I am really, really not warming up to this guy.
That’s not to say this episode wasn’t good. It won’t go down in series history as one of the best, but it was engaging and fun. Loved the concepts, loved the 29th Century Queen of England. Especially loved the directing; the look and feel of the series has definitely matured. You’d be hard pressed to find work of this quality in a major motion picture, much less a television show. The sets were fun and inventive. I bought it, and that’s always a good sign.
I also continue to love the acting of Karen Gillan. This is an impressive young actress. She’s forceful, commanding, great with nuance, wonderful delivery. She’s got a brilliant career ahead of her when her tenure on Doctor Who has come to an end; I can easily see an Academy Award in her future, years down the road. She’s got no worries of being typecast because from what I can see, she works beyond the material given to her, which is the hallmark of a great actress.
And that’s going to be a problem.
Matt Smith is frankly not in her league. Last episode she upstaged him without even trying, and this episode, she did it again. The Doctor’s companions should always be as engaging and three dimensional as possible, but they shouldn’t ever be more interesting and more entertaining than the Doctor. This wasn’t the fault of the writing, from what I could tell (even though this was yet another script in which the companion solved the mystery and not the Doctor; it’s are getting a bit hackneyed). The fault was quite simply that Gillan’s presence on the screen is miles and away more impressive and magnetic than Smith’s. He just can’t keep up with her. I can literally see him making the effort to be the Doctor, and that’s something that should be effortless. Tennent made it looks as simple as breathing; Eccleston put his own spin on it that allowed him some room to color outside the lines. But Smith is flailing.
The character doesn’t generate sympathy, nor can we identify with him. He’s brusque, self-centered, dismissive, and arrogant. While these are qualities the Doctor has exhibited before, they were always the ones he fought to put aside. The worst offender was the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker; shite scripting and editorial fiat destroyed his performance on the screen, which is one of the greatest crimes of the series seeing as he’s proven his grasp of the character on the Big Finish audio dramas. Baker’s time on screen was less stellar; he was a total git, tormenting his compaions and running around like a galactic psychopath, up to and including using guns. And again, I fault the production team for that.
Smith, on the other hand, doesn’t have Colin Baker’s acting chops. He’s actively working against the script, on more than one occassion. Moments where the Doctor should be someone the audience can connect with are brushed off, downplayed. Moments where he should be making the audience turn on him are trumped up and pushed over the top, to the point where instead of hoping he maked a better choice the viewer is hoping something heavy will fall on him. (Well, this viewer, at any rate.) He’s so involved in himself that he’s barely even in the episode. Hell, this time out his companion did all the heavy lifting; he made his stamp on the episode by ranting, railing, and not even having the good grace to apologize when it was over.
So far as the episode goes? I was entertained. But I was entertained by everyone but the Doctor, and considering he’s your title character that’s not good at all. Either Smith needs to learn the flow of the scripts better, or someone needs to have a long talk with him . . . either way, I expect better from Moffat, and I have a nasty feeling Smith might sink his reign as producer before it’s barely underway.
