The End of the World

Original BBC Webpage: Episode 2

"Burn, baby. Burn."

The Doctor takes Rose to an exclusive affair. The rich and powerful have gathered to pay their last respects to Earth as it is destroyed by the expansion of the sun.

Doctor Who writer/producer Russell T. Davies wrote Queer as Folk among other shows. His vision for the series is for it to be character driven. This episode is more about the development of the Doctor as a character and establishing his relationship with Rose than the adventure on Platform One.
But, it does give the audience what it wants: people in alien costumes.

By the way, the phrase "Bad Wolf" appears in some form in every episode. It's an augury of episodes 12 and 13, but I'll come to that later.

Torchwood

I thought about making a blog for my Doctor Who predilection. But, I'm just going to do it here since I already have four other blogspot pages I don't use.

The thing is, I suppose most of the people in this country who want to see the new Doctor Who have already seen it. I have the DVD boxset and have watched each episode four or five times. I'm not sure how much of an audience there is out there for the Sci-Fi channel broadcasts. I don't know if a new audience will embrace the show.

In any case, in this space every Friday for the next 12 weeks, I'll have something to say about the episode to be broadcast on Sci-Fi that evening. Synopses, hot links, character points, history and backstory, etc.

Now, don't misunderstand. My enthusiasm is not directly proportional to the show's quality. It's not great television, but at times it is quite good and I enjoy it immensely.
"...Which is the only thing that matters in the end."

As a gentleman of refined tastes, who appreciates the fine arts on their own merits, I've never really identified with the coarse sensibilities that inspire the kind of attention that individuals such as Mr. Skin and his ilk give to female nudity in cinema.

Recently, I've been studying the films of Sam Peckinpah. I watched The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs¹ and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. I was, for some reason, surprised to find nudity in all three. It wasn't gratuitous. It wasn't inappropriate in any way. I just didn't expect it and it caused surprised at each screening.

As a result of this, I developed a list of things that Sam Peckinpah, as evidenced in his work, likes:

1. Justice


2. Heroic Criminals


3. Slow Motion Violence


4. Mexico


5. Boobies

But then, I watched Ride the High Country and The Getaway. There was no nudity in either of those films.
I was surprised to find myself genuinely disappointed at this.
So, what now have I become? I'm like a Peckinpah character whose circumstances have caused him to change into a different kind of man.

Now, if only I had a gun and an insatiable lust for justice (and not boobies), some things could get done around here.

¹I would like to point out, that I strongly disagree with Ebert's take on Straw Dogs. It is a brilliant and often misunderstood film.