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In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
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   Tuesday, May 10, 2005

   EX-TER-MIN-ATE!

Thanks to an Internet-happy, DVD-burning friend of mine, I've seen tonight's episode of "Doctor Who" and, while I can't force anyone to watch it, I have no choice but to beg everyone to tune into the CBC tonight at 8 pm (est). It is, quite possibly, the single greatest episode in the show's twenty-seven seasons. It neatly captured, in 45 minutes, everything I've ever loved about the programme.

But, if you won't take my word for it, check out the love-in from the British press:

The London Evening Standard:

This week's episode title -- Dalek -- may crush the surprise the script clearly hoped to generate around the return of the killer pepperpot, but that's the only disappointment here. ... At its best, science fiction is supposed to be a metaphor. It's not a theory that always pans out, but here, in the conflict between a murderous intergalactic dustbin and a double-hearted time traveller, we get a powerful look at the way war -- whether it's in the Balkans, Iraq or outer space -- twists even the best of people. 'If you can't kill, then what are you good for?' the Doctor hisses at the imprisioned Dalek. But by the end, you're left wondering whether it is the Dalek or the Doctor who has been damaged most by the conflict. It's heady, surprising, spiky and occasionally pretentious stuff, but I'll take this over ITV's spandex celeb-grappling any Saturday night.

The Times:

Robert Shearman's script -- and I can't believe that I'm about to say this -- is strangely moving. It concerns the last surviving Dalek, which is being held in chains in an underground museum in Utah. Daleks, as we know from the lessons of history, are programmed to hate. But, amid all the excitement, tonight's episode manages to sneak in a message about the redemptive power of human kindness and the way in which victims can turn into oppressors. This new Doctor Who is an unqualified triumph.

The Daily Express:

Seven weeks in, and Doctor Who is still the best fun on the box. The joy of the series is that it does all the things sci-fi is meant to do - using imagined worlds to look askance at our own, questioning the present by thinking about the future - while also taking the mick out of the genre.

Like I said, you don't have to watch it...

Labels: Doctor Who