2000 Hits!

Wow!  Up to 2000 hits already!  Thank you to everyone for coming to  the blog and reading what I've done.  I've had some great feed back from a lot of you and are glad that people are enjoying it.

Thanks so much everyone!

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'Tooth and Claw' Review

The Doctor faces off against an alien werewolf.

The Doctor attempts to take Rose to see a music concert in 1979, but instead lands the Tardis in the Scottish moors in 1879.  They encounter a carriage carrying Queen Victoria, who is travelling to Balmoral Castle.  The Doctor and Rose join her on her trip and the group arrive at the Torchwood Estate where they plan to stay the night.

Unfortunately the estate has been taken over by a group of monks that have taken the estate’s inhabitants hostage and prepared a trap for the queen.  Having brought a man to the estate infected with a form of alien induced lycanthropy they plan to infect the queen and create an ‘Empire of the Wolf’.

The Doctor and Rose must defend the queen from the werewolf whilst trying to devise a way of defeating the creature.  Discovering that the queens late husband, Prince Albert, and the former lord of the Torchwood Estate knew of the presence of the werewolf and its plan for Queen Victoria, and as such set the Torchwood Estate as a trap for the wolf.

Using the trap provided for them The Doctor manages to defeat the wolf and save the queen, though it is left vague to the fact if she became infected from a cut form the wolf.  The net day the queen knights both Rose and The Doctor, then immediately banishes them from the British Empire.  The queen is appalled by the unholy lifestyle that Rose and The Doctor live.  She also orders the creation of the Torchwood Institute to help defend Britain from further alien attacks.

The werewolf stalks the halls of the Torchwood Estate.

‘Tooth and Claw’ is a great episode for fans of both the classic series and the new Doctor Who.  The tone of the episode is very reminiscent of some of the early Tom Baker serials that focused on gothic horror.  Whilst the episode begins at day on the Scottish moors the majority of the episode is set at night, in the dark and oppressive confines of the Torchwood Estate.  This helps to give the episode a great claustrophobic atmosphere and ramps up the tension.

The alien werewolf itself is an amazing piece of CGI work that is stunning to look at.  Where a great many television shows will have computer effects that don’t hold up well on screen and age very quickly the werewolf in this episode is a stand out of the series.  Its movements are smooth and fluidic and it interacts with the live action sets and characters very easily.

Both The Doctor and Rose work well in this episode, with their two separate stories within the Torchwood Estate playing out very naturally, unlike many of the ‘missing assistant’ ploys used in the show in the past.  The giddiness and excitement the two of them experience in the situation is something that seems to come very naturally to the both of them too, and goes to show how Rose has matured over her time in the show and how her relationship with the Doctor has changed since his regeneration.

Queen Victoria played brilliantly by Pauline Collins.

Queen Victoria is played especially well by Pauline Collins, who brings a great deal of depth and emotion to the character.  It could have been very easy for the writers and actors to have her simply as a stereotype of what you would expect the character to be.  Instead they spend their time showing how the character thinks, how she has dealt with the loss of her husband and the effect it has had on her at an emotional level.  All of this helps not only to serve a better episode, but also makes sure that you care for her as a character and genuinely want to see her safe from the threat of the werewolf.

A great monster episode that uses its setting to perfection and gives us a cast of characters that have real life to them, that you actually care about.  It’s also fun to hear David Tennant use his natural accent, and the inclusion of Jamie McCrimmon’s name is a great shout out to old fans.  8/10

Amy.
xx

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'A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones' Review

I came to ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ late, with books one to five already published and the first two seasons of the television adaptation having aired.  I’d heard nothing but good things about both, with people raving about the quality of the story and the characters.  I have to admit that at first this put me off.  I was worried that the product wouldn’t live up to the hype and I’d be left disappointed.

Eventually I relented and sat down to watch the first episode of the show and was immediately enthralled.  The world, the characters, the mystery.  I needed to know more, I needed to see what happened next.  Over the following two weeks I had watched every episode of the show and had bought the first book.

Going into the book I was pleased to find that everything that had made the show great was a product of the original source material and not something that had been added for television.  Not only that, but I was given so much more to enjoy.

George R. R. Martin is an amazing storyteller that crafts an entire world that feels real and full formed, filled with a cast of characters that are as multifaceted as you or I.  There are no real villains and no real heroes in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, everyone has their own reasons to do what they do, and can justify there actions.

Yes, there are some people who do some down right nasty things in the book, but through the back story that Martin provides we can see how they reached this point, and if not sympathise with them at least understand.

Instead of focusing solely on one character the author spreads the focus on several key figures in the world he created, dedicating a chapter to one of these before moving on to the next.  This allows the reader to see multiple viewpoints and builds us a bigger picture of the world of Westeros. 

We are also given more than one storyline, with events unfolding across the world, some that effect and are effected by others, some that are apparently separate yet will have some small connection to one or more of the other stories.  Just like the multiple character viewpoints this makes Westeros feel like a real world, where many different things are happening.  It also helps to build anticipation for the inevitable meeting of these storylines, where we will get to see these characters clash.

The first volume is a great introduction to the world and the characters, and sets up the stories for the following volumes incredibly well.  For anyone that has watched the television show and is interested in reading the book do so, everything that made you love the show will be even better.  And if you haven’t experienced either start here.  9/10

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'The Five Doctors' Review

The five Doctors together on Bessie.

‘The Five Doctors’ is the Doctor Who’s 20^th anniversary special, and they don’t hold anything back going into one of the best stories to unite multiple Doctors.

An unseen adversary uses a device called a Time Scoop to capture previous incarnations of The Doctor, a number of his companions and even his enemies, including Daleks and Cybermen, and places them into the Death Zone on Gallifrey.  Although they are able to capture the first three versions of The Doctor, the fourth Doctor and Romana become stuck within the time vortex.  The three Doctors and recognise the Death Zone and lead their companions towards the tower in the centre.

           

Meanwhile the fifth Doctor his hit with pain as he feels the removal of his former selves from the timeline, forcing the fifth Doctor to travel to the Death Zone in the Tardis. 

Discovering the reactivation of the Death Zone, and the resultant power drain that it has had on the Eye of Harmony, the Time Lord high council realise that multiple versions of The Doctor have been taken out of the time stream.  Reluctantly they decide to send The Master into the Death Zone to assist The Doctor, agreeing to give him a full pardon for his crimes and a new set of regenerations if he does so.

The fifth Doctor feels the loss of his other selves from the timeline.

Inside the Death Zone the various versions of The Doctor, his companions and The Master must fight there way past Daleks, Cybermen and other threats to reach the tower at the centre of the Death Zone and solve the mystery of why they have been taken out of time.

‘The Five Doctors’ is a great episode for fans of the classic series, bringing together three Doctors and a handful of his best companions.  Yes, only three Doctors are actually in the special.  Unfortunately William Hartnell passed away before the special and as such was replaced with Richard Hurdall.  Despite this he manages to portray the first Doctor well, and the inclusion of Susan as his companion helps to elevate him in that role. 

Tom Baker is also absent from the episode, due to the fact that he believed it would be a mistake to return after only being away for two years.  Baker would later go on to say that he regretted that decision.  Instead his brief appearance was created using footage from the unused serial Shada, before his Doctor become trapped in the time vortex, effectively removing him from the rest of the story.  Interestingly though a waxwork replica of Tom Baker was used in the publicity photos for the story, creating the perception that he would appear.

Seeing the return of both Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee is magnificent, and both appear to relish the return to the show and seem to have real fun in the story.  They also bring back a lot of the chemistry that the two of them had in ‘The Three Doctors’ which, once again, is a joy to watch.

The Master is forced to assist the Cybermen in their pursuit of the Doctors.

Alongside the returning Doctors is also a number of returning companions, Sarah Jane for the third Doctor, the Brigadier for the second Doctor and Susan for the first Doctor.  Sarah Jane is one of the all time greatest companions in the series and works so well with Pertwees Doctor, falling straight back into the relationship that the two of them had when she was his companion during Pertwee’s final series on the show.  The Brigadier and the second Doctor work so well together that it is easy to see why the Brigadier is the Doctors best friend, with more bickering going on between them than any of the other characters.  Finally we have the return of Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman, The Doctors granddaughter and original companion, not seen since 1964’s ‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’.  Fords return is probably the biggest treat as far as returning characters are concerned and detracts from the fact that the first Doctor she is with is not William Hartnell.  

Alongside these returning heroes are a number of the shows most iconic villains.  The Daleks make a brief appearance chasing the first Doctor and Susan whilst Cybermen prowl the vast plains of the Death Zone.  The story also has the return of the Master in a role where he has to work along side The Doctor’s.  As well as the return of these classic villains is the introduction of one of the shows most interesting and deadly creatures, on that is past due a return, The Raston Warrior.

The Raston Warrior 'the most perfect killing machine ever devised'.

 The Raston Warrior is a Time Lord created robot that can move faster than the speed of light and kills a whole squad of Cybermen with little effort.  Basic in design, just a man in a silver bodysuit, it is executed brilliantly in the way that it moves, leaping into the air before disappearing and reappearing elsewhere.  Firing spears and cutting disks from its hands it kills a dozen Cybermen within minutes, without taking a single wound itself.  Personally I would love to see more of this machine, I’d like to see what it would look like with today’s budget and technology, to find out if it was used as a weapon in the Time War.

With a story that contains almost a dozen central characters and introduces so many new things as well as re-using the old it is easy to imagine how ‘The Five Doctors’ could have gone wrong and felt clustered.  Instead it spaces the action and character moments beautifully, giving everyone there own time to shine.  The only real complaint that comes to mind, other than the fact that Tom Baker did not want to be included, is that the four Doctors spend the majority of their time apart, only appearing all together for the final ten minutes.  Other than that, the 20^th anniversary special is one of the best stories in the show.  9/10

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'The Doctor's Wife' Review

The Doctor recieves a call for help.

‘The Doctors Wife’ is the first episode of Doctor Who written by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, and guest stars Suranne Jones and Michael Sheen.  The story opens with The Doctor receiving a communication cube containing a distress call from a Time Lord.  The Doctor traces the origin of the cube to a rift in space leading outside of the known universe.  The Doctor pilots the Tardis through the rift and lands on an asteroid, the Tardis then shuts down and its matrix disappears.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory explore the asteroid and discover its strange inhabitants, Auntie, Uncle, a green eyed Ood named Nephew, and an excited young woman called Idris.  Idris fawns over the Doctor and bites him, forcing Uncle to lock her away.  The Doctor discovers that Auntie and Uncle are in fact made from the body parts of dead Time Lords and are controlled by the asteroid, called House, which is sentient and capable of possessing objects around it. 

Having lured The Doctor there and removing the matrix from the Tardis, placing it inside of Idris, House plans on taking control of the Tardis and escaping through the rift into the universe beyond. 

With Amy and Rory trapped inside the House controlled Tardis The Doctor and Idris must find a way of pursuing him and return the matrix back to the Tardis before her body breaks down and dies.

The Doctor and Idris search for a way to follow House.

‘The Doctors Wife’ is a great episode that explores the shows longest running relationship, that of The Doctor and the Tardis.  Whilst I was initially uncertain as to what direction Gaiman was going to take the episode in when we discovered that Idris was in fact the ‘soul’ of the Tardis, but any doubts I had were very quickly put to rest.  The instant on chemistry between Matt Smith and Suranne Jones was a pleasure to watch, and they explored aspects of the character that we’d rarely seen up to that point.

We begin to gain insight into The Doctors life on Gallifrey, discovering that the Tardis itself was actually a museum piece the first time The Doctor saw it, and instantly fell in love with it.  Idris even goes on to tell us that whilst The Doctor may believe he stole the Tardis, the Tardis considers it the other way round.  The flirting and the arguments that the two of them have are a real treat to watch, and come the end of the episode you find yourself wishing that The Doctor and the Tardis are always able to interact this way.

The Doctor in the old control room.

Amy and Rory also have an interesting time in this episode, with the two of them trapped inside the House controlled Tardis whilst being hunted by Nephew.  Through them we get to explore some more of the Tardis, getting to see more of it than ever before since the shows return in 2005.  It also takes the time to start to explore the relationship between Amy and Rory and the fears they both share, of loosing each other, of waiting and being forgotten, and yet again another death of Rory.

The final confrontation of the episode takes place inside the Tardis control room, but not the main one, instead we are treated to a brief re-visit to the Eccleston/Tennant control room that the Tardis keeps filed away.  Getting to see Matt Smiths Doctor in the older control room along side Amy and Rory is great, and doesn’t outstay its welcome at all.

The final goodbye between The Doctor and Idris is a teary eyed one, though not completely sad.  The Doctor may not be able to interact with the Tardis the way he did with Idris, but he did get a chance to speak to his wonderful machine, and we got a chance to see the love these two alien beings share for each other.  It is easy to just think of the Tardis as a machine, but this episode reminds us that it is alive, that it is The Doctors home and that it is the one who shows him the wonders of the universe.  A brilliant episode that had become an instant classic.  10/10

Amy.
xx

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UK On Display

As I have discussed on some of my previous posts I’m a published comic book writer and have had the opportunity to work with some of the best talent in the UK comic industry.  One of my best collaborators, thee wonderful creator and artist Hal Laren, is working on a great new project called UK On Display, a new magazine featuring some amazing British comics, art books and prints.  It also includes my books.  :D

Here’s a few words on the project from UK on Display;

Hello to everyone involved in COMIC BOOKS including Writers, Artists, Colorists, Letterers, Publishers, Stores, Editors, Commentators, Reviewers and most importantly the Buyers & Readers. Here at UK COMICS CREATIVE we are proud to announce the completion and launch of UK ON DISPLAY - our NEW CATALOGUE is NOW available to purchase fromwww.ukondisplay.com - the Catalogue will be making its way into Comic Book Shops, Book Shops and other outlets over the course of the next few weeks. We are busy completing our ONLINE STORE and this should be live early January. You can now ORDER titles within the Catalogue by using the ORDER FORM on the site. We'd love to hear from as many of you as possible. We will be compiling issue 3 in January. Our initial intention is to print 4 Catalogues per annum with a NEW MAGAZINE popping up in between. We will actively market all titles throughout each month and issue a monthly update to include new titles as they publish. We will also be launching many other features including Art Prints, Hardcover Art Books, Event Management and COMICS BOOKS in SCHOOLS! You can also visitwww.ukcomicscreative.co.uk for information on printing and publishing. We look forward to hearing from you. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS
UKondisplay.com
www.ukondisplay.com

Please take the time to check out what is sure to be a great product that will help to promote and showcase up and coming new talent here in the UK!

Amy.

xx

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Doctor Who 'Death to the Daleks' Review

'Death to the Daleks' DVD cover

‘Death to the Daleks’ is one of my all time favourite Doctor Who serials, starring Jon Pertwee my all time favourite Doctor.  The story begins with The Doctor and Sarah Jane travelling in the Tardis when they are draw off course.  The Tardis materialises on an unknown planet and is drained of all of its power.  In fact, something on the planet is draining every source of power, not even torches work, forcing the characters to explore in darkness.

          
From here the Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves caught in the middle of a struggle between a group of stranded humans who need a mineral found on the planet to help save the lives of millions suffering from a disease, the planets primitive inhabitants the Exxilons, a rebel faction of the Exxilons and The Doctors oldest enemy, the Daleks.

From here the story begins to evolve into an engaging, and at often times frightening, mystery story as The Doctor attempts to find the source of the power drain and free the Tardis.  What is truly interesting about the story though isn’t necessarily the mystery of the power drain, but seeing Daleks without the ability to kill forced to work with The Doctor and the humans towards a common goal.

The Doctor is forced to work with his oldest enemies, the Daleks.

The story of the ‘Death to the Daleks’ is one of Terry Nation’s finest, showing the Daleks in a situation we have never seen them in before, and seeing The Doctor have to adapt to these changes as an uneasy alliance is born, with both sides ready to turn on the other at any second.

The opening ten minutes is also one of the finest of Doctor Who, as the powerless Tardis lands on the planet Exxilon The Doctor and Sarah Jane are forced to explore the dark and spooky surroundings in almost complete darkness.  The music score and gloomy lighting help to make these scenes truly scary, with the cloaked forms of the Exxilons stalking our heroes, blending in easily with their surroundings, creating a foe that could come from any direction at any moment.

The Exxilons prove to be one of the creepiest races in Doctor Who.

The supporting cast of humans is also very well created, with a great back story and characters you can quickly come to care about, so rather than being the usual monster fodder you will find yourself becoming more and more attached to them as the story progresses, feeling the loss of each death.

The main focus of the story, the mysterious power drain and the ancient Exxilon city, are very intriguing and offer some insight into the history of the Doctor Who universe, and even the far distant Earth.  The city itself is an amazing piece of model work that gives the story a sense of grandeur and scale.  Although the tests The Doctor has to pass in order to gain access to the interior of the city are not the greatest in the show it still cannot detract from the over all quality of the story.

The mysterious ancient Exxilon city.

‘Death to the Daleks’ is one of the finest examples of a Dalek story and is the best story of Jon Pertwee’s final year in the role of The Doctor.  An all time great episode that is still loved by many fans today it was even referenced in the opening episode of series seven ‘Asylum of the Daleks’.  If you like the third Doctor or the Daleks, or even just want to try something new, this is one of the best stories to try.  10/10

Amy.

xx

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Doctor Who 'Rose' Review

Rose Tyler, the 9th Doctor's new companion.

‘Rose’ marks both the first episode for the ninth incarnation of The Doctor, as played by Christopher Eccleston, and the return of Doctor Who as a regular show after sixteen years off the air.  It not only had the challenge of producing an introduction to the show for new viewers, but it had to create something that would draw people in and guarantee future audience.

The episode opens with Rose Tyler, an ordinary young woman that works in a department store, lives in a flat with her mum Jackie and hangs out with boyfriend Mickey.  The first few scene of the show go out of their way to show that this is somewhat of a normal world, that Rose is a normal girl and that what happens in the rest of the show could happen to anyone.

           
Very quickly Rose finds herself drawn into the mystery of The Doctor when she encounters him whilst being pursued by Autons.  Having been saved by this mysterious ‘Doctor’ Rose attempts to find out more about him, discovering a conspiracy theorist who tells her that a man matching The Doctor’s description has appeared throughout the course of history. 

During this Mickey is attacked by a Nestene  controlled wheelie bin and is replaced by a plastic replica.  The Doctor reappears, tracking the plastic Mickey, and brings Rose into the Tardis.  The Doctor tracks the Nestene signal to its source, and with Rose’s help, defeats it.  As thanks for her assistance The Doctor invites Rose to travel with him.

The Doctor and Rose go up against a living plastic arm.

 Eccleston is a fantastic choice for The Doctor, giving the role age and authority that is essentially needed, especially as this will be the first time many people have encountered the character.  Where the following Doctors, Tennant and Smith, have more of a ‘friend’ relationship with their companions Rose and The Doctor shown here are much more of a father daughter relationship. 

He also brings a great deal of depth and pain to the character.  As we begin to learn here, and will continue to discover over the course of Eccleston’s time as The Doctor, he plays a man fresh out of the Time War, a man with fresh emotional scars.  He plays a character with a broad smile, but with a deep hurt behind his eyes.

Billie Piper’s Rose is well introduced as being just an ordinary girl that gets drawn into an extra-ordinary world.  This helps to set up the idea that anyone can become a companion.  Rose brings a lot of youth and energy to the show, which is a great counterbalance to the age and wisdom of The Doctor.

The inclusion of the Autons is a great one, mirroring the very first episode of Jon Pertwee’s run as The Doctor in ‘Spearhead from Space’.  It is also worth noting that like Pertwee, Eccleston’s Doctor is also freshly regenerated.  It is also the one and only time in the history of the show that we do not know the circumstances of The Doctors regeneration.

Unfortunately the Autons seem to be reduced to a mere ‘monster of the week’ status, becoming a foe that is very quickly defeated and forgotten.  A great shame for the show’s first returning monster from the classic series.

Despite this ‘Rose’ stands as a great episode and a wonderful re-introduction to the world and the character of The Doctor.  The casting is great, and whilst the script and direction may not be perfect it is still one of the better episodes of Eccleston’s year as The Doctor.  7/10

 
Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration

If you are at all familiar with my blog you will know by now that I am a huge fan of Doctor Who, and 2013 marks the year of the 50^th anniversary of the show.  I think that fifty years is a hell of an achievement and that the series has produced some fantastic works, both on and off the screen.  Including a number of its own spin-off shows.

            Over the course of the year, leading up to the actual anniversary date I will be reviewing various episodes and books from Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and some of the more unusual spin-off material and specials.

            I hope that you enjoy.  The first, a review of the classic serial ‘Death to the Daleks’, will be uploaded later today!

Amy.

xx

 

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Doctor Who 'The Snowmen' Review

The 2012 Doctor Who Christmas Special ‘The Snowmen’ is without a doubt the best Christmas Special we’ve had to date.  A brave statement I’m sure, especially as 2010’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ was so beautifully told a story.  But what ‘The Snowmen’ does so wonderfully is ignore the fact that it’s a Christmas Special.  It’s got the longer format of the Christmas Specials, and it’s set at Christmas, but gone are all of the awful over the top Christmasyness (yes, it’s a real word) that made many of the previous specials so horrible to watch.  No more killer Christmas trees, robot Santa’s and exploding remote control baubles.  Instead we are given a very down to earth and very human story that focused more on the characters and their struggles rather than some gaudy threat that needed to be stopped.

The core of the story itself wasn’t the Snowmen, or even the villains behind the Snowmen, but The Doctor and Clara Oswin Oswald.  We are brought into a story to find a Doctor that had finally been beaten into submission.  The devastating loss of the Ponds has taken its toll on him and caused him to give up on the universe.  Through the episode we see him fighting against his natural urge to get involved in the mystery that Madame Vastra and co. are investigating, as well as the draw to the spunky barmaid Clara.  This is a nice change, and a great chance to see a Doctor that feels cheated and hurt by the universe that he’s helped to save so many times in the past.  But by the end of the story both we and The Doctor see that sometimes you have to set aside the bigger picture and just focus on the one person, the one person in this case being Clara.

Clara and The Doctor investigate The Snowmen.

Clara herself was a wonderful character to watch come to life on the screen and did what ay good companion does, made us forget about who came before.  Now, no disrespect for Amy and Rory, I think they’re a great pair of companions and I am sad that they’re not in the show anymore, but not once during the episode did I want them instead of Clara.  Clara captured my imagination and had such a wonderfully fun attitude that I couldn’t help but fall in love with her the same way The Doctor did.

There was a lot of intrigue going into this episode surrounding Clara as the actress Jenna Louise Coleman had made a surprise appearance in the first episode of the series as Oswin Oswald.  Knowing Steven Moffat as we do it was obvious at this point that he was laying the seeds for something big, and one of the more popular theories was that Oswin was going to be future version of Clara and that The Doctor was going to meet her out of order, much like River Song.  Instead Moffat has given us something so much more original and exciting.  Clara Oswin Oswald is a woman who appears in two different time periods, possibly as two different people with separate memories, who meets The Doctor and dies.  So, we now know that the Clara that will be travelling in the Tardis will not be the one from Victorian England or the future, but another version.  This has set up a mystery that will no doubt continue to unfold through out the rest of the series, possibly building up to the big 50^th celebration.

The Great Intelligence commands the living snow.

Returning for the Christmas Special were the Silurian detective Madam Vastra, her wife Jenny and their Sontaran butler Strax, as last seen in the series six episode ‘A Good Man Goes to War’.  The three of them make a great team, and each work perfectly with The Doctor, each brining something unique to the mix.  It was also fun to hear that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes and Watson on the adventures of Vastra and Jenny.

Whilst the title of the episode seemed to suggest that the main villains of the piece were going to be the snowmen themselves it was revealed that they were in fact just the foot soldiers of Doctor Simeon and The Great Intelligence.  Although it would have been nice to see more of them their inclusion definitely improved the episode, due in no small part to the amazing casting of Richard E. Grant and Sir Ian McKellen.  It was also a great treat for fans of classic Doctor Who to see an origin episode for The Great Intelligence that appeared as a villain for Patrick Troughton’s second Doctor.

The episode also boasted a new and improved opening title sequence and theme tune, along with a new Tardis interior. 

The new opening sequence was a great new change and whilst their was nothing wrong with the old one it often benefits from a revamp time to time, much like the Tardis, the companions and even The Doctor himself.  Changing things up from simply having the Tardis flying through the time vortex to include images of space was something that the show hadn’t really seen since Sylvester McCoy’s title sequence.  And the inclusion on The Doctor’s face in the opening was something that I’ve been waiting for since the show returned to our screens in 2005, and the lack of it in the years between then and now has felt completely wrong.  The music also goes through a great revamp, once again being unmistakably Doctor Who, yet bringing something new and interesting to the mix.  

The Tardis, smaller on the outside.

The new Tardis control room also gives hints back to the history of the show with a console that is very reminiscent of the one that Davison, Baker (Colin) and McCoy used during their tenure on the show.  The set also seems to reflect the new mood The Doctor has taken, gone are the bright oranges and golds from the fun times he had with the Ponds, instead we’ve got the blue and green colours of his lonely brooding.  The glowing tubes inside the central column and turning mechanisms above it help to show that the Tardis is a machine, with engines and moving parts, not just a magical box.

Whilst it only appears briefly in the episode and we have yet to see everything I have to admit that I like the new look.  We’d gotten to know the last control room pretty well and it’s nice to have the show give us something new.  I can’t wait to see more, especially in the upcoming episode entitled ‘Journey to The Centre of The Tardis’.

‘The Snowmen’ was an incredible episode, the best Christmas Special to date and a great introduction to an exciting new companion.  The supporting cast were great, with both the heroes and villains each getting their moments to shine.  A fantastic piece of storytelling, a shame a lot more shows aren’t as good as this!

Amy.

xx

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