Doctor Who Episodes

Maybe I'm spoiled with Moffats great episodes, where the intrigue is clever and solid, but Steve Thompsons The Curse of the Black Spot made me question why I was watching Doctor Who at all (so naturally I come to 4chan to whine, because I know that you all care very much). It was clear that it was a filler episode even before Wikipedia confirmed it (as it was previous scheduled as the ninth episode, but later easily moved) but very sloppily(?) done.

There was nothing wrong with the basic premise, but the line is crossed when the Doctor "invents" that parallell universes can be linked through reflective surfaces. I'm not a nerd boy expecting everything to be canon, but this was handwaving a solution: "X can be a portal to alien spaceships sometimes."

The Doctor previously mentioned that the myth about sirens was persistent for a valid reason, so this implies that derelict spaceships ROUTINELY seeks out ships at sea with reflective surfaces to project their holographic medical AIs through. The alternative is that... ...the ships somehow crashed into eachother for some reason? ...and the boy infected them with typhoid fever? This is never explained, and yet this is most likely an obvious filler that will never be referred back to or explained further.

...but all these insane things doesn't compare to the finale, where they find Rory strapped to a medical table, because he's been kept alive so that he doesn't drown. His condition is easy to cure: His lungs are filled with water. I can understand that the ship doesn't know how to cure him, but the Doctor is known for his TREMENDOUS skills with alien computers, so this is where he should point his sonic screwdriver to the ships medical bank and explain to it that fluid doesn't belong in human lungs. Alternatively they could manually resusitate his heart and lungs while he's being kept alive.

Instead we have yet another cliché lifesaving scene where Rory magically gets better once Amy has stopped breaking his ribs, all because the series wants to explain to the viewers that she loves him and that he matters. It's so cliché and horribly contrived that what this scene does, is making Rory into an annoying burden.

Night Terrors

I have come to expect flat episodes by now, but somehow this episode exceeded this expectation. The basic premise had potential, but is barely held together: If you have a house where everything scary is put, how come there was nothing but zombie dolls in it? The kid wasn't even afraid of zombie dolls, and they're never explained either. They're not even supernatural - they're invented for the sake of the episode. They're just there for the kid to somehow defeat with magical confidence.

Besides the deus ex machina dolls, another horrible thing was that the doctor decided that he didn't need any cover, and managed to convince the father (without reasonable explanation) that he is indeed a timelord, and that there are actual monsters in his sons cupboard, making the father scared as a child for what could be in there.

That the doctor wasn't even the least bit suspicious when a call from a seemingly normal, human 8 year old boy managed to reach him, would mean that he does those types of house calls all the time, which is taking the "magical fairy doctor" role too far.

Overall this episode would do better in a kids series, because this is a story not only ABOUT an 8 year old, but having enough logic to convince only an 8 year old, with a lesson that only an 8 year old needs to learn: That daddy loves you, and that you have to face the fears in the cupboard.