Doctor Who: The Giggle // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 3

One of the creepier images in the episode, though the VFX leaves much to be desired.

The finale of Doctor Who is a novel little concept that has in fairness been tried many times. The issue with ever doing it is who can handle not having this franchise? Even if the series managed such low ratings and disinterest that the BBC would in turn cancel it, maybe in ten or fifteen years it could be rebooted? The Giggle has never been sold as or committed to being a finale, but it does include many elements of it that do seek to offer a sense of closure. This is mainly done in the “explanation” of why the Doctor regenerated back into the Tenth Doctor and what happens after it, with it I guess seeming that the Doctor knows this is his most popular incarnation and the one who seems ideal for such a thing? We also get some returning albeit minor characters from the classic series. Will we ever get a Susan appearance? While the idea of giving the show a finale; a fake finale (which this definitely is); and regenerating into past Doctors, especially to make a point, is really fascinating and not as worthy of disdain as some would say, all these ideas are not handled nearly as well as they could have been.

The Giggle serves as the closest of the specials here to a sixtieth anniversary, though it is still light on much celebration of the past. A big thing we get is Tennant. Tennant returning is a good idea. It thematically shows how no matter how much this character changes, he remains the same and offers closure to this tenure in theory, though these specials are even light on references to the Russell T. Davies era. Considering how the Doctor witnessed a lot of strange things be done with regeneration by other time lords it works that part of the Doctor would want to be a bit strange and revisit a past experience. What other past elements we get comes in the form of a few verbal references; the welcomed but minor companion Mel, played by Bonnie Langford, predictably Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and the more fascinating return of the Toymaker. While the Toymaker’s one previous appearance was in one of the worst Who serials of the 60s, his ability to essentially shift reality and create impossible games for people to win is a phenomenal idea. Neil Patrick Harris brings a menace to him as someone who appears so bored with everything that he feels a need to be so destructive.

Thus, it’s a huge disappointment that much of this narrative is setup with little payoff. This is epitomized by a scene of Donna being approached by creepy dolls, which serve no purpose and prove no threat. The two meaningful-to-the-plot games he plays are seeing who can pick the higher card and later don’t drop a ball. Both are played as comedic, but due to their inclusion in this supposed serious finale that is trying to do so much, it muddles the tone. Beyond Harris’ performance, Tennant does sell the intensity of the Doctor’s emotions in his stress and anguish when it seems like something bad is about to happen, which comes out in a few all too brief scenes. The Doctor and Toymaker make the best of the story when talking about their experiences and specifically how they differ from humans. They’re to a degree being compared in how traumatizing it can be to go through as much as they have, which also explains why the villain acts how he does. Thus, it’s sad how little he appears.

A lot of time is spent setting up just how bad the situation is, hearing about all the things the Toymaker has done and admittedly getting some solid visuals, like the toy burning, only for a lot of this to eventually be brushed to the side. A very sudden twist is included and that just takes up the ending. Why not have the threat of the Toymaker be more connected to the twist? Maybe we could have had this be two specials, one dealing with the Toymaker with the twist part of the cliffhanger, then the last is only about the latter element. As is, this episode is so rushed. Random characters explain a lot of the plot, the cliffhanger of last episode and how it’s being resolved is similarly discussed before suddenly being pushed aside, “the Vlinx” was established as a character only to do nothing, as does Kate’s insults, Mel and more importantly Donna are barely in this, and some of the faster paced moments play as fairly comical. The scene of the Toymaker in a black tuxedo doesn’t have him even doing anything, which suggests something was cut. Same with the Doctor’s clothes regenerating with him when he first became #14. That suggested there was some weird space anomaly, but that’s not the case according to this episode.

SPOILERS

We get a really quick scene of two UNIT soldiers walking towards the Toymaker, the Doctor tells them to stop, they get killed, then he tells Kate they indeed died. It all is just very silly. Earlier, the Doctor said to Donna he wasn’t sure he could get her out alive, which is not something that weighs on the situation nearly as strongly as it should. This turmoil needs to mean something. That confession, as well as the Doctor seeming fed up with the cruelty of humanity, are good character moments in a vacuum, but come across as tossed in to make the story “deep”. The Doctor talking about order and chaos could have represented a theme that would play through to the end. Why not have it tie into how he defeats the Toymaker? The actual way he goes is absolutely absurd, losing a fairly easy game when apparently everyone else ever has lost to him. Him bragging about who has been defeated just feels like a waste of time, seeing as the Doctor doesn’t really have to do much to succeed. What if he either has to die or sacrifice Donna in order to win? What if he simply gets the Toymaker to go away, but the latter’s destruction is not even fixed?

Some of the better aspects of the story is the explanation of how the Doctor initially met the Toymaker and how the Toymaker got to Earth. The Doctor is later very clever in outsmarting the villain into letting them go. He probably understood how hopeless things were, so manipulated the Toymaker with what he knew he would want. At the same time, the Toymaker manipulates the Doctor by knowing how to cause him emotional turmoil. As such, the Doctor is often clearly fearful of him. He even offers him something… The Doctor and the Toymaker traveling together would have been a really fascinating idea. Makes you wonder if the Toymaker would steal the TARDIS. This is reminiscent of the time in the audio adventures a Nazi was a companion of the Doctor.

Ncuti Gatwa does a fair enough job, though his incarnation of the lead is devalued by this episode really just being about Tennant until the end. He doesn’t even get a chance to follow the tradition of acting really weird from the post-regeneration haze, being more about giving a bit of dialogue to the Tennant Doctor. What would have been better is if the regeneration occurs at the very end. Considering that the Tennant Doctor apparently has all the interesting baggage about the character, with Gatwa’s more of a clean slate, Gatwa’s era will probably feel like a spinoff or remake, as it might not be following many of the developments to the character that shaped the Doctor. The two Doctors saying goodbye feels like a symbolic passing of the torch, like the Doctor we’ve really known from William Hartnell to David Tennant is bowing out.

Something not covered much in the series is what causes the Doctor to regenerate into the face he does. Such a thing could tell us a lot about the character, at least making for a solid episode. The Fourteenth Doctor era hopes to offer such an explanation, with it seeming to be that it was subconscious, so he could find Donna and retire. This is concocted as something Donna just thought up, which is a lot less satisfying than if it was something the Doctor had to discover. This also spits in the face of a lot of past moments. The Doctor likes adventure, though admittedly has at times wanted to retire but felt he was unable. Wouldn’t he justify to himself now that he can do twice as much life saving? Coming up with a reason for him to call it quits isn’t impossible, but it should take a lot longer and be more about an internal struggle unlike what he’s seen before instead of being done in a few conversations in at best three episodes, but really just this one. The Doctor has already experienced the death of loved ones and failing to help people as much as he could. What’s different about now? The show must not even really believe in this, as the Fourteenth Doctor is left with his own TARDIS, which strongly suggests this isn’t the last of him. 

Hopefully it isn’t, as this “ending” is so quick and unearned. It doesn’t even distinguish itself from the many breaks of the Doctor. The emotional gravatas it is given feels like a trick just waiting to be retconned. 14 saying how happy he is retired feels way too easy, ignoring the aforementioned breaks he’s done, like between series nine and ten. The need to help that would push someone that’s gone so hard and so long fighting isn’t just going to go away. The best way to interpret this is as just a finale to the previous Davies era, as that was just a few years instead of sixty and almost every episode of it starred Tennant. A lot of the various eras of the show feel a bit distinct, but this episode still asks to be so much more and ultimately invites more questions. Even if the Tennant incarnation is just tired and wants to be both alive and retired, what about the others? Will 14 not one day die and perhaps be replaced by another risky adventurer?

While bigeneration isn’t a bad idea, it does only seem to be here for the sake of giving us more Tennant if it’s ever needed, instead of it really being dug into. A lot of exploration could occur for it and admittedly it might happen. A bit more would help the episode. There have also been a few times where we’re supposed to see Tennant off, so it’s increasingly ridiculous when he’s brought back. It does in a way make sense the Doctor could not let go of being Tennant, considering he felt he could do so much more in The End of Time. Those trying to calculate our hero’s age usually have the Tenth as around the youngest tenured, so perhaps to the Doctor, he is the one that got away? Still, it’s probably for the best that he avoids this incarnation considering that 10 cheated death once before in series four, with this episode featuring his third regeneration, all relatively soon after the last one.

OVERVIEW

Obviously it’s not objective what the best interpretation of what the Doctor is is, but Russell T. Davies’ approach of the character being essentially anything, such as that he can now do what’s shown in the episode or affirming the Timeless Child story, erases the Doctor really even being a character. He doesn’t have any wants or drive, as in an instant he could be something else. This admittedly is a problem that plagues any long running character, such as superheroes. It can get to the point where it might seem too boring to some to not go in a “this person is basically Jesus” way. It was so much more special when he was just a weird alien with a box that admittedly didn’t aspire as massive of change. As the Twelfth Doctor once powerfully said, he does what he does just because it’s kind, but that message is diluted when it’s suggested he does so because he’s really so great and special. Due to the frankly broken story of The Giggle, including the blatant attempts to force emotions out of a hat, all this comes off as laziness. What if Davies’ real reasoning is wanting an excuse to make simply a sci-fi show under the Doctor Who name instead of understanding the legacy he is a part of? He would not be the first to change things up, but he might be the first to really run with radically transforming what the Doctor is or acts like.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) Review

How many dalmatians are in this movie again?

Interestingly, One Hundred and One Dalmatians never drops a lighthearted tone, but still maintains its very morbid stakes. From the get go, the film goes for a quaint and funny style. It doesn’t deny itself flavorings of the 60s, Britain, and “charmingly offbeat and unrealistic”. Many shots look like a still painting, where pans are achieved with the image just moving across the screen. The characters also have a slight lack of fluidity, though this all adds to a surreal effect that matches the dialogue and narrative. Initially, the spirits of our leads are consistently high, with an arguably unnecessary part of the story serving to establish this world.

The proper story is about how the one hundred and one doggies will escape doom, but the beginning covers the romance of Roger Radcliffe, played by Ben Wright, that is barely even in the film once the stakes increase. His characterization is very flat, with him not much of a character. He is colored by a few moments. A favorite is when he offers the soaking wet Anita, played by Lisa Davis, a handkerchief, not realizing that he and thus the handkerchief are also wet. The other highlight is when he lays lyrics about Cruella de Vil on the melody he just wrote, singing about her like he personally knows and despises her, despite him only knowing of her that she’s a little rude. None of this really matters and it leaves you to wonder how Rog thought of as many lines as he did, but of course all of the movie has cute humor like this. There are many such flourishes to the narrative that do little more than get laughs, but are nice. Lisa also isn’t much of a character.

The film commits to being about either the scenery, the tone, or the story. As an example, the opening wastes no time pushing along to the point where the two lead dalmatians have puppies. Afterwards, two very expressive characters “Jasper and Horace Baddun” push their way into the story, with Roger’s maid making absolute sure you comprehend the gravity of the situation to the plot. Martha Wentworth acts her heart out with the music matching her. This scene only manages laughs instead of genuine dread. Afterwards, the heat is on. We don’t get inside anyone’s head. In fact, the scenes of all the various animals working together removes much individuality or personality to them. They are solely about this mission. One even says he’ll bark all night if need be. The effect of this is removing a sense of watching a real story, but the adventure being so exciting makes up for that. It takes the impotence off the characterization and puts it onto the action.

There are a few seeming exceptions to this, like when Rod Taylor as Pongo narrates the beginning of the movie. We see his wit and perspective, such as in considering Roger to be his pet. He also successfully pushes Roger wherever he feels is best. This dynamic and relative focus doesn’t last long. In fact, even Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella de Vil, who is often characterized as campy and manic, doesn’t ever have fun or not be all about serving her role in the story. She is simply extremely hotheaded and quick to yell. Cruella barely does anything when you’d expect her to stop to be memorable. Jasper and Horace at least go for laughs. People seemingly have projected more onto her, especially because her design is very distinct and her voice like that of someone like Bette Davis. Davis and Cruella would have a similar fanbase of film students and drag queens.

The best three roles here have got to be Sergeant Tibbs, the Captain, and the Colonel. The three have a humorous dynamic and back-and-forth, with various little gestures and novelties given to each, which does finally offer at least a bit of realism. You do have to extend your disbelief to accept that all these dogs will dedicate themselves to sending the message of the dognapped puppies, but those three cover how that would actually work. They carry honest souls and this natural aversion to the horrors they witness. You can tell by their expressions and actions that they feel like that if they fail then a real tragedy will have occurred. They take their role pretty seriously, though humorous things still happen. Their banter and even distinct appearances color them. The fact this is a dog, cat, and horse instead of all being dogs suggests they’ve somehow come to form a really unique and charming bond. They’re beyond any sense of tribalism.

We get a wonderfully lengthy and detailed look at how the events play out. The fun of the movie is in seeing what little issues the characters will be written into and how they’ll get out. Along the way are many quick jokes that serve as texture. This includes the dognapping apparently making the paper; Cruella’s pen exploding on Roger, giving him spots; some of the puppies unable to understand why they’d be asked to get dirty; and an apparent dog tv show and commercial, as if some human tv producers are out there feeling a need to give airtime to a show for dogs and also sell products to them. The threats are not particularly serious, but are very entertaining. There is arguably a logical explanation, the reason why issues befall Jasper and Horace is because of how idiotic they are, so it makes sense they would struggle to do anything meaningful. The movie commits to and pulls laughs from how silly they are, so their stupidity never feels convenient.

OVERVIEW

One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a tonally consistent and solid blend of adventure and comedy. It plays best as a warm and quirky Christmas tale that never takes itself too straight, though note it does a little just to get you invested. You’re taken to a strange new world where a large group is nice to each other and works together for free. Not a world I know!

Just thought I’d add in that Roger and Anita not caring about their place getting covered in dirt is hilarious.

Scavenger Hunt (1979) Review

A lobby card for the film

Is Scavenger Hunt stupid? Yes. Is it particularly good? No.

No matter how you feel about Scavenger Hunt, you can’t accuse it of false advertising. It is very much a scavenger hunt and very 70s, just look at the hair and clothes. One of my favorite tropes of the era is when the main concept of the story is really dumb, so there’s some equally dumb explanation to try to justify the plot. This isn’t the first nor best example of “a rich person dies and just feels like making the main characters go on some absurd quest”, but it does get brownie points for the rich person being played by the great Vincent Price! There’s in fact many, many quality and funny actors here, who do at worst a serviceable job. For the record, the best usage of that trope has got to be from It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. As a story, it’s very standard and a bit cliché, which is not a big issue.

A lot of famous actors appear here ready to flex a certain novelty. Most play a very simple role, but that is in keeping with this movie being more about an adventure than any sort of drama. Some highlights include Scatman Crothers singing “Ain’t She Sweet”, the line “A killer soufflé!”, the line “Acupuncture”, and many others. At one point, the police are called on one group and someone asks the cop to not arrest them just yet for the sake of sportsmanship. Tony Randall as Henry Motley is one of the best written and performed characters, with him walking away with some heart in his attempt to treat this as a sort of bonding experience with his kids. He is often out of his depth and it’s fun to see his small failures and successes. One of my favorite scenes is between the wimpish Randall and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the latter making a then uncommon film appearance. Arnold, despite playing someone very friendly, obviously dominates over Randall and has this big smirk on his face, like he’s having so much fun. Especially with how the scene ends, it’s quite zany. I’m a bit of an Arnold apologist in general, but he doesn’t provide any kind of great performance here, to put it mildly.

Other favorites are Richard Mulligan as Marvin Dummitz, whose dimwitted nature compliments Crothers, with the two forming a duo. Roddy McDowall and Cleavon Little among others play servants of Price’s character. They’re clearly having fun with these very animated roles, like they’re all trying to be wackier than the other. The actual leads are a pretty standard cut “Young guys and a girl that dress and act how the youth of the time did”. As such, they’re comparatively uninteresting and suffer in comparison to the bigger actors around them. They get enough focus to still be watchable and relatable. Wisely, the movie gives at least a little attention to everyone, so you could conceive of any character being someone’s favorite and who they’d want to win. It is very satisfying to just see what happens and guess who the victor will be. None of the leads are particularly bad.

SPOILERS

Most of the teams are reasonably moralistic and good natured, but instead of focusing purely on their conflict, one group is essentially picked to be the antagonists. Cloris Leachman as Mildred Carruthers, Richard Benjamin as Stuart Selsome, and Richard Masur as Georgie Carruthers are all humorously slimy. “Let me tell you your fortune… you don’t get any fortune!” The movie knows not to take their threat seriously. They are in some ways unrealistic in their villainy, such as by cheating, which adds to the “lowbrow” tone that’s been the sort of thing critics will rip apart.

To combat them with a bold sheen of wholesomeness is the fact all the other teams join forces at the end to beat them, like these three random characters are supposed to be laughed at as we celebrate their loss. The movie near the end moves all its chips from ensemble adventure to threat vs the noble, like we’re eating trope soup. The other teams gave all their items to one group with no intention of receiving anything for themselves. It’s like they just felt Mildred and co just needed to be defeated. Of course, it ends up coming down to our heroes only winning because they had a few extra seconds and a technicality to boot!

OVERVIEW

If I could change one thing, I’d make it longer so there could be more entertainment going on as well as more development of the story. Some characters don’t get very much focus. Films like this beg for creativity. It offers a mixed bag of sometimes being more interesting and others more plain. For this reason, and due to Scavenger Hunt’s inability to take anything seriously or be more than a genre comedy of the time, critics were not too nice to it.

The type of humor, reminiscent of other films of its time, might seem old fashioned to some and more importantly less biting or witty, going for a more “common denominator” tone. That can still be very funny and appealing, but maybe it’s a bit too easy? A lot of the story, such as how it’s resolved, could’ve been done in a far more clever manner. The film certainly isn’t any hard classic or essential, but it’s a lot of fun and won’t disappoint for completionists of the various stars involved. It is a shame it didn’t dare to be more, like if it went to Mad World levels of insanity and madness that make that earlier film such a riot.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Review

Is this a Wes Anderson movie?

Everything Everywhere All At Once is, true to its word, everything. Much has been read into this film in terms of commentary on the world and general themes. I must think that at some point a movie will come out and be hailed as a complex masterpiece, only for the filmmakers to at some time admit it really meant nothing and just hit the expected beats of a narrative, with far more being read into it. (I’m sorry, Duck Soup, I still love you.) At its heart, Everything seems to be firing for a simple idea of family and togetherness. Especially around the ending, it was reminiscent of a thousand other movies that were solely about “Let’s just love each other.” It’s hard to know what to think of this, whether it’s a beautifully simple resolution or anticlimactic after the very busy and complicated film it’s a part of.

To put it simply, this movie is stimulating. To be less nice, overstimulating. The film often leans into extremely fast montages that don’t always convey necessary information. One example is when we see someone “verse jump” over and over to explain where they’re getting a certain ability from. That, just like quite a lot of the story, is blinding novelty and entertainment value. You can tell some involved love old action and Kung-Fu movies, especially Chinese ones, and wanted to include fights that evoked them, while implementing elements like absurdist humor. However, something like the dildo fight or better yet a man jumping pants-less in slow motion intending to land sitting on a trophy shaped like a butt plug feel designed to only be attention grabbing, especially to a gen-z audience.

For better and for worse, the film does appeal heavily on a multitude of levels, like as a light popcorn flick, something where any little element can be looked at as commentary on several-hundred year old philosophical concepts, or anywhere in between. It might even be designed to be a bit confusing for someone on their first viewing, in hopes of repeat ones. Based on the strong focus for comedy and spectacle, it can feel like there is little to say, especially when it gets to the point of someone just yelling to be kind, instead of that particular message being discovered or earned. However, some messages are discovered or learned. Another issue is the pace, where the film can rev up to a hundred, then stops before starting again. The pessimistic view of this is to say it is edited essentially like a music video to just appeal to perceived short attention spans. No matter what the intention is, the impression is that certain elements that are built up don’t matter, as after the intensity of them being laid on, everything cools down for the next big idea.

All of the cast have a very good understanding of their manic roles. The hardest would probably be the lead Evelyn Quan Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh. She is initially an every woman before quickly having to get with the program. You can argue Evelyn should have had more time to figure it out, but there is a serviceable explanation for that. Her feelings are not delved into deeply, other than her main goal of trying to save everyone. Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang grounds the film into more emotional territory, with him often giving some realism to the tale, which is ironic as he is the first sign of chaos.

Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang gives the best performance, bringing a consistent nihilism and desire to find support. Her face often has a look of fatigue on it. Due to the youthful energy of the story, she might work due to being the youngest cast member and thus having the most ability to relate. My favorite performance is Jamie Lee Curtis as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, who brings a dry wit and inherent absurdism due to how out of place she looks and how much fun you can tell Curtis is having. She’s easy to love. The supporting cast are consistently wonderfully charming and entertaining, but arguably serve as filler.

SPOILERS

Based on how quickly Evelyn was to embrace the multiverse, even to the point of punching Deirdre and possibly considering killing her daughter, you could imagine the movie would end in a twist that no supernatural events occurred and the lead is just off her rocker. It’s at least surprising her family isn’t more critical or concerned about her behavior. This idea of coming off as nutty about something is an old trope the filmmakers might have enjoyed. Based on the ending, where everyone seems fine, was there any need or point to Evelyn punching Deirdre? What about all the destruction at the IRS or the marital tensions between Evelyn and Waymond? Same with Evelyn apparently stabbing Waymond.

The heart of the story are the discussions between Evelyn and Joy’s alter ego Jobu Tupaki. They discuss their opposing views on the world, showcasing the nature and thought process of Jobu, ultimately proving she’s misunderstood. So much information about Jobu being portrayed by her just telling Evelyn is rather boring, though the expressive and symbolic visuals help in making up for that. Later, we are thankfully shown Evelyn overcoming Jobu’s strength and nihilism through the visuals. The best example of this is when they’re rocks, which is beautifully and creepily simple. Same can be said for when Evelyn adopts googly eyes on her as a rock and Jobu in turn rolls off a cliff.

Whether or not the reconciliation of Evelyn and Joy is earned is up for debate. It is too easy, with Evelyn merely saying to Joy she wants to be with her, which could have already been figured. This does summarize the main issue of the style of the movie not being able to sustain its substance.

OVERVIEW

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a very good spectacle, benefitting from how rich and colorful it looks. It’s an extremely lovable and watchable work that will probably serve to influence many people that see it. While some say that a thing that tries to appeal to everyone appeals to no one, this might be the exception that proves the rule. Though it can come off a little disjointed, the constant stimulus that also gives a lot of food for thought to those looking for it works in the film’s favor. However, due to its limitations and how “2022” it feels, there is the concern of the movie soon going out of date, with down the line a new story essentially filling this role of delivering some very typical messages in the flavor of the time, such as not demonizing your children. The lack of subtlety could be seen as positive or in vogue, but grow stale later. The picture still deserves and probably will have some legacy going forth. Also, I was genuinely rooting for Raccacoonie and its owner. I’d also like to have hot dog fingers and play the piano with my feet with Jamie Lee.

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 2

A frame from the episode

Wild Blue Yonder at its heart is a simple and effective mystery. Wisely, it uses the space-filling scenes of walking and talking to give some degree of development for our leads. As such, there is a lot to like here, though as a whole the product suffers serious issues. While much of the information we learn about the story of the episode is nice, it mostly comes down to “The Doctor can’t figure it out, so he wanders around until it clicks.” At one point the antagonist explains part of it for the Doctor, which is a trope that doesn’t allow for real intrigue. Why would a villain do that? However, just like last time, David Tennant and Catherine Tate clearly know the show well and handle the absurdities admirably. Their interaction with Isaac Newton, played by Nathaniel Curtis, is very funny for what it is. It would’ve been nice if this episode was more about them flying around to different time periods and having such novelty adventures. Seeing Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott again is heartwarming. It is wonderful we got to see him before he died, which he did before even filming all his scenes for these specials.

Both The Doctor and Donna have scenes where we get a good look at the sorts of stressors and trauma they’ve gone through. The scenes of The Doctor are especially good, due to it following the general theme of The Doctor trying to force down the pain of adventures gone wrong. Donna talking about her family moving on falls flat due to the stakes never being very high. However, it would work under a more intense situation. The episode sets up the threat as particularly villainous, but once again the Doctor can almost magically think a way through. Donna, who generally is not going to give up without a fight, seems too quick to here.

This episode’s antagonist and sets are not unlike how such are handled in the budget episodes the show does, where the Tardis team and usually other characters are on a ship and a baddie tries to get them. As such, it is a real shame this is supposed to be part of a very short anniversary series when we could be focusing on something that either tackles the main story of why the Doctor regenerated into Tennant or the history of the show. Even the structure of the story is similar to other cost-friendly outings. This episode would work a lot better with the next Doctor and companion. This could explore how those two think and will interact with each other. Maybe the next companion is the type to quickly become so stressed she is convinced she will die and thus she discusses her wish for her family to move on from her, as Donna does here?

The visual look of the story and the baddies are both effectively creepy and unsettling. With the latter, it can be looked at as a metaphor for confronting your own personal demons. The exploration of the lead’s inner emotions, especially in response to the villains, feels like a tease when the episode would feel more complete if it came to some resolution. This doesn’t mean to fix their problems entirely, just to make them seem like it led to a point. One episode that did this quite well is Vincent and the Doctor, which looked at how the depression of a person both informs themselves and those around them. Another issue is how convenient a lot of it is, such as the salt shaker.

SPOILERS

The pacing could be improved, like in the beginning when the leads cool off emotionally, so the Doctor and Donna are seemingly about to start the usual of exploring a new environment. Next, the Tardis goes away, they both get inflamed, and the Doctor uncharacteristically judgy, before going back to exploring. What would work a lot better and be more suspenseful is if the two wander around, problems start arising, so they decide to leave only to find the Tardis is long gone. That could continue the escalation of tension, instead of setting it up. Seeing as the Tardis has never “run away” before, it’s ultimately a disappointment when the issue was so low scale and easily beatable.

The Doctor comes off as idiotic for leaving Donna behind. This could’ve served the story or themes by tying into the Doctor feeling like he could’ve handled the situation with the Flux better. Alternatively, what if the Doctor deliberately did this so as to defeat the baddies? Maybe he needed to use the Tardis to analyze fake Donna in some way? Can we at least see some fury from Donna for how horrifying and traumatic that would be? How can she ever forgive the Doctor for that? Here, she seems cordial with him in the end.

OVERVIEW

Similarly to the last special, my takeaway is that while this is a decent piece of Doctor Who, it is lacking in much real adventure or meaning that could make the tale more engaging or meaningful to the overall narrative of this era. This episode has several different tones, from goofy absurdist sci-fi, to drama, to everyone severely lacking confidence, to having it in droves. Why not treat these three stories with Tennant as a coda to his era, which admittedly would be a bit difficult due to The End of Time essentially being that? New ground these 2023 episodes could cover is how the Doctor impacts the family of his companions well after they’ve met him. It could cover what would lead him to regenerate into a past life. While that will probably be detailed next special, it could’ve been more prevalent throughout. We could also see more past characters. Following all this, the first series with Ncuti Gatwa could have all the concepts of these Tennant episodes, but spread out. One episode is committed to being absurdist, another focuses on a historical figure, another is really depressing, etc. Regardless, Wild Blue Yonder is fair enough when taken on its own terms, though is too by the books.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast // 14th Doctor Specials (2023) Review Part 1

When did this show become normal to me?

The Star Beast is more style over substance. Those that are getting back into Doctor Who for Russell T. Davies will find a lot of his trademarks, which maybe were emphasized more heavily for this outing that is designed to appeal to people that had fallen off the show since Davies left in essentially 2009. In fact, a lot of it is laid on a little too thick. Essentially at random, David Tennant as The Doctor can burst into some witty or comedic tangent. The mock trial is the prime example. While that and many other scenes do a disservice to the tone, they are at least entertaining. Tennant himself is very breezy with the material, doing a better job than most would at balancing all these disparate tones.

The opening scene of Tennant and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble monologuing about their past encounters and where their minds are at proves succinctly that these actors have a solid grasp of their characters, even when their lines are extremely unnatural. To give the writing some credit, it seems this opener is not even supposed to be canon, just being here to establish the episode. Much of the information is said later on in the story, so why even have this? Tennant is also in front of a greenscreen of space, which implies he’s just out in the stars standing on literally nothing. One of the biggest issues with the 2000s-present era of Doctor Who is how it can be mostly serious, but include odd bits of absurdity that really pull you out of the moment. While it’s good and also common for this show to go for these stylings, some scenes really ask to be taken seriously and they just can’t be because of this sort of thing. They can be balanced a lot better.

The pacing also is often very fast, with little time to let us sit in a certain situation, which makes that situation feel pointless. A lot of information is shot out in long exposition from characters in ways that don’t feel realistically written or it doesn’t make sense why they even would be monologuing. The music choice can also be offbeat, like the light guitar music after the opening titles that sticks out against the intimidating setup. A very common problem in the show that is especially bad here is when the heat gets down on the Doctor, but then he pulls his sonic screwdriver out and saves the day with far too much ease. Later, there’s a wheelchair that also just seems to be able to do whatever is needed for the plot.

The best performance in the episode is the relatively lowkey Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble. Sylvia is rightfully terrified that her daughter might die, though then when required the character will stay off to the side, even when you’d think she would want to be more active and trying to keep Donna safe. Her pain is also played for laughs, when it could make for a really touching and dramatic plot point if taken seriously. You regardless can’t deny how heart wrenching it is when she’s yelling at Donna that the alien right in front of her isn’t real, because she’s so afraid of what will happen. Catherine Tate herself is very effective in her role of a selfless mother and person in general that always wants to do the right thing, while being easily agitated.

Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble gives a fine portrayal, as well. It would’ve been better if her story of feeling like an outcast connected more to the main plot. It arguably does a little, but the general disconnect makes her feelings come off as tacked on. That being said, it’s certainly not uncommon for shows like this to include relatively blatant commentary of whatever is going on culturally. Also, Rose being trans does play into the storyline and it couldn’t easily be replaced with something else. It does feel like we are being given a message, as opposed to a story, when this comes up. Rose is supposed to be fifteen, though Finney was eighteen and looks a little older.

Note that this episode is pretty much the closest thing to the 60th anniversary special. It aired on the 25th of November, two days off of the actual day of the 23rd. Thus, it’s disappointing how few references there are to the history of the series. Hopefully such a thing would be included in the later episodes with Tennant, possibly whenever it’s explained why the Doctor looks like a past incarnation. Considering the fact that it was established on the 50th anniversary that the Doctor may regenerate into his “favorite” incarnations essentially explains this.

SPOILERS

Rose trying to hide Beep the Meep from everyone else doesn’t serve much purpose. Donna immediately finds the Meep. There’s not even a scene where Rose’s sneaky leanings lead anywhere. Later, Rose talking about feeling like she has gotten over her issues and is finally herself is pretty silly. Her problem was with feeling like an outcast due to dealing with transphobes. Those people have not gone away, nor has her dysphoria. While of course it is possible to change your mindset with that stuff, she would not just get over her stress in a second. This is a very ham fisted way to tie up Rose and her story, which could have just left her an open book that could be explored later. It also would’ve been interesting if the episode covered the fact that if she had not trusted Beep the Meep, the Meep may not have been able to do as much damage as was done. The Doctor was similarly loosely responsible for some of the deaths the Meep caused, which is not taken very seriously or even looked at.

The Doctor seemingly made Donna remember him so she knew what buttons to press, but couldn’t he have just told her which to press? The scene of him realizing that Donna will have to die just flies in seemingly at random, like the script will contrive any reason to make it appear Donna will be killed. Tate and especially Tennant do a good job portraying this struggle, despite some theatrical dialogue and some yelling which furthermore is desperate to pull at the audience’s heart strings. What would’ve made this land better is if this was all covered over a few episodes. Maybe the Doctor feels Donna is destined to die, but he tries to keep her safe, then after a few hours of screen time he realizes he can’t? He even shows off things like the sonic screwdriver, which could remind her. That sort of moment would fit a lot better in a story just about Beep the Meep and new characters and not Donna.

One highlight is Donna acting brassy like she’s done in the past, being annoyed with herself for giving up her lottery winnings. With very little difficulty or fanfare, the day is saved essentially by the Doctor and Donna pressing a lot of buttons, as opposed to something more complex. Beep the Meep has a very over the top villain voice and overconfidence, yelling about how the Meep will win immediately before being defeated. Beep the Meep literally destroying the streets before that is undone is such an absurd way to “save the day”. Why even show such destruction if it means nothing? The workaround for how Donna can live after getting her memories back is quite clever, other than her and Rose to a degree just “letting it go”.

The sudden cliffhanger is, just like much of this episode, a little too convenient. Seeing as Donna is now learning about her past, why not just have her decide to go with the Doctor, instead of it happening by accident? I feel bad for Sylvia.

OVERVIEW

As a Doctor Who fan, I really enjoyed this. However, The Star Beast suffers in delivering a structured and competent narrative, feeling like a collection of tropes. As an example, there are points where the heroes would be worse off if something happened even a few seconds off from when it did. Embracing the silliness of this concept, as seems to be done by the way the creatures look and their names, works in isolation, but it should’ve been married to a story that will let that thrive. The lightness of the threats and how clean most of the issues are does not fit with the fifteen year long storyline of Donna and her threatened safety, which asks for something more serious.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) Review

Doctor Who template

At least by modern standards, The Most Dangerous Game is hard to take seriously. Its drama is heavy handed, with strong music overemphasizing big moments, a comically villainous antagonist, and a strong jawed male lead. Joel McCrea as Bob Rainsford gets some unintentional laughs in how he never seems to show fear or even emote. It’s as if McCrea wanted to look good, so insisted his character have almost no “faults” by some strange standard. Still, off of the thrills and scope of the scenes in the jungle, the movie is hard not to love. Even the scenes indoors or other settings look really creepy and intimidating, creating a very striking scenery. The directing adds to this, with some intense shots, like someone in the background watching another in the foreground, which creates a sense of dread. There’s also a lot of darkly lit closeups.

Fay Wray as Eve Trowbridge works as someone for Bob to work off of, but lacks much character or substance. If this story was a book, she could be naturally replaced with us hearing thoughts in Bob’s head. She covers some stereotypes of how women typically are in these movies, but she doesn’t get stuck in those too badly. She has a few highlights. Leslie Banks as Count Zaroff can never be taken seriously, always a mustache twirler. He often overacts his scenes. The character is written reasonably well, with his self-centered obsession with experiencing thrills and being a destined hunter playing into his decisions often. He says his father said his hand was “made for the trigger”. Some of the lesser moments are scarier, like when he asks one of his minions to smile. The smile looks very unnatural.

The final act is decent, but goes into some dull directions of essentially everyone running around a lot. It sometimes does pack in some excitement, but that’s not very consistent. Before that final act, there’s too much setting up the characters, which doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Throughout, there are scenes like Eve calling Bob over silently while Zaroff plays the piano and other bits that at least serve to give the actors slightly more range and things to do that are pleasant to look at. The movie is another overwhelmingly dull.

SPOILERS

There’s a great early scene of screaming and panic befalling those on the ship, with graphic shots of bodies hitting the water and people being eaten by sharks, all filmed with quick cuts and peak intensity. We see a lot of people die horrible deaths. This is all the more terrifying because everyone seems really afraid and as minor characters, they don’t have plot armor. When Bob and Eve are being hunted later, they don’t seem that afraid. The intense brutality of this all is minimized by Bob. Right before all this happens, he says he’s a hunter and not prey and nothing will ever change that, being really oversold foreshadowing.

When someone Bob is on a piece of wreckage with is pulled down by a shark, he barely tries to help them and doesn’t even really seem to care. He later says that his “best friends” were killed on the boat, however he never seems traumatized or shaken by any of it. Based on how he acts, you’d think at worst maybe his friend’s friend died unfortunately and he was just hearing about it, instead of seeing people die in front of him as they scream. When a very worried Eve tells Bob that Zaroff has been keeping her and her brother from leaving, Bob says that maybe he enjoys their company, like what she’s saying isn’t terrifying in its implications. Eve later telling her brother to get an early night, as if concerned Zaroff will do something bad, is a really chilling moment.

Wray does a pretty good job when her character discovers her brother is dead. It’s hard for someone that’s never experienced that to know how someone would act, but it is believable what happens, where she seemingly has a second of disbelief, then starts raising her voice and hitting Zaroff, then she’s taken away by force and begins screaming. Her yelling as she leaves the room is a chilling moment and a highlight of this adventure. When we next see her, she’s distracted by many other things, so it makes sense she might be more focused on her own and Bob’s safety, than her brother’s death. It is a shame that at no point after she is taken away screaming does she mention her brother. When she’s on the boat at the end, why not show her crying over that?

When Bob and Eve are taken into the jungle, Bob says they’ll win, Eve says the others didn’t, then Bob raises his voice with, “We will!” This is a great point that finally shows some insecurity from the lead. He doesn’t seem confident that they will, but it makes sense he’d want to at least try to believe it. Eve later foolishly almost steps on a tripwire that would’ve gotten her killed and she knew about. When that tripwire plan fails, as it was likely to, it appears the leads had no backup plan on how to get Zaroff. Zaroff shooting an arrow right beside Bob and talking to him as Bob silently listens is another great scene.

At one point, Eve starts running away, which doesn’t seem terribly like her. There’s no reason to get away at that moment and Bob obviously would be someone she should stick with, as he knows what he’s doing. The structure of the game itself is a little dull. Instead of stakes escalating, a lot of time is spent on things being tried, then just failing. This problem is eventually corrected when the baddies start getting closer and closer, then eventually it seems Zaroff really does kill Bob. It’s also nice that Bob and Eve are forced down a path that Zaroff’s other victims were killed at, despite originally making a point to avoid it.

It would’ve been a shame if Bob had done everything you’d expect an average person to do, then survive. He does do some things differently, namely jump into the waterfall. It makes me wonder if the only reason Bob was written to be a talented hunter was so that that could be used to explain how he would manage to survive when no one else before him did. The waterfall fight is also really intense. Zaroff playing the piano, only for Bob to unexpectedly and quietly walk in is a tense and sharply directed moment. Bob does manage to really look like a badass by seeming so composed and intelligent, instead of before where he just seemed unable to emote. “You have beaten me!” “Not yet.” is a great line.

Zaroff seems to be lacking in principle. As per his word, he should’ve let Bob go, but he was still trying to kill him at the end, probably because Bob might tell the authorities about him. That weakens some moments where he empowers Bob, such as by giving him a knife, as he wants to be fair. While him saying he’s principled is all well and good, why not have a twist where he proves he’s not in a more dramatic and apparent way? He says he won’t kill Eve, but what if at one point he tries to and is stopped by Bob, thus giving Eve a real reason to be afraid and the both of them to doubt they’d be allowed to get off the island even if they won the game?

Zaroff ultimately suffers a lame death, being mostly taken out by being stabbed by an arrow, then falling into his dogs. Doubly foolish is he seems to have not intended to actually let Bob leave, but he does give him a key and instructions on how to escape. The last shot of Bob and Eve driving off into the distance is a pretty one. It is a novelty that they never explicitly end up together romantically.

OVERVIEW

The Most Dangerous Game is frankly very silly. Still, it’s so much fun that it’s hard not to love for how wacky it can be, while having genuinely beautiful cinematography and direction.

Iron Man (2008) Review

A frame from the film

It can be believed why Iron Man has become cemented in pop culture. It embraces both its limitations and the then-modern trends, featuring lots of fun excess. If this style of “constant stimulation and really simple stories” isn’t for you, there’s not much to go off of here. Even some actors here that have done great stuff in the past, like Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, are way too one note. Basically everyone here is just an archetype with the possible exception of the protagonist, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Downey is clearly a charismatic guy and pulls off some emotion and humor, though his character does very little developing. He’ll be in one mind, then the other. His attitude of “Doing whatever it takes to help people” is basically unwavering, despite how the character was early on. Thus, he seems too perfect and a little bit of grayness to him would go a long way.

The movie opens well on a frame of grand scenery. Afterwards, it becomes overstimulating with lots of brash humor and music, seeming to be trying to make this movie feel modern and distinct from what you might expect. Despite the character of Tony Stark having a defining quality of wanting to do the right thing, both in the beginning and later on he seems mildly misogynist. Tony’s ability to both be rude to women and then immediately get with them further perpetuates how movies like this treat women as objects. The only female character with any development, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, only seems to exist to service Tony. A little bit of scantily clad ladies are tossed in, probably to get a few more eyes in the theater seats. A little romance and comedy are forced in here and there. Especially the romance could so easily be cut, with little chemistry between the participants.

Characters like Ho Yinsen, played by Shaun Toub, don’t serve any purpose other than to help Tony, not even coming back into relevance at the end. Why does this person want to help Tony? Even some of the lesser antagonists are made to seem like they have something to do and are intimidating, only to come to nothing. When Rhodey says he’s not going to drink, only for him to be doing so next scene, he comes off as a very weak character. What got him to change his mind? This shows the character as only mattering for the sake of a little light comedy and having little real point.

The pivotal moments of seeing Tony in his varying suits and trying them out are really striking. There’s a sense that the game is really changing and the stakes are being built on. Each new stage adds a sense of intensity and adventure, with some problems fixed and others needing to be figured out. A lot of the shots of the suits and the following action scenes are some of the best looking moments here, being really stylized. It’s a shame that we get a pretty lame reveal of the proper Iron Man outfit. We see Tony putting it on, then flying in it. It’d be better to only get a good look once arriving at his destination.

There’s a decent critique of Capitalism, with it being stated it’s made easy to have no accountability and ignoring or actively hurting people in poorer countries makes companies money, so they let horrible things happen. Not that I think this message was intended, but even near the end, Tony endangers innocent people by being careless and/or testing inventions, which could be a commentary on how rich people care more about their novelties than other people. The government is also shown to be complicit or actively hurting people.

The movie was a lot more violent than I was expecting. There’s a huge body count and some of it has a bit of realism, being really sudden. Still, the cartoon physics is quite absurd. After an explosive goes off next to Tony, it’s hard to believe he’s not more seriously injured or dead. In fact, there’s numerous points where he should’ve died if the physics was accurate, but in the movie he’s fine.

SPOILERS

There’s sharp tonal whiplash where after some light conversation, everyone except Tony seemingly dies. Instead of being able to see Tony react to how his weapons are being used by malicious people, someone just tells him about it and how he should feel bad. There’s no subtlety. When Tony and Yinsen were building the prototype suit, why did no one see they obviously weren’t building what they wanted and stop them?

Later, why would Tony keep flying up as ice surrounds his suit? This does match how overconfident he can be. He masters his suit way too quickly when you think he’d struggle more. This could go to challenge his seeming perfection and aid in the final fight. While it’s hard not to be captivated by Tony’s “liberation” of a society by gang members, it symbolizes rich people doing charity for small groups, instead of doing things on a grander scale that don’t look as good for their image. In the context of the movie, the scene is fine. You can imagine Iron Man always running around saving people, but the subtext of him just occasionally helping people is pretty uncomfortable.

When we learn of Obadiah being an antagonist, he suddenly becomes cartoonishly mean. This comes down to him pointlessly explaining his plan to Tony, which only hurts him. The last fight scene ties off the film well, with Tony having to defeat Obadiah despite having many disadvantages. The way Tony defeats Obadiah is clever, though there’s a few contrivances that get him his victory. If Tony had been struggling with his suit earlier, the fight would be more intense. Why feature Obadiah being set back by the icing issue, if he would be fine in little time? Obadiah continues to come off as an idiot when he keeps shooting around Tony, without hitting him.

Tony’s rambling at the end about how he’s not like a superhero seems to be trying way too hard to distinguish this movie series from past superhero media. It’s a little too heavy handed, though Tony frankly saying, “I am Iron Man.” is a great line, simply and gracefully distinguishing itself from the understanding of superheroes most would have, without being overdone or out of character.

OVERVIEW

Despite the generally positive reception, Iron Man is too empty beyond the surface. Even some of the more unexpected ideas, like the Capitalism critique, don’t serve the story as much as it should. It’s still a decent action romp. There is another excellent line in the mix from a minor character, “I hope you’ll repay me with the gift of iron soldiers.”

Barbie (2023) Review

A frame from the film

Barbie might’ve seemed like it would be some schlocky fair, but strived for greater things and more nuance. While it fairs better than the worst of it, it is not without major faults. The dialogue has no subtlety. Even the “real world” characters very clearly describe their emotions. A notable example is how the character of Sasha talks to Barbie when they first meet. Who would just lay into a person like that, and in that way? Some of the special effects, like when the Ryan Gosling Ken is surfing, are very fake looking. They look weird, though that is probably intentional. The mix of live action actors and digital effects don’t gel well.

The performances are consistently very flat and undistinguished. Michael Cera as Allan is the worst offender, acting like himself without providing much of a purpose to the story. He just stands around. At least the average Ken gets a few good lines or moments. Ncuti Gatwa is a personal favorite. The best performance is Will Ferrell, as he’s not taking it seriously. Admittedly, he, Cera, Kate McKinnon, and a few others give the same performance they often do. The “Will Ferrell” role works a little better here than Cera’s does.

The leads, Gosling and Margot Robbie, don’t act like they know what’s going on and are sitting backseat to the spectacle. That’s fine, but the ending clearly wants us to care about their characters and what’s happened. Barbie doesn’t ever show that she’s changed, but then acts like she’s different for no real reason. Parts like Gosling Ken crying may have been intended to be big character moments, but there’s nothing to emotionally distinguish it from other emotional states he was in.

The movie feels derivative, as it had so many movie parodies. Aping 2001: A Space Odyssey for no reason is especially egregious, though Barbie being depicted in her original outfit in that scene is a really clever and funny shot. It’s a very striking visual. Barbie getting ready in the morning introduces the atmosphere well. It’s funny how almost everyone is named Barbie or Ken, with the characters always seeming to know who is being talked about. The look of the film, especially when it comes to moments that are blatantly ridiculous, usually have charm. It sometimes tries too hard to be cute.

The pacing is very choppy, with us going from one situation to the other quickly. Despite this, the plot is little more than the “Hero’s journey”, so you think it’d be structured better. That also makes what will happen incredibly obvious, with little deviation on typical formulas. The ending is especially so, though the final joke is quite funny. The film lacks substance that doesn’t feel manufactured…

While it is good that the film critiques the failings of Barbie, like its beauty standards, it plays those cards lightly and doesn’t come off as particularly thoughtful or daring in those observations. If the movie had not referenced these matters, it would probably be mocked for it, so it makes sense they are there. It seems the message is supposed to be that the brand has learned to improve and was never that bad in the first place, so go buy their products. Not to say Barbies are so bad, but the messaging is hollow when the movie is most concerned about commercialism.

SPOILERS

Why would Sasha actually believe Barbie is a Barbie doll enough to criticize her so hard? Sasha and her mom Gloria seem way too calm about literally going to what they thought was a fictional place. Why would Gloria just let her daughter go to this strange place, led by a stranger? It was funny that apparently one can get to Barbie World in any direction. Same with fake advertisements for “Depressed Barbie”. The cure to the brainwashing just being to talk about the hardships of women doesn’t make much sense and only seems like its purpose is to act like the movie is empowering women by seeming like it understands them.

The message being that women should have more autonomy and not be expected to do what others want or be monolithic is certainly a good one, but so predictable and handled plainly that it is tiring to sit through, like we’re not supposed to expect it. It arguably is insulting how easily the Barbies are manipulated by the Kens. The movie acts like what Gosling Ken did was no big deal and is forgivable, when he tried to subjugate all the women. The movie also doesn’t acknowledge directly that the Barbies really mistreat the Kens, though not to the same degree as the Kens did at the climax. This can be read in the subtext, which is probably handled better than it would’ve been if the message was more apparent.

More daring than this is the message of how people can focus on tribalism or tradition, like how the Kens just try to look pretty and not really do anything, instead of earlier trying to be their own individuals. The film does suggest that this treatment does happen and is wrong, both of which are true, though of course not at the same extent as women. Similar can be said for how the movie treats patriarchies as childish and something that comes from resentment and a lack of understanding of others. It’s not hard to find people who act like patriarchies are ideal, with that message mainly being targeted at lonely men. The toys representing Ken’s society being big hits shows that this mentality can and is sold to people for money, at the cost of other’s rights.

OVERVIEW

Barbie would work better just by being made much longer ago. Imagine a 70s movie where Lynda Carter is Barbie? Being released in 2023, it’s simply and sadly behind the times, though not behind what most would’ve expected of it.

Doctor Who (Classic) 063: The Time Monster // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 5

Context for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who

In the classic era of Doctor Who, stories were divided up into multiple episodes, in a serialized fashion. The show follows The Doctor, the protagonist, on various adventures through space and time in his ship called the TARDIS. Since Spearhead from Space, he’s been exiled to Earth and aiding the monster fighting-military organization, U.N.I.T. Other main characters are U.N.I.T. members, Jo, The Brigadier, Benton, and Yates. The Daleks, Cybermen, and Master are recurring villains.

The Time Monster is a welcome return for the UNIT gang and increases the stakes for the purpose of being a good finale. The Master is beautifully cunning here, losing a lot of the hokeyness he possessed in The Sea Devils. Mikes Yates and especially John Benton get a lot of good scenes and lines to make themselves presences. The Brigadier is arguably a little too shorthanded, but he has some nice bits. This episode is definitely made by the great back and forths between the Doctor and the Master, especially in episode four. They do seem to have some respect for each other, but obviously many strong disagreements. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning turn in excellent performances, feeling the weight of their time together.

There is a recurring theme of feminism, mainly restricted to references to gender by the character of Ruth and her associate Stuart. There’s an amusing moment related to this theme in the last episode of the serial, but it overall amounts to nothing substantial. While some female characters have purpose and agency this serial, notably Jo, they’re not particularly distinct or related to gender when compared to other moments of Jo or other women doing something. Due to all these references, the story probably wanted to say something on gender and/or sexism. Though the Doctor is often testy with Jo, here he is particularly snippy, like when he raises his voice for her to get the Brigadier. Arguably this might’ve been part of this theme, with the Doctor’s attitude towards his female assistant being supposed to mean something, but what is hard to say. There’s nothing that could pass as a moment of the Doctor realizing that he was wrong for his treatment, or even right.

One particularly amusing moment is when a scene opens on Jo saying the Doctor is the most infuriating *man* she’s ever met and that she’s asked a million times what the thing he’s holding is. He responds like he didn’t know she was asking. That means either he was ignoring her for no reason or he was so focused on what he was doing he couldn’t hear her. If it’s the latter, he hasn’t had this problem before. Is that supposed to signify that he won’t give much thought to a dumb woman? Another moment shows a device going off in Jo’s hand. Jo references that it’s done that and the Doctor acts like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, a little later he acknowledges the sound going off right next to him. He was literally in the same room as it, so how couldn’t he have heard it immediately?

Miscellaneous comments: There are some charming comedy moments, like Stuart dancing after a successful experiment. One of the highlights of the season is when Mike Yates has to battle some historical baddies, who pop into modern time. Episode one’s opening is striking, with a moody setting and filming. Despite this, it’s ridiculous when realizing that the reason the Doctor discovered the Master is up to something is because he had a dream, instead of something more substantial being the cause.

A scene of Stuart being distraught is laughably bad. A lot of Ruth’s dialogue, especially the gender based lines, are extremely unrealistic, as if the writer never met a real woman before. In fact, the one-off actors are particularly bad, with the scenes with Atlantians losing impact because of their extremely wooden performances. Inside the TARDIS in one scene, the door is slightly ajar, probably by accident. The interior was also redesigned for some reason. At the end of episode five, the cliffhanger music starts early, with us not getting to see Jo’s reaction.

SPOILERS

After the Doctor finds Stuart after he aged fifty-five years in a few seconds, Jo asks if they’re too late and he says they were just in time. The Master being able to imitate people’s voices makes him too powerful. Fortunately, his plan that involves that doesn’t work as Benton doesn’t seem to buy it. After the Master easily removes a gun from Benton’s hand, it’s pointed out how dumb it was that the Master was able to overpower him so easily. Roger Delgado gets a funny moment where he tells Benton that that is the oldest trick in the book. Why even keep Benton alive? He does in fact get up and it wouldn’t be hard for him to make trouble for the Master. Even though the Master thinks he can’t be stopped, he’s thought such a thing every serial pretty much. You’d think he’d learn his lesson and stop Benton.

The Master amusingly tells Kronos to obey, who is flying around screeching, not even acknowledging him. He then contains them in a room, saying they’ll stay there until he needs them. You’d think the Brigadier would understand that the Doctor often does weird things for a reason, so why would he be so in his face about what the Doctor was working on, assuming it isn’t for anything? Really good cliffhanger for episode three. Yates has been around for two seasons, but he’s not so major that you couldn’t believe he’d be killed off.

Episode four is just a fantastic episode that focuses on the battle of wits between the Doctor and the Master, with Jo, who has been pushed aside for some of this serial, having an emotional performance when the drama is high. One of Pertwee’s finest moments is when the Doctor realizes he must endanger himself just for the chance of the Master listening to him. Manning responds just as well, explosive over the idea of the Doctor sacrificing himself. When Jo thinks the Doctor is dead, she is argumentative with the Master, saying she doesn’t care if he kills her.

This episode also has one of the best cliffhangers of the show. We know the Master just did something to Jo, but we don’t know what. On top of that, the Master seems to have everything going his way. Minor negatives include the Master scrambling the Doctor’s words as he speaks being pretty ridiculous. The Doctor doesn’t seem to realize that the Master might kill Jo once he’s not around.

It’s basically unexplained how the Doctor could just magically save himself from last episode. It’s a really cheap resolution. It’s pretty funny when the Doctor solemnly says someone died where he’d have no way of knowing if he actually did. He didn’t look hurt that badly and the Doctor would have no reason to think it was a fatal excursion, he then sees the crystal he was looking for and directs Jo’s attention to it. They then move on from the apparent death like nothing happened. Why even mention the death, seeing as it’s just this awkward element wedged in the plot?

Episode six improves when the main characters leave Atlantis, with the Master and Jo having a dialogue where Jo is upset at him. That being said, the Master says the Doctor and Atlantis were destroyed, when neither appeared to be. Maybe the script called for something that looked more like a proper destruction, but what we see is Atlantis at worst being a little disordered? There’s no reason to think the Doctor was killed, though the Master acts like he’s convinced. Even if the Master saw something like the Doctor be bludgeoned violently, he knows the Doctor can regenerate.

Another one of the strongest scenes of the Third Doctor era is when Jo, after a season of constantly fretting over the Doctor in danger, encourages the Doctor to kill her and himself for the purpose of also getting the Master, even doing it herself when the Doctor refuses. This crushing darkness and mortality should’ve been used more for the point of narrative impact, though admittedly the less it’s used the more effective it is. Still, there could be a careful medium. After this moment is a really striking special effect.

The idea of the Doctor and Jo being saved by and then talking to a God is a fascinating idea, with the visual look of the two TARDISes in a void a good one. Ignoring the actual appearance of the God being quite off putting, there are other negative implications. Couldn’t the Doctor wish for the Master to be free, but also not villainous? Couldn’t the Doctor wish for so much? He doesn’t even ask for Atlantis to be restored to a pre-Master state. You could almost believe this was supposed to be the finale to Doctor Who, with the Doctor originally having asked to basically fix the universe of all that ails it. For obvious reasons, this episode is more concerned with maintaining the status quo, so why have the Doctor meet someone that apparently can fix everything? Except, maybe she can’t as she couldn’t even prevent the Master from escaping?

You can almost imagine the purpose of having a God here is to explain how the leads could wiggle out of Jo doing something that should kill them. A possible way to fix this is for this God to not be so powerful as to end the show and for it being more costly and problematic for the Doctor and Jo to get back to Earth. The Doctor says no one deserves an eternity of torment, as a way to explain not letting the Master be tortured forever. This is an annoying contradiction as the Doctor is sometimes fine with creatures suffering if they’re bad enough. He arguably holds the Master to a different standard because they were once friends.

OVERVIEW

There’s sadly ultimately little point to Stuart and Ruth. They were given a small story and character traits, only to be suddenly unimportant when the Doctor and Jo go to a different location. Stuart’s subplot is particularly meaningless, suggesting there was a purpose in an early draft. Baby Benton is similarly random.

Season nine of Doctor Who benefits from more excuses to go off Earth. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning pack enough personality into their scenes that you’re not sorry to be away from the very likable Brigadier and UNIT. Some plot contrivances and pacing issues hurt the flow and impact of stories. The 60s era had a way of really getting lost in the affairs that the 70s don’t as well. In order to keep the formula working, there are some issues. The Master comes off as extremely pathetic, constantly making grand plans that probably wouldn’t work even if the Doctor wasn’t there to stop him. The Doctor does seem to care about Jo and want her to stay safe. Thus, he seems incompetent when she multiple times gets close to death, and he keeps letting her go on dangerous missions. That all being said, every installment of this season has more than its fair share of charm and lovability. Personally, I wouldn’t skip any in a rewatch of the show.

Despite the problems, there’s much in the favor of the story. The Time Monster does a little calling back to past serials this season and leaves you wanting to know more about the Doctor and the Master’s relationship. Plus taking the more epic nature of it into account, this is a great finale and one of the biggest highlights of the Pertwee era. See for the Doctor’s tea leaves-powered device made to annoy the Master.