Gridlock by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Richard Clark

 

“Gridlock” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones with Ardal O’Hanlon as Thomas Kincade Brannigan, Travis Oliver as Milo, Lenora Crichlow as Cheen, Anna Hope as Novice Hame, and Struan Rodger as the Face of Boe.  It was written by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Richard Clark with Simon Winstone as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 14 April 2007 on BBC One.

 

The third production block of Doctor Who’s third series saw Russell T. Davies conclude what would be his New Earth/5,000,000,000 trilogy of episodes that begun with “The End of the World” and continued in “New Earth”.  Davies was particularly interested in peeling back the final mystery of the Doctor’s fate as the Last of the Time Lords, that he was in fact not alone in the universe after all.  This fact was originally meant to be revealed at the end of “New Earth” by the Face of Boe, the Doctor being summoned to his side, however perhaps due to the tumultuous production schedule of the second series, it was decided to hold it off for a third adventure to feature the Face of Boe.  Once again a time jump of approximately thirty years into the future allowed Davies to avoid doing a direct follow-up to “New Earth”, “Gridlock” only going through minor revisions before it was to be sent into production.  The large revision was shifting the setting of the Motorway, Davies always intending the claustrophobic setting but originally involving an underwater Motorway with aquatic monsters, to a standard science fiction undercity setting, shifting the unformed potentially eel-like monsters to a “evolved” form of the Macra from The Macra Terror.  The inclusion of the Macra is perhaps the biggest flaw in the episode, mainly from the perspective of a fan of the classic series as The Macra Terror is a serial where the Macra are giant intelligent overlord crabs and “Gridlock” just turns them into a generic monster that destroys the cars.  Direction of “Gridlock” and the other episode of the third production block was given to another newcomer to the series, Richard Clark, who does an excellent job with the redressed sets and fairly minimal location work (the New Earth senate briefly shows all the dead bodies), the redressing of the sets being incredibly effective at giving the very minor details to very minor characters.

 

Davies’ script also has moments at the very beginning where once again Martha Jones is confronted with being the rebound companion, once again being part of the point of the relationship between the Doctor and Martha, all while the Doctor should have moved on to at the very least respecting the woman he is currently traveling with.  It’s unnecessarily cruel and just out of character for the Doctor in general at this point, reflected especially when his motivation throughout “Gridlock” is rescuing Martha who has been kidnapped by carjackers, played by Travis Oliver and Lenora Crichlow, who wish to use her as an excuse to use the carpool lane.  The plot of the episode is really an exercise in worldbuilding as the Doctor has to be the one to unravel why there are Macra at the bottom of the Motorway and why the Motorway has been cut off from the rest of New New York.  The reveal is seeded early on with street vendors selling emotions, Bliss mutated into an addictive virus that wiped out the Overcity.  The runtime is filled nicely with the quirky characters, all having lived their lives on the Motorway, and slowly realize that nobody is coming, they are completely cutoff, so when the Motorway is open at the climax of the episode seeing the sun feels like an actual event.  This is all paired with the Doctor actually speaking of Gallifrey by name for the first time in the revival, Davies’ script pulling directly from the description in The Sensorites.  David Tennant plays the episode perfectly in these scenes, and the final sequence of saving the day and finding Novice Hame, played once again by Anna Hope, and the Face of Boe just seeds what the rest of the series with the message of “you are not alone”.  The episode in general is also a little difficult to discuss since the plot is simple but effective, Davies’ quirks as a writer allows some very fun character designs, and the occasional very odd one.  It’s the episode that also allows Martha Jones to be a full time companion and be in the Doctor’s full trust which is a very nice moment that sadly in future episodes will not drop Martha Jones as the rebound companion, not making full use of the wonderful Freema Agyeman.

 

Overall, “Gridlock” is a solid episode that misuses a classic monster, something most fans overlook since it’s a rather overlooked classic monster.  The character work, whenever the Doctor is not pining after Rose and underutilizing Martha, is wonderful for the Doctor’s character development after the Time War.  Richard Clark’s direction is wonderful while being a budget saver and the atmosphere of the episode just works from start to finish making this a highlight of early Series 3.  8/10.

I, Mudd by: Stephen Kandel and directed by: Marc Daniels

 

“I, Mudd” is written by Stephen Kandel and is directed by Marc Daniels.  It was filmed under production code 41, was the 8^th episode of Star Trek Season 2, the 37^th episode of Star Trek, and was broadcast on November 3, 1967.

 

“Mudd’s Women” was one of the few genuinely bad episodes of the first season of Star Trek, but Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd was camp enough that it was at least a fun trainwreck to watch.  It’s honestly not a surprise that Stephen Kandel wrote a sequel episode which sees Star Trek try to do a twist on I, Robot with “I, Mudd”, at least in the episode’s title.  This episode is certainly a time, a very fun time that plays very heavily into 1960s tropes, though it’s at the very least an improvement over “Mudd’s Women” in the fact that it doesn’t attempt to justify sex trafficking and has genuinely impressive direction on some very limited sets from Marc Daniels.  The big issue with this episode perhaps stems from the opening sequence being played incredibly straight.  Harry Mudd has become the emperor of a society of androids which he is going to use to steal the Enterprise stranding the crew so the androids can observe the humans.  The episode is essentially a play on being trapped in a gilded cage, Mudd and the crew of the Enterprise being provided for in any way they wish (and that means anything).  The ideas present in “I, Mudd” are nothing new for Star Trek, riffing on “The Menagerie” and “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” equally, but the opening sequence attempts to set the episode up as if it were to be more of a thriller.  One of Mudd’s androids, Norman played by Richard Tatro, has infiltrated the Enterprise and forces it off course through subterfuge and violence against the crew and with Daniels’ direction it’s played as thrilling and dangerous, but then once Mudd is revealed you immediately get the sense that that’s not anywhere near where the episode is going to be.

 

The second act of the episode then comes to an almost complete stop before Kirk and company are able to formulate an exit strategy, mainly held down by quite a bit of exposition and Kandel playing into some outdated tropes.  Roger C. Carmel is an absolute joy to watch as Harry Mudd, once again turning in a completely over the top performance where he has utilized several female android models.  The androids are treated as robots throughout the episode, though with elevated intelligence, and the issue with one of them is that it’s a replica of Mudd’s nagging wife Stella, played by Kay Elliot, who is fun but quite outdated.  She’s there so Mudd can get a comeuppance in the close of the episode which sees him left on the planet with 500 Stella androids.  The androids eventually realize they’re being used so Mudd has to work with the Enterprise crew to return them to their original programming, which is where the episode snowballs into a beautiful farce.  You already have Carmel camping it up from his first scene, but Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Nichols, and Koenig all join him in camping it up, crewmembers shooting Scotty with finger guns, playing false musical instruments, and using logical paradoxes to short their programming.  It’s an act of television that is genuinely wonderful to watch and everyone is just having such a good time you just have to go along with it.  It’s also slightly bolstered by the gilded aspect of the gilded cage isn’t just sexual, only Chekov is tempted by sex while everyone else has something to tempt them based on their role on the Enterprise or personal life (except Uhura who is just tempted with immortality).

 

Overall, “I, Mudd” is definitely the stronger of the two appearances of Harcourt Fenton Mudd in Star Trek, owed mainly to everyone else trying to one up the camp factor of Roger C. Carmel and the third act of the episode going balls to the wall crazy in the best ways that it must be seen to be believed.  It’s not amazing by any means, and the early sequence of the episode plays it serious and slow, but once you have Harry Mudd sitting on a throne bringing out beautiful female androids you just kind of go into the insanity of it.  6/10.

Legends & Lattes by: Travis Baldree

 

Legends & Lattes is a novel that by all means shouldn’t be nearly as charming as it is.  Sold as high fantasy, low stakes, it was originally self-published by author Travis Baldree through Cryptid Press before being picked up by Tor Books for a second edition and prequel novel to be published in late 2023.  It’s a simple story about a woman who opens a coffee shop and slowly builds up her staff and clientele with the stakes being if the titular Legends & Lattes is going to succeed but set in a fantasy world.  Baldree’s world, if there is one criticism with Legends & Lattes is that it is perhaps a touch generic, mainly being a parallel of modern day Earth just in a high fantasy setting, the technology being magic based through not explored (though that is clearly not the point of the book).  Viv is an orc who has spent her life up to settling in the town of Thune as a mercenary for hire with her own adventuring party, a party that clearly reflects your standard TTRPG party in the beset ways, but clearly she wants more from life.  Coming across coffee on her travels and purchasing a machine to brew her own, it is her enraptured by its taste and since Thune only has taverns it’s the perfect market for success.  The novel is less than 300 pages, but Baldree does a great job of utilizing the lower page count to its full effect, the passion Viv shows for coffee and just wanting a new life is what really makes the novel work, from renovating a livery into a café with the hob Calamity, to hiring the succubus Tandri, and slowly expanding the menu from a coffee and a latte to iced drinks and various snacks, with live music and an in house baker.

 

Baldree does include some personal stakes and fashions the climax of the novel around those stakes, Viv has a magic artefact that has mystical powers for success (or so the legends say) which one of the members of her original crew is out to steal.  This is the major conflict outside of Viv’s self-doubt and the general hardships of building up a business with no business experience which is a very fun conflict, it tests Viv’s resolve and allows her to prove that she’s not just magically earning the success, but has surrounded herself with good and interesting people that are the key to that success.  At her lowest point, it is those around her who pull her back to reality and begin the process of healing.  Perhaps Baldree could have extended that progress of healing to more than just the final third of the novel, but it’s still a great journey for the character.  In parallel is the clear romance between Viv and Tandri, a relationship built around complimentary personalities, longing glances, and the desire for Viv to finally get herself a proper bed and not just sleep on the floor.  Baldree subverts expectations for Tandri, as a succubus there is a clear parallel to taboos involving sex and sexuality, being subverted as she is not portrayed as a temptress nor is she fighting her nature.  Tandri and Viv are both on some level fighting the perceptions of society, something subtly explored throughout the novel that brings them together as a couple.  Baldree’s romance is also incredibly well written as this aspect that creeps up so the reader does not notice it until Viv finally notices it near the climax of the novel, it's a romance of two people trusting one another implicitly.

 

Overall, while Legends & Lattes is a book with very low stakes that does not mean it is a book with no or bad stakes.  The stakes are incredibly personal and focused on our point of view character trying to make her way in a world that is sadly not entirely built out completely being the one thing holding the novel back from being absolutely perfect.  It’s still a book that just flies by as you read it and is a contender for being one of my new favorites.  9/10.

The Shakespeare Code by: Gareth Roberts and directed by: Charles Palmer

 

“The Shakespeare Code” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones with Dean Lennox Kelly as William Shakespeare and Christina Cole as Lilith.  It was written by: Gareth Roberts and directed by: Charles Palmer with Simon Winstone as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 7 April 2007 on BBC One.

 

Gareth Roberts is an unapologetic transphobe, tweeting several transphobic statements over the years disparaging trans women specifically.  Once again this is not up for debate and once again this is a mark on any media written by Roberts that will be reviewed.

 

After the success of “The Unquiet Dead” and “Tooth and Claw” Russell T. Davies wished to continue the appearance of a historical figure in the third series of Doctor Who turning to novelist Gareth Roberts who had already contributed several Doctor Who novels through the 1990s and held an interest in the life of William Shakespeare, studying Shakespeare’s plays and two catalogues indicating a comedy called Love’s Labour’s Won as a potential lost work (which in actuality may be an alternate title for an already written play such as Love’s Labour’s Lost or Much Ado About Nothing).  Roberts initially used this for the title before amending it to “Theatre of Death” and Davies believed the idea would work well for Martha Jones’ first trip in the TARDIS, seeking permission to film at the Globe Theatre in London which was a reconstruction of the historic Globe.  Due to the popularity of The DaVinci Code which posited a secret history involving Leonardo DaVinci, Davies amended the title to “The Shakespeare Code” during production which was the second episode of the third series and the concluding episode of the second production block once again under the direction of Charles Palmer.  Roberts’ script also took delight in adding little sly references, overt and subtle, to the work of Shakespeare and actual history with fairly mixed success.

 

The plot of “The Shakespeare Code” is quite simple, a trio of witch like Carrionites, Lilith, Doomfinger, and Bloodtide, played by Christina Cole, Amanda Lawrence, and Linda Clarke respectively, use their advanced magic like science and the power of words to manipulate William Shakespeare into releasing their species, trapped by the Eternals from the classic series, using the odd 14 sided architecture of the Globe Theatre and the right words at the right time.  It’s a great idea for an episode and makes for a very pulpy watch as the Doctor takes Martha on the one trip he promised her into the past, get easily wrapped up in first the idea of just seeing the potential of a missing play of Shakespeare and then to investigate the death of the Master of the Revels, who drowns on dry land.  The idea is that the witchcraft is just an advanced branch of science and mathematics that use words instead of numbers, partially a reference to the thousands of words Shakespeare added to the English dictionary.  The episode is a fun time once you get past Roberts’ tendency to write an anachronistic setting, the opening sequence of the Doctor and Martha stepping out of the TARDIS to the streets of London and the rest of the episode being full of these contemporary references and customs with no attempt to couch things in historic language outside of the dialogue of plays which is in either real or faux iambic pentameter.  This is especially troubling as Roberts lampshades the fact that Martha Jones is a person of color and directly implies that history wasn’t actually all that oppressive, his general conservatism coming through with a recurring gag about global warming.  There’s also a recurring gag about the at the time to be released Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which while Roberts shares Rowling’s abhorrent views, was clearly just meant to be references to the most popular book series in the world at the time that has aged poorly.

 

These are the major issues with the episode outside of the continuation of the relationship between the Doctor and Martha.  Mainly that the Doctor believes that this is a situation where Rose Tyler would somehow know the answers to what is going on in the first third of the episode, despite Martha proving herself more than capable and in the very next moment the Doctor actually acknowledges her.  Roberts also leans heavily into the idea that Martha has developed romantic feelings for the Doctor and it is painfully obvious that he does not see her that way, something that will contribute to the character arcs for this particular series, an issue from this point forward.  Tennant and Agyeman also just play every other scene incredibly well from their first scene, to Martha realizing the Doctor is feigning death to putt the Carrionites on the back foot, to even the Doctor triumphantly naming the Carrionites.  Roberts also includes one of the more lackluster instances of LGBT representation in this era of Doctor Who, Shakespeare, played by Dean Lennox Kelly, is obliquely referenced as being bisexual by flirting with the Doctor exactly one time and it being called out as academics punching the air in joy.  Kelly’s portrayal of the Bard is quite flirty with women so it’s genuinely a shame that the script does not allow him to flirt more than this single time.  The rest of the episode is a generally pulpy good time with the Carrionites being a great idea for villains, and put into practice quite well, with instances of sympathetic magic keeping the protagonists on the backfoot throughout the episode and a rather nice effects heavy climax using the power of words and theater tot defeat the ancient evil.

 

Overall, “The Shakespeare Code” is perhaps most marred by the author of the episode dragging everyone else down with his views that in some ways are foreshadowed in the script.  By no means a bad episode, it is an episode that struggles with its lighter tone in a dark story, almost reviving the 1990s guns vs frocks debate upon which Roberts is one of the few authors to reside squarely with the frocks while his script desperately wants to go towards the guns in some very dark places.  It’s a decent episode that has a great premise and idea but perhaps needed a few more drafts and steadier hand to make it a great episode.  6/10.

Titus Groan by: Mervyn Peake

 

Reading any sort of modern fantasy always has its roots in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien whether directly inspired by Middle-Earth or simply following in the legacy of the author, but what is always interesting is to read fantasy that is a contemporary of Tolkien.  Mervyn Peake lived during the life of J.R.R. Tolkien and is considered a contemporary of the man, despite having never been part of the literary circle of the Inklings.  Peake began his career as an illustrator for several authors including editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as well as painting factor workers and propaganda during World War II.  In the immediate post-war, as Tolkien was inspired by World War I, Peake was inspired by World War II to write back to back Titus Groan and Gormenghast, the first two installments of a planned epic cycle that would sadly stay as a trilogy before Peake’s death in 1968 from dementia with Lewy bodies at the young age of 57.  Peake as an author I only became vaguely aware of due to his influence on the Doctor Who work of Marc Platt in Ghost Light and Lungbarrow, as well as Big Finish Productions releasing a story featuring the character.

 

Titus Groan as a novel is deceptive as the titular Titus Groan is a relatively minor character integral to the plot occurring.  This novel is essentially an exploration of stagnation in societies that rely on archaic traditions to uphold their power, Titus being born to be the 77^th Earl of Groan, the ruling family of Gormenghast.  This event is the first domino falling in a sequence that breaks the stagnation over the course of two years as the reader is privy to the perspective of Steerpike, a kitchen boy who escapes the abuse of the kitchens to scheme his way to the top of the hierarchy and enter the upper classes.  Titus Groan in a way is a deconstruction of the British class system of the mid-20^th century with a clear examination of the madness that it allows, the ruling house of Groan are all madmen in some way.  Lord Sepulchrave is bored in his role of Earl and is slowly driven insane by Steerpike while his twin sisters are mad and hidden, driven to the arson of the Gormenghast Library and his older daughter Fuschia is taken in by Steerpike’s charm.  While Steerpike is our villain, Peake makes him incredibly compelling to read, the rest of the household having some layer of insanity and Steerpike himself comes across as the only rational person in the world.  This is despite the character doing horrific things, but the reader just has to pay attention to him as the rest of the cast of characters are so insane you believe something needs to change.  The setting of Titus Groan is integral in making this work, it is an expansive Gothic castle that has slowly been crumbling due to the stagnation of the world around it.  There are secrets and horrors around every corner, but life is built around tradition and continuing that tradition, something that Steerpike can take advantage of before he can ascend into a position of power.

 

Overall, Titus Groan is actually quite a slow book, but Mervyn Peake is wonderful at the worldbuilding and character writing this commentary on monarchy and tradition through the lens of Gothic fantasy.  While many compare him to Tolkien, it perhaps may be more apt to compare Titus Groan to Shelley, Stoker, and Stevenson in terms of tone and pacing, the slow build of the novel with this background haze of madness.  8/10.

Smith and Jones by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Charles Palmer

 

“Smith and Jones” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones with Roy Marsden as Mr. Stoker, Adjoa Andoh as Francine Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Tish Jones, Reggie Yates as Leo Jones, Trevor Laird as Clive Jones, Anne Reid as Florence Finnegan, Paul Kasey as the Judoon Leader, and Nicholas Briggs as the Judoon Voices.  It was written by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Charles Palmer with Simon Winstone as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 31 March 2007 on BBC One.

 

By the time Doctor Who was renewed for a third series, Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner knew that Billie Piper would be leaving the show at the end of the second series and as such a replacement companion would have to be introduced.  The decision was made to have the commissioned 2006 Christmas Special not serve as an introduction to a new companion to allow audiences a gap between Rose and her replacement, as well as the logistics of not introducing a new regular months before the third series proper would begin.  Once again in preparing the third series, Davies planned to write six of the fourteen episodes including the Christmas special, opening episode, the finale, and one episode in between, and in these initial preparations it is clear that Davies and Gardner had learned from the hectic productions of the first two series.  While Davies would decide to expand the two-part finale to a three-part finale, there were no last minute rewrite episodes like “Boom Town” or “Tooth and Claw”, and once again six other writers would be recruited over the course of the series with four new contributions and two returning contributions.  In designing the new companion, Davies knew he did not wish to repeat the same character outline as Rose Tyler, going through several ideas including a schoolgirl and a Victorian maid, the latter being discouraged by BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, Jane Trantor.  The schoolgirl idea was eventually developed into Martha Jones, 23 year old medical student, with Davies drafting the Jones family to include parents and two siblings, although continuing the trend of dysfunction as Martha’s parents are divorced.

 

Freema Agyeman was first on the radar of the production team in 2005 when casting “The Christmas Invasion” where she was under consideration for the role of Sally, and later cast in “Army of Ghosts” in a minor role, Phil Collinson already looking for potential actresses for Martha.  She would undergo the audition process in early 2006 before being cast and formally announced to the public on July 5, 2006.  Russell T. Davies at this point had made the executive decision to avoid assigning titles to episodes for the third series until necessary in an attempt to avoid leaks, but considered opening with “Martha” as an introduction, the title under which it would be filmed by newcomer to Doctor Who, Charles Palmer, starting the second production block of the series.  This would be the first of two production blocks under Palmer for the third series while David Tennant was eager to return for a second series in the role of the Doctor.  Production commenced only a few weeks after Agyeman had been cast and partway through Davies would change the title to “Smith and Jones” as a reference to the Doctor’s alias on Earth and Martha’s surname, a pairing of names he adored and emphasized in editing the script for “School Reunion”.  Despite changing the title, Davies’ script does draw on the major successes from “Rose”, mainly focusing on the new companion and their first steps into the Doctor’s world.  Davies’ script and Palmer’s direction avoids the trappings of following “Rose” directly, there is no zoom in to the Earth and the explanation of the premise of Doctor Who is rapid, rightfully assuming people would not need it three series in.

 

Agyeman sells the episode from her very first scene, quickly establishing Martha as not only competent, but sure of where her life is going and only being dissatisfied with the antics her family gets up to.  A background element of the episode is the drama surrounding Martha’s brother Leo’s, played by Reggie Yates, birthday party: her mother Francine, played by Adjoa Andoh, is angry at her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, Clive and Annalise played by Trevor Laird and Kimmi Richards respectively.  Martha and her sister Tish, played by Gugu Mbathta-Raw, are the only sane ones in the family.  Once the episode gets going and the hospital Martha is training at is transported to the moon, Agyeman really gets to show off as the only character outside of the Doctor calm enough in the crisis to realize that there is something more than the transport occurring.  She is the one to notice the oxygen isn’t rushing out of the hospital as the windows are not airtight and that there must be some force field, this is what attracts the Doctor to her.  The Doctor is unable to resist a mind as sharp as his and that’s what Martha represents.  Agyeman and Tennant also have excellent chemistry throughout as the Doctor and Martha independently deduce why the Judoon, a band of space rhinoceros police mercenaries, would be invading this hospital and what the alien they are looking for could actually be.  Davies’ plot is simple and straightforward with the stakes being the approximately 1,000 people in the hospital as air is slowly being used, escalating to half the Earth once the alien and her escape plan is revealed.  There is one moment that sets up much of the Doctor and Martha’s character arcs through the series as the Doctor kisses Martha to transfer some of his DNA that the Judoon would be able to check, this act blossom into unrequited romance on Martha’s part, which is a complete misstep.  “The Runaway Bride” essentially establishes that the Doctor is moving forward from Rose and this establishment, and the way the Doctor talks about Rose in this episode, is another example of Davies expanding a character arc for melodrama which is a shame because take these out and you have a perfect Doctor/companion dynamic with the Doctor and Martha.

 

“Smith and Jones” is bolstered by the actual alien plot being one alien Plasmavore, Florence Finnegan played with wonderful camp by Anne Reid, and her two slag leather androids, sucking the blood and killing Mr. Stoker, played by Roy Marsden, masquerading her internal biology as human and bypassing the Judoon’s genetic scans.  As a villain she is one note but Reid plays the character with relish, especially when the Judoon disintegrate her at the climax of the episode, with a declaration that the Judoon will “Burn in hell!” in a manner that no special text would adequately describe the delivery.  The Judoon themselves, voiced by Nicholas Briggs in a very gruff choice, are quite interesting.  Some comparison has been made to the Sontarans, and the similarities are there, especially in their ruthless nature, but making them a separate species allows Davies to subtly critique the general police system.  Sadly, “Smith and Jones” is a single episode and has much of its focus elsewhere, but there are hints in Davies’ script, with the Judoon mercilessly slaughtering a scared human with no remorse and the system’s backing, giving out compensation to Martha for their gruff treatment, and leaving once killing the Plasmavore with no real regard to the humans being left behind.  It’s certainly not a takedown of the oppressive nature of policing (and being written from a British perspective in 2007 it would not accurately reflect the current day state of the police), but Davies clearly understands at the very least the abuse that has become a fact of life for being policed.  It’s a small commentary, but a commentary, nevertheless.  And of course, the episode ends on Martha having her bigger on the inside moment and joining the Doctor, though being only promised one trip adds a more subtle reflection on the loss of Rose than his rather annoying declaration that she is not being replaced.

 

Overall, “Smith and Jones” starts the third series of Doctor Who just as strong as “Rose” started off the first series, most definitely free from the limp start of the second in “New Earth”.  David Tennant and Freema Agyeman shine as the Doctor and Martha Jones while the episode is not hampered by attempting to reexplain the premise of the show to any newcomers this series.  The chemistry is there and Russell T. Davies clearly has had a less stressful series this time around with only the remembrances of Rose and some of the commentary there not being explored, the former due to Davies’ attachment to Rose and the latter due to the 45-minute runtime, holding it back from being the perfect series opener.  8/10.

Catspaw by: Robert Bloch and directed by: Joseph Pevney

 

“Catspaw” is written by Robert Bloch and is directed by Joseph Pevney.  It was filmed under production code 30, was the 7^th episode of Star Trek Season 2, the 36^th episode of Star Trek, and was broadcast on October 27, 1967.

 

There’s something odd about this episode of Star Trek being purposefully held back to be aired as a Halloween Special.  Produced as the first episode of the second season of the original series, Robert Bloch’s “Catspaw” is an episode that is steeped in myth and fairy tales and slight bits of Shakespeare where there is an impossible castle inhabited by two space wizards who wish to test the Enterprise crew through a series of tricks and trials.  It’s essentially a big game of trick or treat, though on the budget of a single episode of Star Trek so many of the trials are mind games and conversational so the back half of the episode feels a bit close to “The Squire of Gothos” in concept but not execution.  Joseph Pevney’s direction really must be praised for making the episode work, evoking quite a few spooks and frights akin to a haunted house story.  There are clear influences from the work of director William Castle, budget saving techniques used to effect genuinely good frights plus a classic plastic skeleton or two to make things fun.  There is one sequence where three witches are encountered on the planet and genuinely the makeup work and performances are the closest to outright horror the episode gets.  Despite Bloch being most well known for writing Psycho, he’s not trying to really write Star Trek doing a horror story, just Star Trek having quite a bit of fun at the expense of it being the Halloween season and that’s genuinely okay for an episode, especially as the second season of Star Trek thus far has had some amazing episodes but those often followed by lackluster episodes or just okay episodes.

 

Theo Marcuse and Antoinette Bower play Korob and Sylvia respectively, the two space wizards who are in control of this castle, both providing temptations for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, while controlling Sulu and Scotty and killing our pre-credits redshirt which launches the episode with a great pratfall.  Sylvia is a classic femme fatale, using her sex appeal to tempt Kirk into feeding her his emotion and there is this absolutely brilliant scene where Shatner as Kirk doesn’t give it to her.  The idea of the episode is that these two are creations of humanity’s subconscious, given power by their transmuter and the minds of the crew.  The way Shatner plays it is to subtly communicate that he is not actually taken in by Sylvia and the implication being not to connect sex with romance as a good thing, an oddly progressive message to be found in a Star Trek episode that also has its primary female character turn into a cat at multiple points during the episode.  The dynamic between Korob and Sylvia is perhaps the episode’s weakest point, Korob getting much of the second act of the episode to just argue with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy before being won over to their side of things for no particular reason.  The danger the pair pose to the Enterprise is a brilliant way to keep the tension of the episode up, Joseph Pevney’s direction in the scenes that cut back to the ship keep the shots close and tight so the danger can be implied by some great performances by Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig (in his first recorded scenes), and returning day player Michael Barrier.  There is a point where Sylvia uses a pendant of the Enterprise to rapidly increase the temperature by hovering it over a candle, further hints of the episode being about humanity’s subconscious, and the scenes set on the Enterprise while not quite harrowing are immediately tense and there is the fear that these people will just destroy the ship.  The further scenes where the Enterprise is placed behind a forcefield don’t quite work because the overheating sequence is so effective, but it does keep the rest of the characters in the episode while Scotty and Sulu are relegated to being hypnotized which is a shame, though George Takei does do some excellent silent acting.

 

Overall, “Catspaw” is kind of the perfect example of a ridiculous Star Trek episode working with a weird premise, mostly because the cast and director are all taking this seriously as a threat.  It’s not a brilliant horror story or a thriller by any means but it fits perfectly into the bill of a Halloween special.  It’s not going to be an all-time classic episode, but it does pass the benchmark of an enjoyable episode in the first third or so of a season that had been oscillating from brilliant to outright bad.  7/10.