Watched 21-Aug on Bluray on the big screen
Another example of an RTD 'special': telling the story by clips of fictional TV news and making up plenty of ahistorical politics and politicians. This is obviously a personal trait of RTD as a writer: I'll cite Years and Years (2017) as another example of it which is quite apart from any DW example.
There are some cameo clips of real politicians which makes it dated and confusing. (That awful Tory who turned Brexit.. frumpy humourless old bat.. I've forgotten her name, thankfully...)
Apart from that there's an effective atmosphere of modern snoopy security state generated and some weirdness.
The fictional US President is looking a little dated in 2020 mainly because the current one makes him look too ordinary too normal. Weird that he drives around in a Land Rover too...
John Simm as the Master is intense and mad. At the time it was new and sparkled. Previous Masters were vaudeviliean and moustache twirling (kinda conventional). The new Master is an out of control madman.
MASTER: (muffled) It's a gas mask.
DUMFRIES: I beg your pardon?
MASTER: It's a gas mask.
DUMFRIES: Yes, but, er, why are you wearing it?
MASTER: (muffled) Well, because of the gas.
DUMFRIES: I'm sorry?
MASTER: Because of the gas.
DUMFRIES: What gas?
MASTER: (muffled) This gas.
(The conference telephone sets pop up and squirt gas at the Cabinet and
officials.)
DUMFRIES: You're insane!
(The Master gives the thumbs up sign as Dumfries and the rest of his
colleagues die, then starts tapping out that famous rhythm on the
table.)
In the second ep the story goes to the incredible end of the spectrum. (It is DW not a documentary...)
There are a few controversial moments. Lucy Saxon is shown as suffering some form of relationship abuse (strong stuff for a kid's show) but it a signal that the Master is a "baddie" character. I think a question remains about whether it's exploitive. The details are suppressed: we never see what happened or how or why. We're presented with hints. The denouement where she fires the gunshot that finishes him off is cathartic but there's lots of parts missing from the story
The Doctor as humanist christ figure powered by the power of positive thinking is a conceptual mistake in my view. The Ky of Solos like powers that the super aged 'Dobbie Doctor' suddenly acquires and uses to vanquish the Toclafane and the Master is fantasy unfettered by actual Sci Fi sense. On paper it must have looked nuts. On screen it looks contrived.
I long for a dream sequence explanation. But there isn't one. Ep loses half a point from me for this.
Great stuff to watch but ultimately there are some 'headscratcher' elements.
LJM Rating 4.60,4.59/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.20,9.10/10
No. 38 (out of 199), 45 (out of 200)
Link to Cumulative Rankings
Rankings Scoreboard
No comments:
Post a Comment