'Revolution of the Daleks' was the first Doctor Who episode to be released in 4K on the iPlayer. Was it any 4K-ing good? Well, some of it was, but as is mostly the tradition these days, it was marred by missed opportunity, inscrutable Doctor reactions, and inexplicable character returns. Jack Robertson? Really? And a cameo by the P'ting? Oh, Chibnall, you really are spoiling us.
The season 12 cliffhanger was, of course, rectified almost immediately. This could've been a perfect opportunity for the Doctor to examine her own state of mind during incarceration, reflect upon past failures, and maybe spend a few minutes pondering the changes she's been through. In fact, this should've been Thirteen's 'Heaven Sent': a time of isolation, soul searching, and meditation. Which apparently did happen, it just all took place off camera. Which is frustrating for us, as all we got to witness was some generic reassurance from Ryan that everything would be all right, a thank you from the Doctor, and then a swift return to the main plot.
Wouldn't it have made more sense to have the Doctor explain to her miffed companions that ten months for them had actually been decades for her? One of the most moving parts of 'Hell Bent' was Clara's reaction to the Doctor's sacrifice inside the confession dial. Understanding what Thirteen's been through during her stint in jail could've been the perfect bonding moment for characters desperately in need of some outward show of fam-dom. Yes, the Doctor apologised for her miscalculation, but I never felt as though her companions truly appreciated her predicament or struggle. Which made the whole prison scene little more than set-up for the return of Captain Jack, which although obviously necessary, could've been so much more.
And why on earth did they bring back Jack Robertson? He was the single worst thing about 'Arachnids in the UK': he was overblown, stereotypical, and offered no meaningful satirical commentary. It's almost impossible to maintain the feeling of threat when one of the show's characters thinks he's on SNL. Robertson's dialogue was presumably meant to be jocular, but if we've learned anything over the last two seasons it's that Chibnall and humour are distant bedfellows. So on the one hand we had the Doctor and Jack looking terrified of the Daleks, and on the other we had Robertson's non-stop quips about purchase order numbers, public relations disasters, and insurance claims. I just wish Chibnall had concentrated more on making Robertson feel like a real person, instead of the inexplicably selfish shit we got.
I confess to rather liking the plot. The episode's never going to feature in anyone's list of top-ten favourite Dalek stories, the political commentary on budget cuts was so underdeveloped it was hardly there at all, and there were definitely more interesting ideas to be drawn from the idea of Dalek security drones than we got, but what it did offer up was serviceable enough. I even enjoyed the Doctor pulling a spare TARDIS out of her arse at the last minute in order to defeat the Daleks, although destroying a sentient machine in order to achieve victory does feel like something that warrants further elucidation. Yes, the Daleks were made to look stupid yet again as they fell for the Doctor's playground psychology, but that's pretty much de rigueur these days in a show which prizes spectacle over common sense.
I'm torn on how effective Ryan and Graham's leaving was. On the one hand, kudos to them for not going the predictable route of having one of them kark it. Changing life priorities is a perfectly acceptable reason for anyone to leave Team TARDIS, but again the bulk of the grunt work was done offscreen. If we'd seen Ryan interacting with old friends perhaps his decision to leave wouldn't have felt so forced, but as usual Chibnall chose to tell and not show. Graham leaving to be with his grandson felt a little more organic, although I never fully bought there was much love between the two characters. In fact, I've never felt there's much love between any of the characters. It's just not something Chibanll's spent time developing. And I'm not sure what we were supposed to make of Obiwan Gracenobi at the end. What the fuck was that all about?
Which brings us to Captain Jack, who I thought had a decent outing. Yes, I rolled my eyes as the Doctor and Jack spent time commenting on each other's looks—particularly in light of just seconds prior Jack emphasizing the short duration of the breakout ball—but his conversation with Yaz was probably the highlight of the episode for me. It's not the first time we've heard that sort of speech, but they never fail to give me the fuzzies. And seeing Jack face-to-face with Thirteen more or less delivered. They bounced off each other nicely, and there was a warmth to their dialogue that I enjoyed. I didn't quite understand the Doctor's non-reaction to Jack mentioning Rose, although I'm really at a loss to explain how the Doctor reacts to anything these days. I get that social awkwardness is now her thing, but it really does flatten the potential for any sort of impassioned response from her. She goes through the motions, but I just don't believe it.
Jack's eventual departure was weirdly abrupt, and him throwing in Gwen's name felt like a shameless attempt at nostalgia, but since it likely gave the fanboys a nerdgasm, I ain't complaining. Remember when festive specials used to be must-watch TV? I'd think I'd even recommend 'The Return of Doctor Mysterio' over this. Nardole seems like a work of Shakespearian genius compared to the empty vessels currently populating our screen. The sad thing is, the bar's set so low at the moment that anything that isn't outright offensive is considered a success. Using this metric, 'Revolution' succeeds. But compared to festive specials of yesteryear, I was left wanting more, and this current creative team only seem capable of giving me more of the same.
Other Thoughts:
—I can't make my mind up whether Yaz's conversation with Jack confirmed Thasmin or threw water on it.
—In this COVID 19 era it's so weird to see people hugging onscreen.
—Graham pondering what to do after Ryan told the Doctor he was leaving was priceless. I don't think I've seen a more clumsy piece of acting on the show, and it's up against some stiff competition.
—I would have loved the bye fam moment, if only the Doctor hadn't said, 'Bye, fam.'
—How Tosin managed to say the Mighty P'ting without laughing is beyond me. Mighty, my arse.
—The scenes outside No.10 looked like a set. There was no atmosphere, so sense of being outside, and the camera flashes were perfectly uniform.
—Here's hoping that John Bishop gets used better next season, although I won't be betting on it.
—The Mirror broke a story a few days ago that the next season will be Jodie's last. Honestly, I think the problem's more with Chibnall, but he's rumoured to be staying on. So if you were ever wondering whether God exists, now you know. The world is a senseless, cold, inhospitable place, where nothing makes sense and we all die alone. The end.
Quotes:
Jack: 'Yeah, they killed me once, long time ago. No big deal.'
Jack: 'No. I'm pretty special.'
Jack: 'We're the lucky ones, Yaz. Enjoy the journey while you're on it. Because the joy, it's worth the pain.'
Jack: 'Do I?'
34 comments:
A bland farewell for two of the show's blandest characters. How else could it have been?
Yaz's anger at the Doctor made no sense at all. It's not like the Doctor deliberately went and got herself arrested and imprisoned by the Judoon. And that Yaz's reaction seemed come from a selfishness that she couldn't travel with the Doctor any more rather than some romantic attachment made her outburst even more self-centred.
I've hated everything about the Chibnnall era. Will I enjoy this?
Not with that attitude, no.
With any attitude?
Still, no.
Come on Chris you old curmudgeon, don't tell me the Doctor saying 'Bye fam' didn't have you filling up.
Not with tears, no.
I'm not sure why Barrowman came back. Jack's presence was completely unnecessary and all he seemed to be there for was fanservice and to drop references to remind everyone about a time when the show wasn't cack. Captain Jack's become that ageing actor on a talk show who can't help but talk incessantly about the famous people he once knew.
Just a thought, the COVID situation could've been responsible for Jacks seemingly abrupt departure. Perhaps they weren't able to shoot a proper departure scene.
@Willa. I was under the impression that the filming was completed before the pandemic, bar some post-production. It would explain why his departure felt a little rushed though. Hmmm.
I've been trying to justify in my head Jack's return. Barrowman's said in the past that he'd been reluctant to return because Moffat didn't get his character, but it's hard to determine what exactly, if anything, is different here. The prison rescue was simple, his interaction with the Doctor adequate, and then he just vanished. With Chibnall being so bad at using characters, I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that Jack was given so little to do.
Jack's back because Barrowman desperately wanted back on the show, but he's been such an entitled dick about it previously I suspect Moffat refused just to spite him. He's got his way now because the show's current boss is so hopelessly consumed by the need to recapture the success of his predecessors that they'll indulge in the flimsiest and shallowest of bits of nostalgia.
I wonder what the shape of season thirteen will be, bearing in mind that season twelve was clearly an attempt (as Mark says) to recapture past glories. I wonder if we'll finally end up with a season more in keeping with Chibnall's pre-showrunner output.
Incessant countdowns you mean? ;)
You think season 13 will have a shape? This is Chibnall we're talking about here. He's about as concerned about shape as Homer Simpson.
I'm not sure whether they're committing to Thasmin either or just messing the viewer about. On the one hand Yaz appears interested in the Doctor, but it never seems to develop into anything and can frequently be understood in platonic terms.
If they do plan on putting them together I hope they just get on with it. I can't imagine a showrunner who scraps the whole writing team, insists on a female Doctor, sidelines Murray Gold, and refuses to do a Christmas episode gives a flying fuck about people objecting to a lesbian couple.
At least I hope this is the case. This feels like the sort of story he should get right.
I just don't get what people see in Thasmin, beyond the obvious shipping potential. As characters neither is well developed and their relationship with each other is virtually non-existent. If you edited together every conversation they two of them had across the last two season would you even get half an episodes worth of material? And it would all be exposition exchanges, I can't think of a single instance where the two of them have a meaningfully heart to heart. And yet many see them as being as close as the Doctor and Rose when they're not even as close as the Doctor and Nardole.
Up until now I've always thought that Bill's been the least developed companion of the modern day show. But seeing Graham pushing Ryan on his bike again, although I suspect meant to show their lives having come a full circle, instead made me think how little any of the present-day group have progressed.
Somebody on one of the DW forums made a list of how often the current companions meaningfully interacted, and sometimes it was so noticeably little that there was conjecture on it being part of some complex overreaching plot arc.
Pity it wasn't, but Mark's right, it's not there in the subtext at all. But I think they know that some fans want it and they put in tidbits that can be interpreted one way, but are meant another.
>>And yet many see them as being as close as the Doctor and Rose when they're not even as close as the Doctor and Nardole.
Funny and true... lol.
It seemed strange to me that Graham and Ryan's intention was to carry on their adventures without the Doctor, despite establishing earlier in the episode that doing things without her hardly ever produces results.
I think a lot of you naysayers would enjoy the show more if you stopped judging it against how it used to be and started judging it on what it now is. New Who isn't the same as Classic Who, but it's still a good show. Likewise the Chibnall era isn't the Moffat era. The show has evolved. You should try to evolve too.
Orion, maybe you should try not to take the opinions of others too personally. You like the show as it currently is, others do not, that does not mean they need to evolve (with the obvious exception of the NMD crowd).
@Orion I'm not sure the evolution that took place with the NuWho is comparable to what's happened with Chibnall. Yes, the show changed in 2005, but it retained the things which made it Doctor Who. Chibnall seems to have gone out of his way to strip it of those things to the point where it currently feels like a spin-off show. It has a Doctor Who flavour (as did SJA, Class, and TW), but it just feels detached from what the show both was and is.
But that's just my opinion. Other people may like the current formula, but I can't view it from their perspective. I can only view it from my own and sadly find it lacking in so many areas.
It just feels like so many people want the show to return to its "glory days", return to a male Doctor, and start telling Moffat-style stories again. If you keep judging a show by a set of standards long gone, you'll never enjoy it.
@Orion I'm not sure who you're really talking about now. I don't think I've ever said the show should be more like the Moffat years, in fact I've even complained when Chibnall has tried to mimic his predecessors because it's just doesn't play to his strengths. Chibnall needs to do his own thing, but he needs to (a) draw compelling characters we care about (two have just left and I couldn't care less about either of them), and (b) encase the teaching moments he clearly wants to include inside solid stories.
As for the Doctor being a woman, I was rather pleased to see Jodie Whittaker take over the mantle of the Doctor, and if she's eventually replaced by another woman, that's fine with me. I just don't think Jodie's been given the best material to work with, her character is too bland (I think possibly because Chibnall wanted a woman in the role, but was afraid the public wouldn't take to it, so he balked at the idea of exploring what such a change would mean for the character), and the blame I always dump squarely on Chibnall's shoulders. He's the one writing this stuff. He's the one crafting the story arcs, season arcs, and character stuff.
This was recorded before the pandemic? That's weird, because a lot of the two character closeup shots looked a bit fuzzy to me, as if two images had been spliced together. Jack and the Doctor running, for example. But I also thought the Doctor and Ryan's talk seemed oddly stilted, almost as if the two parts had been filmed separately or at least filmed with the two actors at a safe distance from one another. Soaps are currently struggling with making pivotal personal moments seem intimate, solely because of the COVID restrictions. and I assumed Doctor Who was struggling with the same sort of setup.
Yeah, I noticed some visual weirdness when Jack and the Doctor were escaping, but assumed it was to do with the breakout ball effects. I think the stilted nature of Ryan talking to the Doctor is what you get when two emotionally disconnected characters try to have a heart to heart. It can be done well, but with Chibnall it's like watching two shoeboxes have a conversation.
I'd prefer watching two shoeboxes interact. Better acting and at least they likely have something inside them, even if it's only shoes.
Proposing a new spin-off show called Doctor Shoe.
I'd watch. At least the show would have sole.
One more dad joke and you're blocked.
Reeblocked?
STAAAAHP!!!!!
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