| PLANET OF THE DEAD by Russell T Davies + Gareth Roberts |
| Story 45 Synopsis: The Doctor boards a bus which travels through a wormhole to a desert planet. He meets Tritovores there, bug-like aliens who crash-landed on San Helios. A probe from their ship reveals the existence of a massive swarm of creatures headed their way. The creatures created the wormhole, and will use it to travel to Earth. They ravaged San Helios in less than a year. To stop them, the Doctor has to use energy from the Tritovore ship to allow the bus to travel back through the wormhole. Once back, UNIT are able to close the wormhole. Some of the creatures slip through but are soon shot down. The Doctor resolves to make sure the creatures can only move next to an uninhabited world. Before he leaves, he receives an ominous warning of his own future... |
| Review:- So, instead of a brand-new series, this Easter special merely whetted the appetite somewhat. Waived away as harmless froth, it's a pretty thin tale of coping with adversity. The other bus passengers are galvanised by the Doctor into coping with their predicament, although given that they end up failing, it's debatable what good he did. More important to the writers, if not the audience, is Lady Christina de Souza, adequately played by Michelle Ryan. As an aristocrat-turned-jewel thief, she has all the depth of a beermat. Given that Roberts' last tale, The Unicorn and the Wasp, also featured a jewel thief, I am forced to conclude that his imagination is less impressive than has usually been thought. Anyway, de Souza allows homage to Mission: Impossible, in two silly vertiginous scenes which remind the viewer of New Earth, and the suggestion that these scenes are done not because they help the plot, but because the writers like them, and the show can achieve them. Famously, this story was partly shot in Dubai, for which 2 double-decker buses were shipped. One got damaged. Clumsy. As it happens, it works into the story, but it doesn't excuse the idea of sending a bus to Dubai, especially during a global economic slump. Apart from Ryan, the other guest star is Lee Evans, sadly hamming it up as a Welsh scientist working for UNIT. His harmless eccentricities might have seemed quaint once, but these days, they just grate along with everything else. It is also pretty evident that UNIT aren't considered the heroes they once were - Captain Mogambo is quite prepared to abandon the Doctor, and wants aliens restricted at all costs. Hmm... One of the few nice points is that the Tritovores mark a rare instance of aliens who aren't evil, and who trust the Doctor's sincerity. Sadly, they illicit some more painful mugging from David Tennant during their clickety dialogue scenes. Perhaps Rassilon's gift of translation is on the blink? Or perhaps the writers think it's funny. It isn't. So, ultimately, what was the point of the adventure? The Doctor traced the wormhole and dealt with it. He uncovered a jewel thief, destroyed her valuable proceeds and then let her go off scott-free, for no good reason. He made some contacts in UNIT. And he got a predictable warning of the future: "he will knock four times". Is this blatantly predictable, or a cunning bluff? Time will tell... As for the story - it passed the time, but left its audience under-nourished. Like an Easter egg. |
| Disclaimer: I have watched this story. |