The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Four Hundred Dawns - The Exploding Planet
Doctor Who - Four Hundred Dawns (11/09/05)
Hmmm. Since Ian and Barbara's departure the show has seemed somewhat subdued. The story with the Monk was really good but had a sort of chilled, mellowed out feel to it, and this episode was quite similar.
Okay, so we're on an alien planet, but it's practically deserted and the ambience - the music, the acting, the script gives the impression of being stoned. Don't know if it's the dynamic of the new team (it seems odd there being only three of them) or the fact I'd got so used to Ian and Barbara; maybe it's just me.Maybe I'm not warming to Steven. Vicki's as proactive as ever, accusing outright the Drahvins they encounter of wanting them dead, and the Doctor's as cautious and thoughtful as ever. It could be that since Ian and Barbara left the show's gone in a different direction. The family atmosphere is gone and the last story was an Historical but with an alien in it (and one of the Doctor's race, too!).
Now we have a story with robots and, so far, an all female guest cast which I don't think has happened before. There's some things called Rills who control the machines (will they be women too?) that we haven't met yet, and the Drahvins seem a bit nasty. It was interesting that they started the new season with a scene where Vicki found some alien flowers like Susan did in the first Dalek story. Oh. Run out of room*. Hope next week cheers up a bit.
Doctor Who - Trap Of Steel (18/09/05)
A bit better this week in that more seems to be happening, but it's still very slow and the general ambience seems very laid back. It may well be that everyone's still a bit chilled after the Summer break, but I maintain it's the cast change. The story this time last year was faster moving and tenser, but that had Susan, Ian and Barbara in it.
So, to the story. The Drahvins are a group of hard-nosed bitch-clones with crappy guns and a defunct spaceship. They want to steal the Rills' ship and escape the planet before it explodes. They also threaten to kill the Doctor et al. a lot. The Rills have dodgy robots and a working space ship and also seem intent on blowing up the Doctor in the TARDIS. We haven't seen them yet, but the Doctor and Vicki infiltrated their ship and Vicki saw something and screamed. Given that the Drahvins say that the Rills are 'disgusting' I imagine Vicki saw a Rill.
Meanwhile, Steven is being held captive by the Drahvins. The story seems to be picking up speed, maybe even heading somewhere, but it still isn't captivating. And if the Rills could attempt to blow up the TARDIS, why haven't they blown up the rickety old Drahvin ship by now? I guess that'll be answered next week. Maybe.
Doctor Who - Air Lock (25/09/05)
What a bitch! Almost sympathised with Maaga this week as she went on about being the only one capable of thought as the rest of her crew are mindless clones. Then she went and said she'd be able to envisage the Doctor et al.'s demise and rejoice before locking Steven in an air lock and pumping out the oxygen.
The story's actually improving. Vicki did see a Rill and the reason they've not attacked the Drahvins is because they're explorers and very friendly. Oh, and they can't breathe oxygen; they breathe ammonia instead. The pace has picked up too, with the Doctor and Vicki running around all over the place! Steven didn't get to do much, but it's kind of cool he's the one in trouble. It kind of reflects all the other inversions of Sci-Fi stereotype this story has seen so far. The beautiful women are ruthless and evil, the ugly monsters are friendly, and now the male companion is in jeopardy!
Having said the story's improved, it still isn't the best. It's taken too long to get this good when it should have started like this. And now that it's improved, I'm not sure the plot can last another episode. Nevertheless, I don't know that yet. Doubt it'll be more than a four parter.
Doctor Who - The Exploding Planet (02/10/05)
Well, that story improved as it went along. Not sure it required four episodes - the first two were very drawn out - but the ending was good. After saving Steven from the Drahvins, the Doctor went on to help the Rills and there was a good conversation on morality between Steven and the main Rill. The pace picked up as the planet came closer to exploding, and Maaga and her soldiers tried and failed to capture the Rill ship. The Doctor, obviously, charged the ship up in time leaving enough time for a quick chase sequence before the planet and the Drahvins were blown to bits.
All in all it's been an interesting story, if only because it switched around all the usual Sci Fi cliches. On the whole, though, it was a bit mediocre as far as the plot went, and whilst it tried hard and it had a good point to make, neither the cast nor the concept was big enough to carry for weeks of story. It would have made a good two parter, maybe pushed to three, but largely it went on too long. It was still better than the Marinus story, though.
Next week looks interesting. A bloke is on a jungle planet and wanting to kill. Yay! More danger for the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, though Vicki seems to have twisted her ankle. Running. Perhaps.
* Throughout 2005 I was keeping my journal in a diary which limited the amount I could write.
Hmmm. Since Ian and Barbara's departure the show has seemed somewhat subdued. The story with the Monk was really good but had a sort of chilled, mellowed out feel to it, and this episode was quite similar.
Okay, so we're on an alien planet, but it's practically deserted and the ambience - the music, the acting, the script gives the impression of being stoned. Don't know if it's the dynamic of the new team (it seems odd there being only three of them) or the fact I'd got so used to Ian and Barbara; maybe it's just me.Maybe I'm not warming to Steven. Vicki's as proactive as ever, accusing outright the Drahvins they encounter of wanting them dead, and the Doctor's as cautious and thoughtful as ever. It could be that since Ian and Barbara left the show's gone in a different direction. The family atmosphere is gone and the last story was an Historical but with an alien in it (and one of the Doctor's race, too!).
Now we have a story with robots and, so far, an all female guest cast which I don't think has happened before. There's some things called Rills who control the machines (will they be women too?) that we haven't met yet, and the Drahvins seem a bit nasty. It was interesting that they started the new season with a scene where Vicki found some alien flowers like Susan did in the first Dalek story. Oh. Run out of room*. Hope next week cheers up a bit.
Doctor Who - Trap Of Steel (18/09/05)
A bit better this week in that more seems to be happening, but it's still very slow and the general ambience seems very laid back. It may well be that everyone's still a bit chilled after the Summer break, but I maintain it's the cast change. The story this time last year was faster moving and tenser, but that had Susan, Ian and Barbara in it.
So, to the story. The Drahvins are a group of hard-nosed bitch-clones with crappy guns and a defunct spaceship. They want to steal the Rills' ship and escape the planet before it explodes. They also threaten to kill the Doctor et al. a lot. The Rills have dodgy robots and a working space ship and also seem intent on blowing up the Doctor in the TARDIS. We haven't seen them yet, but the Doctor and Vicki infiltrated their ship and Vicki saw something and screamed. Given that the Drahvins say that the Rills are 'disgusting' I imagine Vicki saw a Rill.
Meanwhile, Steven is being held captive by the Drahvins. The story seems to be picking up speed, maybe even heading somewhere, but it still isn't captivating. And if the Rills could attempt to blow up the TARDIS, why haven't they blown up the rickety old Drahvin ship by now? I guess that'll be answered next week. Maybe.
Doctor Who - Air Lock (25/09/05)
What a bitch! Almost sympathised with Maaga this week as she went on about being the only one capable of thought as the rest of her crew are mindless clones. Then she went and said she'd be able to envisage the Doctor et al.'s demise and rejoice before locking Steven in an air lock and pumping out the oxygen.
The story's actually improving. Vicki did see a Rill and the reason they've not attacked the Drahvins is because they're explorers and very friendly. Oh, and they can't breathe oxygen; they breathe ammonia instead. The pace has picked up too, with the Doctor and Vicki running around all over the place! Steven didn't get to do much, but it's kind of cool he's the one in trouble. It kind of reflects all the other inversions of Sci-Fi stereotype this story has seen so far. The beautiful women are ruthless and evil, the ugly monsters are friendly, and now the male companion is in jeopardy!
Having said the story's improved, it still isn't the best. It's taken too long to get this good when it should have started like this. And now that it's improved, I'm not sure the plot can last another episode. Nevertheless, I don't know that yet. Doubt it'll be more than a four parter.
Doctor Who - The Exploding Planet (02/10/05)
Well, that story improved as it went along. Not sure it required four episodes - the first two were very drawn out - but the ending was good. After saving Steven from the Drahvins, the Doctor went on to help the Rills and there was a good conversation on morality between Steven and the main Rill. The pace picked up as the planet came closer to exploding, and Maaga and her soldiers tried and failed to capture the Rill ship. The Doctor, obviously, charged the ship up in time leaving enough time for a quick chase sequence before the planet and the Drahvins were blown to bits.
All in all it's been an interesting story, if only because it switched around all the usual Sci Fi cliches. On the whole, though, it was a bit mediocre as far as the plot went, and whilst it tried hard and it had a good point to make, neither the cast nor the concept was big enough to carry for weeks of story. It would have made a good two parter, maybe pushed to three, but largely it went on too long. It was still better than the Marinus story, though.
Next week looks interesting. A bloke is on a jungle planet and wanting to kill. Yay! More danger for the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, though Vicki seems to have twisted her ankle. Running. Perhaps.
* Throughout 2005 I was keeping my journal in a diary which limited the amount I could write.
A story that's very easy to overlook, and not just because most of it's missing. That said, the episode that was recovered, and the extant material from the other episodes, does a lot to lift the story overall. I agree though that there's too little plot and that the only truly interesting thing about it is the inversion of the cliches (even if one of them was accidental, as Steven replaced Barbara from the original script). Well, that and the fact that the design of the Rills is actually pretty good.
ReplyDelete