Saturday 5th July 2025
Blog Page 1324

Is the student loan sell-off an issue for students?

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Last Sunday saw Business Secretary Vince Cable announce that he and Deputy Prime minister Nick Clegg no longer support the privatisation of student debt. The sale of the student loan book was projected to bring £2.3 billion into the Treasury between 2015 and 2020.

In the run up to the 2015 election, Cherwell sought to find out students’ thoughts on the issue. In a survey of 75 Oxford students, Cherwell asked participants about their awareness of the government’s plans, their views on the plans, and the importance of the ownership of student debt.

Results showed that only 10.7% of those asked were in favour of selling off the debt, with 89.3% against. This was despite the fact that only 58.7% of particpants admitted to knowing about the government’s plans.

81.3% of Oxford students subsequently claimed that ownership of the student debt was an important issue for them.

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Despite not attracting the same amount of attention as the trebling of tuition fees, the proposals have nonetheless met significant opposition from some students. James Elliott, who successfully proposed a motion to oppose the sale of the student loan book at OUSU Council in Hilary term, told Cherwell upon hearing the news that, “This policy change hasn’t come around because Vince Cable is a nice bloke. Students secured this win because we organised and fought, even occupying Cable’s constituency office. In Oxford, I was elected to the NUS on a platform of stopping this and our motion there was a small part of building against it. It is a nice reminder that protest and organising works. Next we need to fight to abolish fees, cuts and debt in education.”

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Nevertheless, a significant minority of students were unaware of the sale. Harry Bush, a first year chemist at Merton, commented, “Being perfectly honest, I had no idea of the government’s plans to sell off student loans. However, to me, changing their minds so often seems like another concrete case of the coalition crumbling. The important thing to me is that the students that require the money are getting it, and as long as that is at the forefront of the reversal of the decision then so be it.”

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OUSU Vice President for Academic Affairs James Blythe shared his views in the light of the Liberal Democrat leadership’s announcement:

Theodora Dickinson, Chair of Oxford and Abingdon Conservative Future, spoke otherwise about the decision though, telling Cherwell, “Vince Cable has once again proved that the Liberal Democrats are incapable of sticking to a single policy, and are incapable of being trusted. This is clearly a calculated move to attempt to regain the student vote lost after Nick Clegg’s broken promise on tuition fees, and I hope that students see it as such. The taxpayer is currently losing forty percent of money lent through the scheme, so it is clearly imperative that something changes. The Conservative Party remains committed to cutting taxes, and therefore oppose Labour’s proposed Graduate Tax, a policy which would in effect act retroactively on existing debtors.”

Cable announced that his party no longer supported the sale of student loan debt, on the basis that it would not be effective in reducing government debt, at the Social Liberal Forum, an internal pressure group within the Liberal Democrats.

The party had initially supported the sale as part of a wider programme of privatising state assets, including Royal Mail, in order to increase government income.  Their Conservative coalition partners have yet to publically comment on the matter, suggesting that they continue to support the sale.

Brookes beat Jesus College in University Challenge round one

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Oxford Brookes University beat the team from Jesus College, Oxford in the second episode of University Challenge Season 2014/2015. Jesus College reached only 120 points, 10 fewer than Brookes’ 130. 

St Anne’s College student Naomi Barker called the episode “tense” on Facebook, as the two Oxford based teams went head to head in the first round of the competition earlier this evening. Paula Ayres from the Oxford Brookes team also took to social media after the match, asking her Twitter followers:

Business consultant Ian McLaughlan from Staffordshire wrote:

This was the first game of the current series to feature an Oxford University college. Whilst Jesus College have not won the competition since 1986, the combined wins of all Oxford colleges is 15. Oxford Brookes have yet to win a series of University Challenge. 

The competition, which sees students from different universities and Oxbridge colleges answering general knowledge questions to win points, is hosted by journalist Jeremy Paxman, and is currently in its 44th series.

Next week the University of Bristol will face the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

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★★★☆☆
Three Stars

Like the apes of the title, first impressions of this big-budget blockbuster suggest an exercise in simplicity, yet on closer inspection it reveals high minded concerns lurking just beneath the surface. Arriving midway through the summer blockbuster season, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to 2011’s surprise smash Rise of the Planet of the Apes, departs from the traditional action movie formula by featuring a large ensemble cast and non-human protagonists. The subtlety of the film’s examination of the precarious co-existence of differing groups of people is refreshing, and though this is supported by great work from its director, motion capture cast and effects team, the film ends up an uneasy marriage of social commentary and blockbuster bravado thanks to its undercooked narrative.

The plot concerns itself with two societies living side by side after an outbreak of “simian flu” has wiped out untold millions of people. Surviving in a San Francisco mall is a depleted human community led by Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus, whilst in the mountains to the north of the city, Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, leads a fledgling tribe of apes who have developed primitive language, weapons and organisation. The film follows both groups as tensions mount and internal conflicts threaten the balance of power as the humans attempt to restore a hydroelectric dam deep in ape territory, whilst fears amongst the apes regarding human motivations give rise to an opportunist coup.

That the film can be enjoyed as a populist blockbuster or as an allegory of the tensions of colonialism and Western foreign policy is a testament to an ambitious script. However, director Matt Reeve’s interest in the social commentary occasionally threatens to derail the film’s pace, particularly in the second act, when the internal power struggles that lead to the inevitable Simian coup mire the plot in repetitive confrontations between Caesar and his rival, Koba. Furthermore, the human cast are saddled with embarrassingly transparent scenes which attempt to add depth to their characters by spelling out motivations and backstories which do little but thematically underline the more interesting simian sub-plots, whilst characters are introduced who serve no purpose but to antagonise the apes and thus unnecessarily complicate the plot. Moreover, the disappearance of two central human characters midway through the third act serves to further negate the presence of these vaguely drawn human stories. Ultimately however, the time invested in establishing the precariousness of Caesar’s power pays off in a satisfying, though, by blockbuster standards, surprisingly intimate finale where the majority of the human and simian story strands combine to deliver a poignant and violent resolution, even if the ending feels more like an attempt to artificially extend the franchise than to conclude the story sincerely.

From the opening close-up of Caesar’s determined gaze to the climactic crowd scenes of hundreds of charging apes, the success of the film is inseparable from the convincingness of its effects, and thankfully they’re mostly successful. The opening 15 minutes, amongst the film’s most compelling, are carried entirely and effortlessly by motion captured characters, and the combination of jaw-droppingly real CGI and great performances gradually reveal the relationships, personalities and emotions of the well differentiated primates, who are never less than entirely convincing on screen. That Reeves allows the film’s emotional climax to play almost entirely in close ups of two motion captured characters speaks to the strengths of both the actors and the effects team; that it works is even more surprising. Devoting so much time to the intelligent and complex internal struggles of these characters brings out their emerging humanity, allowing the climactic showdown featuring hordes of machine gun totting chimps to never seem too ridiculous. 

Regarding the performances, Serkis leads an incredible motion capture cast who ground the apes with a human expressiveness that never seems incongruous. Every glance and facial twitch registers on Caesar’s face, perfectly expressing his conflicting desires. Elsewhere Nick Thurston delivers a soulful performance as Blue Eyes, Caesar’s son, bringing life to a stock coming-of-age arc by imbuing his character with palpable anger and indecision. Toby Kebbel also shines as Koba, creating a formidable and fearsome villain that is nevertheless grounded in understandable frustration. It’s unfortunate then that such strong simian performances are not matched by the uninspiring human cast. The greatest weakness is Jason Clarke’s bland performance as the human lead, which feels ineffectual and often seems lost amongst the special effects. Elsewhere, Gary Oldman cashes a cheque in a throwaway role that feels unnecessarily expanded to justify his presence, whilst Keri Russell is hampered by a part that allows her to do little else than express concern, in a film that values its female characters solely by their nurturing instincts. Of the humans, only Kodi Smit-McPhee delivers a credible turn in a supporting role as a sweet-natured teen who crosses the man-ape divide.

Like most blockbusters then, the human drama of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes does little to engage audiences, but instead it differentiates itself from the pack by offering up fascinating insights and a complex, biblical family drama that unfolds amongst a cast of faultlessly realised non-human characters. Disappointingly however, the film’s quietly pacifistic message seems at odds with the sheer joy it knowingly engineers in such scenes, like a rampaging monkey driving a tank through the centre of San Francisco. Ultimately though, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes succeeds on its sheer dedication to subverting expectations, engaging the mind and heart even as it capitulates to the bombastic conventions of more generic summer fare.

Hertfordians begin Oxford to Venice fundraising bike-ride

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To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Hertford’s iconic Bridge of Sighs, college students, staff and alumni are taking part in a cycle ride to its namesake in Venice, raising money for student support; access, bursaries and scholarships.

Over 100 Hertfordians completed the first phase – the 100 miles from Oxford to Portsmouth – with thirty-two expected to complete the entire course to Venice over eleven days. Hertford College Principal Will Hutton confirmed that the £250,000 fundraising target had been exceeded.

Cherwell was on the scene as Hertford cheered off its riders under the Bridge of Sighs on Saturday morning.

Oxford Playhouse begins major refurbishment

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The Oxford Playhouse Theatre has launched a project to significantly update its facilities. The refurbishment will cost £700,000 of which over half will come from the Arts Council’s Small Capital Fund. 

The upstairs circle bar will be moved to the centre of the circle to facilitate the movement of people. Interim Director, Polly Cole, commented, “it makes more sense for it to be in the centre because you come up both sides. It will also be larger so we can serve more people.”

There will also be a major change to the auditorium, last updated in 1996. Cole observed that at the moment “the seating is worn, the fixtures are collapsing… some of the seats collapse so we have to check them between shows to make sure they are fit for purpose. The carpet is horrendously worn. It is currently held together with gaffer tape.”

Other modernizations will include replacing the air conditioning system, refurbishing the downstairs foyer bar and replacing leather stools with fabric. However, Cole was keen to assure regular theatregoers that “the look of it [the theatre] will be very similar, it will change slightly.”

It is thought that 150,000 people go the Playhouse every year. The Playhouse also has a strong relation with student drama, offering two performance slots a term for student productions.

The work will take place for one month every summer for the next three years. The theatre is currently closed until the 18th of August.

Review: Great Britain

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British theatre very rarely takes political drama seriously. Most of the political drama featured on our stages takes a decided bent towards the satirical and the farcical. The only real way for our dramatists to decry the corrupt and the incompetent in the British public sector, it seems, is to render them laughably ridiculous, and Great Britain, currently showing at the National Theatre, is no exception. The National Theatre is, after all, known for the development of these satirical works – over the last forty years, the bill has included works like The National Health, Pravda, and This House.

The announcement of Great Britain – written by Richard Bean, author of the National Theatre’s smash hit One Man, Two Guvnors – about two weeks ago came as a bit of a shock to both the theatre world and the public. Having been cast and rehearsed in complete secret since before Easter, the play focuses on the rise and fall of a tabloid newspaper, and decries – amongst a vast range of transgressions –Page Three, phone hacking, police corruption, and political skulduggery. Almost every sphere of public life is examined and found wanting.

The need for secrecy during production and development is clear – the announcement came as Andy Coulson’s trial for phone hacking, and by extension, the Leveson Inquiry, drew to a close. Had the play been publicised before the end of the legal process, its creators might well have been indicted for contempt of court. As it is, the timing of the play makes it so topical as to inevitably render it a box-office success. The astute references to the current cultural and political climate make it irresistibly entertaining to an audience of intelligentsia who like to consider themselves in the know. Multimedia meme-style videos of the Police Commissioner’s public apologies and attempts at redemption recall the autotuned Nick Clegg “Apology Song”. The horsey senior editor who has no idea what is actually going on in her offices is a clear stab at Rebekah Brooks, ex-editor of the now-defunct News of the World. The editor-turned media guru to the Prime Minister mirrors David Cameron’s disastrous misstep of appointing Coulson to the very same position.

These references are funny, but I can’t help but feel that the play overall is lazy. It is only too easy to cruise along on the ludicrousness of actual events, without offering any insight or solution to the ensuing chaos. Billie Piper – of Doctor Who and Secret Diary of a Call-Girl fame – is surprisingly unengaging to watch, despite being billed as the star of the show. It could just be that her character – the ruthlessly ambitious and uncompromising sub-editor who will do anything to catch a story – is so relentlessly unlikeable, but Piper herself does little to make the character multi-faceted, instead playing her on one villainous note. Perhaps my personal dislike for asides has coloured my enjoyment of the script – but it takes far more skill and is ultimately more engaging for a playwright to gradually reveal motivations and relationships through dialogue rather than mounting them as occasional explain-all monologues directed at the audience.

The design is glossy and flexible, with sliding glass partitions which reveal variously the police commissioner’s home, the newspaper offices and even the Ivy restaurant. The use of multimedia and projection is one of the play’s strongest points, and parodies of national newspapers (“The Guardener” which carries the subtitle ‘We think so you don’t have to’, and “The Mail”, which only ever features headlines about immigrants) are one of the main sources of laughter. Supporting cast members – such as Oliver Chris, as the Vice-Commissioner who compromises his own moral code so severely that he feels obliged to bring himself to a sticky end –  give excellent performances, and the overall feel of the play is high-powered and glossy.

The National Theatre’s choice to commission a play about the corruption of the press is an interesting one. Pravda, written by David Hare and Howard Brenton, focuses on a similar topic, although its specific subject matter is a thinly-veiled parody of Rupert Murdoch’s ascension to power over Fleet Street, whereas Great Britain’s Murdoch-figure has already made it in the newspaper business, and is now aiming at an approximation of the BskyB bid. Personally I think that Hare’s version is more witty and more skilfully constructed, however, whilst Pravda was hugely successful during the immediate aftermath of Murdoch’s rise, it is now largely obsolete as a political play, because times have moved on. Though Great Britain is entertaining now, its power to amuse is rooted firmly in the present.

Watch Great Britain like you might read Private Eye – as an immediately amusing construction rather than as a lasting masterpiece of writing.   

 

Review: The Alchemist

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★★★★★
Five Stars

When Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist was first staged in 1610 in a small room of an indoor playhouse in Blackfriars, London was something of a ghost town. Plague had hit the city, driving out everyone with money enough to afford the journey. Much of the play’s plot relies on this fact, and an atmosphere of debauchery coupled with a ‘cat’s away’ attitude are integral to the play’s success.

It was a similar atmosphere which filled an Oxford now almost bereft of students as I made my way to Freud’s to watch this OUDS production at the start of what I shall never refer to as 12th week. Oxford University Drama Society has big plans for The Alchemist – Edinburgh Fringe-shaped plans – and this three-night run in Oxford was the perfect chance for them truly to test their mettle.

The play’s programme promises to fuse Jonson’s script “with music and dance”, in “a vibrantly physical and shamelessly fun production” and sure enough, the music is prominent from the start and creates a tense and lively atmosphere throughout, keeping the action moving along swiftly.

Physicality, too, is quickly evident. Leo Suter’s Subtle is stark naked as the play opens, hidden only by a shower curtain as Georgia Bruce’s Face threatens to throw his clothes out of the window – “Believe’t, I will!”

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It is this air of fun and enjoyment which pervades the entire performance, to the benefit of the play. It is clear throughout that each and every one of the cast is having a great time, and this rubs off considerably on the audience, which laughs its way through every farcical scene and humorous aside.

Face is a butler who has been left alone in his master’s house, and has gathered his allies in crime, Subtle and Dol Common, to con the city’s fools out of their money. This results in numerous changes of identity for all three main characters, which they handle expertly. Bruce is magnificent as Face, always remaining calm and in control, while never letting her disguise slip.

Suter is almost as good as Subtle, who pretends to be the titular alchemist, putting on many different voices for each of his targets, each more ridiculous than the last.

OUDS has clearly had a lot of fun with casting as well. Numerous characters have their genders changed from the original script, while some characters are just played by actors of different gender. Howard Coase is wonderfully deceptive as the prostitute Dol. All this confusion of identity, increased by a misleading presentation of the cast list in the programme (which suggests that the cast may shuffle around in future performances), contributes to the atmosphere of deception and trickery.

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Each member of the cast delivers a stellar performance, and as such it seems cruel to pick any out, but special mention must go to Connie Greenfield’s Mammon. Sir Epicure Mammon wants Subtle to make the philosopher’s stone for him, and believes he has tricked the doctor into thinking that he’ll use it for good, charitable works. Greenfield portrays the character’s malicious naÑ—vety brilliantly, excelling further as Mammon’s lecherous side emerges.

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It might have been nice to receive some of the dance we were promised, as a few of the scene changes feel a little sluggish in comparison with the rest of the fast-paced action, but as the production becomes more polished, this is surely a problem which will soon be rectified.

In all, this is a very solid production, filled with brilliantly delivered one-liners, metatheatrical hilarity and the very best in physical comedy. You have not lived until you’ve seen Ed Barr-Sim as Abel Drugger pursuing another character across stage while doing an impression of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Open letter criticises London Student closure

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Several prominent journalists, including The Independent‘s Editor-in-chief Amol Rajan, have signed an open letter criticising the decision of the University of London to stop funding the London Student newspaper as “an affront to free thought”.

The open letter, published in The Guardian, has been signed by London Student alumni; academic staff at University of London colleges and a number of professional journalists.

London Student is the student newspaper of the University of London Union (ULU), and has existed in its current form since 1979. The university has had a student-run newspaper, funded by the University, since the 1920s.

The newspaper claims to be the largest in Europe, with over 12,000 editions of the newspaper printed each fortnight during term time although the Norwegian student newspaper Universitas also makes this claim and has a circulation of 17,000 copies.

The letter is signed by 17 former editors of the newspaper, as well as academic staff from various constituent colleges of the University of London and Imperial College London, which became independent from the University of London in 2007.

The letter was also signed by professional journalists, including Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior economics commentator at The Guardian, Alexi Duggins, Editor-at-large of Time Out, Henry Langston, Editor of Vice News UK, Laurie Penny, author and contributing editor at the New Statesman, and The Independent‘s Rajan.

In the open letter, it is claimed that “there are political overtones to the university’s abrupt planned closure of the newspaper”. The letter also adds that, “London Student is one of the few student-led outlets where students can learn and exercise the critical skills they will need to challenge orthodoxy and power; shutting it down is an affront to free and radical thought on campuses, and is an insult to future generations of students.”

The letter ends by demanding that university management “reconsider the scrapping of such an important and valued institution”.

The newspaper will ceased to be funded by the University of London at the end of this year, as part of the restructuring of ULU, which is having its sabbatical officer positions abolished and is transferring it services and facilities to a ‘student centre’, to be run by the University. 

The decision to close ULU came as a result of a review of the federal students’ union undertaken by the University last year, following concerns raised by a number of College Students’ Unions about ULU. The report concluded that ULU had largely outlived its usefulness. However, funding for London Student, which is published by ULU, was not discussed in the report.

Following the decision to close ULU, University of London Union president Michael Chessum requested that university managers provide a one-off payment of £54,000 spread across the university’s 19 constituent colleges, so that the newspaper would have time to secure alternative backing.

In a meeting last week, the Vice Chancellors of Colleges turned down the request for funding, with the final decision going to a meeting of the University Trustees on 16 July.

The newspaper has previously published stories that have been picked up by national newspapers. In 2006, London Student published a story exposing that the Mail on Sunday had offered student reporters money to record meetings of student Islamic societies, following the 7 July 2005 London Bombings. The paper also revealed that the leaving party of UCL’s provost Malcolm Grant had cost the college more than £17,000.

London Student also experienced controversy, in 2013, when its annual election for editor was rerun, following complaints that the newspaper had been bias in its coverage of the election. The controversy centred on a ‘Random Facts’ section of the newspaper’s ‘Election Special’, which described one of the candidates, Katie Lathan, who was a deputy editor of the London Student at the time, as possessing “over 20 nominations from teams and societies across the University of London”. Meanwhile, another candidate, Oscar Webb, was described as never having “been involved with London Student.” Webb was eventually elected editor unopposed in the rerun of the election, after Lathan withdrew.

In a statement, President of ULU Michael Chessum, said, “The University of London is engaged in an act of vandalism against organisations and activities that have taken students decades to build up. It costs peanuts to fund London Student, and it is profoundly sad that Vice Chancellors will not put forward funding for a vital source of community, news and scrutiny – but then of course, why would they?”

Oscar Webb, the current London Student Editor, said, “London Student has been a necessary and valuable asset to the University for the past 60 years. As we’ve seen recently with the examples of the Garden Halls and some of the special collections, the current management at UoL seem intent on selling-off this legacy.”

Max Needham, a student at Royal Holloway, commented, “To be honest, I don’t think many ordinary students will miss it. Most of the colleges have great newspapers anyway, which are more relevant to those who read them. At Royal Holloway we have The Founder and The Orbital, which have always been far more interesting than the London Student with their focus on events more local to our community. They often cover the big University of London stories anyway.”

From Bridge to Berghain

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My arbitrary approach towards choosing a post-exams holiday destination with friends (closing my eyes whilst hovering my finger over Easyjet’s map of student-budget friendly destinations, and letting it land of its own accord), resulted in a rather un-exotic choice- my finger had straddled both the Netherlands and Germany. In fact, ‘holiday’, which presupposes the take-up of a sluggish mode, on a sun-soaked golden beach, isn’t quite what springs to mind when thinking about my trip to Amsterdam and Berlin- though we did come across some pop-up, city beach hangouts.

Spending the few weeks beforehand swotting away for prelims with stringy, matted hair, to then sweat away in the coffee shops of Amsterdam and techno coves of Berlin, I realise that only now that I am back on my sofa, has my true break begun.

Our trip started with a ten hour overnight coach from London to Amsterdam, which was made even more insufferable by the James Blunt hits on repeat, and a coach driver bent on keeping us all awake with his incessant commentaries and travel updates. Amsterdam was a gridlock of trams and bikes, which helped keep us on our toes, though our sleep-deprived selves weren’t up for anything more cultural than a wander round the notorious Red Light District. As dusk fell, the neon red lights beaming from above the glass windows cast an almost romantic glow on the canal, though this scenic moment was punctured as soon as we passed the swarm of stag doers all queuing for the live sex shows.
Later that evening, we received an invite to a house party on the other side of the city. Although in hindsight, we should have listened to the throbbing of our heavy eyelids sensibly telling us to go to bed and wake up refreshed for a day of cultural sight-seeing, our curiosities had been aroused – and fatigue set aside – by the rumoured indoor Jacuzzi (which turned out, disappointingly, to be an ordinary sized bathtub with jets). Spending all of next day sleeping in from a hangover that was not worth our while, we vowed to ignore further lures of embellished house parties where spliffs masqueraded as Gatsby-like cigars.
Instead, we went to ‘Trouw’, Amsterdam’s go-to club for house and techno fans. We experienced momentary panic when the two guys in front of us in the queue were turned away for being unable to name a single DJ on the setlist, though we later put this rejection down to the crispness of their white shirts and emerging bald patches. Inside, the converted printing factory dripped with cool- from the neon lights illuminating the stripped-back, metal framework to the rugged bartender who tried, not very hard, to conceal his judgement as he handed over our jagerbombs. Sandwiched between the cloakroom and toilets was even a kiosk selling paninis and pastries, where we who hadn’t taken various hunger-stalling narcotics could sate our worked-up appetites.
Berlin was more of a city of extremes, heightened by the rapidity of public transport, which took us within minutes from the gleaming, consumerist mecca of Kurfürstendamm, where an equally polished and well-manicured crowd swarmed the streets, to the grubbier Kreuzberg crawling with unwashed party-goers and squatters. Uniting the contrasts however, is a distinctive and notable culture of graffiti and established street artists, whose work, strewn across the city’s walled canvases, form individual narratives when pieced together, as a tour guide informed us.
Even more memorable than the street art was my experience of the infamous Berghain, whose cavernous interior pulsated from the techno-pumping sound system, quite unlike any I had ever experienced. The former power plant was a foreign entity of its own- there was no VIP area, for starters, nor were there any mirrors in the toilets. Scoops of ice cream were served to glassy-eyed ravers at the bar and photography was strictly prohibited, for reasons I came to understand as I walked past the booths of hedonistic activity on the ground floor, my gaze sliding over all the bare bottoms.
Even so, I still don’t quite know if this “transcendental experience”, as a friend called it, is worth the three hour queue and risk of rejection from the dream-shattering bouncer Sven, whose barbed wire face tattoo even amplifies the club’s guarded nature.
‘Alone in Berlin’ was how I had felt at first, having endured a blossoming romance play out right in front of me between the guy and girl opposite on the train, whose ping-ponging side glances and accidental arm brushes culminated in an exchange of phone numbers. But by our last night, the Germany v. Brazil match had been a bonding experience with the euphoric German fans, and a fitting end to the trip. Like the stamina of Berliners for clubbing into the lunch hours, Germany’s stamina on the pitch could not be rivalled, even by the mighty Brazil. 

Doctor Who – A Prognosis

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Doctor Who is back next month. True, it returns in the wake of a string of media scandals, including the unfortunate accidental release of five scripts on a public server, as well as leaked footage of the new cast in action… but this is hardly surprising. The widespread demand for scraps of what is to come only serves to demonstrate the sheer popularity of this exciting, fast-paced family show that, since its relaunch in 2005, has timelessly captured the hearts of millions; adults and children alike. Even amidst the ever-changing format of the show, the sheer importance of the Doctor and his companion remains constant.

There was almost a touch of Bond about Christopher Eccleston, who reintroduced the role of the Doctor to the British viewing public for the first time in 15 years. Though undoubtedly there was a reputation to maintain, the main priority for the pilot episode was to translate the Doctor into a modern, 21st Century setting; with a touch of leather and significant technical upgrades, Eccleston fulfilled this perfectly. His role was hugely complimented by having the young, working-class shop assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) by his side. Straight out of a London council estate, this loveable, raw character, along with her mother Jackie and boyfriend Mickey, truly manifested the idea that adventures can come to anyone, anywhere. Between them, these characters made the show instantly accessible to its audience (Daleks and aliens aside).

It seemed, however, that perhaps the pressure on the production team to do justice to the show’s tremendous legacy became a little too much behind closed doors. Eccleston resigned after just one series, declaring that he resented the on-set “politics” and shameful behaviour of senior staff members towards those they managed. The first appearance of the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, was underpinned by a host of very different pressures. The show was already hugely successful; with a BAFTA under its belt, it had singlehandedly redefined “family-orientated Saturday night drama”. Now the pressure was to do justice to the character Eccleston had created.

There were sceptics; not only was Tennant’s “look” and styling a very drastic change, but his performance of the role was perhaps a little more light-hearted and humorous in comparison to Eccleston’s. Within months, however, any cynicism had dissipated. Tennant not only managed to retain – if not amplify – the public’s love of the Doctor, but managed to do so whilst completely reshaping and tailoring the role to suit his own strengths and quirks. He evolved the Ninth Doctor’s relationship with Rose, which in turn drew out previously unseen colours in her character, keeping the role fresh. The series emphasised, for the most part, stand-alone episodes rather than a broader narrative-arc over the entire run (with the exception of the final few episodes); this made the show unpredictable, rich and multi-faceted, enticing new viewers throughout. The viewing public were sad to see Rose go, but, undoubtedly, the nice thing about both Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) was that, once again, they were strong, accessible characters, the likes of which one could meet every day. Donna also reintroduced an age variable to the companions that had been recently lacking.

When Tennant announced his departure from the show in 2008, he was quoted as saying, “If I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair.” Widespread mourning ensued. At the time, the bookies seemed to anticipate big changes to the role, with Paterson Joseph, David Morrissey and John Simm amongst those most backed by Paddy Power.

And this is where, I believe, things started to go wrong.

As Matt Smith was unveiled as the Eleventh Doctor, executive producer Steven Moffat asserted that the casting directors were “[blown] away with [his] bold and brand new take on the Time Lord”. Eyebrows were raised; whereas the disparity between Eccleston and Tennant had incited scepticism before, the uncanny similarity between the latter and Smith was inciting it now. It seemed that even the BBC was not ready to let Tennant go.

The acting wasn’t hugely dissimilar either. Though Smith’s youth was emphasised as being something new, it seemed as though straws were being grasped at, and many would argue that this therefore became a little overplayed. Undoubtedly Smith is a wonderful actor and would have been a fantastic contender against Tennant for the second series, but having them appear consecutively began to draw out a touch of monotony. The screenwriting didn’t help. Since Russell T. Davies left the show, it’s as though it has been seized by screenwriters who know too muchabout Doctor Who; the internet fan-fiction type that analyses the science of every episode down into micro detail. The episodes no longer stand alone; the subplots knitting them tenuously together have become confusing even to adult viewers. As the end credits roll, only a fraction of us are left in awe; the rest of us are left frantically trying to clarify exactly what just happened.

As for companions, Amy and Rory were great. We hadn’t had a male companion around since Mickey in the first series, and the three characters complimented each other well. But Clara Oswald? She is no Rose, Martha or Donna; she is not identifiable, and even those who made it to the end of the last series remain confused as to where exactly she came from, or fits in. The fact that she is presented as entirely flawless does not help. At times it’s hard to see her as anything more than a token love-interest thrown in for the Doctor.

But finally, we are about to meet a Doctor who can perhaps bring out a side of her we haven’t seen. Peter Capaldi is certainly unlike any Doctor we have seen in the show since the relaunch. He is closer to the original vision of the character; older and wiser, more of a power figure. Finally, after the chaos of the last few series, it looks like BBC have taken to the drawing board and cast a retrospective look back at Doctor Who as it used to be when it first aired in 1963. Hopefully, it’s not too late.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One on Saturday 23rd August.