My thoughts on Doctor Who “Joy to the World”

These are just some random thoughts I had on “Joy to the World.” I don’t have a system to give it a grade, but I’d say on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a … 5ish.  There is a near-certainty that I will never watch it again, and in a few months I’ll probably be hard pressed to remember the plot.

Spoilers.

What I liked.

Fifteen or twenty years ago, I came up with a story idea of a Doctor-like character who travels through time losing a bet and having to live for a year like a normal person.  They get a job and possibly start dating a coworker.  I’m not saying “Joy to the World” stole my idea, because it is highly unlikely someone broke into my house, dug out an old writing notebook, found this specific page, and was able to decipher my horrible handwriting to get that basic description, because that’s basically all the work I put into the idea.  Also, just seeing The Doctor trying to live as a normal person is a pretty basic idea.  We’ve seen parts of this in previous episodes.  Sometimes these are either short time periods or are just mentioned in passing, like I believe in “Blink” The Doctor and Martha are stuck in 1969 and she’s a tad upset she had to get a job to support him, but that’s about all we get.  Other times there is some epic story thing going on, like I believe one of the Smith Christmas episodes has The Doctor in Christmas Town for a … century, or something.  (I have a vague memory of this, but don’t care enough to look it up.)

Anyway, I liked the idea of The Doctor living out a year in normal time.  In fact, I would have preferred an entire episode of The Doctor trying to figure out the solution to some problem while also dealing with some eccentric characters one can find in a neighborhood. 

I guess I also liked that they at least acknowledged that “Global Event That Must Not Be Named.” (I can’t remember if they actually named it in the episode.  If they did, I wasn’t really paying attention, but if they didn’t name it, we all knew what it was.) Although, I guess the world of Doctor Who isn’t our world, like, I don’t remember the time everyone was turned into The Master. 

What I didn’t like.

First off, why didn’t the first guy go in, say he needed to speak to the manager, and have the briefcase hook on to the manager, and then – knowing that they needed millions of years – go directly to the dinosaur room instead of futzing around in the human era stuff?

So Anita was like the tenth or so companion to basically fall madly in love with The Doctor?  Also, hasn’t The Doctor been told a dozen or so times by now that they shouldn’t be alone and they should find someone?  I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with those – like the later does show that even the smartest people might not readily take good advice because they think they know better – but it does seem like this template is being used too often. 

As soon as they mentioned something about creating a star, I knew where this was going.  I think they then did the Anita stuff, so I kind of forgot about it for twenty minutes or so, but when it came back I was going, “Please don’t be so obvious, please don’t be so obvious,” but in the end they were. 

Final thoughts

There were basically two parts to this episode.  The part with Joy and the star was … meh.  The part with Anita I liked the concept, but would have liked more, especially if they did something else with it.  Like, maybe Anita had a bit of a crush on the person who ran the whatever store next-door.  And over the year – while he’s working on solving some problem – The Doctor’s helping her build up her confidence to ask them out.  And you could have had a sappy, “Nobody deserves to be alone on Christmas,” and then someone could ask, “Who will you be with, Doctor?” And after a moment, he’ll laugh and say something silly, then step into the TARDIS with some sad music, and then … the TARDIS will be rammed by the Titanic again, or whatever will lead into the next episode and companion.

Grimm Reviews – “The Lambkin and the Little Fish”

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“The Lambkin and the Little Fish”

There were a brother and sister who loved each other dearly.  Their mother was dead, and they had a step-mother who did not like them.  One day, as the two were playing with other kids around a pond that came up to the house, the step-mother – who knew about witchcraft – bewitched them turning the brother into a fish and the sister into a lamb.

Time passed, and then one day visitors showed up at the house.  The step-mother told the cook to kill the lamb for their guests.  The cook got the lamb, but then he saw a fish swimming in the pond.  He heard the two talk of how sad they were, so he killed another sheep and fed it to the guests and took the lamb and fish to a “good peasant woman.”

This peasant woman was the foster-mother of the girl, and took them to a wise woman who blessed the lamb and fish so they returned to their human form.  The wise woman then took them to live alone – but happy – in a hut in the forest.

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What did the other kids do when their playmates turned into a fish and a lamb?

What did their father do?  Did he never ask what happened to his kids?

Why a fish and a lamb?

If you can turn unwanted kids into fish and lambs, why wait to … destroy the evidence?

Wait, the girl had a foster-mother?  A foster-mother who didn’t take the kids back once they were human again? 

Wait, this evil step-mother turns these kids into a fish and lamb and thinks she’s had the lamb killed, and she gets away with it?

What was the point of this story?

Grimm Reviews – “The Old Woman in the Wood”

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“The Old Woman in the Wood”

A family was traveling by carriage through a forest when they were attacked by robbers who killed everyone except a serving girl who hid behind a tree.  The girl wandered looking for a road to lead her out of the forest since nobody lived there.  When evening came she sat down under a tree and resolved to just wait for whatever. 

Not long after that, a dove flew to her with a little, golden key in its beak.  It told her that it would unlock a tree where she would find food.  The dove brought a second key to a second tree where she would find a bed to sleep.  The next morning, the dove brought a third key to a third tree where she would find clothing more splendid than had by any princess.  The girl lived there for some time, with the dove bringing keys to unlock trees for whatever she needed.

Eventually, the dove asked for a favor.  It wanted the girl to go to a house of an old woman.  The girl was not to speak to the woman and only pass her on the right.  In the house was a room filled with rings of gold and jewels.  Among them is a plain ring.  She was to find this plain ring and return it to the dove.

The girl went to the house and didn’t speak to the old woman.  This upset the woman who tried to stop the girl, but the girl rushed into the room filled with rings.  While she’s looking for the plain ring, she notices the old woman was trying to leave with a bird cage.  The girl went after her and found that the bird in the cage had the ring.  The girl grabbed it and ran back to the dove.

But the dove didn’t show up.  Instead one of the trees turned into a handsome prince.  The old woman was a witch who had turned him into a tree, but for two hours a day he could be a dove.  All of his servants and horses had also been turned into trees, and they all returned to their original form.  The prince and the girl married and lived happily ever after.

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Wait, they were going by carriage through a forest without a road?  Why?

I didn’t know trees came with locks.

“I’ll turn you into a tree … and for two hours a day you can be a dove.” Why?

Why trees?  More importantly, why trees with locks hiding closets and bedrooms?  What was the importance of the plain ring?

Why did the prince tree/dove wait to ask the girl to break the spell and not, you know, the day after she showed up?

Grimm Reviews – “The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Cat”

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“The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Cat”

There once was a miller who had three apprentices.  One day he told them that whoever brought him the best horse would get the mill because the miller wanted to retire. 

The three lads went out, but the older two told the youngest – Stupid Hans – to just wait because he’d never find a horse.  But he went with them.  The three came to a cave and laid down to sleep, but once Hans was asleep, the other two left him there.

When Hans woke up, he ran out into the forest and came across a cat, which told him that if Hans served her for seven years, she would give him the most beautiful horse.

So Hans followed her to her castle where all her servants were cats.  They were all happy cats who jumped around and played music while they dined.  After dinner, the main cat asked Hans to dance with her, but he said no because he didn’t know how.  So she sent him to bed.

Hans worked for the cat by chopping wood, mowing her meadow, and building her a small house.  He did all these with tools of silver and gold.  The seven years passed like six months.

When it was time for him to leave, she opened the door of the house to show twelve of the best horses.  She said that the horse wouldn’t go with him, but that she would follow him in three days with it. 

So Hans went back to the mill with his old, dirty clothing.  The other two apprentices were there, but one was blind and the other lame.  They laughed when he said a horse would follow him in three days.

Hans was so dirty they didn’t want him in the mill, so he had to sneak into the goose house to sleep.  He woke three days later, and a coach with six horses appeared along with a seventh for him.

In the coach was the cat, who was in reality a beautiful princess.  She asked about the boy, and learned he was in the goose house.  She had her servants clean him and present him.  She then asked what horses the other apprentices had brought, but neither had found one.  When Hans’ horse was brought forward, the miller was overjoyed. 

The miller was all set to give Hans the mill, but the princess took him in the coach.  They returned to the little house he had built, only it was now a wonderful castle full of gold and silver items.  They married and lived happily ever after.

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Is this the same Stupid Hans from “The Griffin,” or are people named Hans normally stupid?

A horse?  That’s what the miller wanted so he could retire?  Not jewels, or gold or anything.  Just “My mill, for a horse.”

The time in this story confuses me.  Was it seven years, or six months?  If Hans was just going to sleep for three days, why not just make it that the horse would follow him the next day and he’d only have to sleep for one night?  But more importantly, if someone sends you out to find a horse, they probably expect you back in a few days or maybe a week.  But seven years? 

What happened to the other two apprentices?  What stories do they have?

Why was the princess a cat?  I feel like we’re missing a story.

This is one of the “Huh?” stories.