Dr. Who Series 4 - Planet of the dead
Added 2022-10-08 14:00:07 +0000 UTCOk here we go, the first one of the special episodes. A bus, a desert, and Christina. Let´s see how this will go.
Enjoy :)
Comments
Jolly run-around, that´s a perfect description :) You´re right about the burglar story part, that could have been a whole movie :D I like the damaged bus, makes the story more realistic. :) I love Malcolm. I wish we saw him more often. Well maybe we will.... I can understand the UNIT Captain, too. She doesn´t know the doctor as well as we do. Because we would have known, he mastered the situation, and there was no real danger for the earth :D
Nicologik
2022-10-10 16:54:52 +0000 UTCYeah Christina wasn´t my favorite character either. She´s too unpredictable when it comes to trust for example. I could see her betray the doctor easily, when is she could get something out of it. Oh yes the foreshadowing.....
Nicologik
2022-10-10 16:48:05 +0000 UTCOh that´s really close :) Thanks for telling me :) I agree with you about the story. Amusing but nothing special. Hahaha that´s funny. But I like how they adjusted to the circumstances. :)
Nicologik
2022-10-10 16:46:14 +0000 UTCOops, I forgot to mention that we saw the UNIT Captain in the alternate "Turn Left" universe. And also, it's pretty funny that a pizza place is only a switched digit from the UNIT phone number.
Andrew Vignaux
2022-10-08 23:16:49 +0000 UTC"Worse it gets, the more I love it!", The Doctor, "Planet of the Dead" This isn't meant to be a deep story - it's just meant to be a jolly run-around. But a run-around in HD - yes, New Who finally goes HD! I thought I was going to be able to start my comments with another "Do you remember Penny Carter?". But I was mistaken - this actually wasn't a Penny Carter story. The idea of a swarm of creatures trying to break though a gateway to get to the Earth was actually an early idea for episode 4-1 with Donna coming back as the companion. Episode 4-1 ended up being the story with the walking fat - and the idea of the swarm of creatures turned into this Easter Special episode. An early concept for this story had a London tour-bus, with a tour guide and tourists (and the Doctor) being thrown through a portal. It's nice as a concept but perhaps too similar to the set-up of the tour-bus in "Midnight". But, bang!, in one afternoon, RTD switches things to having a cat-burglar, flying down on wires, stealing something and while trying to escape she gets on a London bus. This whole cat-burglar-theft plot could be a whole movie - and Doctor Who does it in the pre-titles sequence. BTW Lady Christina (and her flying bus) have a spin-off audio series on Big Finish. Yeah, as Ian mentioned above, the bus was damaged at the dock in Dubai - there's a nice bit on the behind-the-scenes when RTD describes how on getting the news everyone was panicking but he couldn't stop laughing. Scripts had to be reworked and the twin bus they had in the studio had to be appropriately damaged to match. But, it makes the story better to have a damaged bus. Isn't Malcolm great! The running gag of the Doctor and him hanging up on each other is wonderful. I can understand the UNIT Captain ordering Malcolm to close the wormhole - she has to weigh up delaying things for the bus group versus allowing the whole of the Earth being destroyed. Fortunately, their argument means that the Doctor has time to get the bus airborne and escapes with only three "stingrays" getting through. So it all works out. This story was also nominated for a Hugo, along with "The Next Doctor", but lost to another Doctor Who story. Yes, a jolly run-around - with the sense of foreboding at the end.
Andrew Vignaux
2022-10-08 21:56:20 +0000 UTCI like some of the characters on the bus and the Professor who is played by the British comedian Lee Evans. Lee also had a part in the fim, There's Something About Mary btw. But I took an instant dislike to the character of Lady Christina. Aristocratic rich girl stealing for kicks. Not from other wealthy folk either but from a public gallery. Didn't like that at all. Or the fact that the Doctor compared himself with her which I couldn't see at all. The plot was ok but a bit of a filler really and I have hardly ever re-watched the episode. I agree with Ian about the ending. The psychic lady's foreshadowing statements are easily the most memorable part.
Stephen Males
2022-10-08 20:43:15 +0000 UTCThe IMDB rating was 7.4 - so you were very close! There's not much to this story,really. It's ok for what it is; but the most memorable part is the foreshadowing at the end,which makes a suitably disconcerting impression. BTW, the bus wasn't intended to get badly damaged - but when it was shipped out to Dubai (the location for the desert scenes) the crew discovered it had been badly damaged in transit; so a quick rewrite was necessar
Ian Smith
2022-10-08 14:40:20 +0000 UTC
