[Review] Doctor Who: Joy to the World

I just finished watching this dumbassery of a car crash.

The first half or so... Was entertaining. But then... Pffff... He's always crying and he seems like the dumbest person on screen. There is a paradox that is never explained how he learned the secret combination. How he did that? Dunno! Who gave him the secret? Dunno! And the quick question about it is brushed away without questioning.

The "Companion" was the most stoic and emotionally stable character ever. She doesn't challenge anything, just goes with the madness as if she got on a bus on a Tuesday.

I never believed there was a serious threat and the resolution was pretty frikkin weak. I'm just so happy I did not pay to see that.

Would I rewatch? OOOOOOOOooooooh hell to the no! I had a tough time watching it to the end... So glad I'm not paying for that. I'll gladly watch the animated/ remastered versions of old Who. Unfortunately RTD's second stint is pretty craptastic.

Rating? 1/5 easy. It sucked. Everything was just... Bad.

[Review] Doctor Who: War Games in Colour

So it's been a few years since I reviewed Doctor Who. I just don't see the point in paying for Disney+. However, I got to watch it on DailyMotion.

And I must say that watching these classic Who stories always makes me giddy. The stories rely on characters a lot more than artifice and the "aliens" are often "humans" making the stories relatable. Also, while many of the villains are "obviously" evil, you never know if one of them may have a change of heart.

This story is particularly interesting because it is the Second Doctor's final serial.

The plot is pretty interesting as the Doctor and his companion arrive on a battlefield in 1917... And quickly things go odd. I was sitting down having a blast watching the plot unfold. The companions, Jamie and Zoe, were not overly deep but they got into trouble and both helped and hindered solving the problem. They acted as normal people would. Those companions are simplistic but relatable.

Interestingly, they added a regeneration scene from Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee, ending on the first first scene of "Robot" from 1970... That was a nice touch. They added a few touches like the images of the modern doctors to replace the images used in the 60s.

As usual for Doctor Who, the question I have is: Would I watch it again? Yes.

For a rating... It's so hard because of the low quality of modern Who, making it look like a masterpiece. I think was a strong end to the 2nd Doctor. But is it on par with great series, I'd say yes. So I'll settle on a 4/5. It's very good. Made better by the lore that was added to it by later stories.

[Review] Power of the Doctor

The 13th Doctor's finale has come and gone and after viewing it (once), I feel I have to go over the predictions I posted in a Previous Post and see where this one hit and where it failed.

And where I hit and where I failed.

Let me start by repeating my two main predictions:
- A lot of character, too many for the run time
- A great premise
- An over-convoluted plot
- The Shipper's paradise.

Well... there were a characters. Yup. There were A LOT of them. Both on the good and bad sides. Now... This one played around this, by doing some clever things. First, Dan was pretty much written off right at the start. I was not happy seeing the most interesting character of the crew getting kicked out early. Frown #1. But from that point on, it was great to see old companions, each of them adding to the story and its resolution. Even the final cameos added to the story in a positive way. The appearance of old Doctors was favorite part of it. Their use was clever and added to the plot.

I really think Chibnall was helped by having established characters to use rather than having to build them up (though having seen what he did with Captain Jack, this argument does not really stand). Perhaps it was Tegan, Ace, and Kate who refused to a plot that was pretty lame. I guess I'll never know but whoever edited the script finally said "no" to the worse ideas.

Now if I have a criticism, the daleks had nothing to do here, just over-crowding. They could've been skipped or replaced by the cybermasters without affecting the plot. I would have removed them.

Only Vinder added nothing to the story. His inclusion did not add anything. I still don't know what he was doing in the story.

I am sad that Sacha Dewan is also stepping down as the Master, a bigger loss than Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. I really liked him as he overshadowed the Doctor throughout his tenure. I am hoping he comes back later, similar to when John Simms returned. I thought he was very convincing as Rasputin. And the Master and Rasputin are a match made in heaven.

The great premise... This one I don't think I hit the mark. I can't quite say the premise was particularly great. That said, the premise and the hook are not the same. The hook (or hooks) were actually pretty good and had me wondering where the story was headed from the get-go, but in a good way. It proceeded forward at a good pace, with the plot advancing and characters helping and doing something.

Over-convoluted plot... Yeah I called this one. The plot was pretty convoluted, trying to be overly clever. This is where the story loses points. The whole "Forced Regeneration" thing is unclear... What did it hope to achieve? What was the goal? If the Master became the Doctor, okay... That whole thing made no sense. I just don't see what the end point was. What was up with the two random planets fighting each other? I thought it was Earth and Mondas (home of the Cybermen). Just another random element

The story was filled with winks and nods to classic Who - references that mostly lead nowhere, but that Who-nerds thought was pretty cool. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but it would have been more interesting had such nods happened throughout the season. Also, there is no explanation for the Flux, why half the universe was gone. I guess this whole season is something that will never be mentioned again.

Shipper's paradise. I got this one COMPLETELY wrong. They nodded to it, but did not do much with it. So a big plus.

So in the end, I am not sad that Jodie vanished. I'm not sad the Chibnall era is over. This was without a doubt, the BEST episode of her tenure.

What's your score, JP? I would give this one a solid 3.25/5, which rounds out to a 3/5. I can live with that. The episode was entertaining and most of the plot was good. As much as I wanted to hate it, I found the story was very enjoyable. But with a little time, it is only "fine". I don't hate it that's for sure and think was one of Jodie's best, despite the plot hooks. I expect there is little-to-nothing that will be referenced the era of the 13th Doctor. It will just be ignored and forgotten.

Doctor Who Centennary Predictions

If you haven't been following closely you would never know the finale of Jodie Whittaker. There has been so little leaked about the plot. What we did get are a lot of info about WHO would be in it! (See what I did)

For something that should be a big deal, there has been surprisingly little about it. I guess even the BBC expects this to be so bad they have no intention of supporting it more than they have to. It would be a recurring theme of the Chibnall era: pack too much then the Doctor

And in Chibnall fashion, it is a lot. Let's see:
- The Doctor
- Deadfish expressionless Yaz
- Dan
- Ace (Former companion of 7th Doctor)
- Graham (Former companion of 13th Doctor)
- Teagan (Former companion of 4th and 5th Doctor)
- Kate Stewart
- The Master
- The Daleks
- The Cybermen

See? So we can expect exactly that: every one having equal screen time. So in all fairness, I expect there will be a lot of people standing around or having cameos. The return of Teagan and Ace will not have a significant impact, and they will be relegated to the background, interjecting a few lines in a crowd of people.

Wasted opportunity. Again.

Seems to be the hallmark of this 13th Doctor era. Great premises then too many people all of which must be important when they are not. Fewer characters would provide a better stories...

So I can predict the following: a plot that is convoluted, overly-simple resolution (if any), and with too many characters to have any time to play out.

Oh yeah. And I expect to see the back of my head as my eyes roll with the "resolution" of the Deadfish-Doctor "love angle". Cringe.

So I really do not have any expectations for this one. Unlike the 14th Doctor era where there is a lot of buzz and excitement. Quite a difference in energy.

Prove me wrong, Chibnall.

[Doctor Who] Legend of the Sea Devils Review

Well the "Easter" special has come and gone. I was excited for this one. The return of classic monsters. Pirates. Doctor-13 is about to bite the bullet. A bed showrunner about to leave...

Well... In short, the episode was bland and boring. A lot a don't show but tell. Blah Blah Blah! Omg! A woman pirate! Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah.

Yaz looks as much of a dead fish as ever. No emotion, a confused look with her mouth agape. As terrible as ever.

The Doctor hints at a love affair with her, but clearly neither actor wants to touch the other. These scenes are just awkward, long, and simply seem forced. If this plot point was not shoehorned previously, the relation may have grown into something interesting, with both characters playing off their uncertainty, their doubts.

BUT NO. This forced plot is set amid another massive cast who each fight to participate in the plot. The Pirate Queen, her comic love-interest who should get vengeance upon her, Dead-Fish Yaz, Random-NPC-we-dont-care-about, the Doctor, and Dan. And the sea devils who are around for the better part of 5 seconds. "Oh no! the Sea Devils" and then they are gone. To make it even stupider (at least someone mentions it- reshoot I'm sure), the Pirate Queen HAS NO CREW!

So... the reason for all this craziness is because the Pirate Queen's crew was gone and she needed to pay someone for their return. Now if you do a quick search of Zheng Yi Sao, her life is SUPER EXCITING! With fleets of pirates raiding the Chinese, Portuguese, and British. She would make a great antagonist. But no. Here we have a woman who is good because she is a woman. She could easily just leave and be fine. Another waste.

Now Dan is once again, the only one who seems to enjoy what is happening and do useful things. However, I thought that him killing a half-dozen sea devils in one go. Without anyone saying anything about it afterwards (other than "Cool! Nice!") felt oddly out of place for the show... It's just out of place. Another cop out to explain how a random Liverpool-joe takes out creatures trained to fight for years.

Again, the plot ends up with a situation where either the Doctor or Yaz must sacrifice themselves to defeat the Sea Devils. BUT NO. Random-NPC-we-dont-care-about swoops in at the last moment and saves them. Again, both gals IMMEDIATELY agree and leave.

Truth be told, I fell asleep twice during the second half of the story as I just could not remain focused on what was happening. Rewind. Restart. Forward.

This story was... forgivable. There is no substance there. Now in fairness, it had the potential to be a great adventure but it should've been a two-parter. With the Doctor facing the Pirate Queen in part one (remember the part where I said she fought the Brits?). Perhaps as she and the ship where the Doctor is engage in a race to get to safety as they are pursued by the sea serpent. Let the situation develop. Give the NPCs time to speak build her up. Not simply go "Pirate Queen OMG!" and then we accept her as the bestest evar!

Then part two, the current episode would work because now we know, understand and have a reason to care for the NPCs and the Pirate Queen and give us more impetous to care.

But no. Chibnall can't write action that is not spoken. He can't be bothered to give us a story inspired by a real historical event. He can't give us a story where people have normal feelings. Where they interact with each other normally.

I am SO glad his tenure is ending. Like most other plots, this was a wasted opportunity to do something interesting with a rather unique historical figure. Nope.

I would give this two snoozes but that's not the scale. Frankly, it was not great. It was forgettable and I see no reason to rewatch this episode. I will score this a 2/5 for the wasted potential of the timeframe, the character, and the villains.

[Doctor Who Review] Eve of the Daleks

With the rather bland Flux storyline coming to an end, I was not expecting much. The drop in quality scripts under Chibnall made me very wary about this one and I was really worried this one would be a cringe fest. But let's get into it...

So the plot begins with two people stuck in a storage facility on New Year's Eve, a few moments before midnight. Then, the Doctor, Dan and Deadfish Yaz arrive.

This is a time loop episode. My eyes rolled.

After two loops, I was invested and found myself really into it, wondering "how the heck will they get out of this?" This was the most interested Doctor Who plot I watched in YEARS, easily the best of the Chibnall era.

Now, again we have Yaz who has no personality and really brings nothing to the show other than "Token Indian Woman." She gives some generic sass to Dan but it would've been much more fun if the Doctor had those interaction. So again, she's useless and brings nothing to the show.

Contrast with the quips Dan keeps making - the Manchester vs Liverpool early on was just funny. He comes off as genuine and funny. He is definitely a highlight of the season. Too bad he has been constantly sharing screen time with Deadfish.

The two throwaways are also interesting. Both have relatable problems and issues, and in the end came off as genuine people, something I found was missing in a lot of episode. Although their eventual fate is quite predictable, they go through the first cycles making a lot of sense. I enjoyed them.

The Doctor's plan felt "Doctor-y". It was fine.

Now the biggest let down I have with the episode comes towards the end when Dan makes Yaz realize she has a thing for the Doctor, then tells the Doctor about it. The scene, which could be a character-defining moment, falls flat, and has no heart, no warmth to it, I rolled my eyes in cringe at how bad the scene played out. Another failed attempt at something the should've been a personal highlight. By now, I don't care about Yaz and just want her gone as I will not miss her. Boring. Bland. Without personality.

I really expected to downvote this like crazy, but I was really seriously into it and liked it. So I will give it a 4/5.

Doctor Who Flux - Consolidated Review

I am creating this post to provide a single link to the reviews of the Season.

- Halloween Apocalypse

- War of the Sontarans

- Once, Upon Time

- Village of the Angels

- Survivors of the Flux

- The Vanquishers

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: The Vanquishers

So we are finally at the last part of Doctor Who Flux. Six episodes later and we come to the end. This episode was, to be honest, much better than the previous episodes. I originally thought it was just because it was the end of this but no. I found myself drawn into the story.

The problems plaguing the Chibnall era are still present: too many characters sharing the screen. We have Dan, Dead-fish Yaz, Kate Stewart, Cute Asian and Kinda Black Guy, Dog-Chewbacca, Dan's girlfriend, Prof Jericho, the old man from Liverpool, and three Doctors. So. Many. People.

However, in all fairness here, they all do something to advance the plot, even if sometimes having one of the Doctors with one NPC would create relations and connections. Dan barely speak to the Doctor, and I don't remember any scene where they shared anything that would make them become friends. They adventure together pretty much the same was as a GM saying "so you guys are in a tavern and something happens."

I really find myself wanting more Dan. Yaz sucks the life out of every time she is there.

How they resolve the Flux is just bad. Predictable and boring. So the blue and purple villains as just poofed by another creature we never met - though there are hints of the Master. This was a positive. Just too many things happening at once and resolution are just thrown together so fast. These should've been contained in their own episode.

One scene that proves to me that Chibnall simply can't write heartwarming scenes. In the epilogue again the Doctor tries to have a heartfelt conversation with Yaz who still can't emote. The scene is interrupted by Dan. I expected the scene to show us how the Doctor grew and learned from her previous experience with Graham. But no. Chibnall can't write emotional scenes.

At the end of the episode, I was left with a few questions and wanting to see more. I also wanted for Yaz to leave as she added nothing to the story and her arc over. The confrontation with the final enemy who was just revealed but not really detailed holds promise. There are elements that must be explored and issues still to be resolved. Not a bad point to end a series.

So, despite the many issues I have, when the episode ended, I was looking forward to seeing more and wanting for more resolution. This was the second time I had that feeling, after the Sontaran episode earlier this year.

My final rating? Of the Flux series, it is 3.25 perhaps one of the highest-rated ones. Rounding the score, I give it a 3/5. I may rewatch the episode to see if I missed anything. Despite its many flaws, the episode ended on a somewhat positive note.

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: Survivors of the Flux

As the season keeps crashing down, I keep watching this ever-growin trainwreck of a season, we continue fitting a house boat, a car, and all the garden tools we can on this 10 square feet shed and wondering why things aren't going well.

So the lead-in at the end of the previous episode with the Doctor turning into an angel turns out to just fizzle out. ANOTHER let-down. So in turn, we got nothing new about the angels, nothing interesting.

Most of the episode were a series of monologues where the NPCs speak with the Doctor about their masterplan. Again, Dan and Jericho (another NPC we keep from Village of the Angels) are the only people who have normal reaction. Dead fish Yaz is never affected, surprised, curious, or scared by anything, so she's a waste of screen time.

Add to that Dog-Guy, Cute-Asian, Kinda-Black-Dude, and the blue guy and gal.

The joke-pushing Himalayan hermit was just... BAD. He's making modern-day jokes about gossip. I mean does Chibnall have any concept of time travel or how long paint stays on the group if untended? Nope. When you are trying to set the tone for something catastrophic slapstick and Disney-Channel humor does not help.

Did I forget the many scenes with some other villain we never heard of before. And Kate Stewart, whom I was happy to see whose appearance had gravitas.

Oh yeah, half that time, we get back to the Timeless Children person and keep trying to showhorn that arc into the overall story. To be honest, I expect that to be retconned or simply abandonned later.

So this over-plot is just bad. A mega conspiracy that includes everyone that only the Doctor does not know about. Oh wait, her memories are locked away. Pffff... Everything about this is just BAD.

I cannot wait for the season to end and Flux gets forgotten. This is another episode that should be 2 or 3 and that does not want to drop any character for any reason, or allow the Doctor to experience and discover what is happening and piece together for us in a Sherlock Holmes-like fashion. Instead she looks confused with her upper lip curled as if someone farted on set (that is also Yaz' usual face).

The only survivors of the flux are us, and after watching this, I'm not sure if I don't want to just disappear in it.

1/5 with no care for a rewatch.

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: Village of the Angels

After an episode that I rather enjoyed the previous week, we now jumped into "Village of the Angels". Now, I will say a few things... I think the angels are overdone and have little interesting that can be added to them and their mythology. Well... At the same time, they have not been a direct enemy of a story for year (though they were mentioned or shown briefly throughout this season).

So although I thought I suffered from Angel fatigue, I really dug the idea of them coming back.

So here we get a story of a crazy village in 1967 and 1905 with a missing girl. The story is convoluted, with the angels sending the NPCs to the past. Again, the only person who has human reactions is Dan. Yaz is still a dead fish, and when we find the young girl, she is even calmer and more stoic than a cyberman.

So the girl's family are mere caricatures: neither of the two old people have any redeeming quality about them: they are bad to the girl, they don't really care what happens to her. Then later when they get killed by the angel, we should care? No. No, we don't. If they have been sourly, disciplinarians, and even annoyed that she misbehaved, they might've garnered some sympathy or even a reaction from the cyberman-girl. No one cared but Dan and Yaz (whose eyebrows lifted).

The Doctor now has psychic powers she can use like Spock, and it just gets too much. Why not give those to a companion and give them something more to do. Pfff.

The big reveal at the end, that the angels are minions for a yet-defined group. This feels like a conspiracy that wants to be the Pandorica but less interesting and with too many people sharing the screen.

Again, Cute-Generic-Asian-Girl appears. Just stop. Focus on the essential. Drop Yaz.

All right, after some initial interest and curiosity, that quickly dropped as the story unfolded and I just felt like someone wanted to give me twelve thread at the same time thinking they are all equally important and interesting. But they are not.

So my score? 2/5 with no re-watch. I could not wait for the end of the episode. I dread the ultimate reveal will not be worth the wait.

This one sucked but differently that the previous episodes of this season, while still having too many characters.

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: Once, Upon Time

Well, it had to come. The 3rd episode of Doctor Who Flux came by. and this episode, Once, Upon Time. After the previous episode left me with positive thoughts about the possible direction for the show, now we go into a confused mess of scenes and subplots that are boring and simply uninteresting.

Eye rolling occured frequently throughout.

Again, the episode is filled with too many people with too little to say or do while trying to do too many things all at once. Like a "Buddy Cop Sci-Fi Time Travel Historically-Accurate RomCom with nod to 70s and 90s Horror." You understand that it is just too much to create something interesting.

Except Yaz who looks as interested as I am in eating a bowl of tofu with no seasoning, no sauce, and no way to hide that I'm eating Play-Doh. That girl just phones it in. She has the emotions of a dead fish and the only sequence involving her where she makes a difficult decision is done off-screen. I'm thinking that may be because seeing her act through the

Compared to Whitaker's attempt are coming across as interested or that she understands what's going on (she does not). I'll git it to her that she tries but the material is a confused mess of guh. Again we have Jo Martin (who unlike Whitaker understands what she's trying to do and comes off as a competent character).

Again Dan is the one character who would be interesting in developing but he's drowned in the noise and pointless side-stories of the the useless characters.

Now we have extra black-guy with a subplot to join cute-traveling-asian-girl-with-tamaguchi. I just do not care for these random characters.

CUT OUT THE EXTRAS. Explore these characters with us AND the Doctor, not in an ensemble cast, which Chibnall is incapable of writing and giving us a coherent story. It was as if you had so many random ideas and you flattened them all together... Pfff.

For a score, I will give this ADHD-filled delusion of an episode a 1.5/5, which rounds out to 2/5. A little strong, I think. A clear "NO" on the rewatch.

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: War of the Sontarans

Time for the second episode of the Doctor Who Flux, and an opportunity to see where this plot is going. So let's get into it.

The story begins interestingly enough with the Doctor, Dan and Yaz all appearing in the Crimea (1854-55). And meeting Mary Seacole who is the only level-headed person here.

One of the things this episode really excited me was the return of the Sontarans. Not the bumbling comedy Moffitt gave us. I like the Sontarans and their over-the-top militaristic tough guys approach to everything. It is funny but at the same time terrifying that people may actually think that way. A good point for the villains!

Now what most people remember of the Crimean War is NOT Mary Seacole, but the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade. No reference to it here. Not a word.

All the man are bumbling fools who do random things without concern with repercussions. Pffff... I am so tired of these predictable plots where token characters can be described as "dumb old white guy," or "tough calm intelligent black woman." Lazy writing. To give you an idea, the episode did not spend any time telling us who Mary Seacole is, what she accomplished, why she is important. Nope. You, dumb viewer, SHOULD know who she is. No. Tell me. Use this in the story.

But no. we just get the same preachy bullcrap where the woman is right, good, and intelligent while the officer is completely idiotic, listening to no advice or intelligence from anyone.

Now after a trip to Wikipedia informed and now I'm actually even MORE disappointed in how she was used in the story. Rather than have the Doctor ask her to catalog and merely look at the Sontarans, have the diary. In case you did not know, she kept an extensive diary complete with illustrations that was turned into an autobiography.

I will say that at the end, when the Sontaran ships exploded and the officer claimed the credit for it, I cheered. "By Jove, you saved your world!" Then the Doctor chewed him out and I just wanted her to STFU. Instead of just displacing TIME-TRAVELLING SHIPS, he destroyed them.

Yes. Destroying TIME-TRAVELLING SHIPS is the only way to ensure they won't come back (in time) and take you over.

Good work, Dumb Old White Guy!

Dan on the other hand, gets an interesting subplot where he travels to modern-day Liverpool where the Sontarans are building time ships. He does some sneaking around. All the while trying to convince himself that this is crazy. You know, a real person's reaction. He is truly the high point.

Yaz is a talentless actress without any range of emotion who always looks confused or disdainful. Don't care about her. Yaz is just surplus at this point. She adds nothing, has no meaningful arc and will not evolve, change, or mature before the camera. She is "tough cop Indian woman".

I love the fact the his aging parents are the ones who teach him how to take down the Sontarans. It is just so funny. I really like Dan and what little we have seen of his girlfriend, family, and subplot overall so far. A high point.

The space-guy Vinder is window-dressing. Just someone else to steal away screen time. He's "fine" but really provides nothing of interest.

So despite all my moaning and griping about what I did not like about it. This episode is actually pretty decent and fun. The pacing is good, the side-stories advance the overall plot. We learn more about Dan. I will definitely rate this one a re-watchable 3/5.

"By Jove, you saved your world!"

[Review] Doctor Who Flux: Halloween Apocalypse

Okay so I decided I would watch and review Doctor Who's thirteenth season called "Doctor Who Flux." I giggled when I saw the name but Flux can mean diarrhea in French. So let's see if this proved to be prophetic.

Quite frankly, the episode, call "The Halloween Apocalypse" opens on a bad CGI scene where the Doctor and Yaz are hanging from a flying thingy. It is pretty obvious neither actress cared for the situation because they both looked bored, jaded, and unimpressed. And no surprise, they escape through some shenanigans that left me unimpressed and bored.

The rest of the show goes at a break-neck speed introducing villains we should be afraid in spite of us not known who they were. Truth be told, I got the impression that I was watching the introduction to a long movie.

Highlights: John Bishop is a breath of fresh air. He comes across as genuine, for his reactions are "normal" as he is curious, worried, afraid, intrigued, and his thick accent is just fun and interesting. In just a few scenes, he comes out as fleshed out and interesting. He's "one of the lads" and a Liverpool boy through and through.

- The Dog People. I think the basic idea of their relation to mankind was a really funny trick and I'll admit that I smiled at that reveal.

Low-Points: Well... Let

- In an effort to present Mandip Gill as a rough and tough character, she comes across as a jaded, uninterested bitch whose only expression is one of contempt. Whereas before we had three companions of which Graham was the (potentially) most interesting, now Yaz gets no on-screen development. She is the "tough" chick who is the equivalent to the Doctor. Heck, she even helps fly the TARDIS, something which some better, more developed companions like Rose, Amy and Rory, or Clara didn't do, or very little of. I can't wait for her to go.

- The Doctor is just neurotic, providing exposition, but not really. She now is hit by psychic powers/ premonitions on a constant basis.

- Too much foreshadowing in one episode, which makes this episode a gathering of too many short scenes to let us know the Sontarans, the Weeping Angels, and Gem-head will be antagonists. I thought the foreshadow by John Barrowman was a MUCH better way because it was concise and gave all the details in a few short sentences.

- Other than a few lines about "Trick or Treat, Doctor", it had very little to do with Halloween.

- The Dog People joke went on just a tad too long here without resolution.

So what are we stuck with in the end? A big block of random scenes and characters that make little sense so far. From the moment I decided this was the start of a big long movie, I began to appreciate it more. Knowing this season will be six episodes, we can guess:
- 1 Sontarans
- 1 Weeping Angels
- 1 Dog People
- 1 Gem-head
- 1 Fixing the Tardis/Flux

... and that's a season.

So the reason this felt like all of this was crammed together almost feels like Chibnall did not have enough material for one episode so he added scenes.

Frankly, I would've like to have some character development for Yaz, but token "tough Indian chick" is about all she will ever be from now on.

So my rating... I waffled on this one. It is a solid 2.5/5, worse than a 3 and better than 2. The final rating will depend on following episodes. So for now, I will round up to a 3. Against myself, I found myself surprised and smiling (the Dog People, I really liked).

Would I watch again? Maybe. My answer is not a "no".

Doctor Who: The Tardis

Continuing Will's collection of Doctor Who characters and mini-scenery with the Tardis, inside and out. I decided to take "action pictures" where the Doctor and his companions are just about to head out on an adventure.

Starting inside, the Doctor and his companions discuss where they are: a strange new planet. This scene inside the Tardis features the control panel. Painting some random indicators, graphs and colorful buttons. Two things annoyed me as I painted this. First, I had no idea how to base the model. It was not outside, but INSIDE. And from my memory, the TARDIS floor is plain white. Maybe I could've used a smaller base... But now that it is done, I really like the larger and stabler base.

The Tardis posed an interesting challenge as a painter. It is monochromatic, all blue. So what I did was to start with a darker blue and then using wet overbrush, I made at least four layers. The result is a multi-layered blue that is impossible to capture on camera. Then I did the "Police" headers, then the light atop the Tardis, and finished with the glass panes.

I had a kick-ass Tardis in need of a base. I left it alone for a while as I thought about what I would do.

As I finished the rest of the minis, I decided how I wanted to paint the bases. My inspiration was "Skarro" during Genesis of the Daleks, my favorite serial of all time. (See a picture of the planet nearby) I used a base of dark grey, then very light grey for highlights with scattered tufts of flock to represent the low grass and brushes.

However, for the TARDIS, I decided to add odd-colored water, presenting the TARDIS as it landed in puddles. I started a real water color but used a series of different colors to make it look alien. I must say the final result is awesome and made me want to ask "where are we now?" and "What happened here?" Isn't that the prelude to a good Doctor Who episode?

Two Doctor Who Companions: Leela and K-9

Continuing Will's Doctor Who miniatures with two iconic and beloved characters: K-9 the robot dog and Leela the prehistoric woman.

K-9 is a snarky robot dog (little to do with the short-lived Australian TV-show of the same name). K-9 was a multi-purpose dog that had a laser in its "nose" and could scan many things. Now K-9 was a fun character who alternated between a super-useful tool and another damsel-in-distress. K-9 later returned in the modern era where he was part of the cast of the Sarah Janes Chronicles.

Leela is a woman from the future descending from a space expedition. She was a tough woman always ready to stab people with her knife. She played the role of a savage/prehistoric woman. Her violent side contrasted sharply with the Doctor in a fun and interesting dichotomy.

Doctor Who Companions: Nyssa and Romana I

Continuing the work on Will's Doctor Who collection...

These two are characters come from late in the 4th Doctor's run. Nyssa and Romana I.

Romana (I) was a female Time Lord who travelled with the Doctor for a few years. She was played by two actresses: Mary Tamm (Romana I) wanted to have a tough woman as a counterpart to the Doctor. However, most of her stories made her a damsel in distress. She was later replaced by Lalla Ward (Romana II) who played the character lightheartedly giving Romana a playful aspect. Romana is one of the characters many fans are hoping will return to the show.

Nyssa was a scientist from another planet who was to be a one-off character but who enventually stayed on as a companion. I will admit to prefer Romana to her as she did was drowned in that massive amount of companions (sounds familiar?). Unlike the modern "Fam," Nyssa's background and training as a scientist gave her something different (until the much-reviled Audric showed up).

I did not realize how uneven her eyes were until I was done... :(

Doctor Who Minis: The 4th Doctor

After finishing work on Will's Tau army, he handed me some "surprise minis". When he pulled out that white USPS (US Postal Service) box, I was a little wary. What was he going to pull out there? It took only a second for me to recognize the models.

Is there someone more Iconic as Doctor Who than Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor? Okay, okay, David Tennant. But is there anyone else? Okay, I can give you Matt Smith... But is there anyone else? No. No, there isn't. His big floppy hat, the scarf, the jacket, the smile, the jelly babie.

This miniature from Black Tree is awesome and capture the energy of the character perfectly. If I am truly honest, I dreaded painting him because I was afraid of not doing a good job. But the end result looks awesome. The scarf came out great and full of movement. Really proud of this guys

[Review] Revolution of the Dalek

All right, it has been a few months since we had any Doctor Who and I was excited to get a new episode, a "New Year Special." So let's get into this one...

So, the story open with a flashback to the 2019 New Year Special, before I was rating the episodes, so I had to use Wikipedia to refresh my memory. You know, these episodes are SO memorable that I completely forgot about it. I may have been asleep when that happened. Likely.

But fine, you have daleks, you have my interest.

Then we have the series' one-dimensional (like everything in DW today) Trump-slot-alike who takes the destroyed dalek casing and begins to manufacture them... BY 3D printing them! *EYE ROLL*

Now at this point I was sound asleep. No joke. I slept from 11pm to about 6am on my couch. At 6am, I got up, went to my bed, and slept another two and a half hours before waking up. Deep, restful sleep, I must add.

So... In the morning, I restarted the show, this time sitting at the computer, to avoid falling asleep.

From there, we have a corrupt politician woman dealing in secret with Trump-slot-alike, who half-tells her and she may become prime minister. *EYE ROLL*

Then, I will say the escape from the judoon prison with Captain Jack was pretty cool, if a little rushed.

From then on, EVERYTHING seemed rushed and in a hurry to get nowhere, and when we got there, we got the tear-jerker for 15 minutes. Let me list:

- Jack Harkness is drowned in the ensemble cast who have to share the screen. Why not ONLY use him, a fan-favorite rather than use him for a few bits, then waste him. HECK in his first appearance he warned the Doctor about something. Then here, he just shrugged with a "you shouldn't have done it." WHAT??? Wasted opportunity

- With the Doctor in a prison, having a fun prison-break episode where Jack, Yaz, Graham, and Ryan seek the Doctor and break her out. OR have an episode with only the Doctor and Jack? That would have been cool, move them to another city and begin the plot where "the fam searches for her." Wasted opportunity

- The Trump-slot-alike has no redeeming quality, to the point of being an unfunny caricature of a person. He has no morals, qualms, or anything. He is "evil straight white man industrialist." It would have been fun to have him use his evil bastard skills to help the Doctor. Failed opportunity

- The dalek vs dalek takes 2 seconds then is done. "We destroyed the mutant daleks." And that was it. Litterally 2 minutes total. No Battle of Canary Wharf or anything that would strike the imagination. A bad shoot out at the OK Corral and the SAS daleks win. Failed opportunity

- There is a MASSIVE battle cruiser over some town, they blow it up, but nothing happens: no debris, no cameras, no footage, no perspective from other people. Again, if we don't care about the crew, why should we care when nothing happens to random people? Wasted opportunity

- Then to make things worse... we have 10-15 minutes at the end where Ryan and Graham leave. I was sad for Graham but fine Ryan, leave. We can catch up with them two later, perhaps a one-off episode where they run into Sally Sparrow Or something. But nah, they are gone and we were meant to cry at the end. I was sad for the first two minutes, but then I just wanted it to end. Wasted opportunity

- Whenever the Doctor speaks to someone that is not Yaz, she is moralizing, preachy, self-righteous, bossy, and frankly I would want the others to tell her off. She is bipolar, going from severe (and understandable) self-doubts to supremely confident and preachy. PICK ONE. Wasted opportunity

- Quite frankly, like the whole season this episode felt rushed. Like he had four episodes: mutant daleks vs pure daleks, Captain Jack, prison break, and the Fam finding the Doctor. Each could have made decent episodes with action and personal investment. But nah... RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN then cry for 15 minutes. Oh I forgot to mention the telegraphing scene in the middle where Ryan talks to the Doctor about "you are who you are but you changed along the way." The sort of wishy-washy bullcrap you can get from a self-help book.

- With a title like this one, I would expect to discover something new about the daleks. But no. Nothing happens. Wasted opportunity

As you can see... this was another episode on par with the rest of the season. Rushed and frankly full of wasted subplots resolved in a line or two.

John Barrowman's presence and excellence as Captain Jack was well worth re-watching it, and the characters of Ryan and Graham who despite the drawn-out ending turned out to be fun and well-rounded characters (they have flaws unlike the perfect Yaz).

My rating: I will settle on a 3/5. I arrived at this rating by looking at the other episodes and how I enjoyed them (the pleasure of keeping track of my ratings).

Would I re-watch? Maybe, but with a lot of fast-forwarding. Most likely no.

[Doctor Who Review] 12-10 Timeless Child

The season finale... The moment when we expect to learn a lot of new things and tie together the odd threads of the season.

So... The Master returns. And the Cybermen. And Rusty. And the forgettable NPCs. And the massive crew of companions. And this old guy they met at the end of the previous episode.

I expected this old guy to have an interesting story or tweak, or plot hook that would change the situation and surprise the Doctor in some way. Something that would make you go hmm with the reveal they were heading to Gallifrey... But as usual this season, no. Forgettable, useless, meaningless people. I care more about the red shirt who died in that episode of Original Star Trek than any of them.

No... I like the companions. I'd like 'em more if they were not always there all at the same time. These guys are cool.

This episode was just the worse of all. All the good will the series gained in the previous episode turned stupid within the first five minutes. The Doctor forcing the mobs of NPCs to stay behind and face the Cybermen "because".

The Master killed all the Time Lords and destroyed Gallifrey. (Wow! WTF!)

Then the Cyberlords idea was just stupid. (eye roll)

Then the "death particle" idea was telegraphed, stupid, and just plain unimaginative. (eyes blinked, then closed.)

And the re-imagination of the Timelord history was terrible. This "Doctor is immortal" and "the Time Lords all descend from Doctor DNA" made me say out loud "BOVINE SCATOLOGY! WHAT A LOAD OF CROCK" of course, with more French Canadian color wherein most of what can be seen in a church was named. Repeatedly. Julie even said "If it is that stupid, why are you still watching?" (this made me angry)

But the biggest eye roll was when the unnamed NPC came in at the last minute and sacrificed himself for the Doctor. Convenient. Unimaginative and o-so boring. (Colorful French Canadian curses thrown at the TV)

I thought that guy may be some forgotten time lord or something. Nope, just another red shirt NPC there to save the Doctor. Her sacrifice was the one thing I thought would'a made sense. But no... Again, cheapening anything with meaning, like the gay astronaut's husband's sacrifice. Cheap.

I expected the Doctor to be ready to die and have Jack Harkness show up and save her against her will. That would have been something to make my eyes open, sit at the edge of my seat and go "Woah, what just happen?" But like almost every time this season, the answer is no.

Then right at the end when all the crew returns to Earth and the Doctor is alone in the Tardis, the Judoon appear. IN THE TARDIS and take her away to a jail cell "somewhere". Now that is just crap and stupid. The Tardis should be inviolable, not breachable by random, minor aliens.

Still putting the Doctor in jail made me smile. "Maybe she's gone and we can have a good Doctor," I thought wishfully. But I am wrong, she'll be back.

So for the rating. This was full of stupid from start to finish. Not only the stupid but the wasted opportunity. And if I did not commit to writing a review for each episode, I would NOT have written this one. 1/5. I'm not re-watching this again.

[Doctor Who Review] 12.9 Ascencion of the Cybermen

With the ending of "Haunting", I was again excited about a story that continued the plot line with the Cybermen. Final part of the mid-season Marathon...

Intro with a voice over... Yawn.

Then the Doctor and the companions again meet more people they will travel with. The new forgettable NPCs explain they are escapees trying to escape the Cybermen and they have no weapons (of course). One element that made me smile is that the Doctor and companion set up anti-Cybermen weapons that are based on classic episode such as their allergy to gold.

The Cybermen led by the rusted one from "Haunting" is back and he attacks the trash heap with two others. I would've expected the Cybermen to move in with overwhelming numbers: why send three when a hundred will do the job?

The weapons/defenses are completely useless, are swept away in a second - took more time to set them up and explain them than to rid of them. Again, like the rest of the season, instead of taking some time to give us a reason to care/learn about the red shirt NPCs, we go right into action. So when the NPCs die, I just couldn't care. This would've been a good opportunity to give them a personality, a reason for survival, and skills. Have the defenses force out the Cybermen while the crew interacts with the NPCs instead of the predictable deaths.

Then we have a convoluted plot where the crew travels to a place where they can reach safety with the NPCs. We're not really sure WHY this would send them to safety or even what it is. I'm fine to sit through because I expect this to be a lead-in to the finale.

Eventually the Doctor reaches the boundary where some dude shows her it leads to Gallifrey. Immediate mixed feelings.

- There are three active Cybermen but two shuttles... Why? Oh yeah! To give the Doctor a way to escape.

- A number of events happen I do not quite get: why did the Rusty One saw the Cybermen when they should obey their leader. This is something I expect will lead to a lot of speculation. Is Rusty a Cyberman made with non-human stock? Like a Time Lord?

- The Irish side plot is clearly a set-up which I hope we will know where this leads later (in the next episode).

- The appearance of the Master at the end did not fill me with joy, I groaned. Just feels like more people sharing the screen and crowding the screen even more.

In all, this episode is one that sets up the season's climax and about as many subplots happen as an episode of early Game of Thrones. So I asked myself, "How do you rate your enjoyment?" and I settled on a 3. I expected more but the issues did not detract from my enjoyment.

Would I re-watch? Maybe (not a definite no).

Rating: 3/5