#all aboard the discovery train! no wait sorry wrong show

[rapha-reads]

Time to watch the Classics...

Classic Who

Doctor Who - series 1 episode 1 - An Unearthly Child

What... Okay. Here we go.

THE INTRO THEME is amazing! It's so different, and magical, whimsical!

Tardis my love - everytime I see her I'm besotted.

Coal hill school! Okay, okay, I knew the importance of Coal Hill School because I've done a lot of googling over the years about everything Doctor Who, but still, actually seeing the school at its very beginning is awesome.

Omg hello welcome to the 60s - 60s, 60s everywhere, hair, clothes, speech patterns and vocabulary, man/woman imbalance, and obviously visual effects, story rhythm and montage. Though, I'm wondering. How come the OG Star Trek from the same era is in color and sort of, more rhythmic, more... I don't want to use modern because it sounds like I'm criticizing Classic Who and saying modern ways of doing tv shows are better, which I'm not. It's not about the quality of one thing over the other, just the feel of it. Two scifi shows, one British, one American, from the very early 1960s, and it's two very distinct feels and made. It's absolutely fascinating.

Susan Foreman!!!! I've heard so much about her, I'm glad to finally meet her.

"I suppose she could be a foreigner" - ha ha ha ha ha, oh, you have no idea! Also, that line is interesting. It's after all at the heart of it all. The Doctor is a foreigner wherever they go, but also so deeply entrenched in the very fabric of the universe that's it's hard to dislodge them.

Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't comment on Classic Who, especially as early as the very first episode of the very first season of the very first Doctor, with my understanding and reading of New Who. After all, as we'll see as soon as this episode, at the moment the entire universe intradiegetic of Doctor Who is very much not installed.

I'll try to keep my 21st century comments out as much as I can while going through all 26 seasons, but I can't promise that I won't go on tangents from time to time.

"It's alive"? Wtf, Ian? I mean, yes, the Tardis is sentient and she's a lovely badass, but how is that your FIRST thought when you put your hand on a wooden door and feel it vibrate? Why alive and not, Idk, "motorized", "working", hell, even weird?

DOCTOOOOOOOR. Why, hello, First. Let's get to meet you. I'm very curious.

So the Doctor was a troll and a sassy haughty puff and huff expert from the beginning. Amazing. This explains so much.

Holy shit, that OG Tardis. Wow. She's cute.

Susan says she made up the name... But then it's a classic Time Lord ship... Oooh, inconsistencies from the beginning. I like it. Want to shove it into every-person-who's-hating-on-Thirteenth-right-now's face. Yeah, yeah, moving on. We're in 1963 now, not 2021.

"I tolerate this century but I don't like it" - huh. Okay. I mean. You do you, Doctor. Just fyi, you gonna be stuck in that century a lot of time. Better start to like it.

Oh, WOW, the First Doctor is a prick. That's. Wow. Tangent again, I knew there's a reason why being abrupt and prattish is one of the Doctor's trait throughout regenerations, but damn, First is savage as hell. Wow, I'm impressed Barbara or Ian haven't punched him yet. (Donna wouldn't have hesitated)

Holy shit. The sound of the Tardis leaving is the same. Don't leave the brakes on! I love this sound.

Where are we going now. So the first travel with companions is an accident because the Doctor and his granddaughter were fighting. Ha. I want to say "classic Doctor" but that would be a bit on the nose.

Jesus that's a lot of transition scenes. And weird faces. What is even going on with the special effects. Listen, I know the BBC back then didn't give a lot of funds to Doctor Who. I know we're even lucky to still have these episodes, what's with the fire and all. But come on. Those special effects are hilarious.

This is so much fun, I can't wait to see it all! Only 744 episodes left (I think - do Betaseries/Google count the episodes that have disappeared in that list?).

| next

[holbyconfessional]

Holby City S19 E13 - I Do, I Do, I Do.

What follows may be a disjointed review. And long. Sorry!  I really ought to have a rewatch before I post, but I’m not ready.  So, there may be future reblogs if I miss anything important.

Firstly, Mr T’s wedding.  I was ridiculously pleased to see Hanssen back, I always miss him when he’s gone.  And it’s remarkable how well he managed to pull the Swedish trad attire look - never more noticeable than when he and Hanssen were making their way back to find Mo after Hanssen applied his uncanny ability to see right through everyone’s personal feelings - let’s call him the Feelings Fairy, or the Fairy Feeling-Father of Holby...  But I digress.

Hanssen was great in this episode.  As just mentioned, his counselling of Mr T that it’s Mo that he loves - coupled nicely with his wedding speech with the nod to Mo about everything that is meant to be happens eventually.  Hiding in the tower, looking for woodpeckers to avoid being chased by Mama T, and just generally his reaction to the totally inappropriate sexual harrassment from the aforementioned Mama T.

Mo was great in this ep too.  She looked amazing and had some great one liners, something about Swedish feet and lack of nerve endings, or some such!  She knew what she was doing, telling Mama T about the lack of baby.  She knew Mama T would blow the whistle.  And hell, fair play, why not?  If she couldn’t do it herself, best to hand the reins over!  Also loved the birthing scene, with Mr T, Mo and baby Charleston.  (Wonder how long they get to be happy before Charlie’s life is threatened?)

Without a doubt, the undeniable star of the wedding show was the inimitable Jac Naylor, Queen of sarcasm.  She was just an absolute delight, from her first appearance in her suit, to her reluctant wedding dance and appeal to Mo to rescue her, down to her complaints about being Mo’s unplanned birthing partner for a second time.  But then just getting into the water with all her damned clothes on to help Mo out regardless.  And then, missing the drama and getting drunk...  I can say without question that Jac was the saving grace for me tonight.

HOWEVER.  I barely concentrated on a moment of the damned wedding.  Even the Jac bits just flitted before my eyes.  Because the whole episode was waiting for the next Elinor/Jason bit.  There had been no secret in the spoilers that there would be a) an accident involving Elinor and Jason, and b) Serena and Mo would be having life changing experiences.  Now, I may not be a rocket scientist, but...

So, on to the only bit I managed to really take in.

Wow, the accident happened early in the episode.  When Elinor came in wired, talking about her report that she’d written, it appeared early on that her drug use was going to play a bit part in the episode.  Actually, that theme was continued on later, when she was asking Jasmine where she could put her bag so that it was ‘out of the way’, ie hiding the evidence.  However, from that point, the drugs were not really mentioned.  I am surprised, however I suspect the issue may resurface (theories later).

The basis of the argument, or Serena supposedly keeping things from Elinor, turned out to be something as minor as Serena having stepped down as CEO and not discussed it with Elinor.  It seems silly, but I guess if Elinor is feeling a little at sea having to adjust to a new relationship in her mothers life (gender irrelevant), then I guess she’s more likely to be a bit sensitive about everything, even the littlest things.  And the drugs don’t help, kids!

Cue the racing to follow her out, and the accident - which Serena puts down to Elinor being so tired from being up all night.

Bernie was absolutely awesome, taking control.  I guess her army training coming to the fore, as she has undoubtedly got feelings for Jason herself.  She was amazing in theatre, although I felt the ‘it can’t be done’ from Morven, followed by the highly risky, almost impossible liver lac repair being successfully achieved by one Bernie Wolfe, Trauma Surgeon extraordinare was a mite heavy handed.  Especially considering later events.

Bernie’s moment after the surgery, when all her emotions came out, was just beautiful.  At the time, I was disappointed that we didnt get to see her break the good news to Serena, but again, later events explained why that wasn’t done.

Serena’s chat with (most probably shiftily playing around with drug paraphenalia) Elinor in the locker room was lovely.  I loved the attempts at openness on both sides, of course designed to make Elinor a more sympathetic character before sending her to her fate, and Serena’s game was really sweet.   Also Serena’s later reveal to Jason that she was thinking about inviting Ellie back to live with them again, ramping up the angst.

I will mention Liberty briefly, but I don’t think she deserves it.  I can’t really see the point of her character anyway, so she showed up whilst Serena had to perform life saving surgery - she served no purpose to me at all, she didn’t make Serena look bad, she just showed up then buggered off, leaving nary a ripple on my screen.

Now to Elinor’s collapse.  Naughty, naughty Jasmine.  She is a doctor, yes?  Since when is it OK for doctors to let themselves be talked out of giving a patient neuro obs?  I know people can refuse treatment, but Ellie technically didn’t do that, and hells, woman, she’s Serena’s daughter.  Mindless stupid girl.  Not endeared her to me at all.

Bernie and Serena whilst watching Ellie’s surgery were lovely.  The hand clutching for support, perfect.  And finally, Serena at Elinor’s bedside running through the neuro tests that Ellie had failed - all the basic tests to determine brain stem function.  Which seemingly is not present in Ellie.  An absolutely heartbreaking scene.  Bernie has clearly demonstrated her commitment to be there for Serena, which is great.   BUT, I do feel that this disaster has been of rather epic proportions, quite unnecessarily so.  I believe exactly the same committment could have been shown without tearing Serena’s life apart quite so dramatically.

I rather discordant note from that scene - for me - was Bernie asking Serena if Elinor was a donor.  I don’t think  Bernie should have done that at all.  She was there as Serena’s support, not a transplant co-ordinator.  And to have brought that up as a ‘spouse’, well, I think perhaps it’s a little soon in their relationship to be claiming joint parental responsibility for Elinor, especially with Elinor’s reaction to them.

This a pretty long post, seems a bit pointless to put a cut in now, but since I’m about to chuck in some speculation, here goes.

Elinor’s drug use.  As I mentioned, with the repeated nods to it within the story, it seems that Serena is still unaware..  I feel it’s likely that the discovery has something to do with the chewing out she gives Jasmine in the Autumn trailer - so that’s one way they’re going to use it.  But how will it come up now?  My main bet is that Serena will decide to donate Ellie’s organs, so something good can come out of her death.  But then some test or other will somehow highlight her drug use and render her organs unusable.  Yet another blow for Serena.  But with this theory, why do it?  Does it really add to the drama?  They’ve already established that the car accident could just have been a combination of tiredness and upset from the argument.  They didn’t need to have Elinor as a drug user - the pain tht the knowledge would have brought Serena would have been far greater in life than after Ellie’s death, surely?  It just seems extremely unnecessary - unless it really IS just a tool to allow Serena to yell at Jasmine, and surely, she’s got more than enough reason without that one.

My other theory, and I am aware that this is not going to happen (apparently some writer on Twitter categorically confirmed that Elinor was dead?) was that the drug use could have a far more interesting part to play.  In an (quite possibly outdated and superceded) medical paper from the 1980s detailing the criteria for determining brain death, as seen here, in the case of head injury combined with a history of drug use, accurate measures of brain stem activity can’t be determined until several days have passed, as drug use could cause a temporary lack of activity.  Therefore, I feel the most effective use of the storyline would be to have this happen - in other words, the drama without the death.  It would still have been unlikely in this scenario that Elinor would have recovered unscathed, so still plenty of scope for long term angst.  That, folks, is how I would’ve written it anyway :-)

Anyway, I rarely speculate quite so wildly in these reviews, so apologies.  There are a lot of feelings out there at the moment, some folks are hopeful, others disheartened, and others still are painfully affected by the story.  Regardless of which each viewer  is, it’s undeniable that it’s going to be hard to watch, because if you’re reading this, there’s a fair bet you care about the characters.  Bernie wasn’t wrong when she said that no parent should outlive their child.  As an avenue to explore Bernie’s commitment to Serena, it all seems a bit crass to me.  But we will no doubt get some amazing acting out of it.

Grief sometimes brings couples together.  But sometimes it drives them apart.  And since I’m all aboard the speculation train, I am just going to throw one last thought out there. I don’t know when JR’s contract is up, but Serena’s grief and pushing Bernie away, hell, it’s not inconceivable that a few months down the road it could be a departure storyline. Grief doesn’t pass overnight, the ramifications can be seen months down the line.  And there’s only so long Bernie can try to be there for Serena if Serena chooses to repeatedly push her away.  (Not specifically saying this is what I think will happen.  Just generally sayin’!)