Post by Kestrel on Aug 14, 2021 2:08:51 GMT
My journey through the Six/Charlie arc continues! I can definitely see why this isn't a story arc people talk about much (which I'll expand on more when we get to Blue Forgotten Planet), but of this arc of fairly unremarkable stories, I think Patient Zero is probably the best.
The main thing that stands out to me is the setting. I think scale is something science fiction writers tend to have a very poor grasp of in general, and the problems of scale only multiply exponentially when you have both the totality of space and time to work with.I love the idea here that the Doctor has found himself in a place a time so far away (geographically and temporally) from anything he's familiar with that both the aliens he encounters and their history are completely new to him. It makes sense that even as an immortal the Doctor would still only have visited the tiniest possible fraction of the universe.
And yet: here are the Daleks.
On the face of it, their presence might seem work against the remoteness of the setting, and on another day I might well agree with that, but at the moment... I like their inclusion here. I think they work primarily because they're explicitly stated to have originated from far in the future relative to the Doctor's timestream. The implication being that these are Time War-era Daleks, and I think it makes sense for a war as utterly apocalyptic as the Time War to result in Daleks showing up in such impossibly remote places.
And, in retrospect, it might be interesting to see a Classic Doctor encounter Time War-era Time Lords, too, up to their usual nefariousness. Might be a good fit for the 7th Doctor to clue him into what happens in the future, given he's implied to be aware of the war... but I digress.
Some other things I liked:
And what I didn't like as much:
And... that's it. Overall a very solid story with some pretty interesting aliens, in a refreshingly unique setting. I really enjoyed this one, but how about you? Have y'all given this one recently, or remember it well enough to comment on it? What did you think of it?
The main thing that stands out to me is the setting. I think scale is something science fiction writers tend to have a very poor grasp of in general, and the problems of scale only multiply exponentially when you have both the totality of space and time to work with.I love the idea here that the Doctor has found himself in a place a time so far away (geographically and temporally) from anything he's familiar with that both the aliens he encounters and their history are completely new to him. It makes sense that even as an immortal the Doctor would still only have visited the tiniest possible fraction of the universe.
And yet: here are the Daleks.
On the face of it, their presence might seem work against the remoteness of the setting, and on another day I might well agree with that, but at the moment... I like their inclusion here. I think they work primarily because they're explicitly stated to have originated from far in the future relative to the Doctor's timestream. The implication being that these are Time War-era Daleks, and I think it makes sense for a war as utterly apocalyptic as the Time War to result in Daleks showing up in such impossibly remote places.
And, in retrospect, it might be interesting to see a Classic Doctor encounter Time War-era Time Lords, too, up to their usual nefariousness. Might be a good fit for the 7th Doctor to clue him into what happens in the future, given he's implied to be aware of the war... but I digress.
Some other things I liked:
- When the Daleks recognize the Doctor, we hear an audio clip of Paul McGann.
- "I OBEY."
- The alien hivemind is less of the unified consciousness we typically see in SF, and more of a collective empathy. Very refreshing, memorable take.
- The "Patient Zero" plotline almost seems like it might go off in a different, more interesting direction than the typical body-snatching fare.
And what I didn't like as much:
- The "Patient Zero" plotline eventually culminates in the same kind of,body-snatching story we've all seen a thousand times before.
- India Fisher isn't credited on the cover/main file for this story, at least in the app, which is weird.
And... that's it. Overall a very solid story with some pretty interesting aliens, in a refreshingly unique setting. I really enjoyed this one, but how about you? Have y'all given this one recently, or remember it well enough to comment on it? What did you think of it?