Brown to kooky perfection. I truly hope we see more of his performance, either in the remaining films or on the home releases special features. Fingers crossed, aye? Check off Middle-Earth, then.



I've only touched upon the Alien universe very briefly when discussing artificial life. This next person is all too human. Alien 3 gives us Golic- a convict turned convert- who is very much out of touch with reality, played by the inimitable Paul McGann, aka The Eighth Doctor. His role is unfortunately cut rather short in the theatrical release, but an entire sub-plot revolving around his character unfolds in the so-called 'Assembly Cut' of the film available in the box sets. Aliens, check.



Christopher Eccelston aka The Ninth Doctor has had a commendable career on the big screen as well as the small. Some people may remember him as the baddie from Gone in Sixty Seconds, or as that guy from 28 Days Later, or even McCullen from the GI Joe flick. Heck, if you watched Heroes, you will remember him. Adding yet another notch in his genre belt, however is the up-coming Marvel film follow up, Thor: The Dark World. Marvel? Big ol' check.


I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I'm a big Doctor Who fan. So, it was both surprising and with much glee that I watched David Tennant-who played the creepy and loyal Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr- cast as none other than The Tenth Doctor. Stange then, isnt it, that in his run on Doctor Who he mentions reading the Potter series and crying through 'book 7'. How does that work, then? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Yes, ma'am.
 



Any more? Give it a go, you might find more than you bargained for.

Until Matt Smith is cast in the new Star Wars films, I remain

frogoat