RevWHOs...
29 May 2011 13:14![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patentdragonOoops! I'm a couple of Doctor Who reviews behind - no real surprise given how busy I've been these last two Saturdays - but thankfully those episodes constitute a two-parter... so here goes!
Reviews - Doctor Who: (605) The Rebel Flesh/(606) The Almost People A curious choice for a two-parter, but so far, only The Curse Of The Black Spot (603) has struggled to "make the weight" so far, and only by a hair's-breadth, so let's see...
This particular story seems rather "low budget" for an effectively feature-length story, and as The Rebel Flesh kicks off in a rather Alien 3-like setting, the hope that a big chunk of the season-wide arc is going to be expanded upon quickly subsides. That doesn't mean that the first episode is a poor show - far from it, as man's folly comes back to bite him on the arse in suitably creepy style. A "slave" revolt is in progress, and at times, your sympathy does swerve towards the Gangers, until the seeds of conflict seem to blossom into all out war...
Oh, and there's a Ganger Doctor - definitely the most eerie cliffhanger in a long time, and a moment that lifts this episode above the average!
So, how can part 2 - The Almost People - take this story onward, and not trip over similar stories in the past? It's good that the story doesn't descend into an all-out "them or us" situation, as the Gangers start to grasp humanity - and Ganger-Doctor has to come to terms with our hero's past regenerations, complete with "neutron flow" and "jelly-babies" - although the Ganger-monster at the end seems a bit "tacked-on", and reminiscent of the creature from Season Three's The Lazarus Experiment. What really shines through in this episode is the interplay between the two Doctors, and Amy and the Ganger-Doctor (or is it?) - and the big shock twist that explains why The Doctor chose to land at the acid factory, why his scans can't tell whether Amy is or isn't pregnant, and something about the mysterious Eye-Patch Woman...
You do come away thinking that just maybe the mid-season finale A Good Man Goes To War should have been the two-parter, as there looks to be so much to cram into that one episode. "Momentous" certainly seems to be the order of the day - and Saturday can't come soon enough!
Bonus Impressions: The "Prequel" for A Good Man Goes To War - We recognise the blue guy from The Pandorica Opens last year - but are those bad guys from the last season of The Sarah Jane Adventures? Interesting reverse-pollination going there...
The Bottom Line... More solid fare from "Moff-Who", even if it does seem a bit stretched to cover two episodes. Sets the scene very nicely for the mid-season cliffhanger! Score: The Rebel Flesh - 8/10; The Almost People - 8/10
Reviews - Doctor Who: (605) The Rebel Flesh/(606) The Almost People A curious choice for a two-parter, but so far, only The Curse Of The Black Spot (603) has struggled to "make the weight" so far, and only by a hair's-breadth, so let's see...
This particular story seems rather "low budget" for an effectively feature-length story, and as The Rebel Flesh kicks off in a rather Alien 3-like setting, the hope that a big chunk of the season-wide arc is going to be expanded upon quickly subsides. That doesn't mean that the first episode is a poor show - far from it, as man's folly comes back to bite him on the arse in suitably creepy style. A "slave" revolt is in progress, and at times, your sympathy does swerve towards the Gangers, until the seeds of conflict seem to blossom into all out war...
Oh, and there's a Ganger Doctor - definitely the most eerie cliffhanger in a long time, and a moment that lifts this episode above the average!
So, how can part 2 - The Almost People - take this story onward, and not trip over similar stories in the past? It's good that the story doesn't descend into an all-out "them or us" situation, as the Gangers start to grasp humanity - and Ganger-Doctor has to come to terms with our hero's past regenerations, complete with "neutron flow" and "jelly-babies" - although the Ganger-monster at the end seems a bit "tacked-on", and reminiscent of the creature from Season Three's The Lazarus Experiment. What really shines through in this episode is the interplay between the two Doctors, and Amy and the Ganger-Doctor (or is it?) - and the big shock twist that explains why The Doctor chose to land at the acid factory, why his scans can't tell whether Amy is or isn't pregnant, and something about the mysterious Eye-Patch Woman...
You do come away thinking that just maybe the mid-season finale A Good Man Goes To War should have been the two-parter, as there looks to be so much to cram into that one episode. "Momentous" certainly seems to be the order of the day - and Saturday can't come soon enough!
Bonus Impressions: The "Prequel" for A Good Man Goes To War - We recognise the blue guy from The Pandorica Opens last year - but are those bad guys from the last season of The Sarah Jane Adventures? Interesting reverse-pollination going there...
The Bottom Line... More solid fare from "Moff-Who", even if it does seem a bit stretched to cover two episodes. Sets the scene very nicely for the mid-season cliffhanger! Score: The Rebel Flesh - 8/10; The Almost People - 8/10
