Back and About To be 25 Post! (Plus Belated DW Christmas Special and Belgravia Thoughts)
Well in a couple of hours I shall be a quarter of a century old. Oh er. In any case, I figured I will be attempting once again to utilise my fanfiction and livejournal skills over that of my umpteen dozen RP journals for a period, since I feel in the New Year I want to get back into that frame of mind. I shall hopefully live up to various past promises (watching Key to Time, doing Top Ten Lists, finishing some fanfiction and carrying on my 'Old Who for Nu Who' series.) and the like.
Also there's been something of a little matter of a Doctor Who Christmas Special (as I was away on the 25th I caught the BBC3 28th showing) and an opening episode of Sherlock to talk about...
After something of a slightly disappointing finale to Series 6, the Christmas Special was nothing short of brilliant for me. I was a little worried that it would be spinning every Narnia cliche it could find but in the end the usage was subtle and well fashioned. If Moffatt wanted this to be the most Christmasy story ever I think he succeeded. Claire Skinner's Madge was a superly written motherly character and despite some characters (ie. Bill Bailey and co) being rather pointless, I found the small cast and the children (particularly Holly Earl's Lilly) to be just perfect. The tree creatures were given the previous usage in End of the World surprisingly well crafted - in short, I like how this was a simple, light hearted story - something the Doctor Who Christmas Specials should always be in my opinion. Save the darkness and the horror for the main seasons. And I dare anyone to say they didn't feel incredibly moved by Madge's time travel experience and her saving of her husband. Add the final scene with the Ponds and this was probably my favourite Christmas episode so far. 9/10!
Now, A Scandal in Belgravia. Excellent opening to the second season in my opinion (I became a fan of Sherlock by watching the entire first season last Summer on DVD)! The changes to Irene Adler were extensive yet perfectly fitted her present day lifestyle and I found her to be perfectly cast. Like all Sherlock episodes one needs to keep tabs on all elements and try and keep up, which is the hallmark of a good show most of the time. Martin Freeman continues to be dangerously close to becoming my favourite version of Watson (which 18 months ago I would have considered obscere) whilst Benedict was excellent as ever. The decision this season to have the stories more based on original stories than those of last year's seemed a risky venture to me but with the first episode under wraps I think there's no danger as yet - I remain interested to see what this week's coming episode does to modernise The Hound of the Baskervilles, and of course I'm hoping for an exciting Holmes-Moriarty confrontation once more in the Reichenbach Fall (though I'm sad to think it probably won't involve death defying waterfall incidents like the original). In short I hope Steven and Mark stick to continuing to make this series - the current format proves a long but satifsiying wait. 8/10.
So, here's to 2012 being a more blog-filling year for me, till next time! :)
James
Also there's been something of a little matter of a Doctor Who Christmas Special (as I was away on the 25th I caught the BBC3 28th showing) and an opening episode of Sherlock to talk about...
After something of a slightly disappointing finale to Series 6, the Christmas Special was nothing short of brilliant for me. I was a little worried that it would be spinning every Narnia cliche it could find but in the end the usage was subtle and well fashioned. If Moffatt wanted this to be the most Christmasy story ever I think he succeeded. Claire Skinner's Madge was a superly written motherly character and despite some characters (ie. Bill Bailey and co) being rather pointless, I found the small cast and the children (particularly Holly Earl's Lilly) to be just perfect. The tree creatures were given the previous usage in End of the World surprisingly well crafted - in short, I like how this was a simple, light hearted story - something the Doctor Who Christmas Specials should always be in my opinion. Save the darkness and the horror for the main seasons. And I dare anyone to say they didn't feel incredibly moved by Madge's time travel experience and her saving of her husband. Add the final scene with the Ponds and this was probably my favourite Christmas episode so far. 9/10!
Now, A Scandal in Belgravia. Excellent opening to the second season in my opinion (I became a fan of Sherlock by watching the entire first season last Summer on DVD)! The changes to Irene Adler were extensive yet perfectly fitted her present day lifestyle and I found her to be perfectly cast. Like all Sherlock episodes one needs to keep tabs on all elements and try and keep up, which is the hallmark of a good show most of the time. Martin Freeman continues to be dangerously close to becoming my favourite version of Watson (which 18 months ago I would have considered obscere) whilst Benedict was excellent as ever. The decision this season to have the stories more based on original stories than those of last year's seemed a risky venture to me but with the first episode under wraps I think there's no danger as yet - I remain interested to see what this week's coming episode does to modernise The Hound of the Baskervilles, and of course I'm hoping for an exciting Holmes-Moriarty confrontation once more in the Reichenbach Fall (though I'm sad to think it probably won't involve death defying waterfall incidents like the original). In short I hope Steven and Mark stick to continuing to make this series - the current format proves a long but satifsiying wait. 8/10.
So, here's to 2012 being a more blog-filling year for me, till next time! :)
James