Doctor Who: season 9
Dec. 23rd, 2009 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarielIn which we watch new Doctor Who.
Day of the Daleks
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altariel: I'll say it now: this was one of my favourite books as a kid. I loved it. And I very much enjoyed this TV adaptation of it. I thought it did nasty future very economically, although the cliffhangers were a bit arbitrary. It felt like they shouldn't be there and the whole thing should just be a 90 minute film.
mraltariel: I like the posh Ogron!
altariel: I say, terribly, yes!
mraltariel: It stands up very well, even if there are only a couple of Daleks in it.
altariel: Do you think it even needs the Daleks? Wouldn't the irony of the time paradox be enough?
mraltariel: Yes. Completely.
The Curse of Peladon
altariel: I think it looks muddy, but there's a nice little story going on all the way through, and I love the attempt to come up with some genuinely alien aliens, even if Alpha Centauri looks a bit... um.
mraltariel: Suggestive?
altariel: That.
mraltariel: This story mainly stars David Troughton's thighs. Not many can get away with the tunic look. I also keep forgetting Aggedor is actually a bloke in a suit. I wonder if you can get them at the pet shop?
altariel: It could have been Katy Manning's thighs.
mraltariel: That was not likely.
The Sea Devils
altariel: BORING BORING BORING STUPID THING.
mraltariel: Full of naval vessels.
altariel: Oh god, this was dull. The clip of 'The Clangers' is the best bit.
mraltariel: The electronic music needs to be dissonant to keep waking you up.
altariel: I liked the two maintenance men at the start. Then it goes downhill. STUPID BORING THING.
mraltariel: Stupid, boring, repetitive. And that's just our commentary.
The Mutants
altariel: Well, that was an eye-opener and no mistake! New Who! That we had never seen before! And it was not bad at all. Doesn't this one have a bad reputation?
mraltariel: They've really got the hang of these six-parters ('The Sea Devils' excepted). This one is almost like a Tom Baker story thrown back into the past.
altariel: Who on Earth is Tom Baker.
mraltariel: Rasputin. I think he'll be a good Doctor one day.
altariel: I shall wait. The moment shall be prepared for. Anyway, this story - lots of interesting twists and turns, and it looked like they were trying to make it seem like The Future.
mraltariel: Also, Geoffrey Palmer! He's like Worcestershire sauce - a dash of him makes everything taste more English.
altariel: He lifts the cheese on toast of Pertwee Doctor Who.
mraltariel: I have nothing to add to that.
The Time Monster
altariel: I suspect a lot of the charm of this came as a result of never having seen it before. Delgado's dialogue is shocking, and you don't want to look at the plot too closely, nor at the Kronos costume. But the little visual effects do a really good job of making it feel weird. It was a bit like watching Sapphire and Steel.
mraltariel: Only we didn't have to claw our eyes out with boredom.
altariel: Fighting talk!
mraltariel: Seeing UNIT again reminds me how little they've been in this season. I like the scientist double act, but the storyline actually in Atlantis is a bit weak. All this is made up for by John Levene's part at the end: he truly is the Barrowman of his age (he can't deliver a line naturally either).
altariel: More fighting talk!
Ranking
Day of the Daleks
The Mutants
The Curse of Peladon
The Time Monster
The Sea Devils
altariel: I think this is a solid season, with competently executed stories, but not much in the way of flashes of brilliance.
mraltariel: We start to see a more whimsical Pertwee: the whole bit about his house on the mountainside and the hermit in 'The Time Monster' seems a long way away from 'Spearhead From Space'. It could go two ways from here: more of the slower dialogue-heavy stories that have dominated this season (to its benefit) or slump back into the Troughton-like runarounds stretched over too many episodes, like 'The Sea Devils'. I'm hoping not, though. Tenth anniversary next year - I wonder if they'll do anything special?
Day of the Daleks
altariel: I'll say it now: this was one of my favourite books as a kid. I loved it. And I very much enjoyed this TV adaptation of it. I thought it did nasty future very economically, although the cliffhangers were a bit arbitrary. It felt like they shouldn't be there and the whole thing should just be a 90 minute film. mraltariel: I like the posh Ogron! altariel: I say, terribly, yes!mraltariel: It stands up very well, even if there are only a couple of Daleks in it. altariel: Do you think it even needs the Daleks? Wouldn't the irony of the time paradox be enough?mraltariel: Yes. Completely. The Curse of Peladon
altariel: I think it looks muddy, but there's a nice little story going on all the way through, and I love the attempt to come up with some genuinely alien aliens, even if Alpha Centauri looks a bit... um.mraltariel: Suggestive?altariel: That. mraltariel: This story mainly stars David Troughton's thighs. Not many can get away with the tunic look. I also keep forgetting Aggedor is actually a bloke in a suit. I wonder if you can get them at the pet shop?altariel: It could have been Katy Manning's thighs. mraltariel: That was not likely. The Sea Devils
altariel: BORING BORING BORING STUPID THING.mraltariel: Full of naval vessels. altariel: Oh god, this was dull. The clip of 'The Clangers' is the best bit. mraltariel: The electronic music needs to be dissonant to keep waking you up. altariel: I liked the two maintenance men at the start. Then it goes downhill. STUPID BORING THING. mraltariel: Stupid, boring, repetitive. And that's just our commentary. The Mutants
altariel: Well, that was an eye-opener and no mistake! New Who! That we had never seen before! And it was not bad at all. Doesn't this one have a bad reputation? mraltariel: They've really got the hang of these six-parters ('The Sea Devils' excepted). This one is almost like a Tom Baker story thrown back into the past. altariel: Who on Earth is Tom Baker. mraltariel: Rasputin. I think he'll be a good Doctor one day. altariel: I shall wait. The moment shall be prepared for. Anyway, this story - lots of interesting twists and turns, and it looked like they were trying to make it seem like The Future.mraltariel: Also, Geoffrey Palmer! He's like Worcestershire sauce - a dash of him makes everything taste more English. altariel: He lifts the cheese on toast of Pertwee Doctor Who.mraltariel: I have nothing to add to that. The Time Monster
altariel: I suspect a lot of the charm of this came as a result of never having seen it before. Delgado's dialogue is shocking, and you don't want to look at the plot too closely, nor at the Kronos costume. But the little visual effects do a really good job of making it feel weird. It was a bit like watching Sapphire and Steel. mraltariel: Only we didn't have to claw our eyes out with boredom. altariel: Fighting talk!mraltariel: Seeing UNIT again reminds me how little they've been in this season. I like the scientist double act, but the storyline actually in Atlantis is a bit weak. All this is made up for by John Levene's part at the end: he truly is the Barrowman of his age (he can't deliver a line naturally either). altariel: More fighting talk!Ranking
Day of the Daleks
The Mutants
The Curse of Peladon
The Time Monster
The Sea Devils
altariel: I think this is a solid season, with competently executed stories, but not much in the way of flashes of brilliance. mraltariel: We start to see a more whimsical Pertwee: the whole bit about his house on the mountainside and the hermit in 'The Time Monster' seems a long way away from 'Spearhead From Space'. It could go two ways from here: more of the slower dialogue-heavy stories that have dominated this season (to its benefit) or slump back into the Troughton-like runarounds stretched over too many episodes, like 'The Sea Devils'. I'm hoping not, though. Tenth anniversary next year - I wonder if they'll do anything special?
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 02:05 pm (UTC)It was supposed to be all about joining the EEC, wasn't it, so I suppose the original idea was that We Can Be Friends With People We Used To Fight. And either they'd forgotten that by The Monster of Peladon, or England were just about to play Germany at football or something.
Maybe I should petition Steven Moffat for some friendly Ice Warriors next year.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 02:31 pm (UTC)I always think of John Barrowman as the Paul Darrow of today.
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Date: 2009-12-23 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-12-23 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-12-23 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 08:09 pm (UTC)I have a horrible feeling there's a web page somewhere detailing all the times the Doctor has been seen to eat or drink...
no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 03:58 pm (UTC)I'm hoping not, though. Tenth anniversary next year - I wonder if they'll do anything special?
I'm hoping they'll make the doctor and the master have sex right there on screen.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 04:04 pm (UTC)It's our right as licence fee payers.