Christmas/New Year Telly
Jan. 7th, 2014 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightOkay. :cracks knuckles:
Thought I'd finally get written down what I thought about the fannish stuff I watched on telly over Christmas/New Year.
This consists of the Doctor Who Christmas special, Death Comes to Pemberley and the first two episodes of Sherlock season 3, so spoilers for those behind cut. And I really, really didn't like the DW thing, so don't read if you loved it and don't want your squee spoiled.
I shan't say a lot about DW because I'm afraid I thought it was absolutely dire. Silly, schmaltzy, boring. It summed up all the things I've hated about Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor - none of which are to do with Matt Smith, who I like fine. But I'm sick to death of the silly, convoluted plots, of the lack of emotional continuity and most of all, of the endless succession of 'uber-special' companions (River, Amy, Clara) each touted as being vital to the Doctor's story (Clara so much so that she was inserted into the Doctor's timestream to nudge him along in the right direction throughout his whole existence, thereby detracting from his entire story since the very first episode in 196whenever it was, IMO).
Whey does the companion have to be 'special' anyway? Why can't she just be normal? Or at least start off normal. I didn't like Rose back when Tennant was Doctor (she was okay with Eccleston), but I'd swap her for all three of the Matt Smith companions in a heartbeat.
I feel sorry for Matt Smith, actually. He deserved better than that pile of old twaddle for his last ever episode.
Mind you, looks to me from the amount of love and attention Moffatt has clearly given this season of Sherlock that DW has been very much of an afterthought with him, 50th anniversary or no. I'm not actually a Sherlock fan. I don't fancy Cumberbatch, and the Sherlock character up to now has been pretty much guaranteed to get up my nose, with his irritating cleverness and constant putting down of other people because they're not as clever as him. But this season has changed all that. Somehow, the addition of Mary to the cast has softened the character of Sherlock enough that I feel I can see what John sees in him and feel much more kindly towards him. It also helps that the first two episodes have been packed full of humour, and the second episode in particular was very cleverly structured. It was fun leaping around all over the place trying to keep up with Sherlock, and I like that Mary (who I thought at first - and I think Sherlock also thought at first - would be antagonistic towards Sherlock) just accepts him as he is.
Best scenes so far: Sherlock trying to explain (unsuccessfully) to John why he didn't tell him he wasn't dead in increasingly lower brow eating establishments (from posh restaurant to coffee shop to elbows on the counter late night diner) and getting socked in the jaw and eventually head-butted for his pains.
Drunk Sherlock and John. Very, very funny! The whole thing, right up to Lestrade yelling at them in the police cell.
John taking charge when the guardsman was stabbed in the shower (though my experience of soldiers is that they never dither the way the other soldiers did in that scene, ie. they wouldn't need to be told twice to call an ambulance).
Sherlock's best man's speech.
The fan service in ep 1, especially the Sherlock/Moriarty snog.
It's been great. I'm still not a fan fan, but I do hope there'll be a season 4.
Finally, Death Comes to Pemberley.
I haven't read the book (K tells me it's not very good), and though I've read P&P, I'm not a mad Janeite, so there was nothing about this that could have annoyed me except it's being very bad. Fortunately, though, it was actually very good, I thought. The cast was excellent (Matthew Rhys was wonderful as Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin was also very good, though not quite how I imagine Lizzy - a bit too pensive) and Jenna Coleman was perfect as Lydia. It all looked very beautiful and ended how you would hope it would, though also didn't shrink from showing us that justice could be very rough in those days (without ramming it anachronistically down your throat in the manner of that appallingly bad film of Mansfield Park with Harold Pinter as Sir Thomas Bertram). Plus there was a bravura performance from Trevor Eve.
Great stuff. In fact, I want to watch it again.
Thought I'd finally get written down what I thought about the fannish stuff I watched on telly over Christmas/New Year.
This consists of the Doctor Who Christmas special, Death Comes to Pemberley and the first two episodes of Sherlock season 3, so spoilers for those behind cut. And I really, really didn't like the DW thing, so don't read if you loved it and don't want your squee spoiled.
I shan't say a lot about DW because I'm afraid I thought it was absolutely dire. Silly, schmaltzy, boring. It summed up all the things I've hated about Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor - none of which are to do with Matt Smith, who I like fine. But I'm sick to death of the silly, convoluted plots, of the lack of emotional continuity and most of all, of the endless succession of 'uber-special' companions (River, Amy, Clara) each touted as being vital to the Doctor's story (Clara so much so that she was inserted into the Doctor's timestream to nudge him along in the right direction throughout his whole existence, thereby detracting from his entire story since the very first episode in 196whenever it was, IMO).
Whey does the companion have to be 'special' anyway? Why can't she just be normal? Or at least start off normal. I didn't like Rose back when Tennant was Doctor (she was okay with Eccleston), but I'd swap her for all three of the Matt Smith companions in a heartbeat.
I feel sorry for Matt Smith, actually. He deserved better than that pile of old twaddle for his last ever episode.
Mind you, looks to me from the amount of love and attention Moffatt has clearly given this season of Sherlock that DW has been very much of an afterthought with him, 50th anniversary or no. I'm not actually a Sherlock fan. I don't fancy Cumberbatch, and the Sherlock character up to now has been pretty much guaranteed to get up my nose, with his irritating cleverness and constant putting down of other people because they're not as clever as him. But this season has changed all that. Somehow, the addition of Mary to the cast has softened the character of Sherlock enough that I feel I can see what John sees in him and feel much more kindly towards him. It also helps that the first two episodes have been packed full of humour, and the second episode in particular was very cleverly structured. It was fun leaping around all over the place trying to keep up with Sherlock, and I like that Mary (who I thought at first - and I think Sherlock also thought at first - would be antagonistic towards Sherlock) just accepts him as he is.
Best scenes so far: Sherlock trying to explain (unsuccessfully) to John why he didn't tell him he wasn't dead in increasingly lower brow eating establishments (from posh restaurant to coffee shop to elbows on the counter late night diner) and getting socked in the jaw and eventually head-butted for his pains.
Drunk Sherlock and John. Very, very funny! The whole thing, right up to Lestrade yelling at them in the police cell.
John taking charge when the guardsman was stabbed in the shower (though my experience of soldiers is that they never dither the way the other soldiers did in that scene, ie. they wouldn't need to be told twice to call an ambulance).
Sherlock's best man's speech.
The fan service in ep 1, especially the Sherlock/Moriarty snog.
It's been great. I'm still not a fan fan, but I do hope there'll be a season 4.
Finally, Death Comes to Pemberley.
I haven't read the book (K tells me it's not very good), and though I've read P&P, I'm not a mad Janeite, so there was nothing about this that could have annoyed me except it's being very bad. Fortunately, though, it was actually very good, I thought. The cast was excellent (Matthew Rhys was wonderful as Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin was also very good, though not quite how I imagine Lizzy - a bit too pensive) and Jenna Coleman was perfect as Lydia. It all looked very beautiful and ended how you would hope it would, though also didn't shrink from showing us that justice could be very rough in those days (without ramming it anachronistically down your throat in the manner of that appallingly bad film of Mansfield Park with Harold Pinter as Sir Thomas Bertram). Plus there was a bravura performance from Trevor Eve.
Great stuff. In fact, I want to watch it again.
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 09:24 pm (UTC)Yes! Mary so far is the thing I love the most--and most unexpectedly--about this season. I really like how she works them both, and accepts them each, and together, and is completely unthreatened. Genius move on the writers' part, imo.
lol I think it's funny, but apt, that you've enjoyed these most recent two Sherlock eps, because they don't follow the typical formula. A lot of folks are hm, disenchanted, shall we say, by the most recent eps, because of that same fact.
I didn't like 302, only because I felt the mystery was weak. The rest was fine, and I'm on board with the show not always adhering to its pattern, but yeah: the crime they solved was nonsensical, on a Whovian level.
Speaking of: ugh. I feel like Moffat hates his fans. Let us say no more.
omg Death comes to Pemberley. I didn't know what it was when I started (basically fan fiction for profit) and I AM a rabid austenian, so I was absolutely livid with the production. It was beautiful, sure, but I mean. Really? Elizabeth Bennett's going to stand up on a gallows and solve a murder? Noooooooo :(I wish I could scrub it out of my brain.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 10:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, I've heard this. I've also heard that there are rumours Mary may not be entirely what she seems, which makes me feel quite gloomy. 'Spose it'll please the disenchanted, though.
Speaking of: ugh. I feel like Moffat hates his fans. Let us say no more.
I think he does too. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
I'm sorry you didn't like Death Comes to Pemberley, and agree that the scene you mention is pretty unlikely, but I enjoyed it too much to let that spoil it for me. But then, as I said, not a Janeite.
Got a lot more annoyed by Peter Jackson shoehorning an OC Mary Sue into the second Hobbit movie, but that's not because she was an OC, it's because she was a Mary Sue.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 09:22 pm (UTC)Didn't enjoy the Death Comes to Pemberley very much but didn't really enjoy the book - thought the acting was good but I really dislike P D James use of language.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 10:34 pm (UTC)You're probably right, though I did like The Doctor's Wife very much. But he wasn't really in charge in that one either, was he?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 09:49 pm (UTC)I would give up on Moffat if I hadn't liked the Day of the Doctor so much and also this season of Sherlock. I've always liked it, but this season it's pure brilliance.
I had a look at Death comes to Pemberley and I'm glad you say it's ok as I'm planning to watch it with a friend who loves all these Austen derivative stories.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 10:37 pm (UTC)Me too. Not going to happen, though. Moffatt seems to have a big Thing for these uber-special companion characters so probably we're stuck with Clara (who I loathe) for the forseeable future. Which I just can't see working with Capaldi's Doctor.
With this particular episode, I think it didn't help that it was the Christmas special and therefore some snow and cute kids were obligatory.
I had a look at Death comes to Pemberley and I'm glad you say it's ok as I'm planning to watch it with a friend who loves all these Austen derivative stories.
I hope she likes it. I certainly did.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 10:28 pm (UTC)Whey does the companion have to be 'special' anyway? Why can't she just be normal?
Yes, exactly. I used to love Sarah Jane and one of the reasons was that she seemed such a normal girl and was someone the viewer could complete relate to. She became "special" through her travels with the Doctor but she didn't start out that way.
I'm loving Sherlock this season :)
Death Comes to Pemberley is not a very good book but the TV series managed to dump the dull bits and keep the better stuff. Excellently acted and it looked beautiful.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 10:40 pm (UTC)I strongly advise not bothering. You're better off sticking with The Day of the Doctor as Matt Smith's last outing (even though I didn't think that was nearly as good as a lot of people seemed to).
Death Comes to Pemberley is not a very good book but the TV series managed to dump the dull bits and keep the better stuff. Excellently acted and it looked beautiful.
It really did, didn't it? I do regret there wasn't a little more of Penelope Keith's Lady Catherine, though. Also, Mrs Bennet will forever be Alison Steadman to me.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 11:24 pm (UTC)I was a little disappointed in the episode, but not going to object to the new doctor until he's had time to settle in.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-08 11:17 am (UTC)That is, if Moffatt will let him.
Clara, sadly, is going nowhere.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 11:51 pm (UTC)Good point. I've never twigged it before but actually it really matters. The idea of the companion is someone the audience can identify with and see the Doctor through their eyes, so making her special undermines that. (Now I can slip into my 'I hate superheroes' meme.)
I wish Moffat was leaving and we could have a new show runner to go with the new Doctor. I really dislike his convoluted plots and all the (to me incomprehensible) fanservice. Having said which, I didn't think it was dire, just meh.
Mary has added a lot, bit I think it may also be Season 3itis - a common condition of TV shows where by S3 they start to become more interested in their own characters than the original theme of the show. With many shows this is a problem, with something like Sherlock it can be an advantage because it means they are focussing far more on quite intriguing stuff since they have excellent actors and the chars are probably more intriguing than the actual mysteries.
Seconded, sadly. It does have its moments, especially the little fanficcy bits, but it falls down on a basic lack of research by P. D. James, where teh whole plot centres around the firing of the shots but she clearly had no grasp of the significance of how long it took to reload. Fortunatly whoever adapted the book for TV did know and mostly sorted that out.
I did feel for the other men on the gallows, calmly standing there while Wickham was reprieved. Not that any of the extras made anything of it, but they really should have done.
I agree, though I couldn't put my finger on why. Just a bit lacking in spirit, maybe. Darcy also seemed a bit shy, which worked for teh backstory they had given him but not for how I imagine Darcy.
Best thing in it. She is so pretty and vivaceous but manages to have that little core of steel that is required for Lydia.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-08 11:25 am (UTC)Or him, for that matter. I was rather hoping that, with a much older Doctor in prospect, they might revert to the two, or even three, companions model. There's nothing that says it has to be one person, and a girl. Yet, ever since New Who started, whenever there's been another man in the mix - principally Mickey and Rory - there's always been this element of third wheel, getting in the way of the Doctor's relationship with his 'real' companion in the mix. That was true even when Rory and River Song were in almost every episode.
Oh, I dunno. I just don't like the whole River/Amy/Clara is wonderful and special and amazing thing.
a common condition of TV shows where by S3 they start to become more interested in their own characters than the original theme of the show. With many shows this is a problem, with something like Sherlock it can be an advantage because it means they are focussing far more on quite intriguing stuff since they have excellent actors and the chars are probably more intriguing than the actual mysteries.
You'd think it would be an advantage, but apparently lots of people - men in particular - hate it. They think the show has gone 'soft.'
I agree, though I couldn't put my finger on why. Just a bit lacking in spirit, maybe.
Yes, I think so. She was slightly too old and Anna Maxwell Martin has this melancholy, thoughtful air in everything she does (which is weird, because when interviewed she appears to be a complete ditz). I suppose you could put it down to Lizzie being a mother, and the stress of being mistress of Pemberley.
I thought Matthew Rhys was almost perfect as Darcy. Just not as tall as I imagine him.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-08 12:25 pm (UTC)We get more Anna Maxwell Martin later in the week cos I'm pleased to see The Bletchley Circle is starting up again. Perhaps she is one of those actors who panic when they don't have a script so come across completely differently in an interview.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-09 01:48 pm (UTC)Haven't seen that one. In fact, apart from the old movie with Laurence Olivier, I think the Colin Firth adaptation is the only P&P I've seen.
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Date: 2014-01-09 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-10 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-19 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-19 07:26 am (UTC)I loathe Clara with a fiery passion. She has no chemistry (and I don't mean romantic) with Matt Smith and she just seems like this perky "actress" rather than a real character. And I hate Moffat's habit of throwing in plot re-sets that ruin all the previous characterisation. Grrr. Still, there are plenty of good episodes from earlier seasons to rewatch and we do that a lot here at home...
no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 12:59 pm (UTC)Me too, though Jenna Coleman's pretty good as Lydia Wickham in Death Comes to Pemberley.
This series of Sherlock seems to have been very polarising. Lots of people have hated it. I've seen people say the show has jumped the shark. Yet this has been my favourite series so far. I don't get it.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-24 11:32 am (UTC)Now Ripper St is starting here next week? Do you recommend?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-24 11:45 am (UTC)I do, though the first episode is a bit of a touch watch. I did love that show, though. So gutted they cancelled it.
And I agree about Sherlock. There seems to be a bit of a male/female split in how people have viewed the latest series - having said which, there are people (women) on my flist who didn't like it either.