{"id":839,"date":"2009-04-17T02:10:05","date_gmt":"2009-04-16T14:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/?p=839"},"modified":"2009-04-17T02:13:28","modified_gmt":"2009-04-16T14:13:28","slug":"sinking-in-the-sand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/?p=839","title":{"rendered":"Sinking in the Sand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"planetdeadlogo\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been reading a lot of reviews on Ain\u2019t It Cool recently, so in the interests of brevity, I\u2019m stealing their format:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

THE GOOD<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The kick-off<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I have a soft spot for the \u2018hit-the-ground-running\u2019 format that seems to start each new series, and this was no exception. Yes the \u2018Tomb Raider\u2019 start was a bit lame (why the OTT security around a cup!), once the bus comes into the picture. Nice to see some good aerial shots of London too. Maybe I\u2019m biased, but it\u2019s a great city to look at.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Malcolm<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 He might have come across a bit like a diminutive Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill but what a great little character to turn up, and certainly one of the more brighter parts of the episode. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>HD<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Yay! Finally Doctor Who looks filmic! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

THE MIXED<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Michelle Ryan<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 she looks good in black, but where was the chemistry that was supposed to be prevalent through the show? Some reviewers are raving about Lady Christina\u2026 I just didn\u2019t see it. Ryan certainly gave the episode some glamour, but some of the dialogue was spoken like a first read-through, and the all-action anti-hero was more like \u2018bird on a wire\u2019. She isn\u2019t any more the Doctor\u2019s match than Rose, Donna or River Song. Disappointing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Location<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 some shots looked fantastic, but when the vistas are enhanced with CGI storms, you can\u2019t help but feel that they could<\/span><\/em><\/strong> have filmed this on a beach. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Effects<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a mixed bag. Loved the skeleton coming out of the wormhole\u2026 very creepy. The cityscape was also good, even if shown on a screen. The metal creatures… not so much. The bus… see below. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

THE BAD<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bus<\/strong> \u2013 or specifically, the bus when it was off the ground. Good grief, you can tell that the production time was short on this one. The bus looked horrible when it started to fly, with no sense of scale (in fact it looked strangely small) and an almost pixellated look. Even worse was the \u2018critter swatting\u2019 moment \u2013 nice idea, but just so badly executed. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The Tease<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 yes it creates a good atmosphere for the rest of the specials, but having the Doctor forewarned AGAIN by someone with psychic powers (after the Face of Boe, the soothsayers, the Ood) is getting a bit ho-hum for my liking. A story arc should be more than just \u2018by the way, something\u2019s coming\u2019 \u2013 which is why I think I enjoyed the Mr Saxon storyline so much\u2026 it wasn\u2019t so much \u2018Beware of Mr Saxon, Doctor\u2019, rather hints and subtle mentions that slowly built to a climax. This clunked. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The Plotholes<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 erm\u2026 given that the wormhole destroys flesh but not bone, and only gives a London bus a dent or two\u2026 can I suggest that maybe a metal tow-rope might have been a reasonable idea? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I\u2019m not grateful for a new episode on our screens \u2013 I am. It\u2019s great. But when a much-hyped special (following a much hyped special) has two writers, overseas locations and an international guest star\u2026 but is only on par with middling episodes from a regular series, then I feel like we\u2019re getting short-changed. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By the looks of the Waters of Mars trailer though, hopefully by November Planet of the Dead will be but a distant half-forgotten memory. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

JP<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve been reading a lot of reviews on Ain\u2019t It Cool recently, so in the interests of brevity, I\u2019m stealing their format: \u00a0 THE GOOD The kick-off \u2013 I have a soft spot for the \u2018hit-the-ground-running\u2019 format that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2009-specials-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions\/841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusblog.tetrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}