Vampires of Venice reaction post

[dbskyler]

Hmmm. Well, it wasn't bad, but it's definitely not one of my favorites. It was just kind of there. I don't know, I might warm more to it after I've re-watched it, or seen more of S5.

I didn't quite get the logic of a few things. Since I haven't had the chance yet to go hunting through old reaction posts, can anyone enlighten me on the following?

-- Why were all of the Signora's children male? Was that explained and I just missed it? If you're going to save your race, and you need both males and females to procreate, you might want to bring along some of each (just a suggestion). Or did she just bring her own family, and she happened to have 10,000 sons and not a single daughter?

-- How exactly was fish-from-space species destroyed at the end? The Signora just jumped into the water, and presumably she can swim. Didn't the Doctor leave 16th century Venice with 10,001 aliens swimming around its canals? Or again, did I miss something?

By the way, this episode had a "Casanova" joke, and Victory of the Daleks had a "Paisley boy" joke . . . why do I suspect these episodes were written back when they still thought David might be continuing on as the Doctor?

Comments

[primsong.livejournal.com]

From the commentary when they sent the other unfortunate girl into the water, the fish-boys are apparently dumb enough they won't recognize one of their own if it looks like a person...hence she was committing suicide by being eaten by her own, which it kinda icky. That leaves all the creepy fish-boys to presumably die out of natural causes as they can't reproduce, though one must wonder what their life-span is and hope it is short. :-P To me it appeared (as many Nu-who eps do) like they had to chop and rush it - it would have been much better if they could have run it over a 2-3 part story arc (or maybe more, if the dad/daughter were developed further)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. That went right by me, which is a shame since it's a fairly important plot point! Thanks. And yes, kind of icky. And rushed.

[shadowturquoise.livejournal.com]

While they were sitting at the table trying to figure out how to get inside, the Doctor theorized that the Signora had left Saturnine with a full compliment of male and female children, but only the males survived the trip. Why the females didn't survive is not told.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I had to go searching for it, but you're right, there is a line -- "Only the male offspring survived the journey here." I completely missed that, I think maybe because Matt says it quickly and off-handedly (and in a British accent, which yes, I do sometimes have trouble understanding the first time through).

Thanks for the help! I still wish it hadn't been a case of explanation-by-throwaway-line, though, given that it was central to the plot.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Logic? You want logic? This is Doctor Who, not Star Trek!

:D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yes, if only Doctor Who plots could rise to the level of "Spock's Brain" . . . ; )

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Is that an episode? (I've not really seen any ST:ToS.)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yep, it is. Spock's brain gets stolen out of his body, and McCoy operates him via remote control as they go on a mission to try to get the brain back. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds; truly horrible. One famous quote: "Brain and brain! What is brain?" It makes most people's "worst episode" lists for Star Trek.

Doctor Who plots are, of course, far, far better than it.

Well, maybe not "End of Time, part 1." ; )

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Bwuh?!?! I don't even...

Oh dear gods above! O_O


(The only thing The End of Time is better than is Love and Monsters!)

[tempestas-inu.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, I liked the episode for the funny bits, there were alot of good ones. The CAAAAAAKKKEEE.

This episode also made me like Rory alot.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I agree, there were some very enjoyable moments in it. And Rory was indeed awesome.

[tempestas-inu.livejournal.com]

Rory got in some good lines and moments. His banter with the Doctor was hilarious.

Also..... a bit random but I just wanted to say this.... I was kinda half rolling my eyes and half stifling a giggle when this set of lines were spouted from the Doctor's mouth;

"The life out there, it dazzles. It blinds you to the things that are important. I’ve seen it devour relationships and plans. Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory, and then go back... It will tear you apart"

Because he was essentially paraphrasing what Sarah Jane made aware to him. I just found it amusing for him to say it so confidently like he's careful about that happening when just a few years ago (in our time anyway) he was spluttering confusedly when confronted with the fact directly. Granted both episodes were written by Toby Whitehouse, but still.