Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Sulp Niar]

Sorry, but I had to start a thread. Last night's episode, which kick-started series 5, 'The Colour of Amber', was really rather excellent. It was abnormally fast-paced but this worked with the narrative, and by the time that... erm... the thing in question had happened, it all quietened down and Tony Hill had the opportunity to rationally determine just what had been going on. With a disturbing plot twist and final jeopardy scene, and some touching moments between Tony and the two victimised boys (Christopher and Mikey), I thought this was a really strong episode.

Actually, I'd seen it before, but in its UK guise. The ABC screenings replace the removed scenes, and the episodes tend to work much better. For example, the Christopher plotline was almost completely excised from the UK broadcast, which is a shame, as was the scene where Tony offers Mikey a jellybaby.

The next episode, 'Nocebo', is all about witchcraft. I've seen that too, and I recommend it even higher than this week's story. So far, awesome stories, performances, writing and overall series.

[Greg]

I've occasionally wondered about this series, but never been organised enough to actually watch an episode! Sounds like it is worth a look.

[Sulp Niar]

It is, it is. Trust me.

You can actually find the DVDs for past series basically anywhere. In fact, considering it's reputation for being rather posh and expensive, I was shocked to find series 3 of WitB there for half-price. I can't imagine posh old ladies sitting around watching gory deaths.

EDIT: Come to think of it, that wouldn't be out of place in 'Paradise Towers'.

EDIT2: Also, it's amusing studying TS Eliot poems at the moment, because half of the titles of Wire in the Blood episodes (well, a few of them) are taken from his poems... "mermaids singing" and "time to murder and create" being two memorable lines.

[Sulp Niar]

'Nocebo' is a very unconventional Wire in the Blood episode, I realised when watching it. Although witchcraft is linked in with psychology, i.e. the power of suggestion (along with the placebo and nocebo effect), it was still not a bent that the show usually takes on, feeling more mystical than realistic. I hasten to say that that's a good thing, making this episode stand out considerably, though I'd be annoyed if they did it again.

There were some ridiculously creepy scenes, mainly when people died/were cursed. In particular, the resurrection from the grave, the sacrifice scene and the plague of flies scared me shite-less. The decision to shoot the whole episode almost in black and white worked well too, putting forward a grim atmosphere throughout - though my stepdad seriously thought there was something wrong with the TV for ages.

Actually, the entire episode was unrelentingly grim. Psycopaths, betrayals and destruction of innocence galore. Although there were some smile-worthy moments (popcorn... basically everything Tony does), they were far and few between, which is another unusual bent for a Wire in the Blood episode. The trailer for next week's looks more conventional, although just as creepy and interesting, so I personally can't wait.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that last episode had the woman who plays Martha's mum in it as, er, another mum. 'Nocebo', however, had a less recognisable face. The guy who played the artist who uses his own blood in this show was one of the hapless, homeless guys sucked into Cybus' promises in 'Rise of the Cybermen'.

[Ickabod]

this is a great show and really worth watching.....and yeah I reconized Martha's mum....it's the eyebrows that give her away

[Sulp Niar]

'Names of Angels'. This one wasn't as good as the previous two efforts, but coming after the distinctly un-Wire-y 'Nocebo' it made sense to concentrate on one more about, er, normal criminal psychology (if that's possible). There were definitely some interesting and creepy things in this episode, though... the moment where Tony first looks in the sink, the branding of the name on his window, the killer offering his condolences over the phone... and the end scene was rather tense. Interestingly, the ending was both unsatisfactory and yet completely realistic at the same time, as the killer, well, didn't exactly turn up. I won't say more, of course.

Oh, and this is really fanboyish of me, but I appreciated the use of the jazzy riff from Series Two in the opening moments of this story (this riff appeared in 'Still She Cries'. Also, there was that evil hardcore song from Series Two played in the popcorn making scene in 'Nocebo'... yes, when they're making popcorn. Best use of metal music ever).

All in all, I'm really looking forward to the finale next week (although, it'll mean I won't have much else to look forward to in terms of TV for a while... dammit).

[Sulp Niar]

So, the finale: 'Anything You Can Do' (at least, I think that's what it was called - I can't honestly be bothered looking it up). Again, they managed to bring something new into the show. In this case, it was... not child abuse, but child embarrassment. There was some great stuff in here, notably Tony and the resourceful killer's meeting, pissing on the grave and writing "SLAG"...

Equally brilliant was Tony's psychologist friend, all washed up. I loved how he tried to set Tony and Alex off against each other - and succeeded, too. Great interplay between them, and it's a point about Tony's obsessiveness with his friends/colleagues and job. It's not like a policewoman's obsession with the job (which has been investigated previously in the series with Alex)... Tony is just, well, weird.

But... at the same time, something about this episode was slightly disappointing. I think it was for two reasons: 1) because it was the end of season finale yet didn't try to up any antes (the killers were, but it never felt tense, and the Tony/Alex thing wasn't big enough either). And, 2) I've noticed that Series 5 of the show has been strangely written. In the past, probably because they didn't have an assumed audience, the writers made damn sure to make the episodes gripping right from the start. In 5, the episodes start really quite slow. There'll be a good image or something, but usually it takes a while to actually get gripping. I'm not sure whether this is laziness or just freedom in writing. Hopefully this trend will be reversed in the next series.

Ah, yes. I can't wait until Series Six. And the movie. Mm.