It’s a decent start to the finale. Rose’s monologue at the start is okay, but it’s a bit of a reverse rug pull, given she never actually “dies”, unless I am misremembering something. At the start there’s a bunch of TV spots, which are cringey to watch, but pretty spot on for british daytime TV. I guess they would have been social media spots now. The ghosts as a whole are a nice “monster of the week” idea, but they’re not really used much beyond a setup for cybermen. It’s a very RTD thing to include people getting used to them because of the desire to want to hold on to loved ones. I enjoyed Jackie in this. Her explaining the ghosts to the Doctor, her whole back-and-forth about knowing more than he does. I do think 10 was a bit mean to her, probably still feeling that slap a few years ago.
This incarnation of torchwood is a nice side effect of the doctor’s meddling centuries ago, a kind of butterfly effect, and it feels a bit more impactful across this series than a random phrase like “bad wolf”. Torchwood here gives everyone psychic training, and I love it, a proper approach to operational security - See a problem, immediately call it in. Which makes the pointless digitally controlled Levers in the room literally signposted as “LEVER ROOM ->” all the more annoying. But seeing the doctor and co wandering around Torchwood and all the banter therein is fun. I like the idea of a void ship being a way to reintroduce Daleks even if it’s a bit out of nowhere, and the doctor’s metaphor illustrated by the cracking glass was some nice sci-fi theory.
There’s a lot of continuity stuff in this episode. I noticed Rose and the Tardis were parked up next to a sarcophagus, a nice reference to a past adventure. When the cybermen appear they cut through plastic, again a nice reference to classic doctor who stories. I had forgotten completely that Freema Agyeman was in this episode, that was a pleasant surprise.
Random back of the envelope maths fact:
The energy coming through the rift is stated at “5TW” I guess about an hour, give or take, for a “shift”. Given e=mc^2 that gives a mass passing through the rift of around only 200 grams. Which seems like not a lot for a bunch of invading cybermen.
it’s a bit of a reverse rug pull, given she never actually “dies”, unless I am misremembering something.
I was thinking the same thing - I guess being locked in another universe is the equivalent of death, at least from everyone else’s perspective, but it’s still rather weak.
It’s a decent start to the finale. Rose’s monologue at the start is okay, but it’s a bit of a reverse rug pull, given she never actually “dies”, unless I am misremembering something. At the start there’s a bunch of TV spots, which are cringey to watch, but pretty spot on for british daytime TV. I guess they would have been social media spots now. The ghosts as a whole are a nice “monster of the week” idea, but they’re not really used much beyond a setup for cybermen. It’s a very RTD thing to include people getting used to them because of the desire to want to hold on to loved ones. I enjoyed Jackie in this. Her explaining the ghosts to the Doctor, her whole back-and-forth about knowing more than he does. I do think 10 was a bit mean to her, probably still feeling that slap a few years ago.
This incarnation of torchwood is a nice side effect of the doctor’s meddling centuries ago, a kind of butterfly effect, and it feels a bit more impactful across this series than a random phrase like “bad wolf”. Torchwood here gives everyone psychic training, and I love it, a proper approach to operational security - See a problem, immediately call it in. Which makes the pointless digitally controlled Levers in the room literally signposted as “LEVER ROOM ->” all the more annoying. But seeing the doctor and co wandering around Torchwood and all the banter therein is fun. I like the idea of a void ship being a way to reintroduce Daleks even if it’s a bit out of nowhere, and the doctor’s metaphor illustrated by the cracking glass was some nice sci-fi theory.
There’s a lot of continuity stuff in this episode. I noticed Rose and the Tardis were parked up next to a sarcophagus, a nice reference to a past adventure. When the cybermen appear they cut through plastic, again a nice reference to classic doctor who stories. I had forgotten completely that Freema Agyeman was in this episode, that was a pleasant surprise.
Random back of the envelope maths fact: The energy coming through the rift is stated at “5TW” I guess about an hour, give or take, for a “shift”. Given e=mc^2 that gives a mass passing through the rift of around only 200 grams. Which seems like not a lot for a bunch of invading cybermen.
Can I just say,
is the best phrased meta-criticism I’ve seen in a good while 👏👏👏
I was thinking the same thing - I guess being locked in another universe is the equivalent of death, at least from everyone else’s perspective, but it’s still rather weak.