Review - Listen

The Doctor deals with some of his own personal monsters and we learn a bit more about Danny Pink in Listen.

Season 8, Episode 4 - Listen 

We begin with The Doctor proposing a theory that just as nature has produced perfect hunters there may also exist a creature which has evolved to be the perfect hider. He suggests these creatures are the cause of a dream shared by all people where a hand grabs you from under the bed.

Using a telepathic link with Clara to direct the TARDIS, The Doctor hopes to find a point in her life when she had the dream, and therefore discover the creature. Unfortunately, Clara gets distracted by the embarrassing aftermath of her fairly disastrous first date with Danny Pink, and things don't go according to plan.

This was an interesting concept for a story and I think overall it was executed quite well. Initially I felt a bit short-changed after there was no confirmed monster, but it is actually quite a refreshing change. There were several hints that indicate there was no creature at all, with each bit of evidence for it being paired with a rational explanation, but at the same time we just can't be sure.

I think it's a testament to the concept and the writing that there is already heated debated raging online about whether there was or wasn't a creature. I've said it before and I'll likely say it again, Steven Moffat can write. Where he falls down is his insistence on pushing these grand, overarching stories and tying everything together. Which leads into my one real issue with this episode. The connection to Day of the Doctor. It just seemed a bit gratuitous to me.

The only way I could not be excited about seeing The War Doctor again

On a similar note, is Gallifrey not time locked any more? How was the TARDIS able to get to that point in The Doctor's timeline? Perhaps it was just a special quirk of Clara's because she has been spliced throughout The Doctor's timeline, but it feels like they are forgetting some important canon there.

In the end, this whole episode felt like a bit of a nothingness. We got some interesting insights into both The Doctor and Danny Pink, and it was yet again Clara's knack with kids that won the day, but overall it was a much slower pace than we've seen recently with not a great deal of excitement. Not that that's inherently a bad thing, but we maybe need a bit more to hook the audience. And with no definite resolution, we are left without so much a story as a collection of things that happened and some unanswered questions. As I said, not everything needs to be answered, but this kind of felt unfinished.

6/10

Can we fix it?

I'm not really sure we can, at least not without completely altering the whole thing. As I said, there is a good concept here, but I don't think it's actually a story. There's a bit of value around discussing this episode and it's implications on the wider Whoniverse, but it's just not that entertaining in and of itself.

Getting rid of the in-your-face reference to Day of The Doctor could have helped. I'm pretty sure some clever people would have made the connection with the barn at some point. If not, I'm certain that Moffat would have taken the opportunity to tell people that was his intention in some interview or another.

What this episode really needs is a solid ending. A good story needs to be structured in such a way that we have Introduction, Investigation, Escalation and Resolution (More info on what I mean here). This episode shows the first three to varying degrees, but there is no real Resolution phase, at least not from The Doctor's perspective. I can't fathom The Doctor abandoning his theory without knowing for sure.

This episode is blissfully free of my other major issues, but without a definite story, it will always just feel like filler.

Just an afterthought...

I know everyone is debating whether there was a monster or not, but to me there is another more interesting question; was the kid really The Doctor? I like to think it was actually The Master. The boy appears to have similar dark hair and could be crying due to his experience looking into the Untempered Schism. That all depends on at what point in the initiation into the Academy the youngsters are made to face the Schism though.

Crying is the first sign of hyper-insanity

Either way, I hope my theory that Missy is actually The Master regenerated and gender-swapped is true and she whips out Dan The Soldier Man at some point. That'd be ace.

Review - Cold War

Finally, an episode that didn't make me cringe. Cold War stands as a good example of how to structure a Doctor Who story. I don't even have that many fixes for it.

Cold War - Season 7, Episode 8

The structure of the episode was quite good. In fact it was the perfect example of the classic structure I outlined in my original post on Go, go, go, Geronimo! Despite the very early monster reveal, they still managed to create some tension and a nice additional reveal by having Grand Marshall Skaldak remove his armour. We then get only quick glimpses of the suit-less Skaldak as he runs amok during the "escalation" phase. In the end we still only see his face in full, leaving the possibilities for foot and body shots to still be mysterious in future episodes.

There was some low-level Deus Ex Screwdriver but this was limited through The Doctor dropping the Sonic early on. His eventual ploy using it could easily have been a bluff, so I've not really git too big a beef with it. Interestingly we may have seen the first sign of The Doctor's Screwdriver having Red Settings as seen on River's version in Silence in the Library

Clara took more of a back seat in this episode, which was nice. She played an active part, whilst at the same time remaining secondary. We saw some arc development for her as she realises it's not all fun and games with The Doctor, but it didn't detract from the story of the moment.

There was a refreshing lack of Hunka hunka Burning Doc, although there was a minor In-Who-Endo as The Doctor excitedly tells Professor Grisenko, "I could kiss you," with the Professor replying, "If you insist." I'm probably being over-sensitive on the gay innuendos now, but that, like most of the innuendos I complain about, felt forced and out of place. It didn't help that I was actively thinking during the opening titles, "I wonder how they'll get a gay reference in this week."

Of course in an episode set on a submarine, it could have been much, much worse.

I've heard others complain about some technical problems with the sub not being able to fire or even open tubes at 700m depth and maneuverability issues. There was also the question of why a nuclear sub is being used to survey for oil, which was never really fully explained. Overall I was quite pleased with this episode though, and if they stay on this level, I'll be happy.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Not much to fix here, really. Not being a submarine nerd, the technical issues that have been pointed out to me have no impact. Of course for those who are, this could be an issue, so I think a bit more time on exposition could have helped.

First, some explanation on how the Firebird was a modified or experimental sub designed for deep water launches would have somewhat quietened the military nerds out there. That could also explain the CCTV cameras used by The Doctor when coaching Clara through her encounter with Skaldak.

They also needed a bit more explanation as to why a fully laden and operationally active nuclear sub was hauling a Professor around to drill core samples looking for oil. It doesn't take much, but a quick line about the need for secrecy in these uncertain times could have been enough.

I also think the submariner that defrosted Skaldak needed a tad more motivation, but other than that, this was a solid episode.

Go, go, go, Geronimo!

What do I mean by "Go, go, go, Geronimo!"?

Well this is my catch all term for the pacing problems many episodes of Doctor Who seem to suffer from. Often things are happening at break-neck speed, and major elements seem overly rushed. For whatever reason we get flung towards the resolution without really feeling any real involvement, tension or wonder.

When the series was rebooted in 2005, I was immediately concerned about the loss of the serialised format. Even with a slightly longer running time it just wasn't going to be able to do what a four-parter could.

Traditionally the structure of a Doctor Who story was something like this:

Part 1 (Introduction)
We're given a glimpse of the problem. Maybe the Monster of the Week (MotW) interacts with or kills someone, but we don't see the MotW itself. If necessary, we get "Monster Vision". The Doctor turns up and is intrigued by whatever is going on. Maybe he meets some friendlies with tales of woe, maybe he runs across one of the MotW's agents. The episode usually ends with some "Monster Vision" or perhaps a tiny glimpse of part of the MotW if it won't give them away too much.

Part 2 (Investigation)
The Doctor starts sticking his beak in. Roadblocks appear in whatever relevant manner. Perhaps the problem is complex, or he needs someone's help or cooperation and they're not forthcoming. We get insight into what the problem is and why we should be concerned, usually through The Doctor interacting with his Companion. Meanwhile the MotW or its agents continue with their schemes, reacting to The Doctor as needed. The episode ends with a full reveal of the MotW.

Part 3 (Escalation)
The MotW and any minions enter the "end game" phase of their plan, ramping up the threat level considerably. The Doctor needs to push himself to come up with or complete a solution. The Doctor's Companion will (either here or at the end of the previous episode) fall into the clutches of the MotW and either require saving, or somehow save themselves (this is the new millennium, after all). We are shown a very real threat by the bad guys here. The episode ends with the MotW seemingly on the brink of victory.

Part 4 (Resolution)
The solution The Doctor has been striving towards comes to fruition after a final showdown with the MotW. Once victorious, The Doctor does some tying up of loose ends with the good guys and trots off in the TARDIS.

Now you can see a similar structure in use in the new episodes, but it is so highly compressed it loses a lot of the tension. This is especially evident when we get the occasional two-parter, which allows for closer to the same amount of screen time as an old-school three or four parter.

Two-parters like Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel, The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky, and The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood don't suffer from these pacing issues and very closely fit the traditional structure with two parts instead of four. Whatever other issues those stories may have, Go, go, go, Geronimo! isn't one of them.

As the overarching season plots become more of a focus for the show, they are in danger of overtaking the individual story plot. The more time taken to foreshadow these big stories, the less time is left to make the current one work properly. The best way to introduce the season arc has always been to make subtle references to it. Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon and the Crack in the Universe were all handled reasonably well with only subtle references during or at the end of individual stories. The Silence and Clara arcs are far more blatant, and often detract from what should be the focus of the episode by taking up screen time, or feeling forced in. In some ways this is a symptom of The Companion Show featuring The Doctor.

Not every episode needs to reference the season arc, and even if they don't, the season arc story can reference the other episodes. Vincent and The Doctor is a prime example of this. It had no direct reference to the season arc, but was drawn into the opening of The Pandorica Opens.

Can we fix it?

I suppose the issue is simply one of time, which unless all stories become two-parters isn't very easily fixable.

But if we want to stick to a single 45 minute episode, can we fix the pacing? Well there are single part stories that are paced well, such as The Doctor's Daughter or The Curse of the Black Spot. So what are these episodes doing that others, such as Dinosaurs on a Spaceship or The Bells of Saint John are not? I'd suggest it's what they choose to skip or condense in the structure that makes the difference.

In my two positive examples, The Doctor foregoes a lot of Introduction and is thrust immediately into the problem, jumping straight into Investigation. Escalation happens almost simultaneously with Investigation too, allowing both of these phases to have some meat to them. This allows the threat to seem credible and the eventual solution to seem well thought out and not some sort of rushed handwavium.

In the negative examples, we get too much Introduction and not enough Investigation or Escalation. We get walked through a new setting or some new characters with cursory (and often unsubtle) explanations of the problem, but no real sense of threat. The endings are also rushed, which actually further downplays any sense of threat we may have got by making it seem too easily overcome.

So in short, chuck The Doctor in the deep end, have him work things out as the problem gets increasingly dangerous, and make sure the final confrontation is a risky, down-to-the-wire solution that The Doctor has pushed himself to achieve.

Or maybe they should just make all stories two-parters.