Brief thoughts onThe DW Easter special

[shapinglight]

Well, that was jolly fun.

More within (spoilers of course)



Michelle Ryan's character was a bit annoying, and Lee Evans just is annoying, and there was one bit where it all got a bit soppy (don't care for the Doctor's speechifying about how wonderful people are), and the music was bonkers as usual, but overall it was a jolly romp, with some fun characters and some nice bits of foreshadowing at the end there.

Enjoyed it a lot. What did everyone else think?

Comments

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

I agree about the annoying factors.
And the music.
And what's with all the 'losing people' nonsense - most of them he just left behind.
But yeah - jolly romp.

[shapinglight]

And what's with all the 'losing people' nonsense - most of them he just left behind.

I suspect we're supposed to think he's thinking of Rose. No one else is nearly as important so he loses his sense of perspective. Or something.

Glad you agree about the music. Have to say, the music drives me nuts.

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

Would you believe one of my so called mates has just slammed the phone down on me in a strop because I said I didn't really think all that much of it! :0 Talk about taking it all too bloody seriously.

I thought it started better then it ended and all in all it was okay fair for a family/kiddie audience. I would have loved it to have been a wee bit more complex on the old plot front, but thats just me as per.

[shapinglight]

I would have loved it to have been a wee bit more complex on the old plot front, but thats just me as per.

Agreed. But since it's a kids' program, you can't expect too much. Am actually quite surprised that the Doctor let Michelle Ryan escape at the end there. I thought her being arrested was supposed to be a lesson to the kiddies watching that crime doesn't pay.

Anyway, what saved it was Tennant's performance. It's taken me a long time to warm to his Doctor (really, really needed Rose out of the way first), but now I think he's great.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I only half watched from a distance as I was busy making things, but it seemed okay. Lady Wotsit was my sort of female character at least. I was much amused by the alien's speech being the rattle of a can of spray paint.

[shapinglight]

I was much amused by the alien's speech being the rattle of a can of spray paint.

Hee! Yes. It was also everso convenient the way both the flymen got eaten so the Doctor didn't have the bother of taking them back to Earth and explaining them to anyone.

[lilachigh.livejournal.com]

I was sad when the fly men got eaten. Stupidly, I thought that when the seer lady said a girl was going to fly, it meant one of the fly people was a girl! Silly Lilac.

And could Unit be any sillier? Children's programmes don't have to be silly and have flying buses and things. I found it all irritating and yet more foretelling at the end. Some day, we're going to have a fortune teller person saying,"Listen up, Docor. You're going to change into a really young boy in about twelve months time!"

[shapinglight]

Some day, we're going to have a fortune teller person saying,"Listen up, Docor. You're going to change into a really young boy in about twelve months time!"

Yes, I keep referring to Matt Smith as 'the little boy,' much to my daughter's irritation. She reminded me that he's older than she is. Still a little boy to me, though.

And UNIT are very silly indeed.

[gillo]

She hasn't quite worked out that to part of you she's a little girl too and will always be so!

UNIT commander saluting on the phone - silly but sweet, especially when the Doctor asked if that was what she was doing.

[shapinglight]

She hasn't quite worked out that to part of you she's a little girl too and will always be so!

I did tell her so, but she got all pouty.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I didn't even notice they'd gone.

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Poor fly people!:(

[booster17.livejournal.com]

I liked it overall. Fun, undemanding, just the thing for a seasonal special - felt more like a Christmas ep than a normal season one. Hated the applause at the end, and all the hero worship from Malcolm eventually got annoying.

The coming soon section looked nicely creepy though.

[shapinglight]

The coming soon section looked nicely creepy though.

I agree. I also thought the alien swarm were pretty good.

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

I rolled my eyes when I saw Lee Evans, and waited for it to go downhill from then on. But it was fun. The foreshadowning was nice, as was the slight melancholy, with the hints that his time is over, and not wanting to take another companion because he loses them all.

Overall a good episode!

[shapinglight]

I rolled my eyes when I saw Lee Evans, and waited for it to go downhill from then on.

Me too. Happily, he wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. Not bad enough to spoil it all.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Decent alien-of-the-week episode. Too bad it's an alien-of-the-half-a-year episode. Not bad, but very lightweight compared to the Christmas ep, and nothing we haven't seen before.

Loved the aliens, though.

[shapinglight]

Too bad it's an alien-of-the-half-a-year episode.

I agree. There wasn't really enough plot there to warrant more than an average episode, and yet this is 1/3 of all we get this year.

By the aliens, do you mean the swarm? I thought they were terrific. Also, if you don't mind my asking, what did you think of that episode from the previous season when the Doctor left Donna at that tourist resort and went out sightseeing and that alien got on the ship and copied everything he said?

I thought it was one of the best episodes of the season, very, very different to RTD's usual overly sentimental stuff, but lots of people said afterwards they thought it was boring.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

By the aliens, do you mean the swarm?

Actually, I was referring to the bug-eyed ones on the crashed spaceship. But maybe that's just because I'm a huge fan of both versions of The Fly.

Also, if you don't mind my asking, what did you think of that episode from the previous season when the Doctor left Donna at that tourist resort and went out sightseeing and that alien got on the ship and copied everything he said?

Oh, I loved that one. One of the creepiest episodes of new Who, and a great deconstruction of the classic cliché episode where the Doctor comes in, figures out what's going on, reassures everyone and saves the day. Pretty much the exact opposite of this episode, despite the similar plots.

[shapinglight]

Oh, I loved that one. One of the creepiest episodes of new Who, and a great deconstruction of the classic cliché episode where the Doctor comes in, figures out what's going on, reassures everyone and saves the day. Pretty much the exact opposite of this episode, despite the similar plots.

Hoorah! :Feels justified in thinking it one of the best New Who episodes ever:

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

It was fun. Can't expect deep or profound from DW. I'm happy to be given mindless fun.
The mix of characters on the bus was probably the best thought out bit, but UNIT... I'm glad we're not really relying on a bunch of amateurs like that to protect the world from any alien threat. They are still harking back to the myth that WWII was won by the ingenious application of sticky tape and a paperclip in a garden shed in Berkshire. Bring back The Brigadier; there was a man who knew how to put conviction into being an incompetent amateur.
We're NOT relying on a bunch of amateurs like that to protect the world from any alien threat, are we?

[shapinglight]

Can't expect deep or profound from DW.

Sadly, no. It really is one for the kiddies, though Tennant is good enough to make it rise above that. Typical of me really, that I've only just begun to really enjoy his performance when he's on the point of leaving.

The mix of characters on the bus was probably the best thought out bit

Yes, and the swarm. The swarm was excellent. I agree that UNIT was very silly, though.

They are still harking back to the myth that WWII was won by the ingenious application of sticky tape and a paperclip in a garden shed in Berkshire

Hee, yes! There's a definite Dad's Army air about them, isn't there?

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Bring back The Brigadier

I actually hoped for a few seconds that they were going to do exactly that when UNIT popped up. Or at least bring back Martha. And then we got neither.

[madame-meretrix.livejournal.com]

lol ITA, thank you, btw, for reminding me it was on. :) like most dw specials, it was the usual amount of "up with people" but i liked the bones of the plot. and i have to say, i liked the bad girl. who is she? someone well known over there?

[shapinglight]

Michelle Ryan started on Eastenders a well known Brit soap opera. She was also the Bionic Woman in the recent US revival - the one that was cancelled after only one season (if it even made that). Odd choice, in many ways.

DW was fun, wasn't it, but as Maz says above, God help us if we really are relying on a bunch of amateurs like UNIT to save us from the alien threat.

[madame-meretrix.livejournal.com]

you know what's funny, now that you told me who she is, i realized i have a magazine right here with her on the cover!

lol, i know, i don't understand why they let martha jones go to unit when they're clearly such bumbling idiots. or at least, most of the time they seem to be.

[shapinglight]

I think UNIT used to look semi-competent back in the days of old DW, but that was in large part down to Nicholas Courtenay as the Brigadier, because he managed to play a rather thankless role with gravitas.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Liked it a lot, but you're so right on the music. This time it was seriously scary. It sounded like the soundtrack of these old austrian movies about Sissi, singing nuns and drinking wine in vienna *shudders*

[shapinglight]

Hee! I always think someone should slip the orchestra a tranquilliser.

[gillo]

We didn't catch it till last night's repeat. It was good fun, somewhat silly, and I didn't entirely see the point of the expensive location shooting - quarries and sandpits were good enough for Tom Baker...

Michelle Ryan was surprisingly quite good, and at least the black characters survived this time. (Oddly, the young actor was on

Lewis

on ITV almost immediately afterwards.) I liked the fact that the fly-people weren't MOTW Ugly Aliens, but had totally justifiable fears. Pity they were eaten, but they'd only have ended up in Torchwood refrigeration drawers if they had gone back on the bus. I thought the flying bus at the end was silly, but not as silly as UNIT. And Malcolm was totally unconvincing as a man with brains, even a geek.

Good Bank Holiday Weekend fun, though.

[shapinglight]

Good Bank Holiday Weekend fun, though.

Yes, that about sums it up, though Tennant's performance always lifts it and makes it appear better than it really is.