Who is on the Shelves?
Sometimes Oshkosh surprises me.
Not often. But it’ll come up with a surprise like getting a small gift out of a Crackerjack box.
I made the bet that I wouldn’t be able to find the Doctor Who Fifth Season with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan out on the shelves in the Oshkosh Best Buy store. I have found that they were downsizing a lot of their stores to promote other electronic crap like big flat screen TVs or fancy cameras.
But I did find the Doctor Who set and bought it while on sale. So I was very pleased to see it on the shelf. So I’m still able to find something once in a while in the Best Buy store. Again, it doesn’t happen often.
The box set was released yesterday in commemoration to the Doctor Who anniversary which is Nov. 22. But the housewarming gift offers the first true glance at the episodes including the Eleventh Doctor and the erstwhile companion Amy Pond.
There are all thirteen shows of the series with plenty of special features. Not a bad packaging with a different design, being a little better put together nowadays. You’ll get a few extra items such as artist’s renderings of the TV show on cards. There’s a whole feeling of “new” here.
One of the interesting extras is the in-view commentary made by the staff of Doctor Who while watching the first episode “The Eleventh Hour.” It was an aptly titled show. More interesting, the show-runner and head writer Stephen Moffat mused on the idea of calling the episode in the original drafts “The Doctor Returns.” I’m glad he didn’t use that one. From a writer’s point of view, the title isn’t really as exciting. I like the title “The Eleventh Hour.” It’s better, classy, and very original.
And original is the key note of the fifth series. The long string of good writing can be seen throughout the stories. The scripts are tighter, it’s very fast paced and an interesting quality which keeps you glued to your seats. You’ll find new creatures and old… every bit of it taking part of the Doctor Who universe which is like a very large canvas on which you keep painting on. You’ll always find something new within these shows as they are very detailed and laden with great moments of television creativity.
So revisit the Weeping Angels and the Daleks once more here. And you’ll find the precious gems of my own favorite shows such as “The Eleven Hour,” the two part Weeping Angels episode, “Vampires of Venice,” “The Doctor and Vincent,” “The Lodger” and the final two part show with reveals the mystery of the series in a very masterful way. It is like watching the great designer Moffat piecing together all the puzzle and making sense out of everything. It’s great. And you’ll never go wrong with the Doctor playing football in the “The Lodger,” probably one of the funniest bits in the shows. Yes, the Doctor wears a shirt with the number "11."
But it is the one part at the beginning of “Vampires of Venice” where the Doctor pops out of a cake to wish his friend a happy marriage. But then he turns everything upside down by telling Rory that his companion Amy tried to make out with him. You get to wonder if the Doctor is really the biggest jerk in the universe. The scene stealing Matt Smith is like the cherry on top of the cake. He’s great in it.
And the thrust of his personality is very well established here. And you can explore further into the Doctor’s dark side in the following excellent episode “Amy’s Choice” where you learn of his worst qualities… a jealous man who wants Amy for himself. He is fascinated by her much like a scientist is interested in a lab test. This is the height of the series where you learn that the Doctor… is not really someone you can completely trust. It’s a brilliant episode. And a great performance made by the wonderful Toby Jones. You’ve never seen the Doctor quite like this before.
The overall series works very well and is still only a corner of the masterplan that Moffat still devises. There are still pieces that remain unsolved such as the “silence will fall” theme. And also the background of River Song who remains an integral part of the Doctor’s life.
But here is it. The box set that is spearheaded into the American market finally. You can enjoy it and relive the many fine moments throughout. Or you can bash the hell out of it in disgust. But I wouldn’t advise you to bash it. Give it a try. There’s some good science fiction here which takes the series back to its original roots.
The Doctor keeps on traveling. With all the extra baggage.
Not often. But it’ll come up with a surprise like getting a small gift out of a Crackerjack box.
I made the bet that I wouldn’t be able to find the Doctor Who Fifth Season with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan out on the shelves in the Oshkosh Best Buy store. I have found that they were downsizing a lot of their stores to promote other electronic crap like big flat screen TVs or fancy cameras.
But I did find the Doctor Who set and bought it while on sale. So I was very pleased to see it on the shelf. So I’m still able to find something once in a while in the Best Buy store. Again, it doesn’t happen often.
The box set was released yesterday in commemoration to the Doctor Who anniversary which is Nov. 22. But the housewarming gift offers the first true glance at the episodes including the Eleventh Doctor and the erstwhile companion Amy Pond.
There are all thirteen shows of the series with plenty of special features. Not a bad packaging with a different design, being a little better put together nowadays. You’ll get a few extra items such as artist’s renderings of the TV show on cards. There’s a whole feeling of “new” here.
One of the interesting extras is the in-view commentary made by the staff of Doctor Who while watching the first episode “The Eleventh Hour.” It was an aptly titled show. More interesting, the show-runner and head writer Stephen Moffat mused on the idea of calling the episode in the original drafts “The Doctor Returns.” I’m glad he didn’t use that one. From a writer’s point of view, the title isn’t really as exciting. I like the title “The Eleventh Hour.” It’s better, classy, and very original.
And original is the key note of the fifth series. The long string of good writing can be seen throughout the stories. The scripts are tighter, it’s very fast paced and an interesting quality which keeps you glued to your seats. You’ll find new creatures and old… every bit of it taking part of the Doctor Who universe which is like a very large canvas on which you keep painting on. You’ll always find something new within these shows as they are very detailed and laden with great moments of television creativity.
So revisit the Weeping Angels and the Daleks once more here. And you’ll find the precious gems of my own favorite shows such as “The Eleven Hour,” the two part Weeping Angels episode, “Vampires of Venice,” “The Doctor and Vincent,” “The Lodger” and the final two part show with reveals the mystery of the series in a very masterful way. It is like watching the great designer Moffat piecing together all the puzzle and making sense out of everything. It’s great. And you’ll never go wrong with the Doctor playing football in the “The Lodger,” probably one of the funniest bits in the shows. Yes, the Doctor wears a shirt with the number "11."
But it is the one part at the beginning of “Vampires of Venice” where the Doctor pops out of a cake to wish his friend a happy marriage. But then he turns everything upside down by telling Rory that his companion Amy tried to make out with him. You get to wonder if the Doctor is really the biggest jerk in the universe. The scene stealing Matt Smith is like the cherry on top of the cake. He’s great in it.
And the thrust of his personality is very well established here. And you can explore further into the Doctor’s dark side in the following excellent episode “Amy’s Choice” where you learn of his worst qualities… a jealous man who wants Amy for himself. He is fascinated by her much like a scientist is interested in a lab test. This is the height of the series where you learn that the Doctor… is not really someone you can completely trust. It’s a brilliant episode. And a great performance made by the wonderful Toby Jones. You’ve never seen the Doctor quite like this before.
The overall series works very well and is still only a corner of the masterplan that Moffat still devises. There are still pieces that remain unsolved such as the “silence will fall” theme. And also the background of River Song who remains an integral part of the Doctor’s life.
But here is it. The box set that is spearheaded into the American market finally. You can enjoy it and relive the many fine moments throughout. Or you can bash the hell out of it in disgust. But I wouldn’t advise you to bash it. Give it a try. There’s some good science fiction here which takes the series back to its original roots.
The Doctor keeps on traveling. With all the extra baggage.
posted by K.M. Paters at 11:45 AM
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