'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. ;)
29 November 2008
D'oh
I don't know why I keep calling the DWIN (Doctor Who Information Network)'s fan fiction magazine 'Enlightment' as that's their news and reviews type fan magazine. The fan fiction magazine is (was?) 'Myth Makers'.
I think.
I wish I could just find my issues and prove it to myself. Must be old...
I think.
I wish I could just find my issues and prove it to myself. Must be old...
28 November 2008
Sometimes I Impress and Confuse Myself
Wow.
Was idly digging through the digital archive, figuring some stuff out, clicking on files and seeing what the titles were for, marking reviews that haven't been used here yet, just puttering. Then I came across another short story that wrote for the 'Enlightment' fan fiction magazine. I can't even recall if I submitted it or not. I totally forgot it existed.
I had to read it again. It's less of a story and more of a coda to the first three stories in Season 31. It's basically a conversation between the Doctor and Julie. The best part was that there's some continuity for Julie in there that I forgot about for 'Time for a Change'. I started retconning the situation in my head immediately. My instincts amuse me. Pity that I didn't remember this as it makes some of Julie's stories in that story make more sense. It would have been a good detail to have.
Interesting.
Was idly digging through the digital archive, figuring some stuff out, clicking on files and seeing what the titles were for, marking reviews that haven't been used here yet, just puttering. Then I came across another short story that wrote for the 'Enlightment' fan fiction magazine. I can't even recall if I submitted it or not. I totally forgot it existed.
I had to read it again. It's less of a story and more of a coda to the first three stories in Season 31. It's basically a conversation between the Doctor and Julie. The best part was that there's some continuity for Julie in there that I forgot about for 'Time for a Change'. I started retconning the situation in my head immediately. My instincts amuse me. Pity that I didn't remember this as it makes some of Julie's stories in that story make more sense. It would have been a good detail to have.
Interesting.
When Drunks Amuse
A few years ago, I was informed by one of my pals in the tavern business that the day before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest nights they have all year. I'm not sure if that's just for the Milwaukee area or if it's all over, but I've seen it to be true. Whether it's the idea of an 'extra' Friday for the week or the knowledge that the next day will be spent with family or just that people are back in town and looking to visit with friends they haven't seen in awhile, the drinking establishments are hopping that day.
I don't generally make any special effort to be out that night but it happens.
After comics and bowling, I got swept up with a group lead by a couple of my buddies and ended up at a crowded establishment having a karaoke night. As per normal in a situation like this where it's crowded and I'm not totally familiar with everyone in the group I'm with, I find ways to enjoy myself. It's better than being grumpy all night. I know cause I've done both. It worked and I had a fine time.
First major amusement: drunk guy that was fascinated with my sideburns. 'Those 'r awesome!' I agreed with him. I bumped into him a number of times that night and he was always willing to comment on them again. 'Is the sideburns guy again! Awesome!' He was talking to a lot of people so I marked him down as 'friendly drunk' as opposed to 'creepy guy' and was amused by him.
Second major amusement: drunken caterwauling karaoke. There were a couple people trying to keep up and sing but the most were barely able to read the lyrics they thought they knew. Fascinating.
Third major amusement: the singalong. Earlier in the night, at the comic shop, I explained that sports provides an opportunity to yell in a socially acceptable setting and how relaxing that can prove to be. A couple beers, a team to cheer for, a team to boo, and you can work a lot of stress out of your system, even if your team is playing like crap. Wednesday night I found that a close cousin to that is the group singalong. I can't recall the lead-up songs, but the crowd started to get warmed up as a group by the song selections. Then 'Bohemian Rhapsody' started and the place went wild. It felt like the entire place was singing along. I was. It was relaxing. At that point, no one can really tell how off key you are, maybe not even the guy next to you. While I still don't understand the appeal of watching football (the type Americans call soccer), I felt I understood the singalongs in the crowd better.
I should like to point out my lack of being drunk at any point during this process. I joined in for the fun of it. I also got to observe people being people, which is always handy for my writing.
I also got part of a drink spilled on me by my buddy's ex-girlfriend as we were leaving but that was also amusing. Her forcing me to then drink some of that drink bordered on creepy though.
I don't generally make any special effort to be out that night but it happens.
After comics and bowling, I got swept up with a group lead by a couple of my buddies and ended up at a crowded establishment having a karaoke night. As per normal in a situation like this where it's crowded and I'm not totally familiar with everyone in the group I'm with, I find ways to enjoy myself. It's better than being grumpy all night. I know cause I've done both. It worked and I had a fine time.
First major amusement: drunk guy that was fascinated with my sideburns. 'Those 'r awesome!' I agreed with him. I bumped into him a number of times that night and he was always willing to comment on them again. 'Is the sideburns guy again! Awesome!' He was talking to a lot of people so I marked him down as 'friendly drunk' as opposed to 'creepy guy' and was amused by him.
Second major amusement: drunken caterwauling karaoke. There were a couple people trying to keep up and sing but the most were barely able to read the lyrics they thought they knew. Fascinating.
Third major amusement: the singalong. Earlier in the night, at the comic shop, I explained that sports provides an opportunity to yell in a socially acceptable setting and how relaxing that can prove to be. A couple beers, a team to cheer for, a team to boo, and you can work a lot of stress out of your system, even if your team is playing like crap. Wednesday night I found that a close cousin to that is the group singalong. I can't recall the lead-up songs, but the crowd started to get warmed up as a group by the song selections. Then 'Bohemian Rhapsody' started and the place went wild. It felt like the entire place was singing along. I was. It was relaxing. At that point, no one can really tell how off key you are, maybe not even the guy next to you. While I still don't understand the appeal of watching football (the type Americans call soccer), I felt I understood the singalongs in the crowd better.
I should like to point out my lack of being drunk at any point during this process. I joined in for the fun of it. I also got to observe people being people, which is always handy for my writing.
I also got part of a drink spilled on me by my buddy's ex-girlfriend as we were leaving but that was also amusing. Her forcing me to then drink some of that drink bordered on creepy though.
27 November 2008
'Hillbillys in a Haunted House' review
'Hillbillys in a Haunted House' - 1967
Story in Brief: Our friends from 'Las Vegas Hillbillys', Woody, Jeepers, and Boots are on their way to Nashville for a Jamboree they've arranged. On their way there, a storm approaches and they take refuge in a battered old mansion...which is haunted...by spies!
Thoughts:
This sequel to 'Las Vegas Hillbillys' is much more a film than the original. The story, again, is simple but this time it has a slight chance to develop and has an ending. Of course, there's another ten minutes or so of Jamboree after that, but that's okay. The moments of song seem briefer this time around, only a song or two at a time instead of three. This makes the moments of song seem less of an interruption. There is also an attempt to have a reason for the moments of song.
Ferlin Husky is still an amiable lead, pleasant, amusing and grinning. Don Bowman is still grandly cynical as Jeepers. Mamie Van Doran is no longer playing Boots, the role now performed by Joi Lansing. While this may be sacrilegious to some, Joi seems much more comfortable in her role than Mamie. Joi seems to be having fun with it and, well, I find Joi to be much more attractive. Nothing against Mamie you understand but Joi....wow.
While that's all well and good, the icing on this cake is the guest stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. They get to be politely creepy and have a bit of fun. I'm sure these were roles they could have played in their sleep (and may have done) but it adds a certain authentic quality to their roles. The familiar faces help. And we've got a man in a gorilla suit, so it's grand.
Music-wise there's nothing mad here. Apart from Ferlin, the big name is Merle Haggard (and his two songs are a bonus in themselves).
Basically, this is the sort of thing I felt they were shooting for with the first film but didn't make it. It's simple, basic, maybe a little stupid at time, but it's fun and doesn't purport to be anything else.
The video is essentially in the same condition as the first, probably a little cropped, damaged, but solid. Considering its age and relatively low budget origins, this is about as good as one could expect. The audio is solid, but nothing special.
The only extra is a sequence of 'Coming Soon' footage. They're not trailers, just footage from movies VCI was preparing to release at the time. It's the same sequence that appeared on the 'Las Vegas Hillbillys' disk.
This is another disk that can probably be found at a discount price, about $9.99.
Recommendation to watch. Again, it's not bad, just simple silly fun. It'll be of particular interest to fans of Lon Chaney Jr, Basil Rathbone, John Carradine and Merle Haggard.
(Standard 'Pricing and availability have likely changed' disclaimer. Add 'thought I'd get the sequel out here since I mentioned it yesterday'. Also add 'like yesterday, this is probably the most anyone has ever written about this movie'. Archive reorganization going well but yesterday left me worn out. Trying to get more done but the energy just isn't there.)
Story in Brief: Our friends from 'Las Vegas Hillbillys', Woody, Jeepers, and Boots are on their way to Nashville for a Jamboree they've arranged. On their way there, a storm approaches and they take refuge in a battered old mansion...which is haunted...by spies!
Thoughts:
This sequel to 'Las Vegas Hillbillys' is much more a film than the original. The story, again, is simple but this time it has a slight chance to develop and has an ending. Of course, there's another ten minutes or so of Jamboree after that, but that's okay. The moments of song seem briefer this time around, only a song or two at a time instead of three. This makes the moments of song seem less of an interruption. There is also an attempt to have a reason for the moments of song.
Ferlin Husky is still an amiable lead, pleasant, amusing and grinning. Don Bowman is still grandly cynical as Jeepers. Mamie Van Doran is no longer playing Boots, the role now performed by Joi Lansing. While this may be sacrilegious to some, Joi seems much more comfortable in her role than Mamie. Joi seems to be having fun with it and, well, I find Joi to be much more attractive. Nothing against Mamie you understand but Joi....wow.
While that's all well and good, the icing on this cake is the guest stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. They get to be politely creepy and have a bit of fun. I'm sure these were roles they could have played in their sleep (and may have done) but it adds a certain authentic quality to their roles. The familiar faces help. And we've got a man in a gorilla suit, so it's grand.
Music-wise there's nothing mad here. Apart from Ferlin, the big name is Merle Haggard (and his two songs are a bonus in themselves).
Basically, this is the sort of thing I felt they were shooting for with the first film but didn't make it. It's simple, basic, maybe a little stupid at time, but it's fun and doesn't purport to be anything else.
The video is essentially in the same condition as the first, probably a little cropped, damaged, but solid. Considering its age and relatively low budget origins, this is about as good as one could expect. The audio is solid, but nothing special.
The only extra is a sequence of 'Coming Soon' footage. They're not trailers, just footage from movies VCI was preparing to release at the time. It's the same sequence that appeared on the 'Las Vegas Hillbillys' disk.
This is another disk that can probably be found at a discount price, about $9.99.
Recommendation to watch. Again, it's not bad, just simple silly fun. It'll be of particular interest to fans of Lon Chaney Jr, Basil Rathbone, John Carradine and Merle Haggard.
(Standard 'Pricing and availability have likely changed' disclaimer. Add 'thought I'd get the sequel out here since I mentioned it yesterday'. Also add 'like yesterday, this is probably the most anyone has ever written about this movie'. Archive reorganization going well but yesterday left me worn out. Trying to get more done but the energy just isn't there.)
26 November 2008
'Las Vegas Hillbillies' Review
'Las Vegas Hillbillys' - 1966
Story in Brief: Woody Weatherby's uncle dies and leaves him a casino in Las Vegas. Woody and his buddy/business manager Jeepers drive from Tennessee to Vegas in their barely running truck to discover that the casino is a simple roadside tavern and the fortune they imagined is nothing but debt. All they have is the space, a bartender and singer Boots Malone's contract for the rest of the year. Are Woody's dreams of being a big country singer destined to remain dreams?
Thoughts:
I apologize for making it sound like this movie has much of a story. It doesn't really and I don't think it was intended to be much more than a framework to hang the performances of a number of country stars upon. In that it succeeds. Unfortunately the simple story that we follow for eighty some minutes just stops and this is what frustrates me most. I mean it wasn't much and I had grown to accept that, I was even enjoying it, but then there's nothing at the end to wrap things up. It feels like the producers realized they had enough footage for a feature and just stopped. Plotlines (simple as they were) are left. There's no real buildup to the last minute or so of the movie, no real link between what we've been watching and the ending. That's what bothers me.
That said, the movie's not bad until the frustrating ending. It's amusing in bits, not too badly made most of the time and it's reasonably well acted for the most part. The bits that are bad are really awkward, but they're relatively infrequent. The breaks for the music are a bit too frequent and run too long. The majority of this movie is music. Since that was the intent, I can't fault them there but it does make it a bit tricky to watch now, especially as many of the performers in the film are relatively obscure now.
Ferlin Husky is a likable lead as Woody. He's friendly and well intentioned. When people start to rally around him, it's not hard to understand why. He's good people. Don Bowman is fun as Jeepers. Jeepers is the relatively quiet cynical guy you know who's always willing to let you know where things will go wrong. He makes for a good counter point to Woody. Mamie Van Doren is Boots and she seems to be having a reasonably good time acting with the country folk (and looking cuddly). The big surprise (in more ways than one) in the cast is an appearance from Richard Kiel as a bodyguard. Dressed with a big cowboy hat, he was the reason behind my only vocal laugh while watching the film. While laughing at one of Jeepers' comments, he smacks Jeepers in the back, knocks him down, and quickly apologizes and helps him up. I'm sure it was intentional, but it was so natural it amused me.
The image is full screen. If the opening credit lettering is anything to go by, it's slightly cropped, but not by much. The picture is flecked and damaged, but not horribly so. The picture is crisp except in moments when the photography appears to get too clever and fails. The audio is solid but unremarkable. In short, it's a reasonably good representation of what was no doubt a low budget sixties film. It's not likely to ever look any better.
The only extras VCI has supplied is a loop of films that were 'coming soon' when this DVD was released. Still, considering it's going for $9.99 now, that's not bad.
Not recommended. The non-ending has left me too bitter towards this film. I just can't recommend it. If you have a sizable interest in sixties country music, then look for it. Otherwise there's not enough here for most people.
(Standard 'pricing may have changed' disclaimer. Add 'I'd be more creative but work in Archive has me tuckered out'. Also add 'This is probably the most anyone has ever written about this film'. And I reviewed the sequel as well so add 'Coming soon...')
Story in Brief: Woody Weatherby's uncle dies and leaves him a casino in Las Vegas. Woody and his buddy/business manager Jeepers drive from Tennessee to Vegas in their barely running truck to discover that the casino is a simple roadside tavern and the fortune they imagined is nothing but debt. All they have is the space, a bartender and singer Boots Malone's contract for the rest of the year. Are Woody's dreams of being a big country singer destined to remain dreams?
Thoughts:
I apologize for making it sound like this movie has much of a story. It doesn't really and I don't think it was intended to be much more than a framework to hang the performances of a number of country stars upon. In that it succeeds. Unfortunately the simple story that we follow for eighty some minutes just stops and this is what frustrates me most. I mean it wasn't much and I had grown to accept that, I was even enjoying it, but then there's nothing at the end to wrap things up. It feels like the producers realized they had enough footage for a feature and just stopped. Plotlines (simple as they were) are left. There's no real buildup to the last minute or so of the movie, no real link between what we've been watching and the ending. That's what bothers me.
That said, the movie's not bad until the frustrating ending. It's amusing in bits, not too badly made most of the time and it's reasonably well acted for the most part. The bits that are bad are really awkward, but they're relatively infrequent. The breaks for the music are a bit too frequent and run too long. The majority of this movie is music. Since that was the intent, I can't fault them there but it does make it a bit tricky to watch now, especially as many of the performers in the film are relatively obscure now.
Ferlin Husky is a likable lead as Woody. He's friendly and well intentioned. When people start to rally around him, it's not hard to understand why. He's good people. Don Bowman is fun as Jeepers. Jeepers is the relatively quiet cynical guy you know who's always willing to let you know where things will go wrong. He makes for a good counter point to Woody. Mamie Van Doren is Boots and she seems to be having a reasonably good time acting with the country folk (and looking cuddly). The big surprise (in more ways than one) in the cast is an appearance from Richard Kiel as a bodyguard. Dressed with a big cowboy hat, he was the reason behind my only vocal laugh while watching the film. While laughing at one of Jeepers' comments, he smacks Jeepers in the back, knocks him down, and quickly apologizes and helps him up. I'm sure it was intentional, but it was so natural it amused me.
The image is full screen. If the opening credit lettering is anything to go by, it's slightly cropped, but not by much. The picture is flecked and damaged, but not horribly so. The picture is crisp except in moments when the photography appears to get too clever and fails. The audio is solid but unremarkable. In short, it's a reasonably good representation of what was no doubt a low budget sixties film. It's not likely to ever look any better.
The only extras VCI has supplied is a loop of films that were 'coming soon' when this DVD was released. Still, considering it's going for $9.99 now, that's not bad.
Not recommended. The non-ending has left me too bitter towards this film. I just can't recommend it. If you have a sizable interest in sixties country music, then look for it. Otherwise there's not enough here for most people.
(Standard 'pricing may have changed' disclaimer. Add 'I'd be more creative but work in Archive has me tuckered out'. Also add 'This is probably the most anyone has ever written about this film'. And I reviewed the sequel as well so add 'Coming soon...')
25 November 2008
Busy at mo
Had a great 'rearrange the Archive' thought this morning. It's working out good so far. Pieces falling into place and everything.
Will talk more later.
Will talk more later.
24 November 2008
Series 4 Reviews - continued
'The Doctor's Daughter'
I'd braced myself going into this story for a couple of reasons: the title, and my friends had reacted rather positively to it. Hype makes me nervous.
I've explained that before, haven't I? How I tend to lower my expectations for things I'm looking forward to in an effort to better enjoy the thing when it arrives? I'll go to the point of bad talking things in public in an effort to keep that expectation low.
It's hard to go into an adaptation of something you enjoy, or an experimental episode of a TV show you like, or an issue of a comic that doesn't seem to do much but is setting something else up. Sometimes you can expect too much or not be in a receptive mood for the variation or whatever. What people often tend to forget is that a review of something, even if it's as part of a casual conversation over lunch, is just an opinion. There are ways to discuss the construction of a work, to determine mathematically that its made well or made poorly, but, really, who reviews things like that? Of what value is it? A poorly constructed film can still be more entertaining than one that is technically well assembled. A review is how one person reacted to a work, generally in that one moment. Music reviews can be done from multiple plays of the songs involved, but often a movie or TV review is done from one viewing of the work in question. What kind of mood did the reviewer have going in? Do they generally like the type of work in question? What distracted him/her while watching the work? In the average review, none of that is discussed, just a 'it was awesome!' or 'it was awful'.
The Internet often does not help as it is considered 'criticism' to hate what is liked and like what is hated. It's 'cool' to be contrary for the sake of it. To be fair, I've lived that life too, but it soon gets very boring.
Now, in all fairness, everyone has their own limits as to what they'll accept. It annoyed a lot of people that Spider-Man had organic web-shooters in the movies instead of the mechanical ones. It's really not much of a plot point but, from a purist point of view, it was wrong and tainted the film for them. Fair enough to them but in the overall scheme of things, I didn't think it was a big deal. I had some issues with the ending to Series 3 of Doctor Who, with the world thinking about the Doctor enough to 'fix' him, but it was a moment and I moved on.
Where was I going with all this? Oh, right, 'The Doctor's Daughter'. Returning to the task at hand.
I enjoyed it. Some of the new 45 minute episodes feel truncated in their stories and this was one of them. While watching it, I enjoyed it, but I could also feel the 'missing' parts if this had been a old-style 4 part story. There were characters and set-up that was bypassed that felt like it was there. It was weird in that regard.
The title had concerned me as I was afraid of some weird set of circumstances that would generate the title character. It actually is dealt with straight away in the story so that we can focus on the consequences.
This is where the episode shined for me. There was a lot of other things to enjoy: the mystery, the fish-like aliens, the gritty look of everything but the Doctor's reactions and reasons for such made this all click. For viewers of the new series, some of what he explains might be news, but for me, this was just going back to the old days. It was almost like a sequel of Troughton's conversation with Victoria in 'Tomb of the Cybermen'.
The fact that the Doctor's Daughter, Jenny (Genny?), was played by the Doctor's Daughter (Peter Davison's daughter) amused me. I will also admit the fact that she's very pretty indeed helped my attention as well. Wow. Such a smile!
'The Unicorn and the Wasp'
Murder mystery with Agatha Christie writted by Gareth Roberts. You had me at hello.
The only rough spot in this story, indeed in the season in general so far, has been some of the CGI effects. Some of them are getting more noticable. I'm not sure if I'm getting more picky about it or if CGI is being used more or what exactly it is. It's not been a big problem so far but it's just something that I've noticed more.
Oh, and yesterday I also watched:
'An Unearthly Child'
Still one of the most exciting half-hours of television, 45 years later, and nothing really happens. When Ian sums up the series to come as 'A Police Box, standing in a junkyard, it can go anywhere in Time and Space', I have to wipe a tear from my eye.
It's just so... right. You can go anywhere from there.
And they did.
I'd braced myself going into this story for a couple of reasons: the title, and my friends had reacted rather positively to it. Hype makes me nervous.
I've explained that before, haven't I? How I tend to lower my expectations for things I'm looking forward to in an effort to better enjoy the thing when it arrives? I'll go to the point of bad talking things in public in an effort to keep that expectation low.
It's hard to go into an adaptation of something you enjoy, or an experimental episode of a TV show you like, or an issue of a comic that doesn't seem to do much but is setting something else up. Sometimes you can expect too much or not be in a receptive mood for the variation or whatever. What people often tend to forget is that a review of something, even if it's as part of a casual conversation over lunch, is just an opinion. There are ways to discuss the construction of a work, to determine mathematically that its made well or made poorly, but, really, who reviews things like that? Of what value is it? A poorly constructed film can still be more entertaining than one that is technically well assembled. A review is how one person reacted to a work, generally in that one moment. Music reviews can be done from multiple plays of the songs involved, but often a movie or TV review is done from one viewing of the work in question. What kind of mood did the reviewer have going in? Do they generally like the type of work in question? What distracted him/her while watching the work? In the average review, none of that is discussed, just a 'it was awesome!' or 'it was awful'.
The Internet often does not help as it is considered 'criticism' to hate what is liked and like what is hated. It's 'cool' to be contrary for the sake of it. To be fair, I've lived that life too, but it soon gets very boring.
Now, in all fairness, everyone has their own limits as to what they'll accept. It annoyed a lot of people that Spider-Man had organic web-shooters in the movies instead of the mechanical ones. It's really not much of a plot point but, from a purist point of view, it was wrong and tainted the film for them. Fair enough to them but in the overall scheme of things, I didn't think it was a big deal. I had some issues with the ending to Series 3 of Doctor Who, with the world thinking about the Doctor enough to 'fix' him, but it was a moment and I moved on.
Where was I going with all this? Oh, right, 'The Doctor's Daughter'. Returning to the task at hand.
I enjoyed it. Some of the new 45 minute episodes feel truncated in their stories and this was one of them. While watching it, I enjoyed it, but I could also feel the 'missing' parts if this had been a old-style 4 part story. There were characters and set-up that was bypassed that felt like it was there. It was weird in that regard.
The title had concerned me as I was afraid of some weird set of circumstances that would generate the title character. It actually is dealt with straight away in the story so that we can focus on the consequences.
This is where the episode shined for me. There was a lot of other things to enjoy: the mystery, the fish-like aliens, the gritty look of everything but the Doctor's reactions and reasons for such made this all click. For viewers of the new series, some of what he explains might be news, but for me, this was just going back to the old days. It was almost like a sequel of Troughton's conversation with Victoria in 'Tomb of the Cybermen'.
The fact that the Doctor's Daughter, Jenny (Genny?), was played by the Doctor's Daughter (Peter Davison's daughter) amused me. I will also admit the fact that she's very pretty indeed helped my attention as well. Wow. Such a smile!
'The Unicorn and the Wasp'
Murder mystery with Agatha Christie writted by Gareth Roberts. You had me at hello.
The only rough spot in this story, indeed in the season in general so far, has been some of the CGI effects. Some of them are getting more noticable. I'm not sure if I'm getting more picky about it or if CGI is being used more or what exactly it is. It's not been a big problem so far but it's just something that I've noticed more.
Oh, and yesterday I also watched:
'An Unearthly Child'
Still one of the most exciting half-hours of television, 45 years later, and nothing really happens. When Ian sums up the series to come as 'A Police Box, standing in a junkyard, it can go anywhere in Time and Space', I have to wipe a tear from my eye.
It's just so... right. You can go anywhere from there.
And they did.
23 November 2008
76 Totter's Lane
Ian's brain ached with confusion. Things had been so simple a few short minutes ago and now... now it was if he understood nothing. He picked up a word of the old man's reply and echoed it automatically. "Ship?"
This seemed to further irritate the old man. "Yes, yes Ship!" Continuing his condescending tone, he noted "This doesn't roll along on wheels, you know."
Next to Ian, Barbara also struggled to understand. "You mean, it moves?"
Susan shrugged off the question. It made sense to her. Why did it make sense to her and not him? "The TARDIS can go anywhere," she stated matter-of-factly.
"TARDIS?" The unfamiliar word further threw Barbara. "I don't understand you Susan."
She tried to explain. "Well I made up the name TARDIS from the initials: Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The lack of comprehension from us seemed to fluster her. "I thought you'd both understand when you saw the different dimensions inside from those outside."
He struggled to understand. "Now let me get this straight," Ian began. "A thing that looks like a police box, standing in a junkyard, it can move anywhere in Time and Space?"
"Yes," Susan replied.
"Quite so," her Grandfather confirmed.
Ian's brain continued to ache.
(45 Years of Doctor Who today. November 23rd, 1963. Loving it!)
This seemed to further irritate the old man. "Yes, yes Ship!" Continuing his condescending tone, he noted "This doesn't roll along on wheels, you know."
Next to Ian, Barbara also struggled to understand. "You mean, it moves?"
Susan shrugged off the question. It made sense to her. Why did it make sense to her and not him? "The TARDIS can go anywhere," she stated matter-of-factly.
"TARDIS?" The unfamiliar word further threw Barbara. "I don't understand you Susan."
She tried to explain. "Well I made up the name TARDIS from the initials: Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The lack of comprehension from us seemed to fluster her. "I thought you'd both understand when you saw the different dimensions inside from those outside."
He struggled to understand. "Now let me get this straight," Ian began. "A thing that looks like a police box, standing in a junkyard, it can move anywhere in Time and Space?"
"Yes," Susan replied.
"Quite so," her Grandfather confirmed.
Ian's brain continued to ache.
(45 Years of Doctor Who today. November 23rd, 1963. Loving it!)
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