|
This weekend brings us Hell Bent, the last formal episode of DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9. Hell Bent reunites scripter Steven Moffat with helmer Rachel Talalay, the wonder team who realized last week’s compelling, provocative, and wonderfully made Heaven Sent. This episode also sees the return of the Gallifrey gang, including...interestingly...Clare Higgins' Ohila. She appeared on the show earlier this year, and I vividly recall her as the lady who gave McGann Doctor the regeneration juice in 2013's Night of the Doctor short. Presumably Ohila might have something to do with the regeneration teased in the promo at the top of this article? And, presumably, it is in Hell Bent that we'll see the Doctor finding Clara in that diner... 
...in a scene which I'm guessing will be the duo's formal, poignant 'goodbye' moment. One that's perhaps more uplifting than her Death by Quantum Shade Doombird, but likely bittersweet in that the Doctor will realize whichever Clara he finds in the diner...he'll never able to travel with again. My hunch is we’ll find some sense of Clara’s ‘continuance’ here - a ‘victory’ of sorts for the Doctor - but a heavy one in that he’ll end up leaving her behind, for her own good. And to spare himself the pain of jeopardizing her further, or repeating events. Then there's the question, of course, as to what exactly ‘Clara’ is in this instance? A fragment? Part of some reset time stream? A memory? So much fun conjecture to be had… Below is a gallery of official promo images from Hell Bent. The gallery will be updated throughout the week should further shots become available. Feel free to check the discussion streams below for further media (clips, posters, etc.) from this episode as well. Throughout the last two Seasons/Series of DOCTOR WHO, artist Stuart Manning has generated amazing and hugely creative and clever ‘retro’ posters for each episode. Many of them have already been reflected here on the site, usually in episodic discussion threads, but I’m not sure all of them made it. For those who missed it, here’s a recap of all S9 posters to date - I’ll add in the Hell Bent poster when it becomes available (Saturday?)…
Welcome to Geeklectica’s last discussion thread for the formal run of DW S9. We’ll also be here for the Christmas Special, which we've just learned is called The Husbands of River Song (heres a fresh promo image)... 
...so keep checking back! There may be a few random posts between now and then as well, along with regular new content within that vast and terrible Void between the Christmas Installment and S10. I'm already working ahead on content which might help carry us through the Void. A HUGE AND HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all who have participated in the humble enterprise we have launched here, and to those who have merely regarded us from afar. You all matter - and this place is for you. Wishing you the happiest of Holidays to your and those you love! Stay tuned… PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. Heaven Sent Face the Raven Sleep No More The Zygon Inversion The Zygon Invasion The Woman Who Lived The Girl Who Died Before the Flood Under the Lake The Witch's Familiar The Magician’s Apprentice Ongoing DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 Multi-topic Megathread COMING SOON: The Husbands of River Song (the 2015 Christmas Special)
Comments
It’s now time to move onto Heaven Sent, the second-to-last episode of DOCTOR WHO Series/Season 9, which presumably will explore the fallout of events set into motion in last week’s Face the Raven. Raven, of course, saw the apparent departure of Jenna Coleman's Clara, although the exact nature of this magazine cover... 
...(featuring an image/scenario not seen on the show to date) is yet to be understood. Heaven Sent finds the Doctor tackling (a potentially metaphysical?) adventure on his own... 
...in an piece scripted by series overmind Steven Moffat, and directed by Rachel Talalay (who brought us Dark Water and Death in Heaven last Season/Series). The pair fulfill the same function on next week's Hell Bent, the formal finale of S9. That episode was recently described thusly by an official synopsis: If you took everything from him, betrayed him, trapped him, and broke both his hearts…how far might the Doctor go? Returning to Gallifrey, the Doctor faces the Time Lords in a struggle that will take him to the end of time itself. Who is the Hybrid? And what is the Doctor’s confession Intriguing? Most definitely. A bazillion possibilities are opened up by this description, and I’m very eager to see to what extent…or if…some of the through lines presented throughout the last two Seasons/Series of the show come together in S9’s final two stories. Below is a gallery of official promo images from Heaven. Every week, BBC proper and BBC America release a slightly different batch of images (many are the same, with a few unique shots in each selection). This week, however and notably, the load outs were quite a bit different. As such, be sure to check the gallery to get a fuller sense of the whole of what was issued by the two entities. For those who missed it, a new and official promo shot from the upcoming ‘’Christmas Special’ was issued this week. I can’t speak to the tone of the Christmas Special. But…at face value…this image seems ‘off.’ I don’t figure River Song for being the kind of person who’d cower behind the Doctor, or cower much at all. And the Doctor himself is also freaked? Feels…I dunno...a little hinky. We'll see what they come up with, and wheter such a scene even exists in the actual show, and what its context is. I’ve many times asserted that DOCTOR WHO owes more to SCOOBY-DOO than many people realize - this promo image goes a long way towards solidifying that notion 
Speaking of Christmas Specials, there will be a discussion thread opening up for the Christmas Special here on Geeklectica. There will also be at least one thread running between next week's Hell Bent and said Special. Discussions and posts here on the site will continue regularly between the Christmas Special, and Season/Series 10. In other words, we'll very much remain open for business! So please feel free to stick around, join in, relax here, and have fun! PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. Face the Raven Sleep No More The Zygon Inversion The Zygon Invasion The Woman Who Lived The Girl Who Died Before the Flood Under the Lake The Witch's Familiar The Magician’s Apprentice Ongoing DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 Multi-topic Megathread COMING NEXT WEEK: Hell Bent (S09E12)  Big Finish 204: Criss Cross Written By: Matt Fitton Directed By: Ken Bentley Cast Colin Baker (The Doctor), Miranda Raison (Constance Clarke), Paul Thornley (Robbie Flint/Cyril), Alistair Petrie (Major Harris/German Lieutenant), Hugh Fraser (Dr Schwartzmann/Rider), Charlotte Salt (Sylvia Wimpole/Waveform/Effy), Robbie Stevens (Captain Unger/Dutch/British Captain/Chuadri). If we were to judge by the number of companions a Doctor has to determine which is the longest running Doctor, thanks to Big Finish, the Sixth Doctor might ironically turn out to be the Doctor who lived the longest. Of course, that also depends upon the length of time each companion as with the Doctor, but by the way the Sixth Doctor keeps attracting new companions, it seems more was happening during his reign than meets the eye. It is difficult to figure out how long the Sixth Doctor’s newest companion, Constance Clarke, will be with the Doctor, nor the kind of interactions she will have with him. She certainly has potential to be a different kind of companion, someone who is more forceful in presenting herself, keeping to her own wishes and desires, than any of his other companions. But it is not because she is wanting or looking for a fight – it is, however, because she has a sense of who she is, which includes strict codes of duty and honor, which she wants to keep when with the Doctor. She meets him here, during World War II, a leader of many women, the WRENS, working behind the scenes in the war effort, giving technical skills such as code breaking to help the UK beat the Nazis. When the Doctor lands his TARDIS and finds it broken down, sapped of it energy, he takes residence with the WRENS trying to determine what is interfering with his TARDIS. He has a lead, an Agent Spock, whom he believes is up to no good. And, after working with one of the WRENS, he recruits Constance herself to his cause. At first, she does not know what to make of the Doctor. She believes his desire to have a police box in his office to be a little quirk, not as bad as most who come to the office, though he also seems to be pushing her WRENS a bit too hard and so she confronts him, telling him to let them rest. Things change, however, as the Doctor, Constance, and others find out who Spock really is, and what is going on behind the scenes, where a radio-wave entity who seems to have emerged from another level of existence into ours, claiming to seek refuge from a war going on in that plane of existence. The Doctor ends up working with Constance, Spock, and others on both the British and German side of the war, as they all come to realize that there is more at stake than fight between the British and the Nazis. But this does not mean they all trust each other – they don’t, and depending where they are, one or another will get an upper hand, trying to use the situation for their own gain. And behind it all is the Doctor, seeking to save humanity from any and all threats, internal and external. Everyone seeks to have a secret or two. Constance’s secret lies with the disappearance of her husband. Is he dead, or has something else happened to him? We do not know by the end of the story, but clearly, it is something we will find out, as a part of Constance’s character arc and it serves as one of the reasons she decides to journey with the Doctor, thinking that it will help her find the answers. I have avoided many of the plot points and twists (including character names) for obvious reasons. In general I think what is important here is the introduction of Constance. So how is she? I like her, although, the story is a bit too introductory to get a full glimpse of how she will be with the Doctor. She is clear, even though she knows the Doctor is alien, and his TARDIS is wonderful, she is still her own woman –she doesn’t want to be mistreated or bossed around, but on the other hand, she thinks the Doctor needs someone by his side, to keep him sane and on the right path. She figures it is, at least for the time being, her work. She is nonetheless able to show herself to be strong and independent. She has a lot of skills and capabilities of her own, and I believe this means she has quite a bit to offer (I would rank her qualifications and capabilities as the third best for the Sixth Doctor companions, with Evelyn offering the most, Mel second, and Constance third). Nonetheless, she needs to develop, for I don’t think she can stay exactly the same without her act becoming tiresome – certainly anyone who goes to other times and places will experience drastic changes in how they think. I would be surprised if this is not the case here. The actual science-fiction alien threat started off interesting, but by the end, I tired of it, and was glad the story was over. I preferred the human interactions over the aliens. Sometimes, Doctor Who writers need to remember that. There are some interesting twists and turns, and some, crisp dialogue between the Doctor and others; but I would not rate this one as great. 7/10 -- a good start for Constance, some nice ideas, but not the best of Big Finish.  Big Finish 205: Planet of the Rani Written By: Marc Platt Directed By: Ken Bentley Cast Colin Baker (The Doctor), Miranda Raison (Constance Clarke), Siobhan Redmond (The Rani), James Joyce (Raj Kahnu/Guard), Olivia Poulet (Pazmi), Dominic Thorburn (Brejesh/Security Leader), Tim Bentinck (Chowdras/Governor), Chris Porter (Degoor/Montain) We get for Constance’s second story a Rani story, with the new incarnation of the Rani introduced last year once again facing off with the Sixth Doctor. And because of this, we go out of the fire and into the maelstrom for Constance. Marc Platt gives us in this story the Rani’s realm, where she is both queen and worshiped like a goddess. It is a place we have heard mentioned in previous stories, and, Marc Platt, doing what he does best, fills in the blanks for us, showing us a world where the Rani is indeed queen, worshiped and yet hated, where she rules but also where she experiments with its people like the scientist she is. In those experiments, she has created, as it were, a kind of heir for herself, a prince, Raj Kahnu, who she has molded to be great. And when the Rani is gone, he takes over, trying to help his people in the way knows how – molded as he is by the Rani, he is temperamental but also bright, a “god in the making.” But unlike the Rani, he does care about his people, even if he does not show it too well. Thus, when the Doctor and Constance go to visit the Rani in a parole hearing, they find out the Rani has set up a plan to return to Miasimia Goria. Constance is caught in the maelstrom which is the struggle between the Doctor, Raj Kahnu, and the Rani. In her first (?) adventure in time and space, she really is brought into the thick of it – and her strong character allows her to roll with the punches, as it were, to keep her head on her shoulders and do what she needs to do to survive while also never abandoning herself and her principles. Sadly, though, she really was never free to look to the wonder of it all- as she finds herself going from one alien to another, each with their own agenda; but, at least the Rani, though cruel in her way, is not as cruel as many of the Doctor’s enemies, and is willing to help Constance live when she is separated from the Doctor if Constance does nothing to interfere with the Rani’s plans. The heart of the story lies with Raj Kahnu; the Rani left the world in a bad shape, with her experiments causing havoc to his people, requiring him to make a mechanical protection that looks like a giant cockroach in order to survive. And since he is smart, trying to understand the world – and what lies beyond it, constructing what he can to help his people but also to help himself in his crazy existence, he takes an instant liking to Constance, creating another such mechanical device for her—which she adapts to (rather too easily, probably one of my few objections to this story). He tries to fight against his worst instincts when with her, wanting her to help him learn about the universe in a way the Rani did not teach him, to give him hope and ideas to help deal with the problems at hand. And Constance certainly is the right choice for him – because she understand his sense of duty even if she does not understand all he does and stands for. The Rani here is more distinct than her last story, more her own new version, though still a version of the Rani. She seems more open to various forms of experiments beyond the traditional kind associated with her previous incarnation, though it is clear she still favors biological experimentation. She is also, I would say, more indifferent than her previous incarnation in regards to people “failing” her, and even, she has a sense, deep within perhaps, of other, somewhat positive, emotional attachments (the Doctor sees she has a “mothering” instinct despite her attempt to dismiss it). All in all, this is a very good story, though it does not do what I wish for the second story with Constance. I wanted more reaction, positive or negative, for what she goes through here. In the end, we don’t see her ultimate reaction to the Doctor when the story is over. Hopefully it will be heard in the next audio, but I am expecting it will not. Which is a shame. Because I want to see how she really deals with the radical new world she is in. 8/10 -- HornOrSilk PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. Face the Raven is upon us, the third-to-the-last installment of Series/Season 9 (presuming we don’t count the Christmas offering as a proper episode in the seasonal run). Several big questions jump out about this one…
…introduced in The Girl Who Died earlier this Series/Season, somehow relate to the departure of Jenna Coleman’s ‘Clara’ from the show? This appears to be portended by spots for this episode, but we’ve been misdirected by Moff & Co before… 4) Will Face the Raven indeed represent Jenna Coleman’s departure from the show? If this is the case, it’s interesting that the script work here is being handled by Sarah Dollard (BEING HUMAN, MERLIN) rather than by Steven Moffat himself. One would THINK that such a consequential, canonical development would be helmed by Moffat himself - which makes me wonder if this we’ll truly witness the Coleman/Clara exit this week. Below is a gallery of official promo images from Face the Raven, an assemblage which may expand should more pictures become available before transmit. Also check the discussion thread before for embedded material (clips, posters, etc) related not only to this episode, but to the WHOniverse in general. The Face the Raven discussion thread is now welcome and awaiting YOU! Welcome, and as always… PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. Sleep No More The Zygon Inversion The Zygon Invasion The Woman Who Lived The Girl Who Died Before the Flood Under the Lake The Witch's Familiar The Magician’s Apprentice Ongoing DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 Multi-topic Megathread COMING NEXT WEEK: Heaven Sent (S09E11) This weekend brings us Sleep No More, S9’s expected (obligatory?) Mark Gatiss scripted episode. 
Notably, Sleep’s continuance, next week’s Face the Raven, is authored by Sarah Dollard (NEIGHBOURS, BEING HUMAN). A turn which might suggest that any substantive/canonical developments may not forthcoming just yet. Given the title of these eps, some had conjectured that these stories might see Clara’s already-announced departure from the show - although this would seem unlikely to occur in an episode not scripted by Moffat. But, is this necessarily the case? The official synopsis for Raven reads thusly: "Have you ever found yourself in a street you’ve never seen before? The next day, could you not find that street again? You weren’t dreaming. Your memory isn’t playing tricks. Like many lost souls throughout the ages, you have stumbled on an extraordinary secret - be grateful you survived it. The Doctor and Clara, with their old friend Rigsy, find themselves in a secret alien world, folded away among the streets of London. Not all of them will get out alive. One of the three intruders must face the raven..." Hmmmmm.... The Zygon arc which concluded last week failed to engage me on the whole, although the potency and brilliance of this Peter Capaldi monologue is indisputable… I’m hoping that Gatiss and Co can jump the show back onto the rails this week, as…one way or another…we’ve got some potentially large payoffs on the horizon: the return of Maisie Williams' character, the departure of Clara, and the two part Season finale. I'd love to S9 go out with a bang. It seems like it may well be poised to do so. Below you’ll find a gallery of official promo images from Sleep No More. The gallery will expand should more images become available before the episode’s transmission. Also be sure to check the conversation stream below for embedded media pertaining not only to this episode, but to DOCTOR WHO in general!
Welcome to the Sleep No More discussion thread, now open for business. Step in, share your thoughts, and enjoy!
PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. The Zygon Inversion The Zygon Invasion The Woman Who Lived The Girl Who Died Before the Flood Under the Lake The Witch's Familiar The Magician’s Apprentice Ongoing DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 Multi-topic Megathread COMING NEXT WEEK: Face the Raven (S09E10) Yeah. So… For the past few months I’ve been religiously championing the wonder of this Season/Series of DOCTOR WHO. I felt it demonstrated refined and precise vision, and was setting about aggressively realizing its objectives in a smart and refreshingly consistent manner. DOCTOR WHO, to me at least, was very much on course. Very much the product of careful consideration and often ingenious execution. Then along came The Zygon Invasion, last week’s installment. Suffering from derailed pacing, inconsistent tone, and the first Peter Capaldi performance I’ve ever come across which felt phoned in, Zygon Invasion missed nearly every one of its marks. Its monsters weren’t suspenseful or provocative. Its core concept was dodgy and filled with significant logic gaps. Its emotions were cloudy and ran shallow. Its sociopolitical allegory was resonant and imminently relevant to be sure, but Invasion didn’t land anywhere near as precisely or effectively as…say…STAR TREK or TWILIGHT ZONE did fifty(ish) years ago. Or as any number of Science Fiction endeavors have managed since then. The Zygon Invasion was messy and uncertain. It was neither strong enough to successfully make a point, or frothy enough to be seen as a full-on lampoon of the socio-political fodder it was digging into. As a result, it ended up being…well…nothing much at all. Which brings us to this week’s installment, The Zygon Inversion. Same writer (Peter Harness), same director (Daniel Nettheim), wrapping up the same storyline.
Will all the potential-filled fragments which spun about so aimlessly last week now coalesce into something great? Will this prove to be the swan song for Jenna Coleman’s Clara Oswald - a possibility strongly implied last week?
This theory might be bolstered by the notion that series overlord Steven Moffat shares scripting credit this time around, suggesting that cannonical developments may be afoot I will say that, if…indeed…Clara has been removed from the equation in this manner, kudos to The Powers That Be for their clever handling and staging of the incident. We’ll see soon enough… Below is a gallery of official promo images from The Zygon Inversion. As usual, this gallery may well be updated with further images should more become available as the week progresses. Also be sure to check the conversation thread below for additional embedded media from not only this installment, but DOCTOR WHO in general. Welcome to The Zygon Inversion discussion thread. All are welcome! Join in! Speak your mind! However... PLEASE NOTE: We warmly invite and encourage an open discourse and free exchange of ideas, but will enforce a strict zero tolerance policy regarding trolling, disrespect, or hate speak of any kind. The Zygon Invasion The Woman Who Lived The Girl Who Died Before the Flood Under the Lake The Witch's Familiar The Magician’s Apprentice Ongoing DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 Multi-topic Megathread COMING NEXT WEEK: Sleep No More (S09E09) |
Archives
October 2022
AuthorGlen |
RSS Feed