Last Saturday Doctor Who S5 concluded on UK television! There'll be no spoilers per se, but I'd like to muse on Steven Moffat's first season at the helm.
You had me at fish custard. Matt Smith has given a virtuoso performance in the titular role and is, arguably, the most compelling Doctor Who casting in years! A complex hero wrapped in a riddle.
Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) are worthy companions aboard the TARDIS despite my initial reservations regarding the latter! To be fair the former's characterisation was puzzlingly slight, and with good reason.
Familiar foes returned with a twist, and the enigmatic River Song (Alex Kingston) appears to be an integral part of Moffat's masterplan. What is her relationship with the Doctor?
It's no panacea prior to the Pandorica opening! The Dalek redesign isn't eminently successful and has been the object of much Renault-inspired ridicule! The concept is cool, but the realisation less so. Why fix what wasn't broken? The season has suffered from a few narrative missteps, which is endemic to new Doctor Who. However, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have remained engaging throughout.
Steven Moffat's Doctor Who is less concerned with bland spectacle, deliberating on the wonder and danger of Grimm folklore told at bedtime. I'm still haunted by visual motifs that wouldn't look out of place in Tim Burton's best work. For this I thank Mr Moffat and his rendering of Verity Lambert's tenure as the series' inaugural producer back in 1963.
Despite BBC scheduling, Doctor Who is stronger than ever.
I really enjoyed this Season. Not one episode had me sighing. I love how Moffat integrates everything and how eveyrhting has been planned so intricately... even continuity errors ;)
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, I am impressed how Matt Smith (Who I no longer dub Forechin) so effortlessly changed my mind about him being the new Doctor. The latter part of the last Tennant episode didn't convince me, but the first episode won me over. Smith's Doctor is so different. He is not your friend, he's creepy and has odd moodswings... there is something not quite right and thats what I love.
Roll on Christmas...
I LOVE Matt Smith as The Doctor. I believe he far outshines David Tennant - the fun element is back now that the love story (excusing Amy and Rory, of course :) is out of the way.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Amy, I had initially thought that outdoing Billie Piper was going to be a tough challenge, but Karen Gillan does the job admirably. Far tougher than Rose, much funnier, and with a sense of mystery about her, she is the best of heroines.
The couple aspect of the companions also harkens back to 'the old days' of Doctor Who and I believe it is the better for it.
I rather liked the series, but I thought it had some issues. I like the way Matt Smith's Doctor is written, but I'm still not convinced by Smith himself. He never seems to make eye contact with anything, and I always get the sense that he's playing the Doctor - not that he *is* the Doctor.
ReplyDeleteKaren Gillan I liked a lot, but actually not the way she was written. I think there could have been a bit more depth to her, without having to explore her family history. By being so bold early on, she came off as loud and confrontational, whereas I suspect the intention was to have her be clever and confident.
I actually rather like the new Daleks, but I think they suffered from their introductory episode being so daft. With hindsight, they should have been left out of this series and returned with a huge bang later on.
As for the series itself, I think it suffered from pacing problems at first. The first half happened at breakneck speed, with no chance to empathise with any of the characters or follow along with the plots. The show did calm down a bit with the Silurian episodes, and shows like Amy's Choice, The Lodger and Vincent and The Doctor finally gave a bit of much needed depth to things.
It's not all negative though. I thought the first episode was a brilliant opener, and a perfect introduction for the two new leads. The fast pacing worked perfectly for this story, and Amy made a great first impression. I loved the clever touches in all the Moffat episodes, especially the clever opening to Time of Angels, which he basically repeated for The Pandorica Opens, in even bigger style.
I loved how every story was very different, and I really enjoy how the show uses the 'Bad Wolf' device of having a background threat that we gradually learn about throughout the series. The crooked-smile crack was possibly the best example of this to date, although I still hope they can do something more interesting with this device next year.
Gosh, that was quite a comment. I should have written a blog post myself!
Thanks for taking the time to write such compelling comments. It's appreciated.
ReplyDelete