This is a strange beast. It's very much old school but if there's any negative elements it's all down to NuWho. Let me elaborate ...
If you first watched DOCTOR WHO in the years from 1967 to 1977 then what probably attracted you to the show was the horror imagery that got a generation of children running behind the sofa , only to tentatively peep over the sides to be greeted by more horror imagery. It's a sensation more addictive than crystal-meth and crack cocaine combined and once producer Phillip Hinchcliffe left and Graham Williams was brought in with the remit that no more horror was allowed in the show the show gradually went downhill from which it never really recovered
For a hardcore reactionary fan like myself there's no substitute for horror. Horrible scary monsters doing lots of nasty things to human beings is what I seek from the show and after seeing the giant spider episode I thought this would be the only out and out creepy episode this year so it's good to see another one follow so quickly
There are bits that don't work and NuWho seems to rewrite history in a misguided utopian way. A matriarch in 17th Century England ? The Doctor posing as a female witch hunter ? I know the show is fantasy but the whole idea is to sell this fantasy to a sophisticated audience and women would be on a par with cattle than equal humans in this time period. The episode isn't helped by King James played by professional ham Alan Cumming who spends much of the episode mincing around like he is appearing in another television series entirely
This is a pity because the scary bits involving zombies is genuinely very well done indeed and despite being than satisfying one would have hoped to have seen more of this. As it stands I've got a feeling that this episode will be fondly remembered until actually watched again and the episode's flaws are quickly spotted. In many ways it might end up as the 1971 episode The Daemons which was regarded as a masterwork but is only considered a good story decades ater. Rather appropriate since The Witchfinders uses a line from that story as the Doctor's closing speech
If you first watched DOCTOR WHO in the years from 1967 to 1977 then what probably attracted you to the show was the horror imagery that got a generation of children running behind the sofa , only to tentatively peep over the sides to be greeted by more horror imagery. It's a sensation more addictive than crystal-meth and crack cocaine combined and once producer Phillip Hinchcliffe left and Graham Williams was brought in with the remit that no more horror was allowed in the show the show gradually went downhill from which it never really recovered
For a hardcore reactionary fan like myself there's no substitute for horror. Horrible scary monsters doing lots of nasty things to human beings is what I seek from the show and after seeing the giant spider episode I thought this would be the only out and out creepy episode this year so it's good to see another one follow so quickly
There are bits that don't work and NuWho seems to rewrite history in a misguided utopian way. A matriarch in 17th Century England ? The Doctor posing as a female witch hunter ? I know the show is fantasy but the whole idea is to sell this fantasy to a sophisticated audience and women would be on a par with cattle than equal humans in this time period. The episode isn't helped by King James played by professional ham Alan Cumming who spends much of the episode mincing around like he is appearing in another television series entirely
This is a pity because the scary bits involving zombies is genuinely very well done indeed and despite being than satisfying one would have hoped to have seen more of this. As it stands I've got a feeling that this episode will be fondly remembered until actually watched again and the episode's flaws are quickly spotted. In many ways it might end up as the 1971 episode The Daemons which was regarded as a masterwork but is only considered a good story decades ater. Rather appropriate since The Witchfinders uses a line from that story as the Doctor's closing speech