Sorry this has been a bit late, I've got a bit behind schedule and I
couldn't write it on Wednesday because we went to see the Doctor Who
Symphonic Spectacular, which was a lot of fun but took up the whole day.
I liked this episode a lot - the acting was spot on, particularly
Alethea's (as always). We start out with a recap of last week's
cliffhanger, then Vicki and Steven search for a hidden entrance, which
they find quickly. This was good - especially Steven pointing out the
cliche and the accurate lack of knowledge Steven and Vicki have of their
time period. The Monk, on his way to fetch medicine for Eldred, decides
to check the Doctor's cell, only to find it unlocked and empty of
Doctor. Peter Butterworth had excellent expressions here, and indeed
throughout the episode - his look of confusion is priceless.
We return to Steven and Vicki, who are crawling along the passage. The
Doctor arrives at the village and talks to a grim Edith. He learns that
vikings landed, making a verbal blunder which means this time he has to
let on that there is a viking invasion. In another callback to the
original intention of the show, he lets on that Harold defeats Harald
and is then defeated by William the Conqueror. I think that Edith's rape
as handled well, though no help came from the scriptwriter - it's all
in Alethea's acting, the way when talking to the Doctor at this point
she is very sorrowful, bleak and closed - she makes it clear that Edith
was affected by this deeply. Also, later on when the Monk calls, she is
clearly wary when she comes out. The rest of these scenes were also
good, with excellent acting throughout.
Steven and Vicki emerge from the tunnel and find no sign of the Doctor,
Steven finally accepts time travel but the watch and the gramophone are
anomalies - both probably connected to the Monk. They argue over where
to look for the Doctor - the TARDIS or the monastery. In the meantime,
the monk gives Eldred aspirin from his first aid box and tells Wulnoth
to put his sword away, saying a monastery is a place of peace. Wulnoth
does so, and leaves. The Monk asks Eldred when the viking invasion would
arrive - finding he is right on schedule. Wulnoth returns, saying that
Eldred must stay here but he and Edith will help. The Monk starts to
protest, but does not finish because they would be suspicious. These
scenes are good - the acting is done well, the small conflict is nice,
and we get to know a bit more of the monk's plan.
Sven and Ulf are running in the woods, as stealthily as possible. They
stop, and argue over what to do - try and complete their mission by
returning to the ship through dangerous territory, or hide out until
Hardrada arrives and claim they were captured. Eventually, after much
discussion, they decide the latter and head to the monastery, reasoning
that the monks have to give them refuge. This is a nice scene, which I
have said for almost all of the scenes, and we get to see a bit more of
the vikings (they play it a bit over the top, but I don't particularly
mind).
The Monk gets out a scroll and hangs it up, letting us know the content
is a progress chart - including position atomic cannon and light beacon
fires. He ticks off 'Sight Vikings', then rolls it up and gets out a
map. He uses his authentic 11th century compass to presumably measure a
distance, maybe for the aforementioned beacon fires. While he is in the
middle of doing this there is a knocking at the door. He goes to check
it out, but there is no-one there. He goes inside and shuts the door,
but someone knocks again. He quickly goes back and opens the door, this
time walking quite a ways outside to look for the knocker. The Doctor
approaches him from behind with a stick, pokes it in the Monk's back,
and tells the Monk it is a gun. This scene is very good - it
gives a bit of an idea of the Monk's plans and it has Peter
Butterworth's always excellent expressions; humour - the fact that the
Monk had a progress chart amused me; drama - you think that the knocking
door is the Vikings, and it gets a bit tense with the Doctor's hiding
after knocking.
We cut back to Steven and Vicki arriving at the clifftop, and look down
to see that the tide has come in! Vicki laments the fact that of the two
possibilities that she can see, both of them mean they are trapped
there. Steven suggests going to the monastery to either find the Doctor
or see what is going on with the Monk and his modern equipment. Before
he can persuade Vicki to do it however, he spots in the bushes a very
futuristic gun - presumably the atomic cannon - which spurs them into
action. This scene is a good, and we see quite a sad Vicki, which been
quite rare before this story.
The Doctor realises that the Monk had been leading him in circles around
the monastery, but while he is talking the Monk discovers his stick
trick - but this doesn't change much as it is still quite dangerous.
There is a knocking at the door, which the monk explains he has to
answer. The Doctor, still mistrustful, orders him to get him a Monk's
habit. There is a jump to the Doctor, wearing a robe, and the Monk
walking through the entrance hall and tentatively opening the door,
stick still in hand. Unfortunately the Vikings come and capture the
Doctor, and put him in a cell. Sven orders Ulf to find the other monks,
who will hide them or the Doctor dies. There is a jump to Ulf resting
near the Monk's stone cupboard. The Monk then comes out of hiding and
knocks him out. This scene was good, with lots of drama - the drama
we've had before was in short bursts, so it's nice to have a long run.
Steven and Vicki look for the secret passage, but apparently the area
looks very different in daylight. They eventually find it. In the
meantime, Sven decides to check on the Doctor but he is not in his cell!
The secret passage door is wide open, but as he looks down it the
Doctor emerges from behind the door and knocks him out. These scenes are
well done, moving most of the characters to the monastery and showing
more of the Doctors cleverness with this ploy.
While this was happening, the Monk goes down to the village and asks
Wulnoth to get the villagers to prepare beacon fires on the cliffs,
claiming that 'building materials' were coming on a ship so that he
could repair the monastery. After the Monk leaves, Wulnoth asks Edith
what the Doctor said about an invasion. This scene is nice, showing more
of the Monk's plan coming into play, but also the fact that the
villagers are not as gullible as the Monk thinks.
Steven and Vicki emerge the other end of the passage, and are alarmed by
Sven's unconscious body. They don't stop to contemplate it though,
because they don't have the time to. We jump back to the Monk, who
speaks to Ulf, saying he has made beacons for his fellow Vikings. Little
does he know, the Doctor is listening and places a sword at his throat,
ordering him to explain his plan. While this is happening, Steven and
Vicki find a cable which runs into the Monk's stone cupboard, and they
enter it to find that the Monk has a TARDIS. These short scenes were
good, moving the story along well - Vicki and Steven finally get to the
monastery, the Doctor finally has a hold over the Monk that's
substantial, and Steven and Vicki uncover that the Monk has a TARDIS
like the Doctor's...
Next Time:
Guess.
Showing posts with label Isaac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaac. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Episode 79 (S2): The Meddling Monk (Isaac's view)
(Isaac got just a little bit carried away with this one. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit back and relax...)
A good episode with good acting in general - I think Peter Russell hammed it up a bit too much, and the fight scene was cringe-worthy, but overall a nice episode. Maureen played Vicki well, especially when Vicki was unsettled at the start and when she showed off Vicki's ingenuity later on. William's voice acting was good from what little there was of it, and Alethea was brilliant in absolutely all of her scenes.
The first scene was a bit surprising, with a big change of tone from the end of last episode, but worked well in getting me engaged. I liked the relaxed nature of this scene, and I expect the first time someone watched it that was necessary for them to get their head round it, but it was also a nice bit of calm before the tenser later parts of the episode. The Meddling Monk also seems to make a first class breakfast (the Doctor's so ungrateful) and we get to find out a bit more about his character from what the Monk would consider quite normal stuff (again, well done Peter Butterworth).
We move on to see Vicki wake up a little worried from noises in the bushes. She warily goes to check it out, tension tenses, and... it's Steven. A release of tension follows, but lo! There are Saxons in the bushes! They ambush the travellers, and take them to their village. This is a cliche that is used quite a lot in television, and that does stick out a little bit, but I like this scene anyway - we see a more relaxed Steven, and a bit of dramatics is always nice.
We jump back to the Monk's renditioning his new poem "My Child" to Edith and co., who had politely brought him food. After the visitors have been ushered away, The Monk uses his authentic Saxon binoculars to spy a Viking longship, but he is happy for a reason unknown to us. This was a good scene, which I appear to be saying quite often in this serial, with a show of how the Monk tries to fit in and a sense of mystery around The Monk creeping back; Peter Butterworth's acting and humour make me look forward to each scene with him in.
We go and see what Steven and Vicki have been up to. There is an argument between Wulnoth and Eldred over whether they let our heroes go or not. Then Edith intervenes on the companions' side, and the thing is settled, with Steven and Vicki setting off for the Monk's abode and the others going back to their hnefatafl or whatever they were doing. Peter Russell, as I said at the start, did a bit of a hammy performance, but it is made up for by everyone else's acting. This scene is another good one that moves the story along, has some nice dialogue, and has a bit more of Michael Miller's character - unfortunately, we don't get to see an awful lot of him, and I think he's quite a good actor.
Changing viewpoints, we see the Vikings arriving on the beach. The leader of their expedition orders his his men about their duties, sending three to loot the nearby village for supplies. The leader proceeds to disappear for the rest of the story. This scene is short, there isn't much stuff to comment on, but I'll comment just the same. I think that Geoffrey Cheshire had a good commanding tone and aura about him, and the costumes looked a bit realistic, if not authentic.
We jump back to our lovely Steven and Vicki, who come knocking on our mystery Monk's door. He answers it, using his usual 'I'm being super religious' excuse, answering the pairs enquiries without a moment's thought, until he is caught off guard by Steven asking about other monks (doesn't Steven know it's perfectly usual to have a one monk abbey?). Steven is suspicious, and devises a plan to uncover the Monk while the monk is 'asking the others'. He enacts it, but lo! The Monk had heard his plan, and plays along so he can set a devious trap for our friends. The Monk goes back into his abbey, then Steven and Vicki discuss it. Vicki has ingenuity enough to see through the Monk, and informs Steven on how he's been fooled, but they decide to infiltrate the place anyway. I really like this scene. It shows a bit of the Monk's cunning side, with some more of Steven's forward manner; Vicki shows off her cleverness; and it's all coupled with great acting - particularly on O'Brien's part - and fantastic dialogue. 'Nuff said.
There is, as John put it, an elephant in the room. Some would address it now, but I'm going to put it off for a paragraph later because I want to talk about the matter a bit more completely. Edith hears some rustling in the bushes, and picks up a spear. The three Vikings spring from the bushes, overpower Edith, and drag her into the hut. This scene is a bit of the dramatics, and has the cliched 'something in the bushes', but it's pulled off well, so that doesn't matter. Edith picking up the spear is quite realistic - people would have to know how to defend themselves back then, especially near the coast.
Steven and Vicki decide that this side that they're looking at isn't the best one.
Now we come to the paragraph where I address that elephant. Wulnoth and Eldred return to the village, to find Edith lying still on the ground, alive, but it is heavily implied that she was raped. Eldred starts to argue to Wulnoth that it was the travellers, but Wulnoth bursts into tears, silencing him. After a while, he orders Eldred to gather the villagers, anger clearly present. This scene is very grim, darkening the tone considerably. The reactions of Wulnoth seemed accurate, and there was a lot of emotion in his speech and expressions. Peter Russell didn't do the best job on this scene - after Eldred's initial shock, it didn't seem like he felt anything other than anger - but the rest of the acting was fantastic. It will be hard to judge whether the rape was handled well until I see anything other than the initial reaction, so I'll write a paragraph about it at the start of next episode's review.
We see the Vikings blunder along the path with their loot in hand, and not being too quiet about it. We go back to the hut, where Edith is still incapacitated, with Wulnoth and some villagers caring to her, trying to find out who did it. Edith eventually manages to say Vikings. This scene is quite good because it shows how bad it must have been for Edith - it was such good acting, that it seemed almost real.
Now we come to a scene that completely offsets the tone that was built up over the last few scenes. The fight scene. It is so badly choreographed, that it is actually quite funny - the way they sort of stand around, not knowing quite what to do - one falls over then stabs someone in the foot. The mood is lightened by this slapstick, which is sort of welcome - it is a family show, all in all.
The Monk walks past an opening, then Steven and Vicki jump in. They both go opposite ways, and both say follow me at the same time. Steven ends up following Vicki. This is a short scene but quite nice - it adds a bit of humour, something that has been a bit lacking this episode after the first scene.
The Monk sets his gramophone, checks his trap, then waits for our travellers. Wulnoth drags Eldred up the path to the monastery. This scene is good, with some nice expressions by Peter Butterworth. Peter Russell does a surprisingly good injured person.
We see our travellers going along a passage, but unknown to them the Monk watches from his hiding spot. Then our nice Monk is called by the door. I liked this scene, mostly because of the expression on the Monk's face.
Our friends find the gramophone, but do not share the Doctor's fate, because the Monk has to answer the door. They search for a bit, and find the Doctor's holding cell. Steven starts to pick the lock on the door. This scene was quite good - O'Brien and Purves did a good expression of surprise when they found the gramophone.
The Monk answers the door, just as Wulnoth starts trying to batter it down - he invites them in, and is left standing outside by the Saxons. Vicki and Steven get into the Doctor's cell, but lo! when they take off the sheets, he is not there! This scene was nice - the humour with the Monk was good, and there was quite a cliched cliffhanger at the end, but that didn't particularly bother me.
Next Time:
May's review of The Meddling Monk.
A good episode with good acting in general - I think Peter Russell hammed it up a bit too much, and the fight scene was cringe-worthy, but overall a nice episode. Maureen played Vicki well, especially when Vicki was unsettled at the start and when she showed off Vicki's ingenuity later on. William's voice acting was good from what little there was of it, and Alethea was brilliant in absolutely all of her scenes.
The first scene was a bit surprising, with a big change of tone from the end of last episode, but worked well in getting me engaged. I liked the relaxed nature of this scene, and I expect the first time someone watched it that was necessary for them to get their head round it, but it was also a nice bit of calm before the tenser later parts of the episode. The Meddling Monk also seems to make a first class breakfast (the Doctor's so ungrateful) and we get to find out a bit more about his character from what the Monk would consider quite normal stuff (again, well done Peter Butterworth).
We move on to see Vicki wake up a little worried from noises in the bushes. She warily goes to check it out, tension tenses, and... it's Steven. A release of tension follows, but lo! There are Saxons in the bushes! They ambush the travellers, and take them to their village. This is a cliche that is used quite a lot in television, and that does stick out a little bit, but I like this scene anyway - we see a more relaxed Steven, and a bit of dramatics is always nice.
We jump back to the Monk's renditioning his new poem "My Child" to Edith and co., who had politely brought him food. After the visitors have been ushered away, The Monk uses his authentic Saxon binoculars to spy a Viking longship, but he is happy for a reason unknown to us. This was a good scene, which I appear to be saying quite often in this serial, with a show of how the Monk tries to fit in and a sense of mystery around The Monk creeping back; Peter Butterworth's acting and humour make me look forward to each scene with him in.
We go and see what Steven and Vicki have been up to. There is an argument between Wulnoth and Eldred over whether they let our heroes go or not. Then Edith intervenes on the companions' side, and the thing is settled, with Steven and Vicki setting off for the Monk's abode and the others going back to their hnefatafl or whatever they were doing. Peter Russell, as I said at the start, did a bit of a hammy performance, but it is made up for by everyone else's acting. This scene is another good one that moves the story along, has some nice dialogue, and has a bit more of Michael Miller's character - unfortunately, we don't get to see an awful lot of him, and I think he's quite a good actor.
Changing viewpoints, we see the Vikings arriving on the beach. The leader of their expedition orders his his men about their duties, sending three to loot the nearby village for supplies. The leader proceeds to disappear for the rest of the story. This scene is short, there isn't much stuff to comment on, but I'll comment just the same. I think that Geoffrey Cheshire had a good commanding tone and aura about him, and the costumes looked a bit realistic, if not authentic.
We jump back to our lovely Steven and Vicki, who come knocking on our mystery Monk's door. He answers it, using his usual 'I'm being super religious' excuse, answering the pairs enquiries without a moment's thought, until he is caught off guard by Steven asking about other monks (doesn't Steven know it's perfectly usual to have a one monk abbey?). Steven is suspicious, and devises a plan to uncover the Monk while the monk is 'asking the others'. He enacts it, but lo! The Monk had heard his plan, and plays along so he can set a devious trap for our friends. The Monk goes back into his abbey, then Steven and Vicki discuss it. Vicki has ingenuity enough to see through the Monk, and informs Steven on how he's been fooled, but they decide to infiltrate the place anyway. I really like this scene. It shows a bit of the Monk's cunning side, with some more of Steven's forward manner; Vicki shows off her cleverness; and it's all coupled with great acting - particularly on O'Brien's part - and fantastic dialogue. 'Nuff said.
There is, as John put it, an elephant in the room. Some would address it now, but I'm going to put it off for a paragraph later because I want to talk about the matter a bit more completely. Edith hears some rustling in the bushes, and picks up a spear. The three Vikings spring from the bushes, overpower Edith, and drag her into the hut. This scene is a bit of the dramatics, and has the cliched 'something in the bushes', but it's pulled off well, so that doesn't matter. Edith picking up the spear is quite realistic - people would have to know how to defend themselves back then, especially near the coast.
Steven and Vicki decide that this side that they're looking at isn't the best one.
Now we come to the paragraph where I address that elephant. Wulnoth and Eldred return to the village, to find Edith lying still on the ground, alive, but it is heavily implied that she was raped. Eldred starts to argue to Wulnoth that it was the travellers, but Wulnoth bursts into tears, silencing him. After a while, he orders Eldred to gather the villagers, anger clearly present. This scene is very grim, darkening the tone considerably. The reactions of Wulnoth seemed accurate, and there was a lot of emotion in his speech and expressions. Peter Russell didn't do the best job on this scene - after Eldred's initial shock, it didn't seem like he felt anything other than anger - but the rest of the acting was fantastic. It will be hard to judge whether the rape was handled well until I see anything other than the initial reaction, so I'll write a paragraph about it at the start of next episode's review.
We see the Vikings blunder along the path with their loot in hand, and not being too quiet about it. We go back to the hut, where Edith is still incapacitated, with Wulnoth and some villagers caring to her, trying to find out who did it. Edith eventually manages to say Vikings. This scene is quite good because it shows how bad it must have been for Edith - it was such good acting, that it seemed almost real.
Now we come to a scene that completely offsets the tone that was built up over the last few scenes. The fight scene. It is so badly choreographed, that it is actually quite funny - the way they sort of stand around, not knowing quite what to do - one falls over then stabs someone in the foot. The mood is lightened by this slapstick, which is sort of welcome - it is a family show, all in all.
The Monk walks past an opening, then Steven and Vicki jump in. They both go opposite ways, and both say follow me at the same time. Steven ends up following Vicki. This is a short scene but quite nice - it adds a bit of humour, something that has been a bit lacking this episode after the first scene.
The Monk sets his gramophone, checks his trap, then waits for our travellers. Wulnoth drags Eldred up the path to the monastery. This scene is good, with some nice expressions by Peter Butterworth. Peter Russell does a surprisingly good injured person.
We see our travellers going along a passage, but unknown to them the Monk watches from his hiding spot. Then our nice Monk is called by the door. I liked this scene, mostly because of the expression on the Monk's face.
Our friends find the gramophone, but do not share the Doctor's fate, because the Monk has to answer the door. They search for a bit, and find the Doctor's holding cell. Steven starts to pick the lock on the door. This scene was quite good - O'Brien and Purves did a good expression of surprise when they found the gramophone.
The Monk answers the door, just as Wulnoth starts trying to batter it down - he invites them in, and is left standing outside by the Saxons. Vicki and Steven get into the Doctor's cell, but lo! when they take off the sheets, he is not there! This scene was nice - the humour with the Monk was good, and there was quite a cliched cliffhanger at the end, but that didn't particularly bother me.
Next Time:
May's review of The Meddling Monk.
Monday, 18 May 2015
Episode 78 (S1): The Watcher (Isaac's view)
(Isaac got quite enthusiastic reviewing this story, and ended up
covering each episode separately. Since this happened after I'd already
posted a couple, I decided to save them all for the end and do a quick
run through, in order to keep the momentum up. Over to him!)
A very good episode, with wonderful acting - the only character where in my opinion the acting wasn't great was the Saxon hunter in the woods. The Doctor's moment of sadness at the start was very convincing. The humour in the episode was done well - I especially like the Doctor's funny moments with Steven (I've often quoted his 'space helmet for a cow' bit these last few days). Maureen O'Brien did a good job of the sad aspect at the start, and did well at portraying Vicki's realisation when she is explaining to Steven about the TARDIS that she is the new most senior TARDIS crew member (excluding the Doctor, of course). Steven is very forward (well, you would be after being kept prisoner by the Mechanoids for a while) and his disbelief is portrayed by Peter Purves very well.
The aura of mystery around the Meddling Monk is done well, with the viewer just seeing his body language and facial expressions (well done Peter Butterworth! He got a lot of information in those!). The Doctor's little walk takes us to meet Edith, a nice character who seems quite real. She gives the doctor something to drink, and he verbally blunders around until he finds the date and informs the viewer on a bit of history (a nod to the shows original intention). This scene was quite nice, with good acting on both William and Alethea's part, which would not worked well in another era of the show but fits nicely in this serial.
Jumping back to Vicki and Steven we come across an exhausted Vicki - it's quite nice because it shows the fact that younger people aren't just downsized adults (something which happens quite a bit in fiction). Then the Saxon hunter came along, and as a result we have a badly done fight scene - where all they seem to be doing is rolling around with their hands locked together. That bit is my least favourite part of the episode, but we did have a nice bit of more Steven stuff, which is needed a little since this is his first story as a companion.
Finally we have a smug Doctor being trapped, which adds a bit more drama in the episode, which is nice at the end of an episode mostly composed of humour and scene setting.
Next Time:
May's review of The Watcher!
A very good episode, with wonderful acting - the only character where in my opinion the acting wasn't great was the Saxon hunter in the woods. The Doctor's moment of sadness at the start was very convincing. The humour in the episode was done well - I especially like the Doctor's funny moments with Steven (I've often quoted his 'space helmet for a cow' bit these last few days). Maureen O'Brien did a good job of the sad aspect at the start, and did well at portraying Vicki's realisation when she is explaining to Steven about the TARDIS that she is the new most senior TARDIS crew member (excluding the Doctor, of course). Steven is very forward (well, you would be after being kept prisoner by the Mechanoids for a while) and his disbelief is portrayed by Peter Purves very well.
The aura of mystery around the Meddling Monk is done well, with the viewer just seeing his body language and facial expressions (well done Peter Butterworth! He got a lot of information in those!). The Doctor's little walk takes us to meet Edith, a nice character who seems quite real. She gives the doctor something to drink, and he verbally blunders around until he finds the date and informs the viewer on a bit of history (a nod to the shows original intention). This scene was quite nice, with good acting on both William and Alethea's part, which would not worked well in another era of the show but fits nicely in this serial.
Jumping back to Vicki and Steven we come across an exhausted Vicki - it's quite nice because it shows the fact that younger people aren't just downsized adults (something which happens quite a bit in fiction). Then the Saxon hunter came along, and as a result we have a badly done fight scene - where all they seem to be doing is rolling around with their hands locked together. That bit is my least favourite part of the episode, but we did have a nice bit of more Steven stuff, which is needed a little since this is his first story as a companion.
Finally we have a smug Doctor being trapped, which adds a bit more drama in the episode, which is nice at the end of an episode mostly composed of humour and scene setting.
Next Time:
May's review of The Watcher!
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