Silence in The Hungry Father's Planet
- Rose Tyler, Ood, Son of Mine, River Song, Silurian
Father's Day
I like Paul Cornell's writing. I am not, however, a huge fan of this story. It just sort of sits there. Yes, it introduces Pete Tyler, and it's suitably tragic, but I think it would be done better in other stories in later seasons.
The Impossible Planet
I remember lots of bits of this. It's a premiere visit to an alien world, it's a base under siege, and there's lots of running around. But I'm not certain what's in this episode and what's in the next one.
Human Nature
I think I've said before that I like Paul Cornell's writing. Here he shows how good it can be. Let's face it, though, the idea is great and the transposition from novel to screen works really well. This is the story where Martha really starts coming in to her own.
Silence in the Library
River Song.
In many ways, this story reminds me of Doctor Who novels of the 1990s. A mystery, a mysterious archaeologist, and a creepy villain/monster. The library is well realised, although it reminds me of the library on Herek Secundus. Whatever happened to that?
The Hungry Earth
Not a huge fan, oddly. I think it's because I wanted it to feel more like a Pertwee story, and it didn't. It had a lot of the trappings, but the story was bigger than the realisation. It needed to be more "Seeds of Doom" and less "The Awakening".
Ranking for Episode 8
A tough one, as there's not much to pick between them. But only positions 1 and are clear.
- Human Nature
- Silence in the Library
- The Impossible Planet
- The Hungry Earth
- Father's Day
Rankings So Far Series 4 > Series 2 > Series 5 > Series 3 > Series 1
Only two points separate Series 4 from Series 5. I'm starting to feel surprised by this - I had a preconception about how this would work out, and it might be different...
24 November, 2010
