Doctor Who: Utopia...
Jun. 17th, 2007 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoI watched yesterday's Doctor Who episode, "Utopia", when I got out of bed this morning, and then wandered around for a while in a happy fannish daze. I watched it again over brunch with
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maaseru (who had already heard the whole story from an English friend) and maaboroshi, who, to my delight, vocally appreciated the good bits.Russell T. Davies didn't do me wrong, and I was right to have faith. I can't think of anything on the Jack/Doctor front that disappointed me - the banter and the mood, in fact, exceeded my expectations. I loved the tension between them; the impression (if I wasn't reading too much into it) that Jack, regardless of the awkwardness of the reunion, feels that he has found the Doctor again after 139 years of looking for him, and because of this can simply be himself again. And from the Doctor, the full weight of the awkwardness between them - some confusion, guilt, shame; irritation, trust, and ultimate fondness, all expressed in the offhand, manic/understated, Doctorly style. I loved it that Jack challenged him on his prejudice, and the Doctor acknowledged it, and discarded it.
In other words: the episode met my hopes, and better than I could have imagined. I expected a more rational reason for the Doctor's abandonment of Jack, and his avoidance of him. The irrationality of it is like a gift. This makes the problem between them an overwhelming obstacle which is instantly (and plausibly) overcome with a conversation, good heart, and some thought. Not a whim - it was made clear how deeply the Doctor's fear and horror went. Even a Time Lord can fear change, and be made to see when he has made an outstanding mistake in judgement.
I loved every reference to Rose: Jack finding out she was alive and hugging the Doctor; a beautiful echo of "The Parting of the Ways" when the same thing happened. The wonderful line when Martha learns Rose was a blonde. And best of all, another bonus that went above and beyond what I expected and hoped for, that with Jack the Doctor can be honest at last, as the Doctor puts aside his denial of Rose's unhappiness to be parted from him. At last he admits that she is trapped in the other world and can never come back, and with Jack, he can express mutual acknowledgment of the terrible grief of it.
And then so much of the episode was just plain fun. Them running from a horde of baddies, and Jack saying he'd missed that. The Doctor's irritation whenever Jack flirted with anyone - how can I help reading jealousy into that? - and Jack's aggrieved, "Can't I say 'hi' to anyone?" (Sure, Jack, just don't say it so enthusiastically.) The scene where Martha discovered the Doctor's hand in Jack's backpack - his 'Doctor detector', heh - and freaked. The whole conversation during the radiation scene - have I mentioned the radiation scene and how much I loved it? - and its sense of resolution of the Jack/Doctor tensions - unless I mean 'escalation' there, revival of the relationship at another stage. The Doctor's concern and the Doctor's smile.
I got what I wanted: Jack, on coming to understand his own immortality, comes to terms with it. At the end of time. And thanks to the Doctor, lets go of his death wish. Perfect, all of it.
What else? I've mumbled before about how I don't like Derek Jacobi's acting, but I loved it here. Loved his role. There was something of Bilbo Baggins about him, especially in the costuming, and the watch-fob that was also a clue to his nature and identity. The whole technological matrix made out of food. The absent-minded professor in a world that seemed alien to him. It would have been so easy to make that role simply hokey, but here it had a whole spectrum of resonances, including the implication that Professor Yana was a somewhat incomplete person, just as John Smith had been incomplete. I also loved the pretty insectoid assistant who loved him in direct parallel to Martha's relationship with the Doctor.1
Particularly loved the way the whole theme of "Human Nature" and "A Family of Blood" was reused with the Master in the Doctor's role as a mortal, whose Time Lord self was in the watch, but he didn't know it and the watch was masked to him. Loved the way Martha was the only one who could have recognized it for what it was, and have told the Doctor.
I loved the way even some of the old sci-fi cliches, and Doctor Who traditions of the type I've disliked in the past, were used as a sort of tribute, just proving that if you take a hoary old cliché and polish it up and wear it with pride, it can be a thing of joy.
It was fun to see Creet, after meeting the actor on the Doctor Who Blue Peter special. He was great.
I loved the Doctor being shut out of his own TARDIS, and then using the sonic screwdriver to attack and sabotage it. It just shows how much I've fallen into the whole mythic glory of the show, that I found that heartbreaking.
I liked the John Simm as the Master being an evil manic echo of the Doctor.
I wish we'd glimpsed Jack, Martha and the Doctor in the trailer for next week. Oddly, I found myself less curious about what the Master will do on Earth in the 21st century, and more curious about Utopia - whatever or wherever it may be - a trap, a lure, a gateway, a new beginning?
And in the Confidential, I totally loved the scene of John Barrowman lying on his back on the ground in the rain, singing Singin' in the Rain.
~ ~ ~
1 If I could advise Martha, I'd tell her to make an ally of Jack: his sexually-charged presence seemed to be a great catalyst for Rose's relationship with the Doctor. But, alas, Martha can't hear my advice.
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Date: 2007-06-17 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 07:07 pm (UTC)I expected a more rational reason for the Doctor's abandonment of Jack, and his avoidance of him. The irrationality of it is like a gift.
I've seen several posts complaining about that, but like you I thought it was great. Crap from Jack's point of view to be told by the person you've been chasing for a century that he can't look at you, but I thought Jack handled it beautifully, calling the Doctor on the prejudice (the "Shame on you" line was fantastic). And I love that the Doctor was that irrational, that he ran, because that is what he does when things shake him up and the reason isn't always good, so it was nice that he admitted it for once.
I thought Derek Jacobi was amazing, especially since I really didn't see the watch coming. By the time he opened it I was bouncing in my seat and going "oh crap, oh crap" and his transformation was chilling.
And I love manic John Simm. I'm really looking forward to his stuff in the next parts, he's such a fabulous actor.
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Date: 2007-06-17 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 07:23 pm (UTC)Isn't it fun? I think I can squeeze in time to watch it again before I have to go out today.
I've seen several posts complaining about that, but like you I thought it was great.
There were numerous reasons I thought it was wonderful. It was heart-wrenching. Usually the Doctor is a figure of wisdom and experience, and we can trust his judgement. I love it that sometimes - sometimes with the big issues - especially with the big emotional issues - he can mess up just like any human. And try to cover up what shames or embarrasses him. I love the places where he just doesn't understand everything in inverse proportion to how much he hates these occurrances!
It was wonderful too that Jack understood - and did what Jack does best: forgave him.
It was a wonderful role-reversal to see the Doctor learn something from Jack. Back in series 1, Jack learned things from the Doctor that transformed his life. This is... returning the favour, in a way. Showing a person their error, letting them reverse it, and lovingly forgiving them the error in the first place.
Crap from Jack's point of view to be told by the person you've been chasing for a century that he can't look at you
Yes, but Jack has lived with the pain of abandonment since 1869, and he can't have expected the reunion to be easy. If it had been easy for the Doctor - well, that would have been so much worse, proving it meaningless or trivial from the Doctor's point of view. But it wasn't meaningless or trivial to him, it was a matter for discomfort and confusion and denial. That someone he cared for became a symbol of something so horrific to him that he couldn't bear to face it. (In parallel to the way he has been refusing to admit Rose's pain in being stuck in the other universe, emphasizing that she is alive and 'happy' and with her family.)
And then, of course, as so often happens, when he was forced to face what horrified him, the emotional problem became surmountable - with help and a nudge from Jack. Perfect, just perfect. Just in time for another emotional upheaval...
the "Shame on you" line was fantastic
So wonderful!
I love that the Doctor was that irrational, that he ran, because that is what he does when things shake him up and the reason isn't always good, so it was nice that he admitted it for once.
I agree absolutely.
Derek Jacobi was amazing
He certainly was. And I never thought I'd be saying this!
I really didn't see the watch coming
Neither did I. And then on second viewing the watch-fob was the first thing I saw and I was thinking: There is was, hidden in plain view all the time.
I love manic John Simm
Totally brilliant.
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Date: 2007-06-17 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 08:13 pm (UTC)I don't generally rewatch almost anything these days, unless it's at a con, but I suspect this will be an exception.
It was, indeed, such a HUGE relief to have "our" Jack back
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Date: 2007-06-17 08:19 pm (UTC)Isn't it great to have Jack back as he should be?
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Date: 2007-06-17 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 08:39 pm (UTC)And if that didn't work she could always just shag Jack. :)
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Date: 2007-06-17 09:08 pm (UTC)I loved the Jack-explanation and the banter, and I'm glad the Master's back (the Doctor without the Master is like Holmes without Moriarty!)!
I loved the blue insect-lady, Chan (?) - she reminded me of one of the Doctor Who Monthly comic-strip companions. I was sorry she was killed!
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Date: 2007-06-17 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 01:02 am (UTC)He's got a hand free! And he's happy to see you!
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Date: 2007-06-18 01:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 01:26 am (UTC)I did too. I think one of the best moments was when the Doctor said he was sorry....
the Doctor without the Master is like Holmes without Moriarty!
I wouldn't know, but I like what I've seen of him so far.
I loved the blue insect-lady, Chan
Yes, she really was fun - and so sweet! You could just imagine her blushing when Jack spoke to her. And then she was so cute when Martha teased her into verbal misbehaviour.
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Date: 2007-06-18 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 01:32 am (UTC)I was reminded of Jack in Torchwood saying to Gwen Cooper in "Everything Changes" that he keeps his immortality a secret because people are freaked out by it. How ironic (and lovely) that the person most freaked out by it was the Doctor himself - while human Gwen took it in stride.
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Date: 2007-06-18 01:37 am (UTC)Still, I think he'd give the Doctor first dibs regardless of the situation.
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Date: 2007-06-18 05:53 am (UTC)And "Was someone kissing me?" was possibly the cutest Jack line in history, the way it was delivered.
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Date: 2007-06-18 09:02 am (UTC)*stops when neck starts to ache*
I completely agree about the reason for the abandonment being far more satisfying. It might be just because I'm so focussed on the meta aspects at the moment (too much writing...) but I thought it was the best possible way to explain it. It gives drama, conflict, discomfort and is a stark reminder of just how different the Doctor is. Most people do not look at Jack and go "ugh". But Ten really, really does. That look he gives him when he's lying on the ground outside the TARDIS is absolutely chilling, as is the coldness in his voice when he tells Yana he has the man they need. For me, DT underplayed it a little, but the radiation room scene more than made up for it.
I love playing with cliches just because if you can put an original spin on them, they work so well - the audience thinks they know what to expect, and love being surprised by what you do with it. This did that brilliantly, even if the futurekind, quite frankly, stank. One small thing in an otherwise excellent episode.
Like you, I was wondering what Utopia really is.
I shall now have to go watch the Confidential, because that sounds too good to miss!
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Date: 2007-06-18 10:38 am (UTC)As for "Was someone kissing me?" - it was utterly adorable, and it's not often that Jack gets to deliver lines like that with such complete innocence.
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Date: 2007-06-18 03:32 pm (UTC)Second, I have a theory about the resolution for the Master...
The Master's evil plot unfolds over the course of the final two eps. The plot is foiled, but the Doctor faces a conundrum. He can't imprison the Master, because he'll escape, as he has in the past. But, for various post-Time War moral quagmire related issues, the Doctor can't bring himself to kill the Master, either. So, the Doctor goes with a third solution, with or without the Master's consent, depending on character development.
The Doctor uses the chamelion arch on the Master, again, rendering him human with a new identity, effectively "killing" him. Only this time, the Doctor keeps the watch with him, preventing the Master from accidentally overriding the perception filter and re-emerging. The Doctor deposits the new personality on Utopia, so that he can continue to help the refugees as before. His punishment is to be stripped of his Time Lord identity; his atonement is to be stripped of his Time Lord identity. Meanwhile, the Doctor is, once again, the last of his kind.
Third, ditto everything you said about the Doctor and Jack. However, at this point, I don't think it's just Time Lord bias. I think the Doctor is genuinely scared he could end up like Jack. It's not that he has a death wish. But, he doesn't want to be the last of his species and go on really forever. I think the idea makes him ill, and Jack is the embodiment of "But, for cosmic grace, go I."
Animated Who -- Ep. 10
Date: 2007-06-18 03:45 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpUL4eG7EjU
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Date: 2007-06-18 03:47 pm (UTC)There's no such thing as 'too much writing'. I love the writing! And I love the meta!
It gives drama, conflict, discomfort and is a stark reminder of just how different the Doctor is.
Yes - how his viewpoint is unique.
Most people do not look at Jack and go "ugh".
No, they certainly don't. I liked the sense that... it was really painful for him. He'd cared about Jack and Jack had become this thing that horrified him, though no fault of Jack's - the Doctor truly had a situation he didn't know how to handle. So he ran from it. And then when he couldn't run from it any more he became grumpy and you know that's because he doesn't know how to reconcile the conflict between knowledge and instinct. A good dollop there of self-blame.
I'm hoping that the explanation for futurekind (and the resolution) will turn out to be interesting. As in "Firefly" where the explanation for the Reavers turned out to be utterly cool and more than we expected. But... we won't know till we know.
I suspect the explanation for Utopia will be simpler than
The Confidential is wonderful, largely because a lot of it focuses on John Barrowman and I like that. Love the scene where he's singing 'Singin' in the Rain' - I can't think of another actor who would handle the situation he was in that way! or with quite such ebullience.
Re: Animated Who -- Ep. 10
Date: 2007-06-18 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 03:59 pm (UTC)Scary.
I like your theory about the Doctor and the Master. I don't know if that's what Russell T. Davies has in mind - we shall see!
I think the Doctor is afraid of many things, including Jack's fate. Yes, you're quite right, he sees that if Jack's fate is possible (and it is, because it's happening) it must then be possible for him and that takes him to frightening psychological places.
But psychologically speaking, I think Jack and the Doctor have already helped each other with this - I'm not sure what to call it. Dilemma. Paradox. Reality-defying nightmare.
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Date: 2007-06-18 05:44 pm (UTC)Gallifreyans start out with normal, but longer than human lifespans. When a Gallifreyan graduates from the Time Lord Academy, he/she is altered to allow for 13 lives, the life one starts with and 12 regenerations. The 13 lives are both a status symbol and a means to carry out Time Lord duties over long periods of time.
The Master is older than the Doctor. The Master was nearing the end of his 13th life when the Doctor was in his fourth incarnation during the Tom Baker years. The achieved post-13 existence by cheating, by killing. The Master became a walking corpse in a person suit long before the McGann movie. God only knows who the Professor body originally belonged to. While we don't know, yet, the implication was that something about the Doctor's hand jumpstarted a normal regeneration into current Master.
With this in mind, it's easy to see why "Saxon" was funding Lazerus' rejuvination work. The Master is afraid of death, always has been. Now, the man who's afraid of death overheard a conversation between his oldest enemy (who was once his friend, btw, before the Master developed delusions of grandeur) and the one man who is truly immortal). The implications for Jack's future aren't good. I have a feeling that the Master's wound and post-Profesor, post-regen shock were the only things that kept him from remembering Jack. Otherwise, it might've become a hostage situation on top of everything else.
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Date: 2007-06-19 01:23 am (UTC)I've rewatched this episode more times than I care to mention. I just loved it, and I envy David Tennant getting to act with Sir Derek Jacobi.
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Date: 2007-06-19 05:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-19 01:32 pm (UTC)Well, that wasn't the best thing about it, but it was very cleverly done. I do hope we return to the Utopia theme at least enough to learn what Utopia is. Resolution of the Futurekind theme would be nice too, and I assume we'll get it in some fashion, since Martha and Jack are still struggling to keep them on the other side of the door.
So the episode was about more than the re-emergence of the Master, but that was its culmination, and a damn good one too.
Tennant's acting skills impress me more all the time.
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Date: 2007-06-19 01:36 pm (UTC)(I like to think the Doctor thinks so too.)
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Date: 2007-06-19 01:38 pm (UTC)I am sure we'll find out what Utopia actually is. Plus, I'd like a further explanation of why the Master used his chameleon arch. I've heard plenty of rumors suggesting that he was the one who started the Time War by giving the Daleks Time Lord technology and then going into hiding hoping that both sides would annihilate each other.
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Date: 2007-06-19 01:47 pm (UTC)Not so much 'bad teeth' as 'pointy teeth'. Since they had language and many signs of technology, I saw no particular difference between them and the 'hu-man' culture except social differences. I suppose that doesn't rule out some sort of endemic brain damage....
Anyway, what I'm hoping is that they'll turn out to be tamable savages, or that they'll succumb to Jack's charm or something, and will settle down to a marshamllow-roast with the Doctor in the last remnants of civilization left behind by the Master and the Utopia ship.
I'd like a further explanation of why the Master used his chameleon arch.
If he used it - if it wasn't a case of someone else using it on him, or forcing him to it.
I've heard plenty of rumors suggesting that he was the one who started the Time War by giving the Daleks Time Lord technology and then going into hiding hoping that both sides would annihilate each other.
If that is what happened, the ploy was remarkably successful.
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Date: 2007-06-19 01:52 pm (UTC)And while I doubt this'll be the case, how wonderful would it be for Jack's libido to be what saves everyone from the Futurekind? I mean seriously...he can't die, and probably enjoys rough group sex. All he needs to do is run into the mob, and a few hours later they're all sitting around smoking and sipping hypervodkas. :-)
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Date: 2007-06-19 02:33 pm (UTC)To give them the power to bring him back. However, though I don't agree with your reasoning, I agree with your conclusion: that he did it to himself. I agree because this makes such a close parallel between the Master and the Doctor, and I think Russell T. Davies likes playing with parallel characters and parallel structures all the way down the line and is doing it over and over this season and especially this episode. (Making Chantho a parallel to Martha, for example.)
how wonderful would it be for Jack's libido to be what saves everyone from the Futurekind? I mean seriously...he can't die, and probably enjoys rough group sex. All he needs to do is run into the mob, and a few hours later they're all sitting around smoking and sipping hypervodkas. :-)
And thus civilization is rebuilt. Sounds like #26a on Jack's list of 'favourite fantasies'. Our Hero Who Saves the World with Sex.
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Date: 2007-06-20 01:21 pm (UTC)Hmm - that's very interesting. Perhaps the Master would have done better if he'd earned Rose's affection and then sacrificed himself to save the world from Daleks.
Did all Gallifreyans go to the Academy? I guess not, or 'status symbol' wouldn't be applicable.... Interesting.
the man who's afraid of death overheard a conversation between his oldest enemy (who was once his friend, btw, before the Master developed delusions of grandeur) and the one man who is truly immortal
Fascinating implications. You make me more eager than ever for next week's episode.
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Date: 2007-06-20 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 08:21 pm (UTC)It'll be interesting to see what they come up with to account for the 14th Doctor - when the time comes.
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Date: 2007-07-10 10:28 pm (UTC)And the Master! *happy dance* Yay, John Simm!
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Date: 2007-07-10 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 02:39 pm (UTC)