"Nice to meet you, Rose. *Run for your life!*"

[torrain_circles]

I'm working on a radical assumption here: to wit, if you are enough of a geek to recognize the Spearhead from Space reference, you have probably already heard about the episode of Doctor Who which came out two years ago. If you are not, then the reference is not itself a spoiler.

I finally saw the first episode of the twenty-seventh[1] season of Doctor Who last night, and I am weirdly happy with the parallels to the 1970 Spearhead from Space (which, I will note, are four out of the five episodes of the older series that I've seen--mostly I read what novels I could get my hands on. The fifth episode, IIRC, had something to do with Ace going feral). Introduction of a new Doctor, technically newer-and-more-polished compared to previous episodes, the same primary antagonist. It seems a little choppy compared to some of the current season, but WTH, first episode in years, finding their feet, all good.

I suspect some of the echoing was deliberate; Spearhead from Space caused a kafuffle about whether Doctor Who was too scary for children, and it seems like the kind of thing that might have stuck in older viewers' minds, something they saw thirty-five years ago and that had them hiding behind the sofa. Yes, mannequins coming to murderous life is silly, and it's certainly not original, but that doesn't prevent it from being creepy. As Warren Ellis put it, "Showroom dummies (yes) coming to life and shooting people might look funny, and it is — but the bodies are just as dead."

(I am trying to find a better description for the sonic screwdriver than "It's a phaser permanently set to 'useful'." Anyone? ...dear Christ, the thing has its own Wikipedia page.)

Watched the second episode ("Mosturize me!"), realized I'd already seen the third, and watched the fourth. I *think* I'd seen that one before, but couldn't remember anything--one of those cases where you recall vague concepts, and recognize some scenes as they happen, but don't know what's happening next.

Seeing Harriet Jones' first appearance, when I've already seen the 2005 Christmas Special, was bittersweet. I like her. I really do; she seems a little out of her depth, and very prosaic, but persistant and intelligent (if not necessarily smart) and... kind. I would file her firmly in the good people category.

I can understand where she eventually came from, having a (very large) clearly retreating enemy spaceship blasted out of the sky. It was a sensible option, if not a good one; and while I don't believe she did it lightly, I hate that she did it. This is the woman who ended up in the middle of an alien invasion because she was trying to keep tiny hospitals from being excluded by Centres of Excellence, and dealt incredibly well with events that were really just a *bit* above and beyond anything she could have conceived of. She is not a sleazy, fat-cat, ego-maniacal, power-grubbing caricature of a politician, or a brain-dead bureaucrat who's blanked out the people for whom laws and policy are meant to exist.

She puts me in mind, actually, of Vetinari's mention to Vimes of the similar etymology of politician and policeman.

I'm glad to know she'll rise; it's heart-breaking to know she'll fall.

*shrugs, slightly embarrassed*

Heh. Fandom.
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[1] The one available on DVD as the first season.

Comments

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Barking hell, I did not know that.

*sigh* Okay. Given my long defense of spoiler space on r.g.r.a., I will look at some combination of the above--I know too many people who read so quickly that they may get spoiled if the spoiler starts right below the warning text, and I'm assuming RSS will not always only and ever show the first line of a post.

Sorry you were the speed bump of my learning curve.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It's not a big deal. Frankly, sticking a spoiler warning at the top of the post and putting the spoilers in the middle will solve the problem nicely, usually.

As well, on Friends lists, unremarkable standard-colour cuts that appear in the second or third paragraph most often indicate simple cutting for length, not spoilers - and so when the title and initial paragraph don't imply spoilers, one opens the post in a new tab for later perusal *without ever reading the cut text*.