Peter Harness

This is an odd one. It's one of the very darkest stories in the revival series of Doctor Who; there's a lot going on, much of it referencing real-life issues: fear of immigrants; xenophobia; radicalization; the futility of violence over diplomacy. With such heavy material it's also, perhaps unsurprisingly, full of mixed messages. I was hoping the novel version would take all that on and be a little more thoughtful in its presentation, especially now that it's almost a decade later and show more immigration is even more of a hot-bed issue.

Harness, I think, tries to add a little. There's a whole new seam of memories from Bonnie showing how she and other Zygons arrived on Earth, received their instructions, and tried to assimilate. This not only makes her connection to Clara more clear, it explains the "Bonnie" moniker - and it goes a little way toward explaining how the Zygons were pushed into action. Unfortunately, it also (fairly thuddingly) invokes more stereotypes of minorities - such as when some of the Zygons, unable to find stable work, become alcoholic and expose their true forms in a drunken rage.

The real disappointment, though, is how much of the book reads like transcript. There are lots of dialogue exchanges and witticisms that work fine on TV that don't really land on the page, like the Doctor's "Doctor Disco"/"Doctor Funkenstein" gag - or even his long speech at the end, really. Yet they're all still here, beat for beat, cluttering up the narrative - space that could've been used to much greater effect, I think. The story brings up powerful issues well beyond a small child's understanding; I think it would have been worthwhile to rewrite this one for an older, more thoughtful reader. show less

An alien travels through space and time with a human girl.

I put off watching this for a really long time, largely because "The Time of the Doctor" was so completely godawful. I'm relieved to find that the show seems to be back on its feet, though. They have adventures. There's minimal bullshit (the "teases" throughout the season mostly tease stuff that actually happens, instead of Moffat's usual empty bluster). Clara's still not much of a character (despite spending most of the season show more attempting to develop her). Moffat's writing style still tries too hard (and has a way of sounding like he's writing for trailers more than for the episode). Overall, it's a great show again, the best series since series five. Hopefully the Capaldi Years don't decline as sharply as the Smith Years did.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.8/4 show less

Wonderful, colorful, funny, poignant, beautifully realized version of a strange, enchanting and enchanted novel.

Good actors, good sets, good costumes. The magical CGI was obtrusive. If I had not read the book first, I would have enjoyed this more. Since I have, though, I just want to reread the book to get the mistaken choices in the adaptation out of my head.

The actor who played Mr. Norrel was exceptional in his ability to convey emotion, and the northern English accents were a treat.