Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:42 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Gridlock by Russell T Davies
SERIAL: PB3, 3.3, 1X45 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
While New Earth was a sequel that wasn't required to The End of the World, it left one element up in the air: the Face of Boe and the message he is supposed to give the Doctor. In order to seed the elements of the return of a famous adversary later in the season, Russell T Davies needed to bring the Face of Boe back to deliver his final message, and that means coming back to New Earth...
The Doctor agrees to take Martha to another planet, but when she suggests his home planet, the Doctor takes her to New Earth instead. However, the streets of New New York are dirty, mood sellers infest the streets, and Martha gets kidnapped by a couple who are desperate to get on the fast lane. The flyways of New New York are in gridlock, filled with pollution...and something else lurks below, feeding off the pollution, and anyone who gets in the fast lane. Why is everyone in a gridlock that has lasted for over two decades, and nobody in authority had tried to help? What creatures lurk in the smog? And what does the Face of Boe have to do with it?
Gridlock isn't too bad a story, in theory. It's got some nice ideas in it, but it fails in the execution, being remarkably singular without enough style. I'm surprised more wasn't made of the mood sellers, and the insular character of the drivers in the gridlock seems to be rather silly. More would have tried to get off the flyways more than coming on, even with the nature of New New York's Undercity. And while bringing back the Macra (last seen in the sadly missing 1967 story The Macra Terror) was a nice touch, they were used as a rather generic monster rather than the cunning controllers they were in their debut story. We also see more into the Doctor's reluctance to let go of Gallifrey as it used to be. The Face of Boe's message is suitably enigmatic, however, and plays into the later episodes.
The regulars, as usual, are done fairly well. But I have to confess that the characters in this story are one of the weaker areas. As mentioned above, the flyway drivers are altogether too insular and stupid, at least collectively, to be believable, although the efforts of the actors (with particular praise to Ardal O'Hanlon as Brannigan) at least make them watchable. However, it's nice to see Anna Hope's Novice Hame on the road to redemption.
If I could name a major problem with Gridlock, other than the story deficiencies, it is too much conspicuous CGI. While the flying cars aren't too bad, the Macra, key monsters to the story, look very unconvincing, and it says a lot that the original prop seen in The Macra Terror is more convincing than the CGI monstrosities. CGI has become the new CSO, and when used badly, like bad CSO, it is extremely conspicuous.
Gridlock isn't bad, it just falls below the norm I expect for the series. Here, Davies has mistaken sentiment and spectacle for decent characterisation and entertainment. Not too bad, but in the end, it's just a vehicle to foreshadow what's to come...
SCORE: 7.5/10
And now, the next time trailers for Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks...
Oh, and by the way, here's a Macra as it appeared in the original serial The Macra Terror...
And how they look in the new series...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
-Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series
(No longer a mod)
Last edited by Quatermass on Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:46 am; edited 1 time in total
The weakest part of Smith and Jones is the writing. It is clearly mostly a vehicle to introduce Martha, and while that part of the story is done fine, the alien subplot is rather weak, involving the monolithic and quite frankly boring Judoon. Visually, they are striking, but with the exception of an incident where they give Martha a compensation ticket, very one-dimensional and dull. The other elements don't quite gel, and the story is rather staid.
In the end, Smith and Jones isn't the best of introductions for the new companion. A better 'alien' story might have made it good, but it falls below the par of[i] Doctor Who.
I think you've just missed the genius of such an episode myself. That very dull plot is kinda the point. It's a police investigation, a very metaphors of the dull middle class penpushing lifestyle Martha may very well find herself in, only with alien constables. The Doctor is the comparison, the escape route. The entrepreneur to Martha's Doctor
Then you see three characters trying to avoid the Judoon. Characters being something RTD writes very well & does better than events. The Judoon may be the aliens, the toy selling but the fact is episode wise they're no more important than the hospital staff were earlier. I don't think any plot changes could change that fact.
In an introductory episode, the plot should never overshadow the character. So I don't think I'd want the Judoon to have a bigger role.
I do however find it a pity the judoon had no introduction before (or plot of their own since)
You mention an over use of CGI in the series. I'd agree. I recall saying at the time of broadcast that this was the case. They seem to be avoiding model effects like the plague, probably due to cost. I reckon 42 missed them the most - with the sun facing ship side shots.
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:18 am Post subject:
You'd be surprised where they do use model shots. Both the spaceship crashing through Big Ben in Aliens of London and some of the barrage balloons in The Empty Child were models. In fact, if you look closely at the Big Ben crash sequence, the clock face on Big Ben is the wrong way around. That's because the model filming crashed the spaceship in at the wrong angle, and so they flipped the film.
And by the way, you are reading far too much into Smith and Jones. My reviews are based primarily on entertainment value, not on the deeper themes. They merely add to the entertainment, if they work well enough.
I'm postponing reviewing more of the classic series until perhaps June or July. Hopefully, I can wait until Death to the Daleks comes out. The next ones coming out on DVD are as follows:
The Face of Evil
The Daemons (really looking forward to this one It's my favourite Pertwee story)
Nightmare of Eden
Dragonfire/The Happiness Patrol
Death to the Daleks
Once I finish the third series, maybe I might continue with the fourth series, all the way up to series 6. Depends on my motivation.
Anyway, I'll watch Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks before long. _________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:12 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks by Helen Raynor
SERIAL: PB4, 3.4/3.5, 2X45 minute episodes
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
During the events of The Chase, both the Doctor and the Daleks briefly landed in the Empire State Building, much to the bemused delight of Southerner Morton Dill. It was perhaps inevitable, then, that the series would go back to New York, and to the Empire State Building. This two-part story promises much, but will it deliver?
New York, 1930. The Doctor and Martha arrive during the Great Depression, and the near-completion of the Empire State Building. In the Central Park shantytown of Hooverville, people are going missing. So too are people working in the sewers, and in the Empire State Building. A foreman-turned-businessman, Mr Diagoras, is involved, but he too has his masters. The Cult of Skaro now resides beneath the Empire State Building. The last Daleks in existence, they have an audacious plan to survive. Their leader, Dalek Sec, is about to do the unthinkable: hybridise humans with Daleks...
I've heard that this story cops a lot of flack from some elements of the fandom. While there are many elements that I consider bogus (especially the very non-scientific use of gamma radiation and the arsepull used for the ending, not to mention the cliched dialogue used at times), there are many elements to commend this story. Humanised Daleks had been used before (in The Evil of the Daleks), but this is the first time that they have deliberately done so. The themes of the Depression, as well as falling to a bad low (for both the Daleks and the Hooverville residents) are done fine enough, and the cliffhanger's last lines are on a par with those of part 2 of The Tomb of the Cybermen.
The characters are fine enough. The regular characters do fine, as always. Tallulah may seem stereotypical at first, but she is scripted well, and while Miranda Raison's diction is annoying, she is nonetheless a decent actress. Ryan Carnes acting through a mask is rather more convincing as Laszlo. Solomon seems a bit like the stereotype of the 'Magical African American', but it's not too bad, and Hugh Quarshie doesn't do too bad a job. However, the real star is Eric Loren. Although his Diagoras seems rather like a stereotypical quisling of the Daleks, an arrogant snot in a suit, it is when he is transformed into the humanised Dalek Sec that Loren's skill as an actor shines forth, managing to embue humanity into Sec, without making him seem like less of a Dalek.
The story is very lavish-looking, so the less decent points about it are more noticeable. While the CGI Daleks work well, unfortunately, Dalek Sec enveloping Diagoras looks rather fake, and the animatronic head used for humanised Dalek Sec never quite convinces me to the degree that it should. You'd think that two or so decades after animatronics first appeared in Doctor Who (in 1981's The Visitation, I think), there would be considerable advances in making it more convincing. As it is, Eric Loren is more convincing acting than his mask. The pig hybrids are decently realised, but are a rather generic monster for the series.
This story could have been better, but really, it's not that bad. Just some really dodgy story telling in the second part that could have been fixed with a decent rewrite, but otherwise, it works...
SCORE: 8.5/10
And now, the next time trailer for The Lazarus Experiment...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:26 am Post subject:
REVIEW: The Lazarus Experiment by Stephen Greenhorn
SERIAL: PB3, 3.6, 1X45 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
Until the new series, only two people could claim to have both written for Doctor Who, and acted in it. Victor Pemberton script-edited for Patrick Troughton's era, as well as writing Fury from the Deep and the Fourth Doctor LP adventure, The Pescatons, as well as being an extra in The Moonbase. Glyn Jones wrote The Space Museum, and would later appear as Krans in The Sontaran Experiment. Mark Gatiss not only wrote the previous seasons' The Unquite Dead and The Idiot's Lantern, but also wrote Doctor Who novels like Nightshade, St Anthony's Fire, and Last of the Gaderene. Having proved his acting chops from drama (such as the 2005 remake of The Quatermass Experiment, which featured pre-Who David Tennant) to comedy (The League of Gentlemen, and more than one spoof Doctor Who sketch), Gatiss was about to live a childhood dream: playing a role in Doctor Who, and joining an elite club in the process...
Taking Martha back to her time, the day after she left with him, the Doctor is ready to leave when he hears that Martha's sister, Tish, is currently working under Professor Richard Lazarus, who promises to change what it means to be human. Intrigued, the Doctor and Martha arrive to witness an astounding event: using a special device with sonic waves, Lazarus, a 76 year old man, is returned to youth. But the process didn't go smoothly. While the Doctor and Martha discover that Lazarus is mutating into a monster, Martha's family is disturbed by her association with a total stranger like the Doctor, and Francine, Martha's mother, is being told by someone that the Doctor is a threat. Can Lazarus be stopped, when the price of his immortality is paid in the blood of others?
The Lazarus Experiment is one of the best stories of the season: a villain with sympathetic motives, an exploration of the Doctor's views on immortality, and an exploration of how he might be viewed by the family of his companions. We also get the first, firm inkling of Mr Saxon, despite allusions earlier in the series, and how he seems set on causing the Doctor hell, first by funding Lazarus' experiment, and then by turning Francine Jones, already suspicious of the Doctor, against him, using her love for Martha. If you'll forgive the lame and spoiler-ridden pun, it's something of a Masterstroke. Elements of The Quatermass Experiment can be seen, particularly in the climax, as well as the Doctor discussing the perils of immortality in previous stories like The Brain of Morbius, The Five Doctors, or School Reunion. It's a simple story in the end, a tried and tested Doctor VS monster of the week formula, but an thoroughly enjoyable one with a climax well signposted, compared to some arsepulls from other stories.
The characters are key to bringing this story above the norm. David Tennant's Doctor is well on form here, both sympathising with Lazarus' plight and condemning his actions, bringing forward all the sadness of the centuries-old Time Lord. Freema Agyeman is fine as Martha, though it is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Tish and Adjoa Andoh as Francine who deserve particular praise, particularly the latter, who made Francine have all the deserved angst of a mother looking out for her child. Mark Gatiss as Lazarus is a wonder, showing his experience for working under prosthetics from The League of Gentlemen, and while there are some times when he is a little too hammy, he nonetheless makes Lazarus a sympathetic, but still vile, adversary.
Production wise, this is where the story starts to show a few cracks. The filming is excellent, and the locations are quite good, with the Welsh Assembly Senedd impressively being plausible as the foyer for Lazarus' laboratories. But the biggest letdown is the creature Lazarus turns into. The design itself is excellent, and wouldn't look out of place in either Doctor Who or Resident Evil, for that matter. But the CGI is rather blatant, especially around the face, making it look less like a special effect and more like something they pulled from a video game instead, and unfortunately, for a story that revolves so much around the creature, it does bring things down a bit.
The Lazarus Experiment is an enjoyable and high quality episode in this series, foreshadowing things to come, but enjoyable enough in its own right. A bit of dodgy CGI prevents it from achieving perfection, but hey, it's still good.
SCORE: 9.5/10
And now, the next time trailers for 42, as well as the trailer for the second half of the series...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:58 am Post subject:
REVIEW: 42 by Chris Chibnall
SERIAL: PB7, 3.7, 1X45 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
Having already worked on the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood as co-producer and writer (writing Day One, Cyberwoman, and Countrycide), Chris Chibnall was already primed for the Whoniverse. So his contribution to the main series proper began with the third series of the revived Doctor Who. His task? Write a story set in real time, referencing both 24 and Douglas Adams at the same time...
The Doctor and Martha intercept a distress signal from the SS Pentallian in the far future, which is plummeting into an alien sun due to sabotage in 42 minutes. Separated from the TARDIS by a heat venting system, the Doctor and Martha are forced to help the crew get through password-locked doors so that they can activate the auxiliary controls. However, the captain, Kath McDonnell, seems to have something to hide, and her husband, Korwin, was the one who sabotaged the ship. But Korwin is changing, infected by an alien entity, who intends to make sure that the ship plummets into the sun. Meanwhile, Martha, having had her phone upgraded by the Doctor, calls her mother back at home, unaware that Francine is trying to get information out of her about the Doctor, for a sinister woman. What is Francine up to? Why does the infected Korwin claim that the events on the Pentallian are McDonnell's fault? And can the Doctor and Martha save the crew?
42 is, at its heart, a singular and simplistic rip-off of the better done classic series story Planet of Evil. The story is very simple, with little divergence. While this is by no means a bad thing, I would have wanted something meatier. As it is, Chibnall's saving grace is that he writes with verve and pace, and makes it exciting. The revelation of the nature of the star is a good twist, though, and what happened is signposted enough to a degree.
Character-wise, I'm rather disappointed. The Doctor and Martha are well-written and acted, with David Tennant showing some real pain as he struggles with the entity, and Freema Agyeman showing increasing acting skills. However, the characters as written are non-entities, with the exception of Captain McDonnell, although she shows some supreme idiocy when she goes from accepting that her husband is dead, burned out by the entity, to trying to reach out to him. The actors, however, do quite well, given the circumstances.
If there is an aspect of this story that excels, it's the production. It's a fast-paced one with an atmosphere that is continually hot and oppressive. Graeme Harper, as always, excellently directs, and the locations used for the ship give it an appropriately industrial atmosphere. The CGI works for once, and if there is one complaint that I have about the production proper, it's that the atmosphere doesn't play up the horror aspects as much as they should have, which is a real pity. Oh, and the real-time aspect doesn't work, making it a hollow gimmick.
42 is an action-based story with not much meat, but an enjoyable romp. There are things that don't work, making it average by my standards for Who, but it's still okay.
SCORE: 8.5/10
And now, the next time trailers for Human Nature, and The Family of Blood...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:28 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood by Paul Cornell
SERIAL: PB6, 3.8/3.9, 2X45 minute episodes
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
While the previous seasons had adapted, to one degree or another, various audio adventures of the Doctor, the original fiction novels based on the series had surprisingly little input into the new series. However, with the need to explain away how the Master survived the Time War, the production team turned to Paul Cornell, who was to adapt one of his New Adventures novels, the critically acclaimed Human Nature. How would Doctor Who do, adapting one of the books based on the series?
Fleeing from a group of aliens who want Time Lord biology, the Doctor decides on an audacious plan: change himself into a human being, and hide out in 1913, at the Farringham School for Boys. A military academy, the Doctor becomes John Smith, unaware that he was the Doctor, and Martha becomes a maid at the school. While Martha endures the taunts of students, John Smith and the school nurse, Joan Redfern, fall in love. But as Martha despairs, something happens. A fobwatch containing the essence of the Doctor is taken by schoolboy Tim Latimer. Meanwhile, a spaceship makes its landing, and soon ensnares four of the locals as vessels for the Family of Blood, the aliens sniffing out the Doctor. Determined to get their hands on Time Lord biology, they will stop at nothing. And John Smith finds himself doubting everything he believed was true about himself. With the Family of Blood creating an army of animated scarecrows, Martha and Joan have to help John Smith make the hardest decisions of all...
As an adaptation, this story is excellent. Although it trims out a lot of the other themes present in the original novel (which I have read, incidentally), it also adds a few further elements that are welcome, especially Martha having to deal with not only being a maid, but also black in the 1910s. The themes of war, peace, glory, and sacrifice are ever-present in the story, such as a sequence where Son of Mine rebukes the Headmaster of the school for indoctrinating his students about war and glory (unsuccessfully, as the Headmaster has no illusions about the horror of war, but would still serve for his country), and Joan rebuking the Doctor at the end about his decision to come here, and how John Smith is a better man than he was. The latter seems particularly distressing, and while I can understand the motives of Joan, it does seem a little harsh from someone who helped John Smith make the sacrifice in the first place. The scarecrows seem like a slightly gratuitious monster, but they are so effective at what they do that this is very much forgivable.
At the heart of this story, more than many others, is character. Freema Agyeman carries much as Martha, forced to wait while John Smith falls in love, as well as working in a time different from her own. David Tennant manages to make John Smith subtly but noticeably different from the Doctor, and although his breaking down seems a bit excessive, it fits with the character, as well as the Tenth Doctor's own regeneration later in the series. His few scenes as the Doctor includes one of the most chilling, cold pieces of retribution against a foe, forcing them to live forever. Jessica Hynes as Nurse Redfern is key to the show, and does her role well, particularly towards the end. Thomas Sangster is a bit flat at times as Latimer, but does his job well enough at other times that it is forgivable. The Family of Blood are enjoyable, with particular praise going to Harry Lloyd's over-the-top performance as Son of Mine/Baines, but the rest of the Family, even child actress Lauren Wilson as Daughter of Mine/Lucy, do well.
Production-wise, well, the BBC do, as they often do, extremely well-done period drama. The set design works well, ranging from the school, all the way to the organic interior of the Family's spaceship. The direction helps retain the sentimentality of the story, and the music does more than its fair share as well. And the special effects, so dodgy earlier in the series, finally comes around to doing so well, with the cloaked spacecraft and the ray blasts of the Family deserving particular praise.
All in all, this is one of the best, if not the best, stories of this season. Adapting Doctor Who fiction may seem like a gimmick, but this story shows that it is far from a bad thing.
SCORE: 10/10
And now, the next time trailer for Blink...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:20 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Blink by Steven Moffat
SERIAL: PB5, 3.10, 1X45 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
With his previous stories for the series, Steven Moffat has made us fear a boy in a gas mask (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances), and the sound of a clock ticking (The Girl in the Fireplace). But now, he has been asked to not only trump those stories, but also deliver a Doctor-lite story. The previous series' Love & Monsters didn't go down so well, but could Moffat pull off the impossible, and make an excellent Doctor Who story, without the Doctor in it as much?
Sally Sparrow loves old things to photograph, but when she explores the abandoned house of Wester Drumlins, she gets more than she bargains for. Strange messages on the wall from someone called the Doctor in 1969, statues that seem to move only when she is not looking, and one of her friends, Kathy, disappears, only to apparently live out her life in the past. Finding a yale key in the hands of one of the statues, Sally investigates alongside Kathy's brother, Larry, a DVD enthusiast who is obsessed with strange DVD easter eggs showing the Doctor. Going to the police, she soon finds out that one of the items recovered from Wester Drumlins is a police box, and soon, one of the officers assigned to the case ends up disappearing, only to die of old age in the present day, and giving her a message from the Doctor. Somehow, the Doctor and Martha have become trapped in the past, and it's the doing of the Weeping Angels, beings with terrifying powers, that can only move when you take your eyes off them. But everyone needs to blink, and in that blink, the Angels can catch you...
Although based on a short story for a Doctor Who annual, Blink takes the original source material to the next level. Although still a strange story of time (and mind) bending messages that owes more than a little to Back to the Future, it also has a strong element of psychological horror, the best yet, with the Weeping Angels, able to move fast in the blink of an eye. I'm pretty sure that, not since The Space Museum back in the 60s have the possibilities of time travel been exploited to such a great degree as they are in this story, and certainly, this is at the very peak of the psychological horror capabilities of the series in general, and Steven Moffat in particular. Not until next year's Vashta Nerada or even when the Silence arrive in series 6 do we have such an original monster with an extremely terrifying concept behind it. Although the story isn't actually very substantial, it is still an excellent one that makes the most of everything, and there's some excellent dialogue, both humorous and dramatic.
Carrying the show this time is Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow, a lugubrious but excellent protagonist of the story, with Lucy Gaskell's Kathy, and the performances of Michael Obiora and Louis Mahoney (the latter having appeared in the classic series) as Billy being excellent. Finlay Robertson is a delight as the dorky Larry, a nerd who has to confront the terrifyign reality behind his obsession. David Tennant and Freema Agyemen do well with their brief appearances, as usual.
Atmospheric. Moody. Horrific. That suits all of Blink. The elements of psychological horror are brought to fever pitch with the production. And the Weeping Angels: what an inspired design! I later learned (thanks to the documentary for the sequel story, The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone) that these were portrayed by actresses in suits and makeup, and I had to admit, I was fooled into believing that they used some sort of articulated dummy instead. The Angels manage to look both serene and horrifying, long before their faces turn predatory. Brr! What an effectively used creation they are!
Blink goes to show that just because it's a Doctor-lite story doesn't mean it has to be story-lite. It not only will demonstrate what can be done properly with a Doctor-lite story, but also has doubtless sent thousands of kids scurrying behind the sofa once more. And remember...don't blink.
SCORE: 10/10
And now, the next time trailers for Utopia, The Sound of Drums, and Last of the Time Lords...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
First, Russell T Davies brought back the Daleks. Then, in the second new series, he brought back the Cybermen, and had them fight the Daleks in the finale of that series. What enemy could he bring back for the third series? The answer, in the end, is obvious. And while it wasn't until the finale that the old enemy was brought back, the tabloids had already guessed. In the first three-part story of the new series, equivalent to the old six-parters from the classic series, a Masterstroke of a return was being planned...
After refuelling at Cardiff, the Doctor and the TARDIS seem anxious to avoid bringing Captain Jack on board again. But the immortal Captain Jack Harkness won't be stopped, and he causes the TARDIS to travel to the end of the universe, ten trillion years into the future. There, on the planet Malcassairo, the last of the human race gather, waiting to go to Utopia, where a group of scientists hope to find a way to outlast the end of all creation. There, the Doctor and his companions meet the kindly Professor Yana, but when Martha draws his attention to a fob watch like the one the Doctor used not long ago, all hell breaks loose. Opening the watch, the Professor is subsumed by his true Time Lord personality. He is the Master. Forced to regenerate, he steals the Doctor's TARDIS, and the Doctor, Martha, and Jack follow back to the present day, only to find that the Master is the true identity of Harold Saxon, now Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Master has declared diplomatic relations opened with an alien species known as the Toclafane, but he has labelled the Doctor and his companions as fugitives. Martha's family is captured, and soon, so too is the Doctor and Jack. As the Toclafane invade Earth, Martha must work alone. But what are the Toclafane? What madness drives the Master? And can anyone stop him, before the Earth is used as the starting point for a vicious genocidal empire?
While the hints of the Master's return had been dropped throughout the series (with Gridlock and The Lazarus Experiment being particularly noteworthy), it is a delight to see him return for the new series. Like many six-part stories in the classic series, this story feels like one smaller story bolted onto a larger story, but this is not a bad thing. There are themes linking Utopia to the other two parts, such as the nature of humanity, whether it is good or evil, paralleling the dichotomy between the Doctor and the Master. This is a very dark and grim story in the end, but a good one, spoiled mainly by three things: the Doctor becoming a near-deity through the pseudo-prayers of humanity (not that much of an ass-pull, given that elements were seeded not only throughout the serial but in previous stories like The Shakespeare Code, but it feels like it comes out of nowhere), Captain Jack shooting the Paradox Machine (didn't the Doctor say in the previous episode that even dismantling it without care was dangerous?), and the paradox being reset. Even so, there's some good dialogue, a number of interesting callbacks to the classic series (like the Master watching, and facetiously commenting on children's television, from The Sea Devils, and the Master's fear of an omnipotent Doctor from The Mind of Evil), a few explanations (like why Jack is immortal) and a very Blake's 7 feel to the second half of the story.
The regulars are, as always, excellent, with John Barrowman making a welcome return as Captain Jack Harkness. David Tennant gets some excellent meaty bits, struggling between fighting his adversary, and trying to save him from himself, as they are the last Time Lords. His emotion at the Master's apparent demise is palpable, and even when acting under prosthetics or as a voiceover for a CGI version, he works well. However, it is Freema Agyeman's Martha who gets the meatiest role, especially in Last of the Time Lords. She not only really stands up to the Doctor when distraught about her family getting involved, but also manages to carry her own during her mission in the last episode. Derek Jacobi is excellent as Professor Yana, and it's a real pity that his version of the Master (although he did play another version in the animated webcast Scream of the Shalka) is only on for a few minutes, as he is excellent, managing to state "I...am...the Master" in a harsh whisper than a bellowed declamation. John Simm makes the Master his own, an insane, childish psychopath who is a deliberate parallel, a villainous version of the Tenth Doctor, but one can also hear the real emotion when he is quiet, such as his understated happiness at speaking to the Doctor during a phone conversation, and his anguish at dealing with the drums in his head. The Master has been reinvented as a paragon of madness. The Jones family all receive decent parts, especially during the third episode, and Alexandra Moen plays Lucy Saxon, the wife of the Master, quite well.
Production-wise, this story is epic. There are no other words to describe it. I'm not sure about the Futurekind, the cannibalistic adversaries of Utopia, but the Toclafane are a different matter. I remember reading somewhere that the Toclafane were originally going to be substitutes for the Daleks if they couldn;t get the rights from the estate of Terry Nation, and while they may have made a poorer substitute for the Daleks, here, they are a terrifying concept. Part of the terror comes from their childish nature, and part comes from their enigmatic nature, being just balls with weapons, at least until they reveal themselves to be the remains of humans turned into cyborgs. The design is chilling in its simplicity, and so too is the revelation of what's inside. The view of the conquered Earth is very bleak, and works well. The main problem with the special effects is when the Doctor has his ability to regenerate suspended, turning him into a sort of aged hybrid of Dobby and Gollum, and while the design is actually quite good, it is the execution that is problematic. The Valiant aircraft carrier, while ridiculous, is nonetheless an awesome idea.
This three part epic is a doozy, bringing the third series of the revived Doctor Who to a close in spectacular, if not perfect, fashion. But even as Martha Jones walks out the door, Jack returns to Torchwood, and someone picks up the Master's ring, the Doctor seems about to start on a new adventure.
SCORE: 9/10 _________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 8:17 am Post subject:
PROGRESS REPORT ELEVEN: NEW SERIES THREE: SMITH, JONES, HARKNESS, AND SAXON
STORIES: Total for this era: 10
Cumulative total: 127. 15 William Hartnell, 6 Patrick Troughton. 17 Jon Pertwee. 37 Tom Baker. 20 Peter Davison. 11 Colin Baker. 9 Sylvester McCoy. 1 Paul McGann. 1 Spin-Off. 10 Christopher Eccleston. 21 David Tennant
TIME: Total for this era: 18 days
Cumulative total: 160 days
PERCENTAGE NEVER WATCHED BEFORE: 0/10, or 0%
Cumulative total: 42/148, or 28%
MILESTONES:
Last appearance of the Face of Boe
First adaptation of a Doctor Who novel
First appearance of the Weeping Angels
Return of the Master
COMPANIONS: Donna Noble (briefly), Martha, Captain Jack Harkness
THOUGHTS:
Having managed to keep the series going after the second season of the revived show, the makers of Doctor Who were faced with replacing Billie Piper as Rose. And while the character of Martha, as played by Freema Agyeman, wasn't quite at the same level, she is still an excellent companion, her mooning over the Doctor aside.
However, key to this series was the Mr Saxon storyline, heralding the return of the Master. While the first couple of stories in the season were not always the best, the rest of the season tended to be of higher quality, including the brilliant adaptation of Human Nature, and the chilling Blink, which brought Doctor Who to new heights of psychological horror. The Doctor's increasing godhood was a common theme, including his being called out on his decisions in The Family of Blood, and his (frankly deus ex machina) god form in Last of the Time Lords.
The three main story themes in here was about the Doctor needing a companion to keep him moral, his failure to acknowledge Martha's unrequited love, and the return of the Master, and how the Doctor would cope. Seeing his desperation to keep the Master alive is heartwrenching, and we get a sense of the fact that they used to be friends. It's a pity that the Master dies so swfitly afterwards, even though a hint is given that he might come back. This incarnation was the most insane, the most dangerous, but also the one that, after Delgado's version, we could believe that they had once been friends.
This season was the height of the new series' success so far. Time would only tell if it goes any further...
BEST STORIES:The Lazarus Experiment, Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Blink
WORST STORIES:Smith and Jones, Gridlock
BTW, I have given the matter some thought. I've decided, if and when I review the fourth new series, I will review the four specials that ended David Tennant's tenure as the Doctor as part of series four. In other words, that will include The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, and The End of Time. _________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:09 am Post subject:
Okay, so I'm starting the reviews of series 4 earlier than I thought. Oh well...
REVIEW: Voyage of the Damned by Russell T Davies
SERIAL: PB1, 4.X, 72 minute special
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
With previous Christmas specials proving to be excellent draws, Russell T Davies embarked on an audacious new Christmas special, an epic story involving a spaceship called the Titanic, killer robots, and Kylie Minogue. Taking a leaf out of classic disaster movies like The Poseidon Adventure, Davies wove a spectacle. But was it enjoyable? That is the key question...
When the prow of the starship Titanic, latterly from the planet Sto and Max Capricorn Liners, crashes into the TARDIS, the Doctor, intrigued and in need of rest and relaxation, mingles amongst the passengers. There, he meets waitress Astrid Peth, competition winners Morvin and Foon van Hoff, the diminutive Bannakaffalatta, the obnoxious Rickston Slade, and the fraudulent Earth expert Mr Copper. But soon, things go very wrong on this voyage of the damned. The Titanic is hit by meteoroids due to sabotage. The once helpful robotic Hosts turn homicidal, picking off the survivors. And the Doctor must help his new acquaintances and friends survive a ship which has become a deathtrap. But more is at stake here than just the passengers of a starliner. For the Titanic is in orbit around the Earth, and is in danger of crashing and causing all life to be wiped out. And although the Doctor promises otherwise, not everyone will be surviving this...
Voyage of the Damned is an epic tale, a transposition of the disaster movie of the kind The Poseidon Adventure codified, along with elements from previous Doctor Who stories (referencing the previous Christmas specials, along with an oblique reference to the Voc Robots from The Robots of Death). While cliched, it's not bad cliched. Themes about the Doctor's God Complex also come again to the fore, particularly in the last sequence, and while there are Christmas references throughout, it is less than obvious that this is festive, as this is rather a darker story than previous Christmas specials. However, the solution is a bit of an ass-pull (that seems to be a Russell T Davies trademark by now), too many deaths happen in a short a period of time (and one of them seems like cruel slapstick rather than anything else), and there are a few questions that were unfortunately cut out of the finished program (such as the inability to send an SOS, or the Doctor's plan to fight Max Capricorn).
The Doctor as played by David Tennant is on form, as always, and this story seems tailored to examine the Doctor's God Complex, with some not-so-subtle imagery of him borne aloft by the Host arousing ire amongst the religious (and going into ludicrous territory, to be frank). Kylie Minogue is decent enough as Astrid Peth, and while it is a pity that her character dies, it's the only possible outcome, given circumstances. While Clive Rowe and Debbie Chazen are good as the van Hoffs, they also seem to be constructed as cannon fodder, as does Jimmy Vee's Bannakaffalatta. However, Russell Tovey's Alonzo Frame, Clive Swift's Copper, and Gray O'Brien as the obnoxious and cowardly Slade are good, and Bernard Cribbins' brief but pivotal turn as Wilfred Mott is a sign of things to come. Unfortunately, the villain of the piece, George Costigan's Max Capricorn, is a bit of a silly non-event, a campy villain whose motives seem to pale in comparison to previous villains, although if anything, that makes what he intends to do even more atrocious.
The production is lavish, however, covering up many faults and maintaining excitement throughout the epic, movie-length story. The action is excellent, the special effects work, and the design of everything, from the Hosts to the Titanic's lavish interiors, work well, save for the exception of Max Capricorn's silly life-support buggy, which is so bulky and ridiculous, it is designed to be pushed off with a forklift.
Voyage of the Damned may not be the best serial in history, but it is a wonderful disaster romp that entertains and engrosses. Faulty at times, it still is a Doctor Who production on a much grander scale than ever before...
SCORE: 9/10
And now, the trailers for the first half of series four...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:39 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Partners in Crime by Russell T Davies
SERIAL: PB4, 4.1, 1X50 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
With series 4 approaching, Russell T Davies needed a new companion. At first, he formulated a character called Penny, but as time went by, he realised that he could bring back Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. Introducing her as the Doctor's latest companion was a risk, given the general opinion of the character in The Runaway Bride, but would this gamble pay off? Or would the new partnership fall down flat?
In the year since the Racnoss incident, Donna Noble has been without any purpose, save for finding the Doctor. She decides to investigate Adipose Industries, where strange things have been happening, hoping to find the Doctor. And the Doctor is there, investigating at the same time, but they happen to miss each other, even when investigating Adipose's customers. For Miss Foster, the CEO of Adipose, has created a pill that causes weight loss. But as Donna soon discovers, that weight loss, under the wrong circumstances, can turn deadly, spawning alien creatures from human bodies with deadly results. What does Miss Foster intend? What are these creatures? And can the Doctor and Donna become partners in crime?
Like Smith and Jones the previous year, this is a story thin on substance, designed to introduce a new companion, or rather, reintroduce one. However, Partners in Crime is helped substantially by better characterisation, humour, and a certain amount of comment on both the weight loss industry and foster care. It is at times somewhat too farcical, but it suits the feistier Donna, with the comic talents of Catherine Tate, and it works somewhat better than Smith and Jones. I just wish some of the more horrific aspects of the Adipose and their spawning were explored without the aliens themselves being nasty.
The Doctor doesn't have as much to do, save run around and help Donna, but he is still portrayed excellently by David Tennant. Catherine Tate, however, is the true star as Donna, who manages to remove many of the more annoying traits of the character, but still keeping many comic elements, personified in a hilarious mime scene. Bernard Cribbins makes an unexpected but welcome return from Voyage of the Damned as her grandfather, Wilfred Mott. Sarah Lancashire's icy cool and morally ambiguous Miss Foster is a delight. However, the other roles are less noteworthy, and Verona Joseph seems wasted on the badly done role of Penny.
The production is nice, suited well to the farcical nature of the script, but doesn't quite gel together. The music helps with the comedic undertones enough, though, but swings too much from comedic to harsh action with no middle ground, particularly jarring in this episode. Although the Adipose are a decent design, and the CGI is not too bad, considering, it still seems a little jarring, and I think that the Adipose should have been, if not less cute, then at least ambiguous.
All in all, Partners in Crime is an average start to the season. Okay, and good at reintroducing Donna as the new companion of the Doctor, it's not a bad start for the things to come...
SCORE: 8.5/10
And now, the next time trailer for The Fires of Pompeii...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:56 am Post subject:
REVIEW: The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran
SERIAL: PB3, 4.3, 1X50 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
Throughout the series, both new and classical, there have been moments where the Doctor and his companions are forced to consider the dangers of time travelling into the past, and potentially changing history. However, there haven't been that many stories that brought the temptation to prevent death and destruction on quite a big scale, until now. With the Doctor Who team filming in Italy, the first proper overseas filming since the new series began (leaving aside background footage shot for last year's Dalek story), a story that would address those issues point blank would be made...
The Doctor and Donna arrive in Roman times. Their jubilation at exploring the past is short-lived when they realise that they aren't in Rome, but in Pompeii in 79 AD. The next day will be Volcano Day, and the TARDIS is soon missing, sold as art to a marble dealer, Caecilius, and his family. Tracking him down, the Doctor is determined to leave the town to its destruction, and Donna is equally determined to stay and warn the hapless inhabitants. But they both stay when they find that Caecilius has created a circuit board in marble, for the use of augur Lucius Petrus Dextrus. And they also soon realise that the augurs and soothsayers of Pompeii, for the past 17 years, have become accurate, thanks to the dust-laden vapours of Pompeii's hypocausts. But the Doctor and Donna soon arouse the suspicions of not only Lucius, but also the Sibylline Sisterhood, who also intend to take Caecilius' daughter into their midst. And they, and their alien masters, intend to make sure that the Doctor and Donna's future knowledge never comes to pass...
Now, I've heard that The Fires of Pompeii had been criticised for its writing, but to be perfectly honest, I see very little wrong with it. It's a romp that manages to combine artfully both drama and comedy in just the right way, with the central dilemma being about whether the Doctor and Donna should do anything to help the people of Pompeii survive, and the climactic decision of the Doctor makes things worse. A bit simple, and flat at times on characterisation, and the monsters are a bit dull and seem to be too weak towards water at the most convenient of times, but it's hugely enjoyable nonetheless, making you laugh and cry.
The central stars of the show are David Tennant as the Doctor, and Catherine Tate as Donna, and here, they get into conflict about whether to save the inhabitants of Pompeii or not. And any doubts that Tate as Donna would make a good companion are dispelled by the last scenes, where she is shown, very realistically, crying and demanding the Doctor take her back to Pompeii to rescue people. While the characters are written a little flat, the actors nonetheless go to town with the dialogue and make us believe in them, with Peter Capaldi as Caecilius and Phil Davies as Lucius being particular standouts. And yes, there is a pre-Amy Pond Karen Gillian as a Seeress, and in retrospect, this story, as well as one or two others, shows that the problem is not the actress, but with the material she was given.
The production is wonderful, and the time spent in Italy using the sets for the other TV show Rome pays off, making us believe in the setting of Pompeii. The production design is lavish, and the CGI is pretty good, particularly during the climactic explosion of Mount Vesuvius. Even the Pyroviles work pretty well most of the time, being menacing and deadly-looking, and the Pyrovile infection is suitably horrific-looking.
All in all, I enjoyed The Fires of Pompeii. It's an entertaining and thought-provoking historical in the best tradition of Doctor Who.
SCORE: 9/10
And now, the next time trailer for Planet of the Ood...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:46 am Post subject:
REVIEW: Planet of the Ood by Keith Temple
SERIAL: PB2, 4.2, 1 X 45 minute episode
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
With the Ood created in Matt Jones' two part story The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit two seasons previously, the showrunners of Doctor Who decided that it was well past time that these creatures return. After all, there were lingering doubts as to why the Doctor didn't question the concept of humans having a servant race. With Donna as his conscience, it was about time...
Setting the coordinates to random, the Doctor and Donna end up on the Ood-Sphere in 4126, where Ood servants are prepared for being sold throughout the galaxy. The Doctor and Donna, however, soon realise that something is very wrong, and indeed it is. Ood Operations, headed by the odious Klineman Halpen, is effectively a slaving operation, and the Doctor decides that he owes the Ood after what happened on Krop Tor. But the Ood are succumbing to red eye, and even a form of rabid rage, from a source very different to the evil being the Doctor encountered last time. With Halpen determined to cover up the incidents at all cost, the Doctor and Donna have to make allies with the Ood. But why have the Ood become docile servants? What is the song the Doctor hears in his head? And why are the Ood fixated with the phrase 'the circle must be broken'?
Like the previous transmitted episode The Fires of Pompeii, Planet of the Ood is written by a newcomer, Keith Temple for this one, and shares many of the same strengths and problems. This time, the Doctor has to deal with an uncharacteristic oversight, instead of dealing with a dilemma about changing history, and while strong in story and concept, some elements, particularly of characterisation, fall through. There's less humour, but it fits the themes of this episode. The story, thankfully, has no deus ex machina elements, just decent plot writing and a satisfying conclusion.
As in the previous episode, the regulars get some excellent material, with Donna's faith in humanity shaken by what she learns about the Ood and humanity enslaving them, and her emotion when listening to the Ood's song is palpable. So too is the Doctor's, and kudos have to go to Tennant and Tate for creating the best Doctor-companion team since the new series began. While it is startling to see Tim McInnerny, aka Percy/Darling from Blackadder play such a vile villain as Halpen, he also makes the role his own, and even injects interesting nuances into what could have easily been a petty villain. Ayesha Dharker and her role as Solana could have been made just a little bit better, although her refusal to help the Doctor completely, though it could be seen as stupid or suicidal, still adds something to the character, the way it comes across. Roger Griffiths plays a very good sadistic guard in Kess, and Adrian Rawlins is decent as Dr Ryder.
This story lacks a little of the energy and pace of usual Graeme Harper productions, but it still shows, particularly in a spectacular sequence where the Doctor is chased by a crane operated by Kess. The Ood, as always, are interesting and alien, and the new dimensions to their behaviour work well with the work of the actors portraying them, and the tones of voice actor Silas Carson. While not as immediately sinister as they were in their previous performance, they still work well, being able to go from pathetic and scared to rabid and dangerous, and all sorts of behaviour inbetween. The CGI of the Ood brain is a bit dodgy, but that is more than made up for when Halpen turns into an Ood in a horrifying and excellent transformation. The location filming works alongside the CGI to a good degree.
Planet of the Ood continues asking questions about how the Doctor travels, and what injustices he should rectify. An excellent return for the Ood, while it lacks the punch of their introductory serial, the story is still good...
SCORE: 9/10
And now, the next time trailers for The Sontaran Strategem and The Poison Sky...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
Quatermass I believe the appropriate phrase is, 'Boo-yah'.
Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 21092 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:36 am Post subject:
REVIEW: The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky by Helen Raynor
SERIAL: PB5, 4.4/4.5, 2 X 45 minute episodes
SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes
The new series has followed a pattern of reintroducing a major adversary of the Doctor's from the classic series at least once per series. Having reintroduced the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master respectively across each of the first three series, it fell to Helen Raynor to reintroduce the militaristic Sontarans. And not just that: for the first time since 1989's Battlefield, the Doctor was going to be working with UNIT once more...
The Doctor and Donna are summoned to Earth by Martha Jones, now a doctor working with UNIT. Reluctantly working with commanding officer Colonel Mace, the Doctor is soon intrigued by the mystery of ATMOS, a combined satnav and emissions reducer used in half the cars around the world. What's more, it may very well be the product of alien technology, causing dozens of simultaneous deaths around the world. While Martha and UNIT probe the mystery of the ATMOS factory and Donna goes to visit her family, the Doctor meets with ATMOS' creator, arrogant young genius Luke Rattigan, only to find that Rattigan is allied with the Sontarans, led by General Staal. As the Sontaran stratagem accelerates, the Earth soon finds itself choking under a poison sky, and the Doctor may find that time has run out...
While returning to UNIT, mentioned in the new series but not actually shown properly, is an excellent concept, I get the feeling that Raynor hadn't watched the classic series stories properly, as although the Doctor didn't like the military solution, he got on well enough with UNIT and its personnel. So to have the Tenth Doctor giving the officers (his attitude to the rank and file soldiers is admirable) hell is disconcerting. He may be against the military, but you'd think, after managing to help both Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Brigadier Bambera that he'd be used to dealing with UNIT officers. The story itself, otherwise, would be an improvement over Raynor's previous story for the series. Pitting the militaristic Sontarans against UNIT is an excellent idea, and there's more exploration of how the Doctor's travels affect those left behind, as well as conflicts and cooperations between science (the Doctor and Rattigan) and the military (UNIT and the Sontarans). And the Sontarans are given ever more texture to their characters than they were before, with a pseudo-haka that may seem ridiculous, but actually adds to what they have of a culture. Pity they are cut down so easily by UNTI troops, but I'm guessing that that was partly due to the intervention of the Valiant in the second part.
As usual, the performances of the regulars (being in this case David Tennant, Catherine Tate and, temporarily, Freema Agyeman) are good, though I wish that Freema had invested just a little more difference in the clone Martha. The Doctor's antagonism towards UNIT seems a little out of character compared to previous incarnations too. Rupert Holliday-Evans' Mace is a fairly staid UNIT officer, though I feel that he is a rather flat, uptight character, having none of the charm of the late Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier. And Rattigan, although played with superb aplomb by Ryan Sampson, is a rather one-dimensional child genius. Christian Cooke's Ross Jenkins is a rather more enjoyable character, being a UNIT grunt whom the Doctor befriends. Bernard Cribbins and Jacqueline King as Donna's family also do well. But the real star is Christopher Ryan, who plays General Staal so well, it's hard to remember the guy who played Mike in The Young Ones. His combination of admiration, disdain, and joy as he yells "The planet is going nuclear!" is one of my favourite performances in the show.
The production stands up well. Although the action sequences aren't as good as those, say, directed by Graeme Harper, and lack some energy and pace, they nonetheless are exciting enough to forgive the deficiencies. UNIT's new looks is sleek and snazzy, but a bit too black-ops for my liking. And while many fans would whinge about the new look of the Sontarans, I like them. Here, more than ever, they look closer to being real alien beings, and the armour looks a little tougher too.
This story is a great one let down by too many flaws to go to that truly great level. A good reintroduction of both the Sontarans and UNIT, as well as Martha Jones...
SCORE: 8.5/10
And now, the next time trailer for The Doctor's Daughter...
_________________ Yami: Wait, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?
Kaiba: Yeah, so?
Yami: That's against the rules!
Seto Kaiba: Screw the Rules, I Have Money!!
It's my favourite Pertwee story)
