After seeing the very disappointing The Next Doctor at Christmas my expectations were raised for the Easter special Planet Of The Dead . The name alone is memorizing and conjures all sorts of gloomy nihilism and ignore the fact that it's written by RTD . He may be guilty of bringing light heartedness bordering on comedy to the show but he can also write scary traditional stories too like Tooth And Claw . So I was looking forward to some dark compelling entertainment at Easter . Unfortunately Planet Of The Dead was far worse than disappointing is possibly the worst story broadcast of NuWho
As has been pointed out by some on this page the plot lacks any originality . It's just a pastiche of so many other references . There's PITCH BLACK , Stephen King , MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and perhaps worst of all a flying bus that could have come straight out of the pages of that dreadful hack JK Rowling . There comes a time when pseudo intellectuals should stop rubbing their chins gasping " Ah yes the beauty of post modernism " and ask the very real question of " If you're not going to come up with your own plot Rusty then please don't bother writing anything " All this is bad enough but what really ruins any potential is the silly , comedic childishness of how everything plays out . Oh hold on did I mention the word " potential " ? No scrap that because this is purely simple children's television
Certainly the cast don't help . The much hyped Michelle Ryan is hotter than viagra vindaloo but all you're watching is a bad impersonation of Catherine Zeta Jones in ENTRAPMENT . It says something when you're watching an actress of Ms Ryan's aesthetic perfection and are very irritated by her voice which sounds like The Duchess Of York with a lisp . Lee Evans does what he does best , pulling off a hybrid performance of Jerry Lee Lewis meets Norman Wisdom . In fact Evans is so bad the phrase " Stunt casting " is the reason spoonerisms were invented . Perhaps to counter this director James Strong has recast Noma Dumezweni as Captain Magambo as she's so wooden but an analogy would be that if you've swallowed some caustic soda then it's a good idea to swallow some sulphuric acid to counteract the effect
In short Planet Of The Dead is an ugly throwback to the dark days of the show in the mid to late 1980s when silly lightheartedness and other frivolity strangled the show . NuWho has sometimes shocked me in a good way in how it applies a sophisticated emotional core with Hollywood style special effects but with Planet Of The Dead I'm perhaps shocked for the first time as to how bad it can be . I know upcoming producer Stephen Moffat can make stories that are a very acquired taste but it's impossible to believe he could make something as dreadful as this
As has been pointed out by some on this page the plot lacks any originality . It's just a pastiche of so many other references . There's PITCH BLACK , Stephen King , MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and perhaps worst of all a flying bus that could have come straight out of the pages of that dreadful hack JK Rowling . There comes a time when pseudo intellectuals should stop rubbing their chins gasping " Ah yes the beauty of post modernism " and ask the very real question of " If you're not going to come up with your own plot Rusty then please don't bother writing anything " All this is bad enough but what really ruins any potential is the silly , comedic childishness of how everything plays out . Oh hold on did I mention the word " potential " ? No scrap that because this is purely simple children's television
Certainly the cast don't help . The much hyped Michelle Ryan is hotter than viagra vindaloo but all you're watching is a bad impersonation of Catherine Zeta Jones in ENTRAPMENT . It says something when you're watching an actress of Ms Ryan's aesthetic perfection and are very irritated by her voice which sounds like The Duchess Of York with a lisp . Lee Evans does what he does best , pulling off a hybrid performance of Jerry Lee Lewis meets Norman Wisdom . In fact Evans is so bad the phrase " Stunt casting " is the reason spoonerisms were invented . Perhaps to counter this director James Strong has recast Noma Dumezweni as Captain Magambo as she's so wooden but an analogy would be that if you've swallowed some caustic soda then it's a good idea to swallow some sulphuric acid to counteract the effect
In short Planet Of The Dead is an ugly throwback to the dark days of the show in the mid to late 1980s when silly lightheartedness and other frivolity strangled the show . NuWho has sometimes shocked me in a good way in how it applies a sophisticated emotional core with Hollywood style special effects but with Planet Of The Dead I'm perhaps shocked for the first time as to how bad it can be . I know upcoming producer Stephen Moffat can make stories that are a very acquired taste but it's impossible to believe he could make something as dreadful as this