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» Flare Sci-Fi Forums » Sci-Fi » General Sci-Fi » DW 30x05 (4x05) "The Poison Sky" (spoilers)

   
Author Topic: DW 30x05 (4x05) "The Poison Sky" (spoilers)
TSN
I'm... from Earth.
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There's a certain amount of nonsense one can overlook in a TV episode. Like when Donna's mum is the only person around who isn't a complete idiot that can't figure out to break the car window. But, when the entire two-part story is based around an idea that doesn't make any sense...

Basically, what I'm saying is : At the end, the Sontarans were ready to just kill everyone on Earth, then turn the planet into a cloning facility. So, why didn't they do that in the first place? Especially since war is the way they usually do things, anyway. What possible reason could they have had for developing such a complicated plan?

(And, while I'm at it, why couldn't the Doctor put a delay on the atmospheric converter, give the Sontarans their "choice", then hit the button and transmat out during the delay?)

((That's right, I said "transmat". You hear me, writers?!))

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Reverend
Based on a true story...
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For that matter, what was the point of killing 52 people at once in the first place? All it did was attract attention.

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AndrewR
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Well, I REALLY REALLY liked the episode.

One would assume that they wanted an empty earth before setting up their Sontarran hatchery planet. Wouldn't be good having newly-cloned Sontarrans being attacked by the resident population.

And wasn't the killing 52 people at once that snotty kid's idea?

Anyone spot Rose!?! Fantastic!!

What was the cartoon the doctor flipped to when he was talking to the Sontarrans?? Was that an in-joke at all? Or was it just any cartoon?

North Korea have launchable nuclear missiles? They didn't bring Russia 'online' though.

The kissing of the military officers!?! Was she really happy or she really liked that old guy!?! LOL!

They mentioned the Brigadier! I hope he comes back at one point. Looks like he is now a Sir.

All-round good episode. Better than the first part I reckon.

The explosion of the Sontarran ship was great! Maybe the best since the Praxis explosion in Star Trek VI? [Smile]

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Johnny
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I don't want to put a downer on your characteristic exuberance, but that really wasn't the best explosion since Praxis! [Big Grin] I thought it was quite shoddy, myself. The big arms of the ship seemed to just vanish without any debris when the central section exploded.

And I never really understood the 52 deaths. If they were in vehicles and suffocated quite slowly (judging from how long Gramps survived), then how could their deaths happen at the exact same time, and how would anyone even be that precise in knowing the time of death? Do paramedics set their watches by atomic clocks? And surely people would choke to death at different rates?

Just one of those things with Dr.Who that sounds like an good idea until you really think about it properly.

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TSN
I'm... from Earth.
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"One would assume that they wanted an empty earth before setting up their Sontarran hatchery planet. Wouldn't be good having newly-cloned Sontarrans being attacked by the resident population."

Which is why, as I said, they should have just come down to Earth and shot everyone themselves, like they were going to do toward the end of the episode.

"If they were in vehicles and suffocated quite slowly (judging from how long Gramps survived), then how could their deaths happen at the exact same time, and how would anyone even be that precise in knowing the time of death?"

They didn't suffocate. The cars drove them to their deaths, like that reporter who got driven into a river.

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AndrewR
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quote:
Originally posted by TSN:
"One would assume that they wanted an empty earth before setting up their Sontarran hatchery planet. Wouldn't be good having newly-cloned Sontarrans being attacked by the resident population."

Which is why, as I said, they should have just come down to Earth and shot everyone themselves, like they were going to do toward the end of the episode.


They didn't suffocate. The cars drove them to their deaths, like that reporter who got driven into a river.

1. Good point, I did think that myself at the end when General Staal said they'd just go down and destroy them in battle - BUT why waste all that man err Sontaran-power when it was sussed by the Doctor that their war with the Rutans wasn't going well. They wanted a quick and easy hatchery instead of getting bogged down in another planetary war.

2. The driving people into rivers etc. that was to check that the Atmos was 'online' wasn't it?

3. The explosion was pretty well done - and what I meant more was that it was 'different' from the usual explosion. I still thought it was well done.

4. What I didn't like was the stupid Sontaran chant in the last episode...

5. "characteristic exuberance" - well I feel it's a nice blance to the overbearing pessimism that often pervades this board.

6. OH! Another little point I forgot to mention that I thought was great - when they were outside wearing the gas masks... the Doctor says "Are You My Mummy!?!" LOL!

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Krenim
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quote:
Originally posted by TSN:
Which is why, as I said, they should have just come down to Earth and shot everyone themselves, like they were going to do toward the end of the episode.

Why the whole ATMOS plot? Easy. How else are you going to get the Doctor into a gas mask so he can say "Are you my mummy?" [Big Grin]

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AndrewR
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That was GREAT! [Smile] The guy just looked at him like WTF? [Smile]

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Johnny
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quote:
Originally posted by AndrewR:


5. "characteristic exuberance" - well I feel it's a nice blance to the overbearing pessimism that often pervades this board.

Oh, definitely. Your posts are always a nice ray of sunshine on here (not that I hate Flare, or anything!). [Smile]

I'd forgotten that the cars drove people to their deaths rather than choking them. I suppose it's still odd that anyone picked up on the connection, though. There must be lots of road accidents everyday, and the authorities wouldn't really be able to pinpoint the timing of each of the 52 accidents very precisely.

Anyway, it was pretty good episode and the gas mask joke was hilarious!

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TSN
I'm... from Earth.
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I didn't expect to ever have to say this, but : Good point, Andrew. About not wanting to get themselves killed, since the whole reason for the plot was that they were low on soldiers to begin with.

I'm going to assume that a spoiler warning for this episode makes it okay to talk about the trailer for next week, and I'm going to ask : What do people think? Is the Doctor's daughter going to turn out to be Susan's mother, or another child of the Doctor's from his early life, or is it going to be some weird thing where someone created her from his DNA or something? And I guess you shouldn't answer this if you've already seen the real answer somewhere, because that would be a proper spoiler.

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AndrewR
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quote:
Originally posted by TSN:
I didn't expect to ever have to say this, but : Good point, Andrew.

OMG! Bitch! [Wink]

quote:
Originally posted by TSN:

I'm going to assume that a spoiler warning for this episode makes it okay to talk about the trailer for next week, and I'm going to ask : What do people think? Is the Doctor's daughter going to turn out to be Susan's mother, or another child of the Doctor's from his early life, or is it going to be some weird thing where someone created her from his DNA or something? And I guess you shouldn't answer this if you've already seen the real answer somewhere, because that would be a proper spoiler.

Not a spoiler: I read that the actress was Peter Davison's real-life daughter. Maybe it's something that happened with the 5th Doctor? OMG Maybe it's Tegan's kid!?! [Smile]

It'd be interesting to see Tegan again.

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Mark Nguyen
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A LOT of people are already talking about next week, given we know so little about the Doctor's past and are ALWAYS scrambling for it. I think the real clue however lies in the quick shot of the Doctor's hand, still bubbling away in its canister under the TARDIS console...

GOOD episode IMO. The conceit of no one smashing a window was relatively minor in what was otherwise s decent episode. Martha had a clutch of good moments, and Donna grew as a companion too, thwacking a Sontaran and freeing the TARDIS from its closet - stuff she'd never have done before. You know, cellphones have been so useful to the new series, one wonders why the Doctor never bothered keeping a set of Ericssons around in the 60s...

UNIT is in fine form here, following a brief slaughter. They continue to prove that they're not just clay pigeons, adapting to and ultimately repelling the Sontaran attack force with the help of the Valiant in a brilliant display of military might. The Valiant seems to be equipped with a miniature version of Torchwood's Death Star laser, which I was wondering if they'd use again (the original must have been lost along with Torchwood-1 at the Battle of Canary Wharf). I want a UNIT series based on the Valiant, roaming around, righting the world's extraterrestrial wrongs, dammit!

I love the mention of "Sir" Allistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who is still around and revered by his followers despite being long-retired. Still, I'm with the camp that would hate to see him again. To me I'd like to keep him the trim and fit leader who kept UNIT going in the 70s (or was it the 80s?) and who got his last kick at the can saving the world in "Battlefield". The fewer ties to continuity, the better off the new series is, IMO.

Mark

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Harry
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Apart from the rather odd scenes of people cheering at their burning atmosphere, it was a very entertaining 45 minutes.

I liked UNIT thinking for itself with the Valiant, and that brief scene of the Captain (?) kissing Mace was a fun little character moment. I hope they will be recurring characters to some degree.

Now, next week's trailer looked very intrigueing. But I cannot fully believe she will simply be his daughter. This is such a big reveal, why would RTD be so upfront about it? There must be a twist somewhere, right? It's just a bit too obvious, I think.

But then again, the end of this episode was very very similar to the various "Gallifreyan summons" scenes in the classic series, so it may indeed point at proper Time Lord (Lady). But if that's true, they'd better explain some things. How is she related to Susan, why is she on that planet, why is she so young, where did she go in the Time War, did the Doctor know she was alive?

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TSN
I'm... from Earth.
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"...why is she so young..."

You do know how Time Lords work, right?

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Lee
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The cartoon the channel changed to for a moment was the CBeebies show Tommy Zoom, about a boy-and-dog superhero team who fight an evil villain named Polluto. Who really reminds me of Tony Blair for some reason. It's not that well-known a show, unless you're a parent (I once asked my boss, also a parent, in an email "What would Tommy Zoom do?" - his response "Kill that bloody dog if it were me!").

No mention of Israel's nukes either.

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