Day 491: The Stones of Blood Part 4

This episode sees the story take an interesting turn. Previously it had been a conventional horror tale with monsters attacking the Doctor and co., whilst they try and figure out their grand plan and a means to stop them. But then, at some point in the story we visit a prison ship trapped in hyperspace and the story begins to change tack, instead becoming a legal drama. Now, it's not so much about the Doctor having to fight the terrors of the Universe using only his wit, he instead is forced to clear his name and forgo an execution through using his wit. It's a change in the direction of the story that I don't really enjoy, in part because it entirely sidelines Professor Rumford and K9 who have easily been two of the best characters in the story. It also doesn't really build on what has been done before, with the monstrous Ogri and the druidic influences all falling by the wayside in favour of some legal computers. The story is still good though, despite the sudden change in direction, but you can't help but shake the feeling that things might have been better without the change in tack.

Day 490: The Stones of Blood Part 3

There's a strong variance in tone throughout this episode. On the one hand, there are some absolutely hilarious scenes (this is, incidentally, the second story in a row to feature some truly laugh out loud Physics jokes, The Pirate Planet chose to make a gag about the law of conservation of momentum, here we get a joke about Einstein's theory of Special Relativity). You've also got a villain who appears to be covered in silver paint, Tin Man style, hamming up every scene that she's in and the monsters are some fairly unthreatening rocks. But this is contrasted very easily with some moments of absolute horror that occur throughout the episode. The aforementioned rocks may be unthreatening, but this is only a half truth. In actual fact, they can be quite threatening, such as in the scene where they advance on some campers and drain their blood, meaning that we hear their screams as the life-force is sucked out of them, see their previously flesh hands replaced with that of a skeleton and recoil as the screen fades not to black but the altogether more discomforting red. It's an interesting juxtaposition to view in the story, as it quite clearly wants to be horrific but it wants to have fun whilst doing it and make it fun for the audience. This is a fine balancing act to manage, and I give them props for trying, but there's obviously room for improvement as the series continues.

Day 489: The Stones of Blood Part 2

Continuing the trend of lovely characters in this series, this story brings us Professor Amelia Rumford. She's a professor interested in studying the titular stones, not because they are made of blood, but because there exist several discrepancies in surveys done of the area regarding the stones, particularly concerning things such as their positions and how many stones are in the area at any given time.

But that's not the reason why I wanted to talk about her. Instead, I wanted to talk about how gleeful a character she is. She's clearly into her senior years, and yet she approaches every situation that she encounters herself in with a strong amount of adventure, as she rides along on her bicycle ready for work. She takes everything that they do in her stride, whether it be the fact that her assistant has turned out to have lived for well over 500 years, or that this mysterious Doctor person has turned up with a robotic dog. It's this enthusiasm that makes her so likeable as a character, and it certainly makes me feel a little bit happier every time that she's on screen.

Day 488: The Stones of Blood Part 1

This episode surprised me, and in more ways than one. I've only seen it once before, around four or five years ago, and my memories of it are fairly hazy. I remember the basic story structure, one or two stand-out scenes and a couple of supporting characters but aside from that I remember virtually noting about this story. I realised this when one of the 'monsters' is revealed towards the end of Part 1 of this story. Not only had I not recalled that this 'monster' was revealed at the end of Part 1, I had also entirely forgotten that this existed. So when it was revealed, I was at first incredibly confused. I stared at the screen for what felt like an age, trying to figure out what was happening. Then, the design of the 'monster' slowly began to sink in. The mask in particular came across as quite frightening, and I began to feel a little bit scared. It's nice to know then that Doctor Who can still surprise and scare the viewer, even on second viewing. So I'm kind of looking forward to the rest of The Stones of Blood. Because if it can surprise me this way, then I eagerly await to see what other surprises lay dormant within this story.