Original doctor who season 1 episode 2
Give a big round of applause to the production team for traveling there, because in so many ways the structure is the star of the episode. In the real world, that wheat field can be found in Gileston, Wales, and most of the city is a real place called the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. While “Smile” is far from perfect, its visuals do not disappoint, and the episode is well worth watching for the look of it alone. Its contrast to the wheat field only heightens its beauty. On the horizon is a mammoth, bleached white sci-fi structure - a brilliant city of the future.
#ORIGINAL DOCTOR WHO SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 FULL#
With Nardole out of the way, the Doctor gives Bill the classic first TARDIS trip choice: the past or the future? Bill chooses the future because she wants to see “if it’s happy.” The action shifts to that future in the middle of an expansive golden wheat field with two full suns (à la Tatooine) bearing down on it, the sort of field that one might see in an Andrew Wyeth painting, which is a curious artistic decision because nobody ever looks at Wyeth and sees the future. The Doctor: “Because she isn’t anywhere else.”
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By the close of “Smile,” we’re no wiser to what’s in that vault. It’s mentioned again later, and again in only the vaguest of terms. Again, the promise of guarding the vault is mentioned - “an oath,” as Nardole calls it. It now feels like the Doctor and Nardole have been cooped up together at the college for a very long time, and that their friendship has lost its luster. The irritation on the Doctor’s face signals a more antagonistic relationship between the pair than previously seen. Bill’s grilling of the Doctor over the seats is especially amusing to anyone who’s been watching this show for the past decade: Why are the seats so far away from the console? (Why are there seats there at all? Nobody ever seems to use them.)Įnter Nardole, whom the Doctor refers to under his breath as “Mum” - not nice Mum, but stern “I’ve got my eye on you” Mum. The opening TARDIS sequence is loaded with the sort of priceless banter that “The Pilot” laid the groundwork for. What’s the point in that? Or do you have stretchy arms like Mr. Turns out the ’bots weren’t as annoying as actual emoji and Cottrell-Boyce’s script is an improvement on his previous offering - and yet “Smile” still feels like a mild letdown after all the promise of last week’s season opener.īill Potts: “You can’t reach the controls from the seats. The latter because Cottrell-Boyce’s only other contribution to Doctor Who was season eight’s ambitious failure “ In the Forest of the Night,” arguably the weakest offering of that year. The former because, well, I’m a writer, and like many other writers I cringe at them instinctively. Going into “Smile,” I was leery about two things: Emojibots and Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s writing credit.