paratti (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} paratti) wrote,@ 2008-04-19 20:28:00 |
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Planet of the Ood
I loved that.
Alien Planet:) Made from Quarry for double plus Classic Who goodness. And one which looked gorgeous.
Sensorites reference for even more Classic goodness topped by using the Doctor's limited telepathy like that story used Susan's. And meshed it into the New Who Reiniette mind linking, only this time with Donna.
Oliver Mace from Spooks/Captain Darling from Blackadder in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccce
The Meep Hides Under The Sofa foreshadowy warning that the Doctor's song must end. On top of that something on your back warning for Donna last week is officially suitably terrified of the finale.
Donna backstory of born in Chiswick (West London) and going to see West Ham (East London) every other week.
Donna, the most be prepared companion ever and her entirely suitable parka of extreme warmness and that whole wonderfully written/shot/acted she misses him monologuing about the wonders of her seeing alien planets by doing the smart thing and changing into warm gear for ice planet exploration. Loves her so much. And loved that he didn't change as he's always been good with cold, like in Seeds of Doom's Antarctica and 42.
The return of the Ood and a proper exploration of both them and the Doctor realising on his own that he owes them for not saving the IP/SP Ood and that he should have taken more notice of something fundamentally wrong and how Donna calling him on his shit and how she sees things brings that out and leads to their role in the story of liberation. It gives even more shades of meaning to the season two story as well as audience knowledge and investment in this one.
But most of all I love that they did the thing that sci-fi does best, use science fiction tropes to explore real world issues, both current and historical. Here we have a story that not only is relevant to the sweat shops that provide so many of the clothes and other consumer goods that not only Donna, as the Doctor points out, and the audience wears but also, as the Confidential points out, our use of other living beings like battery hens - Return of the Vegetarian Agenda:)
However, the real life big parallel is with the slavery of the 18th Centuary. We have the barely able to move Ood packed in metal containers for shipment across three galaxies rather than wooden ships across the Atlantic, but the parallel with the horrors of the middle passage are unmistakable. As are the whip wielding overseers, the role of all races in enabling the disgusting practice to occur, continue and thrive and the way that all too many people were just interested in a better lifestyle for themselves rather than the costs to others. It is quite telling that the ad for the 42nd Century has the Ood offering tea. when it was a rising middle class demand for sugar that condemned so many to death and horror back then. It is also telling that the liberation comes as a result of a combination of resistance of the enslaved themselves and allies in the form of the Friends of the Ood and the Doctor-Donna here and abolitionists then. I like that the story had to have the Doctor-Donna in an important ally role - as it is their show, but that liberation came from the Ood themselves - in all their different forms of reaction/action but also allies like the Friend of the Ood who'd spent 10 years working his way into a position where he could make the crucial difference in reducing the dampening field on the big brain.
As for the promo, it feels too soon to have Martha back, especially after her Torchwood episodes, as Doctor-Donna has been so good that I haven't missed her and it feels too soon into Doctor-Donna to have a third companion. This position would be the same if it were Rose or Jack next week. Also, I'm probably one of the few old school folk who don't like the Sontarans. It's the military thing. It can be funny - like Linx claiming the Earth in Time Warrior - but I tend to find them limited and too one note. I'd rather have the Rutans if its one or the other.
I loved that.
Alien Planet:) Made from Quarry for double plus Classic Who goodness. And one which looked gorgeous.
Sensorites reference for even more Classic goodness topped by using the Doctor's limited telepathy like that story used Susan's. And meshed it into the New Who Reiniette mind linking, only this time with Donna.
Oliver Mace from Spooks/Captain Darling from Blackadder in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccce
The Meep Hides Under The Sofa foreshadowy warning that the Doctor's song must end. On top of that something on your back warning for Donna last week is officially suitably terrified of the finale.
Donna backstory of born in Chiswick (West London) and going to see West Ham (East London) every other week.
Donna, the most be prepared companion ever and her entirely suitable parka of extreme warmness and that whole wonderfully written/shot/acted she misses him monologuing about the wonders of her seeing alien planets by doing the smart thing and changing into warm gear for ice planet exploration. Loves her so much. And loved that he didn't change as he's always been good with cold, like in Seeds of Doom's Antarctica and 42.
The return of the Ood and a proper exploration of both them and the Doctor realising on his own that he owes them for not saving the IP/SP Ood and that he should have taken more notice of something fundamentally wrong and how Donna calling him on his shit and how she sees things brings that out and leads to their role in the story of liberation. It gives even more shades of meaning to the season two story as well as audience knowledge and investment in this one.
But most of all I love that they did the thing that sci-fi does best, use science fiction tropes to explore real world issues, both current and historical. Here we have a story that not only is relevant to the sweat shops that provide so many of the clothes and other consumer goods that not only Donna, as the Doctor points out, and the audience wears but also, as the Confidential points out, our use of other living beings like battery hens - Return of the Vegetarian Agenda:)
However, the real life big parallel is with the slavery of the 18th Centuary. We have the barely able to move Ood packed in metal containers for shipment across three galaxies rather than wooden ships across the Atlantic, but the parallel with the horrors of the middle passage are unmistakable. As are the whip wielding overseers, the role of all races in enabling the disgusting practice to occur, continue and thrive and the way that all too many people were just interested in a better lifestyle for themselves rather than the costs to others. It is quite telling that the ad for the 42nd Century has the Ood offering tea. when it was a rising middle class demand for sugar that condemned so many to death and horror back then. It is also telling that the liberation comes as a result of a combination of resistance of the enslaved themselves and allies in the form of the Friends of the Ood and the Doctor-Donna here and abolitionists then. I like that the story had to have the Doctor-Donna in an important ally role - as it is their show, but that liberation came from the Ood themselves - in all their different forms of reaction/action but also allies like the Friend of the Ood who'd spent 10 years working his way into a position where he could make the crucial difference in reducing the dampening field on the big brain.
As for the promo, it feels too soon to have Martha back, especially after her Torchwood episodes, as Doctor-Donna has been so good that I haven't missed her and it feels too soon into Doctor-Donna to have a third companion. This position would be the same if it were Rose or Jack next week. Also, I'm probably one of the few old school folk who don't like the Sontarans. It's the military thing. It can be funny - like Linx claiming the Earth in Time Warrior - but I tend to find them limited and too one note. I'd rather have the Rutans if its one or the other.