Other Doctor Lives: The Crown: Season 1, Episode 4 – “Act of God” (2016)

Man, this was a hard episode to watch. Given the state of the world right now, much of it hit way too close to home, and I cried multiple times.

Unusual weather circumstances cause the smog from London’s coal-burning smoke stacks to travel downward, trapped throughout the city as a dense fog. As the toxic fog hangs in the air, hazardly-low visibility disrupts city life and causes traffic accidents, and breathing it in sickens a number of London citizens. Churchill fiddles while the city chokes, and Elizabeth wonders what her role is amid the crisis.

Just wow. Seeing people walking through the fog-stricken London streets in face masks, seeing a crowded hospital with beds in corridors, seeing overburdened doctors with not enough ventilators to go around. Obviously, that imagery resonates hard these days, but it’s more than that. Even more than the echoes of the present there in the past, more than the familiar images transposed onto the 1950s, it’s the sight of the leader of the government ignoring and downplaying the crisis while the city suffers. The weather that causes the toxic fog is not Churchill’s fault, but his past negligence of environmental reform allows it to be as bad as it is, and what’s worse, once it’s clear how dangerous the situation is, he doesn’t mobilize. He scoffs, “It’s weather, it’ll pass,” and abdicates all responsibility for getting aid to the hospitals that are straining under the weight of those affected. The crisis is the only thing on the cabinet’s mind, but he’d rather talk about anything else.

Elizabeth is much more immediately concerned about what’s happening just outside the doors of Buckingham Palace, but even though she’s the queen, she feels relatively powerless. Churchill continues to play the irascible Father Knows Best card with her, and whisperings reach her from Churchill’s political rivals that it’s her duty to involve herself. This is a great weight placed on the shoulders of a young queen who took up the throne far earlier than anyone planned, and it tests Elizabeth sorely. As much as she wants to do anything that will ease her people’s suffering, she’s also mindful of the need to recognize what her power allows, what her duty is, and what would constitute an overreach.

As for Phillip? Sigh…. More Riley Finn than Marty Ginsburg today. Admittedly, he has the excuse of going rather stir-crazy due to being housebound with the weather alerts (keeping him away from his new favorite pastime, practicing for his pilot’s license,) and Churchill seems to have a particular knack for thwarting his every notion, but he handles it badly, far worse than his wife who has much more to worry about on her plate. (If this were analogous to the present, why do I get the feeling that Phillip is just a few days from taking to the streets with a “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” sign?)

But it’s not a good look for him. At best, he’s maddeningly underfoot while Elizabeth is trying to work, and at worst, he’s short-tempered and snippy, making passive-aggressive remarks about “knowing his place,” which – it kind of seems like sometimes you don’t, guy. I’m not ready to give up on him yet, but I’d like to see Phillip turn it around quite a bit in the next few episodes, ‘cause Churchill gives Elizabeth enough trouble. She doesn’t need to be dealing with her husband’s sulks at home too.

A Few Thoughts on the Entertainment Industry and the Pandemic

I’ve talked some about the world’s present situation on this blog – News Satire Roundup, #IStayHomeFor statements, reviews of things that were produced and/or made available to the public for free during this time, etc. – but I haven’t talked too directly about many of my thoughts related to COVID-19, social distancing, and the crisis itself. Personally, I’m in a very fortunate position, because I live in a state that’s still seeing comparatively low numbers of confirmed cases (although we’ve seen a rise in recent weeks,) and I’m lucky to have a job that allows me to work from home. I know that many are dealing with far worse than I am in a variety of things, but I’m still having a hard time. I’m moderately germophobic, and I use zero hyperbole when I say that we’re now living in my worst nightmare. Right now, I’m just trying to stay grateful for my privilege and continute to hold it together.

But now that we’ve all been dealing with this for some time (my state’s stay-at-home order has been in place for over a month,) I’m feeling like talking about it more, at least in the context of pop culture/stories, which is the focus of this blog. Obviously, TV shows and movies halting production, plays getting canceled, etc., are far from the top of the list of things to worry about at the moment. I know, and I spend plenty of time these days thinking about the many chilling/devastating aspects of the pandemic. But I love stories in all types of media, and this is something I’m thinking about too. Today, I want to look at more of the practical nuts and bolts of the matter.

The first effects I saw of COVID-19 on the entertainment industry were news stories of TV shows halting production – first here and there, temporarily because someone on set was exposed, then more and more putting things on hold until further notice. The same began happening with movies, and then all of Broadway shut down. That shook me. Even though I don’t live in New York, I love New York and Broadway, and I felt for all those shows that were going dark even as I applauded them to taking a responsible step to keep their companies and audiences safe. Next came interruptions to movie openings, with many blockbusters postponing their releases and select titles going straight to VOD; in particular, the MCU’s interconnectedness meant pushing Marvel’s entire slate back when Black Widow got postponed. And now, those halted TV productions have been catching up with us more, as shows have gone on hiatus to give teams more time to edit from home and some season endings are left dangling.

Before long, there won’t be much filmed before the pandemic that we haven’t seen. The smart money says we’re in for a long road ahead, with multiple rounds of heavier social distancing between periods of lighter restrictions. I have my doubts that the entertainment industry will be sitting out that whole time – plenty of people there will want to get back to work too, and I’m sure producers are hoping to have something to sell to make up for some of their losses from earlier in the year. I think TV will be especially anxious to get back to it, since TV is a lot of what’s keeping people going right now. If we figure we’re going to be homebound again in a matter of months, I imagine networks would like to have something to offer that captive audience.

But how? As states reach phase 1/2/whatever of gradual reopening plans, what does film, TV, and theatre work look like in a society that’s only partially open? I imagine there are certain safeguards that can be put in place to maintain more distance behind the camera/stage, although it will take ingenuity, extra time, and a lot of dedication and hard work on everyone’s part to keep everyone relatively safe. Writers’ rooms might remain vitual for a while, to reduce the number of people congregating.

The bigger question, though, is what it’s going to look like on camera or onstage. Honestly, I don’t even know about theatre. Unless companies change their blocking for an entire show, how can there be any distance between the performers? How do you maintain safety in that type of setting? It’s more possible with movies and TV, since they’d be dealing with material that hasn’t already been “frozen,” but it’ll be interesting to see how much social distancing makes it onscreen. Will directors place actors further apart, using camera work to imply proximity rather than create it? Will writers minimize kissing scenes, up-close-and-personal fight scenes, crowd scenes? Will anyone shoot on location, or will they stay on a studio set where it’s more contained? When productions are up and running again, what will they look like?

When it comes to outside circumstances shaping the writing, I also wonder about TV show arcs. Shows may be back shooting for a couple months and then shut down again, the cycle repeating until the crisis can finally be put to bed. Will that create a tendency toward a more episodic narrative? If you shut down in the middle of an important arc, viewers are left hanging for who knows how long, but if you shut down in the middle of a self-contained episode, you have less hinging on what comes next.

Finally, I wonder about my place in all this as an audience member, thinking about cinemas and live theatre. I lost the chance to see some of the new releases I’d wanted to watch in theaters for March, and I’d had tickets for three different live shows this spring that have gotten canceled, although two are hoping to reschedule the performances for a later date. But there’s the rub – when will that later date be, and will I be ready to set foot inside a theatre again? I could see theatres wanting to get rolling again as soon as they get the green light (again, wanting to mitigate some of their earlier losses,) but I can’t see myself sauntering into a crowded theatre for quite some time yet. Same with movie theaters. When the next big movie is able to come out, would I go see it? I don’t think I could handle an open night, even at “half capacity” or whatever. I might manage some weekday-morning showings on days when I’m not working, anything to minimize the number of people around me, but I doubt I could brave concessions, and it’s iffy on whether I’d even work up the nerve to touch the buttons to recline my seat.

A lot of unanswered questions ahead. I know that the entertainment industry is home to a lot of people and resourceful people, so I can imagine they’ll rise to the occasion and meet the challenge head on, provided they’re given the space and resources to do so. I wish them well, but I want them to know, as much as I’ll be missing new movies/episodes/live shows in the days ahead, I don’t want them more than I want the people making them to be safe.

Doctor Who: Series 1, Episodes 1-4 – “An Unearthly Child” (1963)

The one that started it all.  It’s fairly widely-agreed that the pilot is excellent and the serial that follows is forgettable at best, a dud at worst.  I agree with that to a point – the caveman adventure doesn’t have nearly the same intrigue and wonder of that first episode – although I do think there are positives to be found there.

Ian and Barbara, teachers at Coal Hill School, share curiosity and concern over an unusual pupil.  Susan has tremendous knowledge beyond that of any normal 15-year-old child, but the most everyday things will trip her up in the oddest way, and she seems to be hiding a secret about her home life.  When Ian and Barbara follow her home one night, they’re amazed to discover, not a house, but a police box in a junkyard.  Their digging unearths impossibilities they could have never imagined, and Susan’s grandfather, the First Doctor, is convinced they’ll tell someone about the TARDIS.  Desperately, he takes off with the teachers still inside, and the four emerge in the era of early humans, where they get caught-up in a struggle between two would-be leaders of a struggling tribe.

Yeah, that first episode is all but magical.  Watching it, I try to imagine what it would be like seeing it for the first time in 1963 and not knowing what was going to happen.  The introductions to Ian, Barbara, and Susan are all spot-on, with Ian and Barbara quickly establishing themselves as clever, brave, and a little reckless, and Susan makes for a great window into the Doctor’s fantastical life.  The shot of Ian and Barbara stepping into the TARDIS is everything it should be.

And yes, the caveman stuff isn’t half as good as that, but for me, it isn’t bad, just so-so.  In a way, the idea of the “firemaker” and important, secret knowledge that’s only held by one man in the tribe parallels the Doctor’s attitude toward Ian and Barbara.  He takes them because he doesn’t want them telling anyone the truth about him and Susan.  There’s a practical/safety motivation for that, sure, but it also feeds into his Time Lord imperiousness, viewing these humans as primitives incapable of handling the wonders of time/space travel.  It’s also the Doctor’s jumping-off point for becoming a different sort of time/space traveler, as I’ve said – Ian and Barbara, with Susan’s help, are able to outnumber him and start showing him the value of getting involved in the lives of those they meet.

While Ian, Barbara, and Susan are all wonderfully well-done in the pilot, only Ian gets much of a chance to shine in the rest of the serial.  He begins his transition to science teacher action hero quite nicely here, using his brains and his strength in equal turn.  Susan and Barbara, though, tend to get stuck with more of the panicking and crying.  Barbara does get one real standout moment, refusing to go along when the Doctor insists that they leave the injured Za to his fate, but I wish we could have seen more of that.  She’s such a great character, and painting her in that light for her first trip feels a little lazy (she gets a bit of a pass because, unlike most companions, she’s taken on her first TARDIS adventure against her will, but still, I don’t like that Ian rolls so much better with the punches than she does here.)  And the Doctor himself?  The first time I saw this episode, after only knowing Nine, Ten, and Eleven, it was startling to see a brusquer, less caring Doctor.  That said, we already start to see hints of his softening, his mischievous “twinkle,” as An Adventure in Space and Time would say.  For his character (like with Barbara’s, maybe,) he’s still only at the start of his journey.