Too many monsters

I've noticed a trend recently which sees episodes sporting multiple different threats. This often leads to the initial monster being at best underutilised, or at worst total weaksauce.

In a very few cases multiple enemies works, such as the two scenarios in Amy's Choice or the mega-alliance in The Pandorica Opens. More often than not you end up with monsters that show up as red herrings or minor goonsthat get far to little screen time before being abandoned for the real Big Bad. In the worst cases, these seem an attempt at shoehorning a monster in just for the sake of having a monster.

To get a proper idea of this problem, it's best to examine the different types of enemies that can show up. Enemies usually operate within what we can think of as a Faction. Within each faction there are differing ranks of enemies, simplisticly put, either Goons or Bosses. Goons are the rank and file of the threat. They are more numerous and easily defeated or avoided. Bosses are tougher to deal with and will actually have a personality.

Enemies can also appear as either Monsters or Agents.

Monsters are the type of enemy that is scary and or dangerous by its very nature. Monsters are bestial or alien and we don't need much explanation as to why they're the bad guys. Monsters are generally revealed slowly, seeing only a small part of them early on with the full reveal coming near the climax of the episode.

Agents are generally humans or other benign races that have a public face, but are secretly working with or towards a bigger threat. Due to their seemingly normal facade, Agents will be visible from the start of the story. Where a Monster is also present, Agents would usually be working with or controlling it.

So within any given faction this gives us four possible combinations:

Agent Goons

These guys are usually the public face of the group behind the threat. They're not innately scary, so we see them early.

 Who could forget Torchwood were originally the bad guys?

Season 2, Episode 12 - Army of Ghosts

Agent Boss

The heavy hitters behind the threat. They're similar to Agent Goons, but with more lines. Agent Bosses would act as the link between Monsters and the Agents' group.

Luke Rattigan ran ATMOS in league with the Sontarens
Season 4, Episodes 4/5 - The Sontaren Stratagem / The Poison Sky

Monster Goon

These are the most instantly recognisable threats in Doctor Who. Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians and Weeping Angels all fit here.

The Reapers were pure monster goons

Season 1, Episode 8 - Father's Day

Monster Boss

These guys are a bigger threat than Monster Goons. There is typically only one of them, and when present it is often the major threat of the episode.

I'm a huge fan of Grand Marshall Skaldak. Like a Monster Bawss!

Season 7, Episode 8 - Cold War

If any one type of enemy is to have appropriate screen time, you can't really go beyond two or three of these types of enemy. Any more than this and there's just not enough time to use them properly.

In my favourite example, The Bells of Saint John, we see five types of enemies:

• Agent Goons: The Uploaders working at The Shard
• Agent Goons: The people being controlled by The Uploaders
• Agent Boss: Miss Kizlet
• Monster Goons: The Spoonheads
• Monster Boss: The Great Intelligence

Wait... Who am I supposed to be scared of again?

The Great Intelligence is only teased, but still there's a lot of focus on Miss Kizlett, leaving the Uploders, the controlled people and the Spoonheads fighting for screen time. None are really explored properly and they end up feeling tacked on.

Contrast this with something like New Earth which has a tight group of three:

• Agent Goons: The Sisters of Plenitude
• Agent Boss: Matron Casp
• Monster Goons: The Infected

A shady group, their mad leader and the monsters they created. Wonderfully simple.

Now don't get me wrong, good writing can make anything work, but I don't see the need to over-complicate things when you're running to a tight 45 minute time limit.

Review - The Name Of The Doctor

The title of this episode combined with the tag line it was promoted with had me very worried. Thankfully the thing I was worried about didn't happen, and I was able to very much enjoy The Name Of The Doctor.

Season 7, Episode 13 - The Name Of The Doctor

What can I say about this episode? I had to go into near Internet blackout in the lead up to its screening here in Australia to avoid spoilers. I don't think any spoilers would have diminished my enjoyment of the episode, but was glad I did. If anything the episode made me angry at whatever marketing department person it was that decided to drop that line in the poster above. Anyway, here's yet another spoiler-laden review from me.

This was yet another example of a near perfect episode structure. From the pre-credits opening hook we had a steady increase in threat and fairly natural plot exposition. The conference call was an interesting way of doing it, but it worked well and didn't seem forced. Vastra's embarrassment introducing Clara and River and River's jealousy were slightly off-putting, but that's more to do with the failure to clarify the relationship between The Doctor and Clara (platonic only, please). I loved Strax's weekend retreat though, and Jenny's "death" gave both Neve McIntosh and Catrin Stewart a chance to shine. There needs to be more of these guys, I can't say that enough.

I was simultaneously delighted and saddened with River's appearance in this episode. Although we've known she was dead since we met her, her exit this time was somehow more poignant. She will be missed, and not just because it frees the writers up to have The Doctor get freaky with someone else (please don't). Similarly I was sad to see Richard E Grant go. The Great Intelligence had potential for a wonderful recurring villain. Gods know they could use one now that they threw The Master away (such a waste). All of that was made up for by the appearance of John Hurt at the end. That scene alone has me so fired up for the 50th Anniversary Special. I'm hoping for more on The Time War and The Doctor's part in it. 

The Whispermen were nice and creepy and actually threatening too, which was good. I can't work out if they were maybe slightly underutilised or if there was just a lot packed into this episode. They were, however, another example of the "advance slowly and be menacing" variety of monster that seems to be becoming more prevalent in the show of late.

I can see now why they didn't have Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS play out like I suggested. They were saving that trick for Clara's journey through The Doctor's time stream. I still think they could have added a little of it to Journey though. This episode certainly shows it's possible. And didn't it look fantastic? Seeing all of the Doctors was pretty special.

My only real criticism of this episode is that the ending was slightly rushed and there was no real explanation of why the Great Intelligence died, but Clara didn't. Again, I'd have to place the blame squarely on the constraints of time. That said, we didn't get into the pacing issues seen in The Bells of Saint John, for example, and I wouldn't say Go, go, go, Geronimo! was a problem here.

Overall a very entertaining episode with a bit of everything. After some of the rather poor episodes this season, it was great to go out with a bang!

9/10

Can we fix it?

No, not really.

If anything it just needs some handwavium above and beyond River's hint that she was still linked to Clara and it would have tidied that ending up a bit more.

To be honest, I wouldn't bother touching it. This one's going in my favourites.

Review - Nightmare in Silver

I had big hopes for Nightmare in Silver. It had Cybermen. It had Warwick Davis. It was written by Neil Gaiman. I had big hopes.

Season 7, Episode 12 - Nightmare in Silver

Sadly those hopes were soundly dashed as I spent most of the episode watching The Doctor cavort around arguing with himself. This is my biggest issue with this episode, so let's start there. What the hell was with the Cyber Planner? From the very start, Cybermen have been all about the removal of weakness. This included emotion and personality. We see this when Webley and the kids are partially upgraded. Why then does the Cyber Planner act the way it does? It was rather jarring.

I liked the idea of the Galactic Empire, although it had a slight whiff of Warhammer 40,000's Imperium, in that they are willing to destroy a whole planet and it's population if a threat is too large. Davis didn't disappoint though. Although he didn't really do much, Porridge was a great character. The punishment platoon was pretty good too, with most of the standard Dirty Dozen tropes present.

It was good to see The Doctor use gold to short circuit the Cyber Planner in a nod to the past, but the Cybermen themselves seem to be going a bit overboard with the upgrades. Apparently they can do it on the fly now. I would have preferred the upgrades to have been long term evolutions rather than instantaneous mutations to solve a problem.

The Cybermites were a good inclusion and a logical step from Cybermats. I liked that they only partially upgraded the creatures they infested, but we should have heard some threat of a future full upgrade. The Cybermen themselves looked awesome. They were the perfect blend of the classic Mondas Cybermen and the Parallel Earth Cybermen.

The episode played out at a good pace. The monster reveal was very early, but we still got some good "Monster Vision" from the Cybermites and another minor reveal for the new-look Cyberman. Things moved along nicely with no real dead time. The Cyber Planner's ruse about The Doctor's feelings for Clara was well played and I would hesitate to classify it Hunka Hunka Burning Doc, because as with the kiss with Jenny in The Crimson Horror,  there was no reciprocity. The Sonic screwdriver was used well, in that it played a part in The Doctor's solution, but was not the entirety of that solution.

Oh! I totally forgot about that stupid line about Clara's tight skirt! I don't think she's ever worn a tight skirt on the show. So unnecessary.

In fact, if it weren't for that damned Cyber Planner I would have scored this one higher.

6/10

Can we fix it?

A couple of little fixes to the way the Cybermen worked would be nice. When they are getting electrocuted in the moat, rather than just instantly upgrading, we see that the dead ones are dead, but Cybermites swarm over the remaining horde performing manual upgrades to get around the issue. This would happen for multiple different traps laid by Clara and the defenders. The traps slow the Cybermen down, but don't stop them. In this way, they become the relentless zombie horde they are supposed to be.

The major changes would be with the Cyber Planner. Most of this is just how it was played by Matt Smith (or possibly the direction). The lines as written by Gaiman were mostly fine, but they needed far less Doctor in the delivery. Dead and monotonous like a proper Cyberman is the way to go. Note, I'm not saying he should have had a heavily altered voice, just that he play it emotionless. This would also make his ruse to Clara more interesting, as we haven't previously seen the Planner use The Doctor's "voice".

Additionally in those scenes where The Doctor is talking to the Cyber Planner in his mind, the Cyber Planner should have been more Cyber. The Planner should also get increasingly Cyber as the episode goes on, including his voice. In this way, we get a visual and audial indication of how close to defeat The Doctor is.

And as one last thing, I'd have liked to see a bit at the start with The Doctor agreeing to take the Kids somewhere. Following on from the weak ending to The Crimson Horror, it just seemed glossed over.

Review - The Crimson Horror

After some true horror in the form of the majority of recent episodes, The Crimson Horror was quite a solid outing, and not just because it had Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

Season 7, Episode 11 - The Crimson Horror

There's not much I can pick on with this episode. The threat was solid and the pacing spot on. I liked that we didn't even see The Doctor until quite a way into the episode. Vastra et al were, as expected, greatly entertaining, and this episode continues to strengthen the case for those guys getting a spinoff.

There was a minor In-Who-Endo when Jenny rips off her dress to reveal her form-fitting combat outfit, only for The Doctor to do a little erection gag with the Sonic Screwdriver. Easily ignored but could also have been just as effective for The Doctor to gape and goggle at her. I'm not sure we really needed The Doctor to kiss Jenny either, but I'm happy her sexuality stayed firm on that one. I could have seen them have her get all flustered from it because The Doctor is an irresistible sex machine. That said, Jenny is a married woman. Why is The Doctor forcing himself on her like that? It wasn't the worst way that could have played out, but I still don't think it was needed.

The connection between Ada and The Doctor was a strange one. I certainly wouldn't feel right classifying it as Hunka Hunka Burning Doc, and I think it played out quite nicely. Ada's development was interesting, and I could see her returning again in later episodes as either hero or villain. That said, I'd have liked The Doctor to have gotten a bit more upset at her killing Mister Sweet.

There were a couple points that could have done with a bit more explanation. What were the cabinets The Doctor used to cure himself and Clara? How did they fix things? We're they there for the revivification after the apocalypse? If the Doctor knew that the cabinet would fix him, he must have realised they were planning on reversing the process at some point.

What about Mister Sweet? Was he actually controlling or actively collaborating with Mrs Gillyflower, or was she just projecting a personality onto a non-sentient parasitic worm? If he was sentient, even partially, The Doctor should have been far less impressed with Ada killing him. If he wasn't the blame is all on Mrs Gillyflower, which I find much more interesting. Where does her interest in eugenics come from? Is it actually religious fervor, or is that just a front?

The epilogue with the kids finding Clara's pictures on the net was a bit out of place. I understand it's because the kids will be appearing in Nightmare In Silver, but it doesn't fit with established events. It's already been established that The Doctor has been erasing himself from all known databases in order to lower his profile. If this is the case, why do these images exist? I suppose it's a risky thing removing all reference to yourself when you skip back and forth through time. Maybe he was only able to get the stuff that mentioned him by name.

Either way, the kids' ultimatum was pretty weak. "Let me use your time machine or else I'll tell dad you're a time traveller." What an open-minded man he must be. Even with the photos, it's not hard to fob them off as playing a prank or some such. Clara was also a bit too accepting of The Doctor being referred to as her boyfriend. I'd have likes at least a cursory denial, regardless of how they may be playing her actual feelings. And when did the kids ever see The Doctor before?

And why was The Doctor trying to take Clara to Victorian London to a point not long after a version of herself had died? Surely there was a significant chance someone would recognise her. Maybe this will be answered next episode or two. He did seem to be a bit shifty when she asked him if there was a reason for going to London.

Overall, it was a solid episode which only really fell down in those parts that touched on the season arc.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Not really much to fix here. First drop the dick joke and The Doctor's kiss with Jenny. These were totally unnecessary. In the place of the kiss we can have The Doctor explain at the end of his flashback recap that the cabinets are designed to reverse the preservation process after Mr's Gillyflower's predicted apocalypse.

During their confrontation, Mrs Gillyflower would refer to Mister Sweet as sentient, but The Doctor would argue that he was a leech, and that any actions were hers alone. The Doctor would also press for more information on the why of it all. Mrs Gillyflower would reveal she saw herself as doing God's work, driving out the corruption that plagued mankind.

The epilogue would be changed slightly. The pictures of Clara could still be used, but without The Doctor, or perhaps with his face obscured or even blurred out as if he'd been erased from the picture. This acknowledges The Doctor's efforts to erase himself, whilst still allowing the kids to "bust" Clara and for Clara to find the picture of the Victorian version of herself. The kids' threat to tell their dad would be laughed off by Clara at the time (although she should look worried), but they should somehow convince her at the start of Nightmare In Silver.

But yeah, mostly I liked this one and I'm looking forward to Gaiman's Nightmare In Silver.

Review - Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

On the surface Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS seems alright, but when you get down to it, it's riddled with little problems that make it almost totally unengaging.

Season 7, Episode 10 - Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

When I first heard the concept of this episode, I was expecting a thinly veiled excuse to reference previous episodes from the past 50 years. To be honest, I was kind of looking forward to that. Like a Where's Wally (or Waldo depending on where you're from) for hardcore Whovians. There was a little bit of that, but it was misplaced and quickly abandoned. It was great to see the Eye of Harmony and other references like the pool and the library, plus there were a few objects for sharp-eyed fans, but so much more could have been made of the time echoes. It was nice to hear the voices from the past, but some footage would have been good too. It may have been difficult, but I don't think impossible.

The story itself wasn't a bad idea. Sadly it stumbled on more than one occasion. The monsters were reasonably creepy, but there was no explanation as to why they would be violent. Without any motivation for their violence, I'm left feeling they were just included because... well... you've gotta have a monster. They didn't really need to be there because there is already a bigger threat, the TARDIS itself. Hey, I'm sensing a pattern.

Overall the structure suffered in the middle. Things got a bit Go, go, go, Geronimo! because there was no distinct investigation or escalation phases. The monster reveal was poorly handled, with them being almost immediately visible and violent, with none of the slow build-up that makes for a good episode.

The pacing also suffered due to the characters' inability to remember how scared they are. Even after the death of Bram, Gregor remained focused on salvage. I know this was supposed to be in his character, but selfishness isn't stupidity. I'd expect a desire to save himself over claiming salvage. We also see Clara one minute running from one of the perusing creatures, the next happy to stop and wonder at the various rooms she passes. She even takes some time to have a read of a book that shouldn't really have caught her attention beyond it being sat on a pedestal. Clara hasn't been introduced to the Time War, and so it makes no sense for her to feel a need to read so pressing that she forgets the creepy burning zombie that she's running away from.

I'm curious as to why The Doctor didn't try more forcefully to stop Gregor from taking the circuit from the TARDIS' architectural reconfiguration system. I'm glad he was non-violent and didn't just do the standard "angry Doctor yelling" bit, but he just acted like a whiney little kid who's had his toy nicked by the schoolyard bully. He completely failed to convey the danger of its removal, so I can totally see why Gregor didn't think it was that big of a deal. The Doctor didn't even raise an objection when he threatened to blow the wall up.

The sub-plot with Tricky not really being an android seemed really tacked on. Maybe they wanted the minor characters to still have an arc that left them better off for their contact with The Doctor, but all it really did was chew up screen time with a bunch of angst that didn't really add anything. And why did the fact that he could sense the TARDIS' pain come up so often? The natural assumption is some kind of machine empathy, but then it's not fully explained after we find out he's human.

The scene on the cliff could have really dripped with Hunka hunka burning Doc, but was actually rather restrained. It could be taken either way, and so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now and assume it was a platonic mixture of friendship and fear. That said, the scene itself was pure Companion Show featuring The Doctor, rubbing the season arc in our faces.

The ending was rather rushed and wasn't internally consistent. If the magnetic beacon that The Doctor wrote on was from his timeline, how was it able to shut off the tractor beam in the past? Surely there would still be an active beacon there that was causing the issue. Either way, the resolution seemed to me to be engineered entirely to create a situation whereby Clara could discover The Doctor's name and then forget it. An unfortunate case of season arc influencing story.

And did "new timeline Tricky" know who he was, or was he was still under the impression he was an android? It was a bit sad if he was.

'Hey, Robobitch! Make me a sandwich.'

Ultimately this episode had potential, but failed to deliver. Too much time was spent on the minor characters and not enough on exploring more of the TARDIS. The monsters were an unnecessary inclusion and the Deus Ex Machina ending (A reset button? Really?) was almost, but not quite, a slap in the face.

4/10

Can we fix it?

The problems are all over the place with this episode, so it could be tough to come up with a simple fix. I think the first point to deal with is the salvage crew. They need to be a bit better defined. Gregor is greedy, self important and won't listen to anyone else. He is a villain and will not change. Bram is the big dumb one who goes along with whatever Gregor tells him simply because he thinks he's too stupid to have an opinion. Tricky is introduced as an android, but makes no special mention of the TARDIS' feelings. He questions Gregor frequently and is clearly in the right with most decisions, but defers to the Captain as is his place.

We open the same way with reference to the TARDIS not liking Clara, which would be the only reference to the season arc in the episode. The TARDIS crashes the same way (but without the beacon) and The Doctor gets the salvage crew into the TARDIS the same way, but once inside, things go differently.

The major fix would be with the monsters, and the best way of doing this is to change the way all of the time echoes are handled. The echoes themselves should get increasingly real, starting off as barely heard voices and just glimpsed shadows. This allows for some footage from very early serials to be spliced in, even if it's just a ghostly William Hartnell standing there talking, or one of the old companions.

With no monster threatening her, Clara's journey of discovery (and our journey of re-discovery) can be a bit more quaint, finding rooms and objects from The Doctor's past and chasing voices and half seen strangers through the corridors. She may see the History of the Time War, but she doesn't read it. The book exists purely to tease fans who would fantasise about being able to read it. As the episode progresses, the time echoes get closer to the present, and more real. The voices are clearer and the visions more solid, until we start seeing a few seconds into the future. In fact, we could have Clara chase an echo of herself chasing her echo deeper into the TARDIS.

Meanwhile, The Doctor and the salvage crew start their search and decide to split up, but Gregor and Bram go off together, following the scanner's directions to the architectural reconfiguration system. The Doctor and Tricky also experience some time echoes, and at first The Doctor dismisses them as the TARDIS venting some pent up time energy from the crash or some such, but he gets increasingly worried as the echoes get stronger.

At this point The Doctor finds Clara just as she's about to touch one of his echoes. He explains that the echoes are like ripples in a pond; at the edge they're weak but the closer to the disturbance the stronger they get, and that coming into contact with them would cause an energy backlash that would kill you. Whatever caused the disturbance will soon happen, and The Doctor doesn't think he can stop it because technically it's already happened.

By now Gregor and Bram have found the architectural reconfiguration system. When they take the circuit, the TARDIS begins quaking, and it is only now that the TARDIS begins reshaping herself. The Doctor notices what's happening and confirms the problem through an interface panel (rather than just waving his wa... I mean screwdriver). The TARDIS is using too much energy reconfiguring itself and can't contain the power overload.

Gregor and Bram wander around the corridors of the TARDIS until they finally have a run-in with the burning zombie echoes, but now instead of outright attacking, the echoes simply shamble towards them. It is fear of the how the creatures look that makes the brothers run as opposed to them actively trying to attack. During their flight, Bram pushes a zombie away with his pick. The pick freezes and shatters, causing a cold burn up his hand and arm.

The Doctor leads his group towards the heart of the TARDIS, which they need to access through the Eye of Harmony. Now they have a run-in with the burning zombies, and The Doctor gets very worried. They meet up with Gregor and Bram and keep running from the zombies. They get trapped in the Eye, but because the TARDIS removed the doors. At this point The Doctor demands the return of the circuit, with Gregor refusing. The Doctor explains that the Zombies are future echoes of themselves burned to a crisp because of him, and Bram and Tricky demand he comply. Gregor continues to refuse, claiming the Doctor is tricking them out of their pay. Tricky tries to talk him down, but Gregor yells that he's the Captain and to stop questioning his orders, he always thinks he knows better etcetera, and eventually a fight breaks out. Tricky recovers the circuit but Gregor goes over the edge, dragging Bram with him.

Tricky tosses the circuit to The Doctor and goes to help Bram who's hanging from his uninjured arm. The Doctor fiddles with the circuit and Tricky grabs Bram as we see the zombies have reappeared at the far end of the gantry, slowly advancing. Tricky struggles to lift Bram who tells him to let him go and save himself. Tricky refuses, saying he is expendable. Bram reveals Tricky is human and his younger brother. The Doctor activates the circuit *sigh* with the Sonic Screwdriver I suppose, reinstating the doors and creating a platform that lifts Bram back up. We see the zombies fade away as the group leaves the Eye of Harmony.

As the group enters the heart of the TARDIS, it is on the verge of meltdown. The Doctor begins doing some jiggery pokery as Bram explains the situation to Tricky. The story would remain the same, except with an implication that Gregor may have caused the accident that injured Tricky as a means of getting rid of his father's favourite and claiming what he saw as his birthright.

The Doctor manages to vent the built up energy, resulting in a wonderful collage of clips from the past 50 years, and everything is wrapped up nicely, with Tricky taking over as Captain.

With this we get a much longer nostalgic walk down memory lane, and a better buildup of the threat level. We have a clear villain with a better motivation for his lies than "it was good for a laugh," and who is killed for being stupid and greedy. Plus it's a much clearer resolution for poor Tricky. We also avoid getting bogged down in the season arc too much and don't have to resort to a weak "reset button" ending.