Doctor Who - The Unquiet Dead

[raven]

First of all, did anything happen in Naples on December 24th, 1860? Why did the Doctor want to go there particularly, if only to show Rose the past? And really, how big is the Tardis?

Now that's out of the way, I've got to say that this was a very weirdly paced episode. It starts off breakneck - scary dead people! Charles Dickens! Rose gets kidnapped! - and then abruptly slows right down, enough for two long, carefully crafted conversations - between the Doctor and Dickens, and then between Gwyneth and Rose. And then breakneck speed again, scary blue aliens, corpses rising, world in peril, exploding cellars, disappearing Tardis. The plot was a little skew-wiff, as well - surely it was a total coincidence, the Doctor and Rose arriving at exactly this point, and then meeting Dickens of all people? - and am I missing something about why the story was set in Cardiff? Did something actually happen there on Christmas Eve 1860? Other than that, something just seemed off; the whole plot didn't gel.

Enough carping. Stuff I liked:

-Rose's observations on the Doctor at the beginning. She's beginning to realise the enormity of what she's now a part of, and exactly how powerful the Doctor is.

-The shippiness. Aww, Doctor/Rose OTP.

-Rose in general. I wasn't expecting to like her, or Billie Piper, but I really do.

-Charles Dickens says: "What the Shakespeare is going on?" So impeccably delivered, I giggled for too long.

-The Doctor smirking in the background when Rose has a good go at Sneed.

-The Gelth, the evil blue aliens, still speak with Welsh accents! Brilliant.

-The explosion at the end. I was a little miffed that Gwyneth makes her sacrifice, and then it's all for nothing 'cause the aliens are Teh Evil. But the striking of the match was a good touch.

-"I always like a happy medium."

"I can't believe you just said that." Heh!

-When they're behind those bars together, Rose bewails the fact she's going to die. So does the Doctor. From which I feel I can deduce that Rose doesn't know the Doctor can regenerate. She's in for a surprise.

Also, next week's previews have Mickey in them! The television screen with the UFO footage and a BBC News 24 helpline (ahahaha, so British) was intriguing, but I am shallow and more interested in the reaction of the dopey ex to the sharp, ultra-cool Time Lord Rose now has her eye on.

Oh, this show is fun. And that's it, that's all I have to say.

Comments

[manynames.livejournal.com]

I think the reason that it happened in Cardiff was that the whole thing was filmed in Cardiff, and there are only so many times they can say, "That's London, that is," before the natives starting getting a bit pissy!

[onlyoot.livejournal.com]

Actually, i watched the Documentary afterwards, and a lot of it was Filmed in Swansea!

[manynames.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know but that was only this week's exterior shots. The interior ones were all the theatre in the centre of Cardiff, as were all the external shots without the London Eye in the first week, and all of the second epiosde was in Cardiff. I've been going through playing Spot The Shop.