Wild Blue Yonder
Dec. 3rd, 2023 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcI do love a good ontological mystery episode!
Not at all sure about the cold open - nothing to do with the actual episode, kind of undercuts "the TARDIS has catapulted uncontrollably to the end of the universe" if they stop in the 1660s first, and Newton and his housekeeper were talking in the sort of "we are from Days of Yore" talk that celebrity historicals normally avoid. The resultant "mavity" running gag was kind of amusing but 1) Is the Doctor going to fix this somehow, or is that just what it's called now? and 2) The word "gravity" already existed in Newton's day! In fact, Newton would totally have understood the phrase "the gravity of the situation", even if he wouldn't have understood why it was a pun particularly directed at him until later.
Anyway, that aside, I thought this was a great episode. I loved the spooky empty whiteness of the ship (there were a couple of points, especially when the Doctor was poking at control panels, where I thought "This is exactly what the Davison-era set designers were trying to create, but never quite managed.") and the horror of seeing the monsters as the Doctor and Donna, only wrong, was very effective. I also liked them trying (and mostly failing) to find a way of doing the whole "tell me something only you would know" bit, when the monsters do know everything they know.
Oh, and the Flux still happened and the Doctor''s not actually a Time Lord. I have mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, I would obviously be very happy if they never mentioned it again, and it's not like Chibnall ever acknowledged "half the universe was destroyed, that would probably have an effect on things", so why should RTD have to? On the other, before I left Twitter, there was Some Dude claiming with zero evidence that the BBC had decided the Flux season was officially non-canon, and he was really annoying so I'm glad his wheels have been spiked.
And, unlike some ontological mysteries, it pretty much sticks the landing -- I'm not sure the bit about the monsters not understanding slow was properly foreshadowed, but in terms of "explaining all the weird stuff", it all fitted together nicely. And the idea that the Doctor had to not figure it out, and simply wasn't capable of that was neat. Then one last "something only they would say" bit, where it looks like the Doctor has found one that worked -- and he's wrong because Donna was overthinking it. Part of me thinks that having Donna only rescued from the explosion at the absolutely last second is cheap drama, but the part of me that was literally on the edge of my sceat has to admit, it worked.
Absolutely delighted to see Wilf. I'd heard Bernard had filmed some scenes, but I wasn't clear if they could actually use them or not. Roll on next week!
(Although next Saturday I will be in Edinburgh to see a stage production of Hogfather, so I might not see it until Sunday, like it's the bad old days again...)
Not at all sure about the cold open - nothing to do with the actual episode, kind of undercuts "the TARDIS has catapulted uncontrollably to the end of the universe" if they stop in the 1660s first, and Newton and his housekeeper were talking in the sort of "we are from Days of Yore" talk that celebrity historicals normally avoid. The resultant "mavity" running gag was kind of amusing but 1) Is the Doctor going to fix this somehow, or is that just what it's called now? and 2) The word "gravity" already existed in Newton's day! In fact, Newton would totally have understood the phrase "the gravity of the situation", even if he wouldn't have understood why it was a pun particularly directed at him until later.
Anyway, that aside, I thought this was a great episode. I loved the spooky empty whiteness of the ship (there were a couple of points, especially when the Doctor was poking at control panels, where I thought "This is exactly what the Davison-era set designers were trying to create, but never quite managed.") and the horror of seeing the monsters as the Doctor and Donna, only wrong, was very effective. I also liked them trying (and mostly failing) to find a way of doing the whole "tell me something only you would know" bit, when the monsters do know everything they know.
Oh, and the Flux still happened and the Doctor''s not actually a Time Lord. I have mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, I would obviously be very happy if they never mentioned it again, and it's not like Chibnall ever acknowledged "half the universe was destroyed, that would probably have an effect on things", so why should RTD have to? On the other, before I left Twitter, there was Some Dude claiming with zero evidence that the BBC had decided the Flux season was officially non-canon, and he was really annoying so I'm glad his wheels have been spiked.
And, unlike some ontological mysteries, it pretty much sticks the landing -- I'm not sure the bit about the monsters not understanding slow was properly foreshadowed, but in terms of "explaining all the weird stuff", it all fitted together nicely. And the idea that the Doctor had to not figure it out, and simply wasn't capable of that was neat. Then one last "something only they would say" bit, where it looks like the Doctor has found one that worked -- and he's wrong because Donna was overthinking it. Part of me thinks that having Donna only rescued from the explosion at the absolutely last second is cheap drama, but the part of me that was literally on the edge of my sceat has to admit, it worked.
Absolutely delighted to see Wilf. I'd heard Bernard had filmed some scenes, but I wasn't clear if they could actually use them or not. Roll on next week!
(Although next Saturday I will be in Edinburgh to see a stage production of Hogfather, so I might not see it until Sunday, like it's the bad old days again...)
