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kindkitI've skipped ahead several seasons in my Doctor Who viewing, which I feel a bit guilty about. But it's renewed my interest and surely that's a good thing?
Some reactions below the cut. Not deep or profound, not even particularly well organized. There are spoilers for the episodes listed in the subject heading and for "The End of Time."
The Keeper of Traken
Er, I like Adric. I hear I'm not supposed to (apparently he behaves like a sexist jerk in some other episodes?) but so far, I do. Even though I normally hate TV kids. The thing is, he's not presented as sweet or cute, but as formidably intelligent in an un-childlike way. In his certainty of his own cleverness he reminds me of Zoe, and his grumpy bickering with the Doctor (half-serious, half-playful) reminds me of Jamie. I'm trying really hard not to read the bickering as flirtatious, because Adric is so too young, but I'll admit that I've occasionally failed in my efforts.
Besides Adric, this story has really cool costumes. And the Master! That scene towards the end when the Master makes the Doctor kneel had me snickering, then laughing out loud with great lack of dignity when the Master says that he's got a use in mind for the Doctor's body. (Okay, the use ended up being "I'm going to take over your body to replace my icky decaying one," but it was still a fun moment. I figure that the Master just wants to get inside the Doctor's body one way or another.)
Logopolis
TEGAN! TEGAN IS AWESOME, YES.
I like the thematic play with entropy, although I'm still confused about mummy!Doctor and how the hell that happened/what it meant.
Ainley!Master is not Delgado!Master, alas. *sigh* I'm trying to appreciate Ainley!Master on his own terms, but Ainley seems to have been told to keep the Master as much like Delgado's performance as possible. This unfortunately means that he seems like a second-rate imitation rather than a new version of the character. There are some nice Doctor/Master vibes, though, with the usual "Oh noes we must work together!" stuff, and the Master trying to parlay that reluctant handshake into a hug. (If the Doctor hadn't shrugged him off, maybe the Master wouldn't have got all double-crossy?)
The regeneration scene is low-key and tasteful, about which more below.
Castrovalva
I already thought that the looooooong regeneration scene in "The End of Time" was irritating, but the contrast with both the Four/Five regeneration and the Five/Six one in "The Caves of Androzani" really shows up how trite and unsubtle Davies's writing was. By making Ten so self-pitying, by trying to wring as many tears from the audience as possible, Davies made the regeneration less moving. There was nothing in Ten's entire regeneration sequence that affected me as much as seeing Five unravelling that scarf, and then gradually shedding the Fourth Doctor's clothes as he wanders lost in his own TARDIS. And I don't even like the Fourth Doctor very much. The Fifth Doctor's confusion (calling his companions by the wrong names) and vulnerability worked well, too.
It wasn't easy to follow the plot of this story; recursivity is a very cool theme and makes for great Escher-esque set design, but a confusing narrative. Also, I was distracted by the dubcon BDSM Master/Adric stuff. You know, I'd seen people LOLing over stills of Adric tied up, but I always thought Adric's apparent erection in those pictures was a trick of the light. Having now seen the whole sequence . . . um, no, it wasn't. I guess Adric found being kidnapped, tied up, tormented, and forced to betray the Doctor rather enjoyable. Adolescent hormones trump everything else, poor boy.
Perhaps he was just picking up on the Doctor/Master subtext, which was heavy in this story. The Master's "I must see his face and hear his voice again before I kill him!" doesn't quite translate to uncomplicated hatred, I'm afraid. Nor, for that matter, does kidnapping the Doctor'sunderage boyfriend companion and trying to seduce lure him to the Dark Side.
What's up with the constant Evil Maniacal Laughter, though? It's cheesy and makes me yearn even more for the greatly lamented Roger Delgado.
Tegan continues to be fabulous. I'm disappointed, however, that she wasn't actually flying the TARDIS. Because it would've been so perfect if the Doctor had never figured it out purely because he thought he was too clever to RTFM.
I like Nyssa too, although she's not as striking a character. She doesn't seem to have a role yet in team TARDIS. Adric is already the resident clever-clogs, and Tegan is the brave and determined one; Nyssa has a share in all those qualities, but she's tending to be written as the sidekick to whoever she's with at a given moment. Hopefully she'll come into her own as things continue.
Some reactions below the cut. Not deep or profound, not even particularly well organized. There are spoilers for the episodes listed in the subject heading and for "The End of Time."
The Keeper of Traken
Er, I like Adric. I hear I'm not supposed to (apparently he behaves like a sexist jerk in some other episodes?) but so far, I do. Even though I normally hate TV kids. The thing is, he's not presented as sweet or cute, but as formidably intelligent in an un-childlike way. In his certainty of his own cleverness he reminds me of Zoe, and his grumpy bickering with the Doctor (half-serious, half-playful) reminds me of Jamie. I'm trying really hard not to read the bickering as flirtatious, because Adric is so too young, but I'll admit that I've occasionally failed in my efforts.
Besides Adric, this story has really cool costumes. And the Master! That scene towards the end when the Master makes the Doctor kneel had me snickering, then laughing out loud with great lack of dignity when the Master says that he's got a use in mind for the Doctor's body. (Okay, the use ended up being "I'm going to take over your body to replace my icky decaying one," but it was still a fun moment. I figure that the Master just wants to get inside the Doctor's body one way or another.)
Logopolis
TEGAN! TEGAN IS AWESOME, YES.
I like the thematic play with entropy, although I'm still confused about mummy!Doctor and how the hell that happened/what it meant.
Ainley!Master is not Delgado!Master, alas. *sigh* I'm trying to appreciate Ainley!Master on his own terms, but Ainley seems to have been told to keep the Master as much like Delgado's performance as possible. This unfortunately means that he seems like a second-rate imitation rather than a new version of the character. There are some nice Doctor/Master vibes, though, with the usual "Oh noes we must work together!" stuff, and the Master trying to parlay that reluctant handshake into a hug. (If the Doctor hadn't shrugged him off, maybe the Master wouldn't have got all double-crossy?)
The regeneration scene is low-key and tasteful, about which more below.
Castrovalva
I already thought that the looooooong regeneration scene in "The End of Time" was irritating, but the contrast with both the Four/Five regeneration and the Five/Six one in "The Caves of Androzani" really shows up how trite and unsubtle Davies's writing was. By making Ten so self-pitying, by trying to wring as many tears from the audience as possible, Davies made the regeneration less moving. There was nothing in Ten's entire regeneration sequence that affected me as much as seeing Five unravelling that scarf, and then gradually shedding the Fourth Doctor's clothes as he wanders lost in his own TARDIS. And I don't even like the Fourth Doctor very much. The Fifth Doctor's confusion (calling his companions by the wrong names) and vulnerability worked well, too.
It wasn't easy to follow the plot of this story; recursivity is a very cool theme and makes for great Escher-esque set design, but a confusing narrative. Also, I was distracted by the dubcon BDSM Master/Adric stuff. You know, I'd seen people LOLing over stills of Adric tied up, but I always thought Adric's apparent erection in those pictures was a trick of the light. Having now seen the whole sequence . . . um, no, it wasn't. I guess Adric found being kidnapped, tied up, tormented, and forced to betray the Doctor rather enjoyable. Adolescent hormones trump everything else, poor boy.
Perhaps he was just picking up on the Doctor/Master subtext, which was heavy in this story. The Master's "I must see his face and hear his voice again before I kill him!" doesn't quite translate to uncomplicated hatred, I'm afraid. Nor, for that matter, does kidnapping the Doctor's
What's up with the constant Evil Maniacal Laughter, though? It's cheesy and makes me yearn even more for the greatly lamented Roger Delgado.
Tegan continues to be fabulous. I'm disappointed, however, that she wasn't actually flying the TARDIS. Because it would've been so perfect if the Doctor had never figured it out purely because he thought he was too clever to RTFM.
I like Nyssa too, although she's not as striking a character. She doesn't seem to have a role yet in team TARDIS. Adric is already the resident clever-clogs, and Tegan is the brave and determined one; Nyssa has a share in all those qualities, but she's tending to be written as the sidekick to whoever she's with at a given moment. Hopefully she'll come into her own as things continue.
