Doctor Who: The End of Time

For what was trumped up and hyped to be a great finale, personally I thought this one failed, and quite miserably. It was just such a long goodbye that no offense to Tennant of course because I love him as an actor forever and ever until the end of time, but with this quite overdrawn episode, I just wanted him to die and regenerate already! Blinking heck!

I know I ought to be thankful to Russell T. Davies for renewing interest on Doctor Who but he really laid it on thick with this one. It was just a total mess, with way too many plotlines and like I said quite overlong. Forget about the Master and all the Timelords and Gallifrey planet taking over Earth but when the Doctor was revisiting his companions, it was a real letdown when he visited Donna (Catherine Tate), was that it? Why did they even bother? But I loved the bit when he went to the book signing and meets Joan Redfern’s (Jessica Hynes) granddaughter, and seeing Rose (Billie Piper) pre-companion days. But then when he went back to the TARDIS and said “I dont want to go” I almost lost it. Just get on with it already! Regenerate now!

I have to say the four knocks coming from Wilf (magnificently and endearingly played by Bernard Cribbins), was something that I definitely didnt see coming. I also thought that although Tennant was brilliant here, Cribbins was just as excellent. Then he regenerates! I was hoping for it to be cathartic that by the time it was all happening I have already lost the energy to feel sad that my Doctor is dying. Then that was it! He has regenerated! My geekiness came out again. We’ve got a new Doctor in Matt Smith! And he is going to be great I am sure; actually, I love him already. Spring wouldnt come soon enough that’s the thing!

Looking forward to an era of much better Who writing and this time with Steven Moffatt at the helm.

GERONIMO!

The End of Time Part 2- 3/5

National Theatre’s August-November Season

Have I ever waxed poetic about my love for the National Theatre? Have I confessed that I even got myself a shirt? Is there a thing called an NT groupie? If you can not seem to get hold of me on a Monday or a Thursday evening, it’s a fair bet that I’ll be here enjoying a play, and then later on having a brief encounter with Simon Russell Beale outside the stage door. Awwwww!!!

I want to call myself an NT habitue having seen over a dozen or so productions in the last 6 months and yet everytime I cross the Waterloo Bridge, and get off the bus stop and walk down the steps that lead me to the building, I can’t still help but still be in awe, well, Sir Laurence Olivier’s statue on the foreground does add more to the enigma of the place but I suppose it’s really because it’s one of the best places to be if you are looking to enjoy really good theatre. Sure it’s had it shares of critical flops, but it has continued to produce brilliant productions and among them are the ones that have just released for the upcoming season and I have booked to see.

I have already booked A Slight Ache for July and August and this is because I will be in the Philippines for a month’s holiday and would not get to see any plays until I get back mid-September. So imagine to my great surprise when I found out that there will be a Harold Pinter double biller wherein apart from A Slight Ache there is also Landscape, which is a series of monologues to be performed by Clare Higgins and Simon Russell Beale. Yeah, yeah, yeah, monologues are not really my thing, but come on, it’s Simon Russell Beale, even if he was reading a phone book I will gladly pay and listen to him!

Then there’s the return of War Horse which I missed the last time but now have managed to book and  having deliberately missed God of Carnage, I have been waiting to see Ralph Fiennes star in Oedipus by Sophocles in a new version by Frank McGuiness. The Pitmen Painters which I enjoyed the last time at the Cottesloe is also making a comeback this time at the Lyttelton in January, and I just might watch it again. There’s surely something for each and everyone, say if youre like my friend Morbius, whose a James Bond fan, there’s a platform with Roger Moore and if you’re a Doctor Who nut, there’s one with Russell T. Davies, so go and check the National Theatre’s website now!