Television | the m0vie blog

Doctor Who: The Sensorites (Review)

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

The Sensorites originally aired in 1964.

There’s one thing about it, Doctor. We’re certainly different from when we started out with you.

That’s funny. Grandfather and I were talking about that just before you came in. How you’ve both changed.

Well we’ve all changed.

Have I?

Yes.

Yes, it all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it’s turned out to be quite a, quite a great spirit of adventure, don’t you think?

Yes. We’ve had some pretty rough times and even that doesn’t stop us. It’s a wonderful thing, this ship of yours, Doctor. Taken us back to prehistoric times, the Daleks.

Marco Polo, Marinus.

And the Aztecs.

Yes, and that extraordinary quarrel I had with that English king, Henry the Eighth. You know, he threw a parson’s nose at me.

What did you do?

Threw it back, of course.

– Ian, Susan, Barbara and the Doctor discuss character development

The Sensorites feels like a bit of a mess of an episode. It’s a six-part adventure, but one that feels quite a bit longer than it should be. The trip to Skaro in The Daleks ran for seven episodes, but it never felt quite as padded as this. There are some decent ideas and some nice character moments to be found in The Sensorites, if you’re willing to look hard enough, but there’s also quite a lot of padding, quite a lot of nonsense, and some plot developments that feel just a little bit convenient or contrived. This isn’t Doctor Who at anything approaching its best, but there’s still some measure of potential here.

Using your head…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Aztec, Barbara, Dalek, doctor, Edge of Destruction, First Doctor, Ian, Ian Chesterton, Marco Polo, Sensorite, Sensorites, Susan, Susan Foreman, tardis, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Aztecs (Review)

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Darren

The Aztecs originally aired in 1964.

Don’t you see? If I could start the destruction of everything that’s evil here, then everything that is good would survive when Cortes lands.

But you can’t rewrite history! Not one line!

– Barbara and the Doctor discuss time travel

The Aztecs is generally considered one of the show’s very best historicals, so I think it’s absolutely wonderful that the adventure has managed to survive the purges that wiped out a significant portion of the Hartnell era and a huge chunk of Patrick Troughton’s work.

A low-tec culture?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Aztec, bbc, doctor, doctor who, fires of pompeii, historical, John Lacarotti, John Ringham, Keys of Marinus, patrick troughton, The Aztecs, William Hartnell | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus (Review)

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Darren

The Keys of Marinus originally aired in 1964.

While the initial thirteen-episode block helped established Doctor Who, it was the follow-up stories that built on those initial blue-prints. Marco Polo was a historical adventure in the style of An Unearthly Child, paying homage to the original educational aim of the series, designed to teach kids about history and science. However, the real breakout of the initial run had been The Daleks, with those adorable psychotic pepper pots. Keen to capitalise on the success of the futuristic adventure, another adventure serial was commissioned to take place on an alien world, with Terry Nation’s The Keys of Marinus helping to establish science fantasy as a concrete part of the show’s identity.

All a-Voord!

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Dalek, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Keys of Marinus, Marinus, tardis, Terry Nation, The Keys of Marinus, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction (Review)

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Darren

The Edge of Destruction originally aired in 1964.

The Edge of Destruction is an interesting little two-parter. Basically created to fill out a two-episode gap in the end of the initial run of episodes following the four-part An Unearthly Child and the seven-part The Daleks. It wasn’t possible to bring Marco Polo forward into this production block, as it was too long, and there wasn’t any budget provided for a guest cast or for new sets. So, as seemed to happen quite a lot on the show, the production team’s ingenuity forced their creativity. The Edge of Destruction (or Inside the Spaceship) ended up being a two-part “bottle” episode, featuring only the four members of the lead cast.

After seven episodes of The Daleks, I can’t blame the Doctor for wanting a nap…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Edge of Destruction, First Doctor, Ian, Inside the Spaceship, tardis, The Edge of Destruction, Unearthly Child, William Hartnell | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Daleks (Review)

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Darren

The Daleks originally aired in 1963-4.

Make! no! attempt! to! capture! them! they! are! to! be! exterminated! you! understand! exterminated!

– four episodes in, the Daleks have a catchphrase

Because of the somewhat confusing naming conventions for the Hartnell era, where each individual episode had its own title, this one goes by a variety of names: The Mutants, The Dead Planet, or The Daleks. Still, if you’re reading this, you probably know the serial I’m talking about. It’s the one that introduced everyone’s favourite psychotic little pepper pots.

Taking the plunger…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Dalek, daleks, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, fiction, Guinness World Record, Online Writing, Skaro, tardis, Terry Nation, the daleks, The Dead Planet, the mutants | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child (Review)

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Darren

An Unearthly Child originally aired in 1963.

“Just open the doors, Doctor Foreman.”

“Eh? Doctor who? What’s he talking about?”

– Ian and the Doctor drop the title

And so, it begins…

There from the beginning…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: An Unearthy Child, bbc, Black Orchid, doctor who, DoctorWho, patrick troughton, science fiction, Stephen Hawking, Unearthly Child, Verity Lambert, William Hartnell | 3 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Loud as a Whisper (Review)

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and also next year’s release of Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’m taking a look at the recent blu ray release of the first season (and a tiny bit of the second), episode-by-episode. Check back daily for the latest review.

At the very least, Loud as a Whisper has its heart in the right place. At least of most of its run time. Essentially an issue-driven (and guest-star-driven) show that is determined to prove to the audience that a disability need not define a person, it’s a little undermined by a subplot where Pulaski and Geordi discuss the possibility of making the Chief Engineer “normal” again. However, once you get past the earnestness of it all, Loud of a Whisper seems a little clunky as television drama, with all manner of potentially interesting ideas that are never really explored. The result is a massively disappointing story that feels a bit like a clumsy after-school special.

What goes around…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Data, Federation, Heart of Glory, Howie Seago, jean-luc picard, Klingon, Outrageous Okona, Sign language, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the original series, StarTrek, Troi, William Riker, Worf | 3 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Outrageous Okona (Review)

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Darren

Well, I’m not sure if you can call two solid episodes in succession a “streak” or a “roll”, but Where Silence Has Lease and Elementary, Dear Data were two hours of television that demonstrated how far the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation had come since its rocky first season. However, it appears that the two very good episodes in a row did not represent a sudden change in direction and did not assure consistency. The Outrageous Okona is a bad episode, by just about any measure. It’s not necessarily as offensive as Angel One or Code of Honour, but it is quite painful to watch.

Unlike a lot of the bungled “message” shows in the first season that contained misjudged ideas or offensive elements, The Outrageous Okona is merely a terribly written and unfunny mess of an episode that simply gnaws at the viewer.

He works best Solo…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Angel One, Burton Armus, Data, Deanna Troi, Debin, Encounter at Farpoint, Han Solo, jean-luc picard, Last Outpost, Naked Now, Outrageous Okona, patrick stewart, picard, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the original series, Starfleet ranks and insignia, StarTrek, Wesley, Wesley Crusher, Where Silence Has Lease, William Riker | 4 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Elementary, Dear Data (Review)

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Darren

If you needed more evidence of the improvement of Star Trek: The Next Generation between the first and second seasons of the show, Elementary, Dear Data certainly provides it. Like Where Silence Has Lease directly before it, Elementary, Dear Data works so well because it takes a couple of ideas hinted at and teased in the first season and then develops them just a little bit further.

There’s a sense that the universe of The Next Generation is slowly expanding. While the first season treated our main characters as masters of all they surveyed, Elementary, Dear Data hints that the universe still has more to teach them and that they have a lot to learn.

Unfortunately, the trend would not continue into the next episode, but Elementary, Dear Data proves that the writing team (and the cast) are learning to play to the show’s strengths and that the pieces are all positioned to allow for a solidly entertaining hour of television.

Things take a turn for the better…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Arthur Conan Doyle, Data, Geordi La Forge, Holmes, J Abrams, jean-luc picard, Jeri Taylor, List of Star Trek characters, moriarty, Next Generation, picard, Queen Victoria, sherlock holmes, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the original series, StarTrek, Valley of Fear, William Riker, Worf, Young Sherlock Holmes | 1 Comment »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Where Silence Has Lease (Review)

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Darren

If we ignore The Child as an aberration, a recycled script necessitated by the Writers’ Guild of America Strike of 1988, Where Silence Has Lease actually makes for a much stronger starting point for the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We’re not quite at the point where we’re getting consistently good episodes on a weekly basis, but episodes like Where Silence Has Lease and the following Elementary, Dear Data demonstrating that the show was at least learning what worked and what didn’t in the bets of the first season episodes.

In particular, Where Silence Has Lease allows the show to tell a straight-up science-fiction exploration story that provides commentary on the human condition, but in a manner that isn’t as clumsy as first-season efforts like Lonely Among Us. It’s not a classic episode, but it’s a solid one. However, a solid episode of the second season can stand alongside the best episodes of the first season, demonstrating that the show is making significant progress towards the consistent quality it would eventually maintain.