The sonic lipstick’s last hurrah (Part 2 of 3)
There is but a single story left to tell before The Sarah Jane Adventures is done.
Following hard on the heels of last week’s solid series opener, the program has hit one out of the proverbial ball-park.
The Curse of Clyde Langer was an emotionally involving and sometimes very creepy story that only faltered — maybe, a little — in a slightly too-easy resolution.
To add to the episodes’ multiple pleasures, The Curse offered strong characterizations, a hefty dose of good humour and even a little unexpected romance. As usual, some spoilers ahead but no snark whatsoever.
Pretentious is a dangerous word for a critic, one I try to avoid and one which (I hope) I use with judicious deliberation when I do press it into service.
The term is kissing cousin to dishonest, and which implies promises which are undelivered or, worse, betrayed.
As you might know, I have spent considerable time over the past few months looking at a couple of British science fiction series, the 2011 editions of Doctor Who and its ostensibly adult-oriented spin-off, Torchwood, both of which promised much but delivered very little indeed.
So it is that I am very happy to report that the first (of three) remaining instalments of The Sarah Jane Adventures promises only an entertaining children’s adventure story yet delivers quite a lot more.
Phil Ford’s eighth two-part serial is, not surprisingly, very much a typical Sarah Jane adventure, offering low-key, character-based comedy, thrills enough (I think) to keep a child on the edge of his or her seat (if not, quite, hiding behind the proverbial couch), and a subtle moral seriousness that leaves its more bombastic cousins looking like charlatans, or worse.
Not many spoilers and no snark at all (for a change), as I take a belated look at Sky and begin my last dance with Sarah Jane Smith.
Every so often a famous writer gets taken down for plagiarism. Usually it’s something pretty blatant, words and concepts lifted almost verbatim from a well-known work, as if it had improbably never occurred to the culprit that he or she might get caught.
When they do get caught, they typically claim it was an accident, that they must have done it sub-consciously. And the rest of us wonder, How stupid do you think we are? Give us a break and just ‘fess up!
But I am suddenly much more sympathetic to those claims than I once was.
In my ostensible leisure time this week, I’ve been working pretty hard on my response to The Wedding of River Song and, yesterday, had what I thought was a well-argued two thousand words merely in need of a little polishing.
Towards the end of it, I made reference to a review I wrote earlier this year. Decided to link to it. And, linking, re-read it.
Guess what? I had been plagiarizing myself.
It wasn’t word-for-word, but it was close. It was was a dismaying, a frustrating and a scary discovery. I really do try to credit sources, to quote directly or to paraphrase with attribution — and here I was, ripping off my own work!
Honest go god, your Honour! It was all sub-conscious!.
And so it is that my review of The Wedding of River Song, now plagiarism-free (I hope!), is a lot shorter than I had expected it to be, with a very conscious link to that which I have written before. As usual, spoilers and snark below the icing … of The Wedding Cake of River Song.
Been busy, then sick, then busy and sick. But here’s my review of The God Complex. With any luck at all tomorrow will see me all cut up and ready for the finale.
Two for two - Doctor Who, “The Girl Who Waited” just might be a classic, and is almost certainly the best episode of Steven Moffat’s two-year run.
