Watching Doctor Who

This is the Reaction Post for Doctor Who series 4, episode 5: The Poison Sky. It was the second half of our first two-parter of the year. What did you think?

Apropos of nothing, I made crumpets this week for the very first time. I just had to share with the world. I know. I used the kitchen. Don’t faint.

Back on topic, come and discuss this episode with me beyond the spoiler barrier. You know you want to read my disjointed thoughts on the subject.

I’m sure that at the end of the previous episode we were all thinking it. If the ruddy car is deadlocked, just smash a window! So, let’s hear it for Sylvia Noble. Huzzah! Just a note to the Universe - don’t mess with Sylvia’s dad. I loved Donna’s response to the smashing of the window, “We had an ax?”

Good on Ross for finding an old car somewhere. (May I just mention here that I am *so* upset that he died? Well…I am.) At least poor Ross managed to get the message to the Doctor about the weapons. The Doctor and Colonel Mace had a few words in this episode. Not the least of which was “Are you my Mummy?” I almost fell off of my chair laughing. The Doctor thought the same thing that we did! Anyway, it ended up working out both ways. Once the Valiant showed up (designed by an evil genius Time Lord, so of course it will come in handy for helping with alien incursions) and UNIT had the weapons that would work, well…the Brigadier would have been so happy to see an alien menace stopped with bullets.

The Doctor *really* doesn’t like guns, does he? He just pulled the pistol out of Luke’s hands without stopping and tossed it aside. Years back they didn’t seem to bother him quite that much. I wonder if this is more Time War fallout.

Did you see the Rose on the TARDIS monitor? All three or four frames of her? It looked to me like she was saying “Doctor.” (Yes, I can read lips, but only when I’m not trying too.) Poor Donna in the TARDIS up on the Sontaran ship. She did a great job for being so scared. Yay for Donna and yay for the mallet. Did it end up back on the TARDIS, or does the Doctor have another one? I’ll have to keep an eye out during upcoming episodes. Also, I know that The Doctor got a really good grade in Jiggery-pokery, but I’ll bet that he also did really well in Teleports. He’s quite good at them, isn’t he?

I love how the Doctor detected Bizarro Martha. Several logical things…oh, and she smells. This is the sort of thing that having a superior sense of smell really helps with. It just worked out that he didn’t want the Earth to do a nuclear strike, and she was stopping said strike…so he let her be for the moment. It’s obvious that he does really care about Martha, though. Look at the care he took in getting her up. He even gave her his coat to wear. So, did he get her that UNIT job or not? Will we ever find out?

Poor Luke. He was lied to and everyone laughed at him. You have to wonder what his life was like previous to this. But the Doctor’s influence got to even him. He saved The Doctor from having to push another button in quite the clever fashion. Luke saved the world that he disliked so. He won.

Donna’s Grandpa seems to be living vicariously through her a bit. I hope that he gets to go on the TARDIS someday.

Well, there are my scattered thoughts. What did you think of the episode?

Reaction Post, Doctor Who, The Poison Sky