Doctor Who: An Adventure in Time and Space
Set for American release in May, this BBC TV film aired late last year as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for "Doctor Who."
It's not a Doctor Who adventure, but a docudrama that looks behind the scenes at the beginnings of the show and the interesting stories and personalities that led to its creation.
"Mad Men"-like in its period details, the film -- penned by sometime "Who" scripter Mark Gatkiss -- nails the early 1960s at the BBC and in Britain. Brian Cox plays Sydney Newman, the American producer who hatched the early idea -- a pseudo-educational time-traveling series helmed by a friendly grandpa type -- and handed it off to his young assistant Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine), who turned it into much more than that.
David Bradley is a dead-ringer for First Doctor William Hartnell, a skilled stage actor who thinks he's above all this rubbish, but who comes to love the Doctor and all the celebrity that comes with the role. Sacha Dhawan plays Waris Hussein, the series' early director.
So, there you have it, the Doctor and his two companions, in real-life, navigating a challenging new advenutre: An old man, a woman and an Indian national, all working to come up with something new in an industry overseen by
There are fun nostalgic touches all the way through: The early days of Dalekmania; Delia Derbyshire in the BBC Radiophonic Workship creating the program's famous theme, and a cameo by William Russell, who played original companion Ian Chesterton, as a BBC security guard. But, mostly, this is a dramatic story, and a touching one at that.
Longtime Doctor Who fans will love the history, while newer ones will enjoy learning about the show's origins. Non-fans, I think, will enjoy the story and the film's ability to capture its period so well.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Well into its first season, Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. series has a a lot going for it. Joss Whedon for one. Plus, an enjoyable cast, fun characters, occasionally zippy dialogue. But it still seems to lack a strong identity, both as its own show and apart from the Marvel movie franchise.
I keep waiting for something more to happen, and it doesn't help that the characters on the show are continually name-dropping Thor, Captain America and the Hulk and referring to the "Battle of New York" that ended the first Avengers film.
Obviously, Whedon and crew want to establish that this show takes place in the Marvel Universe. But all those reminders only really serve to emphasize that these characters are on the periphery of that world, not in the center of it. We keep hearing about Nick Fury and the big superheroes, but never see them. And the more it happens, the more this show and its characters seem like the B league.
Last week, Lady Sif (Jaime Alexander), from the Thor movies showed up and some minor movie-like Marvel mayhem ensued. It gave the show a shot of energy and showed that, despite everything we've seen to date, these black-suited spooks occasionally do run into real superheroes. not just stand around talking about them.
But rather than reminding us all the time that Agent Coulson kinda sorta knows Tony Stark, this series might be better off making us forget all that. Clark Gregg, as Coulson, is a fun actor to watch and different from your typical lead character in an action series. He's quiet, not dynamic. He's middle-aged with thinning hair, not young and strapping. But he's smart and funny and shrewd.
The rest of the crew is also good, for the most part, and has the potential to become much better if this show can put more focus on them instead of the characters who aren't there and likely will never show up.
Super scientists Fitz and Simmons are goofy and geeky and adorable in a Willow-Xander type of way. Chloe Bennett as novice agent Skye is funny and down to earth and provides a real person's perspective to all the strange and super goings on. Ming-Na Wen deserves an award of some sort for making an extremely stereotypical and cardboard character sympathetic and somewhat real. The weak link is Brett Dalton as hunky Agent Ward. I guess he's the misfit by being the dullest and most normal of the lot. Useful when you need someone beaten up, but not a vital part of the group when it comes to character development and repartee.
It'd be great to see the show's creators take these characters and run with them -- far, far away from the rest Marvel Universe. The plot thread concerning Coulson's mysterious and miraculous recovery from injuries sustained in the Avengers movie has been drawn out far too long, and is weakened by its association with the film -- another reminder that this show isn't yet standing on its own two feet.
This is a fun crew and deserves better than they've got to date. If their world needs to contain superheroes -- and I don't know that it does -- let's actually see them, not just hear about them. Marvel has many character that likely won't -- and probably shouldn't -- appear on the big screen, but might work just fine on TV.
But standing around talking about Thor, like nerds pretending they're friends with the high school quarterback who never gives them the time of day, is just sad. This show could be a lot more.
No comments:
Post a Comment