Doctor Who series 2 (David Tennant)

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We finished watching the first 21st century series of Doctor Who (with Christopher Eccleston in the title role) in mid October. So it was time to move on to Series 2. We found these DVDs individually in a thrift store, more than twelve years ago. So we don’t actually have a box set as such, which means there are no ‘extras’. But that isn’t really a problem. I don’t think we even noticed the lack the first time we watched them, early in 2012. 

The first DVD has just two episodes, including the Christmas special which introduced the new Doctor; the others each have three episodes.

The Christmas invasion

This ‘special’, introducing David Tennant as the 10th doctor, was shown on Christmas Day 2005. We first see Rose’s mother Jackie (Camille Coduri) preparing a Christmas meal. She does so rather poignantly, as she thinks about her missing daughter. Then she hears the sound of the tardis, and her hopes rise..

Rose (Billie Piper) emerges with the doctor, who, of course, Jackie doesn’t recognise. And he’s very weak from the regeneration. I don’t recall that happening with subsequent doctors; not as seriously as this, anyway. He’s in a coma in Jackie’s flat while Rose and her boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke) become involved with some very stressful attacks from ‘Santa’ robots. 

It turns out that the robots are scouts for some dangerous aliens in a spaceship who want to destroy a significant number of the world’s population. The one scene I had remembered from our previous viewing of this episodes was thousands of people, walking like zombies, right to the edge of the roof of high-rise flats. As one with a phobia of heights, the thought of this was quite terrifying. 

I liked seeing Penelope Wilton as the prime minister in this episode, taking her role very seriously in a way that made us smile. I also very much enjoyed seeing David Tennant, when he finally gets over his coma. At first he acts a lot like Christopher Eccleston in his smiles, his manner of speaking and his way of relating to Rose. Naturally he solves the problem, and it seems that everything is ending happily until Harriet makes a decision that the Doctor is very annoyed about...

New Earth

The second episode on the first DVD sees the Doctor and Rose travel many thousand years into the future, to a ‘new’ earth - created after the first one was destroyed (shown in series one, episode two). They are relaxing in clean air, looking at happy people and flying cars… and they’re being stalked by a mechanical spider, controlled by someone who wants to know why they are there.

The one thing I recalled from this episode is a hospital manned by feline nurses. I hadn’t remembered anything else about who they meet, or the very disturbing way in which the nurses were managing to cure even the most lethal or dangerous of diseases. It’s an exciting episode, one where both David Tennant and Billie Piper have to demonstrate a bit of extra acting talent (which they do extremely well). 

Tooth and Claw

The first episode on the second DVD in the series is very well done, we thought. It’s a historical one, set in 1979 Scotland, rather than 1979, where the tardis had planned to travel. This episode features an excellent Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins). She is temporarily staying in a stately home where something terrifying is going on... 

School Reunion

The second episode on the second DVD starts off a bit lighter. It features The Doctor as a new physics teacher in a school where strange things have been happening. Rose's boyfriend Micky is involved, and although some of this episode is a bit gross, we still thought it was very well done.

The Girl in the Fireplace

The next episode has a clever and rather involved plot. It involves a mixture of a spaceship and characters in 18th century France, including some who were real people. There are also mechanical 'people' who are rather spooky but, once again, this is an excellent episode. The ones involving historical characters are some of my favourites.

The second DVD could stand alone, and might be a good introduction to Doctor Who if someone didn’t want to start at the beginning. We like re-watching them in order, as there are recurring characters and mentions of previous situations.

Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel 

The third DVD begins with a two-parter, which we watched in one evening. I really don’t like leaving these episodes on a cliff-hanger, and there was a very dramatic one at the end of the first part. 

I never did like the cybermen. It turns out, in this story, that they are taking over a parallel universe where the Doctor and Rose have landed, accidentally, through a breach, in the equivalent of London. The tardis has to recharge before they can leave. Rose finds that her father isn't just alive in this universe, but has become a big star. And he seems to have some connection with the big businessman who wants to 'upgrade' everyone into cyberpeople.

Then Rose's boyfriend Micky, also travelling in the tardis, is mistaken for his parallel person Ricky. These episodes are quite chilling, disturbing at times, but I very much liked the human interest parts, and thought they were extremely well done.

The Idiot’s Lantern

Episode 7 of the series, last on the third DVD, is set in London (in the normal universe) in 1953. The Queen is about to be crowned, and people are keen to get televisions. But some areas seem to have a huge number of TVs for the era. One particular salesman is making far more sales than would be expected.

There are bizarre disappearances, and something strange and disturbing happens to people who watch TV…

This episode is lighter than the Cybermen two-parter, with a positive ending. It’s also quite thought-provoking, although the usual dangers of too much screen-time are not as excessive as those portrayed in this episode!

We didn't watch the next two episodes on this DVD, either the first time we saw Series 2, or more recently. One of our sons had warned us that if we found cybermen scary, we would have nightmares from this two-part episode. I did read about them, and decided we would avoid them.  It was interesting to learn that they tell a story where the Ood race are introduced - the gentle, servant-hearted aliens who appear in future episodes.

Love and Monsters

The third episode on the fourth DVD, 10th in series 2, is quite light-hearted, with one or two scenes that made us smile. Rose's mother Jackie is involved, and the story is told by a young man called Elton who is filming a video in vlog format about his experiences. He and a group of four other people were involved in researching all they could about The Doctor, but gradually they started doing other things together, and became quite close. 

Then they're taken over by a very controlling man who - as is clear from the start - is not who he appears to be. He tries to make them focus on their ‘real’ purpose, and does so in highly coercive ways. This episode, like so many others in the series, is  very well made, and the main alien (apparently designed by a schoolboy for a competition) is bizarre enough not to be taken seriously, even though he's very dangerous.

The Doctor and Rose don't come into this episode as much as usual, but we enjoyed it anyway.

Fear her

And so to the final DVD in this series, with the last three episodes. The Doctor takes the tardis to 2012, shortly before the London Olympics, which they are planning to watch. They learn that the street where they arrive is full of fear, as children have been disappearing. It becomes clear to the viewer (though not, at first, to anyone else) that one little girl has strange powers. Whoever she draws will suddenly vanish. 

This, we thought was a very thought-provoking episode. There’s an alien (off screen entirely) who isn’t nearly as disturbing as it first appears. And there’s a human (also off screen) who is much more dangerous than the alien…

Army of Ghosts and Doomsday

Unsurprisingly, this series ends with another two-parter, and once again we watched both parts in one evening. The Doctor and Rose land in London again, only to find that every day some ‘ghosts’ appear. They seem to be harmless and amicable; Rose’s mother Jackie is certain that the one in her kitchen is her long-dead father. The Doctor knows this isn’t right and manages to trace the origin to Torchwood Tower. 

There are cybermen and daleks, infiltrating the world, and potentially leading to its doom. The Doctor manages a last-minute solution, but it means that Rose is forever separated from him, although with her other loved ones. There are some quite emotional scenes towards the end; I was quite engrossed in this story, and found it very moving.

Overall, we enjoyed this series very much. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart)

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One of the Christmas DVDs we had not seen for a long time is ‘A Christmas Carol’, the 1999 ‘made for TV’ version with Patrick Stewart starring as Ebenezer Scrooge. We saw it in 2008, so it was more than time for a re-watch. We watched it on Christmas Eve.

It’s at least three decades since I read the Charles Dickens classic on which so many films have been based. But the basic story is well-known. Scrooge is such a miser that his name has become a synonym for meanness. We learn that his business partner, Jacob Marley, has died - we even see a brief cameo of the funeral. Then the main story takes place seven years later, on Christmas Eve. 

Patrick Stewart does not look anything like I have ever imagined Scrooge to be. I don’t understand why he wasn’t given a suitable wig for this film, to make him look more Victorian and rather older. But really that’s my only gripe. He is such a good actor that, as I became absorbed in the film, I quickly forgot my preconceived ideas, and saw him for the penny-pinching businessman Scrooge. 

Scrooge has one employee, Bob Cratchett (Richard E Grant) who is also very believable in his role. He is paid fifteen shillings per week, on which he can barely scrape by. But he has a wife and five children, and they are all happy - much happier than Scrooge despite their poverty. The youngest, ‘Tiny Tim’ is crippled; there’s no indication why, but he walks with a crutch and mostly has to be carried. Ben Tibber, who must have been eight or nine when this production was made, does well in this role.

Saskia Reeves is excellent, too, as Mrs Cratchett, holding the family together by her excellent housekeeping and cooking. Her other children are less distinct and perhaps over-acting a bit, but it doesn't much matter. 

Scrooge reluctantly gives Bob a whole day off for Christmas, while muttering ‘humbug’, and then returns to his gloomy home where he starts seeing ghosts… starting with his former business partner. The ghost of Marley rattles chains and warns Scrooge that unless he changes, he, too, will be doomed to roam the earth full of regrets for his self-centered life. 

Some of the special effects look a bit dated, which isn’t surprising for a film that’s now over twenty-five years old. There are many adaptations of this story, and I expect modern ones are more realistic (if ghosts can ever be considered realistic), and perhaps more scary. But given the era, and the fact that the book was written for older children, it’s not inappropriate to have very different and unscary ghosts. The third, who doesn’t speak, is perhaps the most disturbing, but then the third ghost shows Scrooge what might happen if he doesn’t change his ways.

Dickens cared deeply about the impoverished in society, and many of his novels form a kind of social commentary. ‘A Christmas carol’ is obviously intended to be a moral tale, demonstrating why it’s important to be kind and generous. Scrooge’s change of focus is perhaps a tad unlikely after so many years of selfish miserliness. But it’s done so well in this film that it feels quite realistic while watching. 

Knowing the story well did not in any way detract from my enjoyment of seeing this version. It’s rated PG which seems about right; there’s no violence or bad language, and parents will know whether or not the situations portrayed might upset their children. I doubt if it would be of much interest to very little ones anyway.

But for a good portrayal of the story, fairly close to the book, I would recommend this. 

Other related films we’ve watched in the past few years include:

* Scrooged (with Bill Murray) - a modern take on the story, not for children

* A Christmas Carol goes wrong - chaos and some slapstick, as an incompetent cast attempt a play

* The man who invented Christmas - a fictional portrayal of Dickens’ life and the writing of the 'Christmas Carol' story 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

Winter Solstice (Sinéad Cusack)

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It’s six years since we watched the 2003 film ‘Winter Solstice’, based on Rosamunde Pilcher’s novel with the same title. I recalled the storyline fairly well, and also that it was quite an absorbing film, originally made for television. We count it as a Christmas one, even though it’s only towards the end of the movie that Christmas takes place.

The main character is Elfrida (Sinéad Cusack). She has recently lost the man she has lived with for fifteen years. Unfortunately for her, he was a risk-taker who left no insurance, and a large amount of debt. So she has to sell the house they have lived in, and - she hopes - find a job. Her age isn’t given but she must be somewhere between forty-five and fifty-five. She used to be an actor, and hopes to get back into that field.

Initially, after the house sale, she goes to stay with her good friend Didi (Marsha Fitzalan). Didi has two daughters: twenty-five-year-old Carrie (Sophie Schütt) and fifteen-year-old Lucy (Anna Maguire). Carrie lives abroad, so Elfrida is staying in her room… Didi is recently divorced, but can’t survive without a man. 

We then see Carrie with her boyfriend, who is promising to love her forever.  She gets a sudden shock, and her world is turned upside down. She gets on a plane and heads for home. 

We also meet Sam (Jason Durr) who is an accountant for a large business organisation. He is going to have to travel to the north of Scotland to close down a business that employs about a hundred people. He happens to sit next to Carrie on a plane, but she ignores him, deep in her misery. 

Elfrida goes to stay for a while in her lawyer’s holiday cottage, and gets to know her neighbours: Oscar (Jan Niklas), his wife Gloria (Geraldine Chaplin) and their delightful daughter Francesca (Emilia Streets) who is twelve. Then she manages to get an interview with her former agent so she rushes off to London… and while she’s away, a terrible tragedy happens. I knew it was coming, and still had to look away. It’s the worst part of the film (and the book, though it happens a bit differently in the book). 

The main part of the film takes place when five of these characters are heading towards an estate house in Scotland, which is half owned by Oscar, and half by Sam’s godfather. There’s some confusion at first (and a massive coincidence that this house has lain empty for a while and is suddenly occupied by so many at the same time. But Rosamunde Pilcher did tend to include this kind of situation in her novels). 

It’s a character-based film, like the book, although there are several subplots. I last read the book ‘Winter Solstice’ in 2018, so I was quite hazy on some of the details. I know that Carrie was Lucy’s aunt in the book, rather than her sister, and that Elfrida was rather older - comfortably retired, rather than penniless. But the basic outline and ideas are much the same. It doesn’t matter. Films and books are different media, and I’m not one who wants every detail to match. 

The scenery is gorgeous, the pace just right for our tastes. Elfrida, we thought, was perfectly cast, as was Lucy who manages to be a moody, sometimes angry teenager to perfection. Oscar is less believable; he and Elfrida have a good chemistry but he seems to get over his terrible tragedy to some extent rather rapidly. Others are more minor, and are sufficiently realistic that I was totally caught up in the story. 

It’s a couple of hours, so longer than most modern films, but felt like exactly the right length. There’s a bit of humour - particularly involving the delightful countess who appears towards the end of the film although it’s low-key and doesn’t detract from the poignancy and light romance of the story.  

The ending, if somewhat predictable and open-ended, is encouraging for all concerned. Since this film was made for TV it doesn't have a UK rating, but I would expect PG or possibly 12, since there are a couple of scenes of people in bed after what was clearly a night of intimacy. There is also some minor violence when a fight erupts, and some bad language, though nothing too extreme. It's not likely to be of interest to anyone younger than about twelve anyway. 

Definitely recommended if you like a gentle, sometimes moving film that’s lightly Christmassy at the end. I still prefer the book, however.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

Nativity 2: danger in the manger (David Tennant)

(Amazon UK link)

We have over thirty Christmas DVDs, and we like to see at least four or five of them each Christmas season. I pulled out the ones we hadn’t yet seen, or hadn’t seen in a while, and my husband selected ‘Nativity 2: danger in the manger’. We saw this film in December 2014, and I recalled being somewhat unimpressed at the time. It didn’t seem like a worthy sequel to ‘Nativity’, which we thought excellent.

However, we’ve been watching season two of Doctor Who, with David Tennant in the title role. So we thought it might be amusing to see him in the rather different role of classroom teacher in ‘Nativity 2’. And I was interested to see whether I would find it better or worse than I did ten years ago. 

The film opens to a domestic scene. David Tennant plays a young man called Donald Peterson who has just moved house and has a new job. His wife Sarah (Joanna Page) is expecting their first baby. He’s a bit concerned about the school where he’s going to work, but says that the head seems very pleasant, and she has assured him that the children are well-behaved.

The action then moves to the classroom, where Mr Poppy (Marc Wootten), the classroom assistant, is in charge. There have been several teachers replacing the excellent Mr Maddens and we see brief cameos as each one comes into conflict with one or other of Mr Poppy’s wild ideas. The children adore Mr Poppy, but he’s like an overgrown four-year-old and has no concept of boundaries, or of education. He only has the job because the headmistress (Pam Ferris) is his aunt. 

Clearly Mr Poppy should not have the job, despite his relationship to the head. Whereas we found him somewhat amusing in the first Nativity film, he is somewhat irritating in this one. He encourages the children to think they can take part (and win) a singing competition, despite lack of talent, and little time to rehearse. The head refuses permission but Mr Poppy goes ahead and applies. Then, when the day comes for the contest, he uses sneaky methods to get the children away - kidnapping Mr Peterson at the last moment, to accompany them.

The journey to Wales is fraught with mishaps, as might be expected. And it starts to delve into silliness as the ridiculous bus turns into a boat which then runs out of fuel, and the children have to embark on a long walk. Mr Poppy urges them to hurry at times, and insists they take breaks at others. The distance is shown as extremely long, and some of the children have to be carried. But most of them make it without seeming at all tired, and they’re somehow ready to perform when they eventually arrive.

There are some amusing scenes in this film. David Tennant is excellent in his role, so much so that we didn’t even think of him as the Doctor. He is an excellent actor who becomes the person he’s portraying - and we thought of him during this film as the young, rather apprehensive Mr Peterson. At least, we did until the appearance of Donald’s twin brother Roderick, a high-flying and very snooty choirmaster who  also has a competing group. 

They have not spoken to each other in years, and Donald has felt like a failure as their father (Ian McNiece) always favoured Roderick. David Tennant plays Roderick brilliantly, a tad caricatured (but then that's the nature of the film). Moreover, he does this so differently from the way he plays Donald that I sometimes forgot, for a moment, that the same actor was playing both brothers. 

In the last half hour or so of the film we get to see the other acts that are competing, performing their song and dance routines. A couple of them are (deliberately, we assume) pretty bad - twee, schmaltzy and with costumes in bad taste, although the singing and dancing as such is mostly good. Roderick expects to win with his highly trained boys’ choir, dressed as church choristers, and he isn’t averse to a bit of cheating…

And yet, despite the surreal nature of a lot of the film, it’s very well done. The pace is good, the timing is great, and the conversation - most of it improvised rather than scripted - realistic. The humour is somewhat slapstick, but we smiled several times and laughed once or twice. And the finale - which we had completely forgotten, after the concert - is moving, and encouraging, sharing (in a low-key way) the real meaning of Christmas. 

So despite the complete lack of compliance with safeguarding laws, with the head and parents having no idea where the children are, and the annoying nature of Mr Poppy, I liked it rather more than I did last time. David Tennant’s brilliance means I would recommend it on the whole and expect to watch it again in a few years time.  The rating is U which seems about right, although I don't suppose that very young children would find much to interest them in this film. 

There are a couple of extras, including some deleted scenes, on our DVD, which we thought well worth seeing after watching the film. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

How about you? (Hayley Attwell)

(Amazon UK link)

December is here, so I pulled out our Christmas DVD collection. We have about thirty of them, currently; if we watch five each year that means we can see each one around once every six years. I usually like leaving at least five years before re-watching a film, unless it’s exceptional.

We saw ‘How about you?’ almost eight years ago in February 2017, rather later than the Christmas period. I recalled quite liking it, and also that it was loosely based on a short story by Maeve Binchy. My husband didn’t remember it at all.

Hayley Attwell stars as Ellie, a young woman who needs a job. She turns up at the care home for the elderly run by her sister Kate (Orla Brady), asking to work there. Kate is dubious: Ellie has a history of being irresponsible and causing problems by her outspokenness. But Ellie pleads, and Kate gives in.

One of the first residents whom Ellie gets to know is Alice (Joan O’Hara) who is frail, in some pain, and aware that she is dying. Alice feels hemmed in by her nurse, and wants the freedom to go out and about in her wheelchair. Ellie agrees to do this, and also to acquire some cannabis to ease Alice’s pain… but when Kate discovers it, she is furious. It could lead to the home being closed. It’s already lost some staff and several residents, mainly due to the bad behaviour of four of them.

These four are Georgia (Vanessa Redgrave), Donald (Joss Ackland), and two sisters called Hazel (Imelda Staunton) and Heather (Brenda Fricker). Georgia is a former stage star who hankers after her youth, and drinks too much. Donald is a supposedly reformed alcoholic who was widowed a couple of years earlier. Hazel is an artist who is over-protected by Heather. All four are rude, argumentative and demanding.

By the time the film was half-way through I was wondering why I had put it in our Christmas collection, but then, in the last half-hour or so, Christmas approaches. Most of the residents are collected by family members to be taken to their homes for a week or so. Ellie is eager to take a break, and only Kate will remain, to look after the four difficult residents who have nowhere else to go.

Then a crisis occurs, and Kate has to leave. So Ellie is in charge… she promises to behave, but becomes increasingly exhausted and stressed by the incessant demands of these angry people. She finally loses her temper and lets them know what she thinks of them. She also tells them that the home will probably be closed due to their attitudes and behaviour…

But it’s a Christmas feel-good film, so inevitably the four difficult residents are brought to their senses and decide to get along. Not that they are perfect by any means, and there are more difficulties for Ellie as she tries to treat them as a family. Then there’s always the worry of a health and safety officer arriving, since Ellie has no qualifications and leaving the residents in her care is not legal.

There are moments of humour in this film which, on the whole, is light-hearted, even though it includes some more serious issues. The acting is good, as one would expect with an all-star cast. It has just the right balance of poignancy and lightness, in my view.

There are some lovely Christmas scenes with amazing food, beautiful table layouts, and more, and while the ending is perhaps a bit predictable, it was very enjoyable to watch. The whole film is beautifully done, and we were totally engrossed. It’s not long - just under 90 minutes - and there are no extras on our DVD. But it made a good start to the Christmas season.

The rating is 15 which surprised me a bit, as there are only mild sexual references - no nudity or anything explicit - and no violence. But there are several instances of strong language, and the drugs… so that’s why it has such a high rating. I doubt if children or young teens would be interested anyway in a film about elderly folk in a care home.

But if you want a well-made, thoughtful film with a pleasantly Christmassy ending, I would recommend ‘How about you’.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews