Reviews in Time & Space: The Snowmen

The Doctor Who Christmas specials are something I feel very mixed toward. While the now annual tradition of sitting down Christmas evening to watch a new episode is something I look forward to every year, the stories themselves often leave much to be desired. While the first one, The Christmas Invasion, was a brilliant story that introduced us to a brand new Doctor in the form of David Tennant, later offerings have often been bland, forgettable or even outright bad (looking at you The End of Time). Once again the Christmas special is being used to usher in a new status quo for Who, featuring the first proper appearance of the brand new companion, a new TARDIS interior and even a sparkly new opening (featuring the face of Matt Smith, a classic trait that's been absent since Who's revival). Could The Snowmen be the first Christmas special to win me over in a long time?

The setting is 1842 England, where the Doctor has retired from saving the universe and is lamenting the death of Amy and Rory - much to the dismay of his friends Silurian detective Madam Vastra, her human wife Jenny Flint and Sontaran butler Strax. When a barmaid named Clara seeks the Doctor's help after uncovering a plot by Dr Simeon and his army of living snowmen, the Doctor must spring back into action to face off against an old enemy from his past and save the world.

The Snowmen isn't the first time we've met the Doctor mourning the loss of a companion, but perhaps is the most effective. The Doctor has every right to be upset - to him Amy and Rory essentially died in the events of The Angels Take Manhattan, and the character we see here seems very different to the happy-go-lucky Time Lord the 11th incarnation we are used to. But with the introduction of Clara, he gradually reverts into the Doctor we know and love, but with a slightly more determined attitude not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The big question leading up to The Snowmen was whether Jenna Louise Coleman would be playing the same character she did in Asylum of the Daleks, and in true Stephen Moffat style the answer isn't exactly clear. Clara Oswald's personality is significantly toned down in comparison to the (rather annoying at times) Oswin Oswald, but similarities between the two are clear as day - even down to the repeated lines. The mystery behind Clara is something that will hopefully propel the series forward, rather than keep the Doctor looking toward what was lost like Ten was with Rose Tyler. Fingers crossed.

But even with such an impressive debut, Clara was completely overshadowed by Strax who stole the show at every given opportunity. The not-so-bright Sontaran warrior's answers to problems often involved blowing things up, and lines such as "Stay calm, human scum" and "Please don't noogie me during combat prep" will undoubtedly go down as some of the best comedy Who has delivered in a long time. The only question is whether Strax has cost the Sontarans their credibility as a threat...not that The Two Doctors did much to prevent that in the classic series anyway. Vastra and Jenny are a little more underplayed than Strax, but its great to finally see them in their own setting after coming out of nowhere in A Good Man Goes to War. Its a shame the Doctor Who writers don't seem keen to try out an alien companion, because these three are proof that the concept could definitely work in the modern format.

This year's Christmas special was one that seemed to aim to appease Classic Who fans more than ever, and that stretched much further than a revamped title sequence. First we have the villain of the episode (voiced by none other than Ian McKellen), which is strongly hinted to be The Great Intelligence - the alien entity behind the robot Yeti in the Second Doctor episodes The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear. Rather than  reveal the character outright, the story keeps it distant enough for newer fans not feel alienated by the inclusion of a 1960s villain whose two stories no longer exists, but plays the references so closely that even the Doctor doesn't fully recognise who he's up against. With the story having been set before Troughton's outings chronologically, it plays a little more interesting than a standard "so we meet again!" encounter. As well as being backed up by a legion of living snowmen (not quite "abominable" just yet?), the Great Intelligence is aided by the sinister Dr Simeon, played by Who veteran Richard E Grant (although this is his most canonical appearance to date).

Next we have the new look TARDIS interior, which is closer to its classic counterpart(s) than ever before. Gone is the wide open space and console full of steampunk kitsch and household items, replaced with a gloriously retro console donned with Galifreyan symbols. It's a darker, more closed in console room which uses a blue lighting scheme rather than the usual yellow/orange, but this is perhaps more reflective of the Doctor's mood going into the episode. How long this console room will stick around is yet to be seen, but its certainly already left an impression.

I won't deny that the episode ended with the typical "emotions conquer all odds" that most Christmas specials end with, but even that didn't spoil an episode than managed to hit every right button. Combine everything I've mentioned with the perfect Christmas setting (snow in Victorian London), stunning fairytale-like visuals (the highlight being Clara's ascension up a spiral staircase to the TARDIS above the clouds) and you have the perfect set up to what looks like its going to be a brilliant second half to season seven. 

The Christmas Invasion, consider yourself dethroned. The bar has been raised for future specials.

A Dalek fan's disappointment...

With Doctor Who back on the air for a seventh season since the relaunch, I had toyed with the idea of reviewing each episode on a weekly basis, but ultimately decided against since I wasn't sure how fast I'd be able to get reviews up due to other commitments and such. I expect I'll post a half season thoughts post at the end of the year, but for now I couldn't wait to discuss my thoughts on the season opener "Asylum of the Daleks". Well, more my thoughts on how disappointing I found this episode. Not necessarily because the story was lacking because as a concept I found it brilliant. I even enjoyed (to an extent) the seemingly never ending Amy/Rory drama and Jenna Louise Coleman's "look at my I'm a smarmy female companion" introduction. What I didn't enjoy were the Daleks. The things I've loved since I can remember and without a shadow of a doubt my favourite things from Who, and perhaps all of science-fiction in general.

I don't write this post as a review of why the episode was bad, but simply a list of six reasons why as a Dalek fan I felt nothing but disappointment from it. Doctor Who staff have constantly written since the series' relaunch that the Daleks aren't scary any more, but what effort has been made to try and make them scary? Every appearance they've made since 2005's "Dalek" (which is by far and large the best New-Who Dalek story) has only served to degrade them in one way or another.

1) Humanising the Daleks
Since Moffat has taken the helm of Doctor Who, Daleks now have (abstract) concepts of beauty and fear, and are capable of pleading for mercy. Besides the iconic design of the creatures, what makes them the perfect antagonist for the Doctor is their complete lack of emotion. While the Doctor is capable of and constantly expresses his emotions, the Daleks are only capable of hate. They fail, they continue. They're a force that can't be reckoned with, and a force that can't be stopped either. Having them acknowledge fear of both themselves and the Doctor takes all of that away.

2) The return of the RTD era Daleks
When we last met the Daleks in season five's "Victory of the Daleks", the last of the bronze Daleks were destroyed to make way for the technicolour New Dalek Paradigm, and given the amount of publicity and merchandising thrown into the change I was under the impression that it was here to stay. So, after spending a few years getting used to the new Daleks I was pretty surprised to see this episode featuring more bronze RTD Daleks than New Paradigm ones!  This felt like something that really needed explanation given the old ones were destroyed for being "impure", even if it has been as simple as a throwaway line. Were they nostalgic for the old look? Are bronze Daleks specifically Parliament members? Who knows?

3) The Dalek Parliament
We've had Supreme Daleks, we've had Emperor Daleks and in some forms of fiction we've even had Dalek Primes and Dalek Time Controllers. But a Dalek Parliament with a Dalek Prime Minister is a new one. Prime  Minister of what exactly? Why would Daleks even have a Parliament? The Dalek chain of command has always been pretty clear cut, and that reflects the tyrannical nature of the race. The heads are the ones who make the commands, and the drones obey without question. The very nature of a Parliament and Prime Minister go against everything the Daleks stand for, even if it was meant as some sort of twisted representation (which it never felt like, so I'm led to assume it just involved some big important words being thrown in as titles). Unless of course all it meant to be was some sort of clever piece of commentary - a Dalek Parliament made up of two completely different types of Dalek? A coalition perhaps? Its a stretch, but its the only logical explanation coming to my mind right now.

On that note, I wish the new series would drop the "dalek mutant in a jar" look for leaders. We get it, they're purple blobs with one eye. You don't need to keep reminding us how non-threatening they are without transport.

4) The absence of the classic Daleks
For months beforehand this episode was advertised as featuring "every type of Dalek". This episode didn't even have every type of new Dalek in it. As far as the classics were concerned I saw an 80s grey Dalek, an "Evil of the Daleks" emperor guard Dalek, the special weapons Dalek from "Remembrance of the Daleks" and possibly one originals 60s variant. All four were blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos. Instead these were all sidelined for even more RTD bronze Daleks, who felt just as out of place down there was they did in the Parliament. It's not like there wasn't plenty of opportunity to give fans a real treat either - referencing previous Dalek stories like Spiridon, Aridius, Kembel, Vulcan and Exxilon was great. Like the Doctor said, those are Daleks that survived him. So why not go the one step further and have that actually be represented in the Daleks that were actually in intensive care? Usually I'm not one to scoff at the reference to some of my favourite Doctor Who stories, but this episode repeatedly failed to deliver what it originally promised in that regard.

And the Special Weapons Dalek was down there. The original insane Dalek, one capable of vaporising entire squads in one shot. And the place was still in one piece? Right.

5) What was the point of the asylum?
Daleks have never had any problems in killing their own kind before, they do it all the damn time. From executing drones for failing orders to sending bomb strapped ones to destroy enemy saucers, they aren't exactly a race known for preserving their troops. So why is exterminating ones that have gone insane such a difficult task?

And even ignoring that, what was so threatening about them? The Daleks were too scared to send a team in to do the job themselves but the insane Daleks never posed any kind of threat to anyone. Half of them didn't have working guns, and the other half couldn't even shoot Rory at point blank range. They could barely talk, so them being able to infiltrate and pilot a crashed spaceship seems like a bit of a stretch.

6) The ending
"Doctor Who?"
So the Daleks don't remember the Doctor anymore. Fine, I don't like this but I can get over it - after all its not something that's going to last forever. But what I don't understand is how this is supposedly a good thing because it means they'll go back to conquering and not obsessing over the Doctor. Out of their seven appearances in the new series, three of them have actively involved seeking out the Doctor. And one of them seemed to be more of Davros' plan. Dalek, Parting of the Ways, Doomsday and Daleks in Manhatten had nothing to do with them looking for him, he found them by accident. Nothing has really changed.

I'm still eagerly looking forward to the rest of the season, but it seems my wait for another great modern Dalek story continues. While I accept audios probably have much more leeway that a prime time television slot, the recent Lucie Miller/To The Death audio adventure saw the Doctor defeat a Dalek invasion of Earth but lose two companions and a great grandson in the process. He won, but he won a broken man. That's the sort of drama that makes the Daleks scary - they will lose because they're the villains, but when they lose they'll take everything the Doctor loves and cherishes with it. If I have one request for the new series, it's that they let Nicholas Briggs come from behind that Dalek mic and let him try his hand at writing a story for the television screen because if his audio work is anything to go by, that should be something really special.