Doctor Who: Thoughts on "Midnight" and its relation to "Turn Left"
Spoilers for "Midnight" and "Turn Left". So those of you watching your Doctor Who on the Sci Fi Channel can click the cut in three weeks or so, okay?
"Midnight" has got some discussion over on Feminist SF - The Blog on the issues of race and gender and sexual orientation. Which, after reading it, made me not like this episode more. Or maybe helped me realize some of what was wrong with it.
So "Midnight" is a mediocre to bad episode of Doctor Who, but in defense of it I just wanted to point out some possibilities:
* "Midnight" was Doctor-heavy and Donna-light, which makes a good balance with "Turn Left", the episode that came after it. That episode was the reverse.
* "Midnight" was undoubtedly cheaper and easier to do as far as sets, costumes, and makeup. There were perhaps 3 sets, and I imagine two of them were filled in a lot with backdrops, with the third being pretty much a fancy airplane set. The costumes could've been pulled off a rack, they looked quite 2008 contemporary to my eyes. Everyone was human, and looked human even when possessed, so no fancy makeup. There wasn't too much in the way of special effects either.
All this would allow more time, money, and other energy to be diverted into "Turn Left" and presumably the episodes that follow.
"Midnight" by itself is not all that great, but I think it has its place in being a low-key 'breather' before the big three-part finale.
Spoilers for Season 4 up until and including "Turn Left" are okay in the comments. Please don't include spoilers for the episodes after that. Or I'll sic Ianto on you.
"Midnight" has got some discussion over on Feminist SF - The Blog on the issues of race and gender and sexual orientation. Which, after reading it, made me not like this episode more. Or maybe helped me realize some of what was wrong with it.
So "Midnight" is a mediocre to bad episode of Doctor Who, but in defense of it I just wanted to point out some possibilities:
* "Midnight" was Doctor-heavy and Donna-light, which makes a good balance with "Turn Left", the episode that came after it. That episode was the reverse.
* "Midnight" was undoubtedly cheaper and easier to do as far as sets, costumes, and makeup. There were perhaps 3 sets, and I imagine two of them were filled in a lot with backdrops, with the third being pretty much a fancy airplane set. The costumes could've been pulled off a rack, they looked quite 2008 contemporary to my eyes. Everyone was human, and looked human even when possessed, so no fancy makeup. There wasn't too much in the way of special effects either.
All this would allow more time, money, and other energy to be diverted into "Turn Left" and presumably the episodes that follow.
"Midnight" by itself is not all that great, but I think it has its place in being a low-key 'breather' before the big three-part finale.
Spoilers for Season 4 up until and including "Turn Left" are okay in the comments. Please don't include spoilers for the episodes after that. Or I'll sic Ianto on you.