The episode also laid the groundwork for the cyclical creation of Missy ( the Master's female incarnation) that deranged and murderous Mary Poppins in Space. All of this struck me as quite apposite since I had just re-applied for my old job in Elgin the day before.
Yes, seven years to the day, on my birthday again, I had a successful interview for the teaching role I gave up eight months ago. I an glad I took my sabbatical on the South Side but I have found, somewhat to my disappointment, that the grass wasn't greener after all. In our fifty-fourth year, my favourite tv series and I are going back over old ground.
The last time I blogged about Who, Extremis had solved the "Missy-tery" of the Vault and set up a three-part invasion storyline. An epic allegory about unity and peace, Pyramid at the End of the World formed the middle part of the trilogy. The Doctor's companion Bill arranged for the Time Lord's blindness to be cured to save the world. But, in turn, this request effectively offered up Earth to the cadaverous, mind-controlling Monks.
The trilogy ended on a disappointing note: The Lie of The Land was largely a reworking of David Tennant episodes, Turn Left and Last of the Time Lords.
This dystopian adventure, with Bill's cruel regeneration fake-out, was followed by a slender pastiche, The Empress of Mars, filled with Victorian stereotypes. Mark Gatiss produced another thin confection of alleged Bank Holiday memories.
I preferred oor own Rona Munro's misty Roman Legion fantasy, The Eaters of Light - but even that recalled 2016's tragedy-tinged Viking romp, The Girl Who Died.
Thanks to internet spoilers, the return of John Simm's malignant Master and the cloth-faced 1966 Cybermen were fervently anticipated in the two-parter World Enough And Time and The Doctor Falls. The prevailing sense of deja vu, of a series feeding off itself, continued with Cyber-Bill's mystical departure- very similar to that of Clara Oswald. The Doctor's last stand, with the farming community under siege, was very reminiscent of The Eleventh's in the town called Christmas. Neither the Master nor the Cybermen quite got the climactic exits they deserved and I felt sentiment was highlighted at the expense of drama.
Moffat's wearisome tropes- inappropriate innuendo and flirting and the Doctor's proselytising- were on display but I am sorry to see Capaldi's scuttling old punk go. Yet it seems to me the character has been waiting to die since he first appeared. How may stories have had funereal trappings? Cemeteries, zombies, mummies, ravens, flies, skulls, shrouds- even the US president's suicide in Extremis. I suspect the Capaldi Era may not be as fondly remembered as Matt Smith's tenure. A forbidding, morbid Doctor in too many half-baked adventures, only really hitting his stride in this series with Pearl Mackie. A great shame really.
As I type this, the announcement of Capaldi's successor has still to be made. I am only adding to the chorus, of course but I'd like to see much less "happy crying" and " Sad is Xmas for Clever People" (Or WHATEVS. Huh). Equally, the tissue-thin Seventies retreads by the likes of Gatiss have had their day too. Chibnall has the unenviable task of re-engaging the casual viewer in an era where Event Television might be over.
Meanwhile, on audio, Tom Baker's Doctor continues to travel onwards. In the Fourth Doctor Adventures, he teams up with Romana and a talking chimp. The eponymous Dethras is a mad scientist who carries out experiments in evolution on a WWII submarine in space. The story is a bit TV Comic strip but Tom is lively and energetic, cock.
The latest Philip Hinchcliffe Presents is The Helm of Awe, set in Shetland in 1977. Herein, Leela and the Doctor replay a teatime version of The Wicker Man during Up Helly Aa. Despite a complete misunderstanding of where Lossiemouth is, in relation to Shetland, I liked it better than the earlier Genesis Chamber.
Coming soon: more Batman, holiday specials and Virgin of the Secret Service
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Forgive my nosiness, but I've gotta ask because I'm intrigued. Why didn't being back in Glasgow work out the way you'd expected? As for Moffat - 'wearisome tropes' sums him up, but I've enjoyed Capaldi's Doctor in this current series. At least he was given a bit of acting to do at times, beyond being a prattling buffoon. (As Smith was before him.)
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd be able to pick up the threads of acting in a semi-professional way but I don't have the time or crucially the energy I had a decade ago. I found it hard to get a permanent job in the Central Belt ( and I freely admit I was naive about inner city schools); the cost of living is much higher; the poverty, homelessness and sectarianism are depressing . I'm seven years older and living in the suburbs of the city isn't as enjoyable as I'd imagined.
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