The Name of the Doctor Analysis (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Wow. What a finale. You gotta hand it to Moffat – after all that worry over whether an anniversary ep would be able to celebrate 50 years of continuity, he practically gives us the equivalent of such an ep 6 months early, with multiple Doctors, a ton of references from all over the history of the show, and of course, what makes Doctor Who arguably so great, a cliffhanger. No, not just any cliffhanger: after a season of practically no cliffhangers (with the possible exception of The Snowmen), we get the MOTHER of all cliffhangers.

So where to begin? The beginning seems appropriate, since we are talking about THE beginning here: seeing the moment when an old man leaves Gallifrey with his granddaughter, in an old type 40 capsule, was just fucking glorious for so many fan-gasming reasons. I mean, for starters, there’s the obvious, like seeing the actual beginning of the story like never before, seeing not only Gallifrey itself but some nice clips of William Hartnell included, but there’s also the little things, like the early TARDISes being reminiscent to the TARDIS capsules that we saw in classic story The War Games. Followed by some nicely included clips of The Five Doctors, Castrovalva, The Invasion of Time and Dragonfire, to name a few. All of which involving Clara, the Impossible Girl we had been wondering about since Asylum of the Daleks kicked off. What a way to kick off the story by celebrating both the past 50 years and building up the finale to the past 13 episodes all in one.

Then we got cracking on with the main plot, involving Trenzalore. Having been built up since the end of season 6, I was eager to see it. And what is Trenzalore, exactly? The place where the Doctor will one day be buried. The place where his entire timeline exists and could potentially be accessed by anyone. Now, I've gotta wonder, is this worth all the build up? Not just since the ending of the series 6 finale in which Trenzalore was first directly mentioned and “The Question” was fully revealed, but since The Eleventh Hour, when the arc of the Silence first started and which slowly revealed over time how an entire order had been set up to make sure that the Doctor never, ever answered “the Question that must never be answered”? Well…yes and no.  Yes in that trying to protect the Doctor’s entire timeline – a timeline in which he has not repeatedly saved the universe but also visited so many places and so many times – would be something you’d want to make sure never got touched by the wrong hands, even if it meant ending the life of that person, (and the irony that River, some who was originally meant to kill the person who was supposed to answer the most dangerous question is the one who gives the answer is absolutely fucking delicious,) but I still think there’s numerous questions left to be answered, including why they blew up the TARDIS in The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (if it was really them). I still don’t buy that the explosion was caused by either the events of Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, which was clearly an accidental explosion or by the Great Intelligence accessing his timeline (although a voice without a body COULD explain the “Silence Will Fall” moment in Pandorica, it is, at the moment, not entirely satisfactory, considering the Intelligence re-wrote EVERYTHING in the Doctor’s history and Clara helped re-write it back). To be honest, I really think the Silence should’ve returned for this episode, although we still have the anniversary episode to look forward to, with some massive rumours going around that it will answer MANY questions from across Moffat’s entire run of the show. Gotta say, I really hope those rumours are true.

Now, that’s pretty much my main complaints out of the way, now onto what else I enjoyed about the episode. First, how much of a rollercoaster it was for my emotions to go through. Honestly, there were some beautiful moments for me to watch, including, but not limited to: the Doctor’s reaction to finding out about Trenzalore and what it really means to him; the site of the dead TARDIS as the Doctor’s tomb (“where else would they bury me?”); Clara accepting her fate and jumping into the Doctor’s timeline to save him; even the kiss between the Doctor and River was great, not to mention hysterical (“since I’m the only one who can see you right now, god knows how that looked”). There was something emotional about the episode in general, as it is, as with season 6, the Doctor confronting his own mortality – only here, he really is confronting it literally. He’s seeing that, no matter how much he’s cheated death before and no matter how many more times he’ll continue to cheat it, one day, he will die, and his beloved blue box will be buried with him with no one to look after her. Neither he nor we know when it’ll happen, but still, it’s a sad sight for all when the Doctor is forced to accept that his story will have, one day, an ending.

It’s not just the future the Doctor has to face in this episode, however. It’s also his past, which brings us to the Great Intelligence, (of which I was glad to see make a return appearance, rounding off not just the trilogy of stories that he’s appeared in this season, but also his entire story since The Abominable Snowmen with the Second Doctor), and of course, River. Now, bringing River back post-Forest of the Dead was a bold move on Moffat, but it wasn’t a decision I minded, for two reasons. First, the fact that they didn’t really bring her back from the dead, considering it was always made clear in the episode Forest of the Dead that she still lived on, just in data format, and what’s beautiful here is that she’s still just that. She isn’t magically given a new body, she is, essentially, still a ghost. And I really do hope it stays that way.

The other thing I liked about including this particular version of River in this story is how fitting it is, both for the story of the episode and for season 7 in general. It’s the Doctor not just facing up to his past; it’s facing up to another ending. He’ll continue to see River perhaps, but (hopefully) not as she is now. It’s saying goodbye to another Pond. That, more than anything, is why I liked seeing this version of River in the season 7 finale.

As for the other returning characters…I like the trio of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, but I do think they are overused at times, especially as comic relief. It was great to see Strax acting as a proper Sontaran though when history started to change, I must admit. It was a great reminder of how scary and how ruthless the Sontarans can be and how much the Doctor can change things so drastically. Can we have more scary Sontarans back soon Moffat? Please? And less of the, to quote The Office (UK), “She’s deaaaaaaad…” “SHE’S NOT DEAD!” moments, thanks? Hearing Jenny say, “I think I’ve been murdered,” I couldn’t help but think, “Don’t worry, it’s a Moffat script, you’ll be back in no time.” And sure enough, she was…before she died again fifteen minutes later, and was brought back from the dead less than five minutes later! That’s gotta be some kind of record, even for Moffat!

Still, the climax and the resolution of the “Clara mystery” was worth it. I’ll be honest, I did guess some time ago that there was never anything special about this version of Clara, not until some kind of future event would cause the whole multiple Clara thing would one day happen, but only because we all know how much Moffat loves his timey-wimey plots, and to be honest, so do I, so I was glad to see that the resolution made sense, at least.

And now, onto the biggest part of the episode of all: the cliffhanger. “Introducing John Hurt…as the Doctor.” Wow. Bold, Moffat, definitely bold. How do I feel about it? Well, if it is who I suspect it’s meant to be, it completely writes out my McGann death scene fanfic. Ok, seriously, do I think that Hurt is supposed to be the “original” Ninth Doctor? Yes. Looking back, there are clear hints about it, if you rewatch Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS – where Clara discovers the Doctor’s name, where does she discover it? In a book about the Time War. Not of Gallifrey in general, but specifically the Time War. I thought it was odd that the book would mention his real name, but now it kinda makes sense. If the Doctor gave up his chosen name when he did the things he did in the War, it not only explains why his name would appear in a book specifically about the War, it also gives greater significance to where the series began again in 2005. Suddenly, the idea of Eccleston’s Doctor being so different to all before makes more sense than ever – he’s not just recovering from the War, he’s learning to be “the Doctor” all over again. And I’ve gotta be honest, that’s an idea I really, really like. I could be wrong, he could be a pre-Hartnell Doctor, but considering the leather jacket and the idea that he “broke the promise”, I’m convinced that he’s meant to be the incarnation between the 8^th and the 9^th.

I do have to say though that there is a bit of a missed opportunity here, especially if Moffat’s had this planned for a while. Namely, who’s cast as the “missing” Doctor. Now don’t get me wrong, John Hurt’s brilliant, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he’ll do with it. But I can’t help but be reminded of Scream of the Shalka. In 2003, an animated webcast, Scream of the Shalka, was made to celebrate the 40^th anniversary. What was so special about this particular story? It was set after the end of the TV movie and featured a brand new Doctor and was supposedly the start for a brand new online series. Who played this Ninth Doctor? Richard E Grant. That’s right, the guy that played the Great Intelligence. Now this story wasn’t AMAZING, but it did have plenty of great little ideas (my favourite being the Master being turned into a robot servant of the Doctor and was forced to be his companion), was funny and was a pretty cool way of bringing Doctor Who into the 21^st century, or so it seemed at the time. Then of course, in November, they announced that Doctor Who was coming back anyway and Scream of the Shalka was written out of canon altogether, along with Grant’s version of the Doctor. Now, with this episode, I can’t help but imagine how much cooler it would've been if they had held off casting Richard E Grant until this particular episode, therefore revealing that actually Shalka was canon after all. Would’ve been even more of an amazing twist for this fan. Still, like I said, Hurt’s a fine choice for playing the part, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of his incarnation.

One more thing I'll mention: the title, and how the story relates to it. I think it was genius of Moffat to have the title suggest one thing, something I was very afraid of, before revealing it meant something else entirely. We thought "The Name of the Doctor" referred to his real name, or at least, the name he had before he became the Doctor. I was incredibly worried that Moffat would actually reveal it, as in my opinion, the name had been so shrouded in mystery for so long, and that mystery was so important to the series, that I didn't think there was any possible way that the revelation of the name itself could've been anything better than anti-climactic. (Unless his name turned out to be Batman, that would've been cool enough.) But instead, it's about something else entirely. It's about the Doctor's identity. About what it is to be the Doctor, and not just any Time Lord. About his life, his death and, most importantly, why being the Doctor is so important. "What I did...I did in the name of peace and sanity." "But not in the name of the Doctor." Perfect words to end on.

So that’s my analysis of the episode: flawed, but overall a great episode. 8/10. As for season 7 overall? I’m not going to give it a rating until I watch it a 2^nd time through, but I must be honest, this season hasn’t impressed me as much as season 6. Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of individual episodes that I enjoyed, particularly Asylum of the Daleks, the Snowmen, the Bells of Saint John, Cold War, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and of course The Name of the Doctor, but I haven’t been as eager to watch it week in, week out as I did last season. I do think that the lack of cliffhangers is partly responsible for that. I love cliffhangers, I love going “WTF?!?” and wondering what the hell’s going to happen next, and more importantly I think that they’ve been a vital part of the show’s 50 year legacy. Season 6 was full of some amazing examples, too many to list, although my favourite still remains The Almost People, and I wasn’t even much of a fan of that story. Season 7, by comparison, hasn’t had nearly as many. Aside from this episode, there’s been no stand-out cliffhanger, other than the Snowmen – the closest thing we’ve had to a cliffhanger since then was “Oh no! The Doctor’s going to be stuck with KIDS in the next episode!” So, as great as it was to have a terrific cliffhanger for the finale, I hope to God Moffat brings the cliffhanger back on a more regular basis for season 8. There’s also been not much development for either the characters or the arcs this season, so I think that’s affected it. But most of all, season 6 really was one of my favourite seasons ever, in fact it was pretty much my ideal season of Who. Anything after that was, for this fan at least, going to seem like a step down. I’m looking forward to re-watching season 7 in full at least, hopefully after catching up on my entire series watch, anyway.

(One more thing that I couldn’t fit into the analysis: LOVED the mention of the Valeyard, one of my favourite ideas for a Who villain ever. Wasn’t an overall fan of the story he appeared in in the Classic series (The Trial of a Time Lord), but the revelation that he was the Doctor more than paid off. Glad to see that he’s finally been name-checked in the new series at last.)

Big Finish Review - January

It occurred to me earlier that, with this year being the 50^th anniversary of one of the greatest shows ever, audio company Big Finish has a number of ranges dedicated to telling a large number of Doctor Who stories every year. Hell, at the moment, I’m currently subscribed to 4 monthly ranges – that’s 4 Doctor Who stories every month on audio alone! Fortunately, I subscribe well in advance, but for those who can at best afford only one cd per month, out of each month’s releases, what would be the best ones to buy? That is why I’ve written this: the first in what I hope will be a regular review of the monthly output of a number of ranges of Doctor Who that Big Finish releases. A great way to further blog and discuss my favourite show, and, to those who can afford it, to perhaps help some decide what would be the ideal releases to listen to, including a couple of recommendations, one for the new fans and one for those who appreciates their serious continuity.

Main Range

The Wrong Doctors

What better way to kick off the 50^th anniversary year than by having a multi-Doctor story? But this is a “multi-Doctor” story with a difference. It does feature two Doctors, but instead of the usual take of having multiple incarnations argue with each other, we instead have something quite original in which its two versions of the same incarnation, at two different points in life. Really thinking about it, this is probably the most full-on multi-Doctor story we’ve had from Big Finish – others have involved either clones, doubles or the briefest of exchanges (yes, this includes The Four Doctors, although to be fair, that’s still a cool story). But here, we have two Doctors, one older and wiser than the other, arguing with himself. Himself. Thank you, Big Finish, for finally having the balls to do something like this.

Bear in mind though that this isn’t just about the gimmick of having two Sixes. This is a tribute to two things. The first is Mel Bush, of which this story pays a lot of respect to, as the Sixth Doctor finally tries to meet her. Tries and spectacularly fails as…well, I’d rather not go into detail, as (a) I wouldn’t want to spoil too much here, and (b) it’d just be too difficult to explain even if I did want to spoil it (especially for those who haven’t seen The Trial of a Time Lord). We get it all here – her home of Pease Pottage, her excellent memory, her knack at computers and her travels with the Doctor – all are important to the story here, and it’s a testament to Matt Fitton’s writing ability that none of it feels forced whatsoever.  I’m not sure I completely understood the plot all the time, but it didn’t matter: there were numerous well drawn out characters, especially the villain, Mr Petherbridge, brilliantly played by Tony Gardner, to really draw me into the world of the story, at least.

There’s something else that’s great about this story though, and what really makes it a good one to kick off the anniversary year – the Sixth Doctor. Specifically, the Sixth Doctor of the Big Finish adventures at least, with a few nods to even beyond that. (Including BBC novel Business Unusual, where the Sixth Doctor really meets Mel for the first time – yes guys, amazingly, this story doesn’t contradict that story whatsoever.) The contrast of the two Doctors is amazing – yes, they’re the same incarnation, but still quite, quite different. Whereas the younger Doctor is his usual “bolshy” self as we saw on television, his older self is definitely mellower by comparison – both of which are of course amazingly portrayed by Colin Baker. We’re reminded that really, this is a Doctor that we never really saw on television, at least not with this amount of development. He is the Big Finish Doctor – a kind, intelligent, at times sombre but mostly happy incarnation who is, at least in the audio medium, considerably popular. There is no finer way for Big Finish to kick off such an important anniversary of a show nearly half a century old than to celebrate just what they (and indeed other formats of the expanded universe) can do that the tv series couldn’t or wouldn’t – take the scattered seeds that were left untended in the tv series, and let them grow. And that includes the potential brilliance of the Sixth Doctor. 8/10

Companion Chronicles

The Flames of Cadiz

Marc Platt? Writing a story that’s purely historical? Can it be true? Indeed it is! And, even better folks, compared to the usual 1 disc release of the Companion Chronicles, this is the special 2 disc release that comes every January, so it feels even closer to the more fleshed out 4-part historicals of the early seasons.

I was pretty impressed with this story. Partly for how much it draws you into its historical setting, with its fleshed-out characters, both regular and of the story in particular, giving you a good insight in what it was like living in the time of the Spanish Inquisition, specifically near the time of the Spanish Armada.

Another thing I was impressed by was how much Platt nailed the era of the kind of story this would’ve taken place in, tv series wise. The dark tone of the story showing the horrors of history, the well fleshed out companions of Ian and Barbara being caught up in it, sometimes being caught up in the sheer thrill of it, and of course, just how alien, dark and mysterious the Doctor is at this point – one of the best traits of a great deal of Platt’s stories is reminding us that the Doctor is an alien, not just biologically but psychologically, seeing people, events and morals completely differently to how a human would. This is a key aspect to the first Doctor at this point, so it’s no surprise that Marc Platt has written a number of stories for this particular incarnation, even one set before the beginning of the tv series. (One Companion Chronicle I’m especially looking forward to that’s released in November has the simple title of The Beginning, a story involving the Doctor and Susan leaving Gallifrey. Naturally, I’m greatly looking forward to listening to such a story.)

One more thing I enjoyed about the story was the added layer of how dangerous it can be wanting to meet your heroes. An old story perhaps, but still a classic, especially when it’s done as beautifully as this. Because some men may disappoint, perhaps inevitably, but still be great men. Not necessarily good men, but still great.

This is a fantastic story that really feels like it could’ve been shot and filmed in 1963 (well ok, maybe 1964, the second story hadn’t even finished in ’63), and is another nice way to kick off the anniversary year – a story that does a great job at reminding us just how wonderful both the first TARDIS crew and their stories really were. 9/10

The Fourth Doctor Adventures – Season 2

1. The Auntie Matter

And so another season begins for one of the series’ most popular Doctors! Last season was set during his time with Leela, which overall I thought was a pretty strong start, including just the right balance between old school and modern day storytelling, with 4^th Doctor stories that fitted perfectly in between the gothic horror of the Holmes/Hinchcliffe era with the lighter scifi of the Graham Williams era, in a faster pace and further expansion of companion Leela, all stories brilliantly performed by Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, acting as though it had only been a matter of months since they worked together and not over 35 years (in the roles of the Doctor and Leela, at least). So that first season has set a very high standard. What of the second?

The second season has gone for a different approach, taking place later in the Fourth Doctor’s life as he travels with Romana in her first incarnation. One thing that comes across clearly right from the start is how easily these two make us believe that no time has passed at all since we last saw the pair on screen, especially with Mary Tamm as Romana, who plays the role with the same intellect and strong attitude that we saw in the tv series. It’s a tragic and shocking loss to think that she’s been gone for over six months now, as her performance here was so full of life, you could really believe that she could’ve easily done it for many more years.

The first story is a bit of a fun if basic romp, taking place in 1920s England and featuring androids, body stealing aliens and ultra-posh Englishmen who can’t pronounce their r’s. Overall, it’s a nice start to the season, but I’m eager for darker and meatier stuff that is surely yet to come. (Or at least, another Doctor Who story featuring the great, great, great David Warner and of course, the reunion of Jago & Litefoot with Four.) 6/10

Destiny of the Doctor

1. Hunters of Earth

The Flames of Cadiz isn’t the only First Doctor story this month. We also have the beginning of a brand new series, specially made to not only celebrate the 50^th anniversary but to also be more welcoming to new listeners who haven’t discovered the wonderful classic Doctors and their stories. This is an unusual series that Big Finish is involved in as (a) the narration for the stories is done in the third-person, unlike the Companion Chronicles which usually use the first-person narrative structure, and (b) due to being co-produced with AudioGo, the later stories will involve Doctors from the New Series, which Big Finish aren’t normally allowed to touch. So it’ll be great to have a series with Big Finish involvement that’ll allow them to make great stories for all the Doctors, not just the first eight.

So how is the first one? Definitely an interesting opening, as it begins not long before the very start of the series. It’s very reflective of both the era and of the very time of when the original series began, in days of when random violence between groups like mods and rockers would break out. And violence is very much key to this story. This is a very dark and disturbing tale in which Susan finds herself not only distinctly branded as an outsider, but dangerously targeted for it. There are some really creepy images – particularly one of Susan being completely surrounded while people try and throw rocks at her – but along the way, the story occasionally soaks in the lighter aspects of 60s culture, too. There’s also a small but vital moment in the story that’s very clearly important to the arc of the whole series. Mostly though, it’s a fantastic standalone story that gives us a glimpse both of Susan’s life (the Doctor is more of a background presense here) before the start of the series as well as 60s life in general. This is a really great jumping on point for anyone who’s yet to discover the joys of the classic stuff. 8/10

Recommendations

For the newbie: Hunters of Earth

If you know nothing of classic Who or even new Who and are wanting to buy a story that you can just switch on without worrying about any background knowledge beforehand, this is definitely your safest bet, as being a jumping-on point is what this particular series was designed for in the first place. It’s also a great standalone drama to boot, so you should fully enjoy it. Another story to enjoy that's also not too bad continuity wise is The Flames of Cadiz.

For the continuity obsessed: The Wrong Doctors

Starting with direct references to previous companions, thorny tv continuity issues and even an out-of-print novel, this is definitely one for someone with at least a basic knowledge of the Sixth Doctor. It’s not too bad, and it is a wonderful celebration of the life that the Sixth Doctor has had in audio form at least, but that’s exactly it – it’s paying tribute to over a decade of this incarnation on cd, and while you hardly need to know all of it, it helps to know just how much this Doctor has changed and why to fully appreciate it.

So overall, a very strong start to the year for Big Finish. Can they continue such a high standard? Who knows. Judging from the February releases I've listened to so far, very possibly, although I'll save discussion for that for the next blog. (Which hopefully won't take too long.) Personal favourite for the month? It's tied between Hunters of Earth and Flames of Cadiz, probably because I have a soft spot for Hartnell's darker and more mysterious Doctor, but mostly because those stories are simply great, mature (but not too mature) stories that completely stand on their own. Keep it coming, Big Finish!

Berberian Sound Studio review

There were three main reasons why I wanted to watch Berberian Sound Studio from the moment I heard about it. One was a lot of positive reception around film and cult review websites and magazines. Two was it was supposed to be a homage to the Giallo genre, only ironically, without showing any imagery and focusing purely on sound. Three was Toby Jones – ever since playing the Dream Lord in, yep, you guessed it, Doctor Who, he’s been an actor that I've been very keen to check out more of. (Not realising that actually, I had already seen a couple of film’s he’d been in, or at least, his voice – I am of course referring to his role of Dobby in the Harry Potter movies.) Hearing about a film he actually had a lead role in really got my attention. And what a role he was given: the typically repressed English soundman working on an Italian horror.

I’ve put off writing this review because there’s so much for me to write about, in a case like this. This isn't your typical horror, or at least, anything along the lines of most of the kind of horror films that Hollywood releases these days. There aren't any jumpy scares, no violent deaths of stupid characters, no psychopathic maniacs, none of that. Instead, this is a horror that wants its audience to think, to feel, and to empathise with its main character. In all these aspects, I felt it was very successful. 

The story is of a sound engineer, Gilderoy, who has been hired to work on a highly violent horror movie in Italy. As he continues to work on it, the film starts to deeply affect him in numerous ways, and the longer the film goes on, the more Gilderoy loses his grip on reality.

One film that sprang to mind while watching this was Roman Polanski’s The Tennant (which Jean, a very good friend of mine recommended to me - any credit for my craving for deep and thoughtful psychological horror should be given to him, as before I'd more than likely have avoided such films, if I'm honest, so thank you again, Jean). The protagonists of both films are foreigners to the country, always made to feel excluded, not just through cultural differences but through personal differences, too. This is a world where Gilderoy simply doesn’t belong in the slightest, something that’s made clear from the very beginning: a typical, deeply repressed Englishman among a film crew of highly emotional Italians, a man who takes his Catholic faith very seriously working on an exploitation movie that forces him to watch an ugly side to it, a man who didn’t even know what kind of film he would be working on until the day he arrived and saw the horrific images. “I didn’t know I’d be working on this type of film…” he quietly says. From that moment on, you know that it will not be a film that would be easy for him to work on.

“A new world of sound awaits you.” There are a number of really wonderful quotes that sum up how wonderful this movie is, and this is one of them. For we see none of the images that Gilderoy sees, only hear, with the occasional description of some truly horrific acts. But the sound is the key thing. Chopped melons become sliced heads and severed limbs, blenders become chainsaws, cooking fat becomes horrifically burned skin. This wonderful use of sound imprints some truly disturbing imagery when really showing us nothing, and it’s wonderful use is something I truly appreciate in a film such as this.

Oddly enough though, while the sounds do give us the clear image, the shots are also important. Now just how the sounds are made, but also including some really nice tributes to the giallo genre in numerous ways - extreme close up of eyes and mouths, cut from mouth to red sauce in blender and, my particular favourite, a close-up of a hand in a black glove while simply turning on the projector. It’s clear that the director, Peter Strickland, is a massive fan of the genre. This is not a giallo movie, nor is it intended to be, but it’s certainly effective in being a respectful tribute to the genre, and kudos must be given to the cinematography for adding to that.

As the film goes on, tension and uneasiness builds as Gilderoy grows to be more and more uncomfortable with the images that he (but not we) sees. It truly becomes difficult for him to work on the film while continuing to see such horrific images that don’t just offend him but also deeply, deeply disturb him on numerous levels – as an Englishman, as a Catholic, as simply himself. He doesn't want these horrific acts to happen, even trying to stop the sounds from happening so the images don’t happen, but it’s no use – whether the sound happens or not, the image of the horrific act still happens. Over and over again until he adds his part. And that’s the worst thing – it’s not being forced to watch such graphic violence, it’s being, as the producer of such a work says, a “part of it”. Gilderoy is adding his own part to the violence and the suffering, the vital part, the sound, and that is something he cannot bear to live with.

Inevitably, he tries to quit, to leave, to escape, but it’s no use. “There’s no reason to escape.” The man is effectively trapped, far from all that he loves in every possible way, and there’s nothing that he can do about it. This feeling of entrapment is, again, another theme that instantly reminds me of Polanski in many of his films.

Despite all this darkness, there’s still a nice amount of humour in the film, but fortunately not the kind that goes against the themes and dark tone of the story. Rather, it is an awkward humour that empathises even more the differences between Gilderoy and his Italian colleagues, as Gilderoy finds it difficult to get on with them at all, whether due to a barrier in language or in culture. The humour in these instances only help to add to the feeling of isolation that Gilderoy is going through.

Eventually, for Gilderoy, and for us, reality and fantasy become blurred. He’s no longer just a part of the Italian horror he’s working on, he’s a part of his own, and the last act of the film involves surreal dream sequences and even dubbing in Italian, as Gilderoy’s life becomes a film that he’s uncomfortable to watch.

As I said, this was a film that I had been eager to watch since the moment I heard about it, and sure enough, it did not disappoint. At times, there were moments that were almost too bizarre, particularly the very end, but perhaps these will be more rewarding with understanding on repeat viewings. In any case, this was a horror that I deeply, deeply enjoyed, a wonderful break from all the typical sensationalist horror that Hollywood is making these days. 9/10

Diary of a Who Addict - Two Exams, One Haircut and the Return of the TV

FINALLY. After weeks and weeks of studying, I can finally relax - for a little while, at least - and get back to being a lazy sod. Had two more exams, one after the other: one on taxation, the other on financial performance. Naturally, it was the former that I was having the most difficult with, so much so that even trying to solely focus on that since the beginning of January, it was only the last two weeks before the exam that it really started to sink in, and even then, it was hard to take everything about it into account. I went from studying one hour a day to six hours, every day during the week before the exam. That usually never happens, but I really needed to make an effort with this one. By the day of the exam, it was the most confident I'd ever felt about it. That's not saying much, but I'd already accepted that, if I've failed it, I at least knew I had tried my best when it came to the studying. 

Did I do my best with the other exam? Honestly no, which is why I'm more worried about failing it, despite being a lot more comfortable with the material: formulas, statistical indicators, all the kind of things that came naturally to me back in top set high school maths class. Partly because I need to pass both and taxation was the one that I felt needed the extra effort for, but also because my familiarity with so much of the material of financial performance made it near-impossible for me to separate what I already knew with what I really needed to know. After doing a mock test though, it definitely helped identify the key areas I needed to study. After spending some more time studying, touching up on a couple of formulas and areas I hadn't been confidant on before like discount factoring and volume and capacity forumlas, I finally had the financial performance test today. I think I did pretty darn good on most of the formula stuff, it was just two MASSIVE questions that involved writing and interpreting about a few variances that I was least confidant about. I may write a lot, but I cannot write fast. I did the best that I can, but I was typing away at those questions right up until the clock ran out. Still, although I didn't study for it as hard as I did personal tax, thinking about it, I'm pretty confidant. The two writing questions were a small part compared to the numerical stuff, so I'm hoping I did well on most of that.

But even if I failed both, I can always retake the tests when it comes along. I'll be studying a bit of personal tax each week to keep it fresh in my head for the next 6 weeks (yes people, it takes 6 whole weeks for these exams to be marked), but overall, I'm pretty glad that most of the pressure is off, at least. Yes, there's still plenty more work to do, including a 4000 word report that I'll need to work on, but for the moment, I can finally sit down, relax, and put on some tv. Hell, I can finally finish my re-watch of the Lord of the Rings later on, which will be great to do. I've already finished season 12 of classic Who, which I'll get to in a moment. 

Now one more thing I've gotta mention that I also did today: HAIRCUT! Finally, after a few weeks of bushy mane that was starting to grow, I've finally gone back to a much shorter haired look with just a little bit of curly hair on top.

I like this look, I really do, and the fact that the 8th Doctor has recently been given that look is, I can assure you, entirely non-coincidental.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, I finally finished off season 12 of classic Who. What are my thoughts on it? Overall, I really enjoyed it, especially the middle 3 stories and the crew of this season. It's much better than seasons 10 and 11, at least. The first story was clearly made by the old production team and lacked a lot of the freshness that the three stories afterwards had, and the final story was a little cheesy and campy in parts, but overall it was a pretty good season.

Some quick ratings for the season:

Robot: Tom Baker's first story is, in my opinion, far from his best, as overall it's pretty cliched and, being the last story made by the departing production team, definitely lacking in originality in some places. But it's worth watching for seeing Tom Baker's first full appearance as the Doctor at least, especially the joy of seeing the Doctor being excited about a brand new body. 5/10

The Ark in Space: Holy shit, this is more like it: dark corridors, scary body horror, and a much more serious Doctor, this really kicks off the era of the new production team of Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes with a bang. 9/10

The Sontaran Experiment: very short, but overall, pretty sweet. I really enjoy how it still manages to squeeze in some moments of genuinely dark horror, as some of the "experiments" the Sontaran Styre performs on his human subjects are pure torture, such as leaving a man chained up and dying of dehydration after several days. Basic, but another good Sontaran story, I thought. 7/10

Genesis of the Daleks: I've said a lot about this story already in my previous entry, so all I'll say is this: this is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories of all time, easily in my top ten. If you get the chance, check it out. It's not perfect, but it is fantastic stuff. 10/10

Revenge of the Cybermen: honestly, this story feels like a step-down in not one but two ways, both as a story following on from the gritty darkness of Genesis and as a Cyberman story (the first since The Invasion, nearly six seasons before). The Cybermen lack any threat in this story (a real shocker, considering Cybermen co-creator Gerry Davis co-wrote it), and in both story and look, it seems cheaper than the stories surrounding it. Still, that's not to say it's not enjoyable as slightly campy, cheesy fun, at least. But it's definitely not one of the best we've seen this season. 6/10

Right, I'll probably start season 13 next week, if I can locate Terror of the Zygons online (which, shockingly enough, is one of the only stories of the entire Holmes/Hinchcliffe era that I haven't watched). For the moment, I need to catch up on all the Big Finish audio I've yet to listen to, including the second story of the team-up of the Sixth Doctor and Jago & Litefoot (who, as I've mentioned before, are two of my favourite characters ever). Before I head off, I will show you one last thing: the t-shirt that arrived in the post the other day:

Pulp Fiction/Doctor Who t-shirt! The moment I saw this, I could only think of one thing:

Sorry guys, couldn't resist! Anyway, that's my blogging done for the week. Laters, everyone!

Diary of a Who Addict - Genesis of the Daleks recommendation

Currently, I have just reached Genesis of the Daleks in my Who watch. I fucking love this story. I've watched it so many times, and it’s still wonderfully enjoyable: dark, gritty, full of great characters and the occasional dash of wit, this is a classic. Watching it in context helps me appreciate it even more, as a Dalek fan: after being rather unimpressed with the last couple of Dalek stories, this is wonderfully refreshing by comparison, even if they do kind of get regulated to mere servants in this story, their creator Davros is a brilliant creation (even if he does get overused afterwards by appearing in every single Dalek story afterwards).

More importantly though is, well, this story’s importance. If you consider yourself a fan of Doctor Who at all, even if it’s just the new series, this is a story you have to watch. With the creation of Davros, this had quite the impact on the classic series, but arguably, its impact on the new series was even bigger. It’s all to do with the very beginning of the story, when the Doctor meets another Time Lord who has a mission for him: go back to the very creation of the Daleks and either prevent their creation or change them fundamentally at their earliest stage - either way, directly changing history. Considering how the Time Lords exiled the Doctor for merely getting involved in events, the fact that they’re desperate enough to want to change history not only makes them hypocritical, it’s the starting point of a conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords that eventually breaks out into a War across the whole of time itself and leaves both races nearly wiped out.

Something I also love is there’s a key moment when the Doctor has the chance to wipe out the Daleks forever, and he hesitates. He’s afraid of becoming even remotely like them, and he doesn’t want that to happen – he doesn’t want to wipe out another race because it’s a threat, even if he genuinely knows how much devastation they will cause in the centuries to come. Not only is it a moment that he will come back to in his later years, when he suffers a lot more at the Daleks hands (especially in the 8^th Doctor audio stories Terror Firma and To The Death), it also symbolises a crucial moment – that the Doctor may finally be learning to accept that he will be fighting the Daleks for the rest of his life, that he will always be their enemy, that it will always be his fate, and, for better or worse, he has absolutely no right to change that. 12 years after first meeting them, this story really crystallizes the Doctor’s relationship with the Daleks like no other.

These aren’t the only reasons to watch the story, though: as I mentioned before, it’s also a great story in its own right. Davros is a brilliant character, very much like his Daleks – ruthless, calculating and without mercy. However, he’s also much more of a distinct individual than any of his race – a man with ambition, with dreams of power, a man considerably more intelligent than his own creations…and even more insane. All of these qualities make him even more dangerous than his pepperpot creations and, despite being very overused over the years, tending to overshadow the Daleks too often, in this story he is absolutely brilliant, especially when played by the great Michael Wisher, whose heavy make-up and use of only one arm makes it even more impressive how much emotion and personality he was able to put into the character.

There’s also another great villain of the story: Davros’s henchman, Nyder. What makes him such a great character is how completely loyal he is to Davros, how much he really believes in what he’s doing, even when he learns that he’s willing to sacrifice his own race, the Kaleds, just so the Daleks themselves could go on. This unquestioning devotion makes him even more horrifyingly believeable than if he were made to be “three-dimensional” – if he were given doubts and reasons of why he believes that what he was doing the right thing, in my opinion it could’ve cheapened it. But no – Nyder is like many men in history who committed truly horrible acts for their leaders – intelligent but also unquestioning and totally obedient. Again, this is a role that’s brilliantly portrayed by Peter Miles, and when he returned in audio prequel story I, Davros, playing exactly the same role nearly 30 years later so perfectly,  I was absolutely thrilled.

There’s numerous other reasons why I love this story – the gritty realism of war, the drama, the performances of the regular cast etc. – but I think I’ll let you discover that for yourself. It’s not a perfect story by any means – at six episodes it can feel a little padded at times, and like many Who stories, it tends to suffer from its low budget from time to time, but overall, it’s a seriously high quality story that not only left its mark in Who history as being one of the most important stories since arguably The War Games, but it’s also one of the best. 

Dairy of a Who Addict - 08/01/2013

Happy new year, everyone! I hope Christmas and the New Year holidays went well for you all, but after all that, it’s back to work and – for this student, at least – studying. Oh well, I did say I was going to study more as part of my new year’s resolutions, didn’t I? I also aimed to start losing weight which, as it turns out, may be even easier than I thought – mum and dad have bought a rowing machine, and I’ve been going on it a couple of times a day. I’ve also discovered the delights of smoothies, particularly strawberry and banana. Sweet as hell, and just as I like it! So yeah, who knows, maybe in time I will genuinely start to lose some weight and end up with a healthier body.

In the meantime, amongst all the studying and the exercise, I have finally begun my favourite era of the show, production wise. I wonder if that will change at all as I watch the stories in order, or if my love for this era grows stronger. Who knows? It’ll be an interesting part of the journey, that’s for sure!

Season 12

Now here’s an interesting point to me in the watch, as it’s one of the few seasons of the classic series that I have watched completely and in order before, so no surprises here. Still, I definitely can’t complain, as this has a couple of stories that are easily in my top 20, maybe even top 10 favourite stories of all time, and this isn’t even the best one of the new production team, which featured the combined and brilliant talents of Robert Holmes as script editor, one of the best writers of Doctor Who of all time, and Philip Hinchcliffe as producer, both of which took Who in a bold and completely different direction.

Well, after Robot, anyway…

Robot

Watched this the other day, the first story of Tom Baker, currently the longest running Doctor to date (without interruption, anyway). Right from his first episode, he comes across as a rather cheerful, eccentric and totally bonkers new Doctor. Seeing him get up and seem to look at everything in wonder is a joy to watch.

What’s less of a joy is the plot. With the story of Sarah Jane befriending a robot and encouraging it to feel emotions, it comes across as more than a little clichéd, especially when it becomes a GIANT robot. The King Kong influence by this point is more than a little obvious, especially when the robot is carrying Sarah in one of its claws. The story’s not terrible, but it’s not the freshest story that the old production team of Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts had done, and boy, does it show, right down to the rather weak CSO used to show the GIANT ROBOT. I can see why they decided that having the new Doctor’s first story made by the departing production team might smooth the transition, but honestly it comes across as being the weakest story of the season.

Fortunately, with Tom Baker fully in charge by the end and the new production team ready to begin, the following story is, as they say, where the shit gets real…

The Ark in Space

Now this is more like it! Finally, the Holmes/Hinchcliffe era truly begins, and what a way to kick off: dark corridors, rich characters, body horror, an interesting dose of post-apocalyptic scifi, and some well-placed moments of humour, all topped off with a Doctor who’s just a little more serious, mysterious and alien figure than the last story showed.

There’s a lot to love about this story. Firstly, the monsters in the story, the Wirrn. There’s something truly scary and basic about a monster that can turn you into one of their own, absorbing you and your very identity into their own race’s. The actual depiction of the body horror is also great – while it’s not exactly on the same level of physical repulsion of, say, John Carpenter’s The Thing, even with rather basic stuff green paint and bubble wrap it scared the crap out of me when I was 8 years old. Just the very basic idea, more than anything else, seriously freaked me out. It’s a very adult idea of horror given to the family audience, and considering how much tamer the previous team had been by comparison in terms of horror, it’s a wonderful way to kick off the new production team’s era in style.

Something else I’ve gotta praise, and praise highly: Tom Baker. Now, I’ve watched this story plenty of times, and I always thought he was great, but watching it in context and acknowledging the fact that this is only his second story, it’s amazing how easily he’s embodied the role already. In the previous story, his Doctor was happy and eccentric and just a little bit insane, but now he’s fully settled into his new body, he’s now just a little more serious and alien. A fantastic script gives his Doctor such wonderfully tiny, subtle, alien moments: taking an artificial gravity test with a yoyo; a speech he gives completely in praise and almost awe of humans; a little smile he gives when he thinks of something incredibly dangerous. Across the entire series history he is, along with David Tennant, by far one of the most popular Doctors, and watching this story, it’s certainly not hard to see why. To say that I’m glad that there’s 7 seasons of his Doctor to watch in order is putting it mildly – if the quality of his performance remains half as good as it is here, he may replace Troughton as my favourite Doctor of the watch so far.

The secondary characters are also wonderfully well written, especially the character of Vira. A woman of the far future who starts out as very robotic in her vocabulary and manner. As the story goes on however, her armour starts to break down – she starts to become more emotional, first in her manner and even in her vocabulary. It’s a wonderful journey in little over sixty minutes that not only showcases what made the original serial format so great, but also why Robert Holmes was a master of writing characters that genuinely felt real.

I’m going to stop my praise of this story – to be honest, I feel that if I didn’t stop now, I might never shut up about it. Everything, from the look, the tone, the performances, even the very structure – which has a first part that’s shrouded in nothing but mystery and focuses on the regular characters of the Doctor and his companions only, before developing the story proper in the next 3 episodes, feeling less drawn out than the usual 4 part story – are wonderful to watch. Does it help that this story comes after watching the previous season by comparison, which in my opinion was the weakest of Pertwee’s run? Of course, after stories like Planet of the Spiders and Robot, this is nothing but a huge breath of fresh air, but mostly it’s just a great Doctor Who story in its own right, part of an era of consistently high quality stories, and one I shall savour and enjoy for as long as I can…

Classic quotes

"You're improving, Harry!" "Am I really?" "Yes! Your mind is beginning to work! It's entirely due to my influence, of course. You mustn't take any credit."

“Homo sapiens! What an inventive, invincible species! It's only been a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenceless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts. And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to out sit eternity. They're indomitable... indomitable.” 

“It may be irrational of me, but human beings are quite my favourite species!”

Diary of a Who Addict - Farewell, 2012

So here we are, barely an hour away from the end of 2012. Despite being the year where the apocalypse was meant to happen but of course failed and even worse, we got a total of 6 eps of Doctor Who, it’s not been a bad year, in fact for me personally, it’s been a great one. I’ve been getting more and more involved in the financial side of work, I’ve gone back to college and somehow passed my first exam of the college year, and even better, for a brief time, I knew what it was to be truly in love, not loving someone at a distance as I’ve done too often in the past. Even the fact that I lost that love isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly due to how well it ended, for now I have a better idea of what love is, and what I really want in life. (I.e I’ve got no fucking clue at all, which really oddly is a strangely comforting idea - to know that you know fuck all is the first step towards enlightenment, or some shit like that.) Also, the new Judge Dredd film was even better than I had dared hope, so that was a nice little bonus.

So that was 2012. What of 2013? What can I expect? If I put in some effort at college, hopefully become a qualified AAT Technician, enjoy plenty of Who, old and new, but beyond that? Again: no fucking idea. I don’t have the slightest clue what to expect, really. All I can do is plan and hope for the best.

What am I planning, or rather aiming for? What are my resolutions for the year? Well:

1. Lose some weight, for starters. Been getting a little bit heavy recently, (more than a little bit, actually,) so starting tomorrow I’m aiming to start losing some of the chubbiness and cut down on my snacking.
2. Study, and study hard. Like I said, I hope to be a fully qualified AAT Technician by the end of the year, but hoping won’t be enough. I’ve been studying, but it certainly can’t hurt to put in just a little extra effort into making that hope a reality.
3. Grow up. I don’t think this will be the year that I move out, but I do need to start properly planning for it, at least. It’s not just at home that I need to be more mature about: I had my first serious relationship this year, and as great as that was, I’ve learned one thing: I’m awesome not exactly the most sensible in such an area, especially when it comes to knowing when to open my mouth and when to keep it shut. So really, I think that’s something I need to think very carefully about and work on. As for flat-hunting or relationships, well, who knows, if a good opportunity comes along, I might just take it.

But never mind all this serious stuff: it wouldn’t be a blog from me without some detailed discussion on my favourite show now, would it? The latest Christmas special, The Snowmen, broadcast last week, and my God, was it brilliant! I'm still ashamed that I've only watched it once so far, although I definitely intend to rewatch it tomorrow, if I can. It just had so much of what I enjoy about Doctor Who: a great, creepy story that could turn the everyday into something terrifying, great wit, great science fiction and very clever ideas, while at the same time not being too afraid to poke fun at itself, some nice little nods to the classic series that don't alienate the newer audience and, best of all, some really great drama. Matt Smith playing a more darker, more withdrawn Doctor was amazing to watch, as was Coleman's performance as new companion (or is she?) Clara: witty, clever, with more than a little cheekiness and gorgeous to look at, she definitely has the potential to be a truly great companion. Although I do wonder: with characters like Clara, Amy, River and even Madame du Pompadour, I do wonder sometimes if Moffat has a fixation on strong but rather cheeky women (to say the very least). I'm not complaining too much, considering how I've liked all those characters, but there are times when I can't help but worry about how Moffat sees women. But as for the Snowmen, I just loved everything about it, including the new TARDIS interior and especially the brand new title sequence. It feels like not only the best ep we've had in ages, but the real start to the brand new series. The first 5 eps felt more like an epilogue to series 6, but the Snowmen? That's kicking off series 7 properly and in style!

Also, for something a little more old-school, I recently finished off the final seasons of Jon Pertwee’s run as the Doctor. Season 10 was a nice anniversary season – featuring a return of the first two Doctors, which was very pleasing to see, especially Troughton’s return; a team-up between the Master and the Daleks, mixed in with some great sci-fi politics; a rather average Dalek story (in every way possible), and a pretty average finale with one hell of a tearjearking ending, as the Doctor (and I) said goodbye to Jo Grant. That final scene in particular really made me wonder just how much the Doctor really cared about Jo, and in what way. Like a daughter? A sister? Something else…? It’s always the more complicated Doctor/companion relationships that are the more interesting ones.

And with Pertwee’s final season, the case is very similar. Overall I found his final season to be his weakest – as wonderful as it was to finally meet Sarah Jane Smith and as wonderfully enjoyable the Time Warrior was, with a fairly decent return to Peladon to boot, the stories overall I found very lacking: Invasion of the Dinosaurs had a pretty decent story but suffered terribly from rather weak special effects, Death to the Daleks was possibly the weakest Dalek story I’ve watched, and a finale that, although it had some interesting themes, was dragged out and boring as hell. But that final scene was brilliant. The regeneration effect sucks, in fact there’s no “effect” at all, just a simple fade from Pertwee to Baker, but the actual final scene is great, particularly the Third Doctor’s last words: “A tear…Sarah Jane? No, don’t cry…While there’s life, there’s…” What makes it work is that it feels like a death scene, not just of the Third Doctor, but of the Doctor altogether. There’s a brief but terrible moment when you’re made to believe the Doctor is gone for good…and then the hope – and the regeneration – comes, and it’s a wonderful moment. Even better in retrospect, considering that in those final seconds, we get our first glimpse of Tom Baker’s Doctor, whose early seasons have provided me with so many of my favourite stories. The next season, I’ve held off until 2013 – now less than an hour away here in the UK – to kick off the anniversary year with the best.

So how does everyone feel about the upcoming year? Excited? Apprehensive? Anyone got any plans or resolutions? Whatever happens, I wish everyone to have a very happy new year!