There's no conflict or tension at all.
Not the slightest suspicion anything scary will happen.
And the great intelligence aparently eats peoples brains, mumbled about in dialogue.
The show can't commit to its own weakness.
Doctor Who... Page 939
Quote: sootyj @ March 31 2013, 10:19 AM BSTThere's no conflict or tension at all.
Not the slightest suspicion anything scary will happen.
In what? the show or this episode?
For me, I certainly found the bit where the little girl appeared on the stairs really quite creepy. But then, this wasn't designed as a 'scary' episode, really.
Quote: sootyj @ March 31 2013, 10:19 AM BSTThe show can't commit to its own weakness.
Sooty, your Bi-Polar response to Who is fascinating. One week you think it's the worst show going, the next your praising it; and there's generally no way of guessing which way you're going to go after I watch an ep!
One slightly scary thing doesn't a scary episode make.
And I am as bipolar as the show.
So dinosaurs on a starship; excellent tense, real sense of peril, real horror and great use of fx. As well as lively funny script. Excellent.
This one the first after a long break. Ghastly ugly looking, stupid sets no tension and the new dr/companion diad is worse than the ponds.
By desperately trying to make the dr and companions equal he's taken a huge boot to the structure.
For me, this was probably a six out of ten. It was fun, I enjoyed the interplay between the Doctor and the new companion, and there was some nice bits and bobs. The story was slight and under-explored, but then this was yet another getting to know the new companion episode, so that was put more front and centre at the stories expense.
Quote: sootyj @ March 31 2013, 1:11 PM BSTOne slightly scary thing doesn't a scary episode make.
And I am as bipolar as the show.
So dinosaurs on a starship; excellent tense, real sense of peril, real horror and great use of fx. As well as lively funny script. Excellent.
A lot of people thought that was a crap one.
Quote: sootyj @ March 31 2013, 1:11 PM BSTBy desperately trying to make the dr and companions equal he's taken a huge boot to the structure.
They're not equal; I think they work together really very well indeed; both here and in the Christmas one. A good duo for the TARDIS. Nice to get back to one companion, too.
A lot of people are wrong.
I am not.
You're like batman with a word processor. Defending innocent shows from unappreciative critics.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 31 2013, 1:16 PM BSTFor me, this was probably a six out of ten. It was fun, I enjoyed the interplay between the Doctor and the new companion, and there was some nice bits and bobs. The story was slight and under-explored, but then this was yet another getting to know the new companion episode, so that was put more front and centre at the stories expense.
A lot of people thought that was a crap one.
They're not equal; I think they work together really very well indeed; both here and in the Christmas one. A good duo for the TARDIS. Nice to get back to one companion, too.
I took the advice of a lotta people on BCG and checked out some of the old classic epsiodes. Especially the awesome Genesis of the Daleks.
And its hard to avoid thinking episodes like this are a backwards step.
Agree with a lot of this:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-bells-of-saint-john,95443/
Good review agree with most of that
Quote: Badge @ March 30 2013, 10:40 PM GMTIt's interesting that a couple of people have mentioned the aeroplane bit as being good when it served absolutely no purpose in the story
It was JLC's first step onto the the Tardis, ergo a pretty much critical plot point for a companion introduction story.
And it was a brilliant way to do it, imho. Instead of a pondering sequence full of awe and wonder hovering on the event horizon of an imploding star or something, we get a fast-paced short-hop trip onto a crashing plane that doesn't look like it's more than half a mile away.
The whole Tardis-introduction thing was dispensed with in a little over a minute, without distracting from the story.
JLC keeps the mug of tea in her hand throughout, which I thought was a nice touch (maybe a Hitch Hiker's nod?).
The idea of killing somebody by turning off all the lights in London except for those immediately around your enemy and then using that light as a target to drop a plane on their heads was brilliantly inventive, I thought.
It was a classic sequence, and absolutely vital to the sub-plot if not the plot itself.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 31 2013, 1:06 PM BSTFor me, I certainly found the bit where the little girl appeared on the stairs really quite creepy.
And did you notice the author of the book? Amelia Williams!
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ March 31 2013, 2:37 PM BSTAnd did you notice the author of the book? Amelia Williams!
I did; and her saying something along the lines of chapter 11 being even better than ten; or eleven will make you cry. Or something.
Oooooh.
Quote: Kevin Murphy @ March 31 2013, 2:37 PM BSTIt was JLC's first step onto the the Tardis, ergo a pretty much critical plot point for a companion introduction story.
And it was a brilliant way to do it, imho. Instead of a pondering sequence full of awe and wonder hovering on the event horizon of an imploding star or something, we get a fast-paced short-hop trip onto a crashing plane that doesn't look like it's more than half a mile away.
The whole Tardis-introduction thing was dispensed with in a little over a minute, without distracting from the story.
JLC keeps the mug of tea in her hand throughout, which I thought was a nice touch (maybe a Hitch Hiker's nod?).
It was certainly a nifty way of doing the Tardis introduction.
I'm going to have to disagree about the aeroplane. There were so many things wrong with it imho that I can't begin to list them.
I forgot it was on.
I liked the plane bit gosh knows it was a practical solution toba practical problem as opposed to technobabble
Quote: Ben @ March 31 2013, 3:08 PM BSTI forgot it was on.
But what did you think of it?