Mummy On the Orient Express (3408/808)

[StargateMillennium]

One thing I don't get about the episode. The mummy's a soldier, so why is he targeting the weakest and sickest first? He's a soldier defending his flag, so shouldn't he target the strongest (those who pose the greatest threat to his flag)?

[iiradned]

Well, looks like the bit after Amy and Rory got married

Spoiler:

was a failed previous attempt to lure the Doctor onto the train to study the Foretold

.

[Coco Pops]

Well, looks like the bit after Amy and Rory got married

Spoiler:

was a failed previous attempt to lure the Doctor onto the train to study the Foretold

.

Yep.....The Doctor even mentions getting that phone call...

OK so this Foretold is well known. The mummy has been around for a long, long time, enough to become legend..... So I'm wondering who sent it? I almost thought the Doctor has some idea of who?

[P-90_177]

One thing I don't get about the episode. The mummy's a soldier, so why is he targeting the weakest and sickest first? He's a soldier defending his flag, so shouldn't he target the strongest (those who pose the greatest threat to his flag)?

Perhaps he wasn't designed that way. The Doctor did say the tech was faulty.

[Nolamom]

[Blencathra]

I did enjoy this episode. It's not my favourite this series (that was Listen), but very close to it.

I thought the Mummy was very well executed and was really scary. I bet lots of kiddies were Behind the Sofa for this one.

Personally I'd love to go on the Orient Express in space. Though without a bandage trailing killer Mummy obviously.

Some favourite bits -

Jelly babies!

The Doctor is a specialist in internal parasites.

"PERKINS: Perkins. Chief Engineer.

DOCTOR: The Doctor. Nosy parker."

Mystery shopper.

Clara using a picture of a stick insect on her phone.

"Are you my Mummy?"

Hard light holograms. (Rimmer!!)


So Clara is lying to Danny again about travelling with the Doctor. I bet there will be consequences.

Danny has such a thing about being lied to and telling the truth. Does anyone else think he has some big secret that he's not telling? For instance, we know he was living in a Children's Home and yet at the beginning of Listen when he first meets Clara on their date he says

CLARA: So, the famous drink at last.

DANNY: Yeah, took a bit of time. Family stuff but here we are.

So what family is he talking about?

And then there's the lady killer thing that he seems very uncomfortable about. It did cross my mind that this might have a parallel with Maisie's guilt about wishing her Gran/Mother dead and then feeling terribly guilty about it. Time will tell.

8/10.

Edit - And a personal bit of headcanon. I'd like to think the planet Obsidian that the Doctor mentions in this episode is the same planet Obsidian that appears in Blake's 7.

[BruTak]

For all that she appeared in the episode, was there really any point in having that Foxes person guest starring?

Was she vital to the plot? No. She disappeared along with the majority of the passengers and crew, so presumably her character was a hologram.

Ok, she sings nice, and looks pretty enough (even if her nose is a bit long for my personal tastes) - but the production could've saved money by just hiring a session singer.

[Baron Of Hell]

She didn't really guest star. She basically no more or less important than bartender. She was just a background character. No more than a cameo really.

[BruTak]

She didn't really guest star. She basically no more or less important than bartender. She was just a background character. No more than a cameo really.

Ok, fair enough.

But as I said, she could easily have been replaced with a generic singer and no one would've noticed the difference.

Put it another way - before it was announced that she'd been cast, had you heard of her?
I certainly hadn't.

[Baron Of Hell]

Nope never heard of her. In fact I didn't hear about her until after the episode when I watched Doctor Who Extra. For me her presence was neither bad or good.

[Britta]

Speaking as someone who hasn't even seen this episode yet (or the last few in fact) I can say that I've heard of her. I'm not a fan, but I'm aware of her existence. Perhaps she's just not well known outside the UK.

[dipsofjazz]

Speaking as someone who hasn't even seen this episode yet (or the last few in fact) I can say that I've heard of her. I'm not a fan, but I'm aware of her existence. Perhaps she's just not well known outside the UK.

Well, both BruTak and myself are in the UK and I've never heard of her either. Perhaps it's an age thing?

[P-90_177]

Well, both BruTak and myself are in the UK and I've never heard of her either. Perhaps it's an age thing?

I hadn't either. But my flatmate apparently knew her right away despite being ten years older than me...... admittedly his music tastes are questionable at best. Although having said that I though she sang pretty well.

[Coco Pops]

That end scene in the TARDIS bugged me a tiny bit. For one moment I thought the Doctor wanted the engineer as a companion..... I did find it odd he understood what was down there in the TARDIS guts... I'm even more surprised the Doctor let him poke around down there.

Was it just me or did the Doctor seemed to think that he has an idea of who was behind the mummy and all that?

Also how was it that this mummy thing has been doing the rounds for so long that it's become a legend that even the Doctor knows about? I find that interesting.

Oh and I liked the idea about Obsidian...... Thank you Blencathra.........

BTW in the old days didn't Terry Nation want the Doctor in Blake's 7 at one point?

[Gatefan1976]

That end scene in the TARDIS bugged me a tiny bit. For one moment I thought the Doctor wanted the engineer as a companion..... I did find it odd he understood what was down there in the TARDIS guts... I'm even more surprised the Doctor let him poke around down there.

He did say dealing with, and travelling with the doctor would change a person, and that is a very wise position.
Look at how Clara changed -right after- that conversation, lying to both Danny, and the Doctor, something she berated the Doctor for earlier in the Same episode.

Also how was it that this mummy thing has been doing the rounds for so long that it's become a legend that even the Doctor knows about? I find that interesting.

Stories are (IMHO) the theme of the season, and the difference between the Story and the Reality.