What’s so cool about a middle aged, grumpy, Scottish Dr. Who? Not much is my claim, I am still going through withdrawal from the leaving of the only Doctor to ever go to Coachella. The Who who broke Who in the US. The only Who who matters. Matt Smith.
But finally, episode three of Peter Calpaldi’s Who, the Scot who comes up with a goodie but not greatie. The second episode was a silly trifle with Robin Hood versus robots and Jemma’s Clara making moon eyes for a Hood mooning over Maid Marian. It all ends up in body talk and bruises and Clara back home and starting out a relationship with a former soldier now a teacher.
I know it is me but I sure feel like Clara is cuckolding Dr. Who, and by pursuing the soldier teacher boy and not being a constant companion for the always lonely Who, has betrayed the essence of their relationship.
In Episode three, what show runner Stephen Moffat dubbed a “chamber piece”, they fail the real test of a ghost story on episode three “Listen”, they don’t have a ghost that makes any sense. It opens with Who talking to himself or is he? Explaining that maybe we are shadowed all our lives by a third party, a sort of ghost. Also, that we all have the same nightmare about something under the bed that grabs our ankles. A fine idea which comes a cropper since I for one have never had that nightmare and neither has anybody I know.
Add a little slice and dice of space travel, romance and Clara meeting her nascent boyfriend as a young boy and also her nascent boyfriend’s Great-Grandson.
An interesting idea, sort of. But not interesting enough. It makes no sense on most levels. We have all different nightmares and my one might have somebody in my bedroom and I don’t wanna open my eyes and see what it is and I guess I could accept the variant but I am not offered one. Dr. who’s nightmare is so private it has no room for me and while it has a coupla scary moments it has no explanation for them, they just don’t explain it.
By the end they do explain the nightmare, and they do time travel back to a young boywhood… but it isn’t satisfying. Pls, I just don’t like Clara very much. She’s too mouthy without being particularly sweet andI think if she really loved who, why would a Peter capaldi who kill her romantic love? How shallow can you get.
Are there ghosts? To quote Nick Cave, “But what do we really know of the dead And who actually cares?”. It’s a good question and since who is apparently an atheist quite apt but it is questions barely raised her. And it is still the best who so far.
Grade: B
