Sunday, May 30, 2010

Getting to Know You

A couple of weeks ago, the latest Doctor Who series started to catch fire with a great episode about dreams. Then we have a two parter with monsters from forty years ago - Silurians, real Doctor Who monsters, creatures from way back.

And this has been excellent. Well-paced, creepy, menacing, and with genuinely unexpected twists. Sure, a little celebrity casting (both in Meera Syal and Stephen Moore as the ancient Silurian leader) goes a long way, but this was glorious. Great DW (as the new moniker wants us to call it - ugh).

Yep. Here's a give away. If you haven't seen it, look away now. Perhaps all will be well. Sometimes it is. But in an echo of Donna-esque proportions, the rather lovely relationship of Amy & Rory has been forgotten, thanks to the first meaningful incursion of the crack in space that first appeared at the start of the series and which seemed to have disappeared. Now we are getting it. Now it is starting to pay off.

And Matt Smith's Doctor is finding himself. Chirpy but with essential melancholia, in charge and deeply insecure, bright, optimistic and filled with questions - often about himself. Yes, I am liking this more & more. This was an excellent two-parter. Full marks.

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