Runaway Bride... Runaway Success?

[armadillozenith]

I found this a 'game of two halves' ;D
First half excellent, Second disappointing (apart from the farewell).

What do you think?

I thought Catherine Tate's performance was BRILLIANT... genuine and varied emotion. David too, especially speaking of Rose. RTD also gets credit for all that.

Also that brilliant scene with the TARDIS chasing the taxi on the motorway. LOVED IT! with the string and banter... and the Doctor having to let it cool off on a rooftop afterwards as it's not really used to just 'flying'. (Means the scriptwriters won't use that trick too often... neat.)
The little kids in other cars watching and cheering (to reassure younger viewers that THIS TIME this dangerous stuff on the road was okay, that the Doctor wasn't a mad dangerous kidnapper) - good touch.

BUT...

things went downhill for me from the moment the baubles came off the Christmas tree to start exploding among guests, and poor Sarah Parrish's gruelling costume sessions were (for me) all in vain... not her fault, but the plot. RTD has to carry the can methinks. Having YET ANOTHER giant spider as enemy (after Harry Potter, Lord of the RIngs, and of course Metebelis adventures 1 and 2) was just old hat, and to save it from being dull of course they had to have Sarah over-acting wildly. Hmm, a pantomime wicked queen in a spider suit with a fancy hatful of blinking eyes... which don't even match her own two (hers had whites).

Tough to make that both a convincing alien AND not too scary for watching tots... I think it was impossible to find a happy medium, thus, a WRONG CHOICE.

Hole to the centre of the earth? (isn't that molten?) Lasered out by Torchwood in secret? (spoil heap WHERE?) I don't think so. A race whose spaceship technology even billions of years ago could last billions of years of planet-core heat and pressure, planning over millenia, being caught unawares and blown to bits by a straightforward bit of human artillery practice? Oh dear...

This was just pantomime farce. Revealing RTD's ignorance of, and/or scorn for, real science? (Basic schoolkid physics, say).

I have to applaud the first half, and (uncharacteristically for me) deplore the second half in the vein of Ricky Tomlinson:

Runaway Bride... First Class!!

Empress of the Racnoss? "My...."

The closing scene ('will she/won't she?') and the Doctor's departure, though... well scripted, very well done! Leaves us with a clean slate for taking up with a new companion... Donna's story, giving us a necessary 'different' interlude after Rose, a superb choice.

Here's hoping for the new series.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! (including RTD!)

Graham

[Cornelia_Africana]

Didn't think much of this. There was basically about half an hour's worth of plot, which was stretched out to an hour by a lot of running around and shouting. For me, it was the first half that was the worst, as at least in the second half you got some plot coming in, and the scene where they were present at the formation of the solar system was good. It's true about the scientific content though, and this is another problem with RTD's writing - he just doesn't understand enough about science to be able to write good science fiction, where the scientific content does at least need to touch on real science for it to be convincing.

Kids might have enjoyed this, but I think for other viewers it was a bit too weak plot-wise.

[Oldmankrondas]

I thought this was top notch fun family entertainment. The Racnoss was disappointing, but Tennant was on top form and it was a vehicle for the Doctor, something we've only really seen in Dalek and The Girl In Fireplace. As for the science criticisms, I think RTD's worried about Doctor Who being made into 'pure' science fiction. A Story like Logopolis (The last story of a Doctor who defined a generation) is completely bogged down with technobabble and science when really we should have an exciting story and the chance to say farewell to Tom. I'm all for the science fiction of the Pertwee and early Bakers, but RTD's main focus is on family entertainment in which I think he's really succeeding.

[Hoichi]

When a show is labeled as 'Science Fiction', it should contain real science and a fictitious plot. I am sick of RTD's attempt to teach youths incorrect science and history.

[avon]

"Well now," - Thought this was BORING with a capitol B.

They are only doing Christmas Specials to keep the viewers interested as it's a big gimic and, a total waste of time.

[Claire Voyant]

avon said:

"Well now," - Thought this was BORING with a capitol B.

They are only doing Christmas Specials to keep the viewers interested as it's a big gimic and, a total waste of time.

Unfortunately, those of us in the U.S. do not have the priviledge of being bored by Runaway Bride.
But I agree the Christmas episodes seem to be a gimic not worthy of the rest of the series.

[Slagathor]

Still, it would have been nice to judge for ourselves. Maybe we'll get to see it in April or June.

[duncan]

Its a christmas family entertainment show and nothing more. It did its job and got all our family sitting together watching it.

Anyway, I am the opposite to most. I found Donna VERY VERY annoying and loved Sarah Parish as the Empress of Racnoss.

[mindmatters]

Still haven't seen this. I know Christmas shows are invariably gimmicky. But the show does wonders for those of us with Dr. Who withdrawal. I would love to see this -- lame or not. I was hoping they would release it on dvd here in the states --y'know like the volumes of the regular series episodes. But my hopes are to no avail...By the way, I like the way the Spider Queen looked. I saw pics of her in Dr. Who magazine..

[duncan]

mindmatters said:

But the show does wonders for those of us with Dr. Who withdrawal.

That's the point. It ties us over till the next series and also gives the show a bit of a boost by grabbing some attention and possibly adding more on to the already healthy viewing figures thus safeguarding the show for a longer run.

[Claire Voyant]

At the same time, I mourn the meager 13 episodes per series (OK, 14 with the Xmas Ep) In the US, we are used to longer seasons. So 14 is only slightly better than 13.

Still, it's better than the zero episodes in the previous 20 years.

[duncan]

I agree. 14 a year is better than 0, but remember that Dr Who used to run for only 23-24 mins per epiosde. Now we are getting double that which kind of makes it a 26-28 episode season. Sort of. You know where I coming from I'm sure.

The problem we have here is that a UK audience could get bored of a 23 week run of a show. LOST is already losing viewers just 2 seasons in.

[Oldmankrondas]

It could be argued that Lost is losing viewers because Sky took it from Channel 4, and those people who don't want to shell out for Sky or want to watch it without ad breaks will download it.

But yeah, the Christmas special is always a nice way to tide viewers over until the show returns in the New Year. (I hear it's back on the 17th March...)

[duncan]

Lost has "lost" millions of viewers this season in America. I agree with you about Sky and viewing figures dropping over here though.

[Oldmankrondas]

Yes you're right about that one, just read that. I think it's still a great show, but it would hold interest if it was pacier and took a couple of lessons from the excellent 'Life on Mars'.