Stueymon

yes if all sweatshops were abolished then we'd be removing income from millions, but if sweatshops were unionised or had better representation then they could be making much better income, and the only loss of money would be made by corporations.

Stueymon

It was actually no point at all. Sweatshops (which are the only thing he could possibly be referring to) are far from slavery. Slavery is something that hinders the progress of a nation, sweatshops advance progress. Every country in the world that is worth anything these days has gone through a period where they had sweatshops, and because of it was able to earn enough money and industry as a nation to become wealthy in a relative sense.

If all sweatshops were abolished today, we would be removing the only income for millions of people in the world. It's a low amount compared to what we make, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get it. They aren't able to replace sweatshops with anything yet, and they won't be able to unless you let them have their sweatshops now.

Wupideedoo

jbq

The "bad guys" were extremely bad, they were after-all enslaving an entire alien race.

No grey area or room for interpretation.

And of course it didn't help that the Ood themselves were as boring as all get out.

Did it strike anyone else had remarkably non-advanced this "Great and Bountiful Human Empire" actually is? Thrown in a few spaceships (and of course an enslaved alien race) and it differs little from the 21st century.

No evidence of AI, no "droids", no genetic modification.

Why even place the storyline in the Fifth Millennium at all.

I'm Waitin' for Dolemite

I took that point as a comment on our obsession here in the UK with Primark d

Chompsky

@ElijahDProphet: @jbq:
As long as we don't get a return of the floaty, Jesus Doctor I'll be happy.

Although, regarding last weeks episode - James Moran did address the messiah stuff in his blog : [jamesmoran.blogspot.com]

He also answered a few other questions about the episode, making it a neat read.

@draconismoi: Those are the same reasons I love Donna. She reminds of Romana in her ability to see through the Doctors BS. That's honestly what I expected of Martha, and I was somewhat disappointed when she ended up nothing more than a door-mat. It was sad to see a strong character cut down like that.

Now we just gotta have slightly fewer shouty moments with Donna, and all will be good.

Dunny0

jbq

+ Watch video

GreyGander

But hopefully, Russell "aThiest" Davies has something interesting up his sleeve.

Lizzie24601

ElijahDProphet

and I love Donna.

fritosforlunch

Martha actually summed up her biggest flaw as a companion (IMO)at the end of the last season - when she said she spent so much time thinking she was second best to the doctor. She was a brilliant capable woman and needed some damn confidence! Which she now has. I loved her in Torchwood. I hope they keep that facet of her front and center when she comes back to Doctor Who.

draconismoi

I thought there was a lot to like about this episode, but the brains-in-hands thing was just silly. To do this story properly, they needed two episodes. Still, it was very far from bad, and too much fun to be called mediocre.

SeeingI

MrThunderfield

Spot on review. Not a terrible episode, by any means, but not as good as Fires'.

Urael

In the same way, the sonic screwdriver is only a poor plot device if you think that a locked door is inherently more interesting than whatever is behind it. Sure, you can write really interesting locked door situations, but at the same time it is hardly a missing ingredient for a great series.

Ryan H

And how are the servant/slaves supposed to convince their masters/owners to pay to ship them back to the planet of the Ood???

Skeptic

I got goosebumps from seeing that. :D

El_Bandito

I'm trying to figure out if there's a theme going on here, other than the continuous mention of the Shadow Proclamation, this is the 2nd episode in a row that is ends with a a "Doctor saved everyone (even if the Ood did 95% of the work)" feeling and a 2nd reference to remembering the Doctor (Doctor and Donna being remembered as house gods, then the line about being remembered in this episode). May just be a coinky-dink, shrug

bitgod

I am not really liking Donna near as much as Rose or Martha...but since both seems to making appearances this season, I am content :)

Cantonkid

bob_d

Cause we all know The Master ain't dead.

Dunny0

And.. that is the only time he ever snapped at her.

Nice.

aspiringexpatriate

Oh, and Sonic Screwdrivers FTW! I'm not ashamed to admit that I picked up my own, although it doesn't seem to work quite as well. I look at it as just something to keep the plot moving along. Yes, it'd be nice if he would knock something together once in a while (Timey Wimey Detector) but I'm okay with his magic wand.

And, yeah. In the original series (First Doctor) the Daleks invaded earth to enslave humanity, mine it for minerals and then install a giant engine at the core to make it a super weapon, Death Star style. The Doctor stopped them before they could install the engine, but still.

Maybe that's what's happening with the missing planets this season: Dalek Cann doing some DIY planet remodeling?

Dunny0

superdewa

And no silly, the devil is buried in Cardiff now. Or something. He had a deadly shadow that was much less cool than that guy on the X-Files that one time whose shadow made people spontaneously combust. Though I'd kinda like to see Captain Jack wake up from spontaneous combustion...

Lizzie24601

Also, I don't really understand why everyone complains about the sonic screwdriver. Would you really rather we had to watch the Doctor find new and interesting ways to escape from a locked room? I'm perfectly happy to let him solve all sorts of problems with a quick buzzing sound so that we can keep the focus on the actual story and not on the door-unlocking, phone-reception-getting, barbed-wire-reattaching issues.

Lizzie24601

Great and Bountiful sounds almost happy, I thought. Although that *could* be propaganda.

I'm wondering if the First G&BHE came after the first Dalek invasion of Earth... Which probably didn't happen after the Time War.

I still want to know how that Giant Brain came to being. I honestly thought that, somehow, the Devil was being kept in that warehouse. Like he'd been pulled out of the blackhole...

Dunny0

I thought the Fires of Pompeii did a really nice job of explaining that the Doctor/Timelords see things as either in flux or fixed and it is their job to keep things in line.

All in all, really enjoying this season much more than I thought I would when I found out Donna was coming back. Maybe it's that they're 'mates' and not some sort of unrequited love thing, but I am really enjoying it.

ComicDork

So who exactly decided that The Nth Great & Bountiful Human Empire was a proper name for humanity? Sounds like something an evil overlord would establish, you know? And... what's the *first* great and bountiful human empire? I sure hope it ain't now...

Lizzie24601

TheRealVeon

Spacehamster

I like the parts of this episode better than the whole, but it was a fun hour.

I love the Doctor/Donna relationship--the actors clearly enjoy working together which works well for their "mate" relationship onscreen.

And it was good to see Lord Percy ;)

JennaW

[www.dunny0.net]
We all forgot to grouse about the "Random Explosion" scene. It felt rather... Gratuitous.

@nospamsam: Yeah, she is. I've always thought that was part of the reason why it's temperamental - the TARDIS goes where it thinks the Doctor can do the most good when left to it's own devices. Or even when it's not.

@Charlie Jane Anders: You darn well better... Or I'll demand a refund! ;)

@IntoAshes: Now I don't feel so bad.

@aspiringexpatriate: He never yelled at Martha because he just didn't care. :p
Actually, now that you mention it... Did Martha ever do anything particularly stupid?

Dunny0

lever2k

I liked the 'I want to go home' line because it's the most common response for us to look the other way, run away, or deny atrocious behavior.

You forgot to mention the rehash of the "Why did you say Miss do I look single to you?" line.

I also found the explanation of the evolution of the Ood shaky as well as the conversion of the evil businessman into one of them. I liked the idea but it offers no explantion as to how they breed or what kind of society they would have had if left alone.

I wouldn't say I was underwhelmed. The story could have been a bit tighter, but that's what I expect from the show.

The whole warehouse chase and scene seemed to be crafted to fill space just so you could see there were oodles of Ood in shipping containers ready to overwhelm the employees. And did anyone else think the security force was a bit large and overarmed for a corporation?

I think it contained the right balance of darkness and fantasy that makes me watch Doctor Who each week.

psych0fred

@Aethyr: agreed

nospamsam

And this was the first time in the new series where the humans were the bad guys, knowingly and officially. Quite a nice move.

And I like the "I want to go home" line. It at the very least differentiates Donna...

Though Martha next week! yay!

See, I noticed over the weekend, that while the doctor yelled at Rose for being an idiot from time to time, and yells at Donna a lot of the time, he never yelled at Martha for being stupid or small-minded.

If you can't tell, I like Martha, esp Martha post Year that never happened.

aspiringexpatriate

IntoAshes

CargoCult

Charlie Jane Anders

Ryan H

I mean, have you seen those tentacles? ;)

Aethyr

Dunny0

bitgod

Dunny0

So, they might not have meant that The Doctors song was nearing an end, but the song of The Doctor and Donna.

At least that's how I took it.

Remember, too, that this was the "Second Great and Bountiful" human empire - we know it's bound to fall at some point, since we've seen the 4th (and did we see a fifth, I don't remember) Great and Bountiful etc. Perhaps this, right here, is what caused it to collapse. I'd like to think so, that the fall out from saving the Ood was the collapse of the empire.

Also, they brought up the missing bees again. Hmmm?

The Giant Space Brain? How did *that* evolve? I can almost - almost - accept a race that evolve an external secondary brain. It almost makes a bit of sense that the ones who "loose" it would go rogue, become a more aggressive strain of Ood that would protect the "weaker" ones with the intact secondary brain. But the Giant Space Brain that tie them all together?

No. Just, no.

Dunny0

Photons

I upchucked a bit when the evilguy-turned-Ood vomited out his brain.

Aethyr

IntoAshes