The Giggle
Dec. 17th, 2023 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcYes, I finally got there. And it was worth the wait.
First off, it's kind of funny how, a year after Chris Chibnall decided he could use the BBC's 100th birthday to make an anniversary special a year early. RTD comes up with an actual anniversary special that actually engages with the BBC's history in some way. (Yes, I know Baird wasn't actually working for the BBC, but still.) Secondly, "the monster is literally inside the TV, and always has been" is a very Moffat idea, so I was surprised to see it from Rusty.
The effect of the Giggle in making everyone believe they're right was not at all subtle but I don't think there's any reason why it should have been. Kate's ranting was suitably shocking, and when she basically accused Shirley of faking, I couldn't help remembering the person on Xittter who made a huge deal of Shirley crossing her legs in "The Star Beast", having apparently missed that Ruth Madeley is actually in a wheelchair, so if she can cross her legs, that's something a person in a wheelchair can do.
Neil Patrick Harris made a great Toymaker. I don't know how intentional it was, but his comment about "sunnier climes" and his range of comedy accents gave me the distinct impression that part of the "reclaiming" of the character was "maybe 'The Celestial Toymaker' is racist because the Toymaker himself is actually racist." I guess the idea that he was only able to enter our universe following the events of "Wild Blue Yonder", and the Doctor is shocked to learn this, means that all spin-offs featuring him are non-canon, which I would probably care more about if I could recall anything that happened in them. (I know I read Divided Loyalties, but all I remember is that it turned out every single renegade Time Lord ever was not just at the Academy at the same as the Doctor, but they were all in the same gang.)
Fun to see Mel again, although it didn't feel like she did much. But I did like her working with Donna, the typist and the techie, and the understated moment that, while Donna worked out the spike was music, it's Mel who is able to tell what the notes are instantly. (Bonnie Langford, of course, was supposedly cast because she could scream at the exact pitch to match the opening of the theme.)
Not at all sure about the extradimensional master of games losing at catch, but I suppose it makes at least as much sense as losing at Tower of Hanoi. In fact, thinking about it, there was a surprising shortage of toy and game imagery here; some creepy puppets, the Doctor's challanges, and beyond that the Toymaker just came across as a bit of a generic malevolent reality warper. Even the explanation as to how the world of chaos tied into the Toymaker's supposed MO was a bit forced. There was turning UNIT soldiers into bouncy balls, I guess, but then there was turning bullets into rose-petals, when the obvious symbolism would clearly be water or foam darts. Ah well.
I am still slightly lost as to how, and indeed why bigeneration works, but it made for some fun visuals and let them get "the Doctor learns it's okay to not be okay" to work while still letting Fifteenth (who was brilliant) go straight off into the next adventure. I assume that the statement Fifteenth is better because Split-Fourteenth took time to recover means that Split-Fourteenth eventually ... remerges or something and Fifteenth gets his memories, but that still means there are, as far as we know, two spare Tennant Doctors wandering about the place until further notice.
So, remaining questions:
1) Who is the Meep's boss?
2) Why did the TARDIS play "Wild Blue Yonder" when it went peculiar?
3) Is the whole "mavity" thing going to get sorted out?
4) Who is the One Who Waits? (May be the same as 1)
Until Christmas, I too must be the One Who Waits...
First off, it's kind of funny how, a year after Chris Chibnall decided he could use the BBC's 100th birthday to make an anniversary special a year early. RTD comes up with an actual anniversary special that actually engages with the BBC's history in some way. (Yes, I know Baird wasn't actually working for the BBC, but still.) Secondly, "the monster is literally inside the TV, and always has been" is a very Moffat idea, so I was surprised to see it from Rusty.
The effect of the Giggle in making everyone believe they're right was not at all subtle but I don't think there's any reason why it should have been. Kate's ranting was suitably shocking, and when she basically accused Shirley of faking, I couldn't help remembering the person on Xittter who made a huge deal of Shirley crossing her legs in "The Star Beast", having apparently missed that Ruth Madeley is actually in a wheelchair, so if she can cross her legs, that's something a person in a wheelchair can do.
Neil Patrick Harris made a great Toymaker. I don't know how intentional it was, but his comment about "sunnier climes" and his range of comedy accents gave me the distinct impression that part of the "reclaiming" of the character was "maybe 'The Celestial Toymaker' is racist because the Toymaker himself is actually racist." I guess the idea that he was only able to enter our universe following the events of "Wild Blue Yonder", and the Doctor is shocked to learn this, means that all spin-offs featuring him are non-canon, which I would probably care more about if I could recall anything that happened in them. (I know I read Divided Loyalties, but all I remember is that it turned out every single renegade Time Lord ever was not just at the Academy at the same as the Doctor, but they were all in the same gang.)
Fun to see Mel again, although it didn't feel like she did much. But I did like her working with Donna, the typist and the techie, and the understated moment that, while Donna worked out the spike was music, it's Mel who is able to tell what the notes are instantly. (Bonnie Langford, of course, was supposedly cast because she could scream at the exact pitch to match the opening of the theme.)
Not at all sure about the extradimensional master of games losing at catch, but I suppose it makes at least as much sense as losing at Tower of Hanoi. In fact, thinking about it, there was a surprising shortage of toy and game imagery here; some creepy puppets, the Doctor's challanges, and beyond that the Toymaker just came across as a bit of a generic malevolent reality warper. Even the explanation as to how the world of chaos tied into the Toymaker's supposed MO was a bit forced. There was turning UNIT soldiers into bouncy balls, I guess, but then there was turning bullets into rose-petals, when the obvious symbolism would clearly be water or foam darts. Ah well.
I am still slightly lost as to how, and indeed why bigeneration works, but it made for some fun visuals and let them get "the Doctor learns it's okay to not be okay" to work while still letting Fifteenth (who was brilliant) go straight off into the next adventure. I assume that the statement Fifteenth is better because Split-Fourteenth took time to recover means that Split-Fourteenth eventually ... remerges or something and Fifteenth gets his memories, but that still means there are, as far as we know, two spare Tennant Doctors wandering about the place until further notice.
So, remaining questions:
1) Who is the Meep's boss?
2) Why did the TARDIS play "Wild Blue Yonder" when it went peculiar?
3) Is the whole "mavity" thing going to get sorted out?
4) Who is the One Who Waits? (May be the same as 1)
Until Christmas, I too must be the One Who Waits...
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Date: 2023-12-18 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-19 08:10 pm (UTC)