Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Review

Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Review

Director: Edward Bazalgette

Writers:  Steven Moffat

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Matt Lucas, Justin Chatwin, Charity Wakefield

After a full year, the Doctor is finally back!... and I’m going to get my negative thoughts out of the way first, because well there aren’t many and I want to say it now before I go fan girl on finally having new Who. First off, this did not feel like a Christmas special at all. As a matter of fact, except for when young Grant confused him for Santa Clause in the beginning, most of this episode kind of felt like a filler episode that could have been put in during any season.  Also, the Doctor needs a companion and this special proved that. Yes, for the purpose and timing of the episode, I understand why the Doctor does not have one, but still the point stands. That being said, it was still fun to watch. Perhaps the long wait between now and “The Husbands of River Song” is what made this episode feel so off. Maybe its because River Song is one of my favorites and I’m still not ready to let go (yes its been a year, I know, I’m clearly handling it just as well as the Doctor). That being said I was still overly excited and watching it a couple times.

This special evolved around a young boy named Grant who developed superhero abilities after accidentally swallowing a ruby that was given to him by the Doctor. The overly obvious correlation between Grant and Superman makes the episode fun for any comic book fan, including the moment when the Doctor thinks he made a brilliant discovery about how Superman and Clark Kent are the same person. Honestly it was a cheep pop, but it made me giggle so it worked, kudos Moffat.  Still all of the comic book references made for some pretty entertaining moments in the episode. In a less subtle way than normal, we do get to see the Doctor take responsibility for his actions in this episode, as he does checks in on Grant over the years, which is nice considering Grant having these super powers is kinda the Doctors fault. But, super powers aside, this is a love story and it is a lot like we saw with Craig and Sophie from season 5.  

This was a pretty solid way to kick off Moffat’s final year of working with the show. He got to tie up the story of River Song and now he has a whole season to establish how the doctor will deal and grow after the loss of River. Also a new companion is coming, which makes me really excited for the new season to start! After all the Doctor should never travel alone. I am happy that, even though the Doctor did not have a new full time companion for this special, he did have a friend. Nardole is back! Matt Lucas will be a great addition for comedy in the show, but when needed, he can deliver those serious lines just as well.

Overall, I did enjoy the show. It was nice to see that the Doctor still has to deal with the loss of River Song, also it’s nice that he doesn’t have to do it alone with Nardole there.  Moffat always seems to have one or two lines in each of his episodes that perfectly illustrate how life is, in this special my favorite line was “Things end. That’s all. Everything ends… and it’s always sad. But everything begins again too, and that’s always happy. Be happy.” That it right there, be happy.

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Comic Book Review: Sherlock: A Study in Pink #1

This comic book is an adaptation of the Sherlock television series.  The script is actually from the show and the book is in the manga style so you do need to read it backwards, well to me it's backwards.

This was a well done adaptation.  For those that want any type of remake to mimic the source, this is just like the television show.  I guess it's kind of funny that I prefaced that sentence the way I did as this is a character created over 100 years ago.  Either way, it was a fun read and made me think of the television episode and made me want to read more and/or watch the show again.

The art in this book is excellent and the artist captures the facial expressions in a very manga sort of way but not going over the top with it.  The faces are extremely well done and the poses are great.  The word and thought balloons were kind of hard to follow as they were in weird spots and you just needed to know whose turn it was to speak in many of the panels.

If you're a fan of Sherlock, I'd recommend checking this out.  I received mine in the Geek Fuel Subscription Box.  You can read my Geek Fuel reviews on HelloSubscription.com

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Doctor Who The Husbands of River Song Review

Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song

Directed: Douglas Mackinnon

Written: Steven Moffat

Synopsis: When a crashed spaceship calls upon the doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a chase across the galaxy.

Review:

Oh the sweet blissful feeling of over whelming nostalgia! It’s no surprise when the Doctor finds himself on a planet on Christmas day with snow falling and Christmas music playing.  The episode starts with a man named Nardole wandering through the town looking for a surgeon for a medical emergency.  Of course the Doctor agrees that he is this "surgeon" and follows Nardole to a flying saucer where they are greeted by a hooded figure. Thus within 3 minutes of the show starting it happens, the character we have all be waiting for, River Song is there with every bit of attitude as ever! It is made clear very quickly she has never seen this face of the Doctor, which counts for some very fun dialogue between the Doctor and River through out a majority of the episode.

River, who is up to no good, has hired a surgeon to remove her husband’s head in order to get a diamond that is lodged inside it. Don’t worry though, seems River has a few husbands in this episode. The husband with the most valuable diamond in the universe in his head is the evil and vicious King Hydroflax. Rivers plan is discovered and ruined when Hydroflax interrupts her and the Doctor as they discuss stealing the king’s head.  After some confrontation River and the Doctor escape danger with Hydroflax’s head in a bag, the escape made possible with the help of Rivers husband, Ramone. The special is really living up to its name, three husbands! River you bad girl!

There are many nostalgic moments,  for true Who fans, in this special one is when the Doctor gets to express how he feels people should react when stepping into the T.A.R.D.I.S. for the first time, his own “it’s bigger on the inside” speech if you will. Shortly after arriving at the T.A.R.D.I.S. though, River and the Doctor are located by Nardole and Ramone, unfortunately it is after they are beheaded by the robot body of King Hydroflax, both of their heads are used for information to track River down. Suddenly the T.A.R.D.I.S., with everyone inside, ends up on the Starship Harmony and Redemption, which as River describes it is “where genocide comes to kick back and relax.” River hopes while on the Starship she can sell the diamond, yes while it is still in Hydroflax head.

The sell goes terribly wrong in Doctor Who fashion though when the buyers turn out to be big supporters on King Hydroflax. River and the Doctor must come up with a creative way to save their lives as the enemies close in. All while this is going on the dialogue between River and the Doctor is constant through the whole special, both bouncing off each other as if River never left, even though she doesn’t recognize him as the Doctor.  Constantly the Doctor keeps trying to tell River he is the Doctor, but she just won't listen to what he is saying. Now with both River and the Doctor as hostages, Flemming (one of the employees on the starship) has some fun teasing River by reading some of her diary out loud with a few comments of his own. This pen points where we are in Rivers time line she was just in Manhattan. River of course is not happy with Flemming reading her diary and makes a few threats of her own in true River fashion. It is made aware that River will be used as bait to trap the Doctor so the robot body of King Hydroflax can take the Doctors head to replace the previous head that the body destroyed once established that the previous head would not survive the diamond lodged in his brain. River goes off on an unforgettable and heartbreaking rant of how she does love the Doctor, but believes that the Doctor does not lover her. All of this was said right in front of the Doctor, which is of course when she notices that he is in fact her Doctor as he utters “Hello, Sweetie.”  Insert little girl scream now!

As the starship crashes from a meteor shower hitting the ship, a familiar planet is mentioned… Darillium. The moment all River/Doctor fans have been waiting for, the moment when they go to see the singing towers. It all starts to fall into place; the starship crashes near the towers, the doctor gets someone to build a restaurant and then the date happens. River and the Doctor have their moment together. River gets to finally have the date she always wanted and the Doctor has to face the reality of Rivers fate. The moment that makes it all so real is when the Doctor gives River the sonic screwdriver she uses in the Library episodes when we were all introduced to River.  It’s as if Moffat knew what we were all waiting for, when River asks if the stories were true, if Darillium is the last place her and the Doctor see each other and of course there is only one word the Doctor can respond with “Spoilers.”

Final Thoughts:

Steven Moffat did it again, while this was a stand alone special, the lessons the Doctor had to learn from Season 9 seem to carry over into the Christmas special as well.  The dialogue between River and the Doctor more than compensate for the obvious lack of budget when it comes to special effects. Some of these special effects during the special almost made me feel like I was watching an episode from season 1 or 2.  Alex Kingston was fantastic as always as River Song and her chemistry with Peter Capaldi was just as electric as her chemistry with Matt Smith and David Tennant. If this is the last we see of River Song it was a great send off as Moffat seemed to touch on everything we love about the character. How many more amazing goodbyes can Moffat give us for the River Song Character? Now all we need to know is who will be the next companion? And now for one of the biggest questions of Doctor Who fans everywhere, when will season 10 start?

  

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