Planet of the Dead (2009)

[Gregorius]

I discovered that "Doctor Who Forum" banned everyone from posting. What's big deal ?!?

Slightly off-topic: Forum patrons are allowed to post, it's just that guests and regular posters aren't allowed access to it. This is to prevent the forum from dying due to the massive increase in traffic after a special has aired.

[huntress]

My hopes for a better special were dashed. This special held zero tention and bored me quite frankly to tears. That insect race looked rubbish, the story was a not very well mixed stew of well known elements from movies like Stargate, Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones and I stick with Pitch Black for the planet with the three suns, oh and throw in Independence Day for aliens that move from planet to planet like locusts. Lee Evans and the ridiulous accent annoyed the hell out of me, Michelle Ryan CAN'T ACT, the black lady was just annoying and UNIT has turned into a bunch of dumb little soliders from some B-Flick. What a joke. I really had to force myself to watch this thing through. One last note about the music. Terrible. Murray I usually adore what you do but either the mixing was really off or the music really was just as bad as I perceived it to be. In the last half he tried to be as swashbuckling as David Arnold and mostly failed but the worst parts were the first 2/3 of the score. The only thing I liked? The flying bus.

I agree the one who comes through the drak knocking four times is the Master. No question.

[Matt G]

1. I actually liked Lady Christina, surprised the writers aren't keeping her on for the next few specials at least.

2. Idiot DCI - I think you have bigger fish to fry than a missing jewel thief.

3. Malcolm, meh.

4. Tractovores - decent allies.

5. A flying bus will make you stand out like a sore thub milady!

Overall, very good ep!

[Pharaoh Atem]

michelle ryan was dreadful! that woman simply can not act her way out of a poorly rendered double decker bus....

i really liked her

[Flyboy]

Ok.

You know what.

I was wrong.


You all hear that?

That's the sound of hell freezing over.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I WAS WRONG!


This ep.

Was cracking!

(If you'll pardon the pun)




Fantastic use of UNIT - back on form, just as they should be, engaging a potential threat with competance and style. And with a few tricks up their own sleeve. And did you check out those bloody missile systems!? I think I'm having a gun-gasm. #

Flying bus!? Loved it.

Companion!? Bloody hell, let's have her back shall we. She outclassed Martha and Rose easily.

Very, VERY happy with that episode.

Only gripe. How the hell is it that extras can seem to wear a military beret with no issues, but speaking roles can't. Ross Jenkins, and now the good Captain? As I have always said to a wet behind the ears recruit, and will always continue to say -

IT'S A BLOODY BERET! NOT A BLOODY BEANIE!

Honestly. The beret perches nicely on your head. Snugly, but not so it's pulled over that it adopts the SHAPE of your head.

Seriously - someone on set knows how to mould a beret properly - why can't they ensure everyone gets it right?

[Replicator Todd]

One thing I hate about living in the US, no new Doctor Who....enjoy it, while I sit here! Oh well, i'll find a way to watch it eventually.

[ShadowMaat]

While I didn't think this ep was sheer brilliance, I did think it was fun. The "knock four times" thing was a pretty big (and cool) hint, and I liked the reference back to the Doctor's song ending soon.

Having seen the preview I'd gotten a bit of a Langoliers vibe off it so I was glad to see that the story didn't pan out in a remotely similar way, though the evil alien space stingrays were kinda fun. Not sure the science behind what they do is very sound (I'd put it right up there with Superman reversing time by flying really fast around the planet), but I'm willing to make allowances for now.

My BIGGEST gripe, and it's a silly one, is WTF was up with the earpieces? EARpieces? for ALIENS WHO DON'T HAVE EARS?! Or at least not external ones. And certainly not external ones that match the exact contours of a human ear. HA!

Oh, there were other plot holes and things that nagged and it lacked a certain epic-ness, but like I said, it was still a fun outing and on the whole I was happy with it, ears and all.

When's the next one due?

[Erised]

I forgot how much I love Doctor Who!!!

I loved the new companion. She should come back!

[ShadowMaat]

Oh, and as Ukky just pointed out to me... "Why didn't the Doctor just have UNIT send through another vehicle?" You could probably even get one with... sand tires or whatever.

[Cak20]

You have a point but it wouldn't be as fun that way and it would be a very boring episode

[Darkstar 2.0]

Wormholes

Aliens

Monsters

Good Guys

Plot

what more could you expect, not the best i've seen but much of an improvement over the terrible christmas special last December!

[huntress]

is it me or are UNIT useless all of a sudden? That said, so were the police and the guards at the gallery. Does the show get any kind of official advice etc like some shows do? just found how they were all portrayed as idiots a bit annoying.

If you are guarding something its a good idea to be watching it, dont have everyone stand with their back to it. Also the whole chase scene with the bus was rubbish, the driver would have pulled over straight away Dont get me started on the woman in charge of unit who was firing a hand gun in the air without even aiming properly at fast moving strongly armed targets and then saying "Guns dont work! I dont believe it!" Aren't Unit meant to be the best of the best and trained to expect the unexpected? Metal aliens have just come through a wormhole and your handgun doesnt work, big surprise.

/rant

That was also what bugged me a lot. The bus driver would never just go on driving and the police and guards as well as UNIT were utterly useless. Instead of using their brains they just start shooting at the metal aliens with their tiny guns and also even miss most of the time. This is supposed to be Earths finest? Well they used to be .... Also the "chase" after the bus wasn't much of a chase. More like casual driving after the bus. I didn't expect action a la "Bad Boys" but better editing of the scenes would have given the scenes more of an edge. The heist of lady Christina was just laughable - all the guards facing away from the artefact. Right.

[Crazedwraith]

That was also what bugged me a lot. The bus driver would never just go on driving and the police and guards as well as UNIT were utterly useless. Instead of using their brains they just start shooting at the metal aliens with their tiny guns and also even miss most of the time. This is supposed to be Earths finest?

What else do you expect them to do? They're soldiers with guns, what else are they going to do? And they didn't miss they actually managed to shoot all three creatures down in short order.

[Forseti (a.k.a. Thor's lawyer)]

While it certainly had it’s flaws, there was still enough in this episode to enjoy it.

1. The story atmosphere was good, although I don’t see why they had to go to Dubai for this.
2. CGI was pretty decent too, liked the Scorpion nebula.
3. I somehow expected Malcolm to die horribly, but instead they killed off the less annoying bus driver. For shame…
4. I would be surprised if this were the first and last time we heard Lady De Souza’s name. I expect this cat burglar to turn up on some one’s pay roll eventually. Also a flying bus doesn’t seem to be the least conspicuous means of escape, might be hard to land without somebody noticing.
5. ‘It’ is returning from the dark and ‘he’ will knock four times. That’s two distinct things, isn’t it? It’s pretty obvious who the ‘he’ refers to. May be even too obvious, so maybe several people will come knocking four times. I wonder what the ‘it’ will be… the great Beast, the Time Lord Empire, Ood Sigma (no, that’s likely a he too).

T minus seven months to November-ish and ‘The Waters of Mars’ (or ‘The Masters of War’, or ‘The War of Masters’ or ‘Aft he Rows, Master’, …)

[rosey_angel]

this was a pretty good ep.

the museum guards were a joke, i can only think that it was a set up to get christina there so they could catch her in the act. otherwise that was so bad. and that bus driver? even tho she gave him her earrings, he didn't know they were real, and he kept driving even with the police behind him! i don't think he wanted his job for much longer.

but once they got onto the planet the ep got much better. i like that they kept referencing past eps, that was a nice touch. and lol at the doctor changing his glasses.

christina was a good character, wild at times but she knew she didn't know everything and differed to the doctor at those times. the flying bus was pretty bad tho. what did she think she was gonna do? they're just gonna shoot her down, and seeing as the UNIT woman was gonna shoot malcolm, i don't think they'd care about killing her in the process. she shoulda just made a run for it or stick it out in jail.

the guest cast was pretty good, too. tho they didn't have a lot to do they did thier jobs nicely