Hungry Earth & Cold Blood

The Return of the Silurians

The Hungry Earth & Cold Blood Review & Survey Results

Wow! This two-part story was very well written and produced. If only the series had started with this one, it would be receiving more acclaim. I am getting fed up with people saying how dreadful Matt Smith is as the Doctor and that the production team are pants. I know many fans feel that the show has reverted to a ‘kiddie’s drama’ and that the family audience has been lost through poor storylines, please look again there is more going on here and each story stands up even better on second viewing. This story is truly exceptional and it is such a shame that it received so few viewers, (4.5 million for the first episode). Tell me why are people turning off or switching over in such droves?

After I have reviewed this excellent Silurian saga I will try to explain why. I took the liberty of surveying two hundred online viewers of the show with the aim of getting some form of feedback, which might help the production team for next season. I hope that it will give Steven Moffat some idea of the true public opinion as well as some guidance of where the show should go next season. I have reproduced the questionnaire below so feel free to add any comments on my Blog and I will further update the feedback and pass it to my friends at the BBC.

Firstly this story – I loved the obvious influence from classic Doctor Who, there were obvious similarities between the original Jon Pertwee story from 1970 and touches of the enormously underrated ‘Inferno’ also from 1970.
There were of course references to that great 80’s TV mini series ‘V’ and more recently ‘The Time Travellers Wife’ (2008).
For me as a fan though this was Doctor Who at its best and I felt that all aspects of the production, special effects, direction and editing were executed to a very high standard that one would expect from Moffat’s influence and the team around him. The main actors and supporting cast delivered and engaged me throughout. The sets for the Silurian city were wonderfully designed and I really hope that we see them again with continuation of the saga. I have heard rumours that they will re-appear for a Sarah Jane story.

Were there any problems with this story?
So many intriguing loose ends – I like them they make me think, but the general audience nowadays find this kind of subtle infusion far too confusing. How many people got lost with the TV series ‘Lost’ or gave up on ‘Flash-Forward’ or couldn’t wait to hang around to find out what was really happening in ‘Ashes to Ashes.’ This type of TV is now getting tired!
Just how many Rory’s or Amy’s do we need? How do we know if the Rory that died was the one that came out of the Tardis at the start of the story, or for that matter if the Amy now with the Doctor is the right one? The earlier versions could be tied up in the church. Intriguing and chance for fans like me to engage in lots of speculation. The Tardis has sometime in the future fragmented or been unceremoniously blown up by some foe and is now trying to resemble itself through time, rewriting history so it can change its own destiny – just ‘Who’ is in on it. Time will tell when the crack in time throws out some more of its secrets. As an audience member do I care? Do I really want to wait around to find out, probably not! As a fan I love it and am feeling fat on all the amazing possibilities and nostalgia being fed me. As an audience member I am frustrated and want to break new ground. It must be difficult for Steven Moffat to balance the needs of the viewers.

My Survey Results
I mainly used a subjective method of collecting data and so grouped them into percentages of the repeating themes that were reoccurring throughout the questionnaires. This will hopefully give a clear indication for the production team to analysis their mistakes.
The age ranges of the people survey were from 8 up to 65. Equal male and female. We try to pick predominantly viewers not fans.

Why does Matt Smith not work for you as the new Doctor Who?
50%
He is too young!
25%
He has no experience/I have never heard of him before!
20%
I prefer David Tennant’s Doctor because he has more sex appeal (mainly female viewers)

My take on this response!
It was a mistake to employ an unknown for the role who would not appeal to mums. Mums have great control over who watches what. Probably lost a lot of female viewers because the lovely Matt is not blessed in the looks department.
(Please be aware that I really – really like Matt Smiths Doctor but I am in a minority group that watches TV)

What was missing from the new series episodes?
50%
A well-known face as the companion!
20%
Comedy – it’s too serious and covers stuff you only know if you are a fan!
20%
Stories are not as good as you think they should be

My take on this response
The story lines need to improve and inject family comedy, get a well-known face for the mass audience to identify with

What in your opinion are the 3 main problems with the new series?
65% Marketing and Promotion are terrible – we don’t see enough promotion about the show and cast/I didn’t know it was back, I didn’t know what was going on in it! If I had known more about how good it was I would watch more?
20% Its more for kids
15% The Doctor
5% The Companion
5% The opening title sequence puts you off!

My take on this response
The promotion and marketing department is not supporting the Doctor Who team

What do you not like about the new Web-page?
80% It’s predominantly for children!
15% Format old-fashioned – not interactive enough
My take on this response
Design is not right for all age groups – update format
Myspace/twitter/facebook style??

What could be done to improve the show content?
55% Cast a new Doctor
35% Better Marketing and Promotion
20% Better storylines

Why in your opinion are the ratings dropping?
60% A lot of people do not like the new Doctor – not well known enough (Mainly female response)
20% Not enough information about the show and cast
20% Storylines are poor/very white/middle class

My take on this response
The Doctor needs to be a well-known face for our current celebrity obsessed audiences’ approval. Poor marketing and promotion – re-look at it re-jig promotion machine. Improve story lines – get an Executive Script Editor in who is not a fan of Dr Who to stimulate new ideas

AMY'S CHOICE

This is my favourite episode so far. The writer here has achieved a truly outstanding psychological based tale that will be remembered as one of the best Dr Who stories ever.
The plot is in true Hitchcock style and has been carefully crafted with well-conceived mystery and suspense. As viewers we are propelled like the Doctor and his companions into a place where we don’t know what is real and what is unreal an intoxicating dream like state. I was giddy with speculation and anticipation as each scene unravelled before my eyes. Wonderful stuff!
A character called the Dream Lord has taken control of the Tardis and crew and induced a dream state in order for inner personal demons to be realised and dealt with by the crew. The Doctor’s shadow self is explored here, I so love Jungian psychological theoretical perspectives when applied to television drama, other writers could take note of the technique which calls for the character to examine their darker subconscious flaws and subsequently allows the viewer to consider their shadow self motivations.
In Jungian psychology, the shadow or "shadow aspect" is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. It is one of the three most recognizable archetypes, the others being the anima and animus and the persona.
Jung also believed that "in spite of its function as a reservoir for human darkness—or perhaps because of this—the shadow is the seat of creativity and invention of the macrabre and fantasy."
Somehow though I think I would have made the Doctor’s shadow self or ‘Tardis projected shadow’ female. Although the actor portraying the part was superb, we really need more of these seasoned veterans making appearances in Doctor Who. The balance of the new Doctor and his cohort of fresh actors and the well-travelled professionals in my opinion needs to be maintained for the show to have credibility with all age groups viewing.
Matt Smith’s performance was superb throughout this story, we see his confusion and vulnerability explored and greater awareness blossom through connection to his inner voice. We all feel vulnerable when we see the Doctor’s sacred sanctum, the Tardis easily infiltrated by the character of the Dream Lord and as viewers we realise that the


Doctor does not have superior technology or ability, here for once we see him really struggling with the answer to the riddle before him. TimeLords are vulnerable! Here he is no longer in control and in his own personal domain, a place we always think of as sacred and safe, it’s a shocking realisation for the Doctor and the viewer, I felt this connection and that is what good writing does it attacks you, frightens you, unbalances you and then elates you with release. At last the Doctor is put into the same position as his companions, whisked up in an adventure where things are out of his hands and current perception, he is given a chance to experience events from a different perspective. The Doctor is castrated and no longer sure of himself the Dream Lord serves up his Sphinx like twin dilemma to save the Tardis crew choose between reality and non reality, the cold sun or the grotesque old people possessed by aliens – which one is real? – Choose correctly and live, choose incorrectly and cease to exist? The ultimate solution is always going to be that none of the realities exist and to escape the trap of the Doctor’s own doing he just has to think more laterally, the lesson is served there is always another way, another solution, perhaps a better one for everyone, true brilliance, true humanity comes from heartfelt actions not blind self sacrifice. But how wonderful to watch Matt Smith and the supporting cast explore the possibilities and realise friendship, loyalty and real love.

The comparisons to other TV Drama and Films seems to me not required here because of the wonderful inventiveness and innovations achieved in the writing.
There are touches from Life on Mars (BBC) and Star Trek. The major influence seems to come from Hitchcock himself and the episodes were a fitting tribute to him.
There were shades of classic who, when the elderly people, who were a great idea, kids are always a bit frightened of their grandparents, when they opened their mouths it reminded me of that scent in the Troughton show Fury from the Deep. There was influence as portrayed from those classic songs Dream a Little Dream and Mr Sandman, well done Simon Nye a great story, which shows that you do not need lots of gismos and CGI and does not treat the audience like idiots. By the way loved the Titanic (1997) references

VAMPIRES OF VENICE

The anticipation of this story was enormous. The trailers promised a spectacular preternatural gothic romp in Venice. Just to let you know, I am a very big fan of Anne Rice and her brilliantly conceived vampire tales, thus I feel that I could comment with some breadth of knowledge regarding the subject matter, truth be told I was really looking forward to a real treat here! In anticipation, my mind began interlinking events in the Tom Baker story State of Decay and subsequent Vampire Doctor Who novels. Lots of exciting ‘what ifs’ exploding in my mind, supposed delicacies that were entrées for this new story ‘Vampires in Venice.’
Instead I got a wet fish, how disappointing this was, so please forgive me if I am not singing the virtues of this very lame and ill-conceived episode.
Quick Master-Class for Mr Whithouse, you’re script lacked depth as well as perceived anticipation and had no mystery or suspense woven into the seams of the scenes. To be fair this is to some extent the Director’s job, however there were fundamental errors made at the very start of conception starting with the basic outline of the script. The script and storyboard should have supported the process more fully; even Mr Moffat should have picked up on the shortfalls before production went too far and final editing really let you down.
Let’s just start with the basic concept, Dr Who arrives in Venice sees a vampire assault a local and follows his nose to gain access to a palazzo that is overrun by a convent of vampires who are in fact aliens disguised as humanoid vampires- who are really fish people planning to convert a group of young girls into a breeding colony because they lost their own female counterparts while escaping from a disaster on their planet – as the audience we know all this very early on because the teeser has shown it all before the opening credits went up – get the point! We have already lost the suspense/mystery element here because we know almost the entire concept. I know some will say, we only have 45 minutes, and I would remind you that other shows achieve it, lesson one don’t suppose the audience need to be told everything right at the start build up the story gradually and with seasoned mystery.
It would have been so much better for the Doctor and company to meet with the Vampires/Aliens and for the viewing audience to not initially know what or who these sinister and intriguing characters were.
Lesson two support the main concept with interesting sub-plots. Where were the intriguing and thought provoking puzzles for us to ponder?
The hapless companion was separated from the Doctor as is usual with this format, but the plot-line was empty because we did not find out anything that we did not already know. We only had the father/daughter scenario.
Lesson three support the main plot with a well thought out back story that brings out heartfelt emotions and helps the actors connect to the audience. We didn’t really believe or care about the story behind the alien characters, that were blown up or turned to dust, they didn’t connect to us and seemed like pawns in a computer game. We didn’t really understand or connect to who or what was under the water or feel for their predicament or their ultimate demise. Thinking about it, are they still there swimming around the backwaters of Venice.
Sorry to sound so critical there were some excellent highs in the show the leader of the vampire convent put on a fine performance and delivered well. The downside of this was that because she was so striking the cast and extras supporting her seemed even more wooden and dreadful.
The Doctor was ever developing playing both comic roles and serious, Amy was however a little lost and her boyfriend was given a poor uninspiring thread of narrative that never achieved it’s possible full potential.
The writer of the episode was seen in Doctor Who Confidential absorbing interesting research and stories of real vampires in Venice, with help from a Venetian – (I would have given him a part in the show, so much gravitas in his voice) who gave him some interesting tales that could have spun a wonderful intriguing plot line for this concept, Mr Whithouse appeared to ignore this folklore, what a shame!
The overall look of the show was also disappointing; it was not dark enough, very Casanova (BBC). Being like this made it look like a holiday show and not what I had hoped for – a vampiric lore full of sensuous, supernatural, gothic undertones a continuation of a myth, which Dr Who is usually so good at doing.

I find it disrespectful to liken this story to any film and prefer to notice similarities with Classic Who in particular the Sylvester Mcoy story The Curse of Fenric. Another story that was poorly conceived and developed. I think that the production team may have looked at this one for ideas for camera angles because similar ones pop up in this new production. Most of my disappointed stems from the commitment to real vampires and the use of the subterfuge idea with aliens.
Please also note that the CGI alien fishes were dreadful, when creating such a creature – refer to the film Hellboy in future. They were laughable and poorly executed. I so prefer it when these creatures are designed by the special effects team and created in latex with real actors.
I also noticed that on the BBC Website there are some excellent stills of this episode so something was going right somewhere, costume department excelling themselves and the Confidential film team once again getting some great shots from different angles – well done!
Also as a final note these historical based stories always seem to start with the Tardis landing in a Market place, it is so boring now to keep doing this, here is a challenge try to think of a new idea to introduce the Tardis crew in the scene, let me know what you think?
Many fans of the excellent Being Human (BBC) were probably expecting more from Toby Whithouse – he has produced a well thought out, sensitive and planned drama here.

THE TIME OF ANGELS/FLESH & STONE

The storyline is structured around a collision of characters and foes, we see a space ship containing a Weeping Angel crash land on a planet and it transpires that the Angel deliberately chose the location of a monastery on the planet to fall on because beneath the building is a series of catacombs full of decaying Weeping Angels – they use the power source from the spaceship’s leaking hyper-drive to revive themselves but fall foul to a Crack in Time that seems to be following the Doctor where ever he goes at present!! The group enter the catacombs to hunt down the Angel and there follows a basic struggle to survive and escape plot line when the group find themselves surrounded by the deadly Angels.
The problem with many of the deaths throughout the first episode is that they seem throwaway – unnecessary to the plotline and there is no thrill or suspense with the execution and build-up. Study Hitchcock’s methods, he is the guru of how to create meaningful responses from audiences in this genre. One of the glaring problems with the script is that when the supporting cast are picked off we don’t really care – because we don’t really know them – the whole process just becomes routine.

River Song the mysterious character from the Doctor’s past, present and future re-emerges and adds cryptic dialogue, which is obviously setting teasers for future episodes and ultimately this season’s final. In which I believe the Crack in Time caused by River Song’s murder of the Doctor will cause such a ripple in the continuum whereby a paradox is created that eventually enables the Doctor to live on. Amy and her space-time location is obviously crucial to the paradox in someway!

It must have been so tempting for Moffat to bring back the Weeping Angels, however they prove ineffective in this ‘catch me if you can story’ any of the old Doctor’s enemies could have sufficed and been a joy to see. Mr Moffat please don’t forget you have a catalogue of classic monsters who could have been much more effective in this story,

The Ice Warriors, rumoured to be re-surfacing in Portsmouth’s Millennium tower in a later story could have been fantastic. Opps just like River Song I need to be careful – spoilers. The ‘Whovian grapevine’ now full of interesting teasers/spoilers due to the wonderful ‘what if’ chemistry caused by this story’s ingenious dialogue insists that the Great Intelligence may be making an appearance and it would be apt to find out that it was this foe behind the animation of the Weeping Angels. Where are the Yeti? Have they been replaced by the Weeping Angels? Unfortunately we know no more about their origins and I felt a little let down by this well directed and cinematographic spectacular two parter. It looked great but lacked substance!


The story has pockets of reminiscence towards a few of the classic Dr Who episodes.
The crack in time scenario seems to be a clear link to the Tom Baker story City of Death. Was this mystery ever resolved properly? The blinded/eyes shut scenario with Amy reminded me of the Sarah Jane incident in the Brain of Morbuis
Penned by Douglas Adams (Hitch Hikers Guide). Indeed Moffat’s writings seem to imbue a similar thread in the character of River Song she like the Doctor and Adams’s style characters is hopping around the cosmos encountering strange and wonderful phenomenon. Hey Mr Moffat those wonderful plans just announced for River Song’s own series hopefully will come to fruition and like the Torchwood franchise parody and compliment the Doctor Who series well. We so need a female Time Lord back again! I love spin offs and reappearances of characters from the mythological vaults of Dr Who and am so looking forward to Katy Manning’s reappearance in the Sarah Jane Mysteries.

There were shades of Earthshock a Peter Davidson story that starts in caves and the woodland set in the spaceship that I really liked reminded me of that underrated Tom Baker story Nightmare of Eden. If I am not careful I could match most of the scene, dialogue and action to many illustrious past Dr Who stories. Please be aware that I am not doing this to suggest that these ideas are just a montage of eclectic writing by numbers, a bit from here matched with another story from there. There are after all as so many of today’s writers tell us ‘no new ideas’ only old ones re-invented, recycled and updated! Let me know what you think? Ultimately this comparison will I hope encourage new fans to get DVD copies of these classic shows and watch them to see the comparisons and inspirations gleaned for these newer outings. Mr Davies was a very effective purveyor of this techniques, if you read any of the Virgin Fiction novels you will soon realise how he brought many of their ideas together in his own renditions.
There is however much originality in this story the silicon based Angels themselves are quite unique and now a highlight of Moffat’s era of story telling with Who. We want to know more and they are creating debate. Excellent stuff!
The scene where the Angel grabbed the and the dialogue between the Doctor here was well written and touching. It reminded me of that film with Sean Connery and Michael Caine – The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Other film influences include the brilliant ‘Decent’ 2005 and ‘The Cave’ 2005.
The Cave seems to be the main influence and even includes the Abbey and explosion scene to get into the catacombs/caves.
Matt Smith’s Doctor truly comes into his own in this story, excellent portrayal of mixed emotions and really establishing his own interpretation of the new Doctor firmly and with a special whimsical quality that can flow into anger and sorrow in one scene – Matt Smith knows his craft well. He enthralls me. The end scene with Amy was funny but boring, we have seen this sort of thing so much before, a better idea would have been to have her fiancé walk in on them as they were sitting on the bed, a much more interesting dynamic. Note to costumes, please no more Army fatigues its so 90’s.
The next story Vampires in Venice is great - truly Anne Rice Inspired