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Reviews
Doctor Who (2023)
The beginning to a new journey
Doctor Who has always been my favorite show, ever since I was nine years old and watched "Rose". Since then, I've developed a love for pretty much every era, and my favorite episode from the modern version has to be "Heaven Sent". I have extremely good memories of this show and always will. I've also made my way through 24 seasons of classic Who, and it's as good there as it is here. Pure imagination.
RTD brought me into the show with his bombastic ideas and blockbuster style. Moffat made me love the show as much as I do now because of his superb character drama and truly "out there" absurd plot arcs. Chibnall, however, really made me lose interest. I don't want to sound clichéd, and I don't want to sound like every other hate train YouTuber, so I'll stress that Doctor Who has always been avidly political and inclusive, ever since even William Hartnell. All of you "diversity hire" weirdos out there make this fandom look so toxic, and thank you ALL of you idiots for making me embarrassed to even like the show. Anyway...
I don't like Chibnall's stuff because of the poor acting, even poorer storylines, and lack of emotional music. The direction and cinematography was also consistently bland, and the big plot arcs were either so quaint it makes me amazed Chibnall ever thought anyone would've cared (looking at you, Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos), or so utterly grand and misguided that they divided people more than it gave you any sort of emotional catharsis (looking at you, Timeless Children). On top of that, the Thirteenth Doctor (played by the incredible yet entirely miscast Jodie Whittaker) did a lot of amoral stuff, to the point that to me she resembles an up-and-coming Valeyard more than the Doctor. Which could've been amazing if they actually leaned into it!! But making her trap a guy in an eternal nightmare chamber or blow up a guy for no reason or side with the rich instead of the workers or sideline her companion's cancer trauma because of her own "social awkwardness" or send her childhood friend turned enemy into the N*zi death camps because of his skin color...?!?!?!?!?! Instead of being the Doctor, she becomes a tantrumming murderous space toddler. For the first female Doctor, an idea with so much potential... why oh why did this have to happen?
Nevertheless, not all was negative. The Spy Master and Ashad were interesting, and a total of four episodes were actually kinda good - "Demons of the Punjab", "The Haunting of Villa Diodati", "War of the Sontarans", "The Power of the Doctor". Yet even the highest this era achieved was just a 7/10 from me.
After 5 very long years of sadness accomplished from this era, Chibnall left his reign of the show and RTD took back his chair as showrunner. And this is the current iteration we are at now.
In this era, RTD has already proven he can write an amazing episode "Wild Blue Yonder", a positive yet contrived finale "The Giggle" (which as much as others seem to complain about, is nothing new - remember "Last of the Time Lords"? Even "Journey's End"? Great but... contrived finales), a fun Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road", and a genuinely bad episode "The Star Beast". The villains were all unforgettable, Beep the Meep, the Not-Things, the Toymaker, even the Goblins. Murray Gold is back to compose emotional, beautiful music; that doesn't sound like ambience at best and a hundred rats running across glass at worst (referring to Segun Akinola). It has genuinely fun, cool performances from the Doctor that really show off his alien side and his love for humanity. The show's genuinely funny again! It also tackles political subjects subtly and doesn't ever make it the forefront (minus Rose Noble, who as a trans woman myself I felt a little disappointed by the representation - although I'm still glad young trans people will see themselves, the storyline with her just felt a little overblown and... well, contrived). The direction is pretty, the cinematography strikingly beautiful, practical effects are BACK BABY!!!! There's so many positives, a few negatives, but that's Doctor Who for you. For every "Heaven Sent", we get a "Love & Monsters", for every "Genesis of the Daleks" we get a "Horns of Nimon". I'm just glad we're out of the era that felt like every episode was "The Twin Dilemma".
In short, THIS is Doctor Who, and it's back, and I'm so happy that it is. It's brilliant, it's goofy, it's emotional, it's flawed, it's Who at it's most Who. The best show, the king of TV.
Doctor Who: Unleashed: Wild Blue Yonder (2023)
Not really BTS?
Again, this is just disappointing. Yes, the narrator guy is charming and so are his antics with David Tennant. But so far the BTS videos released after each episode on Doctor Who's YouTube channel are WAY better than this show. I like to actually get some idea as to how they made everything, but Unleashed hopes we care more about celebrities more than we do. Yes, it's fun and neat to see them behind the scenes. But there's no cool information, no bloopers, no alternate scenes, it's just so sterile and boring.
The only bit I enjoyed was SEEING the prosthetic big hands, and the whole guise is charming, but I really am disappointed. More BTS! The YouTube stuff is way better, but there has to be more. Hoping for a far more radical change in tempo for Unleashed by season 15 (or season 2? Guess we still don't have an answer on that quite yet). Part of me is thinking we're not getting that, though.
Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023)
Some of the scariest, zaniest Who ever
After the middling last episode, this was Doctor Who back on form!! Atmospheric, scary in a surreal way, wild and zany think piece.
It started off with a weird comedic joke, though, about Isaac Newton. Even though it was weird and didn't serve much purpose, it was mercifully short and made way for a giggle or two. Random, but nothing to deter you.
But right after the intro, the episode starts and doesn't stop moving. It's eerie from the beginning, with the robot at first being menacing. Instantly the set of ideas and clues is just magnificent, creating this sense of pure mystery. And that whole edge of the universe stuff? Cosmic horror is just wonderful, isnt it?
And then the villains come into play. First off, that line, "my arms are too long" scared me SO BAD!! There was something so awfully incomprehensible about that situation. But I personally love how it started out eerie and became wacky and zany - that whole molding schtick is creepy and wild.
The line that convinced me this episode is one of the greats was "Oh so things that are gone don't disappear". What a pair of eerie, Neil Gaiman-esque villains. Sure, some might see them as cartoonish, but I think their sense of physical malleability is just so creative.
And then, oh wow, the defeat. Clever, not relying on the sonic, the Doctor genuinely thinking to outsmart the enemy? And the villains preyed ON thinking?! And the editing of the explosion?!?! And the Donna Noble fake-out?!?!?!?! And how the robot was led up to as menacing but turned out to be the one hero still onboard the ship?!?!?!?!?! Perfection, I say.
And, of course, it comes full circle with "Wild Blue Yonder". That scene was so heroic and cleverly written, it might be the most joyous I've felt watching this show in such a long time. It's been like 5 years without any sort of good story, "World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls" is the last one that genuinely made me THIS emotional.
And Wilf?! I mean, come on! If people don't like this episode, I don't think they like Doctor Who. Weird, zany, eerie but most of all? Actually clever. This story is why this show still exists.
I genuinely would rate this a 10/10 if it weren't for the Isaac Newton cold open, since it felt out of place. But compared to the perfection that would follow, this really is just a nitpick.
This is magic. And I'm glad after the worry that I felt after watching "The Star Beast", that "Wild Blue Yonder" was THIS good. Can't wait for next week!!!
The Void (2016)
Wow I'm sleepy
Actively painfully terrible. The film starts out with an average horror movie inciting incident which descends into... nothing. Basically, a cop tries to protect a couple underdeveloped characters from being killed by a hilariously large group of cultists. It's a shame that the movie doesn't SHOW that protection, or really any sort of conflict at all. Slow-burn horror is interesting, this just isn't it despite what the critics like to say. "Slow-burn" is different from "nothing at all".
And even though 90% of it is dull, the remaining bits are just downright unintentionally funny. ESPECIALLY the acting. Whether the actors are just monotone or SO over-doing it, it all reeks of "cheap". To top it all off, we only see the final dimension for a grand total of 50 seconds, and not even that - due to the very poor amount of recycled footage. And the music?! Literally pulled from royalty free libraries whilst sounding like a broken air conditioner. Either dead air or ear-r*pe.
The only reason this isn't a 1/10 is because the effects are surprisingly great. From satisfyingly gory and grisly to "how did they even do that?" levels of technical wizardry, the VFX and practical effects are just utterly - mwah!! And aaggghh, because it really was gross in all the right ways.
But my god if the film had bad effects or even sub-par, this might be one of the worst horror movies I've ever witnessed. Not scary, disturbing or creepy even in the slightest, instead either funny (sometimes, if you're lucky) and oftentimes snooze-worthy. I found my eyelids closing multiple times... and that doesn't happen often to me.
If someone wanted me to describe sleep for them, I'd say "yeah that's just The Void, but at least sleep feels better".
Meander (2020)
It was bad until the SKULL MUPPET
Hilariously enough, "Meander" opens up like every single other UFO movie ever made - flicking through ominous radio channels with interlaying cuts of static and random music whilst the opening credits roll.
The opening scene is meh, led by stereotypical deep-in-loss lady and TikTok voice guy. He's a killer, knocks her out, and she wakes up in a vent-like system of traps.
The first 50 minutes of this movie could only be described as "infuriating". Main character was a hilarious moron, consistently moving at a snail's pace and making all the wrong decisions. The beautiful sound design, pretty sets and core mystery all got me through it, but wow it was a slog. One thing that is commendable though is that it DOES play in real time with her timer, which is a neat touch.
But the cherry on the cake of stupidity was when she and the killer were fighting for space when there was SO MUCH ROOM FOR BOTH OF THEM!!! When she killed him, the film played it off as survival but instead it came off as cold-hearted murder. What a heroine! Truly unlikeable and baffling. I was on the verge of exiting when...
When a skull muppet descended from the ceiling. Seriously. I gawked in disbelief and my entertainment went up 100% - and then the remaining runtime finally ditched the boring survival horror "stupid moron protagonist just to build false tension out of the audience's collective fury" schtick and instead learnt to have some fun.
There's a vent zombie, a memory chamber, a truly creepy abduction scene, two flesh chambers, silhouetted three-fingered aliens (who she almost makes out with one), a genuinely shocking twist AND once we think it's over and she's dead, NOPE, time for skull muppet to egg her into a vent speedrun.
If you can get past the first 50 minutes, the remaining runtime really is a blast... pure crazy camp, don't get me wrong, but oh so entertaining and bizarre (and WAY faster paced than the slow first half, zooming through at a blistering speed). It also successfully plays on claustrophobia! Some scenes will make you feel squeamish due to the small spaces, which was lovely.
Weirdo movie and skull muppet is my hero.
The Official Doctor Who Podcast (2023)
Who asked
Yes, because seeing three random strangers talk about Doctor Who is truly what I wanted as the Whoniverse's first non-fiction podcast!
Seriously, this is just Juno, Crystal and that other guy talking about next to nothing with weird consistent cutaways to Russell T. Davies asking dull, obvious questions. To serve the cherry on top in the middle of the first episode they're served a bunch of curry...? And it's meant as like a big thing...? Wow this was pathetic XD
Their opinions were also just... uninteresting. RTD literally paid people to say that they loved the new episode on their own podcast. Basically like paying for your own personal critics just so they can love your new product so it's useful for marketing. Flabbergasting.
These BTS/spin-off Whoniverse material are starting to feel quite useless. This is an officially licensed Doctor Who fan podcast, which reeks of all sorts of weird. Bring on Harry's Moving Media or anyone who can REALLY criticize a Doctor Who episode, then maybe (possibly?) I'll be interested (but probably not).
The Daleks in Colour (2023)
Haha NOPE lol
The original Daleks serial is SO much better than this. Sure, it's long, and yeah it's definitely a product of its time, but it's marvelous use of tension was nothing short of miraculous.
First, the main article: the brand-new colorization. Terrible, lol. Bright and shiny, it made everything look inauthentic, and plastic-y. Something that initially felt cold and dreadful now feels like unimportant CBBC nonsense.
And this was not helped by the awful music. Loud and computerized and blatantly ugly, it destroyed everything about Tristram Cary's beautiful and haunting score.
And the worst part: the editing. Almost 3 hours of content is wittled down to a little over an hour. A whole episode of tension is chopped up into a cringey heist sequence. The cave journey is played on fast-forward. The original and delightfully delirious run through the jungle is completely deleted?!
They took what was brilliant and mutilated it into something it wasn't. If you want to watch this serial, watch the original I BEG OF YOU!! If you want a colorful, cinematic adaptation, watch the Peter Cushing movies. This new edit is unnecessary, obnoxious and unneeded.
Doctor Who: Unleashed: The Star Beast (2023)
This was BARELY a BTS feature
Oh wow that was underwhelming. When I saw a documentary series on Doctor Who was being made, I was initially very excited. But... this is basically just Stefan Powell's show whilst he chats away with cast and crew. Nothing like Confidential, and we get NOTHING on the actual making of the episode.
The YouTube BTS feature was better than this, for Rassilon's sake! It at least showed the background of The Star Beast and how the Wrarth were created. But this episode only lightly touched on the Meep's creation, and then just focused on some rather dull interviews.
The 2nd sound assistant seemed nice, though. Probably the most insightful part of this middling episode. I yearn for more BTS, RTD!! This just wasn't enough.
Doctor Who: The Star Beast (2023)
A truly oddball episode
Before I get into the overall review - I have mixed feelings on the new intro. The multiple cuts don't work in its favor, and the vastness of the vortex makes it feel like less of an intro. But the new theme is great and the CGI is astounding (minus how the logo is integrated, however - it feels like a Google slideshow and the BBC logo stands out like a sore thumb). I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I think I'd rather a simpler vortex.
Then, the episode. As an adaptation of "The Star Beast", it's middling. It gets the Meep totally right but everything else is WAY less wild and zany, and I'm sad that the Wrarth Warriors didn't have their police side fully explored. Even though they looked great, they barely featured in the episode... which was sort of tragic. I love the Wrarth!
David Tennant is immediately back, though. Like he was never gone. Down to his body language, he understands Doctor Who. Catherine Tate is amazing (duh), Jacqueline King is the best she's ever been and Yasmin Finney is my new crush. Fantastic representation!! As a trans girl myself, very happy with this.
The Meep was so, so good. It's false cutesy demeanor was off-putting and suitably eerie, and it's design was PERFECT. And it's evil form? Stole every scene! I've been waiting for a truly camp villain for awhile. Miriam stole the entire episode with her performance.
Now, for the negatives. And the major, major negatives. This episode is boring. It's only point for existing is to retcon the Metacrisis so Donna and Tennant can go on some TARDIS adventures once more.
And the Metacrisis retcon is... not good. Confusing, relying on technobabble and random logic. One of my favorite things about Who is how the Doctor solves problems with intellect and cunning. The boring episodes are the ones where he uses the power of nonsense jargon to save the day. This happens to be one of them.
And I'll be totally honest but I wanted these three specials to be a little more interconnected? This felt very standalone. And very useless.
Again, not terrible. Just disappointing that RTD's first episode back (yes, THAT Russell T. Davies) is so... vanilla. Yes, it tries out some weird new concepts, but due to everything's lame execution, this almost feels like the mid-season dud - not the beginning to a whole new ERA!!
The new TARDIS interior is great, though. Large and blockbuster, I thought from the leaked pictures that I wouldn't like it but honestly in the space of 2 minutes I'm really liking it already. That scene with Tennant running around the TARDIS in childlike glee with Murray Gold's magical score was the highlight of the episode.
TL;DR: an unnecessary episode with good characters but lame pacing that exists solely for the purpose of a retcon. I'm looking forward to next episode, where RTD can really just hone his creative talent again, and not focus on the past TOO much.
CBeebies Bedtime Story: The Way Back Home (2023)
Tennant is so good, isn't he?
I love how... unnecessary this is? Yet it's lovely in its own funny way. The cozy set, rickety TARDIS and cute story all paired with Tennant's beautiful voice is lovely. This whole thing is so dang cozy that it makes me wish there was a whole story set on this planet.
I mean, just imagine how cozy that would be? The Doctor lands on a moon made of pillows and blankets inhabited by peaceful, child-like creatures whose only purpose in life would be to tell stories! He sits down, and exchanges stories about his many adventures to these creatures. It could even be a gateway episode! Like he starts telling an "untold" story. The story of the catastrophe of planet bedtime story...
Idk. Maybe I'm tripping, but this cozy short sparked a lot in my imagination. More stuff like this! I love Doctor Who, and the more the merrier.
Doctor Who: Unleashed: Children in Need Special (2023)
Less BTS, more marketing fluff
First, "Destination: Skaro". It's a wonderful short film; Mawaan Rizwan was cool, Tennant acted his heart out and young Davros were all great. This made me laugh very hard, and the plunger twist is so good! Murray Gold's music was a LITTLE obnoxious, much to my bafflement. But this was a very good minisode. "Destination: Skaro" = 8/10
Now, as for the accompanying Unleashed episode. I don't like that it focuses on Stefan and Tennant's comedy bits more than the actual BTS? And this whole thing felt WAY more corporate and soulless than I would've liked. Sure, Tennant's birthday being celebrated on-set was cute... but a tad bit morbid upon realizing that it's most likely done from a 100% marketing perspective.
I'm not going to touch on RTD's opinion on Davros too much. Sure, I disagree with it FOR THE SHOW. But for Children in Need? Yeah, it's pretty necessary. But there's zero reason RTD even needed to defend himself. That whole thing felt weird.
Idk. This was odd. Corporate marketing fluff more than a genuine BTS show. Quite disappointing.
Talking Doctor Who (2023)
A neat little romp into the classic era
I'm always a sucker for behind the scenes stuff, so this was right up my alley. I've never seen any of these interview bits except for the Hartnell snippet, so all of this really was new to me. It gave me a whole lot of glee to see all of these people behind the scenes!
Jon Pertwee riding up in the Whomobile was awesome (RTD bring it back! - as a real hot take, I think it's better than Bessie) and it's just so funny to see that Tom Baker and Patrick Troughton really ARE the Doctor in real life. Especially Baker! It's like he just hopped from the screen.
But the highlight was definitely David Tennant (who was a great host btw) reacting to the BTS of Tom's regeneration. He's as much of a fan as the rest of us lol.
Great special, and severely happy classic Who is off Britbox. Since I'm in the US, I was sad that I needed to get a VPN, but honestly I've learnt to deal with it. It's also on Tubi, not that that's an AMAZING option.
Basically, watch classic Who! It's a bizarre and oftentimes frustrating run but as this special shows, definitely rewarding in its own unique way.
Doctor Who at 60: A Musical Celebration (2023)
How wonderful is this?!
After 5 very sad years of Segun Akinola's bland and obnoxiously loud music, Murray Gold is back. Does he stick the landing?
Yes. Yes, of course he does. He's Murray Gold!!
It all opens with "I Am the Doctor", proving the version that incorporates "Words Win Wars" is by far the best. "All the Strange, Strange Creatures" had an intriguing new intro, "Abigail's Song" made me cry, "The Sheperd's Boy" is the best Who song ever and "Doomsday" might have its best rendition yet.
Segun Akinola deserves credit for his surprisingly entertaining (yet definitely vanilla) suite, and the classic composers knocked it out of the park!! But their songs are still small potatoes compared to Gold's stuff.
Now, to talk about the big stuff. The new iteration of the Who theme was beautiful and made me smile with glee - wow those piano notes are delicious! Gives me vibes from Eight's intro, which is my favorite vortex.
Then "The Life of Sunday". Oh how beautiful. I was a little afraid it would be reminiscent of other companions' themes, but instead we were treated with a truly wonderful waltz. I was lost in it - wow Gold is a genius. He's the John Williams of TV, the fact he doesn't get enough credit is tragic.
Then he hits the home run with "Fifteen". Pure energy, pure wonder. That theme has been stuck in my head for WEEKS - it might be my favorite Doctor theme, at least right up there with Eleven's. One of the coolest action themes. I haven't bopped my head to something that intense in a LONG WHILE; it felt good.
All the interviews were great, too. Especially Ellie's! Her bit was taken off from the broadcast version, which was sad, since she had such a big hand in RTD's return! Criminal, BBC. AND they cut off "The Sheperd's Boy"?!?! As sad as it is, if you want to experience this concert you GOTTA go for the BBC Sounds one. BBC's live one was disappointing in its edit.
Really I only have three complaints, and they're nitpicks at that. "The Long Song" loses its mysticism due to the absence of children's voices... I just don't think it works as well when sung by a choir of adults. "The Companions Suite" was sorely missing Clara's and Bill's themes. And I kinda wanted something on the spin-offs, especially some sort of suite for Torchwood. But these are nitpicks.
This is such a wonderful treat, and I am beyond ecstatic the soul of Doctor Who is back - that being Murray Gold of course. Pure wonder and magic for hours on end.
Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022)
This one never fails to surprise me
I really hate the Chibnall era, which is divisive by nature. The promise of a good female Doctor is squandered by boring stories led by the least charismatic Doctor to date fueled by blatantly non-Who execution. It's dull. There's no other way to put it.
That's why this campy, emotional adventure always catches me by surprise. Sure, there are problems. The first 10 minutes are typical Chibs cringe, Tegan falling down the ladder was BAFFLING, Thirteen being shot by a laser ball was unintentionally hilarious and the VFX (especially that horrid conversion center) was shoddy even by Doctor Who standards.
Now saying that - the positives vastly out-weigh the negatives. Past companions challenge Yaz's and Thirteen's dynamic, to equally entertaining and creepy results. The Master has one of his best performances... SO much quotable dialogue there. And Dhawan in Thirteen's garb? MAGIC. "I am the Doctor!!" What a performance.
And who would I be if I didn't mention the Guardians of the Edge? So wonderful to see all those people after all this time. And Paul McGann!! Lovely. And when the Holo-Doctor became Five and Seven? That mention of Ace and Seven's poetic dialogue gave me chills.
Thirteen and Yaz have some truly pretty scenes and then Ian gets quite a wonderful and silly cameo; and then we round off the episode with David Tennant!!
One of my favorite bits is the whole forced regeneration thing. Chibnall didn't break the rules enough: the Timeless Child was sterilizing the rules, Flux was ordinary and anything in Series 11/12 was just pure static. This? This was the good stuff... genuinely shifting my expectations.
Yes, "The Power of the Doctor" is pure fan service. But it's GOOD fan service!! One of my guilty pleasures, for sure, but this really is quality unlike anything in the Chibnall era. Wondrous, zany, pure Doctor Who comfort food - it's not brave storytelling by any means but it's so fun, so I don't even care.