Who musings

So, Doctor Who continues to lose its way rather, this series. Another faintly lucklustre episode. Was there anything wrong with it? Nothing major. The acting was pretty good, the mining-ship setting very grimy, industrial Alien-esque, the "real time" gimmick fun, if underplayed, the plot not bad, with a vaguely interesting twist, but it lacked spark.

But the major problem?

Pretty much the entire plot and setting were just The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit from last series, condensed and jumbled up a bit. Almost every plot point was identical, the crew similar, the dramatic beats very close. It is a major disappointment for the second "off-world" episode of this series to hit so many of the same notes we have seen before.

In the end? Simply lacking enough originality to make this episode anything more than slightly meh.

On the plus side, the upcoming Paul Cornell two parter DOES look good and this week we saw developments in the Mr. Saxon subplot with could end the series on a high.

By my understanding this will be the last season where Russell T. Davis is holding the reins as 'head writer' and hope there'll be an input of fresh blood and fresh ideas if he does move on. The excitement and freshness of the first series has been lost and the current team do seem to be stuck in a rut slightly, so a new hand holding the least could be just what the Doctor ordered.

In other news, Toys R Us had remote controll K-9s half price and I couldn't resist. I haven't opened the box yet, I'm saving him as a treat for myself tomorrow. But... so cool.