automatonrevolution

If you haven’t seen the last episode of this season of Dr Who, look away now.

No, really….

Look away now. Because I’m going to talk about it, and there will be spoilers.

I’m not kidding.

Still here?

Okay, first of all, I really enjoyed it. While I didn’t think it was as good as the one previously, and certainly not as good as “The Weeping Angels”, it was still a good episode. it was nice to see Martha doing more than just tag along, and it had some nice special effects too. I thought the teeny tiny OLD Doctor was done pretty well, and it managed to look a bit like David Tennant. Some people will probably not like the idea that the Doctor could become uper-powerful just because everyone in the world was thinking about him and transmitting through a telepathic satellite network, but I reckon its a pretty neat idea, because it links to something that the Doctor himself always maintains about Humanity. That humanity is capable of achieving amazing things when we work together in a common goal, and theres also the power of ideas in there as well. It reminds me of the old question of what would happen if everyone in the world jumped at the same time.
And…it reinforces something that the new series of Dr Who has made pretty clear. Time Lords are NOT just aliens with two hearts, fancy tech and a tendency to regenerate. They are much more than that, and when you take that into account, the idea that the Doctor can tap into the power of billions of people focusing on one thought isnt so far fetched. Hes the Doctor.

My biggest niggle with the episode is the big fat reset they did. They pushed the Earth forward a year, making massive changes to the human race, the world, and the available tech level, and then they reset it all at the end of the episode. It makes a certain sense, that the entire set of events were happening as a gigantic paradox, that was only able to exist because of the Tardis/Paradox Engine, and that without that engine it all reset itself…but….I would really have liked to see the sorts of stories they could have written with this new, devastated Earth. I know they wouldnt do it, they rely a lot on linking their stories in with current events, reaching out to a wider demographic than us hardened sci-fi fans, but I still feel its a missed opportunity.

I REALLY like the revelation about Jack. It makes more and more sense the more I think about it. And I really liked that they are addressing what happens if you can’t die but can still get older.

But now….what the hell was up with the two blatant movie referances? The burial pyre? Can anyone say Return of The Jedi?
The Flash Gordon one is more interesting, but still a bit cheesy. because I can think of two possibilities. One, the Master isnt actually dead and it was him who picked up the ring (Earlier incarnations of the Master have had long fingernails and a dodgly chuckle. Not to mention the Goatee of Evil). Two. It was the Rani. Remember her? She aint dead, as far as we know…

It shall be interesting to find out