Arschel's Tardis Blog Spot

Doctor Who S06E05-The Rebel Flesh

2011-05-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

The TARDIS gets caught in a solar tsunami which sends the ship crashing to an island on 22nd century Earth. The Doctor, Amy and Rory discover a ruined monastery on the island manned by a small crew of humans who possess a special kind of “flesh” that allows them to create worker clones called Gangers. When the solar tsunami hits and knocks everyone unconscious, things get a little weird. When the group reawakens, hours have passed. The Gangers are loose and now self aware. As the line between what it means to be human blurs, animosities build to a boiling point and war seems inevitable.

What started out as an ok episode of Doctor Who, with Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole playing in the TARDIS which was awesome, got itself together to become a very intriguing episode and a strong follow up to last weeks TARDIS personified episode.

The Gangers are an interesting creation in the Doctor Who universe. While watching them piece together what they believed to be their lives and their memories, I couldn’t help but think that their little quest was very similar to that of the Replicants in Blade Runner (how many times did I bring up “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” in my head during this one hour alone, I will never know). That being said, it wasn’t a bad story. In fact, I like stories with creatures learning what it is to be human even when they are not so. Watching the Gangers eventually interact with their…controllers? Pilots? Let’s just call them Originals, was nicely staged and it was cool to see them start to warm up to each other. And then Cleaves came along and started a war, honestly I can’t wait to see her get hers next week. Cleaves character is such a nuisance that it is hard to feel any sympathy for her. Heck even her Ganger was a better make than the Original, which was pretty funny I thought.

But of all the Gangers and characters in general in this episode, poor Jennifer is the one who stands out most. She is the first one who we get a lot of insight to and watching her become scared and sad as the truth is doled out to her by Rory was very touching and sad. And yes, another Blade Runner reference, it is very reminiscent of when Deckard tells Rachel that her memories are not her own, but implants from a little girl. Getting back to Doctor Who, Jen’s sad story arc gave Rory another week to shine in the spotlight. Seeing as how Amy pretty much relies on The Doctor all the time, Rory decided to stick his neck out for Jen (though she stuck hers out a lot farther when she tried to bite his head off, pretty cool.) It was a nice change to see Amy and Rory on different sides of the struggle and see Rory play the protector. Amy was clearly jealous, but it should be noted that even though Jen clearly fancies Rory, he is still Amy’s man, “Amy is a lucky woman”, Jen says to him, to which Rory can only reply dumbfounded, “yea…”

When the civil war, I guess you could call it that (The Gangers are fighting themselves after all), broke out, the climax was set for something big. And it only got bigger when we found out that the Flesh had created a Ganger of The Doctor after he touched it. A Ganger with the memories of a 900 plus year old Time Lord; now that is a truly stunning cliffhanger right there and I can’t wait to see how they resolve it. Oh and creepy eye patch lady showed up again, what the hell or who the hell is she? Only two weeks to go till the big game changing mid season break, maybe we will find out then.

Next Week-Gangers vs. Originals and Doctor vs. Doctor (and I’m sure more Blade Runner comparisons to come.)

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S06E04-The Doctor’s Wife

2011-05-27T23:20:00.001-07:00

After receiving signs of a Time Lord distress signal, The Doctor, Amy and Rory travel to a mysterious asteroid at the edge of the universe. Upon their arrival, the TARDIS shuts down and the trio is stranded on the asteroid controlled by a living entity called The House. When the House takes over the TARDIS and steals it along with Amy and Rory, The Doctor must find a way to catch up to them. His only hope lies in a mysterious woman who knows him better than anyone…a woman with a failing body who just so happens to possess the spirit of his own ship.

I had been looking forward to this episode for a while, ever since I had first heard that Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Coraline) was going to be penning it. My expectations became a little grander after last weeks less than stellar Pirate themed episode. Good news to report: The Doctor’s Wife put the show back on track and may very well be one of the best Doctor Who’s ever conceived.

The big draw of the episode was the title itself: who is (or was) The Doctor’s Wife? The answer is kind of obvious and not much of a let down. It’s almost like saying Captain Kirk’s only real love of his life is his ship. The same is true for The Doctor and the TARDIS. The years may pass and the companions may change but this show has always been about the two of them roaming around the galaxy getting into trouble. And now, for the first time, The Doctor gets to actually talk with his ship. I’ll be honest, watching Idris (the woman who took in the TARDIS’s spirit) get herself together was kind of annoying, but once she and The Doctor got to talking together, the episode really took off. Suranne Jones, who played Idris, worked perfectly with Matt Smith and a lot of their dialogue was some of the best I have ever heard in Doctor Who, the scene where Idris says he calls her “sexy”, “but only when we’re alone” The Doctor replies was hilariously good. Sure this was a bit unusual for these two characters to interact, but soon if felt as if this was always going on and never felt new, just different if that makes sense, like things had always been this crazy and, well, normal between The Doctor and the TARDIS. It is sad, very sad that the two had to part so soon after virtually meeting for the first time. Idris’s line at the end where she realized the perfect yet saddest thing she wanted to say to The Doctor was a tear jerker. That such a simple word as “Hello” could create that deep of an emotional response is the true sign of a well written episode. But as sad as it was to see the two characters part ways, sort of, what I stated earlier remains the same. The Doctor and the TARDIS will always have each other and they can communicate in their own little wacky, almost wordless way, a bit of a bright happy ending.

Amy and Rory also got to do some running around and bonding while trapped in the TARDIS. Gaiman’s knack for haunted locales was put to good use here as the darkened repetitive hallways of the TARDIS instilled a true sense of fear both in Amy and Rory as well as this viewer here. As icing on the cake, an Ood made a return appearance, using its possessed form with green eyes to chase down the two lovers. It was scary to see the House (one scary and threatening fraker) use images of aging, dying and then dead Rory to shake Amy up so badly (but come on is Rory really going to die every episode, seriously). But one thing I was really happy about this episode was Rory taking up the stronger lead this time around. With Amy bogged down and scared by illusions, it was up to Rory to keep her safe and even though he wasn’t the intended target of Idris’s mind messages, Rory was still the one getting the knowledge to save the day, not Amy. It is good to see Rory finally getting the credit he deserves. And wow, wow, wow, the return of the TARDIS bridge from the Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant years. I miss that set so much and it helped save the day. Good times.

The Doctor’s Wife was a fantastically written and well acted episode and a worthy addition to the universe of Doctor Who. Great interactions, great suspense, engaging and fascinating new characters, and a showdown to end all showdowns: “Fear me, I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords”, the House taunts. “Fear me…I’ve killed ALL of them.” The Doctor replies followed by House death by TARDIS, hell yes. It was all about the character relationships this time around and one that got fleshed out more than anyone could have hoped. It makes me kind of wish the TARDIS always had a voice. But then again, it does have a voice and it has and always will only respond to one person…THE DOCTOR AND THE TARDIS FOREVER!!!!

Next Week-Do Flesh produced Clones dream for Flesh produced sheep? (Blade Runner references will be heavy in the next review, trust me.)

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S06E03-The Curse of the Black Spot

2011-05-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Doctor, Amy and Rory land on board a 17th Century Pirate Ship in distress. The small crew is being hunted down one by one: first injured and given a mysterious black spot, then claimed by a beautiful glowing Siren. As the crews numbers dwindle and Rory himself becomes a potential victim, The Doctor and Captain Henry Avery will have to put aside their equal desires to be in charge before the Siren kills them all.

Pirates + Doctor Who + Green glowing beautiful women + Amy with a cutlass=a pretty exciting episode…until you actually watch it. It kind of sucks I write that and realize my true disappointment with The Curse of the Black Spot. It could be because it just wasn’t as strong an episode to follow the season opening 2-parter. Maybe it could be that I was kind of lost on a few things regarding The Siren’s true purpose or how everything turned out alright in the end. Whatever it was, this episode had so much potential in it and it just never reached it.

Firstly, let’s get the positive stuff out of the way cause this episode did in fact have some. The Siren looked fantastic, a supposed menace masked by a beautiful face and an equally beautiful singing voice to match. It was kind of funny watching a marked Rory and the other marked Pirates attempt to reach her because of the trance they were under. In all honesty, she was pretty enough, extra push wasn’t required, but the story demanded it so I’ll let that go. Also fairing well were the first few interactions between The Doctor and Captain Avery. The two bickered over who was in charge before The Doctor relented, but it was once they got to the TARDIS that they found their best scenes and dialogue together. Avery finding similarities between devices on a Pirate Ship and the TARDIS was great and watching The Doctor realize he was right was equally priceless. A ship is a ship, good stuff. And, while it was brief, Amy got to dawn a Pirate jacket and brandish a cutlass to rescue The Doctor and Rory. Oh Amy Pond, so effortlessly hot you even make a Pirate outfit look sexy.

However, those three bits were all that really stood out as positive from the rest of the episode. The relationship between Avery and his son wasn’t as strong as the writers had hoped and, come on, we no longer need to be beaten over the head with how much Rory and Amy love each other. These little tests of their relationship are starting to get old and annoying. I love Amy and Rory, I really do, but they need to do a little more story wise other than this. The big reveal over what The Siren actually was and the overall resolution to the story was a bit lacking as well, I don’t know it just wasn’t as amazing as it could have been. Plus, The Siren, for all I like about her look and voice, didn’t have much of a voice even after her true nature was revealed. I would have liked some more vocal interactions between her and the other characters.

The Curse of the Black Spot suffers from some story drawbacks for sure, but, again, it does suffer from being the follow up to the slam bang story concluded last week. Every episode of Doctor Who cannot be perfect; I know I’ve seen some pretty boring ones. It just seems that the wind left the sails of this episode long before The Doctor, Amy and Rory popped up from the ships underbelly. It had its moments, but this wasn’t a truly memorable one I am sad to say.

Next Week-An episode penned by Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Coraline)…I’m already excited and I don’t even know what it’s about.

Rating-6/10

Doctor Who S06E02-Day of the Moon

2011-05-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

Three months after the events of “The Impossible Astronaut”, Amy, Rory and River are all hunted down in turn by Agent Canton Delaware and the FBI and killed at the end of their encounters. Meanwhile, a bearded Doctor awaits his fate in a cell surrounded by guilt for what he has brought upon his friends. This, however, is all a ruse. If The Doctor and his companions are to fight back against the merciless Silence, they need the ultimate game plan; one that involves meddling with Apollo 11’s moon landing and a little death faking. But how can this time traveling crew deal with an enemy that makes you forget it exists just seconds after you look away from it.

Day of the Moon did a lot of things right this week, the least of which is amp up the WTF factor that had me reeling from last weeks astounding episode. I know that a lot plot elements introduced in this two part arc will be resolved further down the season, but I was still curious how they were going to resolve things with The Silence and still keep us interested for the rest of the season to come.

The opening teaser featuring The Doctor’s elaborate plan to have Canton “eliminate” his companions to throw The Silence off their big plan was clever and even a bit alarming. I mean I knew that no one was in real danger at this early point in the episode but it was still unnerving to see Amy, Rory and River seemingly reaching the end of the line, gave me a lot of Goosebumps. And am I a fool to say that The Doctor looked a little cool with a full grown beard? Kind of stylish, goes up there with the Fez and the Cowboy Hat.

The one negative gripe I have with this episode comes right after this, however. Canton and Amy’s mission to explore the haunted orphanage was a little boring to be honest. Even when Amy got the shock of discovering that the girl in the astronaut suit may very well be her unborn daughter and was captured by The Silence; these moments took a long time to get to and I was starting to tire of the dark hallway and the lack of Canton, my favorite new character du jour.

But once we got past this and Canton took out that one Silence in a manor befitting a true badass, the episode got back to running again. Which led us to the slam bang finale of an episode. The Doctor’s solution to not noticing The Silence was brilliant, using their own powers against them and getting the human race to spot them using the moon landing was a great ploy. And wow, wow, wow, River Song ladies and gentlemen. As Rory and The Doctor hurry Amy to safety, Doctor Song single handedly takes down a room full of tux wearing UFO’s in such beautiful yet deadly fashion. Lara Croft should be very jealous of this fiery vixen who may or may not win The Doctor’s heart. Cudos to Alex Kingston for such an amazing display of talent.

Which brings us to the close. Yes it sucks that Canton and River will not be traveling on the TARDIS and yes we kind of already knew that Amy will always love Rory, but that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Not when some little girl creepily says she is dying but it is ok then bursts out Time Lord Regeneration energy. Like I said, WTF!!!???

Series Six is off to a great start at the close of this amazing two part episode. And there are certainly plenty of water cooler moments to keep fans gossiping for the next month and a half before anything here is truly resolved (possibly). And so the TARDIS flies off to new stand alone adventures. And I’m glad to be back onboard for the ride.

Next Week-Pirates of the high seas face a beautiful Siren…and Amy with a cutlass

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S06E00-A Christmas Carol

2011-04-24T23:10:00.001-07:00

An intergalactic space liner careens towards certain doom on a cloud covered planet. The only person who can save it is an old man filled with bitterness and a very cold heart. With the lives of 4000 people at stake, it appears that it will not be a Merry Christmas for all. Lucky for the crew of the space liner, two passengers just happen to be a newly married time traveling couple named Amy and Rory and they just happen to be companions of the one man capable of pulling off the ultimate Christmas miracle. Taking a page out of a familiar tale, The Doctor will attempt to revisit and rewrite one man’s history in order to save the present.

For years I thought it was impossible. The Christmas Invasion was the first Doctor Who Christmas Special of the re-launched series and it had always been my favorite of the bunch. That has changed ladies and gentlemen. Steven Moffat deserves a planetary wide round of applause for the work he has done with this particular episode. Not only is he borrowing heavily from a beloved Christmas classic, but he has given it the Doctor Who spin that enables it to have a life outside of its origins: the classic story is still there, this time it’s just in space, involves flying fish and a crazy man in a bowtie.

I will admit I was a bit skeptical when I first heard the rumors about the direction this episode was taking a few months back. Even to not amend the title, thus keeping it “A Christmas Carol” was a bold move and it further heightened my curiosity to see how Moffat would put a scifi spin on the Dickens tale. One of the best moves the creators could have made was casting Sir Michael Gambon (Dumbledore from Harry Potter) in the role of Scrooge…err I mean Kazran. Gambon is one of those veteran English actor who can deliver a powerful, tear jerking performance while also finding ways to make said performance fun to watch. And since he has done a lot of fantasy work in the last few years with Harry Potter, Gambon looks in the zone here on Doctor Who, sparring very well with Matt Smith on screen.

The Doctor’s plan to observe and change a few things about Kazran’s past is a bold move on the part of the Time Lord, who usually finds rewriting history kind of a bad thing (he tried it before in Waters of Mars and that didn’t exactly end well). It makes sense The Doctor would characterize himself The Ghost of Christmas past, considering how old he is it’s kind of a funny joke. The plan seems to work great for a while. The Doctor and young Kazran discover the fish and sharks in the clouds covering the planet and then meet a cryogenically frozen girl named Abigail (played by the beautiful Katherine Jenkins). It all seems so happy, The Doctor, Kazran and Abigail spending several Christmas’s together. But then we get the big revelation about Abigail…and the episode goes from not bad to great.

I’ll be honest, the revelation was one of those bummers that could have easily killed this episode like the downbeat and somber Voyage of the Damned, but Moffat pulls us out of that slope with one last little twist that was my favorite part of the episode. After learning that the woman he has fallen in love with has to die to save the planet, elder, present day Kazran flat out tells The Doctor he will not commit to his plan and save the people. And then little Kazran, a boy full of hopes and dreams, pops out from behind The Doctor and sees the man he is destined to become, old, bitter, cold hearted to a fault. I almost cried during this scene. Gambon pulled it off perfectly and his breakdown in front of his younger self was a stroke of genius. That scene alone elevated this episode above any and all expectations I had.

This episode was not without its Doctor Who cheekiness and excitement. The sequence where little Kazran and The Doctor battle the shark from the clouds was fun and exciting. And, once again, The Doctor had the best line of the episode as he appears falling from a chimney into a fire place, “Ah! Yes! Blimey, sorry! Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went... "What the hell.” I was cracking up, of course that is what he would do and that is something he would say.

I will say that I was surprised how little of a role Amy and Rory had to play in this episode. Sure they ended up filling the role of the Ghost of Christmas Present, but for the most part they were not heavily involved in The Doctor’s adventure. And to tell you the truth it was ok. For a story like this it made sense to have them more in the background. And hey, they’ll have a whole new series of running around to do soon so no need to worry about an Amy and Rory lite story…though I was happy to see Karen Gillan back in the Police Woman outfit, so sexy.

A Christmas Carol is perhaps one of the best episode Doctor Who has ever done. It certainly is the strongest of the Christmas Specials, this one has a far greater Christmas focus than any other one before it. Steven Moffat and Matt Smith’s first Christmas is a success and here’s hoping that this will continue down the line with more Christmas’s to come. It’s just not Christmas anymore without the TARDIS materializing on screen. This was a very good Christmas indeed.

Next Time: Doctor Who returns Easter 2011 (kind of dumb to say since I’m posting this review afterwards, let me try that again). Easter 2011-The Doctor’s gonna need… a SWAT team ready to mobilise, a street map covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve Jammy Dodgers and a fez…fez’s are cool. See ya in April.

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S06E01-The Impossible Astronaut

2011-04-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie: I know it’s been a while and I no I didn’t post a review at Christmas. It will be on later this week before I review part 2 of this weeks episode. That being said…ALLONS-Y!!!

Amy and Rory Pond along with River Song are summoned to America by The Doctor. After a sunny picnic, the three watch in horror as The Doctor is slain by a mysterious figure in an astronaut suit. Moments later, a younger version of The Doctor appears before them unaware that they just witnessed his demise. Pulling together pieces from their mysterious summons, the time traveling quartet travels to Washington D.C. for a meeting with President Nixon and ex-FBI agent Canton Delaware. The only thing worse than the mission they are about to embark on is the horrific image of The Doctor’s death burned into Amy’s memory…and the mysterious and fearsome suit clad UFO’s stalking their every move.

It’s back baby, it’s back. And what can I say about this first episode of Series 6…well only one three lettered acronym…WTF??????!!!!!

This episode grabbed you from the get go with the reunion of The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River followed by The Doctor getting killed during regeneration thus making him DEAD dead. Then The Doctor showed up just fine, stunning everyone and earning a smack from River. The first fifteen minutes were a lot to take in at once and I’m still trying to piece it all together right now.

Initial shock and bewilderment aside, this was a great episode and a great start to Series 6. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Davrill and Alex Kingston stepped back into their roles as if no time has passed. Each actor and actress has returned with the same fire and feeling of fun that made The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River characters to love to begin with. Matt Smith in particular continues to prove that his astounding performance in Series Five was not a fluke. He continues to impress as The Doctor, once again pulling future and past dualities with the wise old man who accepts his own demise and the highly energetic kid who flies into danger despite the obvious warnings in front of him and around him. And plus, even though I heard it in the trailer at the end of “A Christmas Carol” the line The Doctor says while sitting in the President’s chair, guns pointed at him, still makes me chuckle: “I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilise, a street map covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve Jammy Dodgers and a fez.”

A particular standout in this episode was in the guest star department. You may recognize Mark Sheppard, who played Canton, from other scifi genre shows like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica. He has always been a dependable guy and Mark continues to show such evidence here in this episode as the ex-Bureau agent who has an open mind but has a smart aleck wit that makes him so cool. He is one of the few guest stars I’ve seen who has quickly caught onto how the TARDIS works and completely accepting it, at least for now.

The Aliens featured here are being called members of The Silence, the force that blew up the TARDIS and formed the cracks in the universe in Series 5. If these guys really are members of The Silence (is it a race or a conglomerate, I’m still not sure) then boy has The Doctor gone up against the wrong guys. From mind wiping to blowing a woman away Doctor Manhattan Watchmen style, these guys are vicious. It will be all the more intriguing to find out what their endgame is for Earth and The Doctor. And what is up with a child, the little girl calling Richard Nixon, trapped in an astronaut suit that will vaporize The Doctor at some point in the future? I know I’ve said it before and I know I will say it again but even though The Doctor has survived the end of the world, the end of time AND the end of the universe, how the hell is he going to get out of this one.

The Impossible Astronaut was an example of how to present a good setup for something bigger. Steven Moffat has delivered an episode that retains the charm and fun of Doctor Who we’ve come to love since his takeover as Head Writer. But he has also given us plenty of questions to mule over until the following week when we get answers (maybe) to all the questions running through our heads. The death of The Doctor; The Silence; River’s identity; the child in the astronaut suit; this is a lot to deal with all at once. And I think that Steven Moffat and Matt Smith are more than up to the task of delivering in full. It’s just a bummer to realize after watching an episode this good that the series is going to be split into two halves a la Burn Notice. That two-three month wait for more episodes come June is going to be torture.

Next Week: On the run from the FBI and Secret Service, companions covered in black marks, The Doctor with a beard, The Silence, the conclusion? Series Six is just getting started.

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S05E13-The Big Bang

2010-06-28T11:59:00.001-07:00

With The Doctor trapped in the Pandorica and everyone else not doing do well, there is very little keeping the universe together. The only way to prevent the erasure of Earth, the last world left in existence is to pull off the ultimate gamble: a gamble involving an age old android, a past and present Amy Pond, and a fez sporting genius. But even with all of this in place, who will be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to restore the entire universe? Is this the end of the road for The Doctor?

Hard to believe it’s been thirteen weeks already. But now we’ve come to the end of Series Five and Steven Moffat has been left with no choice but to pull out all the stops to make this the best finale ever. Does he succeed? Oh yes, even with a few things unanswered.

Not going to lie, you are going to have to be one sharp viewer and practitioner of Doctor Who speak, (did I really just say that?) to keep up with the massive amounts of back and forth time jumps and planning scenarios. Scratch that. If you’ve seen enough Doctor Who, or even watched a few episodes of Leverage, then you should be fine keeping up with all of the action.

“The Big Bang” threw a lot at us and left me wondering how everyone was going to factor into the story. This episode was mostly a character driven story, rather than the intergalactic showdowns that were the staple of Russell T. Davies finales. Sure, we get one Dalek causing havoc for our heroes. But in the end, this episode is about the ties that bind The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River together.

The story of Rory and the Pandorica was very sweet and very romantic. Despite The Doctor’s concerns that Rory would go insane from eons of silence, the plastic replica of Rory stuck with his girl til her reawakening. Anyone who has ever questioned the relationship between Amy and Rory, even gone so far as to call it Rose and Mickey 2.0, should slap themselves silly as this episode practically defined love conquers all in regards to this lovely couple.

Oh Matt Smith. You’ve come so far since your one minute cameo at the end of “The End of Time Part 2”. This episode was Mr. Smith’s tour de force and his best performance as The Doctor yet. Of course you can thank Steven Moffat for giving him such good words to say, but it’s Matt Smith and his ability to warp back and forth between fez wearing mad genius (I like Fez’s, Fez’s are cool-my best friend’s favorite line, mine too), to dying yet still clever hero, to the old man who tearfully reminisces about his life thus far during his Eleventh incarnation. Matt Smith has time and time again proved why he is such a fantastic actor to bear the title of The Doctor. But this episode was his…well I could go on but I think I would end up repeating myself constantly, so I think you get the point. The guy is awesome, nuff said. I also like how they stuck with The Doctor observing events from his Eleventh incarnation rather than going back further and further. “I hate reruns,” he says refusing to go back further than his first meeting with Amy. I like that though. It’s Moffat’s way of saying “not yet”, that they shouldn’t fall back on the old stories just yet since they’ve still got a little ways to go in establishing their own Doctor Who world.

The grand finale reminded me a lot of The Never Ending Story, the scene where Bastian and the Empress begin to reset the world based on Batsian’s imagination. Likewise, Amy’s memory is key in restoring The Doctor, Rory and River to existence. You can’t help but feel happy for Amy as she gets her husband, her parents, and her best friend back, a nice payoff and happy ending for the once loneliest girl in existence. Oh and I must say, Amy looked so lovely in her wedding dress.

But after the wedding, we got a couple of reminders of unanswered questions. River Song, who was at her most sexiest and most bad ass in this episode, hinted the time was coming when everything would change between her and The Doctor, presumably when they finally hook up. Then there’s the matter of “the silence” which I totally forgot about after it popped up in “Vampires in Venice”. Nevertheless, the finale left us with no clear answers to these hints, which is no doubt going to make the wait for Series Six all the more unbearable. And now The Doctor has a married couple with him on the TARDIS, heading off to new adventures with a smile on their face. Ladies and Gentlemen, a round of applause for Doctor Who Series Five, written by Steven Moffat and starring Matt Smith as The Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. It’s been a somewhat uneven but wild ride this season and most definitely ended with a big bang. But there’s no doubt now, I cannot wait for Series Six, I…want…MORE!!!

Next Time-Doctor Who returns Christmas 2010

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S05E12-The Pandorica Opens

2010-06-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

The Doctor and Amy land in the year 102. A.D. where they encounter a Roman legion and River Song, who delivers a message to The Doctor, one that has taking thousands of years to reach him. The haunting image of an exploding TARDIS leads the trio to Stone Hedge, where they find the mysterious Pandorica. Whatever is housed inside is attracting every single enemy The Doctor has ever faced. But even with this vast army of villainy surrounding him, The Doctor doesn’t realize until it’s too late that the greatest threat to him may not be an enemy at all.

It has been a while since Doctor Who has had several consecutive good episodes in a row leading up to its finale. Both “Vincent and The Doctor” and “The Lodger” reminded us why Series Five has been such an astounding success up until this point. And now we get the one episode we hoped would never come, the beginning of the end. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it just feels like last week that we saw the TARDIS crash into little Amy Pond’s back yard. Eh, enough of that, onto the review.

What a fantastic opening. It was great to see all of these fantastic characters from throughout the season realize the importance of Van Gogh’s painting and work to somehow get it to The Doctor. Even if they were only in it for a couple of minutes, it was good to see Churchill, Bracewell, Van Gogh and Liz 10 once again. I don’t think the show has done something like this yet and I hope they do it again in future series. Oh and we get a reference to a “handsome Time Agent” whose vortex manipulator is passed on to River Song. Sigh, I hope we get to see a Captain Jack Harkness/Eleventh Doctor team up one day.

The mystery of the Pandorica kept me guessing right up until the end. When the entire rouges gallery of Doctor Who showed up, I was beginning to guess that the person trapped inside was the only guy missing from the party…but then again I think it would have been too much to have John Simm return as The Master this soon. And sadly, outside of Daleks and Cybermen (great to see them again btw), my knowledge of the old villains is very limited, so I couldn’t fathom a guess as to who would be inside the Pandorica. But I’ll cover that in a moment.

RORY’S BACK!!!! I always had a feeling that he would return in some shape or form during the season finale and even though he did end up being an Auton and ended up shooting Amy at the end, it was great to see him back in the story again. I would have never thought I would care about Rory when he was originally introduced as a sort of Mickey 2.0, but his character has literally gone through so much this season and has earned the respect of The Doctor and his fiancée that he has truly shinned as a great companion. Arthur Darvill did a great job dealing with all of Rory’s conflicts and sadness. Watching him break down when he realized Amy couldn’t remember him was heartbreaking and you really felt bad for the guy.

The end of the episode had me so freaking baffled. The Pandorica was meant for The Doctor? The Rouge’s Galley (or the Alliance, I guess) deciding to save the universe? Amy’s mind being used to create the trap? My head was spinning. And then there’s The Doctor, powerless to do anything as he is sealed away. Matt Smith worked his magic once again, forcing The Doctor to realize that there was no way in hell his enemies would ever listen to his pleas, no matter how true they were in regards to the universe’s impending collapse. Then…Rory was found out to be an Auton, Amy gets shot, River is trapped on an exploding TARDIS and the universe gets erased. Now THAT is how you do a cliffhanger. What a fiend/genius Steven Moffat would have been if he had just left it at that for the seven month hiatus? So many questions to be answered, the most prominent being HOW THE HELL ARE THEY GONNA GET OUT OF THIS ONE???? Here’s hoping Moffat delivers on one heck of a finale, cause I don’t think the bar has ever been raised this high to deliver one.

Next Time-No preview for next week…so who knows.

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S05E11-The Lodger

2010-06-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

In a tiny two story flat in Colchester, strange things are going on in the upstairs flat: flashing lights, loud crashes and the occasional small scream as well as the black mildew building up in downstairs flat of Craig Owens. Poor Craig has other problems to worry about, such as telling the girl of his dreams how much he loves her and finding a new roommate. While one of those problems needs careful planning, the other finds a solution when a mysterious and odd man called The Doctor turns up at Craig’s doorstep with the offer to room with him.

After last weeks surprisingly good Van Gogh episode, I was a little worried that “The Lodger” would be a big letdown. Thankfully, this clever little piece of unusual Doctor Who, penned by Gareth Roberts, was a very fun episode to watch. This is thanks in no small part to the companions du jour (sort of) with The Doctor this week. Craig Owens is a very likable human character with very human problems and even though The Doctor tries to help out he ends up outshining poor Craig every time. In a just as bad state is Craig’s friend Sophie, who clearly wants to hear Craig profess his love for her but is too shy to admit it herself. Both characters make for great one off characters in the Doctor Who universe and I kind of hope we see them again in the future. BTW, was it just me or did Sophie look a lot like Yvonne Hartman, the former commander and chief of Torchwood One we saw back in Series Two?

If there was one theme to best subtitle this episode with it’s “being human”. This week we saw a lot of normal human problems and woes with Craig and Sophie but we also saw The Doctor tasked with the duty of blending in as a normal human. Surprisingly enough, even though he may not realize it, from making a killer omelet to “bending it like beckham” to succeeding as a customer service caller, The Doctor shines in every human activity he attempts. Granted there is still that awkward yet lovably fun Matt Smith touch added to each scene which proves even more why Mr. Smith is continuing to be one of the best Doctor’s out there.

The mystery of upstairs was actually a little less interesting and I found myself wanting to see more of The Doctor’s interactions with Craig and Sophie, the normal humans. I almost thought that Craig and Sophie would have ended up traveling in the time machine upstairs. However, the fact that they did hook up and decide to do more of their lives on Earth was a nice ending for them. Like The Doctor once said, “That’s the one adventure I could never have.” It was an even better moment when Craig let The Doctor keep his keys to the flat, good times.

All in all, it sucks to realize that this is the last episode before the big two part finale. Despite some rocky episodes in the middle, Series Five has surpassed all expectations and then some. And while this episode may have had a rather disappointing underdeveloped “monster of the week story”, we still got a great story out of great one off characters. Forwards and onwards to the finale.

(On a quick note. The review for “The Pandorica Opens” will be one week late since I will be on vacation in a place with poor internet. So I’ll probably end up reviewing the final two episodes of the series, “The Pandorica Opens” and “The Big Bang” at the same time in two weeks.)

Next Week-The return of River Song and the appearance of The Pandorica. The final arc has begin.

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S05E10-Vincent and The Doctor

2010-06-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Upon spotting a strange image within a famous painting, The Doctor and Amy travel to Arles, France 1889 to meet with the man who created the painting, Vincent Van Gogh. Vincent is a man hated by the public, whose paintings go unnoticed and his eccentric attitude scoffed at. However, he is also the only man who can see a dangerous creature invisible to others that is on the loose. It’s up to The Doctor and Amy, the only people who believe him, to give Vincent a reason to fight and prevent more tragedy, in both the lives of the villagers as well as himself.

“Vincent and The Doctor” was a very rare and totally amazing episode, probably my most favorite of the series thus far. It’s nice to see that things have not exactly gotten back to business as usual in the aftermath of last weeks events. The Doctor is clearly feeling guilty for the death of Rory and subsequent erasure from Amy’s memory and is trying to cope with it without letting Amy in on why he is being so nice. It was odd, almost frightening, to see Amy so chipper. Makes the absence of Rory all the more painful and I can’t wait to see how that little plot element is tied up in the next couple of weeks. But we should focus more on the meat of this week first, shouldn’t we?

At last, The Doctor has met a man who is willing to believe things only he himself could possibly believe in. Tony Curran plays Van Gogh brilliantly, switching back and forth between visionary and troubled soul at the drop of a pin. His interactions with The Doctor and Amy were fun to watch, waxing philosophies and wackiness with one and flirting with the other. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan gelled very will with him. Curran also has most of the episodes best lines and just listening to him belt out Van Gogh’s thoughts and visions of the world around him were simply inspiring. It’s only now that I think of Rutger Hauer’s infamous line from “Blade Runner”. “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe” is an excellent subtitled description for Vincent Van Gogh.

But luckily, Van Gogh wasn’t 100% visionary but more like 90%. The other 10% was the man of action. Seeing him spar with the “invisible” enemy was well done. Actually, every character’s interaction with the Krafayis was well choreographed. The Krafayis was nicely designed, the parrot and polar bear images The Doctor first gets a scan of fit the creature perfectly. I liked the end revelation/parallel of Van Gogh and the Krafayis. The fact that the creature was blind yet could be seen by a man who could see everything was both touching and sad especially when the creature was killed in the end.

After the death of the Krafayis, I was curious as to how they were going to spend the last ten minutes of the episode. The last ten minutes of this weeks adventure were the most spectacular moments of the series since it’s resurrection in 2005. The Doctor and Amy taking Vincent Van Gogh to France 2010 to see his works was a real tear jerker, not just for Vincent but for myself as well. Not only did Vincent get to see that everyone didn’t hate his work was made even more emotional when The Doctor got the museum curator, played by big time British actor Bill Nighy (who, if your up on your scifi cinema, also stared with Tony Curran in Underworld: Evolution (good movie)). It’s moments like this Doctor Who has rarely done and probably won’t for some time since it worked this well. The series has had so many dark moments in the last few weeks that it needed a scene like this. And yes, Amy was sad when she returned to the present, expecting to see several new paintings by a clearly inspired Van Gogh, only to learn that he still committed suicide. But The Doctor’s speech to her about the good times and the bad times was very heartwarming. The final image of the painting made for Amy by Van Gogh was icing on the cake and a sign of a well done episode.

I know I’ve bragged about how good certain Doctor Who episodes are, either because of their production design, visual effects, or their acting (Series 3’s “The Shakespeare Code” comes to mind). But “Vincent and The Doctor”, earns a spot in my list of Top Ten Doctor Who episodes EVER!!! With big named guest stars, a spectacular creature and all the usual Doctor zaniness and zen, this was a bright and vibrant episode the series needed to have. This is an episode that needs immediate re watching and praise. You’ll come away from your TV or computer with a smile on your face and a possible tear in your eye. If you ever have a really bad day (kind of like I have the last couple of days) find this episode and you’ll have a reason to look on the bright side.

Next Week-Issues with the room upstairs…and guess who’s just waiting to become the new flat mate?

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S05E09-Cold Blood

2010-06-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

The Doctor heads down to the center of the Earth to meet with this new tribe of hibernating Silurians and negotiate the return of Amy and the other human hostages. Hostility is high on both sides. The female guardians of the city are thirsty for a war and Rory’s small band of humans is desperate for the return of their loved ones. It all comes down to one epic battle that will decide the future of both species for years to come. And while it looks like smooth sailing for humans and Silurians alike, The Doctor’s future yields some unexpected new developments.

After last weeks fairly slow plodded episode, “Cold Blood” continues to run with the same pace but amps things up towards the end for a fairly spectacular ending. Now I know I gave good reasons for each of the members in Rory’s group to kill Alaya. But come on, was there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Ambrose was going to be the one who killed her? Plus, to top it all off, she convinces her father to enact a failsafe should things go wrong AND she continues to threaten hostilities. If there was any character to not feel sorry for in this whole 2-part affair, the award goes to Ambrose. Even her son resented her action. That’s when you know you’ve really dug your own grave there.

We got to see plenty of Silurians this week, or rather only two or three of them and multiples of one (Restac and Alaya came from the same genetic code). Malohkeh the scientist was my favorite and was a proper foil to the more militaristic Restac. Eldane the politician was another favorite of mine. But his scenes with Amy and Nasreen negotiating Silurian settlement of the surface were kind of boring, hell even Amy looked bored as the proceedings went on. Luckily though they got all of that stuff done before the halfway mark so we could get to the meat of the episode, which was the result of Restac’s coup d’etat and Ambrose’s murder of Alaya.

The last twenty minutes of the episode were very exciting, filled with lots of running and quick solutions to the laser carrying lizards and the gigantic drill. Tony’s decision to stay behind was nice and I liked how he forgave Ambrose for her actions before he went into stasis. Nasreen also got a great send off, deciding to stay with her man and the discovery she made. She and The Doctor made a good team and it kind of sucks we won’t see her after this since she’s going into that uber long thousand year hibernation with Tony.

I had a feeling that Rory was probably going to die sometime soon. However, I didn’t expect his death to be so sad and well done. Sacrificing himself to save The Doctor from Restac’s final laser blast showed his devotion to both the man and Amy. But then he got touched by energy from another one of those pesky cracks, erasing him from Amy’s mind. Karen Gillan played the scene beautifully, showing her helplessness and general sadness over the loss of her fiancé and the fact that The Doctor could do nothing to do about it. The fact that Rory is now erased from Amy’s mind makes Rory’s death even harder to bare. Although I can imagine that he might return in some form or another in the season finale, which is only four weeks away (wow how time flies).

Oh and then there’s that shattered piece of the TARDIS The Doctor pulled from the crack. So that explosion either originates from the TARDIS or the TARDIS get caught in the blast. Either way, it was a heart stopping moment seeing that fried chunk of TARDIS in The Doctor’s hand. The next few weeks can’t come soon enough.

Next Week-Teaming up with Vincent Van Gogh to fight off a deadly foe.

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S05E08-The Hungry Earth

2010-05-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in the year 2020 and run into a group of people attempting to drill deeper into the Earth’s crust than any human in history. However, once the drill hits 21km, mysterious holes begin appearing in the drilling facility. Something is drilling upwards and claiming human hostages, including Amy. With only Rory and a small village of scared individuals to help him, The Doctor must race to unravel the mystery of the somewhat familiar creatures causing this havoc before fighting breaks out and all hell breaks loose.

Like “Vampires in Venice” to “The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone,” “The Hungry Earth” felt like a step back in quality after the amazing “Amy’s Choice”. That’s not to say that this was a bad outing, but this is the first of a two part story and we had to build momentum this week before the fireworks go off next week.

I was a little surprised at how “Amy lite” this episode was. Amy has been such a driving force for many of the episodes thus far, last weeks episode was even an Amy centered story for example. I never thought they’d cut back on her story time or her overall screen time for that matter. Amy is quickly captured and only seen two more brief times before the episode ends. Again, a little shocking but her absence works to build on the other character filtering this story. Nasreen was my favorite character of the bunch. At first she was a little skeptical of The Doctor (honestly, who isn’t really when they first meet him) but then her sense of adventure kicks in and she eventually follows him to the underground to confront The Silurians (more on them in a second). I like her but I can’t help but feel there is some “hidden” quality we haven’t seen yet that will be revealed next week. The other pivotal characters this week were Tony and his daughter Ambrose. Tony was a good sidekick for Nasreen but Ambrose, while understandably concerned for the safety of her son, came of as annoying. If anyone is going to do something stupid next week that ignites a war, she is at the top of my list (again I’ll continue on this point momentarily).

This week saw the return of another old villain of Doctor Who lore. The reptilian Silurians design wise reminded me of the Draqs seen in 1983’s Enemy Mine (starring Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossitt Jr., great movie btw). We only got to see one of them clearly this week and that one is the strangely attractive warrior Alaya, wow cute with a pretty name to match. Alaya, as aforementioned, is a fighter and I was fully sold on her claims that her people would bring the fire to eliminate mankind no matter what. Her chilling foresight as to how that will come about had me guessing like crazy. Alaya claims someone will kill her and thus ignite the war. At first I was sure it would be Ambrose, but then again Tony has been infected by some sort of Sullarian sting and needs a cure and Rory wants Amy back (that bit with the wedding ring makes me think he might bite it in the end next week), plus Ambrose wants her son back but seems more keen on pulling the trigger now. All have legit reasons for wanting to kill Alaya and next week we will find out who does.

I should also take a quick moment to note that this little two parter is courtesy of Chris Chibnall, head writer for another little series called Torchwood. He is an outstanding writer who has written many of Torchwood’s best episodes so far and I’m really looking forward to how his massive build up this week pays off next week. Again, “The Hungry Earth” wasn’t a lame episode, I really want to see next weeks episode so badly because of the last ten minutes. Plus, you got to see The Doctor fire a slingshot of all things and wear his sunglasses at night, nice. This week was all about the build up and next week is sure to give us all a proper payoff for sitting patiently through it.

Next Week-Stop the Silurians, prevent a war, have a beer (ok maybe that last one is stretching it).

Rating-7/10

Doctor Who S05E07-Amy’s Choice

2010-05-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

The Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves floating back and forth between two different worlds: one is set on the present day Tardis and the other is set five years in the future back on Earth with a happily married Amy and Rory awaiting the birth of their first child. Complicating matters is the appearance of the mysterious “Dream Lord” and his dangerous game for the trio. Together, they must decipher which world is real and quickly before one specific crisis on each claims their lives. And with opinions divided on how real each world feels, this isn’t going to be the easiest game ever.

Series Five continues to deliver the goods with expert storytelling and lots of adrenaline inducing excitement. And this weeks episode continued with those praises. “Amy’s Choice” was a terrific outing that presented us with a very unique scenario that makes for the best Doctor Who material. The jumping back and forth between worlds could have become tedious and annoying after a while but writer Simon Nye gives the story the balance needed to keep the story moving flawlessly from one point to the next without loosing any momentum. I think it was obvious to any viewer which world was the obvious choice, but then there was that slap in the face realization that everyone was wrong, even the viewer. Just goes to show that if you think you know this show real well, you haven’t seen anything yet.

I’ve been bragging about the story so far. What about our time traveling trio and the villain du jour? I have to give a quick cap on the Dream Lord. For a while, just watching him on screen tormenting our heroes I could help but think of Michael Caine’s famous quote from “The Dark Knight”, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn”. Up until the big reveal of his true identity, I figured the Dream Lord for the kind of guy who tormented just for amusement and interest rather than personal gain. But again, the big reveal at the end (which I will leave spoiler free for a change, you really should watch and see for yourself) threw me for a loop and gave it a bit more of a darker edge to the character. And hats off to Toby Jones, who was amazing in the role of the villain.

The title of the episode is the key to the story as a whole. Torn between The Doctor’s scientific analysis and Rory’s personal desires, Amy is the one who has to make the final call in this dangerous game. Maybe it was just me, but I was totally convinced the five years later world was the definite fake just because it seemed to perfect and quiet, something this show doesn’t do a lot of in terms of the latter and occasionally on the former. Rory wants the quiet life and The Doctor the louder, more exciting one. Both Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill were good with their performances and were very convincing playing the defense of their choices.

I kind of feel bad for Rory and Amy. Even when Amy realizes how much she really loves Rory and wants to be with him, I can’t help but feel that it is always going to be The Doctor she loves truly (like Rose with Mickey and The Tenth Doctor or, better example, Gwen Cooper with Rhys and Captain Jack Harkness on Torchwood). Still if Gwen could make it work with Rhys now that I think about it, it could work out with Rory. Plus, The Doctor seems to not want to belittle Rory, but do his best to keep Amy off of himself and more attached to her fiancé, which is a very good call in this case. Still, just as with last week, I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of Amy’s romantic woes, not by a long shot.

“Amy’s Choice” was a fun episode from beginning to end and I can’t remember the last time I honestly bragged this much about an individual episode of Doctor Who (really not since I saw Series Three’s “The Shakespeare Code” for the first time , I should post a review for that now). Series Five is well past it’s half way mark and is doing an amazing job most people thought would be impossible to accomplish after David Tennant’s departure. This show is still as awesome as when it first came back on the air and this episode is plenty evidence of that.

Next Week-Drilling to the center of the Earth should be a straight shot down. Then why is something drilling upwards to the surface?

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S05E06-Vampires in Venice

2010-05-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

In order to get Amy back in love with her fiancé Rory, The Doctor decides to take the two of them on a romantic getaway to Venice, Italy in 1580. But romance is not the main course of the day as all three travelers on separate occasions encounter mysterious girl, robbed in white with sharp fangs and a strong distaste for the sun. There are vampires in Venice, or at least that is the initial belief. But once Amy infiltrates the mysterious Calvierri School for Girls, she learns that these mysterious bloodsucking females may be the least of everyone’s worries when she discovers the full scope of their plans for the city.

Vampires in Venice is a decent episode for the new series, decent being the word of choice since it comes nowhere near as amazing as the last two weeks two part story. The dual opening is interesting choice to start off with a bit of horror in the form of the vampiric Calvierri girls claiming another victim and the awkward humor in the form of The Doctor party crashing Rory’s bachelor party to get his attention. To be honest, I liked the second part of the opening better. It was awkward and funny and was a better place to start off after Amy’s Doctor seduction session last week.

I was a little worried to see Rory on the TARDIS even though I knew it would happen eventually. But cudos to The Doctor for choosing to do so as he doesn’t want to screw up a companions life back home because of her adventures with him. Rory ended up being a pretty good character, even if he is kind of a Mickey knock off. I’m finding it difficult to figure out how his new companion status on the TARDIS will affect the already awesome dynamic between Amy and The Doctor. At the end of the episode, it looks as though Amy chooses Rory and convinces The Doctor to let him tag along, but I’m not convinced this is the end of the subject with this new love triangle.

The villains du jour were the reptilian/vampiric Saturnynians, led by the lovely Rosanna (played by guest star Helen McRory, who, if your up on your Harry Potter alums as I am, played Narcissia Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). I couldn’t help but feel that this group of bloodsuckers were a bit like the characters in 1987’s “The Lost Boys”. The exclusive club meant for chosen ones, ones that every guy wanted to get with but couldn’t. Still, I liked Helen McRory’s Rosanna and her characters interactions with The Doctor. The two big conversations they have in the episode were well written and played out. Plus, she was a sympathetic character. Sure she was trying to drown Venice, but then again she was also trying to repair the damage done to her race by those ever pesky cracks in time. It was a sad ending for her and it sucked to see her meet her fate. A character I was totally Unsympathetic towards was her “son” Francesco. From the moment I set eyes on him I couldn’t wait to see him get his butt kicked, amusingly enough by a double team effort by Amy and Rory. Whereas Rosanna was a cool and calculating opponent, Francesco was just flat out annoying. Although, the “what’d you say about my momma?” look on his face when Rory taunted him was priceless.

I also have to take a second to applaud the Production Team for its work on a very nice looking Venice. After just recently playing Assassin’s Creed II, which is set in Venice, I thought the city was well recreated and it didn’t feel small scale, similar to the work the crew did on Series Four’s “Fires of Pompeii”. The money spent of the production of this show is spent very well indeed, just check out the visually stunning real versions of the Saturnynians.

So what now? Rory’s on the TARDIS and we get our first real glimpse of “the silence,” which to be honest scared the crap out of me. This wasn’t a great follow up to “Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone”, and to be honest that was going to be a tough one to top. But “Vampires in Venice” was still a lot of fun with Doctor wit (Best Line: “Oh this is Christmas!!!”), decent action, and a sense that things are definitely going to get worse for the Time Lord as the series goes on. Series Five continues to roll on strong and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Next Week-Trapped in a dream world with a pregnant Amy, even The Doctor has to admit, “This is gonna be a tricky one.”

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S05E05-Flesh and Stone

2010-05-03T09:56:00.001-07:00

Even though The Doctor has moved himself and his dwindling group of survivors up to the Byzantium, The Weeping Angels are right on their tail and multiplying. Making matter worse, not only are the Angels growing stronger, but one of them is manifesting itself inside of Amy. And as if things weren’t tough enough, a new yet oddly familiar threat, one worse than the Weeping Angels themselves has appeared within the ship. As the heart pounding race to the end begins, who will survive this dual onslaught of terror?

The terror factor was amped up tremendously is week on Doctor Who. I will say that as compared to my blink and you’ll miss the episode attitude from last week, this week is was hooked and truly frightened for everyone on the ship. It sucks that Father Octavian (Iain Glen) had to bite the big one this week and his final scene with The Doctor, who stayed with him even though he knew he couldn’t get him out of the Angels grip, was a emotionally gripping one. You really feel for The Doctor this week. Between the return of the crack in the wall and The Weeping Angels he is being pushed to his limit trying to figure out how to stop both before everyone is killed. The scene where he shouts at River because of a lack of ideas really nailed this and Matt Smith did a good job delivering the fear and frustration needed to pull off such a performance.

After her encounter with the digitized Weeping Angel last week, we all knew something was going to happen to Amy in some kind of way. In fact it may have been Amy who had it worse than The Doctor this week. She had not only two foes to face, but three, the third of course being the darkness as she had to walk around blind through a field of Weeping Angels and listen to the remaining Clerics wander off to the light and never return. The poor, poor girl.

And when all was said and done by episodes end, there was the final scene, the other big highlight of the episode. Amy finally revealed to The Doctor that she was getting married…then tried to get him to sleep with her!!! Whoa. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this kind of an attitude in a Doctor Who Companion before. I mean Rose was in love, but she never tried to do that. Still it’s understandable. Amy has loved The Doctor for the better part of her life and to be honest, we all knew she was going to kiss him at some point. The Doctor, however and sadly, does the right thing and says that Amy needs to marry her fiancé, revealed to be Rory. But first he needs to solve the mystery of the crack in the wall and how it is affecting Amy, all by June 26, 2010, which is as I double checked, the date of the Season Finale, nice.

This was a great episode, arguably the best of the series thus far. It has terror, action, suspense and a lot of sexual tension between The Doctor and two women, lucky guy. This is how Doctor Who should always be done. I’m sure we’ll see River Song again, possibly before the end of series five as she hinted to events that might happen then. Plus there’s always the onboard tension in the TARDIS. Now that Amy has tried to openly seduce The Doctor, how will that affect their relationship in the future? Special cudos should go out to Steven Moffat, who has put a lot of the fear factor into his episodes thus far. This week however was when he did it at its grandest and most effective.

Next Week: It’s off to Venice with Amy and Rory. But wait, girls with sharp fangs, pale skin and no reflection in the mirror? To quote The Doctor, “Oh you have got to be kidding me?”

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S05E04-The Time of Angels

2010-04-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

River Song lands onboard the TARDIS and orders The Doctor to pursue a strange ship, which crashes on the planet Alfava Metraxis. Turns out, River was tracking the last of the Weeping Angels along with a team of Church Soldiers. However, once in the catacombs of the planet, things take a turn for the worst. The “Maze of the Dead” holds an army of dormant Weeping Angels waiting for the right snack to return them to power. On top of that, a disasterous encounter with a Weeping Angel leaves Amy in a bad psychological state. Trapped in the dark and surrounded by the deadliest creatures in the universe, if there were ever a time for The Doctor to have a brilliant idea, that time is now.

This weeks episode had a lot of material to cover and in a way it did so effectively. But then again was it just me or did this episode go by lightning fast? It felt like the episode had reached the halfway point by the end and I don’t mean the obvious end of part one but the end of the first half of part one. Maybe it was just me, but I will digress and get into the actual episode.

Alex Kingston is back as River Song this week. Obviously this is an earlier version of the woman we saw in the brilliant Series Four Steven Moffat two-parter “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead”. Even so Ms. Kingston still brings that very flirtatious and adventurous flair to the character. Her introduction to the story is both sexy and brilliant as she walks around the Byzantium in red high heels (a lot of shots of her shows for some reason) in order to get a message out to The Doctor. And when she meets up with him, it’s like no time has passed. Ms. Kingston and Matt Smith play their scenes together brilliantly, bickering like an old married couple (it’s so obvious by this point) then working together with almost linked minds the next.

The Weeping Angels were a truly fierce foe when they were originally introduced in Series Three’s “Blink”, also written by Steven Moffat. Giving them a planet of their own and a darker scarier environment all together was the perfect way to up how dangerous these creatures can be. Moffat gives the Angels more upgrades by revealing their ability to become alive even in a looped video recording. Scarier is the fact that the Angels are getting more violent this time around. They are not time displacing their victims anymore. No now they’re just snapping necks…time to be really afraid. And as for what they are doing to Amy, screwing with her head and all, one has to wonder just how bad it is going to get for her next week.

Aside from the sheer quickness of the story, this was a pretty good episode and a good bounce back from last weeks sort of Dalek downer. River Song is always a good character to have on screen and the Weeping Angels are deadlier than ever. Plus it was a nice bonus to have Iain Glen (Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extinction) playing the bishop commander of the Church squadron. Here’s hoping he makes to the end of Part Two. But then again, with the Weeping Angels as your enemy, when it comes to survival all bets are off.

Next Time-The battle goes up to the Byzantium…and the Angels are awakening everywhere.

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S05E03-Victory of the Daleks

2010-04-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

The Doctor and Amy land in the middle of London during WWII to answer a call from PM Winston Churchill. Churchill reveals his newest hope to win the war, a new breed of iron men who look exactly like The Doctor’s old enemies, The Daleks. The Doctor knows something is wrong and that the whole world is playing right into the hands of the Daleks. And if The Doctor can’t stop them, he faces the horrific rebirth of one of the deadliest empires in the universe.

Victory of the Daleks had some very exciting action set pieces, cudos to the visual effects team for going all out on this one. But somehow I just felt it was more of a step back from the outstanding last two weeks of stories. This could be because it’s the first episode of the season not written by Steven Moffat. But the episode moved fast and even felt like it was leaving several loose plot threads along the way.

I always knew the Daleks were never gone for good, even when they were all seemingly destroyed in Series 4’s Journey’s End. It is a nice test for Matt Smith as The Doctor as I’m sure fans have been waiting for his oppourtunity to face off against classic Doctor Who villains. And while I felt that some of Mr. Smith’s acting was a bit over the top, particularly in the scenes where he is banging a Dalek with a wrench to expose its wickidness, The Doctor’s feelings are understandable. His worst enemy working along side a desperate human race during one of the darkest periods in human history, it does sound too good to be true. I felt that the plan was exposed too quickly and the appearance of “old school” color coded Daleks was both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because the new old look harkens back to how the Daleks first appeared way back when on Doctor Who. It’s a curse cause I just feel they could have done more to show how ruthless they are. Although I must admit their killing of their three non pure upgrades was pretty shocking and a nice close out to the Dalek model we’ve seen since 2005.

While the Dalek story moved at a rapid pace, some of the characters were still given plenty of attention. Ian McNiece was finely cast as Winston Churchill, the man who sheltered England from the Nazi’s during WWII. As aforementioned in my Dalek story analysis, his wanting the Daleks to be a true blessing is understandable considering what is going on around him. But even after he learns of the Daleks true intentions, Churchill is still a man of action rallying his troops to combat the new threat. It is a fine performance by Mr. McNiece I think. Also there is the Dalek built Dr. Bracewell, a man trying to deal with the revelation that he has been a tool for destruction all along, that he wasn’t even real. His scene with The Doctor and Amy as they try to disarm the bomb on his chest is a great scene with Bracewell finding his peace and humanity and Amy revealing some not so subtle hints towards a potential more than just friends liking to The Doctor.

Of course, we got some Top Gun esque action with WWII fighter jets going head to head with a Dalek battleship. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s a ridiculous concept but nonetheless a fun Doctor Who ridiculous concept. I’m just curious how they got those fighter up and running so fast. Eh, oh well.

Overall, this episode had some great moments and great hints of stuff to come regarding Amy not remembering the Dalek invasion of Earth during Series 4’s The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End. Plus those pesky cracks in time are popping up at the end of every episode now and one can’t help but wonder how Amy is connected. Series 5 is doing a lot of this right, the most important being producing the need in our minds to see more and try to piece together whats coming. This wasn’t a truly fantastic episode like the last two weeks, but is was still fun and interesting nonetheless.

Next Week-Professor River Song returns to the TARDIS with a heart stopping warning…The Weeping Angels are back…don’t blink.

Rating-7/10

Doctor Who S05E02-The Beast Below

2010-04-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Far off in the galaxy, long after the sun roasted the Earth, the United Kingdom floats across the stars as a humongous colony ship. Here, the choice to support or forget is the same as choosing between life and death, especially when something lurks in the deep below the streets of London. It is on this island on a ship that Amy Pond will have her first off world adventure with The Doctor. And it is here that she will learn just how much he needs someone to occasionally stop him from making the worst decision imaginable.

Well Series 5 is now in full swing and going at a mile a minute with its momentum. Most, if not all of this momentum, is thanks to the powerhouse team that is Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. In the span of two episodes, Matt Smith has managed to dispel all fears of his tenure as The Doctor. The manic energy he burst onto the screen with in The Eleventh Hour is still here and it looks like he is having a blast delivering the lingo and going from one thought to the next in seconds. He kind of reminded me of Christopher Eccelston’s Ninth Doctor with some of his scenes, especially the more dark ones. As for Ms. Gillan, well she continues to amaze me. In several scenes I could see her channeling The Doctor’s persona as she ventured almost fearlessly into the unknown. But it was her tender scenes with The Doctor that made this episodes latter half work. The scene where Amy works out what needs to be done and defies The Doctor is exactly what an older, more experienced version of The Doctor would have done and by reminding him of this, Amy Pond earns more of The Doctor’s respect as well as my own. They really are as great a team as Steven Moffat hyped them up to be and it will be heartbreaking if they have to split up so soon at the end of the series.

Our hero’s aside, the rest of the episode was a lot of fun to watch. The mystery of the titular beast was fascinating and the revelation of it being a selfless space age whale with a past similar of that to The Doctor’s was a fun twist. I also like the “Empire Strikes Back” omage when The Doctor and Amy were trapped in its mouth and had one of those, “this is no cave” realizations. The Smilies I thought were kind of annoying with the turning of the faces from happy to sad to grrr. Sorry I didn’t feel freaked out by them as I probably should have been. Of course we also had another companion in the form of Liz 10, the sexy gun totting Queen of England. It was also kind of fun to hear her talk about The Doctor’s long…er…history with the royalty of England, including a reference to Series 2’s “Tooth and Claw” where The Tenth Doctor and Rose were knighted and then banished from England. Liz’s story was as sad as the rest of the people onboard the ship who had to forget to stay alive. It’s just more of the great drama the Steven Moffat is good at writing.

As icing on the cake, we got some more hints at what is to come later on in the series. A crack similar to the one in Amy’s old room popped up again on the ship as the whale headed off on its course. I should also take a quick second to say the Space Whale looked amazing, my hats off to the special effects team for a job well done. Oh and the appearance of Ian McNiece as Winston Churchill being watched over by an old enemy, my blood is boiling with excitement for next week. Again to those who might be reading this and not watching cause David Tennant’s not there, Get off your butts, dry your tears and turn your TV’s back on cause the best is yet to come. I’m sure even Mr. Tennant is proud.

Next Time-You can never keep them down for good. THE DALEKS ARE BACK!!! Let’s see how Number Eleven fares against an upgraded version of his oldest foes.

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S05E01-The Eleventh Hour

2010-04-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

Amy Pond once met a man who fell into her backyard in a tiny blue box. He promised to take her with him five minutes after they met. Years later, this mysterious stranger storms back into her life…but not to make good on him promise, at least not yet. Barely holding on after his latest regeneration, The Doctor must convince Amy to trust him if he is to save the world in twenty minutes from a vicious escaped convict. The price of failure is the roasting of Planet Earth. The new adventure has begun.

Four months ago, many of us shed a tear when David Tennant uttered his final words as The Doctor, “I don’t’ want to go.” Then we watched him regenerate and we got an all too brief yet interesting first look at Matt Smith, a.k.a The Eleventh Doctor. As we watched him falling to Earth in his burning TARDIS screaming, “Geronimo,” we were left to wondering if this young hotshot could continue the role whose bar had been raised considerably. I am here to announce that one full length episode later, I think we have a winner folks.

While I am sure there are still many people out there, myself included, who will always miss David Tennant and remember him as “our Doctor,” Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is everything his predecessor was with a bit of a twist. After crashing into the backyard of young Amy Pond, he bursts forth running around with manic energy (granted this could still be attributed to his still regenerating state). It’s the same guy with a new face and a somewhat more…sure of himself personality. I like Matt Smith and think he will carry on The Doctor’s legacy well. It was also a nice proper introduction at the end when we see his previous ten incarnations flash on screen before he steps forward in his new threads. Most Badass Entrance Ever!!!

Of course we must touch on Amy Pond. Ever since I first saw the first images of her in Doctor Who Magazine I’ve fallen head over heels for her character. And now having seen her in action I have more reason to like her. Amy, played by Karen Gillan, is a breath of fresh air for The Doctor. She’s a feisty Scottish red head who’s got a lot of spirit and has a great take charge attitude. Her questioning The Doctor at every turn will definitely be a nice spin on the usual Doctor/Companion relationship. Like everyone else she’s a bit unsure of traveling with The Doctor but after a couple of episodes I think we are going to see a nice bond form between the two. I did think it was a nice story twist to start their friendship off when she was a child, a nice nod to Steven Moffat’s Series 2 story “The Girl in the Fireplace”.

Speaking of Steven Moffat, I should touch on his first story as head writer for the show. Mr. Moffat gives Matt Smith’s first story a proper injection of energy with all the running around. I did think that some of the spots where we simply stopped for introductions to the other characters kind of killed the pacing a bit. But once it picked back up with the running again it worked fine. The introduction of (Amy relative?) Jeff and Amy’s Boyfriend Rory establish that we will visit present day Earth again every now and then as with previous companions. Rory I felt was kind of a Mickey knock off, but it’s still to early to tell with him. Oh and Prisoner Zero…a python that can take the form of others. Not as formidable or memorable a villain as some of Moffat’s other creatures but still you’ve got to love its interactions with the new Doctor.

So now we have a new Doctor, a new TARDIS, a new Sonic Screwdriver, a new companion (whose going to get married?) and a new set of adventures to look forward too. I have been hesitant to say this for months. But now that I’ve seen the first episode of SERIES 5, I can’t wait for the fun to continue. The Doctor is back and so is the adventure we all love. Let the new era begin.

Next Time-It’s Amy’s first trip in the TARDIS with The Doctor. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S04E18-The End of Time Part Two

2010-01-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

It has all come down to this. The Master is once again in control of humanity and seeks an answer to the mysterious drumming in his head. The Doctor, with Wilfred at his side, contemplates the end and the shocking revelation of the return of his own people. With the whole of time and space at stake, The Doctor engages his most desperate gamble yet. It’s the final adventure of The Tenth Doctor…and the start of a new one for The Eleventh Doctor.

The End of Time Part Two…we’ve finally come to the end of the road, for now anyway. So there are questions aplenty I’m sure going into this the most prominent being: how was David Tennant in his final appearance as The Doctor? WHOA WOW AMAZING!!! David delivers several different sides to The Doctor that we have seen before but with much more power and emotion than ever before. Sure he is brooding and sobbing over the end of his existence (in a way we all are) but there’s still plenty of that gung ho cowboy gusto and smart quirky attitude that have made him such a cool and amazing character from scene one after his regeneration from Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant. His tearful final words echo our own thoughts and it brought a tear to my eye when the actual regeneration occurred. But more on that later. For now I’ll just say David Tennant sir, I’ve said just about all I can say on your acting in several reviews before this one and my thoughts haven’t changed. You are MY DOCTOR and thank you so much for the last four years of amazing adventures. Au Revoir mon amie.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, on to the rest of the episode. Where to start? The Time Lords, led by former James Bond Timothy Dalton, finally return and show their true colors, justifying why The Doctor had to fry them along with the Daleks at the end of the Time War. Wow what a bunch of douche bags; that is save for mystery woman who guides both The Doctor and Wilf through their big trial. We never find out who she is. I kind of thought she was Romana (a character from the old Tom Baker adventures). Another mystery to be explored another day I guess.

The Master. He finally got the answers he was looking for all of this time and finally made his choice on where he stands in the end of the episode. Sure he vanishes without a trace, but I hope we see John Simm again one day as a new and improved Master, minus the magic powers even though they did come in handy at the end of the episode. If he does return one day it will be interesting to see how he fares on screen against Doctor number eleven. It’ll be hard to top though, John Simm and David Tennant had great chemistry in all of their scenes.

Wilfred. The heart and soul of this story gave his best performance yet and got to get in on the action in a Star Wars esque action piece. Again, Bernard Cribbs plays the sadden fan that is all of us as The Tenth Doctor’s end draws near. His tearful breakdown as he tells The Doctor he wants him to survive was a tear jerking moment worthy of an Emmy Award in the right universe. Possibly sadder than The Tenth Doctor’s end is the sense of finality brought to Wilf’s story. I get the feeling we may never see this character again or if we ever do it will be quite some time. Still, Wilf got quite the send off, even provided the smack to the face answer to the infamous “He will knock four times warning”. GREAT STUFF!!!

After The Doctor sacrifices his life to save Wilf, he gets some time to go see his other companions one last time. Here we get brief glimpses of the current states of some of our favorite: Luke Smith almost gets run over by a car only to be saved by The Doctor at the last second; Captain Jack Harkness is drowning his sorrows in a bar following the events of Torchwood: Children of Earth, only to link up with a familiar sailor from Voyage of the Damned thanks to The Doctor; the descendant of Joan Redford (from Human Nature/The Family of Blood) gets a visit from The Doctor, a tender scene; and The Doctor pays an “in the shadows” visit to Rose Tyler on New Year’s Eve 2005, the year she met his Christopher Eccleston incarnation. Oh and apparently Mickey and Martha got married? Yeah that was the only little tidbit I could get over, I mean really? Alien hunting partners maybe, but MARRIED? Sorry I can’t process that one just yet. Oh and also Donna survives her burn out with no real side effects, I wish they would have cleared that up a little bit better.

And then we finally have the regeneration we’ve all been both dreading and looking forward too. What is my verdict on Mr. Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor? Eh, too early to tell. But judging from the trailer that followed this episode he is going to a bit more of a proactive and action oriented Doctor, harkening back to Jon Pertwee’s karate infused Third Doctor. Again it’s too early to tell, we’ll see what he can do when the series returns later this spring with a new Doctor, new Tardis interior (and slightly redesigned exterior), new drop dead gorgeous companion and even a new title logo.

So aside from one character revelation that doesn’t sit to well with me, the rest of The End of Time Part 2 gave us all the drama and emotion we expected to see in David Tennant’s final Doctor appearance (for now hopefully anyway) What more is there to say at this point? The future lies ahead, so in the immortal words of The Tenth Doctor…”ALLONS-Y!!!!”

Next Time-Daleks, The Weeping Angels, sexy female vampires, gravity defying swordsman, guns, explosions, mayhem…The Eleventh Doctor arrives on Earth Spring 2010.

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S04E17-The End of Time Part One

2010-01-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

The people of Earth are having terrible dreams of a man with a menacing laugh. The Doctor returns to Earth to find his greatest fears realized…The Master has been resurrected. However, the resurrection has gone wrong and The Master is now more powerful and more insane than ever. It all comes down to the biggest game changer ever, where The Doctor and Wilfred Mott witness the fall of the human race and the rise of The Master. And elsewhere, a new and unexpected development occurs. For the rise of The Master Race heralds the return of a race once thought dead forever.

Well, here we have it: the beginning of the end for the Tenth Doctor. The End of Time Part One was a somewhat sluggish start to a grand story but there were definitely plenty of good scenes, particularly towards the end, but we will get to that in a moment.

First, while I know there are those out there who feel Russell T. Davies is running out of ideas since he is returning to the Noble Family once again, I can safely say that star companion Wilfred Mott is great as The Doctor’s companion for this story. And to be honest, Wilf was such a great character in Series 4 that he deserved every right to get at least one trip with The Doctor. Bernard Cribbs is fantastic as always playing the old granddad who is totally understanding of The Doctor’s current state and can’t bring himself to ever hate him, even after what happened to Donna and The Doctor recounting the events of The Waters of Mars. The café scene between the two of them is well acted and well written. Wilf is the fan we all are, almost in tears along with David Tennant as they contemplate the world without this version of The Doctor. Wilf man, you are the man.

And at last, after much hype and many a fan girl scream, The Master returns, badder and more disturbed than ever. It is always a treat to see John Simm back in the saddle. However, the new powers he obtains through his disasterous resurrection were a little disappointing and even a little cheesy. The transparent skull visual was creepy and good, but the lighting bolts and the jumping like Neo through a trash site were not as satisfying as they could have been. Visuals aside, The Master is still a great villain who may or may not bring about the end of The Doctor if the prophecy has been interpreted correctly.

Lots of new and familiar faces this time out. Obviously since Wilf is involved we had to see Sylvia and Donna Noble again although their involvement is rather limited, a possible letdown for fans of Donna. David Herewood (the kick ass Friar Tuck from Robin Hood) makes a guest appearance as the mysterious Joshua Naismith but again his involvement in the story is simply just to be there just for sake of one plot point. He is sorely underused which is very disappointing since he’s such a great actor. Oh and they’re two “cactus” characters present who may or may not play a bigger role in Part 2. Doesn’t really matter though I didn’t really care for them anyway.

Arguably the biggest and best moments of the episode came in the last ten or so minutes when The Master enacts his grand plan and turns the entire human race into The Master. Oh and James Bond Timothy Dalton is the President of the Time Lords who make a surprise return to the Doctor Who universe declaring the titular End of Time. As far as cliffhangers go, this one pretty much tops the list. Never before since the infamous cliffhanger of Star Trek The Next Generations “The Best of Both Worlds” have I been this scared and anxious for the next part. How is The Doctor ever going to get out of this one?

So aside for a fairly slow pacing, the rest of the story set itself up nicely in the last quarter with the return of some great characters and some great interactions between those characters. This wasn’t the best of the 2009 specials, probably the weakest. Here’s hoping January 1, 2010 is the send off we all hoped David Tennant would get.

Next Time-The End is only the Beginning. The final adventure of The Tenth Doctor January 1, 2010
Rating-7/10

Doctor Who S04E16-The Waters of Mars

2009-11-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

While taking a stroll on Mars, The Doctor is captured by a group of colonists who turn out to be the first settlers of the red planet. But just as The Doctor arrives, a mysterious infection starts taking hold of crew members left and right, cutting down their numbers fast. More horrifying is the revelation The Doctor gives to Commander Adelaide: that this infection leads to the historic death of the Mars crew. But The Doctor has lost so much already. Will this be the event that changes him from hero to villain?

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent put it best in The Dark Knight, “You either die a hero or you live to see yourself become the villain.” “The Waters of Mars,” our first Doctor Who adventure in months, is a very emotional and very dark entry into the Doctor Who universe. Much like “Torchwood: Children of Earth” it is a very difficult episode to sit through without feeling sad or punched in the gut from shock. If you’re looking for a sunnier adventure like always, this episode isn’t for you. But considering what is to come at Christmas, the set up is necessary.

David Tennant. We’ve seen him play happy. We’ve seen him play sad. We’ve seen him play the hero. But here, we’ve seen a far different side of The Doctor, one I’ve somewhat suspected we’d see eventually. The dark side of The Doctor was a slap to the face for me. It was like watching Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader by becoming power hungry and get it in his head that he can control everything around him. It’s always hard to watch a hero you respect and love fall so low. And by the end of the episode…well you just get the feeling that it may be time for The Doctor to step down and start anew.

Lindsey Duncan is fantastic as Adelaide, the hard edged leader of the Mars expedition. She stays a constant force to be reckoned with throughout the story; showing strength around her subordinantes and even accepting to follow her historical fate when the chips are down. But her best scene is at the end when she stands up to the monster The Doctor has become. Her stand and final defiance at the second chance she has been given is sad, no doubt, but amazing and selfless. It sucks she does die in the end as she could have made an amazing full time companion. But Adelaide will definitely go down in history as one of the best Doctor Who companions EVER.

Every other aspect of this episode is above and beyond as usual. The Mars Base looks amazing and there are plenty of explosions that look fantastic in execution; so good you can accept the eight month wait between “Planet of the Dead” and now in order to make the visual effects as spectacular as possible. The water creature is silently terrifying and the infected crew members play creepy very well. The Mars crew themselves are pretty standard scifi horror cast and most are defined pretty well, save for one, the Asian officer, who isn’t as well explored as the rest of the crew. But then again, given how this story is pretty standard fare, everyone is expendable no matter how developed a character they are.

One thing is certain, the stage set for Christmas is a dark one. Even the lighting within the TARDIS reinforces that. The Doctor has crossed the line and now he knows it. The surprise visit by Ood Sigma, who heralded The Doctor’s death back during Series 4, just reminds you that the end is indeed nigh. And just how bad are things going to get? Well, thank goodness Christmas is just a little over a month away.

Next Time-“It’s said that in the final days of Planet Earth, everyone had a bad dream.” The time has come…The Doctor faces his fate, and an old enemy returns for some unfinished business. The End of Time-Christmas 2009

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S04E15-Planet of the Dead

2009-08-01T21:43:00.001-07:00

A seemingly routine investigation of an anomaly leads The Doctor and a double decked bus full of people through a wormhole to a mysterious desert planet. With the threat of a widening wormhole and a storm of monstrous proportions heading their way, The Doctor joins forces with beautiful passenger Christina to save the people and the Earth from a fate worse than death. All the while, warning signs of an unpleasant fate for The Doctor begin to creep ever closer.

“Planet of the Dead” is the first of four specials (five if you count “The Next Doctor”) that will chronicle David Tennant’s final journey’s as The Doctor. There is no series on the horizon until 2010, when newbie Matt Smith takes over as the 11th Doctor. However, “Planet of the Dead” seems to function as more of a random episode of a series than an epic special like the ones at Christmas. That doesn’t stop from being any less fun and it sets up some interesting tidbits for what is to come.

There is not much to say on the matter of the actual Planet of the Dead setting. It’s grand, it looks hot and it’s filled with sand. You have to give the production crew some credit, while the sky is digitally imposed, the fact that they filmed in Dubai gives the desert look a more realistic feel. I personally don’t think I’d survive such an environment, cudos to David Tennant and crew for braving it, especially in a suit.

The cast of this episode is standard fare, imagine the cast of “Midnight” or “Voyage of the Damned” and you get the idea. There is nothing really special or important about this group save for two people. One I speak of is Carmen, a slightly annoying psychic who complains every five minutes about the dead coming after them and essentially how screwed they all are if they stay on the planet any longer (we understand the danger going into the episode. There is no need to pound us over the head with how bad the danger is). As annoying as I found her, Carmen’s warning at the end of the episode hinted at a pretty bleak future for The Doctor; death and possibly the return of an old enemy. It sent chills down my spine.

The other special passenger I alluded to was companion du jour Lady Christina de Souza, played by British favorite Michelle Ryan (Eastenders, Bionic Woman). Christina is a welcome return to the smart, clever and sexy companions The Doctor traveled with in the past. The fact that she falls in love with him harkens back to Martha and Rose. But let’s face it as beautiful as Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper are they don’t come close to matching Michelle Ryan’s flirtatious and down right sexy portrayal of this black clad master thief. Christina is likeable and a good match for The Doctor, but sadly she is a one time companion left behind at the end of the episode. Perhaps we’ll see more of her in the future (at least I hope so).

U.N.I.T. also pops up in this special. Captain Erisa Magambo from “Turn Left” returns to lead the charge against the alien threat beyond the wormhole, but it’s Lee Evans as the eccentric Malcolm Taylor that works best. Malcolm can both match The Doctor’s cleverness and stand toe to toe with Magambo when she decides to make a gutsy call that may mean killing The Doctor and the bus passengers. Good writing and good acting to make it work.

All in all, “Planet of the Dead” was fun, but ok, not as special as it could be. However, the groundwork has been laid for some interesting action later this year as the sad approach to David Tennant’s final adventure gets closer.

Next Time-“Water always wins…” The Waters of Mars

Rating-8/10

Whoa…the wait is over

2009-08-01T21:14:00.001-07:00

Tonight I was inspired. I am not the only member of my family who loves Torchwood. After hearing my aunt’s eccentric review of Children of Earth, I figured it’s time to get back into the swing of things. THE REVIEWS ARE COMING BACK. Starting tonight with reviews of “The Next Doctor” and “Planet of the Dead” and moving into “Torchwood: Children of Earth” later on in the week. Then Yes, yes I promised I’d start from the beginning and I’m going to hold true to that. I’M BACK BABY!!!

Doctor Who S04E14-The Next Doctor

2009-08-01T21:11:00.001-07:00

The Doctor lands in London 1851 on Christmas Eve. Instead of a nice quiet stroll, The Doctor gets caught up in a conflict between the mysterious Ms. Hartigan and her personal legion of Cybermen and a man who claims to be The Doctor. Questions aplenty arise: Why are the Cybermen here? What is the secret of the Cyber King? And more importantly, is this “Doctor” really a future incarnation of the famous Time Lord? One thing is certain, it’s gonna be another unquiet Christmas for The Doctor.

This Christmas special marked a couple of changes from the traditional formula we’ve seen thus far on the series: real snow, the past instead of the present, and a familiar foe. This change of pace works well for “The Next Doctor”, making it one of the best Christmas specials this show has done in quite some time. But the real draw point is the title of the special. We all know that David Tennant is sadly departing from the series at the end of this string of specials and “The Next Doctor” teases us with the possibility of special guest star David Morrissey as a potential replacement.

Since I don’t bother with warning for spoilers I’ll just say it, Mr. Morrissey is not the next Doctor. However, he puts on a strong and energetic performance matching the acting capabilities of our Doctor, the other David, David Tennant. And the duo looks like they are having a swell time running from or into trouble with laughter we’ve come to expect from men who play The Doctor. So while David Morrissey is not the next Doctor, you agree with David Tennant’s sentiments at the episodes end; if anyone could do a great job replacing Mr. Tennant, it would be David Morrissey (applause).

And after a lengthy two year absence, the Cybermen return to the show. They’re doing pretty much what they always do on the show: march slow and delete people. This time though, they’re taking order from a woman. Ms. Hartigan proves to be every bit as threatening as the men in metal themselves using her sensuous and dark dialogue to usher the killing blow to a lot of people. No buts about it, this woman is attractive (in a creepy sort of way), but her ruthlessness makes her a classic Doctor Who villain who by the end of the episode gets her just rewards.

Lastly, I have to say that as I was watching the episode I was curious as to how they were going to up the spectacle like they do each year. Then I saw the walking giant The Cyber King rise from the Tems and I said, “Ohhh…” Just in sheer awe, I applauded the visual team for blowing my mind yet again with this work of genius. Russell T. Davies I am going to miss you and your imagination.

I have accepted the fact that no Christmas special will ever be as good as “The Christmas Invasion” but “The Next Doctor” comes in at a very close second; beating out the depressing “Voyage of the Damned” and the annoying “Runaway Bride”. It’s a classic Doctor Who story with a twist that will surely be remembered in the years to come. A Merry Christmas indeed.

Next Time-Three Suns, Wormholes and Alien Sand…Welcome to the Planet of the Dead.

Rating-8/10

Forever is a long time coming...

2008-10-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
It has been forever since I've posted a new blog. But then again, summer breaks and jobs will do that to you. I know I started reviewing The Sarah Jane Adventures and only did one episode and I apologize for leaving readers stranded in deep space.

Sad to say, senior year is a lot of work and what free time I have is going more to my 360, Rainbow Six, Soul Calibur 4 and Halo 3 than to writing anything. That's going to change though. I really need something to focus on other than writing long ass papers and reading 30-60 pages of text a night.

What I'm getting at is, the Tardis Blog is coming back in full force. My first objective is to finish Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and quickly move into Series 2, which started two weeks ago. Next, who knows. Torchwood won't be back till next spring and Doctor Who won't be back till Christmas. Still, there are four series of shows I haven't covered. I know I keep saying I will get around to it but never do; but I WILL get to Torchwood Series 1 most likely after SJA Series 2 wraps up or if I'm bored enough I'll review both at the same time. This could work since I will be reviewing SJA episodes as a whole and not in their 2 part format.

Well, that's the plan now and it won't be implimented till next week after I enjoy home for a few days. Prepare for the return of the reviews. And spread the word, I'd love to chat on the comments boards about your views on these episodes. My opinions don't speak for everyone just my own and I'd love to chat (now I'm just repeating myself, stopping now).

A bientot tout le monde!!!

The Sarah Jane Adventures S01E01-02-Revenge of the Slitheen

2008-07-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

Luke’s first day at school holds many unexpected surprises. Social awkwardness aside, he finds acceptance in a tiny school science club that specializes in impossibly hard equations. Unfortunately, not everything is as normal as Luke, Maria and newcomer Clyde come to expect from school. An old threat has returned to seek revenge on planet Earth. And this time, they’re pulling out all of the stops to ensure the total destruction of the planet.

After the somewhat uneven pilot that was “The Invasion of Bane”, The Sarah Jane Adventures gets off to a more proper start. And what better way to bring in new viewers and long time Doctor Who associates than to have our spunky heroine tackle the Slitheen, making their first appearance since “Boom Town” in Doctor Who Series 1. It’s cool that The Doctor got two big nods here in this episode; when Sarah Jane reveals why, or rather “who”, the Slitheen were stopped way back when; and when Clyde is properly introduced to Sarah Jane’s world. It is pretty obvious to anyone by now that Russell T. Davies and his writing team are doing their best to keep Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures connected in whatever small way they can. It works well here, but then again, it will be nice to see how Sarah Jane and her companions take on a more original threat later on in the series.

In keeping with the mindset that this is an aimed at children program, the young cast does a good job with their roles. Maria’s character is reminiscent of a Doctor companion a la Rose or Martha, taking in her new discoveries while using her unparalleled wit and calm to help save the day. Luke is your typical genetically engineered smart but socially awkward that continues to bring to thought ideas that this could be reminiscent of The Doctor’s long forgotten youth. Mind you that is only speculative. And Clyde, replacing Kelsey from the pilot, turns out to be a far more interesting character than his predecessor. He is the young audiences real key to accessing this series, reacting probably more realistically to how any youngster would when seeing a Slitheen. Even better, he is not as annoying a character as Kelsey was, something that made “The Invasion of Bane” drag a bit.

And what of Sarah Jane herself? Give Elisabeth Sladen her props, after almost two decades away from the Doctor Who seen, she is still a companion we all love and want to cheer for. Most of this is thanks to Sladen, who infuses real depth to her character, suddenly thrust into the role of mother not only for Luke, but Maria and Clyde in a way as well. And, in the spirit of Captain Jack Harkness, I should say, she doesn’t look too bad for what, 60? Not at all.

“Revenge of the Slitheen” had all the energy of a fast paced Doctor Who story but with a totally different cast. If the show can keep up this pace then it is sure to go far. For the teens who have Doctor Who and the adults who have Torchwood, children now have their access point to the world of The Doctor, and that is The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Next Time-Those aren’t ordinary garden statues, are they?

Rating-8/10

What Now?

2008-07-06T22:23:00.001-07:00

And now I’m sure there’s another question of everyone’s mind. Doctor Who and Torchwood are done for the time being. Will this blog site go dormant till then? Hell no!!! There are still three series of Doctor Who and one series of Torchwood, and…I guess The Sarah Jane adventures to review. I’ll find a way, be it Youtube, or some other media viewing method to bring full reviews of these fantastic shows and bring those who may have been a bit in the dark over events thus far up to speed.

The rides not over yet folks, trust me.

Doctor Who S04E13-Journey's End

2008-07-06T22:21:00.000-07:00

Having barely survived a surprise attack from the Daleks, The Doctor, Rose, Donna and Jack find themselves prisoners of Davors and his Dalek Empire. The Doctor’s remaining companions: Sarah Jane, Martha and a recently returned Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler, each form alternative plans to save the Earth, but at equally devastating costs. The final showdown is set and more is at stake than ever before. Can The Doctor do what he does best only better? And when the dust finally settles what will the final cost of such a desperate victory bring for the last of the Time Lords?

Be warned…This is going to be a pretty lengthy entry with plenty of spoilers just because I can’t give a proper review without revealing a few things. Stop now for spoiler risk, otherwise continue reading.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s all take a quick second to give a round of applause for Russell T. Davies. I have said it before and I will most certainly say it again, he is the science fiction writer extraordinaire equivalent of Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: The Next Generation) for London. A man who can skillfully and successfully tie together four years of mythos aplenty and give it a proper send off deserves all of the upmost respect and congrats.

I hope that fans of the series will feel as I did when I finished viewing this episode, greatly rewarded and very sad. “Journey’s End” marks the end of an era for the revived series. Enemies have been dealt with (for now), characters are moving on to better things (and back to their own spin offs), and others are, well, at least making it home alive in one piece.

Incase some were too blind to notice, in this epic two part finale plenty of characters from Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures got some screen time and all were given something important to do, be it taking the fight to the enemy head on (a la Jack, Gwen and Ianto) or giving their family silent support from the sidelines (a la Martha’s Mom and Jackie). Heck, even out beloved tin dog K9 makes a surprise return to help The Doctor.

Let me at least get this out of the way. I am so happy that David Tennant will be sticking around for more time traveling/space faring fun (he even says himself “Why change?”) He has truly become my Doctor in the last three years he’s played the role. Many may have their own favorite Time Lord persona (be it Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker amongst many, both good choices) but David Tennant has been from the beginning and always will be my most beloved of the ten Doctor’s thus far. And come on, any one who can play the same Doctor with two different personalities, I’m of course talking about the second Doctor Donna creates, has got to be quite the capable actor. Props David Tennant, props all around.

The reunion between The Doctor and Rose was as emotionally filled as we all expected it would be after the amount of time these star crossed lovers had been apart. What kind of sucks is the fact that at the end of the epic, they kind of finds themselves right back where they left off at the end of Series 2. I know there will be many of you who will be down right furious that Rose will not be staying with the real Doctor, but rather trapped again on a parallel Earth with the other, half human Doctor (I kind of fit this category). However, at least she is not without a Doctor she can live to the end of time with. And yes, we do get that little “Does he love her?” question cleared up. The answer…you better believe he does. Oh well, it was good to see Billie Piper back while it lasted.

And then there’s Donna. Donna. Donna. Donna. She finally gets to save the world and now she must forget everything she knows about The Doctor in order to save her own life. It’s a very, very sad ending for someone I never really thought I’d end up liking. We all thought of Donna as that loud mouth and extremely annoying tag along that wouldn’t shut up. But here, Davies does a complete 180 with her, giving Donna a strength she never even knew she had. I never thought I’d ever end up saying this, but she is going to be missed, especially by The Doctor whose look of sadness and despair is hard to look at because we are all feeling the same. Donna Noble, rock on girl.

Throw in the return of the Daleks and Davros (a villain I saw in one of the Tom Baker serials “Destiny of the Daleks”) and you’ve got one perfect recipe for awesomeness. Bringing Davros back cleared up some questions about the Time War such as The Doctor’s genocidal and war like actions which killed both the Time Lords and the Daleks at its climax. And here I thought that only The Master could really push The Doctor’s buttons, boy was I wrong. I haven’t seen The Doctor this pissed off EVER. Great stuff. I wouldn’t count The Daleks out at all. Maybe Davros, but the Daleks will always be around so long as Doctor Who continues to air. And maybe one day we will finally see the Time War itself and get the full mystery of its chaos cleared up at last. Steven Moffat, get to writing man.

I guess the big question now is, what next? Well: Jack will return to Gwen and Ianto (with Martha and Mickey as possible new teammates); Sarah Jane will go back to Luke and his friends; Rose, Jackie and the other Doctor are stuck on parallel Earth again; and The Doctor is on his own again, a position that he never wants to be in, but is. The series will continue in 2010, but don’t think that there’s going to be a big two year wait for more of The Doctor. I’m sure we’ll have Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures back eventually, but don’t count The Doctor out completely. You never know when he’ll turn up again.

Until then, thank you very much Russell T. Davies and crew for a truly amazing finale. Series 4 may have been a bit uneven throughout, but this series wrapped up with all barrels blazing. Again, everyone still reading, a round of applause please.

Next Time: The Cybermen are back…December 25, 2008. C ya at Christmas.

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S04E12-The Stolen Earth

2008-06-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

In a sudden instant, the Earth vanishes from right under The Doctor and Donna’s feet. As the planet float in a shrouded area of space with several other stolen worlds, the problems of humanity get worse when a vast army of Daleks begin attacking the planet. As The Doctor and Donna desperately search for a way to find the missing planets, the Earth’s last remaining defenders: (Martha Jones and U.N.I.T., Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood, Sarah Jane and Luke Smith) and one defender from another Earth (Rose Tyler) band together to confront the Dalek threat. But Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane and Rose have faced the Daleks before and know of their destructive capabilities. Without The Doctor and even with Rose’s help, can they stop the Dalek invasion of Earth? And who is the mysterious voice giving orders to the Daleks?

Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve finally arrived at “The Stolen Earth” and like most two part episodes of the series so far, it does a spectacular job of getting the blood pumping for the inevitable conclusion. With this story we see the culmination of four years worth of Doctor Who and more come together for the end all be all clash of the ages. For those of you who have followed the series since it’s resurrection in 2005 and even before that, this is one big reward for your dedication with characters and lots of series trivia tidbits, so many you will be lucky enough to catch them all. This is the start of a finale that “The Parting of the Ways”, “Doomsday” and “Last of the Time Lords” (the third one especially) could only dream of being.

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible and try to be spoiler free for those of you who haven’t watched this yet. However, there is little negativity to be found with this episode. I’ll start with my amazement of Russell T. Davies bringing Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures under the umbrella of it’s parent series and making them all work together. It was fun seeing Gwen, Ianto and Luke, who have only been mentioned in passing in previous episodes, interacting with Jack, Martha and Sarah Jane, like, well, one big happy family.

Leave it to the Daleks to come back with a bang. It is hard to believe that at one point there was only one left, but as everyone knows, you can’t keep them dead forever. The Daleks will always come back in one way or another to take on The Doctor in a battle of epic proportions. It would be one big spoiler to reveal the reason behind their return and it may even be expanded more next week. I will say, however, that Dalek Caan, the last of the Cult of Skaro has a role to play as The Doctor predicted.

Rose is back as previously mentioned. Like I said in my review of “Turn Left”, last week we saw her at her most clever and this week we saw her at her most bad ass, blasting Daleks to dust left and right with her BFG. While she only meets Jack and Donna she does see everyone else but can communicate with them and feels left out. You can hear it in her voice, her helplessness and do I dare say jealousy of The Doctor’s faith in her successors.

Possibly the saddest moment of the episode is the reason The Doctor’s companions coming together. Harriet Jones, ex-Prime Minister of Great Britain, returns to help out one last time. It is a fitting farewell to her character, sticking to the morals that got her ostracized by The Doctor and yet finding some redemption and providing a way for The Doctor to find his way to Earth. I’ll leave it at that if you can’t guess yet what happens. That’s me trying to be spoiler free for ya.

I’ll stop there so I don’t spoil anything else. If you haven’t seen “The Stolen Earth” yet, find a way to do so immediately and hold your breath for July 5, 2008 when “Journey’s End” brings us to the biggest epic we’ve ever seen.

Next Week…The Journey Ends...here's hoping this isn't the end of the road for David Tennant's fantastic Doctor.

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S04E11-Turn Left

2008-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

When Donna goes to get her fortune read, she is transported to a parallel Earth. Here, anything that can go bad has, all because of one small decision. The Doctor, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith and her friends have all died saving the world from various threats. And now the biggest threat the universe has ever seen is about to descend and nothing can stop it. When all hope seems lost, a mysterious blonde girl appears who may hold the key to giving another Earth a fighting chance against the coming darkness.

Don’t you just love those parallel timeline stories? Personally, it makes me feel sad to know that every character you love can die at some point. But knocking off all of them at one time for sake of story of the alternate Earth can be a bit depressing. If anyone needs further examples take a look at some of Marvel Comics X-Men and Avengers storylines and you may see what I mean.

But yeah, sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. What an episode this week huh? The perfect setup has been laid for the mother of all finales. And while it was strange to see The Doctor out of the picture for a bit, “Turn Left” did a good job at analyzing just how insecure and a pain in the ass Donna can be sometimes. But, if all is as proclaimed by this episode alone, she is clearly more important to The Doctor than anyone would have guessed.

And how can you chat about this episode without feeling excited at Rose’s long awaited return? God, it was so good to see her on the show again for more than thirty seconds. Billie Piper picks up the character in a bit of a different place from when we last saw her. She’s no longer sad about losing The Doctor, perhaps knowing she was going to see him again put her in a good mood. But she acts more like The Doctor this time around, sort of filling in for our absent Time Lord this week. Just shows how much she’s learned from being with him. This week we saw her as the open minded and clever individual we all love and next week we get to see her at her most bad ass. Welcome back Rose!!!

And hopefully all of you die hard Doctor Who fans caught all of the references to episodes and characters throughout the show, from Sarah Jane to “The Runaway Bride” and “Voyage of the Damned” to the first mention of Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones from “Torchwood”.

Overall, the setup is ready, now it’s time to bring the noise with the finale we’ve been waiting to see since “Partners in Crime” back in April.

Next Week-Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Bad Wolf, Daleks-lots of Daleks, and the end of the world…the episode we’ve been waiting for since April.

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S04E10-Midnight

2008-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

While Donna sunbathes in the pleasure palace on the planet Midnight, The Doctor boards a local flight to witness the beautiful crystal waterfalls of the planet. All is going well on board for most of the trip: the passengers are friendly and the mood is absolutely pleasant. That is, until a mysterious force attacks the ship and infects one of the passengers. Trapped in the middle of nowhere with help a long ways off, The Doctor soon finds himself just as helpless as everyone else as fear and paranoia quickly grip the passengers.

I’ll give Russell T. Davies one thing; if he wants to he can almost absolutely find new and unusual ways to blow an audience away with a Doctor Who serial. And here with “Midnight” he both succeeds and fails in this regard.

First, this is not your ordinary Doctor Who outing. It is more a psychological thriller/horror piece designed to terrify and genuinlly freak out to the best of its ability. Again, as with “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead”, the supporting characters are typecast in roles that fit such a genre story such as this. Even The Doctor finds himself out of character, a man not in control of the situation but rather the soon to be helpless victim of a paranoid crew determined to use the airlock on him. Props again to David Tennant for showing another side of The Doctor we have never seen before.

However, putting the story in one tiny setting is something that I feel should be reserved for only those seven minute “Children in Need” specials Doctor Who has done in the past. Doctor Who to me is supposed to be above and beyond epic proportions. Keeping the story confined to one tiny shuttle for 45 minutes can be as effective to the horror atmosphere as it was aggravating for me hoping that the story would move elsewhere for a minute or two.

So yeah, this is a mixed episode, both excellent and frustrating as well. Luckilly, Davies must again be given credit for trying something new with the series. I’m sure he will take what this episode did best and be sure to add it to future installments if he opts to stay on as a guest writer in the series future.

Next Week: As Donna’s world falls down around her…Rose Tyler returns to help her save The Doctor and the world. I think the important part is that after a year and a half of waiting…ROSE IS BACK!!!

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S04E09-Forest of the Dead

2008-06-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

With the Vashta Nerada hot on their trail and their small band of survivors dwindling fast, The Doctor and River Song are running out of time to save the day. As more and more of the mysterious library is revealed to them, so to is a bit more of their mysterious relationship. Meanwhile, Donna finds herself back home with the perfect husband, perfect children and an overall perfect life...too perfect to be real. Can she escape her virtual entrapment and return to The Doctor and when the chips are down and the times are desperate, what sacrifices will have to be made in order to rescue 4022 people?

The heart was defintley racing this week. After a stellar start off last week, Forest of the Dead proved it could continue the tour de force its predecessor started. Spectacular writing, genuine terror and mind boggling mystery all came together to make yet another perfect episode, probably the best one of the series thus far.

As per any real Doctor Who story, the mystery surrounding River Song and The Doctor, who have apparently met sometime in the future, never really gets a clear cut conclusion. Even more of a head scratcher was the fact that she knew something about The Doctor most people don't...his real name. But, as usual, the writers continue to keep The Doctor and elusive character in terms of his shourded past. Nothing is spoiled, and in the end it's probably better that way. It will be interesting to see if Song returns later on in the series and we can finally figure out what sort of adventures she and The Doctor had together.

Donna's story was pretty creepy taking an almost Matrix-esque approach to the real world vs. virtual world. It was sad to see her perfect life fall apart in the end, but it had to be done in order to get the big reveal of CAL in the spotlight. A little girl, centuries old trapped in the Library's control system as it's guardian. So sad. And Colin Salmon was back as Doctor Moon, again giving an errie yet awsome performance. Honestly, the Donna side of the story was kind of distracting from The Doctor's story and the chase going on in the library. But I won't hold that against this episode, not this time because I enjoyed it so much.

Overall, FANTASTIC!!! A true Doctor Who outing for the ages with a "everybody lives" finale that I haven't seen since Christopher Eccelston's days as The Doctor. Again, cudos to Steven Moffat and his spectacular writing. The series is in good hands.

Next Week-On route to the planet Midnight, something lurks in the plane. And one week from that...Rose Tyler returns

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S04E08-Silence in the Library

2008-06-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Doctor and Donna land on the Library, a planetoid that is one gigantic book collection. The Library has come under attack, leaving no apparent survivors. Teaming up with a small crew of archeologists, one of whom seems to know much about The Doctor, the duo hurries to answer several hundred questions at once while staying alive in the process. What are the deadly Vashta Nerada? Who is the mysterious River Song and what is her connection to The Doctor? And, maybe most important of all, how is their current predicament connected to the dreams and nightmares plaguing a small girl back on present day Earth?

After two back to back weeks of somewhat subpar episodes, Doctor Who kicks it back into high gear with a frightful adventure worthy of being part of the saga. This is thanks, in no small part, to returning writer Steven Moffat, who gave us last seasons chilling “Blink”. Moffat knows how to inject any Doctor Who episode he writes with that massive dose of heart pumping adrenaline that drives the show from one point to the next with little time to breathe. It’s no wonder he has been chosen to succeed Russell T. Davies once he exits as head writer at the end of this series.

The story itself works similar to that of “The Sontaran Stratagem” as pulling all of the pieces together slowly in order to set up the massive payoff in part two. As I mentioned in my episode summary above, there are plenty of questions left unanswered at the end of part one of this story. In a way, not knowing those answers is just as frightening as the dreaded Vashta Nerada themselves, something worse than the Daleks apparently, which is something to really worry about.

The new characters introduced in this episode seemed to work off the stereotypical science fiction horror genre such as the “Alien Quadrilogy”. From proper doctors to dimwitted sidekicks, the gangs all here and one just wants to wonder who is going to get killed next and how. I was happy to recognize at least one familiar face in this new crowd. That face is Colin Salmon from the “James Bond” series, who plays the little girls psychologist with some kind of knowledge as to what is going on in the library. I can’t wait to see what kind of role he plays next week.

I loved this episode. It was old fashioned Doctor Who magic and horror all rolled into one 45 minute package. It’s still nice to know that the right combination of writers and actors can still pull things together. This is how you do a Doctor Who episode. Let’s just hope that part two can deliver a proper slam bang finale.

Next Week-The Library is no longer safe…not if The Doctor has anything to say about it.

Rating-10/10

Doctor Who S04E07-The Unicorn and the Wasp

2008-05-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

The Doctor and Donna arrive in the roaring 20’s just in time for a big dinner party. Among the guests is distinguished mystery author Agatha Christie, one of The Doctor’s most favorite authors. But no sooner does this trio arrive that murder most foul is committed at the party. As The Doctor, Donna and Ms. Christie hurry to solve the mystery two things become clear pretty fast: the perp is among their small group and whoever he or she may be, they are anything but human.

Doctor Who does Clue, that’s the best way I can sum up this episode in a nutshell. The setup for an Agatha Christie themed story was seen at the end of Series 3 when The Doctor mentioned her to Martha, so it makes perfect sense he would get around to her sometime this series. However, this episode turns out to be probably one of the most uninspired and slow to the core episodes that leaves very little to the running wild imagination.

Maybe it’s just me being nitpicky about what to expect from a Doctor Who episode; but this outing seemed to lack a lot of that big scifi element that I watch the show for in the first place, instead trading it for full on mystery. Even the big, really fracking big Wasp from the title failed to do much to keep me interested.

Another thing, this type of story has been done before. The Doctor seems to have a penchant for meeting up with famous writers for a time period (Charles Dicken’s in Series 1’s “The Unquiet Dead” and William Shakespeare in Series 3’s “The Shakespeare Code”) What makes this episode pale in comparison to those stories was that it just doesn’t have the same energy and interesting characters as they did. I knew the name Agatha Christie from someplace or another and I knew she was an author, but I never knew what genre she was known for. For some reason, I never found her as likeably portrayed as Shakespeare or Dickens. Again, my opinions don’t account for everyone. Either you like an episode or you don’t. This just wasn’t my favorite “Who” episode, one had to pop up eventually. I know this review might be lacking in usual detail but it’s been a while and I don’t really want to watch this episode again. Sorry.

Maybe I’m just really getting all too anxious for the last half of the series, which was featured in a kick ass trailer this past weekend featuring a gun totting Rose, the return of the Daleks and the mention of the mysterious “Darkness”, which I fear might be something worse than the Daleks could ever be. That magic I mentioned in my review of “Partners in Crime” is about to come down hard and hopefully it will not disappoint.

Next Week-The galaxy’s biggest library hides secrets in the shadows.

Rating-6/10

P.S. I’m sorry it took almost two weeks to get this up, but I have been busy with work and family. But I’ll be more up to date in the future.

Doctor Who S04E06-The Doctor's Daughter

2008-05-12T21:39:00.001-07:00

When the Tardis is suddenly yanked from Earth, The Doctor, Donna and Martha are thrown onto the world of Messaline. Here, a faction of cloned humans and a faction of alien Hath are locked in combat over a mysterious object referred to as “The Source”. With Martha captured by the Hath and the human faction looking to gun down the pacifistic Doctor, the only hope of halting the escalating violence lies in the quick wit and survival instincts of a the human faction’s newest recruit, straight from The Doctor himself. That hope is Jenny…The Doctor’s Daughter.

The Doctor’s Daughter, while not the most superbly crafted episode of Doctor Who ever, has plenty of saving grace to it. While the potential for action sequences is toned down greatly, giving us a build up with no pay off of Human vs. Hath action, the character moments are what makes this episode great. David Tennant has been my favorite Doctor since he first appeared on screen and he continues to excel in the role by adding a new dimension to it…fatherhood. The way he is thrust into the role of the parent and has very little idea of what to do with his own flesh and blood gives him that bit of humanity that he rarely show, that is he is fallible and not all knowing as he would like to think he is. This is one situation that one simple sentence can’t solve for him. Donna also continues to impress, serving as more and more of the emotional support system The Doctor sorely needs in his life.

But there were some characters that slowed the plot down tremendously. Martha once again faces a similar situation like the one she was in at the end of her Torchwood tenure. Martha is underused and virtually useless in the story, used only as a poor attempt to add a bit of human understanding to the Hath side of the story. This is sad considering how much we all love her. However, we all also know she will be back for the tail end of the series. So hopefully she will have a much larger role then. She shares the role of underused material with the Humans and the Hath that inhabit the story as they come off as no more than two sides that need a quick refresher on the value of life to solve their differences. Needless to say, they were just plain boring.

The real saving grace of this episode is its title character, Jenny. Played by Georgia Moffett (who coincidentally happens to be the daughter of Peter Davidson a.k.a The Fifth Doctor, hence her actually being…well you get the idea) Jenny is a spark of brilliance to the show and I hope that we will be seeing more of her in the future. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous (I think I might be in love with TDD (for sake of the term being overused to the point of annoyance), she is simply fantastic; young, smart, shares her dad’s knack for solving problems quickly, everything you could expect from an offspring of our favorite Time Lord. And considering most of her abilities as a new Time Lord have yet to be fully explored, the series could go off in several directions, but personally I’m hoping she joins the Tardis crew one day soon.

The Doctor’s Daughter lacked plenty to make it an exceptional Doctor Who outing (it may even be the weakest installment of the series thus far) but there’s plenty to make it a worthwhile viewing...if only for The Doctor's amazing offspring.

Next Week-Solving mystery’s with Agatha Christie. Oh, and there’s a giant Bee too.

Rating-7/10

Summer 2008 Plans

2008-05-08T21:23:00.001-07:00

I’m sorry this review of “The Poison Sky” came so late in the week. However, I am back home now and the internet signal going through my house is one of the worst on the planet. Therefore, my viewing and reviewing of the episodes may be postponed a bit but not by much. Don’t worry though I’ll still be posting reviews to the best of my ability.

And now that I am free from Junior Year havoc, I can also begin to work on my promised project to watch and review the entire first season of Torchwood. I’ll also be posting a new blog soon asking if you want me to try and review the previous new seasons of Doctor Who as well, to try and make this as close to a good compendium of Doctor Who knowledge (that is if I have any readers at all who are interested).

Anyway, comments are always open. Allons-y!!!

Doctor Who S04E05-The Poison Sky

2008-05-08T21:18:00.001-07:00

The world is in chaos. A large cloud of gas produced by Atmos vehicles is starting to spread across the entire planet and grow slowly towards its deadly density. While the world is in disarray, the Sontaran’s send a strike force to London to eliminate the remaining U.N.I.T. forces. And with Donna, Martha and the Tardis all in the hands of the Sontarans, The Doctor’s options are running low. As the world, literally, holds its breath, all brace for the final, desperate last stand to begin.

What started as a truly rousing, heart pumping story arc ended just as strongly as it began with this episode. We got a fair share of everything, drama, Doctor techno-babble and lots and lots of action sequences. Arguably the big payoff of this episode was the inevitable showdown between the Sontarans and U.N.I.T. The see saw change in luck for both sides at key moments in the story gave it its much needed boost of edge of your seat excitement.

I was quite relieved that Donna’s Grandfather made it out of the conflict unscathed (saved by Donna’s mother with an ax no less). Granddad has become one of my new favorite characters of the series, the wily old geezer who is serious when he needs to be, and I can’t wait to see what kind of a role he plays in the episodes to come. Donna herself got placed in an interesting predicament when she was beamed up to the Sontaran ship with the Tardis and forced to infiltrate to help The Doctor. Donna continues to grow on me, although I don’t think she will ever be as good a companion as Martha or Rose (who made a very creepy blink and you’ll miss appearance on The Doctor’s monitor when Donna tried to contact him: where the heck is she?)

Martha was a bit of a background presence this week. Much of her screen time was given to her doppelganger created by the Sontarans and even she was a bit wasted and less convincing of a creative clone, which in the end gives her presence away to The Doctor. But, as clearly seen in the last scene of the episode, she will have a bit more of a role to play next week.

Overall, not that bad a way to spend a Saturday. It was sad to see the boy genius die in the end as I would have liked to have seen him return in one form or another later on. But other than that, I was impressed. Oh, and for all of you hardcore lovers of the old Doctor Who serials, U.N.I.T. figurehead The Brigadier, was given a name only cameo this week. Turns out he’s still alive, but stuck in Peru of all places. While I did like the U.N.I.T. characters in this story, the presence of this character would have been an added bonus. Still, can’t have everything now can we?

Next Week: Trapped in space…with The Doctor’s daughter?

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S04E04-The Sontaran Stratagem

2008-04-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

When 52 people all die simultaneously around the world because of their specialized vehicles, UNIT medical officer Martha Jones recalls The Doctor to Earth to assist in the investigation. As The Doctor is reunited with his old friend and former allies (and gets to meet Donna's eccentric family once again), a familiar enemy stirs in the shadows. One of Earth's youngest geniuses has allied himself with a squadron of fierce Sontaran soldiers and their plot to bring Earth to its knees nears fruition. With millions of lives at stake, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between UNIT and the Sontarans...and even The Doctor might not be able to stop the oncoming slaughter.

UNIT, The Sontarans, Martha Jones. Whew, it's like a Doctor Who nostalgia fest in this episode. Granted, I never really watched the original serials that much so it was a learning experience for me watching the Sontarans and UNIT at work. Needless to say, this is the big event that we've been wating for since Series 4 began, and it succeeded on so many levels story wise, with maybe one or two little cracks in the armor.

First, the cracks. Martha appears to have gone through the ultimate character change since her joining UNIT. It was a little strange though that she was never this commanding or hardcore serious when she was hanging out with Jack and Torchwood. That being said, it was a bit akward watching her and The Doctor reunite after all this time and behaving on a whole new level with each other. It was sad to see the familiar, kind hearted free spirit we were used to in Series 3 almost a "soldier" as Donna puts it, but that's just me.

That aside, everything else played a pretty interesting set up role. The cautious yet cocky guns blazzing attitude of UNIT will definitley play into their eventual showdown with the Sontarans and seeing how they handled small alien situations like Tosh's backstory on Torchwood with such cold hearted procission, it strikes me as odd that The Doctor would ever want to work with such a group back in the day. Then again, UNIT may have been just as different as he was back in the 70's during the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras.

That brings us to the Sontarans. Now I know that I will get alot of nasty looks from hardcore series fans, but I have finally found the Doctor Who equivalent of the Klingons. From their love for battle to their battle chant at the end of the episode, it was very hard not to find similarities between the two different species. This wasn't a bad thing though, I just couldn't help but chuckle at some of their little speeches. I can't wait to see how they act during actual combat next week.

Finally, there is the reintroduction of Donna's family to the story. We've already seen how The Doctor's companions familes have a habit of getting involved with big conflicts in a bad way, a la Rose and Martha's folks. It will be sad to see Donna's granddad bite the bullet, but as serious as this series has been since Episode 2, nothing should be taken for granted with this shows direction.

All in all, my blood was pumping fast as the preview for next week popped up. As Captain Jack said such a long time ago in a similar situation with the Daleks, "This is it ladies and gentlemen, we are at war!!!"

Next Week: The Sontarans vs. UNIT...bring the noise.

Rating-9/10

Doctor Who S04E03-Planet of the Ood

2008-04-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Setting the Tardis coordinates to random, The Doctor and Donna land on a far off ice planet. Here, The Doctor once again encounters the mysterious slave race known as the Ood and learns of their creation and distribution across the galaxy. But a deadly wave of deja vu is about to hit as the eyes of the Ood begin to glow dangerously red and a mysterious voice not their own begins to speak, leading them to rebel against their human masters. As The Doctor and Donna hurry to escape and discover the mystery behind "The Circle" they must also face the horrifying truth of the human race of the far off future.

Well, here we are at episode three and I must say, this is the most topical Doctor Who episode I have ever seen. The whole subject of using the Ood as inbred slaves was touched on slightly during their initial introduction in Series 2's "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", but here it is the full blown heart of the story. Again, Donna becomes the viewer who spews out exactly what we are all thinking. It is horrific to think of just how cruel us humans can turn out to be if we fail to remember our own history. That being said, their cruel masters, even the real pretty one, get what they rightfully deserve in the end and the Ood get their freedom.

However, with all this hype of bringing the Ood back as villains, the hype actually fails here as the audience no longer finds them as scary as they were when possessed by the Devil, if scary at all. Hence, this episode does lose a bit of its strength based on failed advertising. When the Sontarans and the Daleks show up again later on, you know it's time to get scared. But not here, all in all disappointing.

But was this episode bad because of such story qualities? No, but it wasn't the best either. It was fun watching The Doctor getting chased by the crazy security guard with the CGI crane, always some of the best stunts when you work on something like this. And we finally got to see the Ood origins, which are sad enough, but still interesting in their own way. And wow, seeing the head honcho transform into an Ood at the very end was, well...whoa. Nuff said.

Next Week: Martha's Back!!! But so are the Sontarans and their bringing the noise for the first of a two part epic struggle. Doctor Who fans, this is one alien encounter that is sure to please all.

Rating-7/10

Doctor Who S04E02-The Fires of Pompeii

2008-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Doctor and Donna land in Pompeii for a look at Roman history. Turns out though, they're arrived the day before the disasterous erruption of Mt. Vesuvius, or as The Doctor calls it "Volcano Day". Tracked by a mysterious off world occult and menacing, lava blooded foot soldiers, The Doctor and Donna have face a far greater and deeper dilema. Will The Doctor follow his instincts and let history take its inevitable course? Or will he listen to Donna and try to change the fate of 20,000 innocent people?

Before going into things, right off the bat, the production and set design crews must be given a huge round of applause. This isn't some skimmpy, quickly thrown together set of quarries, but a fully fleshed out visualization of Pompeii we are looking at on screen. And some of the architecture we are seeing on screen is on par with that of the sets in Gladiator. Just goes to show us once again that Russell T. Davies and crew are doing their absolute best to keep us interested in the worlds we visit. And that effort shows more than ever this time around.

While this episode did seem to lose some steam in parts, the real meat of this story is not in the wacky action, but The Doctor and Donna's growing relationship. Donna seems to be reminding me more and more of Rose with every second of this episode. While yes, she is still loud and a bit annoying, she is pure of heart and actually challenges The Doctor on what to do about the erruption of Pompeii, something it's citizens are oblivious to. This episode showed Donna at her most serious and you can definitley sympathize with her feelings. Still, The Doctor does have to think about reprocutions of changing the timeline and the bigger picture of what could happen. After all, if he could go back and save his fellow Time Lords from burning to death, he would. This episode just highlighted just how terrible the curse of the Time Lords can be.

The Doctor and Donna, although I would never have found myself saying this back in July when I heard they were hooking up again, make a pretty fantastic team. Donna has kept true to her promise to keep The Doctor's tendency to overdo things in check and The Doctor is learning to listen to those around him. It's a perfect match, rivaling that of The Doctor and Rose, and it will be amazing to see how the writers continue to develop their unique relationship.

And, it has to be said, The Doctor fighting lava soldiers and rock solid seers with a water pistol was one of the most hilarious moments of Doctor Who EVER!!!! Silly, yes, but nonetheless a great spectacle to keep instilled in our heads that this show is simply fun and never 100% serious, a la Torchwood.

Next Week: The Ood are back. Are they possessed? Why are they being targeted by men with really big guns? And will there be another marker indicating the inevitable return of an old friend? So exciting, isn't it?

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S04E01-Partners in Crime

2008-04-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

The head of Adipose Industries, Miss Foster, has created a revolutionary new diet pill that's taking all of London by storm. But there are few who believe that there is something very wrong with this pill that eliminates all fat in three weeks. Among those few are an eccentric investigator named Donna Noble, and a certain time traveling hero. When The Doctor and Donna cross paths again for the first time in a long time, they will have to deal with the nanny from hell if any Londoner is to survive what's coming. And if that weren't enough, who is that mysterious, yet familiar blonde girl watching the events alone from a distance?

Low and behold, we have finally arrived at Series 4 and based on several previews it may very well be the most exciting season yet. And while this episode was plenty of fun to watch, you can't help but get the feeling that the real magic that this season promises is still a little ways off.

Now, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Donna when she first popped up in the 2006 Christmas Special “The Runaway Bride”. I don’t know why? But I just never saw this annoying, obnoxious, and fiery red head as Doctor Companion material. And Martha proved she could very well handle herself after Rose left at the end of Series 2, I was a little weary at standing by the decision to bring Donna back. She does, however, provide plenty of humor between her and The Doctor at several points in the episode, which makes sense considering how lighthearted the episode was overall. So there may be hope for her yet.

And wow, when Russell T. Davies promises the freakiest Doctor Who moment ever, he delivers. That poor woman dissolving into tiny, cute baby fat children was a huge and somewhat funny shocker. That aside, the story did seem a bit weird for a Doctor Who story, I mean a rouge intergalactic nanny wanting to turn human fat into babies and give them to a family was just too farfetched to me.

If this episode did one thing flawlessly besides the cute babies, it was the scenes where The Doctor and Donna catch up on what’s happened since they last met. David Tennant continues to dominate the role of The Doctor, showing the audience just how much he wants to have a friend to travel with, yet the damage he does to their lives, a la losing Rose and nearly getting Martha’s family killed, makes this a sticky situation. Yet Donna still wants to travel with him. So, again, maybe there is hope that this new partnership will work.

And, how can you not talk about this episode without mentioning Rose’s surprising appearance at the end? She appears and vanishes without a trace leaving many questions in the air as to what we saw. Is it really Rose, trying to get back home to The Doctor? Is it a ghost, or something far more sinister? As was the case with Bad Wolf, Torchwood and Harold Saxon, the return of Rose will likely be the one big event that ties this whole series together.

Next week: The Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii. And as The Doctor quotes Captain Jack Harkness, he forgot to set his clock, “It’s Volcano Day”.

Rating-8/10

Torchwood S02E13-Exit Wounds

2008-04-04T17:22:00.001-07:00

Captain John Hart returns to Cardiff, bringing the apocalypse along with him. As Torchwood hurries to save a city in utter turmoil, Jack goes head first into the greatest fight of his life. Why is John destroying Cardiff? Is it all part of something bigger? Will Grey ever be found and will he ever forgive Jack for leaving him behind all of those years ago? And, more importantly, with the world as they know it crumbling around them, will any member of Torchwood still be alive to tell the tale when everything ends?

As Jack says at the beginning of every episode, "The 21st century is when everything changes, and you've gotta be ready." Nothing, and I mean nothing, could prepare anyone for the brilliance and heartache that came along with "Exit Wounds". So yes, I am confirming for everyone now that the rumors are true. Torchwood looses members this time and for sake of trying to be a spoiler free blog, I'll leave them nameless. Still, even with the sadness that this episode brought along with it, it also stood far above and beyond as a season finale, something Season 1 ender "End of Days" never did to the best of its ability.

Well, James Marsters finally returns as John Hart for the big closer and we learn far more about him than ever before. After learning his true motives for the attacks on Jack's life, one wonders what will become of him as the series moves on after this point. It would be nice to see him come back again for some adventure, maybe even join the crew. Then again, that would make Torchwood seem too much like its American inspiration "Angel". Still, if the formula ain't broke, why not use it again and improve? We'll see.

And then there's Grey. Obviously, he pops up, played by a guy who looks strikingly like Hayden Christensen of Star Wars fame. His reunion with Jack has been one of the most anticipated events of the season...and it plays exactly like I sort of thought it would. Grey is, needless to say, pissed that Jack let go of his hand and has never gotten over it. John Barrowman brings his A game to the table this time, trying to balance Jack's conflicting feelings over how he should handle Grey. Clearly, he blames himself for letting Grey go, but he did try to find him and now this happens. How does one deal with something like this? I'll just say that Jack takes a page out of The Doctor's book on this one guys, which for the moment is probably the best approach.

And what of everyone else? Well I can't say much less I reveal too much about who lives and who dies. I'll just close out saying that this episode was a text book nail bitting example of how season finale's are done. You love these characters and you love this story, now it's time to test that commitment and throw the shoe in the gears that brings it all down. Will you still be around when Season 3 starts up in 2009? Can you move on after what happens? Yeah, I'm still a little emotional after watching this episode so, level with me for a moment.

So, what's next? Well Season 3 won't be around for a while, but I'll be here when it does. And be sure to keep an eye out for Jack as he makes another return to The Doctor's side later on in Series 4 of Doctor Who (which starts tomorrow everyone so keep your eyes open for another review).

Torchwood...job well done my friends. I'll have your ultimate review of your sophomore season soon. Until then, I'm more than happy to award this episode, "Exit Wounds"...

Rating-10/10

The Best Fracking Weekend Ever

2008-03-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gents, we stand on the edge of a new frontier. Starting this Friday, we bid a fond farewell to a spectacular 2nd season of Torchwood with what promises to be the best episode of the season. But shed no tears, for the next day, April 5, 2008, our main man THE DOCTOR returns to our screens as Series 4 of Doctor Who makes its much anticipated debut.

So expect multiple reviews this weekend on the blog, one of Torchwood and Doctor Who and (maybe) a review of Torchwood Series 2 as a whole. And as we get further into a Doctor Who dominated season, I will consider starting up my plans to go back and review season 1 of Torchwood, but we'll see.

(And pardon the "frack" reference, but Battlestar Galactica starts on Friday as well and I'm pretty excited)

Get ready and hang on for one hell of a ride.

Torchwood S02E12-Fragments

2008-03-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

During a mission to investigate mysterious alien readings, Jack, Tosh, Owen and Ianto are lured into a trap involving four explosive devices. The devices go off and trap an already seperated team under tons of rubble. As Gwen and Rhys hurry to save them, the team sees their lives flash before their eyes; or to be more precise, the moments where they joined together under Jack in Cardiff. As the past comes to light, a deadly spectar returns with plans for the future, or a lack of one for Torchwood.

Well, after nearly two years of waiting, the big anthology episode has finally aired. At last, the past has been revealed and let me tell ya, a lot makes sense now. It was a lot of fun seeing the team in the lives prior to Torchwood. Granted we knew a bit about Jack before Torchwood from Doctor Who, but we finally learn how he joined up with them back when Torchwood was still the jerks who were prone to bringing about the apocalypse. Which reminds me, this is the first episode in which The Doctor is mentioned by his proper title; not the right kind of Doctor, not my Doctor, THE Doctor. At last, the series have been tied together. And also, the mysterious origin of Jack's famous warning about the 21st century is finally revealed, in a very sad turn of events.

And what of the rest of the team? Well, it was pretty surprising over all what happened to them in the past. Tosh was rescued and imprisoned by U.N.I.T for aiding terrorists to save her mother; Ianto was looking for a new purpose in the aftermath of the Cybermen/Dalek War that destroyed Torchwood One; and Owen discovered something incredible at the cost of someone he loved dearly. Out of all of these, I liked Ianto's and Owen's stories the best. Owen's situation does give his gruff and heartless persona from Series 1 a legitimate excuse. And Ianto, well, not only did he hire himself on to be a butler (he said it, not me), but he went to the ultimate lengths to join the team, and bring them a pet Pterodactyl. And watching him and Jack flirt in the old days was fun as well. And Tosh, well, her lonliness makes sense, being locked up in a U.N.I.T. cell for God knows how long. Who knew U.N.I.T. could be that cold hearted, it's a wonder Martha is still with them.

And finally, Captain John Hart is back, the true reason for nearly killing Torchwood. He's found Grey and he's ready to raise hell. But why? What did Jack do to piss him off this much? What does John have in mind? And will anyone live long enough to get all of the answers? In two weeks, the review will be posted of the sure to be fantastic Torchwood Series 2 Finale.

Rating-9/10

Torchwood S02E11-Adrift

2008-03-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

When a series of missing person's report goes from one to hundreds in a matter of months, PC Andy calls in his old friend Gwen Cooper to help. AS Gwen delves into the case, she learns that all of these disappearences are in one way or another linked to the Cardiff Rift. But the closer she gets to the truth, one obstacle stands in her way...Jack. Jack knows something and he is refusing to help, warning Gwen to stay away from this case. Will Gwen like what she finds at the end of this story? If Jack's warning is any indication, probably not.

I wasn't really sure how to feel after this episode. While it was WAY better than last week's abismal clown centered episode, it was still pretty depressing. It was the closest this season has come to the overall somber and downbeat feel of season 1. But that's not to say it was terrible, far from it as a matter of fact. While these stories will leave you down in the dumps for an hour or so, there's no denying that these are the stories Torchwood does best.

If you haven't guessed already, this is a Gwen heavy episode. Since joining Torchwood at the beginning of the series, she has changed dramatically, just like everyone else. But as much as she has become the heart of Torchwood (whereas Jack is its undying soul, no pun untended), her job has tested her relationships on all levels, professionally and personally. And sometimes, as she learns, even doing the right thing can be just as bad as bestowing the ultimate punishment on an innocent person. Still, she still has Rhys and old friends like Andy (in his first real and fleshed out appearence since his introduction in season 1) to point her in the right direction. And big props to both characters who really know how to stick it to Gwen when she needs to be scolded. It takes guts and only a husband and best friend know how to do that best.

There wasn't too much else with the team this time around. I must admit, I almost had Jack pegged for doing something really stupid this time around. But as I've come to learn, Jack knows what he is doing and should never be doubted. His involvement with this case is no different. During Doctor Who Series 3, he tells The Doctor that he remodeled his Torchwood branch in honor of his hero and friend, The Doctor. This episode shows a bit of truth to that statement and how much like our favorite Time Lord Jack tries to be to his own team. Agree or disagree, that's an arguement I leave to you dear reader. (Also, it was funny to see Gwen walk in on The Captain and Ianto actually showing off some of their after office hours activities).

Next week: ALOT OF STUFF-The Blowfish, Torchwood surrounded by Bombs, Death, Destruction, Mayhem, U.N.I.T?, and Gray? Two more episodes to go until the shocking finale. Is anyone making it out of this series alive besides Jack? And when is badass Captain John Hart plannig on coming back? I have no answers. You, like me, will just have to wait and see.

Rating-10/10

Torchwood S02E10-From Out of the Rain

2008-03-12T21:58:00.001-07:00

The re-opening of an old cinema signals the return of some plesant memories for Ianto, a fan of old films. But a nice night at the theater turns deadly when the inhabitants of a carnival film break out via the rift and begin claiming victims to add to their unwilling, growing eternal audience. The circus troupe from hell has arrived and they're determined to add all of Cardiff to their act. That is, if Jack and Torchwood have anything to say about it.

Well, after a steady stream of good wholesome episodes, Torchwood hit a bit of a roadblock this time around. Honestly, when I saw the preview for this episode, I wasn't too excited to watch it. "From Out of the Rain" just wasn't as interesting or exciting as similar stories Torchwood has done in the past. While most episodes this season have been amped up, sometimes action filled stories, this one seemed to harken back to how Season 1 did things, steady paced mysteries with very little action. That formula worked for some of those episodes, but not all. Such is the case with this.

Now, I'm not one to nit pick with continuity issues much, but why is Gwen back from her honeymoon already? There wasn't any real need for her to be here anyway. And the villains, while creepy, were annoying and too easily dealt with (for the time being I guess). And the story ended on a bum note, which while very Torchwood, is kinda sad considering the good luck they've had recently. To this episodes credit, you may not want to step into an old fashioned cinema or visit a circus for a while after viewing this episode.

Well, this was my least favorite episode of Season 2 (yes, "To the Last Man" has been dethroned). I've seen stronger stand alone episodes from Torchwood. Here's hoping the rest of the season is way way better than this.

At least next weeks preview looked more interesting: people are vanishing, Gwen's looking into it...and Jack's trying to stop her? See ya next week.

Rating-4/10

Torchwood S02E09-Something Borrowed

2008-03-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's a really big day for Gwen Cooper. After months of anticipation, her wedding day has finally arrived. It should be the most joyous of occasions...until Gwen wakes up the morning of the wedding...full term pregnant. Turns out a parasidic shape shifter has impregnated Gwen via bite and now it's partner is on its way to rip the egg out of Gwen's body. The wedding to end all weddings is about to take place...in a style only Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood could pull off.

Man, I wish all weddings were like this one. After the dark and spectacular Owen story arc that took up the past three episodes, it was time for a nice bit of humor and levity. This episode had everything any fan of Torchwood could want: action, romance, laughs, really big guns, and plenty of quirks from Jack.

But at the core of this episode is an honest love story between Gwen and Rhys. It is amazing the amount of development these two have gone through as a couple since the start of the season. Rhys has seen his fiancee's job, seen her brainwashed, taken a bullet for her, and now must deal with the shock of her carrying an alien egg in her belly. And after all of this, he still wants to marry Gwen, or she wants to marry him not matter what happens. Hats off to Eve Myles for making Gwen's commitment to her man so pure and honest. This must have been a hard day for Jack to endure, watching the woman he loves marry another man. Still, he lets things be as they may (something alot of guys can relate to, I'm sure). It will be interesting to see where things go from here between Jack and Gwen (the soul and heart of Torchwood respectivley).

This was arguably my most favorite episode of the season, next to "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". If you haven't watched this show yet, filled with spectacular scifi action/drama and romance, and filled with amazing characters, THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING PEOPLE??????

But yeah, awsome episode, moving on to Episode 10.

Rating-10/10

Torchwood S02E08-A Day in the Death

2008-02-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Dr. Owen Harper has been having one hell of a week. He's died, been ressurected, faced death, lost all feeling and his job. Plus, he's officially a walking, talking undead. Unable to cope with his new perdicament, Owen contemplates ending everything once and for all. Will he ever be human again and can he still do his job and save a life? Will anything be normal for him ever again?

A Day in the Death stands as one of the best shows I have ever seen for this series. Owen, like most of the cast this season, has undergone a drastic reboot from season 1. And now that he is in a similar boat as Jack, the unable to die aspect, this episode gave us more of an insight into one of the shows deepest themes, the fine line between human and unhuman, life and death etc. Owen has now become one of my favorite characters in this show. He's no longer the arrogant ass that he was in Season 1, he's funny, more social, more open, more human (pun intended).

This episode is also the finale for Martha Jones's tenure on Torchwood. Oddly enough, this episode features Martha the least, giving the episode focus to Owen rather than her. This being said, her departure wasn't played very well. I mean, even though Owen decides to remain with the team in the end, it would have been nice for them to keep Martha on. Was she called back to UNIT or what? I mean, she just leaves all of a sudden with no explination. This was my only real gripe about the episode.

I'm sure we'll see Martha again eventually as a main cast member. But for now, we will just have to wait for Doctor Who Series 4 to see her in action with UNIT.

And major props to Christine Bottomley, who played the suicidal Maggie who is listening to Owen's story. She was a great foil to Owen and it was nice to see her evolve along with Owen as his story went on. Well done indeed.

Rating-9/10

Heads Up

2008-02-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

Good news everyone,
I'm going home for break this Friday and am so pumped. Now all i have to do is survive three merciless midterms and equally merciless professors. The point is, Spring Break is on the horizon.

However, this does include a small downside. I will be cut off from a good internet signal for that whole week which means that in one week from this Wednesday, there will be no update for the blog. There will be a normal post this Wednesday with the new episode (the conclusion to the Martha Jones Trilogy). Don't worry, I will obtain the episode afterwards as soon as I return and hopefully there will be a double posting later that week.

Just a heads up, later.

Torchwood S02E07-Dead Man Walking

2008-02-20T21:41:00.000-08:00

It is a time for greiving for Torchwood. Owen is dead, shot at the end of "Reset". But just before his autopsy can be performed, Jack departs abrutly and returns with another Resurrection Glove. His plan to bring Owen back to life backfires in the worst possible way. Yes, Owen is brought back, but something else has come with him. An ancient creature equivalent of the Grim Reaper is unleashed on an unsuspecting Cardiff using its energy and an army of Weevils to do its bidding. The team is in need of desperation, especially with Martha on deaths door. And it may take the power and faith of a dead man to defeat death itself.

Well yeah, if you haven't realized it by now, Owen was the one who bit the bullet. But come on, you can't keep these guys dead for long. This episode shares several similarities with last seasons "They Keep Killing Suzie", but the steaks have been raised considerably this time. I was hoping the second Resurrection Glove would make an appearence this season. And while I tend to agree with Jack on most of his calls, this was going a bit far and his decision to use the glove placed everyone, even all of Cardiff in danger. Not smart. However, the scene with Jack and Owen bonding in jail was pretty fun to watch (seeing Owen hurl upside down was so fracking funny).

Overall, this was an ok second act in this little trilogy. It was cool to see the interactions amongst the team in this time of greiving and uncertainty. And now that Owen is back and undead, it will be pretty interesting to see how his new perdicament works out, although judging from next weeks preview, he's not out of the woods yet. But Owen is a very cool character. Here's hoping he stays undead, or eventually becomes fully alive again for a while.

And yes, Tosh and Owen finally had an honest kiss (fan applause).

Rating-8/10

Doctor Who S04E00-Voyage of the Damned

2008-02-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Barely any time has passed since The Doctor's recent victory over The Master when the tip of a cruise ship breaches the Tardis's hull. Turns out, The Doctor has just slammed into a space ferring cruise vessel named the Titanic, which is visiting Earth to study the Christmas season. The Doctor stows away onto the ship and begins to have fun with the guests, in particular a beautiful waitress named Astrid. But as with any ship named the Titanic, gloom and doom are never far away. A mysterious attack from an unknown enemy sends the ship on a collision course with Earth. To make matters worse, a virus infects the Titanic's servant androids, The Host, and has sent them to eliminate the Titanic's remaining survivors. For Astrid and the dwindling group of survivors, the Christmas is proving to be quite the opposite of cheerful. Their only hope, the stowaway who happens to be a 903 year old Time Lord from Galifrey...with a horrible track record of harrowing and dangerous Christmas disasters.

When is comes to Christmas Specials, you can always expect Doctor Who to deliver slam bang action, humor and excitement. And this episode continues that trend, albiet taking the formula to the next level. David Tennant continues to shine as my favorite Doctor, keeping his cool even in the most unhopeful scenarios and even offering plenty of laugh out loud humor to keep the situation from seeming to grim. Joining him this time is one time companion Astrid, played by British pop sensation Kylie Minogue. She reminded me a little bit of Rose, whom I still miss to this day. Her intuition and resoucefulness, along with her cheerful personality, sheer humanity and good looks make her anything by the stereotypical dumb blonde, more than a match for our main man The Doctor. Every other character in this episode follows the stereotypical disaster ship survivors seen in Titanic and Posiedon. Cliche as it seemed, these characters were fresh and full of life, from the overweight couple to the tiny alien newcomer whose name I can't pernounce.

If I had to rank this episode with the other Christmas Specials, this would fall in second. It's way better than The Runaway Bride, but not quite as good as The Christmas Invasion. Still, Doctor Who continues to shine with these little side stories, giving us a nice little interlude between seasons, while wetting our thirts for more. Here's hoping all our future Christmas's are as exciting as this.

Rating-8/10

Torchwood S02E06-Reset

2008-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

In order to combat a series of medical related killings, Jack calls in newly instated UNIT medical officer Martha Jones to assist in the investigation. As old friends reunite and new relationships begin to take shape between Martha and Torchwood, the case gets deadly and leads to a mysterious doctor who is willing to sacrifice everything and anything to find the ultimate cure for all disease. And before this fight is over, one member of Torchwood won't be making it out alive...

Well, Martha is here and with her comes a huge breath of fresh air to the series, especially after "Adam". It was fun to see her conversations with Jack and learn about what she's been up too since she left his and The Doctor's company. Her being with UNIT was a big surprise, but it does clear up how she will be reintroduced into Doctor Who. The dialogue between Martha and Jack is some of the biggest geek moments of the episode, featuring plenty of Doctor Who jargon, featuring allusions to The Master, The Doctor, and the events that closed out Doctor Who Series 3.

It was cool to see Martha quickly making nice with the rest of Torchwood. She didn't come off as arrogant or stuffy and meshed with everyone, especially Gwen and Owen nicely. What can I say, Martha was awsome in Doctor Who and is even better than ever (and hotter) in Torchwood. It almost sucks to realize that she will only be onboard for three episodes, but here's hoping that she will come back to the series after her next Doctor Who adventure (but more on that later).

As I said in my "Adam" post, if you have a strong emotional interest in these characters, that's both a good and bad thing. The end of this episode was the most shocking event, I never saw it coming and I was speechless. I won't spoil who bites the bullet. Hopefully you'll all see the episode and find out for yourselves. Have a tissue ready and be sure to keep your voice down if you decide to scream in horror. (I almost did).

See you next week for Part 2 of this exciting and shcoking new trilogy. Just how far will Jack and crew go to bring back their dead comrade? From the looks of next weeks preview, they might just bring about the end of the world to do so. (Why is Torchwood always being given the title of Hearld of the Apocalypse?)

Rating-9/10

Torchwood S02E05-Adam

2008-02-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

Torchwood appears to be losing its mind. Gwen's can't remember Rhys; Toshiko is more promiscuous; Owen's acting like a shy nerd; Ianto thinks he's a psychopathic killer; and Jack is seeing a ghost from his buried past. No answers are in sight and the teams dellusions are getting worse. But there's one peice of the puzzle that may hold the answer to their dilemma, an answer that is sitting right in front of their noses. And that answer is a member of their team named Adam...who has been a member of their team for three long years.

This episode poured on the drama and the emotion. I was close to tears at time from the sheer sadness. All around, you could see the cast giving their all, in particular Ianto and Jack. Jack's past was one of the biggest surprises of the episode and something we've been wanting to know about for a long time. For a guy so heroic and macho, his past is one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. As it turns out, the mysterious Grey is his younger brother that he lost in a battle on his homeworld years ago. The possibility of him being alive is going to be quite the shocker when that time comes.

And what of everyone else? Under Adam's mind warping powers we got to see hidden sides of them never before seen, including the already known revelation of Gwen's love for Jack and Owen's confession of love for Tosh. Granted, those of us who watch the show and know these characters knew these little truths already, but it was still good to finally get some actual confirmation from their scenes. And if you really felt sypathetic for Adam at the end, then you've got some serious issues.

This was one of Torchwood's most depressing episodes, but it was also one of their greatest yet. From opening to closing, you couldn't take your eyes off of it. And if you found yourself as close to tears as Jack and crew were, then you know you've found a strong connection with these characters. Which is all the more important especially considering what happened in the following episode.

Rating-10/10

Interlude-Future Plans

2008-02-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm kinda bored right now. I'll probably be reading some more English stuff in a sec, but I wanted to post a quick update with future plans for this blog.

First are my plans to review the first thirteen episodes from Season 1 of Torchwood. Mind you since I'm working on Season 2 right now, this won't happen till after the current season is done. but if your curious about how things came to be, I can eventually give you a more in depth look than the quick one paragraph summary from way back.

Next, Doctor Who is almost back. And seeing how this blog is dedicated to all things Doctor Who and Torchwood (and possibly The Sarah Jane Adventures, no promises) expect to see summaries and reviews of the upcoming Series 4 of Doctor Who. If I have time between writing long as hell papers, I will attempt to post a review of last Xmas's "Voyage of the Damned" which is the unofficial intro to the next season of Doctor Who.

And finally, before I bow out, a quick heads up. Thanks to Torchwood.tv (a really cool blog site, check it out if you haven't yet) and Wikipedia, I've learned of the Torchwood double feature coming up tomorrow. Torchwood will air episode 5 "Adam" at it's usual time on BBC 2, then on BBC 3 (i think) right afterwards, we'll be able to see episode 6, which marks the long awaited introduction of Martha Jones to the Torchwood team.

Hope everyone's as excited as I am....later.

Torchwood S02E04-Meat

2008-02-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

An average car accident on the highway turns out to be much more when mysterious meat products are uncovered. Someone is smuggling alien meat into the population and Torchwood's determined to bring them to justice. But things get complicated when Rhys gets involved with the meat smugglers. Against his will, he is placed into a complex infiltration op with Gwen and the others. Love and duty collide when the op goes wrong. Will Gwen sacrifice Rhys to save the largest alien this world has ever seen? And when all is said and done, will Jack force Gwen to do the unthinkable to Rhys?

Well, it was inevitable that Rhys would somehow get dragged into Gwen's other life. And he acted exactly the way we all thought he would. Kai Owen, who plays Rhys, should get special props for accepting the challenge of, if you'll forgive the pun, putting meat on Rhys's bones and bringing the character into a more exposed light than ever.

And what about everyone else? Well, Gwen had to handle her at war feelings for Rhys and her job; Jack had to keep himself in check while he watched the woman he loves worry over her fiancee; Toshiko flirted with Owen; Owen had to play vet; and Ianto, probably the biggest surprise of the episode, showed off some bad ass assassin skills as the one man army taking on a group of thugs.

All in all, this was a fun episode giving everyone a bit of time in the spotlight. Gwen and Rhys's relationship is no longer in doubt after the situation they survived. And the final scene where Jack confesses he would miss Gwen if she left Torchwood was heartbreaking and sweet.

So far, it's been an amazing second season and in two weeks, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) joins the cast before her return to Doctor Who. But first, next week, which may end up being the best episode of the season so far with the much anticipated revelation of the mysterious Gray and other memories the team has felt to best keep under lock and key.

Rating-8/10

Torchwood S02E03-To The Last Man

2008-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again for Torchwood. That time of the year when they must once again thaw out a WWI soldier named Tommy. That time of the year they must wait for 24 hours to see if Tommy's mission to save two time periods has come. That time of the year when Toshiko fears that very day and the end of her romance with Tommy will end. Unfortunantley, that time has come. It's time for Tommy to save the world...and say his final farewell to the woman he loves.

While not as exciting as the first two installments of Season 2, this episode was still pretty heartbreaking. It was nice to see Tosh in the spotlight again (looking hotter than usual for her day with Tommy). It does suck though that she has such terrible luck with romance, a Torchwood constant. First, it's a life draining lesbian, now it's a WWI soldier who, once his mission is done, she will never see again. Is love a curse for this team? On a side note, Tosh/Owen shippers will love the small yet tender interactions they have in this episode. Perhaps they will find comfort in each other eventually, but then again, that's still a ways off I'm sure.

Next week looks pretty exciting though. It will be cool to see how they bring Rhys into Gwen's world and how her revealing her secret life will affect their own.

Rating-7/10

Torchwood S02E02-Sleeper

2008-01-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Well, just when you think this is going to be a somewhat lighter season, the writers smack you hard in the face. If this episode proves anything, Torchwood's in for a pretty dark year.

After two burglars are brutally assaulted during a theft, Jack believes that the woman they were trying to rob is responsible. Although thuroughly convinced she is not an alien, the woman, Beth, is proven wrong when Torchwood unveils her secret identity as a mechanical sleeper agent. However, with her cover blown, other sleeper agents across Cardiff begin to activate and begin their assault. It comes down to a do or die situation as Jack and the team rush to stop nuclear armaggedon and save Beth's humanity, or what's left of it.

The introduction of the Sleepers was a nice touch to the show, giving Torchwood a formidable foe for the new season. But this episodes heart is Beth, who is trying to regain something she never really had, a normal human life. It was interesting to see Jack and Gwen on opposite sides of this situation. Gwen led the team in Jack's absence so it was exciting to see the two leading officers figure out how to save Beth without killing her.

Who are the Sleepers working for? How many more are left? And could they be connected to the mysterious Gray? Torchwood continues to pile on the questions, leaving me plenty interested and psyched up for more.

Rating-9/10

Torchwood S02E01-Kiss, Kiss Bang, Bang

2008-01-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

As the title might suggest, Torchwood got off to a spectacular start and a much needed amount of bang. Jack returns home to his Cardiff team after his three episode adventure with The Doctor. Almost immediately, Torchwood is on the case of a mysterious stranger claiming to be a rouge Time Agent and a "close" friend of Jack's. Needless to say the team has its hand full with Captain John Hart (played by Buffy and Angel's James Marsters) as well as their unusual reunion with Jack. Why did he leave them and does he intend to stay? And when the day is saved in typical Torchwood, who is the mysterious Gray?

This was a straight up fun episode to get the new season going. Everyone on this episode looked like they were having fun. It looks like Jack has gotten much of the Han Solo esque persona back after his season long dark streak. And like Spike to Angel, Marsters steals the show as the best new character of the series, bringing out a side to Jack we haven't seen since his first appearence on Doctor Who. From what we saw in the previews he will be back for at least another episode, but here's hoping he becomes a full time regular.

This episode set up alot to be dealt with. What I'm looking forward to the most is the revamped and ever apparent sexual tension between Jack and Gwen. Although she says she is now engaged to her boyfriend Rhys, it's clear that Jack is interested in her and vice versa. After all, he's been on a devestated alternate Earth for a year, I'm sure he's had plenty of time to sort out his feelings for her. But more on that later.

Welcome back Torchwood and good luck with the Sophomore season
Rating: 10/10

Torchwood Season 2 Underway

2008-01-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well, ladies and gents, after almost a full year of waitng, Captain Jack Harkness and his merry band of alien detectives has finally come back to the world with new episodes of Torchwood. Being the generous fan that I am, I will be updating my blog weekly with news of the teams new exploits. Now, seeing as how I am two weeks behind already, I'll include a special double update later. But first, the Season 1 recap.

Season 1 introduces Torchwood through the eyes of their new recruit, Gwen Cooper. The team consists of Doctor Owen Harper; Technician extrordinaire Toshiko Sato; jack of all trades Ianto Jones; and their brilliant leader Captain Jack Harkness. Throughout the first season, the team deals with various threats both within their own ranks and outside of Torchwood. From incomplete Cybermen to innocent people stranded outside of their time period to ressurected menacing teammates, Torchwood delivers its own brand of justice to those posing a threat to the planet. The season closed out with the opening of the Cardiff rift by a possessed Torchwood team, despite Jack's attempts to stop them. Jack is killed before the Rift opens, but comes back to life to fight the monster unleashed from the Rift. Days later, Jack recovers and forgives his teammates, only to vanish from their sights when he hears the familiar engines of a certain Doctors spaceship...

Season 2 Episode 1 and 2 Summaries later on.

Torchwood's Back this Wednesday

2008-01-13T14:50:00.001-08:00

I know this isn't exactly English class related, but hey I'm always ready to turn people onto new things. That being said, Britain's biggest scifi series Torchwood is finally returning to the BBC and BBC America this Wednesday with New Episodes.

The show is a spin off of the popular British SciFi series Doctor Who and tells the stories of an elite alien tracker team known as Torchwood. Led by the handsome and mysterious Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood is on a mission to track down all signs of alien life on Earth and arm the human race against the future. As Jack so often warns, "The 21st Century is when everything changes, and you've gotta be ready". What this means exactly has yet to be revealed.

So yeah, if your really big on Scifi or a fan of Doctor Who, I definitley recommend catching the new Episodes on BBC America when they air here in the states, or torrenting them right away.

You will not be disappointed.
Enjoy