DW Rewatch - 3x07, 42
Feb. 17th, 2010 12:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963The weird thing about this episode is that I know I’ve seen it, and did in fact write about it on this very LJ when it aired… but I can’t remember a damn thing about it! I’ve not caught it on any repeats or watched it on DVD, so this is only the second time I’ve seen it.
Doctor Who meets Jack Bauer. Well. Not literally. Well. Not at all, really. But the events in the episode happen in “real time” as the Doctor and Martha land right in the middle of an emergency on an old and rather dilapidated looking cargo ship that’s hurtling towards a sun.
Both Rusty and David were talking on the Confidential about the fact that the spaceship is a bit knackered with bits falling off everywhere - there's even a line where one of the characters criticizes the workmanship. Whenever I see this type of thing on DW or any other Sci-Fi show, I can't help but think back to Arthur Dent getting his first glimpse of an alien spaceship:
ARTHUR DENT:
Good grief! Is this really the interior of a flying saucer?
FORD PREFECT:
It certainly is. What do you think?
ARTHUR DENT:
Well, it’s a bit squalid isn’t it?
FORD PREFECT:
What did you expect?
ARTHUR DENT:
Well, I don’t know… gleaming control panels… flashing lights, computer screens… Not old mattresses.
- it also flashed into my mind when Wilf got his first look in EoT :-)
/random
Anyway, here we go.
Martha’s mobile gets the Doctor treatment
Which I think is his way of saying she’s part of the team now
You didn’t think I wasn’t going to include that shot, did you?
The TARDIS responds to a distress call
Blimey, it’s hot in here!
The crew arrives - and promptly seals off their lifeboat
Whaddya mean, I can’t have my TARDIS back?!
No problem - plan B. Fix the engines and fly out of the way
He's happier now he knows just where they are
But of course, Plan B isn't going to be that simple
Problem in sick-bay
Pretty :-)
It’s a happy prime! Seriously Martha, the guy’s a genius. If he tells you that’s the answer then it’s the answer
I dunno, talk about dumbing down! Don’t they teach recreational mathematics any more?
Yes! Numbers are fun :-)
Although he can’t remember who had more number ones – Elvis or the Beatles. (Nor can I, actually. I mean, I’m sure I’ve used that as a pop trivia question at some point, but I couldn’t remember the answer!)
To be fair though, he is a bit busy…
One of the crew members is toast. Well. Just crumbs, really.
I like Serious!Doctor
And mean and moody Doctor
What is the captain not telling him?
Not that there's time to think about that right now -
I wanna know what you really are
And it's too late
These shots – in total silence – are just gut wrenching
He wants a spacesuit and he wants it NOW!
The scene in the pod with Martha and Riley is quite touching as she realises that she's about to die and that nobody will ever know why, how or where. Good thing she has universal roaming on her mobile now!
That’s a pretty hot photo. In more ways than one :-)
I’m not gonna lose her.
Go on my son! Pun intentional, I take it. You know, I’ve not said this before, but this is the first time we’ve had a ‘cockney’ doctor. And okay, so he’s not really a cockney; maybe I should use the same terminology that Wiki uses and describe his accent as “Estuary English”. But we’ve not had one that yells “Oi!” and “Blimey!” before :-)
It’s alive
It’s a measure of how much it’s costing the Doctor to fight the possession and the pain he’s in that he actually starts to slag off the human race - Humans! You grab whatever’s nearest and bleed it dry!
He’s scared. But not for himself – he knows what will happen if the sun gets control of him - I could kill you all. Seriously, I was sitting here holding my breath.
And even with all that to contend with, he tries to warn Martha that he could regenerate. I like the way they trust each other completely here. In response to the captain’s warning about the stasis chamber, Martha shoots back He’s not human! If he says he can survive, then he can. - and similarly, the Doctor has no hesitation in putting himself entirely in her hands. I know it’s not like he’s got other options, but he knows he can rely on her – she asks him to believe in her, but clearly, he already does. Which, considering he’s spent the first part of their association trying not to, is quite an admission on his part.
The power is cut before the freeze is complete – and the Doctor can’t control it any more
He manages to tell Martha to leave him and to dump the rest of the fuel – to give back what was taken from the Sun
Burn with me.
Martha saves the day
The TARDIS restored - without a scratch. Well, not any new ones anyway.
For once, it’s not the Doctor making the insensitive comments.
Given what he’s been through – physically and mentally - it’s not surprising he’s not bouncing around like Tigger on acid as usual.
Typical bloke – he shrugs off Martha’s concern and changes the subject.
I do think that this is the episode where her rose-tinted-specs begin to clear a bit about the Doctor. She’s still infatuated/in love with him, but she’s beginning to see what it means to be around him.
But… frequent flyer privilege. Her own key to the TARDIS. He must have a drawer full of them somewhere.
Thank you.
Time for ET to phone home.
I found this to be a really tense and exciting episode – and I can’t for the life of me work out why I was able to remember so little of it. I can only imagine that I got sidetracked by the kids or something when it was originally broadcast. Unlike The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, the crew of the ship were not particularly well-drawn or sympathetic - with the possible exception of Riley Vashtee – but given the pace at which the episode needed to move, that’s not surprising. Freema was particularly good here, I thought, as Martha went from being pissed off with the Doctor for what he’d got them into, to heartbreak when she's separated from him and thinks she's going to die; telling Riley about her family, phoning her Mum, then being one tough cookie as she followes the Doctor’s instructions, despite the agony he's in. She doesn't shrink from doing what she has to do and saves him and the ship.
David Tennant showed once again that he is indeed made of awesome. His Doctor has always been manic, heroic and tortured but here - he was scared. I don’t think a Doctor has ever said that before. And if he’s scared, then God help the rest of us. I don’t know what it is about that man that makes us like to watch him suffer, other than the fact that he does it so damn beautifully. As an actor, he’s not afraid to put himself through the wringer, he’s not worried about how he looks while he does it and he gives it everything he’s got every time. There’s not been a single occasion where I’ve felt he’s just been going through the motions or hasn’t completely and utterly believed in what he's doing, or where he hasn't been able to make me believe in it.
I think this one has to go on my re-rewatch list ;-)
Screencaps from The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
Doctor Who meets Jack Bauer. Well. Not literally. Well. Not at all, really. But the events in the episode happen in “real time” as the Doctor and Martha land right in the middle of an emergency on an old and rather dilapidated looking cargo ship that’s hurtling towards a sun.
Both Rusty and David were talking on the Confidential about the fact that the spaceship is a bit knackered with bits falling off everywhere - there's even a line where one of the characters criticizes the workmanship. Whenever I see this type of thing on DW or any other Sci-Fi show, I can't help but think back to Arthur Dent getting his first glimpse of an alien spaceship:
ARTHUR DENT:
Good grief! Is this really the interior of a flying saucer?
FORD PREFECT:
It certainly is. What do you think?
ARTHUR DENT:
Well, it’s a bit squalid isn’t it?
FORD PREFECT:
What did you expect?
ARTHUR DENT:
Well, I don’t know… gleaming control panels… flashing lights, computer screens… Not old mattresses.
- it also flashed into my mind when Wilf got his first look in EoT :-)
/random
Anyway, here we go.
Martha’s mobile gets the Doctor treatment
Which I think is his way of saying she’s part of the team now
You didn’t think I wasn’t going to include that shot, did you?
The TARDIS responds to a distress call
Blimey, it’s hot in here!
The crew arrives - and promptly seals off their lifeboat
Whaddya mean, I can’t have my TARDIS back?!
No problem - plan B. Fix the engines and fly out of the way
He's happier now he knows just where they are
But of course, Plan B isn't going to be that simple
Problem in sick-bay
Pretty :-)
It’s a happy prime! Seriously Martha, the guy’s a genius. If he tells you that’s the answer then it’s the answer
I dunno, talk about dumbing down! Don’t they teach recreational mathematics any more?
Yes! Numbers are fun :-)
Although he can’t remember who had more number ones – Elvis or the Beatles. (Nor can I, actually. I mean, I’m sure I’ve used that as a pop trivia question at some point, but I couldn’t remember the answer!)
To be fair though, he is a bit busy…
One of the crew members is toast. Well. Just crumbs, really.
I like Serious!Doctor
And mean and moody Doctor
What is the captain not telling him?
Not that there's time to think about that right now -
I wanna know what you really are
And it's too late
These shots – in total silence – are just gut wrenching
He wants a spacesuit and he wants it NOW!
The scene in the pod with Martha and Riley is quite touching as she realises that she's about to die and that nobody will ever know why, how or where. Good thing she has universal roaming on her mobile now!
That’s a pretty hot photo. In more ways than one :-)
I’m not gonna lose her.
Go on my son! Pun intentional, I take it. You know, I’ve not said this before, but this is the first time we’ve had a ‘cockney’ doctor. And okay, so he’s not really a cockney; maybe I should use the same terminology that Wiki uses and describe his accent as “Estuary English”. But we’ve not had one that yells “Oi!” and “Blimey!” before :-)
It’s alive
It’s a measure of how much it’s costing the Doctor to fight the possession and the pain he’s in that he actually starts to slag off the human race - Humans! You grab whatever’s nearest and bleed it dry!
He’s scared. But not for himself – he knows what will happen if the sun gets control of him - I could kill you all. Seriously, I was sitting here holding my breath.
And even with all that to contend with, he tries to warn Martha that he could regenerate. I like the way they trust each other completely here. In response to the captain’s warning about the stasis chamber, Martha shoots back He’s not human! If he says he can survive, then he can. - and similarly, the Doctor has no hesitation in putting himself entirely in her hands. I know it’s not like he’s got other options, but he knows he can rely on her – she asks him to believe in her, but clearly, he already does. Which, considering he’s spent the first part of their association trying not to, is quite an admission on his part.
The power is cut before the freeze is complete – and the Doctor can’t control it any more
He manages to tell Martha to leave him and to dump the rest of the fuel – to give back what was taken from the Sun
Burn with me.
Martha saves the day
The TARDIS restored - without a scratch. Well, not any new ones anyway.
For once, it’s not the Doctor making the insensitive comments.
Given what he’s been through – physically and mentally - it’s not surprising he’s not bouncing around like Tigger on acid as usual.
Typical bloke – he shrugs off Martha’s concern and changes the subject.
I do think that this is the episode where her rose-tinted-specs begin to clear a bit about the Doctor. She’s still infatuated/in love with him, but she’s beginning to see what it means to be around him.
But… frequent flyer privilege. Her own key to the TARDIS. He must have a drawer full of them somewhere.
Thank you.
Time for ET to phone home.
I found this to be a really tense and exciting episode – and I can’t for the life of me work out why I was able to remember so little of it. I can only imagine that I got sidetracked by the kids or something when it was originally broadcast. Unlike The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, the crew of the ship were not particularly well-drawn or sympathetic - with the possible exception of Riley Vashtee – but given the pace at which the episode needed to move, that’s not surprising. Freema was particularly good here, I thought, as Martha went from being pissed off with the Doctor for what he’d got them into, to heartbreak when she's separated from him and thinks she's going to die; telling Riley about her family, phoning her Mum, then being one tough cookie as she followes the Doctor’s instructions, despite the agony he's in. She doesn't shrink from doing what she has to do and saves him and the ship.
David Tennant showed once again that he is indeed made of awesome. His Doctor has always been manic, heroic and tortured but here - he was scared. I don’t think a Doctor has ever said that before. And if he’s scared, then God help the rest of us. I don’t know what it is about that man that makes us like to watch him suffer, other than the fact that he does it so damn beautifully. As an actor, he’s not afraid to put himself through the wringer, he’s not worried about how he looks while he does it and he gives it everything he’s got every time. There’s not been a single occasion where I’ve felt he’s just been going through the motions or hasn’t completely and utterly believed in what he's doing, or where he hasn't been able to make me believe in it.
I think this one has to go on my re-rewatch list ;-)
Screencaps from The Medusa Cascade and Demon-cry.net.
