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Below-par for me, and that's compared to other weak 'the difficult second episodes' like The Beast Below, which looks like utter genius in comparison (but which, the glaring plothole and unchacteristic Doctor reaction aside, I otherwise enjoyed). There was little sense of menace after the first twenty five or so minutes. There was absolutely no sense of consequences. The characters who died or were in peril we didn't have a reason to care about (compare the little boy to the one who became a Toclafane in series three). The colonists were unlikeable. The Doctor's first plan was to blow up the place before the colonists got there - not great as they'd then have no new home to arrive to! Then we learn they were already there, so he would have blown them up anyway. Quite a serious blunder on his part (you would think he might have checked!), but once he learns that there's no dealing with the implications whatsoever anyway. A deus ex machina later he turns around and the robots he was going to blow up without a second thought are now more important than the colonists! And he leaves robots (that turn into rogue merciless killers at the drop of a hat if they misunderstand you) at the colony with trigger-happy humans who have been told they're now below them in the pecking order...what can possibly go wrong?!! A few things lifted it up for me from the non-existent plot, the terrible pacing, and the lack of any menace once the robots stopped looking interested in killing and everyone (mainly the Doctor) just stood around talking. I thought Capaldi was terrific again - this is the Doctor we should have had after his first episode or two once the regen had settled down. It was fairly bright and breezy again, which is refreshing after the last three series (the specials are separate) for me. Bill is very good and instantly likeable, though I hope she'll ask less obvious questions as an excuse for exposition (there was an awful lot here) and speeches from the Doc as we go on. I haven't watched much of Pertwee, but Peter evokes Tom Baker wonderfully. Other Doctors at times, yes, but especially Baker. It could almost be the same voice, but he does it so brilliantly it's really like a fantastic 'echo' rather than any sort of 'impression', absolutely wonderful! |
#11834753, By kimchibaka The Official Doctor Who Thread
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kimchibaka 223 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 12 years ago
