{"id":236,"date":"2011-03-24T13:00:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T20:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=236"},"modified":"2011-03-24T07:43:16","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T14:43:16","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s05e06-the-vampires-of-venice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/03\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s05e06-the-vampires-of-venice\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S05E06 – The Vampires of Venice"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of the fifth series of Doctor Who<\/em>, the Doctor rushes Amy and Rory to Venice in 1580 in order to give them some romantic time together. Of course, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not at all how things work for the three of them. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I liked this episode. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anywhere near as serious or intense as anything we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d seen before, and I found a few themes, tropes, and plot strings to be a bit too familiar for me to say that I outright enjoyed everything here, but I was glad to see a bit more light-hearted fare from Doctor Who<\/em>. The opening scene sets the tone well, with the Doctor bursting out of Rory\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cake at his stag party, providing some wonderfully awkward humor.<\/p>\n

Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine.<\/p>\n

I was a bit disappointed that the explanation for Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions at the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d essentially amounted to WELL SHE WAS STRESSED, only because I felt the answer would be a bit more comprehensive than that. I suppose I set myself up to be disappointed, though, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bad<\/em> idea per se. Still, I was very happy to see goofy Rory back on the show, this time as a companion.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where my first complaint comes in, though. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this all a bit too familiar? Didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we run through a frighteningly similar situation with a female companion and her boyfriend\/dude before? I do acknowledge that the context was different and the dynamic feels new, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve quite literally seen the Doctor, his excited companion, and the companion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boyfriend feeling left out on the show a few times. I guess I just wanted something more.<\/p>\n

On that note, there are a lot<\/em> of moments like that, spread throughout a fairly entertaining story, that made me scratch my head and think, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we seen this before?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.aliens hiding as humans. Plans to use earth to re-colonize a refugee race. The Doctor climbing to the top of a building in order to save the world. (Hell, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen that twice, in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Idiot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lantern\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evolution of the Daleks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) I wish I could say otherwise, but they simply felt\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.distracting. Right? Right<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I think that I also might not be paying as much critical attention to other episodes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen, especially when the spectacle of it all is sweeping me away from noticing when Doctor Who<\/em> is repeating itself. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fair thing to claim, as this show has to also rely on some sense of creating patterns or the storytelling might seem far too erratic. So perhaps I am being far too hard on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Vampires of Venice,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but I just believe it happens too much in a small span of time, so it all seems so much more blatant.<\/p>\n

But this is no \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fear Her.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (PLEASE NEVER LET SUCH A TRAGEDY HAPPEN AGAIN.) There are things to like! I swear! Rory is, by and large, one fantastic good time, his uncertainty infectious and amusing, and at times absolutely necessary to give the Doctor pause. Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s excitement, so reminiscent of whenever the Doctor discovers danger, was a nice detail for Toby Whithouse to add to the story.<\/p>\n

The creatures from Saturnyne may have started off in a derivative way, but their actual appearance was some of the best CGI work The Mill has produced for Doctor Who<\/em>. The audience, of course, always suspected that they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actual<\/em> vampires, but their fish-like nature was definitely a nice touch. And those prosthetic teeth were amazing!!! They were so realistic! But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised. For the most part, the prosthetics and costumes on Doctor Who<\/em> have always been pretty darn awesome. (Except for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Turn Left.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d LOL AT THE BEETLE.)<\/p>\n

I also appreciated the tone for the bulk of the episode, with the Doctor, Rory, and Amy being a bit more playful than I expected, considering the context of why the Doctor brought his two companions here. From the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frustration at Rory not saying the TARDIS was bigger on the inside, to the size of Rory\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flashlight, to both men admitting that they are Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boys, I think this aspect of the story is what saved it from being largely forgettable.<\/p>\n

I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not running through this episode as I normally do, but a chronological review feels too forced for me with this episode. The thing is, aside from lodging a few complains and praising the good parts, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a whole lot of ~feelings~ about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Vampires of Venice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And you all know I am a man of many ~feelings~ and ~feelings~ are wonderful. Ultimately, I suppose this episode is just there. Entertaining just enough to keep my interest, but not to the point where I feel like I can vomit out 2,000 words like I might usually do.<\/p>\n

How does the rest of the fandom view this particular episode?<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n