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fangrrl_squeesI finally listened to the most recent Doctor Who BFA, Valhalla. Seventh Doctor, no companion.
I liked the characterization of the Doctor in this one. He's alone, confused, veering erratically between bitter and manic and generally just a bit unstable - at least at first. I liked it a lot, and it made sense, given what that incarnation has been through.
The story itself? Meh, it was alright. It was a bit difficult for me to get too worked up about giant sentient termites trying to sell humans into slavery. Never mind the silliness inherent in the idea of giant sentient termites - this is Doctor Who, after all, but if the termites were smart enough to hack the city's Registry and such, they probably could have figured out better money-making schemes that the slavery route. I guess I'm just too rational, sometimes. ;)
I did, however, like the fact that Doctor kept insisting that he was trying to save the termites from their future - which I assume was very unpleasant and rather permanent. Sure, Callisto had been written off, but you start selling the locals into slavery, the Earthlings in the vicinity are going to get involved, and that doesn't bode well for the slavers. It wasn't about slavery being wicked - that sort of went without saying - but I got the impression that the Doctor was distressed by the notion of a sentient species being squashed flat, no matter how distasteful their practices (or appearance). He wanted to save everyone, not merely the 'good' guys (or punish the 'bad' guys, either). That was a nice change from the usual morality of SF.
So, not the best, but not the worst. The interviews with various cast and crew were worth listening to. I busted a gut at McCoy's comment that he'd rather like to hear Tennant "Go all Billy Connolly" as the Doctor. I wouldn't mind it, meself, honestly...
No Eighth Doctor until October. *Grump*
On a related noted, are the Bernice Summerfield audios worth picking up? Big Finish is selling the first 'season' ridiculously cheap...
I liked the characterization of the Doctor in this one. He's alone, confused, veering erratically between bitter and manic and generally just a bit unstable - at least at first. I liked it a lot, and it made sense, given what that incarnation has been through.
The story itself? Meh, it was alright. It was a bit difficult for me to get too worked up about giant sentient termites trying to sell humans into slavery. Never mind the silliness inherent in the idea of giant sentient termites - this is Doctor Who, after all, but if the termites were smart enough to hack the city's Registry and such, they probably could have figured out better money-making schemes that the slavery route. I guess I'm just too rational, sometimes. ;)
I did, however, like the fact that Doctor kept insisting that he was trying to save the termites from their future - which I assume was very unpleasant and rather permanent. Sure, Callisto had been written off, but you start selling the locals into slavery, the Earthlings in the vicinity are going to get involved, and that doesn't bode well for the slavers. It wasn't about slavery being wicked - that sort of went without saying - but I got the impression that the Doctor was distressed by the notion of a sentient species being squashed flat, no matter how distasteful their practices (or appearance). He wanted to save everyone, not merely the 'good' guys (or punish the 'bad' guys, either). That was a nice change from the usual morality of SF.
So, not the best, but not the worst. The interviews with various cast and crew were worth listening to. I busted a gut at McCoy's comment that he'd rather like to hear Tennant "Go all Billy Connolly" as the Doctor. I wouldn't mind it, meself, honestly...
No Eighth Doctor until October. *Grump*
On a related noted, are the Bernice Summerfield audios worth picking up? Big Finish is selling the first 'season' ridiculously cheap...
