Planet of the Dead (DW Easter special)

[Darth Nostril]

Nice to see UNIT being competent handling a threat to Earth, it did take the Doctors help to seal the wormhole but they were more than capable of taking out the fliers that got through.

As far as I remember UNIT have always been competent when they run into an alien menace that isn't immune to bullets. I'm still waiting for the Brig to show up though.

UNIT high command didn't even recognise the Doctor before they were wiped out by the Slitheen.
Season Four finale their answer to alien invasion was to blow up the whole fricken planet.
It was nice to see them back in their original role, defending the Earth and putting themselves in harms way to do so, sure they were spraying bullets every which way but the alien fliers had metal exoskeletons, it took the crew serviced heavy weapons that they'd emplaced to take them down.

[Darth Nostril]

The Pertwee stranded on earth years were suposedly set in the 80's, in the 21st century the Brigadier would be well into retirement if he's still alive.
Come to think of it he was dragged out of retirement for one of the later Doctors adventures, the one involving Morgana La Fey IIRC.

[Crazedwraith]

The Pertwee stranded on earth years were suposedly set in the 80's, in the 21st century the Brigadier would be well into retirement if he's still alive.
Come to think of it he was dragged out of retirement for one of the later Doctors adventures, the one involving Morgana La Fey IIRC.

The Brigadier was mentioned last season during the sontarian episodes as being in retirement abroad. Africa IIRC.

[Captain Seafort]

The Pertwee stranded on earth years were suposedly set in the 80's, in the 21st century the Brigadier would be well into retirement if he's still alive.

Oh he's still alive all right - he was mentioned in the Sontaaran two-parter as being stuck in South America (and having got a knighthood). I've also heard that he's shown up in the Sarah Jane Smith series, so it looks like Courtney's interested.

[NecronLord]

Yes. The Brig was in the Sarah Jane adventures. He's retired (in a mansion, no less) but does consulting/secret work for UNIT.

[bilateralrope]

I have to ask, what kind of moron tries to make a getaway on a bus? At the very least she could've kept her head down.

It was a flying bus and I didn't see any other way for her to escape there. If she is smart, she will dump the bus after she gets some distance away.

[Darth Onasi]

I have to ask, what kind of moron tries to make a getaway on a bus? At the very least she could've kept her head down.

It was a flying bus and I didn't see any other way for her to escape there. If she is smart, she will dump the bus after she gets some distance away.

No I mean when she got on at the beginning of the episode.
As for the flying bus, she should dump it but not before stripping the anti-grav clamps and selling them off for billions

[bilateralrope]

Oops. Though with the bus at the start, I also got the feeling that she also had no other idea because her getaway driver had been arrested. Though since that happened because the squeaking of the cat statue she left as a replacement caused the guards to notice her theft, I agree that she does look stupid (not that the security arrangement looked any better).

Then she decided to descend into a shaft in an alien spacecraft without even asking if it's safe and doesn't even hesitate when the someone who knows the technology tells her to stop. If she travelled with the Doctor, I wonder how long it would take for her stupidity to get her or someone else killed.

[Darth Nostril]

I have to ask, what kind of moron tries to make a getaway on a bus? At the very least she could've kept her head down.

It was a flying bus and I didn't see any other way for her to escape there. If she is smart, she will dump the bus after she gets some distance away.

No I mean when she got on at the beginning of the episode.
As for the flying bus, she should dump it but not before stripping the anti-grav clamps and selling them off for billions

Got to agree with you there, running while the police swarm around the museum is a guaranteed way to attract their attention, all she had to do was keep her head down & walk normally, also why attempt a robbery right after the security is switched on for the night? Why not wait until the early hours when anyones attention starts to flag?
Oh and why leave that stupid waving toy that makes a noise to alert the guards that a theft has happened ... that was pure RTD fuckwittery.

Yes. The Brig was in the Sarah Jane adventures. He's retired (in a mansion, no less) but does consulting/secret work for UNIT.

They've got to have the Doctor meet the Brig at some point, they've just got to.

[bilateralrope]

Lets not pretend that the security arrangement made any sense either.
- Guards to render motion detectors useless for the whole room, even when they are only guarding one item.
- And they were all facing away from it so that they won't notice when the security is bypassed, unless the thief is an idiot.
- Despite the item somehow being valuable enough for special security*, it isn't valuable enough to be placed inside a glass case.
- Laser tripwire security system which is open above the item.

Does anyone know of a worse setup for a tv or movie security system ?

*With the security and the aliens pointing at her on their screen, I was expecting to find that they kidnapped the bus so they could get hold of it because it was some alien object.

[Gandalf]

I thought that it was better than most of what we've seen of late, especially if you ignore the last few minutes. It's a 3/5 from me. It lost a whole point for everything after they get home.

I really wanted Female Lead or Engine Guy to be a companion. Though the Doctor travelling alone for a while might be interesting if they could find a way to tell the story.

[Darth Onasi]

I predict the Doctor will spontaneously lose his reluctance to bring a companion along once he regenerates into that hideous troll his 11th incarnation.

[andrewgpaul]

Seems de rigeur for the specials, no companion. Three out of four Christmas specials, and now this. Each of those does have a "companion" of sorts, but they get ditched after one episode. I'm sure the new guy will end up with someone in short order.

[Bounty]

Interestingly, it appears the bus wasn't supposed to be smashed up by the wormhole - a crane driver wrecked it while it was being shipped to Dubai. Davies just added a few lines to the script to explain the damage. Quite well too, I'd say, since I never even noticed.

[Hillary]

As far as I can tell, UNIT would actually have saved the Earth on their own there; the Doctor just rescued the guys in the bus.

Absolutely - it only took them 3 minutes to knock out three of them. They'd have dealt with several million of the fuckers in no time

I mean, the creatures only managed to reduce an advanced civilisation to dust in under a year; what chance did they have against a UNIT "crack" team

Personally, I thought most of it was pretty average to say the least. The fly beasts were laughable and disposed of unimaginatively (it was obvious they weren't going to travel back to Earth, although they'd have made a great addition to the Torchwood Team ), Lee Evans' character was the sort of zany comic stuff I detest and the whole thing with the UNIT commander ordering the closure of the wormhole trapping the Doctor inside was absurd - she simply wouldn't do that.

I'm probably alone in quite liking the old woman - she at least added a bit of tension to the proceedings; much of the rest of it was more Indiana Jones/Lara Croft than Doctor Who.

Only 3 more to go....

[General Zod]

So I just saw the special. It wasn't as horribly offensive as journey's end thankfully, and I think Christina's probably one of the best choices for a possible companion in years. She's not completely useless under pressure, not offensively stupid, and doesn't have a sappy high-school girl crush on the Doctor. I'll be surprised if they don't bring her back as a regular in some fashion.

[Bounty]

The fly beasts were laughable

Are you serious? Laughable aliens is what Who is all about! How can you not love alien fly-men from planet X They even had a rocketship and zappy ray-guns! The first proper aliens we've had in ages. I love 'em. More please!

[Ryushikaze]

I agree with the idea that while christina croft did some dumb things in the beginning, she also did some rather clever ones too. She and or Bernard I would not mind seeing as at least semi regulars.

As for the 'I lost people, not again', I think that's the Doctor's pat explanation for any reason not to let people in the Tardis now. Control room's a bit of a mess? 'I lost people'. Don't feel like obliging people for Tea 'I lost people'.
Especially when he's happy and chummy just a moment later. Just have him say 'I'm not ready for a regular travelling companion again. Too much baggage about what nearly happened to the last one. I'll look you up when I'm ready and if you'll still interested then...

Oh, and I agree. More silly aliens, more alien planets, and a few pure historicals now and then, people! You don't have to toss an alien in every week! You did perfectly fine with the historicals in the Hartnell era, folks.
Or if not Historicals, more stories like Peladon.

[Darth Onasi]

I saw it coming, but I was sad the cheesy fly-men didn't survive.
I would've liked to see the looks on the passenger's faces when the Doctor came back running with two insect monsters in tow.

[Patrick Degan]

So I just saw the special. It wasn't as horribly offensive as journey's end thankfully

There is very little that could be as horribly offensive as "Journey's End".

[Gandalf]

As far as I can tell, UNIT would actually have saved the Earth on their own there; the Doctor just rescued the guys in the bus.

Absolutely - it only took them 3 minutes to knock out three of them. They'd have dealt with several million of the fuckers in no time

I can't be arsed watching it again, but wouldn't they have closed the portal before the Doctor persuaded Bernard to keep it open?

[General Zod]

So I just saw the special. It wasn't as horribly offensive as journey's end thankfully

There is very little that could be as horribly offensive as "Journey's End".

I had low expectations after Journey's End.

I can't be arsed watching it again, but wouldn't they have closed the portal before the Doctor persuaded Bernard to keep it open?

Are you talking about before or after the Colonel threatened to shoot Bernard for disobeying orders?

[Gandalf]

Are you talking about before or after the Colonel threatened to shoot Bernard for disobeying orders?

Before, I would think.

My memories of it are pretty hazy. Did they figure out how to close the portal on their own?

[General Zod]

Are you talking about before or after the Colonel threatened to shoot Bernard for disobeying orders?

Before, I would think.

My memories of it are pretty hazy. Did they figure out how to close the portal on their own?

I think they had a vague idea but they weren't able to put all the clues together without the Doctor's help. Even then their initial attempt at shutting down the wormhole failed anyway, so it probably wouldn't have mattered if they did try before.

[mr friendly guy]

The Pertwee stranded on earth years were suposedly set in the 80's, in the 21st century the Brigadier would be well into retirement if he's still alive.
Come to think of it he was dragged out of retirement for one of the later Doctors adventures, the one involving Morgana La Fey IIRC.

Battlefield was the story you are referring to.

Out now in DVD.