Sunday 29 November 2015

Doctor Who: Heaven Sent (1)

Doctor: 'I've just watched my best friend die in agony. My day can't get any worse. Let's see what we can do about yours!'

It's always something of a crap shoot when Doctor Who tries something different. If history has taught us anything, it's that experimental episodes either knock it out of the park ('Blink', 'Turn Left'), or make us wish that someone had knocked us out in a park ('Sleep No More', 'Love and Monsters'). What good could possibly come from an episode filmed in a single location, and with only one speaking character? Plenty, as it happens. With an extended running time of 55 minutes, this was a gripping tale of mystery, personal loss, and what happens when you punch an azbantium wall for over two billion years with your bare fists.

Sunday 22 November 2015

Doctor Who: Face the Raven

Clara: 'Let me be brave. Let me be brave.'

I was whispering the exact same thing towards the end. For a first time writer of Doctor Who, there's no way that Sarah Dollard should have been able to destroy us like that. Clara's final words were some of the finest, most emotive dialogue the show's ever produced—I can't tell you how difficult I found typing out the quotes. Even Moffat couldn't have surpassed those closing exchanges for their honestly, their pathos, and how beautifully they reflected the Doctor and Clara's relationship. They were perfect. Which is incidentally the exact opposite of how I feel at the moment.

Sunday 15 November 2015

Doctor Who: Sleep No More

Rassmusen: 'I do hope you've enjoyed the show. I did try to make it exciting. All those scary bits. All those death defying scrapes, monsters, and a proper climax with a really big one at the end! Compulsive viewing.'

Occasionally an episode of television comes along which takes you completely by surprise. The format is so clever, the storytelling so off the wall, that you spend the whole episode riding a delirious wave of confusion, until an ending arrives so brilliant that it surpasses all expectation. 

Saturday 7 November 2015

Doctor Who: The Zygon Inversion (2)

Doctor: 'I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. You mean, you call this a war? This funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... till it burns your hand, and you say this... No one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch!'