Tooth and Claw

[altariel]

I enjoyed this only a bit last night, but much more when I watched it back this morning. I did spend most of yesterday afternoon asleep but still must have used up the energy reserves doing mind-control stuff so that the football didn't go into extra time. I hope you all appreciated my efforts on your behalf. But, as I say, enjoyed it a lot more second time round, although The Unquiet Dead is still my favourite Victorian episode in the new series so far.

Something very pleasing about the Doctor smashing a sledgehammer into the TARDIS console to "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick". It tickles me that the monkey-monk-monks look exactly like the BBC1 idents. The whole look of the episode was really good. Doctor James McCrimmon indeed.

"Stars and magic" - that's what Doctor Who's all about. A lot of religious imagery in the destruction of the wolf with its arms outstretched, with the woman kneeling in front of it.

So Queen Victoria thinks the Doctor and Rose are much too pleased with themselves too. The Torchwood bit at the end felt a bit tacked on, but I liked the direct line being drawn between Victoria and Harriet Jones as Defenders of Britain. Also, Victoria tells the Doctor exactly what the Doctor tells the Sycorax: "Leave this world and never return."

Resident expert Mr A. tells me Pauline Collins turned down the offer of being the companion in the 1960s and just IMed me this from the forums at Outpost Gallifrey; don't have the direct link, unfortunately, but reprinted here for your amusement:

"My first memory of Who was when I was four years old; I watched a gargantuan wasp fall out of a cupboard, and a couple of weeks later a man metamorphosed into another big wasp (via a bobbly green slug form). Some weeks after that I saw a man disguised as a potato torturing people to death, men in gasmasks massacring each other, the Doctor being strangled by a lump of slime, and a malevolent burns victim in a wheelchair ordering the destruction of his own civilisation. Before I turned six I had seen people crushed to death by Egyptian mummies, a creature which could only be seen by its red outline, a gang of giant orange embryos which turned into homicidal nurses and controlled a huge aquatic lizard, a bloke turning into a humanoid cabbage and a quasi-Frankenstein thing with a fishbowl for a head with its brain visible.

Do I think the werewolf was too scary? No."

But at least their programme didn't shoot all their heroes dead four days before Christmas.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I gurgled with delight at the 'Hit me me with your rhythm stick' bit. But them being so pleased with themselves irritated me greatly (and if they'd pushed the 'we are not amused' thing one tiny bit further, I might have had to switch off). It follows on from last week, doesn't it? They're riding for a fall.

We've not heard the last of 'bad wolf', have we?


But at least their programme didn't shoot all their heroes dead four days before Christmas.

Bitter? No, of course not.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Bitter?

It made me who I am today.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

That's an awful lot to lay on them. :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Praise where praise is due.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Bitter? No, of course not.

*giggles*

My telly is too small to see the details, so I seem to have missed the sledgehammer part. I may have to make a trip to Altariel-Glitter-ville to re-watch all these in company...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yummy icon - are there screencaps for the episode online already?

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

I snagged my new icons from tennant_love, so I dunno about the screencap thing.

And I forgot to thank you for your concerted efforts re the footie. Thank you!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Front page of that site could keep me busy for hours...

[dberry.livejournal.com]

There are 1195 of 'em here (http://doctorwho.time-and-space.co.uk/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=3). :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

God bless you!

[manna]

It follows on from last week, doesn't it? They're riding for a fall.

They really are. And I think that's been the source of my vague dissatisfaction so far, because right now to me it feels like they're riding for a fall because the writers say so, not because the situation has grown organically out of the characters. Perhaps I'll change my mind about that later.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

...not because the situation has grown organically out of the characters

Yes, good point. Something I nearly said in my previous comment was that I'm not sure where this has come from.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

The Tardis possession thingy? Though that would affect Rose more than the Doctor, whilst it seems the other way around.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I thought beating the Daleks (again, and the God of Daleks), plus survivor-euphoria (a la Fearless), plus the hand regeneration in The Christmas Invasion. And his energy pulls Rose along in his wake.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Good points, all. I'm really not liking the Tennant Doctor, but I keep reminding myself I only really got into Eccleston's performance around Dalek last year. I've got the two new episodes taped so I might try rewatching them to see if they improve for me on second viewing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I like his energy, and also he is very easy on the eye.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

He makes me feel old -- he's one of the first actors I've gone for who's my junior.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-) He is just older than me, although sometimes he looks about fourteen.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Whippersnapper! I watched both eps again this evening and was better pleased with both on second viewing -- I tend to get so put off by the glaring flaws that I fail to see the equally glaring good points.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I tend to let the energy of the show pull me along, and worry about the flaws later. Not that I'm terribly fussy about plot anyway.

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

In my case, that just is about three months. Feels weird that the Doctor is my age, but I'm sure any number of people have gone through that in the past...

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Just to say I love the icon.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- it's actually one of altariel1's.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Ah, she just made this one for me.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Nice!

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

Bitter? No, of course not.

No. At the time, I just went upstairs and wept. A lot.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Bitter?

Smug, actually.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

"Stars and magic" - that's what Doctor Who's all about.

Absolutely. I cheered (silently to myself, even though I was all on my own and could have cheered out loud) at that bit.

Also I liked the death ray, because mad scientists with death rays are excellent, even if we never saw the mad scientist himself.

And I think there's a whole "Kids! Don't Try This At Home!" thing going on so far this season, what with 'George's Marvellous Medicine' last week, and this week's licking of the door to test whether it had been smeared with mistletoe. I distinctly remember being told at school that licking things was not an approved scientific test in either chemistry or biology.

I knew about Pauline Collins, but only because I read it in the Radio Times this week.

I loved the bits with the books, and the library (greatest arsenal in the world), but then I'm cheerfully predictable.

I thought Isobel was great, since after books, cooking is obviously the next best weapon. And I loved the werewolf referring to Rose's time as the Bad Wolf.

And many thanks for your concerted efforts in preventing extra time. I was being very suspicious and had the sound muted when I realised the ninja monks were doing their thing and I'd missed the very beginning (fortunately , this was all before the opening credits), but that's what I get for reading Well Done, Denehurst!.

But at least their programme didn't shoot all their heroes dead four days before Christmas.

That's proper telly, like.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I thought Isobel was great, since after books, cooking is obviously the next best weapon

Excellent point!

I liked the Doctor licking the door - he tastes the blood in The Christmas Invasion too.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Something very pleasing about the Doctor smashing a sledgehammer into the TARDIS console to "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick".

I do hope that they eventually made it to that Ian Dury concert. (I always fely with Ian Dury, as with Madness, that something of the spirit of the old English music hall, and in particular the Crazy Gang, lived on.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

something of the spirit of the old English music hall, and in particular the Crazy Gang, lived on

:-) Love that idea.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

I liked the books bit and the idea the Royals might all be werewolves.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

All makes sense, doesn't it?

[kerravonsen]

I was a bit irritated by the "Royals might be werewolves" thing, actually.

And it seems rather odd that Rose is sympathetic with the monster in the cage, but she treats Queen Victoria as walking entertainment.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

I did find the tone of the whole thing a bit confusing - I can't quite put my finger on it, though.

[dberry.livejournal.com]

I thought New Earth was a bit weak, to be honest; Tooth and Claw was a vast improvement. I loved it. The pace was relentless, the fight scene in the teaser was bloody brilliant, the CGI was top-notch and Pauline Collins was amazing.

The Torchwood chunk at the end did jar a little with the rest of the episode, but I was too busy squee-ing at the fact that Queen Victoria founded Torchwood to notice.

And Balamory is canon. Heh.

It tickles me that the monkey-monk-monks look exactly like the BBC1 idents.

This little gem appeared on TrekBBS.com: http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/scififan1978/BBCIdent.jpg

Hee!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And Balamory is canon. Heh.

Heh, yes, that was great. And thanks for the link to the ninja-ident :-D

BTW, did you enjoy the last season of Hustle?

[(Anonymous)]

BTW, did you enjoy the last season of

Hustle?Oh yes, it was wonderful! The Bollywood episode was my personal favourite; the singing/dancing scene at the end was one of the funniest and most entertaining Hustle moments ever.

The only episode that disappointed me was the sixth one: after the jewel robbery last year, I was expecting something similarly epic for the finale, but I wasn't so impressed (despite the appearance of Paul Nicholls *drool*). I guess that was down to my expectations being too high, rather than the quality of the episode.

Overall, though, it was fantastic stuff again. I still think it's one of the best programmes on TV. :-)

[dberry.livejournal.com]

(Sorry, that was me, forgot to log in. )

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I really loved that Bollywood episode too, particularly as I thought at the start they were just redoing a plot from season 1, and then it became a lot more touching. Also the mark was very dishy.

Paul Nicholls *drool*

I know! Wow! When did that happen?!

I think it was almost impossible to do something as fabulous as the jewel robbery one again. Although I did enjoy the one where Danny and Mickey ran around London nekkid.