Series 7 Special - "Pond Life" (Webisodes)

The countdown to the Twelfth Doctor announcement is ticking! Just half an hour now as I write this. Anyway, while I wait, I'm catching up on posts, and here's one for the special series of webisodes that connect the Series 6 Christmas Special and Series 7: "Pond Life."

This series was originally released as five separate webisodes on the BBC's website from August 27-31, 2012, leading up to the premiere of Series 7 in September. Later, the five episodes were combined into one "omnibus" version. Both are available on the official BBC YouTube Channel; I recommend the omnibus just cause that way you can watch them all together in one video. Less choppy of an experience.

I have to say, these webisodes are pretty funny. Well, the last one is a little sad at the end, but mostly they're funny. Just short little vignettes (about a minute long apiece; the omnibus version is about 5 minutes long) detailing the life of the Ponds. The one thing that ties them all together is that throughout the series, The Doctor is trying to get back to the Ponds, but keeps failing to do so due to the TARDIS's helmic regulator being on the fritz. Meanwhile, he talks to them by phone and fills them in on what he's doing.

The first episode in the series is Pond Life April. In this segment, The Doctor calls the Ponds to check in on them, and fills them in on his recent adventures. He surfed some impressive fire falls to get away from some Sontaran soldiers, met Mata Hari in a hotel in Paris (who he calls an "interesting woman;" given his slightly embarrassed tone of voice as he reports this, and the fact that we see Hari drop her clothes, who knows what happened there), and laid down some backing vocals on a rap song. He then promises that he should be there any day now (while frantically running around the console flipping controls), but says the helmic regulator is acting up so he can't say precisely when he'll be there. Then, as the camera zooms out to show the Ponds' phone/answering machine combo, we hear him suddenly realize he's crashed into Ancient Greece, followed by a crash. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are sitting down with some wine while this is going on, and just as we hear the crash, Rory presses the stop button on the answering machine. Amy then looks at him, unperturbed, and says "The Doctor." They then clink glasses and drink.

Next comes Pond Life May. The Ponds are in bed when all the sudden the TARDIS arrives. The Doctor, without even thinking, barges into their bedroom (though once he realizes this, he covers his eyes...the fact that Amy appears to be at least partially naked in this scene may have something to do with this). The Ponds are quite obviously angry at the intrusion:

RORY: What's going on?
AMY: Doctor! Bedroom!
RORY: We have a rule about the bedroom.

The Doctor is apologetic, but tells them the Earth is in danger, that they have to go save it while there's still time...before realizing the Ponds have no clue what the heck he's talking about. He then realizes the helmic regulator acted up again and he's arrived too early for that particular adventure. He then leaves, but Amy calls after him, saying he can't just leave, and don't they need to know about this danger? He then returns, and assures them that the future is fine, don't worry about it, and that they should go back to sleep (while, meanwhile, clips play showing that he is totally lying and the future will not be fine - the clips shown, by the way, are from the Series 7 episode "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," which at this point had not aired yet).

The TARDIS departs, and the Ponds lie awake in bed, while Rory mutters, "I really hate it when he does that."

Third is Pond Life June. This is a really short scene which starts with Rory heading to the bathroom in the morning. But when he opens the door, something shocking is in there, and he rushes out. Amy then comes out, but Rory won't let her in the bathroom. After a few moments, he finally lets her in, and they both see an Ood sitting on their toilet. The Ood, in a perfectly happy voice, asks if he (it?) can be of any assistance. Amy and Rory look at each other awkwardly, unsure what to make of this:

RORY: Ood on the loo.
AMY: Yeah.

The next one, Pond Life July, is a direct sequel to the previous webisode and features the Ponds on the phone with The Doctor to tell him about the Ood. He tells them he rescued the Ood from the Androvax Conflict and was taking it back to the Ood Sphere, and that it must've wandered into the Ponds' flat when The Doctor stopped by before (in Pond Life May).

(Hold on...the special is coming on! Right now, there's just a placeholder saying "Stay Tuned for the Live Announcement of the 12th Doctor," which means there must be a delay in the simulcast...will write while I'm waiting, and once it starts, I'll write during commercial breaks, if there are any).


(Ok, it's started!!)

(Ok guess there aren't going to be commercial breaks...will continue after the special's over)

(Ok the special's over...more on that in another post!)

Sorry about that, didn't want to miss the special (although technically, I was recording it, in case I forgot to watch it, so I could've waited and finished the post first, but I didn't want to get spoiled later today so I decided to watch it live).

Sooo..anyway, The Doctor asks the Ponds if the Ood is being any trouble. We then see a montage of the Ood doing what Oods do best, which is serving. The Ood hands Amy her laptop and Rory his lunchbox (I love that he has this childish lunchbox) as they head out the door, then we see him making the beds, hanging the laundry, and cleaning the windows. Rory feels awkward, telling The Doctor that the Ood seems to think he's their butler. The Doctor tells him it's fine, that Oods are conditioned to serve, and to just let him do his thing, and promises to pick the Ood up that evening. He then realizes a power drain has occurred that could cause the TARDIS to implode and hangs up. The Ood then gives the Ponds their tea (or "infusions," as the Ood calls them), while they eat breakfast awkwardly:

RORY: I feel so guilty.
AMY: Just eat your breakfast.

Finally, the fifth and final episode of the series, Pond Life August. Despite the name, the episode primarily features The Doctor, although the end leads nicely into "Asylum of the Daleks." As it starts, The Doctor is fixing the light on top of the TARDIS, whilst leaving yet another phone message for the Ponds, and apologizes again for not coming by, claiming the helmic regulator is on the fritz again. He then fills them in on adventures again, saying he got hit by an arrow (or maybe the regulator did; the context is confusing) on Hastings Hill, rode a horse in 11th-century Coventry, and may have accidentally invented pasta a bit too early. He also took the Ood home. He also says he stopped by their place one day, but they were out. (This scene is kind of sad, because it's rainy and The Doctor looks SO disappointed).

Then, in a slightly concerned voice, he asks about them:

DOCTOR: Everything's all right, isn't it, with you two? Course it is. Ponds always fine. Just worrying unnecessarily. Anyway, just call me if you need me.

But, as we see, the Ponds are not fine. We see Rory leaving the house, looking angry, and Amy running after him, with tears in her eyes. (Supposedly she is mouthing the words "I hate you," but it's hard to tell). Seeing as the Ponds are on the brink of divorce in "Asylum of the Daleks," I think it's safe to say they're having marital problems here (also, in "Asylum of the Daleks," it's implied that Rory has moved out of their apartment, which he seems to be doing here).

The Doctor says goodbye and then stares at the phone for a few moments. Then, reconsidering his message, he points the Sonic at the phone receiver, erasing his message. Shortly after, Amy arrives home alone, checks the answering machine, and sees there are no messages on the answering machine. She leans against the counter and sighs, clearly upset, and says:

AMY: We need you, raggedy man. I need you.

And that's the end of the series of webisodes.

Like I said, mostly a really funny set of episodes, but has some sad parts. Worth a watch, definitely!

Quotes from The Doctor Who Transcripts.

Series 7 Special: "She Said, He Said: A Prequel"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  

Hello again. It's a big day in the world of Doctor Who - the day the Series 7 finale airs, the episode that Steven Moffat has said will change the show forever. It actually airs in less than an hour where I live, except that I won't be able to watch it live, as I said in the last post.


But before posting on the finale itself, I want to post an analysis of the short 3 1/2-minute prequel that was released for it, called "She Said, He Said." If you haven't gone and watched it yet, I suggest you do so before reading this...I'd rather you did, even with the spoiler warning on this post (which I put on all my analysis posts anyway, mostly for the newer fans like me who are still catching up with the old episodes). You can watch it on YouTube here.

So..basically this prequel takes place in a strange, museum-like room, and consists of two monologues - one from Clara, one from The Doctor - addressed to the camera. In each, the person who is speaking starts out talking about his/her feelings for the other - feelings that appear to be romantic in nature, which should get all the Eleven/Clara (a.k.a. "Whouffle") shippers excited.

But then, the mood quickly changes, signaled by these words that appear in both monologues:

You get used to not knowing. I thought I never would. I was wrong.

This then leads into both Clara and The Doctor (in their respective monologues) revealing to the viewer that they know each other's identities and secrets, and that they found out this information "the day we went to Trenzalore."

I have to say, this clip got me so intrigued and excited for the finale. This clip, confirms, if nothing else, that the Doctor's biggest secret (his name, most likely) will be revealed, as will Clara's identity. It's also suggested we'll find out why The Doctor left Gallifrey to begin with (Clara asks him "What set you on your way and where are you going?" and then later says "I know where he began and where he is going"). The Doctor also seems to be having doubts about Clara, since although he claims she's perfect, perfect in every way for him, always exactly what he needs, he also says, in a worrisome tone, that she's "too perfect." As in too good to be true. Hmm...

I will admit, seeing the frozen, silent forms of first The Doctor and then Clara was pretty creepy, but I assume it serves some purpose in the scene, though what I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it's supposed to be like they're in the same room but on opposite sides of some invisible wall?

Also, if you look close, you can see props from various Series 7 episodes scattered hither and yon in the background. In Clara's part, you can see the rocket mechanism from "The Crimson Horror," Webley's chessboard (complete with Cyberman) from "Nightmare in Silver," The Doctor's painting of Clara from "The Bells of Saint John" and the big seal thing that was on the wall of the pyramid in "The Rings of Akhaten." There's also something that looks like the headset from "Hide" that the psychic girl wore to open a door into the pocket universe, but I'm not sure whether it's it or not cause it's blurry. In The Doctor's part, you can see Clara's Victorian governess dress from "The Snowmen" as well as a sign for The Rose and Crown, the bar Clara worked for in that same episode, plus the Anti-Cyberman gun from "Nightmare in Silver" and the bike from "The Rings of Akhaten."

Looks like somebody raided the prop department...

Also, here we have firm confirmation that Trenzalore, which Moffat had told us was happening, IS happening, and sooner than we thought. The idea of Trenzalore dates back to Series 5 (or maybe 6) and was the whole reason why The Silence was trying to kill The Doctor -- to keep him from going to Trenzalore, where, according to a prophecy, "silence must fall when the question is asked" - a question which was revealed at the end of Series 6 to be "Doctor who?". And it was also revealed that when the question is asked, The Doctor cannot lie or refuse to answer.

Anyway...just watched this again for this post and to prepare for the finale...GAH CAN'T WAIT!!

Series 7 Part 2 Special - "The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

So...the BBC released a prequel yesterday for the Series 7.2 premiere, "The Bells of Saint John." Needless to say, the spoiler warning level is high for this post!!

If you want to go watch the prequel first, it's on the BBC's Doctor Who website, the Doctor Who official Facebook page, and, naturally, all over YouTube. You can watch it on the BBC's website here. Or, if you prefer YouTube, here's a YouTube link. (I contemplated embedding it in this post, but I'd rather you go watch it elsewhere first and then read this analysis).

***

So...this prequel is a ridiculously cute (and a tad bit sad) scene that lasts about 2 1/2 minutes. It features The Doctor sitting on the swings in some playground on Earth somewhere, looking dejected, and eventually getting into a conversation with a little girl who sits down on the swing next to him.

First of all, about swings. I love swings, and have since I was a kid. And I don't care what this little girl says, you are never too old to go sit on swings. (Heck there's even a fanlisting for swings).

My favorite line in this whole prequel: "Oh, dear. I'm way past strange. I think I'm probably incredible." Great line, and so well delivered by Matt Smith. Practically the only time The Doctor sounds happy in this whole clip.

Speaking of which, can we talk about Matt Smith in this clip? I mean, I already thought he was a good actor as The Doctor, but wow. I was blown away by him here, with the amount of emotional range he was able to portray. He seems very mature here too, which is saying something given how young he is. No hyperactive, jumpy Eleven here -- just some honest-to-goodness, amazing dramatic acting.

Now, part of this talent most likely comes from the fact that, apparently, Matt has quite a bit of theater experience -- but that's practically a given these days with British actors. To be honest, I wish it was a given for American actors. Not that our actors are bad or anything, but the UK just seems to produce higher quality actors in terms of talent (this is also true of other parts of the Commonwealth, like Australia or New Zealand...Russell Crowe as Javert, anyone?). And I think the major focus on theatrical training of actors is key to that. I myself have "tread the boards" multiple times, and so I can testify -- stage acting training is worth it for anyone. Even if you don't plan to become an actor, it teaches you to project your voice (which I have to do all the time at work), gives you confidence, and makes you think about life, emotions, and all that goes with that (especially if you study Stanislavski method and its famous "emotional memory" technique). I use my acting training all the time to act out stories I am writing so I can see if scenes work. If you do plan on going into acting, it teaches you a lot about acting that TV and movie acting training alone just can't give you.

(By the way, this is totally random, but...I just realized Matt and I have the same birthday. How crazy is that?)

The little girl in this is really great too. I wonder what actress she is. Cause she's really, really good.

But, ok, can we please talk about the ending??

The girl runs up to her mother, and her rather overprotective mother asks her what she was doing, and she says she was talking to a sad man. Then the mom says:

Clara Oswald. What have I told you about talking to strange men?

Did you catch that?!

CLARA OSWALD.

All this time, the Doctor sits there telling this little girl about how he can't find Clara and how despondent he is because of it...when all the time he was talking to Clara to begin with!!

Now, this one person I follow on Tumblr, soufflesforgallifrey, does not believe that girl is Clara because of how her and her mother are dressed, saying no one dressed like that in the '90's (which is roughly when this scene would be taking place, given Clara's age in the actual Series 7 Part 2 clips we've seen, and also given a quote I read recently from Jenna-Louise Coleman that says Clara is "just out of university," which would make her mid-to-late-20's). And hey, maybe no one did dress that way in the '90's. I'm American, I don't know what British fashion was like then. All I know, is, the name matches.

Being at least familiar with "The Eleventh Hour" (I've seen clips of it from the specials, but have yet to see the episode itself), I immediately noticed the parallel here to Amy Pond. The Doctor also met Amy as a child first before meeting her as an adult and inviting her to travel with him. I find it interesting that Steven Moffat (current showrunner and writer of this prequel) is repeating that little story idea. I don't know if he thinks it's just a good story formula, or if he's just throwing in the little nod to see if people notice. I favor the former, honestly, because I don't think Moffat is clever enough to be doing the latter. (In case you can't tell, I am not a fan of this man. This is a man who has said ON CAMERA that he enjoys scaring children - and even intends to make kids "scared of wi-fi" with "The Bells of Saint John," as he stated in a more recent interview. That is sadistic and wrong on so many levels. AND he actually enjoys torturing his fans. Don't believe me? Ask the Sherlockians).

Anyway, this clip invites interesting possibilities, and I'm wondering whether they'll actually reference it in "The Bells of Saint John" itself. The prequels (which, as noted by The Nerdist, is a misnomer, because prequels usually come out after the thing they're a prequel of, not before) seem to be meant to stand alone. Yet at the same time the Doctor Who prequels seem to be intended to reveal something about the episode to which they are tied. The TARDISodes in Series 2 operated the same way. The 2012 Christmas Special ones gave some extra canon about Vastra and a glimpse into how much of a Scrooge the Doctor has become.

Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough...only about a week now!!