Rate And Discuss 3.7: 42

[Jason Thompson]

I thought that wasn't too bad, really. There were a few moments when the urgency seemed to be sidelined by nice long speeches, like Martha taking forever to reassure the Doctor. Emma and I were both yeling 'just press the sodding button!' at her. Of course, had she done that she'd have managed to freeze the Doctor properly before the power got switched off....

Since you all seem to be expecting me to come in with a science rant, I'm probably going to surprise you by not really doing so. If one can accept that there is a giant spaceship crewed by humans halfway across the universe, it isn't a huge stretch to accept that there are shields that can protect the ship so long as it remains a certain distance from a star (especially since this one is apparently capable of mining stellar material), and that the countdown actually refers to the point at which the critical distance is reached and everything overloads, killing the crew and leading to the destruction of the ship. So no problem there.

The only part I did have a problem with was the attack of bad ergonomics and bad science combined in the scene where the Doctor is flailing around on the outside of the ship trying to remagnetise the pod. (I'm not even going to bother going into just how stupid it is to hide in the one part of the ship the murderer can actually jettison....). The bad ergonomics comes from having the controls to do that on the outside of the ship and not the inside, and then out of easy reach from the airlock, and the bad science comes from the buffeting the Doctor was getting. Space, even that close to a star, is near as dammit a vacuum. There isn't a great wind that would blow a person off the side of a ship, especially if he's supposed to be inside the shields (if he's outside them he's fried anyway). Why couldn't he just casually spacewalk across to the controls and then spacewalk back?

Shades of The Impossible Planet (even the spacesuits are the same, so possibly this takes place around the same time), some silly bits. How convenient that the Doctor adjusts Martha's phone immediately before she needs it randomly for some pub quiz question on which their lives depend....

Not bad, but not great. A nice slice of evening entertainment.

[Rob McCow]

Space, even that close to a star, is near as dammit a vacuum. There isn't a great wind that would blow a person off the side of a ship, especially if he's supposed to be inside the shields (if he's outside them he's fried anyway).

Perhaps both doors of the airlock were open?

I also thought that when the two people opened the door to flush themselves into space they should have just instantly turned to cinders. Perhaps I'm wrong?

I was very disappointed by the shot of Michelle Collins floating in space. It's clear to me that it wasn't filmed underwater at Pinewood Studios. How can I believe that someone is in space when their cheeks aren't puffed up like they're underwater?

Watching Confidential further upset me. Apparently they filmed them on WIRES, with a WIND MACHINE and played it back in SLOW MOTION. what they should have done is gone to the most expensive swimming pool in Europe to film it underwater.

I suppose that's just the difference between James 'Let's go to Manhattan!' Strong and Graeme 'Bring it in under budget' Harper.

[Dave Lewis]

I liked it - not the best of the series, but vastly better than Smith and Jones and that other one I thought was rubbish. Lots of influences openly on show... Alien, Alien 3, Event Horizon, Impossible Planet, End Of The World, but the most glaringly obvious thing to me was that the costume designer must have played with Action Force figures as a child.

This would have got a better score than eight, but what's the point in getting rid of one deus ex machina in the sonic screwdriver (albeit temporarily) then giving Martha another one with her Rose-ified mobile phone? Can't stand Martha's mum, either... wizened old hag.



By the way, Lawrence Miles article is very like Interference... crap at the beginning, gets really good in the middle, but ultimately goes on for so long that you've forgotten what the point was in the first place. Didn't he shag that fan who got her boobs out on OG?

[Dirk Gently]

Can't stand Martha's mum, either... wizened old hag.

My sentiments exactly!

[Paul Monk]

Open door, open door, ring mum, open door, get stuck in escape pod, get rescued, try to save Doctor, get key!

It's Dr Who the Text Adventure!

[Paul Monk]

Martha's Mum is EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Martha never returns her calls.

[Si Hunt]

I think it was a great idea to make Martha's mum unlikeable (dammit, what IS her name?). No-one was ever going to replace Jackie Tyler in our affections, so something new was definately required.

Si.

[Paul Monk]

I agree. Its great to be able to boo her.

[Andrew Curnow]

I think we can see why Martha's dad left...

[Simon R]

Does anyone else think that Martha's mum looks a little bit like...



Facially at least.

It's a shame Elize Du Twat wasn't in it more.

[Paul Monk]

She does too!

[Wayne]

Me & my sister liked it!

I've given it 8/10. (As far as i can tell from that silly McCow-esque poll)

[Dave Tudor]

Never say that I'm behind the times...

After a couple of of weeks of episodes which I rated 7, the thrilling '42' gets an 8 from me - although it was certainly not an episode without its flaws. The biggest of these was the 'real time' concept, which, if truth be told, was a bit of a con - for a start, I noted a jump of about ten minutes in the opening, and I don't really think some of the events which occurred (e.g Martha and Riley returning to the ship in about a minute!) could have realistically happened in the time given. Then again, there were lots of things which were probably not very accurate, but they didn't really get in the way of the story too much. But, it has to be said, the real time experiment was a brave one which ultimately was not entirely successful.

Despite this, Chris Chibnall's script was a strong, tightly written one, made all the more exciting by Graeme Harper's typically assured direction, ensuring that this was one of the slickest, fastest episodes yet. Add to this some quite fantastic effects, and terrifying images, and '42' was surely one of the most visually stunning episodes of this most visually impressive of series.

Although no single guest performer particularly stood out from the rest, William Ash, Anthony Flanagan and Michelle Collins (perhaps a little miscast, but still a strong performance) were nevertheless a fine ensemble. Unfortunately some of the other crewmembers, turned in some of the weakest acting yet seen in the new series. However, David Tennant gave another towering, heroic performance, while likewise, this was one of Freema Agyeman's and, indeed, Martha's episodes yet.

Boasting some brilliant direction, intriguing hints as to forthcoming events, and some of the most exciting scenes of the new series, '42' is possibly a case of style winning out over substance, and, indeed, it is probably not an episode which would stand up to repeated viewings. However, on its first outing, '42' maintains the high quality of series three with ease.