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BongMong
Registered: 02/26/06
Posts: 46
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 Monday, April 21 2008 @ 08:48 AM EDT |
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I liked this one. I particularly liked the fact that the Doctor and Donna didn't actually help the situation at all. They got involved, and discovered the goings on for the viewer, but the Ood saved themselves and had clearly planned to all along. The events unfolded pretty much the same as they would have done if the Doctor had never arrived.
The Doctor as observer, nice. Less godlike.
That said, why were the Ood so grateful to the Doctor at the end? What for exactly? Being allowed to flip the leaver for them? I think the Ood had that covered. And why did the Doctor say that he was taking an interest in the Ood because he 'owed them one' from his last encounter when he let them die? If so, then you still owe them one mate 'cause you did feck all to help this time as well. Perhaps, keeping all this in mind, that final comment from the Ood about the Doctor's song ending was a threat (either that or the Ood have inside info that Grade is returning)... |
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BongMong :)~
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old china
Registered: 06/07/06
Posts: 178
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 10:10 AM EDT |
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| [Quote by: Gabriel Chase] 1) Tenant leaves this season |
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Just listened to DT interviewed on Colin Murrays show (on the BBC iPlayer) and DT says that he'll be the Doctor into 2009 doing the specials. Could all be a red herring of course. He also said he's already stayed on longer than he originally thought he would, so who knows.
Anyway, back to this episode- I like Doctor Zoidberg, sorry I mean the Ood and was happy to see them back. Happy to be off Earth too!
Another 4/5 TG for me.
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If half the art of survival is running away, the other half is knowing when to keep a straight face.
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tarashnat
Registered: 08/17/05
Posts: 3062
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 11:31 AM EDT |
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| Well, without the Doctor defusing the bombs, the whole Ood plan would have been for naught. So, in effect, he did save them. |
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Daleks don't accept apologies! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!
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shockeye07
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 215
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 11:36 AM EDT |
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A 4 out of 5
I enjoyed it a lot, but not a classic. I liked the Ood so I was glad to see them back. Another planet, hurrah ! Great CGI, great sets (as always). Exciting action scenes. Story a little thin, sterotype badies. Really looking forward to next week. |
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lonelyangel10
Registered: 05/27/07
Posts: 79
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 02:40 PM EDT |
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[Quote by: DarthSkeptical] [Quote by: mad4plaid] | [Quote by: lonelyangel10] I still cannot take the acting style of the material given to Catherine Tate. I welcome the character of Donna, though when she came to the conclusion that she'd like to go home, I was ready to go find the Tardis. |
| | Actually, it was Donna's need to go home when things became "tough" that ruined this episode for me. Not Catherine's fault - I blame the writers! She went through the Spider Queen crap, and having Lance turn out to be a turd of the highest order (then watching him die), and she didn't think it would be like this with the Doctor? nope. She knew there would be bad, she knew it would be tough, that's why she spent her time after the Runaway Bride opening up her eyes to what was really going on.... I'll stop my rant, sorry. |
| See, to me, that was one of the best moments of the script. She wasn't whining to go home; she was literally disgusted by the depravity of the situation. I found that reaction both real and quite in character for Donna as we've come to know her over the last four stories. One of the things that most intriguing about Donna is her dichotomy. On the one hand she knows that the Doctor's way of life is better, so she naturally struggles to be a part of that. On the other, she's weighed down by her essentially ordinary, rather lazy, decidedly suburban side.
What she experiences in this episode is clearly beyond the realm of any experience she's ever had, and tons worse than what she went through in "The Runaway Bride". That was, to her, essentially a personal attack. Yes the Queen's plans had implications for the whole world, but at its core, it was all about Donna. Her own life. Her future happiness. That was really all that mattered to Donna.
This was a much different kind of threat. An attack upon innocents whom she'd only just met. Following a tragic experience with the impossible-to-help citizens of Pompeii, she comes face to face with mass slavery, institutional lobotomization, and potential genocide. That's a bit more than just having her own wedding interrupted by a spider.
Where Donna (and writer Keith Temple) deserve massive amounts of credit is the way she bounces back immediately after she seems so defeated by the whole experience. Her dressing down of Tim McInnerny's character — "You idiot. They're born with their brains in their hands. Don't you see? They're peaceful. They've got to be, cause a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets." — is one of the smartest, toughest things any companion has ever said to a villain. And the rest of the episode has her summoning her inner courage to help liberate an entire species.
Donna has been transformed in these last two episodes from a selfish suburbanite into a deeply empathetic character who is gainfully struggling to be a part of the big picture. With Rose, we got a little doubt in the first episode, a little pout in "The End of the World', and from then on out she was fully on board. With Donna, an older more set-in-her-ways character, we're getting a very realistic inner-struggle. One's not better than the other — they both have their virtues — but the writers aren't letting us down with Donna. They're giving us a woman in her late 30s.
Frankly, I'd be a little worried if Donna didn't ask to go home. |
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The age of the character is a good change from the experience of Martha and Rose's youth. Like both, Donna seemed to be won over rather quickly herself after the RB episode. I do think she saw enough outside of her own life to discover that traveling unto other planets probably wasn't for her during RB. She decided that someone else would be better suited to handle The Doctor and his motivations, conflicts, etc.
Lance's betrayal seems rather small taken with the extent of the Racnos. Donna never seemed to pay attention to any previous Alien invasion, so with it right in her face, in the end she didn't want to see anymore.
With the writers deciding to bring her back, they had to twist her opinions as previously expressed in RB. It's an interesting twist, but if the production team said tomorrow "In the role of Catherine Tate, Tracey Ullman will be playing Donna Nobel" the stretch of acting would not be that great.
I'll take shouty comedic Catherine Tate in a one-off any day over all those good quality drama scenes better played out by any number of actresses.
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"WOT?...WOT?" "WOT??????!!!!!" OUT!OUT!OUT!
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tarashnat
Registered: 08/17/05
Posts: 3062
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 03:17 PM EDT |
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It is possible for a character to grow off-screen. We've seen this with the Martha in Torchwood, so why is it so hard to believe for Donna? |
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Daleks don't accept apologies! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!
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Doctor Whoovie
Registered: 04/26/06
Posts: 794
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 03:56 PM EDT |
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In all respects (except perhaps the Eye Candy Dept  ), I prefer Donna to Martha. She has an opinion and is not a "yes, Doctor" kind of a companion.
With the exception of Rose convincing the Ninth Doctor to take her back to see her dead Father and trying to avoid being trapped away from the Tenth Doctor in Doomsday, have there been any other examples of a recent companion trying to convince the Doctor to take a course of action other than the one he initially decided. With Donna, we see a companion with opinions who tries to influence the Doctor's actions to get the outcome desired by her unselfish consience. |
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In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed are Kings
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joereform
Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 52
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| Monday, April 21 2008 @ 10:03 PM EDT |
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I am liking Donna as well. The whole romantic vibe with Rose was interesting, but then with Martha having the hots for him was a little wearying.
That having said, this series is not as thrilling as I would have hoped so far. Has anyone spotted any threads throughout the episodes so far, like the Bad Wolf/Torchwood/"Master for PM" like we have seen the previous three go-arounds? I know we saw a familiar face at the end of the first episode, and then the cryptic Ood comment at the end of this last one; but do you think that there will be an over-arching theme for series 4? |
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Facebook me! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=583224917
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mad4plaid
Registered: 02/02/06
Posts: 880
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| Tuesday, April 22 2008 @ 08:25 PM EDT |
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[Quote by: DarthSkeptical] Where Donna (and writer Keith Temple) deserve massive amounts of credit is the way she bounces back immediately after she seems so defeated by the whole experience. Her dressing down of Tim McInnerny's character — "You idiot. They're born with their brains in their hands. Don't you see? They're peaceful. They've got to be, cause a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets." — is one of the smartest, toughest things any companion has ever said to a villain. And the rest of the episode has her summoning her inner courage to help liberate an entire species.
Donna has been transformed in these last two episodes from a selfish suburbanite into a deeply empathetic character who is gainfully struggling to be a part of the big picture. With Rose, we got a little doubt in the first episode, a little pout in "The End of the World', and from then on out she was fully on board. With Donna, an older more set-in-her-ways character, we're getting a very realistic inner-struggle. One's not better than the other — they both have their virtues — but the writers aren't letting us down with Donna. They're giving us a woman in her late 30s.
Frankly, I'd be a little worried if Donna didn't ask to go home. |
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All good points. I just think that they could have made the same point without whining "I want to go home." But you are right, she was incredibly perceptive about the brain in their hands thing.
I LOVE how she doesn't just accept things, she questions almost everything the Doctor does! I really do like her, really (and that is a shock after Runaway Bride) |
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supremacy is relative
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mad4plaid
Registered: 02/02/06
Posts: 880
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| Tuesday, April 22 2008 @ 08:28 PM EDT |
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[Quote by: joereform] I am liking Donna as well. The whole romantic vibe with Rose was interesting, but then with Martha having the hots for him was a little wearying.
That having said, this series is not as thrilling as I would have hoped so far. Has anyone spotted any threads throughout the episodes so far, like the Bad Wolf/Torchwood/"Master for PM" like we have seen the previous three go-arounds? I know we saw a familiar face at the end of the first episode, and then the cryptic Ood comment at the end of this last one; but do you think that there will be an over-arching theme for series 4? |
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What? "Where are all the bees?" doesn't work for you? Or the "She" they've brought up? |
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supremacy is relative
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cybercolin
Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 276
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| Friday, April 25 2008 @ 01:18 PM EDT |
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Review up, i've tried to be as controversial as I can but one can only think of so much crap at once.
blog
And can anyone explain why i've got a pink bar on the bottom of the YouTube video?!? I love it |
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Please check out my blog, as I attempt to watch and review EVERY Doctor Who episode! http://journeythroughtimeandspace.blogspot.com/
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Chase
Registered: 03/25/08
Posts: 505
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| Saturday, April 26 2008 @ 03:55 PM EDT |
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I didn't know what to make of this one except that there were some great parts and some really ...questionable parts. I didn't get...I'm usually left in the dark about some things...who was the man the Doctor referrred to about having the know how about what's right and what's wrong..the man who fell into the brain or the man who was turned into an Ood?
And why did the Ood have red eyes this time? They weren't possessed by the devil again so why were they all animalistic as if they were? What are the Ood anyway?
Donna was again terrific as comp except...she wants to go home one second and then later, doesn't, realistic I guess. Tate is amazing in all her scenes to be honest. She a bit like a mix of Tegan and Sarah Jane. SO much better than both Martha and Rose (both of whom I liked). |
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The_Hobbit
Registered: 05/03/08
Posts: 3
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| Sunday, May 04 2008 @ 01:54 PM EDT |
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Listening to the Podshock review of the episode gave me this idea:
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tarashnat
Registered: 08/17/05
Posts: 3062
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| Sunday, May 04 2008 @ 02:56 PM EDT |
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[Quote by: The_Hobbit] Listening to the Podshock review of the episode gave me this idea:
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That's hilarious... |
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Daleks don't accept apologies! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!
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Justice
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 520
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| Saturday, May 10 2008 @ 01:37 AM EDT |
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whats with the "are you two married?" thing?
i mean they don't even look married.
it's the curse of MEL! |
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"Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth."
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