I've had a very different reaction from everyone else to this episode, it seems. I probably sound a bit crazy, but... I'd have loved this as a film - a 90-minute drama with
much more time to explore Sally's story, and the stories of those sent back in time. I liked Kathy and Billy, and wanted to see more of them - and I was really sad for the way Billy and Sally's fledgling relationship turned out. I would have liked to
see the problems they had in fitting in and how they eventually managed it, how they struggled with wanting to get home and eventually accepting that they never would.
And I'd prefer it without the Doctor
Seriously, I really liked the
story - but not as a DW episode. We get few enough episodes per season as it is, and I don't like the 'Doctor-lite' ones. There's so much left unsaid about the Doctor and Martha in this one - as usual, of course, they move on from HN/FoB without any consideration of consequences (which is as normal in DW, but still irritates me) and we hear that the Doctor and Martha spend some considerable time - weeks? months? - in 1969 and Martha has to get a job to support them. What are they doing? Do they get a flat? What's he doing with his time? Making crazy inventions and waiting for Billy to appear? I just wanted to know
more.
So, very mixed feelings - really liked the storyline, but felt it was wasted as a DW episode. It doesn't feel as if it'll form part of the season's character or dramatic arc - where does it fit in Martha's growth, for example, or the Doctor getting over his brokenness? From the trailer, it seems as if next week he's right back to hard and cold. So what purpose did this episode serve, other than filler?
I don't dislike it the way I did
Love and Monsters last year (though there was about five minutes of that episode I really did love, because it
did contribute to Jackie's character arc), or the way I loathed
Random Shoes in
Torchwood. I just find it... forgettable in the context of DW, because you could stuff it anywhere, in any season, with any companion and probably any Doctor, and it would look just the same: not out of character, yet not part of any character development either.
So that's why I didn't enjoy it the way everyone else seems to have.
And again this season I've rated Stephen Moffat's episode worse than any other, despite loving his Season 1 two-parter (
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances).
But roll on next week! Captain Jack!
Oh, and for anyone who's interested, don't forget our
LiveJournal DW converts forum - you have to be a member (both of LiveJournal and the community) to post, but Julie and I are forum mods and will approve membership very quickly. It's only member-only to keep out trolls
Wendy
