Random thoughts on Doctor Who - The Curse of the Black Spot

[vindaloo_vixen]

I liked this more than I expected to, actually...



'And when I say, "give me five," you put your palm here.'

• Incidentally, this is another episode with a short prelude available on iTunes (and possibly YouTube).
• This episode, the first half especially, had some genuinely good and genuinely scary concepts in it. That these guys were (so far as they knew) doomed as soon as they had a decent bruise or cut, making anyone who had so much as a nasty fall a dead man walking. And that made Amy with the sword a proper threat to them. Oh yes, it'd be unlikely she could beat any of them in a straight swordfight, but when she's ignorantly waving her sword around and they're terrified of getting so much as a scratch...
• OK. Yes. Real storm effects. Nice.
• The boatswain was Kenny off Press Gang and I didn't notice!
• At first changing your whole skin colour with your mood seems cool, but the novelty would wear off fast. It'd be a dead giveaway how bored your were if you were politely sitting through badly-taken holiday slides.
• OK, back to Amy's intermittent baby. I guess they just had to remind us they hadn't forgotten, but it's the same question, no answers. Of course, the answers are pretty much limited to 'pregnant' and 'not pregnant', so maybe it's hard to build on.
• How this ties into One-Eyed Frances, if at all, I have no idea.
• The Siren's practice makes sense - can spot an injury, knows to take an injured patient, doesn't know enough about humans to know how to fix them so she puts them on hold. She is going about it in a very elaborate way, though. Still, her programmer's probably lying around somewhere covered in cobwebs, so she's doing the best she can.
• 'A ship's a ship' bit? Cute.
• I thought the sonic screwdriver didn't do wood these days? The Doctor's been tinkering. Probably needs a hobby to get himself out of the Ponds' way now and then.
• Minor note, but I'm so glad we can see the doors and stairs leading into the rest of the TARDIS these days. Even though the old control room had a way out, we could never see it, so it looked like anyone who left for another room just went to stand in the corner.
• I'll confess, even if I didn't know the writer of next week's episode, I would have ended up more interested in looking to next week than looking at this. But then, that's what trailers are for, really, isn't it?

Incidentally, if you like the idea of the Doctor hanging out with pirates, look up Big Finish Productions' Doctor Who and the Pirates. Not only Our Favourite Time Lord and those who fly the Jolly Roger, but lots of fun Gilbert and Sullivan business.