Doctor Doctor and the Halloween Apocalypse: In Which the Author Damns with Faint Praise

 I've got to say something about the Doctor. 

The new era's the pits - we all know that, (except for a bunch of really hysterical Twitterati, who protest too much methinks). So let's not dwell on it. I'm tired of complaining - at this point in life, I'm resigned to the probability of this little franchise never again doing what I most want it to do or most want it to be. So let's just put our expectations aside, take disappointment for granted, and just accept it for what it's become - a rather mindless children's program - and we'll all be much happier. 

Having done that, I can say I rather enjoyed it. 

John Bishop as Dan

It was fun and it was funny. Most of the one-liners came off, the deadly menace felt
thoroughly menacing, and I liked the new companion Dan (John Bishop). I liked the cliffhanger, an am anxious to see how it turns out. I liked all the different story threads it established. I thought the pacing and the tone were fine. What was there to complain of? 

Well, I thought the Kavinista (my North American ears kept hearing "Cabinet Minister") were daft. I do not think that slapping the head of a household pet onto a humanoid body is a great way to invent alien species (and don't go throwing the Garm from Terminus at me because I thought he was daft too).  I thought species bonding, with the resultant 7 billion ships, was a silly idea. It struck me as hasty, self consciously quirky. I wish they'd give up that cutesy crap and give a moment's thought to what kind of alien species might actually evolve on other planets. But the show's not about speculation, is it? It's about explosions. And there were plenty of those. 

Species bonded doggies

There I go again. 

I liked the return of the Sontarans. They looked appropriately ugly and sounded appropriately blood-thirsty. They do need rescuing from Dax. (While we're on the topic of "Looking at the Positives", can I just say I rather liked what Chibnal did with the Cybermen. . .) 

You know who. 

They seem to be doing something rather unprecedented this time around, which is establish all the storylines up front, presumably with the intention of resolving them later. I think it's a great idea. It piqued my interest. It tickled my curiosity, which is the thing I want most from a Doctor Who episode. It is the thing which will probably ensure my returning next week. (Though, to be honest, grouchy as I get, I could never intentionally miss an episode of Doctor Who. I'm rather stuck with it.)

So, there's plenty to love. Let's celebrate that and not worry that's it's become irretrievably unintellectual. Intelligence doesn't bring ratings, so we can forget about that.

Funny. I had indented this to be a positive review.  Is being better than what came before a celebration of the present or an indictment of the past? I suppose I'm still bitter over that Timeless Child nonsense, and it will take a really big bouquet of flowers to make me feel better. A full fledged Sontaran invasion might help. . .