I dont believe this.....Doctor Who is actually.....improving!
I'm tempted to do a Rifftrax of this, since there are a lot of opportunities for jokes - but really, there was nothing particularly wrong.
Whilst I like the setting, I do think that its overly ambitious. The production design looks like an Asylum Rip-Off of 'Pirates of the Caribbean', and I loved it when the Doctor asked "What sort of a crew is this? There are only five of you for a ship this large!". Hey! The Doctors pointing out how the BBC cant afford a larger crew.
Spoiler (click to read)
And no: they can't - because when the crew return at the end, there are still only five of them. It would make sense if the rest of the crew had already been taken and they all appear in the hospital. But they dont. So the Doctor just pointed out how cheap the production really is. First River Song is aware of how bad the writing is, now the Doctor is aware of hoe bad the budget is! What next? Amy's going to realise how bad the acting is? ("Your not really a Pirate! Your accent sounds nothing like one!")
The Episode is unoriginal. There is genuine suspense, and the twist at the end was nice, but no elements of it was original. Yeah, you've got the setting, and you have the black spot also from POTC, in addition to the boy thinking his father is a decent man to discover he is a scallywag. The bacteria thing is a blatant rip-off of 'War of the Worlds', the episode admits that the mermaid is basically a green shark, and the twist at the end is a variation of 'The Doctor Dances'. Whilst this is good source material - why am I not just watching those instead?
And, how did the Captains son get on board? He wasn't hiding away since they left, and the ship hasn't returned to England in years. How did he know which ship was his fathers? Did he teleport?
Spoiler (click to read)
Rory, like River Song, is annoying me. A lot. It was good when he was jealous of the Doctor and his little scene in the Orphanage last Episode - but I HATE him in all the rest. He serves NO PURPOSE! The only thing he does is die and get kidnapped. He's like a combination of Princess Peach, Jar Jar Binks, and me whenever I try to play Metal Gear! Either kill him off for good, or do something useful with him! I was actually glad when he died in Series 5 - because even THEN he was completely useless! But no; he's back to be even more wimpy!
He IS the Jar Jar Binks of Doctor Who.....only slightly less annoying.....
And: STOP USING THAT SAME MUSIC TRACK DURING THE 'Next Time' TRAILER!! Murray Gold has the ability to write more than one song - USE HIM!! You know....ACTUALLY BE CREATIVE WITH THE TRAILERS!! It gets people more hyped up!!
Spoiler (click to read)
Oh great, the Ood are returning. Seriously - I cannot think of a recurring monster less threatening or exiting. With Monsters like the Daleks and the Cybermen your reaction is like "Oh no! The Doctor is screwed! I cant wait to find out how he's going to get out of this one!". With the Ood I was more like: "Really? These guys are still around? I thought they had been put to rest back in Series 4! Was the world crying for them to be possessed by ANOTHER supreme force?"
But, these are just minor problems which I fear may multiply. I'm a little annoyed that the Series is slipping back into the same old formula - with the story arc being shown at the end of EVERY SINGLE EPISODE in case we had forgotten. I thought that by having the two-parter at the beginning, this may have broken the stale old formula - but nope! Why try to bring fresh life into the show after SIX SERIES OF THE SAME OLD CRAP!!
Last edited by Max Butcher (May 8, 2011 (04:13am))
