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Hmmm. Seriously lacking a Ninth Doctor icon here (and no, I don't want one, because he's not pretty enough to make me get rid of a Ten or Jack one), so using my beautiful Ten-on-the-phone one because I never seem to have a suitable opportunity to use it and it's far too pretty to just sit there being unused.
I found the first half of this episode rather slow, which is unusual for the second part of a two-parter. It was also rather light-hearted and silly, which annoyed me because the first part had built up quite a lot of tension and here we were getting daft chases through 10 Downing Street! Not what I'd been looking forward to.
The CGI was really bad too. I hold onto my opinion that actors in costumes would have been better. Actors pretending to be alien 'skins' in fact. They were perfectly eerie without any extra costumes/make-up/effects. (And I loved the General's comment to the not-exactly-prepossessing PM: "Your body is… magnificent!")
Harriet Jones was brilliant. Spunky and quick-witted and just what this country needs :-) I love her so much. I loved the way she held her own against the Doctor and Rose and fitted in with them.
One observation about her, though. At the end, the Doctor says: "I thought I knew the name Harriet Jones. Future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's golden age." Um, so how does that fit in with Harold Saxon? Or was the Master changing history? I'm never quite sure how futures work in Doctor Who – whether they're relatively 'set' or can be changed.
Mickey came out well in this episode. Saving Jackie from the Slitheen, and photographing it – which was funny at the time but came in useful later. Loved Rose knowing where his vinegary food was (and the Doctor's reaction to all those pickled foods: "You kiss this man???"). And the explosion of the Slitheen was just hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing for ages. And Mickey hacking into UNIT and sending missiles – wow!
And poor Jackie. All she wanted was for the Doctor to promise her daughter would be safe. And he couldn't. I couldn't help sympathising with Jackie. And God, his "I could save the world but lose you", and Rose's blind faith that he would keep her safe. I loved the fact that Harriet actually made the decision.
I'm still torn about Christopher Eccleston. When he's being serious, I adore him. He's got such amazing intensity in his acting, it gets me in my gut. Like when he was facing off against the Slitheen. Really scary. But that grin. I hate it. It's just so false and so annoying. And I know it's meant to be false, that the Doctor's pretending to be fine when he's not, but… I can't stand it.
Loved the venom in the newscaster's voice as he said the British public were "waiting at home as the future's decided in New York." This show does like to get in its little digs at the Americans, doesn't it!
The sergeant was a lovely character too. Loved him setting off the fire alarm to get everyone out of No. 10 before the missile hit – and rushing into the PM's office and backing straight out again when he saw the Slitheen all in there. (And I loved their "Oh, boll-----" cut off by the explosion!)
I thought the Doctor was a complete bastard by seducing Rose away from her mother with a nebula. Poor Jackie. And waiting 10 seconds, and the TARDIS not reappearing. I did like the fact that the Doctor made peace with Mickey, though – even invited him along, and that it was Mickey who refused because it was just too much for him – and that the Doctor played along with the charade of hating him so he wouldn't have to admit that to Rose.
7.5/10
I found the first half of this episode rather slow, which is unusual for the second part of a two-parter. It was also rather light-hearted and silly, which annoyed me because the first part had built up quite a lot of tension and here we were getting daft chases through 10 Downing Street! Not what I'd been looking forward to.
The CGI was really bad too. I hold onto my opinion that actors in costumes would have been better. Actors pretending to be alien 'skins' in fact. They were perfectly eerie without any extra costumes/make-up/effects. (And I loved the General's comment to the not-exactly-prepossessing PM: "Your body is… magnificent!")
Harriet Jones was brilliant. Spunky and quick-witted and just what this country needs :-) I love her so much. I loved the way she held her own against the Doctor and Rose and fitted in with them.
One observation about her, though. At the end, the Doctor says: "I thought I knew the name Harriet Jones. Future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's golden age." Um, so how does that fit in with Harold Saxon? Or was the Master changing history? I'm never quite sure how futures work in Doctor Who – whether they're relatively 'set' or can be changed.
Mickey came out well in this episode. Saving Jackie from the Slitheen, and photographing it – which was funny at the time but came in useful later. Loved Rose knowing where his vinegary food was (and the Doctor's reaction to all those pickled foods: "You kiss this man???"). And the explosion of the Slitheen was just hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing for ages. And Mickey hacking into UNIT and sending missiles – wow!
And poor Jackie. All she wanted was for the Doctor to promise her daughter would be safe. And he couldn't. I couldn't help sympathising with Jackie. And God, his "I could save the world but lose you", and Rose's blind faith that he would keep her safe. I loved the fact that Harriet actually made the decision.
I'm still torn about Christopher Eccleston. When he's being serious, I adore him. He's got such amazing intensity in his acting, it gets me in my gut. Like when he was facing off against the Slitheen. Really scary. But that grin. I hate it. It's just so false and so annoying. And I know it's meant to be false, that the Doctor's pretending to be fine when he's not, but… I can't stand it.
Loved the venom in the newscaster's voice as he said the British public were "waiting at home as the future's decided in New York." This show does like to get in its little digs at the Americans, doesn't it!
The sergeant was a lovely character too. Loved him setting off the fire alarm to get everyone out of No. 10 before the missile hit – and rushing into the PM's office and backing straight out again when he saw the Slitheen all in there. (And I loved their "Oh, boll-----" cut off by the explosion!)
I thought the Doctor was a complete bastard by seducing Rose away from her mother with a nebula. Poor Jackie. And waiting 10 seconds, and the TARDIS not reappearing. I did like the fact that the Doctor made peace with Mickey, though – even invited him along, and that it was Mickey who refused because it was just too much for him – and that the Doctor played along with the charade of hating him so he wouldn't have to admit that to Rose.
7.5/10
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My first assumption is RTD forgot the canon he'd created... Did Saxon immediately follow Harriet Jones? Or was she voted out after "the Christmas Invasion" and there was another PM there in between her and Saxon?
I'm never quite sure how futures work in Doctor Who – whether they're relatively 'set' or can be changed.
The Doctor seems to make mistakes with history a LOT. There was the whole Game Station (in both "the Long Game" in year 200,000 and "Parting of the Ways" in 200,100) issue that he thought Earth was supposed to be one way but it was all different, so... I am confused....
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Yes, that was my first thought too. Damn RTD. I wish he'd get a canon-checker.
And according to the very useful Wikipedia chronology, Saxon/the Master arrived on Earth around about the April following The Christmas Invasion. So I'm not sure how immediately that makes him follow her, but it certainly doesn't give her 'three successive terms'.
Unless they came after the Master, of course. Maybe she comes back into power after the year that never was, and stays there.
The Doctor seems to make mistakes with history a LOT.
Yes. And that thing about the Game Station (and the Master thing is similar) is that he does say it's not how it's supposed to be, which implies that there is a 'set' future and all his little adventures are to do with correcting the timeline, so to speak.
I suppose there has to be a set future, in a way, because otherwise all the characters who are here from the future (like Jack) would keep disappearing when their particular future changed.
I wish Doctor Who talked about this more. The ideas of set or changeable timelines fascinate me, but for a show about time-travel Doctor Who really doesn't go into this enough. (I think I've said that somewhere before, but it annoys me, so I'll it again.)
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So let's say you went 10 years back in time. No matter how much you mess up the past you won't cease to exist (because you didn't alter the past of your specific time line), however when you have 'caught up' with your original time (having lived 10 years in either the fast or slow lane) you will not be at the exact point of time and space that you left, you'll still be on the alternate time. If you didn't do anything major, chases are you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but if you altered things horribly you would notice the change.
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I just wish Doctor Who would actually come out and say it.
Maybe it has in the past, I don't know - might have to go and look at some point.
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