paratti (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} paratti) wrote,@ 2008-05-03 20:25:00 |
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Doctor Who - The Poison Sky
Well, that was much, much better. It was still a bit plot over character and I was actually embarrassed for Freema at how much she was acted off the screen. I mean, when your Evil Double Acting is worse than Season 2 David Boreanaz there really is a problem, especially when you get given scenes like convincing your Evil Clone to channel your inner you and give the plot required info and its all flat it really does lead to me shouting 'Return her to Earth!' along with the character at the end. Especially as the idea of another episode of Freema floundering as people that can act like CT, DT, Mr Cribbins and co show up her inadequacies as an actor all the more does not fill me with joy - which is a real bummer as the Doctor's Daughter (literally in that she's the daughter of the actor that played Five and looks very like a daughter of Romana II to me) should be great fun.
Back to the episode. CT got lots to do and ran with it beautifully. Donna vs the Sontaran armed only with a mallet, a Donna that's alone in a hostile spaceship crewed with killers and very human in that she's scared and out of her depth. But she faces her fears, gets through them and not only Back of The Neck!s the Sontaran, the woman that can't change a fuse gets the teleport switched back. She also does great relationship work with BC and her mum - who rocked her own axe. Her getting the key to the TARDIS was priceless and so much better than the OTT of Martha's breathless cupping.
It has to be admitted the thing that made me squee the most, for all my Donna love, was the Brig reference. He's been knighted! He's in Peru! And I fully expect and needs lots of fics about what the Brig is up to in Peru.
Old Skool me loved that the Colonel lived up to the Brig's legacy. Yes, initially a lot of his troops, Trap 40 Ross! *Sniffle* got killed, but this does both establish the cost of alien invasions and live up to the traditions of Massive Body Count and Aliens Immune To Bullets. He also got to give both a really great speech, work out a way of fighting back with bullets they weren't immune to and fight back effectively. And that's what Old Skool UNIT does. It did it in The Invasion and it did it in The Silurians. Yes, they have help and like in the latter the Doctor does go round their backs in stopping the human children from going too far - here knowing Clone Martha is a wrong 'un and letting her stop the nukes - but the military option does have its uses. This is something that goes way back to the very WW2 influenced The Daleks, sometimes you do have to fight. UNIT has done it since the 60's/70s and it has done it the way it always has, internationally. I liked that they made a point of including the nuclear nations that aren't just the US (as is usual in US shows) or the UK and that they included the nuclear pariah nations as we are all in this planet together. It also fitted nicely with the made in 1969 use of the Russian rocket to help save the world in The Invasion and was a great fit with the show's internationalism tradition. As well as its essential Britishness. I did actually like the Union Jack still flying, not big, centre stage fluttering and vulgar, but still going in its restrained and slightly self-effacing way as the sky burned.
I also like that they did kill Ross. It was so that we knew one of the dead and that it would hurt but that was rather the point. Soldiers aren't red shirts off a telly programme or a video game to be thrown away for nothing. They're people, individuals and irreplaceable. Sometimes you do have to fight and die and send others to do both, but they should always be Ross and not Trap 40 and it is vital to remember that.
On a lighter note, UNIT captains can now kiss UNIT Colonels - in extreme circumstances only;) but it can now happen:)
The Redemptive Deathination of irritating Boy Genius Idiot was predictable, but necessary to avoid regeneration mid series and did tie up his story strand fine.
We have a date for how long the Sontaran Rutan War has been going on - 50,000 years - which is good to know.
If the Sontarans now want to use Earth as a clone making planet, presumably their current one is missing.
Rose! in the video feed and seeming to be calling out to the Doctor.
The sky burning clear and the fume drowned cities were great and the environment message important, so necessary.
Wilf is beyond adorable and wonderful and also handy with the door sealing. I'm really glad he's still around.
All in all, much better than last week - helped by less Martha - but the Sontarans remain not my favourite monsters. In fact they're not Premiership (Daleks, Master, Ice Warriors, Sea Devils/Silurians, Zygons) or Championship (Cybermen, Sutek, Rani) they;re still pretty much the league that used to be known as Third. But Christopher Ryan did do them proud.
Well, that was much, much better. It was still a bit plot over character and I was actually embarrassed for Freema at how much she was acted off the screen. I mean, when your Evil Double Acting is worse than Season 2 David Boreanaz there really is a problem, especially when you get given scenes like convincing your Evil Clone to channel your inner you and give the plot required info and its all flat it really does lead to me shouting 'Return her to Earth!' along with the character at the end. Especially as the idea of another episode of Freema floundering as people that can act like CT, DT, Mr Cribbins and co show up her inadequacies as an actor all the more does not fill me with joy - which is a real bummer as the Doctor's Daughter (literally in that she's the daughter of the actor that played Five and looks very like a daughter of Romana II to me) should be great fun.
Back to the episode. CT got lots to do and ran with it beautifully. Donna vs the Sontaran armed only with a mallet, a Donna that's alone in a hostile spaceship crewed with killers and very human in that she's scared and out of her depth. But she faces her fears, gets through them and not only Back of The Neck!s the Sontaran, the woman that can't change a fuse gets the teleport switched back. She also does great relationship work with BC and her mum - who rocked her own axe. Her getting the key to the TARDIS was priceless and so much better than the OTT of Martha's breathless cupping.
It has to be admitted the thing that made me squee the most, for all my Donna love, was the Brig reference. He's been knighted! He's in Peru! And I fully expect and needs lots of fics about what the Brig is up to in Peru.
Old Skool me loved that the Colonel lived up to the Brig's legacy. Yes, initially a lot of his troops, Trap 40 Ross! *Sniffle* got killed, but this does both establish the cost of alien invasions and live up to the traditions of Massive Body Count and Aliens Immune To Bullets. He also got to give both a really great speech, work out a way of fighting back with bullets they weren't immune to and fight back effectively. And that's what Old Skool UNIT does. It did it in The Invasion and it did it in The Silurians. Yes, they have help and like in the latter the Doctor does go round their backs in stopping the human children from going too far - here knowing Clone Martha is a wrong 'un and letting her stop the nukes - but the military option does have its uses. This is something that goes way back to the very WW2 influenced The Daleks, sometimes you do have to fight. UNIT has done it since the 60's/70s and it has done it the way it always has, internationally. I liked that they made a point of including the nuclear nations that aren't just the US (as is usual in US shows) or the UK and that they included the nuclear pariah nations as we are all in this planet together. It also fitted nicely with the made in 1969 use of the Russian rocket to help save the world in The Invasion and was a great fit with the show's internationalism tradition. As well as its essential Britishness. I did actually like the Union Jack still flying, not big, centre stage fluttering and vulgar, but still going in its restrained and slightly self-effacing way as the sky burned.
I also like that they did kill Ross. It was so that we knew one of the dead and that it would hurt but that was rather the point. Soldiers aren't red shirts off a telly programme or a video game to be thrown away for nothing. They're people, individuals and irreplaceable. Sometimes you do have to fight and die and send others to do both, but they should always be Ross and not Trap 40 and it is vital to remember that.
On a lighter note, UNIT captains can now kiss UNIT Colonels - in extreme circumstances only;) but it can now happen:)
The Redemptive Deathination of irritating Boy Genius Idiot was predictable, but necessary to avoid regeneration mid series and did tie up his story strand fine.
We have a date for how long the Sontaran Rutan War has been going on - 50,000 years - which is good to know.
If the Sontarans now want to use Earth as a clone making planet, presumably their current one is missing.
Rose! in the video feed and seeming to be calling out to the Doctor.
The sky burning clear and the fume drowned cities were great and the environment message important, so necessary.
Wilf is beyond adorable and wonderful and also handy with the door sealing. I'm really glad he's still around.
All in all, much better than last week - helped by less Martha - but the Sontarans remain not my favourite monsters. In fact they're not Premiership (Daleks, Master, Ice Warriors, Sea Devils/Silurians, Zygons) or Championship (Cybermen, Sutek, Rani) they;re still pretty much the league that used to be known as Third. But Christopher Ryan did do them proud.
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