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.

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.

Red Dwarf S03E06 The Last Day // Series 3 (1989) Review Part 6

A frame from the episode

Context for those unfamiliar with Red Dwarf (Spoilers for S01E01 of the show)

Dave Lister, played by Craig Charles, is the last man alive. He’s living in the mining ship “Red Dwarf” with a hologram of his dead roommate, Rimmer, played by Chris Barrie; a member of a species of evolved cats, “The Cat”, played by Danny John-Jules; a computer on the ship, Holly, played by Hattie Hayridge as of series three; and also as of series three, a robot, Kryten, played by Robert Llewellyn. Rimmer died due to a radiation leak that killed everyone on “Red Dwarf”, except for Lister and non-humans.

“The Last Day” is the first episode to really focus on Llewellyn’s Kryten. Whether or not one counts “Kryten” as a Kryten-focused episode is a matter of debate. Regardless, Llewellyn pulls in a much better performance here than previously, giving reason to his “robotic” and narrow minded behavior. He does a good job of keeping the character’s inhuman qualities, while giving him some emotions and feelings. This episode also shows everyone as not only a team, but tolerant of that dynamic. Kryten doesn’t ever seem to understand the bond living beings can have for each other. That being said, he genuinely seems to like the others to a degree. Apparently androids are not supposed to enjoy their work, but Kryten often seems to. According to this episode, Kryten doesn’t, but wants to get in “Silicon Heaven” when he dies.

My personal theory was someone at some point reprogrammed Kryten to actually like chores, though it was imperfect, with the dislike of it sometimes coming out. Regardless, him genuinely liking that, and how that might contrast with what the others want and feel about it, is more interesting as it’s generally different than a real person. Even if a person likes chores, imagine doing them often everyday and with little else to do? It’s also arguable that him taking the load off things by doing chores and being another character to interact with has leveled tensions, so he brings in a contrasting personality.

Lister does get some development, as well. Namely, a big part of the “Kryten” episode is that Lister doesn’t seem to like that he’s treated as just a servant. That comes up again here, with him not wanting Kryten to always make him breakfast. However, for the most part he is content with treating him like that, though you can tell Lister often views Kryten as a real friend. For better or for worse, this inconsistency and use of Kryten makes Lister less likable. No one here is supposed to be, so that’s fair enough. It’s a shame that this dulls the clashing personalities of Lister and Rimmer, as Rimmer has been fine using Kryten as just a servant. At least have someone point out how Lister has changed. On another note, we learn more of Lister’s past, being abandoned by his parents as a baby. Ideally, this could’ve come up in an episode more about this. “Marooned” would’ve been a great place for this development.

The Cat is weirdly unselfish. An arguable reason why is he enjoys feeling the team support and the attention that yields him. Lister in particular likes Cat. He’s even excited to give something to Kryten. A possible explanation is he knows he would probably be able to get it back from Kryten later. Rimmer is weirdly absent from this episode. He does take a little opportunity to try and assert dominance over a character, but Chris Barrie overall isn’t in his normal scene stealing mode.

The episode takes a while to get going, with the setup being a bit dry. It even takes some time to introduce Rimmer and longer for the Cat. The party with everyone discussing their feelings and trying to give Kryten a good time works as character development, showing their comradery, and also as comedy. A favorite is Kryten getting drunk and falling off his chair. Surprised that didn’t rile up the studio audience, like how the smeg ups can. That scene had me dying. The positive momentum continues with Gordon Kennedy as Hudzen, who is intimidating while also getting laughs.

I’m glad this was the last episode of the series. We’re maximizing the time with Kryten, thus increasing the impact of his leaving. The fact that at this point he was only in one series makes it believable he was only a one off and could’ve actually left here.

SPOILERS

This episode is more true to one of the original ideas of the show than most, that the world of the show is incredibly cruel. Holly, as an example, seems to be aware there is more to life than what they do, but is confined to how they are, not even having a body. Kryten and the other service droid suffer trying to fulfill orders, apparently in a misguided attempt to get into Silicone Heaven, which may not even be real. For everyone else, they have more of a natural drive to live which is often challenged in violent ways.

Defeating the purpose of a service droid, Hudzen almost killed everyone. Sure, he was insane, but you would think the developers would want to avoid that. Apparently Lister is a target due to being “barely human”. What does that even mean? If Lister is the only human still alive, why would the machines be sold to humans specifically? Just sell the product to who or whatever. It’d be like if products were made today specifically for dinosaurs. Before things get violent, Rimmer gets out of the way. I had wondered why, though this actually makes sense considering he still has human emotions and thus would have that trigger instinct to avoid getting hurt.

In the next episode, Kryten is being taught how to lie. If that had been before this episode, the lie here would work much better. Kryten at one point makes a joke that involves saying something not true. While the whole bit is quite good, it should’ve been saved for later.

SERIES OVERVIEW

Series three tightens the dynamic of the characters and changes the formula a bit. It focuses more on crazy and foreign entities come to trip everyone up, with Lister, Rimmer, The Cat, and Kryten tackling four corners of a comedy troupe. The tradeoff of this is that Holly and to a lesser extent The Cat are underutilized. Still, both are not only still funny, but get some very good material.

Character drama was pretty central to the first two series, but now it’s more muted and the focus is on action. The one episode that is very character focused, mostly featuring Lister and Rimmer talking, needs an incident to cause that situation. In the early series, they did that just because. Both tones work well. What probably would’ve been for the best story wise is if you’d get a mix of both. Maybe one episode is pure action, then the next pure drama, sometimes with the comedy at the front, sometimes a bit more subdued.

In terms of those characters, they feel quite different when being little more than a certain “funny role”. They feel less like real people and are thus less relatable, though it’s hard to deny the humor that comes from that. This also goes against Rimmer’s consistent desire to be taken seriously. Here he lays on just being a funny and stern guy. In fact, all the characters change up their personalities for the sake of what the story needs of them. Two notable examples are how Kryten goes through a whole arc in his series two appearance, seeming ready and able to be his own individual that can do things like insult someone, but he was then basically reset to how he was and is now essentially going on the same journey, but much slower. When he said in “The Last Day” that he is finally having fun, my mind just went to him riding a motorcycle around the universe last series. Servicing the arc are the generally funny scenes of him being subservient to others. He is underplayed usually, which is for the best as Llewellyn’s acting leaves something to be desired.

The other example is how The Cat sometimes doesn’t seem to care about anyone and other times does. The reason might be that Cat has value in being part of the “Red Dwarf Posse” and likes that feeling. He also seems to respect his crewmates more. A broader case is how mainly in this episode, the Dwarfers are being needlessly confrontational. While that goes with their general energy and spirit, it goes against their selfish desires. They sometimes get into danger when it’s not necessary and sometimes even to help another. While the first two series work better as narratives, especially one that develops from one episode to the next, series three beats them out solely by being funnier and doing nothing else superiorly. Even the weaker installments have some good stuff, so there aren’t even bad episodes. Still, the dull periods are definitely there.

Rank from weakest to best: “The Last Day”, “Backwards”, “Marooned”, “Bodyswap”, “Timeslides”, “Polymorph”.

All in the Family “Cousin Liz” (1977) Review

Tea spoon

All in the Family has generally been praised for its enlightened views of minority groups, especially for the time and especially because of its somewhat sympathetic view of its extremely bigoted protagonist, Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor. In what little I’ve seen of the show, Archie does have a nicer heart to him than it may seem at first, seeming to have a better grasp on how wrong his behavior can be. This was apparently in response to some viewers actually agreeing with him. At least taking the episode “Cousin Liz” on its own, his humanity is tapped into where his apparent love and respect for his wife, Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, is what becomes an important focus of the drama here. Arguably, Archie is way ahead of the types of Conservative men that don’t like listening to their wives, sometimes because they’re women.

This episode shows how even people that support harmful ideologies can support the types of groups targeted. This point is mainly channeled through Edith, who seems unwilling to really embrace the negative things Archie believes, though also isn’t willing to strongly challenge them. The only other character in this episode is Veronica Cartwright, played by K Callan. While never upstaging the Bunker leads, she does work well as a counterbalance to them. At a pivotal moment, Veronica has a great look of terror on her face. She makes great facial expressions.

Edith doesn’t seem to understand homosexuality, but she understands love. Someone taking the Conservative talking point of “supporting family and being against those that want to destroy order” at face value should be pro-gay, as destroying them would be destroying a family. Edith seems to understand this. Archie doesn’t like looking at someone not looking back at him, like how a lesbian wouldn’t like him kissing them. This speaks to how homophobia is often based in insecurity. Maybe a man is so afraid of women dating each other, that he thinks they should essentially be forced or encouraged to date him instead?

Edith mentioning “adult movies” might parallel the perception of homosexuality as something underground that sometimes pops up in polite society. You can tell that Veronica has dealt with homophobic nonsense before. She seems somewhat used to it. That brings another dimension to this episode, as Archie might be an undistinguished part of a long line of these types of people. Conveniently, no one else is present other than these three people to complicate the situation. The ending seems rushed. When Archie leaves the bedroom to the living room, the episode’s almost over.

SPOILERS

Edith going on about the tea set’s family history foreshadows her caring about family and thus wanting the best for Veronica. It’s sobering and uncomfortable when Veronica essentially has to push and beg for Archie to not ruin her career. Archie is not some expert, so the fact he’s empowered so much is heartbreaking.

When Archie says God will judge Veronica as justification for getting her fired, Edith’s response of “He’s God, you ain’t!” gets a big applause from the studio audience. While that line probably had the best of intentions, it does still imply that gays should be judged, even if not by other people. It also doesn’t really challenge those that use religion as backing for their bigotry. “Maybe I shouldn’t get this person fired, but I still will think horrible things about them, as God would want.” When Archie tells Veronica to go get a man, she doesn’t at all seem disgusted by him. Hopefully she is just pretending, seeing as by this point she has what she wants. Unfortunately, Archie afterwards asks if she “minds” the advice and sincerely says no. You’d think a real life lesbian would at least say no through tensely gritted teeth.

OVERVIEW

As a political work, it’s hard to deny “Cousin Liz”, considering it arguably served a role in getting a real life bill that would get gay teachers fired turned down. On its own, it’s fine, but way too of its time and devoid of sentiment that is more solidly pro-gay. Maybe it was intended to be as appealing as possible to homophobes, which only proves how hollow they are, unwilling to deal with a more complicated defense of another person’s right to be happy?

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.

Doctor Who (Classic) 062: The Mutants // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 4

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.

This serial has a more significant case of “being too slow and treading early on” than most. Such a problem is most significant in the first four episodes. If this serial was a movie, episode one probably would and could be condensed into five minutes. That all being said, the last two episodes have good payoff. There’s some good cheesy fun throughout, but they’re most prevalent in the end, especially episode six. There’s some pretty weird stuff in that last part that is so ridiculous it’ll have you laughing. Even if by episode six you’re still bored, there is something that will without fail wake you up.

There are expectedly some really ridiculous moments, with some good ideas. Why would the Doctor forcefully open doors instead of waiting for someone to get him? The Doctor acts like it’s unreasonable for him to not be allowed into the conference with no pass and with a strange item that could be a weapon. When an alarm is going off in the beginning of episode two, you can’t hear what anyone’s saying. Episode three’s cliffhanger’s quite good. Episode four’s would be much stronger if the special effects were better. The inside of the caves look excellent, being extremely colorful and psychedelic. It’s a shame there wasn’t a contrivance for our characters to stay in it more.

A black character is named Cotton. His actor, Rick James, is good at his role, though he usually is just running around in a group. His character being an officer in this corrupt government could’ve been used as commentary or to give a unique perspective on the story. Shame no one thought to change his name. The scientist character’s callousness does supply some subtle characterization of this world, with him taking things like killing lightly.

Garrick Hagon as Ky’s performance is lovably bad. This is most notable in his hammy speech in the first episode. The character of Varan gets an Oscar moment at the end of episode three. He’s supposed to be going through something emotional, but his acting is so thoughtless and wooden, with the background set so cheap. It’s unbelievable this was considered acceptable or that people watching this weren’t on the floor.

Jo is generally a liability here, not doing much to make herself useful. A recurring issue in the series is the Doctor having to make unwanted compromises in order to save her life. It gets ridiculous that he’d allow her to come with him on adventures. If the Doctor simply gets a thrill out of taking someone along, then that’s pretty immoral that he’d do something that can endanger multiple people. Episode four leans heavy on the cheese, featuring a lot of running around that will bore some to tears, losing some of the pace and energy of the previous episode.

SPOILERS

At the end of episode one, when the Doctor’s container is opened by Ky, who is running away, he yells he should wait as the box is for him, like Ky would care and isn’t trying to escape guards. Episode one’s cliffhanger is a classy one, following up on the beginning of the episode where the Doctor told Jo the mission was too dangerous for her to join in. Jo goes with Ky when she has little reason to trust him or think she won’t be walking into great danger. She later explains she went with him for the sake of her and the Doctor’s mission there, but that’s not worth her endangering her life. When the Doctor is told Jo might be killed, he doesn’t seem that worked up over it. When the Marshal threatens to not try to find Jo, whose life is in danger, if the Doctor doesn’t help him open the container, the Doctor says it’s unethical to open it as it’s for Ky. Why would he care so much about that in this situation?

After the Doctor stops Stubbs or Varan from killing each other, he takes the gun and hands it back to Stubbs, as if he wouldn’t then just try to shoot Varan. After Varan is saved by the Doctor, you’d think he would like or appreciate him, but he briefly wants to kill the Doctor due to a misunderstanding for the purpose of getting a cliffhanger. A reason is later quickly contrived for him to help the Doctor and he doesn’t show that disliking of the Doctor he had shown moments before for the rest of the serial. If only changing people’s minds on propaganda-engrained political issues was as easy as the Doctor with Stubbs here.

When the Doctor and Varan find Ky, the Doctor gives some plot, Ky and Varan then interrupt to argue, then Ky turns back to talk to the Doctor like that argument hadn’t just happened. The pacing and writing continue to be awkward. Some lines about Jo’s safety are thrown in, seemingly out of necessity, then everything stops for a few seconds so the Doctor can get the container for Ky. Later, Cotton and Stubbs say they’re going to leave so as to escape the dangerous gas. Next scene Cotton is shown with the Doctor, being stationary. It’s funny to see the Doctor just leave Sondergaard on the ground to get the crystal, though there is a point to it.

At one point, guards shoot at the Doctor, despite being told not to. At the end of episode five, Cotton becomes panicked amusingly quickly. When people arrive at the hearing against the Marshal, the investigator comically shouts who those people are. The Marshal grabs a gun at his hearing and shoots a mutant, not thinking that wouldn’t be unnecessary or make him look bad. Why would the investigator listen to the Marshal’s order to be put in command after he killed the mutant? Ky floating around, especially when he explains why and that he will kill the Marshal is simply the funniest thing. The Marshal is just poofed out of existence. Also, why wouldn’t the Doctor try to prevent his death? He is usually against even the villains being killed in the series.

It seems the Time Lords knew how to save the day and what needed to be done. Why not just send someone to tell Ky or Sondergaard what to do clearly instead of making things far more cryptic, so everyone’s got to run around getting into scrapes, with the Doctor initially knowing very little? The Doctor should not be okay with taking Jo on adventures after how close she got to death, and due to her own recklessness. He literally told her at first to not come along as he thinks it’s too dangerous. While superfluous characters are reasonably common this show, what was the point of the character of Varan? Why give him his backstory with Ky and the fate he ultimately gets? He seems to just exist to help out the Doctor once.

OVERVIEW

While The Mutants is on the dull side, there are good moments. The certain scene in episode six is an absolute riot of so-bad-it’s-good and makes it an extremely entertaining watch, though of course a few glorious minutes doesn’t save the whole serial. Still, the big dumb adventure element is charming and lasts the whole story, making it worthwhile on the level of satisfying a sci-fi itch. See for the Doctor’s Vulcan nerve pinch.

Doctor Who (Classic) 061: The Sea Devils // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 3

A frame from the episode

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.

While The Sea Devils is hard to take seriously at points, mainly because of the look of the creatures, it might know this to a degree. There’s a few comedic moments that lighten the story up, so it doesn’t get too stuffy. Favorite bits are Jo miming instructions to a smiling Doctor, the sandwich scene, and the Doctor golfing. These make me wish for the days of comedy serials of the 60s.

There’s a recurring theme of pompous, irrational, sexist military men whose idiocy just gets everybody in more trouble. The female characters often are in subservient roles, with men making the decisions. Characters like Robert Walker, played by Martin Boddey, are so cartoonishly chauvinist that maybe this episode is making fun of that? That being said, sexism is not looked into very closely and plenty of moments seem like celebrations of this mentality. The Doctor is extremely bold and capable, and fits the standard of heroic male lead, with a pretty female assistant. Jo does get some things to do and ways to help, but lacks much identity outside of the Doctor here.

The Doctor apparently doesn’t bring his credentials with him. This shows his self-confidence. Him not feeling he needs them makes sense as this whole show is about getting strangers to trust that he’s got good intentions. He does seem pompous and over sure of himself in many ways.

You of course get some moments that show a lack of proficiency in editing, pacing, or not being laugh worthy. The very beginning of the first episode shows someone running to a chair, sitting in it, and reporting something urgent. Faster paced media would start with him talking instead of a few seconds before. Shortly after the Doctor sees live footage of the Master, he sees him in person and he’s dressed differently and doing another activity. When Jo beats up two large adult men, there’s some very prominent synth scoring. The funniest has got to be the sound of the Sea Devil’s scream, especially in the earlier appearances where the noise is so loud and ridiculous that you just want to laugh at them.

Episode one has a great slow establishment of the various elements at play, along with a mystery that initially seems very low stakes. Unfortunately, some of this serial’s cliffhangers are pretty dumb, like no one knew where to put it. Episode two strangely has a lot of sudden and poorly executed cuts, though it does have a great ending sequence, one of the highlights of the story. The footage on the boat has a very rugged look, like it’s documentary footage. It makes you realize how static the show can look, with this being a breath of fresh air.

SPOILERS

Based on the Master trying to get a new guard to obey him, it’s funny to think that every time the Master meets someone new, he tries and fails to get them to follow him. The Doctor seems to think the Master has changed his ways, except he just saw him trying to get someone to obey him. The Doctor can make correct grand conclusions from too little evidence, like trusting that Jo really did see the Master and not someone else and that the prison watching the Master really was all corrupted and not just some of it. The Doctor says “Good afternoon” and closes a door after a gun is pointed at him is fun. Later we get the great scene of a fight between the Doctor and the Master, with some lovely line delivery, all scored to some very strange and inappropriate synth music. The Doctor tsking at the Master is a favorite part. One odd part is when he hands the Master his fencing sword after he loses it. This isn’t a friendly game, the Master is clearly trying to kill him. This shows the Doctor’s over confident side. He was probably thinking he could just as easily defeat the Master again.

Episode three’s cliffhanger is better, if you can forgive the Sea Devil’s ridiculous look and the camera not being level when it captures the Doctor’s face. The Doctor, being put under arrest, boldly picks up the phone of the person arresting him. The Master explains his plan to the Doctor. What good would that do him for his enemy to know what he’s up to? The Doctor gives an unusual looking gun to someone who wouldn’t know how to use it. That character later uses it in a way the Doctor doesn’t want. Why would the Doctor trust him with it? After the military starts bombing the Sea Devils, the situation does seem pretty unwinnable for the Doctor, and thus it’s engrossing to see and think how he’ll get out of it. It also contrasts nicely with the Doctor seeming so sure he is in control.

The last episode goes through too typical beats, with a lot of shooting at the monsters and the Doctor looking clever and smaller details being overlooked. It’s like the writer was asked to write this last episode based on a quick and dirty outline of what came before. Seeing as the Master and the Doctor are together for just about the whole episode, it is a shame their relationship wasn’t delved into more, which would’ve made for a far better ending.

Lesser issues include… The Doctor turns on a machine that causes distress for the Sea Devils. It apparently takes minutes for it to be turned off. Why wouldn’t the Master turn it off instantly? How does the Doctor not realize that the Master will obviously escape the one guard? How did the Master and the Sea Devils not realize that the Doctor would want to sabotage them anyway he could?

The Doctor seems to show a racial bias. He is mortified by the idea of humans being wiped out, but by the end he seems fine with the Sea Devils being killed. If his issue is with evil beings, then he should be okay with the Master dying. He did bring up that he felt the genocide was unavoidable, but really think about how depressing that is? Your only choice is to blow up a species. Even if he’s right, things like this should be shown to weigh on him. The Doctor even had said to the Master before that violence will get him nowhere, but it sometimes being helpful to the Doctor should be acknowledged and does mean something.

It does appear that the only reason the humans won this serial is because they used violence. Thus, Walker was at least somewhat proven right for jumping to violence. Of course, the Doctor almost got the Sea Devils to agree to peace, which Walker spoiled. This shows that there might have been a chance of them seeing reason. For the record, when multiple human lives are at stake, Jo only seems concerned for the Doctor, which is similar logic of “the party I can relate to all I care about”.

OVERVIEW

See for a somewhat typical runaround with exciting action, the Doctor being such a hilarious asshole when he takes Jo’s sandwiches for no reason, and the Master watching a children’s show (I’d like to think it was an animated reconstruction of The Web Planet). Don’t see for the Brigadier, who sadly isn’t in this one, despite him being an obvious thing to include.

Doctor Who (Classic) 060: The Curse of Peladon // Season 9 (1972) Review Part 2

A frame from the serial

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 Curse of Peladon is a great atmospheric story, though it takes a little while to get going. The former is encapsulated in the opening shot, a beautiful stormy night raining on a castle on top of a cliff. The whole story has a dark and foreign look. Adding more to this charm are things like the great fight scene. The suave nature and clothing of the Doctor paired with the dirty floor and guerilla style of filming is what it’s all about. The 70s grit is killer. Episode three also has a really nice cliffhanger.

Geoffrey Toone as Hepesh is glorious, able to carry the drama well. His beard is also fantastic. Henry Gilbert as Torbis has a solid dynamic with Hepesh. It’s a shame he doesn’t have much importance. The fact he was brothers with Hepesh suggests their relationship originally had more of a purpose. Alan Bennion as Izlyr is another favorite, having a twist about him that makes him especially interesting. Of all the bit characters, he seems the most logical. Some of the actors really sell their characters and this story, making it claustrophobic and captivating.

The ability to appreciate this story on its merits will be broken by some when they see Alpha Centauri. The character is a big green bug with an almost shrieking voice. As a committed Doctor Who fan, this was not such a big deal, though it was still laughable, but Centauri basically commands that this not be one of the first Who stories one should watch. The character’s costume creaking in a dramatic scene in episode four, with the costume trying to look dour, is especially laugh-worthy. Similar negatives can be levied against the character of Arcturus.

David Troughton as King Peladon is not good at saying his frequent hokey lines, like, “Enough! I will not have my Chancellor and my High Priest squabbling on the steps of the throne.” His moments of being quiet or humble are better. Episode one does get caught in trying to subtly include story information in dialogue and also expect the actors to act like they’re political leaders. Save for Hepesh and one other, it’s difficult to believe them as such. There are also editing errors. There’s some really close and awkward edits at the beginning of episode four. There’s a point where Alpha Centauri says the first syllable of a sentence before a cut to the next scene.

Jo is not the most likable character, sometimes storming into a situation without thinking. The character element works as she’s consistent, yet she sometimes conveniently shows up at the best possible time for story purposes. She at one point gets the amazingly bad line of “Well, I feel… definitely… wobbly at the knees!” You’d think the Doctor and Jo would constantly be concerned about doing something that could get them killed, but they often walk into situations where death could possibly result. Jo brings up a good point that the Doctor has basically endangered her life by getting the two of them more involved in this drama than they had to.

SPOILERS

Torbis’ death should’ve had more of an impact on the king and Hepesh. They get over it way too quickly. The king says there’s no danger to the delegates, not even telling them of Torbis’ death, they find out another way. Either he doesn’t realize that there’s no way he’d know they’re safe or he cares more about the meeting going well, at the cost of the delegates’ safety. This dynamic of the character should’ve been explored more. To be fair, his ignorance is a little.

It’s a stretch to say the delegates didn’t cancel the meeting after the first death. After the episode one cliffhanger, how could they not cancel it? Jo is way too accusatory of the Ice Warrior. Also, if she thinks the Ice Warrior was trying to kill Arcturus, why would she so blatantly reveal that she knows what they’re up to? A wiser person would consider that they might be killed so they wouldn’t be able to reveal what they did to others. After the Doctor is accused of a crime, he is told the law allows for no defense for this claim. Such a law being enacted is so unbelievable it breaks the logic of this episode, albeit briefly. Especially because this is obviously just for a cheap cliffhanger.

The king says there’s an alternative after saying there’s no choice but for the Doctor to be executed. This is just a plot convenience to justify the drama of thinking the Doctor will die. Why would Hepesh be so stuck on protecting rules, then help the Doctor escape? Jo seems really cruel when she tries to guilt trip the delegates into helping the Doctor, when they’d be risking their lives doing so. The Doctor storming into the throne room looks so badass, with a great moody shot of him to boot.

How did Arcturus think he could get away with killing the Doctor out in the open? Later, the Doctor just explains everything, instead of giving these plot clues in a more natural way. This last episode has a decent amount of filler, which could’ve gone to exploring this. The Doctor often seeming to know exactly what to do can be quite ridiculous, like he’s read the script for this serial. Based on how Aggedor attacks people, it’s hard to believe that would be even close to a killing blow. This could’ve been prevented by not letting the audience see so much of the attack.

The king comes off as pretty unlikable when he pressures Jo into staying with him. He even says he won’t stop asking her. She gives him a peck kiss in response. What he said was creepy! Jo appears to actually consider staying with him. Was this supposed to be something the audience was thinking about? They had such a thin relationship that who would want them to be together? When he proposed to Jo after condemning the Doctor to death, could he possibly have had less game?

OVERVIEW

If the Doctor and Jo see Queen Victoria’s coronation, and the Doctor has already been, then there’d be two Doctors there. Some plot conveniences hold this back, with the last episode going predictably. Still, this is a compelling adventure and worth at least one watch. See to hear Jon Pertwee’s lovely singing voice.

The Marx Brothers Secondary Video Media (1950-1951) Review

After what is considered the last Marx Brothers film, though in truth a Harpo solo, Love Happy, the boys got busy with solo projects. Groucho had some movie star juice left in him, but the others went round to the world of television, never to return to the movies. You Bet Your Life will be covered another day.

CHICO

Papa Romani

Papa Romani is on its face a little odd. While the title character and his wife are extremely Italian, the setting and their children are in contrast very American. A believable patriarch character being forged from someone like Chico is quite the feat in its own right, with him still able to express a lot of the quirks he had in the movies. Jeff Silver as the son, Mickee, has a few good comedic moments. Less can be said for the daughter Lucy, played by Alice Ann Kelley. Another surprise about this episode is after a dry first few minutes, it gets much better. Papa with the broom and bits like the soup joke are very funny. The main detractor is how often multiple characters are yelling, with it sounding very grating. Argentina Brunetti as Mama Romani often raises her voice and it gets very tiresome.

Chico has to share screen time with some others. While that can be a shame as you’re probably watching this for him, the minor players are great. Margaret Hamilton is glorious in her role as an inept and self centered neighbor. She about makes me wish she had been Mama Romani, but then she wouldn’t be able to be this role. There’s a great dynamic of her giving over-intrusive instructions, which Papa doesn’t seem to mind, but he also misunderstands. William Frawley’s ridiculous confrontations with Hamilton are joyous. It seems there were only ever two episodes of Papa Romani, with the other being lost. That’s a shame as there’s a lot of potential here. Imagine a show where Papa Romani is living near a bunch of people played by Hollywood stars? Maybe Groucho and Harpo can appear once in a blue moon?

The episode might seem dull at first, that it would just be about Mama being afraid of the phone, but it escalates in unexpected ways and is overall very funny.

SPOILERS

Papa is a bit of an asshole, trying to get his wife to use the phone. The telephone man says they should keep in touch, then he never reappears. That is an amusing thing you see in 50s media, where there’s more familiarity between people, where a phone man will want to keep in touch with random employees. Unfortunately, Papa turns down money when offered, unlike in the best movies. Chico would never do that! It is a little horrifying that Papa got in legal trouble over essentially a misunderstanding, and also that apparently someone can be freed by a threat being made at the police.

The College Bowl January surviving episode

The College Bowl is a proper Chico Marx-led sitcom that’s unfortunately improper as often as it can. Despite a full season of episodes having been made, only two survive. To cover the earlier of the two… the acting and dialogue aren’t exactly Oscar worthy, take as example the scene of a guy who spends all his money on hot fudge sundaes, Chico’s hamburger joke, and Chico describing the college; which seemed like it was set up as a big laugh moment, but the material and the performance are simply extremely run of the mill. Even the studio audience rarely laughs, or gives weak ones. I can forgive the extremely, extremely generic plot and the bad acting, if this served to give Chico good lines. He can’t even get that. Instead he’s the “older man giving wisdom” type. Why make Chico a voice of reason? He’s famously self-centered and idiotic. Leave the moralizing to Tom Bosley. All the other performances are worse.

The musical numbers often come in suddenly. During Tommy’s first, he sounds like he forgot he was supposed to sing, starting strangely, and also was warming up on his first few lines. To stretch for positives, bits like Chico talking about his past in Italy could be worse and with more work could’ve been a good joke or character moment. The singing is not special, but it’s not as bad as it could be. Everybody’s voices and singing ability are decent enough that they aren’t hard to listen to. Andy Williams would later go on to have a very successful career. He’s easily the best singer in this show.

While Papa Romani was surprisingly good, this episode was much worse than you’d expect, with its elements as milquetoast as possible. Running for the least favorite part is when Tommy stands on a table. Disgusting.

SPOILERS

You’d expect Tommy to either go with the manager and be shown to regret it or be given a reason to not go with him. Here, Chico lies about him, Tommy gets upset, then acts like Chico is a sage and takes his advice. What changed his mind? You’d think he’d be extra against listening to Chico. The manager didn’t do anything to seem particularly untrustworthy. A possible reason for him changing his mind, though not a believable one, was because his girlfriend called him a bully. What did he do that could possibly be considered bullying? The manager also said he needed a fighter, but then seems fine going without one when Tommy decides to stay.

The College Bowl finale

After sitcoms got a reputation of being far too nice and friendly and happy, we started getting “subversive” sitcoms that generally have more cynicism. The Marx Brothers seem like the type to make one of those subversive or parody sitcoms. Thus, it’s weird seeing Chico slot so much in as a participant of basically the most generic sitcom you could imagine. This episode at least has the benefit of dishonesty saving the day. The jokes are a little better than last time, but still nothing worthwhile on their own. The chain joke is smirk-worthy. “You better say some more because I no understand what you just said” is an alright line. The songs are generally better than last episode and also better than any other element of the series. It’s amusing hearing the various players sing, only for Andy Williams to get a section and blow everyone else out of the water. There’s a point where Johnny starts dancing, before a fade stops us from seeing it.

Almost all of these two episodes being set in one location is suffocating. It’s not a very interesting set, so it gets really hard to look at. You could believe the show was unsuccessful because it’d be irritating for someone to get through a season of it. Chico’s line about everybody helping each other is reminiscent of a classic scene from 2003’s The Room. Chico at one point mentions having sandwiches, but they have no payoff, as if said payoff was cut. They do sound good, I’d like to have one. When Chico talks to the audience at the end, he’s obviously looking at his lines offscreen.

Chico twice refers to his name, both times using the “Chicko” pronunciation, while everyone else says “Cheeko”. Apparently Chico has been working at the College Bowl for thirty years. Overall, a show consistently of the quality of this final episode would still be too poor to tolerate, but as a single episode it looks good in comparison to the previous adventure. Still, it’s nothing anyone needs to see.

SPOILERS

Pacing-wise, it’s awkward the investor is given a reason to not open a rival store and decides not to do it all in the same scene, instead of having that be two scenes. It’s sweet that in the previous episode, Chico gives some money to help out a friend, and here the college kids all use money to help him out. You do warm up to the love being displayed, even if it’s a little manufactured. It’s wholesome to see Chico given the tickets to visit Italy.

HARPO

All-Pure Evaporated Milk & Foster’s Freeze commercials

SEX! And Harpo! You got to respect how blatant the sex appeal is in these, clearly targeting this milk product to a male audience. The first two All-Pure Evaporated Milk skits are the best, feeling like cogent pieces of comedy. The third and fifth are essentially just a woman talking about the product with Harpo off to the side. The fourth is in the middle of those two. In the first skit, why would the woman scream when Harpo goes to get his kiss. He didn’t seem like he was going to kiss her specifically, and based on the situation it is socially acceptable for him to pucker his lips. The contest prize was kissing the other woman she was next to. The Foster’s Freeze commercials don’t even show Harpo doing anything funny. All he does is pose!

GROUCHO

Groucho is really phoning it in in Mr. Music.

Double Dynamite seems pretty fun, based on the trailer. Groucho pulls off some laughs. Amusingly, Groucho and Frank Sinatra were both in adaptations of the play Room Service. Both those adaptations and this movie were made by RKO. Sinatra was also in The All-Star Bond Rally, which features Harpo.