My Three Things About Doctor Who 7a. 01 and 7a. 02
The Bells of St. John
1) The Plot
I know some people are of the opinion that Moffat's Who recycles plots and everybody should just get over it and enjoy the show. BUT- first off, I don't think that's true. Blink, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Big Bang, The Eleventh Hour- all are pretty original in my view, as is that one with the boy and gasmask. Secondly, the plot is important; it is what we are watching. So...yeah, I'm going to talk about.
The Bell's of St. John Plot was a slightly upgraded version of The Idiot's Lantern. Arguably, the "hacking of personalities" and the reveal that it is still the Great Intelligence (rather than some one-off villian we never really learn about, "The Wire") are clever. However, I feel like maybe it shows that it is fifty year olds writing about technology. I mean, it always sort of seems that way,b ut often you can handwave it as "It is FUTURE technology." This isn't. It is today's. I feel like the writer's didn't know that much about wifi, or about the cloud and downloading/uploading things to the internet.
Also, the reasoning for why they were not using the TARDIS seemed very flimsy for me. They just wanted a motorcycle, which is unfortunate as it just further underlined that it was The Idiot's Lantern Redux.
2) Clara + The Doctor
Their interaction was ADORABLE. I know some people don't want this to be a romantic pair (well, and Alexa Kingston is listed in a later cast which is...what it is), but they are adorable. I quite like that the Doctor is more into someone, that he is emotionally so invest. It is a dynamic we haven't really seen before and I'm loving it. I love that he mutters, "monks aren't cool!" as he changes; he wants to impress. I love how carefully he takes care of her. I love that he does not sit there and watch her sleep (creepy), but that he stays down stairs to guard her. It fits to stick around and guard her because something is after her, but also strangely respectful too. Her reaction to him is also something I like. It is quippy but not as combative/aggressively energetic as Amy. I like that she sticks her head out the window (I fun progression that in Asylum of the Daleks he couldn't see her at all. The Christmas one they communicate between a closed window and here it is an open one) and that she doesn't stay like a princess being guarded but comes down to him. I like that she doesn't let him do everything, and takes on tracking the Big Bad down herself (even if it is through means of a rather magically collected skill).
As for CLara herself, I like that we see she is good at computers (well, eventually. She starts out suspiciously bad with computers which seems further to point to a 50 year old writing this. No twenty four year old is that bad with computers and even if they were, they would get a more tech-savvy friend to help them before either going to a shop or calling a help line.) and that she is de facto nanny-ing. It harks back to the two previous versions we've seen of her rather well.
3) The Bells of St. John
This Doctor clearly does not have searching skills. We already knew that when he failed to get back to Amelia on time, when he failed o find Melody and here, after claiming he was going to search for Clara, we find he has been residing in the 1200s as a monk. Painting a picture and hiding the TARDIS is not the same as- you know- looking for her.
I also suspect he never tried to find out anything about Rory and Amy's further life either, because he totally did not recognize that illustration. The man just has no research skills this regeneration!
The Rings of Araketen or the episode written by a new writer
1 Plot
I know some people liked it, but c'mon. It was silly. It was silly, wasn't it? And has been done before (Yes, Doctor who has been on forever so some plot reuisng is bound to happen, but come on. Reuse an older plot than ones from just a few seasons ago). We see a Sun That Wants to Eat You (remember that episode where Martha Saves the Day With Trivia?) and the Doctor Takes his Companion to See a Sun Explode and She is Put in Danger Her First Trip out (The End of the World, anyone?). We are not told why singing is supposed to keep Grandfather asleep, why Grandfather wakes up, or why he wants to eat your soul. Or what exactly that means (which, since he Doctor seemingly has at least some of his memories eaten, might be nice for the viewer to know. Does he still have those memories?) And in the end, all the people sing like the Whos in Whoville and they are lead by a girl who looks a bit like the Cindy Lou Who.
The middle of the story- with the saber light show, the heavy door and such was a bit meandering and pointless. They could have used that time to instead flesh out
2) Clara
She seemed a little placid about the adventure- excited but not astonished the way all other companions in their first adventure are (this is likely because episodes were written with the idea that the order might be changed around). In general, actually, I felt like she did not seem as fun as the other two versions of Clara/Oswin that we've seen. But perhaps that is more realistic. I still quite enjoyed her, and I liked that the writers made a point to show that she was still good with kids- tying her back to previously established aspects of the show. Her advice to Mary was good too. Rather than saying Mary didn't have to do things she didn't want to, or saying that they would protect her (which would seem very nature in Doctor Who), she takes the more realistic route in assuring her she would do well by reminding Mary of the preperation and work she put into her singing. The way she spoke to Mary, using logic and lisening to her concerns, more than even her act of just talking to Mary told me she was good with kids.
I liked in the end, that Clara got to save the day. Both her speech and the Doctor's before it were moving even if I don't understand how the possibilities the leaf represented somehow out weigh all the possibilities of a ten year old's possibly futures. But, whatever.
3) World Building
Two brilliant examples of world-building that I like.
First, a monetary system of items that have sentimental value. Great for narrative use (which the writer uses to his advantage) and emotional value. Also, just an interesting concept on it's own. It would make you think twice before buying things, that's for certain. I wonder how the vendors know if it really IS a ring givento you by your mother, or just a ring you picked up in FF21 and are saying was a gift from dear old mum though? Also- Doctor, you are kinda a jerk taking someone to a place where items of sentimental value are the currency and then not bringing any "currency" and instead forcing your companion whom you did not warn about the currency to give up valuable items. Rude, much?
The second world building moments I like was The Most Important Leaf in the World and Clara's parents. Their love story was remarkably cute and rather like something out of Pushing Daisies or Amelie, wasn't it? Too cute! And it ties into Clara well, both as added mystery and as her own character. Plus, I liked that we did not have get the "why is the leaf the 'first page' of her book" mystery stretched out too far. We got answers. Hope for our other mysteries we get more (like if the TARDIS really doesn't like Clara). As an aside, I know some people in fandom found a bit repetitive creepy that the Doctor went into Clara's childhood as he has with both Amelia and River (though, to be fair, with Amelia- he met her as a girl first, so it was more like he was peeking into her future, and with River he just stumbled onto it. As previously established, he sucked at looking for Melody). But in-story, it makes sense wanting to see that Clara is not a ganger/clone/robot etc.
1) The Plot
I know some people are of the opinion that Moffat's Who recycles plots and everybody should just get over it and enjoy the show. BUT- first off, I don't think that's true. Blink, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Big Bang, The Eleventh Hour- all are pretty original in my view, as is that one with the boy and gasmask. Secondly, the plot is important; it is what we are watching. So...yeah, I'm going to talk about.
The Bell's of St. John Plot was a slightly upgraded version of The Idiot's Lantern. Arguably, the "hacking of personalities" and the reveal that it is still the Great Intelligence (rather than some one-off villian we never really learn about, "The Wire") are clever. However, I feel like maybe it shows that it is fifty year olds writing about technology. I mean, it always sort of seems that way,b ut often you can handwave it as "It is FUTURE technology." This isn't. It is today's. I feel like the writer's didn't know that much about wifi, or about the cloud and downloading/uploading things to the internet.
Also, the reasoning for why they were not using the TARDIS seemed very flimsy for me. They just wanted a motorcycle, which is unfortunate as it just further underlined that it was The Idiot's Lantern Redux.
2) Clara + The Doctor
Their interaction was ADORABLE. I know some people don't want this to be a romantic pair (well, and Alexa Kingston is listed in a later cast which is...what it is), but they are adorable. I quite like that the Doctor is more into someone, that he is emotionally so invest. It is a dynamic we haven't really seen before and I'm loving it. I love that he mutters, "monks aren't cool!" as he changes; he wants to impress. I love how carefully he takes care of her. I love that he does not sit there and watch her sleep (creepy), but that he stays down stairs to guard her. It fits to stick around and guard her because something is after her, but also strangely respectful too. Her reaction to him is also something I like. It is quippy but not as combative/aggressively energetic as Amy. I like that she sticks her head out the window (I fun progression that in Asylum of the Daleks he couldn't see her at all. The Christmas one they communicate between a closed window and here it is an open one) and that she doesn't stay like a princess being guarded but comes down to him. I like that she doesn't let him do everything, and takes on tracking the Big Bad down herself (even if it is through means of a rather magically collected skill).
As for CLara herself, I like that we see she is good at computers (well, eventually. She starts out suspiciously bad with computers which seems further to point to a 50 year old writing this. No twenty four year old is that bad with computers and even if they were, they would get a more tech-savvy friend to help them before either going to a shop or calling a help line.) and that she is de facto nanny-ing. It harks back to the two previous versions we've seen of her rather well.
3) The Bells of St. John
This Doctor clearly does not have searching skills. We already knew that when he failed to get back to Amelia on time, when he failed o find Melody and here, after claiming he was going to search for Clara, we find he has been residing in the 1200s as a monk. Painting a picture and hiding the TARDIS is not the same as- you know- looking for her.
I also suspect he never tried to find out anything about Rory and Amy's further life either, because he totally did not recognize that illustration. The man just has no research skills this regeneration!
The Rings of Araketen or the episode written by a new writer
1 Plot
I know some people liked it, but c'mon. It was silly. It was silly, wasn't it? And has been done before (Yes, Doctor who has been on forever so some plot reuisng is bound to happen, but come on. Reuse an older plot than ones from just a few seasons ago). We see a Sun That Wants to Eat You (remember that episode where Martha Saves the Day With Trivia?) and the Doctor Takes his Companion to See a Sun Explode and She is Put in Danger Her First Trip out (The End of the World, anyone?). We are not told why singing is supposed to keep Grandfather asleep, why Grandfather wakes up, or why he wants to eat your soul. Or what exactly that means (which, since he Doctor seemingly has at least some of his memories eaten, might be nice for the viewer to know. Does he still have those memories?) And in the end, all the people sing like the Whos in Whoville and they are lead by a girl who looks a bit like the Cindy Lou Who.
The middle of the story- with the saber light show, the heavy door and such was a bit meandering and pointless. They could have used that time to instead flesh out
2) Clara
She seemed a little placid about the adventure- excited but not astonished the way all other companions in their first adventure are (this is likely because episodes were written with the idea that the order might be changed around). In general, actually, I felt like she did not seem as fun as the other two versions of Clara/Oswin that we've seen. But perhaps that is more realistic. I still quite enjoyed her, and I liked that the writers made a point to show that she was still good with kids- tying her back to previously established aspects of the show. Her advice to Mary was good too. Rather than saying Mary didn't have to do things she didn't want to, or saying that they would protect her (which would seem very nature in Doctor Who), she takes the more realistic route in assuring her she would do well by reminding Mary of the preperation and work she put into her singing. The way she spoke to Mary, using logic and lisening to her concerns, more than even her act of just talking to Mary told me she was good with kids.
I liked in the end, that Clara got to save the day. Both her speech and the Doctor's before it were moving even if I don't understand how the possibilities the leaf represented somehow out weigh all the possibilities of a ten year old's possibly futures. But, whatever.
3) World Building
Two brilliant examples of world-building that I like.
First, a monetary system of items that have sentimental value. Great for narrative use (which the writer uses to his advantage) and emotional value. Also, just an interesting concept on it's own. It would make you think twice before buying things, that's for certain. I wonder how the vendors know if it really IS a ring givento you by your mother, or just a ring you picked up in FF21 and are saying was a gift from dear old mum though? Also- Doctor, you are kinda a jerk taking someone to a place where items of sentimental value are the currency and then not bringing any "currency" and instead forcing your companion whom you did not warn about the currency to give up valuable items. Rude, much?
The second world building moments I like was The Most Important Leaf in the World and Clara's parents. Their love story was remarkably cute and rather like something out of Pushing Daisies or Amelie, wasn't it? Too cute! And it ties into Clara well, both as added mystery and as her own character. Plus, I liked that we did not have get the "why is the leaf the 'first page' of her book" mystery stretched out too far. We got answers. Hope for our other mysteries we get more (like if the TARDIS really doesn't like Clara). As an aside, I know some people in fandom found a bit repetitive creepy that the Doctor went into Clara's childhood as he has with both Amelia and River (though, to be fair, with Amelia- he met her as a girl first, so it was more like he was peeking into her future, and with River he just stumbled onto it. As previously established, he sucked at looking for Melody). But in-story, it makes sense wanting to see that Clara is not a ganger/clone/robot etc.