Day 608: The Awakening Part 2

The plot of The Awakening is rather simple. A diabolical force has landed in a small English village which feeds off psychic energy. In this instance, it gets food by inciting violence throughout the town, mainly through the war-game re-enactments which are taking place. The clear message of the story is that violence and other firms of negative energy should be avoided, and that one must always be level-headed when uncomfortable events happen. An example of this comes halfway through this episode, when Ben, the main henchman of Sir George, is handed a gun and told to execute the Doctor. Ben, a middle-aged man, takes the gun, and when Sir George leaves, simply asks for an explanation. He's not going to take orders from a madman, and is perfectly happy to sit down, listen, and have a level head.

And that finishes off The Awakening. It's a story that I almost wish I could have spent another episode with, as the characters were all rather lovely and there's a fair bit to enjoy from it. It's a shame that neither director or writer ever worked for the series again, as they both did an excellent job and I'd have very much liked to see future work from them.

Day 607: The Awakening Part 1

The Awakening is a rather nice little story, but it's difficult to outright love it. It's got a simple little plot (more of which tomorrow), nice characters, a good design for the monster, and a lovely location but nothing is allowed to be done in too much detail. An example, for instance, is Sir George, the human villain of the piece. He's full of enthusiasm for his work, re-enacting old battles from days of yore, even if it may not be the safest past-time, both physically and morally. We can see that, and understand both his point of view and the point of view of those opposed to him, but we never get to spend too much time with the character. He gets one scene in which to describe his motives before he turns into a more generic Doctor Who villain who captures people for nefarious purposes.

It's a consequence of the pacing of the story, being a two part adventure with no real time to fully explore the characters and the situation. That said, the production team is more used to having longer adventures, but I'm fairly confident that things will change at some point in the future as times change as well. But, for the moment, let's finish off The Awakening and relax with a story with plenty to like, but not a lot to love.