"Oi! Martian Boy!!! ""After the crazy, wonderful,"" "Fan-TASTIC!" roller coaster ride of <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JBXHRI"""""""">Seasons 1 & 2</a>"", with their "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways" and "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday" finale's, it was almost inevitable that Season 3 would not be able to maintain the sheer excellence of what had gone before. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Season 3 is bad, not by a very long shot! You'll have noticed, I hope, the 5 Star rating, but to my mind at least, Season 3 didn't quite reach the same dizzying heights of 1 & 2, and the reason why is, I think, obvious... Rose Tyler. Her development, from London shop-girl, to time traveler, explorer of the universe, and killer of Daleks, helped drive the stories in a new more mature, more emotionally fulfilling direction, and let's not forget the heartbreaking finale on the beach in Norway! No,"" <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JBXHRI"""""""">Seasons 1 & 2</a> became the story of Rose - and Mickey"", and Pete,"" and Jackie! - much as <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001M3MXY"""""""">Babylon 5</a>"", when looked at from the perspective of the entire 5
Queer as Folk series box sets year series, was the interconnected story of Londo and G'Kar. So, after all this bleating and whining about Rose, is Season 3 worth getting? If you've enjoyed the first two, the answer to that question is a definite and unequivocal "YES!!!" The new season gets off to a rollicking start with the now customary "Christmas Special" called, "The Runaway Bride." For me "Donna," the titular Bride, played by Catherine Tate, is the reason this episode works so well. Walking up the Isle on her Wedding Day, she's inexplicably transported to the Console Room of the TARDIS whilst it's in flight; alternately yelling accusations and questions at the Doctor while barely stopping to hear answers she can't possibly comprehend, she's loud, brash, and obnoxious. Basically, she's the "Anti-Rose!" Her withering retort to the Doctor of, "You're just making it up, that's not even a real word!" when told that "this" is the "TARDIS" is typical of her approach, as is her repeated reference to him as "Martian Boy!" The episode also features the return of the robotic Santa's from "The Christmas Invasion," this time in the service of a far more dangerous and malignant master, or should that be "Mistress?!"The season proper gets off to a good start with the first official episode, "Smith and Jones," which introduces us to the Doctor's new Companion, "Martha Jones," a medical student who gets caught up in the hunt for a vampire-style alien that's taken refuge in the hospital where she works. Played by relative newcomer Freema Agyeman, Martha is Book-Smart AND Street-Smart; so, once again we have a companion who's almost the exact opposite of Rose, but without all the yelling and verbal abuse dished out by Donna! With the entire hospital somehow transported to the Moon and taken over by the Judoon, a kind of intergalactic police force - "Judoon on the Moon" the Doctor quips as their ships land in the distance - Martha more-or-less accepts the situation and works with the Doctor to find the "alien" before the Judoon find HIM. They may be cops and technologically advanced, but they're not very bright; they're looking for an alien and if they find the Doctor first, he'll be clapped in irons and hauled off to a cozy cell on one of those Judoon ships for transport to who-knows-where! Needless to say after being returned to Earth after many a close call, Martha can't wait for another adventure, so the Doctor whisks her off to meet "The Bard" himself in "The Shakespeare Code," where there's the question of those pesky Witches to be dealt with! Again, another fun episode with a very contemporary "Man Of Letters" played by Dean Lennox Kelly, who greatly admires Martha's "fitted" attire; but oh dear, what did/will the Doctor do to upset Her Majesty?!?!?! LOL! So, Season 3 gets off to a very strong start, but as a whole, this is probably the most uneven season so far. All the stories and concepts are wonderful as always, even if a few of them feel somewhat derivative, which is not a problem in and of itself, just look at Season 2's "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" two-parter which gave us some great Alien-esque thrills! For me, the most disappointing story of Season 3 was one I couldn't wait to see, "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks." The story concept is great, possibly one of the most ambitious to date, unfortunately the execution fell very short indeed. To save themselves we saw the "Cult of Skaro" perform an Emergency Temporal Shift when the Doctor opened the doorway between Earth and Parallel Earth at the end of Doomsday, for one last time. We then jump to 1930's New York and the construction of the Empire State Building, and who should be behind the project but everyone's favorite homicidal pepper-pots. There're some truly wonderful visuals in this story; there's something about the 30's Art Deco look and the new blinged-out Daleks that's just perfect, and the production team did a great job of invoking the look, feel, and sound, of Depression Era New York. From an army of untold millions the Dalek race had been reduced to just four. Teetering on the brink of extinction they came up with a radical, some would say "sacrilegious," plan to not only save themselves, but to breed a new Dalek army. Working in secret they kidnapped the destitute, down-and-outs, the homeless, the unwanted, and fused human DNA with their own. These Dalek/Human hybrids are empty shells, waiting for the spark of life to be introduced, and it's here that the Empire State Building comes into play. The building is going to be the conductor for a massive blast of Gamma radiation emanating from the Sun as part of an
La Femme Nikita dvd box enormous Solar Flare, waking the new Dalek army. But Dalek Sec, the leader of the Cult of Skaro, has an even more
The Mentalist box set 1-2 extreme plan in mind; "The Children of Skaro" he says, "must once more walk outside the Shell!" He plans to physically join with a Human host, thus creating a true Dalek/Human hybrid, and a creature that the others will surely view as an abomination! Didn't I say this story was ambitious?!?!?! When Sec let the others know what he intended to do I almost had to change my underwear, I was THAT excited! LOL! But oh, the horror... when the hybrid - which I immediately dubbed "Hat-Sec!" - was revealed, I was suddenly transported back to the bad old days of rubber monsters, cardboard sets, and cheesy FX! And even though the rest of the story, and it's final resolution, was excitingly, even thrillingly told, poor old Hat-Sec sucked the life out of it for me! But hey, it's not all-bad, remember that 5 Star rating! From here on in the stories really start to excel,"" "The Lazarus Experiment" is Who's take on <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009X768W"""""""">The Fly</a>"", and also served to introduce us to Martha's less than perfect family. "42" is an excitingly told "countdown to disaster" type tale, with more Alien-type thrills,"" a touch of Danny Boyles <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y7U98C"""""""">Sunshine</a>"","" and even a smidgen of <a href=""""""""http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E1NXAY"""""""">Event Horizon</a> thrown in for good measure! The last 6 episodes of the series are simply stunning"", and are, quite frankly, worth the price of admission all by themselves! "Human Nature/Family Of Blood" has the Doctor on the run from a group of aliens who want to harness his ability to regenerate. Hiding out in pre-WWI England the Doctor "becomes" Human by downloading his Time Lord consciousness into a fob watch, and Martha is tasked with protecting him at all costs. The final lines of the episode, "They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old/Age shall not wither them nor the years condemn/At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We shall remember them," (from "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon, a commemorative poem written for those who lost their lives in WWI) is especially moving when seen in the context of the story. The next story "Blink" barely has the Doctor or Martha in it at all, and yet is, without a doubt, one of the most imaginative, inventive, and scary episodes of all the new seasons to date... "Beware the Weeping Angels!!!" This then leads us into the three-episode finale, "Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords," which is quite simply magnificent! A new/old favorite returns and travels with the Doctor and Martha
complete Merlin box set to the End Of Time itself, where an even older nemesis is reborn! And even if the ending itself is somewhat weak, even contrived (as is Martha's almost immediate attraction to the Doctor), as many have said,"" this is still a worthy and emotional conclusion to the season!!! HIGHLY recommended... even with "Hat-Sec!" LOL! """""
"No Who ""This show is only Dr. Who by name, I have been a longtime fan of Dr. Who (all of the doctors) I like some more then others,"" but that is a complete shame. I don't think any real fan would like this. """""
"The modern Dr. Who ""I remember when much younger than the 55 years that I am now, watching and enjoying Dr. Who in not so living black and white on an old Philco TV.It was a fascinating show then, and this "re-enactment", no better words for it than that, are even more fascinating now.I am amazed to see how well the plots hold up. They still speak to many contemporary issues as well today as they did in the earlier series. As a matter of fact, terms such as Tardis,"" Time Lord and even the antiquated Police Call box (the Tardis's outer facade) still are as believable as the earlier days.Ed Rogosky """""
"Don't turn away....Don't even BLINK!...... ""The strength of DOCTOR WHO, the new series and the original, has always been change, and change it has. Over forty-years ago the show began with one actor and now we have 10 actors who have portrayed the 900+ Timelord. The first season of the new series ended by changing leads through regeneration, as the 2nd season ended with the "lost" of not only the companion / love interest, but the whole "point-of-view" for the new series: Rose Tyler. Since the PILOT or "ROSE" episode the series has been through her eyes. The viewers could relate to the Human perspective more readily than the sometimes alien POV of the title character. In fact, the series gave up not only Rose, but her family, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler; Mum, Pete Tyler ( deceased, sort of) ,all of the anchor characters that added so much emotion to the new series.Can the series, even one a clever and cool as Dr. Who, survive such change.The answer is yes, definitely, yes. Although, there is a loss, infact the sense of loss that the viewer feels, is surely an undercurrent of the entire season, starting with the Christmas special or THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, the precursor to the true first episode of the season. Opening right after series two leaves off, the Bride a.k.a Donna Noble played by U.K. comedian Catherine Tate appears in the TARDIS, the Doctor has little time to contemplate his loss before he is literally running for his life again. Like the Christmas Invasion, the special is light-hearted, and introduces a "one-shot" temporary companion (although Donna will be a major-part of season 4). One highlight of the "BRIDE" would be the glorious soundtrack provided by composer Murray Gold, a truly cinematic fully orchestral backdrop that sells some fanboy innovative moments like a CAR CHASE WITH THE TARDIS ( I kid u not, the iconic Call-box is zipping though traffic like something from a 70's cop-show) . Donna sums up the subtle theme as she declines the role of companion, stating that the Doctor needs someone to "stop him from going to far" as he coldly sticks to his assertion of the previous Christmas: "No second chances" while dispatching the Empress and her brood.In the second story in this set, but the actual season opener, new regular companion MARTHA JONES is introduced in a satisfying start to 2007 in "SMITH and JONES" ( a goof reference to the Doctor's sometimes alias of Dr. John Smith which shows up again in the season, too). An all too different
Prison Break dvd seasons 1-4 character than Rose, Martha is Medical Student, so she doesn't need the Doctor to rescue her from her life as slacker Rose did, she's smart in a less pop culture way than Rose, more analytical like the Doctor. Like Rose, we meet her family in the episodes opening over several rapid-fire conversations via cellphone. Strange things are afoot at her hospital which eventually ends up on the Moon. More as window dressing, the Jadoon Stormtroopers, beautifully realized alien police are searching for an vampiric alien among the human patients and doctors. Martha and the Doctor immediately develop an enjoyable on screen chemistry, while storytellers cut to the chase and give us two instances of Doctor/Companion kisses, the throwaway nature establishes the preoccupied (with love-lost) tone that the Doctor will regard Martha (unfortunately more like a traditional Dr. Who relationship). The Doctor spells this out saying, "this doesn't mean anything," sadly for Martha, this feeling isn't mutual and leads to choices made by the end of the season. So the Doctor sacrifices himself to flush out the fugitive, while Martha literally breaths her final breath in an attempt to save the Doctor's life, earning herself a non-committal invite to the TARDIS.The major part of the first half of the 13 show season, 14 with the "Bride" Special (#0) is weak. Smith & Jones (#1) is strong, the Shakespeare Code (#2) is frankly BRILLIANT! GRIDLOCK (#3) is very good, but the Dalek 2 parter: "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks (#4-5)", NOT SO BRILLIANT, nor is "Lazarius Experiment (#6)" or "42 (#7)" But the final HALF of the season (#8-13) is GOLDEN, leading up to a 3 part finale re-introducing a classic character that will blow you away!!! Away !!!"SHAKESPEARE CODE", Martha's first trip back in time, they meet the Bard himself and learn the secret of Shakespeare's famous lost play. This was film partly in the real rebuild Globe Theater, so it looks great. As is Dean Kelly's rock-n-roll performance as the renown playwright. This contains some of the best dialogue the series has EVER had, so much so that you much watch it repeatedly to truly appreciate this one ( I played this one to high-schoolers as a follow-up to Hamlet). "GRIDLOCK," is a great sci-fi story, in which people are living their lives stuck decades and decades on a skyway traffic jam. The is the 3rd story in the new series history to go to the far-future "New Earth" and the Doctor meets the Face of Boe for the prophesied 3rd and final time. A super concept with great effects and some genuinely moving moments, like the music montage of the stranded freeway drivers connected by faith and song. The Face reveals a secret to the Doctor which tips us off to the season finale.The DALEKS in MANHATTAN" and "EVOLUTION of the DALEKS" is the Doctor's apology to Martha for showing off taking her to New Earth on the rebound
The Good Wife 1 dvd as it were, but overall this 2 part doesn't work. There is some great integration of footage actually shot in modern NYC, reworked to look like the 1920's, but the premise that the sole surviving Daleks (the Cult of Skaro, seen escaping last season's finale) are making not only PIG-Slaves, but the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING itself as part of a plan to recreate their race using humans for materials. There are some good performances all around, but the "Evolution" of the Human-Dalek (both costume and concept), is disappointing and distracting. But, the Art Deco 1930s style Empire State Build does lend itself to that of the Daleks.Episodes 6 and 7, "The LAZARIUS EXPERIMENT" and "42" are both so derivative of Popular sci-fi that they are unsatisfying when compared to some of the really great shows of the season. LAZARIUS is very much a variation on "the FLY" while "42" with its real time concept ("24" reversed) and spacecraft claustrophobia is like both Impossible Planet of last season and other movies of the genre. But, Dr. Lazarius himself is afforded an excellent performance by Dr. Who writer Mark Gatiss ( of "League of Gentlemen" and "Jekyll"). Again proving that the producers are true fans themselves, episodes 8 and 9, Human Nature and The Family of Blood, are based on a fan favorite Dr. Who Novel (with the 7th Doctor), translating seamlessly to TV. It is a classic story idea, the Doctor becomes Human!! In order to escape a family of aliens ( a concept already borrowed from the novel for season one's Slitheens, an alien surname) the Doctor puts his Timelord identity into a watch, only Martha knows who he is and is put in charge of this secret as he really becomes John Smith, History teacher (of course) of a boys school just before WWI. I can't say enough about the heart-wrenching excellence of this 2 parter. The Doctor falls in love and must make some hard choices. This also sets up things to come in the finale.Episode 10, "BLINK," happens to be filler, like last seasons "Love and Monsters" in which the regular cast is all but absent in order to shoot another episode simultaneously. Like "Love and Monsters" this episode is a creative triumph, also base on a previously published story. "BLINK" also happens to be the scariest show of the new series history!In a nutshell, the Doctor is sending messages from the past to "the present" through DVD extras or easter eggs, warning about weeping angel statues that move at you when no one is looking, so don't even blink! Although, no one is killed on screen, not in any conventional sense, this one is still keeping my kids up at night (especially in a city famous for its cemeteries) ! BLINK was written by Steven Moffat, two-time consequtive HUGO winner (both for DR.WHO, series 2 the "GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE" and series one's "EMPTY CHILD." Moffat has next year's Hugo in the bag with BLINK, if his writing in JEKYLL doesn't split the vote (see my review for more on JEKYLL).The final 3 parter, "UTOPIA", "The SOUND of DRUMS" and "LAST of the TIMELORDS" are perfection. Really. I can say more without revealing too much (although the U.K. press already did that long before the shows aired), but the season is full of clues leading up to this (even in TORCHWOODS final episodes there are clues). Capt. Jack returns for all three of these and there are notable guest appearances such as SIR DEREK JACOBI ( famous for I, Claudius), how great is that!! Also, John Sims (from Life on Mars). The first of these 3 parts, UTOPIA, comes across as a Mad Max deal, don't give up on it, that is just subterfuge! Make plans to watch the three of these back-to-back-to-back,"" you're not gonna' want to stop. """""
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