A lot can happen in 2 years 1 month which is how old this post is! Enjoy the post but be sure to check out the new stuff too!!This is a guest post by long time friend of QYDJ Sujoy who recently launched his geek themed blog aptly called 9e3k. It’s been a Doctor who themed couple of weeks around here so I’m happy to just embrace all things Who’vian and present Sujoy’s take on Matt Smith’s second outing as the Doctor.
Be warned that there are unavoidable spoilers!!
In bed above, or deep asleep
While greater love lies further deep
This dream must end this world must know
We all depend on the beast below.
There are so many good things happening with Doctor Who in the Steven Moffat era so far. After the quite awesome first episode, episode 2 – The Beast Below – takes us to a far far point in space and time when the solar flares have roasted the Earth, and people from different countries have fled in different spaceships. It was quite funny to see Spaceship UK having neon lights in space flashing ESSEX, SURREY etc. And the Doctor trying to explain that to Amy by saying – people living, laughing and shopping (ha!), searching the stars for a new home. Yes, the Doctor and his assistant have already set out for their first adventure (not counting the previous incident) and we get glimpses of the team working in conjunction as well as separately. What is absolutely great here is to see Amy and her curiosity in knowing what or who the Doctor really is, and her attempt at exploring that by asking random questions. Of course, Matt Smith, even though is a new face, we cannot help but believe that he is indeed the Doctor as he smiles as Amy asks him if he had any children.
“The Beast Below” as a story is quite traditional and familiar with previous Doctor’s stories. It is very well layered with clues here and there, as all the mysteries are unveiled one layer at a time to ultimately arrive to the finale. And for the record, “The Smilers” are definitely one of the creepiest monsters and I hate them – even the smiley ones. But the winner of this episode is the Buttons. It is such a creepy concept if you think about it. What would you decide to do, when you are asked that after having known the dark secret of the spaceship and its survival, would you choose to Forget It, or to Protest It, and in the process decide the collective fate of the people. The Queen, Liz 10, when faced by the question decides to keep the status quo and keep reigning, and of course, continue the loop of ‘Forgetting” every 10 years. That makes me concerned about the death-rate and birth-rate of the UK population on the spaceship, as we see that the Queen has survived for quite some time. And speaking of population, I wonder how big the spaceships of India and China would have been.
Yet another outstanding moment in this episode was the Doctor, when faced with the dilemma of either killing the residents of Spaceship UK or allowing the Space Whale to be tortured, makes the uncomfortable choice of saving the people and prepares for an easy death for the spacewhale. Of course, clever Amy recollects all hints and instructions given by the Doctor to “look carefully”. She saves the day by joining the pieces of the jigsaw, although the Doctor does not seem very happy about her stealing the show by risking the lives of people on Spaceship UK. But then, all’s well that ends well. Amy hugs the Doctor in front of a massive and glimmering glasswall and the team is back together. The friction between them and the curiosity of Amy to find out more about the Doctor, while both of them contribute more towards a larger story arc – all of it is so much fun to watch, and we are only at Episode 2 here.
Except for some loose ends here and there, and a not so convincing Queen, this was a step up from Episode 1. And those Smilies should make a comeback. And not to forget, the little clues which might be crucial for future episodes. And by that I mean that crack on Spaceship UK. Does that mean that we will be soon seeing the Atraxi make a comeback?
Saturday nights are indeed becoming harder to wait. And how wicked was the trailer at the end for the next episode – Victory of the Daleks. Yes, you heard that right. The Daleks are back next week, as Ian McNeice plays Sir Winston Churchill and the Doctor punches a weird scientist who calls the Daleks his invention. Can’t wait for that one. But for me now, it’s time for a repeat viewing of the Beast Below. Cheerio!
Sujoy lives in London and works as a Business Analyst by day, but by night turns into a blogger ranting on his favourite topics of Sci Fi, Horror, Anime and all stuff geeky on his blog 9E3K. He is a Bollywood fanatic and he writes about them at OneKnightStands. He believes that he tweets way too much and he is considering getting some help about it.
He is learning to play the Keyboard, and one day hopes he can cover Killer Queen.
I felt this was weaker than the first episode. The Dr flipped from playful and whimsical to authoritarian with a very loud crunching of gears I felt. And the whole police state thing was never really properly resolved.
But I still enjoyed it, and am eager for more next saturday.
Personally I think that storyline has been done to death even on Doctor Who, I was not surprised in the least when the creature turned out to be noble but the whole idea of the children was a little too 'children of earth' for my liking. In fact this storyline is right out of the very first episode of Star Trek The Next Generation -- Encounter at Farpoint. Except it was the station not a spaceship.
This episode also made me wonder about the timeline that Doctor Who has established for humanity, we'd all left Earth at this stage but presumably we'd returned at some later point.
I think the strongest part of the show right now is the companion Amy Pond, she is great! Much better than Rose and Donna (I still have a soft spot for Martha Jones).
I am really looking forward to next week despite it being another resurrection of the Daleks episode it looks to be a spot of fun.
The other thing that annoyed me was Amy going on about how the Dr and the Whale were so alike. She hasn't been with the Dr long enough to know that damnit.
I do like her though. I like very much indeed. very much.
Yes but remember, in her mind she has known the Doctor since she was a little girl, admittedly most of it is in her head. I suspect she will find some surprises as she gets to know the real him.
oh, and martha Jones?? Did she actually have a personality. My favorite companion was Wilf (was that his name? Donnas Grandad). Bring him back, that's what I say.
Martha Jones saved the world.
End of Time did have some really great moments when Wilf and the Doctor shared screen space. And Bernard Cribbins is one cool dude. He's hilarious in real life -- judging by his appearance at the Doctor Who special of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. It'll be really nice if he made a comeback. But having said that, will Matt Smith's doctor meet the previous ladies -- Rose, Martha, Donna. Hmm.. Well he's surely revisiting the previous monsters, so who knows.
Well we definitely know that he will be meeting up with River Song again which is something to look forward to!
I'll second that. Wilf was the man.
They were never really clear about how they were dealing with the children. The monster wouldn't eat the children any more. And that part was dealt way too briefly. Children of Earth is in my awesome list and so is Martha Jones. She is imo David Tennant's best companion.
Okay, I really liked this episode. Well structured, well paced, nice writing, good acting. I see what you're saying, Lee, about it being done to death, but I liked it anyway.
The only part that really stuck out to me was what Dan said about Amy not knowing him long enough (or well enough) to make that Doctor/Whale comparison. It felt too soon for her to make that connection. But, as my wife is back-seat-typing to me, Amy had just been learning -- as the clues indicate -- exactly what she said to him, so it's not entirely out of nowhere.
I still maintain my position on Amy not “knowing” the Doctor per se but knowing the Doctor that's in her head that she made up stories about and obsessed over as a child -- the character she made up as her imaginary friend.
I’ve yet to decide on Amy. Her acting is a little ‘stage school’ for me. Her main facial reaction just seems to be a mesma-stare.
Did anybody else think that the Queen (before she was uncovered) might be riversong?
Personally I’m pretty gutted that the doc didn’t see the non harmful solution. I think I have to chalk that one up to regeration anxity. What next…. Guns?
Lee’s spot on with the Encounter at Farpoint ref. Fo Sho.
I thought the Queen was going to be related to Martha Jones actually because of the ‘stories passed down through the family’ comment but of course the royal family makes sense. Considering that they set up Torchwood because of the Doctor.
We did see the Doctor firing a gun in the season trailer so it will be interesting to see how that works.
^regeneration
.-= David´s last blog ..The Doctor Who review – Guest post at QYDJ =-.
LOL we knew what you meant
I don’t know -- I think the new doctor just doesn’t seem to cut it…
He just doesn’t seem to have that charisma or flamboyance needed for the role of Doctor. He’s too cardboardy and stodgy if you like.
The story is pretty much plagiarised from “Star Trek TNG -- Encounter at Farpoint” too.
Never mind, episode 2 will have a Dalek ! Yay.
I was actually really disappointed with the Dalek episode, I’ve become a little jaded with the series as each episode rolls past.
I don’t mind the Docotr so much but I certainly don’t think that the stories are there right now.