catholiclefty

This was a whole run of episodes that were all more or less good, but that in itself is rather damning with faint praise, because while that excludes any very weak episodes (of the Fear Her or Love and Monsters type) it also excludes any downright excellent episodes (of The Girl In The Fireplace, Human Nature or Blink type). Nothing in this season bored or annoyed me enough to want to never see the episode again - and yet nothing so interested and grabbed me enough that I've even bothered to keep it on video until the box set comes out.

David Tennant was decent enough for the most part, bar the usual occasional over-acting, but he wasn't allowed the kind of stretching role (which he fulfilled very well indeed) he got in Season 29's Human Nature. The problem with the Doctor is mostly not David Tennant's though - the role of the Doctor has become almost deified (yes, not as grotesquely as in Last of the Time Lords, but now it is almost a running theme). The fragility of Eccleston's Doctor and bemusement of Tennant's earlier period have been replaced by a narratively problematic omniscience. It's like later era Tom Baker, but not quite as much fun. Given that, the bursting of the omniscient bubble in Midnight was dramatically necessary, and the episode worked really rather well, but overall it would have been better if it had not been dramatically necessary in the first place.

Catherine Tate proved her acting chops very well, and the writing for her was almost uniformly excellent (better than for the Doctor). That doesn't excuse the terrible wasted opportunity of Donna, though. Firstly the 'reset' at the end of her character arc is a truly miserable way to deal with a character we've come to know and grow with over the course of a whole season. But even worse than that, the main reason I could see for a more mature companion who wouldn't go all lovey-dovey over the Doctor was to explore and develop the character of the Doctor, his foreign and alien nature, and despite positive signs of this in the first two or three episodes this eventually, criminally, went nowhere at all. Such a missed chance.

Not that everything used to be rosy in the garden. The return of Rose (and heaven forbid, her mother) just served to remind us that the Billie Piper days weren't all glorious either - although at least she used to be attractive, and didn't have odd problems with enunciating her words.

The return of Martha didn't really achieve anything of substance (the ending setup, that the Doctor militarises and dehumanises all those around him, doesn't hold up to an instant of logical thought, whatever the Doctor seems to have thought when Davros was ranting at him) and Freema seemed off compared to last series, too. Always good to see Liz Sladen again, even if she seems to have got very old, very suddenly - though again, couldn't she be given something concrete to actually do? Why let Torchwood intrude 'back' into the Doctor Who world - I don't watch Torchwood thanks, because whenever I've seen it it's been rubbish.

Which leads to the series arc as a whole - I'm not going to try to list the things that started and then went nowhere, else this entry will end up longer than my second review of Enchanted, and I want to do something else with my life today. But we get to the end and... well, it's just another invasion. A biggie, for sure, but I've almost stopped caring about earth being invaded by 7 zillion CGI daleks or cybermen or whoever. Davros' ranting is quite good, but doesn't stack up against Genesis of the Daleks for us old hands who remember it, even if the stakes are supposedly even higher.

Standalone episodes were ok, well after we get over 'Partners In Crime' with the silly 'fat' aliens. Moffat's library two-parter was decent enough, and was logically tied up as nicely as his other stories, but for whatever reason wasn't half as satisfying or enjoyable. (Perhaps it was the mysterious absence of fit women. He's usually very good at that - Sophia Myles, Carey Mulligan......) 'Midnight' was at least unusual enough to be intriguing, and is definitely Russell T's best episode of the season. The others... well, they were ok. Pretty good, even. But nothing special. I have no favourite episode this year, nothing at all stands head and shoulders above the rest. Neither do I have a least favourite (though if forced I'd say 'The Unicorn and the Wasp' was rather weak, and 'Partners In Crime' was probably the weakest).

This had a lot of potential, but sadly an awful lot of it was wasted. Series 29 was much better. Series 28 was about equal, but had 'The Girl In The Fireplace'. This series is probably about the same on average as the average episode in the (considerably more uneven, with big highs and big lows) Series 27. So a bit disappointing, especially as there isn't a full series next year. But then we've got Moffat, and despite being slightly disappointed this year, I await what he's going to give us with quite a lot of enthusiasm.

This episode is far too much like eating far too much of something you really like - superficially really satisfying and enjoyable, but once you've done it, you start to regret it.

On the positive side, as opposed to the finales of seasons 27, 28 and 29 - especially 29 - this was mostly enjoyable while being watched. It certainly didn't have the serious structural problems of Last of the Time Lords while still on the screen. But, once you give it more than a moment's thought - which you don't have time to do while it is going on, at least not until near the end, but once it is over you will - the plot-holes pile up, the inconsequential dead-ends of the story come to light, and many of the underlying rules of the program seem, if not altogether violated, rather battered. No big reset button, thank goodness, but still a number of basically non-sensical cul-de-sacs lead to a mostly non-sensical conclusion. I don't want to sound churlish - there is a place for all-action, adrenaline-fuelled Doctor Who, but it is rather a shame that it doesn't really stand up to retrospective inspection as well, in the way the best of Moffat's scripts (for example) manage.

David Tennant does what he mostly does - a 95% excellent performance, with about 5% of excessive over-acting which sadly detracts from the excellence of the other 95%. Catherine Tate was, again, pretty excellent - though with her story over, I'm more than a little disappointed that her character developed hugely over the series - to no ultimate avail - and the effect of her on the Doctor remained largely unexplored. If there was an argument for a Catherine Tate-style companion, it was to explore the effect *on the Doctor* of a different perspective, and we got little of that. More to be said there when I review the whole series, probably.

Billie Piper really isn't a quarter as attractive as she used to be, sadly, and had just about nothing to do beyond get a different ending from the 'final' one she got two years ago. Elisabeth Sladen seems to have aged more in the last 2 years than she did in the previous 30 :-/ and also ended up with nothing to do but tread water until the real resolution presented itself. Freema Agyeman didn't seem fully on form here, either, though she was burdened with one of the more obvious (and, in retrospect, rather irritating) plot cul-de-sacs. John Barrowman was fine, as was Noel Clarke, but again no-one had anywhere near enough to do that was in any way important to drive the plot along.

You can see what was trying to be done here, but at the end of the day quick talking, technobabble, unresolved plots, and an incredible amount of things going on, aren't substantive substitutes for a satisfying story. Earth invaded, again. Doctor saves the day, again. Whatever you think of the early Pertwee era (and I admit I'm quite the fan) it manages rather more variety than this - without leftfield and ultimately unsatisfying gimmicks like fake regenerations and kinda-copies of the Doctor. And for all the effects, and the admittedly mostly decent dialog, Davros doesn't seem one zillionth as menacing as he does way back in Genesis of the Daleks.

A worthy effort, and I won't deny it was fun, but we needed a much better story to cap off four years.

Well, this is just an incredible amount of fun. So much fun, and so quick-moving, that you forget all about the various problems with plot and motivation of the characters (which are present, but completely forgiveable when you're enjoying it this much). This is Russell T Davies Doctor Who to the extreme - and highly enjoyable.

I'll leave off a proper review until I've seen part 2, but the only thing I fear about part 2 is that whatever resolution we come to, it will be somewhat of a let-down given the setup (please, no big reset buttons this time). Still, what a setup!

This year's Doctor-less episode is no 'Blink', though fortunately it's certainly no 'Love and Monsters' either. It's a nice concept - even if hardly an original one - let's see what would have happened differently in the last couple of years if the Doctor hadn't been around.

The first half was tight, effective, and even quite gripping. Then it started to lose momentum a bit, push in heavy-handed (if probably accurate) messages about rubbish human beings (Russell T Davies seems to like that, perhaps a bit too much), and a final resolution that kinda worked and yet didn't seem quite satisfying enough, not least as it borrowed heavily from 'Father's Day' (speaking of which, where were the Reapers to start eating people because history has been changed?)

Catherine Tate was good - indeed, she has been good all season, and has been written for well, and yet... someone it just doesn't seem quite right for Doctor Who. Close, but not quite right. As for the return of Billie Piper - well, this was an odd performance. It was certainly disconcerting - if it were deliberate, then well done on her part - if it wasn't, then this was shockingly odd. She was much nicer looking with a little flesh on her bones, too, she's gotten too thin now. Oh well.

Onto the grand finale then, with apparently everyone and everything thrown in together. Which may be fun, or it may be terrible, or (like Last of the Time Lords last year) quite a bit of both...

Happily for me, this wasn't the third Saturday night in a row that I felt miserable. Instead, I really rather enjoyed this one, and it was just unnerving enough to work well. The balance - between all-too-human scared human beings laying blame in an irritatingly illogically human fashion, and an increasingly irritated Doctor finding himself in a situation where pomposity and big-headedness are a hindrance rather than a help - is a very welcome tack for the series to take in a one-off episode. It's not perfect - the resolution doesn't seem motivated well enough - but this is a well-written and intriguing episode. Very high marks to Russell T here for trying something different (and, given the general pomposity of Tennant's Doctor, quite welcome) and pulling it off successfully - and to David Tennant for a nice piece of acting. As a counterpoint to 'Voyage of the Damned' - Doctor, and random group of people, put together in a difficult situation - this is, eventually, more satisfying. And, actually, a little creepy too!

So, this will be the conclusion of Moffat's two-parter then. Was I feeling just as miserable as when I watched the first part? Irritatingly, yes. Were the storylines all wrapped up? Yes. In a satisfactory way? Err... kinda. It seemed to me to be a little too much high-concept sci-fi and not quite enjoyable enough. Yes, heaven forbid I should *complain* about that (!) but I think feeling miserable for both parts has seriously dented my enjoyment of this - but, that apart, I still don't think this is up to the (ludicrously high) standard of Moffat's other stories.

I don't think it helped that River Song didn't work for me somehow. Don't know why, there was nothing particularly wrong with the character or the acting, but somehow she didn't seem to fit correctly. And the rest of the characters were all a bit unimportant, really, and hard to care less which one was being killed off next. Catherine Tate was, again, fine - the writing for her has been spot-on all season, and while I still don't like her as a companion much, she has been realised very well by the writers and acted very well by Tate. Tennant was good here too, though I was finding it hard to care as much as perhaps I ought.

So, overall, this was competent, some good lines, some nice work, no obvious cheating, and yet it just didn't work properly for me, and so by a long way my least favourite of the Moffat episodes to date. I suppose I had to be a bit disappointed sooner or later, but it is still disappointing to be disappointed! (Season 4 of Coupling wasn't half as good as the previous years either. Maybe 4s are unlucky somehow :-)

I haven't mentioned Pushing Daisies so far, but it has been the only new TV show so far this year that has been worth watching, and I've (mostly) found it very enjoyable. The kind of quirkiness it embodies is something I guess most people will either love or hate - in my case, it is definitely on the love side of the equation. The stories are fun, the interaction with the characters (and the narrator) is done very well, and all the bright colours and fun sets and strange guest characters make the show a delight to watch. Yes, the stories are a bit uneven, and I found my attention wandering in a couple of episodes, but this is bold, interesting, *different* TV, and so much the better for it.

The cast is uniformly strong, which helps immensely. Lee Pace gets his character spot-on, and he's fun to watch - between this and Miss Pettigrew, I've become quite a fan of his. Anna Friel also manages to put her character in just the right emotional place at all times and is also good fun to watch. And the supporting cast are all good too - Kristin Chenoweth putting in a decent enough performance to (almost!) make me forgive her butchering That's How You Know at the Oscars, Chi McBride whose comedy works just right, and the Aunts Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz, just on the sympathetic side of insane. And the Narrator Jim Dale does a fantastic job at all the right moments - he's a character too.

Very much worth investing the time in, and I have high hopes for the second season. And for whatever Barry Sonnenfeld does next, given the last two things he's contributed to have been this and Enchanted, which puts him rather high up on my 'well done' list :-)

Pretty difficult - and reasonably unfair - to sum up this one without seeing the second half, even leaving aside the fact that I wasn't in the best of health (hay-fever being more irritating than usual) at the time I watched it. A lot of it was very good indeed - the slow-paced start was very well done, and some of the subversion of expectation was neat. Conversely, a few bits felt like they didn't quite mesh correctly.

Still, it is hard to judge at this point. It didn't jump out of the screen shouting 'this is fantastic!' the way that Girl in the Fireplace or Blink did - but then I'm not convinced the first part of Empty Child/Doctor Dances did either, so I'll wait to see if it is all satisfactorily wrapped up (I'm sure it will all be wrapped up - this *is* Mr Moffat - but whether it is done in a good way or not, we shall see).

This one felt like filler and was, consequently, decidedly average. I have very little of consequence to say about it at all, so I'll say very little. It thought is was a little bit cleverer than it was, which is never good. So, quickly onto Moffat's two-parter. Forthwith! (well, not that forthwith, thanks to, err, Eurovision...)

Due to being on holiday, I saw these together (convenient for a two-parter, eh?) and so may as well review them together.

Very, very good. This is the first time this series that we've approached the great episodes of last year. There are a few problems - the science is wobbly, the character motivation is a bit off, some threads are left dangling, yes it is another super threat to Earth once more - but for the most part this is strongly acted, strongly premised, and a downright enjoyable romp all round. Everyone puts in a good performance - more toned-down, only over-the-top when necessary, far more season 29 than season 28 - seeing Martha again is fun (and having her get along well with Donna, rather than being bitchy, is a wise move), UNIT are back, and the Doctor gets the best in-joke line since 'Blink' with reference to the UNIT dating debate (well, it had me giggling for a good few minutes, at least!). The Sontarans are more-or-less true to their history, and it holds together tightly enough, despite the problems when you think about it afterwards, that this is thoroughly watchable and engrossing. More like this please.

It seems we have the Doctor's (very fit-looking!) daughter next week, which will no doubt divide fandom again - but given he's had a granddaughter since the very first episode 44 years ago, that doesn't seem all that shocking to me. We shall see.

Well, this was...ok. A bit heavy-handed with the slavery thing, and a bit odd all round, but it seemed like it worked while I was watching it, though now I'm a lot less sure. The main bad guy was a bit of a weak link really, he didn't convince at all, and Tennant is back to being a bit too OTT for my liking. Tate was fine - I'm starting to think the writers have a better handle on her than pretty much anyone else, which I suppose makes sense to some degree.

So, dunno really, certainly not a classic but not a turkey either. Good while you're immersed in it, but doesn't demand much thought or analysis.

Ah, ok, so this is the early-in-the-season go-back-to-a-historical-time episode. This is becoming as much of a staple as the not-very-good-first-episode or the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-final-episode or the oh-wonderful-Moffat-wrote-this-one-it-will-be-very-good episode. Still, if it works...

And, mostly, this one works. I'm not sure if the conceit of the family acting like a modern family works too well, and there are too many concepts thrown around to fully get a grip on what is going on - yes, there are nasty creatures, and they give some sort of psychic powers, and the Doctor has to go into the volcano, and blow it up in order to save the world, and... Yes, ok, but I'm not at all sure I follow the 'why' of much of it, and I'm not sure I want to expend the effort to work it out. Still, after a leisurely first 15 minutes, this drives forward with enough strength and momentum that, well, really those things don't matter. Tennant was better here than last week - still over-acting on occasion, but largely sensible - and Tate was really rather good, even her slipping into typical Catherine Tate-style-characterisation was both brief and reasonable given the story. And it has to be said that it is nice to have a companion who asks real 'why' questions, not about the monster of the week but about what the Doctor actually does and his morality. That could be very nice indeed if maintained and treated with a little care.

A lot more promising than last week then, and there is enough potential here for the remainder of the series to keep me interested. I'm now at the stage where I think they *can* pull off Donna successfully as a companion, though it remains to be seen if they do.

Everything is happening in the wrong order this year, and it is starting to confuse the heck out of me. The clocks went forward the wrong side of Easter, Easter itself was far too early, I've been getting up scarily early at weekends (for me, at least), I'm about to go on holiday which normally happens towards the end of the year rather than a third of the way through, and our work schedule has moved back a couple of months after being more or less stable for the last three years. And so I can't say that in this highly confused state I'm altogether prepared for the return of Doctor Who - but it is back, and so I'd better review it.

This, for good or ill, in the (re-)introduction of Donna, played by Catherine Tate, as companion. In an attempt to be even-handed, I have to say that I'm not a fan of Catherine Tate, and I didn't like much of her performance in The Runaway Bride. Conversely, it is fair to say that she is a good actress and can certainly do what is demanded of her - it's just unfortunate if that is the kind of OTT character she is best known for. Certainly her character here is far more subdued than in Runaway Bride, and much the better for it. In some scenes - especially the scene with Bernard Cribbins - she was really rather good and watchable. But rather more times than I'd have liked the excesses broke through. If they can be kept in check then the character could work out. Which, rather scarily, is also applicable to David Tennant, though you may have forgotten this after his mostly outstanding series last year. The Doctor and Donna could play off each other deeply horribly, as in most of Runaway Bride, or alternatively, if they keep it subtle and subdued, really quite well. Only time will tell. Still, you'll have to indulge one more moan from me that I'd like to have seen Sally Sparrow as companion, even if there's a lot of water passed under the bridge since I last said that.

So, for me, the jury is still out on Donna. The jury has, however, already passed a guilty verdict on Russell T Davies for an opening episode that, well, really wasn't that good at all. As ever, the plot-holes as wide as the Pacific Ocean are present, but this story just wasn't interesting enough to gloss over them. And, well, I can't really say I cared in the first place for the story, even without the plot-holes. I don't know how much they spend on CGI nowadays, but I wish it would be less. That's not what Doctor Who is about, either the old or the new series. It may be worth saying that it isn't just about Rose, either. Her appearance at the end is interesting, even intriguing, but I hope she isn't going to overshadow the series too much until she actually gets her episodes.

A disappointing start, though tempered by my general state of confusion and general uneasiness about Catherine Tate that stopped me looking forward too much to it in the first place. Highly average, and not really indicative (I hope) of how the season will pan out.

Well, it's the 8th of February again, a day which, for 15 years now, often turns out to be the oddest and most surprising of the year.  Not in a bad way, and not necessarily in a good way, just in an odd way.  Foundations are often laid to guide me down unexpected paths on this day.

'Tis already odd in one major degree - though this doesn't really impact the course of my life - as while I care significantly less than I once would have done, it is the last day of Neighbours on BBC One, a fixture for over 20 years and so pretty much most of my conscious life.  This is just plain weird.

Ye Gods, is it February already? My year so far has been strange enough as it is without the inevitable weirdness that February involves.

Already, I've found that Neighbours is to finish on the BBC on the 8th, which is really quite hilariously predictable - well, at least it is if you're me. Not that Neighbours is exactly watchable at the moment - I kinda wish they'd go back to the over-the-top storylines, as they were at least amusing, if stupid. Now it is mainly just boring.

What other random things lay in store for this February? Well, we'll have to see. And it is a day longer this year too - though I shouldn't complain, as the last time we had a Leap Day, I was in hospital and really rather ill indeed. I should really be rather pleased that things are going relatively well 4 years on - and deep down I am, even though I don't think about it all that much on a regular basis.

A new year, and a belated review of the by-now-customary Christmas special of Doctor Who (seriously, though, who'd have thought it a few years ago? Doctor Who as pretty much the star attraction on Christmas Day? Not that I'm complaining, mind).

Well, this was pretty good, it did what it did well, had some good characters in it (Clive Swift in particular is always worth watching), and Kylie Minogue was decent enough. It was hard not to think we'd seen most of it before - and as a Russell T Davies script, there were gaping plotholes - but it did the job a lot better than Catherine Tate's screaming last year managed. The theme of the lonely, tragic Doctor still probably has some mileage, although I'm starting to think that if they're not careful, they could overdo it a bit.

It was no 'Blink', but it wasn't a 'Love and Monsters' either. The middle-ranking of the three Christmas specials so far. And only a few months away from the new series - where, unfortunately, we get Catherine Tate. I will give her a darn good chance - and the role of companion is generally far less important than it often appears - but I still wish they'd got someone else in the role. Carey Mulligan perhaps? :-) (look, if I start wibbling on about Carey Mulligan again, I might stop wibbling on about Amy Adams for a few minutes. Although, based on the last week or so, probably not).

This was pretty enjoyable - good to see Peter Davison being the Doctor again, and a lot of good setup put in by our local writing God, more regularly known as Steven Moffat, which - canonically! - explains the different appearance of the TARDIS, the age problems in multi-Doctor stories, and some more information to muse over how time works in the Who Universe. Quite impressive for 7 minutes, really!

My only quibble - how does the Five Doctors work if later regenerations retain memory of events that previous regenerations have witnessed? Or is Gallifrey 'special' in some way? Or was this event 'special' in some way? Need to ponder this somewhat.

Conversely, other people have quibbled about the fact that the Time Lords still exist for Davison's Doctor, despite the Time War. I don't see how this is a quibble, really. I never thought the entire past lives of the Doctor had been changed by the Time War. But then, it still isn't clear how cause and effect works in this universe. Timey-Wimey-Wibbly-Wobbly is probably about as good an explanation as we can handle!

Overall, this was a an excellent set of Doctor Who episodes. Any doubt I had last year about David Tennant as the Doctor evaporated very quickly this year as he gave an all-round excellent performance. Freema Agyeman was also pretty good (much better with Tennant's Doctor than Billie Piper) though it's a shame she didn't get much more to do for most of the series than go around failing to attract the Doctor's heart. I think a bit more care with what the companion or companions actually do would pay off - and perhaps, with a new companion for the new series, they have the chance to do that. We shall see.

It's interesting that the best epsiodes this series - without a doubt, the epic 'Human Nature'/'The Family Of Blood', and the sublime 'Blink' - weren't Russell T. episodes, though the overall arc that he was in charge of worked very well indeed, and it's a shame that the ending let it down so badly. The return of the Master was always going to suffer from not being Roger Delgado, though it has to be said that 'Utopia' was a very strong episode anyway. Earlier on, the Daleks at least went in a new and somewhat interesting direction, we got some Macra (!), a well-realised Shakespeare, and a confrontation in Southwark Cathedral :-)

Whatever misgivings I may have about a Doctor-lite episode getting the 'episode of the year' accolade, 'Blink' was undoubtably that episode. Tightly plotted and thought-provoking and just the right level of Doctor Who-scary. Yet another triumph by Steven Moffat. I suppose sooner or later he's going to disappoint us - but then I sorta expected that this year, and yet he pulled off possibly his best episode yet. Interesting that again, just as I commented last year, his episode worked so well partly due to the strong female character (played perfectly by the absolutely lovely Carey Mulligan). I'm not sure if he just writes women really well, or he just writes women who appeal to the kind of person who gets obsessive about Doctor Who really well (!), but either way, it works wonderfully. (In an ideal world, we would have Mr Moffat in charge of Doctor Who after Russell T. steps down, and Sally Sparrow as the next companion - though this isn't an ideal world, and starting anything with such high expectations usually leads to disappointment. Still, it would be very interesting, and part of me would be very happy to hear such an announcement......)

'The Family of Blood' comes a close second - not only has David Tennant been excellent all year, but he was truly outstanding here.

So, not quite perfect, and a disappointing finale plot-wise, but on the whole this was a very classy, professional, enjoyable year. Definitely the best of the three years of 'New Who' so far.

Just like last year's season finale, you can't help but get the feeling this could have been really rather good, but, err, unfortunately it mostly wasn't. It was quite stylish, the acting was pretty uniformly excellent, and various loose ends were quite neatly tied up. I also have no real objection about the resolution being a big reset button, as that was inevitable before the episode began, and in many cases the journey is far more enjoyable than the destination (see Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me, for one).

But... that's about as much good as I can say. The plot was confusing, non-sensical, full of gigantic holes and with dodgy motivations for most of the characters. Surely the actions of the Toclafane destroy the basic premise of Doctor Who that humans are basically good? How was any of this supposed to make a 'new Gallifrey'? Why mention 'isomorphic controls' just to remind us that the TARDIS seems to not have them anymore? How does firing a big gun at the TARDIS (a) work at all, and (b) break the paradox machine? Why are there guns in Doctor Who anyway? Why do a really half-hearted escape attempt that isn't going to work? What does this mean for the humans at the end of the Universe - are they just kaput now? Won't people be a little bit angry that the President of the USA has been vapourised? Why kill off the Master at all, but if you do do so why leave the door open for him to come back anyway? Why write a grand finale which the Doctor doesn't even feature for most of the episode and is replaced by, heaven help us, a CGI dobby-a-like? Why have a cringe-worthy musical number at the start which just made me want to turn off? Oh, I could go on, but I'm not sure I can be bothered.

A very disappointing end, all the more so as, on the whole, this has been a really excellent season.

It's hard to say much about this one without seeing the conclusing epsiode. In theory, it isn't going to be much good - a Master who isn't Delgado, another massive peril to Earth, a Doctor who gets taken out of play by rapid aging (one of the more tedious frequent sci-fi occurences - what sci-fi series hasn't done a premature aging storyline?), and a setup for Martha to end up saving the day (which is ok, but a Sally Sparrow-a-like would be much better). On the other hand, it is done very well, rather stylish and sweeping you along, and the scene where the Master watches the Teletubbies (referring back to The Sea Devils) is downright brilliant.

So, I'm mostly deferring judgement until we see the conclusion.