Waters of Mars

What I didn't like about Waters of Mars:

1 - "I'm (person)." Boom "Person's name. Died 2059." Repeat about ten times in three minutes. This is my single biggest complaint about the episode. It got annoying the second time it happened.

2 - Doctor, this isn't Pompeii. There aren't going to be petrified bodies for people to find centuries later. All you have to the instant you know it's doomsday for Bowie Base is park the TARDIS inside the base, shepherd everyone in, set the auto-destruct, and drop the crew off somewhen else, well before or after their impact on history would be largely negated.

3 - RTD continuing his slide into the delusion that he can write a season finale like Joss Whedon.

4 - "Gadget gadget."

5 - Is this episode supposed to be a silly jab at the water-fearing aliens in Signs? Cuz that's what it feels like.

What I liked about Waters of Mars:

1 - The fact that the actors were all able to pull off being afraid of water. Bravo.

2 - "Name, Rank, Intention." "Doctor. Doctor. Fun."

3 - The last five minutes. I do not mind a bit of megalomania in my Doctor. And David Tennant is now officially giving Troughton a run for his money for the second-best slot behind Tom Baker.

4 - Gadget.

5 - It wasn't about a bus in the desert. The minor characters are all so brilliantly written and played that as they die off, you really wish you'd gotten to see more of them. I especially like the guy who blows himself up in the shuttle.


Now, I've heard the DWO Whocast about the episode, and they spend a bit of time ranting about the "it's just a theory" line re: fixed points in time. This didn't bother me. A) at the time, I thought the Doctor was just dumbing it all down for his would-be companion. B) it's a nice bit of foreshadowing for what he tries to do at the end of the episode.

And I'd also like to say that it's about damn time we got a "fixed point in time" after the present day. Nice touch.

4 sonic screwdrivers out of 5.

-James