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I quite enjoyed this episode as it went. All the guest characters were likeable and the Pting was cute and it was all quite fun and light-hearted. But looking back on it, there really wasn't very much there, was there?
Having looked at a few reviews since this second viewing (mainly because by the time I could be bothered to write a reaction post I'd forgotten what had happened!) I very much agree with what seems to be the general reaction: it was boring, forgettable, and full of unnecessary, dull exposition.
There was no pacing so no real sense of tension – see for example Yaz and Ryan stopping in the corridor to talk about Ryan's parental issues when time was supposed to be of essence. There was the Doctor's injury, but that never seemed to be actually important and then disappeared altogether. The Pting was made out to be incredibly deadly and impossible to deal with, and yet still somehow I felt no real sense of urgency! This is pretty bad writing, when you think about it.
All the guest characters were quite interesting and engaging, I thought – I liked Mabli and the doctor who got killed off in, presumably, an attempt to inject some sense of tension. I liked baby guy, but his plot seemed completely unconnected to anything else and purely there to give Graham and Ryan something to do and to focus on Ryan's dad issues. The general, her brother and her android were also quite interesting (and she was pretty cool) but it was completely obvious she was going to sacrifice herself to get them home. No plot twist anywhere. Nothing exciting. Nothing unexpected.
And unfortunately, all the guest characters were far more interesting than the actual TARDIS crew, including the Doctor. Still waiting for her to develop a character. Very strange writing.
I did think giving the Pting a bomb to eat was quite neat.
Having looked at a few reviews since this second viewing (mainly because by the time I could be bothered to write a reaction post I'd forgotten what had happened!) I very much agree with what seems to be the general reaction: it was boring, forgettable, and full of unnecessary, dull exposition.
There was no pacing so no real sense of tension – see for example Yaz and Ryan stopping in the corridor to talk about Ryan's parental issues when time was supposed to be of essence. There was the Doctor's injury, but that never seemed to be actually important and then disappeared altogether. The Pting was made out to be incredibly deadly and impossible to deal with, and yet still somehow I felt no real sense of urgency! This is pretty bad writing, when you think about it.
All the guest characters were quite interesting and engaging, I thought – I liked Mabli and the doctor who got killed off in, presumably, an attempt to inject some sense of tension. I liked baby guy, but his plot seemed completely unconnected to anything else and purely there to give Graham and Ryan something to do and to focus on Ryan's dad issues. The general, her brother and her android were also quite interesting (and she was pretty cool) but it was completely obvious she was going to sacrifice herself to get them home. No plot twist anywhere. Nothing exciting. Nothing unexpected.
And unfortunately, all the guest characters were far more interesting than the actual TARDIS crew, including the Doctor. Still waiting for her to develop a character. Very strange writing.
I did think giving the Pting a bomb to eat was quite neat.