In the midst of all the Doctor Who excitement, what else is going on out there? Scarce little. In a round up of the latest happenings, we’ve had some movement on the Hobbit movies. Yep, that’s right, movies. Details can […]
In brief:
Someone’s back! Oh! And it’s good!
In-depth:
So far with this series, there has not been a single episode I wouldn’t want to go back and watch again. I’ve got the DVDs for Series 3, but quite frankly, I tend to skip the Shakespeare episode (I feel the need to point out I had to think for a few long moments before I remember what the second episode was…), skip the first 20 odd minutes of ‘Gridlock’… With this collection, I could quite happily just sit back, and let the DVD play all of them.
And this episode is no exception.
Plot! A mysterious academy looms and a journalist is thrown from the building, ranting about how ATMOS is somekind of conspiracy… her death by her car driving into a river with the doors locked, is seemingly arranged by the satellite navigation device in her car, the ATMOS previously mentioned.
Onboard the TARDIS, Donna learns how to pilot, and the Doctor receives a phone call. Except it’s not his phone. It’s Martha Jones’, and only one person promised to ring that number…
In brief: Solid storytelling.
In-depth: Okay. Now this is a curious little Doctor Who tale.
I simply can’t fault how beautiful this episode looked; the CGI effects of the snow covered planet, the interior and exterior designs of the Oodsphere complex… it was an alien planet that looked and felt like an alien planet! The design team here did some fantastic work.
Back to the story though, as it transpires, the Ood were a docile race that humans found and decided to take of; to educate as one character within the episode calls it. We know something has gone wrong though from the opening scene where one of the humans running the Ood servants company is murdered by the Ood who serves him. One who has a familiar looking red colour to his eye… The Doctor and Donna arrive and quickly the Doctor determines that the Ood are somehow being controlled by an outside force again – it simply isn’t in their nature to kill.
In-brief:
Better!
In-depth:
Ah. Now. This is tricky. I’m extremely tempted to call this an absolutely fantastic showing of what Doctor Who can be when it’s on top form based solely on the second half of this episode, but that would not be fair to the first half!
In brief:
Fun with good gut kick.
In-depth:
Russell T. Davies. I think what this man has done to Doctor Who, is absolutely nothing short of fantastic. He brought back to life a series which had been thought gone, and has helped to turn it into the powerhouse it is today with a strong guiding hand.
For that I am extremely thankful because it’s brought an element of fun to Saturday nights in front of the tv that hasn’t been there for a good while. All that said, I will freely admit I’m not entirely sure he’s the best person to write episodes of Doctor Who. I think, although he has brilliant ideas and themes, the execution gets a little bit mixed up sometimes.
Just a heads up to anyone who hasn’t missed the media frenzy: The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica begins tomorrow night on Sci-Fi Channel in the US with the opener, “He That Believeth In Me”. Sci-Fi Heaven have […]