Nov. 25th, 2023 10:51 pm
Hail to the Meep! Hail to the Most High!
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chicafrom3I ended up watching The Star Beast twice: once live, but multitasking as I was technically At Work and had to do my job (pros of working from home at a non-customer-facing job: can watch Doctor Who! cons: can't necessarily give it my full attention) and then again after I got off work and didn't have to divide my attention.
The official numbering has gone all weird and I don't like it. I'm telling you right now: when we get to Ncuti I'm calling it Series 14, I don't care if the 'official' numbering is Season 1. /cranky and old
Anyway the episode.
I have some quibbles! We'll get to that. But overall I'm pretty positive about it.
First of all I have to say that the thing I loved best was the TARDIS redesign. Is that a very small thing to love best? Yes. But I did. It's so big and bright and there's so much space to run around and it's reminiscent of the best of Classic Who and there's ramps leading off into all kinds of imaginable spaces and the ROUNDELS! I love it. Is there any narrative reason for the TARDIS to have redesigned herself? No. Don't care.
The part I loved second-best was Rose Noble, who was earnest and charming and empathetic and clever. The scene where she was bonding (well, "bonding") with the Meep over feeling weird and like she came from another planet just shattered me, and like Donna I would also like to beat up the boys from school who were harassing and deadnaming her. (Most of) her story was done so, so well, and unreservedly I love her so much.
Third-best part: Beep the Meep! I'm very attached to the manipulative little asshole that is the Meep, and this was a really delightful adaptation of the story. I'm sure I had a different experience watching it than people who didn't already know the story (although I suspect a significant number of people were able to call that there was something fishy about the Meep's story before the reveal, lol) but regardless: so much fun to see it get brought to life this way. So cute! So disarming! Such a sociopath.
The design for the Wrarth Warriors, too: so great. They're so intimidating visually and so charming once they start talking. Love them.
UNIT gets to be competent! And also mind-controlled, but you can't have everything.
The mentions were quick, but I did really enjoy the references to 11/12/13. More of that, please.
The negative:
- Wtf was that opening. Why are we starting with an extended intro of the Doctor and Donna staring earnestly into the camera and explaining their backstory in small words. I understand it's beena few years oh dear a long time since they were last onscreen, but all of their backstory is later explained in much more natural exposition during the actual story. What's with this very awkward and unnatural fourth-wall breaking that neither of them seems comfortable with?
- Yes I did want to chew my hand off at David Tennant's "WHAT!" response to Donna saying "Rose!" and then dragging that on for ages, thank you for asking. Please let us leave Rose Tyler in the past, RTD. PLEASE.
- The Doctor: "If Donna remembers me, she'll die!" The Doctor: immediately invites himself into Donna's home, attaches himself to Donna's family, starts babbling about aliens and spaceships to Donna against the repeated request of Donna's terrified mother
- I'm absolutely (well, let's say 90%) sure this was unintended and just not thought through, but the one part of Rose's story that didn't land for me is that they ended up implying that she was trans (er, nonbinary, but since that ending seemed to be vaguely using nonbinary as a synonym for trans and at every other part of the story she identified as a girl...) because of the metacrisis/inheriting part of the Doctor's DNA. "We are binary." "She's not." "Because the Doctor's man." "And woman." "And neither, and more." People don't need a magic sci-fi reason to be trans. They just are.
- Also literally the only reason for the Doctor to regenerate into new clothes was because RTD was scared of David Tennant wearing clothes a woman had worn, huh. Not even gonna comment on it in-story. Okay.
- I don't really know how to phrase this, but it really didn't feel like either an anniversary episode, a special, or a regeneration episode. It could've been series four episode five or something. It was fun! I enjoyed it! It didn't have the kind of weight I was expecting.
I don't want to end on the negative. I didn't want to start with the negative, either. Compliment sandwich, I guess!
Shaun Noble needs to get all the love, he's so charming. Cheerfully chattering at a total stranger who's probably a friend of his wife's obnoxious friend about how they could've kept some of the lottery money. Walking into the kitchen at the end of a long day, seeing his wife and daughter and a strange man and an alien monster and just going "...something smells good?" Calmly giving his wife his blessing to go on a trip in a box with an alien madman because he trusts her (and also nobody's worried about that man). Best dad and husband.
The scene where the Doctor is getting emotional about how Wilf is "no longer with us" and then it gets undercut with that impatient "he's not dead, he's in assisted living" is the kind of emotional scene RTD does best. Super great, loved it. I know Bernard Cribbins was able to film some of his planned scenes before his tragic passing; I hope we get to see some.
"Rose's school play! Not that, she can't act, she's terrible, I don't know how to tell her." <- Donna Noble, mum of the year.
I really did enjoy it, it was a fun romp.
The official numbering has gone all weird and I don't like it. I'm telling you right now: when we get to Ncuti I'm calling it Series 14, I don't care if the 'official' numbering is Season 1. /cranky and old
Anyway the episode.
I have some quibbles! We'll get to that. But overall I'm pretty positive about it.
First of all I have to say that the thing I loved best was the TARDIS redesign. Is that a very small thing to love best? Yes. But I did. It's so big and bright and there's so much space to run around and it's reminiscent of the best of Classic Who and there's ramps leading off into all kinds of imaginable spaces and the ROUNDELS! I love it. Is there any narrative reason for the TARDIS to have redesigned herself? No. Don't care.
The part I loved second-best was Rose Noble, who was earnest and charming and empathetic and clever. The scene where she was bonding (well, "bonding") with the Meep over feeling weird and like she came from another planet just shattered me, and like Donna I would also like to beat up the boys from school who were harassing and deadnaming her. (Most of) her story was done so, so well, and unreservedly I love her so much.
Third-best part: Beep the Meep! I'm very attached to the manipulative little asshole that is the Meep, and this was a really delightful adaptation of the story. I'm sure I had a different experience watching it than people who didn't already know the story (although I suspect a significant number of people were able to call that there was something fishy about the Meep's story before the reveal, lol) but regardless: so much fun to see it get brought to life this way. So cute! So disarming! Such a sociopath.
The design for the Wrarth Warriors, too: so great. They're so intimidating visually and so charming once they start talking. Love them.
UNIT gets to be competent! And also mind-controlled, but you can't have everything.
The mentions were quick, but I did really enjoy the references to 11/12/13. More of that, please.
The negative:
- Wtf was that opening. Why are we starting with an extended intro of the Doctor and Donna staring earnestly into the camera and explaining their backstory in small words. I understand it's been
- Yes I did want to chew my hand off at David Tennant's "WHAT!" response to Donna saying "Rose!" and then dragging that on for ages, thank you for asking. Please let us leave Rose Tyler in the past, RTD. PLEASE.
- The Doctor: "If Donna remembers me, she'll die!" The Doctor: immediately invites himself into Donna's home, attaches himself to Donna's family, starts babbling about aliens and spaceships to Donna against the repeated request of Donna's terrified mother
- I'm absolutely (well, let's say 90%) sure this was unintended and just not thought through, but the one part of Rose's story that didn't land for me is that they ended up implying that she was trans (er, nonbinary, but since that ending seemed to be vaguely using nonbinary as a synonym for trans and at every other part of the story she identified as a girl...) because of the metacrisis/inheriting part of the Doctor's DNA. "We are binary." "She's not." "Because the Doctor's man." "And woman." "And neither, and more." People don't need a magic sci-fi reason to be trans. They just are.
- Also literally the only reason for the Doctor to regenerate into new clothes was because RTD was scared of David Tennant wearing clothes a woman had worn, huh. Not even gonna comment on it in-story. Okay.
- I don't really know how to phrase this, but it really didn't feel like either an anniversary episode, a special, or a regeneration episode. It could've been series four episode five or something. It was fun! I enjoyed it! It didn't have the kind of weight I was expecting.
I don't want to end on the negative. I didn't want to start with the negative, either. Compliment sandwich, I guess!
Shaun Noble needs to get all the love, he's so charming. Cheerfully chattering at a total stranger who's probably a friend of his wife's obnoxious friend about how they could've kept some of the lottery money. Walking into the kitchen at the end of a long day, seeing his wife and daughter and a strange man and an alien monster and just going "...something smells good?" Calmly giving his wife his blessing to go on a trip in a box with an alien madman because he trusts her (and also nobody's worried about that man). Best dad and husband.
The scene where the Doctor is getting emotional about how Wilf is "no longer with us" and then it gets undercut with that impatient "he's not dead, he's in assisted living" is the kind of emotional scene RTD does best. Super great, loved it. I know Bernard Cribbins was able to film some of his planned scenes before his tragic passing; I hope we get to see some.
"Rose's school play! Not that, she can't act, she's terrible, I don't know how to tell her." <- Donna Noble, mum of the year.
I really did enjoy it, it was a fun romp.
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