Waters of Mars Review…
Wow. As silly and light hearted as the last special was, this one was DARK! Seriously, I don’t think there was a single light moment in the entire episode. Well, okay, maybe the running gag about the bikes. The Doctor finds himself on Mars in the mid-twenty first century. He winds up at the first Mars colony. And as usual for the Doctor, all hell breaks loose. This time he has to fight water zombies. Like 28 Days Later, you get any rage infected blood on you, you get the rage virus as well. In this case, it’s in the water. It’s micro-organisms who eventually want to inhabit the earth. The Doctor meanwhile begins to realize he’s at a fixed point in history. All these people are going to die and he can’t stop it. If he does, he changes the entire course of human expansionism. He tries to leave but is stopped by the tough-as-nails commander of the base played by Lindsay Duncan. The Doctor, who has not revealed himself to be an alien, eventually tells her the truth. That they have to die that day and he can’t help them. As the Doctor leaves and he hears their screams of terror as they try to fight back the water zombies, he begins to have flashbacks of his previous adventures being the last of the Timelords. He decides he’s going to save them no matter what.
Like I said, this episode was bleak and scary. This is the one that’ll make kids hide behind the sofa, that’s for sure! What did you guys think?
11 responses so far ↓
1 Jessika // Nov 16, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I think he knew all along that the disaster had to happen, he just didn’t open up about it so quickly… Though he seemed a bit mad about the Time Lord Victorious bit, after Brooke did the deed, I think he recognised some level of futility, in that even he has to answer to someone — although the ood was a surprise! What happened in that moment? I think it will be answered in the future, that’s for sure! (T-T I hope…)
2 Anthony // Nov 16, 2009 at 7:38 pm
First: HA! Running gag, get it?!? The only silly moment was literally a running gag.
Second: This one actually scared me. I’ve almost always been able to set Dr. Who aside as SciFi, but this actually gave me the creeps! Water zombies yeesh!
Last: I can’t wait for the next special, especially with the teaser! AHHHH!!!!!
3 Peekaboo // Nov 16, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Yeah, the water zombies were creepy and cool.
4 Kimberly // Nov 16, 2009 at 9:40 pm
As Donna once told him, the Doctor needs a companion - someone to stop him from going too far. Doctor #9 seemed very traumatised by the Time War, and #10 seemed to be adjusting - until he spent too much time alone. I love the break in his voice as he tells us that the timelords died - and that HE makes the rules now. I shivered as I watched him losing his mental grip, but I had to wonder - what took him so long to snap? I loved this episode, dark as it was. I don’t necessarily like the two-parter formats, but I am definitely looking forward to the next episodes!
5 Jay // Nov 16, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I noticed a little of the valeyard coming out even though it wont happen till midway through the next doctors tenure (if they bring the valeyard into play). it was good to see a darker doctor for once, we have the DW episodes, the SJ type episodes, and now the TW type episode
6 Lyra // Nov 17, 2009 at 12:20 pm
This episode made me want to defy the laws of reality, and jump into the television set to hug the Doctor. The moment he snapped was brilliant in its poignant sorrow. For a moment, I was just as scared of the doctor, as I was for him. And then Ood Sigma showed up for nowhere and my shock quickly dissipated into pure confusion. I really hope they explain that one. Although I have to say as dark as this episode was it did contain one of my new favorite, funny who-lines… “State your name, rank, and intention.” “Doctor, Doctor…fun!” Christmas cannot come fast enough in my opinion..
7 Ben Parkin // Nov 17, 2009 at 3:23 pm
@Kimberly
If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that this break down has been building since he lost Rose. He loved her, we all know that, and she was taken from him pretty harshly. (parallel world and all that) Then there was Martha, who, really, was kinda like his rebound girl; never quite as good as Rose. So, after Martha left on her own, he decided to go it alone for a bit. And then he meets Donna (again) quite by accident. She joins him, and, whoopee, he has a new friend! (and I’d say The Doctor and Donna worked pretty well together! As friends of course) But, then he essentially has to kill that friend; the Timelord part of her would have killed her eventually, so he had to take it away and erase her memory, killing the best friend he’s had in a long time.
So, after all that heartache and loss, it was only a matter of time before he snapped.
And again, this is just a guess; my own theory as to why.
8 Richard Kirsch // Nov 17, 2009 at 8:27 pm
@Ben Parkin
Oh great, you’ve just basically described my real life in detail! Well, minus the whole parallel universe things and all that :p
9 Deadpol // Nov 20, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Ok, so am I the only one that find it weird that no paradox occured. He chaged time in a pretty big way. When rose did it, there were those little weird things. When the doc did it justn ow. othing happened. Can anyone enlighten me as to why not?
10 Jorn the Younger // Nov 21, 2009 at 1:42 am
@Deadpool
I’m assuming you’re referring to the events of Father’s Day; that was a different case. Rose crossed her own time-line. The Doctor got to his TARDIS and took off, but could have timed the rematerialization within the colony complex to complete prior to the explosion without crossing his own timeline, as he was already out of the building by then. That’s why he was only able to save the three he did- had he gone back to save them all before things started going wrong, that would have been crossing his own timeline.
@Ben Parkin
Also, we shouldn’t forget River Song- even though it looks like we aren’t going to see more of her, at least not during this incarnation, we do know that this Who has encountered her more than once, and he lost her before she even met him.
11 Lyra // Nov 22, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I’m a thinking there will be some sort of repercussion though…I won’t say too much, in case there are those of you out there who did not look at the spoiler photos…but the person all the way on the left (if I am remembering correctly from the picture)..anyway, the guy in maroon…maybe he is there to punish the Doctor, for daring to assume supreme control over time. Maybe he and “his friends” return, or are brought back by someone more powerful, because the Doctor has abused his power as the sole caretaker of time. After all, didn’t Russel T. Davies want to “erase the slate” for Stephen Moffet to take over…and what’s the biggest thing to erase, the largest plot twist Russel put in, when he started the new series?
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