This is an odd one to start my blog off with...a review and critique of another person's review which can be found by clicking the link here...TV review: Alan Morrison on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (BBC One), but the power of my geekdom calls and I feel compelled to share my own thoughts on this one. I found a May 23rd write up on the television series Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Alan Morrison, Arts Editor of the Herald Scotland newspaper. I agree with most of the points he made in his article. I too, thought the first episode was an uneven affair and the material needed to be handled by a director deft at balancing the dark and light aspects of the story. I found it strangely silly in places and then dull and uninspiring at other times.
Mr. Morrison isn't wrong when he says most of the performances exhibit a flash of exaggeration; I would go as far as to suggest that they dangerously veer from cliched BBC costume period drama mode to the precipice of pantomime. First off he cites, Paul Kaye's cavorting, Catweazle of a street charlatan, a valid observation indeed. Mr. Kaye is allowed to go totally off the range in many of the scenes in this episode. Did we expect anything less? This is the same, Paul Kaye the creator of that vile, comedic, faux journalist, celebrity stalker personality, Denis Pennis in the 90's. He may have some dramatic small and large screen role credits to his name, but I find his idiosyncratic traits as an actor and off kilter ways of tackling characters are perfectly suited to this kind of genre fair. Mr. Morrison also mentioned, Marc Warren's faerie gentleman and Vincent Franklin's camp social climber, Drawlight. My first impression of, Marc Warren's faerie make-up and costume get up was that it borrowed too heavily from, David Bowie's, Jareth, the Goblin King character from the 1986 movie, Labyrinth, let's hope the similarities stop there because magical musical numbers may just be a stretch too far for this show. Mr. Drawlight is undeniably camp and a little raucous and puts me in mind of Doctor Who's, Dorium Maldovar the alien blue skinned 52nd century black marketeer and Game of Thrones, Vary's the eunuch. His pronunciation of "Mr. NorrELLL!" became quickly annoying, lets hope the script writers tone this kind of dialogue down a bit later in it's run. Mr. Morrison's write up even declared, Strange himself, Bertie Carvel was presented as a silly fop in the first act and I'm inclined to agree with his assessment too. Thankfully, Mr. Strange becomes a more intense and reflective fellow as the story moves forward.
I do take issue with one thing, Mr. Morrison said in his piece..."I've peeked ahead, and later fantasy sequences do improve on the opener's Doctor Who-standard set-piece as statues in York Minster began to move and talk."
Did he just slyly and disrespectfully criticize an aspect of modern Doctor Who that isn't a universally shared notion by the majority of viewers and Whovian's these days? I can only assume he was trying to say that the "standard" fantasy special effects set pieces in a typical, Doctor Who episode are a bit poor since he goes on to say that the fantasy effects in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell get better and less "standard" as the series progresses. What "standard" Doctor Who fantasy set-piece or pieces could he be talking about when referring to the church stone statues and gargoyles that were brought to life in the first episode of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? In said scene, Mr. Norell conjures up a spell to animate these sculptures and make them speak thus proving to the skeptical York Society of Magicians that he possessed a clear understanding of a forgotten ancient magic. I'd say it was far more reminiscent of something you'd see in a Harry Potter movie rather than liken it to something seen in Doctor Who.
I wonder if, Alan Morrison has ever watched a full episode of Nu Who? Maybe he's just a casual viewer? Could he have been thinking about those very memorable and popular Weeping Angels? If he is in any way acquainted with these Doctor Who antagonists then I'm sure he is well aware that they are quantum locked and the television viewer never sees them move or speak on screen. Part of the genius of Steven Moffat's creation is that they suddenly appear to attack the screen victim when they aren't seen. If the potential prey keeps direct eye contact with the alien stone angel sculptures and doesn't blink then the predatory alien angels are forced to stay frozen on the spot.
There was only one scene in a two part episode of Doctor Who (The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone) in which we saw the Angels actually move in real time and this effect was not achieved on a small BBC television budget using computer animation as was the case in Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but it involved real flesh and blood female performers decked out in excellent practical effects make-up gracefully miming the slow movements and motions of an alien creature made from a stone like material. Quite outstanding visual work if you ask me and eerily beautiful.
I respect, Mr. Morrison's right to his own opinions, but why does the Art's Editor of a Scottish newspaper feel the need to put down another show in order to bolster the reputation of one that he prefers? Why is it that a writer who critiques TV series as a job appears to be a little biased and perhaps uninformed about another shows "standard fantasy set-pieces"? Yes, there are some ropey computer generated effects here and there, what show doesn't? I wouldn't call the majority of the ones in Doctor Who "standard" or use them as a prime example of something that could or needs to be improved upon when clearly there are far, far worse examples out there he could have used. Even the worst CGI sequences in Doctor Who are the result of the program makers attempts to try and extend beyond their reach and falling a bit short. That's not a bad thing in any way; you have to admire that mentality because it proves they are trying deliver on the incredible premise of the show. Was Mr. Morrison referring to classic, Doctor Who's wobbly walls, pop bottle spaceships and bubble pack monsters? I doubt he was because that would be a very one sided and an unfair thing to do since special effects and production values have come a long way since then. If we were to compare stone creature appearances in the classic series like Bok, The Ogri, Malus or Melkur comparisons or distinctions can't be made to computer generated effects because they were realized by actors in costume or brought to life by some form of practical puppeteering techniques which were quite sufficient for the budget and restrictions of that era. If he has other "typical fantasy set pieces" from modern Doctor Who in mind that he thinks are just "standard" I would have preferred a more detailed explanation so as to better understand what he had in his head when he wrote that.I could speculate all day on the meaning of that vague line and still not know if I am close to the truth.
I on the other hand, happen to think the practical make-up effects work created by British based, Millennium Effects studios far surpasses most if not all other make's ups and costumes I've seen in other genre shows past and present and I've seen a lot during my time on the Earth. I'm not going to name which ones I'm referring to because that wouldn't be fair on the people who work on those shows or the fans. Let's just say every show is not without it's own merits. When one considers the fact that, Doctor Who has half the budget of most American TV series then the visual computer generated effects provided by the British based VFX studio, The Mill and now, Milk are quite exceptional. The unique format of a show that can be "anywhere in space and time" in reality means a VFX company has the very difficult task of generating or digitally augmenting new settings, creating new creatures, spaceships for every episode from scratch. Other shows can keep reusing their fully rendered computer models for a whole season or beyond because their stories are set and bound to one time and place. In fact, I think the highest of praise should be bestowed upon all facets of production on this great British institution of a television show. Each episode is quite different from the previous one or the one that comes after it; each series/season juggles a diverse set of past, present, future and alternate stories. Therefore I happen to think the designers, set builders, costumers, props and model miniature departments have their work cut out for them every year. Anyone who casually dismisses the current special effects in, Doctor Who as "standard" and in need of improvement does a disservice to the quality of work from these UK based companies.
I guess there are critics out there like, Mr. Morrison, who are apparently blind to the truly wonderful accomplishments that the Doctor Who pre and post production houses achieve on such tight schedules and meager budgets. Conceivably, Mr. Morrison may not have watched enough genre TV shows to know the difference between the good effects and the bad ones and lumps them all together? Maybe, he just isn't a fan of the show and likes to take a jab at it whenever he can? I'm not sure why his comment rubbed me up the wrong way, but it just felt like a cheap shot and with very little substance to back it up. Just a guess, but the reason why we may not see eye to eye on this is perhaps I'm a huge Doctor Who fan and perhaps more informed about the workings of this show thus appreciating the final results of all that hard labour. Or, maybe that little out of place negative dig in his write up about another show felt like one of those vague "standard" throw away put down lines you always read on the web by "haters" and "trolls". One hopes that as he progresses and evolves as a "professional" reviewer and writer his "standard" ambiguous throw away lines will magically improve like the special effects in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
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