Spara's S12 reviews...

And now for something completely different.




Skyfall part 1

To prepare for this episode I’ve just had a cup of tea, a chocolate liqueur and been to the toilet to urinate. Better than usual for Chibnall but still shallow fare. Took a long time to get anywhere, basically a James Bond parody. Why on Earth is Chibnall insisting on keeping UNIT and Torchwood gone. UNIT in particular would enhance this story. Personally, I thought the umpteen expensive locations and guest stars did not enhance the episode and just poured money away needlessly. And the Master was best portrayed by Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley. Subsequent portrayals have spoiled the character in the interests of appearing ‘modern’. This new portrayal is a million miles away from Delgado. True, the same can be said for the Doctor. The definitive portrayals of the Doctor were Doctors 1-4. Subsequent portrayals have all in their way diminished the character although there were positive elements to the 5th, 12th and War Doctors. 6/10.

Skyfall part 2

Disappointing compared to part 1. A self-indulgent mess and very slow in places. Aliens not fully realised. Very disappointing that we didn’t get to see what they really look like. Perhaps they will return. How on Earth was that any way believable. A place could not continue flying with its front blown off nor could it be flown via a phone app by a non-pilot. The Master just being able to 'destroy Gallifrey' on a whim detracts from the power of the Time Lords. It weakens them. Big mistake. This episode was Jodie's strongest performance. She was less annoying than in some previous episodes but still not good. She over enthuses and as a result comes across as both stagey and CBBCish. She needs to tone it down. And why should it be 'a new low' for the Master to be a Nazi? That is very anti-German. 3/10

Orphan 55

Excellent eco-thriller. Excellent to see Doctor Who focusing on the climate emergency. Climate change denial is as daft as claiming the world is flat. The classic Pertwee era often featured the Doctor setting the world to rights. Would you rather she was some vacuous person with no opinions? I’d say that the Dregs were a better monster than next week. Hope they return. Not very often Nu Who is as good as this. We need more episodes like this. 9/10.

Nikolas Tesla's Night of Terror

Mediocre, dull, over-fast paced and rather boring. The scorpions were completely wasted. May be the most incompetent aliens ever since all they did is kept running into each other. 4/10

Fugitive of the Judoon

Not bad that one. Kept the attention , raised questions and the Judoon were excellent. I thought that they were much more scary in this episode but the Doctor telling them off spoiled it and made them seem thick as a brick at that point. As a piece of drama the episode was good. But playing around with multiple incarnations of the Doctor in order to serve some political agenda is just not on. The whole thing is utterly ridiculous. This man seems hell bent on wrecking the show. Inventing an unknown past Doctor made sense when Eccleston refused to do the 2013 special but now it is completely silly. That said, Ruth Clayton was arguably a better Doctor than Jodie’s depiction. Her costume was better. 7/10. 

Praxeus

Generally awful rubbish; flitting around locations trying to be modern with awful acting from Whittaker and a generally awful plot. I didn’t like the constant flitting between multiple locations. It felt forced. Also why was the new Doctor not in it? They introduced her last week only to have her vanish this week. I’m not convinced that the writer made these the two husbands fully convincing. Why would a top astronaut stay in a marriage to husband who was clearly not fully committed and (until the end) seemed unreliable? I’ve never really understood the concept of being in love. I’ve read a fair number of books on the subject. However the best aspect was it raising awareness of the plastic pollution issue. Clearly plastic pollution is out of control and it’s good to see Doctor Who addressing this, even if it was only tangential to the plot. There is a classic episode of ‘Doomwatch’ called ‘The Plastic Eaters’ which deals with the possible dangers of plastic eating viruses.. 3/10.


Can You Hear Me?

Utter drivel from start to finish. More confusing, badly plotted, worthy issue led fare - boring. 2/10.


The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Better but still average. It benefited from the lack of a social/political issue. 5/10.


Ascension of the Cybermen

That one wasn’t bad. Some good action scenes and the Cybermen were depicted well. Ultimately very thin on ideas but not bad. Personally I think the Master spoiled the episode. The actor is annoying & comical and it detracted from the Cybermen as the main threat. He’s no Roger Delgado. No gravitas. Comedic and cartoonish. The rest of the episode was tense in tone. And Brendan is another incarnation of the Doctor. 7/10.


The Timeless Children


Not bad for this era. Kept the attention but there are too many unanswered questions. For starters, who is Ruth? Where did the Doctor come from? The sub-plot of the Irish policeman from last year appears to be completely unanswered - and a waste of time. I can feel the frustration of casual viewers. So there are now umpteen incarnations of the Doctor, including children. Ho hum. Not impressed. Also the destruction of all the Tome (sic) Lords again was not good. It still wasn’t explained why they wiped the Doctor’s memories in that way. Also why have the Time Lords allowed the Doctor to go galavanting around the universe if he/she was the Timeless child ? Moreover why try to execute the Doctor several times with no sense that they saw him any different to a big-standard Time Lord? 7/10


I was hoping one or more companions will be killed off tonight. My money was on Graham - Bradley Walsh is a busy man and will have other projects. But it could have by (sic_ Ryan as they seem to be giving him less and less so do. They won’t kill off Yaz as it would upset the BBC suits. They could still have all exited the show. They are back on earth. Felt like an ending.

These viewing ratings are low and no excuses will alter this. Part of the reason for it however could be the switch from Saturday to Sunday. Doctor Who has always achieved the best ratings on Saturday evenings.  However it is also due to the production and the scripts. The last time this happened (Seasons 23-26) it was because JNT was running the show as light entertainment with silly costumes, misguided companions such as Mel and risible stories such as ‘Delta and the Bannermen’. This time it’s because of confusing direction, dull scripts, an obsession with ‘worthy’ messaging, changing the Doctor’s gender and generally pushing the public too far in terms of what they expect from Doctor Who. I agree with those who are suggesting that the production team are trolling the audience. Every episode dealing with ethnic minority issues or some other worthy or progressive cause. Basically they are trying to troll conservatives with a small or large C and Brexit voters. What is surprising perhaps is that they seem to be failing to retain viewers on the other side of that - remainers, liberals etc in enough numbers to mitigate the loss of those the producers are setting out to alienate.

While Piers Wegner thinks the show is "a long way from being rested" I couldn’t care less what he thinks. He is clearly only interested in the money that Doctor Who brings in from overseas sales rather than any creative or quality criteria. He has absolutely no idea about the show and is simply a faceless BBC ‘suit’ whose interest is in the commercial side of things. Best ignored. The bottom line is I’d refer Mr Wenger to the abysmal ratings: If this show were a school, OFSTED would be all over it!

I don’t want Doctor Who to be cancelled. I want Chibnall to be fired along with the cast and a new team brought in to make a better show - like the classic era but with modern effects. Give Chris and the others their P45, increase the serious sci-fi elements and combine them with modern effects, slow down the frantic pace and allow more space for dialogue and character development and have the characters behave in a more adult and less emotional way. The last thing we need is more childish emotional guff and less sci fi in Doctor Who. In 1970 adding more sci fi and less childishness increased the ratings.


average: 53%
Series 11 was better as there were more historicals in it. The only really good episode in series 12 was the one about climate change.