Opining for the Fjords
Jun. 18th, 2007 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingandyOpinions are funny things, aren't they?
I am of the opinion that Human Nature/Family of Blood was some of the finest Who to emerge in recent years (surpassed only by every episode written by Steven Moffatt). A respected friend and avid Who fan of my acquaintance[1], however, is of the opinion that, well, basically and fundamentally, it wasn't a Doctor Who story and if he wanted to watch a period romance between a schoolteacher and compassionately proper school matron, well, that's what he would have done.
(I eagerly await his views on Blink, which has a similar amount of Doctor in it, though vastly less Tennant.)
(Did I mention that I thought Joan was the role for whom Jessica Stephenson was invented? She fit her like a glove, really she did.)
By the same token, I've no doubt that many corners of Who fandom will take issue with this week's Utopia, though it is in essence a story one-third told. I must confess I was hardly awaiting the Master's return with bated breath; as a nemesis I can take or leave him, though - having built the Doctor up as unbeatable - I can certainly see the merit in introducing a foe who is basically like the Doctor but bad. That said, though parts of me hoped the production team would pull a fast one, had scattered rumours of his return as misdirection, I was still faintly disappointed when it became increasingly apparent that Professor Yana had no recollection of a time travelling Doctor nor, it seemed, a malevolent bone in his body.
Then, oh, the pocket watch, everything becomes clear. (And, not incidentally, cementing Human Nature's role in the series arc - it doesn't just lift right out, as Blink appears to; without Human Nature things would have been very different indeed.)
Anyway, to return to my point, though I personally love this new, young, strong Master and look forward to meeting him properly (and I'm confidant he won't remain quite so bouncy and frivolous for long - that was simply post-regeneration disorientation and exuberance, the fifteen hours or so where you find out what sort of a person you are now) I am certain that there are ripples throughout the fandom of "Oh dear, they have turned out dignified evil genius into a prancing buffoon".
I will, to those people, point out that though the Master has been through several bodies, this is the first time he has undergone a proper regeneration since his introduction (barring potential pre-Jacobi antics).
Also this weekend, I went to see the new Fantastic Four movie. I was of the opinion that it was a great improvement on the first, a perfectly presentable action adventure movie with more than a little tongue in cheek. The script was reasonably tight, the effects were solid and convincing and you even got a glimpse of Galactus' big purple helmet without the behatted one atually appearing on camera which would have been dumb. In my opinion it was a well-balanced blend of the source material and the necessary big-screen updates (though Johnny's topless scene was gratuitous and unnecessary and far too brief) - all the best parts of the earlier movie with none of the wretched science (unless you count talk of "cosmic rays" as physics) or the brain-thumping escalation of hostilities between the Four and lifelong friend Von Doom - in this movie it's simply established that they are archnemeses and left at that.
Many of those with whom I saw it, however, were of the opinion that the film held no redeeming features at all. Which is odd, since in the past we have broadly agreed on the relative merits of various motion pictures. Certainly we universally agreed on the utter, utter hideous abomination that is the new entryway to The Orient at the Trafford Centre - a mockery of taste in brown marble and faux gold and what must surely be the most gross offence to the word "staircase" since records began. Mammon must be pleased indeed.
It is the conclusion of this rambling editorial that It Just Goes To Show.
ASIDE: For more on what I did at the weekend, see here.
[1] Redundant? If he's my friend, of course he's of my acquaintance.
I am of the opinion that Human Nature/Family of Blood was some of the finest Who to emerge in recent years (surpassed only by every episode written by Steven Moffatt). A respected friend and avid Who fan of my acquaintance[1], however, is of the opinion that, well, basically and fundamentally, it wasn't a Doctor Who story and if he wanted to watch a period romance between a schoolteacher and compassionately proper school matron, well, that's what he would have done.
(I eagerly await his views on Blink, which has a similar amount of Doctor in it, though vastly less Tennant.)
(Did I mention that I thought Joan was the role for whom Jessica Stephenson was invented? She fit her like a glove, really she did.)
By the same token, I've no doubt that many corners of Who fandom will take issue with this week's Utopia, though it is in essence a story one-third told. I must confess I was hardly awaiting the Master's return with bated breath; as a nemesis I can take or leave him, though - having built the Doctor up as unbeatable - I can certainly see the merit in introducing a foe who is basically like the Doctor but bad. That said, though parts of me hoped the production team would pull a fast one, had scattered rumours of his return as misdirection, I was still faintly disappointed when it became increasingly apparent that Professor Yana had no recollection of a time travelling Doctor nor, it seemed, a malevolent bone in his body.
Then, oh, the pocket watch, everything becomes clear. (And, not incidentally, cementing Human Nature's role in the series arc - it doesn't just lift right out, as Blink appears to; without Human Nature things would have been very different indeed.)
Anyway, to return to my point, though I personally love this new, young, strong Master and look forward to meeting him properly (and I'm confidant he won't remain quite so bouncy and frivolous for long - that was simply post-regeneration disorientation and exuberance, the fifteen hours or so where you find out what sort of a person you are now) I am certain that there are ripples throughout the fandom of "Oh dear, they have turned out dignified evil genius into a prancing buffoon".
I will, to those people, point out that though the Master has been through several bodies, this is the first time he has undergone a proper regeneration since his introduction (barring potential pre-Jacobi antics).
Also this weekend, I went to see the new Fantastic Four movie. I was of the opinion that it was a great improvement on the first, a perfectly presentable action adventure movie with more than a little tongue in cheek. The script was reasonably tight, the effects were solid and convincing and you even got a glimpse of Galactus' big purple helmet without the behatted one atually appearing on camera which would have been dumb. In my opinion it was a well-balanced blend of the source material and the necessary big-screen updates (though Johnny's topless scene was gratuitous and unnecessary and far too brief) - all the best parts of the earlier movie with none of the wretched science (unless you count talk of "cosmic rays" as physics) or the brain-thumping escalation of hostilities between the Four and lifelong friend Von Doom - in this movie it's simply established that they are archnemeses and left at that.
Many of those with whom I saw it, however, were of the opinion that the film held no redeeming features at all. Which is odd, since in the past we have broadly agreed on the relative merits of various motion pictures. Certainly we universally agreed on the utter, utter hideous abomination that is the new entryway to The Orient at the Trafford Centre - a mockery of taste in brown marble and faux gold and what must surely be the most gross offence to the word "staircase" since records began. Mammon must be pleased indeed.
It is the conclusion of this rambling editorial that It Just Goes To Show.
ASIDE: For more on what I did at the weekend, see here.
[1] Redundant? If he's my friend, of course he's of my acquaintance.
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 04:16 pm (UTC)As I have often observed, the Trafford Centre was obviously designed by a committee of architects who were placed in a big room with some paper, crayons and a big bowl of hallucionagens (sp?), which they were invited to imbibe, and to subsequent;y 'draw what you see, we will build it'. It is the only thing possibility which makes sense :)