(743) The Poison Sky

Today’s episode is the 34^th for David Tennant as Doctor and that ties him with Colin Baker. Tennant is now just three episodes away from matching Sylvester McCoy. I got the most recent edition of Doctor Who Magazine and on the cover it has the line about how Earth survived 92 invasions which is an incredible stat. A couple of things have changed in my mind since watching the previous episode. Firstly there is the introduction of Martha. I mentioned that Martha’s introduction seemed to be solely so that she could be cloned. I have to admit that it is quite fun having an evil Martha in the story. When Martha meets her cloned self it is quite a nice moment and

Another thing that has changed since watching The Sontaran Stratagem. Rattigan doesn’t seem quite so annoying in this episode. I think it’s because the inevitability of his demise that makes him seem more normal than he was in the previous episode. He is abandoned by his followers at the academy and after his hissy fit he is belittled a bit before redeeming himself and killing himself and blowing up the Sontaran ship.

The Sontarans plan to turn earth into great big breading ground is quite a good one. I think that it might have been nicer if the plan have been made clearer and revealed earlier in this two parter. The idea is the sort of idea that would have worked quite well as a series finale.

There is a blink and you’ll miss it appearance of Rose. As the series approaches the half way mark her involvement is going to be more noticeable. In fact I think it’s the first time since Partners in Crime that Rose has been on our screens.

Helen Raynor’s previous story was the Daleks two parter in the previous series which had its moments but I think that this is a stronger two parter. I thought that Christopher Ryan was a good Sontaran and he was a good leader. I know this is a strange thing to say but I thought that the lighting gave the Sontarans a different look which I quite liked. I think that Robert Holmes would have liked this story because it uses the Sontarans in a way that compliments his characters.

What is a surprise (still) is the rather cliffhanger style ending to the episode. Martha has become a companion again although this time not quite as willing as he was before. I think that the Sontarans have been bought back and used in a good way. I have appreciated this story much more than when I watched it in 2008. The design of the Sontarans has been one of the successes of the story but it’s a story that has managed to bring in a lot of elements and make it all work. It was quite a shopping list that Helen Raynor had to deal with and this episode continues the good trend that the series is going on.

Tomorrows episode is going to be another interesting one.

(742) The Sontaran Stratagem

The Sontarans are the first of two classic monsters to return in this series. This is the first appearance of the Sontarans since The Two Doctors which was remarkable 107 episodes ago or another way to look at it 8,463 days ago. This episode sees UNIT make a return to the show and also Martha returns after an absence of five episodes.

The humanising that Donna has been putting the Doctor through has been good so far but in this episode it gets rather annoying. It happens when she asks the Doctor if that is what he does and turns his companions into soldiers.  There is a funny moment where the Doctor thinks that Donna is leaving and gives a lovely speech before realising that Donna is just visiting her family. The best thing about Donna visiting her family is that it means Bernard Cribbins get to be in an episode.

There’s a nice joke about the Doctor working for UNIT in the 1970’s and then questions whether it was the 80’s. This is because the date of UNIT stories is always something of a mystery because it was said that they took place about five years ahead of when they were transmitted but its never made clear on screen.

The pool where a faceless body is growing is quite grim and when it jumps out at the UNIT soldiers is a great little moment. Doctor Who Confidential highlighted the fact that the pool is the same prop that featured in The Fires of Pompeii.

The Sontarans costume started really good in The Time Warrior was really good and over the years it has got worse and this is the best ever. The Sontarans weren’t allowed to take part in the Time War and its quite funny to think that they must have been the only race in history to moan about not taking part in a war. Also we see more Sontarans in this episode than we have ever seen in all the stories combined. The little chant that they give at the end of the episode is superb because it just goes with the way the Sontarans are. Stahl the Undefeated is played by Christopher Ryan who played Kiv in The Trial of a Timelord: Mindwarp and to be honest the voices sound quite similar. I didn’t think about it at the time but watching it a day at a time means that its more noticeable. In fact its only been three months since that story. Dan Starkey makes his first appearance as a Sontaran and little did anyone know that he would still be playing a Sontaran. He is rather good and these two are the only two that don’t always wear their helmet.

Luke Rattigan (Ryan Sampson) is a young genius but the problem really is that he is quite annoying. It’s quite funny when the Doctor is trying to outsmart Rattigan. It’s clear that he isn’t in control and it’s a little bit clichéd.

There is a nice moment between Martha and Donna where Martha pretty much tries to scare Donna off. This clearly doesn’t work as Donna is prepared to carry on travelling with the Doctor. There is a question that needs to be asked as to why Martha is in the story. It seems too soon since she left to bring her back and its seems that the only reason is to get her in the situation where she is cloned. It’s a shame really but

The final shot is of the Doctor standing in a smoke screen and that ends what was a rather good episode. It’s another episode which has shown a gradual improvement after the surprisingly disappointing start to the series. The Sontarans’ return is better than I thought and it will be interesting to see whether things continue on an upward trend or not.

(729) Evolution of the Daleks

I’ve just realised that I am approaching the second anniversary of this marathon. On the first anniversary I was watching Death to the Daleks which isn’t one of the greatest Dalek stories ever and its fair to say that before watching yesterday’s episode I would have rated these two stories the same. I mentioned that the Radio Times had spoilt the big surprise about the Human Dalek but its something that still bothers me because its nothing new that TV guides reveals big plot points on the covers every week but never to the extent that the cliffhanger is revealed.

Despite the lack of surprise when the Human Dalek. The start of the episode is rather quite good. It leads to a nice little conversation between Dalek Sec and the Doctor. The Human Dalek Sec is quite impressive when he is talking to the Doctor at the beginning of the episode. The whole reason why the Daleks are there in the first place is because they want to create new Daleks. To be honest it’s a rather dull plan.

I love the two Daleks talking in the tunnels and they are looking around to see if anyone is listening and it’s not something that we have seen before and it’s just fun to see. The three gold Daleks are quite the backstabbing lot and the whole thing about the Cult of Skaro is that they do all the thinking and there is a great bit where one of them says that they have dared to think about life with Dalek Sec.

The performances from David Tennant and Freema Agyeman are quite good. Ok they aren’t classic performances but they are the only things that make the episode worth watching. The anger that the Doctor during this episode is another reason why Tennant’s Doctor is very good. Martha does seem to take a new stride in the role as the companion and she ends the two parter in a better position than she started. Even all the supporting characters were on good form and its still weird to think that Spiderman has been in these two episodes.

The thing about this episode is that most of it was largely forgettable. It’s definelty clear that this episode lost some steam in this forty-five minutes. I still think that as a two-parter this story is far stronger than I have previously given it credit for. I think that after the good run of episode that there have been this series, this is the weakest episode of the series so far and it’s not the weakest Dalek story since they returned in 2005 but neither is it a classic.
 

(728) Daleks in Manhattan

Daleks in Manhattan is the first two parter of the series and it’s not a story that I rate very highly. In fact before watching this episode today I use to think that it might be the worst Dalek story of the new series and the worst Dalek story since Destiny of the Daleks. The big selling point of this episode was supposed to be a surprise and thanks to the Radio Times this was ruined before the episode even aired. The one Ace that the story had was dealt before transmission. This story was written by Helen Raynor who at this time is normally the script editor. This makes her the first woman since Rona Munro to write for the show.

The thing about this episode is that neither David Tennant nor Freema Agyeman set foot on American soil. They are filming in Wales but visual effects are used to create the idea that they are in 1930’s America. The visual effects have really taken a big step since the previous series and it really shows in these two episodes. Perhaps the best comes when Dalek Sec ingests Diagoras. The character of Diagoras is one that was always going to meet a sticky ending and that proved to be the case.

This episode features Andrew Garfield who has played Spiderman since 2012. Garfield plays Frank and it’s not a particularly important roles. He doesn’t even make it to the halfway mark before taken by the pig creatures. Hugh Quarshie also appears in this episode. Quarshie can be seen regularly in Holby City and plays Solomon in this story and is instantly someone that the Doctor and Martha can trust.

The experiment causes great conflict between the remaining members of the Cult of Skaro. All but Dalek Sec don’t think the experiment should take place because then the Daleks won’t be pure. There is something interesting about this and I actually think that it’s more interesting as to why Dalek Sec thinks it is ok for this to happen.  

Despite the revelation been spoiled by the Radio Times, the design of the Human Dalek is quite good. Even today it still looks like a great effect and it does make for a good cliffhanger but at the time I watched this episode was a little disappointed. However watching it today I found myself liking the episode a lot more. It’s not a classic by any means but there was enough to find it entertaining and a lot better than I thought. Whether this will still be the case in the next episode remains to be seen but I still think that it’s the weakest of the Dalek stories since 2005.