tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post7815755106288310208..comments2024-01-10T00:07:48.304+00:00Comments on Cathode Ray Tube: DOCTOR WHO: Series 5 - The Time Of Angels / ReviewFrank Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00680654042528560764noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-88918826714008741942010-05-03T15:45:52.564+01:002010-05-03T15:45:52.564+01:00Brian, I should be posting soon. This weekend has ...Brian, I should be posting soon. This weekend has been a bit tricky as I spent all of Saturday travelling to a meeting, having the meeting and then coming back. <br /><br />If you're on Twitter I suggest you follow me there and then you'll know exactly when posts go up on the blog. Or indeed sign up to the RSS feed!Frank Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00680654042528560764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-59095640261158229402010-05-03T14:24:03.253+01:002010-05-03T14:24:03.253+01:00Frank, your reviews are wonderful, when can we exp...Frank, your reviews are wonderful, when can we expect the next one for Flesh and Stone?Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-57041713623376314342010-04-29T02:49:43.453+01:002010-04-29T02:49:43.453+01:00Excellent review Frank.
As much as I liked this e...Excellent review Frank.<br /><br />As much as I liked this episode, in itself, it didn't arrest my sense of decline.<br /><br />The Time of Angels was great - but it was essentially a re-hash of Blink and Library, as much as Smith is a re-hash of Troughton/Davison.<br /><br />River Song is just wonderful - and here I really disagree with FRANK: she shows up Amy "I have no character" Pond.<br /><br />A friend commented that Ms Pond is just straight guy wish-fulfilment. Come back Rose, all is forgiven.KAOShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17052487697044714767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-51759553904427651122010-04-27T00:03:57.257+01:002010-04-27T00:03:57.257+01:00Perfectly willing to accept their androgyny. Makes...Perfectly willing to accept their androgyny. Makes the sexual politics even more interesting! <br /><br />I love River as Mrs Smug from Smugtown, Smugshire, Smugania. Merely because I think she's going to turn out to be up to her neck in trouble as suggested by the episode and the on-location spoilers. Moffat'll bring her down a peg or two. <br /><br />I like those really snappy edits in the build up to the advancing Angels. Gives it a bit of welly but I'll concede that Adam Smith could have ramped it up further. I have to say for all the production team bluster of 'the scariest series yet' it hasn't quite delivered. Maybe next week. <br /><br />I had noticed the incidentals on this were subdued. Interestingly enough Matt Hills book 'The Triumph Of A Time Lord' described how RTD always asked for 'Big Tunes' on the episodes. <br /><br />Maybe Moffat prefers something less Korngold type film score, which is what Murray delivered in the RTD era, and is heading back to the more atmospheric, unearthly stuff. I really liked the subtlety of the score on 'Time Of Angels'. Bombast would not have worked.Frank Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00680654042528560764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-20700288407450158852010-04-26T20:33:11.695+01:002010-04-26T20:33:11.695+01:00I always twitch a little bit when a review of some...I always twitch a little bit when a review of something like 'Doctor Who' mentions gender politics, especially when the embodiment of the female is only coincidentally female. I've felt that the Angels are more androgynous than anything, but perhaps that says more about what I think about angles than what the show says. So fair point.<br /><br />I liked the pre-credits sequence, because River Song had a bit of an Emma Peel riff going and while she was doing that she was interesting. When we hit 'old married couple' territory she instantly becomes much less so. But there are hints that River might not be who she's presented herself as being and I find myself wondering whether River Song might also be a stainless steel rat in a fur coat.<br /><br />A militant church is nothing new. Perhaps there's a crusade afoot?<br /><br />The buildup to the cliffhanger did lack something, and since you bring it up Frank, what's missing is in 'Aliens' - the tick tick tick of the motion tracker. What the Angels lack is a sound that tells us they're getting closer and that lack of a tension cue really does affect how the buildup works.<br /><br />Also, is it me or is the incidental music so quiet as to be missing? I'm really not hearing it this season.<br /><br />I think the worst thing that River Song did, and the worst thing that Moffat has done to date (in a very, very short list of things I disagree with), is to completely disregard a scene in a previous finale. To whit, the scene where the 10th Doctor, surrounded by his adopted family, finally has enough people to fly the Tardis smoothly. Of course, River -ing Song could have done it all by herself using the blue boringers, because she's Mrs Smug from Smugtown, Smugshire, Smugania.<br /><br />And so's her mum.David Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11648632077632519082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-19042886517791472652010-04-26T13:58:45.216+01:002010-04-26T13:58:45.216+01:00I was totally gripped from the start. Great atmosp...I was totally gripped from the start. Great atmosphere throughout, some tongue-in-cheek moments to enjoy, absolutely tasty dialogue from Karen, Matt and Alex.<br /><br />And speaking of atmosphere, although there seemed to be no "atmosphere corridor" to protect her (OK, yes, that scene could have been written with a little sharpness and clarification), I didn't feel that it really mattered. How many times have we forgiven a good film when the writer takes a liberty here and there simply to give the scene more impact? <br /><br />The only downside for me? Have to wait until next Saturday to watch the conclusion!<br /><br />V. nice review Frank!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3737235139994190228.post-29648262956858330892010-04-26T02:10:45.186+01:002010-04-26T02:10:45.186+01:00Great review as always, Frank.
Some thoughts:
Pe...Great review as always, Frank.<br /><br />Some thoughts:<br /><br />Personally, I found the pre-titles bit felt awkward and overstaged. Compared to the screwball comedy delivery style when River's next to the Doctor, the way she went calmly and deliberately through her lines sounded a bit forced. The airlock felt extremely unrealistic, too.<br /><br />Not to be picky, but the TARDIS wasn't THERE until she was hurtling through no-atmosphere, so there was no "atmosphere corridor" for her.<br /><br />I noticed something else in that sequence that's been bugging me for a few episodes too now. It looks like the Mill's CGI TARDIS hasn't been updated to reflect the new physical prop with the different blue and darker windows. It's pretty jarring (and in the title sequence every week). Am I the only one who's noticed this?<br /><br />Other than that ... the angel-TV sequence was genuinely thrilling, and the slowly building sense of dread and the reveal of the angels in the maze was great. <br /><br />The way the Doctor kicked the gravity globe up, also a nice little nod to Smith's much-mentioned love of football.<br /><br />But ... I did feel that the cliffhanger lacked "oomph". The angels are coming, yes but the Doctor grabs a gun, delivers a speech over a communications device (lack of tension) and fires at the gravity globe. Credits. Huh?Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01395507445774359807noreply@blogger.com