Season four starts in earnest with the return of Donna Noble, in an episode that, for me, was a bit comedy heavy, with some terrible CGI and secretive return of another former companion.
Unable to return to civilian life following her adventure with The Doctor (David Tennant), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is investigating mysterious anomalies, hoping that it will provide a route back to her friend. She begins investigating Adipose Industries, a company offering weight loss pills but with a much more sinister motive. Fortunately for her, The Doctor is also interested in the inner workings of the company and it's not long before they return to a familiar routine.
Though I'm not always wild about the way that Catherine Tate plays her, I do like the dynamic of Donna with this Doctor. It shouldn't always be an unrequited love affair and having done that twice, it was time for a change. Her extended family are welcome additions too with Jacqueline King playing her mother and the great Bernard Cribbins stepping back in to replace an unfortunately ailing Howard Attfield and repurposing the character we'd seen in the Christmas special. This episode also has a small role for Jessica Gunning and casts Sarah Lancashire as the villain, riffing on the slightly dominatrixy super nanny vibe.
Whilst I want my episodes of "Doctor Who" to be funny, I felt like this one crossed the line a little too often and too far for my taste. The "a mate/to mate" line didn't really work, neither did the Wily-E-Coyote moment at the episode's resolution. The CGI on the Adipose wasn't up to scratch, nor in the window washing platform sequence and the bit of business with the twisting of the capsules didn't make much logical sense to the plot. I liked the early seeding of the season plot though, that was something that Davies' era always got right.
It's not awful, but it's a relatively unremarkable start to season four.
Unable to return to civilian life following her adventure with The Doctor (David Tennant), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is investigating mysterious anomalies, hoping that it will provide a route back to her friend. She begins investigating Adipose Industries, a company offering weight loss pills but with a much more sinister motive. Fortunately for her, The Doctor is also interested in the inner workings of the company and it's not long before they return to a familiar routine.
Though I'm not always wild about the way that Catherine Tate plays her, I do like the dynamic of Donna with this Doctor. It shouldn't always be an unrequited love affair and having done that twice, it was time for a change. Her extended family are welcome additions too with Jacqueline King playing her mother and the great Bernard Cribbins stepping back in to replace an unfortunately ailing Howard Attfield and repurposing the character we'd seen in the Christmas special. This episode also has a small role for Jessica Gunning and casts Sarah Lancashire as the villain, riffing on the slightly dominatrixy super nanny vibe.
Whilst I want my episodes of "Doctor Who" to be funny, I felt like this one crossed the line a little too often and too far for my taste. The "a mate/to mate" line didn't really work, neither did the Wily-E-Coyote moment at the episode's resolution. The CGI on the Adipose wasn't up to scratch, nor in the window washing platform sequence and the bit of business with the twisting of the capsules didn't make much logical sense to the plot. I liked the early seeding of the season plot though, that was something that Davies' era always got right.
It's not awful, but it's a relatively unremarkable start to season four.