Review: Doctor Who Classic: Earthshock (Revisited)

Cybermen! Awesome!

See here for my initial look at this story.

Doctor Who - Season 19, Story Six - Earthshock (Revisited)

If one follows only the Dalek and Cybermen stories from the 80s, you get the impression that the era was filled with futuristic space scenarios. My look in context tells a very different story. Season 19, at least, exploits mainly cerebral stories (Castrovalva, Kinda) and historicals (The Visitation, Black Orchid). Hard science fiction is surprisingly hard to come by, and ignoring the weird Four to Doomsday the first real glimse of it comes with today's story, Earthshock.
     Earthshock, as you should know from the image there, is a Cyberman story, but the main attraction in 1982 was that for one of the last times in Who, people had no idea. The fact had been hidden from the press, kept secret from the Radio Times and even missed out of test screenings. Understandable for me, maybe, but at the time it didn't really make sense to hold the big surprise angle; in 1982 only one Cyberman story was believed to remain after the Sixties tapes were wiped, and this had been broadcast in 1975 - a good seven years before this story's audience had been born.
     The story is also known for its final cliffhanger, with the death of Adric. Only two companions had ever died before, during "The Daleks' Masterplan" in 1965. The companion killed would have been Nyssa but for the insistence of Peter Davison, who believed that Nyssa was the best companion for his Doctor. JNT instead decided to kill off Adric, who had been earning a significant amount of hatred in the fan community for his irritating attitude and his constant appearance of siding with the villain. In all honesty, I think that Matthew Waterhouse was set up from the beginning to be hated, and his lack of acting experience didn't help.

Bye Bye! Don't come again.

     The plot sees The Doctor and crew happening across a scout team searching for a lost team of archeologists in the 23rd Century (on Earth, for the third time in a row). After they are accused of killing the team, they are attacked by a pair of androids controlled by The Cybermen. Tracking the signal back to a space-freighter headed for Earth, the Cybermen soon reveal themselves and explain their plan to crash the Freighter and invade the planet, stopping a peace conference designed to organise an alliance against Cyber forces. For whatever reason, the alien computer system travels back in time to the Cretatious period. As everyone escapes the crashing freighter, Adric randomly decides to stay behind and is killed when the Freighter causes the death of the Dinosaurs.
     There's just something about Earthshock that rubs me the wrong way. I know it isn't Davison's performance, at least, which is brilliant. After the fresh-faced enthusiasm of Black Orchid, Davison's Doctor takes a turn for the serious and you can see his anguish at the return of his most persistant adversaries. Even the usually irritating Adric doesn't get much to say past the first episode. I think, then, that my beef comes with the Cybermen themselves. Earthshock was the first story that I actually asked for; I'd seen other classic stories on UK Gold and had been given them by older family members, but Earthshock was really the first. The JNT Cybermen have a nifty design that moulds together all of those that came before it, but they've become far too anthropomorphic and camp to seem threatening. I still enjoy their performances, but they're not at all initimidating in the way that the story needs.
     The script itself is written by the arguable creator of the JNT Cybermen, Eric Saward, who first met back in The Visitation. To his credit, the first part is very tense and the buildup to the reveal of the Cybermen is spetacular. The dialogue with Adric does strike a little odd in context, though, behaving like a clingy girlfriend. That, and The Doctor and crew don't really get in on the action for a while; they isntead find some fossils and have a lengthy chat about the extinction of the dinosaurs. It's also tiring to see The Doctor accused of committing murder repeatedly, especially after the debacle in Black Orchid. It happens twice in this serial alone.

Silence for... a great man?

      Earthshock is as it has always been; an attempt to make Doctor Who more up to date. It doesn't really do what it wants to do because of sloppy writing and a low budget, and the epic cliffhanger to the first part falls flat in the context of the average 1982 viewer. After that, the story hangs off of a tired Aliens-esque scenario and the finalé feels more of a relief than it does a tragedy. Earthshock should have been so much more than it is, and while it is entertaining it fails in all of its other goals.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: The end of Season 19 with the off-key Time-Flight.
P.S. No more Adric! Woo! My viewing experience has improved dramatically.

Josh: Film: Submarine

Craig Roberts as Oliver Tate in a promotional image

'Here's to us and a wonderful night of love-making.'
     Written and directed by E4's 'IT Crowd' star Richard Ayoade, with US comedian Ben Stiller as executive producer and specially recorded music by Artic Monkeys' lead Alex Turner, child stars Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige bring us; 'Submarine'. The coming-of-age romantic comedy set in Wales during the 80's is based on the 2008 novel by Joe Dunthorne,a virtually unknown poet and writer. With such a diverse multitude of persons behind it what can we expect?
     15 year-old Swansea schoolboy Oliver Tate is unpopular, shy and alienated by everyone. He can't hold down a hobby and falls in love with Jordana Bevan. To get back at her cheating boyfriend Jordana gets Oliver to meet her where she kisses him, takes photographs and makes him write a false diary entry. She leaves the evidence of their meeting in school to make her ex jealous but it sees Oliver beaten up for refusing to call Jordana a slut. On the way home from school she kisses him again and Oliver makes Jordana his girlfriend. Meanwhile at home; Oliver's parents Lloyd and Jill's sex life and relationship is falling apart. With Lloyd depressed working as marine biologist after a failed TV career Oliver assumes his mother is having an affair with her ex and new age guru Graham who lives next door.
     Oliver and Jordana's relationship then blossoms until Jordana reveals her mother has a potentially fatal brain tumour. Oliver considers poisoning Jordana's dog in order to stem her grief when her mother dies but the dog is hit by a train. By Christmas time Oliver meets Jordana's parents where her father breaks down and Oliver becomes unsettled in his and Jordana's relationship. Without competent social skills Oliver decides cutting off contact with Jordana will help her. However when Oliver follows his mother and Graham down to the beach at New Year he sees Jordana with a new boyfriend. In response to seeing to seeing his mother get into Graham's van Oliver vandalises the guru's home and finds out his mother did give Graham a hand-job but Oliver's parents begin to reconcile. In the meantime Oliver becomes suicidal about losing Jordana until he makes his point clear and sees her on the beach they spent their time on. The film ends with a hint that the couple have resumed their relationship together as they walk into the sea.


Oliver admits that he feels suicidal.

     For the first time in reviewing anything I'm finding it difficult to find any fault with this film. With no continuity errors, silly moments, bad direction or poor acting we're delivered instead something which is simply mesmerising. Oliver Tate is a remarkably clever character study who is easy to relate to ourselves and yet so vastly different. His characterisation is realistic and pure brilliance and Craig Robert's performance deserves all the praise that he receives for what he does here. Considering this is his first major project outside the BBC and children's television he doesn't make one mistake and instead portrays endless potential and superb acting qualities. To match we have his co-star Yasmin Paige who though is slightly more experienced in the film-world still isn't as well-known and yet, just like Roberts, should have her agent's phone ringing non-stop with job offers. Together their on-screen chemistry, which is potentially the most important thing about this film, is believable and heart-wrenching. I'm struggling to come to terms with the fact that two of my childhood favourites have bonded to expose unlimited potential and this film could be there spring-board to stardom in the film and television industry.      This film is stapled with the label of a comedy about a teenage boy desperate for sex. But that's incorrect. It isn't just comedic but it's a heart-warming sometimes tear-jerking exploration into the world of an ordinary teenage boy. With a perfect examination of recurring problems with the teenage generation this rom-com as it could be called is similar to that of an in-depth documentary. I'm proud of this film for also dealing with potentially difficult subjects such as adultery, suicide and depression which are complex and yet Submarine masters them and portrays them excellently. All of this heavy subject-matter needs to be carried by it's cast and predominantly it is that of Roberts and Paige who pull it off but couldn't be done without the rest. Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor and Paddy Considine are the unbreakable back bone to this film and are all on their best form.

'You'd be mad not to cast us!'

     Plot-wise the script for Submarine is witty and intelligent at the same time and is easily capable of capturing the imagination and attention of the audience. As a first-time viewer of the film I only paused it when necessary because frankly the story is one of those that you can go around and delay knowing what's going to happen next. Now, with excellent cinematography and memorable imagery this film is bright and colourful with picturesque scenery and touching setting. A vacant effort sees a successful homage to South Wales tipped off with nostalgic uses of the Polaroid and the type writer. Both the score and musical content for Submarine is colourful and loud and helps construct the sheer vibrancy of the film.
     All in all, Submarine is a powerfully moving picturesque romp with an intelligent script and award-winning material acting especially from it's inexperienced teenage leads. With moments that are innocent and hilarious to moments that are courageously mature in content this has got to be one of my new favourites. An excellent piece of what the British film industry are able to achieve. Though I'm still struggling to understand Ben Stiller's involvement as according to his message on the extras he didn't do anything to contribute whatsoever, he didn't even bother to fly over to Cardiff to watch filming. Nevertheless, a must-watch.

Thanks, Josh.

Review: Lost 5.2: The Lie

Hurley is in trouble.

"Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?"

After the relatively sedate premiere, The Lie stepped things up a gear and had a lot more action to chew on. Unlike most premieres, this episode took a larger focus for Jorge Garcia's Hurley, and with that storyline really examined the entire history of the show. It was a fun episode, but it had it's share of poignancy as well - just as Lost should be.
     The suvivors left on the island end up in 1954. After an attack from the primitive version of The Others that decimates all of the none-main characters, Sawyer and Juliet are ambushed by Others. Soon after they meet John Locke. Hurley, trying to take care of Sayid while framed for his actions, sees a vision of Ana Lucia (from Season 2) who tells him what to do; change his clothes and get Sayid to safety. He goes home, explaining The Lie to his parents and then getting Sayid into Jack's care. Later that day, Ben comes to collect Hurley to take him back, but Hurley rejects Ben completely and hands himself over to the police. Kate, worried about the men trying to find her, meets up with Sun who tells her to do what she must do. Ben goes to an old woman, who informs him that they have 70 hours to bring the Oceanic Six back to the Island.
     Rather intentionally, the character of Neil "Frogurt" is perhaps one of the most irritating single people on television. He really is just Adric on steroids, it's frighteningly similar. The character was an in-joke by the producers in response to viewer speculation about new characters, and it's fitting that his inclusion allows for some of the most annoying Lost this side of Eggtown. On the other side of the coin, acotr Jorge Garcia was perfect as the slightly unstable Hurley, and his storyline allowed him to express all the sides of his character; apprehension, improvisation, optimism and sheer naivity. Kate and Sun had some nice moments together, but their little scene only really served to remind us that Jin is supposed to be dead (and, as we'll see in a forthnight, that's not strictly true.)

Damn you, Neil. Damn you.

      It was a little odd, from my point of view, hearing the characters regret telling the eponymous lie when for me they only conceived it two episodes ago. It's a problem that we'll encounter again and again in Season Five; due to the disparity of time in Season Four, there's a huge chunk of it that just falls from our perceptions. I can't appreciate the four years between the Oceanic Six leaving and Ben trying to return with them - that happened last season.
     The Lie was the archetypal Lost episode, stymied by some deliberately irritating performnces and a plot that didn't feel right in context. But, as usual, it was compelling to watch and helped to set up this season's key themes and characters. And that's no lie.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: The US Army make an appearance in Jughead.