TV Show Review: Doctor Who, Series 10

Details: Aired on the BBC in 2017. The Christmas Special aired in 2016. Twelve episodes with each episode somewhere between forty-five minutes to an hour long.

I think Matt Smith’s impact on the Doctor Who series is profound in that his tenure was one of the most successful, if not the most successful. That creates problems, especially for his successor, Peter Capaldi. You see, Smith was so charismatic, had such presence in each episode, that the writers could write whatever dumb, lazy, ill thought out crap they wanted and Matt Smith would just deliver the hell out of those lines. He’d play that quirky, charming Doctor and we’d go along for the ride, no matter how little sense the plot made. The problem is that Capaldi is neither as young nor is his performance as in your face or charming as Smith’s and that is intentionally so. Doctor Who writers can no longer rely on the leading actor to fill in all the writing errors and instead have to write good stories.

Capaldi’s first season seemed to be that adjustment period. The stories weren’t great because they needed to learn how to write for a Doctor that wasn’t Matt Smith. This second season of Capaldi’s tenure is far better in that the stories and science fiction concepts expressed in here are far better and held my interest better. I’m glad they relied less on Capaldi, even though he did a good job here. Series 10 is a good season of science fiction and I enjoyed it very much.

TV Show Review: Sherlock, Season 4

Details: Three episodes that are each about an hour and a half long. Stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss. Aired on the BBC.

I’ve read mixed reviews of this season of Sherlock. Some were good, some were very bad. I didn’t think this season was the best of the four, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The season picks up where that last left off. The seemingly deceased Moriarty has broadcast a video of himself across Britain and Sherlock and the gang must prepare for whatever is to come.

Moriarty actually makes few appearances this season. I looked forward to seeing more of Andrew Scott and his character, but I guess the show runners decided to back away from that unfortunately. The season instead focuses on Watson and his family and Sherlock and his family. The most refreshingly classical episode was episode two, where we actually get to see a crime solved that is unrelated to Sherlock or Watson and we get to see Sherlock be a smart ass. For the detractors of this season, I think more of what we see in episode two is what they would have wanted. Instead, we get family drama.

Overall, I enjoyed this season as I’ve enjoyed all the seasons of Sherlock. I suppose it’s mostly because I don’t watch too many shows in this setting and with this tone. If this is not the final season of Sherlock, I would like to see more of the classic Sherlock formula of solving complex crimes and outsmarting bad guys. Either way, I think this season is worth a watch.

Score: 6.5/10

TV Show Review: Doctor Who, Series 9 Episode 11, Heaven Sent

I loved the prior episodes with Ashildr. Maisie Williams was great and the introduction of her character made her episode my favorite of the Capaldi era. That changed this past weekend with Heaven Sent. This is my favorite episode of the Capaldi era.

To recap the prior episodes, the Doctor’s companion has died and he has been sent to an undisclosed location, as a prisoner.

It’s a great bottle episode. Capaldi is largely the only actor here and he performs wonderfully. He carries the episode and the mystery.

And the mystery is grand. My favorite part of good science fiction is, as always, the character development. This episodes does a great job showing further insight into the Doctor. His strength and his weakness. It’s a great exploration into the brilliance and tenacity of the Doctor.

Score: 7.8/10 Hard to talk about this episode without revealing too much. Safe to say this is a great episode that needs watching.

TV Show Review: Doctor Who, Series 9, Episode 1, The Magician’s Apprentice

Doctor Who returns in stride.

The Doctor and Clara Oswald have returned once again to take us on their adventures and what an adventure the first episode is. Some of the best Doctor Who episode have been based on this formula: revisiting something from the fifty years of canon and adding a little bit more to it.

The best science fiction in my opinion combines a heavy theme with heavy character development and this episode is mostly this. The Doctor evaluates the morality of his actions and the consequences that stem from that action. An old villain is written with more understanding and sympathy than he was given in the past. The end result is the conclusion that the Doctor is a person who is capable of not only good, but great evil.

Worth a mention is the opening sequence, which I liked. I always enjoy the strange, science fiction-y ideas that Doctor Who introduces and I thoroughly enjoy the introduction of “hand mines,” although it was brief.

Score: 7.3/10 It was nice seeing some old faces, but a character who returns from last season always rubs me the wrong way because it just reminds me too much of Moriarty from BBC’s Sherlock. Not very original and likely due to Moffat’s influence. Otherwise, a nice episode to start the season.