From out of the rain.
Hmm. Trying to resist the temptation to mention Sapphire and Steel just because the episode is written by PJ Hammond, the creator of aforementioned programme, and fails in the first sentence. The reason for my failure is that I was reminded of the show or should I say what I remember of the show. It has been over twenty years since I watched the show and my memory of that particular programme is limited. Therefore, I suspect I'm making connections with it merely because when I first read about PJ Hammond I read that he was the creator of Sapphire and Steel.If you are a big fan of that particular show and disagree with my first sentence then feel free to correct me!
I appreciate the writer's intentions in this episode: using the supernatural and the magical realm to create a different challenge to the team. I've always enjoyed tales of the supernatural (even if I don't belive in ghosts)and always relish the prospect of such stories in Torchwood. I liked the idea of the phantoms arising from the film and I liked the idea of using the Circus as the setting for something sinister. However, I felt that the episode didn't quite achieve what it set out to do: increase audience tension. I think the failure was mostly due to the episode length. When, in the past, I've read criticisms of Doctor Who episodes being too short to allow the stories to breathe, I've found myself disagreeing. However, I do believe that this argument could be applied to this episode. I believe the tension could have been achieved if the team were really struggling against these supernatural characters and were trying all sorts of methods of stopping them and failing instead of coming up with a solution in the last five minutes of the episode and it working straight away. Instead of feeling tense, I felt dissapointed. So there you are: in my opinion, a great idea let down by pacing.
I appreciate the writer's intentions in this episode: using the supernatural and the magical realm to create a different challenge to the team. I've always enjoyed tales of the supernatural (even if I don't belive in ghosts)and always relish the prospect of such stories in Torchwood. I liked the idea of the phantoms arising from the film and I liked the idea of using the Circus as the setting for something sinister. However, I felt that the episode didn't quite achieve what it set out to do: increase audience tension. I think the failure was mostly due to the episode length. When, in the past, I've read criticisms of Doctor Who episodes being too short to allow the stories to breathe, I've found myself disagreeing. However, I do believe that this argument could be applied to this episode. I believe the tension could have been achieved if the team were really struggling against these supernatural characters and were trying all sorts of methods of stopping them and failing instead of coming up with a solution in the last five minutes of the episode and it working straight away. Instead of feeling tense, I felt dissapointed. So there you are: in my opinion, a great idea let down by pacing.
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