Russell T. Davies kicks off the fourth series and the third season for the Tenth Doctor with "Partners In Crime." As usual, this episode opens back on present day Earth, in metropolitan London no less.
The first half of the episode has two separate stories running parallel - one of Donna Noble's perspective, and one from The Doctor's perspective. The two merge into one at the point The Doctor and Donna see each other from across Ms. Foster's office, and Donna mimes her explanation of why she was there.
There were a number of things in this episode that just really turned me off. For starters, kicking off a season in downtown London where CGI aliens keep showing up was beginning to be a bit of a repetitive plotline, and Davies just didn't seem to venture very far away from the city scene. Another thing was Davies evidently must have a secret fetish for fat people, because this isn't the first
time he's included a few overweight characters in an episode. Just to recap, the Slitheen in "Aliens of London/World War Three," Margaret the Slitheen in "Boom Town," the Duke of Manhattan in "New Earth," the Abzorbaloff in "Love And Monsters," and ofcourse Marvin and Foon Van Hoff in "Voyage of the Damned." In the case of this episode, Davies decides to pull a marketing stunt and create cute, cuddly little Adipose creatures out of human fat.
Davies just didn't seem to understand that Doctor Who wasn't about the characters themselves, but the trials and tribulations they often go through. Anytime Davies penned a story focusing mainly on a particular character (in the case of this episode, Donna Noble), the plotline and the legibility of the story often suffered tremendously. I could always tell when Davies was going to be focusing more on a character by the way he titled his episodes. The title of this episode presents clear evidence that its mainly about The Doctor and Donna, and the element inserted to make the script pass for an episode of Doctor Who - the Adipose element - is secondary. Other examples are "Rose," "Father's Day," "The Runaway Bride," and "Smith And Jones."
By the end of this episode, it was obvious to me that Davies had little to no imagination when it comes to writing great science fiction, and so to compensate, he often plucks sequences, settings, sounds, and objects right out of other successful forms of science fiction. Near the end of this episode, a spaceship stolen right out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind comes flying down over London, complete with similar sound effects and beams of light shining down on the ground.
Perhaps the most bothersome thing about this episode for me was the music, which frequently sounded like it belonged in an episode of "Sex and the City" rather than Doctor Who. Especially during scenes containing Donna. However, in Murray Gold's defense, I do have to say that I did like the music that accompanied the scenes of the Doctor running through the streets while he was tracking nearby Adipose with a "Y" shaped device.
Since this would be the final season opener that Davies would write, I have to say that out of the four that he did pen, "Smith And Jones" probably has to be his best, with "New Earth" coming in second, followed by "Rose."
In this episode we learn that Wilfred Mott, who we saw selling newspapers in "Voyage of the Damned," (you know - during that pointless visit to the Earth surface?) is Donna Noble's grandfather. Donna joins the Doctor in the TARDIS, footloose and fancyfree. Ready to see what's out there, the final scene show's Donna waving goodbye to Wilfred from the TARDIS doors as it flies away.
The first half of the episode has two separate stories running parallel - one of Donna Noble's perspective, and one from The Doctor's perspective. The two merge into one at the point The Doctor and Donna see each other from across Ms. Foster's office, and Donna mimes her explanation of why she was there.
There were a number of things in this episode that just really turned me off. For starters, kicking off a season in downtown London where CGI aliens keep showing up was beginning to be a bit of a repetitive plotline, and Davies just didn't seem to venture very far away from the city scene. Another thing was Davies evidently must have a secret fetish for fat people, because this isn't the first
time he's included a few overweight characters in an episode. Just to recap, the Slitheen in "Aliens of London/World War Three," Margaret the Slitheen in "Boom Town," the Duke of Manhattan in "New Earth," the Abzorbaloff in "Love And Monsters," and ofcourse Marvin and Foon Van Hoff in "Voyage of the Damned." In the case of this episode, Davies decides to pull a marketing stunt and create cute, cuddly little Adipose creatures out of human fat.Davies just didn't seem to understand that Doctor Who wasn't about the characters themselves, but the trials and tribulations they often go through. Anytime Davies penned a story focusing mainly on a particular character (in the case of this episode, Donna Noble), the plotline and the legibility of the story often suffered tremendously. I could always tell when Davies was going to be focusing more on a character by the way he titled his episodes. The title of this episode presents clear evidence that its mainly about The Doctor and Donna, and the element inserted to make the script pass for an episode of Doctor Who - the Adipose element - is secondary. Other examples are "Rose," "Father's Day," "The Runaway Bride," and "Smith And Jones."
By the end of this episode, it was obvious to me that Davies had little to no imagination when it comes to writing great science fiction, and so to compensate, he often plucks sequences, settings, sounds, and objects right out of other successful forms of science fiction. Near the end of this episode, a spaceship stolen right out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind comes flying down over London, complete with similar sound effects and beams of light shining down on the ground.
Perhaps the most bothersome thing about this episode for me was the music, which frequently sounded like it belonged in an episode of "Sex and the City" rather than Doctor Who. Especially during scenes containing Donna. However, in Murray Gold's defense, I do have to say that I did like the music that accompanied the scenes of the Doctor running through the streets while he was tracking nearby Adipose with a "Y" shaped device.
Since this would be the final season opener that Davies would write, I have to say that out of the four that he did pen, "Smith And Jones" probably has to be his best, with "New Earth" coming in second, followed by "Rose."
In this episode we learn that Wilfred Mott, who we saw selling newspapers in "Voyage of the Damned," (you know - during that pointless visit to the Earth surface?) is Donna Noble's grandfather. Donna joins the Doctor in the TARDIS, footloose and fancyfree. Ready to see what's out there, the final scene show's Donna waving goodbye to Wilfred from the TARDIS doors as it flies away.
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