Vincent and the Doctor (S31Ep10, or S1Ep10, or S5Ep10 depending on how you're counting. Frankly it may as well be episode bingly blap for all the different systems used for Doctor Who these days)
I found this week's episode of New Who to be rather wonderful. Melancholic and moving, with just the right balance of humour, action and human drama. I've been very surprised this season as the episodes I've enjoyed the most have been from the writers I've least expected it from: Simon Nye of Men Behaving Badly fame with Amy's Choice, and Richard Curtis, of Blackadder and twee London renown, with this installment.
The episode featured a number of standout moments, not just for the show but for the whole season. A fantastically realised monster, a number of images taken straight from Vincent's own work (including the absolute highlight of the night sky transformed into Starry Night), and Vincent discovering how his work is appreciated in the future.
Amy Pond, who I'll post about later, annoyed me far less than usual and Matt Smith gave one of his best performances to date as the Doctor, mixing empathy with joy and sadness. The pacing felt perfect for once, the characters allowed room to breath rather than constantly running off to a thumping beat. The location work was gorgeous to look at and helped keep you in the drama, something the studio bound work can often fail to do.
Overall an excellent episode and contender for the best, so far, of the season.
5/5
Mawdryn Undead (S20Ep9-12, or S20 Story 3, or... oh dang it, work it out yourself)
And so we turn to Old Who, and the first part of the Black Guardian trilogy. I'm watching the DVD release with the new CGI effects turned on, which helps remove the distraction of some rather ropey old effects. The old VFX team did the best they could with the time and budget they had, but it's nice to have the option of the spruced up versions. Try watching The Invasion of Time without them. Least scary tin foil ever.
The story features a couple of neat twists, with the storyline split between two time periods set in the same location, the return of the Brigadier (in both times), and a new companion who's trying to murder the doctor (you see Peri, the Doc did have a legitimate reason for not trusting the people he was traveling with, though I'll agree the throttling was a tad too far. Oh The Twin Dilemma, how I look forward to watching and then mocking you)
The introduction of the titular Mawdryn comes fairly late into the story with a graphic piece of make up that's all the more shocking for it's brevity on screen at the end of episode 2. Even with it's extended screen time later on the pulsing bloody mesh of the exposed brain is an unsettling sight.
The story features a creepy, atmospheric score, some further horrific make up Tegan and Nyssa, a shout out to Pertwee's famous "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", and a couple of fun split screen shenanigans of the Brigadier. Scattered throughout the Black Guardian taunts and manipulates Turlough into various nefarious acts as a number of plot threads begin to converge.
Sadly there also the common Old Who flaws of large quantities of screen time spent wandering aimlessly down corridors and confusing technobable solutions, in particular an overly convenient deus ex machina.
Ultimately it come down to a group of thieves seeking salvation. The price: the remainder of the Doctor's regenerations.
3.5/5
