Showing posts with label 42. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 42. Show all posts

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Doctor Who - Season 3 Report Card...

Hello fellow Whovians!!

I guess we are are now also; to greater & lesser degrees... Tennantians, Barrowmanians, Simmians & Freemian Agyemians...

Anyway, I digress, I am not yet ready to commit my thoughts about 'Last of The Time Lords' to the cold, yawning vastness of cyber space. However, now seems an apt time to (very) briefly summarise my thoughts about the season, story by story, to bring things up to date.


Runaway Bride - Flashy chase set-piece aside, utterly wretched. Red card...5/10

Smith & Jones - Suprisingly good romp that transcends it's silliness...8/10

Shakespeare Code - A shallow confection & a wasted opportunity...6.5/10

Gridlock - An unexpected heart string tweaker, against the odds...8/10

Daleks In Manhattan - Sub par & disconcerting...6.5/10

Evolution of The Daleks - Imagine drinking your own urine with some toe-nail clippings & belly button lint thrown in for good measure &..Voila! You're half way to imagining this travesty!...5.5/10 (So bad it deserved a three line review!)

Lazarus Experiment - Slight but fun, with a cracking climax...7/10

42 - Gripping & genuinely scary. Add two hunks & you've got a happy Lucozer...8.5/10

Human Nature - Stylish, adult & only just short of perfect...9/10

Family Of Blood - Something of a let down, but still highly watchable...8/10

Blink - By turns charming & terrifying. A splendid oddity...9/10

Utopia - This is the stuff! Silly savages aside, I was on tenderhooks...9/10

Sound of Drums - Lots of dressing, not quite enough green leafy vegetables...8/10

Last of the Time Lords - TBA....


The Co-Pilot & I have decided to team up for our final blog onslaught for season 3. We will each contribute our LOTTL thoughts & the Co-Pilot will also deftly deliver a sweeping examination of the last 4 stories of the season, in one final gargantuan tome. Keep your eyes peeled wuunda-nougats!? wuundanoo-gettes?....


Sincerely, Lucozer....

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Doctor Who - '42' - Lucozer's Wuuhoo!!!

Bravo!! I'll say!!, the Doctor AND a good story!! I have very little to criticise in this most taut & tense of thrillers. Graeme Harper has delivered his finest directorial piece since 'Caves Of Androzani' & that's saying something because his work is always solid at the very least.

I was absolutely stunned at the intensity of Tennant's performance, particularly when he was infected & had to be frozen to -200 degrees. For the first time in the Tennant era he seemed genuinely scared & genuinely in danger. "Martha!...I'm scared" ... David!...I believe you!! Martha put in her best knock thus far as well. What a team it seems we well have to cherish.

The special effects were first rate & I'm delighted to say that we finally have another 'fetishistic gesture' from an iconic Dr Who creation to add to the grand pantheon; Silurian wobbling it's head light... Sontaron taking off its helmet ... Cardinal Borusa arching his eyebrow...now...Red mask creature lifting it's visor & smouldering at its victim. Fantastic! Shame it's a bit close in looks to the 'Empty Child' mask design, but I'll still gladly take it & run away with it to the secret cave where I keep my 'Dr Who precious'!!

The guest cast were uniformly good. The leader was a touch wooden at times, but I feel harsh saying that because she was really more than competent. Riley was it? the guy who was stuck in the escape pod with Martha? Oh my giddy aunt! I would like about an hour with him & the boyfriend kidnapper from 'Gridlock'...no questions asked. Actually, the first victim from '42', the leader's hubby/ boyfriend? can come along too. That'll make four..tag teams..wuundanoogoo!

As the Co-Pilot noted, it was absolutely 'Planet of Evil 2007' (sounds like a sexy dance party actually). Wonderful that the homage/ tip of the hat was inspired & scary. It could have been 'Rose' tainting the Auton legacy all over again, but mercifully it wasn't. I was riveted. Even 'Muzza' Gold managed not to raise the 'BBC Horny Dalek Baritone Men's Choir' fader for minutes at a time. In fact, the score had me in mind of the 'Five Doctors' at times, which is never a bad thing & the silences were truly symphonic!

What a precious little gem this is! & it's only the beginning of the glory road home! I haven't been this excited since 'Doctor Dances', ok, maybe 'Bad Wolf' if you must push me, ok ok, maybe about 3 minutes of 'Army Of Ghosts/ Doomsday' damn you!. Anyway, fab little sweeties, just fab!!!!

Cardinal Borusa minced it best when he waxed through pursed lips;
"Oh Doctor!...9 out of 10"

Love, Lucozer.

Martha's Lookin' Finer..Return To Zeta Minor..Co-Pilot gets moist in '42' different ways!

The Planet of Evil of 2007, 42 takes the cake and doesn't spare on the cream...(and my, how tasty this here cream is....mmmmmm)!

Marvellous it is to see (CHAUVENIST COMMENT ALERT) Martha really sweat it out - literally and figuratively...how fabulously intelligent and action-savvy she is ...and what a total, gob-smacking spunk! RRRAAARRR! Oh to be stuck in any enclosed space with you Ms Jones...RRRAAARRR..I am a BIG, BIG fan, Freema.

It is amply evident after this showing that Martha is turning into the perfect foil for the ever surprising Tennant (who once again puts in an excellent turn in unfamiliar territory for his Doctor...the preening know-it-all of last season is, thank Buddha, a long-forgotten blip on his ever brightening radar). There is much more intrigue to the Tennant Doctor now that he has a Sarah-Jane (Martha) rather than an Ace (Rose) as his companion. He is once again a man of mystery and a fascinatingly vulnerable one at that. No longer is he little more than Rose's domesticated/ emancipated, fey boyfriend, who each episode - on a whim - lept out of character and did ridiculously unconvincing butch things, and then kept boasting about it. Good riddance to that tosser! On this, Eccleston's macho/innocent child-man provided a riveting balance to the young/wise Rose character - the relationship positively sparkled and was full of sexual tension. The Tennant Doctor however was completely suffocated by the Rose (and her family) dynamic and gagged his way through last season in a most cloying way. Not so season 3!

Graeme Harper is the closest thing we are going to get this century to Masters Camfield and Maloney and we love him for it. This is his best showing of the new series so far. He succeeds in stretching the tension out over the full 42(?) minutes. He notably manages to get the best score thus far out of the unpredictable (or should that be predictably bad?) Murray Gold...how wonderful are those 30 odd seconds of silence as Martha raps aimlessly on the glass window of the capsule, while the Doctor delivers some of his best stuff since the 70s? I was gripped my loves, I was gripped!

As well as being thrilled at how serious and compelling this episode was, I was also delighted at the subtelty of its moral message. This is something that new Who has shown it can do well...the theme of nature rebelling against human greed or ignorance is a welcome undercurrant to an excellent action adventure.

Suffice it to say, 42 is the best story of the season thus far. The prospect that this will be only the fourth or fifth best story overall - just look at the potential treasures that await...makes my already whetted appetite most moist indeed. I fully expect this to be the best season since Tom left! I have been licking my lips in juicy anticipation for Human Nature next week...

What a blessing it is to be a Doctor Who fan in 2007!