EPISODE REVIEW #4
“ARACHNIDS IN THE UK”
But absence makes the hearts grow fonder and while this wasn’t an episode in which he had any connection, its premise and execution reminded me of Davies’ showman style. Thanks to the spiders but especially the performance of Chris Noth, a lot of the episode was over-the-top, and its science was daft. (Giant spiders from carcasses? I don’t care what you saturate those dead spiders with, you’re not going to get living ones. So these were Zombie Spiders!)
We had a good sense of Graham O’Brien’s private life and this episode brought home how bereft he was with his beloved Grace, Ryan Sinclair’s grandmother, now gone. We at least know now how the actress was going to be considered a recurring character when Grace was killed off in the first episode. Those scenes with Graham’s memory of her visualized were extremely powerful. And as I look at everything on TV from a Toobworldly perspective, she really could have been there as a ghost. It’s just that Grace wouldn’t want to scare her husband, letting him think he could really visualize his memories.
We also got to meet Yasmin’s family, father, mother (Natjia!) and self-centered sister. I’m not sure we’ll get to see more of them as the season plays out, but that title “Demons of Punjab” looks promising for another visit by the Khans.
I’m not that familiar with TV characters of Pakistani heritage, so I don’t want to suggest any possible theories of relateeveety just yet. However, ‘Doctor Who’ has had a tradition of meeting historical figures from the Real World. And other TV shows have suggested familial relationships between their fictional characters and actual celebrities. (This practice goes back to before television, at least to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who claimed that Sherlock Holmes was related to the painter Vernet.)
So here’s my suggestion: how about if the Khans of Sheffield are somehow related, even if distantly, to the Bulsaras of London? There’s no denying that Farrokh Bulsara is a hot item in pop culture now – you know Farrokh, Freddie Mercury whose life and death are being remembered in the hit movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Surely some creative writer out there could come up with a way for Team TARDIS to interact with Freddie and Queen, and Yaz and her family could be the linchpin on which the plot hangs.
I want to give a special focus to the character of Jack L. Robertson, the Ugly American billionaire played by Chris Noth. First off, two easy theories of relateeveety – because Noth plays him, he could be identical cousins with Detective Mike Logan of the NYPD who was assigned to the 27th Precinct before being transferred to Staten Island. (He may be retired by now I would think, based on the cops I knew back in Manhattan.)
As for that other theory of relateeveety? John James Preston. Who dat, you say? “Mr. Big” from ‘Sex And The City’ and the love of Carrie Bradshaw’s televersion. (I was under the assumption that Mr. Big died during the second movie, but I’m not sure now of that.)
As for them being identical cousins, which was first implemented in Toobworld with ‘The Patty Duke Show’, there are two definitions to that term. The first type of identical cousin were represented by Kathy and Patty Lane – they have different parents, although their fathers are identical twins as well. It’s just that the replication of DNA in Toobworld is very strong and happens frequently, even among total strangers who must have had a common ancestor who was the source of those particular chromosomes no matter how far back.
The other type of “identical cousin” used that term as code – those people who resemble each more than likely had fathers who had a roving eye and sired children with their mistresses.
Jack Robertson was an O’Bvious stand-in for Donald Trump and I congratulate the people behind the scenes for employing an old screenwriter trick with this kind of depiction. To protect themselves from any accusations that they were savaging the actual person who inspired the character, that person is then mentioned as being a peer of the caricature.
GRAHAM:
He's running for President in 2020.
ROBERTSON:
I haven't declared my intentions yet.
But, look, we're talking about spiders!
GRAHAM:
See? Typical politician.
Avoiding the question.
ROBERTSON:
I am not a politician.
I'm a businessman
and I know how to run things.
JADE:
I've heard you're only running
cos you've hated Trump for decades.
ROBERTSON:
Please don't mention that name.
Brilliant in structure! Not only does Robertson display the worst characteristics of Drumpf as the tyrannical but cowardly bully that he is, but they get in that extra snipe by making his own counterpart hate him too.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jack L. Robertson in the series. You know the character still plans to run for the presidency in 2020 over there in Toobworld, so he still might show up as we get closer to the election. And perhaps some problem the Doctor is handling will derail his candidacy.
Hotels are just one facet of the JLR business empire. I’m hoping from this point on, we’ll see those initials show up again on other enterprises. And even better, I’d love to see other shows use it as well. Not much Auntie Beeb could do about it, I should think, so long as they don’t actually state that “JLR” stands for Jack L. Robertson. (And in a perfect Toobworld they would never say definitely what it meant.)
As with Tricey the Triceratops, the show got us - well, me at least - emotionally involved with the death of a CGI creature when Robertson shot the gigantic spider queen while she was already dying from suffocation. I can't blame the spiders - they were only doing what came naturally and it wasn't their fault that they were expanded to that size. Couldn't some of them have survived and perhaps one day find a way to thrive? There was at the very least the one back at the flat of Khans' neighbors and one in Graham's home. Maybe we'll see them again...
Not much else to add, I guess….
Allonsy!
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