The Time of the Doctor - Meta/Review
Dec. 31st, 2013 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinally got around to seeing the Doctor Who Christmas special - being unable to see it over the holidays due to being with family.
Mixed feelings regarding the episode. I can see why a lot of RT Davies fans (including the former minister of my church who was whining about Moffat on Face Book) aren't Stephen Moffat fans - the two have quite different writing styles. Moffat tends to be more intellectual with his plot arcs, while Davies is more emotional. Taken too far, the intellectual plot arc can become overly convoluted and a bit far-fetched, with the characters feeling like mere pawns moved to and throw for the mechanics of the plot. While the emotional arc, again, taken too far, can become overly melodramatic, manipulative, and fall into sentimentality. Where the plot often feels like a mere contrivance to produce an emotional response in the audience, or to preach a specific message or theme. While Davies at times falls into manipulative sentimentality and melodramatic moralizing, at the cost of both his characters and the plot ("the End of Time" is a perfect example), Moffat falls into cold overly-convoluted plot arcs, which are difficult to follow without a map, and far too much meta or self-referencing, at the cost of his characters and theme. It's a wee bit difficult to understand the theme if you are still lost in the plot or your suspension of disbelief jumped out of the window mid-way through. (The constant meta references to "Doctor Who" and the reference to RT Davie's ending for the 10th Doctor : "Well, the 10th Doctor regenerated twice, I had vanity issues at that stage and kept the same face." LOL!). If "The End of Time" exhibited Davies flaws, "Time of the Doctor" exhibited Moffat's.
In addition, you have the contrasting acting styles of Matt Smith (the Eleventh or is that Twelth Doctor - even the Doctor appears to be confused on this point) and David Tennant (10th Doctor). Tennant tends to be a far more emotional actor than Smith. He emotes with his entire body. And is far less jerky with his mannerisms. Smith is far more intellectual with his portrayal (I don't know if this is the actor or how he is being written). And a bigger man (or so he appears to be), tends to move his hands and legs around a lot. Of the two, Tennant's performance felt more contained physically, and he emoted more with his eyes and face, while Smith tended to be far more physical. Both are quite good in the role. But I admittedly preferred Tennant, who for some reason was able to touch my heart, while Smith never quite accomplishes it. Tennant manages to get across a great deal with just the lift of an eyebrow or the quirk of a smile or his eyes, while Smith has to use his whole body. Smith's style reminds me more of Peter O'Toole - theaterical. While Tennant is a bit more like Richard Burton, contained.
Time of the Doctor Review
Anywho...that said, I did like the episode. Particularly the ending...where The Doctor tells Clara in response to her plea not to change or in her view "die":
Times Change, so must I. We all change when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay. That's good. You've got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people you used to be. I will not forget one line of this, I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.
This clearly was the main point of the arc. But getting there was a convoluted mess. For some reason, Moffat felt the need to include all the villains, but none of the former companions. A direct contrast to RT Davies End of Time finale. We have the silence, the darleks, the cybermen, and the weeping angels. The result is managing to make them seem less scary and less of a threat. On the other hand, pulling them together did provide a sense of closure and answered various questions - clearly everything the 11th Doctor had done lead to this final battle. And his real name or rather the disclosure of his real name would enable the Time Lords and Gallifrey to break through the crack into the Doctor's current universe, resulting in a restart of the Time War. Silence has fallen - means that the Doctor will not be able to say his name. They are preventing him from doing so - in order to prevent the war from continuing.
From a metaphorical standpoint, it is still convoluted, but each villain represents a flaw in the Doctor or humanity.
* Weeping Angels - strand people in time, and disrupt time. The Doctor and his Tardis have the same ability - the ability to strand people in time or disrupt it.
* Darleks - play god, they want to destroy everything that isn't like themselves or lives up to their standards.
* Cybermen - want to change people to become like them, automated, efficent, coldly intelligent. Robots.
* The Silence - you confess everything, but forget. Have these experiences but remember nothing. The Doctor erasing the adventures from his companion. I was never here.
The Doctor's ship tore a crack in the universe, providing the Time Lords with the means to re-enter. So those who were against this occurrence (mainly everyone the Time Lords were at war with), conspired to stop the Doctor from bringing the Time Lords back. They engineered a psychopath - River Song (who fell in love with the Doctor and saved him instead), exploded the universe, trapped the Doctor, and attempted on various occasions to kill him. Never quite succeeding, until he came to Treslinor (sp?) and fought a final battle in a town called Christmas for 300 years. (The metaphor of the battle being fought in a town called Christmas - may be about our religious wars. Or the fights we have over the idea of Christmas and what it means?)
The interesting bit about the town called Christmas - is no one can lie there. It's always winter, with snow on the ground. And the villagers are garbed in Victorian dress. Almost Dicksenian in its portrayal. Also the idea of Christmas is fought over by folks. People who are not Christian, take issue with the meaning of the holiday and prefer to celebrate it as merely a change in seasons, adopting the customs (Xmas tree, presents, lights, music, santa, but ignoring the religious aspects). While those who are Christian, take issue with people who celebrate the traditions of Christmas but appear in doing so to mock its meaning - feeling somehow that they are being disingenuous. (ie. pretending to be Christians, when they aren't. From their perspective, I guess, it would sort of be like celebrating Yom Kippur or Passover but not believing in any of it.) Hence, the spell that no one can lie here in a Town called Christmas. I think the metaphor of the 300 year battle in a town called Christmas may be in reference to that.
Clara notably is stuck in an eternal loop of cooking a Christmas dinner for her family. It's the first time we've seen them. She's living in a nondescript and rather depressing apartment building. And when the Doctor arrives, rushes down a series of outdoor steps to greet him. He is her made-up boyfriend, who she has invited to Christmas dinner. But he arrives naked - because as he states one must be naked to go to church. A religious connotation - that we are naked in the eyes of God, without clothes, or gadgets, or toys. Also another reference to telling the truth - naked of all deceit or concealment - to get around this, the Doctor shaves his head and wears a wig to conceal a key to the tardis, which the church over looks.
For Clara, who is unable to deal with whole nakedness bit, the Doctor creates a hologram that has him wearing clothing, he just forgets to ensure her relatives see that hologram as well. They stay for mere seconds, before he whisks her off in his time machine. The excuse being that she can cook the turkey faster in the time machine. From the relatives' perspective they are gone seconds before the Doctor returns her yet again, but doesn't join her. Upset that he's left her, she clings to the Tardis which drags her back through space and time...slowing its journey back to Christmas Town and the Doctor, where 300 years have passed for the Doctor but not for either Clara or the Tardis.
So Clara, who has spent the entire episode attempting to get away from her relatives and drab life...and desperately wants change, except where the Doctor is concerned, is more than a little depressed to discover the only thing that will change is the Doctor. Clara, herself, remains more or less the same. She has not moved forward, while he has. Even if it took 300 years for him to do it. Also, time has moved forward for the Doctor, while it has stood still for Clara and to a degree her relatives. He ages, she doesn't. A reversal, normally it's the opposite. And perhaps that's the point - the fact that the Doctor gets to age, grow older, fight for 300 years in a town where it is always Christmas, and always winter, provides him with the insight - that change is a good thing. That we need to change.
And move forward. And running away from it is not always the best approach. By being forced to stay put, while Clara has been drug around, the Doctor has grown and changed, while she remains forever young and unchanged.
Interesting episode, just a wee bit too convoluted for its length - packed full with various and sundry metaphors - but like it or not, that's Moffat.
Mixed feelings regarding the episode. I can see why a lot of RT Davies fans (including the former minister of my church who was whining about Moffat on Face Book) aren't Stephen Moffat fans - the two have quite different writing styles. Moffat tends to be more intellectual with his plot arcs, while Davies is more emotional. Taken too far, the intellectual plot arc can become overly convoluted and a bit far-fetched, with the characters feeling like mere pawns moved to and throw for the mechanics of the plot. While the emotional arc, again, taken too far, can become overly melodramatic, manipulative, and fall into sentimentality. Where the plot often feels like a mere contrivance to produce an emotional response in the audience, or to preach a specific message or theme. While Davies at times falls into manipulative sentimentality and melodramatic moralizing, at the cost of both his characters and the plot ("the End of Time" is a perfect example), Moffat falls into cold overly-convoluted plot arcs, which are difficult to follow without a map, and far too much meta or self-referencing, at the cost of his characters and theme. It's a wee bit difficult to understand the theme if you are still lost in the plot or your suspension of disbelief jumped out of the window mid-way through. (The constant meta references to "Doctor Who" and the reference to RT Davie's ending for the 10th Doctor : "Well, the 10th Doctor regenerated twice, I had vanity issues at that stage and kept the same face." LOL!). If "The End of Time" exhibited Davies flaws, "Time of the Doctor" exhibited Moffat's.
In addition, you have the contrasting acting styles of Matt Smith (the Eleventh or is that Twelth Doctor - even the Doctor appears to be confused on this point) and David Tennant (10th Doctor). Tennant tends to be a far more emotional actor than Smith. He emotes with his entire body. And is far less jerky with his mannerisms. Smith is far more intellectual with his portrayal (I don't know if this is the actor or how he is being written). And a bigger man (or so he appears to be), tends to move his hands and legs around a lot. Of the two, Tennant's performance felt more contained physically, and he emoted more with his eyes and face, while Smith tended to be far more physical. Both are quite good in the role. But I admittedly preferred Tennant, who for some reason was able to touch my heart, while Smith never quite accomplishes it. Tennant manages to get across a great deal with just the lift of an eyebrow or the quirk of a smile or his eyes, while Smith has to use his whole body. Smith's style reminds me more of Peter O'Toole - theaterical. While Tennant is a bit more like Richard Burton, contained.
Time of the Doctor Review
Anywho...that said, I did like the episode. Particularly the ending...where The Doctor tells Clara in response to her plea not to change or in her view "die":
Times Change, so must I. We all change when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay. That's good. You've got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people you used to be. I will not forget one line of this, I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.
This clearly was the main point of the arc. But getting there was a convoluted mess. For some reason, Moffat felt the need to include all the villains, but none of the former companions. A direct contrast to RT Davies End of Time finale. We have the silence, the darleks, the cybermen, and the weeping angels. The result is managing to make them seem less scary and less of a threat. On the other hand, pulling them together did provide a sense of closure and answered various questions - clearly everything the 11th Doctor had done lead to this final battle. And his real name or rather the disclosure of his real name would enable the Time Lords and Gallifrey to break through the crack into the Doctor's current universe, resulting in a restart of the Time War. Silence has fallen - means that the Doctor will not be able to say his name. They are preventing him from doing so - in order to prevent the war from continuing.
From a metaphorical standpoint, it is still convoluted, but each villain represents a flaw in the Doctor or humanity.
* Weeping Angels - strand people in time, and disrupt time. The Doctor and his Tardis have the same ability - the ability to strand people in time or disrupt it.
* Darleks - play god, they want to destroy everything that isn't like themselves or lives up to their standards.
* Cybermen - want to change people to become like them, automated, efficent, coldly intelligent. Robots.
* The Silence - you confess everything, but forget. Have these experiences but remember nothing. The Doctor erasing the adventures from his companion. I was never here.
The Doctor's ship tore a crack in the universe, providing the Time Lords with the means to re-enter. So those who were against this occurrence (mainly everyone the Time Lords were at war with), conspired to stop the Doctor from bringing the Time Lords back. They engineered a psychopath - River Song (who fell in love with the Doctor and saved him instead), exploded the universe, trapped the Doctor, and attempted on various occasions to kill him. Never quite succeeding, until he came to Treslinor (sp?) and fought a final battle in a town called Christmas for 300 years. (The metaphor of the battle being fought in a town called Christmas - may be about our religious wars. Or the fights we have over the idea of Christmas and what it means?)
The interesting bit about the town called Christmas - is no one can lie there. It's always winter, with snow on the ground. And the villagers are garbed in Victorian dress. Almost Dicksenian in its portrayal. Also the idea of Christmas is fought over by folks. People who are not Christian, take issue with the meaning of the holiday and prefer to celebrate it as merely a change in seasons, adopting the customs (Xmas tree, presents, lights, music, santa, but ignoring the religious aspects). While those who are Christian, take issue with people who celebrate the traditions of Christmas but appear in doing so to mock its meaning - feeling somehow that they are being disingenuous. (ie. pretending to be Christians, when they aren't. From their perspective, I guess, it would sort of be like celebrating Yom Kippur or Passover but not believing in any of it.) Hence, the spell that no one can lie here in a Town called Christmas. I think the metaphor of the 300 year battle in a town called Christmas may be in reference to that.
Clara notably is stuck in an eternal loop of cooking a Christmas dinner for her family. It's the first time we've seen them. She's living in a nondescript and rather depressing apartment building. And when the Doctor arrives, rushes down a series of outdoor steps to greet him. He is her made-up boyfriend, who she has invited to Christmas dinner. But he arrives naked - because as he states one must be naked to go to church. A religious connotation - that we are naked in the eyes of God, without clothes, or gadgets, or toys. Also another reference to telling the truth - naked of all deceit or concealment - to get around this, the Doctor shaves his head and wears a wig to conceal a key to the tardis, which the church over looks.
For Clara, who is unable to deal with whole nakedness bit, the Doctor creates a hologram that has him wearing clothing, he just forgets to ensure her relatives see that hologram as well. They stay for mere seconds, before he whisks her off in his time machine. The excuse being that she can cook the turkey faster in the time machine. From the relatives' perspective they are gone seconds before the Doctor returns her yet again, but doesn't join her. Upset that he's left her, she clings to the Tardis which drags her back through space and time...slowing its journey back to Christmas Town and the Doctor, where 300 years have passed for the Doctor but not for either Clara or the Tardis.
So Clara, who has spent the entire episode attempting to get away from her relatives and drab life...and desperately wants change, except where the Doctor is concerned, is more than a little depressed to discover the only thing that will change is the Doctor. Clara, herself, remains more or less the same. She has not moved forward, while he has. Even if it took 300 years for him to do it. Also, time has moved forward for the Doctor, while it has stood still for Clara and to a degree her relatives. He ages, she doesn't. A reversal, normally it's the opposite. And perhaps that's the point - the fact that the Doctor gets to age, grow older, fight for 300 years in a town where it is always Christmas, and always winter, provides him with the insight - that change is a good thing. That we need to change.
And move forward. And running away from it is not always the best approach. By being forced to stay put, while Clara has been drug around, the Doctor has grown and changed, while she remains forever young and unchanged.
Interesting episode, just a wee bit too convoluted for its length - packed full with various and sundry metaphors - but like it or not, that's Moffat.
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Date: 2013-12-31 07:41 pm (UTC)Because I see them almost the opposite way. Of course Matt is very physical, acting with his whole body. But emotionally he [or Eleven, I suppose I should say] is a lot more contained. Ten bleeds his feelings all over, whereas Eleven very, very rarely shows how deep his emotions run. (One of the very few instances is the loss of Amy, or when he says goodbye to the TARDIS - and in the latter case, he gets himself under control fairly quickly.) For me it makes Eleven someone who resonates far more, and his goodbye to little Amelia (in The Big Bang) carries far more emotional weight than Ten's big sad eyes.
(Don't get me wrong, Tennant is very very very good at those big sad eyes. He's like Alexis Denishof in that regard, about whom
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Date: 2013-12-31 08:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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