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vivdunstanWas worried that I was going to run out of title characters to fit that lot in!
Continuing my rewatch of the Peter Capaldi era with this opening two parter from New Who series 9. And going to put my discussion into spoiler space.
I've moaned here already about the opening whizz bang rapid switches between time zones and places. While that so typical Moffat style added to the apparent bigness of the opening episode, it didn't contribute in any significant way to the story's plot or characters, and so was an enormous waste of time. There was a bit of nice character work between Clara and Missy, e.g. in the square, but this could have been done much more efficiently in a tighter story. I also found the change from the moody and atmospheric opening battlefield scene to all the rapid chopping and changing between different places and times killed the tension that the opening had built so well.
The rest of episode 1 is woefully padded, even though the director seems to have tried to make it work. Even in the tighter second episode dialogues between the Doctor and Davros are often far too long. Also too much of Daleks running around. I honestly think this two parter, which ran for about 90 minutes in total time, could have been easily cut to a tight and effective 60 minute single part story. And it would have been better. Yes we'd have lost the end of episode cliffhanger of Clara and Missy dying, as well as the TARDIS being destroyed. But it could have worked.
I liked the second half much better. And a big part of this is the repartee between Clara and Missy. This is sparkling writing, brilliantly performed by both actors. But even here there was padding, as in the pre credits "Here's how the Doctor did it!" flashback sequence even if it's really more "Here's how I did it!" - and twice too! - from Missy. By contrast the Doctor and Davros conversation scenes, as I've already noted, felt far too long and indulgent. I kept wanting to bring out my imaginary red pen and write "trim this bit down A LOT". At least in my head.
The idea of the Dalek "sewers" and what was really down there, and how it led to the resolution of the two-part story, was dark, disturbing and delightful. Well done Steven Moffat. I also liked the three Doctor scenes on the battlefield with the young "Boy", with the initial encounter and fleeing, then a fake out extermination, then the real thing. In fact the resolution with "Mercy" providing the key was genius. It reminded me of how I felt when we saw the end of "The Girl in the Fireplace" episode, and the name of the spaceship was revealed.
Clara physically going into the Dalek case and being sealed inside it had extra poignancy for those in the audience who'd seen Clara/Oswin's first episode "Asylum of the Daleks" way back in 2012. But, unfortunately, this callback also reminded me of how tightly and well written that single story was, unlike this Dalek one which was 90 padded minutes long, not 50 minutes like "Asylum".
Michelle Gomez as Missy was a joy, of course. Brilliantly written, superbly performed. Julian Bleach was also a welcome return as Davros, even if, again, I felt his sections were too padded.
So some mixed views, but I did enjoy. But I think it should have been better.
Continuing my rewatch of the Peter Capaldi era with this opening two parter from New Who series 9. And going to put my discussion into spoiler space.
I've moaned here already about the opening whizz bang rapid switches between time zones and places. While that so typical Moffat style added to the apparent bigness of the opening episode, it didn't contribute in any significant way to the story's plot or characters, and so was an enormous waste of time. There was a bit of nice character work between Clara and Missy, e.g. in the square, but this could have been done much more efficiently in a tighter story. I also found the change from the moody and atmospheric opening battlefield scene to all the rapid chopping and changing between different places and times killed the tension that the opening had built so well.
The rest of episode 1 is woefully padded, even though the director seems to have tried to make it work. Even in the tighter second episode dialogues between the Doctor and Davros are often far too long. Also too much of Daleks running around. I honestly think this two parter, which ran for about 90 minutes in total time, could have been easily cut to a tight and effective 60 minute single part story. And it would have been better. Yes we'd have lost the end of episode cliffhanger of Clara and Missy dying, as well as the TARDIS being destroyed. But it could have worked.
I liked the second half much better. And a big part of this is the repartee between Clara and Missy. This is sparkling writing, brilliantly performed by both actors. But even here there was padding, as in the pre credits "Here's how the Doctor did it!" flashback sequence even if it's really more "Here's how I did it!" - and twice too! - from Missy. By contrast the Doctor and Davros conversation scenes, as I've already noted, felt far too long and indulgent. I kept wanting to bring out my imaginary red pen and write "trim this bit down A LOT". At least in my head.
The idea of the Dalek "sewers" and what was really down there, and how it led to the resolution of the two-part story, was dark, disturbing and delightful. Well done Steven Moffat. I also liked the three Doctor scenes on the battlefield with the young "Boy", with the initial encounter and fleeing, then a fake out extermination, then the real thing. In fact the resolution with "Mercy" providing the key was genius. It reminded me of how I felt when we saw the end of "The Girl in the Fireplace" episode, and the name of the spaceship was revealed.
Clara physically going into the Dalek case and being sealed inside it had extra poignancy for those in the audience who'd seen Clara/Oswin's first episode "Asylum of the Daleks" way back in 2012. But, unfortunately, this callback also reminded me of how tightly and well written that single story was, unlike this Dalek one which was 90 padded minutes long, not 50 minutes like "Asylum".
Michelle Gomez as Missy was a joy, of course. Brilliantly written, superbly performed. Julian Bleach was also a welcome return as Davros, even if, again, I felt his sections were too padded.
So some mixed views, but I did enjoy. But I think it should have been better.