What did you think of this episode?
Sonic!
Good!
Bumpy-wumpy!
Exterminate!
Oh my God, I am buzzing from this. I have always kept my Doctor Who life tucked away in the four walls of my home (bar sporting the odd Dalek or TARDIS t-shirt) but I braved the big bad world and watched this at the cinema - and I'm so glad I did. Seeing people turning up dressed as Doctors, wearing their own Doctor Who clothing with pride, feeling the excitement of everyone, eavesdropping on people's theories, and everyone was so nice, oh I was loving life.
Oh and Doctor Who looks fucking ace on the big screen doesn't it?!
Empire of Death then, to me it felt more like a Moffat finale with a sprinkling of RTD on the top, and yes, I liked it!! It was a lot quieter than what I was expecting. Not like finales of RTD past with Daleks exterminating, Cybermen deleting, regenerations or not regenerations…!
I think the only criticism I have is that everyone died so early which made it fairly obvious they would all come back. A guy in front of me in the cinema had his head in his hands when Kate perished, and I wonder if he felt that pain a couple of minutes later when everyone met the same fate? Perhaps if we just saw Kate and the UNIT team turned to dust (sand) and then Mel later on it may of had a more dramatic feel to it? It might of made us think that some of them weren't getting out of this pickle alive. Then again, what do I know? Perhaps this is the way that Russell has now cleared the decks somewhat, planets back in the sky after the Flux, Gallifrey back, and who or what else can now easily return?
"Nothing I can do. The Earth is slowly dying. The dust of death. Every time I landed. 1999. 1066. 2005."
The extra length of this also gave it more time to breath, more time to see the Doctor, hear him just talk. The scene with the kind lady, the scene in the remembered TARDIS, we have missed out on these. Hour long episodes are surely the way forward?
Rose again did naff all, and why on earth was she merrily scrawling on a tablet whilst the rest of UNIT were shooting the shit out of Sutekh?!?! That was a bit of a facepalm moment for me!! It kind of reminded me of that newsreader who held a packet of paper because he couldn't find his tablet.
Sutekh spinning the TARDIS around as he spoke of his plan, oh that was such a great visual, it really blew me away. All of the episode was gorgeous, the dust of death looked insane.
God there were so many good scenes for me - the remembered TARDIS, the Doctor meeting the kind woman and her remembering that her daughter was dead, ouch!! I wasn't 100% sure how the 73 yards tied into everything - halfway through I thought that episode might of had more relevance, I guess it did with the DNA stuff, but meh. Talking of DNA - Davina you are shit at your job. This was a bit of a weak link in the arc for me, a normal run of the mill NHS worker would not be that hard to find surely? The Dads parents live just down the road as well?
"She has had over 7,000 days to come and find you and she never has."
I completely got the Ruby Mum thing, but there were certain bits that felt a bit of a let down. The pointing was so dramatic and ominous, yet it was just to name Ruby. I also thought her Mum got away with it a bit, she left her baby in the freezing cold, in the snow, and never tried to look for her, but everyone is kissing and having a right old jolly time with her at the end. Surely Cherry or Carla would of had something to say to her? I seem to remember Carla mentioning early on that she would like to have a word with her. She gave her a look right at the end of the episode and I thought here we go, but then nothing.
I was a bit disappointed with some of the side characters, but Mel shone. The scene where Sutekh is contacting her, and then she is turned was brilliant and scared the shit out of me. I hope we get to see more of Bonnie Langford moving forward.
Ncuti and Millie were awesome as always, Ncuti screaming out to the universe was a particular favourite scene of mine. To be honest with you, every scene Ncuti is in is a particular favourite of mine!!
"We fought a monster. And now, I must become a monster."
Getting rid of Sutekh caught me by surprise, I wasn't expecting it at that point, I thought we might of had an epic scene or two more with him and the Doctor and/or Ruby, but I liked it all the same. I could have punched the air when the Doctor shouted "I'm baaaaaaaak" as his theme played. Where he was being dragged outside the TARDIS bringing life back, yes please!!
Did I miss something by the way? I am sure I read/heard somewhere that there was a bit of Third Doctor shenanigans incoming in this episode? I either missed them or they didn't happen.
So all in all I was a big fan of this, I have been a big fan of this series as a whole. Is that because we have been starved of Doctor Who the past few years? Perhaps a bit of that came into play. However, this was a bold new direction that I really brought in to. Roll on Christmas!!!!
RATING: Sonic!
BEST LINE: "She was important because we thought she was important. That's how everything happens. Every war, every religion, every love story. We invest things with significance."
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