1)This was an OK story, I guess - a different sort of "bus under siege" story from "Midnight". Can't say as I was too overwhelmed by Lady Christina - nothing against Michelle Ryan, but the character was fairly one-dimensional.
2)Malcolm and Mogambo had their moments, bad Malcolm wasn't so especially amusing as I suspect he was meant to be.
3)I felt that the older, slightly-psychic black woman verged a bit on the stereotypical.
4)The Tritivores and the Swarm were OK, but nothing special.
5)The story of the trouble the production team had getting a London bus to Dubai was more interesting than the episode itself.
6)Some fun quotes:
- "Happy Easter!" "I remember the original." You know our Russell would of done a "Jesus was actually an alien" story if he'd of dared.
- "That's not a name, it's a psychological condition."
- "What was your favorite - The Giant Robot?" Yeah, it was much better than this story.
- "He will knock four times." ...On the ceiling if he waaaa-aaants you!
- "I'll just step inside this police box and arrest myself."
Overall:
Watchable, but nothing special. The least interesting of these last Tennant specials.
[Part of list of Doctor Who episodes here.]
Replies
That's pretty much my feeling, as well.
I made a Tony Orlando & Dawn joke not long ago to my mid-30's office buddy, and she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. {sigh}
I remember watching their show. They just don't make television like that anymore.
Thank God.
And how could you leave the gravy quote off?
Drawing a blank on that one - must have missed it, that happens sometimes.
Other trivia...the bus wasn't supposed to be so damaged. It was so when it was shipped to the filming location, the writing team had to quickly "fix" the script to explain how wrecked it was.
It was about the small things in life, "chops and gravy", being very important and able to see you through tough situations.
Both this episode and "Waters of Mars" were nominated for Hugos...Mars won.
Lady Christine gets her own audio series from Big Finish.