One can tell the production team was really trying to go all out on this one. It particularly shows in the special effects, which for the most part were practical rather than cgi and definitely well done this time around. It is full of many exciting and thrilling moments, and the villains are effectively creepy (even if it rehashes the basic escape from zombies trope). The water gushing from their mouths just makes me feel icky, ugh lol.
Unfortunately we don't get much time with many of the characters before they start dying off, which limits a bit how much we connect with them, though RTD does put forth his best effort to make their deaths as sad as possible. The captain is played quite well and is refreshing to see such a strong female character without overdoing it. Unfortunately she is the only member of the crew that feels fully realized, although I did like Ed the second in command.
We are introduced to the Doctor's conundrum of trying to avoid altering a fixed point in time, and knowing their fates before hand does make things a bit more tragic. The special features many poignant scenes, culminating in the Doctor defying the laws of time to save what's left of the doomed crew of the Martian Bowie base in a standout performance from David Tennant (though all the actors did quite well) as the "Timelord Victorious."
With that said the ending feels a little contrived for my liking. While the Doctor has indeed gone a little power mad, the rescued crew seems rather ungrateful and the captain's suicude really seemed unnecessary to keep events in line. And then the Doctor realized his mistake, the "Timelord Victorious" basically disappears and the Doctor resets, kinda making the entire story a bit moot. Still, it was a wild and enjoyable ride that gave us the opportunity to see a broad range of acting chops from all involved. 9/10
Unfortunately we don't get much time with many of the characters before they start dying off, which limits a bit how much we connect with them, though RTD does put forth his best effort to make their deaths as sad as possible. The captain is played quite well and is refreshing to see such a strong female character without overdoing it. Unfortunately she is the only member of the crew that feels fully realized, although I did like Ed the second in command.
We are introduced to the Doctor's conundrum of trying to avoid altering a fixed point in time, and knowing their fates before hand does make things a bit more tragic. The special features many poignant scenes, culminating in the Doctor defying the laws of time to save what's left of the doomed crew of the Martian Bowie base in a standout performance from David Tennant (though all the actors did quite well) as the "Timelord Victorious."
With that said the ending feels a little contrived for my liking. While the Doctor has indeed gone a little power mad, the rescued crew seems rather ungrateful and the captain's suicude really seemed unnecessary to keep events in line. And then the Doctor realized his mistake, the "Timelord Victorious" basically disappears and the Doctor resets, kinda making the entire story a bit moot. Still, it was a wild and enjoyable ride that gave us the opportunity to see a broad range of acting chops from all involved. 9/10