DW Rewatch - Voyage of the Damned
Mar. 3rd, 2010 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963I’m going to admit it. I love Voyage of the Damned.
And no, it’s not (just) for the reason you think.
Warning: VERYTennant image heavy.
It’s Doctor Who does the disaster movie! The Posiedon Adventure in space! What’s not to love?
A bunch of misfits led to safety by an enigmatic hero – with a couple of deaths along the way. The Doctor is Gene Hackman (except that he doesn’t die at the end) and Foon is Shelley Winters! And killer-angel-robots. C’mon!!
Some of the best bits in the script come from Mr Copper with his totally cock-eyed views of Christmas. They remind me of a story told to me by an old and dear friend of mine who, about 20 years ago now, was on a posting in Tokyo. He told me how the biggest department store was proud to present their Christmas display featuring a Santa nailed to a cross. How true that story is, I have no idea, but you can see why I’ve made the connection!
Another best bit is (of course) the gorgeousness of David Tennant. Okay, so he’s gorgeous all the time, but here it’s like he’s elevated being gorgeous to a higher art form. It’s not just the tux – although there is definitely something to be said for what a DJ can do for a nice looking bloke! – it’s everything. *sigh*
Mostly I like it because it’s a good old-fashioned romp with some good characters and funny lines and because the Doctor gets to be an action hero while getting his heart broken (again).
But being that it’s a bit of a romp, there’s not a lot of deep thinking required - which is probably just as well, because my brain starts melting almost from the word go, and by the time we get to “go on then” when Astrid tells the Doctor she should report him, - I’m a puddle of fangirly lust on the carpet.
At the end of Last of the Time Lords the Doctor is alone again having said goodbye to Martha. Between that and this, there’s Time Crash, the 2007 Children in Need special in which the Tenth Doctor encountered his Fifth incarnation, but I’ve opted not to include it in this rewatch simply because it’s not been shown with the episodes on the telly. I may have to picspam it at some point though because – see above point re. gorgeousness as an art form.
So. The TARDIS hits the Titanic (what?) – but this is Doctor Who, not the voyages of Jacques Cousteau – so we’re in space, not the ocean, and the Titanic is a massive space liner, en route from the planet Sto.
Time for a quick look around
And he decides he’s a bit underdressed for the occasion
A fact for which DT fangirls will be eternally grateful
Passenger 57. Heh.
Astrid is very sweet and of course is sweet on the Doctor almost straight away. (See gorgeousness, above. Why wouldn’t she be?) I’m neither here nor there on Kylie Minogue. She was okay, even watchable – although she’d have been a bit wet as a full-time companion. (Not that that was ever the intention).
But the Doctor sees straight away that she’s got the wanderlust. She’s got the Doctorlust as well, but despite being one of the biggest flirts in the universe, he rarely spots that!
Guh.
So far then, we’ve met:
The ship’s captain – the fabulous Geoffrey Palmer. The man with handbags in his cheeks.
Midshipman Frame
Mr Obnoxious
Morvin and Foon
Bannakafa… the talking conker
Mr Copper
And the dimples
MR COPPER:
I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I will be taking you to Old London Town in the country of Yookay. Ruled over by Good King Wenceslas. Now, Human Beings worship the great God, Santa. A creature with fearsome claws. And his wife, Mary. Every Christmas Eve, the people of Yookay go to war, with the country of Turkey.
They then eat the Turkey-people, for Christmas dinner. Like savages.
THE DOCTOR:
Excuse me, but... where did you get all this from?
Heh. My mate in Japan by the sound of it.
Earth on Christmas Eve … but it’s deserted.
A fact which naturally worries our hero
Who’s this then? (I’m sure they’ve changed the credits since the original broadcast because Bernard Cribbins is called “Wilfred Mott” in the closing credits for this one, although I don't think he was 'officially' Wilf until after this. In the original shooting script, the character is called Stan.)
I was in mid-sentence!
When aren’t you?
A bit of surreptitious sonicing leads to a discovery
Will people never learn to listen to him?
Bugger.
But he’ll get them out
‘allo sailor!
Making lists isn’t his strong point
Who put him in charge?
I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old, and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. Got a problem with that?
You know what? While I’m laughing at the cheesyness, I’m punching the air and yelling YES! (in my head). This is another of those times when DT is so utterly convincing that he could sell me a fridge if I were an Eskimo.
Christmas is a time of peace and thanksgiving and, oh what am I on about? My Christmases are always like this! So true.
And so our small band battles on through the ship
Time for another chat with the bridge
You should see me in the mornings
Yes please!
Oh, crap.
Fighting the killer angels, they lose a couple on the way…
No more
Astrid books her place in the TARDIS
It amuses me that she has to stand on a box!
Hah! Love the saucepan
Another of those times when Ten’s verbal diarrhoea gets him into trouble.
Take me to your leader ;-)
The retirement plan
I resign
No
Impending death and disaster…
The slo-mo hero walk. Um. Yeah. I’ll have some crackers with that cheese, please.
If it’s good enough for Bruce Willis…
Also. He looks fucking hot.
After all the religious imagery in the finale of S3, here’s some more. In Last of the Time Lords we had the Doctor as an avenging angel. Here, he’s lifted up and carried by angels. Make of that what you will.
Because I’m too busy looking at him to care.
Up on the bridge at last
What’s the name, Frame?
Well, crap!
Phoning Her Maj. The curlers and the Corgis are inspired!
Woohoo!
Then he remembers… the teleport bracelet
But he can’t make it work
Temper, temper. But he is sometimes prone to hissy fits, especially if he can’t do what he wants.
Well. At least when she got snogged, it wasn’t a genetic transfer or a detox process.
You’re not falling. You’re flying.
*sniffle* His face…
It’s made me rich. What about that?
It would appear that it wasn’t just Astrid who had the hots for the Doctor!
Git.
But if you could choose, Doctor. If you could decide who lives and who dies. That would make you a monster.
Prophetic words.
Aaaaand, it's down to earth and the TARDIS
I don't want any trouble. (Pot… kettle…)
Blimey. That took longer than I'd intended! Can't think why...
Screencaps from Sonic Biro, The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
And no, it’s not (just) for the reason you think.
Warning: VERY
It’s Doctor Who does the disaster movie! The Posiedon Adventure in space! What’s not to love?
A bunch of misfits led to safety by an enigmatic hero – with a couple of deaths along the way. The Doctor is Gene Hackman (except that he doesn’t die at the end) and Foon is Shelley Winters! And killer-angel-robots. C’mon!!
Some of the best bits in the script come from Mr Copper with his totally cock-eyed views of Christmas. They remind me of a story told to me by an old and dear friend of mine who, about 20 years ago now, was on a posting in Tokyo. He told me how the biggest department store was proud to present their Christmas display featuring a Santa nailed to a cross. How true that story is, I have no idea, but you can see why I’ve made the connection!
Another best bit is (of course) the gorgeousness of David Tennant. Okay, so he’s gorgeous all the time, but here it’s like he’s elevated being gorgeous to a higher art form. It’s not just the tux – although there is definitely something to be said for what a DJ can do for a nice looking bloke! – it’s everything. *sigh*
Mostly I like it because it’s a good old-fashioned romp with some good characters and funny lines and because the Doctor gets to be an action hero while getting his heart broken (again).
But being that it’s a bit of a romp, there’s not a lot of deep thinking required - which is probably just as well, because my brain starts melting almost from the word go, and by the time we get to “go on then” when Astrid tells the Doctor she should report him, - I’m a puddle of fangirly lust on the carpet.
At the end of Last of the Time Lords the Doctor is alone again having said goodbye to Martha. Between that and this, there’s Time Crash, the 2007 Children in Need special in which the Tenth Doctor encountered his Fifth incarnation, but I’ve opted not to include it in this rewatch simply because it’s not been shown with the episodes on the telly. I may have to picspam it at some point though because – see above point re. gorgeousness as an art form.
So. The TARDIS hits the Titanic (what?) – but this is Doctor Who, not the voyages of Jacques Cousteau – so we’re in space, not the ocean, and the Titanic is a massive space liner, en route from the planet Sto.
Time for a quick look around
And he decides he’s a bit underdressed for the occasion
A fact for which DT fangirls will be eternally grateful
Passenger 57. Heh.
Astrid is very sweet and of course is sweet on the Doctor almost straight away. (See gorgeousness, above. Why wouldn’t she be?) I’m neither here nor there on Kylie Minogue. She was okay, even watchable – although she’d have been a bit wet as a full-time companion. (Not that that was ever the intention).
But the Doctor sees straight away that she’s got the wanderlust. She’s got the Doctorlust as well, but despite being one of the biggest flirts in the universe, he rarely spots that!
Guh.
So far then, we’ve met:
The ship’s captain – the fabulous Geoffrey Palmer. The man with handbags in his cheeks.
Midshipman Frame
Mr Obnoxious
Morvin and Foon
Bannakafa… the talking conker
Mr Copper
And the dimples
MR COPPER:
I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I will be taking you to Old London Town in the country of Yookay. Ruled over by Good King Wenceslas. Now, Human Beings worship the great God, Santa. A creature with fearsome claws. And his wife, Mary. Every Christmas Eve, the people of Yookay go to war, with the country of Turkey.
They then eat the Turkey-people, for Christmas dinner. Like savages.
THE DOCTOR:
Excuse me, but... where did you get all this from?
Heh. My mate in Japan by the sound of it.
Earth on Christmas Eve … but it’s deserted.
A fact which naturally worries our hero
Who’s this then? (I’m sure they’ve changed the credits since the original broadcast because Bernard Cribbins is called “Wilfred Mott” in the closing credits for this one, although I don't think he was 'officially' Wilf until after this. In the original shooting script, the character is called Stan.)
I was in mid-sentence!
When aren’t you?
A bit of surreptitious sonicing leads to a discovery
Will people never learn to listen to him?
Bugger.
But he’ll get them out
‘allo sailor!
Making lists isn’t his strong point
Who put him in charge?
I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old, and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. Got a problem with that?
You know what? While I’m laughing at the cheesyness, I’m punching the air and yelling YES! (in my head). This is another of those times when DT is so utterly convincing that he could sell me a fridge if I were an Eskimo.
Christmas is a time of peace and thanksgiving and, oh what am I on about? My Christmases are always like this! So true.
And so our small band battles on through the ship
Time for another chat with the bridge
You should see me in the mornings
Yes please!
Oh, crap.
Fighting the killer angels, they lose a couple on the way…
No more
Astrid books her place in the TARDIS
It amuses me that she has to stand on a box!
Hah! Love the saucepan
Another of those times when Ten’s verbal diarrhoea gets him into trouble.
Take me to your leader ;-)
The retirement plan
I resign
No
Impending death and disaster…
The slo-mo hero walk. Um. Yeah. I’ll have some crackers with that cheese, please.
If it’s good enough for Bruce Willis…
Also. He looks fucking hot.
After all the religious imagery in the finale of S3, here’s some more. In Last of the Time Lords we had the Doctor as an avenging angel. Here, he’s lifted up and carried by angels. Make of that what you will.
Because I’m too busy looking at him to care.
Up on the bridge at last
What’s the name, Frame?
Well, crap!
Phoning Her Maj. The curlers and the Corgis are inspired!
Woohoo!
Then he remembers… the teleport bracelet
But he can’t make it work
Temper, temper. But he is sometimes prone to hissy fits, especially if he can’t do what he wants.
Well. At least when she got snogged, it wasn’t a genetic transfer or a detox process.
You’re not falling. You’re flying.
*sniffle* His face…
It’s made me rich. What about that?
It would appear that it wasn’t just Astrid who had the hots for the Doctor!
Git.
But if you could choose, Doctor. If you could decide who lives and who dies. That would make you a monster.
Prophetic words.
Aaaaand, it's down to earth and the TARDIS
I don't want any trouble. (Pot… kettle…)
Blimey. That took longer than I'd intended! Can't think why...
Screencaps from Sonic Biro, The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-03 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-03 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-03 08:37 pm (UTC)Tah very much for the picspam! =)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-03 09:20 pm (UTC)(See what he does to my ability to do HTML?)
the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-05 12:38 am (UTC)Im going to try to be a bit rational about how this episode turns me into nothing more than a shameless fangirl.
Now: it isn't just me is it? he is more hot than usual in this?
Is it the clothes? cos we see him like that for Lazarus and that was nice and all. Maybe I'm susceptible to the cheesy hero thing? Cos I'm not punching the air for the cheesy speech, I'm picking myself up off the carpet. It does things to my knees.
But rationally, David Tennant didnt come to work one day and think, 'I think I'll play this one more gorgeous than usual'. Did he? He tends to be a bit... 'what? skinny me?' about his appeal. Or is that disingenuous and he is perfectly aware what he is doing with the come hither looks.
I think Ten is oblivious to the fact he is a good looking man this time round, he knows he is brilliant, but that tends to be when he's done something science geek.
Thoughts?
Re: the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-05 07:48 pm (UTC)I've thought that, too, but then there have been times when he clearly is aware of it. There have been a few remarks in scripts about his looks - the one that springs to mind immediately is the one after the faux-regeneration at the end of SE, when he says something like "I didn't want to change. Look at me, why would I?" But most of the time it's not something he's conscious of, I'd agree - because he's always pretty gobsmacked when a woman comes on to him.
Oh, I think that Mr T is perfectly aware of what he's doing with the come hither looks. He's way too clever not to be, I think. I mean, seriously - he doesn't know he's doing this?
or this?
(Interesting that both of those are with the specs...)
I'm sure he didn't make a conscious decision to elevate gorgeousness to an art form in this one - it just sort of happened. Personally, I think the hair helps a lot - I like it more when it's falliing over his forehead a bit and a bit more naturally tousled (like here) than when it's all sticky-uppy. But the action-hero stuff helps as well, I think. And you're not the only one susceptible to the cheesy hero thing. I'd have been picking myself up and/or wiping away drool if it weren't for the fact that I watch this with my kids! In my head, I know it's cliched and I should be sniggering, but the rest of me is reduced to lustful gawping and incoherence at how beautiful he is.
I think I uploaded probably double the number of pics I actually used here! That happens a lot...
Re: the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-08 12:31 am (UTC)Yea. Maybe the lovely Mr Tennant knows. Other wise why would he be doing that. But I really want to believe him when he insists he is just a skinny geek, cos I find that endearing. I can imagine him posing for those shots, larking about and someone saying right we have it, and him wrinkling his nose up and shaking his head and going 'really, you think that going to sell stuff' and shaking his head bewilderedly. But i guess that's my own little world. You don't put a velvet suit on unless you think you have It, do you?
But i like that he isnt afraid to do stuff like this either http://www.team-tennant.com/article/stagecover.jpg
Re: the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-08 12:43 am (UTC)OTOH... *points to icom*
Clearly, he's not vain when it comes to acting. I said somewere else that there are definitely some handsome leading men who wouldn't be seen dead using their faces the way David does. But if he needs to look silly, he looks silly, or if he needs to snarl and yell, he does it.
I'm not sure what the penchant for velvet suits indicates...
Re: the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-08 06:03 pm (UTC)I once got up half an hour early for a month so I could be on the same bus as a guy with a cord jacket. He had the longest eyelashes I have ever seen but mainly I wanted to touch the jacket.
Re: the gorgeous
Date: 2010-03-08 12:45 am (UTC)OTOH... *points to icom*
Clearly, he's not vain when it comes to acting. I said somewere else that there are definitely some handsome leading men who wouldn't be seen dead using their faces the way David does. But if he needs to look silly, he looks silly, or if he needs to snarl and yell, he does it.
I'm not sure what the penchant for velvet suits indicates...