| Review Courtesy of http://www.gallifreyone.com/review.php?id=fan-timeandagain Review by: Jeff Smith TIME AND AGAIN (Mendicant Productions, 1999) Starring Dennis Kuhn (the Doctor), Lea Kuehmichel (Sylvie), and Paul Christopher (the Master). Written by Jeremy Nienow, Dennis Kuhn, Ryan Glasspoole, Jeremiah Lynch, and Ryan Thorson. Directed by Ryan Thorson. (With apologies to Miles and Wood…) Which One is This? It’s one of those where only the Doctor speaks in a British accent… yes, it’s an American DOCTOR WHO fan film, this one produced in Wisconsin of all places (hey, there are WHO fans everywhere!). It’s the one-and-only video produced by Mendicant Productions, a very professional-looking piece that also, at 105 minutes, is one of the longer WHO fan films. And it’s yet another confrontation between the Doctor and the Master, this one reaching all the way back to their student days on Gallifrey, while the Doctor loses a companion (Sylvie), only to get her back in another dimension... Four Things to Notice about “Time And Again”… 1. Because a portion of the video was filmed in an actual TV studio, a lot of the production looks startlingly like the classic series, from the liberal use of CSO (or the U.S. equivalent) for backgrounds and rudimentary special effects overlays, to the multi-camera mixing. Although obviously a no-budget production, the video has a certain polish, and is very well-edited, with a pretty sophisticated level of cutting between wide shots, close-ups, two-shots, etc. Whereas many fan-productions park a camera in one spot and let a five-minute scene unfold, “Time And Again” is cut like a professional TV show. The most glaring technical problem (aside from a few line fluffs that could easily have been corrected with another couple of takes) is the replacement of the sound in several scenes, notably the opening and closing scenes which occur in the TARDIS swimming pool area – obviously there was too much ambient noise in these scenes, and they have been post-dubbed for better clarity. While the looping is not badly done (except for a few seconds that get a bit out of synch), it is so obvious that it gives the scenes an unnatural feel. Hardly the worst sin of a fan-production, but unmistakable. 2. Like many fan films produced in the lonely gulf between “Survival” and “Rose,” this film postulates a future regeneration of the Doctor that has now been invalidated by the actual series; Kuhn’s Doctor is described as being his Ninth “incarnation,” but he doesn’t wear a leather jacket or say “Fantastic!” every five minutes. 3. The title is woefully generic, and doesn’t really describe the story in any significant way, unless it’s trying to indicate how the Doctor and the Master meet “time and again,” locked in mortal combat. With so many fan-vids using “Time” in their titles, this could have benefited from a more creative moniker. 4. The acting really is very good. Dennis Kuhn creates a very distinctive and affable Doctor that is unlike any previous incarnation. His British accent is quite acceptable and un-distracting (though UK fans might disagree), and he seems quite “Doctor-ish,” carrying the film very well. Paul Christopher may be the best fan-Master I’ve yet encountered, delivering his (often very technobabble-filled) lines with theatrical flourish. Leah Kuehmichel (whose name, amusingly, is mis-spelled in the closing credits) makes for an attractive and charming companion, though she is slightly less convincing as the tough-as-nails military commander once the Doctor lands in the Master-created alternate universe. One of the nicest moments in the entire film occurs during the final confrontation between the Doctor and the Master – as the Master first approaches, Sylvie moves next to the TARDIS and touches its frame, as though its very presence is a source of comfort – a lovely nuance by Ms. Kuehmichel. Most of the secondary roles are also far above average, with the exception of Brian Allard as rebel leader Reme. Allard is playing to the back row of the theater and is way over the top. Still, his screen time is limited, and he’s not a particular liability. Where Does This Come From? As much as the original series, “Time And Again” is quite obviously influenced by the Paul McGann TV movie. The film begins with a voice-over from the Doctor that is highly reminiscent of the TVM, and at one point the Master refers to him as a “half-breed mongrel.” This is obviously before the fan-consensus that the bit in the TVM about the Doctor being half-human was just a joke, and that we don’t have to pay any attention to it. Really. The Doctor’s basic costume (when not wearing his Sherlock Holmes-esque cape) is quite similar to McGann’s, with a textured frock coat and a palette of basic earth tones. Overall, it’s quite smart-looking, and the fact that the Doctor varies his wardrobe throughout the film is a refreshing change from the fan-film norm. Critique Show me a two-hour DOCTOR WHO fan film that you can watch more than once, and I’ll show you a major accomplishment. Though hardly perfect, “Time And Again” is one of the best WHO fan-vids ever produced. For once, the scope of the story earns the running time; though typically fan-wanky and not particularly original, the script is well-paced and well-thought-out, with most scenes getting their point across with a minimum of excess baggage. The action changes locations with regularity, livening up the visual tableau, and the film is unexpectedly touching. The dialogue, while a bit flowery at times, sounds nicely WHO-esque, often containing some tart exchanges. Pulling a gun on the Master, Sylvie quips, “I don’t know what regeneration you’re on – but we can certainly find out!” Earlier, the Doctor laments the loss of his boyhood friendship with the Master: “Do you know, of all the countless lives you’ve taken, all the worlds you have plundered, all the evil that you have committed, the wound that cuts deepest was your first – that day on Gallifrey, you took away my greatest friend!” Like most fan-vids (and, like the original series), there’s more talk than action, but for the most part, it’s quite well done. One sequence where the Master has the Doctor tied to a chair is a triumph of acting over production value, and, in its best moments, the film brushes with a truly epic feel; pretty impressive on a budget of what looks like about twenty dollars. Sylvie’s paradoxical existence predates a similar concept used in the Big Finish 8th Doctor stories, and while some purists may object to a fistfight between the Doctor and the Master, it’s just the visceral kick the film needs at that moment. The flaws are largely technical, though a couple of story points don’t quite gel: the Master is too quick to believe that the Doctor has turned to the dark side, and the rebels who grudgingly aid the Doctor are hopelessly generic and ill-defined. Though the console room set is fairly impressive (and, again, directly inspired by the TVM), the actual control console is one of the oddest-looking in fan-film history, and fairly ugly, topped off with an unfortunately phallic-looking time rotor that throbs during flight. The audio problems noted before crop up sporadically all through the film (the worst case happens about mid-way through the film while the Master is describing his masterplan to the Doctor, and his voice suddenly cuts out to about half its previous volume), and the video effects are a bit shaky in spots. The video was shot over the course of three years, with hair lengths varying a bit in some scenes, and there’s an all-too-obvious gag where the Doctor notes that temporal jumps are making the seasons change at random. Still, there are many impressive elements on hand here: some early CG shots of the TARDIS in flight in the vortex look great, the costumes are elaborate and well-done, and the musical score, by lead actor Dennis Kuhn, is excellent, enhancing the movie at every turn. “Time And Again” is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished by fan filmmakers with a lot of enthusiasm and talent. It’s a cracking story, well-told, and what else can you ask from DOCTOR WHO? |
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