Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009)
Season Unknown, Episode Unknown
5/10
It's fun in parts but a little flawed.
29 August 2015
I suppose they wanted a family fun story, before the nightmarish Waters of Mars.

After a big scale theft, Christina jumps on a London Bus, escaping Police capture, The Doctor plonks down next to her, the bus sets off, it and its passengers disappear through a Wormhole and end up in a far off baron planet. A plan is formed to get back, and psychic passenger Carmen has a vision of death approaching. Back on Earth, the Doctor is aided by Malcolm, a genius drafted in by UNIT. The Doctor and Christina see a storm on the Horizon, made of metal. Another crash victim comes to help and The Doctor discovers the planet they're on has been utterly ravaged and turned to sand. The storm on the Horizon are actually a swarm of ravenous flying monsters that eat anything in their path, they plan to get to Earth through the Wormhole. Christina proves a useful companion to the Doctor.

UNIT have become more semi regular, and Captain Magambo makes a second appearance after Turn Left.

Sadly the appearance of Lee Evans turns this into a bit of a kid's story, a comedian I truly love, was not right for this part, and why did they have to make him WELSH!!! It's OK for the first 20 minutes but then loses it a little.

I did enjoy Michelle Ryan's performance as Christina, she's good fun, a good match for Tennant. One of the highlights of the episode.

It's passable enough, but it's lacking in too many areas, some good effects, some fun performances, but nothing to get under the skin. The best moment is the brilliant pace changer right at the end, when Carmen confronts the Doctor with 'Be careful, your song is ending, it is returning through the dark, he will knock 4 times.' A very tense moment, brings the show back up to adult theme. 5/10
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