Graphic Novel Review - Alex + Ada Volume 1 - Sarah Vaughn & Jonathan Luna

Graphic Novel Review - Alex + Ada Volume 1 - Sarah Vaughn & Jonathan Luna

Alex + Ada Volume 1 is the start of a wonderfully absorbing science-fiction graphic novel series that looks at the morality behind the creation of robots and sentient life.

When Alex is gifted an android by his grandmother, he struggles to get over the fact that Ada is completely subservient to him, and though her appearance is human her character is distinctly robotic. She lives entirely by his command, will only have the same opinion as him, and is clearly the type of android that we've been warned will rebel in the future. After seeing a news report about another android that seemingly broke its programming, Alex seeks to get Ada to do the same.

I was hooked on this right from the start. It's a classic science-fiction theme re-told superbly, looking at the morality behind owning an android with a degree of artificial intelligence. Alex's desire to provide Ada with a mind of her own is one of the big questions that is posed when it comes to AI - do we make androids entirely self-aware and therefore our equals, or do we put in programming to keep them our servants? Alex's struggle with what to do is perfect, and I look forward to seeing where their relationship heads following the conclusion of this first volume.

It's also a very recognisable world to our own, despite being set in the future. Beyond androids and an internet that now resides in people's minds, it's as if nothing much has changed, beyond the natural evolution of technology. It feels like all this could be coming in the very near future.

I also absolutely loved the artwork. It's bright and vivid and fits the futuristic setting perfectly. It's interesting just how much the style of art can affect your enjoyment of a story (no matter how stupid it sounds, I can't connect with the Golden and Silver age style of comics in the same way I do the modern), but this is absolutely spot on for it's subject matter.

I really can't wait for the second volume of this story. I'm hoping to see a lot more of Alex + Ada adapting to her new found sentience, and how they hide it from the rest of the world. This is surely a must-read for fans of science-fiction.

5/5

Doctor Who Spoiler Filled Review - Series 8, Episode 1 - Deep Breath

Doctor Who - Series 8, Episode 1 - Deep Breath

And so begins a new era of Doctor Who.

Eight months after we had the first fleeting glimpse of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, we finally get to have our first full episode with him. Is he everything we want him to be? Yep, definitely, perfectly slotting into the role as if he's been doing this all his life (which, given his very public love of the series and character, who probably has been doing).

I'll go out on a limb and say that it's possibly my favourite debut of a character so far. I must be the only person who didn't warm to Matt Smith in his first episode (I'm so warm about him now that I'm almost nuclear, please understand, but I just didn't feel it for most of the opening until the very end), and David Tennant spent half of his first episode asleep (though he owned it pretty much straight away after that). Previously I'd have probably said that Christopher Eccleston impressed me most upon his debut, but there's something more about Capaldi here that just grabs me; possibly it's because I just couldn't picture exactly how he'd play the character, and now that I've seen it I'm sold 100%. He's got the intensity of an older figure, whilst perfectly nailing the comedy that we'd expect from a younger Doctor, perfectly wrapped up in the gravitas of one of Britain's best television actors. 

From his first almost-drunken stumblings to his conversation with a tramp down a back alley, we see a Doctor struggling to deal with himself post-regeneration, showing worrying signs of a lack of respect for others (would he really steal the tramp's coat), but a magnified eccentricism as he goes about tracking down clues to a series of murders. When he later meets Clara in a restaurant and helps defeat the enemy of the week, his demeanour begins to calm somewhat, and what is likely to be the more standard-fare of Capaldi's delivery becomes apparent, which would seem to be that which we've been promised; a Doctor who is distinctly more alien, not quite as keen on explaining or apologising for what he's up to, and someone who is most definitely NOT going to become his companion's boyfriend.

Inevitably I've talked about Capaldi exclusively so far, but Jenna Coleman is fantastic, too. With a much different role this series than the 'Impossible Girl' of last, I'm hoping that the fandom in general will find more reasons to warm to her. I'll admit that her previous storyline was one of my least favourites of New-who, because of it's execution and lack of intriguing titbits as it progressed (unlike how most of the other series-long arcs have played out) and not due to her portrayal. Indeed, Coleman has such a wonderful smile and sense of fun about her she's impossible not to love in my opinion, and I'm hoping her different relationship with The Doctor this year will bring out the best in the storyline.

Her frustration, anger and woe at the loss of her Doctor, and the appearance of this grouch and erratic new one is really the central core of this episode, and the troubling moment where The Doctor appears to abandon her as he reasons that there's no point in both of them getting caught is rather a shocking one, both to her and to us. Of course, it appears to just have been a part of his bigger plan eventually, but for a moment we really don't know whether he's actually going to be standing behind her when she hedges her bets that he will. Otherwise, she has a great scene there where she stands up to the Half-Face man and calls his bluff.

The appearance of the Paternoster Gang is always welcome, particularly Strax. Madame Vestra and Jenny have some great moments (particularly involving a painting), but Strax steals the show time and time again. Yes, I'm sure he annoys a lot of people, but I find him hilarious every time. It's always welcome to have a bit more Strax!

I wasn't quite as taken with the villains as perhaps I'd have liked. It was nice to visit the clockwork droids from Series 2's The Girl in the Fireplace, but I never particularly found any sympathy for the main villain, even though his was essentially a sad story of someone just trying to find paradise. Sad, yes, but he killed a dinosaur who The Doctor managed to tell us (though translation in his sleep) was really depressed and heartbroken at being ripped away from her home, so sod him.

Thinking about it, I've not really mentioned the episode's storyline at all. It certainly has a 'villain of the week' feel, but then most Doctor-debut episodes do. It serves to introduce the new Doctor, have a bit of conflict with his confused companion (which led to a wonderful scene in the restaurant, full of very funny lines), and then let us head on without further thought. Except that's not entirely true; there were two moments towards the end that are very important, for two very different reasons. The first was the not-unexpected-in-the-slightest-if-you-use-the-internet moment where Clara receives a phone call from Matt Smith's Doctor, telling her that the new Doctor needs her help more than she needs his. It was wonderful to have just a tiny bit more Matt Smith, and led to Capaldi's best delivery of the episode, where he told Clara, 'You look at me and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like?'

The second was the appearance of Missy, who we've been told already is the Gatekeeper of the 'Nethersphere'. No-one was expecting her appearance so early one (just like Clara in last series' opening episode), so naturally the internet is now abuzz at her true purpose. There's a good deal of speculation that she's a new incarnation of The Master (Missy being short for Mistress being the female equivalent of Master) or the Rani (because it's always the Rani), though both of these seem too easy to be true. Whatever the truth, she apparently believes The Doctor to be her boyfriend, we can be sure to see her again before the two-part finale, and Michelle Gomez completely owns the role in the precious little time we see her for. She also appears to be the one who gave Clara The Doctor's number in her first episode, and also took out the newspaper advert that got them back together in this episode, so she clearly wants the two of them to be together. For good or for bad, though? That's the real question. My bit of speculation? That strange 'crunch' noise she does before she starts twirling like an insane Mary Poppins has something to do with her storyline, but only the gods (and Moffat) know what.

There were two more moments that are important to the character of this new Doctor personally, but that aren't going to affect the overall plot in the same way (or so we're led to believe). The first is the reason why The Doctor looks as he does. It's pretty much confirmed here that Time Lords choose the face they wear based on past experience, with The Doctor speculating that he chose this face to send a message to himself (though he doesn't know why and can't remember who the face belonged to). Mr Moffat has already said, however, that this is just a minor thing so though I'd like a full explanation, don't expect it to affect the story too much. The second moment is the ambiguous nature of whether the Half-Face man committed suicide or was pushed by The Doctor, but to be honest I don't think it really matters as to the answer. We know that The Doctor will do whatever it takes to save the innocent (barring genocide for a second/first time (depending on how you look at it), based on the Ninth Doctor's reaction to the idea at the end of Series 1), so it's not that big of a deal if he did push the droid, though the idea he could have does serve to give the impression of a 'darker' Doctor.

Overall, I can say two things with certainty; one, Peter Capaldi already owns the role of The Doctor and we're very safe in his hands, and two, I'm more excited than ever to see what's coming next. It's going to be different than Matt Smith's era but that's what we need. We need a break from what we had before, in the hands of one of Britain's best actors, and with one of Britain's best showrunners still at the helm. Whatever happens this season, it's going to be one hell of a ride.

8/10

Graphic Novel Review - Black Science Volume 1 - Rick Remender (Author), Matteo Scalera (Illustrator) & Dean White (Illustrator)

Graphic Novel Review - Black Science Volume 1 - Rick Remender (Author), Matteo Scalera (Illustrator) & Dean White (Illustrator)

Recommended for Adults/Older Teens

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

If you're after a science-fiction graphic novel to fill the void while you wait for the next volume of Saga, then congratulations! Your life just become awesome!

Black Science is the story of a team of scientists who unravel the key to travelling between the 'onion' (i.e. layers) of different dimensions, in the hope of finding various things like the cure to cancer, and a world where Phone Shop wasn't commissioned for E4. After someone sabotages the piller that allows them to travel and their homing beacon, they have to rely on random shifts to keep them going whilst hoping they'll be able to fix their equipment. Yes, that was pretty much the plot of Sliders, but it's a great plot, and it feels original here.

As with all new stories, you really don't know who is going to live or die, so there's a genuine sense of danger behind each page. The characters themselves are all realised and written brilliantly, and there's at least one death that will hit home hard when you've become invested in the story. The illustrations fit the grainy feel of the story well, and it's great seeing the different worlds that the characters visit, to see what the artists have pulled out of their imagination.

I had the same level of excitement reading this that I did reading Saga; I didn't want it to end, I want the next volume already, and I want to tell everyone I meet that they should read it too. It's a story with great promise, and the wait until the next volume will be a tough one!

10/10

Graphic Novel Review - Legends of Red Sonja Volume 1 - Gail Simone et al (Author)

Graphic Novel Review - Legends of Red Sonja Volume 1 - Gail Simone et al (Author)

Recommended for Adults/Older Teens

I received this eBook from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s with great joy that I’ve finally gotten round to reading a collection of Red Sonja stories. As a fan of both fantasy and adventure, I've long wanted to read all about the red she-devil, and I found all these stories to be thoroughly enjoyable. Though, with Gail Simone as chief writer/editor, that shouldn't come as a surprise!

The main narrative of the story, a band of twelve despots wanting to avenge the death of their prince at Sonja's hand, gives a different approach to what you might expect. Instead of following Sonja throughout on a certain adventure, we really do see the 'legends' about her, as this vengeance group travel around the land looking for her and sharing tales of how she has wronged them, as well as hearing tales from others they meet in villages and towns along the way. It's like reading a collection of Greek myths, rather than expanding just one, and it works brilliantly. The writing is top-notch from everyone involved, and I finished it in no time flat. Part of me thinks that the glimpses of Sonja, rather than having her for present for the entire volume, almost leaves me wanting more. I'd love to see this 'legends' style applied to other fantasy and adventure heroes; Legends of Robin Hood, for one!

The illustrations are brilliant, with a great mix of styles. At one point, during a story about Sonja's youth, the illustrations change to become very cartoony, reminiscent of some of the DC comics for young children, which is a delightful change and works brilliantly with the idea of the younger heroine. I don't think there'll ever be an entirely satisfactory explanation for Sonja's...let's go with 'minimalist' armour (damn right it's distracting, but once everyone knows about her surely that's negated?), and it's certainly not a look that is ever going to win over fans who don't like how women are depicted in comic books, but as it doesn't personally affect my enjoyment of the story I'm not going to hold it against the artists to keep with her traditional look. After all, it's a fantasy story, and I'm not going to lie and pretend that Red Sonja's look wouldn't be on my approved list for my wife if she ever decided to become a fantasy warrior. Though only in a ceremonial capacity; I think she might choose a bit more armour for battle.

Overall, I loved these stories. It opened up a world of adventure that I'm looking forward to dipping back into, and gave me a great introduction to a fantasy icon. More of the same please!

5/5

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2 Overview

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2 Overview

Well, that's Series 2 done and dusted. Well, apart from the Christmas special, but I'm keeping that separated. We've seen the introduction of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, and the departure of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. Torchwood has made it's presence known, the Cybermen have returned in an alternate-universe format, and there's been some phenomenal moments that have gone down in Who-lore. There's been a couple of moments that belong on the same level of disdain as the entirety of Phone Shop, but we'll see these are the exceptions that prove the rule of 'Doctor Who is freakin' brilliant'.

Let's recap all the episodes to start with:

Revisiting Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 1 – New Earth
It's not the greatest episode, but there's a strong moral conundrum to debate, and Tennant and Piper are playing off each other wonderfully, with great performances as Cassandra in turn.

7/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2 Episode 2 - Tooth and Claw

Some very funny moments a decent amount of tension, but there’s nothing to elevate it beyond a ‘monster of the week’ feel. If you had to avoid watching an episode this season, this would be a strong candidate.

6/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 3 - School Reunion

A fun episode featuring the return of former companion Sarah Jane Smith and robot dog K9, with strong performances from all the main characters. It's not exceptional, but it's damn good.

8/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 4 - The Girl in the Fireplace

One of the best episodes of New-Who, and an absolute emotional powerhouse. Stunning performances all round, and as memorable a final ten-minutes as you could ever hope to see. Absolutely breathtaking.

10/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 5 - Rise of the Cybermen

Whilst there's a sense of danger with the Cybermen, and the conundrum of whether parallel-universe versions of your loved ones should be sought out is well displayed, there's just something missing from this episode that means it could easily be skipped without any difficulty.

6/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 6 - The Age of Steel

It’s a strong end to a two-parter, though it’s not quite up there with new-Who’s strongest multi-episode arcs. A great episode for Mickey fans, with strong emotional and moral punches that should leave you with a few tears by the end.

8/10

Revisiting Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 7 – The Idiot’s Lantern

Nothing spectacular, but nothing too shabby either. Just a fairly run-of-the-mill episode at the end of the day.

7/10

Revisiting Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 8 – The Impossible Planet

A solid episode that leads in nicely to the second part, but without a lot of the warmth and humour that has made new-Who so special for me.

7/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 9 - The Satan Pit

An improvement on part one, with a particularly strong performance from David Tennant as he destroys the Beast to save Rose and the crew. 

8/10

Revisiting Doctor Who – Series 2, Episode 10 – Love & Monsters

Whilst children might find this brilliant, anyone else will likely find this to be the worst episode of Doctor Who ever created. The comedy isn’t funny, the characters aren’t likeable, and the villain just doesn’t work. Besides one genuinely hilarious scene involving Jackie Tyler (though when isn’t there a genuinely hilarious scene involving Jackie Tyler?), I can’t find a single thing to recommend about it.
1/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 11 - Fear Her
I really don't think it's as bad as people make out, and children will certainly enjoy it more than adults, though adults should enjoy some hilarious parts of the script. Overall though, it's just 'alright', nothing better
6/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 12 - Army of Ghosts

A fantastic episode, full of mystery and drama, as well as a good dollop of comedy thanks to the excellent writing. A brilliant cliffhanger to leave us eagerly awaiting the finale.

10/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 13 - Doomsday
Though the episode itself is a little flawed, the ending is perhaps the greatest since new-Who began. It's the most heart-breaking, tear-jerking finish to a season, even more so than Series 4, and I'm still feeling the effects half a day later (well, nearly 7 YEARS later from when I first saw it). Fantastic end to the season, and a very fond farewell to Rose, Mickey and Jackie.

9/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Christmas Special - The Runaway Bride
An excellent Christmas episode, and possibly the best that I've seen if you discount the Tennant leaving specials. It's hilarious throughout, and Catherine Tate is fantastic as Donna. Let down only by the villain being beyond annoying, fake looking, and frankly rather rubbish.

9/10

Overall rating for this series (just to make it fun):
7.3

The Best Bits:
David Tennant
Widely hailed as the greatest Doctor of all time, David Tennant is memorable straight from the beginning. Whilst this might not be the strongest season overall of new-Who, it's clear that he is often the best thing in any given episode. Everything, from his mannerisms to the way he delivers certain lines ('I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry' etc.) is now iconic, and it's easy to see why people love him so much. I certainly do. I'm much more au fait with the 'new' Doctors than the classic, but there's something about Tennant's performance that is elevated above all the rest, even Matt Smith who does such a fantastic job as the Eleventh Doctor. It's not that Tennant is more jovial than Eccleston, nor less grumpy (two of the most recognisable aspects of Eccleston's portrayal); he's just so different with them. I'm loving seeing him back from the beginning again, and delighted that I've got another 2.5 series to go.


The Doctor in Love
The Girl in the Fireplace is one of the best episodes of all time, hands down. The Doctor and Reinette's tragic love story can never be completed, and you won't get many moments more tear jerking than the one where he realises that he has been away for years and she has died in the meantime. Her letter to him makes my heart bleed everytime, and I doubt there's been a more tragic tale weaved on the big screen (partly because I don't watch romances, and partly because if you try to count Romeo & Juliet as a tragic love story than I think you're deluded).


But even this pales in comparison to the final moments of Doomsday, with Rose telling The Doctor on the beach that she loves him, and he unable to say the words in return before he vanishes. Honestly, I'm welling up now just remembering it. I understand that a lot of fans don't like the idea of The Doctor and his companion in love, though personally it doesn't bother me, but I find it hard to believe that anyone can't shed a tear when they see each of them separated by the wall, the realisation of what's happened sinking in. The Doctor's tears as he stands alone in the TARDIS after the beach scene sum up his heart at this point; utterly broken.


The Humour
Seriously, how does Doctor Who not get more credit for its comedy? It's killingly funny at times. Love & Monsters might be a disaster in literally every other sense of the word, but the scene where Jackie Tyler tries to seduce Marc Warren's character and repeatedly splashes him with wine is the series' funniest ever moment for me. Time and again I find myself guffawing at what has happened, more so than most comedy shows out at the moment. Sometimes it's just a simple look (The Doctor giving Donna a quick scan when someone suggests she's a transvestite), other times it's a quick line (INSERT LINE), but there isn't a single episode that doesn't have at least one laugh out loud moment.

The Worst Bits:

Love & Monsters (episode)

You'll be hard picked to find a worse episode in the whole of new-Who, full of stupid and unfunny moments, and a monster that just doesn't work well on screen (hard as it is to say about one designed by a 9-year old for a Blue Peter competition). It's clearly designed to be funny for children, but I refuse to subscribe to the notion that Doctor Who is 'actually a children's show', as it's so much more than that. There's nothing wrong with appealing to children, and if children in general loved it then brilliant, but that doesn't stop me hating it with a passion. Doctor-lite episodes can be brilliant (Blink, Turn Left), but this is shockingly bad. The only, and I mean only, plus to it (as discussed above) is the absolutely hilarious scene where Jackie Tyler tries to put the moves on Marc Warren's character (I've genuinely forgotten it). Otherwise it's a complete and utter mess, and shouldn't be watched by anyone, ever (except the aforementioned scene).


Overtly 'Childish' Episodes
It will be a debate for the ages on whether or not Doctor Who is a children's show or one equally for adults. It's not a bad thing to be a child's show in the slightest; we all have fond memories of our favourite childhood television. Personally, just like the Harry Potter books I think that the show has grown into more than just a children's show. The fervour with which it is revered by its adult fans and the darkness of some of its storylines (not the complexity exactly; children aren't stupid and a difficult storyline doesn't make it an adult show) clearly show that a large part of its intended audience are grown ups.


What I do have a problem with, however, is dumbing down an episode to make it more for children and alienating the adults, who I imagine will actually represent a bigger majority. Episodes like Love & Monsters are just appalling television, with humour and storylines that no adult is likely to enjoy, whilst Fear Her contains similar traits though executed much better. There's a reason why Doctor Who works so well for both adults and children, and that's because there's enough for them each to enjoy with plenty of crossover. Focusing on one at the expense of the other just doesn't work (though I'm betting people could find plenty of examples that would make me a hypocrite when it alienates children by making the show more adult).


The Racnoss
The only bad part of an otherwise excellent Christmas special, the Empress of the Racnoss just doesn't work for me. Even on a limited budget the effects, costume and make up teams can do incredibly realistic aliens, but this isn't one of them. She appears to just be wobbling like a drunk on high stillettos the entire time, and the raspy random shouts are just plain annoying. Not a winning alien in my book.


Overall
David Tennant's first season, and new-Who's second, is full of stand-out moments and episodes. The Girl in the Fireplace and the two-part finale are two of Who's most celebrated episodes, both full of heartbreak and tragedy, and elsewhere there are plenty of moments to make you loud out loud. I ranked Series 1 8.4 on average, and this gets 7.3, so clearly I'm not quite as enamoured with it as last year, but that's not to say it doesn't have a lot of classic moments. Before starting the revisiting process, I think I would probably have placed Series 2 at the bottom of the rankings anyway, so perhaps it's correct that it's ended up with a lower score. Like with all Who, it's still essential watching, with moments like Rose's departure being amongst the most important in the series to date. It's time to move on to Martha Jones now, and enjoy ourselves as we revisit the numerous times where The Doctor clearly enjoyed having a different companion to Rose, not once comparing the two of them and...


Oh, right. I'm starting to remember...

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Christmas Special - The Runaway Bride

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Christmas Special - The Runaway Bride

It's Catherine TateDonna's wedding day. All's going to plan, until she starts to glow all golden with sparkly bits, and gets whisked away into the TARDIS. Shocks The Doctor a bit.


Cue title sequence...


Donna is confused, The Doctor is confused, I'll admit the reasons behind her appearance in the TARDIS have got me a little perplexed. As Donna shouts a bit, The Doctor explains about the TARDIS and space and stuff, though he still can't explain her appearance here. He tries to get her back to the church. At the venue, the guests are trying to figure out what's happened to her. The Doctor isn't having much luck getting her there though, and she tries to run when she realises the whole bigger-on-the-inside thing. The Doctor isn't doing a very good job of reassuring her or calming her down, as she tries to hail a taxi to get to the church. They can't get through on the phone either, as The Doctor nips to a cash point to get some money out, though he looks more like he needs to pee. As he heads back to Donna though,, he notices some brass band players with Santa outfits and strange masks, that look strange. They freak me out a little bit, I'll be honest. The one driving a taxi that takes Donna away freaks out The Doctor a bit, too. He forces the cash machine to give people free money as a distraction, legging it back to the TARDIS.


This taxi driver isn't paying much attention as Donna shouts about them driving the wrong way. Then she knocks his mask off and realises, 'Oh, robots now. Then the TARDIS appears, flying alongside the taxi, and The Doctor eventually manages to convince her to jump across the motorway to him. Finally safe, they sit on a rooftop as he broods about Rose, and she about her missed wedding. They also debate what the robots, space scavengers, want with Donna. Well, it's time to get her to the wedding reception anyway, and back to the man who loves her, and-oh I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now, as she catches him happily dancing with her arch nemesis, Nerys. Still, she brings out the waterworks, and next thing we know she's enjoying the party anyway.


The Doctor takes the time to look up her employer, H C Clements, because they're a security firm and therefore a bit dodgy. Turns out it's owned by Torchwood. The wedding videographer's tape also reveals that Donna was surrounded by Huon particles, an energy that doesn't exist anymore, and it also can't be hidden by a bio damper which The Doctor had used to try and hide Donna from the scary Santas. The nasty robots show up on cue, and then try killing people with Christmas trees (the baubles are bombs, and one guy does a spectaculr leap over a table into the cake). The Doctor uses the sound system to magnify his sonic screwdriver and destroy them. He finds a remote control inside one of the heads, meaning that someone is directing them, so he heads out to search for the controller, learning that it's in the sky. Appears to be a raspy-voiced giant spider in need of a throat sweet, in a star-shaped ship.


Heading to H C Clements, The Doctor theorises that when Torchwood was destroyed someone else came in and took over operations at the firm. Someone naughty. They head down to the secret floor of the lower basement to investigate, which excites the spider in her spaceship. Turns out they're in part of the Thames Flood Barrier. Whoever took over the ownership of H C Clements has been using the power of the river to manufacture Huon particles in liquid form, and then saturating them using Donna's body. Though as the Time Lords got rid of the particles in the first place because they were deadly, Donna's feeling a bit worried.


They get interrupted by raspy-spider-lady shouting at them, Lance disappearing in fright. A large hole revealed behind them, raspy-spider-lady has been drilling to the centre of the Earth, before teleporting down in front of them. It's the Empress of the Racnoss, the last of her kind, and she ate Mr H C Clements. As Donna argues with the Empress, Lance turns out to not have been scared, but actually trying to save the day with the axe! Oh, Lance is our hero! He's-oh no, he's a dick who was working for the Empress all along. He'd been putting the liquid Huon particles into her daily coffee. What an utter dick! True, he names every single thing that would drive me nuts about living with Donna, but he's still a dick. The robots guarding the Empress draw their weapons on The Doctor, who does his patented babble-at-a-hundred-miles-an-hour tactic to buy some time, bringing the TARDIS and safety to them. Not so good for Lance though; if she can't have Donna, the Empress plans to make him the new key.


As Donna mourns her romance, The Doctor takes them back to the creation of the Earth. He's looking for the first rock to draw others to it to create the planet, and it turns out it's a Racnoss ship. They're dragged back to the present before they can observe it much, managing to diver the TARDIS to a corridor away from the room with the Empress, who has been getting all raspy with Lance. Donna gets kidnapped as The Doctor explains her role as the key, reactivating particles that the Time Lords deactivated. The Empress starts the process, purging Donna and Lance of the particles, and starting the extraction of the Racnoss ship and her children from the Earth's core, sending Lance down to them as their first meal.


Above the skies of London, the Racnoss ship appears, delighting everyone with it Christmasness, until it starts firing lightning at everyone. One child even screams as a piece of lightning moves SO SLOWLY IT'S ALMOST STANDING STILL towards her, in a move of stupidity worthy of a place on the crew of the Prometheus. The Doctor releases Donna from her web-prison, allowing her to swing out of the way, and then he offers the Empress one last chance to surrender, and allow him to help her and her children find their own planet. She's all like, 'no way dude, listen to me rasp and quiver with fearrrrrrrrrrrrr', but The Doctor uses the remote control he nicked to turn the robots off, and then throws Christmas tree bombs around the building, flooding it and drowning the children in the drill hole. Donna has to remind him that he's being a bit genocidal and scary, and that he can stop flooding things now. They escape as the Empress teleports to her ship, threatening the Earth. The army then blow up the ship, proving once and for all that the British Army would counter the Empire in Star Wars, as they can actual hit things unlike Stormtroopers. Also, the Thames has been drained, but that should just alleviate the worry of flooding for a while.


Huon particles all gone, The Doctor returns Donna home. He offers her the chance to travel with him, but she turns it down. Must be a first! Ah well, he'll find someone soon that he can travel with and complain about missing Rose to all the time. They bid each other farewell, and we preprare for Series 3.


Overall, this is a vastly improved Christmas special. It's absolutely hilarious, and right from the start I think Donna is brilliant. I know that Catherine Tate is very polarising. I'll admit that I'm not a fan at all of The Catherine Tate Show, and I think it's her 'forceful' performance at times that can put people off, but I love her as Donna. She's the perfect replacement for Jackie Tyler in many ways, and her delivery of her funniest lines is spot on. When she first arrives in the TARDIS, for example, when asked why she's dressed in a wedding gown, her reply of, 'I'm going tenpin bowling(!)...why do you think, dumbo?!'. It would be too difficult to write down every time she says something in that style that makes me laugh, because it's essentially her entire demeanour throughout the episode, but I love it. As far as I remember, this changes somewhat in Series 4 as her character grows, but those moments are still there (You want, to 'mate' is her greatest line)...Just like Jackie complaining about all manner of things is 'so Jackie', Donna's reversing of the truth about her engagement is 'so Donna'. And I love those 'so Donna' moments. Especially the bit where everyone starts asking her where she was at the reception, and she starts crying (winking to The Doctor as she does so), and everyone applauds her. It's no surprise that she was brought back as a companion; the interplay between them is brilliant.

I'll not beat about the bush; I think the Racnoss is rubbish. It looks like someone plonked in an oversized costume struggling to walk as one would in 10-inch stilettos, and has the most annoying raspy-voice and roar since the child in Fear Her. But that's basically the only criticism I can level at this episode. The bad guy has to be a major part of what mark you award an episode, sure, but if that's the only fault then it's got to be pretty good.

One of my favourite funny moments is the following:
Donna: (shocked) You had the reception without me!
Lance: Donna! What happened to you?
Donna: (more angry) You had the reception without me?!
Everyone looks guilty
Donna: (turning to The Doctor) They had the reception without me!
The Doctor: Yes, I gathered...

There's a real hidden gem of a joke that might easily get overlooked, but as Donna and The Doctor try to hail a taxi, as people are shouting things to her, she complains that people think she's in drag. The Doctor gives her a slow look up and down here as if he's wondering whether they're right, and it's brilliantly funny. It's over very quickly, without Donna commenting, so it'd be easy to forget it but I think it's one of the funniest parts of the episode.


The Doctor mentions the Battle of Canary Warf where the Cybermen invaded, and Donna is oblivious, saying that she was in Spain. He points out that they had Cybermen too, and Donna looks at him like he's stupid, as she was scuba diving. I really cannot emphasise just how much I love Donna when she's like this; she and The Doctor just work brilliantly together.

Something that Donna hits on that sums The Doctor up perfectly is when she says to him that he needs a companion so that there's someone to stop him. When he destroys the Racnoss children, Donna has to pull him back from the dangerous stare he gives as he watches everything crumble around him, and it's a terrifying (well, you know what I mean) reminder of the power that The Doctor holds. He gave the Empress a choice, then he did the only thing he could to save nearly 7 million people on Earth; kill a bunch of technically innocent children. That dangerous scare is a mix of guilt and anger, and we'll see it again most prominently in The Waters of Mars.

Excellent nod to Harold Saxon in Series 3 when the army are told he has given them permission to destroy the Racnoss ship. Doctor Who sure knows how to foreshadow things.

We know that The Doctor has a massive ego, not-so-secretly hidden at that, but I love it when little gems like, 'I don't understood it, and I understand everything' come up.

Oh, the final moments of Doomsday are still weighing heavily on his heart. Though Donna finding Rose's top is funny with the way she accuses him of having abducted lots of women before her, his expression as he tells her that it belongs to his friend is emotionally fraught. The anger behind his eyes when Donna asks him how Rose was lost is enough to silence her (no easy task), and it's perhaps the most murderous look we've ever seen him give. Later on, there's a little bit of healing for him as Donna asks whether Rose trusted him before he lost her, to which he repliest that she did, and she's very much alive because of it.

As The Doctor destroys the robots at the wedding party, the first hints that I've heard of The Doctor Forever theme play slowly. It's my favourite theme of all, and it gives me goosepimples hearing it now.

The re-use of corridors has always been a staple part of BBC filming, but I swear the corridor of the lower basement is the same that we saw at the Torchwood Institute in the Series 2 finale, and in Series 1's Dalek. It's a nice thing to see though, strangely. Comforting in a way.

Harold Saxon Mentions
The army are told that saxon has given orders to destroy the Racnoss ship.

Overall
An excellent Christmas episode, and possibly the best that I've seen if you discount the Tennant leaving specials. It's hilarious throughout, and Catherine Tate is fantastic as Donna. Let down only by the villain being beyond annoying, fake looking, and frankly rather rubbish.
9/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 11 - Fear Her

It’s the Olympics! We’re back in 2012! Though people outside are excited, someone is watching out of their window, and an old lady knows something is up. Oh, now she’s going crazy. Though with the music, and the way the child looking out of the window at her is singing (children singing is ALWAYS scary in television), she’s probably less crazy than she currently looks. The child starts to scribble something on paper, as crazy lady starts shouting at some children to go indoors, but suddenly one of the children disappears. As the mother of the drawing child looks like she knows something is up, we see the picture that she has been drawing – it looks rather similar to the child who has just disappeared, and the picture is moving, growing bigger and opening its mouth in a scream…

Cue title sequence…

The TARDIS materialises between two large skips (initially the wrong way round so its door is blocked…). As The Doctor walks off talking to himself, Rose notices a number of missing children posters. He notes that it’s colder than usual, and then runs off to investigate the garden where the last child disappeared from. A passing car breaks down, the fifth today in that same place apparently, and as soon as it gets past a certain spot it comes back to life. The Doctor is giggling at his hand, which disturbs the father of the missing child, though he uses psychic paper to convince him that he’s a policeman. The old lady wades in, telling them that strange forces are at work. Everyone starts arguing, until The Doctor shushes them by using the authority of a teacher, with the old ‘fingers on lips’ technique. Whilst the old lady pleads for help, Rose notices the drawing child looking down at them from her window.

The Doctor uses his best sniffing techniques to detect traces of metal in all the locations a child disappeared. Drawing child spots a cat – gods, she’s got a quick drawing technique. Her name is Chloe. She denies drawing the boy she drew, Dale, looking sad, and says he made himself like that, and the cat will be a friend. Her mum tries to engage her, but with little success. In the end, Chloe threatens to draw her mum just to shut her up. Now THAT’S a burn moment if ever I heard one! Outside, Rose has been stroking the cat, but it disappears after entering a box, leaving behind a very strong metal scent. Takes a MASSIVE amount of power, apparently.

Chloe is talking to the pictures on her wall, annoyed that they aren’t alone but she is, and that they don’t know what it’s like to be alone. Rose, meanwhile, is hearing banging coming from a garage. LOUD banging. When she opens the door, some angry looking ball of what appears to be electrical cable, or elastic bands, but is actually graphite attacks her – it’s the pencil scribble that Chloe has just drawn. Rose guesses it could be the creepy girl at the window, so they pop along for a visit. They talk their way into the house, assuring Chloe’s mum, Trish, that they can help her.

Rose sneaks off, pretending to go to the loo, but really to see Chloe before her mum can ‘check on her first’. She hides in the airing cupboard when Chloe runs out, and then she sneaks into the room. After knocking some pencils over, the picture of Dale has changed to show an angry expression. In the kitchen, The Doctor talks to Chloe, who says she’s busy making something. She tells him how the pictures don’t stop moaning, and that she can do something that means ‘we can be together,’ which I can only presume at this point is something to do with her dead dad. In Chloe’s room, Rose hears noises coming from the cupboard, and when she pushes the clothes aside she sees what appears to be a demon drawn on the wall, which growls ‘I’m coming’ at her. It’s a pretty badass drawing really. I appreciate art.

The Doctor is still trying to get answers from Chloe, when Rose screams for him from upstairs. The Doctor shuts the closet door as Rose appears to be in a trance, moving slowly towards the drawing. Apparently Chloe drew him yesterday, as she needs to be together with him. Trish begins to panic, trying to get rid of The Doctor and Rose, but The Doctor does his talking quickly thing to keep on her good side. The explanation has something to do with ‘ionic energy’, and Chloe is holding the victims in an ionic holding pen.

They all go up to Chloe’s room. Using a Vulcan Mind Meld (no, I’m not joking), they speak to the entity inhabiting her body. It refuses to give up Chloe, saying it just wants its friends, as it’s alone. It’s an Isolus, an empathic race who require the empathic link between itself and its four billion siblings to stay alive. They play with each other whilst travelling through the stars, creating imaginary words, and feeding off the love this generates with each other. This Isolus accidentally fell to Earth following a solar flare. The Isolus starts to get agitated, waking the demon in Chloe’s closet, and Trish has to sing to her to get her to calm down.

The Doctor and Rose head off to build something to find the crashed Isolus pod, so they can help return it to its family, but it follows them. It/Chloe draws The Doctor and the TARDIS, causing them both to vanish. Rose goes sick at the Isolus, who wants to be left alone with Chloe, before realising that the pod would have sought the hottest point on the street, which would have been a freshly laid tarmac patch. She takes a pickaxe to a piece laid six days ago, and uncovers a very small Isolus spaceship. Returning to the house, she is too late to stop the Isolus making the crowds at the Olympic venues disappear. Huw Edwards is bloody confused by it all. In reality, it is trying to collect four billion people in its imaginary world through its pictures, to replace its four billion lost siblings. Rose and Trish confront the Isolus, but it has started drawing the Earth, and threatens to unleash the demon in the closet if they stop it, because it thinks its spaceship is dead. Rose tries to argue that a heat source will charge it up again, before The Doctor’s picture changes to point to the Olympic Torch. Racing outside, Rose heads to the Olympic Torch parade, which just so happens to be taking place on the same estate. The pod begins to wake up, as Rose throws it close enough to the Torch to charge it up again. The Isolus departs, as Chloe is returned to her mum, along with all the other missing children and Olympic spectators.

Of course, all the drawings coming back to life means the demon in the closet will too...It locks all the doors of the house before Rose can get back into the house. She tells Chloe that her fear gives it energy, and by singing she will destroy it, which she does. Presumably through ‘love’, not the terror of their singing. Or possibly because she’s now calm. Something like that.

On the TV, the Torch bearer collapses, and so The Doctor takes over and carries it to its final destination at the Olympic Stadium. The Isolus pod, now fully recharged heads off back to the stars. Rose and The Doctor are reunited, and all is well with the world. Except that The Doctor can tell something is in the air.

A storm is approaching.

Following on from one of the most unpopular new-Who episodes comes another of the most unpopular new-Who episodes. Now, this is far from my favourite episode, but I think some of the criticism is a little unjust. There's some very funny moments, an alien with a good mystery and deserving of a lot of sympathy (it's a lost child for crying out loud), and strong performances from all of the cast. However, it's well known that this episode was targeted at children, so there are bound to be plenty of reasons adults aren't so taken with it. To be honest, it's far simpler to outline all the negatives in this case than the positives, as beyond the pros mentioned above I kind of feel it just sort of fits into the 'yeah, it's alright' category. It is, however, miles better than Love & Monsters.

The whole episode hinges on one or two overly-convenient factors, in truth. In addition to the one above, the fact that the Olympic Torch happens to be passing by at the exact right second is just too much of a stretch. A general fire wouldn’t do, because the Torch is ‘a symbol of love’. I know that there needs to be a willing suspension of disbelief (I’m normally more than happy to have one), but there have been plenty of other episodes that don’t hang on such a huge coincidence (pretty much all of them, really). I’m not sure of the reasons why people seem to dislike this episode in general, but for me it’s these plot resolutions mentioned above that seriously drag it down. Until you realise that the Isolus pod is still in the torch, it also seems stupid that The Doctor would carry the Torch on its final leg, but at least there’s a sort of reason behind that. Still not a fan of it though.


Hmm, it’s a bit of a leap for Rose to go from scribble, to child’s drawing (fairly, because children scribble things out) to creepy Chloe at the window. Yeah, it’s logical to us because we’ve been watching her draw, but Rose and The Doctor have absolutely zero knowledge of this. Just seems too big a leap to me. Am I being unfair? The Doctor’s impressed with her deducting, but…


Destroying the demon by ‘calming’ Chloe? Or is it by giving her love? Even with the singing, she still looks pretty terrified to me. I know that’s one of the plot points, that calming her stops the demon, but it’s a bit shoddy to finish with.


So what does it do well? Really, it's the humour behind the script that mostly stands out. 'Shayne Ward’s Greatest Hits’? Oh, Doctor Who, how you jest! Weird how quickly some jokes go out of date…but it’s a funny one all the same! ‘Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand.’ Good one Doctor, good one. This is my type of description!

The Doctor: Hello! I’m The Doctor and this is Rose. Can we see your daughter?

Chloe’s Mum: No, you can’t.

The Doctor: OK, bye!

Wonderful use of near-reverse psychology

I love when the council worker berates Rose for digging up a council road, using a council axe, stolen from a council van, after talking about the special council tarmac recipe...I work for a council and I don’t think our tarmac fitters are this strange, but I’d love to find out!


Sometimes, it’s not just one line but lots together that make you appreciate just how good the scripts are in Doctor Who. The Doctor calling his ‘police assistant' (Rose) Lewis, the manly hands line, The Doctor thinking Rose is calling him beautiful when she means the cat, needing to locate the source of whatever is ‘stealing children and…fluffy…animals’…it’s all brilliant. Even if this isn’t the greatest episode, the dialogue is still top notch. That’s why Love & Monsters hurts so much, really. It should be at least fun to watch just from the script, and it isn’t.

It’s completely random, but at one point The Doctor takes the lid off a jar of jam and starts eating it with his fingers. Rose coughs and shakes her head as Trish looks disapprovingly at him, and he sheepishly puts the jar back down. It’s very funny and very out of the blue, especially at such a serious part of the story, yet it’s just another simple reminder that The Doctor really is an alien.

In a wonderful Star Trek reference, The Doctor initially greets Chloe using the Vulcan ‘live long and prosper’ hand greeting. To show that she is willing to talk to him about what’s going on, she later uses the same greeting to him. He then performs what is clearly a Vulcan Mind Meld. Not subtle at all, but great to see.

The Doctor shushing everyone with ‘fingers on lips!’ is eye-wateringly funny when it happens. Already the attempts at humour are far better than in Love & Monsters (barring the wonderful Jackie Tyler, of course).


The overall reason behind the ‘evil’ taking place is tragic. The alien being a child, lost and in need of its family, finding Chloe because they are both lonely and just wanting to be loved...it’s nice to have a villain that isn’t wholly evil. Rose says she thinks that it’s just having a temper tantrum and shouldn’t have too much sympathy, but I’m on the side of The Doctor. I’m an attachment parenting person, and I don’t do controlled crying.

The actress playing Chloe does a fine job (not something you can always say, though thankfully in Who they tend to pick children who can act well), but the moments where she has to put on a breathy whisper to signify the demon inhabiting her are so annoying that I can’t remember anything else except this from the first time I saw this episode. Luckily, I’ve found a lot more to appreciate this time round, but I still find these moments ridiculously grating. It’s not the actresses fault at all; how can you make someone’s breathy whisper less annoying, when EVERYONE’S breathy whispers annoy you?

The piece of music that plays when The Doctor performs his Vulcan Mind Meld on Chloe is absolutely breathtaking. So simple, yet so atmospheric, it perfectly conjures the image of a man come to save a little girl. 

Torchwood Mentions
None that I can recall


Overall
I really don't think it's as bad as people make out, and children will certainly enjoy it more than adults, though adults should enjoy some hilarious parts of the script. Overall though, it's just 'alright', nothing better.
6/10