I watched the fiftieth Anniversary 'special' last night ... and thoroughly enjoyed it!
I must admit that the pre-broadcast hype had worried me ... but for once the actuality was better than what was 'promised'. I felt that whilst it drew a line under the previous fifty years, the story left lots of potential plot lines for the future ... and past!
I thought that John Hurt was exactly right for the role of the new/old Doctor. His portrayal of the Doctor who has to confront the most difficult challenge of his life – whether or not to destroy his own people in order to end the Time War – was finely balanced ... and in some ways harked back to William Hartnell's portrayal whilst giving just a glimpse of someone who could turn into the later Doctors. It was interesting to see Billie Piper as the physical manifestation of the conscience of the ultimate weapon. She looked like Rose Tyler … but wasn’t her … or was she?
I particularly enjoyed the intriguing cameo performance by Tom Baker towards the end of the show – which posed as many questions as it answered! – as well as the composite image at the very end that showed all the Doctors together.
Roll on the next fifty years! I will certainly continue watch … and I am looking forward to seeing Peter Capaldi as the ‘new’ Doctor.
I must admit that the pre-broadcast hype had worried me ... but for once the actuality was better than what was 'promised'. I felt that whilst it drew a line under the previous fifty years, the story left lots of potential plot lines for the future ... and past!
I thought that John Hurt was exactly right for the role of the new/old Doctor. His portrayal of the Doctor who has to confront the most difficult challenge of his life – whether or not to destroy his own people in order to end the Time War – was finely balanced ... and in some ways harked back to William Hartnell's portrayal whilst giving just a glimpse of someone who could turn into the later Doctors. It was interesting to see Billie Piper as the physical manifestation of the conscience of the ultimate weapon. She looked like Rose Tyler … but wasn’t her … or was she?
I particularly enjoyed the intriguing cameo performance by Tom Baker towards the end of the show – which posed as many questions as it answered! – as well as the composite image at the very end that showed all the Doctors together.
Roll on the next fifty years! I will certainly continue watch … and I am looking forward to seeing Peter Capaldi as the ‘new’ Doctor.
Must admit, I thought his way round it would have been to put the entire population into the picture...then the Doctor could just have taken the picture somewhere and reeased them or something. Also, didn't like the assumptio that every Dalek in the universe was aboard the fleet - that didn't make sense. Apart from that, thougt the episode lived up to expectations completely.
ReplyDeleteXaltotun of Python,
ReplyDeleteIf the TARDIS was big enough to take a sizeable proportion of the population of Gallifrey, couldn't all of the TARDISs have transported the entire population elsewhere? I suspect that doing that might have taken too long, likewise putting the whole population into a picture than could have been transported elsewhere.
Were all the Daleks taking part in the invasion and therefore destroyed? I don't think that they were ... leaving them to reappear in the future.
Lots of potential plot lines for the future!
All the best,
Bob
Plot holes in Doctor Who? What an outrageous suggestion. If you want a REAL plot problem in a cult movie, see this: http://whatculture.com/tv/big-bang-theory-ruined-indiana-jones-everyone.php
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun, but frustrating watch for me.
ReplyDelete"The Moment" told JH that she had adopted the form of someone he'd know from his memory. As JH's incarnation would never have encountered Rose/Bad Wolf this either means that the scriptwriters effed up or that the Doctor also remembers events and people from his future incarnations. However, if the latter was the case then surely he would also remember that he'd actually sort-of-saved the Galifreans. Particularly as they showed all the previous Doctors arriving to help save it (or did they all forget too?).
Peter Capaldi's incarnation appearing as one of the Doctors saving Galifree was another eff-up, unless, OMG! - he's to be the final Doctor?
Trebian,
ReplyDeleteSpotting the holes in the plots is part of the fun!
Mind you, I do agree with the comments about Indiana Jones's role in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK ... but the film would not have been as much fun without him.
All the best,
Bob
TamsinP,
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the programme left lots of possible plot lines for the future ... and the past.
The 'Impossible Girl' situation has still to be resolved, as does the role of the 'Doctor's Daughter'. Who is to say that John Hurt's Doctor had not met or known Rose Tyler in the alternate universe where she went to live with David Tennant’s part-human Doctor, her mother, and her no-longer-dead father.
All things are possible …
All the best,
Bob
I am still waiting for some reference, in the more recent episodes, for something about the Doctor's granddaughter. I watched this show when I was a very young boy in the 60s and loved the relationship between the faithful granddaughter and the, apparently, grumpy time lord.
ReplyDeleteThe movie about the beginnings of Doctor Who and Hartnell was very touching when it explored the relationship between the actor and his real granddaughter. From being a grumpy old bloke, in real life, to being a hero who fought aliens in large salt and pepper shakers and journeyed through time and space to share these adventures with his granddaughter was a personal transformation for the actor.
I liked the first doctor and it was interesting to find out that his increasing illness made it difficult for him to remember his lines. Sometimes the stumbling over words remained in the final cut but this just made him more believable. The more recent Doctors are more like super heroes and the Daleks are correspondingly more dangerous - a change from when staircases would foil them!
James O'Connell,
ReplyDeleteThe play about the origins and early days of 'Doctor Who' was one of the highlights of the recent anniversary, and you are right to point out how playing the role seemed to bring William Hartnell a lot of comfort towards the end of his career and to improve his relationship with his granddaughter in particular.
An example of fact following fiction? I don't know, but the short interview with Harnell's granddaughter seemed to reinforce this view of events.
As to his fictional granddaughter ... well I am sure that some reference was made to her many years ago after she left the Doctor ... but I cannot remember when or where.
All the best,
Bob