Despite living in the U.S., I was able to catch the BBC Easter Special for Doctor Who titled "Planet of the Dead". My thoughts on it are as follows:It wasn't the best special broadcast thus far (I enjoyed the 2008 Christmas special more), but it was on par with the better episodes of the show. The Doctor seems to fight two general categories of alien menaces: intentional threats or forces of nature (or the first taking advantage of the second). This was one of those "forces of nature" enemies (and I'm not referring to the fly-headed creatures seen in the previews).
The highlight of the episode was Michelle Ryan's character, who was the right combination of assertiveness and eagerness to be a lot of fun (much like the Doctor himself). It's a pity that she was only signed for the special. I wouldn't have minded her as a companion for a season.
Lee Evans was amusing as Dr. Malcolm Taylor. I think he was supposed to represent fandom and would likely fit in as a member of LINDA. It was nice to see UNIT used again. Sometimes it seems like Torchwood overshadows them.
If I had to guess, I would say the plot was likely more a product of co-writer Gareth Roberts and the character dialogue was more from co-writer/producer Russell T. Davies. Character voices has always been the predominate strength of the latter whereas plot not so much.
Naturally, this is some foreshadowing of David Tennant's final trilogy series in the role. "Your song is ending" sounds a bit like the Ood warning from last season.
Overall, I enjoyed the special and look forward to when it (along with this past year's Christmas special) is broadcast on a U.S. channel. Are you listening SyFy?
If you did see "Planet of the Dead", what are your thoughts?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-23-2009 @ 5:15PM
Tom said...
Michelle Ryan was probably the best thing about the easter special and i agree, she should come back.
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4-13-2009 @ 2:33PM
Cyantre said...
Watching these specials on the holiday they were meant to be broadcast on really solidifies the show's connection to it's viewers. A pleasant smile came across my face when I heard "I'm the Doctor, Happy Easter."
This special was quite good and I definitely enjoyed Michelle Ryan's character as well. Considering the only previous experience I had with her was in the failed revival of Bionic Woman, it was good to see her redeem herself by playing such a captivating character.
I am throughly going to miss David Tennant when he is gone, but I am eagerly awaiting the remaining three specials.
The next episode titled "The Waters of Mars" is due to be broadcast sometime in November. Fans of the show are already speculating that the title of this episode may just be an anagram giving a clue of things to come.
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4-13-2009 @ 2:37PM
Chrisw said...
It was a fun episode, the "clues" as to the upcoming finale were pretty obvious...the drum beat of the Master played as the psychic woman told the Doctor about his "song ending."
If that's the case, it should be really good.
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4-13-2009 @ 2:40PM
Willmore2000 said...
I saw it. Thanks, TV Piracy.
Sort of enjoyed it. The plot was interesting enough, however, the one thing that bugs my about Doctor Who is the aliens. I understand that the series is rooted in early sci-fi, but can we get a little bit more creative than fly-people? The flying monsters were pretty cool though. The science was bull-shit, but, I can't really expect more from Doctor Who. Still, enjoyable. It's a shame that we'll have just the 4 specials in 2009.
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4-13-2009 @ 2:59PM
Chris Wright said...
I thought this special was far better than the Christmas special myself. I'm just tired of the Cybermen (and Dalak) stories of the RTD era, I feel like their plans are always insurmountable, yet somehow they defeat them and they are supposed to be gone for good, yet they show up again. This special wasn't challenging or anything but it was a good quality episode where we got to see the doctor have fun before the bad things (that's what RTD said was coming in the Doctor Who Confidential) that to come happen.
The consensus online is that the 4 knocks has to do with the master coming back, quite possibly with Donna and some other companions (though as much as I love Donna I really don't want to see them bend things to make it work). I'm also betting that we might see the time lord race return by the time next doctor takes over.
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4-13-2009 @ 4:46PM
Cyantre said...
I very much doubt Donna will be back, but her grandfather Wilfred will be.
4-13-2009 @ 4:15PM
jaerisk said...
RTD is a tool, the "Easter" special was slightly entertaining no doubt, but come on this is one of the few episodes we get this year before Davie T. is done.and its a throwaway episode I mean seriously can this are all going to be one-shot adventures and at the end someone says something mysterious about the Doc's fate? Wow...inventive...if you're 10. Bring on the Moff please and save Doctor Who. Oh, and Michelle Ryan is hot.
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4-13-2009 @ 4:30PM
George said...
Jaerisk, there's no such thing as a throwaway episode. This isn't part of a normal Doctor Who series and can't be treated as such. A holiday special like this one has to stand alone and appeal to a broader audience. It would be foolish to begin seeding heavy continuity or roll out an ongoing story when you know that your next episode is several months away. Most people don't remember what they had for dinner two days ago, let alone what happened on a TV programme months ago, and when you start counting on your core audience knowing the complexities of your continuity, you start vanishing up your own ass (see also: JN-T). The thing that's great about RTD -- the thing that whiners never understand -- is that he knows his audience. His stories offer something for everyone rather than pandering to fans. And guess what? Moffatt is going to do the same thing. He's smart enough to see beyond his image, to remember that there were people who HATED 'Blink' and his other episodes, and he knows he'll have to please them if he wants his "era" to succeed.
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4-13-2009 @ 5:11PM
Joseph said...
I'm telling you, when David Tennant leaves, so do I.
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4-13-2009 @ 5:46PM
Cyantre said...
You should give Matt Smith a chance before you make that decision, especially since he'll be paired with Moffat as head-writer. We don't even know who the next companion is going to be.
4-13-2009 @ 6:52PM
RobynM said...
I felt much the same way when I heard Tom Baker was leaving and indeed did leave fandom for a fair number of years. However, I did eventually give it another chance, and now Sylvester McCoy and David Tennant are two of my favourite Doctors. So I'm basically agreeing with Cyantre here - try it, you might like it.
4-13-2009 @ 6:54PM
patel said...
I liked it. Now that the stench of RTD and his teletubbie master is lifting from the show the quality is picking up.
No ham-handed political message.
No piss-poor understanding of science such as how gravity works.
I would give it a 4.5 star. I just wish they would have kept Michelle Ryan around. I think it would have been an awesome opportunity to have a black-hat companion.
The doctor always filled with righteous indignation about violence and especially the military yet he was killed more being than any person in the history of earth. (Heck how many Dalek homeworlds and fleets has he destroyed.)
There would be some great storytelling with him confronting his darker nature.
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4-13-2009 @ 7:52PM
Sour Bob said...
The whole thing feels like a half-hearted remake of last year's "Midnight" cooked up solely for the purpose of taking the cast and crew to Dubai and seeing if they could pull it off there. The alien design was awful and the desert location wasn't half as impressive as they seemed to think it was. Michelle Ryan was good, but Lee Evans being silly? Urgh. UNIT, but no Martha? Hrmph.
Worst of all, it had one of those trademark Russell T Davies endings in which the Doctor suddenly sputters out a bunch of half-scientific gibberish and does something implausible. "BUT WAIT! If I can just rejigger the malingatron to the flux capacitor... Brilliant!"
Meh, I say. MEH.
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4-13-2009 @ 7:44PM
Chrisw said...
Are you guys kidding? This was not a stand alone episode. There was someone controlling the wormhole and possibly the aliens and we never learned who it was. Clearly this is leading into the finale and is part of a bigger story ark.
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4-14-2009 @ 10:04AM
JPN said...
You're a MORON. This was stand-alone trash at its FINEST. If you think this is part of a bigger story arc, your brain is RUBBISH! Or perhaps full of CHICKEN TETRAZINI!
4-14-2009 @ 6:25PM
Domingo said...
While some people like JPN broadcast their lack of intellegence on the internet in their own moronic way.
It was a stand alone episode, the Doctor explained how the Wormhole was created. The creatures circle the planet at an ever increasing rate of speed, until they rip a hole in Space creating the wormhole. Plus, their metal exoskeleton protects them from becoming extra crispy like the bus driver.
4-13-2009 @ 7:56PM
ch said...
Hmm I wonder how you saw this episode...maybe from the old interwebs. Hmmm
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4-14-2009 @ 1:33AM
Patrick said...
After reading through most of these comment I'd like to add a few points
1) Michelle Ryan's character was too good to be true, they had to get rid of her. Normally every companion has some flaw that she overcomes with the help of the Doctor
2) As George said, every special has to be a stand alone episode, which is what makes it a "special". I don't think anyone like the Daleks are controlling the worm hole.
3) It was one of my more favorite episodes, with the exception of the last few minutes, which was just a splurge of poorly disguised hints at the future episodes. How convinent, a pshycic woman.
4) Funny how a black woman is in charge of UNIT but its not Martha. What, did Martha take a vacation?
5) REALLY wish there was a sooner holiday so the next episode would come out!
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4-14-2009 @ 12:12PM
jaradel said...
"4) Funny how a black woman is in charge of UNIT but its not Martha. What, did Martha take a vacation?"
Martha's a medical doctor. Captain Magambo is, well, a captain. And logistically speaking, Freema's been doing L&O:UK, so she may not have been available anyway.
Captain Magambo was in "Turn Left", too.
4-14-2009 @ 12:21PM
jaradel said...
I rather enjoyed it; I thought that Christina was an intentional Sue, but it worked for the episode, and Malcolm was the personification of the geek fanboy (or geek fangirl, not to discriminate, and I do count myself in the latter category). I don't think it was a ripoff of Midnight; yes, there were similarities and a few references, but it was all tongue-in-cheek. The skience was dodgy (but what do you expect from a couple of writers with no appreciable science background? Do they even *have* a science advisor?), but on the whole the episode kept me entertained for the whole hour. I would put it on the level of "The Unicorn and the Wasp" for its overall tone and spirit. The next three episodes are going to get very dark - how can they not, with the Tenth Doctor's demise on the horizon? - so I think this episode was kept on the light side intentionally. Not every DW episode can be as profound as .
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