Saturday, April 19, 2008

Ood've Thought

A budget alien landscape. A developing sense of mystery. A simple, focused plot. And lots of running around and shooting in an old industrial complex. It's like Doctor Who all over again. All it really needed was a tweak or two here and there: less repetition of the obvious from Donna, more proactive involvement from the Doctor in the resolution, one or two fewer bad actors among the speaking extras and, of course, less Donna. But overall, I felt Planet Of The Ood was an improvement. Like the ad for the Ood at the beginning, I liked it even if it didn't make me want to go out and buy one. But so far, the series is showing a steady upward trend. It'll be a long climb from the quality abyss that was Partners In Crime, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

3 comments:

Stuart Douglas said...

I thought it was a bit of a comedown from last week, but still much better than previous low-points (and Donna is great - for pulling Tennant for being a patronising tit for a start).

We should make the mostr of it - I expect the final 4 episodes to be soul-destroying and to possibly involve The actual Rapture and Jesus coming down to officially hand over the torch to DT.

SAF said...

Well, I didn't think last week's was dreadful, but it was far too busy for its own good, desperately trying to tie together all its disparate elements. IMO, they should have settled for a pure historical, but then they would have been obliged to come up with some actual characters among the supporting cast.

Stuart: "I expect the final 4 episodes to be soul-destroying and to possibly involve The actual Rapture and Jesus coming down to officially hand over the torch to DT."

I've come to dread the season enders, and the scenario you describe would be one to dread. What with this one being called "Journey's End" and that little line from the Ood last night, I wonder if the BBC have given Rusty the green light to kill the Doctor off. Then the promise of three specials for the following year will turn out to be either a smoke screen or will be "Rose", "Martha" and "Donna" all reflecting on their times with the Doctor.

Stuart Douglas said...

That sound you just heard? That's me throwing up.