The fury's still out on this lot...
- Publication: SFX
- Date: issue 197 (summer 2010)
- Author:
- Page: 143
- Language: English
DOCTOR WHO
CURRENTLY AIRING ON BBC ONE
VICTORY OF THE DALEKS
The fury's still out on this lot...
Writer Mark Gatiss
Director Andrew Gunn
★★★☆☆1/2
THE ONE WHERE Churchill and the Daleks team up to fight Hitler, but the Doctor knows you can never trust a pepper-pot.
VERDICT Tally ho chaps, the Doctor and Amy are off to war. It's all Blitz sprit and suitably authentic cabinet war rooms as Churchill shows the pair his secret weapon. But make the most of it while you can because by episode's end the classic Raymond Cusick design is usurped by the Technicolor kids of Skaro. It's a controversial new look, but one more in-tune with this season's child-friendly, fairytale, vibe.
Elsewhere it's a mixed bag with an action-packed second half, but it all feels a little rushed and undercooked. The concept - Churchill vs the Daleks! - is so good you want to like the episode more than you do, but the predictable climax does provide satisfying insights into our time-travellers' spirits - the Doctor alluding to death, Amy love. It's her understanding of humanity which makes her such an invaluable companion.
THE WRONG TROUSERS Nice to see Amy in her own clothes for the first time, but it's not exactly the most appropriate wartime outfit there is.
BEST LINES Amy: "So what do we do? Is this what we do now, chase after them?"
The Doctor: "This is what I do yes and it's dangerous so you wait here."
Amy: "What so you mean I've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz."
The Doctor: "Safe as it gets around me."
Jordan Farley
THE TIME OF ANGELS
Do adjust your set
Writer Steven Moffat
Director Adam Smith
★★★★★
THE ONE WHERE River's back! The Angels are back! Amy gets something in her eye.
"The Time Of Angels" is Aliens to "Blink"'s Alien. Though it kicks off more like Bond with a marvellously bonkers, totally outrageous teaser reintroducing us to River Song, as sassy and lovable as ever. Alex Kingston looks like she's having a riot. But with the arrival of Father Octavian and his clerics and the revelation that we're dealing with Weeping Angels, the episode takes a darker, creepier turn. It's just superbly paced, the changes in tone happening gradually and organically.
The direction is perfect, boasting some evocative camerawork, and making great use of shadows and gloomy light. It's a perfect combination of script and sympathetic design and shooting style. To cap it all off, there's a cliffhanger of compelling intensity (at least when Graham Norton doesn't interrupt it).
GOALLLLLL! Is the fact that Matt Smith kicks the gravity ball into the air an in-joke about the actor's former footballing ambitions? He does do it very convincingly.
TRIVIA Gravity balls were last used in "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit".
NAGGING FAMILIARTY Anyone else reminded of "Who switched the lights off?" from "Silence In The Library" /"Forest Of The Dead" when dead Bob becomes the Angels' spokesman?
BEST LINE River Song: "It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brake on."
FLESH AND STONE
Keep an eye on that jacket
Writer Steven Moffat
Director Adam Smith
★★★★☆
THE ONE WHERE The Weeping Angels pursue the Doctor and co through a forest on a spaceship.
VERDICT A conveyor belt of great scenes, this is a solid second episode that keeps up the tension and excitement. There are, though, a couple of
annoying niggles. The scene with Amy "pretending" to see to fool the Angels de-claws these once scary monsters too much, and the use of the crack as a plot solution feels a little too convenient (and early in the season). It's also a bit one-note - basically this is one long chase after the set up in part one. Minor irritations, though in an episode bursting energy and smart ideas.
AMY Good grief - where did the sudden sex-craved Amy appear from? It was a bit full-on. Okay she's been fantasising about the guy since she was a girl, but she came across as a little stalkerish. Don't be surprised if she's been writing slash fiction about the Doctor.
PLOTHOLE POLLYFILLA Great to see we finally have a reason for nobody recalling a giant Cyberking in Victorian London. Maybe the Crack explains why Van Stratten didn't know what a Dalek in "Dalek" was as well.
PANDORICA Second mention of the season.
BEST LINES Amy: "What if the gravity fails?"
The Doctor: "I've thought about that."
Amy: "And?"
The Doctor: "We'll all plunge to our deaths. See, I've thought about it." D Golder
THE VAMPIRES OF VENICE
Amy's not a vampire lover.
Writer Toby Whithouse
Director Jenny Campbell
★★★★☆
THE ONE men To bring Amy and fiancé Rory closer together, the Doctor takes them on a trip to Venice in 1580 where they encounter female "vampires".
VERDICT Better structured, funnier and more absorbing than the last single-part episode "Victory Of The Daleks", this is traditional in format, yet crammed with zinging one-liners that demonstrate writer Toby Whithouse's gift for banter. It's the repartee between Rory, Amy and the Doctor which provides a lot of this episode's comedy. There's much understated romantic tension, giving us Rose-and-Mickey vibes.
With its palaces and exterior courtyard scenes, this has a genuinely lavish feel to it. But the splendid setting is let down by shonky special effects, and the Doctor climbing to the top of the dome to deactivate Calvierri's device is just silly - in its '60s Batman look, and in its "switch off the transmitter" resolution which reminds us of "The Idiot's Lantern". But overall it's a wonderfully acted character piece with a solid story.
METATEXTUALITY The Doctor hopes he doesn't run into Casanova while in Venice... Casanova was played by David Tennant in a BBC production written by Russell T Davies.
HERITAGE His library card has William Hartnell on it.
BEST LINE The Doctor: "She kissed me."
Rory: "And you kissed her back!"
The Doctor "No, I kissed her mouth." Dave Bradley
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- APA 6th ed.: (issue 197 (summer 2010)). The fury's still out on this lot.... SFX p. 143.
- MLA 7th ed.: "The fury's still out on this lot...." SFX [add city] issue 197 (summer 2010), 143. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "The fury's still out on this lot...." SFX, edition, sec., issue 197 (summer 2010)
- Turabian: "The fury's still out on this lot...." SFX, issue 197 (summer 2010), section, 143 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=The fury's still out on this lot... | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_fury%27s_still_out_on_this_lot... | work=SFX | pages=143 | date=issue 197 (summer 2010) | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=The fury's still out on this lot... | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_fury%27s_still_out_on_this_lot... | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 April 2025}}</ref>
