Rewatching Doctor Who: Deep Breath
Jan. 19th, 2025 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivdunstanOn to the Twelfth Doctor era. I'm going to dissect this episode quite a bit so best put things behind a spoiler cut.
I might as well confess straight up that I don't like this episode very much. I didn't like it much on first watch. And on rewatch while I appreciated some aspects more I struggled to bring myself to watch it. It took a couple of watches, getting through the first half hour, then just not feeling the urge to resume for many weeks. Then finishing it off in a second watch. I preferred the second part to the first by a long way.
I remember the introduction of the Sixth Doctor's era in the 80s, and hugely disliked him for quite a while on screen. The same is true of the Twelfth Doctor, especially in the opening part of the episode. I'm with Clara in being shocked and horrified. And while I think this was a valid decision to make for creative reasons, I think it alienates the audience too much. It's ok to have an ascerbic rather grumpy Doctor. I like his "Question? Answer!" approach. But to have him initially often unkind and cruel, with little in the way of redeeming features, is a fundamental mistake for this character. Even allowing for post-regeneration wobbles.
The Victorian plot was intriguing, but again too drawn out. I liked elements e.g. the scene by the riverside, and the restaurant scene. But so much was slow and padded. The episode clocks in at 76 minutes, and I'm doubtful it should have been very much over 45 minutes. The pacing constantly sagged, and there were too many repetitive scenes, like the prolonged fight underneath the restaurant. The direction was often poor.
Much of the episode was carried by the Paternoster Gang, in a way highly reminiscent of "The Snowmen". Yet while that was a plot-filled 60 minutes, with particularly strong emotional beats, this just didn't have enough content to justify the time.
And of course Clara was fundamental here, fortunately refreshingly well written plus the usual excellent performance from Jenna Coleman. We're seeing the Doctor through her eyes, much as the part Rose played in "The Christmas Invasion". But where there we had a largely unconscious Doctor, here we are treated, apart from a brief asleep time, to an incredibly unlikeable and grumpy Doctor for long periods. He's lucky Clara bothered to stick with him to be honest.
I did not expect a sequel of sorts to "The Girl in the Fireplace" in this episode. I really liked the scene in the restaurant. Though the sections underneath went on far too long. The lead cyborg is well written and acted. And I liked the ambiguity here of his fate.
The scene in the TARDIS near the end with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara was good, and followed by the Eleventh Doctor on the phone. I found that very effective. Though again it just threw up how glacial the pace had been before.
And then we have Missy. Who will prove to be a very interesting character. My dad thought she was particularly good, so rewatching her reminds me of him enjoying the series late in life. I remember on first watch being really intrigued by who she was. And amused at another Scottish-accented character ...
But yup, not a favourite of mine by a long chalk. It would still take some time for me to be fully comfortable with this incarnation.
I might as well confess straight up that I don't like this episode very much. I didn't like it much on first watch. And on rewatch while I appreciated some aspects more I struggled to bring myself to watch it. It took a couple of watches, getting through the first half hour, then just not feeling the urge to resume for many weeks. Then finishing it off in a second watch. I preferred the second part to the first by a long way.
I remember the introduction of the Sixth Doctor's era in the 80s, and hugely disliked him for quite a while on screen. The same is true of the Twelfth Doctor, especially in the opening part of the episode. I'm with Clara in being shocked and horrified. And while I think this was a valid decision to make for creative reasons, I think it alienates the audience too much. It's ok to have an ascerbic rather grumpy Doctor. I like his "Question? Answer!" approach. But to have him initially often unkind and cruel, with little in the way of redeeming features, is a fundamental mistake for this character. Even allowing for post-regeneration wobbles.
The Victorian plot was intriguing, but again too drawn out. I liked elements e.g. the scene by the riverside, and the restaurant scene. But so much was slow and padded. The episode clocks in at 76 minutes, and I'm doubtful it should have been very much over 45 minutes. The pacing constantly sagged, and there were too many repetitive scenes, like the prolonged fight underneath the restaurant. The direction was often poor.
Much of the episode was carried by the Paternoster Gang, in a way highly reminiscent of "The Snowmen". Yet while that was a plot-filled 60 minutes, with particularly strong emotional beats, this just didn't have enough content to justify the time.
And of course Clara was fundamental here, fortunately refreshingly well written plus the usual excellent performance from Jenna Coleman. We're seeing the Doctor through her eyes, much as the part Rose played in "The Christmas Invasion". But where there we had a largely unconscious Doctor, here we are treated, apart from a brief asleep time, to an incredibly unlikeable and grumpy Doctor for long periods. He's lucky Clara bothered to stick with him to be honest.
I did not expect a sequel of sorts to "The Girl in the Fireplace" in this episode. I really liked the scene in the restaurant. Though the sections underneath went on far too long. The lead cyborg is well written and acted. And I liked the ambiguity here of his fate.
The scene in the TARDIS near the end with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara was good, and followed by the Eleventh Doctor on the phone. I found that very effective. Though again it just threw up how glacial the pace had been before.
And then we have Missy. Who will prove to be a very interesting character. My dad thought she was particularly good, so rewatching her reminds me of him enjoying the series late in life. I remember on first watch being really intrigued by who she was. And amused at another Scottish-accented character ...
But yup, not a favourite of mine by a long chalk. It would still take some time for me to be fully comfortable with this incarnation.
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Date: 2025-01-19 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2025-01-21 07:07 am (UTC)Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris is probably the closest, but it's quite bleak, gruesome in places, and a lot of it is two puritans locked in an attic. So while it's not a bad novel, I don't feel I can personally recommend it for its entertainment value.
A Skinful of Shadows by Francis Hardinge is a children's novel set during the ECW. The enemies are literal rather than just metaphorical parasitical vampires, so obviously not out to win in the realism competition. On the other hand, it's a lot more enjoyable than the above, and in terms of style Hardinge is miles ahead of Harris.
I've never read Rebels and Traitors by Lindsey Davies but want to, though I fully expect the protagonists to be rather modern in outlook. The Rider of the White Horse by Rosemary Sutcliff, which I read more than twenty years ago, I recall as being largely set around Nun Appleton House and concerned with the relationship of Thomas and Anne Fairfax. I wasn't of an age to be able to easily spot anachronisms in attitudes. If there were, I suspect it would have bled through from Sutcliff's own background as the daughter of a British officer from that social milieu and the literature that she grew up with.
Sorry for hijacking a Doctor Who post with Civil War stuff,
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Date: 2025-01-21 03:08 pm (UTC)There are a couple of relevant Peter Davison Doctor Who TV stories actually:
- "The Awakening" (1984), which is about 17th century Civil War historical reenactors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awakening_(Doctor_Who)
- "The Visitation" (1982), which isn't so much about the Civil War, but set at the time of the Great Fire of London. So may be appreciated for its 17th century content. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Visitation_(Doctor_Who)
And even in New Who there was Jodie Whittaker's "The Witchfinders" (2018), set near Pendle Hill, in 1612. Not Civil War either, but hey, 17th century. A featured character is King James. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witchfinders
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Date: 2025-03-02 07:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 01:30 pm (UTC)