It's a threesome!

No, not that sort. Get your mind out of the gutter. Instead, what we've got, is a three-way review of this week's episode of Doctor Who. If I remember correctly, the States is two weeks behind the UK on transmission this year, so that means Amy's Choice has aired at some point tonight, or will air, or something. I don't know the schedule. Point is, if you're watching the US broadcast and are not up-to-date with the UK and us netwatchers, my thoughts may be found here.

Doctor Who: Cold Blood
Review by Nick

So, the Silurians continue to look more like green Jem’Hadar than Silurians. They ought to have painted those masks green and not made them masks. Face like that really works better, though they would still be quite too human.

It’s nice to see Cretaceans who aren’t the rabid bloodthirsty beasts we got last episode, but I’m still not wild about them. In Doctor Who and the Silurians the Silurians were existing in relative peace in the caves, and even getting along relatively fine with the humans. In fact, it’s really not until the Brigadier and the Doctor arrive and begin probing that things begin to go awry. And Warriors of the Deep, interesting invention of the Myrka aside, involved Silurians and Sea Devils uniting to defend their corner of the sea from two opposing superpowers locked in a cold war. Whether or not either of these stories is “good” is ultimately up to you, though personally I quite enjoy the former and while the latter is by no means my favorite, it has its moments.

The Silurians here are painted as being a bit like those in Doctor Who and the Silurians, with one faction wanting to eradicate all humans, and the other faction wanting to attempt coexistence. The difference is, while the Silurians were never exactly the most developed characters in the world, both factions had some degree of depth in the original. Here, they mostly come across as fairly one-dimensional in their goals, like last week.

That said, Cold Blood is a big improvement over last week.

It still feels like a holdover from the Russel T Davies era, and the Eleventh Doctor still doesn’t feel like the Eleventh Doctor we’ve come to know, but it’s better. In its weakest moments, this feels like it belongs in David Tennant’s one good season – his first. The rest of the time, it feels like Christopher Eccleston should be inhabiting this. Thinking on it, the Silurians seem like the perfect enemy for Eccleston’s Doctor as well. I know they say this was penned because Moffat was like “Hey, how about we bring back those Silurians?” but I can’t shake the feeling that this was at least outlined during the RTD days and brought up again, in one way or another, when the Moff came on board.

The Hungry Earth is definitely the lowest of the season so far (no pun intended) and Cold Blood doesn’t bring us back a lot, but it does offer some degree of redemption, in terms of story. Not at all wild about the narration, though. Really, seriously could have done without that. Bad flashbacks to Timothy Dalton (who, bless him, does the best he can with the material; fortunately he knew exactly what sort of story he was in).

So, back to the niggles for a mo:

Meera Syal is still the weak link in the cast. While none of the guest performances are genius, and teary-Ambrose is bordering on narm, Syal comes across as a lightweight in both parts. Screams of stunt casting if you ask me. The music is for the most part good, but not Gold’s best. Often too noticeable, which may be in part the fault of the story for being totally engaging, but some blame must go to the music. Plus there was that awkward lack-of-transition in cues when the Doctor leaves Meera and Tony.

Also, kind of wasted opportunity by making Ambrose be the one to kill Alaya. Obvious choice. Tony would’ve been a safe bet, too, given his condition. I was really hoping one or both of them would come in with intent to kill and Rory would come in to stop them and end up accidentally killing her in the process of disarming the would-be murderer. Still, it works.

And that’s really all I have to say in either direction about this episode. Big improvement over last week, but not big enough. I do have one more complaint in mind, but it’s not specific to this episode, and I kind of want to hold out until the season finale before I voice this piece which has been digging at my brain, because there may yet be a very good reason behind it (and I hope so).

Very much looking forward to next week’s episode. Have been since it was first announced actually. Favorite painter? Check. Great writer? Check. Fantastic looking trailer? Oh, you bet your sweet can. Title may not be the greatest in the history of history but, please, bring! It! On!

Review by Amy
Like Nick, I’ve only been a fan of Dr Who since 2005, but i went back and watched the classic series on DVD and online after i started getting into it. Ever since i started watching the classics, the Third Doctor has been my favorite. For me, the classic Silurian story is one of the best episodes of Pertwee’s very solid era (tho i have noticed Malcolm Hulke seemed to love dinosaurs). So my feelings about this week’s episode, and last week’s, are less than grand. I won’t say much about last week, just that i didn’t like it. This week is deffers a leg up, but not a big leg up. Eldane is pretty much a carbon copy of the original Silurian leader. Restac is one dimensional ape hate, which not even the original kill-all-humans Silurian was. There’s the scientist who wants to coexist because humans have evolved from being stupid monkeys. And Matt Smith again turns in a great performance, but he feels kind of weak in the scenes where he’s behaving as the mediator between the sides because…really because he lacks the sense of gravitas Pertwee managed to bring to similar scenes. Pertwee made it feel like there was real seriousness to the discussions. Smith makes it feel like a game. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you ape a forty-year old classic. I’m sure the kids will all love it, but i just can’t get into it when it was done so much better in 71. At the very least they could’ve done a better job of hiding it. Last complaint…i did not care at all for squeaky bum time. Fergie quotes belong with Nine and Ten not Eleven. Much as i rag on it, it was fun tho. A good way to kill an hour but no chance of being viewed as a particularly good episode by me.

Review by Mia
I am, in no way, very well versed in Doctor Who facts. I'm a fan, yes, but am incredibly bad at retaining facts. Please keep that in mind as you read my initial thoughts on the subject of this week's episode.
So it was better than last week, that was my first thought as I watched Matt Smith gallivant around in front of me. Much better. But then again maybe I have forgotten what last week was like.

I stayed interested in the plot throughout and even cared during the tense moments. Perhaps not as much as I should, I mean when the Humans yet again failed the Doctor I sort of felt a little bored. They're always doing that you know. I wouldn't mind but that was clearly a trap.

Even the script was mildly better with moments like "FAB" during the peace talk obvs making me giggle a little because Matt's version of the Doctor ticks all the buttons for me. I don't know, maybe he was being himself this week. None of that silly David Tenant scripting?

The ending was the best part, and by that I mean the Oooh crack appeared and Oooh a piece of the Tardis NOT the let's send them to sleep for 1000 years because clearly by then the ALIENS YOU'RE SENDING TO SLEEP (well, into suspended animation but whatevs) will have stopped being aggressive by then. Sure.

No, it was the reoccurring theme I was interested in. And, shamefully, the "next time" sequence appealed to me more than the whole episode did. Don't get me wrong, t'was a good'en it's just that next week looks to be better.
Robbie dying? Not so much. Don't want to sound like the harshest most cynical person to ever have existed ever but, um, it was like they needed him out of the way to continue the Doctor-Amy relationship. She chose him, so he had to go otherwise the Doctor did. And they're never going to kill off the doctor. Well, at least not yet anyway.

What?

Just pointing out the obvious.

So, um... that's all. Better get back to my supposed Guest post :S