Wednesday 29 May 2013

Star Trek Into Darknes (2013) Review

If you've read my review of the first film, which can be found here, you'll know that I was surprised at my enjoyment of it. I've never been a big Star Trek fan, never seen the original series, and pretty much, aside from the first film and Wikipedia, only had an idea of the Klingons, Spock and a few names of planets and things.

I should point out that there will be SPOILERS in this review, but they won't start yet.

Star Trek Into Darkness was considered by the two mates I went with to be a lot better than the first. I mean it's probably a while since they saw the first. In fact, my friend Rebecca is going to see it a third time on Thursday, and when she went with me it was the second. So that proved to me it must be pretty epic. And indeed - it was epic. I'm just not sure epic worked.

I was going to review this last night, but my head's in a bit of a jumble over it. I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong, and I did thing it was epic. The explosions and battles were thrilling, the direction was amazing once again (bar a couple of close ups which seemed a little too close) and the acting was superb. I liked Kirk a lot more this time, and found myself liking Spock less, as he was getting a little tiresome by the end. But Spock's still my favourite, so. Benedict Cumberbatch gave an outstanding performance as John Harrison, and his character was completely believable. I half expected to watch an evil Sherlock, but it didn't happen, Cumberbatch's Harrison was completely believable and horrible. I truly, truly hated the character by the time it had finished, and yet in little moments throughout  he was likeable. It was strange - which was possibly part of my problem.

Because the film was good - but that's it. It was spectacular in the sense it was a spectacle, and it did look incredible, the CGI was incredibly realistic. But it didn't have much of a plot, or much of a structure. Rather than pace out a good story to build up the characters, the choice was made to dump the plot in ten minutes, which was spoken so quickly I personally found it quite hard to keep up with, and spend the rest of the time with fight scenes and explosions. Which would have been great, except they went on for so long I found myself forgetting what the purpose of the explosions and fight scenes was.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

When the film begins, it's great. The opening "mid-adventure" trick is used and that's always a good thing, and it worked well, with good Enterprise and Volcano and Red Tree Planet scenes and lots of running and so on. That was exciting. Then, Spock's life is saved by Kirk, and it later transpires Spock filed a report saying this and Kirk's ship is getting taken off of him. This is where the problems start for me. Films always use the "let's split up the team" trick and the "make it look like the hero won't have a ship" trick until something happens to make him get it back as quickly as he lost it. This film used the cliche, and although it didn't dwell on it for too long - it was too busy dwelling on other things.

Kirk saving Spock's life is THE plot. That is it. All the stuff with John Harrison is there just to constantly test the Kirk/Spock relationship - which would be great except they make it so obvious. The film is too obviously about the friendship, at the expense of any real plot. When there could be time speaking about John Harrison or the cryo-tubes or something, they talk about Kirk saving Spock's life, again and again and again. The incident is repeated far too much, and it makes the main theme of the film far too obvious. They don't stop talking about Kirk saving Spock's life - it is too much. I got bored of them having the same argument about it.

So what about the excuse for the explosions and violent fight scenes (again that's another point, in places the film felt too fanboy-ish, with lots of fight scenes and big villains, whereas the first one I could like more because it was more accepting to nu-Trekkies like myself). The excuse  was John Harrison. As I said, he was played brilliantly, I can't fault Cumberbatch's performance. And the revelation as Harrison as Kahn (said there were spoilers) no doubt made lots of Trekkies scream in delight. My friend Jake certainly did. To "remake" The Wrath of Kahn, which I'll be watching soon, is an interesting choice, and handled surprisingly well by those who publicised it. If you're a long Star Trek fan no doubt the revelation was thrilling, but the plot was just a little too fast and dropped in for people like me, who didn't have a clue. But that's more a personal issue with it.

It's still hard to pinpoint my feelings. I know I preferred the first film, just because it had plot threaded throughout the action sequences. The action sequences did feel too long and dropped in here, and I found myself breaking away from the action. There was too much of a contrast as well. A hugely long fight or explosion scene would lead into a long talky scene. The meeting scene was very good - but the long conversation with the Admiral where Kirk tries to get permission, or the tortuously dull conversation with Pike that Kirk has near the beginning contrasted too much. As did the "info-dump" scene with Cumberbatch in the cell. They all felt too long and too political. When they were on screen I wanted action. When the action arrived it lasted for too long and made me want talking that wasn't quite so dull. So it seemed like an odd mix of a film, which is where my comment about strange pacing comes from.

I will probably remember more points about this - but that pretty much sums up my feelings. It was good, and it probably needs a rewatch, but it was a little bit too all over the place. The pacing of the scenes seemed mixed up and out of place sometimes, and there was occasionally too much violence or action. I felt a bit alienated (pardon the pun) by the use of Kahn as well, and strangely even lost track or which team he was actually on. He was the bad guy, I think, but a bad guy with good intentions... And then the Admiral was the same... But they didn't like each other.... I just felt it was a bit everywhere. For me, Star Trek doesn't seem about the action, it should be about the exploring and the action that comes out of this. This tried too hard to be Star Trek The Action Movie, and as a non-dedicated fan and 'casual' viewer, that didn't feel right.

Saturday 25 May 2013

Star Trek (2009) Review

I am not a Star Trek fan.

That is one thing that needs to be made clear. It's not because I don't enjoy it, it's simply because I've only ever bothered to see one episode, half a classic film, and now this reboot. I was lent the Original Series on box set by my mate, but I only managed the aforementioned one episode, and although I really enjoyed it - I just couldn't be bothered to carry on watching. Oh and the episode order was all weird on the disc. That confused me.

So why did I bother to watch the 2009 film? Well, I've been keeping up to date with the trailers for Into Darkness, and planned to go and see it. And next Sunday, I and two mates will be going to see it, just because it looked so epic. In order to catch up, I borrowed (I'm making it look as if I never buy anything myself) the 2009 film.

And I loved it. It was really, properly enjoyable. And it's great being able to watch something so massive for so many people, and yet have to worry about what it means for the fans myself. When I watch Doctor Who I can't but judge what the fans will think, or what I think as a fan. With Star Trek I can come to an unbias, open opinion, based on what I feel rather than what I should feel. I am going to look into the fan side of things, but hopefully I won't be a Trekkie any time soon. I want to enjoy these films as good films - not as "oh my God they've wrecked our continuity!" films.

JJ Abrams does direct this very well. He likes his lens flares (which are alright, but sometimes a little bit pointless - I mean, why do we need one when Kirk lifts up a glass in a pub?) but aside from that he is very good. The CG Shots were faultless. They were truly, truly amazing, and felt completely realistic. All of the space shots were great. The thing that annoys with me movies is that the writers never get a look in. The script can be incredible, but it's always the director's film. So I'd like to congratulate the writers on constructing a complex and well thought through script that kept me interested all the way through. Brilliant.

The characters were all written really well. The acting was pretty much superb all the way through as well. I'm not the greatest fan of Kirk as a character, or indeed the way he's acted, but everyone else is really good. I love Spock (he was the only character I really even knew the name of, shamefully, before I watched the film) and Zachary Quinto (thanks for the name Wikipedia) plays him brilliantly. The film provided a great backdrop for people like me, who don't have a clue, without making the background story dull or unemotional. Though both Spock and Kirk have a rough time in terms of fights. I thought there were a little bit too many of them.

The plot itself was surprisingly "timey-wimey" (I'm sorry, I don't know who else to phrase it). I was expecting lots more alien fight scenes rather than a Spock from a different timeline who popped back but couldn't but could help his alternate self to become best mates with Kirk and defeat aliens from another reality who were looking for Spock because he'd destroyed their planet but he hadn't really but he was going to if he was a different person. And strangely - I had no problem in understanding all that, the film made it quite easy to follow. I liked the idea of the black hole leading to a new reality as well.

So now, I'm definitely looking forward to Into Darkness. I'm not sure the crew of the Enterprise going after a terrorist is quite the right thing for Star Trek (sorry, that was a bit of a fan criticism wasn't it?) but I'm looking forward to seeing Benedict Cumberbatch in it. It can only help the epicness. The best thing about Star Trek is that I actually want to watch it again. That doesn't matter with many films, but I genuinely enjoyed it and want to sit through it all again. I'll have to buy both DVDs when they inevitably come out together.

Researching on Wikipedia, I think I understand that Star Trek (the film) is a new reality, and the older (or Prime) Spock (who was played by the original actor, as I'd guessed, which is clever) was from the TV Series reality. So he popped back to push the new reality along the way. That was nice. I've no idea if fans liked that, but it was a good way of making sure their TV continuity was untouched and a new one could begin. I just assumed, as I watching it, that the alternate reality Prime Spock was from was just a different reality, and that the film one was real. But it's nice the film one is a fresh start, and it means I can follow it better.

I can't give Star Trek 10/10 because it's me and I never do, plus Into Darkness may beat it, but I'd give it a.... 8.7/10. Lost marks for extra lens flares, excessive fight scenes, and the random bit with Kirk stealing the car. They're tiny niggles aren't they?

Maybe I'm becoming a fan already.

Sunday 19 May 2013

The Name of the Doctor Review [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

Huge spoilers for The Name of the Doctor follow - you have been warned.

This is the finale we've all been looking forward to - and I was surprisingly quite excited. I commented on Twitter that I haven't been this excited about a finale for ages. I certainly don't remember feeling it for Series 5 and 6 (although both of those finales were better than those that had gone before), and perhaps I was for The End of Time but that was extinguished pretty quick. The Series 4 finale? Maybe I was excited for Rose coming back. The Series 3 finale? I was definitely excited for. So there you go. The first time I've been really excited for a final in six years.

Like the Series 6 finale, the story wasn't an adventure as such. It had no real story of it's own, it was more there to tie up the ends and be exciting and interesting. It was both exciting and interesting, and despite the lack of story (that was probably only ever really going to get done in a two-parter), it was really really good. In fact, most of fandom agrees that it was really really good. I say most of course - I haven't been on Gallifrey Base yet.

The Doctor's Greatest Secret
So yes of course his name wasn't revealed as we all knew it wasn't. That didn't stop us worrying deep down. But of course we'd probably all thought "well if it's not his name, what does his name mean". And of course - it's about keeping the name of the Doctor intact, in one piece, morally correct. The arrival of John Hurt as the Doctor (more of him later) provided a good last minute twist, and it's always nice when they use the episode name in the actual episode.

John Hurt
I'm not entirely convinced how much of a Doctor he's going to be - but then that's the point. He's meant to be different. And now some people hopefully understand that the Doctor isn't called John Hurt (maybe the BBC should have considered how they did that...), there are lots of questions as to who he is. The most common answer is 'The Time War' Doctor. He probably is, it makes sense - but it would still be lovely if he was something completely different. I am looking forward to seeing how it works though, especially with the chemistry Matt and John had very briefly on screen.

The Old Doctors
Aside from some dodgy editing and colourisation (most notably the moment where Clara falls face forward in the park after seeing Troughton), this bit was lovely. And it's lovely they finally made use of that pointless green screen in The Invasion of Time as well. That story needed a bit of picking up. It was fairly obvious from the moment they revealed the picture, and to some even before that, that Clara would be forcing the Doctor on his way through time and space. It was a lovely twist. But Clara needed a headdress.

Clara
At last, characterisation! Clara has finally become a proper, fully rounded character, who engages on her own with other characters. She's amiable, she has her own relationship with the Doctor (though I'm still not keen on her constantly being dropped off to look after the kids) and she's, at last, a complete character. Special mentions to Neil Cross and Neil Gaiman for pushing her along that track. Oh and Steve Thompson.

The Gang
Vastra, Strax and Jenny were a lot better. Strax's humour was back on form after dipping slightly in The Crimson Horror, and Vastra and Jenny were good too. The moment when Jenny declares "I think I've been murdered" was actually shocking - Doctor Who needs more of these moments!

River Song
For me, River was the only slightly dodgy link in the episode. She didn't quite fit in with the tone of it. There were quite a lot of very quick tone changes, laughing one minute, Dr Simeon being threatening the next, but they worked quite well.With River, tiny moments felt out of place. She doesn't fit the show any more. She, ironically, only fits in as a ghost or an echo, not as a complete character. However her purpose in being there, aside from turning up and practically narrating the story annoyingly once or twice, was fulfilled in the ending. She had an ending as a character. I like the fact that the Doctor has, in an almost unspoken way, reached the end of his timeline with River, and it's good they had a proper goodbye. What was better, is that the Doctor's line after his kiss with River actually made me laugh! I was quite surprised. The kiss itself I thought worked - though clearly fans didn't. But then they didn't in 1996 either, so they'll get used to it. It was, to my knowledge, the first proper kiss (not a genetic transfer, random Cassandra kiss, vortex transfer or half-human Doctor/Rose kiss) that the Doctor has actually.. performed since 1996. So I was happy. Strangely.

Dr Simeon and his Whispermen
Were amazing. Richard E Grant was absolutely outstanding, and it was nice to see the Great Intelligence being the ones who want to rewrite the Doctor's life. Out of all the aliens that have encountered him over and over again - it's the Intelligence, who have come up against him on screen three times. I thought that was a nice win for classic fans. I'm glad the Intelligence has been so prominent in the series. The Whispermen worked well, as did their rhyming couplets. I'm not entirely sure why they were there - parts of the Great Intelligence of just undertakers, but they were good. And their entrance in just murdering Jenny was certainly unforgettable.

The Day We Went to Trenzalore
It was incredible. It looked incredible, and the idea of it was incredible as well. The direction in this episode was absolutely superb, and the acting was different to how it normally is, and amazing. It was acted with complete seriousness, which really added an edge to the scenes where the Doctor goes to his grave. Literally. The whole episode was pieced together really well, and it was paced much better than some other episodes. And the sonic screwdriver was barely used!

Overall - this wasn't a perfect Doctor Who episode. It couldn't be. There wasn't enough of a standalone plot, and it was a little bit too reflective to be perfect. But, for what it was, as a look back and tie up things episode - it was perfect. When compared to other Doctor Who episodes this has to be looked at with the whole of Clara and Simeon and River's arcs - so it can't really be judged independently.

Quite clearly though - it was simply awesome.
The series on a whole was good - but come on Moffat - we can do better than this.

Sunday 12 May 2013

Doctor Who - 2013 Series Review

I was going to hold off on this until the end of the series - but considering next week's might actually be awesome (though I should never get too carried away with the trailers), I felt it would be better to do this now. Then I can give a whole review to the finale next week, saying it was awesome, or what a let down it was.

It's difficult from now, seven weeks from the first episode of 2013, to look back and say "oh yeah that was good because of this" but I'm going to do it anyway. There will probably be spoilers, and there will definitely be moaning - but not necessarily about The Rings of Akhaten.

Oh and at the end of each review I'll post a Tweet I tweeted after the episode broadcast, summing up my views, and possibly seeing if they've changed.

#7.6 THE BELLS OF SAINT JOHN
Don't even ask me what the correct production codes are for the episodes - but this is definitely NOT Series 8.

The Bells of Saint John was an "urban thriller" with an evil villain, iPads, technology, laptops, nice little character moments, and a James Bond-esque theme. Or at least, that's what I dreamed. I was looking forward to the episode so much and I was so disappointed. The first fifteen minutes = fan film. I could film all those scenes with Clara in her house. It all felt too ordinary, too safe, too nice. The kids (I'll get to them later) felt too useless, and Jenna-Louise Coleman was written really, really poorly. She didn't have a character! She acted perfectly with what she had, but she had mediocre companion questions that every writer who has any sense should try and avoid. Clara also has no reason to go with the Doctor from her perspective. It's dangerous introducing a character three times, and since the other two have done it so well, I'm even more disappointed with this one. It was like Steven Moffat thought this Clara wouldn't need an introduction - wrong. She needed a character as she is the one we follow this series, and instead we're presented with quite a straightforward character (who doesn't know computers?!) who doesn't fit. Oh and the villain was disappointing (her reaction when facing Doctor-Spoonhead was bad) and the promise of technology and urban-ness in the story just didn't pay off.  If I hadn't have expected so much - perhaps I wouldn't have been as disappointed by it.
TWEET:  Well that was good. Apparently the only person on the planet who thought it was a little bit... slow though...

#7.7 THE RINGS OF AKHATEN
So yeah, there are singing kids - but I honestly don't see the problem with this. Ok, so it's a "nice" episode, with lots of stuff for the kids in it - but it's not a kids episode that turns out to be appalling (like a certain Series 6 pirate episode). I haven't rewatched this, to be fair, but perhaps since the review slated it I wasn't expecting much. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it. But I honestly did, and felt that Neil Cross made an effort with Clara, even if it was down conventional companion roots.
TWEET:  I actually loved that. Inventive, emotional, beautifully written, passionate and touching. Amazing.

#7.8 COLD WAR
I can't even remember the right order for these episodes. I think this was next. It was wasn't it? Good. Well this was... interesting. It was a nice twist for the Ice Warriors to get out of their suit (even though they're a bit more spindly than I'd have imagined) and it was a good attempt at a setting, with good supporting cast. So there we go then - this episode was good - not much more, not much less. The setting wasn't greatly realised I didn't think (I expected it to be a lot more claustrophobic than it was, and the pink lighting didn't help), plus the scene with Clara falling underwater was strange and badly edited... But aside from that - it was good.
TWEET:  Cold War much better second time around. Still missing something (possibly the development of Clara), but good overall.

#7.9 HIDE
Ahh now this one was good - properly good. It combined horror, timey wimey stuff, a scary forest, an awesome monster, a well written and well acted Clara (Neil Cross definitely gets her better than other writers) and the supporting cast were really good as well. Even their love storyline wasn't too bad at all. The whole thing was really enjoyable - it's just a shame the last minute was there. If the "aliens in love" story had been threaded through, fine, but again, it was a stuck on addition, that reduced what was a really good episode to something a bit less good. It just didn't work, and the reusing of clips towards the ending felt strange. But aside from that, it was very good. Oh and Clara vs The TARDIS, and the trip back through time with the Doctor taking photos - absolutely yes.
TWEET:  Loved it! I mean love saved the day again, pretty much, meh, but overall awesome!

#7.10 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE TARDIS
Let's not mention the Brothers. This was a really good episode, I thought. I didn't expect to see much of the TARDIS, and so I wasn't disappointed when we didn't see much. The time creaturey things were very clever, the action was very good, and I like the look of the TARDIS corridors, even though they're lacking roundels. So yeah, a very good effort - with a resolution (although it was just a reset, but hey, the TV Movie did that too) that was built in! Oh what do you mean I need to mention the Brothers? Oh. Um. Well they. Weren't so great. And what was with that stupid subplot of someone pretending to be a robot? Silly.
TWEET:  Enjoyed #DoctorWho. Good to see Clara being properly developed, and good to see glimpses of more of the TARDIS.

#7.11 THE CRIMSON 'ORROR
The Crimson 'Orrro, cos that's what they're callin' it, (don't worry I'm not writing the whole review like that) wasn't... great. It was good, just as Cold War was, but again it seemed to be lacking something. In many ways it felt more like a proper Doctor Who story than other ones this series, but again, it's the ending that let it down. There were good moments, with Jenny/the Doctor, odd moments, with Strax and the TomTom (oh dear), and bad moments, with basically: the ending. It was too quickly resolved! Again! There's no action to resolve things any more! Though a chair is better than a sonic screwdriver, I guess. The whole subplot with Ada and the acting from Diana Rigg and daughter was awesome, and the general build up to the episode was good - it's just it did decline in quality and build up to a rushed ending once again.
TWEET: Clearly the only person on the planet who didn't enjoy it that much.. Again. #doctorwho #sorry

#7.12 NIGHTMARE IN SILVER
Well I liked it. A lot more than a lot of people, it seems - I don't really know what was wrong. Characters underused? Maybe, but they're only there cos they're needed, and they were acted well. Bad Cybermen? No. Perhaps a little too robotic, but they have a presence and so are haunting, rather than perhaps scary. The children? Actually less annoying than I thought they were going to be. The Doctor and Clara? Matt Smith's been written really well all series and his acting's been perfect - and this showcased that. Clara became a proper character at last, hooray! So yeah, I really enjoyed that.
TWEET: Well I loved it.

So - there we have it, my brief reviews of the series so far. Potential but not always realised, good moments scattered amongst disappointment - and perhaps an indication we're heading to a finale that might be really good. I'm looking forward to the finale a lot more than I was because.. [SPOILERS  BELOW]

BESSIE'S IN THE TRAILER!!!!!
See you next week.

Saturday 11 May 2013

A Few Words on John Hurt [SPOILERS]

[POTENTIAL SPOILERS]

The word "potential" is used because this is just a RUMOUR, that's been around for a few weeks, and enhanced by some words said by John Hurt himself. But, obviously if the rumour does turn out to be true - this article has spoilers in it. If you don't want to risk anything - don't read this!

The 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who has been a bit of a controversial topic for some time. You have the "It's Doctor Who, we'll love it regardless, don't judge" section of fans, and the "What the hell do you mean there are no old Doctor?!" I'm probably balancing in between the two. I always said that if it was just David Tennant and Matt Smith it wouldn't feel right... And so here we are. I am disappointed about the lack of classic Doctors - but hey, if it's good and over 60 minutes, I'm willing to overlook it. What do you mean it's only 60 minutes as far as we know? Oh.

Now I know nothing official's been confirmed - but let's face it, it's likely to stand as it is. And yes, a surprise of old Doctors would be nice, if only to shut up those who don't have any hope for the 50th and believe the Big Finish special will be better. But if it does stand as it is - then that could lead to interesting viewing on the 23rd November. If they bother to show it then of course.

So - that leads me onto John Hurt. His casting was confirmed about the time of filming, and on set it appears his costume's a mix of leather jacket and well dressed farmer. That's what helped spark the rumours that - John Hurt is the Ninth Doctor. He's a Doctor that everyone's forgotten about and compressed because he's the one that fought in the Time War, and they're ashamed. This would make Christopher Eccleston the 10th Doctor, David Tennant the 11th and Matt Smith the 12th. Fandom is already in uproar.

I love the idea. I genuinely think it is fantastic and I really really hope they do this. I expect if they do they'd end the episode saying it was all a trick by whoever Hurt's character really is, but I would love it to be true. Why? 1. Because everyone obsessed with canon would be in turmoil on Gallifrey Base and that would be hilarious. 2. Because it would be a brave thing to do with the series, a way of looking forward and back, and a pefectly complex "timey wimey" twist for the 50th and 3. Because who wouldn't want John Hurt as the Doctor?!

These rumours keep popping up now, all of them saying the same thing. Hurt himself said that it's a "trinity" with the other two Doctors. I honestly think this would be great. Yes it would mess up the merchandising and the canon - BUT WHO CARES?! It's about time the series was put before the merchandise and money making schemes for once. I do worry that the plot would be a bit bewildering for non-fans: but then seriously, you're only going to watch the 50th if you're a.) a Doctor Who fan or b.) a David Tennant fan. David Tennant fans won't care about the plot! They're only watching for him!

So for Who fans, it's a nice twist that they should accept. I'm not a Time War fan - but for me, this might make it feasible.

Saturday 4 May 2013

New Who's 100th Episode

It's the 100th episode of "new" Doctor Who tonight (Saturday 4th May 2013) - and I can't believe more blogs haven't looked into the past to give an overall judgement of the last 100 tales. (Although tales = stories, and this isn't the 100th story, as two part episodes count as two episodes but one story...) Anyway, tonight's The Crimson Horror is our Stones of Blood.. except that was the 100th story, not episode, so that's a bit confusing, but oh well.

I'm not gonna do the backdrop as to why the series came back because that's everywhere and there's a documentary on it coming out soon. So I'm simply going to sum up and talk through high and low points of the series over the last 99 episodes, with expectations for the 100th. And it's going to be quite a brief overview, and I will forget episodes to mention on occasion. A high point for me is Series One. The whole thing. It's not that high rated compared to some of the things David Tennant who came next, but it is incredible. Rose is the perfect opener, and it is written perfectly. It's not tied by down story arcs, it's not trying to be epic, it's just telling a simple story, full of character and correct pacing. It's the ultimate fan episode - as it's how we've all defeated the Autons in the school playground. Anti-plastic. It takes in London, the TARDIS, and a brand new Doctor, and mixes them all together to create a perfect adventure for a new audience. Rose is my favourite modern episode (along with The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances). When I was younger, I loved Aliens of London/World War Three. I didn't like Father's Day so much, but now I adore it. And that just shows that Series One is there for any age, it balances adult and children entertainment and produces thirteen wonderful episodes. (I'm still not that keen on the finale, it has to be said, but lots of Daleks has never been my thing.)

Series Two is where the tone changes. It's no longer a series trying to impress, well it is but not as much, it's a series that's beginning to feel more comfortable, and it's pushing the boundaries and playing around with some of the Series One formats. The series suddenly becomes a lot more tongue-in-cheek, it suddenly changes the Doctor/companion dynamic. In Series One, the unspoken appreciation between the Doctor and Rose worked brilliantly. Here, their love is waved about and shoved in your face, and though I'm not against it, I'm still not entirely convinced it was right. It's also a shame that the first thing that appears in my head about Series Two is the Doctor/Rose's love. Their friendship and appreciation should carry the series, not their will they/won't they. Saying all this - when I watched it, I loved it. I even loved Love & Monsters. Well I probably loved the first few minutes of Love & Monsters with the Doctor and Rose in. And I always think I was quite disappointed at the Abzorballof winning the Blue Peter competition not the weird vampire creatures that had been shortlisted and wonderfully drawn. But oh well.

Series Two does have a range of highlights. The Girl in the Fireplace is a strange example. When I was younger, I didn't feel much for the love thing, but I remember the story, the time windows, the fireplace, the Clockwork droids, capturing my imagination. I actually drew them. In school. So that's a perfect example of what an episode of Doctor Who can do. The Impossible Planet! It's one of the greatest modern episodes of all time, and The Satan Pit's also quite good. What's great about The Impossible Planet is that it contains the only scene in all of Doctor Who I still. Can't. Watch. The scene where Toby's outside, turns, evily smiles, and pulls Scooti out by smashing the glass is TERRIFYING. The smile on his face is so CHILLING I still CAN'T WATCH IT. So yeah. Series Two worked quite well. Even Fear Her, at the time, though I was never too keen about a drawing coming.. to life...

Series Three... To be honest, I have written record of reviews and me enjoying it at the time. It's now I look back a little less favorably on it. It's probably the only series that doesn't appeal to my at this age, and though the scripts are all good and so on - it's the love thing. The unrequited love storyline was wrong. As a young viewer, I don't think it distracted me too much, so I shouldn't really complain. But looking back on it now, I feel that it was the wrong decision, and it stopped Martha growing into the character she should have been. In the finale, it was an attempt to get Martha to grow up, and although most of the population seems to think she improved - I don't. Martha was acted as well as she could have been, as well as that character was written, but then the unrequited love storyline and an artificial 'improvement' of the character was never going to work, in Doctor Who. EastEnders, maybe.

To take a look at the episodes themselves, they are good, but there are less standouts. Doctor Who starts to become positively flippant with the tone and pushes it in some wonderful, and some less wonderful directions. The increase in comedy and fun for me, doesn't work, as it's always balanced with drama and stuff for all the audience in previous series, and in Series Three it becomes a bit cheaper, a bit less balanced, a bit more/too standout. The wonderful standouts in Series Three are Human Nature/Family of Blood (and they are absolutely fantastic, except the "you had to fall in love with a human and it wasn't me" line Martha has), and Utopia. Utopia is superb and the cliffhanger is incredible. Derek Jacobi as well! He's awesome! The finale's not.. as great.. for me, but then the finales are never ever my favourites as they always feel a bit too epic. Something in me says Doctor Who doesn't always lend itself to space opera epic. I also really enjoy Gridlock, I like the claustrophobia. And again, I think it has that 'I can recreate this at home' feel to it, which for me at the time was really important. It still is, I think. Blink's very good as well.. not quite sure it's as good as people think, but it is very good.

Series Four I adore. It's the correct way to push a series in a different direction, without losing the balance of emotion/stuff for adults/stuff for kids. Catherine Tate is marvellous. And the standout episodes are threaded throughout the series. Things like Midnight I didn't like at the time, but now I love it. Things like The Doctor's Daughter weren't my favourite, but now I.. quite enjoy it, I think. The point is, Series Four is marvellous. And you must say the word marvellous in the voice of Russell T Davies. The only thing again, for me, that doesn't work is the finale! Lots of Daleks, meh yeah, done it before, Davros, ooh cool, he's quite good, Rose, ooh that's good - and then came two David Tennants. And then came the DoctorDonna.... And for me - that didn't work great. Donna's ending is actually heartbreaking (a lot more than Rose's one, though of course it made a young me sad at the time when Rose left), and I get annoyed with Donna forgetting the Doctor. Not because it's a bad plot device - but because it's so unfair on the character! But that makes it good drama, and the word drama is correct, not just 'fun stuff'.

The Specials... Planet of the Dead I love, I think it's a true classic "new" Doctor Who adventure (and bless them for saying the Tritovores could be the next Daleks/Cybermen, it's like the Mechanoids or the Zarbi all over again). The stuff on the bus, the desert, Cardiff tunnel I drive through every holiday, it's all wonderful. The Waters of Mars doesn't work. It would have worked brilliantly if a.) David Tennant's Doctor was a dark Doctor, and this had been threaded successfully throughout the series and b.) If the crew had been a bit more inspiring on Bowie Base One. The Flood is absolutely brilliant, and so is Lindsay Duncan. But the Doctor randomly turning evil felt wrong and horrible, it's the wrong thing to do to, not the character, but that incarnation. McCoy would have a had a field day with that - but not Tennant. Things like a Dalek cameo and Gadget don't work great, and the idea and set up are awesome, it just loses something in the execution. And Adelaide's self -inflicted "execution" at the end also felt a bit.. wrong. Good drama. For EastEnders.

The End of Time was hopefully loved by all, and that's what matters, so we'll just move on. (Though I disagree with bad Time Lords, an over hungry Master, a Master that's too insane, the silly Master race, and the Doctor throwing a strop at having to regenerate. Tom Baker didn't do that... on screen.)

Series Five (and Seven so far) is the only one I don't own on DVD, so this is going to be a mix of initial reactions and any ones I have rewatched. Series Five is good, and Matt Smith is amazing - and there are good, brilliant moments, but the series feels lacking. Amy's Choice and the Angel two parter are great. Vincent and the Doctor, at the time, I really disliked. It was putting the what I considered to be "over emotional 10th Doctor stuff" onto the 11th Doctor, and he deserved better. It was a 10th Doctor episode and for me felt out of place. I don't even think I've watched it since. The finale is good, and the only finale ever I think I actually rewatched a few days after it'd finished. The Silurian two-parter is.. less great. But again, high and low points.

Series Six's arc is what I love about Series Six. The mystery, the whole Astronaut thing, the whole River thing, kept me watching even more than usual. I loved the arc, and felt it was a brilliant and bold experiment for the show. Finales were toned down, rethought, and the series split was great. Episodes like Let's Kill Hitler were much better than I ever thought, and was a fun and excellent exploration of characters. The series does slip down when it comes to Pirates and the Flesh episodes (which I really really really didn't and don't like), and initially I thought The God Complex was rubbish. But now, I've grown to like The God Complex, and stories like The Doctor's Wife you either love or hate - and I love. So I probably like Series Six more than everyone else. Oh and of course - The Girl Who Waited is superb. It's what Doctor Who has become and it showcases the 'balance' I keep mentioning perfectly.

Series Seven hasn't been great so far, and there's been quite a few disappointments. Well done for getting this far through my blog, dear reader, and as you've probably guessed - I like to judge and analyse. Which is, I worry, why I'm not enjoying Series Seven too much. I do try and go into episodes with an open mind, more than I used to, and there are good moments - but I'm yet to find any outstanding moments in the series. Oh - actually, there were one and a half. One - Oswin Oswald's shock appearance in Asylum! And two - The Snowmen. I loved it. A perfect introductory episode for a companion, absolutely brilliant. It's a shame Clara's journeys in the TARDIS haven't been structured so well - as people write her as a mystery, not a character.

Still - as we approach The Crimson Horror - I look forward to less Clara development - and desperately hope that our favourite Victorian gang aren't abused too much because of Strax's comedy, which I enjoy. The series is being pushed in a direct that's too epic (movie of the week doesn't work) and that tries to be too young and funny. This is Doctor Who - not a Dctor Who Adventures comic strip. So yes, comedy is fine, light heartedness is good - but when it's too much, and it does occasionally become too much, it doesn't work.

And need I even mention the overused Sonic?

Doctor Who has been my childhood, it's as simple as that. It is the best 45 minutes of every week, regardless of how it turns out, and people like Russell T Davies made me want to write. So I owe Doctor Who a lot, and it has structured my life completely.

Happy 100 episodes of Doctor Who. And I will not be buying you a replacement Sonic Screwdriver to celebrate.