Click Here for the Official Announcement But the important bits”¦ BBC 1 Saturday 3rd January 2009 5.35pm Watch it “¦ he is coming “¦
Author: Gateway
Sci-Fi Heaven's resident Stargate and Doctor Who columnist. He's lovely too.
Doctor Who: Christmas Special 2008: The Next Doctor
In brief: Russell you cheeky so and so!!
In depth:
I’ve come to the opinion that Russell T Davies is quite possibly the most evil man known to exist. Oh sure. He writes for a show that enthrals the nations kids but quite simply he is just diabolical.
He deliberately chose a nicely ambiguous title – The Next Doctor.
David Tennant’s Own Journey’s End
Chris got here before I did… so in that regard I’m not going to offer much in the way of news… but more some immediate thoughts on the announcement.
Perfect Ten will be sincerely missed.
I think the last series proved how completely David Tennant encapsulated his version of the Doctor. How thoroughly he understood what the role was.
And frankly, for myself, how much of a sheer joy he was to behold. His enthusiasm was nothing short of infectious.
If Tennant was a drug on the market, I’d be on it.
Doctor Who: Series 4: Journey’s End Review Part 2: Saying Goodbye
Spoilers contained herein. Now it comes to the real point of this episode ““ saying goodbye. First to leave the TARDIS is Sarah Jane. Perfect Ten lands the TARDIS in a London…
Doctor Who: Series 4: Journey’s End
This review comes in two parts, due to length and detail and brilliance.
In-brief: Big. Though something lingers…
In-depth:
Let me say this first of all – this episode is good.
After four years, this is where we are now. This is how Russell T. Davies chooses to end his tenure as the producer of Doctor Who. It’s an epic plot, tying together all of the strands from his previous forays into this universe, and indeed those who have come before him. There’s a certain amount of glee here in the concept of the Doctor, and perhaps that is the problem. As much as I wanted to love this episode, I have to say, it simply wasn’t as spectacular as I wanted it to be.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Stolen Earth
In-brief: I’m about to explode.
In-depth:
This is it.
This is what Russell T. Davies has been building up to for the last four years of nuWho.
This is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders. Full out rush from start to finish and my Gods, it is brilliant.
Doctor Who: Series 4: Midnight
In-brief: Disorientating, but not in a bad way…
In-depth:
This episode is a very strange one because I do believe I liked it, and it told some interesting concepts is a very tight manner.
We begin on the leisure planet of ‘Midnight.’ It’s an isolated location because the planet is found in orbit of an extonic star which emits a radiation type that prevents any form of life as we know it from existing outside of sheltered habitat. Also, there’s no kind of atmosphere so that prevents the whole breathing process quite handily.
Read More…Doctor Who: Series 4: Forest of the Dead
In-brief: What a rush!
In-depth:
There are two stories being woven here; incredibly this episode builds upon its predecessor in all the right places, answers all of our questions satisfactorily, and resolves the mystery of the week.
Doctor Who: Series 4: Silence in the Library
In brief: Good – but definitely a part one…
In-depth:
It’s very hard being in love with a television show, because you absolutely want to love it all and give it the best possible score you can. Except that wouldn’t be fair.
That said, ‘Silence in the Library’ is another winner this year for Doctor Who.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Unicorn and the Wasp
In-brief: Brilliant!
In-depth: And we’re back on form again! Quite simply, this episode was firing on all cylinders from the onset. I don’t know if it’s the period setting, the writers’ strength, the familiarity with the central historical figure, or just damn good comic timing, but this episode is another example of how I’ll be able to quite happily just watch one episode after another of this series when it is released on DVD.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Doctor’s Daughter
In-brief:
Something to chew on… but not as much as it wants.
In-depth:
This is the first episode of series 4 I’ve had some serious doubts about. After last week’s cliffhanger of sorts, I felt sure that this week would prove to be a real fantastic romp of an episode.
But it’s hampered by an extremely slow start, an initially confusing design for an alien creature and the very title of the episode itself, is never really encapsulated upon to my tastes.
In nuWho, the Doctor is a solitary figure. He’s absolutely alone in the sense that he knows that he is the Last of his kind. So whenever he gets a whisper of possibility that their might be others’ of his species’ still kicking about, he gets very, very scared. And very protective.
But we’ve seen this before in the Master. Despite everything the Master did in the last three episodes of Series 3, the Doctor still found it within himself to grieve, to suffer, to cry, at his eventual death.
Or ‘death’. But that’s another story. On another forum.
Review. So if you’re going to tap into that idea of the Doctor not really being alone, you’d best do something damn different with it.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Poison Sky
In-brief:
Wow.
(Very) In-depth:
I’m a little bit shocked actually. I just sat down and watched the second of a two-part episode of Doctor Who, and not only did it manage to build upon the first episode, with no stone left not fully unturned, it did so in a way that was, quite simply, brilliant.
Plot; Martha has been cloned, the Sontarans are flooding the world with somekind of poisonous gas, Donna’s granddad is being poisoned to death by said gas and the Doctor, and UNIT, stand helpless…
…but not for long.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Sontaran Stratagem
In brief:
Someone’s back! Oh! And it’s good!
In-depth:
So far with this series, there has not been a single episode I wouldn’t want to go back and watch again. I’ve got the DVDs for Series 3, but quite frankly, I tend to skip the Shakespeare episode (I feel the need to point out I had to think for a few long moments before I remember what the second episode was…), skip the first 20 odd minutes of ‘Gridlock’… With this collection, I could quite happily just sit back, and let the DVD play all of them.
And this episode is no exception.
Plot! A mysterious academy looms and a journalist is thrown from the building, ranting about how ATMOS is somekind of conspiracy… her death by her car driving into a river with the doors locked, is seemingly arranged by the satellite navigation device in her car, the ATMOS previously mentioned.
Onboard the TARDIS, Donna learns how to pilot, and the Doctor receives a phone call. Except it’s not his phone. It’s Martha Jones’, and only one person promised to ring that number…
Doctor Who: Series 4: Planet of the Ood
In brief: Solid storytelling.
In-depth: Okay. Now this is a curious little Doctor Who tale.
I simply can’t fault how beautiful this episode looked; the CGI effects of the snow covered planet, the interior and exterior designs of the Oodsphere complex… it was an alien planet that looked and felt like an alien planet! The design team here did some fantastic work.
Back to the story though, as it transpires, the Ood were a docile race that humans found and decided to take of; to educate as one character within the episode calls it. We know something has gone wrong though from the opening scene where one of the humans running the Ood servants company is murdered by the Ood who serves him. One who has a familiar looking red colour to his eye… The Doctor and Donna arrive and quickly the Doctor determines that the Ood are somehow being controlled by an outside force again – it simply isn’t in their nature to kill.
Doctor Who: Series 4: The Fires of Pompeii
In-brief:
Better!
In-depth:
Ah. Now. This is tricky. I’m extremely tempted to call this an absolutely fantastic showing of what Doctor Who can be when it’s on top form based solely on the second half of this episode, but that would not be fair to the first half!
Doctor Who: Series 4: Partners in Crime
In brief:
Fun with good gut kick.
In-depth:
Russell T. Davies. I think what this man has done to Doctor Who, is absolutely nothing short of fantastic. He brought back to life a series which had been thought gone, and has helped to turn it into the powerhouse it is today with a strong guiding hand.
For that I am extremely thankful because it’s brought an element of fun to Saturday nights in front of the tv that hasn’t been there for a good while. All that said, I will freely admit I’m not entirely sure he’s the best person to write episodes of Doctor Who. I think, although he has brilliant ideas and themes, the execution gets a little bit mixed up sometimes.
Review: Stargate Ark of Truth
In Brief: Satisfying. But unfulfilling. Details: It’s been one hell of a ten years for the series Stargate: SG1. We’ve had the original movie back in 1994. Then the series followed. Then…
Review: Doctor Who 3×01 – Smith and Jones
Chris asks. I do. Slowly. We’re now 4 episodes in to this brand new season of Doctor Who, and I’m pleased as punch to report that so far, it’s been pretty much…