The second I see the words “Written by Russell T. Davies” I tend to lower my expectations. That being said, and I'm forcing myself to say this, he's actually made a decent Doctor Who story in “Voyage Of The Damned.” With that out of the way, let's proceed with the review.
At the end of the rather bad “Re-Return Of The Master Trilogy” we got last season, we once again watch another attractive woman (Freema Agyeman) leave the Doctor's life. You would think after all that drama that the Doc would simply say, “Let's shag!” Sure, it would make Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) bitter to know that it wasn't her should she meet with the Doctor again, but it would make the series seem a bit more modern and a little more grown up.
I thought it was interesting that there was really no set-up for the TARDIS crash into the Titanic. It would have been nice to insert the scene from "Time Crash" at the end where The 5th Doc (Peter Davison) got a nice send-off from The 10th Doc (David Tennant). You know the part where he tells the 10th Doc to put his shields up?
But that's just a small detail – it's Doctor Who after all.
"Voyage Of The Damned" largely centers on a space cruise ship called — wait for it — The Titanic. It's not the actual ship, just in name, although a disaster does happen in the form of Kylie Minogue. She's attractive and all, but as one commenter pointed out somewhere on the web, she's far shorter than David Tennant. I almost thought she was a teenager.
Monique's Astrid Peth, a waitress on the ship, doesn't really matter to the story. Although Catherine Tate's Donna Noble was a part of "The Christmas Bride" plot, I should have had the sense to put the mute button on as I watched it. Monique's Peth doesn't require muting - just a few re-watches of some early Doctor Who.
She's very much the traditional companion. She clings to The Doctor, obeys everything The Doctor says, and only bothers to be helpful but a few times in crisis. Being as she's an on-off in a Christmas special, I'll give Russy some slack since 72 minutes isn't enough time to really make a good companion in the first place.
Article comments
1 - Rick
The Hosts weren't a race, they were robots who were supposed to cater to the passengers. It's not said specifically, but I believe Max had altered their programming in order to kill everyone on board.
I enjoyed the special very much, not the best episode of the new series, but great fun for a Christmas special.
2 - sugababe
y r u talking like a geek
3 - Blue Moon
Kylie Monique and Mr Cooper? Yes, so your review is worth its salt, isn't it? You can't even get the actors' or characters' names right!
4 - tomservo
The second half of your review actually sounds like a well-formed, knowledgeable and constructive piece of writing. It's just a shame the first half sounds like the inane ramblings of a 16 year old schoolboy.
Quote: "You would think after all that drama that the Doc would simply say, “Let's shag!”...it would make the series seem a bit more modern and a little more grown up."
Friendly suggestion - research the reasons why Doctor Who was created and then re-write that sentence. :-)
PS - to Sugababe - one day, when you get a lot older (say about 10 years old) you will discover you like things. This is called "having an interest". When you have an interest, you learn a lot about it and talk to other people about it. This is called "sharing your interest". Go on - try it. It's fun! You may even find you like it better than masturbating in your bedroom while thinking about your one and only friend!
5 - dandlpete
Was anyone else amused by the portrayal of the news stand owner by Bernard Cribbins, who, in 1966, traveled with the Doctor in the Peter Cushing movie Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.?
6 - Rick
Re: dandlpete
Yes, Cribbins did a great job, he's quite a character. I understand that he brought many of those props with him to put in the booth (mistletoe, ornaments etc)
Also, I'm not positive, but I think it was while shooting the Christmas episode that Tom Baker(Doctor #4 visited the set. IIR, it was mentioned during the commentary for the episode.
There was also a special 7 minute 'Children in need' episode called 'Time Crash' that takes place immediately before the Titanic and Tardis collide. I was going to post a youtube link, but the video is gone now. What happened was the Tardis's of Doctors 5 and 10 merged which let Davidson and Tennant have a little 'reunion' before they got the problem fixed. It was all great fun. It is included on the Christmas special DVD.