Planet of the Dead (DW Easter special)

[NecronLord]

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

Hey, guess what? UNIT had the means to shut it down, or were close to it.

Oh, and then there's their rediculously powerful nukes.

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

And UNIT destroyed an entire cyberman fleet in a straight up nuke fight in the 60s. Advanced civilisations have lost in striaght up fights to UNIT before. Yes, it's rediculous, but them's the breaks - some of the most advanced civilizations in Dr Who have had entirely negligable military capacity. Given that Sanhelios, with a population of one hundred billion, couldn't deal with 'billions' of swarmy things, I would expect it is one of them.

Personally, I thought most of it was pretty average to say the least. The fly beasts were laughable

Ffft. Compared to what? Sontarans? Slitheen?

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.

Indeed.

[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

Hey, guess what? UNIT had the means to shut it down, or were close to it.

Oh, and then there's their rediculously powerful nukes.

Close but no banana - his initial plan failed and he was flapping until the Doctor told him how to rectify the situation. Even if he had worked it out eventually, it would have been too late to stop the swarm getting through. There's also the issue that the swarm would build up the wormhole again anyway - so stopping them once wouldn't necessarily send them away forever. The Doctor will redirect the wormhole to solve the problem for good.

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

And UNIT destroyed an entire cyberman fleet in a straight up nuke fight in the 60s. Advanced civilisations have lost in striaght up fights to UNIT before. Yes, it's rediculous, but them's the breaks - some of the most advanced civilizations in Dr Who have had entirely negligable military capacity. Given that Sanhelios, with a population of one hundred billion, couldn't deal with 'billions' of swarmy things, I would expect it is one of them.

However, as UNIT has shown it takes roughly a minute to kill each one, it would take them 2 years at that rate to blow up a million - and you can't expect them to all simply hang around in the sky waiting to be hit by the big guns. The fact that UNIT could blow up a spaceship with nukes is irrelevant to this threat.

Personally, I thought most of it was pretty average to say the least. The fly beasts were laughable

Ffft. Compared to what? Sontarans? Slitheen?

[/quote]

Yes, compared to Sontarans and Slitheen. Telepathic flies who had to march the Doctor and Lara back to their ship to read their minds rather than doing so on the spot. I concede you have a point about me complaining of silly monsters in Doctor Who

[Genii Lodus]

Yes, compared to Sontarans and Slitheen. Telepathic flies who had to march the Doctor and Lara back to their ship to read their minds rather than doing so on the spot. I concede you have a point about me complaining of silly monsters in Doctor Who

They weren't telepaths themselves but had magical telepathic translators. Not sure why the fly never took one with it when it went to capture the Doctor and Lara-alike. Perhaps it didn't want a conversation or was just confused or was thinking about garbage?

[NecronLord]

Close but no banana - his initial plan failed and he was flapping until the Doctor told him how to rectify the situation. Even if he had worked it out eventually, it would have been too late to stop the swarm getting through.

Because of course, this supposed genius is too dump to just try cranking the power up to maximum. The only thing the Doctor did to help him was say "loop it back through the integrator" which honestly, is meaningless, and given that the guy managed to come up with a valid way of closing the thing beforehand (which the Doctor is awed by and considers genius) without the Doctor business distracting him, there's no reason to think he wouldn't have pulled it off.

There's also the issue that the swarm would build up the wormhole again anyway - so stopping them once wouldn't necessarily send them away forever. The Doctor will redirect the wormhole to solve the problem for good.

And when it keeps coming back, they can fire a Z-bomb through...

Of course, on a simpler level, you're assuming that these things are perpetual motion machines - how many times do you think they can do their generate a wormhole trick without feeding? Because there's two flies and some guys in a bus left on that planet...

However, as UNIT has shown it takes roughly a minute to kill each one, it would take them 2 years at that rate to blow up a million - and you can't expect them to all simply hang around in the sky waiting to be hit by the big guns.

And of course, UNIT couldn't call in reinforcements.

The fact that UNIT could blow up a spaceship with nukes is irrelevant to this threat.

Why? Fire a Z-bomb (Human doomsday weapon from Tenth Planet set in 1986, of which they had several, used to destroy Mondas, the cyberman homeworld) through the wormhole, and the entire planet on the far side will be destroyed let's see the swarm survive that.

Yes, compared to Sontarans and Slitheen. Telepathic flies who had to march the Doctor and Lara back to their ship to read their minds rather than doing so on the spot. I concede you have a point about me complaining of silly monsters in Doctor Who

Close, but no banana.

The device he put on in the ship was a 'telepathic translation', they were not telepathic.

They weren't telepaths themselves but had magical telepathic translators. Not sure why the fly never took one with it when it went to capture the Doctor and Lara-alike. Perhaps it didn't want a conversation or was just confused or was thinking about garbage?

It wasn't originally planning on taking captives. It probably intended to just shoot them in the head until the Doctor started begging for mercy. Then it took them back to the ship to interrogate.

[Big Orange]

This was the best RTD script since "Turn Left" after the critic proof nonsense with Davros, and the serviceable but not brilliant 4th Christmas Special. Michelle Ryan is hands down the hottest companion we've had so far, not a strong an actress as Catherine Tate, but she was easy on the eyes in spandex and leather. Lee Evans seems well suited to small roles in quirky sci-fi movies and stuff (like The Fifth Element). Overall less disappointing and stale than Back to Earth (due to Doug Naylor not moving on, unlike Davies).

A few annoying plot holes: why did Ryan's character leave a clockwork trinket to catch the attention of the guards facing outwards? I alsp felt the Tritovore ship needed a cloaking device to suddenly pop up on the horizon like that and why the heck would you need to deactivate a security grid by pushing an obvious red button on the entry side?

[Bounty]

why the heck would you need to deactivate a security grid by pushing an obvious red button on the entry side?

It seemed liked less of an "keep intruder out" grid and more of a "keep engine bits in" grid. If it was designed to, say, stop junk from the engine crystal whatchamacallit washing back up the shaft there's no reason for it not to have a big red button for maintenance.

[NecronLord]

A few annoying plot holes: why did Ryan's character leave a clockwork trinket to catch the attention of the guards facing outwards?

Because she's a super-cocky risk taker who was going to end up in prison.

I alsp felt the Tritovore ship needed a cloaking device to suddenly pop up on the horizon like that

Huh? I thought it was just over some of the dunes...

and why the heck would you need to deactivate a security grid by pushing an obvious red button on the entry side?

Whut? She was going from the inhabited part of the ship into the uninhabited exterior part. The button was on the inside.

It's a manual override. I've seen dozens like it on various types of industrial machinery - big, prominent red button to switch the thing off if you end up having your hand caught. As this wasn't a warship, all it needed a 'security barrier' for was keeping shit out (possibly literally) of the inhabited sections, not really some super-secure milspec affair. Hell, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have one on either side, if it's just designed to contain explosions, hostile lifeforms in the engine compartment or whathaveyou.

[Stark]

Oh man I'd missed this stuff. 'Critic-proof nonsense'! 'Servicable but not brilliant'!

[Lost Soal]

A few annoying plot holes: why did Ryan's character leave a clockwork trinket to catch the attention of the guards facing outwards?

Because she's a super-cocky risk taker who was going to end up in prison.

Considering the look on her face when the alarms went off, I don't think it was meant to squeak, just sit waving quietly until they turned around in the morning.

[El Moose Monstero]

Oh man I'd missed this stuff. 'Critic-proof nonsense'! 'Servicable but not brilliant'!

Great isn't it? Give a simple absolute statement rather than a personal opinion, provide no supporting arguments or even just reasons for personal opinion, and then toss some three word 'Radio Times' buzz phrases and voila! The perfect fire-and-forget response just to make every Doctor Who episode thread complete!

----

I saw the episode on the BBC 3 repeat, didn't catch all of it, I admit, but the whole thing felt to me to be entirely generic. We had the stock 'menace to run away from', the default 'sinister moment of clumsy foreshadowing something that everyone actually knows about already', the soulless/heartless military, the 'talk about every day things of England as if they are a cocaine soaked gold encrusted leopard' scene, no characters developed or provided anything interesting. I was disappointed when he didn't let generic action heroine no. 1 go to jail, and even more disappointed when they wandered back into 'I've lost people' territory. What a shit response. How about 'you have to take responsibility for your actions' instead?

The episode was generic but not outright offensive for me, unlike the 'recognised by my 15 year old fan sister to be fanwank and pish' Journey's End (hey, I can do it too!). It's not that any of the above were particularly out of place, but they seemed to be the same old same old. As if, like in South Park, there is a large group of manatees selecting the elements of the new Doctor Who episodes from the magic plot pond.

[NecronLord]

Personally, I'd have found it more amusing if he had let her go to jail. And it had then cut to her getting out of jail with the caption "five years later" and the TARDIS sitting there outside the gate...

[Patrick Degan]

Just got finished watching this one. Pretty much cookbook Doctor Who, but after the atrocities of last season, something from the cookbook was needed. The strengths of this one was in the little moments —the Doctor reassuring Angela and the other passengers, the Doctor/Christina scenes. Little moments, little scenes, but a good part of Doctor Who's texture is woven out of those.

What we could have had a lot less of was the anorak in the electronics van (I suspect Malcolm was the RTD Gary-Stu in this film).

Christina was alright as a one-off companion. It's sort of good that these specials will have the Doctor traveling on his own —gives a chance to sort of spread his lifeline in this regeneration out a bit and David Tenant could really do well with a stint as a more-or-less solo act. And Tenant was back up to snuff as the Doctor.

They're not going to be perfect, this string of specials to close out Tenant's tenure, but at least he'll go out on a decent note hopefully. Unless somebody fails to sit on RTD before the end and keep him from doing something truly stupid.

[mr friendly guy]

Relatively inoffensive episode. I liked how Malcom was a fan of the doctor. This is one time where fanwank actually makes it work.

As for the UNIT stopping the wormhole thing, my take on it was that without the Doctor they might have been able to stop it but would have taken more time (even assuming Malcolm was willing to start it earlier as in this scenario the Doctor won't be on the other end, so there is no reason for Malcolm to delay). By then more of those monsters would have come through.

Saying we would eventually beat them all even if they come in massive numbers kind of misses the point. With the Doctor's technobabble advice we don't need to, considering the amount of damage these things will do before we beat them.

[Thanas]

Meh. A typical standard fare episode for season 3, methinks. Think about it - replace christine(?) with Martha and you have standard S3 stuff.

Not impressive, not offensive, nothing special.

[Lost Soal]

Relatively inoffensive episode. I liked how Malcom was a fan of the doctor. This is one time where fanwank actually makes it work.

As for the UNIT stopping the wormhole thing, my take on it was that without the Doctor they might have been able to stop it but would have taken more time (even assuming Malcolm was willing to start it earlier as in this scenario the Doctor won't be on the other end, so there is no reason for Malcolm to delay). By then more of those monsters would have come through.

Saying we would eventually beat them all even if they come in massive numbers kind of misses the point. With the Doctor's technobabble advice we don't need to, considering the amount of damage these things will do before we beat them.

You all seem to be missing the fact the the Doctor not being present completely changes the timeline. The police didn't call in UNIT until the driver came through the wormhole and died, and he only came through because the Doctor told them about the wormhole and where it is. Without this act there's no telling when UNIT gets called in.

It could potentially take a plane disappearing through it for them to be notified, by which time its too late.

[NecronLord]

It could potentially take a plane disappearing through it for them to be notified, by which time its too late.

Excellent point.

[mr friendly guy]

Relatively inoffensive episode. I liked how Malcom was a fan of the doctor. This is one time where fanwank actually makes it work.

As for the UNIT stopping the wormhole thing, my take on it was that without the Doctor they might have been able to stop it but would have taken more time (even assuming Malcolm was willing to start it earlier as in this scenario the Doctor won't be on the other end, so there is no reason for Malcolm to delay). By then more of those monsters would have come through.

Saying we would eventually beat them all even if they come in massive numbers kind of misses the point. With the Doctor's technobabble advice we don't need to, considering the amount of damage these things will do before we beat them.

You all seem to be missing the fact the the Doctor not being present completely changes the timeline. The police didn't call in UNIT until the driver came through the wormhole and died, and he only came through because the Doctor told them about the wormhole and where it is. Without this act there's no telling when UNIT gets called in.

It could potentially take a plane disappearing through it for them to be notified, by which time its too late.

Assuming someone wouldn't have accidentally wondered into the wormhole by mistake, then this changes the situation from we would have won without the Doctor but at great cost, to we would have been screwed. Oh well, another time the Doctor has saved planet earth.

[Big Orange]

Oh man I'd missed this stuff. 'Critic-proof nonsense'! 'Servicable but not brilliant'!

I was seriously injured and on meds at the time when I first watched "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", so my judgment was somewhat impaired at the time, but while I enjoyed those episodes on a superficial level and millions were tuning in, I just knew it was going to be pounded to bits on here.

While UNIT generally had a good showing in this episode (apart from Colonel Wooden), they were also not so bad in Helen Raynor's underrated Sontaran story and fought back the Sontaran troops successfully (despite taking heavy losses).

[Jade Falcon]

After spending time in hospital I finally got a chance to watch this after I had recorded it on the Sky+ box. I can't say I was impressed at all. The UNIT colonel was arrogant and really made me want to slap her. The storyline was also pretty weak, and I can't say I was overawed by Michelle Ryan's character.

As has already been mentioned, who designed that security system in the museum, Moron's R' Us?

[Big Orange]

Michelle Ryan's character is brave, resourceful, and beautiful, but she has a criminal career and got a insipid air of entitlement. It would've been better for the Doctor to stand by when she got busted.

The gold goblet heist was well filmed and directed, but the secuirty blindspot is perhaps due to help from an inside employee (the boyfriend in the getaway car) who must've disconnected the rooftop security.

[Jade Falcon]

Michelle Ryan's character is brave, resourceful, and beautiful, but she has a criminal career and got a insipid air of entitlement. It would've been better for the Doctor to stand by when she got busted.

The gold goblet heist was well filmed and directed, but the secuirty blindspot is perhaps due to help from an inside employee (the boyfriend in the getaway car) who must've disconnected the rooftop security.

Well filmed and directed? The security hole was blindly obvious. Why have four armed guards facing away from the item you'r'e meant to protect. For that matter, why isn't the goblet in a tamper sensitive case, and/or the beams extending above the object as well.

[Captain Seafort]

Well filmed and directed? The security hole was blindly obvious. Why have four armed guards facing away from the item you'r'e meant to protect. For that matter, why isn't the goblet in a tamper sensitive case, and/or the beams extending above the object as well.

The security wasn't simply bad, it was stereotypically bad, which makes me think RTD did it deliberately. I was half expecting a giant boulder to drop out from somewhere when she replaced the artefact with a bag of sand.

[Patrick Degan]

Well filmed and directed? The security hole was blindly obvious. Why have four armed guards facing away from the item you'r'e meant to protect. For that matter, why isn't the goblet in a tamper sensitive case, and/or the beams extending above the object as well.

The security wasn't simply bad, it was stereotypically bad, which makes me think RTD did it deliberately. I was half expecting a giant boulder to drop out from somewhere when she replaced the artefact with a bag of sand.

I couldn't help thinking about how there didn't seem to be any cameras in that part of the museum. It was all too obvious that this was setting up the goblet as a plot device for later in the episode. All in all, very clumsy.

[Big Orange]

Hollywood heists have always been contrived since how could Tom Cruise recover the NOC list from the CIA's data vault if there was CCTV installed, the CIA building had its own fire crew (like most major military/government facilities), and the ventallation systerm was shrunk down to its actual size?

[Jade Falcon]

And this excuses Dr Who's crappy security how exactly, not to mention the fact this isn't Hollywrrod