A Doctor Who Review – Hide

This is the first television episode review I’ve done. Probably because I don’t watch a lot of television. Also because I feel like just reviewing one episode is a bit odd. But I have a lot of thoughts on this week’s Doctor Who, and I feel like sharing. So here goes.

I haven’t really liked season 7.2. I’ve found the three episodes so far kind of boring, and I don’t hesitate in calling them mediocre. The Bells of Saint John, I was expecting good things from, it being the first episode back after a break. It was a solid ok at best. I toned my hopes down a little for The Rings Of Akhaten, and was still disappointed.  I had very high hopes for The Cold War – I really enjoy reading about that period of history – and was let down immensely. But Hide absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.

One thing I am loving about this season though, is the movie-style episode images

It starts off pretty typical. Some ghostly things going on, some vaguely bemused locals. A bit less bemused than usual though. If anything, quite the professionals. Not the typical locals either. In fact, disregard everything I just said. The Doctor and Clara stumble upon two people investigating the appearance of a ghost in an old haunted house. They mooch around for a bit,  The Doctor sonics some things, rattles off the rather impressive history of ghost hunter number one, and all before the plot is actually revealed.

I’m not sure what made this episode so good. It just felt more like Doctor Who than the past few have. The side characters were excellent, Professor Alec Palmer, and Emma Grayling, a war hero and a psychic, trying to catch a ghost. Or figure out a ghost at least. They had their own story, and were somewhat of a parallel to The Doctor and Clara, though only in certain areas.

And now for Clara.
I don’t like her. It’s an unpopular opinion, I know. I do have an actual reason for not liking her, it’s not just that she isn’t the Ponds. She comes off as almost insultingly nonchalant about being a companion, and really disrespectful to the TARDIS. That being said, I am looking forward to the unravelling of her mystery. Who she actually is and all that.

Something I found very interesting to note in this episode was how, almost passive The Doctor is becoming. In this episode we saw how he went to the same spot geographically, but in different points in time, so he and Clara effectively saw the lifespan of Earth from that one spot. And that affected Clara. She saw her planet from start to finish, and it dawned on her that when she was standing in the far future, she was probably buried somewhere at the same time, dead. It hit her quite hard, but it’s the Doctor’s reaction that shocked me. He just sort of waved it off, rather than the heart warming speech/metaphor I was expecting. This sort of thing has happened before – the second episode of the new series springs to mind, when the Ninth Doctor takes Rose to the destruction of the Earth. I may not be spot on, having not seen that particular episode in quite a while, but I’m pretty sure The Doctor was a lot more understanding then. I’m not sure why this intrigued me so much, perhaps because it shows how much the Doctor has changed since then, and the effect his companions have had on him.

My favourite thing about this episode though, was a quote.

“Every lonely monster needs a companion”

I don’t think I need to explain why I love it, it’s not exactly a hidden meaning.

Overall I have no hesitation in giving Hide 4.5/5 stars. It was the best episode of Doctor Who I’ve seen in a long while, and I honestly think that it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Blink, and other such iconic episodes.

An apology and some hilarious cruelty…

Ok so first up it’s the apology.

I am sorry for not blogging on Saturday (January 7) I was away, and had no access to a computer. I use the term “away” very loosely though. It was more of a long drive, dinner out, and a long drive home. I’m not complaining though, because I love long drives, they are an excellent opportunity to catch up on some reading. And the dinner was delicious (turkey and ham!). But the point of this long, rambling paragraph was to apologize, so here goes:

I’m sorry.

That was hard, but now it’s behind me I can get onto the hilarious cruelty. Which didn’t actually hurt anybody, just their pockets and their pride. It also possibly changed their principles, but that’s not a main point so I’ll leave it be.

Basically, it all comes down to a quiz show called “Bank Run”, or something like that. The build up was as normal, with people winning money, but the final was hilarious. There were two people in the final, one sickening man, who was just one of those people who you can’t help but hate. The other finalist was a rather dim man, who only reached the final through two lucky questions (both about sport). There were also three contestants who had been previously knocked out. Two unremarkables, and a Lady who deserved to be in the final. She had answered all her questions correctly, she had just got on the wrong side of a “steal” box, courtesy of finalist number one, the sickening man.

It was the layout of the final that made it funny though. There was no questions involved, just trust. Yes, trust. Each finalist was given two suitcases, one filled with half of the prize money, the other filled with rubbish. They were each allowed to check which of their suitcases was which, but they weren’t told about their opponents. Then came the twist.

They had to give one of their suitcases to the other finalist.

The one with the rubbish, or the one with half of the cash. If each gave the other half the cash, they each got to keep half the cash. If one gave the other the cash, the person who got the cash, got all the money. And here comes the other twist.

If they both give each other rubbish, they get nothing, and the cash gets split between the other three contestants. In this case the two unremarkables, and the woman-who-should-have-won.

And believe it or not that’s what happened. Yes, they both chose to be heartless and untrustworthy, and gave each other rubbish.

The looks on their faces was hilarious!

Of course the other contestants were delighted. But the highlight of the show was the dejected ad angry looks on the finalist’s faces. PURE TV GOLD!

This was what TV was invented or. To see people get humiliated, and put in their place. Don’t even try to deny it, you know it’s true. TV these days is all about humiliation, and just (or unjust) desserts. You’ve got you “I’m a Celebrity”, your “X-Factor and any other reality show you care to mention. Or care to be too embarrassed to mention, so in that case you can cringe to yourself. I won’t judge. Or maybe I will. I’ll see how I feel.

That’s about it so until next time just remember:

TV is degrading, and Jazz hands make everything better…