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As ever, I don't think hatred is a good term to use to describe people not liking something. Having said which, I didn't think this was bad at all, and actually I'm not sure at this stage if we were all watching the same programme; I'm a little confused by some of the criticisms. The jaunt to Earth unnecessary? Mr Cropper's innocence of Earth history and customs was a big human note in the story, as was the Buckingham Palace set-up, Astrid's desire to see new worlds, the teleportation schtick that was required for Kylie's finale - I could have done without the wavy Queen at the end, which was a farce too far for me, but the Cribbins and the joke about how something ghastly happens to London (well, Cardiff) every Christmas were nice touches. Storytelling 101, really.
Also, this being Who, does one not just sort of expect that most aliens will look basically like normal-sized humans (or like the hardest-working actor in BBC cult television, Jimmy Vee)? It was a bit odd that there was no attempt to whack in some sort of justification - you know, they are a primordial offshoot of humanity, descendants of the Atlanteans who fled Earth, that sort of thing- but, you know, it's a children's programme, not blooming Stargate. I would have preferred to have had them as humans, in some period between now and Cassandra time, visiting the old (but still populated) homeworld, but RTD has clearly decided he wants the Christmas specials to happen basically at Christmas of that year, so that's a constraint on the story.
The Kylie death was a bit Children's Film Foundation, and the falling effect really overused - was Debbie Chazen's death foreshadowing, or just a limited shooting budget? - but I thought she had done good work up until then. Geoffrey Palmer roxored.
My main issue, apart from it not quite being able to work out whether it is a children's show or not, which bedevilled the third series also, was that the plot required a more than usual level of deus ex machina - Security Override One, of course, Bakaetc having an EMP bomb in his chest, and the bit where the Doctor convinced the robots that as a stowaway he didn't need to be killed - which was either clever or stupid, I suppose. It's not quite a deus ex, but the Host defaulting to the Doctor's control rather than Midshipman Frame's was profoundly irksome. Again, this is easier to buy in a kids' show.
In true Poseidon Adventure style, I was expecting the nasty posh bloke to sell them out or abandon them with the sonic screwdriver, but having the Go Team moments and then having him as a rather ambivalent survivor at the end (has he learned anything? Is he a better person? Is he gloating at the end, or just remarking on the strangeness of life) worked well for me. Sometimes Kylie dies and Smarmy lives, and they are both lives worth preserving.
I think you'll be OK, Kali. It's not a favourite episode, but it's not bad. I was quite tickled also to find that the cyborg-hating, class-riven world of Stowe actually has stricter corporate homicide laws than we do. |
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