![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenYes, there were cliches, but it was still heartwarming.
Oh so very Dickensian an opening! So very pretty, and it warmed my heart to see the Doctor drinking it in and obviously enjoying himself just looking at all the people.
I was skeptical from the start that "the Next Doctor" really was the Doctor (because of real world practicalities of casting such an important part), so I give them kudos for actually making me think, at some points, that he might really be a future Doctor, such as when it was revealed that he'd lost his memory. Also, the actor really had the charisma to carry it off, I think.
But I also guessed very early on that (a) he wasn't the Doctor and (b) he'd lost his wife and child. It was the "sonic" screwdriver that made me fairly certain, and when the Doctor took out the stethoscope, the look on his face clinched it for me; such a studied neutral expression; if it had really been the Doctor, the real Doctor wouldn't have been trying so hard not to show what he was feeling. The TARDIS-balloon was confirmation. But oddly enough, the predictability didn't irritate me, possibly because I had those moments of doubt, and also it made me feel clever, rather than feeling that the characters were stupid.
There was a moment when I did feel that the characters were being stupid, though... but now I can't remember what it was.
Go Rosita! She was good. That bit at the start when they were being pulled along and she turned up with an axe - yes!
Drat that the Doctor is still angsting about Rose, though - I assume he is, because of his reaction to the name "Rosita".
Yes, JL was sexist, but it was in keeping with a man of his time, I think, his not wanting a woman to go into danger.
Miss Hartigan, she was an impressive villain. She didn't chew the scenery, though she did get gradually more and more... extrovert. I loved the "joy and wonder" of the whole universe bit. Hooray for not being squashed by the cybermind! That was almost enough for me to be sad at how the Doctor destroyed them, it was... dagnabbit, I didn't like it when Cybermen exploded from knowing they were Cybermen the first time, so I'm darned well going to be irritated by it when they do it again. (sigh)
On the other hand, I found her motivation a bit unclear. Then again, how do the Cybermen ever find these people? I mean, once they have an agent, it isn't so hard to infiltrate, but making the initial contact, wouldn't people just scream and run first? And that's hardly covert. Though I guess if one screamed and ran, they'd just kill one.
And why can't villains ever take the Doctor's offers of clemency? Someone needs to write a parody where it happens, and the Doctor is so astonished he falls over or something.
However, the whole "you promised!" betrayal was classic Cybermen; they always lie with their promises; or should I say, they deceive with half-truths, and justify it to themselves - if they even bother justifying it - with smug superiority that those who are ruled by feelings deceive themselves with their own passions.
The Cyber-King Giant Robot was so deliciously clunky. Yes, I found it amusing, with all the clockwork and articulated limbs and clunk-clunk-crunch.
"Why are my subjects not rejoicing?" (good one!)
I was not surprised that JL's child turned up - as I said above, I guessed it was "wife and child" fairly early on. Once we knew what the children were being used for, it seemed likely that the child was still alive. Mind you, I felt as if that plot-point was a bit weak; that they were using child labour "because that is what children are for"; but then I guess one could argue that it was simply Miss Hartigan's bias.
The Doctor swinging on ropes (eyeroll); overdramatic, yeah.
Was JL right in saying that the Doctor had never ever been thanked? I don't think so. But it's true that it isn't a common occurrence. Mind you, half the time is because he never wants to stick around long enough to be thanked.
The clapping and cheering were nice anyway.
"They leave... and they forget me." Ouch.
So at this point the Doctor has simply decided that he's tired of getting his heart broken. That makes sense both internally and externally; externally because since they're going to have a series of specials, it's easier to do that if he doesn't have a regular companion, and internally because, well, he's Emo!Doctor and he's going to sulk for a bit. Well, not sulk exactly, but he'll look on the dark side, anyway.
This also makes me suspect that he's going to regenerate first, and then get a companion when he does, because, from an internal perspective, his personality will be different, and he could be more open to giving the companion idea another go.
That's right, Jackson Lake, you jolly well demand that Doctor have Christmas with you; because he wouldn't otherwise, and he needs people to stop him being so Emo.
In balance... I give it a B+; it doesn't score an A simply because it wasn't outstanding, but on the other hand, it was nice, and didn't have cringeworthy moments in it, so that's good, especially for something that RTD wrote.
Now I shall go off and see what other people have to say.
Oh so very Dickensian an opening! So very pretty, and it warmed my heart to see the Doctor drinking it in and obviously enjoying himself just looking at all the people.
I was skeptical from the start that "the Next Doctor" really was the Doctor (because of real world practicalities of casting such an important part), so I give them kudos for actually making me think, at some points, that he might really be a future Doctor, such as when it was revealed that he'd lost his memory. Also, the actor really had the charisma to carry it off, I think.
But I also guessed very early on that (a) he wasn't the Doctor and (b) he'd lost his wife and child. It was the "sonic" screwdriver that made me fairly certain, and when the Doctor took out the stethoscope, the look on his face clinched it for me; such a studied neutral expression; if it had really been the Doctor, the real Doctor wouldn't have been trying so hard not to show what he was feeling. The TARDIS-balloon was confirmation. But oddly enough, the predictability didn't irritate me, possibly because I had those moments of doubt, and also it made me feel clever, rather than feeling that the characters were stupid.
There was a moment when I did feel that the characters were being stupid, though... but now I can't remember what it was.
Go Rosita! She was good. That bit at the start when they were being pulled along and she turned up with an axe - yes!
Drat that the Doctor is still angsting about Rose, though - I assume he is, because of his reaction to the name "Rosita".
Yes, JL was sexist, but it was in keeping with a man of his time, I think, his not wanting a woman to go into danger.
Miss Hartigan, she was an impressive villain. She didn't chew the scenery, though she did get gradually more and more... extrovert. I loved the "joy and wonder" of the whole universe bit. Hooray for not being squashed by the cybermind! That was almost enough for me to be sad at how the Doctor destroyed them, it was... dagnabbit, I didn't like it when Cybermen exploded from knowing they were Cybermen the first time, so I'm darned well going to be irritated by it when they do it again. (sigh)
On the other hand, I found her motivation a bit unclear. Then again, how do the Cybermen ever find these people? I mean, once they have an agent, it isn't so hard to infiltrate, but making the initial contact, wouldn't people just scream and run first? And that's hardly covert. Though I guess if one screamed and ran, they'd just kill one.
And why can't villains ever take the Doctor's offers of clemency? Someone needs to write a parody where it happens, and the Doctor is so astonished he falls over or something.
However, the whole "you promised!" betrayal was classic Cybermen; they always lie with their promises; or should I say, they deceive with half-truths, and justify it to themselves - if they even bother justifying it - with smug superiority that those who are ruled by feelings deceive themselves with their own passions.
The Cyber-King Giant Robot was so deliciously clunky. Yes, I found it amusing, with all the clockwork and articulated limbs and clunk-clunk-crunch.
"Why are my subjects not rejoicing?" (good one!)
I was not surprised that JL's child turned up - as I said above, I guessed it was "wife and child" fairly early on. Once we knew what the children were being used for, it seemed likely that the child was still alive. Mind you, I felt as if that plot-point was a bit weak; that they were using child labour "because that is what children are for"; but then I guess one could argue that it was simply Miss Hartigan's bias.
The Doctor swinging on ropes (eyeroll); overdramatic, yeah.
Was JL right in saying that the Doctor had never ever been thanked? I don't think so. But it's true that it isn't a common occurrence. Mind you, half the time is because he never wants to stick around long enough to be thanked.
The clapping and cheering were nice anyway.
"They leave... and they forget me." Ouch.
So at this point the Doctor has simply decided that he's tired of getting his heart broken. That makes sense both internally and externally; externally because since they're going to have a series of specials, it's easier to do that if he doesn't have a regular companion, and internally because, well, he's Emo!Doctor and he's going to sulk for a bit. Well, not sulk exactly, but he'll look on the dark side, anyway.
This also makes me suspect that he's going to regenerate first, and then get a companion when he does, because, from an internal perspective, his personality will be different, and he could be more open to giving the companion idea another go.
That's right, Jackson Lake, you jolly well demand that Doctor have Christmas with you; because he wouldn't otherwise, and he needs people to stop him being so Emo.
In balance... I give it a B+; it doesn't score an A simply because it wasn't outstanding, but on the other hand, it was nice, and didn't have cringeworthy moments in it, so that's good, especially for something that RTD wrote.
Now I shall go off and see what other people have to say.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 07:23 pm (UTC)I don't know about the Doctor, but RTD is clearly still obsessed with Rose. He not only gave Rosita almost the same name but pretty much an identical accent. Unless RTD really thinks that all lower-class Londoners talk like that?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 10:53 pm (UTC)And untrue. Sarah Jane never did, he abandoned at least one (his granddaughter), and he made Donna forget and leave. This Doctor does like to pity himself though. I bet it was that that made Lake think he's never been thanked, because the Ood did and I'm sure others like the Brig have.
Tennant's a good actor, but I do look forward to a different Doctor.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-27 12:41 am (UTC)And they forget me - I took that as a Donna ref too.
If they give him a temp Companion next time I hope its the sort to give him a slap up round the head for wallowing. It's bad enough in fanfic without it becoming canon too.
One logical problem. Considering the Doctors and cyber doggy were moving at speed how did Rosita manage to get there in time to do the rescue with the axe?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-27 04:26 am (UTC)He is so shocked he trips over a brink and dies. Pop we have 11! All joking aside I would really like a villein to take the Doctor up on clemency specially villeins of old who have been beat by the Doctor many times and know his history. At least in the Libeary the shadows took him up on his offer to get him 24 hours. Still I'd like it to happen more.