Saturday, August 1, 2009

Doctor Who S04E15-Planet of the Dead

A seemingly routine investigation of an anomaly leads The Doctor and a double decked bus full of people through a wormhole to a mysterious desert planet. With the threat of a widening wormhole and a storm of monstrous proportions heading their way, The Doctor joins forces with beautiful passenger Christina to save the people and the Earth from a fate worse than death. All the while, warning signs of an unpleasant fate for The Doctor begin to creep ever closer.

“Planet of the Dead” is the first of four specials (five if you count “The Next Doctor”) that will chronicle David Tennant’s final journey’s as The Doctor. There is no series on the horizon until 2010, when newbie Matt Smith takes over as the 11th Doctor. However, “Planet of the Dead” seems to function as more of a random episode of a series than an epic special like the ones at Christmas. That doesn’t stop from being any less fun and it sets up some interesting tidbits for what is to come.

There is not much to say on the matter of the actual Planet of the Dead setting. It’s grand, it looks hot and it’s filled with sand. You have to give the production crew some credit, while the sky is digitally imposed, the fact that they filmed in Dubai gives the desert look a more realistic feel. I personally don’t think I’d survive such an environment, cudos to David Tennant and crew for braving it, especially in a suit.

The cast of this episode is standard fare, imagine the cast of “Midnight” or “Voyage of the Damned” and you get the idea. There is nothing really special or important about this group save for two people. One I speak of is Carmen, a slightly annoying psychic who complains every five minutes about the dead coming after them and essentially how screwed they all are if they stay on the planet any longer (we understand the danger going into the episode. There is no need to pound us over the head with how bad the danger is). As annoying as I found her, Carmen’s warning at the end of the episode hinted at a pretty bleak future for The Doctor; death and possibly the return of an old enemy. It sent chills down my spine.

The other special passenger I alluded to was companion du jour Lady Christina de Souza, played by British favorite Michelle Ryan (Eastenders, Bionic Woman). Christina is a welcome return to the smart, clever and sexy companions The Doctor traveled with in the past. The fact that she falls in love with him harkens back to Martha and Rose. But let’s face it as beautiful as Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper are they don’t come close to matching Michelle Ryan’s flirtatious and down right sexy portrayal of this black clad master thief. Christina is likeable and a good match for The Doctor, but sadly she is a one time companion left behind at the end of the episode. Perhaps we’ll see more of her in the future (at least I hope so).

U.N.I.T. also pops up in this special. Captain Erisa Magambo from “Turn Left” returns to lead the charge against the alien threat beyond the wormhole, but it’s Lee Evans as the eccentric Malcolm Taylor that works best. Malcolm can both match The Doctor’s cleverness and stand toe to toe with Magambo when she decides to make a gutsy call that may mean killing The Doctor and the bus passengers. Good writing and good acting to make it work.

All in all, “Planet of the Dead” was fun, but ok, not as special as it could be. However, the groundwork has been laid for some interesting action later this year as the sad approach to David Tennant’s final adventure gets closer.

Next Time-“Water always wins…” The Waters of Mars

Rating-8/10

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