DW: Episode 4.3

This is an episode I never thought I'd ever see in the new series. And it took someone who wasn't RTD to write it!


Wow! An episode that isn't set on Earth, on a space station around Earth, or on a planet that's remade into Earth! Okay, not exactly the first time, but a bit more of a proper alien planet than we've seen so far (compare with Impossible Planet and Utopia planet) so, huzzah!

But, what's even more impressive... THE HUMANS ARE THE VILLAINS! YES! For the first time in NuWho EVAH! So it's not surprising RTD didn't write it, I'm surprised he let the episode go through! (This must have been when Gary was running things behind RTD's back.) Woo! Oh, but they try hard to disguise the fact, but yeah, it's "Humans are bad!" all the way. Finally! This alone makes it a great episode, but the plot is actually quite decent (although there are questions about evolution that aren't quite explained) so this is currently topping this series in terms of best episode.

Moreover, Donna isn't at all annoying. But this is probably due to the writer not knowing how to write her, so runs her fairly generically. Also, there's a lot of action (which is good), so there aren't many chances for her to mouth off, although she does try. The Doctor also runs in normal Doctor-mode, although isn't quite the one in command, and the end is almost a return to the Eccleston days...

Still, due to the role of the humans, headed by the brilliant Tim McInnerny, this is a highly rated episode from me.


Next week: I want to like it... but I'm not filled with hope.

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