Doctor Who Series 3
X: The Runaway Bride July 6, 2007
(First watched 2007-07-06) Wow, this episode never let up. Feeling like 2 episodes in the space of 1.5, and existing as a mostly standalone episode between companions, this felt very movie-like. Mysterious transportations, TARDIS flying down the street, draining the Thames! It kinda bugged me that a few series back the Doctor was agonizing over the decision of committing Dalek genocide, but he didn't seem very concerned about exterminating the Racnoss tonight. Of course, he did... change... between then and now.
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01: Smith and Jones July 6, 2007
(First watched 2007-07-06) Not a bad introduction for Martha Jones. Good thing she's made out to be a bit less clueless about things; Rose was used as a reintroduction to the series, but it's not needed again just two years later. Those Judoon rhinos looked pretty nice; my expectations were pretty low after the goofy-looking Slitheen. Great use of a bit of audience-unexpected time travel trickery at the beginning/end.
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02: The Shakespeare Code July 13, 2007
(First watched 2007-07-13) Heh. Well, Harry Potter and Back to the Future references certainly weren't something seen in 60s Doctor Who. "Wait until you read book seven. I cried."
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(First watched 2007-07-20 and -25) I found this episode... unbelievable. In an allegorical sense I can appreciate that the people of the undercity were wasting their life away trying to get from one place to another, but... to have the entire upper city die off and noone notices? That they very quickly get used to taking decades to go from one place to another, when noone is actually reaching above after all? That nobody could figure out a way to open the ceiling? That there were giant devolved crab people living down there, somehow eating enough people to sustain a population even before there was the permanent traffic jam? That people already had the easy technology to create essentially free food and energy, but wanted to take a years-long trip to get a job? That even if the believed rules of traffic worked properly, it would actually be that hard to get a group of three or greater when EVERYONE wanted to get in the fast lane?
The old couple dying in the intro reminded me of the folks in the American Gothic painting. I wonder if that was intentional. If so I don't see that it was supposed to mean anything...
On a plus, the Doctor's trip down the levels dropping down and going through various odd peoples' vehicles was quite cool.
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04: Daleks in Manhattan July 27, 2007
(First watched 2007-07-27) I'm getting tired of the Daleks, frankly. They're a cool enemy, but in that they were supposed to be wiped from time and yet this is the... fourth random run-in the Doctor has had with them in less than three years, it seems a bit much.
Perhaps I missed something, but after the "One trip to the past, one trip to the future" thing, there wasn't an excuse given for this third trip with Martha, or admission that it's going to be a more lasting thing.
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05: Evolution of the Daleks August 3, 2007
(First watched 2007-08-03) Interesting how the combination of one evil Dalek and one nasty lackey human ended up making for such a progressive human Dalek, though of course I knew things wouldn't work out.
For a guy who just a couple years ago was telling Rose it was OK to allow disembodied spirits to control corpses in 19th century England, the Doctor sure seemed sure tonight that there was no way for a group of human Daleks to live on the planet.
I like Martha, but less so when this whole Doctor/Rose/Martha thing comes up. She seems so worried about whether the Doctor considers her a substitute that it diminishes her sense of self-worth and makes her seem weaker.
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(First watched 2007-08-03) OK, so finally Martha Jones is permanent. Well, as permanent as companions get.
The CG Lazarus monster was interesting... it was easily discernable as CG, but as far as completely inhuman CG monsters go, it's about as good as I've seen for a television show.
Interesting that the Doctor gives speeches about how long life isn't always great, and the natural lifespan is worth respecting... when clearly as a Time Lord he's into cheating death. And inevitably if the show is around (in some form or another) a decade or two from now, they're going to start to hit the limit of even how many regenerations he should be getting and write in some workaround.
Spinal Tap reference hurf burf.
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(First watched 2007-08-18) Beyond the near-real-time gimmick, this episode didn't do much for me.
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