183 The Lazarus Experiment

 Watched 3-Aug on Bluray

This depends for credibility and excitement on the quality of teh CGI of the monster. Sadly that is somewhat lacking.

The story is basically a rehash of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide with less plot.

Gatiss revels in his chance to exploit several obvious horror movie tropes but the monster falls flat.

ABM Rating 2.70/4.00
LJM Rating 2.00/5.00
SPJ Rating 4.40/10   

No. 147 (out of 193)


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182 Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks

 Watched 2/8 on Blurays

This episode has the most exciting preview reel on the end of the previosu reel. 

The first part is pretty damn good. Dramatic backdrop, conflict between Mr Big and the construction workers, scary unde rthe theatre in the sewers monster stuff with the Pig Men.

In the second ep it falls apart like a bicycle made of licorice. Mainly because the plot hangs on some very poor misunderstanding of genetics and mutation and is resolved by some absolutely ludicrous crap about solar flare/lightning and Time Lord DNA (or something). The only way Mr Big could merge with a Dalek and become a 'hybrid' is if he 'bred" (hatched actual children somehow) with the Dalek (vomit...) It goes downhill, concept-wise, from there.

The production design is amazing. The location work is thrilling and they get away with some cheap cutaway shots (apparently taken on a scam weekend 'holiday' to New York taken by Phil Collinson, I think). Miranda Raison is v. good as the Showgirl Tallulah (Three l's and an h.)

But the story is pants.

 

ABM Rating 2.80,1.80/4.00
LJM Rating 2.99,2.30/5.00
SPJ Rating 6.50,4.20/10   

No. 115 (out of 191) and 159 (out of 192)


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181 Gridlock

Watched 1/8

A sequel that is so much better. Many characters in this are  reused from 201 New Earth.

 

The best bit is the confession scene at the end. Tennant is very Doctor Who in this.

 

DOCTOR: Doesn't matter. Back to the Tardis, off we go.
(Martha straightens up a chair and sits down, arms and legs crossed.)
DOCTOR: All right, are you staying?
MARTHA: Till you talk to me properly, yes. He said last of your kind. What does that mean?
DOCTOR: It really doesn't matter.
MARTHA: You don't talk. You never say. Why not?
CHOIR: (singing) Fast falls the eventide.
MARTHA: It's the city.
CHOIR: The darkness deepens
MARTHA: They're singing.
CHOIR: Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail
DOCTOR: I lied to you, because I liked it. I could pretend. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else.
MARTHA: What happened?
CHOIR: Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day.
DOCTOR: There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song.
CHOIR: The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide. 

Underrated classic this.

ABM Rating 3.40/4.00
LJM Rating 3.45/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.45/10   

No. 27 (out of 190)


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180 The Shakespeare Code

Watched 28/7 on Bluray

Funny, witty, definitely tongue in cheek.

The title is derived from the novel and film "The Da Vinci Code" which was popular at the time and is now fading rapidly from popular consciousness.

 Christina Cole looks like a sensible witch. If you could do magic you should magick up good hair and a cute nose too. Her mates Mother Doomfinger and Harold are much siller in this regard.

There's a feeling that this is meant to annoy traditionalists. Shakespeare is presented as a young-ish northern accented yobbo, the Globe actors complain about learning lines, there is more than one black face among the extras. Have you heard any of the racist wankery about how this is "unrealistic"? It is **totally** realistic that race politics of the late 16th early/17th century in Britain was NOT tainted by slavery and supremacy tropes.

Apart from that this is a lot of fun. 

The plot is weak and so is the sci-fi (witches and spells are real-ish, hmm) 

David is breezing through this now and Freema looks, sounds, acts like she's been doing it for years.

ABM Rating 3.40/4.00
LJM Rating 3.65/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.40/10   

No. 48 (out of 189)


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179 Smith and Jones

Watched 26-Jul on Bluray

Freema Agyeman as Martha makes a breezy and impressive debut. Where do they find these great DW girls?

The plot is usual RTD ODTAA (one damn thing after another). The events are lacking any credibility... again.

The characters are soap (Martha's fam) and campy (Stoker especially). Anne Reid (out of Curse of Fenric) makes a solid reappearance. The Judoon are good original monster suit aliens.

It's a very competent serial adventure ep. Good enough to open a new series and memorable too.

David T is actually hamming some of this up. The ruse with Anne about the bunions was delightful. The submission to "strawing" was less than satisfactory.

ABM Rating 3.15/4.00
LJM Rating 3.97/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.35/10   

No. 49 (out of 188)


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Torchwood 110 Out of Time

 Watched 24-Jul (about)

We decided to pick the 'eyes' out of Torchwood.

That way we can avoid the worst/silliest eps (Cyberwoman, Countrycide, the fairy one) and get a better impresion.

This one has (sorry, had) a reputation as a bit better than the rest. It's basically three stories of people who fell through a time warp from 1953.

One chick bonks her way to the point she wants to get in her aeroplane and get away from Owen go back. One struggles to cope with modern manners but fights back and is left up-in-the-air about will-she/won't-she?

The third one (the older guy) has a meltdown and tops himself.

So the plot is pure midday movie soap.

 

ABM Rating 1.80/4.00
LJM Rating 3.81/5.00
SPJ Rating 6.20/10   

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The Sarah Jane Adventures (pilot) The Invasion of the Bane

 Watched  23-Aug (about)

It's cool. Yasmin Paige is very good.

The plot is better than I remembered. This show is one we will watch.

ABM Rating 3.20/4.00
LJM Rating 4.00/5.00
SPJ Rating 8.0/10   

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