Doctor Who Season Four
Aug. 31st, 2023 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereI was mostly impressed with this season. It was certainly the most consistent of the ones I've seen.
The Great: 'Turn Left.' The Sontaran two-parter. The Vashta Nerada two-parter. I tend to prefer the two-parters because there's more space for the story to breathe, although considering how chock-a-block 'Turn Left' was, it was amazingly perfect in pacing and emotional intimacy, so it can be done. Yes, I must also include 'Midnight' in this section (*shudders*).
River Song was a treat to finally see. Any time the Doctor is suffering is a good time. I also ended up really enjoying his dynamic with Donna and how vulnerable she was with her perfect combination of mouthiness and low self-esteem. I also liked her close relationship with her grandfather a lot, grandfathers being a neglected group in television families.
The Good: Martha was back, which was nice, and I enjoyed her meeting with Donna and them immediately getting on and supporting each other, but she really wasn't given much to do after that, which felt like a waste. The big crossover blowout likewise was enjoyable until it concluded without anyone getting to really talk to each other, and Jenny remained a fabulous idea underutilized.
There was also a running theme this season, summed up in part by Davros at the end, of the Doctor damaging his companions - as seen by UNIT Martha, by Rose being numb and unsmiling in every appearance and by their willingness to take extreme measures the Doctor did not approve of. He chooses companions who make him better, yet by introducing them to violent, horrible events and the dangers that lurk in the shadows, he leaves them unable to be anything other than soldiers when they retire from the TARDIS (if they make it that far). It was a fascinating concept, and I wanted so much more from it.
The visuals were often excellent, and Pompeii knocked it out of the park. The vast majority of the episodes were fun and made up for any disappointments by sheer entertainment factor. If they swerved in a darker, more emotional direction it caught me off guard and was therefore more effective (a trait Doctor Who shares with Buffy).
Random bits of happiness included the Doctor finally meeting someone non-linearly as befits a time travel show, plus every line of Sontaran dialogue.
The Annoying: I love a man with an English accent, but I love a man with a Scottish accent more, and listening to David Tennant talk on the special features made me feel ever so robbed.
I still don't like Captain Jack. His habit of hitting on every animate object in eyesight just isn't endearing to me - a guy with that low a bar flirting with our various leads is meaningless in the best case scenario, and I also don't find him that physically attractive to justify every woman on the show oohing and aahing over him.
Too much shouting and running. It damn near wrecked 'The Fires of Pompeii.' Slow down, let the poor stories breathe. Although it's been such a staple of the Davies era, I wonder if that's just a Doctor Who tradition I'm not aware of.
The Bad: The total faceplant two-part finale, filled with deus ex machinas and Daleks and scenery-chewing villains and serial escalation of perils until there is no way to fix them except by cheating. Also, the way Rose's beautifully tragic ending (which I still remembered so fondly) was ruined. Still, it was a long way from the dog's breakfast which was most of season one, and my opinion has steadily risen with each subsequent outing, so I'm curious what's going to happen when I hit the Moffat era.
The Great: 'Turn Left.' The Sontaran two-parter. The Vashta Nerada two-parter. I tend to prefer the two-parters because there's more space for the story to breathe, although considering how chock-a-block 'Turn Left' was, it was amazingly perfect in pacing and emotional intimacy, so it can be done. Yes, I must also include 'Midnight' in this section (*shudders*).
River Song was a treat to finally see. Any time the Doctor is suffering is a good time. I also ended up really enjoying his dynamic with Donna and how vulnerable she was with her perfect combination of mouthiness and low self-esteem. I also liked her close relationship with her grandfather a lot, grandfathers being a neglected group in television families.
The Good: Martha was back, which was nice, and I enjoyed her meeting with Donna and them immediately getting on and supporting each other, but she really wasn't given much to do after that, which felt like a waste. The big crossover blowout likewise was enjoyable until it concluded without anyone getting to really talk to each other, and Jenny remained a fabulous idea underutilized.
There was also a running theme this season, summed up in part by Davros at the end, of the Doctor damaging his companions - as seen by UNIT Martha, by Rose being numb and unsmiling in every appearance and by their willingness to take extreme measures the Doctor did not approve of. He chooses companions who make him better, yet by introducing them to violent, horrible events and the dangers that lurk in the shadows, he leaves them unable to be anything other than soldiers when they retire from the TARDIS (if they make it that far). It was a fascinating concept, and I wanted so much more from it.
The visuals were often excellent, and Pompeii knocked it out of the park. The vast majority of the episodes were fun and made up for any disappointments by sheer entertainment factor. If they swerved in a darker, more emotional direction it caught me off guard and was therefore more effective (a trait Doctor Who shares with Buffy).
Random bits of happiness included the Doctor finally meeting someone non-linearly as befits a time travel show, plus every line of Sontaran dialogue.
The Annoying: I love a man with an English accent, but I love a man with a Scottish accent more, and listening to David Tennant talk on the special features made me feel ever so robbed.
I still don't like Captain Jack. His habit of hitting on every animate object in eyesight just isn't endearing to me - a guy with that low a bar flirting with our various leads is meaningless in the best case scenario, and I also don't find him that physically attractive to justify every woman on the show oohing and aahing over him.
Too much shouting and running. It damn near wrecked 'The Fires of Pompeii.' Slow down, let the poor stories breathe. Although it's been such a staple of the Davies era, I wonder if that's just a Doctor Who tradition I'm not aware of.
The Bad: The total faceplant two-part finale, filled with deus ex machinas and Daleks and scenery-chewing villains and serial escalation of perils until there is no way to fix them except by cheating. Also, the way Rose's beautifully tragic ending (which I still remembered so fondly) was ruined. Still, it was a long way from the dog's breakfast which was most of season one, and my opinion has steadily risen with each subsequent outing, so I'm curious what's going to happen when I hit the Moffat era.
