Television: Doctor Who and the Name of the Doctor

“Clara is summoned to an impossible conference call, alerting her that the deadly Whisper Men are closing in on Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Someone is kidnapping the Doctor’s friends, leading him toward the one place in all of time and space that he should never go. It’s a deadly trap that threatens to unravel his past, present and future…“

I’m unsure about how I should feel about this episode.

On the one hand, I’m highly satisfied with how they wrapped up the Impossible Girl storyline–and how they wrote in the Great Intelligence into the fabric of Doctor Who history. What I didn’t like so much was how the whole episode didn’t feel like a proper Who episode.

Thing is, I don’t even know how to explain that. But one thing’s for sure. It starts with River Song.

Before we go forward, I would just like to explain how I’m very much a fan of River Song. Until Series 6 happened, that is. But I thought The Angels Take Manhattan did a great job at bringing back the River Song I liked. And then we get the one in this episode.

On the one hand, I liked the fact that Steven Moffat chose the version of River who knew everything to appear in this episode. On the other hand, this raises so many questions for me. Like, how did Madame Vastra manage to contact the consciousness of River Song in the very, very far future–where she lives in a centralized processor that only exists in a planet far away?

The timey-wimey bit worked with Clara, as we already saw that type of sending messages through time in Blink. But I’m really curious as to how they got River.

And why River? Because she knows the name of the Doctor? Because of Trenzalore? But this was just a conclave to talk about saving the Doctor, is it not? Did they know that they would need the name of the Doctor?

If we’re going for people who care about the Doctor, wouldn’t the Paternoster Gang attempt to contact Amy and Rory? Or Jack Harkness? Maybe Martha Jones? People who can actually help the doctor. So why not them? I understand the reality of returning cast members and budgetary constraints–but a clear explanation of why not them would help. Immensely. Especially since the recent run of episodes have all thrown homage to previous episodes–and it’s leading us toward the fiftieth anniversary special.

This is not to say that the episode was bad though. I thought it was exceptionally well-crafted. I just couldn’t get over the fact that for an episode leading to the anniversary, and for a finale episode, this felt really… small. As I said, it didn’t feel like a Who episode. Especially after the big episodes that led to the finale. Where was the grandeur of The Crimson Horror? The impossibility of The Wedding of River Song? Where was the heart-tugging moment of The Rings of Akhaten? The spectacle of The Bells of St. John? Where was the feel of adventure that they’ve been infusing the series with since Series 6′s mid-series finale A Good Man Goes to War?

There’s a feeling of something missing in The Name of the Doctor.

I must say though, Jenna-Louise Coleman did exceptionally well in this episode.

And I really do like the explanation we get as to why Clara became the Impossible Girl.

And I hope that this really is the end of the prophecy that Steven Moffat started in Series 5. That after the Pandorica opens, silence will fall when the question is asked. The Pandorica has already opened. Silence already fell. (And has fallen again.) And the question has been asked.

Let’s go back to the simpler arcs. Like Bad Wolf. Like Vote Saxon.

Or like the cracks in the universe.

Speaking of which. Have we already found out what made the TARDIS explode back in Series 5?

That’s something we’ve yet to discuss, isn’t it?

Well, we’ll hold off on it for now, as we digest the game-changing reveal at the end of The Name of the Doctor. Or we could discuss it during the six months wait we have to endure before the fiftieth anniversary special airs on November. Sound off in the comments section below.

Television: Doctor Who and the Nightmare in Silver

“Welcome to Webley’s World of Wonders! Roll up, roll up. Miracles, marvels and more await you. The wonder of the age. The miracle of modernity. They were defeated a thousand years ago, but now they’re back to destroy you. So fast, so smart, and so strong that fighting them is suicidal. Nightmares in silver! Ladies and gentlemen, behold- the 699th wonder of the universe – the Cybermen! As you’ve never seen them before…“

And so we finally get a proper Cyberman story after 2006′s two-parter episodes Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel. Unless I count 2009′s The Next Doctor. Which I should. But I didn’t like it. I liked the two-parter from Series 2. I loved Nightmare in Silver.

Going into this episode, I actually feared that my bias would color my enjoyment of the episode. To the point that, I might over analyze, and… well, not like the episode. And all because I’m a Gaiman fan.

But I had nothing to fear. Gaiman delivers. And in spade.

The Doctor’s Wife from the last series had a great emotional hook in Amy and Rory, and had the gimmick of turning the TARDIS human. In Nightmare in Silver, Gaiman doesn’t have the luxury of having companions that are already well-loved, that people already care deeply about. His gimmick for the episode isn’t something that all fans are looking forward too–it’s something people are actually apprehensive about: the return of the Cybermen.

Nothing against the previous writers who handled the Cybermen, but when you make emotion their biggest weakness, it makes the Cybermen a bit of a wuss. It was interesting the first time it was done, back in 2006, because it was new. But their subsequent appearances were as easily resolved.

The Cybermen are enduring enemies of the Doctor, but unlike the Dalek, they don’t seem scary at all. Which makes me wonder why lists featuring scariest Doctor Who monsters always include them. Well, Gaiman’s Nightmare in Silver shows us why.

The Cybermen have become too human. To make them scary again, Gaiman took out the humanity. And what we get is an exceptional episode that even includes a great relationship development for the Doctor and Clara.

I do have two gripes for this episode.

Number one, when the Doctor notices the cybermites for the first time, he knew he couldn’t leave the planet. But why have the children stay in the planet instead of in the TARDIS?

Number two, Matt Smith is a great actor, yes–but I thought his CyberPlanner persona was a bit too flamboyant–and not unlike his portrayal of a very happy Doctor. Except more sinister.

I mean, I love the nuances that made Mr. Clever, the CyberPlanner, very distinct from the Doctor. And I get that there’s a bit of tomfoolery in the front that Gaiman wants to keep viewers guessing which Doctor is interacting with Clara. But prior to this–when it’s just the Doctor and the Cyber puppets–I really found it disconcerting that the CyberPlanner and the Doctor were essentially the same.

Unless, there’s a statement there somewhere.

Overall though, excellent episode.

I just hope next week’s finale lives up to the recent exceptional episodes.

Television: Doctor Who and the Crimson Horror

“There’s something very odd about Mrs Gillyflower’s Sweetville mill, with its perfectly clean streets and beautiful people.

There’s something even stranger about the bodies washing up in the river, all bright red and waxy. When the Doctor and Clara go missing, it’s up to Vastra, Jenny and Strax to rescue them before they too fall victim to the Crimson Horror!“

I wasn’t a fan of Mark Gatiss’s work on Night Terrors and Cold War, but I really enjoyed The Crimson Horror. Come to think of it, this is the first Gatiss-written episode of Doctor Who that I enjoyed since The Idiot’s Lantern from Series 2.

But that’s not to say the episode was perfect. I do have a gripe on how we shift main characters mid-way from Victorian Jenny, who carried most of the first half of the episode, to the Doctor without so much as a passing of a baton. Once we see the Doctor again, he immediately takes helm of the whole thing and we seem to forget that there are other characters who we might want to follow as well.

That gripe aside, I thought the episode was–and I’m borrowing from the Ninth Doctor here, fantastic. It’s was a fun mix of comedy and action, with a story that stood alone, and yet moved the plot forward. Sort of.

Which brings me back to the mystery of Clara.

I really thought we would get some traction into the mystery by this episode. After all, Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax all knew the Victorian Clara, and they reacted as I thought they would when they realized that the Doctor was running around with a different Clara. Alas, Gatiss doesn’t delve deeper into it, nor does he even allow the Doctor to talk to the Victorian gang about what’s going on. It’s complicated.

And then, the Doctor takes Clara back to her time. As promised. It’s a similar arrangement, I’m guessing, to the one he had with the Ponds. Influenced, I dare say, by the time he spent with the Ponds. These companions need to be able to live their lives out while they are with him. What happened with Rose cannot happen again. What happened with the Ponds cannot happen again.

I must say, I like this development in the Doctor.

And seeing as Clara lives with children, who both seem to be savvy netizens. Well, let’s just say next week’s episode will be very interesting.

I just hope the tease about Clara’s mystery will lead to answers soon. We do only have two episodes left.

Book: Mythspace

I don’t understand. Is this supposed to be an ongoing series, or a series of stories set in one fictional universe?

See, when I got a hold of Mythspace Lift Off at last year’s local comic convention, I thought there would be four stories that deal with the what if engkantos, folklore creatures, were aliens. Different stories that handle the situation, well, differently.

Instead we get four stories set in the same universe where things are just confusing.

Lift Off (Part 2 of 3)

Lift Off is the first one I read because it ties to one of the stories in the previous Mythspace release. I wasn’t a fan of the art then, but I’m warming up to it now. Maybe because out of the four stories they released, this one looks the cleanest.

Unfortunately, if it was unclear about what’s going on with our protagonist before, it’s murkier now. In the second of three parts, our lead Ambrosio is being presented as a gift to a megalomaniac overlord. And to bridge the gap of what happened since the story cut off the last time, we get treated to flashbacks.

The premise remains interesting, but I still can’t grasp the story.

Or why I’m supposed to care for Ambrosio.

And by issue’s end, I’ve made this assumption: Lift Off is a Summer blockbuster–it’s one story. And breaking it off into three is hurting its storytelling, because readers are only privy to the now, with no clue of the before and the after. Cliffhangers only work when you actually care about the characters.

Had this been released in one go, I think Lift Off would have made a better impression on me. In its current format, I’m just– Well, I’m just concerned if it will all be worth it in the end.

Devourers of Light

I loved the style of this story. I prefer cleaner art, yes, but you have to give credit where credit is due. And the art in this story definitely has style. I just wish the story made an impression too.

I hate being negative, but I don’t get the point of this story. I don’t even feel like this was a complete story. If this were a television program or a movie, Devourers of Light was just a couple of scenes that detail what the villains are doing.

From the moment I started reading until the time I turned the last page, I wondered, what I was supposed to learn from the story– Or what am I supposed to take from this? What does the writer want to say?

I drew a blank.

But I’m open to discuss this to the others who read the story. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places?

Black Mark

Soap opera lives in comic form! Main character Mang has been living in the fringes off society after an accident killed his family. Why? It’s something you get to discover as you delve into the story. And Black Mark definitely has the makings of a great story–so long as you don’t get turned off by an introduction that runs a little too long. An introduction that didn’t feel necessary once the story actually got started.

Unlike the first two stories I’ve mentioned, Black Mark has a great handle on delivering information without taking us away from the action. That is, provided you don’t dwell on the introduction.

If there’s anything I want to ask for, it’s this: I wish the story was longer so we could have been more invested in our main character. But, hey, I could live with what we have.

Humanity

And so we arrive at the best story off of this batch of Mythspace stories.

Humanity focuses on two miners, slaves to an alien race–and slaves to hope. And even with art that really messes with your mind in trying to decipher who’s who, the story is strong enough to get its point across.

I like it so much that I’m actually at a loss as to what to say. So how shall I put this?

If you can only afford one out of the four Mythspace stories? Get this one.

Television: Doctor Who and the Journey to the Center of the TARDIS

“A spaceship salvage team drags the TARDIS on board, sending its systems into meltdown. As the Doctor marshals the motley salvage crew outside, he realises Clara is still trapped within his malfunctioning ship, pursued by a dangerous group of ossified monsters. He has just 30 minutes to find Clara and save his TARDIS before it self-destructs.“

I didn’t like how the episode was resolved, but I understood that there was no way else for the episode to end.

What I did like though was how we got a nod to the cracks in time of Series 5, how we got to explore the TARDIS, and the Doctor dealing with the fact that the TARDIS just doesn’t seem to like Clara.

The episode had such potential to be awesome, the premise was brilliant! But I don’t think it was written or directed well. On the former, I felt like the episode writer tried to be too smart that he wrote himself into a corner he could slide away from. We learned more about the TARDIS in Neil Gaiman’s The Doctor’s Wife, than we did in this episode. Both episodes had the companions trapped and running around inside a malevolent TARDIS. The previous episode had an Ood, this one had zombies. And although most of the TARDIS interior in The Doctor’s Wife were hallways, I have to say I still prefer that to the magnificent rooms we saw in this episode.

You see, we’ve been teased about the hidden rooms of the TARDIS since forever. We viewers have been wanting to see these rooms since forever. But having Clara chased down by a monster so we could see the rooms was just… I don’t know. It gave a weird vibe to it all.

Personally, and this is where we get a little bit spoiler-y, so turn away Whovians who have yet to see the episode– I would have had Clara trapped in the deeper parts of the TARDIS, trying to find a way out, and seeing all these grand hidden rooms. If we don’t want her to dawdle, have that initial burst of fire be the incentive for her to find a way out quickly. That way, her gasps of awe wouldn’t have felt weird, seeing as she wasn’t being chased by a zombie as what the episode had actually done.

Every time Clara would pause to marvel at the rooms, especially when she lingered at the library, I was screaming at the screen shouting, “run, Clara! Don’t forget that there’s a zombie chasing after you!” We could’ve had her stumble upon the zombie inside the library instead, and everything would fit again.

And then there’s the scene at the heart of the TARDIS. This one was reminiscent of Series 5′s The Big Bang episode; which, again, I felt had done it better. It had heart, it had stakes. It was nothing like the Journey to the Center of the TARDIS.

After last week’s marvelous Hide, I’m a little disappointed that this follow-up is a little lackluster. Especially since it’s an episode that a lot of Whovians have been looking forward to.

And I’ll leave with that. I’ll see you all again next week when Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax meet the current iteration of Clara.