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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