"I know they call him ten-inch, but you should see mine."Wow. I mean - wow.
This episode scared the bejeesus out of me and I didn't even know I had bejeesus in me. Plot summary, not entirely coherent: River Song summons the Doc across time and space to save her life, and while he's at it, do battle with one of those nasty weeping angel statue thingies from Blink. River and the Doc bicker and flirt a lot, which I like, Amy laughs at them, which I also like, they team up with a bunch of warrior monks with a rather sexy leader in the form of Iain Glen, which I like hugely, helloooo Iain, it's all quite jolly and then OH MY GOD, AMY'S LOCKED IN WITH THE ANGEL AND IT'S COMING ALIVE ON SCREEN, IT'S COMING TO GET HER, NOW IT'S IN HER EYE, IT'S IN HER EEEEEYYYYEEEEEE, BLOODY HELL, SHIT NOW THEY'RE IN A MAZE, A MAZE OF STATUES AND DEAD PEOPLE, AND THERE'S AN ANGEL IN THERE WITH THEM, WHERE IS IT, WHERE IS IT, OH GOD, SOMETHING WEIRD IS HAPPENING TO THE MONKS, THIS IS LIKE THOSE WALKING BODIES IN THE LIBRARY ONE, THAT WAS SCARY TOO, OH GOD, ANGELS, ANGELS, ALL OF THE STATUES ARE ANGELS, ONLY THEY'RE ALL MESSED UP AND LOOK EVEN SCARIER WITH MELTED FACES, HELP, THEY ARE ROYALLY SCREWED, SHIT, SOMETHING REALLY WEIRD IS HAPPENING TO AMY, OH NO, THEY'RE IN A TRAP, AND THAT VOICE OF BOB THING IS FREAKING ME OUT, OH GOD, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM, OH NO, OH NO, OH what the fuck is an animated Graham Norton doing on screen NO, THE DOCTOR IS SHOOTING A GUN, HE NEVER SHOOTS A GUN, THIS IS SERIOUS SHIT, AND OH MY WORD IT'S THE END OF THE EPISODE.
(Spot the BBC's deliberate mistake.)
It was bloody brilliant and properly written and directed and all of that, and if I had a tiny little quibble it would be that early on in the episode the Doctor still comes across as a bit hopeless in comparison to River "I can reverse park this Tardis into a space even smaller than a Fiat 500" Song and Amy "give me a day to save and I'll save it" Pond, and I don't think the Doctor should be hopeless. But he gets very angry and unhopeless at the gunslinging end, so I have middling-to-high hopes of lack of hopelessness in future. Man of steel under his bumbling professor image etc.
What think the rest of you? It was great, wasn't it? Yes. Great. Definitely.
Posts
13 comments:
Soooo much better than the last two. I was properly scared. If only I could find some trace of emotion or sensitivity in Matt Smith, I could really start to enjoy DW again.
Oh, and if only he could get past his increasingly annoying habit of 'I'm going to hold my head slightly downwards and look up at you through my hooded eyes' I really think then I could start to warm to him....
Oh come on!We loved DT but, although we all fancied him like mad,if you really looked while he was performing (LOL) with his 'mouth agape' he tended appear "half haddock half time lord" as a newspaper review commented.
I think Matt Smith is properly otherwordly, though sadly too young for us older ladies which may be at the heart of your problem Marie...?
I think you're all missing the real highlights of the show - the Doctor's slightly embarrassed / asthmastic impersonation of the TARDIS noise.
Awesome!
Agree that this was best post-DT episode so far, and that Tardis noise gag was a highlight! Moffatt very scary writer but for me Mat is just too young to be convincing as a man who has lived across time. DT was playful but also had the air of a man who knew things... Going for a lie down now!
Every time there's a weak episode of Doctor Who, I'm overcome with the illogical fear that it's never going to be good again.
I was looking forward, with some trepidation, to this week, comforting myself with the ideas that this was going to be a) another Steven Moffat story with b)River Song and c) weeping angels.
Whew! Of course, elder daughter kept having to say, "Stop talking at the screen, Mom." (I was telling Amy to get the hell out and tell the Doctor and River Song that the Angel had moved. Then the door got locked...)
I'm having no problem at all with Matt Smith (except for last week, but the story stank, so I don't think it was his fault). Sure, I loved (and continue to love) David Tennant, but I'll see him again in other stuff. I understand he's coming to Canada to film a suspense flick with Jason Isaacs. But that's on an island, so not likely to be near me. Sorry, got distracted there.
Anyway, I like Matt. I like the chemistry (so far platonic, which is good) between him and Amy/Karen. I think he'll be just fine. Just give him decent stories.
Elder daughter caught something about "self-marrying". River Song isn't actually the Doctor, is she?
Bloody wonderful I thought. And I have no problem believing in MS as the Doctor. He has enough other-worldliness to convince me.
My heart will always belong to Ten, but I remain committed to the fiery delights the show stirs in me and as such, I can believe in Eleven as well...
"Give me a day to save and I'll save it?" Holy hell woman, that should be the one, best remembered line of a TV series all its own, spliced into a hundred sappy YouTube fan videos and marketed on t-shirts. In fact, go ahead and make a t-shirt of this tag line of yours and I'll buy it. Cheers.
Really, really enjoyed it. But then that night I had a dream where I was in a Who story with Matt Smith... but he wasn't being very good... so David Tennant turned up and took over.
Much as I loved this ep, I still couldn't help thinking at times "Oooh, Tennant would have been REALLLY good in that bit..."
I can't really comment much about the episode, since I watched most of it from behind the sofa...
So, it's great that Doctor Who is properly scarey again, it was wonderful to see River Song, and I'm loving fearless (except for fear that her arm has turned to stone) Amy.
I was very much enjoying the Doctor's big speech: 'there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap...', but why did it never occur to the BBC that the one thing you never, ever put over a dramatic moment like that is an animated Graham Norton? Crass.
I wonder if Total Wipe-out fans similarly complained about the animated Dalek that was super-imposed over that show's final moments?
Weeping Angels? What's not to love?
Truly scary and freckilious episode and the first to marginally restore my faith in the "Moff"!
Oh weird idea about RIver - I like that!!! She did say "With the doctor do you really think it's that simple?" About the whole married thing and she certainly was fiesty and gung-ho!!!
Low how does she know High Gallifreyan??? (ah! Ah! See! Plot's a thicking!)
Took 4 episodes to (mostly) embrace the New New New Doctor where as with David Tennant it took like 4mins but it's the eyes - MS's too young to have eyes that ancient but he is definitely playing a more alien Doctor - kinda 5esque with the absentminded professor thing!
David was more emotional and so so wonderful - ok STOP IT! I can feel a squee arising!
Well, basically agree with you again, which is quite boring, I know... Although I wasn't as blown away by this as I wanted to be. Oh, it was a VAST improvement on rainbow Daleks and space whale that is for sure. But I so loved River the last time she was on and I so wanted to adore this ep because it was River and weeping angels and last time they made me sleep with the light on, and it was great, fab, it really was. But it wasn't as fabulous as I wanted. I guess I had too many expectations.
What did I like? The cry of 'Wrong!' at every exhibit in the museum, the TARDIS impression, the holy soldiers, River's shoes, the angels 'decomposing'. What didn't I like? The vague feeling of disappointment.
Matt S is not bad, but like you I'm not believing he's the Doctor. You really could still put DT in there and he wouldn't have to change much dialogue at all. As my sister (who has watched every DW since it began. Yes, she is a lot older than me ;) ) said today 'It feels sometimes like trying to do an impression of DT' and it does feel like that at times. I wish Moff had grasped the nettle and changed the Doc completely, but it doesn't feel like he has.
Roll on Saturday, though. Lets see what happens and why the naughty River has been in the klink!
(Oh, quick PS - can anyone tell me why the angels have taken to breaking peoples necks instead of being the 'nicest killers in the universe' and just sending you out of your time to feed on your energy? Did I miss something?)
(Finally caught up with all Who and can now comment...)
It's funny - Liz and I feel almost the exact opposite about Matt Smith and David Tennant. By the end of DT's reign all I could see was 'the actor David Tennant pulling that gurny face again' (apart from Waters of Mars where he did some Proper Acting That Made Me Forget He Was An Actor instead of Doing His Doctor Tics); whereas with Matt Smith I see the Doctor. Just the Doctor. It probably helps that I haven't seen him in anything else but Liz, who saw and loved him in Party Animals, says the same.
I love his stillness. I love the Doctor, any Doctor, in vengeance mode, but I love the end of Time of Angels when the Doctor is preparing to fire and he is so focused on what he's about to do, so full of cold fury, that his brilliant speech is almost an afterthought, something tossed off to give the Angels something to think about while he kicks their asses.
I'm totally developing a new TV crush.
(By the way, agree that the new theme tune is awful. Where are the dum-dum-dum-dums?)
I would really like someone to explain how it was possible to be in a cave with hundreds of angels and not have them all attacking you. There was no way they could all be seen at once, and yet they stayed where they were. Why weren't they attacking? And given that they seemed to stay still even when nobody was looking at them, why were they supposed to be a threat?
As usual I was watching with two small noisy children in the room, so might have missed the bit where this was explained, but it really bugged me and stopped me from being properly scared.
Really though I should just give up watching unless I am in a very quiet room and can concentrate very hard. It's become a family tradition in our house so can't be missed, but honestly I never have a clue what is going on, and it's very hard to concentrate when a 1-yr-old is attacking you with cushions.
Post a Comment