Yesterday, I used my review of Asylum as a platform to bitch off at all the facets of Torturewood - sorry, Torchwood - that irritate me. I think that happy nostalgia I feel towards it is diminishing the closer I get to actually having to watch some.
So I'm happy to redress the balance by going on the opposite tangent for Golden Age. Because there are things I like about Torchwood, and possibly my favourite is Early, Steampunk Torchwood. If only they would take Fragments' Victorian Torchwood, or To the Last Man's 40s war-era, and build a show around them! I'd automatically be more sympathetic were the characters in corsets and cravats.
Torchwood India - brilliant! Obviously, Queen V. would have Torchwoods established all over the British Empire. It was instantly atmospheric, Ghostlight-y, and I loved all the period touches. The plot wasn't complicated, the villain instantly obvious, and like many a Torchwood episode, everything was resolved by merely standing around and chatting. But who cares? The sheer idea of it was wonderful. I also loved the supporting characters, and particularly the Duchess who was believeably nuts.
"Miss me?"
"Only just."
I wish they'd spinoff the spinoff to an older era...instead of ripping off Buffy-CSI, dump John Barrowman with an elephant gun, some adventuresses in hooped skirts and some fellows in pith-helments, arm them with retro-futuristic gear, all brass and pistons, and send them off to fight mid-century alien threats.
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Asylum - Torchwood
Disclaimer. I do not like Torchwood. Rather, I am immensely fond of Torchwood, while not really thinking it's very good. It has its moments - yet refuses to live up to the program I believe it can (and should) be.
Having said that, one of my favourite all-time bits of Torchwood of all time is previous radio play Lost Souls, so I was pretty excited about Asylum. I'll come to what I thought of it in a minute. But I wonder whether radio is Torchwood's natural home. I would have had no patience for this plot at all on telly, yet found it pretty entertainng. Maybe the calibre of the performances improves without being able to see them.
'Course, it still managed to do many of the things that irritates me about the show. Asylum, we are bashed over the head with, is about Racism and Immigration. Naturally, part of the point of sci-fi has always been to comment on current events through a fantastical medium, but it gets on my mandibles if not very very well done. This wasn't as heavy handed as it could have been, but still sufficient to make me curl an eyebrow.
It also contained a "Gun Pointing Scene", my least favourite TV trope of all time. Torchwood does it with an alarming regularity. Let's call it "If You're Gonna Shoot, Shoot Don't Talk". It requires one or more members of the cast standing around and pointing guns at one another. They're all declaiming HUGELY DRAMATIC MOVING DIALOGUE, usually while crying. It is very unusual anyone will actually get shot, and characters rarely remember their near brushes with death and bring them up afterwards - rendering this trope near useless. A variation is the Hero entering the room and pointing a Gun at the villain as an excuse for angst and drama (again, free of tension, because as soon as you get into this scenario the chance of actual death is 0.2%); another will involve characters who have never exhibited suicidal behavior daring the gun-pointing character "Go on, kill me! You haven't the guts!" e.t.c. and psyching them out of it. It's not just Torchwood - I hate it in Battlestar Galactica, in Doctor Who (with a single exception, but it's a very good one), in cinema (ignoring Reservoir Dogs)
Indeed, Asylum's problem was that it wasn't anything. It was a Normal Episode - a small story, perfectly told, but still small and still very unthreatening. Hard to find much to say about it at all. I really liked the idea of Torchwood setting up proper asylum policies - made them seem more like a responsible organisation. It's something I'd like them to explore properly (visions of the arrival lounge in Men In Black). Here, it was simply the coda - it arrived once the play was almost over.
Everything else? Everybody likes PC Andy, though I wonder why he is doing Gwen's job for the middle 10' of the play. There's no narrative reason she couldn't, and until that point Andy has been a source of nothing but slightly flabbergasted bigotry. I laughed at the Newport quip, having just met someone from Newport. I adored Freya's language - utterly convincing and very atmospheric. And I was kinda hoping the Doctor was the mysterious rescuer, for a moment there, though I was satisfied with the resolution they gave. But that spike by the river. Why is "big enough to let someone through" not big enough for an alarm? Isn't "someone" a pretty bad mistake?
Having lost my favours fairly early on, I'm not willing to give this series the benefit of the doubt I am with Doctor Who. Torchwood now needs to be truly exceptional to get a fair run from me, and this was merely good. This review isn't critical of the finished play, which was atmospheric and perfectly charming, than it's crushing lack of ambition.
Having said that, one of my favourite all-time bits of Torchwood of all time is previous radio play Lost Souls, so I was pretty excited about Asylum. I'll come to what I thought of it in a minute. But I wonder whether radio is Torchwood's natural home. I would have had no patience for this plot at all on telly, yet found it pretty entertainng. Maybe the calibre of the performances improves without being able to see them.
'Course, it still managed to do many of the things that irritates me about the show. Asylum, we are bashed over the head with, is about Racism and Immigration. Naturally, part of the point of sci-fi has always been to comment on current events through a fantastical medium, but it gets on my mandibles if not very very well done. This wasn't as heavy handed as it could have been, but still sufficient to make me curl an eyebrow.
It also contained a "Gun Pointing Scene", my least favourite TV trope of all time. Torchwood does it with an alarming regularity. Let's call it "If You're Gonna Shoot, Shoot Don't Talk". It requires one or more members of the cast standing around and pointing guns at one another. They're all declaiming HUGELY DRAMATIC MOVING DIALOGUE, usually while crying. It is very unusual anyone will actually get shot, and characters rarely remember their near brushes with death and bring them up afterwards - rendering this trope near useless. A variation is the Hero entering the room and pointing a Gun at the villain as an excuse for angst and drama (again, free of tension, because as soon as you get into this scenario the chance of actual death is 0.2%); another will involve characters who have never exhibited suicidal behavior daring the gun-pointing character "Go on, kill me! You haven't the guts!" e.t.c. and psyching them out of it. It's not just Torchwood - I hate it in Battlestar Galactica, in Doctor Who (with a single exception, but it's a very good one), in cinema (ignoring Reservoir Dogs)
Indeed, Asylum's problem was that it wasn't anything. It was a Normal Episode - a small story, perfectly told, but still small and still very unthreatening. Hard to find much to say about it at all. I really liked the idea of Torchwood setting up proper asylum policies - made them seem more like a responsible organisation. It's something I'd like them to explore properly (visions of the arrival lounge in Men In Black). Here, it was simply the coda - it arrived once the play was almost over.
Everything else? Everybody likes PC Andy, though I wonder why he is doing Gwen's job for the middle 10' of the play. There's no narrative reason she couldn't, and until that point Andy has been a source of nothing but slightly flabbergasted bigotry. I laughed at the Newport quip, having just met someone from Newport. I adored Freya's language - utterly convincing and very atmospheric. And I was kinda hoping the Doctor was the mysterious rescuer, for a moment there, though I was satisfied with the resolution they gave. But that spike by the river. Why is "big enough to let someone through" not big enough for an alarm? Isn't "someone" a pretty bad mistake?
Having lost my favours fairly early on, I'm not willing to give this series the benefit of the doubt I am with Doctor Who. Torchwood now needs to be truly exceptional to get a fair run from me, and this was merely good. This review isn't critical of the finished play, which was atmospheric and perfectly charming, than it's crushing lack of ambition.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Sirens of Time
I'm pretty fond of Sirens of Time - I probably listen to it most often. It shows off four different locations and stories, and isn't so taxing I need to pay a lot of attention.
Episode 2 is probably the best of the stand-alones, and works well on its own. It's very atmospheric, and has a great sense of place. Maybe because it's rooted in history we can instantly understand it. I like the minor characters, particularly the captain. I always like it when Timelords turn out to be underhanded rotters, and it does not surprise me that Vansell would think of picking the Doc off. I have a soft spot for Vansell, who takes Gallifreyan incompetance to a high art.
Episode 3 is as good, but feels more like the first part of a story which will get better. Suitably, perhaps, as it is the most crucial one to Episode 4's resolution. The futurisitc world presented is believeable, and in keeping with the places 80s Who went. The Sixth Doctor would pick a personal fight with an android, a wonderfully done character. A lot gets packed in here, but it is clear and exciting.
Episode 1 just confuses me. Even after several listens, I don't quite get why things keep crashing, why Sancroft is vital to the plot, and whose side Ruthley is on. She's simply very irritating. The worst thing is, the single nature of the adventures allows me to skip it...
Episode 4 is great fun, however. Even though I'm slightly lost as how the Valeshan knights fit into the picture, I like the idea of the Sirens going through time like deadly Chronovores and causing trouble. The crux points are ingenious - particularly preventing the sinking of the Lithuania having no impact on the course of the war, but allowing a murderer to live who would go on to kill penicillin. It was an unexpected tweak. To save Gallifrey, history must be put back on course, but ironically this course always requires deaths, merely in a different combination. I am reminded of The English Patient:
Like Cold Fusion, the comparison of traits is ultimately the point, and it's effective. I don't understand how anyone can have a favourite Doctor, because they are so different and there is something to be learnt from all of them, to be admired in all of them. The final scene is chilling and well played. I like the image of the three of them sitting around, with creepy old Lyena crying in the background.
There's just one thing that irritates me about this tale. There are three Doctors in this story, and two of them escape completely unscathed. The other gets (deep breath) beaten up twice, shot once, breaks his ankle, and then brain drained. Oh, fer goodness sakes! Can we please stop it with the vulnerable thing now? Lyena gets in on the act too, fascinated by the way that all three are different yet similar. It's a valid observation, but it is flawed when she breaks them down as
"compassionate, thinker and impulsive". Oh, I know what they're trying to say, but how would Lyena have got that impression from her time with them? After all, it's Doctor Seven who caused the trouble by rescuing Sancroft and his Siren, Doctor Six who has been doing the thinking for over an hour of audio time, and Doctor Five who spends his whole episode soley motivated by the desire to escape. Alternately, you could pin Seven for his impulsive, unthinking rescues, Six for his compassion towards the - what's the time beastie called again? - and Five for the downright devious way he gets off that submarine. I do hate reducing Docs to one-word descriptors anyway, but this takes the biscuit by being wholly false in context!
It's only a minor grumble, however. All in all, three Doctors can't be bad, and as a series of non-challenging standalones makes for good listening if you can't promise your whole attention.
A side effect is that I automatically treat Ellies, Ellens, Helens, and suchlikes with huge suspicion whenever they show up now. I'm tempted to believe that Ellie in He Jests at Scars is also a manifestation of Lyena. The Valeyard was certainly making enough mess to warrant a Siren on his shoulder. I also tend to go "TIME DISTORTION!" excitedly whenever the aforementioned phenomena shows up.
Episode 2 is probably the best of the stand-alones, and works well on its own. It's very atmospheric, and has a great sense of place. Maybe because it's rooted in history we can instantly understand it. I like the minor characters, particularly the captain. I always like it when Timelords turn out to be underhanded rotters, and it does not surprise me that Vansell would think of picking the Doc off. I have a soft spot for Vansell, who takes Gallifreyan incompetance to a high art.
Episode 3 is as good, but feels more like the first part of a story which will get better. Suitably, perhaps, as it is the most crucial one to Episode 4's resolution. The futurisitc world presented is believeable, and in keeping with the places 80s Who went. The Sixth Doctor would pick a personal fight with an android, a wonderfully done character. A lot gets packed in here, but it is clear and exciting.
Episode 1 just confuses me. Even after several listens, I don't quite get why things keep crashing, why Sancroft is vital to the plot, and whose side Ruthley is on. She's simply very irritating. The worst thing is, the single nature of the adventures allows me to skip it...
Episode 4 is great fun, however. Even though I'm slightly lost as how the Valeshan knights fit into the picture, I like the idea of the Sirens going through time like deadly Chronovores and causing trouble. The crux points are ingenious - particularly preventing the sinking of the Lithuania having no impact on the course of the war, but allowing a murderer to live who would go on to kill penicillin. It was an unexpected tweak. To save Gallifrey, history must be put back on course, but ironically this course always requires deaths, merely in a different combination. I am reminded of The English Patient:
But frankly, who cares about the plot in a multi Doctor episode? Because then the quarrelling starts. Frankly, we do just watch them for the quarrelling, right? They do get on fairly well, and work well as a team. I like the polite way they keep interrupting one another, it's a cute variation. In the end, however, it's the Sixth Doctor who comes out looking good. I'm tempted to think that left alone, Five and Seven might have killed one another (this is post Cold Fusion after all...), and can't help but imagining them glaring at one another throughout. It's Six who keeps things on track, comes up with the ideas, provides the initiative, sorts things out and overall proves why he's the Doc I'd like to be stuck with in a pinch. It makes sense in character terms too - both Five and Seven spent their careers deliberately blending into the background and taking advantage of a subtle approach, while Six tended to deal with things by being centre of attention.
"If the British hadn't unearthed your nosey photographer in Cairo thousands of people could have died"
"Thousands of people did die. Just different people."
Like Cold Fusion, the comparison of traits is ultimately the point, and it's effective. I don't understand how anyone can have a favourite Doctor, because they are so different and there is something to be learnt from all of them, to be admired in all of them. The final scene is chilling and well played. I like the image of the three of them sitting around, with creepy old Lyena crying in the background.
There's just one thing that irritates me about this tale. There are three Doctors in this story, and two of them escape completely unscathed. The other gets (deep breath) beaten up twice, shot once, breaks his ankle, and then brain drained. Oh, fer goodness sakes! Can we please stop it with the vulnerable thing now? Lyena gets in on the act too, fascinated by the way that all three are different yet similar. It's a valid observation, but it is flawed when she breaks them down as
"compassionate, thinker and impulsive". Oh, I know what they're trying to say, but how would Lyena have got that impression from her time with them? After all, it's Doctor Seven who caused the trouble by rescuing Sancroft and his Siren, Doctor Six who has been doing the thinking for over an hour of audio time, and Doctor Five who spends his whole episode soley motivated by the desire to escape. Alternately, you could pin Seven for his impulsive, unthinking rescues, Six for his compassion towards the - what's the time beastie called again? - and Five for the downright devious way he gets off that submarine. I do hate reducing Docs to one-word descriptors anyway, but this takes the biscuit by being wholly false in context!
It's only a minor grumble, however. All in all, three Doctors can't be bad, and as a series of non-challenging standalones makes for good listening if you can't promise your whole attention.
A side effect is that I automatically treat Ellies, Ellens, Helens, and suchlikes with huge suspicion whenever they show up now. I'm tempted to believe that Ellie in He Jests at Scars is also a manifestation of Lyena. The Valeyard was certainly making enough mess to warrant a Siren on his shoulder. I also tend to go "TIME DISTORTION!" excitedly whenever the aforementioned phenomena shows up.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sword of Orion
There’s nothing wrong with Sword of Orion, but its nothing a Who fan hasn’t seen before either. A collection of marked-for-death misfits stumble on something nasty, the Doctor just happens to be in the neighbourhood, and turns up just in time to prevent fullscale invasion - although too late to preserve the cast intact.
The first quip I thought of finishing that paragraph with was "the plot’s the same, it’s just the details that change". But in this case, the details aren’t all that unusual either. The crew - whose names I never caught - were walking cliches. We had the shouty, angry, "nasty for no reason" one, almost certainly due a sticky end; the "nice, simple, definitely dead" one; and the female one who seems purely included merely to make up a gender balance, and to be killed. It may have originally seemed innovative to give the extras charactersisation and depth, so we feel sympathy for their inevitable deaths - but the average Who fan is immune to the trick. They’re not helped by a script chock full of "Is that you BobAAAAAAAH!"s and, "Oh look, my transistor’s on the blink again - must be a perfectly natural, non-threatening explanation"s. And as everyone else has noted, the killer twist wasn’t that much of a twist, and I’m speaking as someone who is easily surprised.
It’s perfectly worthy - and the ole’ "something creepy in the ducts" routine works maybe better on audio than the TV. While we’re on the advantages of not being able to see the special effects, time to turn to the sole success of the audio.
The Cybermats were a very silly let down in a very classy episode on TV - "the Monty Python’s killer rabbit" of the Whoniverse, if you like. We’re meant to believe that it is the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on, but even when it’s killing stuff we can’t help but go "aaaaaaah".
Here, they are brilliant. Partly because we don’t have to look at their cute little googly eyes stuck on toilet-brushes. But mostly for showing them through their effects. The slow disabling of the ship, the flickering lights and failing engines are far scarier than the attack by clockwork mice we got in Tomb of the Cybermen. For the first time, I get a sense of why the Cybermats are a useful part of the Cyber-army - their attack on the Vanguard is crippling, and a logical way to keep the humans in one place.
And the Doctor? I’m sorry, who? Normally, even the most tedious episode can be lifted by the regulars - today he, along with everything else, was resoundingly ordinary. I’m not yet getting a sense of Charley either - it’s a long time since I’ve hated a companion on sight, but neither has she yet proved why she is so universally loved.
6/10, for being dull and unimaginative
The first quip I thought of finishing that paragraph with was "the plot’s the same, it’s just the details that change". But in this case, the details aren’t all that unusual either. The crew - whose names I never caught - were walking cliches. We had the shouty, angry, "nasty for no reason" one, almost certainly due a sticky end; the "nice, simple, definitely dead" one; and the female one who seems purely included merely to make up a gender balance, and to be killed. It may have originally seemed innovative to give the extras charactersisation and depth, so we feel sympathy for their inevitable deaths - but the average Who fan is immune to the trick. They’re not helped by a script chock full of "Is that you BobAAAAAAAH!"s and, "Oh look, my transistor’s on the blink again - must be a perfectly natural, non-threatening explanation"s. And as everyone else has noted, the killer twist wasn’t that much of a twist, and I’m speaking as someone who is easily surprised.
It’s perfectly worthy - and the ole’ "something creepy in the ducts" routine works maybe better on audio than the TV. While we’re on the advantages of not being able to see the special effects, time to turn to the sole success of the audio.
The Cybermats were a very silly let down in a very classy episode on TV - "the Monty Python’s killer rabbit" of the Whoniverse, if you like. We’re meant to believe that it is the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on, but even when it’s killing stuff we can’t help but go "aaaaaaah".
Here, they are brilliant. Partly because we don’t have to look at their cute little googly eyes stuck on toilet-brushes. But mostly for showing them through their effects. The slow disabling of the ship, the flickering lights and failing engines are far scarier than the attack by clockwork mice we got in Tomb of the Cybermen. For the first time, I get a sense of why the Cybermats are a useful part of the Cyber-army - their attack on the Vanguard is crippling, and a logical way to keep the humans in one place.
And the Doctor? I’m sorry, who? Normally, even the most tedious episode can be lifted by the regulars - today he, along with everything else, was resoundingly ordinary. I’m not yet getting a sense of Charley either - it’s a long time since I’ve hated a companion on sight, but neither has she yet proved why she is so universally loved.
6/10, for being dull and unimaginative
Storm Warning
Audio dramas - oh yes, like TV wot you listen to. Suits me fine, I’ll follow Paul McGann’s voice anywhere.
Yet the strength of Storm Warning comes from the one thing I figured it would be short on - setting. The billowing bags, sound of the storm, sense of movement on the human ship, or grandeur on the alien. Because that’s what non-TV Who is - the ideas, the characters stay the same, but the budget is as infinitely big as the imagination. Of course, the R-101 is given a good heft along by brilliant background sound - someone has really earnt their payroll for the rollicking air ship.
The story and characters lurch between those unconventional, and those older than Event 1. The wonderfully steampunk idea of the British Empire blithely planting their flags and attempting to colonise an alien nation is let down by the predictable violent stupidity of the human race, the same streak who thought they could strike a deal in Tomb of the Cybermen, or create a new masterrace in the aftermath of the Sontaran Stratagem. I don’t buy Rathbone, as "villain by numbers" of the week.
Tamworth is lovely though - especially as he explains his feelings about war. Like Engineer Prime , we have seen him as an Uncreator - a steretotypical military what-ho - and in a speech, our perceptions change. It’s certainly the highlight of that episode, which is given over mostly to exposition about the Triskele, maybe the lamest race in the galaxy. "The head must mediate between the heart and the hands" was a tired moral when Fritz Lang made it the punchline to his sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis - and that was in the 20s, making it doubly unfair on the audience, introduced at tedious length at a pack of walking proverbs. It’s also unfortunate for Engineer Prime that his pronunciation of "Chaaaaarleeee" reminds one of the youtube hit "Charlie the Unicorn" - but being an internet fad, perhaps already people are reading this review and wondering what I’m referring to.
The Doctor, as usual for my reviews, goes without saying - brilliant and scary by turns, exactly the same guy we all know and love. Particularly his speech to Rathbone about the nature of Time. Maybe its because we never had a full TV series that McGann’s Doc seems so all-encompassingly brilliant? We only have an impression from hearing and reading about him, allowing us to weld all our favourite Doctors together into a perfect package. A particularly wonderful scene involves him scaring off the Uncreators by roaring. Charley seems fun - much like Peri’s declaration that she wants to run off to Morocco with two English guys cements her as perfect TARDIS material, she dresses up as a boy to travel to exciting places. The dilemma about saving the airship (which he doesn’t, though it isn’t for a lack of trying) and saving Charley (which he does, and I’ve a funny feeling there are going to be consequences…) is perfectly played also.
All in all, despite a few plot misgivings which the set wholly makes up for, this is a nice solid start and a 7/10. I'd like to give it higher, I really would, but for the yawnfactor of the Triskele, who very quickly manage to out-Myrka anything you've seen on the telly.
Yet the strength of Storm Warning comes from the one thing I figured it would be short on - setting. The billowing bags, sound of the storm, sense of movement on the human ship, or grandeur on the alien. Because that’s what non-TV Who is - the ideas, the characters stay the same, but the budget is as infinitely big as the imagination. Of course, the R-101 is given a good heft along by brilliant background sound - someone has really earnt their payroll for the rollicking air ship.
The story and characters lurch between those unconventional, and those older than Event 1. The wonderfully steampunk idea of the British Empire blithely planting their flags and attempting to colonise an alien nation is let down by the predictable violent stupidity of the human race, the same streak who thought they could strike a deal in Tomb of the Cybermen, or create a new masterrace in the aftermath of the Sontaran Stratagem. I don’t buy Rathbone, as "villain by numbers" of the week.
Tamworth is lovely though - especially as he explains his feelings about war. Like Engineer Prime , we have seen him as an Uncreator - a steretotypical military what-ho - and in a speech, our perceptions change. It’s certainly the highlight of that episode, which is given over mostly to exposition about the Triskele, maybe the lamest race in the galaxy. "The head must mediate between the heart and the hands" was a tired moral when Fritz Lang made it the punchline to his sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis - and that was in the 20s, making it doubly unfair on the audience, introduced at tedious length at a pack of walking proverbs. It’s also unfortunate for Engineer Prime that his pronunciation of "Chaaaaarleeee" reminds one of the youtube hit "Charlie the Unicorn" - but being an internet fad, perhaps already people are reading this review and wondering what I’m referring to.
The Doctor, as usual for my reviews, goes without saying - brilliant and scary by turns, exactly the same guy we all know and love. Particularly his speech to Rathbone about the nature of Time. Maybe its because we never had a full TV series that McGann’s Doc seems so all-encompassingly brilliant? We only have an impression from hearing and reading about him, allowing us to weld all our favourite Doctors together into a perfect package. A particularly wonderful scene involves him scaring off the Uncreators by roaring. Charley seems fun - much like Peri’s declaration that she wants to run off to Morocco with two English guys cements her as perfect TARDIS material, she dresses up as a boy to travel to exciting places. The dilemma about saving the airship (which he doesn’t, though it isn’t for a lack of trying) and saving Charley (which he does, and I’ve a funny feeling there are going to be consequences…) is perfectly played also.
All in all, despite a few plot misgivings which the set wholly makes up for, this is a nice solid start and a 7/10. I'd like to give it higher, I really would, but for the yawnfactor of the Triskele, who very quickly manage to out-Myrka anything you've seen on the telly.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Omega
There are lots of things I could say about audio play Omega. One of them is "hmmm". Another is "er...". And also that there are spoilers, big spoilers below.
The kindest I can be is say it tried to do something very good, not very well.
Its working on a smart premise - that Omega did somehow survive with the Doctor's body, and bits of his mind into the bargain. Along the way, its trying to say something about the nature of fact, fiction, storytelling and history, how they intersect and how we perceive them. Or something. Which is a smart thing for a time travel show to work with, and they do have some interesting things to say, but I never felt engaged. An underlying theme should be subtle, not thwacking you over the head.
I've always liked the idea of Omega. He's a raving loonie in Three Doctors who commands no sympathy; in Arc of Infinity, he comes over better. This should have redressed the balance. It didn't. The performance was good, but I still feel this is a character that deserves another chance.
Part of this was the very bizzare twist that revealed the Doctor had not been in the house for the previous three episodes. Once I had it worked out, the story got rattling a bit more, and I daresay the rest would be more interesting in retrospect. Omega's brain-breakdown was one of the most compelling parts - confronting the voices, flashbacking to yet another version of stories we'd already told, all with his voice flickering between the two actors.
I spent quite a lot of time feeling I'd missed episode 1 - things like the absence of a companion, and wondering how much of this Omega-Rassilon backstory I'd missed. The former makes sense now - as for the latter, I remain confused. The only way to approach something as big as Doctor Who is chronologically. Not his chronology but ours - in the order things were published. Picking as I am, I can never be sure exactly how much continuity I'm missing.
I like the Doctor's chat with Omega, when he compares himself to him. That was an interesting idea. I was also amused when Sentia began frothing about Omega's lovely blonde hair and vulnerable expression.
Maybe my problem was the Fifth Doc isn't terribly well characterised. Its a funny thing to say, because I've always thought difference between doctors was mainly down to performance. I stand corrected, because his dialogue would at times have sat a lot better with Paul McGann's 8th Doc - it's effervescent, wacky and loveable.
So 6/10 from me, for being...a strangely hollow, underwhelming experience, that has already washed so entirely away I find reviewing it hard.
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