Fear Is A Superpower | Doctor Who: Listen - Review

Now, this is more like it. After three episodes of varying quality, we get an episode from Steven Moffat that harks back to his scary best, namely The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances from 2005 and 2007's BAFTA-winning Blink. The best thing about Listen is that there is no definable monster (or is there?) This is a meditation on fear, deepening the characters of The Doctor and Clara, as well as new boy (and  probably future companion), Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson), whose future descendent Orson seems to earn another of Moffat's titles for secondary characters - The Last Man at the End of the Universe, as Rory Williams was The Boy Who Waited and Clara, The Impossible Girl.

Squelch!

Clara is becoming a more rounded character beyond her Impossible Girl persona - her job as a schoolteacher becoming particularly handy, here - yet she shows a little bit of her old self when she travels back into the Doc's past once more (albeit with his permission this time), ending up under his bed in a familiar barn, during his childhood. We only see this proto-Doctor in shadow but his hair has a distinct Tennant/Smith brunette wavy quality to it. Spooked by nightmares, the diddy Doctor is reassured by his far-future companion with words that will come to form the creed recited by Tennant, Smith and John Hurt in 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. Hurt even makes a cameo in flashback, making Listen a sort of multi-Doctor tale in the vein of Day (albeit only toward the end).

Earlier on, the Doc has slipped Clara's fingers into some new squidgy sections on the TARDIS console, creating a 'telepathic interface' that allows the timeship to hunt for a childhood dream of Clara's so it can take them to the point at which she dreamed it. 'If anything bites,' The Doctor says of the interface, 'let it.' I love the idea of actual creatures within the TARDIS console. I wonder what would happen if one stuck other body parts in those squidgy bits? No doubt that would be a pornographic interface, although a brief one if anything bit. If the TARDIS is the Doctor's 'wife', then…? No, I've taken that too far. but was the Doctor too afraid to telepathically interface with the TARDIS himself and travel to the point where he dreamed that nightmare? We end up there, anyway but only beknownst to Clara.

Clara can't help thinking of Danny when he phones her after a disastrous start to their date that evening, perhaps with the intention of patching things up so he can later have a pornographic interface with her.

I always like episodes that give a different angle on an established aspect of the show. Apart from possible bitty things in the TARDIS console, I loved seeing the Doctor sat atop his time machine, meditating as it floated in Space (top), then seeing it underwater (above). What I liked most about Listen was The Doctor's assertion that 'fear is a superpower…your heart's beating, you're more alert - ready to run faster and fight harder…' Of course, he means the flight-or-fight response but I'd never really thought of fear that way before. We've all experienced the kind of nightmares in childhood that the Doctor wants to explore, here, waking up to feel like we are not alone. After such dreams, I wasusually too scared to sit up in bed like waking sleepers of varied ages do in Listen, whereupon, a hand reaches out from underneath the bed to grab their ankle. (Better one's ankle than further up, I suppose. Imagine if, after waking from a dark dream, you stand up to calm down and find a hand clasping your crotch. 'Don't be scared.' Whispers a voice from beneath the bed. 'OK.' You say, more out of fear than relaxation. If that hand belonged to Jenna Coleman, as it does when she grabs the diddy Doc's ankle, here.)

The fact that Clara gets to meet The Doctor as a child, let alone whisper words that shape his future, annoyed me. As if being splintered across the Doctor's eleven adult lives wasn't enough in the last series, she gets to influence him as a child too - a privilege she hasn't earned, I don't think. She's only travelled with the Time Lord for, so far, half a series (give or take a couple of specials) and on and off at that. Clara isn't as established as, say, Rose Tyler and not even she got this close to The Doctor and they were in love, although revealing this much of his past that early one would not have had the impact it has now. Is Clara being given such influential scenes because Jenna Coleman is possibly leaving during this season?

'It's Time You Knew Him', is the tagline for this season. At this rate, we'll know everything about The Doctor by the end, bar his real name, which won't even matter, once we know everything about what lead him to become the man he is. If his home planet of Gallifrey features in the way it does here, there's bound to be more of it later on and perhaps at least one other Time Lord. It's rumoured that Michelle Gomez' Missy character and her Promised Land which everyone seems in such a hurry to reach, is a Time Lord and TARDIS respectively. Time will tell…

After affecting the course of universal history in giving a mini-lesson on fear to its frightened greatest champion, Clara returns to the TARDIS, telling the adult Doc to do as he's told and fly away from the barn (which, I couldn't help noticing, had supports not unlike the coral ones in the TARDISes of the Ninth, Tenth and War Doctors - maybe I'm getting a touch carried away, now) she met his younger self. 'I don't take orders, Clara.' Says the Doc, but still obeys. I thought, as in The Beast Below, the Doc dislikes companions making decisions for him. Here, he chose to obey Clara, she didn't pilot the TARDIS away for him but I thought our new darker, angrier, more serious Time Lord would not have taken such a bossy companion lightly. Kick her out, Doc!

In the barn, Clara grabs diddy Doctor's ankle to prevent him finding his future self's TARDIS, before entering it herself to stop his future self finding diddy Doctor. Something to do with big Doctor's earlier nonchalant declaration that meeting one's younger self is 'potentially catastrophic', despite having done so himself several times before. How could the Doctor and the TARDIS fail to realise they were on Gallifrey (if indeed, that's where the barn is? I could see how the War Doctor would head somewhere other than his home planet to detonate the device with which he intends to blow up Gallifrey in Day, if indeed, 'The Moment' weapon does destroy planets?!) or that it was the Doc's younger self outside? OK, he was talking to Orson Pink in the TARDIS but how did The Doctor or his time machine's telepathic abilities not read where they were? What would the Doc have done had he known? Maybe he does but chose not to reveal it…yet?

Gripes and questions aside, Clara's reassuring words to diddy Doctor are good - 'fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly; fear can make you kind.' Thankfully for the universe(s), he listened.

Images courtesy of BBC iPlayer

"It's the way with Scots, they're strangers to vegetables." | Doctor Who: Robot Of Sherwood - Review

The idea of The Doctor meeting Robin Hood reads like Steven Moffat and co were scraping the barrel for episode ideas. It's more the sort of concept for a short history book for kids, using the Doc to introduce children to historic figures. Still, the fact that the trailers showed the Doc questioning the identity of the man standing before him calling himself Robin Hood (Tom Riley) increased my interest without quite piquing it. Robot Of Sherwood was an episode of multiple metatextuality (steady, now…). We've got a Robin Hood played by a Tom, who later poses as 'Tom The Tinker' in an archery contest and who later sees the above image of Robin Hood - himself, I guess - played by Patrick Troughton in the 1953 TV series Robin Hood; Troughton of course went on to play the Second Doctor in 1966! Isn't that cray?! Hang on, what if the Second Doctor was Robin Hood and the Tom Riley version is merely a pretender who comes to assume the role like Jason Connery did from Michael Praed in the Robin Of Sherwood TV show? Phew, I think that's enough metatextuality for this paragraph.

I really enjoyed the bickering and banter between Robin and The Doctor (including this blog post's title quote - although its accuracy is unsubstantiated! I'm sure I've seen my Scottish uncle eat his greens), neither of whom fully trusted the other until the end, at which point, they accepted each other as equals. Robin draws a parallel between himself and the Time Lord, ' that a man born into wealth and privilege should find the plight of the oppressed and weak too much to bear, until one night, he is moved to steal a TARDIS (to) fly among the stars, fighting the good fight.' Both noblemen, both have become fairytales. A clever point from writer Mark Gatiss; after having the Doc question Robin's existence over the course of the episode, it must be acknowledged that, of course, The Doctor is even more of a fictional character than Robin Hood - the current real-world legend being an amalgamation of men and events that may or may not have existed.

The main plot of this episode was standard DW stuff - alien spaceship, crash-landed on Earth, bad robots killing people as they seek to build up their power supply to leave, blah, blah, seen it all before. I know DW always adheres to a certain formula in the end but I thought we were mixing it up a bit this season? Whilst pretty much business as usual, Deep Breath at least gave us our first glimpse of a new Doctor harking back to older ones, as well as deepening his and Clara's relationship and Into The Dalek showed a new perspective on an old, oft-seen, foe. Robot Of Sherwood (shouldn't that be 'Robots', plural? Or is the title a reference to the possibility that Robin himself is mechanical?) showcases Twelve's personality nicely - 'SHUT IT, HOODY!' - but Gatiss could've made more of an effort here. I've only really liked one or two of his DW stories, his Cold War was a highlight of the last series, where he did good work with the Ice Warrior, a DW villain of old ('Ice Warrior hives' get a mention by the Doc at the start of Robot…). The robotic Knights here only resemble better DW monsters, essentially chivalrous Cybermen with lethal mini-crucifix lasers on their frickin' heads (possibly a dig at Christian iconography? DW has had an atheist sensibility since Second Coming creator Russell T Davies' time on the show.) I saw some symbolism between the robot's head-guns and the sunlight shining on the Doctor through the Cross-shaped window in the dungeon:

Whether it's just mirror imagery, foreshadowing the Doc being attacked by the Knights, or visually pointing at him as the later 'saviour' of the peasants, I'm not sure.

The mechanical mickies weren't even in charge, it was Ben Miller's rather dull Sheriff of Nottingham calling the shots. At least he was more Alan Rickman than Keith Allen and he did get a tense dinner scene with Clara and the fantastic line, 'who will rid me of this turbulent Doctor?!' Paraphrasing King Henry II's plea to his own knights to do away with Thomas a Becket in 1170.

Sheriff's knights are thankfully unsuccessful, here. Indeed, the metal Knights were almost as easily defeatable than the clockwork droids from Deep Breath; destroyed by their own laser fire reflected off shiny metal plates helpfully just lying around and utilised by the Sheriff's peasant workforce. Strewth, couldn't the Knights have just pummelled the peasants to death once they found their lasers ineffective? Star Trek's Borg, who can adapt to any kind of attack (presumably also from their own weapons) wouldn't take that kind of crap from a bunch of grotty poor people. It's supposed to be 1109, I know, (the Doc's initial guesstimate of when to find the - he believes - fictional Robin Hood turns out to be eerily spot on. A little help from the TARDIS, perhaps?) the slave peasant's defences are limited and they had to have a triumphant moment but it was a bit pathetic. DW can do better than this, surely? If the Knights are so easy to beat, how did they control that ship, unless this was done by someone/thing we didn't see? That said, it crashed, so their piloting skills can't have been that good.

I wish the plot had been a bit more original. Sheriff's grand plan - overtaking Derby, of all places (well, you gotta start somewhere, even with a timeship at your disposal, this is 1109, after all.) followed by Lincoln, then…'THE WORLD!' was a bit blasé. If the Knight's ship can time travel, couldn't the Sheriff orchestrate himself becoming king, rather than John, in the past, removing the need to fly to London in the present, 1109, to overtake the throne there. Perhaps he isn't smart enough? He is a mediaeval man using future tech. He could've done a Master/Harold Saxon, circa 2007, and ingratiated himself into the monarchy, in his own time, without needing to use much force. Why bother when he has big metal Knights, I suppose (despite their weakness)?

Altogether, Robot Of Sherwood was a reasonable, mixed bag of an episode that improved on second viewing but next week's Listen looks like a return to form.

Into Darkness | Doctor Who: Into The Dalek - Review

Daleks are as synonymous with Doctor Who as tartan is with Scotland (is my blog developing a Scottish agenda to rival Steven Moffat's, now?) Having been rather overused in the rebooted series since 2005, it takes a special angle to make an interesting Dalek story, now. Despite the brilliant Dalek episode during Christopher Ecclestone's 2005 run - where the Doctor was confronted by one of his mortal enemies (at this point thought wholly 'exterminated' by the Time Lord, by his own fair hand, to boot) chained up in a museum and, like The Doctor himself, all alone - Dalek stories of Russell T Davies' Doctor Who fell into the usual category of Daleks attempting to take over or destroy the world/galaxy/universe. Dalek aside, the evil mutants still returned at season one's end with a variation on their usual dastardly plan, as they did for every season after, aside from Tennant's third in 2008 (where The Master was that season's chief villain), where they got a two-parter, Daleks In Manhattan, halfway through. In Matt Smith's tenure, they where thankfully somewhat sidelined, relegated to standalone episodes of varying quality, such as Victory of the Daleks (OK) and Asylum of the Daleks (really good). The metal-encased monsters of course featured in 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, as it depicted the Time War between Daleks and Time Lords. The Doctor's reversal of his previous genocidal actions now meaning that Dalek creator Davros and his progeny are still at large in the universe. If there can be a full Dalek fleet at the start of Capaldi's second full episode, what of the Time Lords?

Into The Dalek is a big improvement over Deep Breath - cleverer, weirder and shorter, the usual suspense brought by the standard episode running time of 45 minutes; plus more Doctor…and no Paternoster Gang. I would rather have had 80 minutes of this, than Deep Breath, which would have worked better as a regular episode. Making it twice the normal length (probably just to show in cinemas) rendered it a ponderous, especially when the Doctor himself was seen less than his friends. In episode 2, he's in almost every scene. Ones where he's absent, mainly involving Clara pulling new boy Danny Pink, are a bit dull, even if new boy Samuel Anderson is more interesting than I thought he might be, as a former soldier, now a Maths teacher with a dark past. The Doctor is firing on all cylinders now he's recovered from regeneration and slipped on his natty new duds.

A Dalek episode might have made a bigger impact later on in Capaldi's first series, by which time, we would have seen him develop as The Doctor and better appreciate his reaction to coming up against his mortal foes once again but in his new form. Still, we know enough about The Doctor's attitude towards the Daleks to be hooked as soon as he finds his his possibly prejudice confronted by a supposedly good one, willing to destroy its own kind. The Doctor is introduced as a (medical) doctor by the group of space soldiers who captured it (and The Doctor) when he is threatened with death if he doesn't co-operate in being  miniaturised and placed within the belly of the steel beast - 'Rusty' as The Doctor calls it - in order to make it better. 'Fantastic idea for a movie' The Doctor ironically comments on the shrinking process, 'terrible idea for a Proctologist'. If Doctor Who was ever accused of disappearing up its own backside during Matt Smith's time, then it's episodes like this which demonstrate how Capaldi's first season could very well be a true return to form for the series.

With this line, The Doctor is slyly referring to the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage with Racquel Welch, in which a team of scientists are miniaturised and injected into a mortally injured diplomat's bloodstream to heal him. Into The Dalek also put me in mind of the Martin Short film, Innerspace (a childhood fave of mine, itself inspired by Fantastic Voyage), last year's Matt Smith episode Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS and if I'm being really retentive, Journey To The Centre Of The Punk, that episode of The Mighty Boosh where Howard Moon et al where shrunken down and inserted into Vince Noir's brain. As someone said a long time ago, there's nothing new under the sun, so it seems unfair to criticise Doctor Who for reusing an old sci-fi idea, especially when it's used so well as here, presenting a fresh perspective on an old enemy.

This episode is directed by Ben Wheatley, who, along with Deep Breath, has also helmed Kill List and A Field In England. Where Deep Breath seemed like standard Doctor Who with less Doctor and more talking, Into The Dalek is more effective, presenting some wonderfully weird, arty shots, such as when The Doctor, Clara and a team of soldiers first climb inside the Dalek, as well as a beautiful scene where our Time Lord pal talks 'eye-to-eye' (and mind-to-mind) with his nemesis in a scene reminiscent of the mind-meld between old Spock and young Kirk - a highlight from 2009's Star Trek. Once we've ventured 'into darkness' within The Dalek's insides, previously unseen territory in DW (unless you count moments of brief visibility when they open or they're blown up) is impressively realised, although looks a bit like the TARDIS' interior from Journey…, perhaps they used the same location? Also, have the Daleks mutated again? This one looked thinner and redder than normal but then it wasn't well. It's eye looked normal.

The Doctor's greater visibility throughout Into The Dalek gives the promising traits he demonstrated in Deep Breath a better chance to breathe. That curmudgeonliness is coming along nicely and his curt one-liners, like (regarding Clara being his 'carer') 'Yeah, she cares…so I don't have to,' will be a highlight and he's thankfully less flappy than Matt Smith. I wasn't keen on seeing The Doctor brought into line by schoolteacher Clara, even if it was for a good reason. A slap and a trying question momentarily reducing the Time Lord to one of her pupils. Still, this further deepens their relationship and moments later and The Doctor is back giving the orders, telling people what's what (even though he still doesn't really know what he's doing but at least knows what he wants) His Rock Finger Salute pops up once more, too - index and pinky finger raised for extra emphasis.

'Am I a good man?' The Doctor asks Clara early on. The answer to this question was clearly yes when The Doctor was a hero fighting for his friends in 2011's A Good Man Goes To War. With Into The Dalek, a good Dalek is what The Doctor struggles to deal with, as does Clara her new Doctor's attitude that a Dalek cannot change. Villains are often just a flip side of the heroes they battle - The Doctor and the Daleks are no different. I liked the darkness of a moment where The Doctor uses someone's imminent death to the advantage of everyone else. We have always known that he is capable of dark deeds as long as the end justifies the means (he killed all of his own people to stop the Time War!)

Near the end, Rusty calls The Doctor 'A. Good. Dalek!' So, in Dalek's minds, The Doctor has progressed from the opinion of the Dalek Emperor in Ecclestone's penultimate episode, The Parting Of The Ways, who goads The Doctor, 'You. Would. Make. A. Good. Dalek!' After countless years battling his sworn foes, The Doctor's hatred now mirrors theirs, along with the will to enact it. Like that other genius hero Moffat writes for, he is on the side of the angels but not one of them. So, what's in store for his enemies, then, or friends, for that matter, in the future?