Doctor Who 4x04 - The Sontaran Stratagem
May. 29th, 2008 07:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
revieloutionneHelen Raynor is much improved - the Dalek two-parter last year wasn't the atrocity some hold it as, but it was still rather weak (though many of those weaknesses, to be fair, came after the script. Jesus christ the accents). This was actually the second best of setup episodes of the non-finale two-parters, after The Empty Child, I think.
But man, if Martha doesn't step up in the next episode, I'm going to call shenanigans on bringing Freema back; this is not adequate treatment of her character. I mean, yay for getting over the Doctor, yay for UNIT, and how awesome was her first meeting with Donna, but after that... she was any UNIT worker, really.
Donna continues to be amazing. Her family dynamic is so incredibly different from the other companions and I love it. Rose and Martha were both, when it came to their family, living under their mothers, and Donna is beyond that (and apparently always has been, the little General). She has an amazing relationship with her grandfather in no way hampered by the fact that he was originally written as her father, who had to be replaced when the actor who played him in Runaway Bride and filmed half this series died. In fact, I'd say whoever had the insight to bring back the newsseller from the last Christmas special as her granddad was brilliant.
I have to say, too, that Raynor seems to have carried the baggage of an old-school villain best of all the writers to tackle it so far, actually. There's an acknowledgement of the Doctor's history with them, balanced deftly with introducing them to teh characters and audience who never met them that also doesn't go on too long for those who knew them ages ago. With the Daleks it was all THEY'RE THE DALEKS, and the newbies I think got a bit shafted. With the Cybermen, all previous encounter was shoved under the rug, which was too far the other way. This was nice.
Oh, and the eye-candy is quite nice this go-round. Good on the casting directors.
But man, if Martha doesn't step up in the next episode, I'm going to call shenanigans on bringing Freema back; this is not adequate treatment of her character. I mean, yay for getting over the Doctor, yay for UNIT, and how awesome was her first meeting with Donna, but after that... she was any UNIT worker, really.
Donna continues to be amazing. Her family dynamic is so incredibly different from the other companions and I love it. Rose and Martha were both, when it came to their family, living under their mothers, and Donna is beyond that (and apparently always has been, the little General). She has an amazing relationship with her grandfather in no way hampered by the fact that he was originally written as her father, who had to be replaced when the actor who played him in Runaway Bride and filmed half this series died. In fact, I'd say whoever had the insight to bring back the newsseller from the last Christmas special as her granddad was brilliant.
I have to say, too, that Raynor seems to have carried the baggage of an old-school villain best of all the writers to tackle it so far, actually. There's an acknowledgement of the Doctor's history with them, balanced deftly with introducing them to teh characters and audience who never met them that also doesn't go on too long for those who knew them ages ago. With the Daleks it was all THEY'RE THE DALEKS, and the newbies I think got a bit shafted. With the Cybermen, all previous encounter was shoved under the rug, which was too far the other way. This was nice.
Oh, and the eye-candy is quite nice this go-round. Good on the casting directors.
