While this wasn't the best episode of Tennant's first season, it was a welcome return to relatively fundamental Doctor Who formula from the previous episode, "Love And Monsters," which flat out departed from the traditions of Doctor Who and practically executed itself as an episode from an entirely different series.
This episode was the last stand-alone story before the two-part finale of Tennant's first season. "Fear Her" was written by Matthew Graham, and like so many other writers of the revived series, Graham unfolds his story in accordance with the laws established by the original series.
The Doctor and Rose arrive on Earth in 2012 to watch the Olympics, only to discover that the suburban street they land in has recently been experiencing unexplained disappearances of the local children. The episode takes on the classic form of Doctor/companion investigative parts, where the TARDIS duo split up to follow separate leads. Rose befriends a tarmac worker, while The Doctor follows his more finely tuned Gallifreyan senses.
For the most part, the episode was good - most of the dialogue scenes were music-less, and when they did contain music, it was subtle. The music accompanying the first 30 to 40 minutes sounds dark and creepy, and goes well with whats happening on-screen.
The episode started to lose its classic appeal near the end, within the final 10 minutes, where we are once again forced through a dose of hero-worship for The Doctor. The final scene also once again caters to the fan girls, where Rose notes that "they keep trying to split us up...,"
However, the biggest kick I got out of this episode was the scene in the TARDIS when The Doctor utters, "I was a father once," and the look on Rose's face just says "WTF???!!!" Rose immediately replies with a "What did you say?!" I never was a fan of the Doctor/Rose relationship element, so anytime Rose got a reality check like this one was always music to my ears. The other one this season had to have been "School Reunion," where Rose discovered that she wasn't so special after all - she was in fact, the latest in a long line of companions come and gone.
The best dialogue for me had to have been when Rose consults Kel one last time about fixing the potholes, and Kel is once again boasting how well he filled a hole, yet others turned out lumpy. Rose shows her disinterest in it by replying, "Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking."
Worst dialogue of this episode had to have been moments after the spectators vanished, and the news anchor utters, "Can switch to you in the box, Bob? Bob? Oh no, not you too Bob!"
There were a couple of scenes that utilized reality TV shaky camera work, namely the one of Trish, The Doctor and Rose in the kitchen. I hate that kind of camera work, because it feels like the production team was in a rush to shoot the scene, so they don't bother with setting up tripods and other equipment - they just throw the cameraman onset toting a gargantous, cumbersome camera and shoot.
Overall, a decent episode - atleast it wasn't a Earth based episode where the baddies are bent on world domination. This time, the antagonist actually was reminiscent of Moffat's writing. It wasn't exactly evil in nature, it's just that it's actions made it appear so.
This episode was the last stand-alone story before the two-part finale of Tennant's first season. "Fear Her" was written by Matthew Graham, and like so many other writers of the revived series, Graham unfolds his story in accordance with the laws established by the original series.
The Doctor and Rose arrive on Earth in 2012 to watch the Olympics, only to discover that the suburban street they land in has recently been experiencing unexplained disappearances of the local children. The episode takes on the classic form of Doctor/companion investigative parts, where the TARDIS duo split up to follow separate leads. Rose befriends a tarmac worker, while The Doctor follows his more finely tuned Gallifreyan senses.
For the most part, the episode was good - most of the dialogue scenes were music-less, and when they did contain music, it was subtle. The music accompanying the first 30 to 40 minutes sounds dark and creepy, and goes well with whats happening on-screen.
The episode started to lose its classic appeal near the end, within the final 10 minutes, where we are once again forced through a dose of hero-worship for The Doctor. The final scene also once again caters to the fan girls, where Rose notes that "they keep trying to split us up...,"
However, the biggest kick I got out of this episode was the scene in the TARDIS when The Doctor utters, "I was a father once," and the look on Rose's face just says "WTF???!!!" Rose immediately replies with a "What did you say?!" I never was a fan of the Doctor/Rose relationship element, so anytime Rose got a reality check like this one was always music to my ears. The other one this season had to have been "School Reunion," where Rose discovered that she wasn't so special after all - she was in fact, the latest in a long line of companions come and gone.
The best dialogue for me had to have been when Rose consults Kel one last time about fixing the potholes, and Kel is once again boasting how well he filled a hole, yet others turned out lumpy. Rose shows her disinterest in it by replying, "Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking."
Worst dialogue of this episode had to have been moments after the spectators vanished, and the news anchor utters, "Can switch to you in the box, Bob? Bob? Oh no, not you too Bob!"
There were a couple of scenes that utilized reality TV shaky camera work, namely the one of Trish, The Doctor and Rose in the kitchen. I hate that kind of camera work, because it feels like the production team was in a rush to shoot the scene, so they don't bother with setting up tripods and other equipment - they just throw the cameraman onset toting a gargantous, cumbersome camera and shoot.
Overall, a decent episode - atleast it wasn't a Earth based episode where the baddies are bent on world domination. This time, the antagonist actually was reminiscent of Moffat's writing. It wasn't exactly evil in nature, it's just that it's actions made it appear so.
"The music accompanying the first 30 to 40 minutes sounds dark and creepy, and goes well with whats happening on-screen."
ReplyDelete...I hope you realize this episode was only around 40 minutes long.
"The final scene also once again caters to the fan girls, where Rose notes that "they keep trying to split us up...,""
I'm going to make a guess and say that this ONE LINE is why you rated the episode so low, since you truly seems to hate any idea of a relationship between the Doctor and Rose.
By the way, no matter how much you want to believe it, there are more than fangirls who like the relationship.
You do not understand the scoring system in this review blog.
DeletePlease read the brief introductory paragraph at the top before blasting me and make presumptions on why I scored episodes low or high.