The Friendly Dalek

Just two weeks to go.

The Shakespeare Code- This is another meh story which is just fine. The main cast are good, although I wasn't impressed by Dean Lennox Kelly as Shakespeare. However, Freema Agyeman shines in this episode. David Tennant is great, but The Doctor is rather unlikable here, and I think this an issue which continues throughout a fair number of episodes in this series. I get it is because he is upset after losing Rose, and treats Marta poorly because of that, but making The Doctor unlikable is a very risky move which didn't pay off in this instance in my opinion. This story tackles issues of racism in a far better fashion to later stories such as Thin Ice in my opinion. It develops the characters of Martha without adding authenticity to the setting without feeling forced. The Carrionites are decent villains. They look interesting, and the actresses who play the main there do a great job, but they fall under the forgettable villain category. They serve their villainous purpose fine, but they are quite bland. The production design is excellent, and overall this episode looks gorgeous. The set and costume design is great, and the visual effects also look good. The dialogue is ok, but some of the dialogue isn't that great, and at points the delivery is poor from some cast members. The pacing is also off at points. Overall- 5/10.

Ignore this, I tried to send a gif but it didn't work. I still can't get them to work on my mobile devices but they work on pc. I still think that's strange but oh well. I'll quote it instead, "I understood that reference."

I don't think the price is correct on that one.

Smith And Jones- This is another meh story. It is by no means a bad one, just very forgettable. David Tennant is of course wonderful, and Freema Agyeman is great. I think Martha is a criminally underrated companion, and if I was to rank the companions of modern Who she would rank very highly. I really like the character and Agyeman's performance is always brilliant. The supporting cast are all fine, and Anne Reid is good. The Judoon are an interesting species, and I also like their design. I really like the claustrophobic setting of the hospital. This story does remind me a lot of The Moonbase because of that. This episode falters in the writing department I think. The episode isn't that well paced, and despite Reid giving her best performance, the villain is very weak. The dialogue is also quite poor in places. This episode suffers from being formulaic and simple, and as it brings nothing new to the table it ends up just being really forgettable. Overall- 5/10.

At this time I'm not sure if I will be attending LFCC summer, and hopefully Peter will be able to do more SM shows because he is always really nice to meet.

Yeah I didn't think of it at the time, plus I only went on the Sunday so no Tom Baker for me there. However, I plan to get Tom and Sylvester here, and then Paul is at another event I am going to, and then it shouldn't be too hard to get Colin and Peter in the future.

Whilst on the subject of things to get signed, I'm thinking of getting the limited edition version of The Light At The End and getting all 5 Doctors in that story to sign it, starting with Tom.

Haven't got a clue. I imagine since Tom is only there for 4 hours they will try to get everyone through in one shoot so there will be time for everyone to get their autographs.

Indeed it is.

I have it and I absolutely love it. It's a book well worth getting and reading at least once.

Looks like I'll be getting to the venue a bit earlier than planned then as I might try to get George on Saturday. Also, does anyone have an idea what time to loading bay for queuing inside the building will be open? Or will information like that be revealed when we get the floor plan etc closer to the event?

The Runaway Bride- This is an unfortunately weak Christmas special in my opinion. David Tennant is wonderful, but Catherine Tate doesn't give a very good performance. I think it may be the writing that lets her down as the character of Donna is far better when she returns in Series 4. The supporting cast are fine, but no one really stands out as being great, they are all just fine. The only exception I can think of is Jacqueline King as Sylvie Noble. The dialogue isn't the best, and some forced humour really does drag the story down. The plot features some interesting ideas, but the execution doesn't really do them all justice. I like to call the Racnoss the Destroyer of modern Who. What I mean by that is, the Destroyer was a monster in the 1989 story Battlefield, which had a great design and looked and sounded menacing, but was wasted as it did absolutely nothing. The Racnoss is exactly the same, it looks impressive but does so little that in the end it doesn't really make much of an impact. My favourite scene in this story has to be the scene in which the Doctor floods the Racnoss's base and kills them all. That is a very intense, dark and emotional scene which has a dramatic edge that I love. That scene is a perfect showcases for the darker side of the Doctor's nature and Tennant plays it excellently. Catherine Tate is also great in that scene. Overall- 6/10.

Ah ok fair enough, that's a good interpretation actually. That's now how I ever saw it, but I suppose the subjectivity and differing interpretations of it is what makes looking into these things interesting.

Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday- This is a great finale, but in my opinion it is no where near as good as the finale of Series 1. I think Army Of Ghosts is a brilliant episode, and the leads are excellent. Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke also give excellent performances over both of these stories. Tracy-Anne Oberman is also very good as Yvonne. I love how we finally get the pay-off from Tooth And Claw and see the Torchwood establishment. Despite the fact that nothing really happens in this story (it is really just setting up characters and locations) it has a really nice pace and never feels slow. The cliffhanger is one of the greatest in Doctor Who history in my opinion. I remember the week between these episodes being one of the longest ever. The reveal of the Daleks is masterfully done. My problems with this story are mostly thanks to Doomsday. Seeing the interactions between the Daleks and Cybermen is awesome. However, I think this story is better as a Dalek story than a Cyberman one. I get that the Daleks are stronger threats than the Cybermen, but the Cybermen appear useless as they do next to nothing to any of the Daleks. Although this makes the Daleks seem more powerful, it diminishes the threat of the Cybermen. I'm also not too keen on the idea of reintroducing characters from the Cyberman two-parter earlier in this Series. It makes sense why they are there, but it means that rewatching this story isn't great without having recently watched the Cyberman two-parter as well. The finale of Series 1 works so well because it can be watched and enjoyed on its own, whilst still tieing up many plot threads from the Series. This finale doesn't have that feel to it, so I don't often rewatch this story as I don't think it is a rewarding watch without watching the rest of this Series as well first. Some of these characters are effectively used, such as Pete Tyler (the scene in which he encounters Jackie is a fantastic scene, and Shaun Dingwall is excellent in the whole episode), but others such as Jake aren't well utilised in my opinion. Yvonne is also wasted in the second episode, and I thought that her death from cyber conversion was a great way for that character to go, and it was certainly an impactful scene. What I don't like is seeing Yvonne as a Cyberman (or should that be Cyberwoman?). The main issue I have is the fact that she can cry and feel emotion even after being converted into a Cyberperson. The conversion process removes all emotion, so why is she able to feel and turn against the other Cybermen? And now, the ending. I like how the Daleks and Cybermen are defeated, and I think that trapping Rose in a parallel universe was also a brilliant way to end her story (at least that's what we thought at the time of this episode airing). I do think that the beach scene is drawn out for far too long. However, Billie Piper gives one of best performances in that scene and the dialogue is well written. Although it is well written, I don't necessarily like the meaning of the dialogue. As I have made clear before, I don't really like the idea of The Doctor having a romantic relationship with any companion. I personally like to think that Rose loved The Doctor romantically, and The Doctor loved her in the same way that he loves all of his companions, meaning a very strong friendship. Watching this Series back now, it does seem like the intention was to have the two of them be in love. Overall- 7/10. Overall rating for Series 2- 5/10. This is a very interesting Series. It is probably the only Series which has an arguably equal number of good and bad stories. It seems like the stories are either of a really high quality (The Girl In The Fireplace, The Impossible Planet etc) or a really low quality (New Earth, Love and Monsters etc). The Tenth Doctor and Rose are an interesting pair. I'm not a huge fan of how The Doctor interacts with Rose, and how she affects him in later stories. The Doctor becomes really spiteful towards Martha in Series 3 just because she isn't Rose, and I don't think The Doctor should ever be that petty. I think that this Doctor is the most arrogant and vain Doctor of all of them, but I will say more on that when we get to The End Of Time. The point is I much preferred the relationship between Nine and Rose to Ten's relationship with her. Rose herself became so irritating during this Series. This is no fault of Billie Piper's, as her performances in Series 1 show how good she is. The writing really lets down the character in this Series, and although her departure is emotional it also comes as a relief to be honest.