Doctor Who: Boom Town - REVIEW - The Trip of a Lifetime
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
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As we approach the end of the Series 1 marathon, it's time for the Doctor to dine with monsters as Chaos erupts in Cardiff.
Intro Video by DAVIS - / samyuldavis
Westminster Bridge Cover by Thomas Field: / @thomasfieldcomposer
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#DoctorWho #TheTripOfALifetime
Huh, so this video decided to make itself public 17 hours early.
Anyway, thanks for watching! Be sure to hit that "like" button and leave any comment below to appease the almighty UA-cam algorithm!
This was such an insightful, rounded look at an episode you’d already reviewed and really shows how much you’ve grown over the years.
A few potential discussion points worth mentioning:
Perhaps the ambiguity makes it better, but I think the ep implies Rose’s ditching of Mickey is one of loyalty to the Doctor and heroism than of fear of commitment to Mickey. The intercutting of the dates showing how much more suited Rose and the Doctor are for each other (their identical reactions to the rumbling of the earthquake); Mickey shouting about the Doctor as Rose runs away; Rose’s return to their date spot showing that if Mickey hadn’t walked away she would have been open to continuing it and Rose’s clear remorse over the whole situation. Plus some growth and closure as Rose tearfully admits fault and is reminded of her fallibility by not getting a magical second chance.
This is next point is a incredibly small detail, but I’d wager the Doctor does have some agency in Margaret’s fate. While I do think he was genuinely surprised by Margaret’s betrayal, once that initial surprise is over and the heart of the TARDIS is open, the Doctor, acting out of desperation or not, gently encourages Margaret to stare into the light. Judging from the confidence in his voice and body language as he reveals the egg, I think he knew that that would happen and so he made a choice: he let her go. Also, listen again to the sound effect used to represent the heavenly calm of the TARDIS innards: it’s the sound of wind. And what did the Doctor say in the restaurant when describing a killer’s “mercy”: “when the winds in the right direction…” .
Idk just food for thought.
Does anyone remember his original review of Boom Town along with Welshy, Cause I certainly still do.
I do! Whoever thought Mr TARDIS did a Channel Awesome crossover?
Classic bribing him with Jack Daniels
Ah Welshy, that booze addicted Canadian.
Ah those were the days
I can see where you're coming from about Jack, Rose, and Nine feeling a little too lighthearted about their travels in this episode, but for my money this is the trio at their peak of chemistry. The beginning portion has always made me want a full series with all three of them together.
Every completely straight faced mention of “chaos in cardiff” in this video makes me smile, well played
The last time I was this early the Doctor was still working for the Division
Or the Celestial Intervention Agency.
20:39 the decision in question being _"Coward or Killer."_
Run as much as he wants, Margaret was a fore-warning of things to come; you can't outrun the consequences of your decisions (or, in this case, refusal to decide). That element of Boom Town only works when you consider the story as the first instalment of a larger trilogy.
23:50 his and Rose's refusal to engage with the flaws the story brings up in them is key in establishing that this is the biggest hurdle they will have to overcome, and they'll only be able to do so when pushed to the absolute limit; stakes higher than ever.
All of this is a pretty perfect set-up for the story to follow, but Russell really should have made it more clear that this isn't an individual story. It can have it's own self-contained beginning, middle, and end - sure - but thematically it has unfinished business that will be concluded in the finale. This character-based thread tethering it to Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways is stronger than any other episode, even if The Long Game and Father's Day are more explicitly namedropped.
The only problem I have with this story is that it should be more of an explicit three-parter along the lines of Utopia and Turn Left (and also Tooth and Claw since I personally think that story works better when slotted before Army of Ghosts).
@The Reverse - ahh, I don't know. She's acknowledging her own hypocrisy in an attempt to get the Doctor to do the same. There's an interesting set of mirror images this story.
@The Reverse - I know what you mean. I think she's _supposed_ to be easy to write off tho. He dismisses the dilemma until his hand is forced.
Thanks for this review!
I've just rewatched this episode after a long, long time. Back in the day I thought more of it as a "filler" episode, but now, in hindsight, I can appreciate it much more. Especially the reflection on Rose's slightly cruel attitude towards Mickey in the end of _Rose_ was really well done, which I missed in all my previous reviews.
Wait...did RTD troll us all? Did he actually create a deadly serious scene in which a farting alien says "sometimes you let one go"!?.....sorry.
😂
Damn MrTARDIS, you really did upload this early! This was uploaded immediately when the clock turned 00:00
Mr TARDIS is a Vampire Owl! Whoever knew!
With UA-cam releasing this video early it looks like they slipped on an icy patch.
It was a very icy patch....
2:35 I knew I didn't imagine that game!!
I disagree with your point about the conversation being undercut.
This issue was repeated in The Witches Familiar, but the reason it didn't work there was because Davros was lying and the Doctor knew it. In this episode, Margaret was twisting the truth to manipulate the Doctor, but it was still the truth. Yeah she was stalling for time, but she's still being genuine.
Her lying through her teeth doesn't change the sentiment of the conversation, whereas the Davros conversation did as it was built on the respect the two supposedly had for each other.
It's like in Dalek where the Doctor first meets the Dalek. The Dalek is trying to provoke and manipulate the Doctor to get him to strike out and inadvertently heal it by touching it, like it did later on with Rose. However, that doesn't mean the Dalek and the Doctor's sentiments weren't genuine.
Yes agreed. I think this episode tackles the morality far better than Witch's Familiar. The added factor is that in Boom Town the Doctor didn't know that Margaret was lying so for him the conversation and dilemma is genuine.
The 12 Doctor really want to believe in Davros. But Margaret still fell more hypocrite that the creator of the Daleks.
When The Doctor says "Off we go, always moving on!" what I hear is "Look at us losers, running away again, sad, eh?"
I've always found the way this episode ends to be unsettling and off, but I sort of see in the same way as The Witch's Familiar with the Doctor and Davros. If the latter was just stalling for time and actually had an evil plan going on the entire time, does that mean they didn't mean anything they said to the Doctor?
Personally, I don't think so. I think it's a lot more complex.
We like to think of people as being either good or bad and can change their minds quickly, but people are way more complicated than that.
I think Margaret did genuinely mean all she said during that scene and she was actually begging for her life, but it was just so much easier for her to slip straight back into the "evil plan" stuff once the opportunity to do so presented itself, which it did, at a random time in the middle of their dinner. If they'd left before the rift opened, would she have stopped it happening?
And I think the resolution works. Even though, it's a result of her pulling the TARDIS apart, the Doctor just lets it happen. Yes, the problem is somewhat taken out of his hands, but the smile he gives to her as she says thank you feels like him saying "I'm letting you go."
It's still a clunky final scene, but I wouldn't say it takes anything away from the diner scene just because there needed to be a action-packed climax. For me, it works.
The reason Rose runs from that conversation with Mickey is because she is scared and the only person she thinks is reliable and can trust is The Doctor
Also the reason The Doctor doesn't intervene in Rose's and Mickey's relationship is because he is an alien and doesn't understand human relationships, something that has been reinforced several times in the show's history.
I also really like the message of the final conclusion of the story: people shouldn't be killed for their sins but that also not everyone is going to turn out good no matter how much you try to convince them to be, there are some evil people out there.
_The reason Rose runs from that conversation with Mickey is because she is scared and the only person she thinks is reliable and can trust is The Doctor_
Agreed, _but:_ Rose still could have taken Mickey's hand and taken him with her in that situation. Letting him just stand 'in the rain' there was really a sign that she didn't cared to much for him.
_Also the reason The Doctor doesn't intervene in Rose's and Mickey's relationship is because he is an alien and doesn't understand human relationships, something that has been reinforced several times in the show's history._
Im a little unsure if the Doctor really doesn't understand human relationships or if he's building up a facade to deliberately distancing himself from those emotions. I think especially in the episode "The Green Death" he at least develops an understanding why Jo decided to leave him.
_I also really like the message of the final conclusion of the story: people shouldn't be killed for their sins but that also not everyone is going to turn out good no matter how much you try to convince them to be, there are some evil people out there._
Likewise. I also disagree with Mr Tardis's verdict the endng would've been better if Margaret's remorse had been genuin. She showed sufficiently in the restaurant her intention was dishonest in trying to kill the Doctor. If they'd tried to sell us her remorse as serious I wouldn't have bought it for a second.
The Doctor was in a moral impossible situation here, using the TARDIS as a _deus ex machina_ I found a really good solution for that dilemma.
The 9th Doctor is still very raw at this point. It is curious to think how other Doctors would have reacted to Margaret's exchange? The 7th Doctor immediately comes to mind, as a potentially interesting alternate take.
He destroy Skaro. He never mind.
He would manipulate Margaret into killing herself
"Steak sounds nice! Steak and chips!"
Micky Smith had the best character arc in nu-Who. Apart from the *hello, what?* scene in the Specials.
Rory Williams: Hold my sword.
Imagine if the steak and chips arrived just as their talking about letting victims go
Holy crap, 2:35... i remember this weird game 😅
I miss those weird games. I can't find them anywhere now.
@@MrThorfan64 ah yeah, last I saw the Doctor Who site's no fun anymore
@@Thomas_of_the_forest I really liked Cyber Assault. Played it so many times while at University, while Capaldi was the Doctor. Now...
I absolutely cannot wait for your reviews for the big finish stories!!!
I think maybe a better soloution to the ending would be Margaret still being regretful but the Doctor, says something that makes her think that he’s decided to take her back to face justice/death (even though he hasn’t) so her actions back in the TARDIS are one of desperation because she genuinely thinks if she doesn’t escape she’ll die. That’s an understandable motivation that doesn’t undermine the conversation in the restaurant.
Can we do Series 2 next? Cause ive loved this marathon :)
i think a way to this episdoe to have its cake ans ear it to is to have margert be genine but the extrapilator opens the rift on its own and margert sacrifices herself to cose it
all these videos are so great, thankyou so much!
Yaay can't wait for the coverage on Ninth Doctor Novels!! They were an incredibly fun and gripping hexalogy of tales.
and Margret talking about the Doctor not looking back, it would bite him in the butt in series 4, as Davros would bring something like it up in Journey's End
I loved boom town so much
No one dies in The Three Doctors. Except maybe Omega, but he comes back.
Some UNIT soldiers get killed by the Gell Guards. Off the top of my head, apart from "Edge of Destruction", the only non-death story I can think of is "The Mind Robber" (and I may be wrong there, too).
@@ftumschk did they? I just remembered that no one died because everyone who was abducted by Omega came back in the end.
@@samuelbarber6177 Sadly they weren't among the abducted. Instead, they were blown up by the Gell Guards, and lay dead in the grounds of UNIT HQ.
@@ftumschk Though, I do still feel the story was more caring to its side characters than the average one.
@@samuelbarber6177 Everybody lives... apart from a few redshirts ;)
This is one of those episodes I both love and hate at the same time, it’s probably the purest distillation of my thoughts on the RTD era as a whole, it’s both really good and horrendous in equal parts.
Looking forward to some Expanded media next week for The Trip of the Lifetime. I do love some expanded media in Doctor Who. It’s one of the reasons why I love Star Wars.
Remember a few years back you did a What if scenario on what if David Tennant didn’t leave after Series 4 and the 10th Doctor Specials and stayed on for Series 5? Want to do a what if scenario on what if Christopher Eccleston didn’t leave after Series 1? If you want to.
Loved these reviews. Are you planning to do the same for the Tennant era?
Also, I would say that the point of this episode is to leave open-ended questions about the Doctor and Rose's morality, which are expanded upon in the finale and in Series 2. It doesn't answer these questions properly, but that's not really the point.
No one dies in Fury From The Deep
Isn't the "monster" - i.e. the weed itself - destroyed?
This marathon has been great, will you be any chance reviewing Series 2 or did you just plan to do Series 1.
I like Boom Town
This episode is honestly a guilty pleasure of mine though it definitely has its issues.
Just have my subscribe, my like, and take my eyeballs, I'm hooked.
ok awesome more 9th doctor video from you cant wait
Will you cover the plot of the novels in as much depth as you generally do the TV episodes? 'Cause I want to watch your reviews, but I haven't read the books yet and don't want to be spoiled.
I actually wouldn’t mind a Doctor Who sitcom. Maybe for a couple of episodes.
DoctorVision
The Lodger, Closing Time?
I don’t think Margaret lied, I just don’t think she wanted to leave her fate to chance and took the opportunity.
Good series buddy, thank you.
Boom Town is an underrated gem in my opinion, the long game is the worst out of series 1 for me
i really like every episode from season 1 i think they are all really good episodes
I don't blame Rose for running off from her conversation with Mickey. Yes, it demonstrates that she can no longer connect with him in the wake of running off, and I do like that she is called out for kissing him and running off without any closure, but the world is about to end. She's got shit to do. While I get where he's coming from, Mickey actually comes off as a bit selfish for yelling at her when she runs off because he knows that she is running off to try and help save the world.
I think the point there is that Rose's character development (in Series 1 at least, haven't revisited Series 2 in a while) has taken her so far beyond that initial departure and the less serious tone of Series 1 that she has outgrown him. The way she left him was callous and almost cruel, but now Mickey is the more selfish of the two of them and the one most in need of changing.
That said, this was a good video and I absolutely agree with your analysis of the dynamic between the Doctor and Margaret. Good video, as usual.
Its not just that she runs off, its that she runs off without a word, without even telling him to run too. It really does come off like she's using the distraction to get away as opposed to just suddenly having other priorities
But... when are you going to review the Tennant era?
You keep reviewing doctor who episodes that you haven’t done already from series 2 onwards
💖
So, this episode committed the same sin that The Witch's Familiar did with Davros?
But Davros always was evil.
Yes, only it's worse there as both the Doctor & Davros were tricking each other
@@pcb1175 Ugh, agreed.