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This Is The Dawning Of A New Era
Jan. 2nd, 2007 01:06 pmWelcome, 2007! Mental soundtrack for NYE was the Mountain Goats lyric "I am going to make it through this year if it kills me", interspersed with excerpts from Jason Webley's partying-in-the-face-of-the-abyss masterpiece Against the Night. And make it through I did. Too soon to judge the new year yet, of course - and peculiar to spend NYD sober - but if nothing else, 2006 is done.
Given how long we spent without any new Doctor Who broadcast at all, it's truly remarkable that from Christmas Day to New Year's Day, the BBC transmitted seven new episodes of Who universe drama - if slightly worrying that the other four were all so thoroughly better than the supposed core series. True, Radio 7's Blood of the Daleks shared far too much with Runaway Bride, opening as it did with an obnoxious peon played by an alleged comedy actress being beamed aboard the TARDIS without the Doctor's consent. And yes, it then went into an unutterably generic Dalek plot. But at least the script had some flashes of wit (especially the McGann wig joke), the rest of the cast were pretty good, and the Doctor didn't come across as a pathetic, affection-starved bunny-boiler.
The Sarah Jane Adventures was the sort of broad-brush storytelling we've come to expect (or do I mean fear?) from Russell T Davies - but in an actual children's programme, that's easier to forgive. And crucially, it was *fun*, and at least made a sort of sense on its own terms. Although - wasn't that alien poetess the same species as Torchwood's telepathic space lesbian?
And yes, Torchwood, whose two-part finale was finally the programme I'd wanted it to be. Trauma! Chaos! Sapphire & Steel ambience! Boykissing! If only a certain member of the supporting cast had been left dead, that would have been perfect.
Given how long we spent without any new Doctor Who broadcast at all, it's truly remarkable that from Christmas Day to New Year's Day, the BBC transmitted seven new episodes of Who universe drama - if slightly worrying that the other four were all so thoroughly better than the supposed core series. True, Radio 7's Blood of the Daleks shared far too much with Runaway Bride, opening as it did with an obnoxious peon played by an alleged comedy actress being beamed aboard the TARDIS without the Doctor's consent. And yes, it then went into an unutterably generic Dalek plot. But at least the script had some flashes of wit (especially the McGann wig joke), the rest of the cast were pretty good, and the Doctor didn't come across as a pathetic, affection-starved bunny-boiler.
The Sarah Jane Adventures was the sort of broad-brush storytelling we've come to expect (or do I mean fear?) from Russell T Davies - but in an actual children's programme, that's easier to forgive. And crucially, it was *fun*, and at least made a sort of sense on its own terms. Although - wasn't that alien poetess the same species as Torchwood's telepathic space lesbian?
And yes, Torchwood, whose two-part finale was finally the programme I'd wanted it to be. Trauma! Chaos! Sapphire & Steel ambience! Boykissing! If only a certain member of the supporting cast had been left dead, that would have been perfect.
