Sunday, May 15, 2005

Doctor Boo Hoo

I, like millions of others 20 years ago, used to hide behind the sofa whilst Tom Baker or Peter Davidson saved the world from the Daleks on the other side of it.

Now I'm in my thirties, and giggle at the monsters rather than run and hide. Oh for innocence, but it gives me a smile on a Saturday night, and no doubt another generation of teenies are also hiding behind the sofa, cos the monsters are just as scary, if not more so.

But...and this is a big but..

Am I alone in feeling a little perturbed about the way these episodes are going, particularly after last Saturday's?

Don't get me wrong, I will turn into a Doctor Who addict if I'm not careful. Christopher Eccleston certainly fits the part well (although I half expect him to go "why-aye-mun" any minute. I think he's the first DW with a distinctive dialect) and Billy Piper was a pleasant surprise, she don't do bad at all and I have a strange bias with young, pretty, rich and chavvy blondes.

DW has a lot of parallels with James Bond, viz:

1. He isn't real but he's believable
2. He's somewhat invincible, he's died once already this series and come back to life. More than JB ever did.
3. He's actually changed actors more times than James Bond, with a convincing 'reason' for doing so (which JB doesn't)
4. JB has lots of gadgets, DW seems to have only two, but they do THE LOT. (what happened to K9?)
5. He should be played with the tongue firmly in the cheek

Also, the old DW used to show little emotion, and the series used to be full of terms such as 'runckated his murgerflooms into jasterplasts'

The above two are missing. Maybe ditching the latter has made the stories somewhat less ridiculous (if possible), but the former rule violation has made DW human - which he isn't.

The intrusion of emotion is no bad thing, and makes for interesting scope on the storylines. What bothers me most, is the pinch of 'soap opera' the writers have given the storylines, much like we add salt to a delicious stew, forgetting our guests can add as much (or as little) salt they like at the dinner table.

To cap it all, the writers have left a kinda 'willtheywon'tthey' with DW and Rose. Didn't I read somewhere that DW CAN'T, making the thought somewhat farcical, or am I thinking of someone else?

Its the way the episodes refer back to each other, not to previous encounters with weird aliens with pipes and tubes outta impossible orifices, but to relationships. I mean, forget the fact that there were pterydactls outside, the writer was more concerned on tugging on the heartstrings as Rose says 'Daaaaddy!!' there can't have been a dry eye in the house. I'm really surprised that the Reapers didn't stop their flapping and scratching and sit and weep at the beauty of human fraility. DW is about monsters and DW himself saving the world. Instead the dad does the noble thing and commits suicide. Touching, but is this Doctor Who or Amargeddon?

Actually, I can't remember the last time DW actually did anything other than wave his screwdriver about a bit, or the last time he did something really clever, like solve the crime all by himself and get on his trusty steed (or TARDIS) and ride into the sunset?

How times change. In the meantime, pass the tissues please and don't mention Eastenders.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Escape to the country

Yes I'm finally doing it. I'm moving to Wales.

Now this might make the Ann Robinsons and Jeremy Clarksons out there close to a coronary, but yes, this southerner has decided that the best thing to be is a northerner, cos I'm moving to just a few miles west of Liverpool.

The dream has been about 2 years in the making, but I've got money down on a plain but comfy flat with sea views. At about half the rent I'm paying in London.

Now some might say that cheaper council tax and rent does not make up for the fact that you're sharing your living space with sheep, rain, leeks, rain, daffodils, rain and more rain.

Actually, it doesn't always rain in Wales. Its like the misconception the yanks have that it always rains in the UK. It just rains a little more often in Wales than it does in southern England. And...get this...when it rains in London, the smell afterwards of wet refuse, concrete and re-hydrated dog's, cat's and human pee does not compare to the smell you get in Wales after it rains. It smells GREEN. You can smell things GROWING. (the sheep, leeks and daffodils probably)

Also the roads down here are so STRAIGHT. After all, the Englanders were taken over by the Romans and they liked things nice and straight and didn't even need a bubble level. Something to do with their chariots not coping. Shoulda invented traction control a couple of thousand years ago. Or maybe not, cos then they woulda invaded Wales and it wouldn't have been the beautiful unspoilt haven it is now, with winding roads better than any roller-coaster. Well that's the way I see it anyhow.

They have mountains that can frighten you and leave you completely awestruck as to their beauty.

Anyway I should round off by saying...don't follow me here...well, not too many of you cos else it'll be crowded and the house prices will be more expensive.

Oh...and I'm going to learn Welsh too. Maybe I'll even start a blog in Welsh.