mondojohnson

Some of you have been puzzled by my silence on the subject of Doctor Who over the past few months. Your confusion is understandable — after all, we’re eight episodes into the latest series, and not a peep? What gives? One reader thought that I had been stunned into silence by the show’s radical overhaul; that I had been left traumatized and mute by the sight of a new TARDIS.

I’m sorry to disappoint, but the explanation is far more ordinary: work. I just couldn’t find the time to see any of the new shows until recently. But now I’m caught up, having had my own little Who marathon over the past week. And now that I’m up to speed, I can assure you that I’m anything but traumatized by the new directions. Indeed, let me declare: Matt Smith is an outstanding Doctor, perhaps one of the best.

There was much hand-wringing over the choice of Smith to succeed David Tennant, the most popular actor to inhabit the role. How could a 27-year old actor, however talented, summon the eon-scupted complexities of the 907-year old Time Lord, memorably portrayed by 10 acting heavyweights? Well, the fears are unfounded. I don’t know how, but Smith nails it capably.

The Doctor’s indefatigable curiosity and quirky tics are all there, often performed with subtle homage to his first ten incarnations. Echoes of Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Tennant all reverberate through the performance without ever lapsing into mimicry. Smith has truly inhabited the role.

His skill is especially apparent in scenes that touch on the Doctor’s ancient burdens. The sharp, plosive rage emitted by the Doctor in the episode “The Beast Below” is one fine example: “No one human has anything to say to me today,” he curtly declares to a room of his beloved, yet infuriating homo sapiens. Smith managed to pack the Doctor’s immeasurable back story into his delivery of the line. He also did a great job in the difficult task of portraying the Doctor’s second meeting with River Song –the mysterious woman from the future whom the Doctor met on her last day. He knows their relationship will become extraordinary, but he doesn’t know how because the keep meeting out of sequence. For Smith to wrap his head — and heart — around such a crazy relationship is testimony to his skill. (Alex Kingston must also receive kudos for her reprisal of the role, the best new scifi character on the block, in my book.)

In the days to come I’m going to write up individual episode reviews for the new season. But like the Doctor’s friendship with River Song, I will probably post them out of sequence, as whim takes me. But, as you may have noticed, I am completely on board with the new series. The bold and radical changes — not just the casting Smith, but also the promotion of Stephen Moffat to head writer — were a gamble that paid off, for this fan, at least. It is shaping up to be one of my favorite seasons, and that is saying something.

I went ahead and read Dan Brown‘s fun ‘n formulaic The Lost Symbol, which was a brisk guilty pleasure. It shares chromosomes with all the other Dan Brown Beach Books: cinematic pacing, Shyamalan-ish twists, elaborate world conspiracies and clunky expository dialog. These are not knocks: I wasn’t expecting Gravity’s Rainbow, I was expecting a silly paperback thrill ride, which it provided nicely.

However, I am duty-bound by my devotion to The Venture Bros. to point out that one of the main plot elements in The Lost Symbol — a shadowy clique of history’s greatest minds protecting a glistening object that can either save mankind or destroy it — seems a ripoff of the VB episode “O.R.B.”. The Venture Bros. dished up as much action and intrigue (and of course, pants-pissing humor) in that 26 minute episode than Mr. Brown did in his whole book.

Here’s a clip from [adult swim], which gives you an idea. But find and watch the whole episode for full effect.

(Hat tip to The Universe Exists for My Amusement for the funny “demotivator” image above.)

Tonight BBC America will be airing “The Next Doctor” episode for the first time on US television. I am going to tune in and pretend that I didn’t see it months ago via BitTorrent

It’s a great episode, starring David Morrissey and David Tennant (not the first time they’ve appeared together — they were on “Blackpool” together, doing a very hot rendition of “These Boots are Made for Walking”). The Cybermen are also on hand, this time in full Victorian, steampunk regalia.

The best thing about this episode is the whole “next doctor / regeneration” trope. I make it a point to avoid Whoniverse spoilers, so that I can approach each episode with virgin eyes… that’s how I first watched this episode, and let me tell you, it doesn’t disappoint!