Doctor Who - The Impossible Planet
Jun. 5th, 2006 02:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenI was supposed to be going back to work after dinner tonight. Of course, that meant going to watch the first twenty ten minutes of Doctor Who.
I thought I liked it, when I saw the second half of it on Saturday night. On the re-watch, I've decided that I really, really loved it. It's a stellar piece of writing - deliciously creepy and alien with some really, really nice bit-characters and atmosphere and music. The stuff I liked, particularly:
-Actually, the first thing in the episode was the only thing I didn't like. The Doctor and Rose laughing hysterically at how funny they think they are? No. Cliquey and annoying. But they didn't do that again at all, so I can forgive.
-the setting! The lighting! The alien planet! Not Earth! (This is not the first episode they've done off-Earth, but it's by far the best.)
-the idea. Gravity wells? Planets in orbit around black holes? Classically silly Doctor Who science, but I like it.
-"WE MUST FEED... you." Hee. I like that. Clever pay-off on last week's cliffhanger. They're a bit sinister, though; the globe things they hold were a clever idea.
-the voice as each of the doors opens. I really liked that detail, because not only is it initially sinsister, it then gets annoying, and one of the characters actually picks up on it! Yay.
-"WELCOME TO HELL." Interesting that this is never explained. The script below it was creepy, too.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
foulds maintains that this is Linear B, and it is just the words in "Dionysus has three cows" rearranged into random order and repeated ad infinitum.
-"What's your job? Chief dramatist?" Heh! I liked Rose in this; she's got some of the empathy she had in the last series, and more of the grasp of the universe being a big, dangerous place rather than an excuse to be smug. She's even trying not to make it all about her, worrying about the Doctor as well as herself.
-the Doctor loses the TARDIS. "It's all I've got. Literally, the only thing!" And this is true. This is painfully true.
-"I'm going to hug you now." Gleeee.
-did I mention how much I loved the new characters? They are wonderful, and I thought it was a good sign when they were all introduced, because hey, an episode that is not primarily all about the Doctor and Rose is a good thing. Blatant femmeslash between the two women, one of whom is called... Scooty? But yes. Definitely.
-Toby. Reminds me a lot of Daniel Jackson. And they managed to characterise him very effectively but very quickly - the scene where he's calling out to Danny to stop it because "It's not funny, all right?" is rather sweet, in its way; he's all nervy and avoiding confrontation and yes, I just like him.
-I was utterly freaked when he looks in the mirror to see red eyes and Linear B all over his skin. Utterly, utterly freaked. Which says to me it was effective.
-Ravel's Bolero! Such a good mood-setter.
-the mortgage conversation. "I am dying, it is all over." Oh, Doctor, you're so lovely. And the whole scene is charming - not silly, not cloying, not sickly - but charming. I particularly liked "grown, not made." The only jarring note was "my home planet". It sounds forced, especially all this way in. Its name is GALLIFREY, dammit!
-Rose bonding with the Ood over her dinner lady experiences. "The beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against God.
"Apologies. I said, I hope you enjoy your meal."
HEEE. Brilliance. Absolute brilliance.
-Rose's phone! "He is awake!"
In fact, all the echoes. All of them. The scene where the voice is behind Toby's head, the flashes of horns in the light, the Ood, and best of all, the doors. The doors and the computer saying "He is awake" scared me very, very much. The way in which they are all patently in denial, telling themselves that there's nothing wrong, is just what people would do in that situation. That detail made it all work so well.
-Toby's evil, evil grin. Oh god. Oh god. I was fundamentally unsettled.
-Scooty's death. For some reason, the scene where her body drifts past the glass reminded me a lot of Battlestar Galactica; something about the lighting, the muted, almost biblical feel to the dialogue, and later, the lights within the helmets. Just a passing impression, but it was a similar sort of style.
-the MUSIC. Beautiful, so beautful. Some of it sounded like Firefly, and some of it sounded like BSG, but it was all haunting, ethereal, atmospheric. Lovely.
-Rose kissing the Doctor's helmet. It was sweet. Another indicator of the good writing, I think; I stopped thinking the Doctor and Rose were sweet a good long time ago.
-"No turning back!" I do approve of the Doctor's dislike for clichés.
-"Thirty feet in diameter?" Do imperial units ever die a death?
-The possessed Ood are brilliant. Their voices! The Biblical language! The claustrophobia! The quick sequence of shots that gets almost hypnotic - the ship above, the trapdoor below, the red eyes, the Doctor's panic, the music that never stops being amazing - is the most wonderful ending.
-And finally, I liked the way Toby reacts when it stops possessing him - his second of bleak panic before he passes out is again, perfect attention to detail.
I do hope next week's as good, they couldn't be forgiven for wasting an opener as good as that.
In conclusion - very, very good. With the exception of School Reunion, best so far.
I thought I liked it, when I saw the second half of it on Saturday night. On the re-watch, I've decided that I really, really loved it. It's a stellar piece of writing - deliciously creepy and alien with some really, really nice bit-characters and atmosphere and music. The stuff I liked, particularly:
-Actually, the first thing in the episode was the only thing I didn't like. The Doctor and Rose laughing hysterically at how funny they think they are? No. Cliquey and annoying. But they didn't do that again at all, so I can forgive.
-the setting! The lighting! The alien planet! Not Earth! (This is not the first episode they've done off-Earth, but it's by far the best.)
-the idea. Gravity wells? Planets in orbit around black holes? Classically silly Doctor Who science, but I like it.
-"WE MUST FEED... you." Hee. I like that. Clever pay-off on last week's cliffhanger. They're a bit sinister, though; the globe things they hold were a clever idea.
-the voice as each of the doors opens. I really liked that detail, because not only is it initially sinsister, it then gets annoying, and one of the characters actually picks up on it! Yay.
-"WELCOME TO HELL." Interesting that this is never explained. The script below it was creepy, too.
foulds maintains that this is Linear B, and it is just the words in "Dionysus has three cows" rearranged into random order and repeated ad infinitum.-"What's your job? Chief dramatist?" Heh! I liked Rose in this; she's got some of the empathy she had in the last series, and more of the grasp of the universe being a big, dangerous place rather than an excuse to be smug. She's even trying not to make it all about her, worrying about the Doctor as well as herself.
-the Doctor loses the TARDIS. "It's all I've got. Literally, the only thing!" And this is true. This is painfully true.
-"I'm going to hug you now." Gleeee.
-did I mention how much I loved the new characters? They are wonderful, and I thought it was a good sign when they were all introduced, because hey, an episode that is not primarily all about the Doctor and Rose is a good thing. Blatant femmeslash between the two women, one of whom is called... Scooty? But yes. Definitely.
-Toby. Reminds me a lot of Daniel Jackson. And they managed to characterise him very effectively but very quickly - the scene where he's calling out to Danny to stop it because "It's not funny, all right?" is rather sweet, in its way; he's all nervy and avoiding confrontation and yes, I just like him.
-I was utterly freaked when he looks in the mirror to see red eyes and Linear B all over his skin. Utterly, utterly freaked. Which says to me it was effective.
-Ravel's Bolero! Such a good mood-setter.
-the mortgage conversation. "I am dying, it is all over." Oh, Doctor, you're so lovely. And the whole scene is charming - not silly, not cloying, not sickly - but charming. I particularly liked "grown, not made." The only jarring note was "my home planet". It sounds forced, especially all this way in. Its name is GALLIFREY, dammit!
-Rose bonding with the Ood over her dinner lady experiences. "The beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against God.
"Apologies. I said, I hope you enjoy your meal."
HEEE. Brilliance. Absolute brilliance.
-Rose's phone! "He is awake!"
In fact, all the echoes. All of them. The scene where the voice is behind Toby's head, the flashes of horns in the light, the Ood, and best of all, the doors. The doors and the computer saying "He is awake" scared me very, very much. The way in which they are all patently in denial, telling themselves that there's nothing wrong, is just what people would do in that situation. That detail made it all work so well.
-Toby's evil, evil grin. Oh god. Oh god. I was fundamentally unsettled.
-Scooty's death. For some reason, the scene where her body drifts past the glass reminded me a lot of Battlestar Galactica; something about the lighting, the muted, almost biblical feel to the dialogue, and later, the lights within the helmets. Just a passing impression, but it was a similar sort of style.
-the MUSIC. Beautiful, so beautful. Some of it sounded like Firefly, and some of it sounded like BSG, but it was all haunting, ethereal, atmospheric. Lovely.
-Rose kissing the Doctor's helmet. It was sweet. Another indicator of the good writing, I think; I stopped thinking the Doctor and Rose were sweet a good long time ago.
-"No turning back!" I do approve of the Doctor's dislike for clichés.
-"Thirty feet in diameter?" Do imperial units ever die a death?
-The possessed Ood are brilliant. Their voices! The Biblical language! The claustrophobia! The quick sequence of shots that gets almost hypnotic - the ship above, the trapdoor below, the red eyes, the Doctor's panic, the music that never stops being amazing - is the most wonderful ending.
-And finally, I liked the way Toby reacts when it stops possessing him - his second of bleak panic before he passes out is again, perfect attention to detail.
I do hope next week's as good, they couldn't be forgiven for wasting an opener as good as that.
In conclusion - very, very good. With the exception of School Reunion, best so far.
