The plot? Oh I forgot that. Well, the Titanic gets hijacked and crippled by a race known as The Hosts. Take the baddies from “The Claws Of Axos” and the Ood from “The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit” and you get your usual one-sentence aliens. This time the word overused is “Information” rather than “We must feed!”
Alien bad guys don't talk much in space. Must be the air.
The Titanic being crippled means the ship would crash and wipe out Earth on impact. Luckily The Doctor knows how to fly a space ship since he has one of his own. I think it would have been a bit on the Davison side if he simply crashed into Buckingham Palace as he was doing it. It would have been funny, though.
Ever notice The Doc is passive toward the people who die as a result of following him? I know he can't get emotional over that sorta stuff since he watched his own people die, but you would just once like to see him not wait until the fifth or sixth victim is claimed to react. He's starting to become the Jack Bauer of science fiction – everyone protecting and following him with only The Doc and the companions being the only survivors.
I would expect him, in his 13th life, to be an alcoholic or go back to wearing clown colors after all the death he's witnessed.
Philip Hinchliffe, who was a producer of Doctor Who in the classic years, probably didn't watch "Voyage Of The Damned" the night it aired. If he did, he probably would have sent Russy a copy of the "Hand Of Fear” DVD just to watch that story. As he noted in the documentary, the story ended a bit too early. To the credit of the script, it was designed as the exit episode of a companion (Liz Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith) and therefore it had to have something of a goodbye scene.
One thing about Classic Who you can say is that at least the swelling orchestra music was not as put on as it is in the new series. Astrid's goodbye, for a character that didn't really register on the screen, was a huge exit. Stop borrowing from “Doomsday”, Russy!
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.