Doctor Who 4x15 - "Planet of the Dead"

[Danny Stewart]

Plot Summary



FLYING BUS.

[Danny Stewart]

Yeah. It wasn't "Partners in Crime," but it was still pretty bad. The flying bus made me long for "Delta and the Bannermen." Something must be seriously wrong when an episode makes me feel like that. I give it maybe a 3.5 out of 10, and since I'm feeling exceptionally generous, I'm going to go ahead and round that up to a 4. Don't thank me, new series lovers. Maybe I'm just going soft. Being exposed to the consistently horrible writing that the new series dishes out has to take a toll on your senses sooner or later. Eventually you just become desensitized to bad television.

[Jamie Minty]

I'm going to watch it again before I vote as I always love an episode first tie around.

I didn't think you'd like the bus but would it of been better if Christina hadn't run away in it at the end. That bit ruined it for me I think. She should of gone in the TARDIS and just been taken home. And sure RTD can have his flying bus end for Christina if he wants but at least have it before the four knocks so we have a good tense ending.

Great enemies and all the characters were great. Especially Malcolm. Lee Evans is great ... made a funny and real character. Reminded me of Uncle Bryn (Gavin and Stacey).

Does anyone think that the titles were redone for HD? I guess they would ahve to be and on normal TV they looked a lot better!

Waters of Mars does look good.

And the four knocks thing is quite easy to work out when you think about it. Just think about the last time we heard knocking in Doctor Who.

[Recurring Villain]

Malcolm was a faggot who reminded me of a faggot cosplaying as Owen, who was not a faggot but a badass.

Episode was Pitch Black without a plot or Vin Diesel.

Water of Mars = Master of War?

Discuss.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

I'm going to watch it again before I vote as I always love an episode first tie around.

Whereas I usually can't even bear to sit through it a second time. Trust me, no one wants me watching an episode twice before I vote.

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

I didn't think you'd like the bus but would it of been better if Christina hadn't run away in it at the end. That bit ruined it for me I think. She should of gone in the TARDIS and just been taken home. And sure RTD can have his flying bus end for Christina if he wants but at least have it before the four knocks so we have a good tense ending.

I love how people consider my opinion of an episode when they watch it. It reminds me how special I am.

Flying bus? Flying bus. Yeah. Flying bus.

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

Great enemies and all the characters were great. Especially Malcolm. Lee Evans is great ... made a funny and real character. Reminded me of Uncle Bryn (Gavin and Stacey).

Enemies weren't bad but weren't anything special, and the explanation for how and why they formed the wormhole was lacking. (Everything else about them was explained well enough — just the formation of the wormhole specifically didn't make sense.) Characters were typical RTD, but at least they didn't have the level of screen time they had in "Midnight," which made them significantly more tolerable.

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

Does anyone think that the titles were redone for HD? I guess they would ahve to be and on normal TV they looked a lot better!

The titles were the same with the exception of the TARDIS, which has been replaced with the newer 3D model they've been using for the past few years. Comparison shot (old then new):

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

Waters of Mars does look good.

I cracked up laughing when the guy sprayed water out of his arm. Just sayin'.

Originally Posted by Jamie Minty

And the four knocks thing is quite easy to work out when you think about it. Just think about the last time we heard knocking in Doctor Who.

We'll see. Oh, wait, this is RTD. You're definitely right then. RTD is always just as obvious as his clues make him out to be.

[Ronnie Rowlands]

My review from tv forum...

"Well I thought that that episode was as poor and ill thought out as the last three.

I thought that Michelle Ryan was cringeworthy, almost everything she said grated on me. "Extreme? That's how I like it." Mmmmmmm...

Apart from the gaping plot holes that I'll come to in a minute, the plot itself was as under developed and badly executed as anything Russell T Davies has produced in the last year. It surprises me that a man who is capable of such brilliant stories as Midnight, Turn Left, Utopia and The Sound of Drums can also produce such grating dialogue and stomach churning sentimentalism- "Oi love yew!", "Whether you like it or not I'm going to salute you". The amount of arse licking the humans subject us to these days makes me want to find the nearest human and cut off his/her tongue so that they can no longer push it down the back of the Doctor's trousers. And that's the worst of it, but the whole "I'm gonna get you home to your special families" was totally cliched and uninspiring. Just thrown in for the sake of it to make it 'thought provoking'. It wasn't that. It wasn't scary and it wasn't thought provoking, although the nod to the Italian job, "do I give up the gold to save our asses whilst trapped on this bus", made me smile. It was fun to see Lee Evans being Lee Evans but I just couldn't take him seriously. Again, there was the **** science that was lazily written. Lee Evans being able to fix the worm hole being the main example.

I find it a bit odd that these stingrays are supposed to be able to move at frighteningly fast speeds, and yet, for the full few minutes that they were in close range with the worm hole, a grand total of three managed to get through. The psychic woman just seemed totally pointless to me. Were her 'predictions' necessary? Did she serve anything to the plot and solve anything that the Doctor couldn't? I don't think so. Not that there was much of a plot, not an interesting one at least. I was actually looking forward to this episode. The whole being trapped scenario appealed to me in the same way that 'Midnight' did, but the way they solved it was boring and simple. All in all it really was just...random! And nice to see the totally secretive time lord getting out his gadgets on a bus in front of loads of people.

In summary, I thought it was dull and forgettable, the plot, the acting, the elements, the music, everything. The next episode looks extremely good, but my hopes aren't up since I thought I would enjoy this. It's stories like this that show Russell Davies in a really bad light. He throws in lazy concepts for the sake of it and as a result they don't work. Roll on Matt Smith and Moffatt! I hope they can turn it all around. Luckily, Red Dwarf is being brilliant so this episode isn't worth mulling over.

That's my two cents. Would love to have everyone else's."

[Danny Stewart]

Thank you. You make me regret my generosity in rounding up to 4. Which is a good thing.

[Ross Hendrie]

I thought it was decent.

[Chris Britton]

Going to watch it tonight on BBC 3. Like most things i won't keep my hopes up but remain open minded.

[Mister_Wilbur]

Forgettable. That's all, nothing to really write home about. The only decent thing I can say about the episode was that it was bit more tightly plotted than RTD's usual stuff.