My second review of the work of Nathan Carter and the FanFilmsUK team.
The Comic Relief special is only four minutes long and to be quite honest it doesn’t matter. It’s excellent. It’s the best four minutes I’ve spent recently, not including all my own fan film work of course! But it is an amazing episode, or mini-episode.
The Doctor is brilliant in this. Nathan’s performance is stepping up and getting better by the second, and by the episode, and this really shows what his Doctor can do. The darkness his Doctor shows is brilliant and reminiscent of the 7th Doctor’s darkness, and the movement of showing darkness and mystery of the Doctor moves it on from the carbon copy performances of the 10th Doctor, which were originally in EVERY fan film, with the exception of Nathan’s first series. So Nathan has been fighting the urge to copy the 10th Doctor for a while, and it really shows here.
Banes is an interesting companion. He’s very much a “yes Doctor” “no Doctor” companion and it would be nice to see his companion develop further, as he originally did when he became the Master. The companions from the Christmas Special can develop further and to add more backstory to the other companions would be a nice step.
I commented on the darkness of the story. While it isn’t evident from the very beginning, a big step in production has been shown. The opening Birds Eye View shot of the Castle is brilliant, and the setting is somewhere new and exciting, used to it’s maximum. These all show big steps in production, as well as more care taken over shots and angles. The darkness is shown when the Doctor sees the rift in time, but the darkness is lost with the alien shooting. Not to worry! The darkness of the story and of the Doctor returns when the Doctor walks back, sad, and more importantly mysterious, after his confrontation.
The title sequence makes the episode unique. It’s brilliant. It’s the logo, and the names are on screen. Absolutely fantastic work.
The darkness of the Doctor and improvement in production means the series is going places. This needs to continue, with improvements in location and acting skills (though this is beginning as well). But the Doctor’s costume is in need of the biggest improvement. It’s too human, too basic, and it doesn’t show the new direction the Doctor seems to be going, and doesn’t allow for any direction to be taken. It needs to be something like a long coat (NOT like David Tennant’s) and maybe something else as well. Maybe braces with the shirt, maybe a new shirt, maybe a smarter appearance, maybe shoes, maybe darker jeans.
With production improved, it shows a positive sign this series is going places. This is a fantastic showcase of an episode, and it is truly fantastic, with detail taken in every shot and with excellent work put in. It’s only short: but it’s fantastic. The new direction of the Doctor and improvement in acting also shows the series is going places.
It’s going places: so what’s next? Take it further! Make it SUPERBLY BRILLIANT!
Fantastic work on this FanFilmsUK, keep it up
James
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