"...It's
1941, height of the London blitz, and something |
else
has fallen on London - a fully equipped |
Chula
warship. Armed to the teeth..." |
PLOTLINE
If the threat of invasion from another country
was not enough, aliens arrive during the London Blitz of World War II. Can Britain
cope? Will it fall to Nazi Germany or to the visitors from another planet? Who
is the mysterious Captain Jack?
Is this all too much for the Doctor to sort out?
EPISODE NINE REVIEW
THE EMPTY CHILD.
One of the best DOCTOR WHO episodes
ever produced. End of review. Period.
Well, perhaps I should elucidate more on that profound statement in order
to do justice to the work of crew and cast of Steven Moffat written episode.
Steven Moffat?
A name was previously known for a FRIENDS rip-off
comedy (debatable) BBC2 series, COUPLING , and a name that sent
a ripple of decent throughout die-hard fans as they expected an all-out pantomime
to be tapped out on his keyboard. Smarting now, fans (and critics alike) have
been permanently stunned by his intelligent, genuinely sassy and disturbing script,
elements drawn together from DOCTOR WHO 's legacy.
The first true film-noir for DOCTOR WHO .
I could argue that THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG is the closest
that the CLASSIC SERIES came to film-noir. With BIG FINISH's
Colin Baker audioplay, THE MALTESE PENGUIN being a comic pastiche
of a Chandler novel.
Dark environments with light slicing through
desperation and hopelessness where dust and detritus hang in the air. Rain-stained
and rubbish-strewn back alleys that hinder characters' destiny (the archetypical
protagonist Detective being the Doctor?) (The femme fatal replaced by the character,
Captain Jack Harkness?) and inevitable fatalism before meeting true destiny.
The protagonist (the Doctor) seemingly in control and all knowing, only to be
overwhelmed by the society and situations he encounters, and resolved by the
help of chance. And if there was too be a happy ending, the main players are 'hurt',
less innocent than they were before. And we see that at the end of this story.
On a budget of merely £1.2 million,
it's a staggering achievement by BBC
WALES to produce (basically, half of.) a cinematic masterpiece.
I panic that over the first three series
of this NEW SERIES that all the best ideas will be used-up, leaving DOCTOR
WHO - THE MOVIE with a watered-down concept. Moffat's script is one such idea that
would have transferred to the 'big screen'
magnificently.
Scene 1: Interior - TARDIS
"Panic stations! The TARDIS is erratically jumping timelines in pursuit of
a dangerous space-object. It's been designated as 'Mauve' (the universal signal
for danger), and it's heading toward London. The TARDIS console explodes as it
struggles to keep pace."
Cue: Theme music.
Thrilling stuff and if that was the end of THE EMPTY CHILD I
would have been very, very happy.
But what followed made me feel sorry for those
missing millions who swapped WHO for outdoor barbeques, trips to the seaside
or hours down the pub (the weather over the weekend was very warm - even for
Britain!).
A panning shot of the TARDIS materialising
in the dark alleyway. Rose's exasperation that the Doctor hasn't given her "Spock" (referring to fictional TV series, STAR
TREK). A gas-masked child beckoning his 'Mummy'. A 1940s army officer with a
pair of innocuous binoculars. An invisible spaceship tethered to Westminster
clocktower. Undead patients in a hospital. And an underlying sexual tension.
They missed all that, and more.
The eschewed, clear depth of field cinematography (appreciation to director,
James Hawes and, again, to Ernie Vincze BSC - a modern day Jack Cardiff working
in television) matched the Angelo Badlamenti/TWIN PEAKS-style incidental music
(appreciation to Murray Gold, again), as did the presence of an understated,
pitch-perfect cast. Combine those with atmospheric stunning visual effects from
the imagination from MillTV and a superlative set design (and property dressing).
Were we watching DOCTOR WHO as we knew it?
The Doctor and Rose are quickly separated
a heartbeat into the episode, with his companion immediately thrown into jeopardy
(and into the path of German bombers) whilst he becomes an anti-hero, ridiculed
by a captive audience (even the choice of song, "It had to be you", played at
the moment the Doctor walks in was pitched perfectly:
"For nobody else, gave me
a thrill - with all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you"
And there's Captain Jack Harkness. A former
Time Agent (he abandoned the Regime after his superiors wiped years of his memories)
who is on a short 'con' (confidence
trick or swindle) for financial gain. He lured the TARDIS with the seemingly
valuable space-object (a Chula Ambulance - empty?) in the hope that they (the
Doctor and Rose) will him an offer. Of course, it goes wrong, with Harkness unleashing
an unknowing force. Harkness is notable for being the series' first 'overtly
bi-sexual' character, having teased both an Army colleague and Rose. Will he
enamour the Doctor, our very own 'asexual' character? Will this sexual concoction
and ambiguity be accepted by the family audience (and hardcore DOCTOR
WHO fans)?
However, it seems that Rose is smitten by Harkness (and by his use of high-tech
equipment and methodology - what she calls 'Spock-ness')
And the 'empty child'? The adoption of a young boy (replete with gas mask,
and haunting pitiful call, "Are you my mummy?") as the adversary is a classic
one (think of power of THE EXORCIST). How can a small child be threatening, especially
as it looks for its errant parent? Warned by Nancy, why should the Doctor not
talk or touch this 'empty child'?
NANCY (to DOCTOR WHO): "It's not exactly
a child"
And how, later, through examining hospital patients they appear to the same
as this 'empty child' - a scared hand and a gas mask 'fused' to their head? Alive
but then again dead. Absorbing plotline and truly DOCTOR
WHO. The Doctor hypothesises
that the human DNA is being re-written. But why?
The humour is magically slight:
DOCTOR WHO (dining with the children): "What
are they going to do? Arrest you for starving!"
The visual effects are stunning
- again. The MillTV has responded with a portfolio of landscape 'paintings' and singular legerdemain that ensures that a writer's
wildest and broadest idea, no matter how unearthly, can be realised 'realistically'
(the challenge will come when the series ventures away from Earth and visits
its first alien world). The air raid across London matches the excellence and
attainment of similar effects used in the TV mini-series, BAND
OF BROTHERS. And
in a 'we do believe it' moment, the transformation of Richard Wilson's Doctor
Constantine into and empty' vessel was noteworthy.
The climax was typically DOCTOR
WHO. The 'zombie' moment - but with a touch
of class. No out-stretched arms and groaning here, just 'zombie' POV (point of
view), a disjointed chorus of "Mummy" and sharp editing made for a truly threatening
conclusion.
Joy, and there's another 45 minutes to follow.
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