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Reviews
Doctor Who: The Empty Child (2005)
S1, E9 - The Empty Child: 'Are You My Mummy?'
The start of a great two-parter. The Doctor and Rose land in wartime London after chasing a ship falling through space. The Doctor meets Nancy who finds homes and food for the homeless while Rose gets stuck on a barrage balloon only to be saved by the dashing Captain Jack Harkness. The Doctor witnesses the Empty Child who is also seen by Rose. The Doctor soon travels to Albion Hospital (also in the Slitheen two-parter) meeting Dr.Constantine who explains to him the strange happenings. Rose and Jack meet him there and as the gas mask zombies (spread by plague) converge on them the episode ends.
A brilliant first episode featuring some brilliant characters and performances. Ecclestone is brilliant in this and really sells the situation well. Jack Harkness was perhaps over-used but he is a superbly directed and charismatic character, with credit to Barrowman for his portrayal of Harkness. Nancy is a brilliant character. She has bundles of personality and her chemistry with Ecclestone is second to none.
The Empty Child is genius. Terrifying and intriguing, it is a character which never ceases to entertain or frighten. The 'Are You My Mummy' line has now become iconic all thanks to this super story. Moffat debuts on Doctor Who with a brilliant script full to the brim with marvellous moments. The scene with Constantine was thrilling and the cliffhanger is brilliant as well. I also have to commend the use of the phone in the phone box. The phone that never rings. It really is a great way to start an excellent two parter and at this point we had the best episode of the season so far. That was until the second part.....
OVERALL: 8.0 - A brilliant beginning to a fantastic two-parter featuring many iconic scenes and moments. Interesting new characters and some excellent performances and writing by Mr.Moffat makes this part of a very memorable two parter.
Doctor Who: Father's Day (2005)
S1, E8 - Fathers Day: 'I Did It Again, I Picked Another Stupid Ape!'
Fathers Day in my opinion is a very love or hate episode. It all starts off with Rose asking the Doctor to take her back so she can see her father. She sees him and Jackie get married and then travels to see his death but saves him leading to a wound in time. Soon enough huge dragon- like monsters called Reapers arrive to heal the wound taking as many lives as possible. The Doctor, Rose, Jackie, Pete and a baby Rose are all trapped in a church with others who are attending a wedding. The Doctor finds a way out but Rose touches her baby form and a paradox allows the Reapers to kill the Doctor. It is down to Pete to give his life in order to heal the wound and save the Doctor.
This is an episode which never impresses me. I just don't get it and I can name so many other times when times has been changed. What about 'time can be rewritten'. How comes the Reapers have only appeared once? There are some nice moments. Piper puts in a good performance here as does Ecclestone and Pete Tyler is played to a tee. The final scenes as he gives his life are among my top five moments for the series. Piper and Dingwall (Tyler) have brilliant chemistry. I also think Codouri (Jackie) plays her part excellently.
The Reapers are not the most impressive looking creatures. They are quite menacing but with no back-story or voice it is hard to take anything from them as characters. The story itself just drones on for me and it isn't catchy or interesting enough to hang on to my attention. I just don't quite know why I don't like this episode because some love it. I can appreciate the good work in it but the story just doesn't resonate with me.
OVERALL - 5.0: An episode which features some good work but not one that means too much to me. I don't quite understand the theory behind it as there doesn't seem to be consistency. Long story short, an episode I just didn't get.
Doctor Who: The Long Game (2005)
S1, E7 - The Long Game: 'Die All You Like, I've Got the Key!'
After the excellent Dalek the Doctor, Rose and newbie to the Tardis Adam travel to 200,000 landing on a space station called Satellite Five. The group soon learn it is a news centre and that everyone wants to be promoted to the mysterious Floor 500. The also discover a human computer system where chips in the heads of workers allow them to become the internet. The Doctor soon gains access after seeing one girl get promoted only to die at the hands of the Jagrafess (a.k.a Ceiling Monster). The Doctor and Rose finally make it too Floor 500 meting the editor (portrayed superbly by Simon Pegg) and when they are trapped the Editor reveals that the naive Adam has become part of the system and that he can be used to obtain the Tardis. However, the companion for the day, Kathica overrides it and turns up the temperature killing the Jagrafess. With this the Doctor hopes the world can now accelerate. How wrong he was.....
This was a good episode. It wasn't nothing spectacular but its value to the story arc can't be understated. In fact it is the only episode in the series at all linked to the finale. The storyline is interesting and the human representation called the Editor was brilliant. Simon Pegg pegs in with a brilliant performance: if you'll pardon the pun. He really hit the mark throughout the episode resulting in a largely interesting and mysterious character. I also thought the Jagrafess looked brilliant although I can compare it to the Nestene in that it looks cool but has now way of putting across its intentions. Unlike the Nestene though the Jagrafess has its spokesman which was good.
Kathica wasn't the best companion for a day and was often quite irritating. To be honest Suki who was promoted and killed was definitely more interesting and charismatic and had a back story. Adam has to be one of the worst companions to last over one episode ever. He is just so spineless and boring. The scene at the end where he is abandoned is amusing if only for the humiliation of Adam. This was a good episode and followed a simple but effective structure. The ending sequence is great and some good antagonists made this a good little episode.
OVERALL - 7.0: A nice episode which featured interesting antagonists but it suffers from some very boring characters like Kathica and Adam being featured heavily. However it was entertaining and it has serious implications on the finale of the series.
Doctor Who: Dalek (2005)
S1, E6 - Dalek: 'Why Don't You Just Die!'
After the average two-parter last time out the show needed to bounce back. And boy it did. The Doctor receives a distress call and finds himself underground in what looks like a museum of alien artifact's. He soon discovers Henry Van Statten who shows him the prize of his collection. The Doctor finds out it is a Dalek who has fallen through time after the Time War. Rose also meets it and the Dalek gains sympathy from her and when she touches it the Dalek springs into life wreaking havoc through the base and The Doctor can do nothing. The Dalek gets locked in with Rose but when the bulk heads are opened the Dalek heads to the exit. With The Dalek realising it has no purpose and that it is mutating it kills itself.
It was a great way to bounce back after the first real disappointment of the series. We got a timeless old enemy reincarnated in what was its best form. No other enemy ever in Doctor Who can strike as much fear into hearts on its own. This ONE Dalek was alone a bigger threat the Doctor than the Slitheen. There were some truly brilliant moments as the episode moved along at a frenetic pace. The Dalek moving up the stairs was genius. Not because it was new but the assumption and then reaction by Rose and Adam was brilliant. There are two scenes in this episode which I will couple together as the Doctor and the Dalek. This consisted of the first meeting and a truly brilliant moment where the Doctor tells the Dalek to die. All the while the Dalek was wreaking havoc. the sprinkler scene was brilliant.
There were some things holding it back. The final ten minutes weren't quite up to scratch with the rest of the episode. The resolution didn't fit in with the rustic and simple nature of the episode which is what made most of it quite brilliant. Though everyone is excellent in this. Ecclestone gives one of his best performances along with Rose, Doctor Dances and Parting of the Ways. Rose was decent and Can Statten was great. I didn't like Adam which was a shame but overall a brilliant piece of TV and a stand out episode.
OVERALL - 8.0: Almost a 9 but the final ten minutes (resolution) and the presence of an unimpressive character Adam brought it down. None the less a brilliant episode.
Doctor Who: World War Three (2005)
S1, E5 - World War Three: 'Mickey the Idiot, Save the World'
After a mediocre and often annoying first part we come to the conclusion. With the Doctor being killed along with a host of other 'experts' and Rose and Harriet Jones running from a stripped down Margaret Blaine the suspense is at its height. The Doctor soon overcomes the Slitheen trap reversing it and in an attempt to foil their disguise fails only to be framed for mass murder. Not good then. Soon enough he has regrouped with his loyal companion and Jones as they convene in the cabinet room sealed by steel. As the Slitheen trick the world leaders into releasing defence codes to face a fake threat the Doctor makes a decision that could see the end of Rose. In the end he calls upon Mickey 'The Idiot' to hack into the navy, rather easily I might add, and sends a missile towards Downing Street foiling the Slitheen.
A rather extensive synopsis there. Don't be fooled though that this episode is an explosive showcase of action. It isn't. Unfortunately it suffers from the same problems as the first part. The farting continues and the episode just isn't strong enough. It lulls all the time and unfortunately half the episode is spent in one room. There is action going on around it but the vinegar allergy that destroys the Slitheen is comical. It is as if these aliens are made for a kids show and it is no surprise that they have become a constant feature on the SJ Adventures as they seem directly centred towards kids. There is also a lot of far fetched rubbish lingering through the episode. The ease of breaking into the Navy made little sense as did the knee-jerk release of the defence codes. What proof was there?
Through all the negatives there were still positives. There are some fun moments including the 'narrowing down' process which resulted in perhaps the only interesting thing about the Slitheen. Where they're from: Raxacollicofallapatorios. Hope I got that right. I also like Harriet Jones a lot more in this episode. She had more backbone and had some nice dialogue with Rose. I nearly forgot, hiding in a cupboard? Please!
OVERALL - 5.0: Very disappointing. It doesn't improve on the faults of the first part and adds more unrealistic events to what is a poor second part. Not one to dwell upon.
Doctor Who: Aliens of London (2005)
S1, E4 - Aliens of London: 'Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?'
After a series of adventures Rose calls time and heads back to London to see her family. However something is wrong. She has been missing for a year. Before they can resolve this a spaceship crashes through London and lands in the Thames. The Doctor investigates and discovers a 'mermaid' and a sinister truth proving a stand-in government to be hiding a dark secret. We also meet Harriet Jones, a back-bencher who witnesses first hand the real story behind the events.
This is the two-parter everyone loves to hate. People just cannot stand the sight of farting aliens. I can agree with that. It all started out well. An interesting dilemma which all seemed to be forgotten about very quickly. In fact, there didn't seem to be much point to the 'gone for one year' thing apart from making the story quite dramatic from the off. Still, the spaceship flew in and everything looked quite exciting. The episode then hit a bit of a lull. As it was the first part I expected this and the discovery of the mermaid (pig on legs) got things rolling again. Throughout the episode this farting started not only making the antagonists obvious but also degrading what seemed a fairly serious episode into a bit of a joke.
The cliffhanger is good. The Doctor worked well with the Slitheen, and this was the only real moment of peril in the two-parter. Harriet Jones was slightly annoying to begin with and this was a theme until the second part where she found a bit more of a backbone. Ecclestone makes the best of some average material and Rose seems non-existent for the first part. The Slitheen are not bad looking aliens. They do look pretty scary but the insistence on making them fart all the time just degenerates them into the farce zone; which is a shame.
OVERALL - 6.0: A decent first part where most things made sense but the pace it set it self was lulled into mediocrity and the farting aliens take away the merit of what could have been a great two-parter. A good cliffhanger and some good work from Ecclestone are the redeeming factors.
Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (2005)
S1, E3 - The Unquiet Dead: 'The Big Bad Wolf'
After the impressive End of the World last time we came way back to the 19th century. In an adventure destined for Naples fate landed The Doctor and Rose in Victorian Cardiff. They soon discover Ghosts taking over the dead and discover that a rift in time and space is allowing the Gelth, an alien race, to come through. At first they seem innocent but as the Doctor 'pities' them helping them through the rift they become sinister. To stop them the Doctor enlists Charles Dickens who is unknowingly coming toward the end of his life and so his experiences cannot be placed down in writing.
There were some real enjoyable moments in this. Rose and Gwyneth worked well together and the interaction between Dickens and Doctor was nothing less than genius. However, the whole episode bumbled along too slowly for me compared to the previous two installments. By the half-way point things were picking up. The Gelth were interesting antagonists and would be interesting to re-visit, this time in their physical form. Gwyneth and Dickens were good as well. Timeless actor Simon Callow was great in the 'companion for a day' role as was Eve Myles whose performance arguably won her the part in Torchwood.
Overall it was a nice little episode but wasn't as exciting or frenetic as the previous two episodes. It seemed too happy to go along slowly adding in the odd moments of genius until things kicked into gear. The scene with Rose and Gwyneth was dull until things started heating up. As I said earlier, The Doctor and Dickens together was brilliant also however it didn't change what was a fairly routine episode.
OVERALL: 6.0 - Not up to the standard of 'Rose' and 'The End of the World' but a nice little episode which didn't kick into gear early enough.
Doctor Who: The End of the World (2005)
S1, E2 - The End of the World: 'Everything Has It's Time, And Everything Dies'
After a brilliant introduction to the Doctor and Rose in the opening episode we get the first real adventure into space and time. This really was an ambitious affair as The Doctor proves his credentials by taking Rose five billion years into the future to see the end of the Earth. They arrive at Platform One and meet a host of aliens, creatures and the last human, Lady Cassandra. However, there is a sinister plot threatening everyone on board, so that they die with the Earth.
Doctor Who is first and foremost entertainment. This was entertaining. Although it didn't take a genius to work out the rather simple who- dun-nit, it was interesting and there were some great moments throughout the episode. Jabe was a really interesting character to me. Although she only featured for an episode her chemistry with the Doctor had potential and she would have made a great companion. The Moxx was also a fun character as was the Steward who was perfect in his role.
This was good. It wasn't a fantastic episode but it was a very fun episode and got the point across about how far the Doctor can go, how far he can take Rose. The scene back on Earth was a good contrast. I really liked the suspenseful climax of getting through the fan. I love that score and it was jut a great scene. The resolution wasn't brilliant and Cassandra has never been the most petrifying enemy. Wannamaker is great in the role but the character itself just isn't intimidating enough. Neither are the spider machines. However, on the whole, it was a great example of an entertainment episode and that was the purpose, to draw in a new audience.
OVERALL - 7.0: A fun, exciting episode but nothing too great. Cassandra isn't a formidable enemy and there isn't enough suspense or spectacular moments for it to be anything more than good.
Doctor Who: Rose (2005)
S1, E1 - Rose: 'I can feel it, the turn of the Earth'
A great way to introduce the new era of Doctor Who. A new era which was immediately successful, credit to a 'Fantastic' opening episode. In this episode we meet Rose and The Doctor and some of the supporting characters as well. When a strange man saves a young woman called Rose from killer mannequins she becomes embroiled with him and helps him face a hidden invasion by the Autons: led by the Nestene Conscienceness.
It really was a great introduction. Christopher Ecclestone is now long in the past which is a shame. Not to say he should of gone on in place on Tennant but I really felt Ecclestone got the role. Billie Piper will always be the most memorable NuWho companion to me as she was just so much more charismatic than the others. Martha and Amy, i find boring. Donna got on my nerve. Rose was near perfect. As a story it isn't much. There were some daft little moments clearly aimed at kids. On the whole though it was brilliant.
The best moment has to be 'I can feel it' speech by Ecclestone. Very rarely in his tenure was he as good as this. That isn't a knock as this is one of my favourite NuWho moments. It really did sell me on the new series. The final scenes were also great, The Doctor's remarks about time travel the key.
OVERALL - 7.0: Very good intro but not a suspenseful, thrilling masterpiece. However very entertaining, great characters, and the Nestene looks great.
Lost: Pilot: Part 1 (2004)
The 'LOST' Review - Pilot (Part 1)
Wow. What a beginning to a what turned out to be a fantastic show. I didn't watch LOST when it was on. I'd heard of it, see I live in the UK, but never took the time to watch it. My mate watched it and told me it was brilliant but I wasn't convinced. I bought the first season and so this is where it began for me.
The first part was perhaps the most high-octane, thrilling piece of TV I have ever witnessed. There was so much suspense throughout intertwined by some truly fantastic scenes that really gripped me. Of course the Crash Scene takes the cake however we also got some very scary moments with 'The Monster' and a glance at the characters of each character. The cliffhanger at the end was the first of many great ones and you also have to think about the genius music accompanying the whole episode. It was just an extravagant piece of TV. Even the little flashback we got was interesting and gave us a cool little insight into Jack. Some scenes were shocking, some were funny, some were iconic. A brilliant first episode, the first of many great ones in LOST history. Time for the highlights!
Best Scene - The Crash Scene (Truly epic and just a marvellous achievement)
Best WTF! Moment - Who's that Monster in the Jungle? (A very mystifying and eerie scene here from the beach giving us our first insight into the LOST mythology)
Best LOL Moment - You All Everybody! (Hilarious little scene where we see Charlie tell us he was in 'DriveShaft' and gave us a glimpse of Charlie's quirky nature)
OVERALL RATING: 10/10 (Spectacular)