Igenlode Wordsmith

Well, that was certainly a development we haven't seen before! (And it makes sense, in a way -- after all, if the Doctor is the one person the Daleks fear the most...)

I'm afraid I don't believe in the power of positive thoughts, either with relevance to the Daleks or the Cybermen (in the last series): if they're going to cyber-convert you, it's a purely ruthless mechanical abbatoir process -- as correctly shown in an earlier Cyber-episode of the new series -- and your state of mind isn't going to make any difference. The same ought to go for Daleks.

A certain amount of hand-waving involved in the denoument, but this may well be due to the poor digital reception round here which meant that several vital chunks of dialogue and picture simply pixellated into incomprehensibility (still, if there was no milk and eggs, where did all those opera broadcasts come from? Radio transmissions via wishful thinking?)

And surely it's easier simply to open a door with the sonic screwdriver than to manipulate the memories of all Daleks everywhere in the universe to achieve the same effect?! Isn't that what the sonic screwdriver was originally, basically, for? It's not as if this was being presented as an especially high-security seal...

Still, Moffat has achieved what looks like a clean reboot, which means that either the Daleks and the Doctor are going to meet on equal terms in the future or else (probably preferably) he will have an excuse for them never to come looking for the Doctor again :-)

"Torchwood" is still bumping along the bottom; a repetition of the worst of last year's offerings would have been enough to give me an excuse to drop it altogether (and after the first episode, I very, very nearly did), but it manages to come up with just enough decent stuff to keep it in the running. The latest development, weirdly enough, is a strain of glutinous sentimentality akin to that introduced into "Dotcor Who" — anything less likely in a series apparently priding itself previously on its sex and bad taste ratio is hard to imagine...

Finally managed to catch up with the taped second episode of "Ashes to Ashes" this morning, after spectacularly failing to tape it the first episode last week. (I forgot to rewind the tape first...) Unfortunately it turns out to be very promising indeed, thus vastly increasing my annoyance at the BBC for failing to provide any scheduled repeat outside the digital ghetto; even "Torchwood" gets a weekly repeat, but "Ashes to Ashes" is apparently sacrificed to BBC Digital's desperate need for additional audience.

Detective Inspector Alex Drake is deeply annoying, with her self-referential certainty that everyone she meets is a figment of the subconscious aimed directly at her (and resulting determination to behave without the slightest consideration for them — it's saying something when Gene Hunt feels the need to apologise for her behaviour), plus a habit of spouting psychoanalytical drivel — but the programme is still somehow riveting, and despite my passionate craving to see her taken down a peg I can't help feeling for her when reality hits her a slap in the face.

Meanwhile the BBC's new serial "The Last Enemy" looks very promising indeed from the initial instalment; chiefly due to a fascinating performance by Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. I'm not sure if it's just talent, or if it's that I identify with the character a little too closely...