Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Greg]

Second half of the 2-part story. (BTW, for those who don't know, the SJA episodes are 30 minutes each, and all the stories are two-parters.)

After plenty of set-up and multiple threats at the end of the last episode, the second half is a pretty pacy thing, slowing down in the middle to show the scale of the problem being faced by our heroes - as this is a spoiler thread, I'll mention that the sun starts to go out...!

I'm suspecting that Luke will get more than his share of the best lines in this series - his definition of a 'bad social mistake' this time round is great!

More than the last episode, this one includes references to Doctor Who - the Judoon even rate a mention, as it appears the Slitheen have been in conflict with them.

However... I'm not sure the plot makes sufficient sense (the railway lines are for what?) and the motivation of the Slitheen isn't very strong. The Slitheen look cheaper and less believable than they did in the previous Doctor Who appearances, and they act even more moronically - they are like Slitheen caricatures, if that is conceivable. However, that probably makes them no worse than most villains in produced-for-children shows these days.

Competing in the annoying stakes is Maria's mother, who is vacuos and self-obsessed. In fact, she reminds me of Donna Noble, so I hope that this drains these characteristics from the writers and we end up with a more palatable Donna as a result. Time will tell... (She also reminds me of Fleur, one of the minor characters in Absolutely Fabulous...)

One final point of annoyance. The sonic lipstick continues, which doesn't worry me too much (it is, after all, just a sonic screwdriver in drag). However, the appearance of it doesn't remind me so much of lipstick as it does the generative organ of a male dog... Quite bizarre to watch Sarah drag such a thing out of her purse and start pointing about!

The regulars continue to be quite good - relationships are developing between the caharcters, and it looks like Clyde will fit in quite well - a little less under Sarah's influence than Luke and Maria, he may end up being more like one of the Doctor's more independent companions whereas Luke and Maria are more like the more dependent of the Doctor's companions (if that makes sense!).

Also, the trailer for the next story makes it look quite good! It may be that this series will make enjoyable light viewing.

*** TRIVIA *** Daniel Anthony, who plays Clyde, also played Will Parry in BBC radio's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Another series of books by Pullman are being adapted for BBC TV, with Billie Piper as the lead character, Sally Lockhart.

[meglos]

Good 2nd part to a good 2 part story

[Greg]

I just noticed that the last poll option didn't make it - not that anyone's declared this story a bad social error... yet!

[Theta Sigma]

A good conclusion to the story.

Quite surprise and delighted with the reference of High School Musical.

Despite being a baddie it was sad seeing the little Slitheen being vaporised and it is so good that Luke finally calls Sarah "mum".