The wait is nearly over, and we've finally received our first glimpses of David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor.
It's a lot of fun, but maybe let's all agree to not take it too seriously.
The presence of a Doctor Who sketch during Children in Need was a long-standing tradition that I'm very happy to see back. And with less than a week now until the 60th anniversary specials start airing; we get a tantalizing glimpse of David Tennant's Doctor Mark 2.
Obviously the most interesting thing about this Doctor is going to be all the ways in which he's different from the way David Tennant played the 10th Doctor, and sadly this just isn't long enough for us to get much of a sense of that. What we do get instead is a fun little scene which, while not really breaking canon, clearly is begging us to just enjoy it for what it is and not worry too much about any sort of bigger picture.
We open on Skaro, not surprising given the title. What is surprising is the immediate entrance of Julian Bleach's Davros, pre-injuries. It's delightful to see the way that Bleach brings out the same character that he normally gives under multiple layers of latex and makes it unmistakably the same man. Even more delightful is the audio cameo by Nyder, his faithful lackey from 'Genesis of the Daleks,' here voiced by Nick Briggs, Peter Miles having sadly passed on in 2018. I like to think that Peter Miles would have been thrilled to know that this happened.
As far as plot goes, there isn't a tremendous amount of it. This is hardly surprising, seeing as it's a sketch played mostly for comedy that lasts less than five minutes. The bulk of the story is that the Doctor inadvertently crashes into the very first prototype Dalek and accidently destroys the much more impressive pincer arm that Davros originally designed, leaving him no choice but to hastily replace it with a handy kitchen plunger. And presto, an icon is born.
As these things go, the jokes almost all land well, the situation is plenty amusing to maintain a five-minute sketch, and the delight of seeing David Tennant speak lines written by Russell T. Davies while accompanied by the music of Murray Gold kicks the festive 60th anniversary season into high gear.
Bring on 'The Star Beast'!
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| You just know that he's going to take credit for the plunger idea himself. |
-- One caveat. I found it strangely difficult to confirm that the incidental music was in fact by Murray Gold. It certainly seemed to be his style. If it wasn't, I apologize for the error.
Let me know what you thought of it in the comments!
Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, retired firefighter, and roughly 78% water. You can find more of his work at the 42nd Vizsla. If you'd like to see his raw notes for this and other reviews, you can find them at What Was Mikey Thinking.
I know this is not everyone' cup of tea, but I thought it was delightful. I loved the Doctor's comment about being a brilliant woman 60 minutes ago. Seeing Davros sans makeup is also kind of novel, and that voice is unmistakable. I am really looking forward to the 60th specials!
ReplyDeleteI put this suggestion out there for posterity. I suggest that the next Doctor will not be Ncuti Gatwa, as publicised, but will be Donna Noble. I suggest this because she is already predicted by the Ood “Doctor…Donna…” also because the BBC has a history of very cleverly done red herrings. (Only last year in “Inside no. 9” there was a well publicised episode which turned out to be nothing like what we had expected from the publicity.)
ReplyDeleteI've not seen this, but Peter Miles' Nyder was a highlight of an already great Doctor Who story (my number 1 of the entire series in fact). His portrayal of Nyder made you really despise the him, which was exactly what they were going for!
ReplyDeleteHe was also good in the Silurians and Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but Genesis was his best.