TV I saw the new X-Men film last night. I didn't enjoy it in the end, partly because the screen was tiny and filled with teenagers who didn't seem to actually want to watch the film but mostly because it felt like the work of someone who was trying to make what they thought an X-Men film should be like rather than trying to make something which entertains because it's the X-Men. I've had much the same criticism of a couple of episodes of Doctor Who this season, and despite my positive review last week, but in this case I was afraid it was my problem -- that I was becoming slightly jaded with the whole thing. Call it a crisis of faith if you like but I almost didn't watch tonight's episode while it was on, just in case.
Thank God I did.
I've seen fans playing games trying to work out which of the old eras each episode is most like. For the first half I actually thought I was watching a spruced up First Doctor story (which was weird) then as the climax descended I knew this was pure Eighth Doctor territory, right down to the news that TARDISes are grown (which ties it in with Alien Bodies doesn't it?). In my sporadic reviews of that era, I suggested that the the Eighth Doctor books were all about a small humanoid fighting against giant planetary or galactic forces, and that's exactly the territory this story has dropped into (although with a bit of Robots of Death tossed in for good measure).
Generic discussions aside, I can't believe that something like that is going out on Saturday teatime. I don't remember the last time the show did demonic possessions so well, with all the tattoos and screaming and random death. But classically it managed to meld the epic proportions of potentially a Lord of the Rings size foe with moments of human terror and body horror. Having just recently rewatched Pyramids of Mars I was amazed to hear the voice of Sutekh demonstrating how a horrific voice in a tiny cabin can be just as chilling as a computer generated wolf, if not more so because you simply don't know what it wants or what it's capable of. Well alright, at the end, with the Ooooood we're back in marching killing alien territory, but when has that not been something that happens? Well alright the design of the back of their heads was ... interesting ... but I like the idea of the globe translators giving the wrong signal -- especially as the cause of the basically false teaser cliffhanger -- I don't think that's ever been done before.
Also, unlike the rebels in the Cyberman story, the crew were clearly defined from the opening scene. The writing of Matt Jones (who I think I once met at a script conference) proved that in a two-part you simply do have the time to establish characters, even a little bit, so that when wiggy things happen to them, possibly resulting in death, you care. Scooti Manista (MyAnna Buring) was likeable companion material so you actually felt something as she floated away in the almost void (really she was great -- anyone else feel a twinge of regret that she left so soon?) Finally, for the first time in what seems like ages, we had the Doctor and Rose sitting down and having a chat about something, even if it was the loss of the TARDIS (another Eighth Doctor novel paradigm). Given that we already have some idea what happens in at least a couple of the episodes after this we know that it'll be turning up again (I'm guessing the psychic link) but part of me wishes that we could see the Doctor and Rose trolling around the universe conventionally for a few episodes and dealing with that. Is Doctor Who just about time travel?
And in a weird move, Tennant seemed to have toned down his performance slightly whilst Piper's gone in a whole other direction. Anyone else wonder if in places the spirit of Cassandra was still around or if Rose was doing an impression of Ken Branagh's drunk act from Peter's Friends? Surely the loss of the TARDIS leading to no way home would have led to a bigger reaction. A coping mechanism? Are we seeing the effects of all that travelling, that she's become desensitised to the happenings? Is it that belief that everything will turn out alright in the end so why worry? They're heading for a fall. They are. But it has an amazing cast of largely film actors who've previously worked with British directors like Mike's Leigh and Winterbottom and it really shows. And none of them gave the kind of BIG LARGER THAN LIFE performance that actors stuck in sci-fi dramas too often end up doing. It's a treat to have someone like Secret and Lies' Claire Rushbrook (who I once saw shopping Manchester with Bev from Brookside) in (still) my favourite programme (have at you the less good final season of The West Wing).
I think you could actually see the directorial difference here. Were Euros Lynn is all about interesting angle and visceral action, James Strong's more of a wide angle lense, legible action kind of a guy. In moments when I'd expect a handheld we had smooth movement, but there were still those beautiful sweeping crane shots. The editing was a bit weird towards the end though, the repetition of what looked like the Doctor dancing in the cave. Despite some excellent Firefly-style violin chords during the demonic-aaaah scenes, the full orchestral score, whilst suitably epic was still TOO BLOODY LOUD, with some bits of dialogue being lost in the mix. Whose problem is this? The sound mixer? The Dolby downmixer? Murray Gold himself. I mean it's not just us who are noticing this -- I hear even Dead Ringers have done a sketch. Will someone do something please?
Look -- if the only bad thing you can say about an episode is that the music is too loud then something very right must have happened. From the production design that looked like a movie to a script which sounded like one too, the week's Doctor Who raised the bar yet again and confirmed my theory that you take the good with the bad. This time The Age Of Steel allowed to us to bathe in the awe and mystery of The Impossible Planet and I can't wait to see into The Satan Pit.
Thank you, and good night.