pubs
“I have the two qualities you require to see absolute truth. I am brilliant, and unloved”
That goes well with:
“I like old places. They make me sad.”
“What’s good about sad?”
“Sad is happy, for deep people.”
You know that early X-Files episode, called something like “Darkness Falls”? The one about the man-eating tree mites that live in the darkness — as it turns out, released when people cut down old-growth forest?
…
In other news, in the commentary, Davies, Moffat, and Tennant discuss at length the issue that the Doctor is in fact both written and performed as if he’s putting on a facade. Everything that he does is intended to be just a little disingenuous.
Which is interesting, as largely Eccleston at least tried to play the character “for real”. That sincerity is the fascinating thing about his Doctor.
They also talk about Troughton’s sending up his own performance in his later appearances, and how when he was in the role he was actually a bit scary. Really, they discuss a lot of interesting things.
I wasn’t absolutely convinced by last week’s episode. The conclusion is good, though. I could probably pick at a few things, but I’m not motivated. It is indeed packed full of self-consciously “cool stuff” — like the snapping. Dear Lord, is that ever exhibit A. Unlike Lawrence Miles, this does not bother me. Rather, it fills me with a Davies-like glee. I’m a sucker for self-conscious structural shenanigans, though.
Yeah, this wasn’t quite up to the level of “The Empty Child” or “Blink”, but it was still solid, certainly the strongest story of the season thus far. I did manage to guess most of what was going to happen during part 1; lots of “surprises” telegraphed far in advance.
The self-conscious mythologizing of the Doctor as Cosmic Big Deal Ultimate Hero rubs me the wrong way, too, and this story had a lot of it. I suppose it goes back to the Cartmel Masterplan at least, but the Tenth Doctor era is dripping with it.
That’s another interesting thing, if you check out the commentary. (It’s a little bonkers. As you might expect, from its lineup.) They spend some time talking about how for all the Doctor’s gall and ability to talk himself up and into anything, he’s more or less a normal, rather unremarkable guy. All of this myth he’s managed to build around himself, it’s not really true — he just waves it around because it’s sort of all he’s got.
Which is interesting; one wonders if they mean to go anywhere with this. They all seem to have discussed it extensively before the commentary.
Moffat: “He’s almost a charlatan… in a good way. He poses as this god-like figure, but he’s just a bloke under there.”