Series 2 re-appraisal

[Ralph]

8/10 is a pretty good score for something you can't overly excited about.

It deserves 8 because it kept me entertained throughout in a modern Who way. I feel real enthusiasm when I feel in touch with the characters but here they always feel at a distance to me except for Girl in the fireplace which was a marvellous episode

[Wayne]

It kept me entertained in a modern Who way.

I can't help but get the sense of someone damning the New Series with faint praise.

[Ralph]

The Idiot's Lantern 5.5/10

Story feels a bit rushed...it feels all very routine...wish I could say more but thats it for now

[Jonno]

Best review yet!

[Ralph]

Just a bit tired tonight Jonno - not in a writing mood - thats my excuse anyway

[Wayne]

This post was left blank.

[Ralph]

I wonder what Wayne's message said - best not to know probably

[Wayne]

[Ralph]

Yeah, right!

[Perry Vale]

Just finished my S2 re-appraisal (bar L&M).

Fear Her (59%), which has great promise/ideas, continues to fall apart the longer it goes on. Not a great guest cast, with cringeworthy* performances from Kal (?) & the old bird from EE.

Army Of Ghosts (78%), I loved the first part on tx, but seeing it again for the first time since, isn't as good as I thought. There's some awful dialogue, and some awful joke scenes which make absolutely no sense to the plot. This continues in to part two, and climaxes with the absurd decision to have Pete 'beam back' to save Rose. A few great moments (with the Daleks & Cybermen), but not a patch on Bad Wolf from S1.....

Ah well, overall the season was a massive disappointment for me, but for the first time, I'm now looking forward to S3 hoping it'll be better, especially with the intriguing Mr.Saxon stuff (rather than Torchwood gubbins).....


*word included for James Lindsay's benefit

[Milky Tears]

You'll soon be sick of Mr. Saxon after he's mentioned about six times in every frikkin episode. It's even in one of those two second teaser trailers. I'll be bloody cringing right down to my anal slippers when it appears. Enough already! Mr Saxon can suck my fanboy dinky!

[Wayne]

Who thinks Ralph will get finished before Series 3 starts on tv?














*silence.......

[Ralph]

If I'm correct I've got two weeks left - anything's possible!

I'm looking forward to Love and Monsters and some red hot Dalek action...

[Wayne]

If I'm correct I've got two weeks left - anything's possible!

I won't hold my breath.

[Ralph]

I think I'll be watching some more - wish me luck!

[Ralph]

The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit 4.5/10

I just find it difficult to connect with these two episodes - sure the production values look good but I can't really care for the characters at all. It just seems like another swashbuckler to me, if it was a hollywood movie then Steven Seagal would have had a part in this. Just not my thing I'm afraid.

Love & Monsters 7.5/10

This is good stuff as entertainment. While the previous 3 episodes washed over me, when I come to this one it just feels like a bit of fun at last! Something you can connect with and have a bit of a laugh too!

This is certainly up there with the top rated and fabulous Girl in the Fireplace and School Reunion as one of the highlights of Season 2.

Just when I thought I couldn't be arsed watching more this comes up.

Among the best bits are Elton and Jackie which works so well. It was at this stage that I really start to warm to Jackie as a character like never before. I don't miss the Doctor and Rose at all - it's a joy to get a break from them in fact! The whole thing is so nicely paced and such fun that it's over in no time. I've found to me other episodes drag as I stifle boredom but this is certainly not one of them!

And I loved that love life gag

Fear Her 1/10

I don't know...this story just bores the pants off me - it's as dreary and the housing estate it's set in - I couldn't care less about the story or it's characters...once it's finished I just feel that I've just lost 45 minutes of my life

Right so two exciting episodes I think coming up to bring me bang up to date with Who.

In all seriousness I've got to say there are some episodes in this modern Who that I couldn't care if I never saw them again and "Fear Her" fits that big time.

[Wayne]

I can't help but get the impression that Ralph had the Satan Pit in the background whilst he was doing the housework. At least 'Love & Monsters' got you through to the finale. It's great fun!
I know what you mean about 'Fear Her'. It's only marginally ahead of Grill in the Fireplace on the boring front.

[transvamp]

The Christmas Invasion- didn't like. It was all one dull sobathon and was the first story to really kill my enthusiasm for the series.

New Earth- utter slapstick and a lame ending, but I enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. "Oh my God! I'm a chav..."

Tooth & Claw- Now this was really good. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

School Reunion- My favourite of the season. Sarah Jane really shines.

Girl in the Fireplace- I know its a favourite of many and I enjoy its merits but I feel it could have been far better as a two parter.

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel- another one I really loved.

The Idiot's Lantern- just pointless, and I really disliked the leads.

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit- Really was hooked by the first part. Seemed really subversive and challenging. I feel part two really copped out.

Love & Monsters- Oh why did we have to return to the Estate? Rather like Trial of a Time Lord there's some bits of this that really make me want to reappraise it now and again, but there's just as much that I find tasteless and repellant.

Fear Her- Rather twee, but in repeated viewings it has grown on me enormously.

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday- Again going against general consensus but I thought this was the pits of the series. The Doctor is at his most unlikeable "please don't put in your memoirs that I travel in time with Rose's mother..." the action is toothless and there's a horrible feeling how the Doctor and Rose's love story is treated as far more important than the carnage and killing on the streets.

Overall the season is a disappointing one. It seems to take the adventure further, but at the same time keeps downplaying its awe. The Doctor and Rose are thoroughly unlikeable and unsympathetic, and the love story between them is the stuff of a really bad chick flick. A shame really because had they played for a darker, more raw love story, had they played more seriously on the idea that Rose was becoming something of an addict for danger and belligerence, to really convey how travelling the universe and seeing the sights no human is meant to see had really changed her emotionally in quite a dark and subversive way, it could have worked really well in concert with the adventure.

It also could have made the separation to count for more than a contrived tear jerker, if it seemed like something that had to happen before the life in the Tardis really did make Rose take a dive off the deep end.

A shame really because the cards were all layed out for that kind of theme, what with the alternative Tylers who are rich and yet unhappy, conveying how wanting really is better than having, or the references to people driven mad by the sight of the black hole in The Impossible Planet, being about the alien sights that humans weren't meant to gaze.

[Dirk Gently]

Minor rant.

I'm not one to criticise unnecessarily & in the case of The Girl in the Fireplace I'm proving that point. I've not seen this episode since it's first repeat last year & this morning it was on UK Gold so I thought I'd give it another look.

Here's my problem, TIME.
Time in France is moving at an accelerated pace, yes?
Time in the space craft is moving considerably slower, yes?
So why when the Doctor breaks through to 18th Century France & spends a few hours there does time flow faster on the space ship? When the Doctor comes back though (after telling M.de.Pom to pack a bag) he asks Rose 'How long have you waited?' and she replies 5 1/2 hours, to which he replies 'Always wait 5 1/2 hours'.

Here's the problem, time seems to have synchronised but as soon as the Doctor is on the space ship he talks to Rose & Mickey & then returns to France immediately (using the same time window - i.e the fireplace) only for 6 years to have suddenly passed. In a few seconds 6 YEARS PASSED! Yet all that time the Doctor spent in France & 5 1/2 hours passed! Surely because he spent so little time in France (comparatively) then only a few seconds should have passed?

It just doesn't make sense.

Rant over.

[Ralph]

You're just applying to much thought to the whole thing there, Tim Just let it wash over you and enjoy!

Meantime I've got two episodes to go to be able to complete this before the next lot arrives... at least there's some Dalek action so I feel tempted

[Dirk Gently]

You're just applying to much thought to the whole thing there, Tim

Yeah, I mean who ever heard of a Doctor Who fan over analysing stuff!?

[Ralph]

Bl**dy anoraks

[Andrew Curnow]

Perhaps the relative rate isn't consistent, Tim, between the two time zones. Maybe the longer you're away, the bigger the disparity.

Of course, that doesn't explain how Madame DeP can walk into the spaceship through the curtain, and then back, without any apparent change in time...

[Milky Tears]

This thread has gone too anal for me.

[Ralph]

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday

Ok the Tyler family again...Jackie's OK but can't be arsed with that husband - We've said goodbye to him 3 times so far - is this him gone for good?

Then Mickey another one supposedly gone but returns

East Enders, Ghost Busters yeah yeah

Then we have the "Rimbaldi" globe - the concept looked much better in "Alias", better CGI too

The Cybs versus the Daleks all felt overdone - next time lets have all the monsters we've ever had in a finale

Then it's back to "Raiders of the lost Doctor" for another finale with mega CGI and Rose and the Doctor manage to hold off getting sucked into the void despite the fact all these Daleks get sucked in from as far as the Taj Mahal yeah right!

Summing up I'd say less is more and more is less.

The Daleks and Cybs make it worth checking out but this is overblown stuff which engages me as much as another Steven Seagal action hero Hollywood outing. Just a 6.5 Without the Daleks and Cybs 1.

Overall then:

Worth Watching again:
Girl In The Fireplace 9/10
Love And Monsters 7.5/10
School Reunion 7/10
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday 6.5/10
Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel 6/10

The rest:
The Idiot's Lantern 5.5/10
Impossible Planet/Satan Pitt 4.5/10
New Earth 3/10
Christmas Invasion 2.5/10
Tooth & Claw 1/10
Fear Her 1/10