A world without David Tennant would be a terrible place. But apparently not as bad as a world without the Doctor. In this episode we finally found out what Donna has on her back: a novelty scarab-beetle-shaped backpack with the power to change destiny. Put that one on my Christmas list. Anyway, due to its interference, we got to have a run-down on what Doctor Who would be like without the Doctor part - just one long grizzly session of Who is that destroying my planet? Miserable stuff, although not quite as bad as when the Master was in charge (not part of the flashback because with the Doctor dead - "happened too fast for him to regenerate", plot polyfilla fans (er - what?) - there was nobody there to wake him up.) Once we got the idea, it was a reasonably predictable run-through of past episodes with the endings changed to unhappy, which would have been decently crafted, functional, but not terribly interesting, were it not for the presence of Rose.
Rose! Welcome back, Rose. Tell me something, did you always talk as if you have your mouth full? Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, it's good to see you all the same. Quite aside from anything I had forgotten all about that incredible smile. You're less fun (a) without the Doctor and (b) when every universe in history is about to end, but that's understandable. At least you're facing Armageddon with one of your trademark bomber jackets, that must be some comfort, also warm. You made the whole thing creepier, harder to anticipate and a lot more intriguing, and the Bad Wolf ending was phenomenal. And I can't wait for you to see the Doctor again.
So, two weeks to go (poor Donna - make the most of it, love) and the trailer at the end of this one promises one of two outcomes. (a) Russell T going out in a blaze of glory, taking the whole place down with him, every single last possible thing that he has done in four seasons + Torchwood coming out to take a curtain call, essentially a cross between a graduation ceremony, a nuclear explosion and a MySpace-advertised teenage party while the parents are away, and then disappearing, leaving poor Stevie Moffatt with an almighty mountain of clearing up to do; or (b), the above, only really, really shit. Only time will tell...
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9 comments:
I really thought this one was rubbish. A dull alt-universe plod through Rusty's Greatest Hits that didn't even make sense. Rose tells the *dying* Donna to pass on a message: how does that work? Beats me.
I loved it, particularly the Bad Wolf ending which was a genuine surprise. But I am a real sucker for What if? type stories. I agree. Rose was fabulous, and makes you realise how difficult it is for any companion to match her. (The plastic beetle was rubbish though).
Didn't really understand the Bad Wolf stuff last time and not sure I am with it this time either.
This episode was effectively It's A Wonderful Life with stag beetles.
Apologies, my computer had a complete freak out, beeping and entering random characters.
Was it Bad Wolf?
Too bad about the neck pillow. Nice of DT to ignore it and wave...
After a run of not-so-good episodes (that Sontarian thing and the Doctor's Daughter, although I thought the Ood episode was just okay), I was really terrified for this season. Then we got a run of really-rather-fabulous episodes, and now I'm even more terrified, because this is starting to look like last year: Utopia (whoa!); The Sound of Drums (aieee!); The Last of the Time Lords (squelch).
They say comedy is hard --- endings are really, really hard. I'm so afraid that I will come within inches of breaking the computer again (especially since we've just purchased a new monitor.) What if we have all this magnificent build-up, and they turn Donna into the Virgin Mary or something? (Oh gawd; is that why she's named Donna?)
That said, I found "Turn Left" rivetting and heartbreaking. (It also has resulted in some highly entertaining arguments over logic amongst the ageing fan boys over at that Doctor Who blog. Tee-hee!) I'm pleased to see Rose acting like a grown-up, speech impediment or no, and I'm intrigued by the portrayal of mouthy, self-centred, pre-Doctor Donna in a Doctor-less world. Some idiot had written "Bad Wolf" in the comments at YouTube, but I was totally unprepared for just how many cast members of Who-related shows will be appearing next week. How will there ever be enough lines for everybody? Let's hope RTD goes out with a bang and not a whimper. Or squelch.
I've always been fascinated by small decisions having big impacts on the course of one's life, so I really enjoyed this episode. There was some genuinely emotional and scary bits, and set the scene for a great finale.
My niggling points however were:
- why couldn't someone else go back in time and stop Donna turning right?
- much as I love Rose, why was she in it? "Ah Donna, you have created a whole universe around you. I'm in a different one never to return, but only I can visit and talk cryptically to you."
- can the companions please stop having massive crushes on the Doctor? "Oh he's a man. The most AMAZING man." Bring back last week, when he was faced with a group of people who rejected his usually self-imposed authority.
I agree with your take on it Marie, but there was plenty of good stuff. The army being in it terrified me when i was a kid, and still does.
Plus the echo of that woman's voice at the end, "What will you become?!" made me need to read something a bit lighter (They Call Me Naughty Lola) before going to sleep.
I really liked it. Beetle was dodgy, and I am worried about this "Trickster" thing, but I liked the symmetry with the previous week - Doctor on his own, Donna on her own. Something is building with the coincidences...
You got a namecheck (well, kinda) in this quarter's The Author mag...
Article by Serpent's Tail publisher Peter Ayrton, about how increasingly difficult it is to get fiction published by big publishers, and how many mid-list authors are being dropped. "Today's fiction writer is going to need very steady nerves and plenty of luck," he says. But he also gives advice on how to survive nonetheless, and says (amongst other things) this: "It will also help if there is a central concept to the book to ground the 'pitch' - Greek gods reconvene in a North London hovel and misbehave..."
I liked this episode, actually. Nice to see DW's generic "American New Anchorlady" back again. It was a deadly serious moment, but surely I wasn't the only one who all-out guffawed when she stated "America is being overrun by fat. The fat is walking. THE FAT IS WALKING!" (emphasis added)
I suppose that's a comment on the dietary habits of us Americans?...
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