More Doctor Who
There's always been the one constant in the Doctor Who series apart from the time traveling police box which moves like silent thunder through the universe.
The companion. It is the one hook that remains unchanged throughout the series' history. There is always the companion.
More importantly, the Doctor Who series is never really about the Doctor himself.
But it is always about the point of view of the companion who runs along with the Doctor on his travels. This helps for the audience to associate with the stories better.
And it isn't getting any better than the outstanding companion found in Amy Pond played wonderfully by Karen Gillan.
Ah yes, Karen Gillan.
She stands on her own feet in this episode. She is brusque, opinionated, warm and very kindhearted woman, and Scottish! She remains our anchor in the series. She is our life guard and the holds us by our very hand while pulling us into the very intricate matters of the story.
Seeing her in this episode reminds one of “Alice in Wonderland” as she strolls around with just her nightgown on, going down her own rabbit hole of fantasy and wild dreams coming true.
And it is the companion, Amy Pond, who happens to make the final decision, this moral conflict, which haunts the Doctor when they learn that the ship is being carried forth by a space whale that being forced to move the city through space.
She is beautiful and is camera friendly with her face. She has ravishing nest of red hair blooming like strawberry fields, also lovely, big, eyes which are fantastic to see on the screen... and you can see the many different moods which she captures in her more emotional moments. The series is very lucky to have her. And she figures it out in the end of the story, not the Doctor.
The Doctor Who series is riding high on the success of its initial story last week gaining very good ratings. Now it carries forth with a much slower, yet equally fascinating episode “The Beast Below” written by Steven Moffat.
The first ten or so minutes established the mood of the story along with the characters and setting showing the excellent penmanship of the current writer who has a firm grasp on science fiction ideas. We are already invited to a city that is the last of England floating through space on a very dangerous journey to find salvation for the human colony.
There are great signs of influences made by the Dark City which still remains one of my all time favorite films ever. But there is also many steady themes from Moffat which spills into forthcoming stories.
Much of this star whale idea strikes me as if the author himself is dabbling in the Native American culture with the giant tortoise carrying the world on its shoulders. And how the Indians believer that every thing from trees to animals carries souls within.
Much like the space whale, a very lonely, sad soul carrying the weight of the world on its own. Amy saves the creature before the Doctor decides on giving it a humane death by convincing him that the space whale loves humanity and is willing to carry it through the outer reaches of the universe. On its own accord.
It's a very nice, touching moment. And this is where the companion saves the day. It gives Karen Gillan some very good acting chops to serve up a lovely scene when she says the space whale is the last of its kind... and recognizes the same beauty in the Doctor who is also the last of his own people.
But the episode pulls at no stops. The wooden creatures fitted in booths, like the ones you see in carnivals, are strange beings themselves. You see these wooden people sitting in booths with three different expressions: Smiling, Not So Smiling and Downright Angry.
These Smileys, as they are referred to as, are pretty frightening looking creatures and I'm glad to see that Moffat is bringing more horror elements into the stories reminding me of the wonderful old horror stories from the Tom Baker days of Doctor Who. Not terribly scary. But the Hide-Behind-Your-Sofa kind of scare that gives children a fun side to the stories.
I also like the character of Liz 10 acted by the very good Sophie Okonedo. She has a very action oriented style which brings the show to a higher pace while holding her own with a very interesting character playing the Queen of England... the gun-toting girl who carries an authoritative voice. She plays a double sided role as she wears a mask, much like in V for Vendetta comics, while trying to solve the mystery of the floating city. And you find that her character is far more complex than originally accepted.
Yes, there is a reason why she is called Liz 10.
I found the episode to be very appropriate for being the second show of the season. There is a certain strangeness to it that is appealing while you discover more and more imaginative concepts created by Stephen Moffat. The current headlining writer Moffat is going to be penning six stories for this season... already bring a great mixed bag of ideas and concepts that is breaking new ground. I am in love with the Doctor Who series again.
The themes are all still weaving through the stories... the Doctor is trying to get Amy back to her wedding day, the mysterious cracks that are appearing in time and space and the Doctor being the last of the Time Lords. These are essential themes. And they are the building blocks of the forthcoming series.
I also must say that the Doctor seems to be able to accept that he is the last of his own people without growing so bitter about it. And yet, with the excellent acting of Matt Smith, the Doctor is still a wounded man inside. He is still carrying the weight of pain inside him as he carries the memory of his own people.
But now there is still some hope for him not to be feeling so alone. He has Amy Pond now. And the girl will take care of him just as the Doctor will take care of her. And this becomes the very center of the story for “The Beast Below”: their relationship they have together. The episode does end with Amy being whisked away again by the Doctor without going to her wedding as she will soon confront the greatest of the Doctor's foes.
The Daleks.
I'm already waiting for the next episode.
The companion. It is the one hook that remains unchanged throughout the series' history. There is always the companion.
More importantly, the Doctor Who series is never really about the Doctor himself.
But it is always about the point of view of the companion who runs along with the Doctor on his travels. This helps for the audience to associate with the stories better.
And it isn't getting any better than the outstanding companion found in Amy Pond played wonderfully by Karen Gillan.
Ah yes, Karen Gillan.
She stands on her own feet in this episode. She is brusque, opinionated, warm and very kindhearted woman, and Scottish! She remains our anchor in the series. She is our life guard and the holds us by our very hand while pulling us into the very intricate matters of the story.
Seeing her in this episode reminds one of “Alice in Wonderland” as she strolls around with just her nightgown on, going down her own rabbit hole of fantasy and wild dreams coming true.
And it is the companion, Amy Pond, who happens to make the final decision, this moral conflict, which haunts the Doctor when they learn that the ship is being carried forth by a space whale that being forced to move the city through space.
She is beautiful and is camera friendly with her face. She has ravishing nest of red hair blooming like strawberry fields, also lovely, big, eyes which are fantastic to see on the screen... and you can see the many different moods which she captures in her more emotional moments. The series is very lucky to have her. And she figures it out in the end of the story, not the Doctor.
The Doctor Who series is riding high on the success of its initial story last week gaining very good ratings. Now it carries forth with a much slower, yet equally fascinating episode “The Beast Below” written by Steven Moffat.
The first ten or so minutes established the mood of the story along with the characters and setting showing the excellent penmanship of the current writer who has a firm grasp on science fiction ideas. We are already invited to a city that is the last of England floating through space on a very dangerous journey to find salvation for the human colony.
There are great signs of influences made by the Dark City which still remains one of my all time favorite films ever. But there is also many steady themes from Moffat which spills into forthcoming stories.
Much of this star whale idea strikes me as if the author himself is dabbling in the Native American culture with the giant tortoise carrying the world on its shoulders. And how the Indians believer that every thing from trees to animals carries souls within.
Much like the space whale, a very lonely, sad soul carrying the weight of the world on its own. Amy saves the creature before the Doctor decides on giving it a humane death by convincing him that the space whale loves humanity and is willing to carry it through the outer reaches of the universe. On its own accord.
It's a very nice, touching moment. And this is where the companion saves the day. It gives Karen Gillan some very good acting chops to serve up a lovely scene when she says the space whale is the last of its kind... and recognizes the same beauty in the Doctor who is also the last of his own people.
But the episode pulls at no stops. The wooden creatures fitted in booths, like the ones you see in carnivals, are strange beings themselves. You see these wooden people sitting in booths with three different expressions: Smiling, Not So Smiling and Downright Angry.
These Smileys, as they are referred to as, are pretty frightening looking creatures and I'm glad to see that Moffat is bringing more horror elements into the stories reminding me of the wonderful old horror stories from the Tom Baker days of Doctor Who. Not terribly scary. But the Hide-Behind-Your-Sofa kind of scare that gives children a fun side to the stories.
I also like the character of Liz 10 acted by the very good Sophie Okonedo. She has a very action oriented style which brings the show to a higher pace while holding her own with a very interesting character playing the Queen of England... the gun-toting girl who carries an authoritative voice. She plays a double sided role as she wears a mask, much like in V for Vendetta comics, while trying to solve the mystery of the floating city. And you find that her character is far more complex than originally accepted.
Yes, there is a reason why she is called Liz 10.
I found the episode to be very appropriate for being the second show of the season. There is a certain strangeness to it that is appealing while you discover more and more imaginative concepts created by Stephen Moffat. The current headlining writer Moffat is going to be penning six stories for this season... already bring a great mixed bag of ideas and concepts that is breaking new ground. I am in love with the Doctor Who series again.
The themes are all still weaving through the stories... the Doctor is trying to get Amy back to her wedding day, the mysterious cracks that are appearing in time and space and the Doctor being the last of the Time Lords. These are essential themes. And they are the building blocks of the forthcoming series.
I also must say that the Doctor seems to be able to accept that he is the last of his own people without growing so bitter about it. And yet, with the excellent acting of Matt Smith, the Doctor is still a wounded man inside. He is still carrying the weight of pain inside him as he carries the memory of his own people.
But now there is still some hope for him not to be feeling so alone. He has Amy Pond now. And the girl will take care of him just as the Doctor will take care of her. And this becomes the very center of the story for “The Beast Below”: their relationship they have together. The episode does end with Amy being whisked away again by the Doctor without going to her wedding as she will soon confront the greatest of the Doctor's foes.
The Daleks.
I'm already waiting for the next episode.
posted by K.M. Paters at 2:52 PM
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