Voyage of the Damned
- Episode aired Apr 18, 2008
- TV-PG
- 1h 11m
When disaster hits the Titanic, the Doctor uncovers a threat to the whole human race. Battling alongside aliens, saboteurs, robot Angels and a new friend called Astrid, can he stop the Chris... Read allWhen disaster hits the Titanic, the Doctor uncovers a threat to the whole human race. Battling alongside aliens, saboteurs, robot Angels and a new friend called Astrid, can he stop the Christmas inferno?When disaster hits the Titanic, the Doctor uncovers a threat to the whole human race. Battling alongside aliens, saboteurs, robot Angels and a new friend called Astrid, can he stop the Christmas inferno?
- Aliens
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- Russell T. Davies(showrunner)
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMurray Gold (composer) and Ben Foster (conductor) appear respectively as a pianist and a guitarist in the band in the ballroom scene.
- GoofsWhen Mr. Copper is talking about how what they're doing could get them ten years in jail, the cut on his forehead changes sides.
- Quotes
The Doctor: Right then, follow me.
Rickston Slade: Hang on a minute. Who put you in charge, and who the hell are you anyway?
The Doctor: I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the Constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who is gonna save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?
Rickston Slade: No.
The Doctor: In that case, allons-y.
- ConnectionsEdited into Doctor Who: Turn Left (2008)
For the past few years the new Christmas fixture for the BBC has been Doctor Who. Understandably given the loss of Wallace & Gromit and the fact that everyone has seen the "big" film on DVD, cinema, download and Sky by the time it washes up on terrestrial this days. Anyway, this is one of those things that really should be seen in the context of the holidays, where we are all bloated and sitting around television and just looking for something to feed our eyes without really taxing. For that reason it seems unfair to critique the Doctor Who special in any way that goes beyond explosions and excitement; it may seen unfair but of course I cannot help doing it.
In regards spectacle though the special is quite entertaining with plenty of good effects and big moments but it is the substance that I felt let it down. The plot is very much The Poseidon Adventure in space and this tends to be the focus and the idea of corporate greed destroying life is not used as well as I think it wanted to. Outside of this we get some solid excitement in the action scenes but the emulation of the 1970's disaster movie is carried through too much. You see in those, any group of survivors will die off one by one after we have gotten to know a little about them and, where this is done over two or so hours then it maybe doesn't overwhelm. However with this we have the same thing happening but in a very short period of time. So we get death after heroic death and it does get a bit tiresome after a while as it becomes meaningless. I know that the nature of the special requires spectacle rather than reflection but it is worth noting that the episodes that are considered best from season three did not rely on spectacle and big effects but rather story or simple thrills. Here it is all quite exciting but the lack of real meat is a problem.
The cast are all reasonably good though. Of course Tennant dominates and I genuinely wonder how they will manage to fill his shoes when he eventually does stand down from the role. Kyle can't act and doesn't bring much wonder to the role; the female companion bright-eyed with wonder is not a new act but both Piper and Agyeman did it much better than her she just seems to bring her name to the role, although in fairness the script gives her little. The support cast are mostly quite unmemorable but I did like Palmer as the captain, Swift and Vee as the small alien.
Overall then a special episode in the series that delivers what the majority of Christmas viewers would have expected in a big story with lots of action. The disaster movie genre elements feel rushed and tiresome though and I would have liked less action if more substance had been delivered.
- bob the moo
- Mar 2, 2008
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- Runtime1 hour 11 minutes
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