Suicide Saves the Day! Angels Take Manhattan.

So finally the "Ponds" are gone. I know that there are people, who for what ever inexplicable reason, liked Amy. For the life of me though, I can not understand why. She was totally 1 dimensional, and please, do not assault me with "oh but she was." I've heard all the arguments before from her fans, and the truth is, a couple of times she's been well written by writers other than her creator. That does not save the character over all though. Worse still, I've always felt like she was designed (not intentionally) as a side-companion, an extension of the better companion Rory. Rory, who dies constantly, comes back to life, has lives 2000 years. Yes, he is far more interesting than Amy ever has or would have been. Amy was a character designed to be flirty, and abrasive. I don't know why anyone is going to be sorry to see the character go but I will act as if I do. You see, I think Angels Take Manhattan betrayed that fan group. I am sure they will disagree with me now that I've said I dislike her, but hear me out.

For starters, the episode has no real plot. Similar to last weeks Power of Three which had no real narrative, a bland plot with no real resolution. It had character development. Which is not a problem, of course pretending to have a plot is a bit silly, but regardless Power of Three develops the characters a little better than some of the previous episodes. We learn about how the Doctor misses them when they're gone, how Amy and Rory have to cope with two lives. It's quite good in that regard.

Angels misses that mark though. We have a few crowbarred in lines to suggest they are older now, we have some painfully cheesy stuff to do with River and the Doctor. There is nothing developmental for them. Worse still we have something quite annoying, Rory dyeing, again. Oh wait no, he dies, again. Hey wait, what! He dies again! Three, that's three times in the episode. Seriously, in the final goodbye episode of these characters we're reminded of one of the biggest jokes of the tenure! It totally destroys any meaning in what they do. Also, I'm amazed that Moffat who is the writer who loves playing with time-travel and changing time, wrote out his beloveds with a story about the inability to change it.

Oh and no. I did not mind that Rory decided to commit suicide. I was kind of annoyed that he faltered  It was a little out of character I think, we've seen him act rather quickly before, and be the hero. So I expected him to just say his good-byes and step off. I am amazed the BBC green-lit it though. There are going to be so many parents out there who are dumbfounded and will complain that they have a story that just said that suicide will fix everything.

In all honesty, I think the story would of been far more memorable if the two had died there and then. Yes the paradox destroys the Angels, but they stay dead. It would of been more devastating to the Doctor than Adric. Why do I think this? Ok he can't go to the Year that they arrive because of the problem with the time-line. Specifically Manhattan. Ok. Go to 1938 New Jersey, take a train or a cab.
Goto 1939. You know they live to their 80s. That's a bit of a plot hole I think, that the Doctor, who has done the so called impossible before, just can give up on them when so many ideas appear whilst typing this. Ah well.

To make matters worse, I feel like Moffat is often proud of when he does silly, verging on stupid things in his writing. Drawing attention to them and rubbing them in peoples faces. A rather childish and silly reaction to have to criticism isn't it? If memory serves, Terry Nation responded to critics by writing Genesis of the Daleks. Maybe Moff should take a cue from him.

I was almost surprised when we didn't get a mention of The Singing Towers. In fact I half expected when the Doctor asked her to travel with him that she'd set the co-ordinates and say something like "It looks like we're going to the Singing Towers of Darillium, sweetie." So that we know that between now and Christmas would be their last time together. Why do that? Because the Ponds are over. River Song is a Pond! Of course we know that Moffat is in love with the character so not really that surprised...

Over all Angels Take Manhattan was not a very good episode, very little really happens despite it being the departure of a companion. Knowing Moffat hates to hear this line but he really should watch the Classic episodes. Dragonfire has a more depressing exit from Mel than this has for Amy. Resurrection of the Daleks and Earthshock are more dramatic! Lest we forget Dalek Invasion of Earth and leaving Susan behind! As companion departures go, I do not think this one will go down in peoples memories for long. Which is unfortunate for those who truly loved the character.

Let us hope that the new companion is better.


(Oh and those glasses were clearly meant for the Doctor, no way were they Amy's haha!)

The 12th Doctor; Wishful Thinking.

Just a little bit of wishful thinking I know, but surely you agree. For starters it will be more convincing once again not to have some one younger than so much of the audience as the Doctor. It would also be nice to have some one who is a little more convincingly intelligent in the role, not that I dislike Matt, or think he's stupid. I just think Stephen here would be such a brilliant Doctor.

He'd be so excellent because of his attitude, his ability to be incredibly intelligent, yet incredibly humorous at the same time. He can be sincere and dramatic and comedic at the drop of a hat. A lot of people claim that we can have an older actor take on the role, I think you'll find Jon Pertwee, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Christopher Eccleston (who were all older than their predecessors) would highly disagree with you.

Series 5 Avatars

I fully intend to review the latest episodes before the next one.
For now though I think it would be interesting to share some avatars I have made from Series 5.

The Eleventh Hour







The Beast Below





That should do for now until I write up some reviews.

Victory of the Daleks (And Series 5 thus far...)

As I did not decide to make this blog pre-series 5. Unfortunately I am of course running late with the inital reviews. This first review will cover The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks and my over all thoughts on the series thus far.

The Eleventh Hour

A new doctor and he wrecks the TARDIS almost immediately. Great. Not a brilliant first impression is it? Well it is, as the opening does manage to have an almost swashbuckling feel to it. It is very adventure movie. Some may argue that is a bad thing. I do think it was rather fun though. We have him crash land in a little girls garden, and after strange events that include Fish Custard we begin to investigate a peculiar crack in the girls bedroom wall. A crack it turns out in space and time. After swinging the door all the way around to close it, so to speak, the Doctor closes the crack in the wall so that nothing can come through once again.

Except something already has. Prisoner 0. After some rather cool spooky/creepy/tension building moments, especially in the corner of the eye, the rather distracted Doctor has to save his TARDIS before it leaves with out him. Claiming to take five minutes. Naturally when he returns there is no little girl. It has been 12 years and the little girl is now a non-hooker who kisses people for money. Oh and wears short skirts that he has to readjust after ever running sequence. Not that it is a particularly bad thing to have an assistant with sex appeal. Just when it is made to be obvious why. Next time she will be a page 3 girl who doesn't wear a top 60% of the time. Either way the guards of Prisoner 0 decide to come and take him away, or blow up the Earth. So naturally the Doctor does this along the way losing his sonic screwdriver. After defeating Prisoner 0 and telling the Atraxi how awesome he is, the Doctor runs off to his TARDIS. After a short trip, that unfortunately takes 2 years the Doctor returns to take Amy with him. Here we finally see the new TARDIS and unlike The Visitation a new Sonic Screwdriver.

Over all not an awful episode for an introductionary purpose. The Doctor seems fun, the assistant seems, ok. Setting up well it seems.

The Beast Below

I must say that this episode was 80% briliant 20% awful. It starts off so well. Introducing us further into the new Doctor. Who acts rather brilliantly. Already trying to make the character his own, very different to Tennant's Doctor. This Doctor seems to play it much more cerebral which is a great deal of fun. The story is rather cool for a long while. The tension is there, there is some creepy element. Unfortunately it seems to cut itself short, and ends rather anti-climatically. For starters, the Doctor does not save the day, Amy does. This is rather a down point, as I personally feel the Doctor should be the person solving the logic puzzles, not the Kiss-o-gram. We do see the Doctor get angry here which is a brilliant, as I always did prefer it when the Doctor wasn't constantly luvvy-dubby with his assistants. The classic ones could take a stern talking to, so there is no reason these ones can't. Over all this episode is watchable, and alot of it is fun. Just don't expect the ending to keep you happy.


Victory of the Daleks

The latest episode has seems to have a received a rather mixed response from everybody this time around. Most people loved the previous two episodes, with only a few who did not. This time it seems that there are a lot more haters. Though I doubt it is enough to cause cancellation. I do think that it is enough for me to go, what are you talking about?
This episode is by no means a bad one, in fact I adored it. It felt a great deal more Doctor Who to me than the new series has a tendency to. It was silly in places yes, but you have to watch the classic series before you comment. Spitfires in space? I loved that. The Daleks serving tea? Brililant! The problem people are having really? The NEW Daleks. You know what? I like them. For starters they weren't all wiped out by Desus Ex Machina for the first time in nearly five years. I would say that makes them pretty good.
The story was also pretty cool, an interesting way of writing them back in, and an even better way of characterising the Doctor whilst doing it. His reaction is one of extreme prejudice to the extent that Churchill and Amy assume that he is just acting daft! Amy even tries chatting with one. How bad is that for the Dalek? Either way it is all a cunning plan to make the Doctor prove the their own computer that they are Daleks. All so they can make these new pure Daleks, instead of those god awful human-hybrids RTD came up with. Naturally ala the Renegade/Imperial days, they destroyed the older Daleks poste haste.
The episode also is full of rather brilliant moments, the Doctors minor flip out at the Daleks, the use of a jammy dodger. Even the Iron Man bomb at the end was cool. Yet the over arching brilliance of the episode? The fact the Daleks actually win. They get away, they survive to come back in full force later as a new Dalek empire.

The episode overall I think is the best so far. I know alot disagree with me, but never mind that. The series itself seems to be picking up nicely. The new Doctor is alot of fun, and even his assistant has her moments. I look forward to the next episode with great anticipation.

Victory of the Daleks Avatars

To go with the newest episode, some more avatars. Enjoy!

The Sirens of Time

A common misconception is that Doctor Who ended in 1989. Of course that would discount all the novels and audioplays. The Sirens of Time is the first of the Big Finish Audio Dramas. It rather brilliantly brings three of the Doctors together, and when I say brilliantly I mean that. Sylvester McCoy, Peter Davison and Colin Baker all reprise their roles as the Doctor and all of them fit back into the role quickly and comfortably.

The drama obviously requires a little imagination, but essentially it feels very much like you are watching an episode of Doctor Who with the video turned off. There is surprisingly little exposition, it is all brought to life through the brilliant acting of the cast. We do not have to be told when some one is sinking, they reactions tell us that is the case, the dialogue helps us to imagine what is happening. It all works rather brilliantly. For example, the 7ths reaction to the old hag, questioning that she is female, is both humorous but helps us to imagine the character all the more.

The narrative essentially follows the fall of Gallifrey. It plays brilliantly with Time Travel, which unfortunately many of the new series stories just don't do at the moment. Events happening all through out Time that all culminate in extreme events in the past which massively effect the future. The narrative is complex enough that it becomes interesting, it is also simple enough that it does not become confusing.

The rapport between the three Doctors is also a great deal of fun to listen to. Colin Bakers antagonistic Doctor almost comes across as protective of his other incarnations, where as Sylvester McCoys rather sarcastic demeanour makes for some rather humorous dialogue. Both of which are rather interesting comparisons to the Peter Davison smooth talking, Bondian Doctor.

To some it may seem odd, listening to an audio play. It does sound rather old fashioned. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants more Who, and don't forget that you can import them to your iPods nowerdays for a more modern approach!

Inferno Avatars

Inferno. Easily one of the best classic Who serials. A great mixture of different science fiction elements; mad scientists, monsters, alternate realities and an eye patched Brigadier! One day I will review this tale no doubt.

Until then however, to honor this brilliant story I have created 24 avatars for your use. Enjoy people!