A handful of hi-res trailer screencaps…

• 24th March 2010 • Blog Post by Seb Patrick •

Alright, so, when I did a dissection of the two most recent trailers, I was of course basing it on low-quality Youtube footage. But since then, people Better At This Stuff Than Me have been putting higher-quality – much higher quality – screencaps online, and they shed a bit more light on a few aspects raised by that initial discussion. So let’s have a look! Click to make big, and be warned (in case you’re trying to avoid it) that there’s a clearer picture of the TARDIS console after the jump.

I speculated in the last post about the figure with the mask, as it seemed reminiscent of Karen in “Fires of Pompeii”; well, interestingly, here’s Amy holding the mask in what appears to be a shot from ep two, “The Beast Below”. It’s clearer now that the woman in red robes putting the mask down elsewhere in the trailer is Sophie Okonedo’s character (also from the same episode), so I don’t think there’s much to read into Amy having it here (aside from possibly hinting at a Jabe-esque fate).

There’s yer console, then. I do find it interesting that Blue Peter held a competition to design a “one-off” console made out of household bits, when the “real” version looks as ramshackle as this. Is there more to this than we’re being told? Anyway – trying not to make too many judgements until we see it onscreen, but I’m still not desperately convinced by this.

Oh, what a surprise – when it comes to Daleks, we were getting overexcited about nothing. One World War II Dalek (eyelamps present and correct), and two ordinary run-of-the-mill Goldies. I’m betting that through that doorway lies whatever we saw the white head/eyestalk of back in the first trailer, though. Clearly some form of Supreme/Emperor/whatever.

Incidentally, there’s a point about the Daleks I meant to make when discussing this shot previously – which is that there are a lot of people who’ll doubtless complain, at this point, of overuse of the characters. Just to get it on record, I’m not among them – I absolutely love Daleks, and have no problem whatsoever with there being a Dalek story every year (although just once, I’d love for a story to properly surprise us with their presence; “Doomsday” almost managed it but there had been hints beforehand). For me, they can even make a weak story (e.g. “Daleks In Manhattan”) better than it would otherwise be with a different monster, and it’s rare that a story with them in is downright appalling (though “Destiny” has a jolly good stab). So it may not be the de rigeur opinion, but I’m thoroughly pleased the Moff is using them so soon, especially when (the “Waters of Mars” cameo aside) it’s been two years since we last saw them. So there.

And that’s about it for now – annoyingly, I can only find a few individual caps in relevant forum threads, rather than an album full of snaps of the above quality – but if anyone does find such a link, let me know, and I’ll put it here!

Seb Patrick once met Paul McGann, who immediately pretended to be Mark McGann. He writes for Den of Geek, BBC America, Film4 and the official Red Dwarf website, among others. He owns over thirty toy Daleks and wishes the Dapol factory tour was still open.

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15 Responses

  1. I reckon ‘The Chase’ and ‘Death To…’ are both ropier than ‘Destiny…’.

    In the new series it’s been steadily diminishing returns since ‘Dalek’ though hasn’t it? Caught ‘Journey’s End’ for the 2nd time on BBC 3 a few days ago, it was even worse than I remembered it, Davros is nothing but the mechanism that brings the Daleks back (again) which in other stories would just be done with a throwaway line. Then again I suppose he does more in that story than Captain Jack. And Martha. And… *wanders off to buy a Toby jug in the shape of Rob Shearman’s head*…

  2. I reckon ‘The Chase’ and ‘Death To…’ are both ropier than ‘Destiny…’.

    <sebBaiting>Of course, when talking about ropey Dalek episodes, you need look no further than Revelation</sebBaiting>

  3. I do really like the new Console Room, although it feels very cramped from that shot, which is at odds with what other people (who’ve seen the whole thing) have said, so I’m willing to wait until it’s shown in it’s full glory.

  4. Right, that’s it – I’m BUYING Revelation on DVD this weekend, and I’m bringing it to YOUR HOUSE over Easter, and we’re going to WATCH IT, and then do that facing-off article where you foolishly attempt to justify your WRONG views. ALRIGHT, CAPPS?

  6. > I do really like the new Console Room, although it feels very cramped from that shot

    Partly from the few screen-grabs, but more from the descriptions I’ve read, I can’t shake this picture in my mind of a console room that’s a bit like the house in ‘Finders Keepers’.

  9. Partly from the few screen-grabs, but more from the descriptions I’ve read, I can’t shake this picture in my mind of a console room that’s a bit like the house in ‘Finders Keepers’.

    Excellent.

    In the new series it’s been steadily diminishing returns since ‘Dalek’ though hasn’t it?

    Parting of the Ways aside, I think I agree with you here. The Daleks are great and I always get a thrill seeing them in an episode, but Dalek was the only episode that properly did something that was properly getting away from the old cliches. Stolen Earth fell straight into the same trap that every Davros story since Genesis has, and it really wasn’t helped by the fact that every Dalek story (DiM aside) ended with ALL DALEKS EVER BEING DESTROYED, HONESTLY. I think the best thing Moff can do is get away from that sort of finality in the Dalek episodes, so we always know that there are more out there, somewhere, so it wont look quite so silly when they come back.

  11. Right, that’s it – I’m BUYING Revelation on DVD this weekend, and I’m bringing it to YOUR HOUSE over Easter, and we’re going to WATCH IT, and then do that facing-off article where you foolishly attempt to justify your WRONG views. ALRIGHT, CAPPS?

    Record this and podcast it! I’m a Revelation fan and would genuinely find a commentary/debate on this fascinating!

  12. I can’t shake this picture in my mind of a console room that’s a bit like the house in ‘Finders Keepers’.

    I was thinking ‘Why Don’t You?’ and I don’t know why.

    Actually, who the hell is that at the console?

    Somebody, it seems, with metal poles for arms.

    One World War II Dalek (eyelamps present and correct), and two ordinary run-of-the-mill Goldies.

    Nevertheless, I get a bit of an old-school thrill by seeing three daleks spread out like that in a silvery grey room. Wonderful composition.

  13. Record this and podcast it! I’m a Revelation fan and would genuinely find a commentary/debate on this fascinating!

    Bit wary about doing anything Podcasty at the moment, mainly because I’d like to concrete the effort on G&T audio stuff but also because it’s futile competing with with the excellent Tachyon TV or Radio Free Skaro. We’d totally shit Podshock, though.

  14. We’d totally shit Podshock, though.

    Anything that introduces itself as “a production of x productions” gets a thumbs up from me. And they have someone who sounds uncannily like Julian Barratt!