Difference between revisions of "Charlie Brooker's screen burn"
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Of course, sometimes anticipation works in your favour the other way round. When I was young, I remember being told that Morons From Outer Space was the worst film ever made. When I subsequently went to see it at the cinema, my expectations were so low, I practically tripped over them on the way to my seat. By the time it had finished, I was convinced it was a work of comic genius. I'd had my filter adjusted to the point where I would've been impressed by anything a other than a blank screen and Z an atonal whistle. | Of course, sometimes anticipation works in your favour the other way round. When I was young, I remember being told that Morons From Outer Space was the worst film ever made. When I subsequently went to see it at the cinema, my expectations were so low, I practically tripped over them on the way to my seat. By the time it had finished, I was convinced it was a work of comic genius. I'd had my filter adjusted to the point where I would've been impressed by anything a other than a blank screen and Z an atonal whistle. | ||
| − | All of which brings me to 13-Doctor Who (Sat, 7.15pm, BBC1) specifically, to episode one of the new series. Now, I've been effusive in my admiration of last year's series — effusive to the point of fellatio, you might say, if it were possible to fellate a television programme, which it isn't, not unless you take a printout of the scripts, furl them into a tube and mimic a blowjob on them, although the weirdness of your actions tends to overshadow your implied praise when you do something like that. Anyway, my anticipation gland was bursting as I settled down to watch the series | + | All of which brings me to 13-Doctor Who (Sat, 7.15pm, BBC1) specifically, to episode one of the new series. Now, I've been effusive in my admiration of last year's series — effusive to the point of fellatio, you might say, if it were possible to fellate a television programme, which it isn't, not unless you take a printout of the scripts, furl them into a tube and mimic a blowjob on them, although the weirdness of your actions tends to overshadow your implied praise when you do something like that. Anyway, my anticipation gland was bursting as I settled down to watch the series opener — so you can guess what's coming next. It left me a bit... well, a bit down. |
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| − | opener — so you can guess what's coming next. It left me a bit... well, a bit down. | ||
For starters, there's a bit too much going on given the 45-minute running time: the plot revolves around shadowy goings-on in an intergalactic hospital, but there's also a lot of messing about with supporting characters who feel superfluous to the main storyline, diffusing your attention. It also makes a few jarring tonal shifts — leaping from high camp, to straight horror, to oleaginous sentimentality without warning. And David Tennant, trying to keep up with this, occasionally just ends up popping his eyes and shouting too much. | For starters, there's a bit too much going on given the 45-minute running time: the plot revolves around shadowy goings-on in an intergalactic hospital, but there's also a lot of messing about with supporting characters who feel superfluous to the main storyline, diffusing your attention. It also makes a few jarring tonal shifts — leaping from high camp, to straight horror, to oleaginous sentimentality without warning. And David Tennant, trying to keep up with this, occasionally just ends up popping his eyes and shouting too much. | ||
