The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived

Between Series 6 (32) and 8 (34) there were just three two parters and for series 9 (35) we have now had three two parters so it seems that with the series length reduced to an even number, Moffat has clued on that people want two parters and the previous two parters have been highly enjoyable and had lots of actions. The first part was written by Steven Moffat and Jamie Matthieson. Quite why it took two people to write this script alludes me. The set up for this episode is that the Doctor and Clara arrive on Earth in Viking times and the village they arrive just in time for an attack from the Mire. Things move along and then Ashildr dies and is bought back to live but the thing about the first episode is that it feels an awful lot like padding. It’s the sort of padding which would be seen during the classic era. At the end I just thought that a lot happened but nothing substantial happened.

The second episode is where all the interesting stuff starts to happen. Despite some nice performances, the story was ruined by Rory the lion popping up later in the episode as the main threat and someone that Me is working with.

This story was heavily billed because it featured Maisie Williams who is apparently well known because of her role in Game of Thrones. She is definetly better when she plays Me than Ashidr. Not quite convinced that Me is a good name for a character even though the explanation given was quite clever.

This story and the second episode in particular is very much a character piece because over the course of the two episodes not much happens. You could easily edit these two episodes into one. I think that the second episode tries to explore the idea that immortality is a curse is something that was explored (briefly) in The Five Doctors and also mentioned in School Reunion (2006). I think that its generally perceived that immortality isn’t the great thing that it could be.

One aspect of the second episode that I found good was that I didn’t miss Clara. It was about 15 minutes into the episode before I noticed she hadn’t appeared yet. I think that this shows how good Peter Capaldi was and how good Maisie Williams was. During their scenes together they were both on very good form.

One thing that still makes me chuckle is all the speculation about who Maisie Williams’ character was. Many thought it was Susan or maybe Jenny and it turns out that she was just a normal girl/woman and there wasn’t anything extra terrestrial about her is something that must have annoyed loads of people on Gallifrey Base. It was a relief that there was nothing special about her although for a while I did think that maybe she was Jenny but that didn’t last very long.

I did like the bit where the Doctor finally realises why he chose this face. It was a question he asked back in his first story and its because of the events from Fires of Pompeii when the Tenth Doctor leaves and then has a change of heart and goes back to save Capaldi’s character in that story. It’s not such a barmy idea because Romana second incarnation is based on Princess Astra so with this logic it means that Peter Davison’s Doctor based his sixth incarnation on Commander Maxil from Arc of Infinity.

This two parter is the weakest so far of the season and maybe even of Capaldi’s tenure on the show. There are bits that are quite good but as a two parter it isn’t very exciting.  I think that its because it moves too slowly and after four episodes. It took three people to write these two episodes and to be honest that’s too many. I think that Catherine Treganna had the stronger episode. It would be wrong for me not to acknowledge the directing because Ed Bazalgette did a very good job as he utilises the lovely locations that the story was being filmed in and the house that is used in the second part looked fantastic and the lighting was just perfect. It’s amusing to think that Bazalgette went from lead guitarist of The Vapors who had a hit with Turning Japanese and then ended up directing Doctor Who.

The NEXT TIME trailer shows that the Zygons return to Doctor Who. Typical, you wait nearly forty years for a Zygon story and then we get two in two years.

Adam (2008)

When I saw the trailer for this story I really wasn’t looking forward to it. It looked like the show was returning to its old ways of having emotional stories with very little in the way of interest. But how wrong I was, this story showed us another side to all the characters but most importantly saw the biggest insight into Captain Jack’s past. The story started in a strange way which I thought was quite a shock, for once you were thrown into the story instead of seeing it from the beginning. I genually thought that I had missed the first 10 minutes or something like that but when I realised what was actually going on it seem quite a nice way to start an episode.

Another thing that was interesting and kind of weird was how the main characters were completely different from what they normally are. Tosh was confident and in love, Owen was a geek who had lost his cockiness and Gwen had forgotten who Rhys was. The most shocking thing was seeing Ianto emotionally destroyed thinking he had brutally attacked and killed women. Jack’s journey was perhaps the most interesting because we got a glimpse into his past. What he was like as a child and the fact he lost his brother was perhaps the most emotional few minutes in Torchwood. After waiting nearly three years to find out anything about the character, what we did find out about Jack was worth it. The scene where the team are being hypnotised and about the take the amnesia pill was well acted and well written, when Tosh was saying goodbye to Adam was really sad as you knew that she was about to say goodbye to the only person who had any feelings for her ever.

A very good episode which was far better than expected and infact I would go so far as to say that it was the best episode of the series so far.

Meat (2008)

Episode 4 is a strange episode but strange in a good way. Written by Catherine Tregenna who penned two previous episodes from series 1. The story was about Rhys who is a character that had been portrayed as a clown and silly figure who was only popped up to make Gwen seem the most normal of the Torchwood crew. After 16 epsiodes they managed to make the Rhys character the exact opposite of what he is perceived and that was done by throwing him into the middle of the story. The story itself would have been average had it not been for the Rhys element. I liked the idea that there was this group that were selling alien meat because they had captured this alien that didn’t seem to be intent on world domination or anything but just had the misfortune of been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There were several moments that I thought were particularly interesting. The first was the moment when Rhys went into the Hub. Instead of taking him through the boring entrance Gwen took him down on that pavement slab that Gwen went up with Jack in 1.1 – Everything Changes. The monster itself was well created, the CGI used was some of the best that I have seen for a monster that I have seen in Torchwood and the end bit where Jack and co are infront of it after it died was quite impressive. Speaking of the monster the moment when Owen had killed it I found the moment rather sad as Jack showed on screen.

The fact that Gwen didn’t give Rhys the amnesia drug indicates that he is likely to play a bigger role in the series which is a good thing. Had this story happened in Series 1 then it might not have worked but as its come this year when we are ready to accept Rhys it works and works very well. Great story, Great acting and it maintains the high standard that the series has created so far. Very Entertaining