I am – Hercules!!


The latest "Doctor Who" Christmas special just aired in the United Kingdom, and the reviews are mixed!

“ZombieBacon” says:

These days, Christmas in the UK wouldn't be Christmas without appearances by two famous travellers. The first is Santa himself, and the second is Doctor Who.

For the last three years, viewers have been treated to a prime-time Christmas Day seasonal adventure featuring the time-hopping Timelord and each time, things have got bigger, though not necessarily better.

Series' resurrector Russel T. Davies went for broke last time with a high-Adrenalin, action-packed sfx-laden spectacular that seemed to have a bigger budget than all episodes combined from the first 26 years. Think Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic meets the Poseidon Adventure.

Maybe a fair portion of that cash went on securing Kylie Minogue's services as Astrid - guarantying the story plenty of run-up coverage and huge viewing figures on the night regardless of the episode's actual quality.

In comparison, press coverage for The Next Doctor has been a little quieter this time round, but the hooks were still there. For casual viewers there was the return of the highly sinister metallic, logic-obsessed baddies: the Cybermen - last seen being sucked into a vortex between universes.

For fandom, the temptation to forget past excesses and intelligence-defying endings and give the specials another try has been Davies' admittedly brilliant twist. ANOTHER Doctor.
Shrouded in mystery until broadcast, the origins of this 'next Doctor' was the source of many healthy forum arguments with explanations from the mundane - a conman - to the inspired - a counterpart from a parallel universe.

Finding out the truth was as much a part of this story as the actual machine-ations of the feature baddies, aided by the deliciously wicked feminist fatale Miss Hartign.

Their plan - which culminates in the nearest Doctor Who has ever come to the wacky realms of Power Rangers - was a nice new take on the Cybermen's routine of wanting to take over the world and added to their interesting mythology.

It wouldn't have been enough on its own to sustain an hour's telly, but with a Crimbo-friendly Victorian London backdrop, great visual set-pieces - including a snow-covered graveyard assault featuring feral cyberpunk-inspired cyberwraiths - and a brilliant performance by the other Doctor (David Morrissey) 'The Next Doctor' made for an enjoyable festive treat.

Thankfully their was a clear chemistry between the leads and some rewarding scenes between Morrissey and 10th Doctor (David Tennant) which allowed Davies to present the new Who audience with snippets of Doctor Who's rich history. In particular there was a goose-pimple moment referencing all the previous incarnations, helping bridge the gap between the two incarnations of the series and bringing newer fans up-to-speed.

In the end, The Next Doctor wasn't as silly or over-blown as the other Xmas specials and all the better for it.

Not classic, but solid and highly watchable. Light stuff ultimately, but who wants heavy after a massive turkey nosh-up?
As Morrisey says at one point - 'complete and utter wonderful nonsense'.

Here's looking forward to the next special - lined up for Easter 2009 and excitingly entitled Planet of the Dead.

If you use this, you can call me ZombieBacon. Merry Christmas one and all.

“DJ Bollocks” says:

Firstly Happy Christmas to all AICN'ers...

Secondly I have to confess to have enbibed a little too much festive cheer this afternoon... but hey it comes but once a year which of course also applies to The Doctor Who Christmas Special which is now in it's 4th year... To be fair they haven't really been much good particularly after last years pantomime-esque Kylie fest.

Now that I'm living in Malaysia but back in the UK for Christmas I've remained relatively spoiler free having avoided trailers and only seen a few press pics along the way... what do we know from the teaser at the end of the last seasons Davros epic ? Cybermen, Dervla Kirwan (This is not just Doctor Who... This is Christmas Doctor Who...) and possibly set in the 18th/19th Century ? And the title... The Next Doctor... eyebrows raised all round... sadly it's also a Russell T Davies joint... so no guarantees that it'll be any good...

Mince pies at the ready... here we go...

Snow and jaunty music set the scene - it must be Christmas... funny how you don't get a Christmas themed story during the regular season... Anyway - great opening sequence where we're introduced to David Morrissey's rather eccentric 'Doctor' with a companion Rosita and a sonic screwdriver... "Alons Y" indeed...

So it appears that Morrissey's 'Doctor' has had his memory wiped by the Cybermen... some interesting self referencing dialogue - Sally Sparrow Don't Blink...

Then we meet the Cybermen and the Cyber Controller... The Cyber King will rise apparantly... Cut to the Late Rev Fairchild's funeral.... "The Doctor's companion does what the Doctor says".... has the spirit of Colin Baker been reborn...

It appears Morrissey's sonic screwdriver is just a screwdriver... curiouser... children missing... curiouser... fob watch.... just for decoration though....

We find some little metal containers - Infostamps - belonging to the Cybermen "and the night I regenerated.... and you were there". Seems The Next Doctor has a bit of an identity crisis... even a mid life crisis - "We'll find out together..."

Enter the scarlet woman... and a fantastically dark monologue from Miss Hartigan... When RTD is good, he is good... putting the fun back into the funeral indeed... "Not one of you has asked my first name.... It's Mercy !"

We find out a bit more about Rosita - the 'Doctor's companion - a cockney sparra and we're introduced to The erm Tardis... Tethered Air Release Delivered In Style - an air balloon ! I'm guessing we'll meet this Tardis again later...

Darkness descends - and the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan are after the workhouse children. We go back to Doomsday - these are Cybermen who may have slipped through the void that the Doctor sent them through - Morrisey's 'Doctor' is the missing Jackson Lake who's memory has been wiped by the Cybermen's Infostamps...

"A Fugue state.... You wanted to become someone else because Jackson Lake had lost so much"

"They killed my wife !"

The workhouse children are being marched to the Cybermen's lair... I'm half expceting the kids from the workhouse to start singing Oliver style.. and to ask for some more....

The Doctor finds a dimension vault... stolen from the Daleks

Miss Hartigan is now about to be converted - she's not too happy about that...

"That was designated - a lie..."

Looks like there's no mercy... for Mercy...

"This is your liberation All Hail The Cyber King...."

This is where the 'romp and slapstick' starts to get a bit silly... The pseudo science is a bit crap... there's fantasy and there's making shit up... the Cyber King is a big Transformer.... ever get the feeling that this was just a big exercise to sell toys...

Jackson realises that he had a son - Frederick which the Doctor saves in a fuzzy moment...

"The question is what do you make of me ?"

And then the dimension vault sends the Cyber King into the Time Vortex...

"Complete and utter wonderful nonsense.... oh gracious that's quite enough..."

My thoughts exactly David Morrissey - except for the 'wonderful' bit... Listen, as I stated earlier we should expect this... this could have been really good. The concept with David Morrissey's character was really interesting just delivered quite ineffectually - with a surprising lack of drama sadly. The rest of it just seemed quite lazy - brainwashing, the old humanising the emotionless robots angle that fails (it's a recurring theme with Cybermen), and other ridiculously clicheed plot devices that are liberally sprinkled in across the 60 minutes. There is greatness in it - Dervla Kirwan ridiculously outshines David Morrissey who seems almost disappointed that he's actually not playing the real Doctor and now has ruled himself out in doing so... even watching the Doctor Who Confidential afterwards he comes across as hugely disingenuous... but it just loses any sense of credibility the longer it goes on....

I guess the RTD haters will hate it and the lovers of Doctor Who romps will rejoice... what annoys me the most is that RTD in the Doctor Who Confidentials genuinely believes that this is the sort of story that fans want to see... because he's living his childhood again through it. Anyone who's read my ramblings in the past will know I can't wait for The Moff to take over... maybe next year's Christmas special might live up to the expectations...

PS Doctor Who will return in Planet Of The Dead - but no clips boo !!!!

“Fingers McGraw” says:

Hi Herc:

This is a review of not one, but two of the delights to grace tv screens here in the Uk this Xmas Day. The Doctor Who Xmas special, and the return of Wallace and Gromit.

Doctor Who: "The Next Doctor"

Following a strong fourth series that thrilled many and defied the Catherine Tate-haters earlier this year, Doc Who returns with a trip to a snowy Victorian London. No sooner has the Doctor (David Tennant) arrived in the Tardis, he bumps into another man, a man with no memory, who also calls himself the Doctor (David Morrisey). With the Cybermen returning, strange dog-like Cybershades and the sinister Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan), can the two Doctors unravel the mystery before the rise of the CyberKing?

After three previous years of xmas specials of varying quality, Russell T Davies has crafted the most satisfying xmas special yet. This is a hell of a romp, leading to a spectacular finale with (spoiler) a 800-foot steampunk robot!

David Tennant is awesome as always, his sheer quality now almost taken for granted. But David Morrisey is also impressive, all gusto and presence, not only convincing as a potential Doctor but also giving life to a sympathetic character with an emotional arc.

Acclaim too for Dervla Kirwan, in full Cruella De Vil mode as the
delicious femme fatale villain. Without doubt one the finest guest villains the show has seen in a while.

Terrific entertainment that wets the appitite for the first of the 2009 Specials, "Planet of the Dead".

And now...

Wallace and Gromit in "A Matter of Loaf and Death".

After winning Oscars, taking their brand of none-more-english humour around the world and even hitting the big screen, Wallace & Gromit return to the small screen.

In another of his crazy business ideas, Wallace has opened a bakery, Top Bun(!) making dough-to-door deliveries all around town. But with the town's other bakers dropping like flies due to a diabolical serial killer, could Wallace be the next victim? And what does it all have to do with the mysterious Miss Piella Bakewell, who's set Wallace's heart a flutter?

Even though it's great to see W&G back on TV, and even though this is huge fun( and as usual replete with film references, even a huge homage near the end to Aliens, of all films!), this is not an instant classic like it's predecessors, especially The Wrong Trousers.

The plot tips its big reveal far too early, and Gromit gets wind of the villain's plan far too easily. But after all, this is only 30 minutes long, and still adheres to classic series formula. There's a mystery, Gromit's on the case, Wallace is five steps behind, and it all ends in a big, lavish finale.

This is a welcome, if not classic return of two beloved characters and, if eligable, could see Nick Park donning another bow tie come the Oscars.

That's all, Herc, and if you use this, call me Fingers McGraw.

Fresh Whedon!!

Seinfeld, Shield & Damages: $17.50??
Sony 2-For-1 Sale!!