zotwot

IMDb member since June 2014
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    IMDb Member
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Reviews

Doctor Who: Time and the Rani: Part One
(1987)
Episode 1, Season 24

Better than the reputation
Time and the Rani is widely regarded as one of the worst Doctor Who stories of all time. It's one that the fans use to joke about bad stories. But I don't feel that way.

OK, sure, there is no way I could claim this is one of the best stories ever but in my mind it is far from the worst. I fear the regeneration scene is the biggest cause for the bad reputation. Wig-gate is a massive error which could have been avoided. The rest though is pretty much the best that could be done. How do you do a regeneration scene without the actor present and without the modern ability to use CGI? There is no way it can be satisfactory. The writers probably gathered this and got it over with quickly and didn't make it the main use of the story.

Once that gets out of the way though, it is not bad at all. Both McCoy and O'Mara act their socks off- McCoy gives us a fun new Doctor and O'Mara gives us round two of the fearsome Rani, with an impression of what Mel ought to be like to boot. The story is packed full of neat ideas too- it's really unusual for an alien race to be conflicted over whether to act with or against a villain, for instance.

There is too much technobabble, and the story does drag a bit but how many times have I said that before? Many would have expected a true post-regeneration story with the companion getting to know the new Doctor but this isn't that. Production problems meant the regeneration was ruined and the writers made the probably correct choice in not making the regeneration the focus of the story.

It's all about personal opinion but I disagree with the majority here. It's like when I thought Genesis of the Daleks wasn't as good as everyone thought. Controversial it may be, but I think Time and the Rani is better than it is given credit for.

Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks: Part One
(1985)
Episode 12, Season 22

One of Davros' best
I've quite liked all of Eric Saward's scripts so far and this one was no different. Whilst I do quite like the daleks I sometimes feel the constant Doctor/dalek battles are a little tiresome. It needs a writer to use the daleks well but in a slightly different context. Here the daleks themselves barely appear and it is all about Davros. He has yet another plan to essentially be the emperor of the daleks and exploits the locals to achieve it.

The Doctor and Peri appear very little in the story too. It's all about the story's own cast. Two bodysnatchers entering the facility, a ruthless business woman forced to deal with Davros and the assassin she hired to kill him. The vast majority of the cast are excellent, especially Terry Molloy who has nailed Davros by this point. And Alexei Sayle as the DJ is wonderful and really adds something fun to the story.

There are a few negatives things to the story though. The first part is rather slow as all the plot points are built up and it has an unnecessarily brutal ending. There's a big cast here but hardly any of them actually survive to the end. Overall all thought it is a good story and one of the best Sixth Doctor stories so far.

Doctor Who: Timelash: Part One
(1985)
Episode 10, Season 22

A waste of Time-lash
After a dire start I was really beginning to enjoy the Sixth Doctor's era and then I watched this story. OK, so it's not as bad as The Twin Dilemma but it is pretty bad.

The main reason was this is simply lack of budget. The Borad looks great but the Morlox and all the sets look fake and drab and more than anything else, cheap. It's clear the epics that make up much of the rest of the series blew the budget.

The story itself isn't great either. There's not masses wrong with it really but the big problem is it doesn't feel very original. Mad scientist who looks weird because of an accident is nothing unusual, and neither is a futuristic society with a dictator. Nor are monsters in the caves. There's just not many things which are inspiring here.

The idea of shoving HG Wells into the mix is one of the best things about the story but even that doesn't quite work. For one thing 'Herbert' doesn't seem very Victorian (in voice and details like looking at the screens in the TARDIS) and the other is apart from the Morlox' name the events of this story have pretty much nothing to do with The Time Machine.

I can't end this without mentioning the fact that the Doctor and Herbert are about to be blown up in the TARDIS yet miraculously survive yet the Doctor only ever says "I'll explain later". You just can't bat off such a major plot point with that line, it's just poor writing, like much of this story.

Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part One
(1985)
Episode 7, Season 22

Not Troughton's swansong
This is in no way Robert Holmes' best work. He gets some of his great dialogue on but the plot is dreadful. Firstly this isn't a proper multi- Doctor story, by which I mean something which celebrates the show and past Doctors. It is a story which happens to have the Second Doctor in it. The Second Doctor gets a good start and Patrick Troughton is rather good as an Androgum but it is not the swansong he deserved.

This is not really a Sontaran story either as they barely appear and have little influence on the plot. The two Sontarans that appear here look pretty awful too. They should really have been the main villain as Chessene is frankly rather dull.

However, there are plenty of good things too. Shockeye is a terrible character for most of it but the idea of him eating humans is quite disturbing. Jamie fits in remarkably well with the Sixth Doctor and Peri (I would happily have had him join them full-time, maybe post mind- wipe). The Spanish setting also works rather well, even if it has no relevance to the plot.

I enjoyed The Two Doctors but there is little doubt that there are a lot of problems with it. Nice to have an old Doctor back but the show needed to leave them be and do something new, rather than keep thinking about former glories

Gravity
(2013)

The Worst Case Scenario
In many ways this reminded me of the film Wall-E, and not really because of the space link. For most of the film there is hardly any speech and we are stuck with just two characters trying to survive a disaster. This makes it a challenging watch to get into but clearly most people do manage to get through this challenge.

Let's face it, this film is about two things. 1) The visuals. The whole film looks gorgeous, with incredibly real shots of the Earth from space and various space-craft. Perhaps the most clever thing is the fact they managed to nail the views, making it really feel like the astronauts were being flung around helplessly.

2) is the thriller aspect of it. It takes only a few minutes before disaster strikes and the rest of the film is a desperate race for survival. You spend the whole film suffering along with the characters as you will them to survive and it takes until the last 30 seconds before you actually discover if they do or not.

The danger of having it all set in space, the whole film focusing on one event, is that of limited character. There is just about enough time to develop the two leads, especially Sandra Bullock's character. It's just enough to make you care if they survive but actually you realise you still know virtually nothing about them at the end. It is a credit to Sandra Bullock and George Clooney that they make the thinly stretched characters come to life.

The other problem with this is that though it goes for realism, the events that happen are very unlikely. Yes, everything in the film could happen but the likelihood of it all happening at the same time is incredibly slim. It is literally the very worst scenario that could possibly happen in space.

Fortunately though the sheer spectacle and thrill of the film mean you can pretty much see past the few issues. A tense but enjoyable watch.

Kick-Ass 2
(2013)

A surprisingly good sequel
I went into this anxiously. I really liked the first movie but I know this didn't impress the critics and I thought the comic book was pretty rubbish. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

This was quite a bit longer than the first film which meant there was much more time for comedy. I would say this is more of a comedy than an action film and it continues to be hilarious. But then it throws in the darker side and lots of violent action and it all comes together to make something rather excellent.

The cast here are all superb, even if the two leads are much older than their characters. Jim Carrey is almost unrecognisable as Colonel Stars and Stripes and the rest of the supporting cast are great, such as Scrubs' Donald Faison.

I also like how this stuck to the basic plot of the comic book but changed virtually everything I didn't like about it. The Kick-Ass/Hit- Girl relationship is stronger here too but then again Hit-Girl is much older in the film universe than the comics.

It's perhaps not as shocking as the first film but is funnier and I consider it to be a very worthy sequel.

Prey
(2014)

John Simm at his best
I only recently caught up with Prey which starred the excellent John Simm. It was a three part series which was a whodunnit drama with a twist. As he is charged with the murder of his wife and child Farrow, who is a detective himself, manages to escape and then goes to investigate the case whilst being on the run from the police at the same time.

The mystery was quite clever because it seemed like it was really complicated but in the end turned out to be really simple. The twist of being on the run at the same time was great and there was some really clever scenes where Farrow escaped in some excellent ways. It had fantastic characterisation and although John Simm is excellent in every role he plays I really thought this was one of the best.

A great drama and it is nice to see ITV being able to now compete with the BBC with high-quality dramas.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
(2013)

Great Tie-in to the Marvel Movies
I always liked this show even in the early days when it wasn't as popular but since it tied in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier it was seriously good. Ripping apart everything we knew was a brave move and even making one of the main characters a nasty member of Hydra all along was quite something. The show tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe ridiculously well. We had appearances from Maria Hill and Nick Fury, Sif from the Thor side of things and regular subtle mentions of everything from Extremis to the gun Coulson used on Loki in the Avengers. It also gave us a great Deathlok and set up some other super-villains who will no doubt make their return, such as Graviton.

Hopefully with Coulson now in charge of SHIELD and there not being much of it left the next season can really be something. If it can prove it can stay as good as the end of this season I'm pretty sure it will get a few more seasons.

In the Flesh
(2013)

Completely Original Drama
Rarely does a drama come along which is original as In the Flesh. I fear that when most people hear it's about zombies they imagine it's a poor man's Walking Dead but actually the two shows have few things in common. The show is all about what happens when zombies are cured and brought back into society.

One of the one hand it is a good supernatural drama. "Rotters", as they tend to be known in this world, actually play a bigger part in the second series. There are rotter attacks and a mythology about a second rising. The whole concept is unique and the writers continually add the the actually pretty small mythos.

On the other hand though the "partially deceased syndrome" sufferers play a very real-world role. They are symbolic of any race or group of people have been segregated and made a prejudice by the majority due to fear and lack of understanding. The key point is that the undead only cause trouble when they are provoked. There are also lots of other issues appearing in the show, like extreme politics and the effect of religion.

A supernatural drama which brilliantly reflects on real world issues, In the Flesh is brilliant. The first series was good but the second series totally eclipses it. I really hope that it will get a third series.

Doctor Who: The Mark of the Rani: Part One
(1985)
Episode 5, Season 22

Time Lord Trouble in the Industrial Revolution
I really enjoyed this story, more so than I expected. The Rani is a really good character a renegade Time Lord who has better things to do than constantly hassle the Doctor. A female villain was long overdue (I'm not sure if there are any female villains up to this point?) and Kate O'Mara portrays her brilliantly. It also worked well having the Master present- it adds to the story and makes the Rani appear more powerful as in many ways she is the Master's superior.

The setting was a really good one too. I think the early Industrial Revolution is probably my favourite period in history. I loved that George Stephenson was present and the Luddites were well used. The extensive location filming brought the setting to life too.

Perhaps the best thing about this story is how different it is from most in its era. It feels almost like a light Fourth Doctor story. A setting in the past is unusual here, there is no messages about society and politics and nothing gruesome at all- hardly any one dies and they turn into trees, which is by no means the worst way to go. Also the Sixth Doctor is much more Doctor-ish here than he has been at any point so far.

Three Time Lords for the price of one! All in all, rather good.

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