29 November 2008

Series 4 Reviews - continued

'Silence in the Library' and 'Forest of the Dead'

Steven Moffat will be taking over Doctor Who soon, so I was extra keen to watch these episodes. I'd really enjoyed last year's 'Blink' written by him so adding that to the equation means I was extra, extra keen to watch these.

Wow.

Last year Moffat played on the fear that normal things you see everyday, statues, are really out to get you. It's the sort of thing I might have imagined when I was a kid and the well written and well acted episode worked while hinging on what could be referred to as a childhood fear. This year Moffat worked with another possible childhood fear: what if the shadows were out to get you?

Guess what? It works.

Hinging on that basic concept, just like last year, everything works. It's creepy, it's filled with mystery, it's sad, it's heart crushing, it's heart warming. It's well made Doctor Who and it makes me that much more excited for when he'll take over.

I found it interesting that I was reacting to scenes with certain facial expressions (cross, grumpy, happy) and they'd cut to the Doctor and he had the same facial expression. I think that means the episode is working. Or it means I relate to the Doctor a lot. Or, as some argue, I am the Doctor. Eitherway.

There was one really 'holy crap' moment for me but it doesn't seem fair to talk about it here. You know just in case someone hasn't seen it yet.

Spoilers. ;)

1 comment:

MovieMan said...

I loved those two episodes as well. definitely look forward to Moffat at the helm. He manage to pull out more character development from a character that well has been around for ages. Not easy to do but he does it well.
The wow ending was just that. I did not actually see that coming.