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TARDIS Shaped 2007

Voyage Of The Damned: Christmas Day '07

Watching `Voyage of the Damned` is seeing a television programme at it's peak, firing on all cylinders and delivering something entertaining, exciting and spectacular for a Xmas Day audience. It's almost becoming too easy to hurl superlatives but Russell T Davies knows exactly what buttons to push when delivering this now traditional festive present.

Drawing on classic disaster movies like The Towering Inferno with a dash of the 90s epic Titanic as well as classic Doctor Who story `The Robots of Death`, the 70 minute adventure barely allows you to draw breath. It looks amazingly expensive and is paced to draw us into a whirlpool of edge of the seat moments that speed up the further in we go. Despite the scenario, the tone remains brisk; only Russell T could make the slaughter of thousands of passengers in the first fifteen minutes so enjoyable! Once again some twisted Xmas imagery is put to good use- in this case we have an army of homicidal Xmas angels complete with deadly metal halos they chuck at people to slice them up- Xmas must have been harsh in Wales in the 60s!! And we have a jaw dropping reveal; although it would have been better had the trailer not blown it. All the fuss the BBC make about press spoilers and they go and show the fact that this Titanic is actually a spaceship in the previews thus erasing months of speculation as to how on earth it crashes into the TARDIS. Bit of an own goal though when you see the proper sequence it's still an awesome sight.

In fact, this special really is packed with iconic moments; perhaps none can quite match the amazing TARDIS/ Taxi sequence of 2006, but that was a stand out moment in an otherwise more traditional story. Here, there are visual treats round every corner; the sumptuous mock Titanic sets, the stalking angels, the sequence on the rickety metal bridge over the engines, the use of the effective floating/ falling effects (first seen in `The Impossible Planet`), the Doctor / Capricorn confrontation, the Doctor's angel assisted (and ever so slightly quasi religious) ascent to the bridge and the near crash of the ship as he just manages to avoid Buckingham Palace. That such scenes look effortless and convincing is a tribute to the FX people who can seemingly create anything and it shows how far we've come from the CSO of yore.

Yet its not all about special effects; some of the special's best moments are captured in the character vignettes that are surprisingly frequent, allowing each of the main bunch something that makes their peril all the more tense for the viewer. I especially liked Foon and Marvin, whose relatively brief screen time was packed with content and whose respective demises were actually a shock. You expect the good guys to at least make it to the climax but the casual way Marvin's death came from nothing more than a misplaced step was a heart stopping moment. If you could be slightly cynical about how the main bunch managed to posses exactly the right combination of attributes to overcome the perils that awaited them (which is a standard filmic device anyway) you have to acknowledge Davies' refusal to molly coddle us. Hence the most loathsome of the group – weasly businessman Rickston Slade - not only survives but profits from proceedings. This was a nice sharp pull up on the Doctor's omnipotence and David Tennant's petulant “I can do everything” allowed a glimpse of the Doctor's fallibility which is, as Mr Copper pointed out, important. Having Astrid not survive was bold too and far more rewarding than had she been brought back. It's important that fantasy storytelling doesn't overcome death too often and unrealistically because otherwise how can we identify with it?

Kylie Minogue's lack of recent acting experience did show a little at crucial moments and slightly undermined her ultimate sacrifice; though there is no doubting the power of the scene where she tips Capricorn's vehicle over the edge (shades of Aliens). With some lovely dialogue about travelling (and Astrid being an anagram of TARDIS!) a stronger actor might have made more of it; try as they might there wasn't a lot of chemistry between her and David Tennant who himself delivered another top notch performance. Measured and playful at times, burning with passion and rage at others, his Doctor is becoming the least predictable of all (even Tom Baker had his limits) and is note perfect throughout this production, whether sneakily getting Astrid onto the Earth trip, heroically steering the crashing ship, baiting Capricorn or striding heroically with flames behind him. He's a hero for the times and an inspiring one at that; you feel he could do anything with the role and it would work which is a wonderfully freeing advantage for the writers. He's matched too by an exemplary performance from Russell Tovey as the neophyte midshipman who rises to the challenges; delivering most of his lines alone he encapsulates the desperate bravery that is happening elsewhere. Clive Swift's Mr Copper actually works better than Astrid as a potential companion, even though they'd never do it and he has the on screen vibe with Tennant that Kyles, bless her, never quite manages. Its interesting that because of the work the actor's done and Davies' dialogue, the moment when Copper realises his ultimate luck is actually more stirring than Astrid's demise, because the character has been so rich. Plus it's a lovely Dickensian sort of Xmas joy when we see him dancing in the snow.

George Costigan's off hand approach is also hugely enjoyable; a James Bond villain without seeming silly. Capricorn's `retirement plan` cocks a wry snoop at current events, with pensions being something of a political battleground these days. It shows that however way out things look, RTD always knows how to chuck in some contemporary reference to keep us grounded while the script is also sparkled with the writer's penchant for the attitude and cheekiness that never allows matters to become too dark.

There a couple of niggles, the main one being that if these people have such a bad knowledge of Earth, how come they've managed a perfect Titantic replica? Also when Astrid's ghostly remains float out of the window, why isn't everyone else sucked out with it but it's worth the anomaly for the lovely lines “you're not falling, you're flying”. Little things though amidst a triumphant production that James Strong directs with accomplished panache and occasionally inspiration (the odd angles for the Angels, big screen tricks for the heroic moments). Exciting enough for everyone, more accessible than either of the previous Xmas specials for causal viewers, `Voyage of the Damned` is another jewel in what is becoming an unsinkable programme and with over 12 million viewers, it's most successful adventure yet.

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The Sarah Jane Adventures
Sep – Nov 2007 on BBC1 / CBBC

Revenge of the Slitheen

Having successfully captivated younger (and older) viewers with a brisk, engaging and surprisingly expensive looking New Year’s Day debut, the first story of the full series rather brings us down to Earth. Not that `Revenge of the Slitheen` is particularly bad in itself, but it does highlight that the series may not be as strongly built as it initially appeared. With the pilot already having contained aliens wearing human body suits, perhaps something different might have made this story fresher as the plot is similar if you substitute `new school building` for `trendy drinks factory`. The ideas themselves are ambitious and bold- especially the Slitheen plan and the freezing of the Sun- but the overall plot is built upon an overly high series of coincidences. Some of these- such as a seat just happening to be free next to Maria in assembly, Maria’s Dad having worked on one of the previous mysterious new extensions and the fact that all these buildings had gone un-noticed by anyone least of all UNIT or Torchwood- are just lazy shortcuts. Plus, anyone who’d watched Doctor Who (which lets face it is probably the entire audience) would be well aware of the Slitheeen’s modus operandi so you lose any real surprise.
What does come over well though is the cast and Gareth Roberts’ dialogue; the addition of Clyde rounds out the balance far better than the pilot while Luke’s bemused intelligence is played at just the right pitch, kind of like Mr Spock Junior. Maria has less to do here but is potentially a great heroine for the viewers while thanks to Elisabeth Sladen, Sarah is a powerful central fulcrum; totally convincing whatever is going on, she stops matters from careening off into an extended chase sequence as parts of this episode are wont to do. Director Alice Troughton works well with the actors but has less success with the action which fails to elicit jeopardy and occasionally begins to look silly. It’s probable we expected too much of this essentially modest series after such a brilliant start but is an enjoyable adventure that should hit the intended spot whatever we nit picking adults say.

Eye of the Gorgon

This is better stuff, raising the bar from the slightly too childish Slitheen episodes. Investigating sightings of a spooky nun at a retirement home, Sarah and the kids discover an alien talisman that ends up in Luke’s possession and which a band of decidedly hostile nuns are after. Helped by Phil Ford’s busy dialogue the momentum is ushered along by some old school performances from the likes of Doreen Mantle as one of the more alert residents, Beth Goddard as sinister Sister Helena and best of all Phyllidda Law as former explorer’s wife Bea Nelson-Stanley with working knowledge of Sontarans amongst other things. Lis Sladen puts in a very focussed and Doctor like performance raising her game to match her veteran co-stars while the mystery is well balanced by a sub plot involving Maria’s family. Ford gets a great handle on the latter navigating tricky waters for the younger audience in some well played scenes. The episode climax is shocking too as Maria’s Dad is turned to stone by the gorgon-nun. That it is that act, rather than the unveiling of the monster itself, that the episode ends on shows how well landscaped it is and how in touch with the more human side that Doctor Who itself now leans on. In fact, the way the kids emerge from Sarah’s tiny car suggests TARDIS like dimensions and it seems as if this series may yet prove to be better on the inside than we expected. Part 2 follows through even if it’s a bit more of a runaround and leans a little too heavily on a race against time but is defined by a selfless act by Sarah that is right out of the fourth Doctor’s armoury. If it hasn’t entertained you enough there is a lovely coda that encapsulates how well measured a story `Eye of the Gorgon` turns out to be.

Warriors of Kudlak

This story has a very familiar plot- aliens stealing people to fight their war – roughly shoehorned into some contemporary laser gaming and the end result has more than a little of The Tomorrow People about it. Its big flaw is that surely the aliens would choose adults rather than kids for their ongoing war but even accepting that they don’t, Sarah’s mob makes such short work of their captivity on a big spaceship that you wonder why none of their predecessors ever thought of escaping. Also, if the war was over decades ago, as is revealed in a `Hand of Fear` style twist, where have all the other kids been sent to exactly? General Kudlak himself acts far less convincingly than his mask moves- in episode 1 he is a growly intimidating warlord but presumably in an attempt to make us empathise by episode 2 he is sighing and going on about feeling tired. His volte face at the end allows the story to trickle away – it might have been more satisfying for him to have launched into an Eldrad style rant of revenge but he is talked out of lifelong convictions in a two minute conversation.
For a show that strives, mostly successfully, for internal realism this story fails in that respect and with too much time spent watching laser tag gaming and some uneven guest roles would probably stretch the attention of its target audience. However, matters are partly redeemed by the acting of the regulars, especially Lis Sladen who is becoming Doctoresque with each passing week. Plus the scene where they share a view of the Earth from above is a welcome respite from the stories failings.

Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?

Good enough to be a story from the parent series, WHTSJ pivots on a time spanning narrative yet never loses its emotional senses and pushes all concerned to their best. Gareth Roberts’ script delivers surprise and restraint in equal measure, knowing just when to deploy. His Trickster is a finely moulded villain in the tradition of the classic series. He has the voice and demeanour of The Shadow, with a couple of lines nicked from the Black Guardian and a love of chaos that would give Sutekh a run for his money, clearly we know which era of Doctor Who Roberts loves. Yet he uses what could be a generic scenario and a cloak waving enemy to splendid affect, focussing on just how it all affects Maria. Jane Asher is riveting, as she tries to keep her secrets but slowly finds her life unravelling while Maria’s Dad , hitherto a none the wiser foil for his sussed daughter, really comes into his own here. Lis Sladen again, is brilliant showing the sort of acting that should get her a wider variety of roles in the future which she thoroughly deserves. All told, an accomplished 50 minutes and this series’ first classic.
The Lost Boy
Luke is the focus for the last story as his apparent real parents show up desperate to be reunited with their long lost son. Of course, you know full well they’re aliens (and rather tediously Slitheen yet again) that’s not the surprise. The humdinger comes at the end of episode 1 when Mr Smith, yes Mr Smith - who is always summoned with familial call of “I need you” - is really some cruel alien. Having only just recovered from the Professor Yana shock, is the nation ready for such a twist? It’s an occasion just as surprising to this series as the famed Yana fob watch scene was to Doctor Who though there is a clue, way back in an earlier episode when Clyde is messing about with the switches and we hear Mr Smith’s real voice for a moment.
Episode 2 lets rip in series finale style. Having already switched the Sun off, this time we get the Moon being dragged towards the Earth (hopefully after Martha’s hospital has been put back where it belongs) and a battle inside Sarah’s attic to sort out bad Mr Smith. Of course we’d all forgotten about K9 in the oven and it is the tin pooch that comes to the rescue here. There’s a lot going on and the pace can be too frantic but the cast are uniformly strong, even the Slitheen this time, and a real sense of clock ticking danger emerges.
On the whole The Sarah Jane Adventures manages to create its own iconography and tone as it progresses. It is prone to the occasional over the top moment but is strong enough to cope without having to freeze the Sun or have the Moon crashing. Compared to nearest rival MI High, this is a series that will make its younger audience think a little as well as have fun. Roll on season 2…

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Time Crash
7 min special for Children in Need Nov 07

Canonical as you like mate `Time Crash` has bona fide chops corralling David Tennant, Peter Davison and Graeme Harper in the same (console) room with a script by Steven Moffatt. Anyone expecting fireworks and catherine wheels from such a stellar combination though will have been slightly disappointed by what is a two way conversation that will probably baffle the casual viewer. Moffett’s words play with the boundaries between the series and it’s fans and it looked like the two actors had a ball but the end result does seem curiously out of place amidst the glitz and pop stars that surrounded it that night. A curio only I’m afraid, though Moffett’s cheeky explanation for Davison’s older appearance and the way it was slotted in between last season’s episode 13 and the Xmas Special suggest that Russell T Davies spends rather too much time thinking about continuity for his own good!

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The Time Warrior Dvd

With his velvet clobber and old fashioned English character, it’s surprising that Jon Pertwee’s Doctor only occasionally appeared in a historical setting but no surprise that these are also amongst his best performances in the part. This story is class Doctor Who and contains many of the elements that had hitherto made the show popular but which had rarely appeared all together. It’s also significant in kicking off what became a popular destination for the TARDIS- the pseudo historical.
`Lowly` Sontaran soldier Linx is forced to land in the Middle Ages from where he pulls people and equipment from the future to repair his stricken spaceship while also giving the local robber baron advanced weapons to keep him sweet. And before you ask; yes, the script manages to make all of this plausible. Into the mix comes Sarah Jane Smith, possibly the show’s finest companion and certainly the first to both keep and develop her character as she went along. Just like a certain Rose Tyler thirty years later, Sarah is every bit the Doctor’s equal here and gets plenty to do; her feisty liberated journalist more than a match for shouty Irongron, posh Lady Eleanor and even Linx himself. The Sontarans were the last of the great returning monsters the old series created and thanks to Kevin Lindsey’s performance Linx is more than just monster of the month. If you watch the dvd with the CGI option on, it’ll tidy up all those cheap looking effects too and enhance the experience though with Holmes’ wordy script there’s plenty to entertain. His dialogue is familiar in it’s painting of archetypes- bloodthirsty Irongron and his dim henchman Bloodaxe, weak willed Sir Edward and his pushy wife, the battle hardened alien and the dotty kidnapped professor but each is given sparkling lines and an edge of humour to make them interesting. The top notch cats helps, while the script also focuses on the differences between the conflicting characters each of whom is adjusting to a strange situation and this comes alive in some memorable exchanges between Linx and Irongron and involving Professor Rubiesh. The Time Warrior is a fine story and if you want to see what all the fuss about old Doctor Who is about then this would be a great place to start.

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THE SARAH JANE SMITH ADVENTURES (tv 1.07)

2006 was a good time for the icons of old to be making a comeback as it goes; Bob Dylan is reportedly back on form, ELO are no longer a guilty pleasure and of course Dr Who is more popular than at any time (yes, any time) in its history. Besides there always was an appropriately timeless quality about Sarah Jane Smith that makes her easily transferable to modern telly in a way that most classic Dr Who companions would not be. Lis Sladen’s natural acting style is part of that reason and you feel that if TV had been made thirty tears ago the way it is now, Sarah would have enjoyed as satisfying a story as Rose Tyler. There’d even have been a big snog with the Doctor before he gets the call from the Time Lords, can’t take her with him and dumps her in East Croydon with only a teddy bear and Murray Gold’s orchestra for teary company! Because of the impression Miss Smith made, there have already been several returning appearances, each of which short changed her to some extent. In K9 and Company she was paired unnecessarily with the metal pooch and a plot that didn’t know whether to be fantasy or not, `The Five Doctors` saw her being given generic lines and so little initiative she needed rescuing after falling over a few blades of grass! Last year’s `School Reunion` simply did not have the room to do her justice though amidst the clamour she did have some poignant lines and what it did do was show just how well suited she seemed even in 2006.
Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts’ introductory script for her full spin off series is unsurprisingly brimming with the same mixture of contemporary pop culture and bursts of action as Dr Who. Shoving K9 (who lets face it was never really part of Sarah’s story anyway) into what looked like an intergalactic oven and tooling up our fiftysomething heroine with all sorts of devices including –bless em – sonic lipstick, this genuinely seemed like the real Sarah Jane for the first time since `Hand of Fear`. She always did have an independent streak and Lis Sladen’s uncanny ability to switch from protective to proactive, from investigative to confident has not been dimmed. Here, she gives a nuanced, perfectly judged performance of an older, wiser if sadder Sarah and most importantly of all making you want to spend more time in her company. The actress herself has commented on how her old speech patterns are included and throughout its clear that this is the same character we loved in those old stories. Great too that she gets to battle a female villain in the shape of Samantha Bond’s wonderfully camp Mrs Wormwood; the scene where they first meet is loaded with hints and poker style deadpan; worth watching loads of times just to savour! There’s a good supporting turn too from Jamie Davies as Mrs Wormwood’s assistant; great to see an alien rather bored with the façade of pretending to be human for a change. Mind you, the Bane are surely the first alien race to announce their presence in an advertising campaign!
The Bubble Shock plot neatly tapped into issues of organic food and mass advertising; notice how it’s Maria who is cynical about the word `organic` on the label, suggesting that Sarah will be coached in more contemporary issues by her new young sidekick. If this plays through into the series, it will prove an interesting dynamic rather than just having Sarah rescue the kids all the time.
The aspect of Sarah’s regrets was given a generous amount of time and her adoption of Luke at the end a lovely way of moving her along; for long term fans quite moving as well. Crucially it will allow Sarah to develop into a heroine without the sort of angst that would be misplaced in a children’s programme. Despite the fresh modern veneer there are some more traditional Dr Who traits on display; the use of the word “pop” for a soft drink, lots of hapless guards, our heroines’ unlikely break in to and escape from the enemy’s place and of course the sonic lipstick which is so cool you can’t help but love the idea. Overtly fannish touches are kept to a minimum though; mentions of Artron energy as well as the names Alastair and Harry enough to make our antennae bristle.
The budget is well spent on some key moments, notably an enormous looking explosion and the CGI Bane, the mother of whom looks amazingly similar to the Nestene picture on an old Target book. Director Colin Teague makes the most of the sets, giving the whole thing a look far more epic than it could have been and showing great panache for colourful action. The kids are fine, though need to have their characters’ developed at little. Yasmin Page hints at a modern type of Sarah about her, maybe deliberately? Porsha Lawrence Mavour’s Kelsey shows early annoyance potential with her “shamed” catchphrase though for all we know there are kids who speak the way she does. Luke’s ignorance too could be overdone though he gets the funny lines, always a good idea when there are monsters around. It would have been nice to have made Sarah a little more proactive at the climax after her driving the coach into the factory wall, rather than allowing Luke’s abilities to work in an all too familiar deux ex machina ending. I suspect we may also see Mr Smith, her amusingly named computer, being rather too handy as well; surely one reason for sidelining K9 was his all knowing abilities; on the face of it he has been replaced by something similar. On the whole though, this introduction was full of potential and excitement, especially for younger viewers unable to cope with the wait between series of Dr Who. I suspect a lot of older viewers will be tuning in as well for the series this autumn; as Russell T would undoubtedly say, “Hooray for Sarah Jane!” (JC)

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DOCTOR WHO: THE RUNAWAY BRIDE (tv 12.06)

You just know it’s going to be a good Xmas when you’re watching a giant ranting crimson spider on prime time BBC1 and what’s more, it’s in the middle of the most entertaining programme of the day. There may have been episodes that made more plot sense but in terms of sheer rollercoaster entertainment, `The Runaway Bride` takes some beating. An unstoppable juggernaut that managed to be funny, exciting and dramatic, the hour long episode whizzed by in almost a blur while several times pulling you to the edge of your seat. The presence of Catherine Tate as Donna helped jolt us- and the Doctor- out of any post Rose comedown which would just have been out of place in the midst of such festive sparkle. Yet Rose was far from forgotten and this was etched on David Tennant’s face in several crucial moments in what was his best work to date as the Doctor. The feistiness of his sparring with Donna was frequently funny but underscored by his –and our- getting used to life without Rose and Catherine Tate’s casting- which seemed so jarring in the last few seconds of `Doomsday`- suddenly made perfect sense. Donna was allowed to be a complete character as well, so that after laughing along with her outraged tantrums- loved the `pockets` scene and her apparent failure to notice anything outside her life even a giant spaceship over London- when she turns up to find her family have carried on the reception without her, you really felt for the character. Russell T has said she could never be a long term companion because she’d grate too much but her verbal jousts with the Doctor added a flair that could easily have benefited some of last season’s stories and her wonderfully feisty performance seemed to bring out the best in David Tennant too. Their dialogue was classic Russell T, full of wit and yet still powering the episode along and Tennant’s reactions to his new fellow traveller were priceless. There was a surprisingly large amount of development in their relationship - the Doctor’s vague references to Rose leading Donna to think she’d been killed, the way that the Doctor, despite himself, immediately empathised with Donna showing a way forward for him and at the end I can’t have been the only viewer wishing that she could have stayed on a bit. Tennant’s performance throughout was self assured and a notch above some of his less focussed work last year.
People I’ve talked too suggested that we caught a glimpse of the `darker` Doctor as he watched the Empress wailing about `her children`, though this seems to me to represent a more direct link with the Doctor of old. You could argue he’s become too human in this revived series, displaying all the emotions and behaviour of a human when patently he is not; perhaps this scene was a timely reminder of his true nature and that sometimes difficult choices need to be made, choices that a human could never make.
However it’s the set pieces that viewers are likely to remember in years to come, none more so than the astonishing TARDIS and taxi sequence which is the sort of thing even the current team would not have attempted two years ago. The seamless CGI work and the shouted dialogue together with the speed of the thing- and the watching children cheering Donna on and urging her to jump- was one of those sequences you can watch again and again but the first time round it was the most exciting moment the new series has yet pulled off. There was also more Xmas related danger – exploding baubles and more robot Santas which are the sort of things Dr Who should be doing; the ordinary turning extraordinary. The blending in of Xmas related imagery was excellent; obviously the robot Santas but the way that whenever their mayhem broke out the music launched into a Xmas tune. The arrival of the Web Star and the way it was mistaken for a kind of mega Star of Bethlehem was clever as well as providing an extra thing to blow up at the end! The confrontation with the Empress of Racnoss was grippingly staged thanks to a towering performance by Sarah Parrish in one of the most ambitious monster costumes from any era of the show and with dialogue which Davies gave a deliciously malevolent yet playful flavour. Throughout I was convinced the Empress must have been mostly CGI, but the fact that it was a full sized model makes the achievement even more impressive.
Directing with panache and atmosphere, Euros Lynn showed yet again how he can now handle anything put in front of him; the verve and chaos of the action sequences contrasting with the close ups and reaction shots used in the more straightforward scenes. He seems adept at building and keeping the pace of the scripts without losing the way; the series will miss his involvement in season three but he will surely move to the big screen soon. Naturally Murray Gold had a field day with the incidental music and his triumphant melee suited the mood to a tee; I’m sure I heard the chimes of a kitchen sink on more than one occasion!
As ever with RTD (with the exception of `Tooth and Claw`) the plot did not welcome too close an inspection leaving a lot of unlikely coincidences and unanswered questions in its wake. Not that one viewing would be enough for anyone to notice but second time round (and I had to watch it twice just to make sure the TARDIS/taxi sequence really happened!) you might have found yourself pondering exactly where the Empress had been all this time and why the rest of her people were buried at the core of the planet, how / why she found Lance, where that tank at the end turned up from and what affect flooding the centre of the earth with tons of water might have had. Nevertheless it was Xmas so we were too full of mince pies and mulled wine to care! `The Runaway Bride` was a brilliant hour of sheer entertainment and a visual tour de force ; what’s more it proved that Dr Who is still full of endless possibilities and that it’s Rose-less future is merely an opportunity to be as magnificent as ever. (JC)

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