I point and laugh at archeologists

[freckles_and_doubt]

This is a public service announcement. Gratuitous fangirling will follow. May cause dizziness, disorientation, disbelief and retching in extreme cases. Void where prohibited by notional academic dignity.

So, Doctor Who. The fourth season has been enjoyable, but my socks have remained firmly un-knocked-off until the other night, when I and the houseguests, nicely buzzed on too much food and the EL's wine stash, sat down to watch "The Unicorn and the Wasp", followed in quick succession by "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

The Agatha Christie episode was brilliant: jo and I sat there going "It's a LARP!" with unholy glee at frequent intervals. It was beautifully constructed, magnificently and playfully self-conscious, and completely immersed in its period. I loved the tongue-in-cheek games with dissolves, and the deliberate artificiality of the setting and of the traditional detective-holding-forth approach to the problem-solving. Also, bonus subtextual homoeroticism and vaguely Cthulhoid elements! And the actress who played Agatha Christie was superbly cast.

However, that was no more than the tasty starter to the main course, which was the delirious joy of a two-parter constructed by my favourite scriptwriter, Steven Moffat (fangirlfangirlfangirl). As I've gratuitously fangirled before, Moffat gets both narrative construction and time travel itself: his plots are always tightly wound, elegant and considerably above the triteness of the Interesting Historical Time Period/Historical Figure Du Jour which seems to be the default setting on most of the other scriptwriters. He also, unlike Russell Davies and others, gets right to the heart of the Doctor's personal situation as someone dislocated from the ordinary timelines of everyone else he meets.

Apart from being a freewheeling time-and-space romp, the Doctor's life is also a tragedy of isolation and loss, and in its darker moments ought to get him - and us - by the guts with both hands, and twist. No-one does this as well as Moffat: no-one else gets as succinctly to the heart of paradox, both emotional and literal. River Song, the archaeologist who is probably a future companion if not more (and there was considerable speculation in the ranks as we watched) is the kind of figure who ought to turn up a lot more often in the series - someone who knows a future version of the Doctor, and who has to deal with all the resulting poignancy and loss consequent upon meeting someone you know and care for but who doesn't know you. The Doctor's line, "I'm a time traveller - I point and laugh at archaeologists!" is possibly my second favourite in the series so far, but it works doubly to underline the cruelty of River's experience. She's invested, he's detached, he may as well be pointing and laughing; even worse, he'll go through his entire relationship with her knowing how it ended. His vastly superior knowledge here is horribly unkind.

I think that the power of the emotional interaction sustained the episodes, actually. Drooling Moffat fan or not, I have to say that the plot didn't quite have the elegance of "Girl in the Fireplace" or "Blink", possibly because it tried to do too much. The virtual reality idea and the computer's notion of "saving" were neat and nicely done, but the vashta nerada were somehow too much. In themselves an elegant monstrosity along the lines of "Blink"'s stone angels, the library's frightening shadows didn't ever quite jell with the virtual or the emotional, and I'd have been happier to see them tied into the computer theme in a more logical way. I think I'm quibbling, though, and the slight lack of connection didn't at all detract from a watching experience that was mesmerising and absorbing.

Now, of course, we do the usual sudden, dizzy descent into the season finale à la Russell Davies. Phooey.

Comments

[nimnod.livejournal.com]

*tries not to notice any spoilers*

I totally agree about Who directors - I actively dislike Russel Davies but fangirl the hell out of Moffat.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

The thought of Moffat taking over from Davies for the fifth series in 2010 is causing me serious glee. I confidently expect him to tighten the hell up on the general script quality.

[nimnod.livejournal.com]

Indeed! No more villains in zip-off bad-special-effect suits.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

And the finale is indeed dizzying. I watched it this morning, and I am still woozy.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Dizzying in a good or a bad way? The mysterious mwotn seems to think the latter.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

erm, I'll make up my mind when my head stops spinning. It has elements of both.

[mwotn.livejournal.com]

*is delighted to be "mysterious"

Once I'd sat through about 5 minutes of solid technobabble delivered at a speed Frenchmen trying to annoy Englishmen with their schoolboy French would be pushed to keep up, I rather lost interest and decided that:

a) Russel T Davis buys far too heavily into the BBC's view of the world
b) Nobody in Dr Who thinks they need to pay even lip service to science any more
c) Randomly using long words does not make you look clever.

Has the final shown where you are yet?

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

"Where I am" is Cape Town, and South Africa is far too benighted to think of showing Doctor Who in any shape or form upon an actual television channel. I have watched it almost entirely via evil bootlegs downloaded by devious means from the BBC website. My Usual Source promises me the finale soon :>.

I actually don't gnash my teeth too much at series's view of "science", a lot of it works more as gesture or symbol than as anything rigorous. Within its own parameters, I think it does OK.

[mwotn.livejournal.com]

Oh, fair play. Where I used to be (a godforsaken town in Dorset named Sherborne), actually getting to a TV to watch anything could be a challenge... so I missed a lot of episodes. Anywhere to recommend?

I think being a scientist - or a wannabe scientist, depending on how you look at it - doesn't help. I think I would prefer some attempt to define how their universe works rather than just random technobabble when required.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I missed a lot of episodes. Anywhere to recommend?

You can download the episodes off the BBC website, if you happen to be in the UK (or if you're elsewhere and nifty with the hacking, which I'm not, but fortunately I have Contacts who are ;>).

[tngr-spacecadet.livejournal.com]

L says the last episode is queued for tonight. Maybe we should arrange an end-of-series event, possibly with gin.

[mwotn.livejournal.com]

Season finale wasn't too impressive. A little too.... neat, which I think is the problem of trying to pack a massive CGI budget into far too short an episode.

I missed the second part of the Library episode. *mutters darkly about boarding schools*

Am I Bovvered

[(Anonymous)]

I liked the finale. Catherine Tate was great.

pK.

[pumeza.livejournal.com]

ooh, you have induced fangirly drooling over here as well now. We haven't found anything else remotely engaging since we finished with Life on Mars (House? phatooey), so it's thrilling to know there is more Doctor for us. (I know, I know, I'm woefully behind the times). I think you *see* a lot more than I do when you watch though, extemp.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I think you *see* a lot more than I do when you watch though, extemp

Yeah, well, twenty years of English university education will do that to you. As will ten years of immersion in narratology. And a slightly obsessive personality leading to immersion in and identification with texts.

Let me know if you want the evil bootleg computer files for the fourth season, I have a nice array of disks. It's not that evil, I will actually buy the season eventually, when the price comes down. Because I'm that fangirly.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you read the Time Traveller's Wife? A lot of the same painful issues you suggest here. But in that case, he *doesn't* go through it all knowing how it ends, although they both have a strong suspicion... anyhoo it's a strong contender for Best Love Story Evah, and definitely one of my (or even the) favourite books of recent years.

scroob

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Yes, the parallels did occur to me while I was watching, and apparently to half the internet, it keeps popping up in reviews :>. TT'sW is another lovely example of a science fictional conceit being used for actual emotional, novelistic purpose - rather like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The best kind of sf is about people rather than shiny gadgets.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Yup, we were going "it's the Time-Traveller's Wife, innit?" during that one.

"The best kind of sf is about people rather than shiny gadgets. "

Heresy. The best SF has both.

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

viz Joss Whedon (I quote from memeory):
"this is science fiction! If I couldn't have a hovercraft, I was going to take my football and go home."

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

It's not about the hovercraft, it's about how the hovercraft makes you feel.

;>

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

thrilled to see a hovercraft? :)

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Precisely! The tech isn't much use without the thrill, or dread, or horror, or excitement, or pure intellectual satisfaction, which it engenders.

Actually, I was initially stirring shit, but the more I think about it, the more charmed I am by my own argument :>.

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

Certainly a well established branch of academia

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Complacence, or stirring shit?

[pumeza.livejournal.com]

Finally watched these two last night and saturday. What you said. Could hardly sleep for spinning possibilities around River Song -- I wonder if they'll ever go there, or will it be an eternal tease? Thanks for the DVDs :-)