Comings and Goings...
Well then - that's the big day come and gone; I hope you had fun and that [the
non-robotic, non-killer version of] Santa was good to you... I spent most of
Christmas Eve tracking him via the NORAD satellite system, to see where the old
fella had gotten to, and it's fair to say he was going at a very impressive
rate of knots around the globe.
Christmas Day itself bought a host of televisual treats, including, for those people with digital TV the entire Cardiff concert that was staged for
Children In Need, a Doctor Who Confidential on said concert, and of course an
hour long episode in the form of "The Runaway Bride" - more of all of
those in a moment.
Also now
appearing is the trailer for "The Sarah-Jane Adventures" (BBC1, New
Year's Day, 4:50pm), which looks somewhat promising - especially without the
old robot dog to slow her down (although I do love K-9 as you all know, he
never could get anywhere in a hurry!), and I hope it does well, and the trailer
for the two-part finale of Torchwood, series one.
I'm up in
Scotland at the moment (I'm staying with the Duke and Duchess of Forgill don't
you know [Terror of the Zygons reference] - otherwise known as my parents) for
Christmas, so I've had a nice quiet calm time of it, with no arguments, no
shouting, screaming, tears, things going hideously wrong or insane worries
about insignificant things that Christmas makes you paranoid about. It's an odd time, Christmas... it was only
decided in 440AD that it would be in December, and for a supposedly happy and
jolly time it brings more than it's fair share of misery and stress, especially
for parents - a HUGE shout out and thank you to ALL parents who've managed to
get us through another year intact - and of course this year brought two more Doctor
Who related stresses... firstly, the years biggest toy was the Cyberman Voice
Changer Helmet (Nice one Character Options!), and for the first time since
1943, the Beano annual was out-sold as the most popular kids annual... by the
2007 Doctor Who annual! Insane, but
true...
Now,
talking of the present-fest day itself, it's time for a few show reviews...
Torchwood: 1.11 Combat - non-spoiler review
Written
by one Noel Clarke (say, what a co-inkydink! That's the same name as the guy
who played Mickey Smith...), Combat was reminiscent of both Fight Club and a
specific episiode of Angel, whilst also managing to be fairly original in it's
own right. Excessively violent and with
a lot of four letter words, this episode managed to get the series back to
where it should have been - versus a vicious alien creature (or two), and back
to it's science fiction roots. It was a
very tightly written story, and after my new-found bond with Captain Jack, I found
ALL of the main cast to be stunning this week - Burn Gorman was wonderfully
convincing as the let down and wanting out Owen - my usually least favourite
character, but as per usual for me, Eve Myles stole the show as the now guilt
ridden and falling-slowly-apart Gwen.
Poor Ianto still has little to do - although I know what's around the
corner and BOY, that's some snog he's in for with one of the main cast
members...
Fast,
dark, witty, very punchy and dramatic. A
distinctly adult but very enjoyable episode...
Rating: 
DoctorWho: The Runaway Bride
Where to
start!! Well, my first review of TRB was
"Wow", sent by text to many of my friends - and my Dad - one of the
"NotWe", loved it and thought it was very good indeed. Of course I've now watched it again, and had
a chance to digest it a little, it's got a lot more going for it than I first
gave it credit for...
Donna is
(as the Doctor himself remarks) very loud... but these make her quiet moments
stand out all the more... and the scene of her crying in the TARDIS had me not
far off a tear or two. To be fair to the
character it was a very stressful day for her, and would have ended in her
demise but for being beamed into the TARDIS; I think I'd have shouted a lot as
well! Talking of the old blue box...
wasn't the motorway scene just *totally* amazing? The kids in the back of the 4x4 were great,
and the whole sequence of the TARDIS settling on someone's car roof for a
moment was stunning. The Mill
continually do the show proud, and this time was no different.
David's
Doctor was as manic as usual, always full of energy and enthusiasm, but choking
moment 2 for yours truly was his last line in the show... said so convincingly
I nearly burst into tears on the spot... soppy old thing I am! I was less impressed with the Empress of the
Racnoss - although she looked exquisitely revolting, I thought she wasn't that
worrying or scary, she just hissed and swayed a lot... although the new-look
robot Santas were fantastic, and the new Mark 2 Killer Christmas Tree was a riot
as well...
Catherine
Tate was great as Donna, and sparked very well off both Lance and The Doctor -
and with Tennant at the top of his game, the usual very sharp writing from RTD,
the fantastic effects et al, it made for a VERY enjoyable Christmas Special...
although Rose and Jackie are sorely missed by me...
A wonderful Christmas romp...
Rating: 
