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patentdragonOkay, I'm a good deal less pissed off now; so, without further ado...
Review: "Closing Time"... The penultimate episode of this season, and...
...perhaps the penultimate episode of The Doctor's life? Harking back to the final drawn-out farewells sequence at the end of The End Of Time, Part 2, our hero pays a visit to a friend from last year's The Lodger, an episode I thought would suck royally, but which turned out 1) better than I expected, and 2) a factor in recent events in the show. The Doctor's visit to Craig coincides with strange disappearances and disruptions to the power grid, and despite his impending date with destiny at a certain lake in the United States, he decides to hang around and investigate.
It's good to see the Cybermen again, and their "pets" the Cybermats, but whilst the latter get a nasty upgrade - living jaws and teeth - it's a disappointment to find these are the Lumic Cybermen, not the classic Mondasian/Telosian Cybermen, unless the latter have adopted the design aesthetic of their alternate Earth counterparts. Still, a Cyberman is a Cyberman, and we shouldn't grumble, given the lack of anything familiar this season, apart from the Silurians in A Good Man Goes To War. The enemies, however, are (or seem) secondary to a string of fun stuff throughout the episode, as The Doctor translates for a baby again ("Stormaggedon", heehee), and there's a nod back to the Russell T Davies era with a complete misunderstanding that's only resolved at the end.
The Lodger brought The Doctor into close contact with something alien to him - the mundane - and that's much of what we get this time, although the enemy this time isn't isolated to an upstairs flat that doesn't really exist, allowing for more comedic rushing around, this time with a baby in tow. The episode promised something fun, and it certainly delivers, whilst not being quite as, dare I say it, formulaic as recent episodes. I'd expected the Cyber-threat to be some kind of "spin-off" from the Cyber-invasion of Christmas special The Next Doctor, which would have been a neater fit, but the reason for the Cybermen being present wasn't a big factor, and so the story didn't suffer from pre-anticipation. This was, in the end, a far more enjoyable episode than most this "semi-season", and I hope lessons will be learned for next year. The split season concept is a good one, and may be essential to deal with the Olympics next year, but you need to keep the pace up - yes, Steven Moffat, I'm talking to you...
Oh, and please no more "Ten Little Indians" episodes, please?
Finally, we had "The Pay-Off". The Doctor picks up some blue envelopes (remember those?), and gets a stetson from Craig (remember that too?), and a seemingly innocent meeting with some children feeds back to the now Doctor River Song, perusing the eye-witness reports of the last encounter with our hero - and The Silence sink their claws in. At last, the reason of River saying "Of course" after The Astronaut returns to the lake is explained, and the scene is set for events we have already seen...
...or is there more? There has to be at least one episode's worth, doesn't there?
This episode could've been nothing but foreshadowing for those critical last five minutes, but it managed to stand on its own after all, and not remain a "vestigial organ" of the main story arc. Very much enjoyable - now, there's just one week before the end...
The Final Word... Not really climactic enough for a next-to-final episode, but a good fun story to lighten the mood, spiced with the last-minute filling of some long-standing gaps. The pieces, it seems are now in place... Score: 8 / 10
Review: "Closing Time"... The penultimate episode of this season, and...
...perhaps the penultimate episode of The Doctor's life? Harking back to the final drawn-out farewells sequence at the end of The End Of Time, Part 2, our hero pays a visit to a friend from last year's The Lodger, an episode I thought would suck royally, but which turned out 1) better than I expected, and 2) a factor in recent events in the show. The Doctor's visit to Craig coincides with strange disappearances and disruptions to the power grid, and despite his impending date with destiny at a certain lake in the United States, he decides to hang around and investigate.
It's good to see the Cybermen again, and their "pets" the Cybermats, but whilst the latter get a nasty upgrade - living jaws and teeth - it's a disappointment to find these are the Lumic Cybermen, not the classic Mondasian/Telosian Cybermen, unless the latter have adopted the design aesthetic of their alternate Earth counterparts. Still, a Cyberman is a Cyberman, and we shouldn't grumble, given the lack of anything familiar this season, apart from the Silurians in A Good Man Goes To War. The enemies, however, are (or seem) secondary to a string of fun stuff throughout the episode, as The Doctor translates for a baby again ("Stormaggedon", heehee), and there's a nod back to the Russell T Davies era with a complete misunderstanding that's only resolved at the end.
The Lodger brought The Doctor into close contact with something alien to him - the mundane - and that's much of what we get this time, although the enemy this time isn't isolated to an upstairs flat that doesn't really exist, allowing for more comedic rushing around, this time with a baby in tow. The episode promised something fun, and it certainly delivers, whilst not being quite as, dare I say it, formulaic as recent episodes. I'd expected the Cyber-threat to be some kind of "spin-off" from the Cyber-invasion of Christmas special The Next Doctor, which would have been a neater fit, but the reason for the Cybermen being present wasn't a big factor, and so the story didn't suffer from pre-anticipation. This was, in the end, a far more enjoyable episode than most this "semi-season", and I hope lessons will be learned for next year. The split season concept is a good one, and may be essential to deal with the Olympics next year, but you need to keep the pace up - yes, Steven Moffat, I'm talking to you...
Oh, and please no more "Ten Little Indians" episodes, please?
Finally, we had "The Pay-Off". The Doctor picks up some blue envelopes (remember those?), and gets a stetson from Craig (remember that too?), and a seemingly innocent meeting with some children feeds back to the now Doctor River Song, perusing the eye-witness reports of the last encounter with our hero - and The Silence sink their claws in. At last, the reason of River saying "Of course" after The Astronaut returns to the lake is explained, and the scene is set for events we have already seen...
...or is there more? There has to be at least one episode's worth, doesn't there?
This episode could've been nothing but foreshadowing for those critical last five minutes, but it managed to stand on its own after all, and not remain a "vestigial organ" of the main story arc. Very much enjoyable - now, there's just one week before the end...
The Final Word... Not really climactic enough for a next-to-final episode, but a good fun story to lighten the mood, spiced with the last-minute filling of some long-standing gaps. The pieces, it seems are now in place... Score: 8 / 10
