Tooth and Claw
Well. I found episode two of the second series of RTD’s Doctor Who to be a rather mixed bag. I loved the general plot, which could have been in a very Tim Powers-esque piece of occult history. I also enjoyed Queen Victoria’s realistic reaction to the protagonists’ nonchalance in the face of the episode’s terrible events. Lots of wonderful dialogue moments. The action writing wasn’t perfect, but it was halfway decent this time.
On the other hand, Davies’ worst tendencies are again on display—again, the humor veers from simply irreverent into the distasteful, and again so many things were done simply for effect without regard to internal consistency. The scottish monks in the 1860s are wearing saffron robes under their habits? And know kung fu? For one throwaway scene? Why? Where on earth would they have had contact with Shaolin monks?
That’s one of the differences between Russell T. Davies and e.g. Joss Whedon. They both have a tendency for flippant cleverness, but Joss can usually do it without violiating characterization or the internal logic of the story. All too often Russell does things … well … just because.
Stick to producing, Russell. Or at least find a good script editor and listen to what she says. Please. I’m not looking forward to the season finale at this rate.
Update: I also just remembered that the scottish monasteries were basically wiped out in the 1590s. It’s extremely unlikely, to say the least, that the particular monastery would have survived uninterupted from the 1540 (when the “meteor” landed) through the 1860s. In the face of that, though, it’s the third RTD-written episode where the villains were monks or nuns. I think Russell’s got some issues on display here.
Update: Or, supposing the monks were in fact Shaolin monks, what on earth were they doing in Scotland since the 1500s pretending to be Catholic monks?
Update: Also, regarding the action writing—if you’re going to have a character making a heroic last stand, don’t just stick them there helplessly in the face of the enemy onslaught! Let them kick some ass first, and then kill them off. It’s the same mistake RTD made with Captain Jack in the final episode of the last series.
The more I think about this episode, the stupider it gets.