Review of "The Caretaker"

After some very good Dr Who episodes this season, Steven Moffat has given us a stinker, called "The Caretaker". I know they can't all be great, but this was pretty big letdown. "The Caretaker" sees the Doctor trying to lure a robot into a school to destroy him. You know how I feel about androids like this. If you used some kind of robot, not named Daleks or Cybermen, you have to have someone who something controlling them. It never works when you just place a robot in a story as the main bad guy. Moffat has done this at least twice this season.

If that wasn't bad enough, most of the episode was the Doctor trying to be funny and eventually finding out who Mr Pink is. When the episode is trying so hard to be funny, like this one did, it falls flat on its face. The Doctor is funny, when you least expect it with a quick jab or joke. This episode was trying way too hard to be funny and it made me yawn.

Lastly, the Doctor finally finds out that Mr Pink is Clara's boyfriend and that he is a "Solider". What happened to the Doctor that he hates soldiers so much? He worked for UNIT for many years on earth and they were soldiers. One of his best friends was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who was in charge of soldiers. So why now all of a sudden is the Doctor so anti-solider? It doesn't make sense. If the Doctor really wants to hate Mr Pink, he should dislike him because he is boring. The only thing he does is bang his head onto a desk or table. Where are the Weeping Angels when you need them?


I give "The Caretaker" a  1.5 Tardi's out of 5. You could have skipped this episode and not missed a thing.

Review "Time Heist"

"Time Heist" is the latest Dr Who episode for Peter Capaldi and I was very entertained. The Doctor, Clara  and 2 others have to break into the most secure bank in the universe, all while being chased from the Teller, a creature that makes your head look like a deflated basketball. This episode was kinda like Dr Who meets Mission Impossible. I'm just glad Tom Cruise didn't show up. Then again if the Teller would have deflated Cruise's head like he did to the poor sap in the episode, I would died and gone to heaven.

"Time Heist" is a very solid episode. The pacing is great, the acting is great and even though it wasn't hard to figure out the Doctor was the Architect, it had some good twists and turns. Having the Teller end up not really being a monster was a fantastic idea. The other characters, Psi & Saibra were a great addition to the Doctor's team. The one that really shown through was Saibra. Saibra is such a emphatic character , not being able to touch someone without changing into them is a curse. It kinda reminds me of Rogue of the X-Men. I would even argue that Saibra was a lot more important then Clara was. Clara could have eliminated from this episode and I wouldn't have missed her.

Overall, I give "Time Heist" a 4 out of 5 Tardis's.

Review "Listen"

"Listen" is the  latest Dr Who episode and is by far the best this season. In "Listen", we have a whole episode where there really isn't a monster or villain. The whole episode is based around what Clara tells the Doctor when he was a kid. The only flaw in this theory is what was under the sheet in that kid's bed? So maybe there really is a monster that doesn't want to be seen and that grabs our ankles, when we get out of bed. I never really thought about someone grabbing my ankles but I can not lie and have to admit, I've been getting out of bed really quickly in the morning.

The highlight of the episode was seeing Clara talking to the Doctor has a child about "Fear". It got me thinking, I wonder how many parents are going to use the "Fear is a Superpower" speech to their kids. I know if I ever have kids, I will. We also find out that the barn that the child Doctor was sleeping in was the same barn that the War Doctor went to, to end the Time War. That is what I love about Dr Who. It's a show so rich in history, that we have a scene that connects Williams Hartnell to Peter Capaldi. I was literally on the edge of my seat wanting more. 

My only problems about the episode is first, what was under the sheets in the boys bed and secondly how did the Tardis get to Gallifrey. I don't buy that hooking the Tardis up to Clara could bypass the time lock. By that rational then, the Doctor could hook himself up to theTardis and get to Gallifrey anytime he wants to. Then again, maybe he will do that in the near future. A Whoivan can only dream of an episode set on Gallifrey.

This was by far the best episode of the season and one of Moffat's best work on Dr Who.  I give "Listen" 4.5 Tardis's out of 5. I think I will go watch it again before the new one airs.

Review of Robots of Sherwood

It seems like every season Dr Who brings us a time period piece like this past week’s episode, "Robot of Sherwood". We have met William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, Vincent Van Gogh and now we finally meet Robin Hood. I enjoy these types of episodes very much. It puts the Doctor and his companion in a situation where their knowledge and technology is far beyond what the locals could imagine. They have to be careful not to alter the future. 

 This is a fun episode of Dr Who. It's not meant to be too dark and has a very lighthearted feel throughout the whole episode. The highlight for me was seeing the Doctor fight Robin Hood with the most unlikely weapon, a spoon. This episode also did a great use of robots. They made them an extension of the one controlling them, which is why I disliked "Deep Breath" so much. That is how you use robots. It kind of reminded me of the "Androids of Tara", a medieval setting with robots and sword fighting. That episode was broken into 4 weeks and this one was wrapped up pretty quickly. Can you imagine spending a whole month watching "Robot of Sherwood"? I mean, yes it's a good episode, but you would really have to drag out the story to get a month’s worth. Of course back then the segments of the episode were only a little over 18 minutes. As a Classic Fan, it does make me reminisce about the old days. I think some of the new Dr Who episodes should be expanded into more than one episode, but some like "Robot of Sherwood" are just about right.

 

 I was also really impressed with the acting. Ben Miller who played the Sheriff was fabulous and he kind of reminded me of the Master. He has the evil quality about him and would make a wonderful Master. Tom Riley played Robin Hood was also fantastic, but I think we all secretly wanted Jonas Armstrong who played Robin Hood in the BBC television show. 

 So, no Missy, no Mr. Pink, no wondering if the Doctor is a good man, just a Dr Who episode that stands alone and has certain of a classic feel. I give this episode, 3 out of 5 Tardis's.

Review "Into the Dalek"

"Into the Dalek" is Peter Capaldi's 2nd episode and finally after straightening out his new body, it felt like normalcy again. This Doctor is dark, older and kinda reminds me of William Hartnell. Not totally, but he's got some Hartnell in him. He's struggling with the thought, "Am I a good man?" After these last 2 episodes, I don't know if we can answer that. I think that's going to be a running theme during the season. I don't think I can ever recall (and I know you guys will tell me if I'm wrong) the Doctor disregarding life, except maybe William Hartnell. He lets two of the people on his crew die and doesn't even feel remorseful about it. He even uses one of them to track down where his body went. That's not very Doctor like if you ask me. That seems something like the War Doctor would do.

The episode itself was decent, but not great. It was cool to see the Doctor and companion being shrunk down just like in "The Invisible Enemy", where a clone of the Doctor and Lela travel in the Doctor's own body. Sitting here watching the Doctor travel inside the Dalek, I was thinking "Man, Devros was a genius". A Dalek is a pretty impressive scientific accomplishment and consider he did it, all while being confined to a chair. Not too shabby if you ask me.

 On the negative side, it wasn't that all exciting. For a Dalek storing, it was kinda boring. I feel like these last two episodes are kinda throwaway episodes. Don't get me wrong, the scenes with Missy (the women in heaven) are very important and the th
eme of if the Doctor is "good" are very important but the actual stories are lacking. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I just want a strong Dr Who episode.

Lastly, during this episode I was thinking "What's with the companions getting picked up by the Doctor?". The companions of the last 2 Doctors just go with the Doctor for adventure and then go back to their normal lives. Then the Doctor pops up again and takes them a way. It should be that the companion is stuck on the Tardis or traveling with him the whole time during their run. Then when they get off the Tardis, they are done. I miss the old days of companions that traveled with the Doctor until A) The Doctor finally gets them home B) They marry someone, or C) They die stopping the Cybermen and cause the extension of the Dinosaurs. Maybe this is why the Doctor is not a good man anymore, he has no one to travel with him full-time.

"Into the Dalek" gets a 2.5 Tardis's out of 5. I can't wait until next week, Robin Hood.

Review of Deep Breath (Spoilers)

Finally, Dr Who is back on TV and I just watched the first episode of Peter Capaldi's run as the Doctor called, "Deep Breath". It's hard to gauge first episode's of new Doctors, because they are always not themselves, falling down and just plain goofy after regenerating. The Doctor always ends up being someone totally different from their first episode. I like the new direction that Capaldi's Doctor is heading. He's no longer this sexy, cool Doctor. He even makes fun of it by telling Clara that the previous Doctor was her boyfriend. This new Doctor is what the Doctor had been in the past, a father or grandfather type. Now will this alienate the young fans? Time will tell.

The episode itself was lacking in my opinion. It's hard to introduce new robots to Dr Who, cause we have so many classic ones. Andy why does the Doctor always have to find some kind of android in his first episode? Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston and now Peter Capaldi all fought some kind of robot in their first episode. At least Troughton fought the Daleks. This robot was lacking in back story and he wasn't that menacing. Most android stories need a human or monster controlling it to get the best out of the episode. Robots are needed to be used as tools to fight the Doctor to make the story go along, with exception to the Cybermen and Daleks.

The other problems with this episode, just like every other first episode of a new Doctor, is that the Doctor is all over the place. It makes it hard to watch. I know it's part of the story, but wouldn't it be nice if he regenerates and acts in control?

The only saving grace to this episode was the phone call from Matt Smith. I was never a big Fan of Smith's Doctor, but that scene with him calling Clara did bring a tear to my eye. I think it was not only a message to Clara, but a message to fans to give this Doctor a try. He needs us and we need him.

It was nice to see Jenny, Strax and Madame Vastra back again. I was worried that we might have seen the end of them with a new Doctor taking over. They are so much fun to watch, that I think they deserve their own spin-off show. Also, was that the first same sex kiss on Dr Who? I know we have seen Captain Jack kiss men on Torchwood, but I don't recall seeing any other same sex kisses on the main show.

I do think this episode set up some major story lines in the future, like who in the heck was that lady at the end. I think after this season is over I might look at "Deep Breath" a little

differently. For now, I give it a 2 out of 5 Tardis's.

Big Finish Turns 15

This past week was Big Finish Audio's 15th Anniversary and it got me thinking about the impact Big Finish has had on Dr Who and myself. If you answered, tremendous impact, then you would be correct. Let's think about the Dr Who landscape when big Finish started. In 1999, we were 3 years removed from the failed Dr Who movie and we were 6 years before the show came back. It was a dark time for Dr Who fans. We didn't have any new Dr Who stories, except for fan fiction. Then in 1999, Big Finish started producing the Dr Who audio series. They started with "The Sirens of Time", written by Nicholas Briggs and staring, Peter Davison, Colin Baker & Sylvester McCoy. That's an impressive cast to kick off Big Finish and they have never looked back. Producing brand new stories for the 4th Doctor through the 8th Doctor. They have a created a brand new adventures for the 1st through the 4th Doctors as told by their companions call the Companion Chronicles. They even created Dr who spin-offs that would probably never have a chance to be made on TV like, Gallifrey, UNIT, I Davros, Jago & Litefoot & more.

Like I said before, the impact Big Finish had on Dr Who was tremendous. One could argue, that if not for Big Finish, Dr Who might have never returned to TV in 2005. They were able to keep the fans' love and excitement about the show going and create new excitement. Their audio stories, were a major reason that Dr Who just wouldn't die. That reminder of how great Dr Who was, I believe was a major reason for it's return. Even when Dr Who returned to TV, Big Finish has only grown in popularity. They have created a whole history for the 8th Doctor and Paul McGann, that we would not have if not for Big Finish. They did such a good job that the TV show basically canonized all their work. I would even argue that Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's best work playing the Doctor was on Big Finish and not on the TV episodes.

I was a late fan when it comes to Big Finish. I was skeptical that I could truly enjoy just listening to a Dr Who story. I still remember the first story, I ever listened to. It was free in my issue of Dr who magazine and it was called "Cuddlesome". I was blown away by the quality and my ability to see the episode in my mind. From that day forward, I was a Big Finish fan. When I go to conventions, I always make a point to stock up on Big Finish products. They have made my daily trip to work, the best part of my day. Thank you Big Finish.