Doctor Who: Smith & Jones
Apr. 3rd, 2007 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccatoriaI finally saw it! Yay!
It wasn't as funny as actual Smith & Jones but it was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't annoyed by the Tenth Doctor at all, and I think I could get to like Martha an awful lot, though she did get stuck with a few really awful lines.
I enjoyed her insistance that the title "Doctor" is earned and I would have liked to see her hold out on him a little longer, actually. I also enjoyed the way she was trying to protect him and be the hero before she quite realised who he was.
Martha has the potential to be a companion who has her own stories and development WITHOUT being a cheap Ace knockoff. And somehow she makes the Tenth Doctor more likeable.
Perhaps because she doesn't inspire previous comparisons?
I still prefer the Ninth, and in Old Who, the Seventh. They make an interesting comparison, I think. Both darker, nastier, more desperate than their other incarnations. One suffering from PTSD, terrified of confronting what he's done, the other terrified of what he won't bring himself to do, of what he won't prevent. Both followed around by not-quite-drop-out, nails, determined kids, both looking for a way to grow up, be something more than their histories have laid out for them - if time were allowed to develop organically. Both attempting to grow beyond the prison-images they carried of a parent. Though only one of them did it with explosives and a baseball bat; the other had to make do with a mobile phone.
I'll never think Rose kicks as much ass as Ace, I'll never find her as interesting, but perhaps she was a better balance for the Ninth Doctor than Ace would have been. Because for all their parallels, Ace was cast as the Seventh Doctor's daughter, learning the brutality of adulthood - of parental betrayal - of a cruel universe - through him. Ironic, since I think she was altogether better equipped for adult life than Rose who was far more sheltered.
But Rose was cast as the Ninth Doctor's lover. She was already an adult, for all her childish behaviour, and she took the edges away from the Ninth. She took him, full of bitterness and bile at the universe, at the lost of his homeworld, his family, his metaphorical parent, of his betrayal of Gallifrey and the universe's betrayal of him, she took that and made it more bearable. Perhaps Rose raised the Doctor.
I suppose this isn't strictly relevant, but it's one of my favourite comparsions/inverses in the Who-Universe and it's integral to my thinking on the Doctor and Martha.
For all his superficial similarities to Tom Baker's Doctor, I started to feel he was actually more similar to Colin Baker's. He's pompous, a little righteous and judgemental, in a holier-than-thou way, not in Sylvester McCoy's pragmatic, factual fashion.
The Tenth Doctor was never going to have the Ninth's hollow brutality. His attitude ensured that. But also he is a different person and he's not the one that destroyed his homeworld, or woke up in the aftermath of its destruction.
And that's a tough position to be in, he's the last of his kind, but he can't pull off the angst of the Ninth. When he tries it just seems...fake, hollow, perhaps a little undeserved.
One thing I appreciated was the Doctor's insistance to Martha that she wasn't replacing Rose, that she wasn't his next companion. It's not that I'm desperate for Rose to be extra special because I loooooved her as a companion. It's more that this goes some way towards making the Doctor seem less like a serial stalker. It took me long enough to get to grips with the idea that Doctor Who could have companions as romantic interests (and I won't rant about that in full now because I've done so before), and one of the only ways I could really get on board with it was because of who the Doctor was at the time and what Rose represented (see above).
To insert Martha suddenly into that role is more than slightly creepy.
(Also if she pulls a Rose and disappears accidentally for a year, her brother is going to have SUCH a good reason to be pissed at her - YOU DISAPPEARED ON MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! Wow. Bummer.)
So anyway, it occurs to me that while the Tenth Doctor might be a little more removed from the tragedy of Gallifrey, he's still the last of his kind, and that's got to be difficult to deal with. Perhaps the tragedy of the Tenth isn't the tragedy of The Man Who Killed His Planet, but The Man Who Was Left Behind. It's not so much guilt as loneliness. Which is perhaps why he's taking the loss of Rose so hard.
His guilt is that he lost her - his adopted family in perhaps a more literal way than previous Companions and with previous Doctors. Even though she was the chosen companion of Christopher Eccleston's Doctor and not David Tennant's.
I should really reserve judgement until I've seen a few more episodes without him acting like a nob, but is it too much to hope that he's more likable because he's finally found a companion that he wants, not that he's obsessed with posessing because she's the only thing his genocidal previous incarnation left him as an emotional tie, to, well, anything?
Hmm.
And to think this was supposed to be short.
In other news, I'm enjoying Life on Mars. Gene Hunt is awesome though an asshole. It's a really well put together drama though I am getting tired of the "they're going to kiss! Oh, wait, someone just walked in and interrupted!" scene between Sam and Annie at the end of EVERY BLOODY EPISODE. Anyway, score for Life on Mars which I was originally entirely meh on when I heard the premise.
In other news, my boy and I are totally convinced that Fiona Bruce is really a viking. We think she keeps her axe under her newsdesk and probably moors her longboat in the BBC carpark.
You know I'm right.
It wasn't as funny as actual Smith & Jones but it was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't annoyed by the Tenth Doctor at all, and I think I could get to like Martha an awful lot, though she did get stuck with a few really awful lines.
I enjoyed her insistance that the title "Doctor" is earned and I would have liked to see her hold out on him a little longer, actually. I also enjoyed the way she was trying to protect him and be the hero before she quite realised who he was.
Martha has the potential to be a companion who has her own stories and development WITHOUT being a cheap Ace knockoff. And somehow she makes the Tenth Doctor more likeable.
Perhaps because she doesn't inspire previous comparisons?
I still prefer the Ninth, and in Old Who, the Seventh. They make an interesting comparison, I think. Both darker, nastier, more desperate than their other incarnations. One suffering from PTSD, terrified of confronting what he's done, the other terrified of what he won't bring himself to do, of what he won't prevent. Both followed around by not-quite-drop-out, nails, determined kids, both looking for a way to grow up, be something more than their histories have laid out for them - if time were allowed to develop organically. Both attempting to grow beyond the prison-images they carried of a parent. Though only one of them did it with explosives and a baseball bat; the other had to make do with a mobile phone.
I'll never think Rose kicks as much ass as Ace, I'll never find her as interesting, but perhaps she was a better balance for the Ninth Doctor than Ace would have been. Because for all their parallels, Ace was cast as the Seventh Doctor's daughter, learning the brutality of adulthood - of parental betrayal - of a cruel universe - through him. Ironic, since I think she was altogether better equipped for adult life than Rose who was far more sheltered.
But Rose was cast as the Ninth Doctor's lover. She was already an adult, for all her childish behaviour, and she took the edges away from the Ninth. She took him, full of bitterness and bile at the universe, at the lost of his homeworld, his family, his metaphorical parent, of his betrayal of Gallifrey and the universe's betrayal of him, she took that and made it more bearable. Perhaps Rose raised the Doctor.
I suppose this isn't strictly relevant, but it's one of my favourite comparsions/inverses in the Who-Universe and it's integral to my thinking on the Doctor and Martha.
For all his superficial similarities to Tom Baker's Doctor, I started to feel he was actually more similar to Colin Baker's. He's pompous, a little righteous and judgemental, in a holier-than-thou way, not in Sylvester McCoy's pragmatic, factual fashion.
The Tenth Doctor was never going to have the Ninth's hollow brutality. His attitude ensured that. But also he is a different person and he's not the one that destroyed his homeworld, or woke up in the aftermath of its destruction.
And that's a tough position to be in, he's the last of his kind, but he can't pull off the angst of the Ninth. When he tries it just seems...fake, hollow, perhaps a little undeserved.
One thing I appreciated was the Doctor's insistance to Martha that she wasn't replacing Rose, that she wasn't his next companion. It's not that I'm desperate for Rose to be extra special because I loooooved her as a companion. It's more that this goes some way towards making the Doctor seem less like a serial stalker. It took me long enough to get to grips with the idea that Doctor Who could have companions as romantic interests (and I won't rant about that in full now because I've done so before), and one of the only ways I could really get on board with it was because of who the Doctor was at the time and what Rose represented (see above).
To insert Martha suddenly into that role is more than slightly creepy.
(Also if she pulls a Rose and disappears accidentally for a year, her brother is going to have SUCH a good reason to be pissed at her - YOU DISAPPEARED ON MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! Wow. Bummer.)
So anyway, it occurs to me that while the Tenth Doctor might be a little more removed from the tragedy of Gallifrey, he's still the last of his kind, and that's got to be difficult to deal with. Perhaps the tragedy of the Tenth isn't the tragedy of The Man Who Killed His Planet, but The Man Who Was Left Behind. It's not so much guilt as loneliness. Which is perhaps why he's taking the loss of Rose so hard.
His guilt is that he lost her - his adopted family in perhaps a more literal way than previous Companions and with previous Doctors. Even though she was the chosen companion of Christopher Eccleston's Doctor and not David Tennant's.
I should really reserve judgement until I've seen a few more episodes without him acting like a nob, but is it too much to hope that he's more likable because he's finally found a companion that he wants, not that he's obsessed with posessing because she's the only thing his genocidal previous incarnation left him as an emotional tie, to, well, anything?
Hmm.
And to think this was supposed to be short.
In other news, I'm enjoying Life on Mars. Gene Hunt is awesome though an asshole. It's a really well put together drama though I am getting tired of the "they're going to kiss! Oh, wait, someone just walked in and interrupted!" scene between Sam and Annie at the end of EVERY BLOODY EPISODE. Anyway, score for Life on Mars which I was originally entirely meh on when I heard the premise.
In other news, my boy and I are totally convinced that Fiona Bruce is really a viking. We think she keeps her axe under her newsdesk and probably moors her longboat in the BBC carpark.
You know I'm right.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 10:17 pm (UTC)However, this doctor is, I think, all about the God Complex. He's the last of his kind, and as you say he tries to pull off the grief and angst of Nine, but just can't quite manage it. And I'm starting to think that might be deliberate, because this Doctor, the last lord of time, he's getting pretty big for his boots now. He could , I think, very easily tip over into believing he is a God, with all the privilidges thereof.
(And this I think is a very important part of why for the first time ever, he went and fell in love with a companion. I think it was a conscious or sub-conscious defence mechanism, to keep him in touch with his, for want of a better word, humanity.)
And this, I think, partly explains his desperation to fill that hole with a new companion ASAP.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 04:45 pm (UTC)Hooray, I am not alone!
However, this doctor is, I think, all about the God Complex. He's the last of his kind, and as you say he tries to pull off the grief and angst of Nine, but just can't quite manage it. And I'm starting to think that might be deliberate, because this Doctor, the last lord of time, he's getting pretty big for his boots now. He could , I think, very easily tip over into believing he is a God, with all the privilidges thereof.
Wow, that's a great way to put it. I very much agree and think it could be a wonderfully compelling story arc if I wasn't convinced they were going to ignore it even in the subtext. Because I was convinced that after Queen Victoria's words last season, he and Rose were going to get their comeuppance for being so arrogant and...well...no.
(And this I think is a very important part of why for the first time ever, he went and fell in love with a companion. I think it was a conscious or sub-conscious defence mechanism, to keep him in touch with his, for want of a better word, humanity.)
And this, I think, partly explains his desperation to fill that hole with a new companion ASAP.
Again, a wonderful way of explaining the external reasons that everything must now have a love-interest (as opposed to that being a bit risque in a kids show in the 60s) with in-universe reasons that are actually consistant.
I'm just not sure how I'm going to reconcile my final acceptance of Rose as his love interest in a "special case" sort of way with the obvious intention of Martha to replace her.
But like I said, it could be much worse. I could also hate Martha, whereas instead, I quite like her.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 05:42 pm (UTC)Ditto. :-(
no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 09:49 pm (UTC)And yes, queen victoria.
However, you see. My Doctor = God theory started aroundabout the episode set in the School with Sarah Jane. And I just have a feeling that Billeh announcing her departure... I think that came mid-writing point, and they rejigged things to give her a departure, so I have a feeling that a lot of the stories they started to set up at the beginning of S2, the hubris you mention, the god complex, I think those got bumped in order to do the doomed love story in a hurry.
Because he is oh so very arrogant Ten. Also, Matt (blankbadge) and I are increasingly convinced that he has a really huge crack habit.
And yes, I quite liked Martha too. Which was a relief. I was quite ready to hate her.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 06:18 pm (UTC)wanna bet??
the daleks were wiped from time - they now never existed - yet they still managed to come back several times.
the timelords were also wiped from time - wanna bet??
ok, so some bastard at work blurted out something which would tend to support my claim, although i have reason to think that if RTD tries this, he'll be pulling it out of his big fat arse, even more than he normally does.
He could , I think, very easily tip over into believing he is a God, with all the privilidges thereof.
wasnt there an episode of old!who that dealt with the doctors final, insane, EVIL! final incarnation?
alternatively, theres the mythical character the gallifreyans know from their deep past as "the other"...
no subject
Date: 2007-04-06 09:03 am (UTC)HAHA! No, definitely not! I agree that suddenly having more gallifreyans show up is something that might well happen in the show. But I think the point stands, because he at least THINKS he's the last of his kind...
wasnt there an episode of old!who that dealt with the doctors final, insane, EVIL! final incarnation?
Sort of - I think the Valeyard was actually all of the Doctor's bad impulses and desires between his twelfth and thirteenth incarnations and that he agreed to put Colin Baker's doctor on trial because if he won and the Doctor was convicted, he'd get the rest of his regenerations and finally become "a real boy". I think. Someone more knowledgable than me will probably put me right in a minute... ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-06 01:32 pm (UTC)Well, in the Doctor Who storybook, there is a snippet from RTD, so I assume it is canon, where he talks about how there is a monument on a distant moon, that the Doctor erected to his people as the last of the Timelords, and apparently somebody scrawled upon it 'You are not the last'.
It might have been in a short story, I forget exactly. But the published stories are considered canon?
And there are several candidates I think for timelords who might have survived. Romana, the Master, whatserface the other evil one whose name I can't remember. I would be surprised if at least a few of them don't re-appear at some point.
The Other? Tell me more?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 01:01 pm (UTC)According to BBC policy only media which are free to licence fee payers are allowed to be considered canon for the tv programme. Which must save the writers a LOT of headaches. :-)
whatserface the other evil one whose name I can't remember
The Rani. There were several other renegade but not necessarily evil Time Lords in old Who and any of them could've used their TARDISes to survive in a similar way to how the Daleks used their void ship.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 05:01 pm (UTC)Have they ever, out of curiosity, told the story of the Time War and the destruction of the Timelords anywhere?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 06:39 pm (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_War_%28Doctor_Who%29
no subject
Date: 2007-04-09 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 11:45 pm (UTC)It also had 100% less western than Alias Smith and Jones (but you're young so you meant Alas Smith and Jones, yes?).
though she did get stuck with a few really awful lines.
I'm surprised I haven't seen, "Your ship is made of wood" on an icon yet. I thought the ability to deliver dodgy lines convincingly was written into the Companion's contract?!
His guilt is that he lost her
Meaning Rose, but I'm sushigal007 wondered if the line about Adeola was more than a throwaway continuity reference and Ten is projecting his (selfish) guilt onto Martha already.
Correction: now with added Ace!
Date: 2007-04-03 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 04:50 pm (UTC)*pretends she didn't just have to google Alias Smith and Jones*
...no...
I'm surprised I haven't seen, "Your ship is made of wood" on an icon yet.
It shows my tragic lack of fannish knowledge that it took me a second to get that and the first thing that popped into my head was Doctor/Jabe?!
I thought the ability to deliver dodgy lines convincingly was written into the Companion's contract?!
HAHAHA! But also, probably.
Meaning Rose, but I'm sushigal007 wondered if the line about Adeola was more than a throwaway continuity reference and Ten is projecting his (selfish) guilt onto Martha already.
Wow. Interesting. Very interesting...
Also (ref comment below) I always approve of added Ace.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 05:51 pm (UTC)Didn't Martha say, "Your (space)ship is made of wood," to the Doctor in the
scary stalkingscene at the end of the ep? Possibly I didn't hear it correctly as my telly is rubbish. Or maybe I made it up in my head because I'm the bestest script writer evah! But I think it was in the episode. ::nods convincingly::no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 07:00 am (UTC)So um, yeah. His ship is literally made of wood!
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 01:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-03 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 04:54 pm (UTC)Totally. Though Ace did use to call him "Professor". But still, that's a sign of respect usually reserved for male elders so not really as distinctive as "Mr Smith". Maybe she will? We'll see next week, I guess.
Why in a crisis situation do they always depict people running, screaming, and crying?
Because, as I'm about to prove, it's comedy gold.
Proof:
loved the people who ran five feet then hid in plain view behind a chair. Yeah, that will protect you.
;)
And they really had the villain suck people's blood through a straw. I'm sorry, I use straws, they are not strong enough to puncture the jugular and drink down quarts of blood.
I'm torn on this point. On the one hand, despite the venerable Who tradition of dodgy people in rubber suits pretending to be aliens, the Rhino Police didn't do much for me. On the other hand, stuff like Old Grannies or Little Girls secretly turning out to be deeply evil and perpetrating said evil in the most mundane of ways, like, say, using teacups and drinking straws, is also a venerable Who tradition and one I like.
Perhaps it just didn't seem quite a ludicrous as the Doctor shaking all the radiation into his shoe?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 01:35 am (UTC)That was weird and laughable, but not in the way they intended.
The rhino police seemed like a rip-off to me. I'm trying to recall where I've seen aliens like them before. The Fifth Element maybe? They weren't rhinos but they seemed similar.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-06 09:04 am (UTC)...I want one.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-06 11:28 am (UTC)Only Doctor Who.