setsuled

So apparently Daleks rock. That's the impression I got from the New Years Doctor Who special, "Resolution". And I mean "rock" with electric guitars and drums, lots of drums. It wasn't exactly bad but it was an odd fit, especially the drums. At one point I wondered if another file was playing on my computer on which I was watching the special. Mainly I enjoyed the episode and its reprise of elements from the Ninth Doctor episode "Dalek" (which was itself a reworking of the Sixth Doctor audio play Jubilee). It's nice to see the Rolling Stones play "Sympathy for the Devil", too, though, in both cases, it's fundamentally not a new song.

Spoilers after the screenshot



"Resolution" benefits a lot from reintroducing pre-Thirteen elements, not just the Dalek (once again voiced by Nicholas Briggs, though credited as "Nick Briggs" for some reason), but also Twelfth Doctor era director Wayne Yip. I didn't even think his Twelfth Doctor episodes were especially well made but in comparison to most of the directors in the recent season he's a genius. All the close-ups meant something, there was dynamic blocking, a cool tracking shot when the Dalek was blowing up soldiers, and a neat moment where the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) swung around in the TARDIS to confront a sudden hologram of Dalek Lin.



Not only did the Dalek rock, I had the strangest feeling we were supposed to be rooting for him. Or her. There are a lot of parallels drawn between the Doctor and the Dalek--the sequence where the Dalek forges a new shell with Sheffield steel almost looks like it was shot in the same exact place where the Doctor forged her new sonic screwdriver. But by taking over the mind of poor Lin (Charlotte Ritchie), especially since we don't get to know Lin very well, the Dalek effectively becomes a woman--much as a change of sex doesn't mean a whole lot to the Doctor except in how people with cultural conceptions of gender react to her, now the Dalek is interacting with humans in the shape of a woman. This was part of the vicarious thrill in watching her confront the patronising cop, though, really, she was doing 103, I'm going to have to side with the cop on this one. Oh, yeah, and she's a mass murderer.



The Doctor mentions that she learned to think like a Dalek a long time ago, and this episode does seem to continue the idea of the Dalek as a dark mirror the Doctor. Though I kind of thought that was the point of the Master.



I didn't care much for the subplot about Ryan's father but I appreciated the effort Tosin Cole put into his performance confronting him in the diner. Easily the best performance from any of the companions this season.



Once again, Yaz (Mandip Gill) seemed completely superfluous. You'd think her being a cop in Sheffield would come into play, maybe with her utilising local knowledge and connexions, but no. I feel like the writers have forgotten she's a cop.

No-one watches Doctor Who for a sensible plot but this one had an amazing amount of dumb moments. Ninth century humans defeated a Dalek? Why were three humans from different parts of the world fighting it? Whose history were they trying to erase it from? How would hiding the body keep the knowledge from historians who'd hear about the battle? If they didn't hear about the battle, why hide body in different parts of the world? If the Dalek can build rocket engines and missiles why can't it immediately access communications when it takes over the biggest communications centre in the country? What would contacting the Dalek fleet accomplish? They already know about Earth.

All the New Years jokes were shoe-horned in pretty lamely, worse than the Christmas references usually are. Still, the action scenes were good and it was good seeing the Dalek kick ass.

Twitter Sonnet #1191

A pocket button held the thread inside.
The mem'ry spool was stout and very tough.
No needle, pin, or thimble *could* decide.
To darn a simple want a thought's enough.
The tangles part at last revealing eggs.
The rising structure born becomes the land.
The puppy stands on thin, unsteady legs.
May strides of grace prove firm on shifting sand.
Some copper coils wait in faded bins.
The painted moon remains at early dawn.
Beginning meals were et with finished pins.
The sushi's here but also now it's gone.
A rack of woolen coats await the phone.
The icy air desires human bone.

I've written more than once about the scarcity of Irish actors or characters on Doctor Who but this year Saint Patrick's Day has fallen on Saturday, the day I usually write about Doctor Who, so I listened to the first Dark Eyes audio anthology from 2012. A collection of Eighth Doctor stories, it features the Doctor's only Irish companion in any medium, Molly O'Sullivan, portrayed by Irish actress Ruth Bradley. And I was glad to find Dark Eyes is a good series, especially surprising since it was written by Nicholas Briggs, whose scripts I've generally not enjoyed in the past. He loads up a few too many Irish-isms in Molly's dialogue but mostly she's a good character in a good set of stories. I like how she mockingly insists on calling the Doctor "The Doctor."

Comprised of four stories, each just under an hour, the first, "The Great War", finds the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) arriving on Earth in the midst of a mustard gas attack during World War I. The Seventh Doctor had a few World War I adventures, too, and with the recent Christmas special featuring the Twelfth Doctor in a World War I setting, I wonder how many Doctors are roaming about No Man's Land.

Molly is a Voluntary Aid Detachment nursing assistant--not a nurse, she continually reminds everyone. The medical staff angle is another thing that makes this reminiscent of the Seventh Doctor story, No Man's Land. But "The Great War" does a better job establishing the lives of the average participants, with Molly being a wiser, more experienced hand hastily advising another woman on how to treat and behave around men brought in from the battlefield.

The second story, "Fugitives", gets more into the underlying story that bridges the four, and features more heavily two guest characters played by Peter Egan and Toby Jones. Whether or not they're villains isn't quite clear but in the concluding chapter, "X and the Daleks", Briggs makes good use of them, coming up with a really cool way to use Time Lord regeneration I can't remember seeing or hearing in another story.

The third story, "Tangled Web", features the Doctor and Molly coming across a community of peaceful Daleks. It's a story that plays with the Doctor's acquired hatred for the species in much the way the new television series has done from time to time; giving us the innocence of his companion's eyes, wanting to give a whole species the benefit of the doubt, confounded by the normally open minded Doctor unable to accept the possibility of peaceful Daleks. This one has some interesting moments, I particularly liked how in the climax it gets to the point where the Doctor feels like he's going mad for being the only one who holds what he can't help feeling is a perfectly reasonable point of view.

Briggs, as he does on the new show, also voices the Daleks and is good at creating an impression of several individuals. McGann is good as always and has good chemistry with Bradley. She's effective in the role though I don't like how she calls the TARDIS a "Tardy box".

Twitter Sonnet #1094

The water turned above to different roofs.
The circuitry of scuba scars appeared.
A warning dripped from restless, turquoise hoofs.
The worried land observed the endless weird.
The face beside the ears divulged a sound.
As pieces ranged a board became a day.
A cushion took the seconds from the ground.
As grasses pass the ivy shows the way.
Surprising kings beneath the hills were hid.
A dot was glowing green before the snakes.
A clover star would burst to quadrant grid.
Remembered drinks were debts beneath the lakes.
The ling'ring wolf returned to save the slain.
A wailing shade perplexed the sullen train.