User Reviews

Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest starts as the TARDIS arrives on the warship of the evil Baltazar (Anthony Head) just as he intends to turn every living creature on Earth into diamonds by enveloping the entire planet in a field of plasma fire, the Doctor (David Tennant) manages to stop Baltazar with a spoon. Afterwards Baltazar's huge mechanical bird named Caw (Toby Longworth) hijacks the TARDIS in space & takes it to his home planet where it tells the Doctor & Martha (Frrema Agyeman) about Baltazar's new plan to find the legendary spaceship Infinite which has the power to grant whatever one desires, fearing that if Baltazar finds the Infinite he will use it's powers for evil the Doctor & Martha set out to find it first & stop Baltazar...

The second official Doctor Who animated feature after Scream of the Shalka (2003) The Infinite Quest was originally broadcast split into twelve weekly parts of three & a half minutes each on the show Totally Doctor Who (since the new series is such a success the BBC really is milking it for all it's worth with the Doctor Who Confidential series as well as the spin-off's like Torchwood & The Sarah Jane Adventures) with the last instalment part of a entire compilation repeat that when all put together runs to the length of a normal Doctor Who episode, it has also subsequently been released on DVD over here in the UK as a complete story. I like Doctor Who as a series, I liked the old series & I like the new series & despite this probably being aimed at children I really liked The Infinite Quest. The story isn't anything overly special but at the same time is not much worse than anything from it's live-action counterpart old or new & I think one could even argue it's better than some, I'm not looking at you Timelash (1985) or then again maybe I am... The character's are fine although most don't stay around for long, the Doctor & Martha are both well represented here with several references to the live-action series including Martha's continued admiration with the Doctor & overall it's jolly good fun that I enjoyed over it 45 minute duration. Probably more than I should have.

The one aspect that stands out on The Infinite Quest is that without the budget restrictions for a live-action show they have given this a much grander scale, from alien planets with three suns on the horizon to snowy landscapes to underground prisons to jungle worlds to huge derelict ships floating in space. There are locations here that the live-action series could only dream about. The cast of character's is also more varied from huge Mantasphid Queen bugs to slinky stylish robots to huge mechanical birds to lizard-men to an entire futuristic pirate crew who are nothing but skeleton's to Baltazar with his shutter blind like eye-protectors & tubes of green bubbling liquid attached to his mask. It looks as if the animation was done entirely on computer but in such a way it resembles traditional hand drawn animation, I though the Doctor & Martha looked great & are instantly recognisable & all the other assorted character's & aliens are very memorable. There are some really nice computer effects as well, from huge swarms of glowing green bugs to a constant snowstorm to huge multi-legged oil rig robots firing laser beams & asteroid belts it seems like a lot of time & effort went into the look of The Infinite Quest. Bottom line is it looks fantastic with a cool Japanese Anime feel to it & it does things & goes places the live-action series can only dream of. It's nice to actually have Tennant & Agyeman provide the voices for their character's as well.

The Infinite Quest was undoubtedly aimed squarely at children but look at all the Disney & Pixar films which are animated & aimed at children but are enjoyed by all, if you like the series then I'd recommend it but if your a stuffy adult who maybe isn't interested in 'children's cartoons' then The Infinite Quest probably isn't for you. I liked it though & thought it was a fun way to pass three quarters of an hour, if you don't agree then sue me.

While obviously not quite the same as a usual Doctor Who episode I think this was a very good addition to the Whoverse as a whole, I feel this was definitely aimed towards the younger side of the Doctor Who fanbase but that doesn't mean it wasn't good, for it was, very good indeed. I wonder how it would have played out as an actual episode?!

The Infinite Quest is something of an oddity, isn't it? Originally produced as a series of three and a half minute episodes for the now defunct Totally Doctor Who series, it was to be one of two animated stories produced during the David Tennant era and boasts not just the then current Doctor and companion in its cast but also Anthony Stewart Head as well. So what are we to make of The Infinite Quest?

Well for one thing, it certainly isn't "infinite", quite the opposite in fact. Perhaps it's important to remember format it was done in (thirteen three and a half minute episodes) because that isn't how it is on the DVD. The DVD version is instead an omnibus edition that takes the separate episodes and puts them together into a single forty-five minute story. Why is that a problem? The problem is that it feels incredibly rushed throughout. It simply never stays in place long enough to flesh anything out, be it the characters or the actual locations themselves. Take the planet with the oil pirates for example. It's a fascinating idea that, given the world in which we live in, is a seemingly perfect idea for a Doctor Who story. We're rushed through it though in such a hurry that we barely register it or the characters that inhabit it for that matter. There's no tension, just a fast pace that leaves you wondering if you've missed something somewhere.

What this honestly feels like is what would if say The Keys Of Marinus or the Key To Time season (both from the old series) were crammed into a single 45 minute episode of the New Series. In fact, that analogy can be taken further. Like Keys Of Marinus, the story is changing locations what seems to be every new episode. Plus, like the Key To Time season, we see the Doctor and Martha on a quest throughout time and space featuring a new villain(s) while also trying to stay ahead of a bigger foe. It's an old series quest story as if remade for someone with a short attention span and it's a mess.

What does this have going for it? Well the animation is good though given its only competition in the Doctor Who world is the various web-casts which were limited by early 2000s internet connections and the other animated tenth Doctor story Dreamland, that perhaps isn't saying very much. The voice work is good as well with Tennant giving what was pretty much his standard performance as the Doctor while Freema Agyeman's line readings give the impression she was simply reading off pages of a script out loud. Much more memorable are Anthony Stewart Head as the villain and one time Big finish stalwart Toby Longworth as a couple of "robot parrots". None of that though can really salvage it from its biggest faults though.

How are we to judge "The Infinite Quest" then? The actual story itself is weak, the animation is good and the performances vary. Maybe it worked better as separate episodes but, as it stands, it feels like a rushed mess.

The Tenth Doctor and Martha must find the legendary lost starship, the Infinite, before the evil Baltazar, scourge of the Galaxy, gets it.

I didn't enjoy this one. The animation didn't age well. It was 2007 back then. Not all animation were good. It feels like there is no plot. This one just felt very rushed. There were no moments like when the Doctor mentioned The Runaway Bride, the Nestenes, and especially. The Great Vampires, that had me shocked. Nobody ever talks about the Great Vampires anymore. It was worth a reference.

None of the side characters were either not engaging to watch, to be honest.

4/10, waste of my time since I couldn't find Dreamland anywhere on the internet, so I instead watched this.