All Aboard!

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Yep, that's right! It's the Who Review! As I'm sure you all know, Planet of the Dead was first shown earlier today, and what a beastie it was! So, let's take it from the top. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't seen it yet, there will invariably be spoilers, so don't read past THIS POINT.
What an incredible intro! It was such a stylish set-up, it almost belonged in Mission Impossible or National Treasure, rather than Doctor Who! I don't think I've felt that sort of vibe since....Well, I'd like to say The Lazarus Experiment, but some of the UNIT bits from Series 4 were pretty smart-looking too. I really like Lady C as well - A good anti-heroine, for a change. And quite pretty, too. The random inclusion of the waving Chinese cat made me smile too - I got one when I was in Singapore! All in all, I reckon it was probably my favourite pre-credits sequence.... well, pretty much forever, even.
The thing that annoyed me next was the Doctor's weird device thing. For some reason they always think it's necessary to put in a weird device as a talking point. It was the same at the start of Season 4, and I could have sworn they'd done it in a Christmas one as well. Anyway, the bus was an........ interesting idea. I'm a bit confused now, though, because when does that mean the episode was set? The last routemaster bus left on December 9th 2005, but the guy clearly mentions the planets in the sky, meaning it has to be after Journey's End, meaning it has to be modern day. MIND YOU, Wikipedia tells me Boris Johnson is planning to bring back the Routemasters in 2011. So maybe it's set in the near future. I shouldn't really care about these things, but they stick out like a sore thumb sometimes.
The desert was good. It looked suitably alien. In my opinion, it probably wasn't worth going all the way to Dubai to film something you could probably have greenscreened, but I guess actually being there gives it greater realism and depth. San Helios is a great planet name. I'd like to have seen more of what it was like before the Swarm, because what little you saw from the computer screen looked really funky.
Right! Alien time! First things first, the Tritovores. No. Just, no. The insect idea has been way too overused now. Even in the new series, you've had the Vespiform, the Malmooth, the Racnoss, Lazarus, the Uvodni, and let's not forget our good friends the Zarbi from the original series. In my opinion, the Tritovores are just ripping off a design that used to be good. Don't get me wrong, I loved all their gadgets, and clothes, and the ship, and stuff like that. Suitably space age, just what you'd expect from a group of galactic traders. But as far as the actual creatures go, the BBC have to go back to the drawing board now.
But, on the other hand - the Swarm! I loved 'em. OK, it might be another riped-off stingray design, but it just seemed to work so much better. The way they glided menacingly through the air. You felt like they were real predators, proper aliens, not just humanoid creatures like we're used to getting. I'd have liked to have seen more killing power, but I spose pre-watershed there's only so much you can show. It's just.... I got the impression they could bash against stuff and not really do much else. However, having said that, they didn't look too out of place on Earth either. But I'll get to that later.
So... Actors. David Tennant, good as ever. Not his best performance, though, I must admit. He didn't seem to have the same....dynamics as usual. He never seemed to be out of his depth in this one, which is a shame because the best acting always comes to the front when the character is in grave peril or the like. But I guess we've got that to look forward to at the end of the year! Michelle Ryan - Possibly my favourite companion yet. She was very Jenny-ish, but sort of an evil version, which made her much more interesting. I felt at times she was a bit....wooden, I guess. But on the whole I would love to see her return someday. Besides, you've got a random bus flying around the world, it's impossible not to bring it back again. But anyway, Lee Evans. I've not seen any of his other stuff, but from this, I'm not really impressed. Partly, I guess the writers are to blame. I felt they included Malcom just to say, "look, we can get lots of famous people on our show", rather than judging on actual good talent. But as I say, that's just my opinion.
Anyway, I generally thought the effects on this were pretty brilliant. They just keep getting better, in my opinion. I mean, OK, the bus looked a bit like it was just a picture they were moving around the screen, but as far as everything else was concerned - fantastic! The spaceship was done in that lovely matte style which I really adore, the Swarm was really cool and fluid and menacing, just as they should be - I would be scared if they were breathing down my neck! And I gotta admit, some of those shots over London were pretty breathtaking. When the Swarm came through, it was like a proper sci-fi movie, like Transformers or Batman. Too bad they were all fought off with a bus and a few rockets. Bit of an anti-climax, in my opinion. It was one of those moments where you just wanted to see, just for a minute, what would it be like if THE WHOLE SWARM came through. Alas, it may never happen.
Music-wise, I loved this episode. Loved it right from the funky moody brass of the break-in at the start to the triumphant crescendo at the close. I thought the planet music was very atmospheric, and hopefully they'll put this lot on CD soon! One thing I did enjoy was the UNIT theme which tehy've revamped AGAIN! It seems to be getting cooler and cooler every time! Admit it, Torchwood, you're nothing compared to this!
OK, time to look to the future. That lady's predictions. Oh, and can I just say - They were never properly explained. Just where does her foresight come from? I mean, it might just be some vital plot device which turns up later, but if it isn't I feel very cheated. A bit like at the end of the last Indiana Jones. But anyway, "he will knock four times." Let's be honest, can it be anyone other than the Master? The knocking is obviously in reference to the "Sound of Drums", and the Doctor obviously realises this as much as we do. So we've got that to look forward to. I hope it's John Simm again. He was brilliant. But what about that other detail? "It is returning through the dark". IT? What IT? Nothing Dalek related, I hope. Maybe...Gallifrey? Nah, couldn't be...could it??!! Or maybe even... THE TIME WAR! Nah, the writers probably aren't that imaginative.
So, the Waters of Mars. Fairly self-explanitory, I guess. And the locale looks quite funky, as usual. What it'll mean in the grand scheme of things though, as Tennant's penultimate story (remember his last is a 2-parter), remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, November can't come soon enough!

So there you go. Back to normality tomorrow, but I hope you enjoyed watching Planet of the Dead as much as I did. And if you didn't, just reassure yourself with the fact that, from here, it can only get better!

See ya 'round!

Jack

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