iainjclark: Dave McKean Sandman image (TV)
iainjclark ([personal profile] iainjclark) wrote2005-05-08 12:37 am

Doctor Who: The Long Game

Well, I liked it quite a bit.

Simon Pegg is a very good actor, but prior to watching the episode I was far from convinced he could pull off a decent performance as a Doctor Who villain. Thankfully he was basically required to play an Evil Simon Pegg. So that worked out very well. :-)

There was some typically unsuble satire, but none of the juvenile humour we've come to fear, and the writing, directing and production were very impressive - particularly the effects work on the alien creature. The setting, which might easily have seemed cartoonish (cf. Paradise Towers) was well realised, and my biggest criticism is that far too much time was devoted to Adam's misguided attempts to make time travel pay - but there was nothing actually wrong with that storyline (except the very last scene).

As always the interplay between Rose and the Doctor sparkled, and Adam actually helped to give them something to play off before wandering off into a different episode entirely. Christopher Eccleston kept the grinning to a minimum and delivered yet another convincing and charismatic performance, and it was particularly nice to see the Doctor spotting something amiss and getting right down to solving it. There was a also a freshness to the story that was missing from some of the early episodes.

More when I'm less tired and less inebriated. Any typos may also be attributed to my sozzled state. :-)

[identity profile] lyth.livejournal.com 2005-05-08 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
I thought Adam's storyline was the best thing about it - the main story was fairly routine and not very interesting. Next week looks like being a lot better.

[identity profile] pikelet.livejournal.com 2005-05-08 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
It's 'Vengeance on Varos', done right.

Simon Pegg is not someone for whom I'm ever going to be a raving fanboy. However, he was very good in this. I was greatly amused.

The giant ceiling penis monster was a penis.

And it's yet more 'time isn't what it used to be!' stuff, with the human race being set back by 'about ninety years'. Compared to the trailer for next week, where Rose intentionally alters history, I'm expecting time-travel!angst of the highest order. Why the Doctor can fiddle, and why Rose can't. That would be an interesting one.