Planet of the Dead Discuss and Grade SPOILERS!!!

[FlyingLemons]

I wanted Michelle Ryan to go with the Doctor - she managed to pull off the feat of not annoying me. Of course that's only because she was in one episode, but still, I felt that the character had a lot of potential (plus seeing that catsuit each week would've certainly, uh, upped the viewing figures... bad innuendo, I know...). She's alive, though, so perhaps in season 5.

As for the end of the series...

Spoiler: end of specials

John Simm was spotted back on set recently. Combined with "knocks four times" and this, it looks like the Master's back. We've also got Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate back, with rumours that John Barrowman and Billie Piper are also involved, it appears that RTD's gone into fanwank ending mode. Mind you, that's not a bad thing as the previous few finales have been a Who canon geek's wet dream, delivering every time - I mean, Davros, Daleks vs Cybermen, extensive discussion of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, what more could you ask for?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ She'd raise my appreciation index.








I don't know why but I always found the idea of the appreciation index funny.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

also if RTDs wants the Doctor not to want to take on a companion, he needs to learn to write characters that are not possible companions.

The number of truly companionless Doctor Who stories, in any medium, can probably be counted on a single hand. Maybe two.

Even in stories like "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Runaway Bride," where technically the Doctor is traveling alone, there's a character who fulfills the companion role, someone that the Doctor can explain things to (and thus explain them to the audience).

It's not that the series needs to create someone to be a possible companion. It's that the audience needs a relatable character. The Doctor isn't always relatable.

 

[wamdue]

also if RTDs wants the Doctor not to want to take on a companion, he needs to learn to write characters that are not possible companions.

The number of truly companionless Doctor Who stories, in any medium, can probably be counted on a single hand. Maybe two.

Even in stories like "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Runaway Bride," where technically the Doctor is traveling alone, there's a character who fulfills the companion role, someone that the Doctor can explain things to (and thus explain them to the audience)

and I dont mind those characters, its just do they have to be characters who the Doctor might take in the TARDIS with him at the end.

could they not be "one off companions who could have been more" and just "one off companions"

Astrid, Christina, are the equal of Rose or Martha at the end of Rose or Smith & Jones.

Midnight came close to it I suppose, the Next Doctor not so much, whilst Time Crash again comes close, but even something like Music of the Spheres has the Doctor explaining things to either the people at the Prom (not the Doctor Who Prom) or the Greaske.

 

[wamdue]

I wanted Michelle Ryan to go with the Doctor - she managed to pull off the feat of not annoying me. Of course that's only because she was in one episode, but still, I felt that the character had a lot of potential (plus seeing that catsuit each week would've certainly, uh, upped the viewing figures... bad innuendo, I know...). She's alive, though, so perhaps in season 5.

As for the end of the series...

Spoiler: end of specials

John Simm was spotted back on set recently. Combined with "knocks four times" and this, it looks like the Master's back. We've also got Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate back, with rumours that John Barrowman and Billie Piper are also involved, it appears that RTD's gone into fanwank ending mode. Mind you, that's not a bad thing as the previous few finales have been a Who canon geek's wet dream, delivering every time - I mean, Davros, Daleks vs Cybermen, extensive discussion of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, what more could you ask for?

the bit in bold would not surprise me, the bit in underline would

 

[Classic Fan]

Well, above all it was ok.


Not the best.


Michelle Ryans Lara Croft wannabe posh brat got a bit tired after a while. It wasnt a bad episode though but as said befpre, the show is in need of a desperate change in, well, anything.

Followed the same formular as a few other eps and was really predictable in many places. Lee Evans was the highlight, didnt over play it, and it wasnt that big a part either, it was a nice small part that he had and he did it well, apart from the "I love you" shit.

The insect race were a nice change, they were not the bad guys, which was surprising, they were just an innocent crash victim and i felt bad that they got eaten without escaping the planet.

Dont get me started on teh flying bus at the end. The anti grav thing was clever, i thought, like many he was after the crystal, but when the bus took off, it was poor CGI that ruined it. Yeah, i know they couldnt exactly lift the buss up in the dessert of Dubai but still, the CG ruined it. Especially the recyled 'Jenny' ending where he frees her and she escapes on her own in that poxy flying fucking bus, again poor CG and a shitty ending that didnt need to be there.

Why not just have her arrested, end the episode on a darker note for once. But no, not RTD. Lets have the posh bitch escape and The Doctor support 'Crime for Fun' shall we. That whole ending was awful, apart from the foreseing of death, that was eerie.


The whole "person seeing the future" stuff got a bit, well, i dunno, ill figure that out after some sleep, but the hints to the Tenths demise are gonna get pretttttyyyyy tiresome, me thinks.

 

[wamdue]

Dont get me started on teh flying bus at the end. The anti grav thing was clever, i thought, like many he was after the crystal, but when the bus took off, it was poor CGI that ruined it. Yeah, i know they couldnt exactly lift the buss up in the dessert of Dubai but still, the CG ruined it. Especially the recyled 'Jenny' ending where he frees her and she escapes on her own in that poxy flying fucking bus, again poor CG and a shitty ending that didnt need to be there.

lets be honest Christina & Jenny were pretty interchangeable in this episode. There is nothing Christina does that Jenny couldnt do, and I would like to see Jenny return.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

a shitty ending that didnt need to be there

Do you mean a Chitty ending?

 

[wamdue]

01:25 and its still peak hours on OG?

 

[MPH]

One of the better specials much better than such specials as the "Runaway Bride" and that Titanic one. The next one looks good.

 

[timelord1010]

I enjoyed it. It's not the worst, it's not the best (forgive me David Gilmore) I really thought Michelle Ryan was going with the Doctor, they didn't have to show her in the next special, she could have left the Doctor by then. Decades could have gone by.

I hope David Tennant's last special doesn't bring back old companions. I wouldn't mind seeing another Timelord (The Master, Rani, Meddling Monk, Valiard, Romana, Susan) but give the old companions a rest, Journey's End was supposed to wrap things up with the companions.

 

[Count Zero]

True, but that's not the point of the concept. It's just the idea in fiction of the ethnic minority character (usually black) who appears, often without explanation, to help the white protagonist, and is in some way 'special' - psychic or magical powers are jsut the sci-fi take on the idea, in regular fiction they often appear unusally wise, or in tune with nature, or in recent film, just much cooler or 'smooth talking' than everybody else. They act as plot devices to advance the tale, usually through imparting some great wisdom or prophecy which helps or serves the white main character.

A classic genre example that doesn't involve having psychic powers is Morpheus in the Matrix, an almost mythical, wise black guy who shows up in a pretty unexplained way, speaks in deep sayings and helps our white protagonist reach the setup of the story, enlightening him.
More recently, we can take a look at BSG, where our spiritual guide character who helps Roslin find her destiny... is a black woman preacher, neatly disposed of once her plot role is complete (to be replaced by the black Gemanese councilwoman, who shows up occasionally to answer useful spiritual questions to the advancement of Roslin). On a show heavily devoid of black characters, this sticks out like sore thumb.


Now any instance in and of itself is just a story choice, I'm not trying to say 'ZOMG DOCTOR HOO IS TEH RACIST' - I think you know me better than that it's just when you see the same thing happen again, and again, and again, across pretty much all genres of fiction, it's hard to pretend that you don't see it.

You explained it very well. I guess, I'm race insensitive, then.

As for the special: I enjoyed it. A bit campy/cheesy at times but I don't mind. I voted 'above average' because there was something missing (I don't know what, though). The ending dragged on for too long, but that was not the real problem. I guess, there was just nothing particularly special about it. I liked it better than "The Next Doctor" so I'm hoping for an upwards trend.

By the way, I cringed at the flying bus in the desert because it looked so fake. Also the effects when they travel through the worm hole for the first time were kind of weird. The spinning picture thing at the end of that looked like what they did on Blake's 7 (only less amateurish ). It seemed as if they didn't quite know how they wanted it to look.

So, in summary: good episode, but not great.

 

[Stevil2001]

If you hate flying buses, you hate life.

 

[Kelso]

Fun story!


The fly-people were stupid looking... but the swarmers were great.


I can't wait for The Waters of Mars.

 

[Kelthaz]

It wasn't a bad episode, but it was pretty boring. Nothing happened. They drive a bus to a desert, walk around, and drive home. That pretty much sums it up.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Watching some of it again, the music is really over the top. And at this point, they should just replace the sonic screwdriver with a magic wand except I think that would be a downgrade.

 

[Brent]

I'm giving it "Average"

Sorry, haven't read the thread yet, just wanted to say that it seemed a bit silly, a bit more silly than we are use to with Doctor Who. It was classic RTD though, I definitely got his familiar vibe, which I am kinda getting tired of. It was entertaining, but not as good as other specials have been. The flying bus was stupid. Everyone cheering at the end cause the thief got away was stupid. I did like Michelle Ryan, but her plus everyone else kinda accepted the fact they were on another planet a little too easy. I wouldn't mind seeing her as a companion. I missed the TARDIS. UNIT was good. Tired of the sonic screwdriver at this point, hope that thing gets destroyed for a while.

 

[The]

Malcolm was fucking campy and silly. He was too much.

The bus didn't bother me until they had Christina grab it, and pause to talk to The Doctor. An escaping criminal, who the police are yelling for someone to stop her, grabs what is obviously an advanced alien technology (attached to a bus), and hovers there for a few minutes to chat.

A battalion of UNIT was RIGHT. THERE.

Why the FUCK didn't they shoot her down? And why was everyone clapping for her? At what point did she endear herself to them so that they are ecstatic over her...what? Escape from the police? Did they even know why she was being arrested? What?

I agree about the "telepathic minority". How cliche is it to have some random human.....who just happens to be involved in the situation.......just "be psychic"? Why not have them just "be Superman"? This goes back to the Jesus-Doctor stuff RTD likes to fling out there. Nonsense trying to disguise itself as a plot device. Just nonsense.

And overall, there was some pretty awful dialogue. The Doctor's "pep talk" in the bus was formulaic and hollow. Very by-the-numbers RTD. I was waiting for Number Ten to start prattling on about how much he looooooves humans.

PROS:

The UNIT Captain from Turn Left was awesome. Simply awesome. If they're looking for a replacement for The Brigadier, I'd say they've found her. The calm, quiet, powerful demeanor of the actress absolutely commands the screen. Bring her back any time!

Michelle Ryan....while everyone seems to be complaining about some "Lara Croft" thing, I've never played those video games or watched the movies. So, I loved her. I enjoyed her character and her chemistry with Tennant.

UNIT was pretty kick-ass (except for the ending bus scene as I mentioned).

The Waters of Mars looks....okay. We'll see.


Overall, the episode was Above Average, but is showing definite signs of stagnation...

 

[Maestro]

Struck me as more "classic" Who than anything. Overall, very good episode, and Michelle Ryan looked delicious as ever.

 

[Australis]

I gave it a fantastic because I thought it was more than above average.

I get to watch it over Sunday brunch, and it was good fun to do (I recommend it ). Really liked Michelle Ryan, as an actress and as a character. So pleased after the piss poor Bionic Woman. If she'd been given the chance to play the BW like Cristina, there might have been something. I would have liked to see her stay on for the next one, but it has to be said, imagine her and Matt Smith together. I thinks she'd be a bit overwhelming. Yes, I know, we know nothing about Eleven, but he'd look so young compared to her.

The flies were interesting and, as others have said, a nice change. The rays were also interesting, though perhaps some more background on them would have been good.

Malcolm's whole "I love you" thing was a bit OTT, and I think he was filling in a space where RTD wasnted to stand but I didn't mind his character, it fills that whole 'eccentric scientist' thing. Mogambo I'm not sure about, the Brig would have given the Doctor a little longer, and a phone called could have fixed that problem.

The flying bus thing was a bit meh. Used sparingly it would have been okay. And there wouldn't have been a jet engine noise if they were using anti grav. A loud hum would have sufficed.

Overall, a lot of fun. But it does seem a little tired. This was Midnight Redux, next time it looks like The Impossible Planet Redux. Change, my dear, and not a moment too soon.