Doctor Who: Planet Of The Dead

When you set the bar high, if you fall short people are going to criticise you for not being as good as you were. For James Bond that meant that Licence To Kill, despite being a box office smash, was regarded as a bit of a failure because it didn't make as much money as the other Bond movies - it was compared to it's predecessors, rather than it's competition. So as a result of that, with Doctor Who's special effects always looking so great these days, I have a gripe about the CGI rendered flying bus at the end of Planet Of The Dead. It just looked more than a little pasted on, particularly when one of the swarm smashed into it and appeared to make no indentation on the bus whatsoever.
It's a pretty good thing, I feel, when the biggest complaint you have with an episode of Doctor Who is the below-par CGI. In light of the fact that this episode was still in post production days before it was broadcast, perhaps the smash of the bus in Dubai caused the tighter than usual post production.

There were a number of things to note about this particular story, and one of them was the much talked about overseas shooting in Dubai. Dubai looks quite impressive as the planet Sans Helios, effectively nothing more than a giant desert, but one can't help feeling that it was marginally unnecessary.

The guest cast was up to its usual standard, but there were four standouts for me, all of whom deserved to be mentioned. From the least important; Noma Dumezweni returning as Captain Magambo (although this is the first time she appeared in the normal universe) gave us a lot more to the character than was seen in her last appearance. Of particular note was her pulling a gun on her scientific advisor to order him to shut down the ever growing wormhole that was the mcguffin of this episode. Harsh though it may seem, her actions seem very much in keeping with a UNIT soldier who sees the protection of the planet more important than the safety of a few civillians.

Next up is Ellen Thomas as Carmen, the older lady who has a psychic gift which gets better and better on the alien planet of the dead. Although she has very little to do, really, in the story, it is her prophecy to the Doctor at the end of the story that is more disturbing than anything else.

Lee Evans plays UNIT scientist Dr Malcolm Taylor who is an affectionate parody of the traditional Doctor Who fan (unlike the parody that was the Victor Kennedy). Taylor has read all the Doctor's files and knows his adventures inside out and loves the Doctor. With his county accent and "I love you, I love you, I love you" line at the end of the episode, this character had great potential to be extremely annoying and, frankly, crap. However, Evans gives the character a lot of warmth and is a very, very likable person.

But it was Michelle Ryan that generated the most concern for the hardcore Doctor Who fans. Her turn in Bionic Woman was hard to pin down, and despite a good performance in Jekyll, there was always the Eastenders shadow hanging over her. As Lady Christina de Souza, Michelle Ryan played a companion very much in the mould of Romana, and this character worked very well opposite Tennant. Christina has Martha's sass, Donna's independence and Rose's admiration of the Doctor. I wanted her to continue with the Doctor on his travels, and was disappointed that she didn't.

Cast aside, as usual, and with the exception of a certain bus, the production was up to its usual standards. The Swarm was quite disturbing, and looked quite scary, while the Tritovores, which in photo looked terrible, came across quite effectively and their deaths were actually a little sad.

I found myself enjoying Planet Of The Dead a lot more than I did The Next Doctor, and as we count down to the Doctor's tenth regeneration, it seems as though we have some great stories to come.