Sunday 28 May 2017

Doctor Who: The Pyramid at the End of the World (2)

Bill: 'How would I know the president? I mean, I wouldn't have even voted for him. He's orange.'

After the return to form that was 'Oxygen' and 'Extremis', we're currently three for three after yet another tale reluctant to give up its secrets. I confess, I'm loving the three-part format. Since Chibnall's no stranger to serialised storytelling, here's hoping that he milks the crap out of it next season; the show's clearly so much better when the stories are allowed to breathe. Unless Daleks and Manhattan are involved.

Sunday 21 May 2017

Doctor Who: Extremis (1)

Doctor: 'In darkness, we are revealed'.

This was the first really interesting episode of the season. After the more linear opening stories, this felt like classic Moffat: with its fractured narrative, ugly-AF bad guys, returning classic adversary, and half-answered questions. Which means the internet's already whining about not getting enough answers. At the end of the first part of a three-part story. Which actually gave us plenty of answers. Yeah, the internet's great.

Sunday 14 May 2017

Doctor Who: Oxygen

Doctor: 'Bill, I've got no TARDIS, no sonic, about ten minutes of oxygen left, and now I'm blind. Can you imagine how unbearable I'm gonna be when I pull this off.'

This felt like the first solid episode of the season—just as I was beginning to fear one would never materialise. The story filled its running time comfortably, its main characters were effectively used, and the CGI was the best we've had all season. Even Matt Lucas earned his wages this week. I quite enjoyed Nardole, actually. Not that he added anything essential to the story, but at least I didn't feel like slapping him.

Sunday 7 May 2017

Doctor Who: Knock Knock

Bill: 'Basically, this is the bit of my life you're not in.'

If I'm honest, this season is turning into what I imagined next season would be, with its vanilla stories, super-friendly Doctor, and simpler season arc. Not a bad thing if done correctly, but I can't help but feel the show's lost some of its pzazz. I know the convoluted storytelling of seasons five and six was confusing to many (myself included), but I'd sooner be utterly baffled by an episode than have little to say about it.