Old Teeth...

...that's weird.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

Regardless whether the remark regarding the Doctor's dentition near the opening of this episode was an intentional nod to his regeneration scene, it's an interesting thing to consider. The Doctor being “determined to keep these teeth” (not to mention David Tennant’s entire body, even if it means making a copy of it) is an interesting way of looking at what's going on in these 2009 specials. It's sad to see Tennant go, but better to pull out the teeth before the decay sets in. Err... okay, never mind. We're done with the tooth metaphor.

Because, even though the teeth aren't the only old thing about the episode, and the “Davies Masterplan” isn't moved forward in any obvious way in this episode, it was altogether an enjoyable romp. I’m not going to shy away from that overused designation, because that’s exactly what this is. A romp. And even while it was silly and derivative and maybe even a bit too much like a normal, non-special episode, it was a good one, and, yes, there are some interesting structural things going on that have important implications for the overall arc of the show. And since that’s the sort of thing I get off on (see my gushing review of the oft-reviled Journey’s End), the episode was enjoyable for me.

Romp, Romp, Romp. Rompity Rompity Romp. Wheee! I’m Romping!

But before I get to all that bullshit, let’s talk particulars. The monster in this instance as a fairly good one. The liberal borrowing from The Langoliers was forgivable because the exact nature and modus operandi of the swarm was an interesting (although not very interesting) science fiction concept that was played well over the course of an hour, with new bits of information coming at all the right times and an appropriately thrilling firefight at the end of the episode. The Tritovore weren’t quite as interesting. I don’t know if they were meant to be a throwback to classic Doctor Who monsters or some kind of bizarre tongue-in-cheek kind of thing, but either way they slightly missed the mark, and they were largely irrelevant to the episode.

The guest cast was a similarly mixed bag. Although the people on the bus were never very interesting or important, they really didn’t need to be. They certainly weren’t the cast of Midnight, but they fulfilled the role of what the producers of Lost call “socks”: Filler characters whose lives and welfare are ostensibly important, but in whom we really don’t need to invest much. However, I thought the UNIT characters were very enjoyable. Erisa Magambo and Malcolm Taylor might not have been rounded characters, with complex personalities, but at least they had personalities, which is something that UNIT has thus far lacked in the revived series. Even Martha seems to have undergone some sort of personality-ectomy when joining up, so it was refreshing to see UNIT characters that were more than just “Drone #3” or “Brass #5”. Malcolm did get a little bit annoying, especially with the unfunny “I love you” bit, which quickly supplanted the Hand Doctor whispering it to Rose as the most obnoxious use of that particular line in television history. But aside from the overall silliness, there was some interesting seriousness, too. Magambo pulling a gun on Malcolm will have ramifications in their professional relationship that I would really enjoy watching play out on screen, so I hope we haven’t seen the last of these two.

I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!

But, of course, the most important guest star would have to be Michelle Ryan. I can’t say I regretted the opportunity to watch her run around in Lara Croft gear, and I think that overall she had good chemistry with David, who was just being David most of the time. While David has continuously topped himself since beginning in the role, his performances in The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead have been mostly business as usual. Neil tweeted that he was “working his notice” and I tend to agree that it does seem that way. However, David’s business-as-usual works well with a fresh companion and Michelle Ryan plays nicely off of the standard Tennant fare. But I do have to point out that some of her dialogue was really just awful. “The aristocracy survives for a reason?” Seriouly? And what’s up with, “That’s how I like things: Extreme!” That one far outstrips the lameness of Martha’s “He’s like fire: stand too close and you get burned” from The Sontaran Strategem, and perhaps even approaches Grace Holloway’s “Oh great, I finally find the right guy and he’s from a different planet!” from the Doctor Who telemovie. However, in addition to the dud lines, there were pretty good ones, and even lame ones that were saved by the way she sold them (“We need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline” reads like something Admiral Ackbar might say, but she has the authority to pull it off nicely). She wasn’t harboring any sort of dark secret, which was what I was expecting but was fairly glad to see was not the case. Her exit leaves the door open for a return, and honestly I’m not exactly hoping to see her again, but neither am I dreading the prospect. She did well here and she made a decent companion.

(Please forgive the lame visual gag and let me have my fun.) It’s her suitability as a companion that I think makes this episode work as well as it does. Structurally (yes, we've arrived at this part of the review now), the episode is very much like a typical companion introduction episode. There are specific shades of Smith and Jones here in a particularly strong way, and the process of them deciding to team up recalls the Doctor and Donna in both The Runaway Bride and Partners in Crime. What makes this episode different is the twist. I’m not sure whether I can rightly call it a twist when I knew it was going to have to play out this way owing to the fact that Michelle Ryan was signed on for only this episode, but was at the very least a structural twist, since based on the presentation of this episode everything up to that point resembles the first episode of a thirteen-episode series, even the air date. But, of course, it is not to be. And the reason is that Christina never passes through the TARDIS door. The Doctor turning down a companion like this is a major step in the arc of his character since Rose, proceeding from the consequences of Journey’s End and specifically (I believe) from his inability to save Donna. In fact, Donna hangs like a shadow over the Doctor in much the same way that Rose once did.

Structure! Struuuuuuuucture!

If you’ll indulge a tangent regarding that similarity between Rose and Donna: I always supported Rose’s return to the program because, even though I wasn’t crazy about the character, I always felt that Doomsday didn’t offer any real closure. Two characters that want to be with one another being separated by a barrier that we are told cannot be breached but already has several times, including by Mickey the idiot of all people, is not closure. Leaving her on the beach with the Hand Doctor and basically saying “you and I are done now, have a good life,” is. When I saw Donna’s “death” in Journey’s End, I was heartbroken, but I saw it as closure. After seeing the Doctor’s comment about Donna in this episode, and then his refusal to take Christina with him, I’ve changed my mind about that. I think that the situation between the Doctor and Donna is very similar to the situation between him and Rose post-Doomsday. The feeling is the same and once again the barrier (like any in Doctor Who) is only apparently insurmountable, and I think something more has to happen there. I don’t know whether it is, because yes, I know her granddad is returning to the program, but I don’t know whether she is (and, at the moment, I’m not interested in knowing, because I’m trying to go without unofficial spoilers if possible), but if Donna’s return figures in Tennant’s finale, I do support it. This might seem like a digression from my discussion about Planet of the Dead, but I really don’t think it is. I think Donna is almost as present in Planet of the Dead as Rose is in “The Runaway Bride.”

But that’s neither here nor there. What will happen will happen. I did think this was overall an enjoyable episode, partially because I’m willing to accept Russell’s decision not to go for anything particularly stunning despite its designation as a “special.” But only this once. He needs to step up his game for The Waters of Mars. His attempt to create buzz at the end of this episode with “He Will Knock Four Times” is pretty exciting, if a bit obvious (clearly, it’s an anagram for “Who Music Foretell Kink,” duh). I think they were trying to recapture the effect they achieved in Partners in Crime with the sudden return of Rose, but this revelation didn’t have nearly as much impact, which is odd because this really was a new revelation for me, while on the other hand everyone and his grandmother knew about Billie Piper’s return for series four. Anyhow, all of this will have to wait until “Later this Year,” i.e. an eternity from now, and all we have to look forward to in the mean time is a full week of Torture.

Er, I mean, -chwood. Yeah, Torchwood. Right.