The Impossibly Convoluted Assassin ('Doctor Who', Season 32, 2010-11)

2011 would be a big year in British media. What seemed to be the assured full takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation (especially after the change of ministers responsible for approving it) was stopped after the full extent of the phone hacking scandal came to light in July. What had previously been a story focussed on celebrities became much wider when it was revealed that the voicemail messages of victims of crime, including murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, had been intercepted by journalists at Sunday tabloid News of the World. The advertisers raced for the exit and the paper, which had offering sex and scandal since 1843, closed down.

Among the many victims of the hacking was former Doctor Christopher Eccleson. Criminal investigations and prosecutions are still ongoing, so I will leave it there.

In terms of sci-fi, the BBC would air Outcasts,  revolving around a colony of humans on another world in 2060 escaping from nuclear war on Earth. Poorly executed, low ratings and bad reviews led to the indignity of a move to a late night Sunday slot, followed by the show's axing after one year with an unresolved cliffhanger. The BBC's science fiction output since then has been Doctor Who and stuff for CBBC.

****

2011 would also be a sad year for fans of Doctor Who. Both Nicholas Courtney and Lis Sladen died of cancer in the first few months of the year. Their deaths were acknowledged in various ways in the show; Sladen in a memorial caption at the beginning of "The Impossible Astronaut"[1] and Courtney in a key scene in "The Wedding of River Song".

This year would also see the first of two 'split' seasons; conscious that TV gets more viewers in autumn than spring, the production crew decided to have the 32nd season of the show in two parts, ultimately aiming to move the show to the former season. It is also the only season since 2005 not to feature a Dalek in anything more than a brief cameo role.

A Christmas Carol (60-minute Christmas special)

Honeymooners Amy and Rory are trapped on a crashing space liner and the only man who can save them is a grumpy old miser called Kazran Sardick... who refuses to do so. The Doctor will have to borrow from Charles Dickens to save the day.

The first Christmas special that US viewers actually got to see on Christmas Day, this guest stars renowned actor Michael Gambon[2] and opera singer Katherine Jenkins in a story that mines a well-loved plot[3]. It's good and enjoyable, but arguably one of the weaker festive episodes of the show.

Space/Time (2 4-minute and three minute mini episodes, broadcast as part of Comic Relief 2011)

While Rory and the Doctor are repairing the TARDIS, Amy accidentally causes them to make a mistake that could trap them forever.

Another canon mini-episode, this is a short, but enjoyable little bottle piece that is worth checking out if you've not seen it before... and also worth it if you have.

The first part is here and the second is here.

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon (2 episodes)

The Doctor, Amy, Rory & River Song are summoned by mysterious blue envelopes to Utah, where one of them is killed... and that's just the start of things.

Containing a lot of US location filming - the first main cast filming the show had done over the Pond (no pun intended), this two part contains the debut of the Silents proper, many a great line and sets up the on-going arc of the season very well indeed. Well one of them; this would be a complex season.

The Curse of the Black Spot

The TARDIS is stuck on a 17th century pirate ship, which is under attack from a mysterious sea creature that may lure them all to their deaths.

AKA "The Curse of the Bad Plot"; this below-par tale starts off well and then goes badly, badly wrong. Even Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) can't save this from going down and I'm really not sure what supermodel Lily Cole is doing there... especially as she doesn't even say a single word.

The Doctor's Wife

Summoned by a message from another Time Lord, the TARDIS enters a pocket dimension and the Doctor gets to meet a very old friend properly...

Renowned fantasy author Neil Gaiman contributes his first script to the show... and wins a Hugo for doing it. A wonderful (for the most part) tale where a batch of Doctor Who canon gets rewritten without changing anything in the previous stories, it features Suranne Jones channelling Helena Bonham Carter to excellent effect[4].

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People (2 episodes)

In the 22nd century, telepathically controlled clones are used for dangerous work... but a solar storm at an acid factory makes the clones self-aware. The Doctor must mediate... and figure out whether Amy is really pregnant or not.

Featuring only the second use of motion control cameras[5] in the history of the show (the shots with humans and clones could not be done with screen-splitting), this is a good story with some strong moral themes on personal identity and treatment of other sentient beings. It also features a fair few deaths... and a dramatic revelation about Amy.

This is the last "straight" two parter to date; no episode since has a direct narrative "cliffhanger-resolution" link.

A Good Man Goes to War (1st part of a 2 parter)

Imprisoned on the asteroid called Demon's Run, Amy gives birth... but her baby isn't going to be with her for long. Meanwhile the Doctor and Rory are gathering their allies for a battle and after which, the true identity of River Song will be revealed.

A story both epic and very intimate, this sees the début of the Doctor's ability to speak 'baby' (it's been found that infants worldwide speak a common language) and also the first appearance of the highly popular Paternoster Gang i.e. Strax, Jenny and Vastra[6]. It's an excellent story with even the 'goons' well fleshed out, although it sometimes loses its head... pun intended.

****

It was at this point the show took a break over the summer; "A Good Man" aired on 4 June and the series resumed on Saturday 27 August, the weekend of the August Bank Holiday and another traditional launch slot for shows. It would open in suitably dramatic manner with a title guaranteed to attract interest of the casual viewer...

Let's Kill Hitler (2nd part)

After a gunpoint hijacking, the TARDIS crashes in 1930s Berlin, where the Doctor encounters a war criminal... and Adolf Hitler.

A romp, but a very lightweight one; Matt Smith spends a lot of his time gurning (this is a job requirement for any Doctor, but still) and is upstaged by Alex Kingston throughout; in addition, Hitler's appearance is nothing more than interesting gimmick. One of the weaker Moffat episodes.

This episode also sees the Doctor acquiring a new green coat that he would wear for the rest of this season; the Eleventh Doctor's clothes change a fair amount, although he pretty much always wears a bow tie.

Night Terrors

A young boy called George is being terrorised by the monsters in his cupboard... the time travellers visit and decide to find out the truth.

An excellent and genuinely creepy episode; this one has a great guest turn from Daniel Mays and the fact it's nearly all in darkness really helps - Doctor Who knows how to light a set. Well, most of the time (Myrka).

The Girl Who Waited

Amy gets left behind on a planet in the middle of a plague - and when the Doctor and Rory return, she is a much older woman.

A very interesting story, although it lacks enough to make it a classic, this is notable for Karen Gillan getting the aging make-up to add 36 years to her age (the initial plan was to cast another woman as an older Amy). Her portrayal of an older Amy is one of the best elements of the episode and the make-up job is far more convincing than ones applied to David Tennant previously and Matt Smith later.

The God Complex

The Doctor, Amy and Rory visit a hotel where the checkouts are a good deal deadlier than normal and each room possesses the guest's biggest fear.

A highly freaky episode that is at times more confusing than Inception, this is a good old-fashioned romp, albeit a hugely disturbing one. It is also noteworthy for Rita, the first explictly Muslim character on the show since "The Crusades"... and in this case, not some white bloke blacked up.

This is the last episode featuring Amy and Rory as "regular" companions; while they engage in further TARDIS journeys, those involve the Doctor picking them up and returning them home instead of a continuous trip.

Closing Time

Nearing his apparent fate, the Doctor checks in with the man he previously lodged with, Craig Owens and his baby... as they face a Cyberman invasion.

A companion-lite story that features the return appearance of James Corden as Craig Owens, this is a clear case of an inferior sequel; the plot is tacked onto the humour and frankly a bit silly. An average episode saved from being a clunker only by Matt Smith's great rapport with kids.

The Wedding of River Song
As the Doctor goes to Lake Silencio and after someone doesn't do what they're supposed to, all history starts happening at once.

An episode that made me wonder what precisely Steven Moffat was smoking when he wrote this ("In an episode that brought us cannibal skulls, people being killed by eye patches and Winston Churchill as the Holy Roman Emperor, disembodied talking heads was actually pretty sane, if only because I've seen it in Futurama. Even by the Moff's trippy standards, this was far out"), this season finale answers a lot of questions and asks a good deal more, most notably laying the seeds for the final story of the Eleventh Doctor with the first mention of Trenzalore. It's a good conclusion to this run, but a lot is thrown at this story and it doesn't always stick.

Death is the Only Answer (4 minute mini-episode, aired as part of, "When Time Froze", the Doctor Who Confidential covering "The Wedding of River Song")

Einstein suddenly pops up in the TARDIS.

Written by the children of Oakley Church of England Junior School, this was the winning script in a school writing competition organised by BBC Learning and Doctor Who Confidential. It has not been released on home video and I don't really remember much about it; it was OK from what I recall.

****

Season 32 averaged 8.0 million; while this was bolstered by a Christmas special that hit 12.3 million and a Comic Relief special watched by 10.3 million. Even knocking those out, the average was still 7.5 million and the show broke the million barrier on iPlayer for nearly every episode.

The budget cuts would mean that "When Time Froze" would be the final episode of Doctor Who Confidential; shorter behind the scenes features would continue on the official website, but a show rated in one poll as the best in BBC3's history was done. As I was writing this post, Director General Tony Hall announced plans to move BBC3, a network whose best shows have arguably all now ended[7], to an entirely iPlayer service from 2015, as a means to help the corporation save £100m. There have been protests and this decision may yet be reversed - plans to close Radio 6 and the BBC Asian Network previously were.

The main show would be hit as well... crew members would have to take reductions in salary and overall rank to stay on the show. As the 50th anniversary approached, there would an emphasis on effects over big casts; the latter could be done without, but the former were needed when other channels were just a couple of clicks away.

[1]Albeit with a typo from the start of her career giving her year of birth as 1948 instead of 1946.

[2]Best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in six of the Harry Potter films after Richard Harris died, his taking a Suzuki Liana onto two wheels during his appearance in the Top Gear "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment led to the last corner of their test track being named Gambon in his honour.

[3]To give you an idea of how common it is, I've actually been a character in one of these... long story.

[4]Coming to prominence for her role in Coronation Street, she has comprehensively buried Karen McDonald with a string of highly regarded dramatic roles, including this one.

[5]A technology where a camera on a robotic arm is programmed to move precisely the same way multiple times, so the shots can be composited. Pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic for Star Wars, its other Doctor Who use was all the way back in 1986 for the opening model shot of "Trial of a Time Lord".

[6]"I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife" is one of the Moff's personal favourite lines - in this episode, he also included one of the two dirtiest jokes in the show's history.

[7]The highly enjoyable (and Hugo-nominated) Orphan Black is a BBC America production.

Max Clifford convicted of eight counts of indecent assault

The muckraker had some muck of his own. Good riddance to him and I hope he gets as long a jail term as possible.

Easter 2014

I'd like to wish all my readers a happy Easter. As a Christian, this is the most important day in our calendar and marks the resurrection of the man whose teachings I am proud to follow. Well, try to follow - we all fall short at some point.

Even if you aren't Christian, the impact of Jesus Christ on today's world cannot be underestimated.

Happy Easter!

Good game! Good game!

Sir Bruce Forsyth has announced that he is standing down from the live shows of Strictly Come Dancing - he will still do the Children in Need and Christmas specials, but those are pre-records and has no plans to retire yet.

However, this is the start of a move towards the exit for a man who has entertained people for over 70 years (indeed, he first appeared on television before the Second World War and arrived on the national stage in 1958); British television will be poorer for his departure.

Limited benefit of clergy (Review: 'NCIS' 11.9, "Gut Check")

Apologies for the long delay in doing this; this time of year is very busy for me in the TV department and I also went on holiday.

****

At the beginning of the eleventh season of this Navy-based cop show, former Mossad operative turned NCIS agent Ziva David had an existential crisis and decided to cut ties with the agency, staying in her native Israel. The result was that the desk nearest the world's most easily stoppable elevator became vacant for the first time since Ziva's deceased half-brother shot its previous occupant in the head.

(I'm not going to comment on Cote de Pablo's decision to leave the show here)

After a few episodes with various guest characters supplementing the line-up of Gibbs, McGee and DiNozzo, her replacement shows up at last... and quite frankly, she don't impress me much.

****

This episode sees the Secretary of the Navy, the latest one at any rate (I think this is number four; the previous SECNAV got blown up) discovering that someone has managed to put a bug on her person while giving a classified briefing on the new Zumwalt-class destroyer. As a result, Gibbs' team are tasked to find out who did this dastardly deed and recover the intelligence before it ends up in the wrong hands; discovering that the person responsible was following a NSA playbook drafted by an analyst for everyone's favourite email readers (hello, I hope you're enjoying this). The NSA's alleged activities don't get ignored in this and there is a humorous scene with Abby and said analyst discussing them.

The mystery takes its usual twist and turns before those responsible are found as usual. However, one doesn't watch NCIS for the investigations (fun though this one is), but for the characters. I personally came for Abby and stayed for everyone else. Abby Sciuto is her usually perky Goth self, demonstrating her lab rat skills with aplomb and McGee does well; NCIS chief Leon Vance isn't in this one. One major criticism I have of this is the actions of Tony, who seems to have become substantially less mature in the last few episodes although he's always good for film references. Gibbs is also a bit off in this one.

The NSA analyst, Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop, who gets offered a joint duty assignment at the end of the episode, is the main "attraction" here. An obsessive IT geek with a photographic memory, a tendency to food-associate, sit on things most people don't tend to sit on i.e. the autopsy table and finally demonstrate a lack of regard for her own personal safety, my thought on her first appearance was "Oh, no, that's Ziva's replacement?", which I can safely say was not my thought on Ziva's first scene, way back in Season 3. She's a lab rat in a show with four scientifically/computer-y minded characters already and her "I've got three older brothers" reason for demonstrating (or rather not; we only see her having made the capture) physical grappling prowess reeks of cliché. I actually found her rather irritating... although I didn't want to throttle her then and there. I'm willing to give her a further chance, but if she doesn't improve, I'm going to start wishing that someone crashes her at high speed into a planet.

Conclusion

A good episode, but Bishop isn't the reason for it.

7/10

Crimea

Today saw the first actual death in the 'war' between Russia and Ukraine, with a Ukrainian warrant officer killed when Russian forces stormed a base in Simferopol. One hopes that there isn't any more - I doubt either country really wants a proper war, but what people want and what they get are often not the same thing.
There is a valid case for a referendum on Crimea becoming part of the Russian Federation. However, when that referendum is conducted under what is basically a Russian occupation and with no international monitors present, it is completely invalid. The annexation of Crimea is illegal and invalid.

This said, I do wonder how far the West is prepared to go with sanctions... the EU economies are closely interlinked with Russia and cannot just cut them like what happened with Iran (the jury is still out on the effectiveness of those sanctions until any final deal is reached). Until something major happens in Moscow, Crimea is now a de facto part of Russia.

Oh, well, I needed to buy a new atlas anyway.

Tony Benn dies

This week has seen the second death of a major figure in the British left, former Cabinet minister and MP for 50 years Tony Benn. Agree or disagree with him (and I frequently did the latter), the man had real conviction and was a great orator. I once attended a political discussion evening with him and it was very good.

He could have had a life seat in the House of Lords as a Viscount and instead he chose to renounce his title so he could be subject to the whims of the people. A major figure, the world of British politics is poorer for his passing.

Rest in Peace.

Bob Crow dies

The highly controversial head of the RMT, Bob Crow, has died aged 52 of a suspected heart attack - this was a shock to everyone.

Like him or loathe him (if you were a London commuter, he inconvenienced you at least once in recent years), you cannot deny his popularity among his union and his overall sense of political style.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family. RIP.

There's actually a lot there (Review: 'Doctor Who: Into the Nowhere', 2014)

So, now I've done two Matt Smith stories. Only three more to go in my series and in this next short story/novella, a story that would work very well on TV. Although the effects budget might be stretched.

Summary

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara land on an unknown planet, absent from all the databases. Naturally they investigate and find out precisely why...

The plot

This is a snappy read (it's only 49 pages) but a highly dramatic one, as the Doctor and Clara make their way across a planet trying to kill them, meeting a bunch of skeletons who are more than they seem - and quite disturbing. The planet itself is very well realised in print and it is the sort of world that could be realised well by Roath Lock, although the CG work would be extensive. The main villain is someone who we would feel pity for if he wasn't clearly completely evil and the ending works very well.

The regulars

Still fresh in most people's minds and until Capaldi takes over fully, the go-to for the conception of the Doctor remains Eleven. Here his overall grumpy old man persona is well-portrayed here, along with his deep anger when he finds out what is really going on. I like his dubbing of the planet "Anthony" and there is a rather good Hitchhiker's reference if you know that series.

What Clara Oswald lacks in her STR and DEX stats she more than makes up for in CHA and INT; in plain English, she may not be Buffy, but she certainly is a highly compassionate and knowledgeable woman. Negative points for the rather old cliché of her having to be rescued, but otherwise very good.

Conclusion

An excellent novella with a great deal going for it; definitely worth checking out.

8/10

The Crimea situation

Today the situation in Ukraine has gone several stretches up the escalation scale. The movements of the Russian forces and the actions of very organised pro-Russian militia are starting to look an awful lot like a seizure of power in Crimea, with the possible aim of that territory returning to Russia.

Kyiv must make sure that it does not provide the Russians with a valid pretext for full-scale military action; while they have capable armed forces, they are no much for those of Russia and a war would merely kill a lot of people. The NATO governments have made no commitment to join in and I doubt that they would want to.

Everyone needs to stay calm and not do anything stupid.

James Bond: Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig's second movie shows the impact of the 2007-8 WGA Strike clearly; the film comes in at just over 100 minutes and yet it drags badly. My immediate comparison was to sticking your hand in a bowl of ice, although that might be a bit harsh.

There are some good elements in this. Craig does the best he can with the script and Dame Judi Dench shows why she gets Oscar nominations. The plane sequence is well done and the scene at the opera does have some of the films best lines. The plot is decent and definitely contemporary, even if it lacks some of the more Bondian elements.

Criticisms are big ones: weak villain, mediocre leading lady and a rather rushed ending. I'm not involved in this like the films before and after; it really does feel like a chore to do this for the third time.

One final thought; Kazan does not come to my mind as a romantic holiday destination. Quantum are cheap as well as evil

Conclusion

It's not "Quantum of So-Lame" as much as "Quantum of So-What". This is distinctly average and a weak Bond.

5/10

Single and not Single (Review: 'Doctor Who: Keeping Up With The Joneses' by Nick Harkaway, 2014)

I'm getting near to concluding the Eleven Faces series and to be honest, I don't want to spend a massive amount of money wrapping this up. Fortunately, the BBC have come to my assistance, with the Time Trips series. These novellas are coming out at one a month, each with a different Doctor; I've got the second and third. Each are stand alone and self-contained.

In this case, very self-contained.

Summary

Towards the end of his life, the Tenth Doctor is piloting his TARDIS when it hits a temporal mine left over from the Time War. As the Doctor tries to repair it, he finds himself in a Welsh town, with a strangely familiar looking barmaid and a dangerous alien intelligence.

The plot

This is basically a bottle episode, only the bottle is very ornate and facility-filled, rather like "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" from last year. The town of Jonestown, which has been subject to some serious temporal anomalies, is an interesting one, but lacks any huge depth to it in what is a pretty short book.

The prose is rather zany - on occasion, too much so. The style invokes that of the late Douglas Adams, the not-late-yet Sir Terry Pratchett and other fantasy authors of that ilk; sentences go on for multiple clauses, metaphors get a major work out and there is a general air of whimsy about the piece. It's pacy and doesn't waste time, so that's a good thing, although one might argue it doesn't develop things enough. I tend to prefer brevity in my wit.

The main 'monster' a relic from the Time War that has completely forgotten what side of the thing it was on is an innovative one, but I again was not hugely impressed. The author manages to use the altered-ish canon of the show post "The Day of the Doctor" to good advantage in his story. I was also non-plussed about the 'companion' here; she's not bad, but she's not brilliant either. This might have worked better with someone like Donna.

The regular

The Doctor is the only regular character in this, apart from the TARDIS, who acts in a very TARDIS-like way, especially when you consider how she has acted in recent years. Ten's dialogue is extremely convincing; he is known for going on long unplanned detours in his sentences and is a very different sounding guy to either Doctor before or after him.

Conclusion

An enjoyable read and the novella format means that it doesn't go on for too long. It's good, but lacks a strong enough plot to be great.

7/10

Orange Revolution II: The Empire Gets Struck Again

When members of the public are freely strolling around the residence of a country's now former President, it is safe to say that a revolution has occurred.

It's happened in Ukraine.

Viktor Yanukovych is gone. His reign is over and with reports that his attempts to flee the country have been stopped, I would not be surprised if he was formally indicted in the next couple of days.

It has not been a bloodless revolution - and it could still get bloody - but the people of Ukraine now have a second chance to develop a genuine, effective democracy in their country after the failure of the 2004 Orange Revolution to deliver on its hopes let Yanukovych back in the first place.

Tomorrow we see the closing of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Today, Russia's playing of the geopolitical game saw them get a penalty... and this is speed skating.

To the Mun, Silent! To the Mun!

It may have been an un-Kerballed vessel, I may have lost nearly all of it on landing (in fact, the module was thrown clear by the explosion)... and it won't be coming back...

But I've managed to get a spacecraft on the Mun in Kerbal Space Program.

This is what the lander originally looked like:

Too sexy for this show? ('Doctor Who' Season 31/Series 5, 2010)

Doctor Who Magazine has now announced another all-story poll to mark the first fifty years of the show; it remains to be seen what will change, but I expect significant moves up for "Enemy of the World" and "The Web of Fear" - the reviews for the rediscovered episodes have been highly positive.

****

I was in Aldi in Romford when I saw the picture on the front page of the Daily Express, a British tabloid newspaper with an obsession with house prices, immigrants and the death of Princess Diana. I saw the location photo of Karen Gillan in that policewoman outfit and thought "Yep, Gallifrey Base is going to go wild over this one".

The kissogram get-up and Amy's generally short skirts/shorts all round this season (there were a couple of exceptions) led to complaints/coverage that the character was too sexualised for the show... typically linked with a photo, just so the readers could get an idea and I'm sure not for the purpose of cheap titillation. Ah, sorry, my sarcasm mode is engaged.

So, who was this redhead?

Amy Pond - Crazy, Sexy, Scottish

Amelia "Amy" Williams (nee Pond), born in Scotland but spending much of her life in Leadworth, Gloucestershire as an orphan after her parents got accidentally erased from existence, was an adventurous girl from a young age - when she was 8, the Doctor crash landed in her front garden and she was fully ready to leave with him, but he didn't turn up after de-materialising. Twelve years (and four psychiatrists - she kept biting them when they insisted the Doctor wasn't real) later, he turned up again and two years after that, the night before her wedding to Rory Williams, she went off with him on adventures. Witty, stubborn and at times reckless, she was certainly a forceful personality. Comparisons to Daphne Blake from Scooby Doo, mainly because of the hair colour, are perhaps inevitable, but Amy never got called Danger-Prone.

Karen Gillan (1987-) was born in Inverness, Scotland and decided to become a professional actor at 16, attending the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Before she'd graduated, she got her first television role in Rebus, a series of adaptations of Ian Rankin's novels for STV/ITV and had also been recruited by a modelling agency; her 5'10 height undoubtedly helped in the latter department, although she no longer models. Her first really noticeable role was appearing in several skits on Channel 4's The Kevin Bishop Show from 2008-2009, where she dressed like Lara Croft, Katy Perry and other celebs, among other things in an at times controversial show, while her role in BBC interactive thriller The Well, despite airing after her announcement as Amy Pond, slipped under most people's radar. During the 2008 season of Doctor Who, she had a small role as a Soothsayer in "The Fires of Pompeii"... alongside a certain fellow Scot who recently found he didn't like the colour of his kidneys.

During her tenure as Amy, she also appeared in a production of Inadmissible Evidence and a drama called We'll Take Manhattan about supermodel Jean Shrimpton.

One of her next and arguably her biggest role to date will be in Guardians of the Galaxy as super villain Nebula, a role that required her to be painted purple and shave her hair off. She got a wig made from said hair and when she took it off at Comic Con last year to reveal the hairless head underneath, it caused a fair bit of a stir. Few women have been willing to lose all that for a role - Natalie Portman (who had hers shaved off on camera in V for Vendetta) is a famous example. She is also appearing as Kerry Newblood in the third instalment of spoof cop drama (think a NC-17 version of The Naked Gun; they go very far with some jokes) A Touch of Cloth; this is in the can, but no TX date has been announced.

The younger Amelia, seen in a number of episodes in this run, was played by Caitlin Blackwood, a real-life (and previous never actually met) cousin of Karen Gillan.

****

This was also the first year that there was no Torchwood in production at Upper Boat studios; combined with the economic situation, this resulted in a number of crew members either leaving the show or having to take demotions to stay on it as budgets got squeezed.

The positive benefit of that spin-off not being here however was the freeing up of the stage used for the Torchwood Hub (destroyed in "Children of Earth") - this allowed BBC Wales to build a new TARDIS interior in the location; with a retro theme to the console and incorporating multiple levels for the first time. This was matched with a new TARDIS exterior prop, inspired by the one used in the two Peter Cushing movies, with a lighter shade of blue and the return of the St. John's Ambulance logo not seen since the Hartnell days. The Doctor got a new sonic screwdriver; this one with a green light - and Matt Smith managed to break one of the props before Steven Moffat could set up a book on how long it would take him.

Yet more changes followed to the in other areas: A new title sequence, a new (and controversial) arrangement of the theme by Murray Gold and a new logo with a TARDIS-shaped DW in the centre[1]:

****

The stories themselves also changed in tone; the Moffat era is one more of a "dark fairly tale" as opposed to the epic space adventure of RTD. The family connection while still there is largely eliminated - indeed we only see Amy's parents once in this and that's pretty much all for that. There were also far more references to the past - indeed Smith's first episode sees a montage of Doctors as he symbolically takes his place among the eleven known to exist at that point.

This first run is a very good one; it suffers from the problem that first seasons of any new Doctor suffer from i.e. the lead writer knows more of the Doctor's character than those doing other stories.

(Please note that we will not be covering non-transmitted-on-television episodes unless they are of particular significance to the show... the DVD extra ones aren't)

The Eleventh Hour (65 minutes)

The newly regenerated Doctor crash lands on Earth, where he has to deal with a mysterious crack, a young Scottish girl and an escaped alien prisoner... with the Earth's time running out.

A very strong opener for the new Doctor - who nails it pretty much from the get-go, what with the fish fingers and custard[2]. It's not perfect... it's possibly a bit over-long in fact, but this is a highly recommended starting point for a new fan. Notable guest cast include the late TV astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (who hosted the monthly The Sky at Night until his death in 2012, one of the few still-active shows on British TV older than Doctor Who) and Olivia Colman, whose ubiquity in British TV these days, especially post-Broadchurch, was referenced in her appearance in the later 50th anniversary comedy extended skit The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

The Beast Below

The Doctor takes Amy (who hasn't even had time to change out of her nightie) to Starship UK in 3295, home of the remaining British population as look for a new home among the stars, where they discover something is seriously amiss.

Guest starring well known actor Sophie Okonedo (who had been Oscar-nominated for Hotel Rwanda and played Alison in "Scream of the Shalka"), this is a very enjoyable episode with a lot of humorous moments and an interesting story. One particular funny bit involves the Doctor and Amy's reaction to an approaching tidal wave.

Victory of the Daleks

The Doctor is summoned to London in 1941 by his old friend Winston Churchill, who has a new secret weapon in the fight against the Nazis... which looks an awful lot like a Dalek.

The one that introduced the very controversial New Dalek Paradigm aka the Teletubby Daleks, a bulked up redesign with versions in multiple colours cynically felt to be a merchandising ploy, although partly due to the "old" Daleks being built for Billie Piper's eyeline and not for the taller Gillan. They are a bad part of a generally poor episode - a rare misfire by Mark Gatiss - and have not lasted. Ian McNeice does a good job as Churchill (he'd played him on stage previously) within the limitations of the time to explore a very complex individual[].

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone

River Song returns to the life of the Doctor as do the Weeping Angels... and Amy is in danger of turning to stone.

The first story filmed for the season, this has a superb opening episode, but things suffer a little in the second half; this is still a  This one was particularly notable for a rather unwelcome appearance of Graham Norton during the dramatic cliffhanger to episode one[4] and for Game of Thrones fans, Iain Glen is in it.

The Vampires of Venice

After Amy tries to make out with the Doctor, he decides to take her and her fiancé to Venice in 1580 to resolve the issue. Things don't go to plan as they have to deal with some alien vampires that look like attractive young women.

Filmed in Croatia (the real Venice is of course a very busy city), this is an above average episode with a number of good bits - including the Doctor's gate crashing of a stag do for his own father in law and whipping out a photo ID featuring the first Doctor.

Shaggy to her Daphne - Rory Williams

Joining the TARDIS crew proper at this point is Amy's fiancé and later husband, Rory Williams. The fact that the Doctor can merrily call him "Pond" made it rather clear of his views as to who (metaphorically) dominated that relationship - Rory was initially timid, less assertive but as a nurse, highly compassionate and caring. He is also known for having so many death or near-death experiences that people started to compare him to Dr Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1.

Arthur Darvill (1982-) was a relative newcomer at this point, making his TV debut in He Kills Coppers and seven episodes of an adaptation of Little Dorrit that also featured Freema Agyeman, also writing a soul/funk musical called Been So Long for the 2009 Edinburgh Festival. Since his casting as Rory, he has appeared in a production of Doctor Faustus and in 2013 was a vicar in hit drama Broadchurch.

Amy's Choice

It's five years since Amy travelled with the Doctor and she is expecting her first child with Rory. When the Doctor shows up, however, she starts to question what is real.

A well-crafted and highly thoughtful episode guest starring Toby Jones as the sinister Dream Lord, this firmly establishes the Amy/Rory relationship and includes one of my favourite lines of this era (the one about the ponchos). This is also one clearly made with an eye on the budget (as is common in any sci-fi show - you have a few cheap ones to save money for the bigger stuff); it has a guest cast of precisely four and makes extensive use of the standing TARDIS set.

 

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood (2nd episode 50 minutes)

They aimed for Rio (even if Amy is a bit overdressed even for that)... but ended up in Wales in 2020. In the small village of Cwmtaff, a drilling project is causing people to disappear - and has awoken some ancient Terran residents.

Not one of my personal favourites, the return of the Silurians (heavily redesigned) after a 25 year absence from the show was written by Chris Chibnall, who had gained a degree of unpopularity among fans for some of his work on Torchwood as head writer, but this isn't that bad, even if it retreads some familiar ground. The final bit, where something particularly unpleasant happens to Rory, was a major surprise and is the best bit of this two-parter.

This story had to under go major changes in development due to lack of money to realise all its ideas (and in one case, being deemed too adult) - and in editing due to badly overrunning; it still needed to have a 50-minute slot for "Cold Blood".

Vincent and the Doctor (50 minutes)

When the Doctor sees a creepy face in a Vincent van Gogh painting he sees in a Paris museum, there's only one thing to do... go to 1890 to find out what is and meet the troubled artist himself.

A brilliant episode, funny and deeply moving in turn - it does not attempt to soften the mental health problems the artist suffered; indeed they are a big part of the plot (a helpline number was listed at the end on the UK transmission, as is common with BBC dramas that explore these sorts of issues). While Richard Curtis is best known for his comedy writing, this character based tale is much more than that - indeed, it was nominated for the Hugo. One also has to credit Bill Nighy who declined a credit for his appearance as Dr Black.

The Lodger

When the TARDIS is prevented from landing, the Doctor must face his most difficult test to date - passing himself off as an ordinary human lodger.

A loose adaptation of a story from Doctor Who Magazine's long-running comic strip (although that one featured Ten and the established character Mickey) guest starring well known comic actor James Corden[5], this Amy-lite tale has some pretty good moments in and some good comedy on Matt Smith's part, but there are better stories in this run. It also contains the possible first appearance of the Silents.

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (50 minute first episode, 55 minute second episode)

A message transmitted through history brings the Doctor and Amy to Stonehenge in 102 AD, where River Song and a big trap are waiting... the very universe's existence is in peril.

A tale so timey-wimey that actually needs a diagram (Warning, spoilers) to fully understand, this epic season finale has a lot of very good moments, including the Doctor's speech at Stonehenge as well as the short-lived début of the famous fez.

Steven Moffat collected his fourth and so far last Hugo award for this - the following year it went to Neil Gaiman for "The Doctor's Wife" and 2013 saw all three Moffat nominees lose out to the Game of Thrones episode "Blackwater" - I would not be surprised if Doctor Who won in 2014 for something from the anniversary year, but Game of Thrones will have a shot for "The Rains of Castermere"[6].

****

The average ratings for this run (which did not of course include a Christmas special) fell to 7.2 million; only "The Eleventh Hour" cleared 10 million. However, these figures did not include iPlayer views, which generally cleared a million and a half for each episode[7]. In addition, this season, which was extensively promoted in the US - resulting in Moffat, Smith and Gillan getting an unplanned extension to their holiday when Eyjafjallajökull erupted and shut down European airspace for a week - got record ratings on BBC America and with references later turning up in various other US shows, such as Criminal Minds and Castle, it was clear that the good Doctor had finally broken into the US.

During the course of this run, a British general election took place. The Labour government of Gordon Brown was roundly defeated after the worst global recession since the 1930s... but the Conservatives under David Cameron failed to gain an overall majority after a strong performance in the first televised election debates in the UK by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg[8]. After a few days, a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition formed, which remains in power at present albeit with a good few tensions. The key result of this for the BBC was a freeze in the licence fee... which meant a real term cut in its budget over the next few years.

The corporation would have to cut services and programming budgets... and Doctor Who would not be immune.

[1]This would later be slightly modified to incorporate the BBC logo at the bottom; the BBC requires this to appear somewhere in the beginning of the programme and this allows to do so without being distracting.

[2]The 'fish fingers' were actually coconut cakes... but this didn't stop fans from trying out the recipe themselves.

[3]A long-time sufferer of depression, an accomplished artist, an opponent of Indian Home Rule (the reason he ended up in the political wilderness in the 1930s) in the first place and someone who could be thunderously rude... he reads like someone with Asperger's syndrome, but I'm no mental health professional. Whatever your view of him, he was certainly of huge influence.

[4]By no means his first appearance; an audio bleed from Strictly Dance Fever popped up in the first couple of minutes of the transmission of "Rose".

[5]Best known for Gavin & Stacey (which featured Sheridan Smith aka audio companion Lucie Miller), but also the comedy-thriller The Wrong Mans and more notoriously, the comedy horror Lesbian Vampire Killers.

[6]That is, the one with "The Red Wedding" in.

[7]Getting accurate iPlayer stats is difficult; unlike the official BARB ratings, it is difficult to identify re-watches and viewings by multiple people from the same screen. In addition, as the episodes appear on iPlayer every time they get repeated on BBC3, the opportunity for further growth is considerable.

[8]Not for want of trying... various challenges had been made previously, but one or other leader had sufficient political reason to say no i.e. they were too far ahead.

Saga Master System (Grand Review: 'The Bridge' Season 2)

BBC4's airing of foreign shows has been a huge success for them - although The Killing and Borgen have now both concluded their runs in Denmark, they've been able to find worthy successors both in the Nordic lands and elsewhere. After this series, they'll be airing VRT's Salamander; the first Belgian show I've seen - it will be getting a review - and also have the Israeli version of Hostages lined up.

So, having watched the not-quite-as good-but-still-good Anglo-French remake of this, it's now time to head back to the Øresund region to hang around with a woman who wears leather trousers and thinks it is appropriate to compare the size of her boyfriend's pleasure equipment to that of a dead gigolo.

Yep, Saga Norén (Länskrim Malmö) is back and being as unofficially Asperger's as ever.

This review contains some spoilers

****

It's been 13 months since the events of the first season; these had a particularly devastating impact on Martin, who has had his marriage break up as a result. He's now on a desk job, helping with security for an upcoming EU climate summit (yes, this is very relevant to the plot). Then a cargo ship carrying five people crashes into the bridge; they've been infected with pneumonic plague (the deadlier version of bubonic... but you can stop it with antibiotics as it's a bacterial disease) and he teams up with Saga as the Malmö police investigate a string of attacks by a group of eco-terrorists who wear animal masks in their videos. In answer to the question recently posed by some Norwegians... the fox says nothing, he just holds cue cards like the other three.

Martin, who seems to have attracted a bit of a female following, is visibly tense at the beginning of this - he pulls a gun on some teenagers who are demanding parking charges for an abandoned warehouse (I suppose he wouldn't be alone in doing that). A loveable character who is definitely softened by his interactions with Saga, he comes close to recovering his family situation... but in the end does something (possibly) very rash to the incarcerated Truth Terrorist. Possibly. I would personally not be surprised if Kim Bodnia ends up appearing, like a number of other actors from DR shows, in an English-language show before too long.

Saga (or as the Danes pronounce her name, Sega) is wonderful in this. She gets a boyfriend in this and her attempts to handle a relationship provide a considerable amount of occasionally cringeworthy humour. Yet, she is far more than a comedy character; we learn more about her background including the death of her sister and she is genuinely trying to fit in a world that she doesn't understand. Sofia Helin's confused look is one of the best things in this show and my comments about Kim Bodnia equally apply to her. Her relationship with Martin has strong chemistry without taking us into the "will they or won't they" area.

The plot of this is another typically Scandi one; full of twists and side plots that may or may not have some resemblance to the overall story. The big one involves a group of people connected with the climate conference and a big pharma company called Medisonus; this also allows Borgen-spotters to notch one up, as a character in this appeared as an Environment Minister. In fact, here he's caught in an embarrassing position with an environment minister... Saga's "Oh" as she realises why one guy is naked and the other is in boxers is a great moment made better by the fact we immediately cut to another scene. The writer makes the interesting and effective decision to kill off the animal mask wearers in episode four - they're merely henchman for a bigger (and creepier) bad guy. I will admit, however, to being frequently confused as to what country we were in.

The guest characters in this are certainly interesting - the Medisonus CEO is a terminally ill woman who is ticking off a few things on her bucket list, including killing her own food... by going into a farm and shooting a hen in a cage. I think that's called poaching. The Länskrim Malmö team (most of this is set in Malmö) are a mixed bunch and by no means paragons of virtue - one character ends up being kicked off the case for faking a report to hide his own incompetence. The last was a bit unconvincing - wouldn't he have been suspended?

The story seems to have wrapped up as we approach the the end of episode 9... until Saga realises there is another killer. What I thought initially was a bit of a padding move turned out to be a far better conclusion than what we would have otherwise got; the final scenes seem to cause a major problem for the Martin-Saga relationship... but I think it will be sorted out. Eventually.

Further thoughts; BBC4 seemed to be pretty inconsistent between a version of the credits in English and between those Danish/Swedish, the theme tune remains great and I see that ZDF (who have their fingers in a lot of foreign TV pie) part funded this. Also, Swedish police hats are awesome.

Conclusion

Another high quality series from Scandinavia that doesn't dip in its second run. I'd say roll The Bridge III, but it appears that we won't get this until later in 2015.

In the meantime, great work. Skol!

9/10

Tube strikes

The RMT and TSSA have called two 48-hour Tube strikes in protest over staff cuts and closing all the station ticket offices.

While a strike is going to be highly inconvenient for a lot of people (myself included), the rhetoric from TfL needs further scrutiny:

Despite two poorly-supported ballots for industrial action, which saw only around 30 per cent of RMT and TSSA members balloted voting for strike action, and around 70 per cent either not voting or voting no, the union leaderships have nonetheless instructed their members to carry out four days of strike action in February. 

The turnout was about 40% - higher than the last Mayoral election... and only about 24% of all Londoners voted for Boris even when second preferences are added in!

• Every Tube station will be visibly staffed and controlled by LU staff during operating hours;
• There will be a job for everyone who wants to continue to be part of our organisation and who is ready to be flexible;
• Any operational changes will be done without compulsory redundancies where we can collaborate to make change happen.

 However, will there be less staff at each station? What if people can't be "flexible" for whatever reason? They've mentioned no compulsory redundancies, but there will almost certainly be voluntary ones.

"All Tube stations will remain staffed and controlled at all times when services are operating, and we'll be introducing a 24-hour service at weekends during 2015."

There will be job cuts on the Tube... and they want to run more trains with less people?

"In future, there will be more staff in ticket halls and on platforms to help customers buy the right ticket, plan their journeys and to keep them safe and secure."

One hopes that the staff will be able to be safe and secure, especially late on Saturday nights.

The trend of ticket sales away from ticket offices has surged over recent years and today less than three per cent of all Tube journeys involve a visit to a ticket office. 

That's true - but less than 3% is still a noticeable proportion. Less than 3% of school pupils need Special Education Needs staff and no-one is proposing to get rid of those.

I don't like Bob Crow (it's worth remembering Labour ended their affiliation with the RMT in 2004), but Boris Johnson isn't much better.

Now that's how you do Daleks! (Review: 'Doctor Who: Lucie Miller/To The Death', 2011)

The Daleks have definitely been the most prolific villains in the history of Doctor Who, with at least 37 appearances in the main run of the show and countless EU encounters with the evil pepper pots. Indeed, the first seriously planned spinoff series would have starred them, but Terry Nation's plans for the US show fell through before it had even gotten to pilot stage.

As a result of their frequent appearances, the Daleks have become susceptible to what TV Tropes calls Villain Decay; sometimes they can be truly hard to beat... and sometimes you just have to shoot one in the eyestalk to blow it up. Generally speaking, one Dalek is a huge threat and a fleet is surprisingly easy to destroy. Even Terry Nation forgot that they're not robots, they're essentially tanks with a mutated Nazi inside.

So, it's good to know, as my Twelve Faces series moves to the era of the Eighth Doctor, that sometimes you can do a brilliant story with them.

****

If you haven't seen The Night of the Doctor, I strongly suggest you do so now. Note in particular the five names the Doctor gives about 5:36; these are all companions who have featured in the audio adventures starring Paul McGann in Big Finish since 2001.

This story in fact features no less than three of the Big Finish companions (one not named in the five there)... and what happens here is a major reason why the Doctor does what he does in "The Night of the Doctor".

Summary

Earth in the late 2190s; former companion Lucie Miller is travelling in Thailand with the Doctor's great grandson Alex Campbell when a deadly plague devastates humanity... and then the Daleks launch their second invasion of Earth. The Doctor will be needed... and in in this case, the battle will be to the death... in some cases literally.

The plot

Most of the opening episode is from the POV of Lucie as she records a space-time distress signal to the Doctor; he doesn't even appear himself until about 40 minutes into the first episode. Lucie relates the plague and the subsequent Dalek takeover, followed by the efforts of a resistance movement led by the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman as they cross the Atlantic in an attempt to destroy a mining project by the Daleks, who want to turn the planet into a giant time machine. It's a superbly bleak opener, followed up by a spot of derring-do in the later bits of the episode. Lucie is not a happy bunny at the late arrival of the Doctor, that's for sure.

In the second episode, we follow the Doctor and his companions as they try to stop the Dalek plan, dealing with the meddling Time Lord known as the Monk, who was allied himself with the Daleks for typically selfish reasons. The climax is truly dramatic; I can't really say too much here, but it makes "Bad Wolf" look tame in overall character impact.

Things get occasionally a bit confusing and the second episode is a bit talky; having listened to previous audios here might have helped.

The regulars

Paul McGann has had a considerable time since the television movie to develop his portrayal of the character and it shows here; his Doctor is commanding (it helps that he's got a great voice) but also a clearly weary man. He also demonstrates a considerable deal of anger at times; his incarnation is now finally getting the plaudits it deserves.

I'm familiar with Lucie Miller from the first series of the New Eighth Doctor adventures when it was broadcast on BBC7 (as was) in 2006/7; in fact it got a radio airing before release. In addition, I have listened to "Max Warp" also featuring her; it contains a rather good parody of Top Gear. Miller is definitely a headstrong and verbally aggressive companion (best line: her desire to introduce the Monk to the big picture by shoving his face into it) who gets a real slurry pit of a story - she ends up losing the sight in one eye and requiring calipers to walk after she gets the plague; that's just in the first episode. This is her final story for BF and it's no spoiler to say it's a spectacular finale. Sherdian Smith, an increasing presence in British television since Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (she now has two Olivier Awards and a BAFTA), does a superb job and makes this original role her own.

Alex Campbell (played by McGann's RL son Jake) is a bit of a weak link here; he didn't stand out at all to me and I didn't even know he was an ex-companion of the Doctor's.

Tamsin Drew, a former actress and another companion of the Eighth Doctor, spends her time here in what is also her final story as a companion of the Monk - she eventually learns that he has been lying to her about his motives for working with the Daleks. Again, a moment I can't spoil proves rather shocking.

Susan Foreman, played by Carole Ann Ford, is of course of the first ever companions, who was left on Earth by her grandfather in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" after she fell in love with David Campbell (now deceased). Ford plays a far more mature version of the original, rather irritating Susan (well for one thing, it's been almost fifty years since her TV role) and does it well - she's a commanding presence, although there are stronger performances in this.

The Daleks

Superb; they are ruthless, twisted and for most of this, brutally effective - they kill a lot of people and their plan is truly worthy of them. It takes an awful lot to stop them - and the Doctor will feel it for the rest of his current life. Nicholas Briggs does a great job with voicing them (he also wrote and directed this story), but one can't help thinking thinking the Dalek Time Controller is some ersatz Davros.

The Monk

Another character from the First Doctor's era (he only appears in two stories, one of which, "The Daleks' Master Plan" is incomplete in the archives), this renegade Time Lord is happy to do a deal with the Daleks for his personal reward - and in this case, he realises too late just what he has done. When the Doctor learns how much he caused the situation in the first place, he is justified in ordering him out of his site. Graeme Garden, one of the Goodies (a famous former British comedy trio, although a bit less known than the Pythons), does an excellent job as a manipulator; I can see how he got two former Doctor companions (Lucie and Tamsin) to travel with him.

Sound design

So good as usual, it's not really worth covering this in any more depth.

Conclusion

A superb drama from Big Finish; while it does slacken a bit in the second half, the strengths of this far outweigh the weaknesses - Nicholas Briggs has shown he is good for far more than monster voices.

9/10

Don't mind me, I'm just here for Peter Capaldi (Review: 'The Musketeers' 1.1, "Friends and Enemies")

Actually, that's not quite true. While the presence of the Twelfth Doctor in this (and it was rather interesting that I also watched Peter Davison guest in Death in Paradise tonight as well) was definitely something that brought me to this, the chances were that I'd be here anyway, whether I'd read the Dumas novel or not.

(I have; where do you think Marie Athos in Wing Commander: From the Ashes got her name from?)

So, let us go back to Paris in 1630, where three Musketeers and a bloke named D'Artagnan work together to fight for their drippy King against the machinations of his First Minister.

First impressions; this seems to be very much from the same stable as Merlin, Atlantis et. al, except this differs in a number of regards:

• It's an in-house production, not from Kudos or Shine.
• This is a Sunday 9pm hour-long (i.e. 58 minutes or so run time) with ten episodes, not a 13x45' one for Saturday evening,
• While there is very little blood, there is some scenes of a sexual nature (nothing explicit) and some themes a bit too adult for a Doctor Who audience.
  

However, the general style; a rollicking swash-buckling adventure adapted from a classic work of literature, with added jokes, remains strongly present.

Speaking of jokes; the show isn't one to take itself too seriously; there are one-liners a plenty and a general wit about the work. The bit about the badger intestines is a particular gem and the four leads (ironically for a novel called The Three Musketeers, the group goes to four very quickly) are clearly playing it with a degree of humour in their performances; Porthos comes across as a bit of a Dave Lister sort of character and if Craig Charles was a) younger and b) not committed to Corrie, you could see him in this role.

This opener, an "everyone meets everyone" sort of episode that sees the Musketeers framed for murder-robbery (including of d'Artagnan's dad) wheels out a number of the tropes of the action-adventure genre and some associated with it; including the old one involving getting a lover out of a room before someone else finds out. These get their own twists though - a pistol kicked under the bed ends up being a Chekhov's gun in the literal sense and the old "semi-undressed woman distracts a guard" shtick gets a comic twist when the guard starts negotiating the fee for sex.

Capaldi is a major draw here - even before his casting as the Doctor (he learned he'd got the gig, which will limit his role in a second season if this gets renewed, on set in the Czech Republic when his agent called with the words "Hello, Doctor"), he was a big enough name to attract attention - playing the goatee-packing Cardinal Richelieu, a RL historical figure of some note in French history, but far better known for his presence in this novel. We've yet to see his Doctor in full, but his performance here is likely to be very different from that. He resists the temptation to ham it up and uses an English accent - but frequently steals scenes.

Those of you who have read the novel (or novels, there's five) will be able to get extra layers of enjoyment out of it; the characters are very well realised here - Maimie McMoy's Milady being a notable vamp who really needs to see her dressmaker to get proper shoulder coverage... and has a rather interesting bit in a confessional booth.

(Best scene involving one of those - For Your Eyes Only).

Drawbacks? The 60-minute slot is a bit long for my personal taste and was a bit padded at times (as I suspect were some of the costumes... it looked cold out there). I'd also say this isn't the best theme Murray Gold has ever done, but it might be a grower.

Conclusion

A series with a degree of promise; a great cast (not just Capaldi), strong source material and as always for the BBC, superb millinery. But can it sustain that?

Also at the moment, it's better than the other series I watch based on a Dumas novel... come on Amanda Clarke, get on with your Revenge already!

8/10

Review Series - 'Doctor Who' Season 16, The Key to Time

This is a series of mini-reviews of the 26 episodes of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who, aka "The Key to Time" season. There is a certain sadness tinged with this box set; it arrived on the day that the death of Mary Tamm (Romana I) was announced.

The Ribos Operation

Part One

I'd really forgotten just how haughty Romana could be. She's great in this episode. In fact, everyone is. Some slightly wobbly sets (not literally, but metaphorically), but Robert Holmes's script is superb, creating a rich universe.

8/10

Part Two

This should be called "The Ribos Job" – it's rather like an episode of Leverage that the Doctor and Romana have walked into. Very funny at points and with a rather good cliff hanger, although not quite as good as the previous episode.

7/10

Part Three

Some rather silly costumes in this story, but there's some great characters – Paul Seed (now better known as a TV director of some note) is hamming it up big time as the Graff Vynda-K. Good to see the tracer being used in the plot and also K-9 turning up after two episodes. In fact, I'd forgotten he was there.

8/10

Part Four

A highly enjoyable ending – poor Binro. There are some superb jokes – the Hackney Wick one stands out as a Londoner and the Graff completely losing it at the end is well played. That Freytus battle sounds worthy of a Big Finish story of its own.

8/10

Conclusion

I can really see why this was so popular back in 1978. It's good, clean fun for the whole family. The 'monster' may be rubbish (and ineffective), but it's a tiny part of a great plot.

8/10

The Pirate Planet

Part One

This is a little bit silly. Don't get me wrong – the Captain is superbly hammy, but Baker's not on form and the stuff with the locals is generally not engaging. The set looks cheaper here than the last one as well.

6/10

Part Two

This story is looking more and more over-rated. The film/video thing is distracting and a lot of the characters are not that great. Romana continues to shine though.

6/10

Part Three

Much better. Baker has improved, the guest cast are getting less annoying and the plot is starting to come to fruition. The battle between K9 and the Polyphase Avitron is as good as it really could be – I like the way he presents the dead creature to the Doctor.

8/10

Part Four

A satisfying conclusion with some great scenes, but the 'science' is weird even by this show's standards. Xanxia brought just as much ham to the party as the Captain.

7/10

Conclusion

An enjoyable story, although by no means a classic due to some weak supporting characters.

7/10

The Stones of Blood

Part One

An intriguing opener, boosted by the decision to shoot the exteriors on OB video. I'm starting to see why Mary Tamm left after one season – some of her material is a bit weak at time. Professor Rumford is a memorable supporting character, although the 1970s fashion really hasn't aged well. The cliffhanger isn't all that good.

7/10

Part Two

Another above average episode, in which the Ogri have a good presence (most of their activity is off-screen, for the obvious reasons that the tech wasn't up to it and you can't do that to someone's skull on most TV shows). Romana and Rumford are again good, although it seems that certain bits got lost in the edit – it's not the smoothest of episodes.

7/10

Part Three

A great one this, with Baker on fine form, a couple of pretty nasty deaths and the Megara not as bad as I seem to remember them. Mind you, evil laughing is so cliché.

8/10

Part Four

Another superb episode, with the trial scenes in particular standing out – it play a lot like something out of Hitchhiker's. Appearance of the Megara aside, there is little to complain about in this episode and everyone is very good.

9/10

Conclusion

An excellent dramatic tale with strong lashings of horror – a perfect 100th story and definitely a classic of mid-Tom Baker.

8/10

The Androids of Tara

Part One

The Doctor and Romana spend most of this episode apart and demonstrate that the whole here is really more than the sum of its parts – while their lines are good, they're not as good as the two of them together (I see Romana left the parking brake on). This one sets up the plot of the four-parter and while it has some good moments, it's nothing special. The Taran Wood Beast is dire and deserves its bad reputation.

6/10

Part Two

A good affair in a well-developed world with some good humour, combined with suitable ham from the main villain of the piece. It's all very stagey and non-naturalistic. While this isn't bad, it's not stellar either.

7/10

Part Three

The Count is superbly hammy and the Doctor gets some good scenes, but the separation of the Doctor and Romana for most of this episode does hurt this. It's good, but not brilliant. These Taran bowmen can't  shoot straight to save their lives – if the planet ever got invaded, one fears the worst.

6/10

Part Four

A dragged out climax – the sword fight in particular is a bit too long and not exactly up to the standards of some I've seen. The Count's sense of fair play and his departure are good, but this feels a bit insubstantial.

6/10

Conclusion

While not bad, this tale is really lacking something – like a real sense of threat or a decent alien. A light fluffy work that you can watch and quickly forget.

6/10

The Power of Kroll

Part One

A very 1970s looking serial, especially the hair and the poor model shots (water doesn't scale!), with a strong 'Empire' influence. The Swampies let the side down badly, but it's nice to see John Leeson in front of the camera for a change. Tom Baker is on fine form.

7/10

Part Two

We see Robert Holmes in full flavour in here – it's a largely talky episode, but the talking is superb with the overall style reminding me, perhaps wrongly, of Heart of Darkness (although that never had a giant squid). When we get to the action, however, the acting is bad and the special effects worse.

8/10

Part Three

Thawn is a great villain (especially his 'tache) and while Baker sends much of his episode tied up, he continues to demonstrate some of the classic quick-fire wit of the Fourth Doctor. However, when they're not on screen, things get a bit worse – the Swampies aren't interesting and Rohm-Dutt has outstayed his welcome, so gets eaten by Kroll.

6/10

Part Four

A strong script here is let down by bad acting and more dodgy effects, especially when the two combine i.e. Kroll attacks people. It does remind me considerably of the perception of 1970s Doctor Who in the popular mind. While there is some good stuff here, it's just above average.

6/10

Conclusion

My average is 7/10, but I've got knock this down a point for some really bad effects work. Anthony Read should have taken a proper look at a script involving a town-sized squid and asked Holmes to do a major rewrite. It's a good attempt at something impossible on the budget. Finally, full credit to the late Philip Madoc as Fenner; he does a great job here.

6/10

The Armageddon Factor

Part One

For the relative cheapness of this tale (a "oh, no the money's run out" situation combined with industrial action), this first part is mostly pretty strong. While it's a somewhat sanitised for the audience view of nuclear war, compared with something like Threads, the Marshal's continued boasting of imminent victory as his planet is being destroyed reminds me strongly of the sort of thing that dictators about to lose a war spout. Shame about the cliffhanger.

7/10

Part Two

Merak is massively wet and while Astra isn't that bad, she fortunately spends much of this episode unconscious, when she's dragged off by a man in a black painted Santa mask. The Doctor sparkles in his scenes with the Marshal and Mary Tamm is also good, but K9 is a complete idiot when he ends on a conveyor belt. The space battle, relayed via a radar screen and Major Shapp's commentary, is a very good part (these "bombers on the screens" things can work better than even a good SFX sequence when done right).

Cliffhanger stinks though.

7/10

Part Three

A lot of plot development, but some bits go on too long and we still have 75 minutes to go... The Shadow is menacing but it is clear the budget isn't there - especially the mind control devices... K9 gets something really useful to do.

6/10

Part Four
An episode with further story development and Lalla Ward getting to show off her possessed acting (although she can be as good as the late Lis Sladen) - we get some good lines and a good cliffhanger, even if K9 is being a bit dumb at times. Negative points for the cave set - the floor is clearly too flat.
7/10
Part Five
Mary Tamm (whose low-cut dress is distracting through much of this story) gets tortured in what some fans have attributed as an alternative cause for Romana's regeneration, we get a Sarf London Time Lord turn up who isn't that bad and the Shadow makes his move. The cliffhanger isn't bad either, but the sixth part might end up being a bit rushed.
7/10
Part Six
Not over-paced, but at times rather overacted; the Shadow in particular. The climax (and the production) is a bit too low key, betraying a clear lack of budget. This said, it's fairly enjoyable and there's some decent performance going on here; the final denouement is totally consistent with the Doctor's character.


7/10
Conclusion
The best of a bad situation regards to the budget; but to be honest, while this isn't bad, it could have been done much better with some proper planning. Notably this is the final aired six-parter; "Shada" of course never being completed.

7/10