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meddowDoctor Who does It's a Wonderful Life and oh my God, they killed Sarah Jane!
And Martha. And Luke, Clyde and Maria. (I didn't care so much about the Torchwood team. Meh).
Anyway, funny they should do this with Donna, or more specifically the DoctorDonna (since it wasn't so much if Donna had never been born, but if they had never met), since I thought the ending of Doomsday/The Runaway Bride was the closest thing Doctor Who had ever done to It's a Wonderful Life. Well, the Doctor does hit possibly the lowest point he's been since the Time War, and what should happen, but a woman dressed in white appears out of nowhere and interrupts his misery. And, although the Doctor doesn't realise how awful the world would be without him, Donna does in a way get her wings in realising the wonders of the universe. And now we have for a fact that Donna quite literally saved the Doctor from drowning.
Watching this episode I couldn't help but think of a documentary I saw a few weeks ago on minorities living in Kosovo. I also couldn't help but think of how excited I got just yesterday when I discovered there are now rice Pringles (seriously, healthier Pringles!).
Anyway, Doctor Who, like every TV show I've ever watched, when it decided to explore topical issues such as refugees always does it at a superficial level which never particularly satisfying. It's like one moment they say "Look, here's a major problem facing millions of people around the world" but the next moment its "ZOMG shiny!" followed by magic button and everything's solved and everyone's happy. On the other hand, I'll generally take superficial explorations of a topic over ignoring it any day of the week, since it raises the issue in people's minds, so I give RTD kudos for going there.
Catherine Tate was absolutely amazing in this episode. Runway Bride Donna was back in all her wonderful glory, and I'm not being sarcastic or disparaging here. I do love RB!Donna. Actually, this episode was a giant rehash of the character development of Donna from the beginning of The Runaway Bride to the leaver scene in Fires of Pompeii - from self-centred to willing to sacrifice herself to save the world – just without the Doctor. And I love this! Not only does it make everyone pay attention to the work CT's put in and just how amazing she has been with the character, but it removed the Doctor as the catalyst for change, basically undermining 'the Doctor makes people better' thing. Donna didn't need the Doctor to become the woman she became, and neither does anyone else. He just believes in her, because poor tired Donna wracked with self-doubt which isn't going to come to the conclusion she can save the world by herself – which is the role Rose plays. Not even Wilf seems to believe in Donna by the end, but Rose does.
So there, I think, we have the moral of RTD's Doctor Who in a nutshell: everyone is capable of amazing things, but sometimes to do so they need someone to believe in them.
Also, Bernard Cribbins and Jacqueline King were brilliant. It was BC that hit the note that nearly had me crying in the look he gave at the camps. I don't know who the actor is or remember the character's name, but that moment was so well done between Wilf and him. Also the defeated Sylvia we see at the end was just heart-wrenching. I do hope Sylvia realises the person her daughter is. It would be a tragedy if she didn't.
Billie Piper was, well, she didn't have all that much to do when compared to what all the other characters were put through, she was outshone a bit. But Rose is back! But at no point did she outshine Donna (hurray!). And even as a person who loathed some of the Ten/Rose stuff in season two, Rose was so well handled this week that I have a ridiculous amount of faith that there reunion is going to be pulled off just right. Unless of course she has become some deity, although I don't think Rose is the Bad Wolf this time. If the Bad Wolf is controlling matters, she seems to be using Rose as her representative. Rose mentioned being pulled across universes rather than choosing to travel, and if we go with deities in the Whoniverse as being like Greek gods, she's just acting as the Bad Wolf's champion.
What the heck is going on with Donna though? Readings from birth? Needing both the Doctor and Donna? What she will become? Worlds shaping around her? Dare I say it, but if anyone's being set up a deity, it's Donna (plus also, the references to Venus, the household gods, the DoctorDonna)
I'm not going to talk about next week's trailer for fear that I may wear down the exclamation mark button on my keyboard. Okay, maybe time for one little squee: SARAH!!!!! LUKE!!!!!! (I was not expecting to see him) HARRIET!!!!!!!
And Martha. And Luke, Clyde and Maria. (I didn't care so much about the Torchwood team. Meh).
Anyway, funny they should do this with Donna, or more specifically the DoctorDonna (since it wasn't so much if Donna had never been born, but if they had never met), since I thought the ending of Doomsday/The Runaway Bride was the closest thing Doctor Who had ever done to It's a Wonderful Life. Well, the Doctor does hit possibly the lowest point he's been since the Time War, and what should happen, but a woman dressed in white appears out of nowhere and interrupts his misery. And, although the Doctor doesn't realise how awful the world would be without him, Donna does in a way get her wings in realising the wonders of the universe. And now we have for a fact that Donna quite literally saved the Doctor from drowning.
Watching this episode I couldn't help but think of a documentary I saw a few weeks ago on minorities living in Kosovo. I also couldn't help but think of how excited I got just yesterday when I discovered there are now rice Pringles (seriously, healthier Pringles!).
Anyway, Doctor Who, like every TV show I've ever watched, when it decided to explore topical issues such as refugees always does it at a superficial level which never particularly satisfying. It's like one moment they say "Look, here's a major problem facing millions of people around the world" but the next moment its "ZOMG shiny!" followed by magic button and everything's solved and everyone's happy. On the other hand, I'll generally take superficial explorations of a topic over ignoring it any day of the week, since it raises the issue in people's minds, so I give RTD kudos for going there.
Catherine Tate was absolutely amazing in this episode. Runway Bride Donna was back in all her wonderful glory, and I'm not being sarcastic or disparaging here. I do love RB!Donna. Actually, this episode was a giant rehash of the character development of Donna from the beginning of The Runaway Bride to the leaver scene in Fires of Pompeii - from self-centred to willing to sacrifice herself to save the world – just without the Doctor. And I love this! Not only does it make everyone pay attention to the work CT's put in and just how amazing she has been with the character, but it removed the Doctor as the catalyst for change, basically undermining 'the Doctor makes people better' thing. Donna didn't need the Doctor to become the woman she became, and neither does anyone else. He just believes in her, because poor tired Donna wracked with self-doubt which isn't going to come to the conclusion she can save the world by herself – which is the role Rose plays. Not even Wilf seems to believe in Donna by the end, but Rose does.
So there, I think, we have the moral of RTD's Doctor Who in a nutshell: everyone is capable of amazing things, but sometimes to do so they need someone to believe in them.
Also, Bernard Cribbins and Jacqueline King were brilliant. It was BC that hit the note that nearly had me crying in the look he gave at the camps. I don't know who the actor is or remember the character's name, but that moment was so well done between Wilf and him. Also the defeated Sylvia we see at the end was just heart-wrenching. I do hope Sylvia realises the person her daughter is. It would be a tragedy if she didn't.
Billie Piper was, well, she didn't have all that much to do when compared to what all the other characters were put through, she was outshone a bit. But Rose is back! But at no point did she outshine Donna (hurray!). And even as a person who loathed some of the Ten/Rose stuff in season two, Rose was so well handled this week that I have a ridiculous amount of faith that there reunion is going to be pulled off just right. Unless of course she has become some deity, although I don't think Rose is the Bad Wolf this time. If the Bad Wolf is controlling matters, she seems to be using Rose as her representative. Rose mentioned being pulled across universes rather than choosing to travel, and if we go with deities in the Whoniverse as being like Greek gods, she's just acting as the Bad Wolf's champion.
What the heck is going on with Donna though? Readings from birth? Needing both the Doctor and Donna? What she will become? Worlds shaping around her? Dare I say it, but if anyone's being set up a deity, it's Donna (plus also, the references to Venus, the household gods, the DoctorDonna)
I'm not going to talk about next week's trailer for fear that I may wear down the exclamation mark button on my keyboard. Okay, maybe time for one little squee: SARAH!!!!! LUKE!!!!!! (I was not expecting to see him) HARRIET!!!!!!!
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-22 09:50 pm (UTC)And this Rose was...not an impressive character, but fun enough. And that's kinda the best I've felt about her in a long time anyway, so I'll go with it. And I did like her quite with Donna. =D And I can't help thinking how that character might in fact be interesting to watch with the Doctor (as long as they don't make it all sappy and personal, I just kinda wanna watch them saving the world together).
People have sooooo many theories about the Bad Wolf (and Rose in conjunction); I don't know necessarily that the Bad Wolf was anything more than the warning at the end of Turn Left. I definitely don't think it's specifically related to Rose's involvement. But who knows.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-22 09:58 pm (UTC)'Bad Wolf' seems to be an odd warning. But, I'm guessing it's the TARDIS giving the warning since it would be her translation circuits that's making it appear everywhere, and the TARDIS is a tricky one to understand.