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Saw two more episodes of season 3 of Doctor Who last night, courtesy of the Legion of Rassilon.
Overall, they were good fun. Though, I have to start by saying something to the Doctor Who writers: Dear Doctor Who writers, please stop treating DNA like it's a magical Science macguffin that can explain anything. It Doesn't Work Like That. Also, I can (possibly) forgive you for being ignorant of or choosing to ignore the fact that most of the gamma radiation from space is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere. However, I'm having a really hard time forgiving you for thinking that a pulse of gamma radiation looks and acts like a lightning bolt. If you insist on doing that kind of crap, do what Russel T. Davies did in "The Runaway Bride" and make up some completely different kind of energy.
I'm relieved that we've got a Paul Cornell two-parter coming up. He's far from a hard science fiction writer, but he seems to understand that if you use rubber science, you need to avoid thwacking it so hard that the viewer can hear it go "boing!"
"Evolution of the Daleks". A mixed bag. It was kind of a mess, and it had a lot of little things about it that niggled: in addition to the scientific idiocies which I've already referred to, there's a particular scene which depicts the Daleks using completely idiotic military tactics - not something Daleks are known for. But the script has its moments, too.
The bit where Solomon tries to deal with the Daleks by appealing to their compassion and empathy, because he doesn't know that they don't have any, is really heartbreaking. (Even if some of Solomon's lines are a bit on-the-nose.) And Martha and Tallulah have some great conversations. And the Doctor confronting Dalek Caan at the end....But, overall it was a mess. Maybe I'll feel differently on a second viewing. If I can get past the gamma ray lightning bolts and magical Time Lord DNA.
Apparently Helen Raynor has another script in the works for Series 4. I'm looking forward to it. Even though it looks like "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" may turn out to be the relative "stinker" of Series 3, I think she "gets" Doctor Who. (I mean, she'd better - she's one of the script editors.) I think she might do much better with a story that involves less technobabble and more character development. We shall see.
"The Lazarus Experiment". Everyone gets dressed up in black tie. Mark Gatiss is creepy. Martha is awesome, brave, and clever, and saves people. Martha's sister Tish is cute, brave, and nearly-as-clever-as-Martha, and I nominate her for a trip in the TARDIS someday. Martha's mother smacks the Doctor. (When the Doctor meets the next companion's mum, if he has any sense, he'll duck.) Mr. Saxon is mentioned, ominously. The Doctor blows up a chemistry lab, there is Magical DNA again, and the plot is resolved with a very loud boing! from the rubber science. And Martha is acknowleged as a real companion, no more of this "just one trip" business. Yay!
It has a bit of a feel of a romp before the storm. It ties up some plot threads, and lays a bit of groundwork for others, but it didn't feel very consequential. It was very entertaining, though. I'll certainly watch it again.
It feels very strange to be writing this when the British Doctor Who fans and their BitTorrent-savvy brethren are about to go into meltdown all over the Internet about the penultimate episode of Season 3: "The Sound of Drums". Which, if I keep to the Legion of Rassilon's schedule, and don't succumb to the lure of BitTorrent myself, I will be seeing at the end of August. Which I think will still be before American fans who are watching it on the SciFi Channel will see it. That's Doctor Who for you - even the fandom takes place in a time warp.
Overall, they were good fun. Though, I have to start by saying something to the Doctor Who writers: Dear Doctor Who writers, please stop treating DNA like it's a magical Science macguffin that can explain anything. It Doesn't Work Like That. Also, I can (possibly) forgive you for being ignorant of or choosing to ignore the fact that most of the gamma radiation from space is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere. However, I'm having a really hard time forgiving you for thinking that a pulse of gamma radiation looks and acts like a lightning bolt. If you insist on doing that kind of crap, do what Russel T. Davies did in "The Runaway Bride" and make up some completely different kind of energy.
I'm relieved that we've got a Paul Cornell two-parter coming up. He's far from a hard science fiction writer, but he seems to understand that if you use rubber science, you need to avoid thwacking it so hard that the viewer can hear it go "boing!"
"Evolution of the Daleks". A mixed bag. It was kind of a mess, and it had a lot of little things about it that niggled: in addition to the scientific idiocies which I've already referred to, there's a particular scene which depicts the Daleks using completely idiotic military tactics - not something Daleks are known for. But the script has its moments, too.
The bit where Solomon tries to deal with the Daleks by appealing to their compassion and empathy, because he doesn't know that they don't have any, is really heartbreaking. (Even if some of Solomon's lines are a bit on-the-nose.) And Martha and Tallulah have some great conversations. And the Doctor confronting Dalek Caan at the end....But, overall it was a mess. Maybe I'll feel differently on a second viewing. If I can get past the gamma ray lightning bolts and magical Time Lord DNA.
Apparently Helen Raynor has another script in the works for Series 4. I'm looking forward to it. Even though it looks like "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" may turn out to be the relative "stinker" of Series 3, I think she "gets" Doctor Who. (I mean, she'd better - she's one of the script editors.) I think she might do much better with a story that involves less technobabble and more character development. We shall see.
"The Lazarus Experiment". Everyone gets dressed up in black tie. Mark Gatiss is creepy. Martha is awesome, brave, and clever, and saves people. Martha's sister Tish is cute, brave, and nearly-as-clever-as-Martha, and I nominate her for a trip in the TARDIS someday. Martha's mother smacks the Doctor. (When the Doctor meets the next companion's mum, if he has any sense, he'll duck.) Mr. Saxon is mentioned, ominously. The Doctor blows up a chemistry lab, there is Magical DNA again, and the plot is resolved with a very loud boing! from the rubber science. And Martha is acknowleged as a real companion, no more of this "just one trip" business. Yay!
It has a bit of a feel of a romp before the storm. It ties up some plot threads, and lays a bit of groundwork for others, but it didn't feel very consequential. It was very entertaining, though. I'll certainly watch it again.
It feels very strange to be writing this when the British Doctor Who fans and their BitTorrent-savvy brethren are about to go into meltdown all over the Internet about the penultimate episode of Season 3: "The Sound of Drums". Which, if I keep to the Legion of Rassilon's schedule, and don't succumb to the lure of BitTorrent myself, I will be seeing at the end of August. Which I think will still be before American fans who are watching it on the SciFi Channel will see it. That's Doctor Who for you - even the fandom takes place in a time warp.
