I'm With Geek
  • Home
  • Geekery
    • TGH
    • Creative
    • IWGCast
  • Film
    • The Essentials
    • Hit Play/Hit Stop
    • Trailer Parks
  • TV
  • Games
  • Comics
  • Books
  • About
  • Our Team
  • Contact
  • Editors Blog

Doctor Who: Nightmare in Silver - Review

5/12/2013

 
Picture
By Matthew Battles

Yeah, OK, I know I’m a moron. As soon as I headed over to imdb to check the title of the next episode I realized my mistake... This is the penultima installment of the seventh season! So no two-parters for us this year! I just wish I had kept my brain in gear before last weeks review went live. Ah well! Never mind - on with this weeks episode!

We seem to be on the moon overlooking the Earth as Sexy materializes in. The doors open and one, two... Three and four faces peek around the edge. That’s right, Clara caves into blackmail! The time-traveling Nanny (that premise alone has spin off material written all over it doesn’t it?) has brought the kids along on their own timey-wimey adventure.

Picture
“The biggest and best amusement park there will ever be, and we’ve got a golden ticket! Fun!” The Doctor exudes.

Despite appearing somewhere in actual space, and coming out of a box that is bigger on the inside, the kids aren’t so impressed; “the stupid box can’t even get us to the right place. It’s like a Moon-base or something.” Pretty sure I’m not the only one who wanted to slap her when she said that... nobody calls Sexy a stupid box! The Doctor puts them right:

“Guys, it’s not the Moon, it’s a Spacey Zoomer ride. Or it was...”

Around the corner comes a distraction; Ian Watkins - or to those of us who also watch Being Human - Herrick. Bizarrely he’s dressed somewhat Dickensian for a guy from the future. Maybe he’s into Steampunk?

“Are you my lift off planet?” He asks. Dave’s Interstellar removals is six months late.. Then things get a little weirder; a bunch of soldiers arrive, the man vanishes, and they, guns pointed, order that the TARDIS team throw down their weapons. The Doctor tries to smooth things over. Showing off his golden ticket;

“Golden ticket! Spacey Zoomer... Free ice cream?”

The female solider, who I suddenly recognize as Eastenders alumni Tamzin Outhwaite, demands to know who they are. This planet is closed by imperial order. Aaand out comes the handy dandy psychic paper! The Doctor and his trio of companions are part of the Empirical Proconsul and are suddenly welcome. There’s a brief discussion of the Emperor who seems to be missing. I wonder if this will become relevant later on?

Picture
As soon as the soldiers move off, Dickens is back, “uniforms give me the heebie-geebies,” he tells them. Personally I’m calling bullshit... Anyway the team follow him along to the dilapidated fairground and, once again, the children aren’t looking too impressed for their first jaunt out.

Dickens reveals himself to be Mr. Webley, the owner of the old fairground, he shows them to the only remaining attraction. A space-version of Madame Tussaud's by the sound of things, with waxwork representations of the famous and infamous. He then leads them to a shiny red covering dramatically demonstrates; ‘the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity, defeated a thousand years ago but now, he’s back to destroy you...”. He whips the red cover away to reveal a very familiar metal humanoid.

“Cyberman!” The Doctor yells before ordering everyone down!

Don’t worry, no need to panic, Webley tells the foursome. “there are no more living Cyberman.” The doctor examines the six hundredth and ninety-ninth wonder of the universe. An empty shell that plays chess! Artie sits down and begins to play. The ‘cyberman’ playing against him. The boy is quickly beaten - the rules seem to have changed since 2013... but its an empty shell. How does it work? 

“Mirrors?” Suggests the eldest child, Angie. The Doctor’s impressed but the answer is wrong. He opens a hidden door to reveal... Warwick Davies! Using dwarves for skullduggery still happens in the future!

I’ll wrap up the re-cap here. It takes a little while to get going but when it gets going it is an absolute blinder of an episode. It has everything a Who fan could want and, let’s be fair, who was expecting anything less than that from Neil Gaiman? This is the genius behind The Doctor’s Wife after all!

Picture
The performances this week were, once again dead on, Matt Smith was not only captivating but downright bloody terrifying at certain moments. This season, particularly the second half, is really showing off his chops as an actor. He’s turning in fantastic performance after fantastic performance and, frankly, he might actually be giving David Tennant a run for his money! The scenes inside the Doctor’s mind as he battles the Cyber Planner was something truly spectacular. 

One thing that was slightly irritating was just how easily Clara seems to take to her new role in charge. One minute she’s just normal bubbly Clara, and the next she’s seasoned in the art of war. This is either a really irritating mistake or hints at her actual identity. Could it be that Clara’s ability to do just about anything have something to do with her own Great Intelligence perhaps?

The Cybermen were amazing, a huge step up from the Cybusmen we’ve been subject to since Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel. The right combination of classic series and new & shiny, these Cybermen evoke the feel of the powerful, tenacious foes they’re supposed to be. I loved the Borg style adapting and upgrading, altering their own systems to counter their enemies attacks, though they weren’t portrayed as terrifying as they should have been. Still, I personally cant wait to see more of these new Cybermen and the infamous Cyberwar in show’s future. 

Picture
Now, for the penultimate episode of a season, it really doesn’t seem to be doing much setting up. Remember the earlier seasons where the finale was a two, sometimes three, parter? It’s not happening, and I can’t be the only one that’s a little bit concerned that what they’re planning to do in the finale; The big reveal of the Doctor’s name AND the solving of the Clara mystery, might just be too much for a single episode? I fervently hope I’m wrong! Unless this story ends on a huge cliffhanger of epic proportions - my money is on this happening actually - there’s no way this single episode could possibly contain everything they’re trying to do.

There’s only one way to sum up what I’m thinking about the finale and that’s the way the good Doctor did it himself; “The impossible girl. A mystery squeezed into an enigma wrapped in a skirt that’s just a little bit too... tight.” 

So, he’s noticed that one too has he? 

“What are you?”...

Comments are closed.


    TV Editor: Graham Osborne
    Picture

    TV 

    Reviews on the best TV has to offer, as well as retrospective looks at the shows of yesteryear we miss so much. 

    Regular features include: 

    Have you seen...? - We take a look at TV shows you may not have seen, but should really check out?
    Retrospectives - We look back the shows that have ended.
    From the Trenches - Matthew Howe shares his hilarious experiences from the Trenches of the Media Industry.
    Catch it on Catch-Up - A run down of some quality TV that you may have missed first time around.
    Turn Off - The very worst that television has to offer.
    Doctor Who - The latest News, Reviews and features on the 50 year sci-fi giant!

    Email: tv@imwithgeek.com

    Categories

    All
    12-monkeys
    Adventure-time
    Agent Carter
    Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
    AKA Jessica Jones
    Alex Doust
    Almost-human
    Amazon Instant
    Amazon Studios
    American Horror Story
    Arrow
    Atlantis
    Avatar The Last Airbender
    BAFTA
    Banshee
    Bates Motel
    Batman
    BBC
    Ben Mapp
    Beth Rogers
    Better Call Saul
    Big Bang Theory
    Black Mirror
    Boardwalk Empire
    Breaking Bad
    Bring Back...
    Britta Lundin
    Broadchurch
    Callum Armour
    Catch It On Catch Up
    Catfish
    Catherine Wignall
    Chasing Life
    Childhood Tv
    Christian Kern
    Christmas
    Community
    Companion Faceoff
    Constantine
    Cookie N Screen
    Cookie N Screen
    Coupling
    Critics Choice Awards
    Cuckoo
    Cucumberbananatofu
    Daniel-franco
    Daredevil
    David Tennant
    Detestable Tv
    Dexter
    Discworld
    Doctor Who
    Doctor Who
    Downton Abbey
    Dracula
    DVD
    E4
    Elementary
    Emmy Awards
    Essentials
    Family Guy
    Fargo
    Father's Day
    Finale
    Firefly
    Flash
    Friends
    From The Trenches
    From The Trenches
    Galavant
    Game Of Thrones
    Game Of Thrones
    Gemma Williams
    Gemma-williams
    Georgia Thompson
    Girls
    Gloria Danielsmoss
    Gloria Daniels Moss
    Gotham
    Graeme-stirling
    Graham Osborne
    Graham Osborne
    Gravity Falls
    Grimm
    Halloween
    Hannibal
    HAPPYish
    Have You Seen
    Have You Seen...?
    Hayley Charlesworth
    Hayley-charlesworth
    Hbo
    Heather Stromski
    Helen Fulton
    Helen Langdon
    Helen Langdon
    Heroes-reborn
    Hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy
    Homeland
    House
    House Of Cards
    How I Met Your Mother
    ICYMI
    In Memoriam
    Inside-no9
    Interview
    In The Flesh
    I Survived The Zombie Apocalypse
    IZombie
    Jack Edwards
    James Morgans
    Jamie Kennett
    Jane The Virgin
    Jenny Mullinder
    Jo Johnstone
    Josh Crooks
    Julia Lawson
    Kim J Osborne
    Laura Weaver
    Leah Stone
    Leah Stone
    Legends Of Tomorrow
    Liam-bland
    Liam Murphy
    Mad Men
    Mahesh Subramaniam
    Marvel
    Matthew Battles
    Matthew Howe
    Max Bosshart
    Melissa Haggar
    Melissa Haggar
    Michael Wilkinson
    Monty Python
    Movies In Motion
    National Towel Day
    Netflix
    New Tricks
    No Spoilers Please
    Once Upon A Time
    Orange Is The New Black
    Orphan Black
    OUAT
    Outlander
    Paul Costello
    Paul Robert Scott
    Phineas And Ferb
    Quiz
    Red Dwarf
    Retrospective
    Ripper Street
    Robbie Jones
    Robbie Jones
    Scott And Bailey
    Scream
    Sense8
    Shakespeare Day
    Sherlock
    Sherlock Holmes
    Sherlock Week
    Sleepy Hollow
    Sons Of Liberty
    Spin-Out!
    Star Trek
    Star-wars
    Star Wars Rebels
    St Patrick's Day
    Supernatural
    Teen Wolf
    Teen Wolf
    The 100
    The Box Set
    The Flash
    The Following
    The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
    The Hour
    The Leftovers
    The Musketeers
    The Musketeers
    The Office
    The Originals
    The Originals
    The Simpsons
    The Sopranos
    The Spider
    The Tomorrow People
    The Vampire Diaries
    The-vampire-diaries
    The Walking Dead
    This-week
    Timmy Time
    Tomas Keavney
    Tom Sams
    Trends-in-tv
    True Blood
    True Detective
    Turn-off
    TV Awards
    Tv Intros
    Tv-intros
    TV Teaser
    TV Teasers
    TV Teasers
    Twin Peaks
    Valentine's Day
    Veep
    Verushka-byrow
    Vikings
    William John
    William John
    Witches Of East End
    Wizards Vs Aliens
    Wolfblood
    Xavier Gonne
    You Should Be Watching

    Archives

    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.