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At last! Finally the Doctor stops grinning his head off. And finally I find an episode I would actually be perfectly happy to watch again right away (if I didn't have an episode review followed by sleep on the agenda).
This is the first episode of New Who that gets a 'wow' from me. Christopher Eccleston is absolutely amazing in it – the Dalek isn't bad either *g* - and finally I feel like a fan. The expansion of the theme of the series so far (the various 'last of their race' characters we've see so far) is brilliant: the parallels drawn between the Doctor and the Dalek are incredible. And the idea that throughout the episode the Dalek, because of Rose, becomes progressively more 'human' whilst the Doctor, confronted with what he's been trying to run away from, to forget, becomes progressively more Dalek-like, is fantastic.
Add to that the fact that we finally learn about the Time War: that the Daleks all burned, the Time Lords all burned, and that it was the Doctor who made it happen. And his line that "Everyone lost" followed by his ironic "I win. How about that?" at the end.
On the other hand, Rose annoys me in this one. Actually, no, it's not the character so much as the plot device – the idea that her having touched the Dalek in sympathy leads to its transformation. I do love the idea that that very transformation is what makes it kill itself in the end, but it just feels too… I don't know. Too neat, too easy, too sickeningly gooey.
Talking of sickeningly gooey: Rose and Adam. Eurgh. I don't like him. I don’t think he's a very good actor.
OK, so I might have to skip over the Rose/Adam bits on that rewatch, but that's fine because I'll make up for it by skipping back over the Doctor/Dalek bits. *g*
Anyway, things I liked, apart from the Doctor/Dalek bits:
The fact that we finally get the Doctor saying there's "Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course" – and the fact that it's a Dalek distress call is even cooler.
The Cyberman head in the museum. Very cool.
Van Statten's helicopter being named "Bad Wolf 1".
The stand-off between the Doctor and Van Statten. Rose mentions testosterone and, boy, is she right!
Van Statten owning the Internet, and "Broadband? Roswell!"
The Dalek downloading the Internet. (Wonder what it makes of all the Doctor Who porn? *g*)
The stairs. Rose and Adam laughing at the Dalek in time-honoured fashion because it couldn't get up the stairs. And the Dalek levitating. Fantastic.
Other comments:
Van Statten's museum and soldiers etc. felt extremely reminiscent of Buffy's Initiative. And, interestingly, of Torchwood. Well, not reminiscent of Torchwood because this came first, but… rewatching this, it's clear they were already well away with the idea of Torchwood. Scavenging alien technology to use for their own ends, well and truly mucking it up…
Oh, and I'd completely forgotten about half-naked Doctor in chains. Shame he really didn't look at all sexy. In fact, I was agreeing with someone the other day (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
travels_in_time, I think) that at least Nine had more meat on him than Ten, but he looks awfully scrawny here! Wasted opportunity :-(
And urgh! Tentacles!
9/10
This is the first episode of New Who that gets a 'wow' from me. Christopher Eccleston is absolutely amazing in it – the Dalek isn't bad either *g* - and finally I feel like a fan. The expansion of the theme of the series so far (the various 'last of their race' characters we've see so far) is brilliant: the parallels drawn between the Doctor and the Dalek are incredible. And the idea that throughout the episode the Dalek, because of Rose, becomes progressively more 'human' whilst the Doctor, confronted with what he's been trying to run away from, to forget, becomes progressively more Dalek-like, is fantastic.
Add to that the fact that we finally learn about the Time War: that the Daleks all burned, the Time Lords all burned, and that it was the Doctor who made it happen. And his line that "Everyone lost" followed by his ironic "I win. How about that?" at the end.
On the other hand, Rose annoys me in this one. Actually, no, it's not the character so much as the plot device – the idea that her having touched the Dalek in sympathy leads to its transformation. I do love the idea that that very transformation is what makes it kill itself in the end, but it just feels too… I don't know. Too neat, too easy, too sickeningly gooey.
Talking of sickeningly gooey: Rose and Adam. Eurgh. I don't like him. I don’t think he's a very good actor.
OK, so I might have to skip over the Rose/Adam bits on that rewatch, but that's fine because I'll make up for it by skipping back over the Doctor/Dalek bits. *g*
Anyway, things I liked, apart from the Doctor/Dalek bits:
The fact that we finally get the Doctor saying there's "Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course" – and the fact that it's a Dalek distress call is even cooler.
The Cyberman head in the museum. Very cool.
Van Statten's helicopter being named "Bad Wolf 1".
The stand-off between the Doctor and Van Statten. Rose mentions testosterone and, boy, is she right!
Van Statten owning the Internet, and "Broadband? Roswell!"
The Dalek downloading the Internet. (Wonder what it makes of all the Doctor Who porn? *g*)
The stairs. Rose and Adam laughing at the Dalek in time-honoured fashion because it couldn't get up the stairs. And the Dalek levitating. Fantastic.
Other comments:
Van Statten's museum and soldiers etc. felt extremely reminiscent of Buffy's Initiative. And, interestingly, of Torchwood. Well, not reminiscent of Torchwood because this came first, but… rewatching this, it's clear they were already well away with the idea of Torchwood. Scavenging alien technology to use for their own ends, well and truly mucking it up…
Oh, and I'd completely forgotten about half-naked Doctor in chains. Shame he really didn't look at all sexy. In fact, I was agreeing with someone the other day (
travels_in_time, I think) that at least Nine had more meat on him than Ten, but he looks awfully scrawny here! Wasted opportunity :-(And urgh! Tentacles!
9/10
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But there's something very similar about Statten, and Torchwood, and the Initiative. Human organisations butting in and putting their foot in it, while the heroes have to tidy up the mess.
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Interestingly, he didn't get on mine. He's the sort of character who would normally, but he was just interesting enough to get past that - plus the chemistry with the Doctor.
And that scene with the Dalek was incredible. As was all of the Dalek/Doctor interaction. Kudos to Christopher Eccleston, because acting with a giant pepperpot can't be easy! :-) (Oh, and I loved the way that they got that line in there as well, along with the stairs thing!)