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So, what did we all think of that then?
I wasn't exactly blown away but, given the year we've had, just having new Doctor Who and, even better, new Doctor Who with JACK, was pretty damn awesome. And both son and I pretty much enjoyed it.
Jack was fun and uplifting and I loved his interaction with the Doctor and especially with Yaz. Real chemistry there, I felt. I'm disappointed we still didn't really get any update on what he's actually up to the rest of the time, except that brief mention of Gwen at the end, but I guess they're trying not to tread on the toes of all the Torchwood audios which I really must catch up with. Also disappointed they didn't go with saying he was from a long way in the future to explain how old he looks - I really do think it's silly to keep pretending he hasn't aged when he really, really has! (Which is all pretty ironic considering how ridiculously young he looked at 38 in S1 - the years have unfortunately not been kind to our JB!) Whatever, it was fantastic to have him back, and with a few little quotes and nods back to previous meetings. Definitely a lovely start to my 2021.
I enjoyed the rest of the companions too - nice to see how much Ryan has grown. Would have liked a bit more foreshadowing to Graham leaving too, but the reason he gave, wanting to be with Ryan now he's all he has left, made sense. And definitely felt much more Yaz/Doctor this time around, so very much looking forward to seeing them together with a bit more room to focus on their relationship. Though it looks like we're getting a new guy too? Part of me wishes they'd take Jack along for a bit, but I guess JB's got enough other stuff going on with Dancing on Ice etc. Whatever, I don't know anything about John Bishop, but I'll enjoy having a new character to explore!
As for the plot... honestly can't remember much about it right now! Daleks... again. And pretty much a re-hash of the Ironsides from the WWII episode with Eleven and Amy whose name I can't quite think of. Quite clever, I guess, but definitely felt secondary to the character stuff, which actually is pretty good!
Oh, I guess I should mention Jack Robertson. Ironic that we'd actually only rewatched Arachnids a couple of weeks ago! I thought he was a little more two-dimensional in this, which was nice. Did pretty much what was expected, except that for the second time he seems to have escaped unscathed! Will he be a recurring villain then? I suppose there are worse ones. At least he's entertaining and has some charisma. Even if all the political stuff with Harriet Walter (who unfortunately didn't last long!) did feel distinctly weird at the end of a year where there's been so much visibility for the real PM, but they didn't know all that would happen when they filmed it so I suppose it can't be helped!
One note: I liked the idea of the companions trying to save the world in the Doctor's absence, and was to be honest a little disappointed that the Doctor got rescued from her prison so quickly! That kind of seemed like it was going to be more of a plot point that it turned out to be. Also, how long was it for her? Did they say? She seemed pretty damn sane, considering how bad she normally is at staying in one place. I think decades were mentioned somewhere but, without doing complex calculations with all her five bar gates, it looked more like a few months? Which means it's a bit weird that she's so surprised it's been ten months for the companions. Okay, surprised because she'd aimed for earlier, but it's obviously been at least a little while for her too!
I may well add more notes as I read more reviews...
I wasn't exactly blown away but, given the year we've had, just having new Doctor Who and, even better, new Doctor Who with JACK, was pretty damn awesome. And both son and I pretty much enjoyed it.
Jack was fun and uplifting and I loved his interaction with the Doctor and especially with Yaz. Real chemistry there, I felt. I'm disappointed we still didn't really get any update on what he's actually up to the rest of the time, except that brief mention of Gwen at the end, but I guess they're trying not to tread on the toes of all the Torchwood audios which I really must catch up with. Also disappointed they didn't go with saying he was from a long way in the future to explain how old he looks - I really do think it's silly to keep pretending he hasn't aged when he really, really has! (Which is all pretty ironic considering how ridiculously young he looked at 38 in S1 - the years have unfortunately not been kind to our JB!) Whatever, it was fantastic to have him back, and with a few little quotes and nods back to previous meetings. Definitely a lovely start to my 2021.
I enjoyed the rest of the companions too - nice to see how much Ryan has grown. Would have liked a bit more foreshadowing to Graham leaving too, but the reason he gave, wanting to be with Ryan now he's all he has left, made sense. And definitely felt much more Yaz/Doctor this time around, so very much looking forward to seeing them together with a bit more room to focus on their relationship. Though it looks like we're getting a new guy too? Part of me wishes they'd take Jack along for a bit, but I guess JB's got enough other stuff going on with Dancing on Ice etc. Whatever, I don't know anything about John Bishop, but I'll enjoy having a new character to explore!
As for the plot... honestly can't remember much about it right now! Daleks... again. And pretty much a re-hash of the Ironsides from the WWII episode with Eleven and Amy whose name I can't quite think of. Quite clever, I guess, but definitely felt secondary to the character stuff, which actually is pretty good!
Oh, I guess I should mention Jack Robertson. Ironic that we'd actually only rewatched Arachnids a couple of weeks ago! I thought he was a little more two-dimensional in this, which was nice. Did pretty much what was expected, except that for the second time he seems to have escaped unscathed! Will he be a recurring villain then? I suppose there are worse ones. At least he's entertaining and has some charisma. Even if all the political stuff with Harriet Walter (who unfortunately didn't last long!) did feel distinctly weird at the end of a year where there's been so much visibility for the real PM, but they didn't know all that would happen when they filmed it so I suppose it can't be helped!
One note: I liked the idea of the companions trying to save the world in the Doctor's absence, and was to be honest a little disappointed that the Doctor got rescued from her prison so quickly! That kind of seemed like it was going to be more of a plot point that it turned out to be. Also, how long was it for her? Did they say? She seemed pretty damn sane, considering how bad she normally is at staying in one place. I think decades were mentioned somewhere but, without doing complex calculations with all her five bar gates, it looked more like a few months? Which means it's a bit weird that she's so surprised it's been ten months for the companions. Okay, surprised because she'd aimed for earlier, but it's obviously been at least a little while for her too!
I may well add more notes as I read more reviews...
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Also disappointed they didn't go with saying he was from a long way in the future to explain how old he looks
Yeah, that would have been a good way to deal with it!
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I still don't get why they always assume it's been the same amount of time for him as it has for the Doctor. Just like with the Master. They're time-travellers! I mean, okay, no actual evidence that Jack has time travel ability yet, but no reason why he shouldn't have either! Go with it. Muck up the timelines! I really loved that with River, but for some reason they seem reluctant to do it with Jack and hell, he's got millennia to play with (whether or not you subscribe to the Face of Boe thing)!
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I thought Jack and the Doctor's reunion was a little underwhelming though, considering how long it's been since we last saw them together. And she didn't ask what he'd been up to or how long it had been. There should've been another scene with just them quickly catching up and her mentioning the other immortal time-travellers she's met (Me and Clara, Bill and Heather...).
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And yes, agreed. Very frustrating (especially as a Jack roleplayer!) to have Jack back for a whole episode and still have no indication whatsoever about what he's been up to, except for a vague comment that he's staying on Earth for a bit so presumably hasn't been on Earth lately? Which doesn't seem to tie in with the newer Torchwood audios, which I haven't managed to listen to yet but which seem to support the idea that he's been building a new Torchwood in Cardiff!
And yes, I would have loved them to actually get to *talk*, even for a little bit. It's not like there wasn't room for it. Good point about all the Doctor's recent companions becoming immortal - I hadn't actually noticed that theme going on! That would definitely have been interesting for Jack to hear about!
Jack's part, apart from the heart to heart with Yaz, honestly felt very much like his part in The Stolen Earth two-parter - just there to rescue the Doctor and then fade to the background (as much as Jack ever can)!
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Oh my god, this! It's like we were meant to forget he was ever the leader of an organisation that saved humanity from aliens and had to come up with plans himself. I wanted more of a partnership between him and the Doctor.
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Btw, if you're interested I've left a few prompts here:
https://porn-tree.dreamwidth.org/48742.html
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