First impressions, second takes

I thought I would take this opportunity to write about my first impressions and second takes of the beginning of series six.

 

It was apparent to me the first time I ever watched Doctor Who that the show was very self referential. I just didn't understand all the jokes the first time around. It made me eager to watch all of the reboot and then selected episodes with the classic doctors in hopes of appreciating the show more the second time around.

 

For example, it would be impossible for any new doctor to mention celery and the audience not think back to the fifth doctor (Peter Davidson) and his lapel. If someone mentioned a flute, I think most people would automatically think of Patrick Troughton.

 

I remember watching Eleventh Hour and thinking the food scene must be some kind of reference or those ties that hang upon Matt's neck look slightly like a dangling scarf. Although I tried to search for some kind of meaning when re-watching the fifth season, I was more impressed with the dialogue that I got a bit sidetracked.

 

Yesterday, I re-watched the Christmas special and then the first part of series six. Although I was equally delighted both times to see Michael Gambon in "A Christmas Carol" and moved when Kazran and Abigail in their last days, I found I could take the episode more seriously the second time.

 

As someone who once taught English to high school students, I sometimes find it difficult when I see modern takes on classic literature. I am open to all interpretations of the text, but flying sharks and fish seem to be a wild take on the Dickens tale. These interpretations did not bother me so much the second time around and allowed me once more to get lost in the story.

 

Again, I found myself drawn to the relationship between The Doctor and young Kazran. I have yet to see all the classic episodes, but as far as I know no other actor has had so many scenes with children. I find it refreshing that a young male can create such a rapport with children and to take audiences into these fantastical worlds without the image being tainted by modern suspicions and corrupted thoughts. It could be easily taken the wrong way when a strange man enters a boy's room to talk about girls and to do boy things, but yet there is nothing wrong with the way Matt and Laurence do it. In essence, the relationship itself becomes a parallel to the one we have already seen with Matt and Caitlin in the Eleventh Hour.

 

I find it also helps to see Gabon's reaction to everything that is happening to him in the past, present and future. He is not Dumbledore or any other incarnation of a previous character nor is he simply a Whovian take on Scrooge, he is something in between. His performance lends itself a great creditability to the relationships we see between The Doctor and Kazran along with the other subplots happening in the episode.

 

In "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon", we get the pleasure of seeing Mark Sheppard as Canton Delaware. Again, he is not simply Romo Lampkin from BSG or any of his other incarnations, he is a thought out character. I enjoyed both in jokes of River shooting off the hat in both times I watched the episodes as it reminds us of when she shot off the fez.

 

Despite how mesmerized I was the first time watching the episodes, I found the second take more enjoyable. I wasn't trying to puzzle out the strange idea that The Doctor would die at the beginning of a series nor was I trying to make sense of the other concepts they brought into the episodes. It allowed me more time to really relish how The Doctor and River do flirt with each other. 

 

I hate to admit the first time I viewed the episodes I was a bit of an ageist. I found the age differences between a 28 year old male and 47 year old female distracting. It was already obvious that there was some kind of interplay between our hero and Amy, a 23 year old female. Yes, it is easy to say the actor's ages should not come into play as our hero in question isn't even human and apparently over 900 years old. I just found the chemistry between Matt and Karen more believable than Matt and Alex the first time I had watched the episodes. I did not have this prejudice the second time watching it and it made the episode much more intriguing.

 

I do admit that certain scenes feel a bit awkward when watching series five and six knowing what the character's real relationship is to each other, yet the characters themselves do not know it yet (except for River perhaps). Again, the awkwardness was short lived.

 

I found The Silent equally creepy both times around and a much better nemesis than the classic Daleks. I also found I wasn't looking so much at production costs and quality the second time viewing and I ignored the slightly poor imitation of Nixon. I did, however, find both times Matt's beard and crazy hair a bit much.

 

Lastly, I found I enjoyed "The Curse of the Black Spot" the second time around. I had not seen Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville the first time, so it was delightful to see Robert Crawley as Henry Avery. That is to say I never watched Downton Abbey the first time I saw it. Now I'm eagerly awaiting seeing last night's episode of DA.

 

You can never go wrong with pirates or beautiful sirens. I found the plot equally enjoyable, but I did notice a few things the second time around. I had always thought Rory was always dying the first time I saw Doctor Who, but have now come to see he doesn't actually die at all. He transformed from Rory to a living plastic centurion and then fell ill on the ship and other moments, but he doesn't actually die.

 

I also noticed that this episode features Hugh with his Toby who plays his son. It is one of the times I noticed the Doctor isn't the main person with the child.

 

I also couldn't help but notice our Doctor isn't as whimsical in series six. He has cut his hair and become more handsome than cute. He's more dashing than silly. There are still comedic moments, but we can see our hero evolving as the series continues.

 

I have rambled on long enough for now. I hope you enjoyed it.