From: doctor{at}doctor.nl2k.ab.ca (The Doctor)

In article ,
Ignis Fatuus   wrote:
>On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 01:22:48 -0800 (PST), McGoohan not Jesus
> wrote:
>
>>IF, and I want to be clear before I start that I'm not trying to
>>attack you, are you serious?
>>This two parter was full of everything you constantly complain about
>>being wrong with modern Who, and chock full of masturbatory, self
>>referential pats on the back. I was particularly unhappy with it
>>because it was one of probably a half dozen times in nine years that
>>my wife actually sat down to watch it with me, and it was (besides a
>>few very strong performances, I will give it that) just a bunch of RTD
>>grandstanding and pantomime of Star Wars.
>>I thought that Simm and Cribbins were brilliant.
>>Tennant I am glad to see go, I love him, but his character is written
>>into a corner, forever doomed to act manic and wild eyed then forlorn
>>like a beat puppy then The Little Engine That Could then furrowed brow
>>introspection then repeat. Here and there an "I'm Sorry,"
"Allons y,"
>>and "No, Don't, Just Don't" are peppered in for effect.
>>I'm just amazed that you think this was good Who, and am not sold that
>>the original post in this thread was without sarcasm.
>>
>>
>I deliberately avoided going into too much spoilerish detail at this
>stage - but I found so much to enjoy in the story that I can forgive
>the preposterous plot, as it wasn't more than window dressing for some
>very appealing character work. John Simm's OTT transmogrified
>SUPERVILLAIN ranting megalomaniac Master  was very neatly transformed
>into a pathetic self-delusional wannabee, manipulated by the designs
>of external forces.; and his final moment of clarity was particularly
>effective and unexpected.
>
>The Doctor and Wilf made a brilliant partnership; with some cracking
>dialogue  the additional pleasure of a new perspective on Donna in a
>small part which had a huge impact.
>
>Incidental pleasures included seeing the Time Lords kicked squarely in
>their sceptred orbs and sent spinning back to the darkness from which
>they emerged. Dalton's Rassilon, quite literally spitting venom and
>bile was a joy to behold. The pompous vacuous assembly with it's
>pantomime robes of office and it's weary incantations was a suitable
>metaphor for all the boredom and dullness that they've brought to the
>series over the years. Despite my misgivings about Smith I enjoyed a
>(probably delusional) moment of rapture at the notion that they've
>been consigned to a dungeon of obscurity for the rest of eternity. The
>show would be so much better off without them.
>
>Instead of painstakingly tying up loose ends, RTD made a virtue of his
>past absurdities through strength of character, and then scattered
>them all to the wind. The farewell scene at the end was less effusive
>than in previous years and all the better for that (only the Harkness
>scene was slightly mawkish and embarrassing. I don't think it could
>have been improved on as a tribute to the supporting cast who've
>helped to make a triumph of the revival.
>
>You might find my enthusiasm out of place but I can assure you that I
>found so much more to enjoy and applaud in this one than in the
>relentlessly tedious po-faced absurdities of stories like Waters of
>Mars - which resembled the most tedious meanderings of the
>Baker-Pertwee period and beyond.
>>
>>
>>Totally unrelated to anything in this thread, but WHY THE HELL WAS HE
>>STILL ABLE TO STAND UP AND BREATHE AFTER BEING THROWN AT THE GROUND
>>~600k/h? He should have been a little pasty red thing with a brown
>>suit lying in it.
>>
>He's a time lord...
>But seriously; I have a friend who survived a drop when his chutes
>failed to open. He broke everything and spent a couple of years in
>hospital but now he walks without a limp; and he didn't have a glass
>roof to break the fall.
>
>I can't help thinking that this was another deliberate send-up of the
>time lord myth. If it wasn't it's as good as... To me it was all about
>thumbing the nose at the past and liberating the series for the
>future. Wilf's gun was a nice nod at The Gunfighters (people keep
>giving me guns and I don't know what to do with them) and there was a
>strong sense of the series returning to it's roots by throwing off the
>shackles of the past.

RTD did a splendid job here!!
-- 
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