[Spoilers] The Waters Of Mars

Television, Movies Games and Books Doctor Who
#1

Well, 2 episodes left now, but The Waters Of Mars just ended.

I thought it was a fairly standard episode of Russell T Davies Dr Who, it was good while on the screen but it doesn’t really hold up on a second review.

The monster was poorly designed, it looked like a bunch of people with hoses shoved in the back of their jackets, the Doctor’s decisions and motivations didn’t hold up, and there seemed to be a DESPERATE need for us to think the moster was SCARY.

The robot was bloody stupid as well!

The preview looked interesting, my theory for the return of the Master doesn’t look like it’s coming true :frowning: still, knock, knock, knock…

#2

I added a spoiler tag to the title of this thread, just in case.

Those of us on this side of the pond will have to wait… a while. :stuck_out_tongue:

#3

About 12 minutes with a decent connection.

OH NOES WHAT DID I SAY!?

#4

What site are you using?!
(or not, if THE POWERS THAT BE don’t want us trading that info-which they probably don’t for the good of the site. But BT is going WAY slow)

#5

coughcough*

#6

Well all I know is those inner tubes got a workin and plop I got a vid. Won’t go into spoilers yet. Did like who is coming for Christmas dinner.:smiley:

#7

Just finished watching Waters of Mars. I won’t discuss how I got it.
[spoiler] Its it interesting how he is always at those fixed moments in time trying not to interfere and failing miserably [/spoiler]

#8

I know i probably don’t need the spoiler tag since it is in the title of the thread but better safe that sorry

#9

True but atleast that way they still need to do something to read. My cable system looks like it will never get BBCA. So the Inner Tubes will be my conduit. So when are the new Doctor shows airing?

#10

I’m not going to put spoiler tags since it is a spoiler thread, but in case, spoilers below:-

The main ‘mystery’ aside (I love the use of something simple like water as the ‘bad guy’, but the first look we got of the ‘infected’ was too funny I couldn’t stop laughing every time they pop up), I think this episode had much more to do with how nutty (I mean, he even exclaims, the laws of time are MINE! I’d say he’s a little unbalanced without a good companion) the Doctor gets when he’s traveling alone without a companion as supposed to some failed mission in Mars. And that was great to watch. Once again we see how great David Tennant is as The Doctor (and will be sorely missed), and how great he is when he’s working with great actors (like the actor playing Captain Adelaide).

With the ‘monsters’ looking the way they do, and how lame they really are as an ‘infection’(I mean, if I was a water virus whatnot and want to get to earth, you’d think I’d hide inside a body for a longer while, like until the space shuttle is off to earth, before I make my host all crazy in the matter of seconds. And secondly, I didn’t get why they wanted to go the earth - I know there’s a lot of water there, but can’t these water virus MAKE their own water anyway? Seems redundant. But, I suppose, DW is meant for just watching and not analyzing too much. :smiley: ), the name of the station being “Bowie Station One”, and the Johnny Five wannabe robot (which was pretty awesome. Who doesn’t love Bowie OR Short Circuit?), it wasn’t a particularly scary or suspenseful episode, but I found it pretty funny and entertaining to watch (and the best of the specials this year so far, for me, on the acting alone).

BUT, I have to say, what really got me going was seeing the previews for the next one. [spoiler] OMG The Master! Donna! Bernard! I’ve been dying to know what happens with Donna, and I suppose the next special is it. EGADS![/spoiler] SQUEE indeed. Now, that, I can’t wait for.

#11

I have requested a screener copy of this. it should arrive within the next 2h 23m.
I am just happy to have some new DW to watch…:slight_smile:

#12

I actually really liked the baddies in this ep. I didnt get the laugh vibe at all and thought they were pretty damn creepy. Overall I enjoyed the episode but I dont think they spent enough time setting up the change for the doctor that happened toward the end. It seemed almost like a flip of a switch and he went from ‘we need to follow the rules’ to ‘hey, frak the rules Im a timelord.’ If thats where they want him to go before his transformation then they should have let it unfold a little more beforehand.

#13

I just recently got around to watching this one, having dragged my feet after hearing the poor reviews.

IMO, The Doctor’s decision to be the sole Lord of Time felt… off. After all, if he hadn’t hemmed and hawed about it in the first place, he could have saved almost everyone, but he waited such a long time to act that most of them died anyway. And why take them to Earth at the same time period? Why not another planet or a hundred years in the future? Or just allow them to become his new companions — surely a fate far better than infection by alien water or nuclear death. There were any number of ways that he could have both rescued them and kept them out of the flow of history, and he chooses the one that makes the least sense, and only after it’s already too late for most of them? This is the smartest man in all time and space?

On a positive note, the creatures, though rudimentary almost to the point of fitting in with the old series, were eerie and unsettling. There were a lot of moments where this episode felt reminiscent of others with the same sort of “haunted house” mentality, but that worked for what it was.

Changing The Doctor’s entire basic character so dramatically and ultimately so pointlessly didn’t. :frowning:

#14

What I found most interesting was the idea that David Tenant’s Doctor is so cynical and broken at this point because of all the people he’s lost, that he is starting to crack. He wants to save these people even though he knows he shouldn’t - because maybe he feels like he has no control - he’s been told that he is going to die no matter what he does. He couldn’t keep Rose, he couldn’t be what Martha wanted and needed, he was able to save Donna but she had to give up the most important thing to her, the memories of him, and he basically destroyed Jack’s life. He needed to control something…to have a choice…to be a Time Lord in the sense of what time lord’s used to be. And it was obviously the biggest mistake he’s ever made. I feel like this moment for him was the most interesting moment for him because he almost seemed human. He’s been touched by so many in a profound way that he actually acts totally irrationally and emotionally.

#15

Well they did have families in that time period and on that planet. One was freaked out after being taken home so I think an alien planet 100 years in the future would be too much. The Doctor would never take someone against their will to be a companion and since I’m guessing most would choose to go home after all that I figure that’s not an option anyway.

I do agree that it would have been nice if he saved everyone at the beginning but he was trying to follow the rules. you can’t fault him for that. He just eventually went “aw, heck with it” and tried to save them. (I can’t fault him for that either so it’s a no lose situation for him in my eyes)

#16

I was bothered by taking them back to Earth in their time period as well. But I thought about it and I believe the point (maybe not well presented) was that the doctor was flouting the Time Lord rules. He had decided that he was a demi-god who could play with time as he saw fit. I think it was meant to show how important companions are to keeping the doctor’s feet on the ground and, without a touch of humanity and alone in the world suffering from (sounding new age-y here) PTSD, it illustrates how close to the Master the Doctor can become.

I suppose “I am God like in my power. I will change the course of time…but hide the evidence somewhere in some far off bit of the Universe” is not as powerful as “I am God like. See me change the course of human history. See me decide what is best for all. See me throw it in your face, because I can! Mwaa Haa Haa!”

I do think that was the point, but I also think it could have been better presented.

#17

I dunno. I did like this episode to a degree. I was loving it until the point at which the Doctor had an epiphany, came back to rescue everyone, and declared himself the law writer and breaker of time. That shift in character was too quick for one episode.

Other than that I liked the monster. I enjoyed the little bit of North Martian language too.