Doctor Who-The Beast Below

                           While Amy Pond is adjusting to a life of time/space travel,partly by floating outside the TARDIS in a contained pocket of air,the Doctor lands them in 29'th century England. Though at this particular point England is a gigantic space faring city escaping an Earth ravaged by solar flares. Within the Spaceship UK as it's called,the Doctor and Amy discover a lone child crying,and a world of people ignoring her and each other's emotional reaction. Having determined they are dealing with the police state,the Doctor and Amy soon of an voting booth where one learns the truth about this repressed society and are given the choice to either forget what they learned or "protest" and be sent to an underground cavern once they reach 16 and therefore voting age. While at first Amy chooses to forget,she warns the doctor by video before hand  to do the same as herself. He does but before he can do much finds himself in "the beast below" as it were. Once there he and Amy,covered in bio matter determine they are in the mouth of a very large creature at the heart of the ship.  They are rescued by a masked lady called Liz 10,the current queen of England who is immune to the effects of the memory erasure by royal lineage. She wishes to help the Doctor to uncover the conspiracy that she finds distasteful to her morals. Though for his part he is curious as to the mask Liz 10 wheres which,in addition to appearing antiquated is perfectly fit to her face. Plus her assertion the Spaceship UK flies without an engine.

                                  These questions are soon answered when the trio are guided to the power center of the city and find a massive brain is providing power to the entire ship. Herself electing to to test herself at the voting booth Liz 10 discovers she herself was responsible for all of this by allowing the capture of an immense space creature called a Star Whale,the last of an extinct race who,while volunteering to power the Spaceship UK was tortured by humanity into doing so out of fear for survival. That not only reveals she's been kept alive for centuries but gives the doctor a near impossible choice:to either destroy the Spaceship UK to save the star whale or maintain this inhumane act. While many of the adult protesters on the spaceship have been sacrificed to the whale in order to maintain order,the whale is not consuming the children in same manner.That not only reveals she's been kept alive for centuries but gives the doctor a near impossible choice:to either destroy the Spaceship UK to save the star whale or maintain this inhumane act. In a moment of revelation when she sees the star whale respond with affection to the petting of the surviving children,Amy realizes the reason the star whale volunteered is because,being the last of it's kind,empathizes with human children so Amy presses a button labeled "abdicate",at which time the whale is no longer the power source of the  spaceship and everyone is able to survive intact. Though vexed of Amy interfering in his work of course,she convinces him to allow her to continue on in her voyages with him even as the Doctor receives an urgent message from Winston Churchill.

                              This is one of those Doctor Who stories where the plot thrust is directly linked with the character development. On Spaceship UK,it would appear that the concept of government conspiracies and class war have followed humanity into the future and outer space as well. Especially the lengths by which the aristocracy of the spaceship are willing to go to conceal knowledge of the what's happened with the star whale from a already overwhelmed population. Again the idea of the children being the ultimate source of morality showcases how vital generation changes can be. This leads directly into the Doctor and Amy's play in all this. When faced with the possibility of perhaps having to destroy the star whale to save billions of lives,the doctor is riddled with an atypical level of uncertainty,in fact relating himself as a time lord to the star whale as both being the last of their kind and burdened with seemingly impossible tasks. Even though Amy's revelation,bought on the by doctors help,wins the day in the end it's a blow to the Doctors now fragile ego and he considers sending her back to Earth until,of course,she reminds him of his connection with the star whale before the two decide to depart together,and both a bit wiser for the wear.

Doctor Who-The Eleventh Hour

                                       As David Tennant officially exited the show in 2009,Doctor Who faced a similar situation as it had after Tom Baker left the show in 1981. Tennant shared the same level of fame in the role as Tom Baker had in the classic series. And the parallels went beyond that too. Again,a very renowned doctor was being succeeded by the youngest person yet to take the role. At age 27,actor Matt Smith broke the record held up to this point by Peter Davison as the youngest actor ever to portray the doctor.  This was a character very much dependent on maturity and a sense of existing at a point beyond time. So age and wisdom were at the very core of the role. On the other hand,being played by a human actor,would Matt Smith's acting abilities override concerns about his age as they had with Peter Davison? Well he'd certainly have the right debut story to figure it out.

                             Having newly regenerated and his TARDIS having crashed on Earth,the Doctor finds himself in the home of a little girl named Amelia Pond. She has been praying to Santa to fix a crack in the wall through which she's been hearing voices. After a post regeneration crisis that nearly has the doctor eating the confused Miss Pond out of house and home,the doctor gives this hole in the wall his sonic screwdriver treatment he discovers the crack represents a hole in the universe through which a voice saying "prisoner zero has escaped" can be heard. Attempting to repair his TARDIS he whisks away,promising Ameila he'll return in five minutes. Upon arriving back he has to break and enter into the home where he's knocked out with a cricket bat by a young lady whom he believes is a police officer. Turns out is in fact a very grown Amelia Pond. 
Now calling herself Amy,the doctor has to convince her of what he now knows: that a shape shifting alien prisoner is using Earth as an escape point. 

                      This despite it being twelve years,not five minutes since she last saw him. Meanwhile a nurse at a local hospital named Rory Williams is confronted by coma patients all saying "doctor" again and again. Correctly believing something is amiss he proceeds to capture photos on his iphone people outside who also seem to be in the hospital. The doctor encounters him in the midst of this,having already encountered one of these "people" in a hidden room in Amy's home. The Atraxi guards searching out the prisoner have designated Earth to be destroyed if the prisoner isn't handed over. By utilizing the talents of people around him to created a worldwide computer virus that allowed time to stop for enough time to divert the shape shifter and the Atraxi,and utilizing his persuasive talents on the Atraxi he is able to permanently avert the Atraxi from Earth. He leaves Amy and Rory again to repair the TARDIS. When he arrives back? Well two more years have passed and again Amy is reluctant to join him but upon seeing the interior of the newly renovated TARDIS decides to give the time lord another chance and become his new companion.

                    Being that this episode takes place in the modern era,the newly regenerated doctor faces many challenges around him. As usual he's in a world where he knows an alien intelligence is about to destroy everything but,as he points out,people are more interested in taking their iphones out for a snap shot than helping save anyone. So there's a lot of fantastic wit here about the media-centric  society of today's ill preparedness for anything beyond it's reach. Matt Smith pulls off the role of the doctor extremely well not by being old headed but rather reveling in his youth,often thinking and talking faster than anyone can understand him and flaunting his occasionally goofy awkwardness.  Most impressive is the introduction of companion Amy Pond. Karen Gillan portrays Amy,the lonely girl whose life was almost sent astray by the phantom time lord,returning to the right place at the wrong time,with the right mixture of wonder,skepticism and bewilderment. And her being the one who has to trust his position in her life to save the world. A wonderful Doctor Who regeneration story that shows,even after all these decades,the doctor's still got it.

AN EARLY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE LATEST TIMELORD!!!

                         Because I was looking to get a broader outlook on the classic Doctor Who series before getting into the currently more talked about modern relaunch,I haven't yet posted many reviews for the modern series save for one review months ago for the ninth doctor series starring Christopher Eccleston. I am hear to inform readers of this blog that this is all about to change.

            In five days from this writing,Matt Smith will be celebrating his 30'th birthday. It's an auspicious day for me,not only because he has been making enormous contributions to a line of actors playing the role originated by William Hartnell in 1963,but because Doctor Who's 50'th anniversary is coming up in a month. So I would like to take this time before Matt Smith's birthday to take a look at some of the newest Doctor Who episodes and review them.

          Doctor Who had an enormous effect,in it's original serialized format,during it's first run in both the UK and eventually the world over. Unlike many other high quality thoughtful science fiction programs though,Doctor Who has made a well realized and successful television comeback. And because of that fact,as well as the shows golden anniversary coming up soon thought it was the right time to celebrate the modern series a bit more than I have been.

TARDISIRIFFIC 100 REVIEWS EXTRAVAGANZA!

          It's a little hard to get away from the fact that,at this point I am lot closer to nearing 100 posts for this blog. For the most part,they have been reviews of classic Doctor Who stories from the first run. That is going to change in the coming weeks and months. Being that it is an election year in the US,I am running an election of my own here on Tardisiriffic. And that is for you to vote from a list I am providing of Doctor Who episodes that you would like me to review here for my 100'th video. Keep in mind,upon reading this please leave your votes/comments on the blog post,not under the link wherever I am posting on Facebook. This is partly to get viewers to comment within the blog. I appreciate your votes and,whatever wins out in terms of the context I hope my review lives up to it!   Also note you have one week to vote. Thank you very much! And the contestants for the 100'th post contests are:

The City of Death
(1979

                                                             



                                                                                                        

Horror Of Fang Rock
(1977)

The Deadly Assassin
(1976)

The Time Meddler
(1965)

      









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Doctor Who-The Ambassadors Of Death

                            For this seven part Doctor Who epic,the Doctor and Liz Shaw find themselves investigating a mysterious disappearance in outer space. A British space mission called Mars Probe 7 has disappeared and the now so has the recovery capsule sent to investigate. The doctor for his part vaguely recognizes the piercing sound coming from the recovery capsule,before the disappearance of that astronaut,as being a type of coded message he and Liz Shaw would be capable of decoding with the proper equipment. Though the Brigadier,working with the British space program on this mission,is willing to go along with this as Professor Ralf Cornish who is overseeing the affair are willing,minister of technology Quinlan holds up the mission control with a pistol just as they are preparing to bring the recovery capsule in for re-entry. Upon landing Cornish and the UNIT crew discover no astronauts in the capsule and an automated message. They are able to trace the astronauts to a warehouse in London where UNIT soldiers are ambushed. It is soon revealed that the astronauts passed through an unusual high intensity radiation belt in space and are being held by a para government organization for future research. 

                      But with their evasive attitude and secrecy,the Doctor determines the story doesn't hold up. After Liz Shaw receives a message supposedly from the Brigadier,she finds herself kidnapped by members of this organization who actually kidnapped these astronauts,who are really aliens that feed off radiation and can use it to harm others if needed,to commit a bank heist. She meets a fellow scientist of her acquaintance there,who tries twice to help her escape. By this time determining the real astronauts are still in space due to the breadth of the conspiracy and the assassination of Quinlan,the doctor volunteers to travel into space himself. There he encounters a space ship where the original astronauts are being held for ransom by an alien race who ambassadors were kidnapped on Earth. Upon returning with this information,the Doctor is able to stop obsessed military General Carrington from making a televised message advocating the destruction of the aliens before making the exchange with the aliens for the return of the astronauts.

                   Timed however unintentionally with the near disaster that was Apollo 13,this serial blended an elaborate action-adventure sci fi thriller with a compelling concept regarding peaceful aliens being used by human criminals to blackmail an Earth already paranoid about alien invasions. The character of General Carrington is particularly effective in this regard,as unlike the Brigadier he is willing to allow his fear to motivate every decision he makes-even if it means going above and around the law itself. This atmosphere of space travel and governmental conspiracy goes well with present and near future headlines of that time. And there are many strong in-story elements as well. Here Liz Shaw again proves herself a more than noteworthy companion as she is able to foil the gang of criminals holding the alien Ambassadors for ransom as well as the Doctor would've been able to. This also marks the first time in Doctor Who that the doctor himself journey's into space without the assistance of the TARDIS. In the end this is a story that works very well on every level of it's intentions.
        

Doctor Who-Frontier In Space

                                 Following it's departure from Inter Minor the TARDIS finds itself in a near collision course with an Earth cargo ship of the 26'th century moving through hyperspace. Upon arrival Jo encounters another spaceship on the viewer and,after hearing a high pitched buzzing sound  the ship changes shape to a Draconian battle cruiser. By the time the crew meet the doctor in preparations for their forthcoming battle,they too see him and Jo as Draconians. This causes confusion on Earth as their President the ambassador of Draconia,seeing as both races had been at peace after years of war,were similarly believing each other to have been responsible for the attack on the cargo ship. Still locked in the cargo ships hold the Doctor deduces the sonic hypnosis used in this process allows an adversary to hallucinate about a feared enemy. By the time the enemy attacks,the one of the crew of the ship try to use the Doctor and Jo as hostages they learn it is in face Ogrons,not Draconians they are facing.

                              Now accused of being Draconian spies,the Doctor and Jo are locked up and taken to Earth,where they appeal their case of the Ogrons sonic hypnosis device to the President of the planet. Unable to provide evidence for their case,the pair are held on Earth until they are again captured  by Draconians for the same reason. After a couple more such related mishaps the Doctor is subjected to a mind probe. When the probe,while indicating the Doctor's innocence overloads he is sent to a Lunar penal facility for political prisoners while Jo remains on Earth. The President of Earth than receives a letter proving the Doctor and Jo's guilt due to the fact their actually citizens of the neutral world Sirius IV and career criminals. The commissioner from this world doing this is none other than the doctors old nemesis The Master,whose true intention is to take the Doctor back to Gallifrey to be tried for his time meddling crimes. 

                         And this sonic hypnosis and use of the Ogrons are part of the Master's plan. After yet more escape artistry from the Master as well as Earth and Draconian pursuers the Doctor is at last able to convince the two original parties to take a journey to the Ogron home world to prove his story. Of course still with Jo in his capture,the Master is already there trying to again hypnotize Jo and this time fails. Upon the Doctors arrival with the Earth crew,the Ogrons plan an ambush while they themselves are menaced by a yellow slug like alien called The Eater. The Master later reveals himself and kills the Earth crew with the help of a group of Daleks with whom he's forged an alliance to kill the doctor. Of course the doctor uses the same sonic hypnosis device to confuse the Ogrons before leaving their home world,after which he activates the TARDIS's telepathic circuit to the time lords warning them of the new risk the Master poses to them.

                        The main thrust of this particular story would be the latin term Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges,basically meaning "for among times of arms,the  law falls mute". Even when aware of the deception involving the Ogrons,both human and Draconian distrust between each other doesn't enable them to see past their mutual acrimony to the actual source of the problem. The fact the the Doctor and Jo are captured over and over again,to the point of the Doctor himself actually becoming a literal political prisoner,showcases the how much of a dissident character the Doctor really is.  Again The Master is prepared to manipulated the political wranglings and  racial tensions he is dealing with in order to facilitate his single minded goal of taking over the universe and killing the Doctor,the one person who truly stands in his way. That quality makes this one of the Doctor Who serials that truly qualifies as one of the serial's most well written political thrillers.

Doctor Who-Carnival Of Monsters

                             For this four part serial the TARDIS,as is often the case for this period of the show misses the mark for Metebelis 3 yet again and finds itself aboard the S.S. Bernice,only to the find that the ships crew are locked in a perpetual time loop and themselves with it.  For their part the crew are convinced Jo and the Doctor are stowaways,but the pairs attempts to convince them of their situation continues,of course to fall of deaf ears.Though the ship has apparently disappeared from 1920's Earth on route to Bombay,and are being menaced by a dinosaur the Doctor is not convinced in the least of the reality of their surroundings,and upon the TARDIS being stolen by a giant hand, soon discovers an escape route leading into what amounts to,from his perspective an elaborate antique power supply. They soon find themselves in a totally different environment menaced  by large monsters with six eyes. 

                                What they soon discover is that the TARDIS had in fact materialized into a device called a miniscope,a miniaturized menagerie of creatures collected from all over for the amusement of other species. These were devices the Doctor once petitioned to outlaw. The hand that stole the TARDIS was,in fact that of an alien conman named Vorg and his assistant Shirna,who themselves are trying to amuse the joyless gray skinned tribunal on the planet Inter Minor with their miniscope. Not convinced of it's ethical and sanitary implications,tribunal member Pletrac attempts to have the device,with the Doctor and Jo inside,destroyed by a decade called the erradicator. The Doctor escapes while Jo again braves the time loop in the Bernice. After convincing the tribunal and Vorg of their mutual short sightedness he is able to defeat both the monsters,the Drashigs who literally consume everything in their path and using the TARDIS return all the specimens inside the miniscope to their proper times and spaces before departing Inter Minor,leaving Vorg with the bewildered Tribunal.

                           Despite it's typically limited special effects budget this episode was in many ways defined by it's visually stunning elements such as the inner machinery of the miniscope,the colorful and hilarious costuming of Vorg and Shirna and the historically appropriate period interiors of the SS Bernice. All this despite of the unconvincing visuals of the Drashings. A footnote also that Ian Marter,later to play Tom Baker's fourth doctor companion Harry Sullivan is here in a scene stealing role as Lt. John Andrews about the SS Bernice. Between Vorg's flim flam artistry and the Inter Minor tribunals constant petty political bickering this is an entertaining,provocative and witty satire. Worked into the storyline too is the similarity of ethical understanding shared by the Doctor and kindly Jo Grant,even if she is occasionally mildly slow on the uptake. The Doctor and her both share the same distaste for the enslavement of any sentient creature for someones entertainment. And it's this mutual sense of morality that is a motivating factor in everything they do in this story.