Doctor Who Zombie Jesus Day Special
It's been nearly 4 months since the last Dr. Who special. Planet of the Dead ushers in a new companion, a new alien menace, and a setting that borrows heavily from Pitch Black.
First the companion. "Lady Christina" is, IMO, bordering on a stock character - the fiesty and sexy bank thief who we're never quite sure can be trusted. She's also in the running for Doctor Who's most smug companion" of all time. I found her rather on the annoying side. Also, why the writers decided to negate her character by having her flip out about having dead-people-dust in her hair, I have no idea...
There are some similarities between Christina and River Song (the mysterious woman from S4's "library" episodes), both in demeanor and what's outright implied by the Doctor. Even though they part ways in this ep, I suspect Christina will get brought back later, but the question is whether there is a connection between the two (presumably human) women? It's possible (but not likely) that some sort of fob-watch explanation is in the works. Or perhaps it's to establish that the Doctor likes his women "sassy"? Sigh.
Overall, the episode was watchable but nothing special. It had a lot of the camp feel that the "holiday" specials possess. However, the idea of the massive swarm of flying exoskeletal monsters having evolved a natural physical ability to create wormholes to other planets as feeding grounds was intriguing, if far fetched. In this story the menace was not evil, just devastating.
Nitpicks:
- Exactly how does psychic paper work on a bus' magnetic card reader?
- Why, in a space ship made for gigantic sentient houseflies, do are the internal communicators made to fit human ears?!?!?!?
- In the "yes, Dr. Who is in the 21st century now, but just barely" category, that bus looks a hell of a lot different when it's flying (CGI) vs when it's on the ground (actual bus).
This story ended with foreshadowing of the Doctor's regeneration (i.e., "song"), by the mysterious psychic lady (the one who doesn't bother to cash in on her abilities on anything higher-stake than 10-quid scratch offs). Anyway, the word is that there are 3 specials left to Tennant's run (one to air in November and two in late December). The November one will be related to the regeneration episodes but also stand on its own with a distinct storyline.
Expect a review on Red Dwarf: Return to Earth in the next couple days. I've only watched part one so far...but with the lack of new sci-fi these days, there's really no reason to rush through the other two.
First the companion. "Lady Christina" is, IMO, bordering on a stock character - the fiesty and sexy bank thief who we're never quite sure can be trusted. She's also in the running for Doctor Who's most smug companion" of all time. I found her rather on the annoying side. Also, why the writers decided to negate her character by having her flip out about having dead-people-dust in her hair, I have no idea...
There are some similarities between Christina and River Song (the mysterious woman from S4's "library" episodes), both in demeanor and what's outright implied by the Doctor. Even though they part ways in this ep, I suspect Christina will get brought back later, but the question is whether there is a connection between the two (presumably human) women? It's possible (but not likely) that some sort of fob-watch explanation is in the works. Or perhaps it's to establish that the Doctor likes his women "sassy"? Sigh.
Overall, the episode was watchable but nothing special. It had a lot of the camp feel that the "holiday" specials possess. However, the idea of the massive swarm of flying exoskeletal monsters having evolved a natural physical ability to create wormholes to other planets as feeding grounds was intriguing, if far fetched. In this story the menace was not evil, just devastating.
Nitpicks:
- Exactly how does psychic paper work on a bus' magnetic card reader?
- Why, in a space ship made for gigantic sentient houseflies, do are the internal communicators made to fit human ears?!?!?!?
- In the "yes, Dr. Who is in the 21st century now, but just barely" category, that bus looks a hell of a lot different when it's flying (CGI) vs when it's on the ground (actual bus).
This story ended with foreshadowing of the Doctor's regeneration (i.e., "song"), by the mysterious psychic lady (the one who doesn't bother to cash in on her abilities on anything higher-stake than 10-quid scratch offs). Anyway, the word is that there are 3 specials left to Tennant's run (one to air in November and two in late December). The November one will be related to the regeneration episodes but also stand on its own with a distinct storyline.
Expect a review on Red Dwarf: Return to Earth in the next couple days. I've only watched part one so far...but with the lack of new sci-fi these days, there's really no reason to rush through the other two.
Tags: doctor who
Mood: 
busy
posted by Skunque at
4:18 PM
0 Comments
okay
