Doctor Who Social Club

Oh boo. New Who just got dropped by all major streaming services here without warning; I no longer have a place to watch legitimately. Simultaneously, a separate, free "service" for streaming shows that I may or may not have used has shut down. What a bad week for this to happen, I was very much looking forward to this one. I will try to figure something out so I can continue to join the rewatch.

EDIT: Just got done watching in about no-hundred-and-40p.

While I personally don't enjoy Moffat as a showrunner, he's excellent as a writer of episodic TV and that certainly shows here. My preference for the kind of low-budget jank Who is completely overridden by this episode, which has very high production values and is excellent. When I think of the Ninth Doctor, this two-parter is the first thing that comes to mind. It's the best kind of eerie and does a good job introducing all of the elements you'll need to understand even if you dropped headfirst into this episode.

It's funny how little genre-savvy Rose has here. A small child yelling "Muuuuuuuuummyyyyyyy" into the night is very rarely a good sign, but Rose is off like a rocket, trying to get as close to the scary nightmare child as possible, ASAP. But maybe kids calling for their mummies were less scary before this episode aired. Ultimately, though, it leads her into a story that's a different kind of creepy. Everyone else already said it, but her B-plot with Jack/Barrowman is the weakest part of the episode.

Barrowman's ... let's say "confidence", shines through in the character and doesn't acquit either very well. I'm probably a bad fan in that I never watched Torchwood, so all of my familiarity with Jack Harkness comes from his handful of Who episodes. Maybe I'd find him more likeable if I had more time with the character, but I don't feel like I ever warmed to him as much as the show hoped. It's not fair to compare anybody, anywhere to Harrison Ford, but as much as he might like to be, Jack Harkness is no Han Solo.

Getting back to the better part of the episode, Florence Hoath's Nancy is fantastic throughout. She's believably hardened by life in the blitz while her deeply sensitive nature beats along just below the surface. The episode is properly engrossing in all of her scenes and she's even able to carry some without any of our leads around. Surprisingly, she retired from acting around 2008; these days, she's a pre-school-targeted YouTuber, i.e. singing nursery rhymes and stuff.

The gas mask transformation is still incredibly effective. It's only a little bit wibbly-wobbly-2005y-wimey. Contrast it against Adam's head-hole a couple of weeks ago and this looks years ahead. It's aided by the capable performance of Richard Wilson as Dr. Constantine immediately prior. Great episode. If not for "Rose" already doing the job well, this would be a solid recommendation for new fans to see if they like what the show has to offer, because this remains some of the best.

Watching this episode for the first time really creeped me out as a kid, and has given me a lifelong thing about gas masks. They did a great job on the writing and direction in this episode, my only note there was at times the background music was a bit too much. It might have been scarier if it was a bit quieter. The CGI on the transformation at the very end still looks pretty good - Creepy as hell.

The story of the homeless kids that have run away is really touching - especially how Nancy tries to raise them politely despite everything going on. The kid who ran away says "there was a man" and I never clocked this when I was watching this as a kid, but re-watching as an adult, it says everything without going into unnecessary graphic detail.

I remembered this being Jack's introduction, I don't remember him being as insufferable. The first time we see him, he's introduced as basically the classic caricature of a perv with binoculars. In this episode he comes across as very unlikeable.

The fact that rose is so smitten with him makes no sense to me, especially given how negatively she reacted to Adam behaving in a similar "sidling up with you just to scam you" way recently. Rose spends much of the episode complaining that the doctor is not "spock" enough, doesn't have gadgets, but he has all the same gadgets as Jack, right down to the space binoculars, just is more selective with when to use them. I don't understand what that plot point is about - Rose just wanting more excitement and that not meshing with Doctor's more peopley approach? This is one of those times where I think they could have cut much of the B-story and not really missed anything.

Various notes:

• Episode starts with a great Red Dwarf callout (Mauve alert / brown alert).
• Towards the start of the episode the camera zooms in on the Masked child a few times, and it's painfully obvious how low the camera quality is here
• The gag with the phone not being a real phone is great - I can't remember if it was ever explained how the child controls the electronics around him
• At one point doctor says "Nobody here but us chickens" - I had to look this one up, and it might be referencing a 1946 song, if so he's off by about 5 years too early.

Welcome to the party, Steven Moffat.

The improved quality of this episode is immediately apparent. The script is tight and quippy, and the titular child is creepy as hell.

It's tough to comment solely on a Part 1, but there's a lot to like in this. The gag of the Doctor asking the crowd at the cabaret whether they've seen anything falling from the sky before realizing he's landed in the middle of the London Blitz is great. The production quality is generally excellent - it really feels like a specific time and place.

Following on that, Nancy is an immediately compelling character - sympathetic, and very authentic-feeling to the setting. Richard Wilson is also very good as Dr. Constantine.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the weakest part of the episode by far is the subplot with Rose and Captain Jack Harkness, who we meet for the first time here. It feels incongruous with the horror vibes of the A-plot, and I don't actually think John Barrowman (scandal noted) is as charming as the script needs him to be.