Knock Knock
May. 13th, 2017 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcLet's do this before I watch this week's, shall we?
Well, that was probably the most gothically horrific Doctor Who story since the Hinchcliffe era. (An aside: Mum told me she'd seen the trailer and "it looks terrible". I eventually figured out she meant "terrifying".)
And she was right. Creepy house, creepy landlord, creepy insects. I was definitely behind a cushion (literally going behind the sofa means getting up and sitting on the floor. Why would you do that?)
But before that, Bill's housemates were fun. I spent far too long trying to work out where I knew Harry from - he's Lorenzo from Leonardo, of course - and I also somehow forgot the basic premise of this season, and couldn't work out why they were all acting like they already knew the Doctor. I'm glad they all got unkilled.
I loved that Bill figures out the twist because the Doctor doesn't get human ageing, but what really sells it is that he doesn't get it twice - he's too old to recognise the difference between a man of ninety and a man of a hundred and fifty ... and at the same time he's too young to realise that capturing unusual insects to show them to an ill woman isn't something a grown-up would do. That's the Doctor.
So, that's four in a row where the "monster" isn't really monstrous, and while it's the second in a row to have a more monstrous human villain, the Landlord is a more sympathetic character than the moustache-twirling Sutcliffe. I mean, exceptionally creepy, and definitely villainous, but ultimately operating from a broken kind of love, rather than greed or hate. And David Suchet's portrayal was excellent.
And back to the Vault. The fact the Vault-Dweller likes stories about kids being eaten suggests they're definitely a villain (you might think that goes without saying, but I've seen speculation it's Thirteenth, locked away in an attempt to stop him happening or something; or even David Bradley's First, although I forget why Twelfth would have him locked up), although I still think Missy is too obvious.
And I did like Nardole's "You see? You don't need to go off in the TARDIS. Plenty of things trying to kill you right here on Earth."
Well, that was probably the most gothically horrific Doctor Who story since the Hinchcliffe era. (An aside: Mum told me she'd seen the trailer and "it looks terrible". I eventually figured out she meant "terrifying".)
And she was right. Creepy house, creepy landlord, creepy insects. I was definitely behind a cushion (literally going behind the sofa means getting up and sitting on the floor. Why would you do that?)
But before that, Bill's housemates were fun. I spent far too long trying to work out where I knew Harry from - he's Lorenzo from Leonardo, of course - and I also somehow forgot the basic premise of this season, and couldn't work out why they were all acting like they already knew the Doctor. I'm glad they all got unkilled.
I loved that Bill figures out the twist because the Doctor doesn't get human ageing, but what really sells it is that he doesn't get it twice - he's too old to recognise the difference between a man of ninety and a man of a hundred and fifty ... and at the same time he's too young to realise that capturing unusual insects to show them to an ill woman isn't something a grown-up would do. That's the Doctor.
So, that's four in a row where the "monster" isn't really monstrous, and while it's the second in a row to have a more monstrous human villain, the Landlord is a more sympathetic character than the moustache-twirling Sutcliffe. I mean, exceptionally creepy, and definitely villainous, but ultimately operating from a broken kind of love, rather than greed or hate. And David Suchet's portrayal was excellent.
And back to the Vault. The fact the Vault-Dweller likes stories about kids being eaten suggests they're definitely a villain (you might think that goes without saying, but I've seen speculation it's Thirteenth, locked away in an attempt to stop him happening or something; or even David Bradley's First, although I forget why Twelfth would have him locked up), although I still think Missy is too obvious.
And I did like Nardole's "You see? You don't need to go off in the TARDIS. Plenty of things trying to kill you right here on Earth."
