So the idea now is to watch the episode whenever I can and then write a 'kind of review' and publish it within two hours of the final credits rolling. Keep it short and to the point. I'm still going to keep the sequential bullet point structure of before, mainly because I seem to struggle with forming a coherent narrative around my reviews and, well I kind of like it. Let's see how I get on...
But first some general comments.
With the new series of "Doctor Who" finally upon us, this should be a time of rejoicing and dancing in the streets. This is my favourite television show of all time after all. But sadly the reality is that I've not been this unenthusiastic about the prospect of a new run of episodes for a very, very long time. I tried to blame it on the long break between series, but we've had that before and the flame of fandom didn't waver then. I wondered if I was "burnt out" a little after the marathon of my "800 Day Project" rewatch. Not really - I still love watching those older stories. No, when I get down to it I think that I just have never warmed to Peter Capaldi's Doctor and the thought of another year with him in the role just put me off.
I know that this flies in the face of the majority of fandom, who seem to believe he is the best thing since Tom Baker - and don't get me wrong, I think Capaldi is a solid actor in other shows. There have been a handful of excellent episodes ("Heaven Sent" being the clear standout", but that was more the concept rather than the character). It's just that as the Doctor, I don't think he works - for me at least. I can't quite put my finger on it or properly explain myself in words, but it's as if his performances to date haven't seemed "natural". It's like you can see the acting cogs working. I want to like him - I really do. I was excited when he got the role. But even at his best he has never made me adore the Twelfth Doctor.
So it's with a certain amount of trepidation that I pressed play...
Season 10 - Episode 1 - The Pilot
- I loved the cold open before the titles and Bill's first introduction in the Doctor's study. The whole conversation about the girl she fancied (despite the odd use of the word "perversion" and unfortunately making it sound as if once she was fat she was therefore undateable), was trademark Moffat - smart and snappy, but it also sounded very natural and almost RTD-like with all the stuff about chips.
- Speaking of RTD, this episode is the 2017 equivalent of "Rose" in a number of ways, and it apes that first episode of the new era with the repeated alarm clock and the quick cuts to Bill's day job, her home life and social activities. The lecture bit's in between though - somehow I get the feeling that Moffat has been saving up that explanation about time and relative dimension in space for a long while - it's brilliant. I still find Capaldi's delivery very stilted though. Sigh.
- Clearly what is inside the vault, why the Doctor has been guarding it for 50 years and why the he decided to tutor Bill are going to be carried over to the rest of the series this year. The constant flick's back to the photograph of Susan must mean something too. Blatant fan-baiting of course.
- I had a small problem with the Bill and Heather dynamic because beyond basic instant attraction, I never felt there was any real connection between them. They met once in a pub and then on a bench in the university grounds and then spent a couple of minutes in a car park. Maybe there is more to come, but we also get no sense why Heather is so sad all the time. It just seemed a very loosely sketched.
- It's a beautiful moment when you realise that the Doctor has gone back in time to take all those photo's of Bill's mum as a Christmas present to her. Lovely understated music as well. Which is then spoilt as we get the bombastic usual Murray Gold nonsense as the Doctor runs to look in a puddle.
- I like Bill. A lot. For the majority of the episode she comes across as smart, funny, warm and compassionate. She makes interesting connections and figures things out. But there are parts of the episode where she is just a little but stupid - especially for someone who has supposedly seen some "Sci-Fi". Her reaction to seeing the inside of the TARDIS - "Is this a knock through?". "This is a lift!" Okay so it's a funny joke, but it undermines her character.
- Nardole. Listen Moff - you'd better have a bloody good plan in place to explain why he is needed in this series, because at the moment I can't see what he brings to the table beyond toilet gags and funny noises. The few quips he is given could just as easily have come from Bill. Maybe I'll be in luck and his bolts will keep falling out until he's nothing but a pile of components and a bald head.
- Excepting the TARDIS, the Terminator T-1000 puddle seems like the most powerful spaceship in the universe as once it has a pilot in Heather it can travel anywhere in time and space. Shouldn't that make the Doctor even just a tiny bit curious?
- Nice to see the Movellans back even if it's just for a moment. I guess that's also the contractual season appearance of the Daleks out of the way too. Maybe when the series is released on DVD they will add in the "Friend from the Future" teaser sequence of a few months ago back into the actual episode at this point. I could have done with more of this and less larking about in Australia, but I get that it's meant to be an exponential introduction for Bill as to where the TARDIS can go.
- With a B plot this thin the solution to the spaceship-Heather problem was never going to be the most brilliant ever devised but it kind of works. I'm hoping it's not the last we have seen of the character though as I really like the actress, Stephanie Hyam.
- The mind-wipe sequence and the reason the Doctor doesn't do it is obviously a reference back to what happened between him and Clara at the end of last series. But please god don't let that mean that particular storyline is not over. Clara is gone. Leave it that way.
- Who did the Doctor make a promise to? About what? And why? All interesting questions.Let's hope there are interesting answers. I don't want another "Hybrid" disappointment.
So overall I really enjoyed that even if the first, more domestic half was better than the latter. It's probably the second most confident introduction for a companion (the title still goes to "The Eleventh Hour") and there was an awful lot crammed into 49 minutes, even if the "alien of the week" plot was slight.
A soft reboot of the series, a few new mysteries. Solid stuff. As for Capaldi? Well he's clearly softened the performance and has made his Doctor friendlier and more relatable (we've come a long way since "She cares so I don't have to"). It's a promising start and maybe, just maybe he'll start to win me over more during the next eleven weeks.
But it's okay if he doesn't. Not every incarnation can be your favourite and in any case - a new one will be along soon. Just as long as it's not Kris bloody Marshall...
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