jblum ([info]jblum) wrote,
@ 2008-05-04 14:37:00
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The Poison Sky
Aw *YEAH*!

In fact, that basically sums up my reaction to series four of Doctor Who so far. It's not stretching itself as far as the last couple of years, but what it's doing it's doing damn well, and with tremendous heart.

And I hope to God Wilf gets a trip in the TARDIS. Just once...

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[info]jasonamil
2008-05-04 05:20 am UTC (link)
The "Are you my mummy?" gag had me in stitches! I also liked the shout-out to you-know-who "stranded in Peru".

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[info]wyldemusick
2008-05-04 06:38 am UTC (link)
Re: Wilf -- you and me both. Bernard Cribbins really sold that desire, so much so that I was all but jumping up and down yawping "For Ghu's sake, take Wilf too!" Especially amusing as Cribbins already had a ride in the TARDIS (well, the film version anyway.)

Also really liked: shout-out to the Brig! Alas that we couldn't get a cameo from Nick Courtney. And: UNIT and its leaders turn out to not be so dumb after all (and a nice pay-off to introducing the Valiant last series and mentioning it in the last episode.)

Catherine Tate continues to pull me in, though I wish they'd make her less weepy. I loved her whacking the Doctor on the arm at the end there -- just what he needs.

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[info]doctor_toc
2008-05-04 12:17 pm UTC (link)
Pretty much my reaction. Just great stuff all round. Loved the use of the Valiant, Sylvia's moment of glory, the gas-mask gag, "I have to give them a choice", Luke Rattigan's "Sontaran-HAH!", Donna's crisis and rally-round... Hell, I loved the whole thing.

I always feel sorry for whoever they get to lead UNIT after Sir Alistair (glee!), because they simply can't win when it comes to the Doctor. They do what needs to be done when he's not around, and catch nothing but crap from him when he's there simply because they're not him, dont have his knowledge or experience and have to stick around and pick up the pieces rather than swan off in the TARDIS at the end of the day. I can't help wondering how many men would have lived had the Doctor made an effort to build rapport with Colonel Mace instead of being such a patronising, high-handed jerk. At least Mace got a snog (I loved that simple, wonderfully human moment).

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[info]jvowles
2008-05-05 05:05 am UTC (link)
The thing is, if the proper Brigadier were there (or even Bambera, one might assume), things would have been different. UNIT fights to defend earth, and that's their job; however, as soldiers, they're "inside" the problem at hand, and thus part of it. For new viewers, we needed to re-establish the Doctor's prickly relationship with UNIT, but for old-school viewers, we really can't do that with "Sir Alistair" because of their history together.

I liked the carry-through of the "UNIT now carries bullets that things aren't immune to" idea from BATTLEFIELD, and the idea that they're putting smart people in UNIT -- because really, they didn't seem incompetent for a change. They were outgunned, and on their own, they thought their way round the problem, using the tools at hand -- which is wonderful.

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[info]jvowles
2008-05-05 05:09 am UTC (link)
+10 for "mummy" gag
+25 for Wilf, who I suspect WILL get a "last ride" in the TARDIS, somehow. It'd be criminal to let that opportunity slip by, but I don't know whether it'll be a swan song or not...

I tend to agree -- we've demonstrated what the show CAN be -- defined the edges in bold strokes -- and now we're coloring in the bits inside in finer detail. I'll happily take a solid, workmanlike, clever story like this, any day.

And hooray for two-parters; this didn't feel as horribly cramped as they tend to.

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[info]hexacontium
2008-05-05 03:35 pm UTC (link)
I just wish I could share your enthusiasm. Yes, I love Donna (and never doubted it), double points for Sir Alister and "Are you my mommy" and a few other things. But for me, this double parter, and most other episodes so far felt so fragmented with wither so much happening and people thus so poorly characterised that I have difficulties caring and too simply solutions throughout (lets put a thin layer of sky on fire and don't care about carbonmonoxide burning to carbondioxide, places few thoughsand meters above sealevel and birds, etc). I wish I'd love this season as much as the last one, I really try, but it's not working. Guess I should go see a therapist ;)

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