(no subject)

[avevale_intelligencer]

So, Doctor Who.

When I was a child, watching Doctor Who for the first time, I didn’t know the word “fart.” (One of many four-letter words I wasn’t familiar with.) I was aware of this thing that my body did, and that the correct response when it happened was to be embarrassed and say “Excuse me.” I assumed this was because of the noise, because, not having a sense of smell, I never smelled a fart in my life. It would never have occurred to me to find it funny. It still doesn’t, mostly. (The bit at the end of A Knight’s Tale does get me, but this is mainly because of the characters’ expressions and their enjoyment of the game they’re playing.)

So that missed me completely. As did the point of Rose going home. Doctor Who has rules, and one of those rules is that you’re either on board for the ride or you’re off. Otherwise you have the Doctor bogged down, as he was here, in complications, explanations, kitchen-sink drama and irrelevancies, and the only way out is for him to leave the companion behind. I can’t see whatshername letting Rose go off again after this, and the fact that I know she does simply jars at the moment.

There were good bits. I like the aliens’ faces: nice echo of ET. The pig in the spacesuit brought Mr Sin to mind as well as Link Hogthrob. Impressive effects, of course (though I’m sure some will fondly remark how dire they were…). But on the whole, I wasn’t as happy as I’ve been wanting to be with this Who.

Comments

Humble suggestion

[soren-nyrond.livejournal.com]

Wait till we see what part 2 is like.
I suspect that there will be a (semi-)logical reason for Rose going off again (for one thing, there will be several people in High Places who will be Very Displeased when they put 1 and 1 together, get 2 and persuade themselves that They ought to have been the Saviours of the World -- and in absence of Messing with a Time Lord, they might decide that well-roasted east-end tottie will do for the moment).
As to the gas-exchange problem, I wasn't too impressed, but it was a version of the stiff-little-finger gambit, and helps the kiddies spot who's on which side.

What is ... not worrying me, but (I suppose) sending the hairs on my neck a-quiver, is that so far *every* story appears to revolve round a Dea Ex Machina of the female persuasion (#1: Rose and the anti-plastic; #2 Tree Princess sacrificing herself; #3 Medium Girl doing the same; and now #4, Plucky Girl MP playing Trixie Belden all over the set). Is this the shape of Who To Come ?
Can the Joanna Lumley Doctor be far behind ?

Re: Humble suggestion

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

It's taken as axiomatic these days that men are useless and women are the True Humans. I imagine the Doctor will stay male, and will continue to be useless and have to be rescued by some human or other, because otherwise he looks too superior. (The fact that he's supposed to be nearly immortal, vastly intelligent and experienced, and possessed of abilities far beyond those of humans, is presumably irrelevant.)

I quite like the idea of the Joanna Lumley Doctor, but then I like to think the genders are equal.