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Jack Graham

Jack Graham writes and podcasts about culture and politics from a Gothic Marxist-Humanist perspective. He co-hosts the I Don't Speak German podcast with Daniel Harper. Support Jack on Patreon.

6 Comments

  1. Richard Pilbeam
    May 3, 2011 @ 1:27 am

    I have a pretty strong suspicion that the scene of them killing Joy was added at the last minute just to make them "evil" and justify the genocide-through-mind-control ending (my hero). And, comparatively, they're still less of a threat than Nixon. Or River.

    But the single most damning thing about Doctor Who right now is that it assumes the audience will find Greys and Area 51 spooky and exciting while "Paul" is in cinemas.

    Reply

  2. Jack Graham
    May 3, 2011 @ 5:15 am

    I suppose it makes them Killjoys.

    Do you see what I did there?

    Reply

  3. Richard Pilbeam
    May 3, 2011 @ 5:34 am

    It's cleverer than anything in the actual episode.

    Another problem with the Doctor's Manchurian Candidate plan, this time technical rather than moral: Rory, Amy, River and the Doctor are from the future and therefore must have seen the moon landing (according to the Doctor's own logic). They spend the entire tepid 90 minutes being menaced by Silents and then forgetting about them.

    Time can be re-written, it's like a ball of wibbly-wobbly time-wi gunshot

    Reply

  4. Anonymous
    May 4, 2011 @ 9:23 pm

    The Silents blew up the universe, gradually psychologically destroyed a man over time until he suffered a fate worse than death, and doing god knows what to a young girl, kidnapped Amy, and killed Joy.

    So considering they committed ultracide, how is it any different to the Doctor destroying the genocidal Daleks?

    The Nixon thing doesn't bother me. Churchill was a caricature in a WW2 propaganda poster, the script genuinely could have been written in the 40's its so shameless. Whilst Nixon is more like a Spitting Image puppet, the anthem cue that follows him around embodies this, combine this with the sly sigs and jokes, i think it's aware enough of its own superficiality.

    I found the arc stuff entertaining enough, and enjoyed what the episode was actually about- the silents, memory, and how what we remember constructs our reality which is becoming a predominant theme in Moffat's work, from Forest of the Dead to The Big Bang. The non linear narrative structure and pacing of the two episode, River Song's timeline and loss of 'her' doctor over time, the very nature of the Silents, compile together to create something thematically satisfying, which is resolved against something that will never be forgotten, the moon landing, which is a powerful symbol of humanity's best qualities of exploration, the search for knowledge and greater truth, ambition and curiosity.

    Reply

  5. Anonymous
    May 8, 2011 @ 5:38 am

    Doctor Who's clearly not the telly for you, nor will it ever be.

    When you're at the North Pole, every direction is south – same with your politics. 😀

    Reply

  6. Lucy McGough
    March 11, 2012 @ 12:21 pm

    Were the Doctor a real person, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive him for brainwashing me into becoming a murderer.

    I mean, how can this possibly be, in any way, shape or form, something that the Doctor would consider even for an instant?

    Reply

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