Watching Doctor Who 40/14/1.4 73 Yards
May. 25th, 2024 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivdunstanI'm writing this an hour or so after watching it early in the wee hours of the night. But will hold back from posting it properly until after the UK BBC1 Saturday evening airing.
In a nutshell I really liked it. A satisfying crossover of folk horror and alternative history, with hefty elements of Sapphire & Steel, The Woman in Black and much more besides. And an absolute tour de force of acting from Millie Gibson. To get into more nitty gritty, and I recommend only reading this after you've seen the episode: The episode was a mix of two halves, with the Welsh bit, then the London/politics stuff. Which was a slightly uneven pairing for me. But what timing for the latter, in the week a UK general election was announced and campaigning started. However the tension throughout both parts was palpable, and apart from a rather vague ending I found it very strong. Part of me wishes for clearer explanations of some things, but the folk horror fan in me loved it. Also Siân Phillips was wonderful, as to be expected. It was also very effective for a Doctor-lite episode. Though I regret that we even need one in such a short season (I do know how difficult overlapping filming was with Ncuti Gatwa's over-running Sex Education filming commitments). It was also ambitious chronologically in terms of its storytelling, though let down by some weaknesses in the resolution and final ending. And wouldn't a Brit Ruby's age say the distance in metres first not yards? But these are slight quibbles. I loved it. I'd love more in this vein. A whole series in this vein! But that's probably asking too much *grin*. I expect this episode will make the Hugo award shortlist next year. I will certainly be nominating it.
In a nutshell I really liked it. A satisfying crossover of folk horror and alternative history, with hefty elements of Sapphire & Steel, The Woman in Black and much more besides. And an absolute tour de force of acting from Millie Gibson. To get into more nitty gritty, and I recommend only reading this after you've seen the episode: The episode was a mix of two halves, with the Welsh bit, then the London/politics stuff. Which was a slightly uneven pairing for me. But what timing for the latter, in the week a UK general election was announced and campaigning started. However the tension throughout both parts was palpable, and apart from a rather vague ending I found it very strong. Part of me wishes for clearer explanations of some things, but the folk horror fan in me loved it. Also Siân Phillips was wonderful, as to be expected. It was also very effective for a Doctor-lite episode. Though I regret that we even need one in such a short season (I do know how difficult overlapping filming was with Ncuti Gatwa's over-running Sex Education filming commitments). It was also ambitious chronologically in terms of its storytelling, though let down by some weaknesses in the resolution and final ending. And wouldn't a Brit Ruby's age say the distance in metres first not yards? But these are slight quibbles. I loved it. I'd love more in this vein. A whole series in this vein! But that's probably asking too much *grin*. I expect this episode will make the Hugo award shortlist next year. I will certainly be nominating it.