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Christmas 2009 - including Doctor Who, of course!
Saturday, 26 December 2009 00:18It's been a quiet but lovely Christmas here in Birmingham. I'm the last one still up - everyone else has staggered off to bed after being lulled into a pleasant stupor by turkey and pudding and brandy and the Father Ted Christmas special. I've got the cat curled up next to me and a fire slowly dying in the grate, while on the opposite side of the room is a truly humongous pile of presents, including such goodies as a book of 1930s women's style pages from the tabloid newspapers, a new ash-pan for my fire (well, I think it's exciting!) and of course three Doctor Who DVDs (all of First Doctor stories).
Like last year, I willingly helped out with kitchen tasks during the earlier part of the afternoon in order to ensure that I could enjoy the Doctor Who Christmas special at 6pm without feeling guilty. It was worth it, although overall, I was rather underwhelmed by the episode. It seemed too burdened down with the need to drive forward an epic plot, with the result that the newly-introduced characters were nothing more than cardboard cut-outs, the bits that were plot-heavy lacked subtlety and the bits that weren't sometimes dragged. Even David Tennant often appeared to have all too little to do.
Then again, it was only part one of a two-parter, which over its total length is obviously going to have to wrap up all the unresolved story-lines of Russell T. Davies' entire tenure. We always knew it was going to be EPICALLY EPIC, and given what the last few years of the programme have been like, that does seem like the only appropriate way to finish it all now. So it's no good expecting subtlety or departures from established formulae at this stage, really.
Besides, Bernard Cribbins was spell-binding throughout, as was John Simms actually - something I never quite felt with his previous appearances. And there were some great individual moments. ( Extremely spoilery list )
I might try and have a think about what's likely to come up in the second part tomorrow, but for now I think I'm too tired and turkeyed-out. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and are blessedly free of post-festive hangovers in the morning.
Click here to view this entry with minimal formatting.
Like last year, I willingly helped out with kitchen tasks during the earlier part of the afternoon in order to ensure that I could enjoy the Doctor Who Christmas special at 6pm without feeling guilty. It was worth it, although overall, I was rather underwhelmed by the episode. It seemed too burdened down with the need to drive forward an epic plot, with the result that the newly-introduced characters were nothing more than cardboard cut-outs, the bits that were plot-heavy lacked subtlety and the bits that weren't sometimes dragged. Even David Tennant often appeared to have all too little to do.
Then again, it was only part one of a two-parter, which over its total length is obviously going to have to wrap up all the unresolved story-lines of Russell T. Davies' entire tenure. We always knew it was going to be EPICALLY EPIC, and given what the last few years of the programme have been like, that does seem like the only appropriate way to finish it all now. So it's no good expecting subtlety or departures from established formulae at this stage, really.
Besides, Bernard Cribbins was spell-binding throughout, as was John Simms actually - something I never quite felt with his previous appearances. And there were some great individual moments. ( Extremely spoilery list )
I might try and have a think about what's likely to come up in the second part tomorrow, but for now I think I'm too tired and turkeyed-out. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and are blessedly free of post-festive hangovers in the morning.
Click here to view this entry with minimal formatting.
